Tribes:Ascend Forums

FAQ • Login • Register

Why I'm probably going to leave.
Author	Message
hiver Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2012 1:56 pm Posts: 145	Re: Why I'm probably going to leave. I do agree players should be split up in more skill levels other than ubernoob and everyone else. That said, playing with the guys that are good boosted my skill faster than playing against total noobs.
Sun Apr 29, 2012 10:20 am

QuidO Joined: Thu Dec 22, 2011 9:32 am Posts: 8	Re: Why I'm probably going to leave. Hell, I'm not even too sure that the whole leveling system corresponds to player skill at all. Sure, if you don't put any money into the game and actually grind your way up the levels, then yeah it might (assuming you are new to the whole Tribes). Most of the time it seems more like "I got VIP -> Xp Boosts -> Look at mah GUNS!" No I ain't complaining about people having VIP and whatnot, your money, you business what you spend it on. But lets face it, you are at a d* disadvantage without boosts etc. Cause you are stuck with the "crappy" guns for the time being. Hell I'm a pretty d* good HO even if I say so and still find this extremely frustrating at times. Light guys praying me on midfield cause I'm a relatively easy kill with a some bb-gun they unlocked. d*** hard to tell if someone is truly skilled, or just uses the guns that are easy to kill with. And yes, I have tried the smg's and whatnot. Do I use them? Not at the moment no, cause they are boring as hell to play with. I don't even have to try to aim with them, they're loaded with the same magical bullets as the one in the JFK-incident. I guess time will then who are the skilled and who are not. I do hope, truly hope, that if they don't introduce the changes directly to the game that the veterans and people who wish to play competitively wish for. They would at least introduce a possibility of two game modes. Much like "Classic" and "Base" in Tribes 2. Rant over.
Sun Apr 29, 2012 10:50 am

PinkLemonade Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 12:23 am Posts: 102	Re: Why I'm probably going to leave. Hey Sprout. I can totally relate to what you write. I've been playing Tribes for 14 years now and currently on level 26 (or 27?), but I think what you say is valid. As people mentioned here, the learning curve is quite steep in the Tribes franchise (used to be more so in T1 and T2). However, no other team-based online FPS is as rewarding as Tribes, especially in competition. So here are a few suggestions: Sprout wrote: Then I hit level 5 and it seemed things changed. Suddenly I became absolutely useless to the team.... I can easily see that. It really all depends on the matchmaking algorithm by HiRez. Maybe there's a place to segregate the level groups even further: 1-5, 6-8, 9-12,... Now that their player base is potentially bigger, HiRez should re-examine the number of players joining their servers nightly and come up with a better subdivision. Sprout wrote: 1. Lag is hell. Dunno what to do about this.. I'm on a broadband connection, my computer, while not the latest and greatest, is no slouch. (Used to be it was cutting edge, but that's when you needed a separate PhysX card to get PhysX, which is what I have). Yet still the game feels like I'm missing more than half of what's going on around me. I'm playing on the default settings it established for my computer.. if that's a mistake then can someone tell me why they're the default? I play on US East servers on broadband with a 4.5 year old computer (lowest details). I have around 20-25 FPS. Check out the Tribes.ini thread and tweak your settings. I found it useful. As for network lag, not sure what you can do other than run speed tests and verify that your individual connection is not messed up. HiRez still has a way to go to make their net code optimal. They introduced major fixes to their code in the patch before last and I hope they'll keep at it. Sprout wrote: 2. Visor crack, shake, and smoking is insane. As a new player, I'm already having enough trouble tracking where people are, and when I start to get injured you make it even harder? Incidentally, has anyone on the dev team heard of Q-sound or hell, even surround? Because if I could hear what direction shots were coming from, that might help. Note to HiRez: maybe make it a server flag? Or maybe tie it to the matchmaking level? As in -- levels 1 through 8 (or whatever), do not get visor cracks? Sprout wrote: 3. Team balance. As I pointed out briefly above, if the game had some sort of rudimentary balancing system rather than "Everybody pick the team they want" the steamrolls might not happen so often. And you know the sucky thing about steamrolls? Even if I happen to get onto the winning team, it's still no fun because I'm still basically worthless as assistance to my own team. Sprout, that's a bit of an issue since there are players who join a server with friends and want to play on the same team with their friends. So you must allow people to pick their team. HiRez did prevent you from seeing who's winning and the scores of individual players when you enter the server. But once in, it's hard to prevent team stacking. Sprout wrote: 4. Player skill balance. Don't shove the noobs in with guys who've been playing for however many months of beta... See above. I totally agree with you and think there's room now for better matchmaking. Sprout wrote: Team based games require some means of communication. No, stumbling around menus is not sufficient. If you're unable to properly do voice connection, I would first suggest you consider not implementing a team based game. Otherwise, the least you should do is provide some sort of links to make it easy to connect to where people are communicating. None of the previous Tribes games had built-in VoIP capabilities. I doubt HiRez will introduce one in T:A. But there are plenty 3rd party solutions out there. Teamspeak, Ventrilo and Mumble. And as you go you'll notice you'll be using the internal VGS communication system more and more. Sprout wrote: Of course, maybe none of this matters, maybe I'm just the whiny noob who doesn't have the skill or the patience and masochism to suffer through until he gets it and you're not interested in having those kind of people. And if that's the case, that's all fine. But the one other thing you should remember is I'm also the kind of guy who's willing to shell out money if I'm enjoying myself First, you're not a whiny noob. You are simply a noob In Tribes (in T:A F2P model), money will get you... maybe some better equipment. It will not get you skill. It just takes time to get a handle of the finer nuances of the game, like the Z-axis, air control, skiing and jet management, disc/grenade jumping, aiming while moving, body blocking, etc'... My last suggestion to you is go to the Building the Community forum. Post a thread or look for a thread of people looking for a 5th level player. Join a team/clan/tribe of like-minded (and skilled) people. Get onto your team's Teamspeak/Ventrilo/Mumble server. Enter servers together. Play while communicating. Maybe some day join a competitive ladder together. You'll then understand what Tribes is all about. Pubs can be frustrating...
Sun Apr 29, 2012 10:50 am

poiumty Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2011 8:07 pm Posts: 221	Re: Why I'm probably going to leave. Game ain't easy, bro. Definitely not the type you'd want to just play 2-3 matches per day if you're not looking to improve. If you're like me, spinfusor aiming and target leading will get naturally better over time to the point where you'll be amazed with yourself at some of the shots you pull off. If you really like the game, hang in there until level 13 or so and you'll notice the improvement. Or you could just leave. If you're not the target audience for the game, I don't see why you should keep kicking yourself.
Sun Apr 29, 2012 11:15 am

SkepticTA Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 7:41 pm Posts: 3062	Re: Why I'm probably going to leave. Shell out money first, then enjoy yourself.. not the other way around. The grind is less dreadful and more rewarding when you are boosted. _________________ (AHK) T:A Physics Profiler
Sun Apr 29, 2012 11:20 am

Yodsanklai Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2012 10:18 am Posts: 83	Re: Why I'm probably going to leave. Don't worry about dying at all mate. Don't worry about your kills either. You are probably a bigger help than you think... distraction is very helpful. Try and get comfortable with a class and stick with it for a while. Look up some tutorials on youtube about how the class is best played and what it's most suited for. Don't feel intimidated by playing with better players it'll only make you better... it'll come with time. Everyone has been through the rough patch but it gradually gets easier as youlearn. Important thing is if you're enjoying it then keep playing. It's a game, it's for fun. _________________ THIS IS HOW I USE STAIRS AFTER PLAYING TRIBES http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq68 ... 488788.gif
Sun Apr 29, 2012 12:09 pm

DemoEvolved Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:28 am Posts: 2031	Re: Why I'm probably going to leave. I agree that there should be another tier that keeps >20 players away from level 6ers
Sun Apr 29, 2012 12:46 pm

MrLordcaptain Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 7:42 pm Posts: 654	Re: Why I'm probably going to leave. I have to agree with you, we need matchmaking that seperates gold from bronze players and that choose your favorite team thing is ridiculous. The only thing I disagree is VoiP, we don't need that. Take some time in a training map to learn the most important ones. VoiP just encourage rage-kiddies in pup and on servers you can use your own solution. _________________ Remove hitscan from pistols and shotguns
Sun Apr 29, 2012 12:55 pm

Dark19Tower Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2011 3:54 am Posts: 138	Re: Why I'm probably going to leave. I'd just like to add a "stick with it" message of support as well. I'm a pretty poor player, and I've only got half-good in the past 2 weeks or so, because I changed to HoF. This is what I like about Tribes - if you play smart, you don't have to play well to do well. As a HoF, especially on Raindance, most of my kills come from killing cappers (to the point that I even topped the scoreboard for the first time last week) using mines and the DMB's FF. However, playing HoF when there's a Juggernaut (like you) in the midfield taking potshots at the base is hell on earth. If you're getting people to come after you, you're doing a lot better than you think, because someone like me or a chaser is screaming at his team either on teamchat or with VGS to get his team to hunt you down and stop destroying all my deployables. Even if that doesn't make you feel better, there's a fairly simple rule for how useful you are to your team. If you have more than 1 person trying to hunt you down, no matter what you're doing, you're causing a lot of hassle to the enemy team, both in nuisance and in losing defenders/attackers. As for tiers, I think level 6 to 13/14, then let them loose after that would be good. Even at level 18, I'm far better now than I was at 13/14, and there's enough players at those levels to keep full enough servers. Plus, just using VGS to tell your team what you're going to do makes a huge difference. All of the games I've played in where our team has used the VGS system properly have always been wins or 5-4 games, even if the teams are stacked against us. _________________ Community-made legacy maps that keep HiRez mappers in their jobs. Want pub games with teamwork to have some fun?
Sun Apr 29, 2012 12:57 pm

UniversalPie Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2012 6:01 pm Posts: 619 Location: GTA Ontario	Re: Why I'm probably going to leave. I was in a game with a noob friend last night. It felt so wrong... I wanted to hold their hands and show them the beauty in Tribes... Instead all I could hear were the screams... The smell of burnt flesh, as my chaingun tore through wave after wave... When the match ended, I had lost count... There were over 60 corpses to my name, strewn around the flagstand, faces frozen, twisted in horror. I thought it was over, but I couldn't have been more wrong. What followed weren't battles, but absolute blood baths. When the war ended, my eyes were tearing, bloodshot; what had I done? I had become the abhorrent fate of so many... Looking for adventure and glory, they found me, a terrible twist at the end of the road. I had gone 9 matches without dying, and undoubtedly killed more than the just the characters in-game. How can I live with what I have done? _________________
Sun Apr 29, 2012 1:20 pm

Display posts from previous: Sort by

Why I'm probably going to leave.

Author

Message

hiver

Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2012 1:56 pm
Posts: 145

Re: Why I'm probably going to leave.

I do agree players should be split up in more skill levels other than ubernoob and everyone else.

That said, playing with the guys that are good boosted my skill faster than playing against total noobs.

Sun Apr 29, 2012 10:20 am

QuidO

Joined: Thu Dec 22, 2011 9:32 am
Posts: 8

Re: Why I'm probably going to leave.

Hell, I'm not even too sure that the whole leveling system corresponds to player skill at all.
Sure, if you don't put any money into the game and actually grind your way up the levels, then yeah it might (assuming you are new to the whole Tribes).

Most of the time it seems more like "I got VIP -> Xp Boosts -> Look at mah GUNS!"
No I ain't complaining about people having VIP and whatnot, your money, you business what you spend it on.

But lets face it, you are at a d*** disadvantage without boosts etc. Cause you are stuck with the "crappy" guns for the time being. Hell I'm a pretty d*** good HO even if I say so and still find this extremely frustrating at times. Light guys praying me on midfield cause I'm a relatively easy kill with a some bb-gun they unlocked. d*** hard to tell if someone is truly skilled, or just uses the guns that are easy to kill with. And yes, I have tried the smg's and whatnot. Do I use them? Not at the moment no, cause they are boring as hell to play with. I don't even have to try to aim with them, they're loaded with the same magical bullets as the one in the JFK-incident.

I guess time will then who are the skilled and who are not.
I do hope, truly hope, that if they don't introduce the changes directly to the game that the veterans and people who wish to play competitively wish for. They would at least introduce a possibility of two game modes. Much like "Classic" and "Base" in Tribes 2.

Rant over.

Sun Apr 29, 2012 10:50 am

PinkLemonade

Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2011 12:23 am
Posts: 102

Re: Why I'm probably going to leave.

Hey Sprout. I can totally relate to what you write. I've been playing Tribes for 14 years now and currently on level 26 (or 27?), but I think what you say is valid.
As people mentioned here, the learning curve is quite steep in the Tribes franchise (used to be more so in T1 and T2). However, no other team-based online FPS is as rewarding as Tribes, especially in competition. So here are a few suggestions:

Sprout wrote:

Then I hit level 5 and it seemed things changed. Suddenly I became absolutely useless to the team....

I can easily see that. It really all depends on the matchmaking algorithm by HiRez. Maybe there's a place to segregate the level groups even further: 1-5, 6-8, 9-12,...
Now that their player base is potentially bigger, HiRez should re-examine the number of players joining their servers nightly and come up with a better subdivision.

Sprout wrote:

1. Lag is hell. Dunno what to do about this.. I'm on a broadband connection, my computer, while not the latest and greatest, is no slouch. (Used to be it was cutting edge, but that's when you needed a separate PhysX card to get PhysX, which is what I have). Yet still the game feels like I'm missing more than half of what's going on around me. I'm playing on the default settings it established for my computer.. if that's a mistake then can someone tell me why they're the default?

I play on US East servers on broadband with a 4.5 year old computer (lowest details). I have around 20-25 FPS. Check out the Tribes.ini thread and tweak your settings. I found it useful.
As for network lag, not sure what you can do other than run speed tests and verify that your individual connection is not messed up. HiRez still has a way to go to make their net code optimal. They introduced major fixes to their code in the patch before last and I hope they'll keep at it.

Sprout wrote:

2. Visor crack, shake, and smoking is insane. As a new player, I'm already having enough trouble tracking where people are, and when I start to get injured you make it even harder? Incidentally, has anyone on the dev team heard of Q-sound or hell, even surround? Because if I could hear what direction shots were coming from, that might help.

Note to HiRez: maybe make it a server flag? Or maybe tie it to the matchmaking level? As in -- levels 1 through 8 (or whatever), do not get visor cracks?

Sprout wrote:

3. Team balance. As I pointed out briefly above, if the game had some sort of rudimentary balancing system rather than "Everybody pick the team they want" the steamrolls might not happen so often. And you know the sucky thing about steamrolls? Even if I happen to get onto the winning team, it's still no fun because I'm still basically worthless as assistance to my own team.

Sprout, that's a bit of an issue since there are players who join a server with friends and want to play on the same team with their friends. So you must allow people to pick their team. HiRez did prevent you from seeing who's winning and the scores of individual players when you enter the server. But once in, it's hard to prevent team stacking.

Sprout wrote:

4. Player skill balance. Don't shove the noobs in with guys who've been playing for however many months of beta...

See above. I totally agree with you and think there's room now for better matchmaking.

Sprout wrote:

Team based games require some means of communication. No, stumbling around menus is not sufficient. If you're unable to properly do voice connection, I would first suggest you consider not implementing a team based game. Otherwise, the least you should do is provide some sort of links to make it easy to connect to where people are communicating.

None of the previous Tribes games had built-in VoIP capabilities. I doubt HiRez will introduce one in T:A. But there are plenty 3rd party solutions out there. Teamspeak, Ventrilo and Mumble.
And as you go you'll notice you'll be using the internal VGS communication system more and more.

Sprout wrote:

Of course, maybe none of this matters, maybe I'm just the whiny noob who doesn't have the skill or the patience and masochism to suffer through until he gets it and you're not interested in having those kind of people. And if that's the case, that's all fine. But the one other thing you should remember is I'm also the kind of guy who's willing to shell out money if I'm enjoying myself

First, you're not a whiny noob. You are simply a noob

In Tribes (in T:A F2P model), money will get you... maybe some better equipment. It will not get you skill. It just takes time to get a handle of the finer nuances of the game, like the Z-axis, air control, skiing and jet management, disc/grenade jumping, aiming while moving, body blocking, etc'...

My last suggestion to you is go to the Building the Community forum. Post a thread or look for a thread of people looking for a 5th level player. Join a team/clan/tribe of like-minded (and skilled) people. Get onto your team's Teamspeak/Ventrilo/Mumble server. Enter servers together. Play while communicating. Maybe some day join a competitive ladder together. You'll then understand what Tribes is all about. Pubs can be frustrating...

Sun Apr 29, 2012 10:50 am

poiumty

Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2011 8:07 pm
Posts: 221

Re: Why I'm probably going to leave.

Game ain't easy, bro. Definitely not the type you'd want to just play 2-3 matches per day if you're not looking to improve.

If you're like me, spinfusor aiming and target leading will get naturally better over time to the point where you'll be amazed with yourself at some of the shots you pull off. If you really like the game, hang in there until level 13 or so and you'll notice the improvement.

Or you could just leave. If you're not the target audience for the game, I don't see why you should keep kicking yourself.

Sun Apr 29, 2012 11:15 am

SkepticTA

Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 7:41 pm
Posts: 3062

Re: Why I'm probably going to leave.

Shell out money first, then enjoy yourself.. not the other way around. The grind is less dreadful and more rewarding when you are boosted.

_________________

(AHK) T:A Physics Profiler

Sun Apr 29, 2012 11:20 am

Yodsanklai

Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2012 10:18 am
Posts: 83

Re: Why I'm probably going to leave.

Don't worry about dying at all mate. Don't worry about your kills either. You are probably a bigger help than you think... distraction is very helpful. Try and get comfortable with a class and stick with it for a while. Look up some tutorials on youtube about how the class is best played and what it's most suited for.

Don't feel intimidated by playing with better players it'll only make you better... it'll come with time. Everyone has been through the rough patch but it gradually gets easier as youlearn.

Important thing is if you're enjoying it then keep playing. It's a game, it's for fun.

_________________
THIS IS HOW I USE STAIRS AFTER PLAYING TRIBES

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq68 ... 488788.gif

Sun Apr 29, 2012 12:09 pm

DemoEvolved

Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:28 am
Posts: 2031

Re: Why I'm probably going to leave.

I agree that there should be another tier that keeps >20 players away from level 6ers

Sun Apr 29, 2012 12:46 pm

MrLordcaptain

Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2011 7:42 pm
Posts: 654

Re: Why I'm probably going to leave.

I have to agree with you, we need matchmaking that seperates gold from bronze players and that choose your favorite team thing is ridiculous.
The only thing I disagree is VoiP, we don't need that. Take some time in a training map to learn the most important ones. VoiP just encourage rage-kiddies in pup and on servers you can use your own solution.

_________________
Remove hitscan from pistols and shotguns

Sun Apr 29, 2012 12:55 pm

Dark19Tower

Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2011 3:54 am
Posts: 138

Re: Why I'm probably going to leave.

I'd just like to add a "stick with it" message of support as well. I'm a pretty poor player, and I've only got half-good in the past 2 weeks or so, because I changed to HoF. This is what I like about Tribes - if you play smart, you don't have to play well to do well. As a HoF, especially on Raindance, most of my kills come from killing cappers (to the point that I even topped the scoreboard for the first time last week) using mines and the DMB's FF. However, playing HoF when there's a Juggernaut (like you) in the midfield taking potshots at the base is hell on earth. If you're getting people to come after you, you're doing a lot better than you think, because someone like me or a chaser is screaming at his team either on teamchat or with VGS to get his team to hunt you down and stop destroying all my deployables.

Even if that doesn't make you feel better, there's a fairly simple rule for how useful you are to your team. If you have more than 1 person trying to hunt you down, no matter what you're doing, you're causing a lot of hassle to the enemy team, both in nuisance and in losing defenders/attackers.

As for tiers, I think level 6 to 13/14, then let them loose after that would be good. Even at level 18, I'm far better now than I was at 13/14, and there's enough players at those levels to keep full enough servers. Plus, just using VGS to tell your team what you're going to do makes a huge difference. All of the games I've played in where our team has used the VGS system properly have always been wins or 5-4 games, even if the teams are stacked against us.

_________________
Community-made legacy maps that keep HiRez mappers in their jobs.

Want pub games with teamwork to have some fun?

Sun Apr 29, 2012 12:57 pm

UniversalPie

Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2012 6:01 pm
Posts: 619
Location: GTA Ontario

Re: Why I'm probably going to leave.

I was in a game with a noob friend last night. It felt so wrong... I wanted to hold their hands and show them the beauty in Tribes... Instead all I could hear were the screams... The smell of burnt flesh, as my chaingun tore through wave after wave... When the match ended, I had lost count... There were over 60 corpses to my name, strewn around the flagstand, faces frozen, twisted in horror. I thought it was over, but I couldn't have been more wrong. What followed weren't battles, but absolute blood baths. When the war ended, my eyes were tearing, bloodshot; what had I done? I had become the abhorrent fate of so many... Looking for adventure and glory, they found me, a terrible twist at the end of the road. I had gone 9 matches without dying, and undoubtedly killed more than the just the characters in-game. How can I live with what I have done?

_________________

Sun Apr 29, 2012 1:20 pm

Forum rules

Why I'm probably going to leave.