I've been saying this for freaking ever - something needs to done to alter the emotional aspect of the gameplay environment.

It's entirely too negative. Every single one of you whining about and bitching at those players who say they quit (and I'm speaking about those who really DO quit, not those like Dragos and Roguelazer, etc.) are ignoring one simple fact:

THERE IS A REASON THEY ARE LEAVING. The problem isn't thet some of them are declaring their intention, it's that too many of them are following through. Instead of bitching about how many players are declaring that they're leaving, pay a little attention and realize that a lot of them have already LEFT.

It seems to me that the number of active players jumped when 3.2 came out and has declined rapidly since. I don't think that can be explained solely by the agility of the special ships, or how powerful the railgun is, or the fact that the frigate parks more than most teenage sweethearts.

I estimate the active players now is -roughly- equal to the number of active players we had in mid/late 3.1. This is based no tangible information, just the number of players I see ingame at any given point in time.

Once this next update comes out, I really, really think the devs need to step back a little from the technical side and start paying a bit of attention to the -atmosphere- of the game. Too many people are being soured on the game too quickly, and it's important that at least SOME of the needs of the many are met.

I think the biggest problem at this point in time is not how much the promie weighs, but how it's used. It's not being used to defend home territory, it's being used to hunt noobs. The Valk isn't being used in active combat, but to sneak in behind a player pirate, tossing sunflares up their engine nozzles. The problem right now isn't the balance of the ships as much as it is the fact that there's nothing -better- for the -players- to do!

DEVS, WE NEED SOMETHING TO *DO*!!!!!!!!!

Frigate-killing requires money and time, not skill. Flag capping is an absolute JOKE - seriously, how difficult is it to add a single ZERO to all the rewards for capping and defending?

If something isn't done soon to keep people busy, all the pirating and griefing will continue, if not escalate. If it keeps up too long. ALL you'll have left will be pirates and girefers, with no one actually PLAYING the game. I imagine it would be hard to playtest a game with 12 testers who've been here since 3.0 and are largely set in their way and tactics.

Players are running away like rats from a sinking ship. The ones that try to stick it out get pummeled mercilessly and pointlessly by those more skilled. This game has lost much of it's charm and most of what I felt made it fun. Please stop finding new ways to make it look cool and start trying to make it fun again.

Thank you.

genka, the problem is some of those leaving, were ones that did do alot of testing.. from what ive heard with people speaking in test most of these newer players dont even know what the bug report form is or that they are even supposed to be testing.

granted, its been awhile since ive noticed any bugs(last one was when multiple ships were just allowed and I had.. a few too many and it caused stuff to disappear, but itd still be there at the same time)

Try to realise that our job, as we play this game, is not to have fun, it is to test the technical stuff, and the devs don't really need the people that left, becaue there are more than enough people that still play.

PS: it's not us that are whining at the players that are leaving, it's the people that are leaving that are whining.

Ok, lets say if all the devs have left for testers are (swear a de swear swear) when it hits the shelves, would you play it?

I would not pay play it with the current community, and the community is just going down hill now.

Dragos: Bugs I've submitted recently include (confirmed/unconfirmed)

1. m_waiting errors (including correlating these issues to how fast the database/server updates your inventory versus typing in the console)
2. lag issues
3. the rocket speed discrepancies.

Genka (also known as [syn]n00b, yes?): see above. I'm proof that some of the people who've left/are leaving/are considering leaving DO provide valuable testing feedback.

To quote you from fur's guide thread: "I wasn't reffering to your being told to "watch it", but I can see where the guide was coming from, being told to do something while you are doing something is not the most plesant thing in the world."

I'd have to wager that I've provided a lot more valuable feedback than say, someone how flies around in busses chatting and issueing all day long...

I know that's a little snarky, but seriously - some of us ARE doing our job. And we're doing it for free. I thought our compensation was going to be the ability to have FUN.

Personally, I think the atmosphere in the game right now is a BUG and should really be submitted as one. It's a gameplay issue. It affects the players. The effect is a deterrent to having fun, which is the point of a GAME. A game is what is being built by Guildsoftware - it's what will be made from the software we are now testing.

We're not here to -just- make sure the technical side is working, even though that is probably the #1 aspect of our duties. The devs have said that this test is the basis for the final game. In fact, parts of the final game are being built into the test with every update. Ergo, many problems that affect this test will affect the final game as well, if they're not dealt with. This is one of them.

SL:
I know your first sentence was typed using the characters of the English language, but I have no clue what you said.

As to the second sentence, right now I have to agree. That's kinda my point.

Well, from what i have seen. Newbies Get hunted a lot - far tooo much for my liking!! - i ve seen 2 newbies, young kids get soo upset because of some experienced players just kill them for fun. This then makes them want to leave!!

Come on realisticly look at the facts - ur whinning to the dev's because ur bored. We are all here to test the development of the game. And I strongly belive the game is what u make it ; ).
And what u make of it, for others.

Bitching all day long dosent make the game enjoyable. Killing newbies because other players are bored is completely out of the question. And unfair.

Since the start of 3.2 This game has lost its honour!! They're arent many proper duels anymore.. or any value in players saying "im not hostile"- but they still get killed. Pirates i agree are getting out of hand. Newbie killing is increasing. But also experinced players are starting new characters just to act like a newb to take advantage of other newbies/ players (who care)!!

New players generally start off blue, but get killed by red. Will join red. but then join Gold because they were getting killed by the gold's, being red? ( Thats part of the game i know) but because its happening so much theres no stability for them. There are few good blues playing now - As most joined either red because of being out numbered, out gunned and being bullied. Or simply they Join gold who equally hunt both sides too.

Its all down to topics we have all discussed b4. But I will say is ...Except a few, many people are taking the fun out of the game. And its really not nice to watch.

So guys ur views-


Cheers


White Magic.

P.s my post isnt about whinning over the nations, and who's got the best or most players. Its about the point of play and making it fun for others, especialy newbies.

Here Here White Magic!


Xoch, go land on the frigate and burn off its turrets if your bored!

WM - I can't quite tell if you're accusing me of piracy and noob-hunting, or not. Neither can I tell if you agree with me or not. I have no clue what you said.

Yes, Humpy, why don't I go waste 400k to kill a ship that can't even move, so I then have to trade for two hours to pay to kill a ship that can't move so I can trade for two hours to kill a ship that can't move...

:)

Hey! I can kill it only wasting 15k
But its more fun to waste 24 proms on it >:)

I've been playing for a couple of month's now, here's my story =D

I got started - with the guidence of a friend - pretty easy... but!
I soon encountered the problem of some real good player, that "were having fun". Don't know how long he played, but with my half-a-day of training, 2 hours were enough - /me logged off. Okey - I was outraged with he's griefing, but i wouldn't let this "one time event" ruin the game for me, so i waited... The next day i logged on - and ofcause i encountered the player again... In my naive (I know) world, he wouldn't start griefing me again after the events the day before - but nooooo.... Got to play for 3 - 4 hours, then i had to log if i didn't want a broken keyboard or so =) The next day, it repeated it self - from the moment i logged on - maybe not the same players but, how am i to know with all the plasma, and rockets flying in all directions (and mostly towards one self)...

This were it... I was out... Until my friend got me convinced of giving it another try, and while we were sitting together he helped me through the first couple of days...

The point:

Count of "pirates/griefers" * shoot n00b 1 time each = bankrupt 4 times before we're halfway through the list...

This ain't whining - just pointing out that it doesn't have to be this player did or that player is - the general n00b killing is making the game much harder to enter, which in the end *will* hurt the final game's rep.

Hi, sorry, I completely missed the existence of this thread, somehow.

Anyway, there are two major issues with the Vendetta Test, right now:

1) New players get killed by (bored) more experienced players, over and over, frustrating them until they leave.

2) More experienced players get bored, because there isn't really much to do in the game, and sometimes end up hunting newbies.

The original 3.2.0 specification called for a certain level of automated AI defenses around Nation sectors, so as to make CTF a *difficult* thing, requiring at least 5 or so players working in coordination. Also, these defenses would act to protect the outlying Nation sectors, securing a more friendly "newbie zone" for beginners. Unfortunately, the new AI was completely broken, so there ended up being no automated defenses whatsoever. Yes, it would be trivial to increase the income made from flag captures, but to do so would only encourage groups of experienced players to constantly head through newbie territory, completely uncontested and killing as they went. This seemed like a Bad Thing, so I left the CTF rewards at the ridiculously low value where it remains to date.

The AI has been a work in progress, and while we're making headway, it's gone pretty slowly. No one is more frustrated about that than us. Not only that, but the recent rash of major crashes and bugs have further sapped time and resources away from New Feature Development. And new features are the only things that can really make this game what it's meant to be, and make it Fun. Unfortunately, we aren't Blizzard, we're four guys in a small office in Milwaukee. So, we make as much headway as we can. I know new people are playing the game, getting really irritated, and leaving, there isn't a whole lot more I can do about that. This whole general issue is one of the major pitfalls of evolving a game online, and we're still learning how to do it properly. The final game we have designed and are attempting to work towards should be pretty fun. No guarantees on the various iterations between now and then, however.

Ok, move the newbie sectors, keep s4\s12\s6 under nation control, but add a sector behind s1\2\3 for newbies, have the wormhole there only be open to itani\serco\neutral territories but have the wormholes deny access to people with the flag (have it say "This wormhole is too unstable to support the flag during transport." heck, having wormholes become unstable sometimes would add challenge to capping).

Also, add penaltys for people that kill people from accounts that have played only x hours long.

You know, you might want to make the mission system one of your top priorities... That would give vets something to do, as long as they were actually interesting...

I have a feeling vets won't hang around in nation owned sectors anymore. Unless they are REALLY good at dodging...

I think the best update to date is the 10 second log off. I had so much fun going back and killing everyone who exploited all those times. Revenge is sweet.

Well inthe RPG aspects in the game come in, and the CTF aspects gets taken out, then you'll get experienced players flying maxed out ship killing their own faction noobs..(High reds killing red noobs in buses.)

But players killing their own faction in the same ship the pkers are is probably a fair game.

Maybe if friendly Fire was put in... EI If some red newbkiller was harassing a bunch of newbies, he wouldn't expect another red to go in and make his day. Also, newbies could practice dueling with other newbies in the safty of thier home sectors. But then you have the problem of vets killing thier own newbies.

I must say i do not envy the devs. This is a job for more than 4 people to tackle. And these are very difficult problems to solve, then add on all the other problems people are making.

Yes, making. There isn't anything terribly wrong with a sunflare... it is how people abuse it. ANYTHING will go wrong if it is abused. Problem is, that is the responsibility of the players.

I must say, good luck devs. You may need it to overcome some obstacles.

/me thought this thread was locked or somming...

anyway, friendly fire would just allow that red newbiekiller to kill red n00bs, in the safety of his own homesector, thus limiting those that can come after him to reds.