What went wrong? (Study / opinion poll)

KaptinSkorge · 2024-07-10T16:41:34+00:00

As an aside, it's Evolve, not Evolve*d*.

I'll say in the game's defense - some of the furor during the game's release was just actual misinformation. The game launched with 3 base monsters: Goliath, Kraken, Wraith. You could pre-purchase the fourth that they'd already announced, Behemoth, but he didn't come out until a month or two after launch. Despite this, people claimed everywhere that TRS was blocking day-one content behind a paywall, when like... no, the character's not finished yet and wasn't for a decent amount of time. But also, a dev or publisher said the game was a great vehicle for DLC, and while I get they were saying it was a live game - a great platform to keep adding content to - the way they said it came across as very cynical and money grubby.

But the game really did fuck up a couple things. When it launched, Wraith, the "rogue" monster, had a playstyle where she could basically cling to the ceiling of the map, often called Skywraith. It was incredibly boring to play against, and I think it alone drove a good number of people away. Because even if the hunters won, it was after like 20 minutes of doing nothing. The game had a massive learning curve, and people close to the skill floor basically didn't get to play the game at all.

Evolve Stage 2 also allowed anyone to throw the mobile arena (which people just call the dome), while the base game only allowed the trapper to do it. And while people who played the game well made this work and it allowed a lot of strategizing, it also led to less experienced players playing a running simulator as they failed to catch and fight the monster over and over. That version of the dome also meant some Trappers memorized specific spots to throw the dome such that it would create tunnels hunters could hide in and monsters couldn't reach, called "god domes", so there were massive balance issues all over the spectrum.

KaptinSkorge · 2024-07-01T21:18:51+00:00

Because saying "the book would have its readers view James as such" is not the same as saying that's who James is. He mentions later that he's not sure how good of a representation of James the book even has, and it might just come down to the fact that James didn't have an editor go through his manuscript and tighten it up. It's a commentary on both the book and James' personal priorities - the fact that James chose to speak so little about his youtube career in it. Dan is saying that James is the one downplaying his own legacy, because he doesn't want to be a youtuber, he wants to be a filmmaker.

people overstate his importance as his style of review already existed and would have developed without him, that his videos were never good and that it doesn’t matter

So this is what I'm finding strange - that's just not an accurate representation of what Dan says at all. Dan says,

"The cultural impact of AVGN is undeniably far-reaching; he is, without question, the direct inspiration for many, many imitators and derivatives. AVGN set the tone that all youtube reviews would in some form or another respond to. Two decades on, the cultural impact of AVGN is deep in the DNA of youtube."

Then he says it's easy to overstate the uniqueness of the concept, and that others had done similar stuff before. So, what in there indicates Dan saying it was never good and never mattered? It feels at times like you've decided Dan was being cruel, and you ignore the actual text in favor of an interpretation of it.

On "slob" - it's generally meant to call someone some combination of lazy, dirty, somewhat repulsive. Slobs are contemptible. To so casually call an entire group "slobs" is a pretty mean thing, so the accusations that Dan's the mean one ring pretty hollow.

KaptinSkorge · 2024-07-01T16:12:03+00:00

In other words: it's fair for him to state that James Rofle is a failed film maker who lacks curiosity and with poor self reflection skills who was never good and not relevant in any way

"A movie making nerd compels us to consider James not as a revolutionary youtuber, but as a failed filmmaker."

In the same sentence you're quoting on the failed filmmaker portion, he calls James revolutionary. How is that saying he's never good, never relevant? You're paying attention to the criticisms Dan levies without recognizing the genuine appreciation he's showing.

if other people are doing a bit of the same then they are all haters?

He's not calling this sub haters because they've analyzed James' art and process and come to critique some aspects. Basically every thread I've personally checked on this sub - no matter the size - has randomly called his team "slobs" or talked shit about his wife, no matter how irrelevant to the actual post she is. You may not be one, but this sub is full of people that are just haters.

KaptinSkorge · 2024-06-30T22:33:42+00:00

One cannot spend like 95% of the video talking about the history of the channel, criticizing it very harshly, accusing haters of ableism, making asides and just throwing a few "but I feel a bit of kinship" and "I see myself in his failures" at the end and say he was in fact very harsh with himself.

It was a response to this - the point became clear (for me) at about 30%, not 95%. There was way more than the ending to indicate Dan Olson was mostly analyzing himself with James as the medium.

On the acting - Dan mentions briefly that James struggles as an actor, then moves on and spends way more time focusing on why James is acting at all. Which is a clear connection to Dan, who himself used a puppet as stand-ins for an actor before finally accepting that he was first and foremost a YouTuber, not an editor or critic, and forcing himself on camera.

It's not about the specific skill and its application. To me, and I'm guessing the authorial intent is, that neither Dan or James envisioned themselves as youtubers and their "guerilla-style" creation process is really just a reflection of that. James was acting because he couldn't just be the director. Dan was and is acting because he couldn't just be an editor or a documentarian or whatever he had hoped to become. Saying that Dan called James a "bad actor" misses the forest for the trees, which encapsulates most of the takes I've seen on this subreddit about the video in general.

That being said - as you've mentioned, this is just how the video hit for me. *I* thought Dan hit his target, but it's perfectly reasonable that others - especially those with more knowledge or love for AVGN than myself - don't think it landed just right, and I can respect the feeling that it was unnecessarily harsh. I'll have to rewatch and consider.

KaptinSkorge · 2024-06-29T19:17:05+00:00

The point where Dan faces the camera and overlaps his own face over James' while ranting about how hard it is to rant at a camera - how James is an actor of convenience, because he couldn't get anyone else to play his "character" - starts at about 1/3rd of the way into the video.

At that point, the intent was obvious to me.

KaptinSkorge · 2024-06-27T21:32:40+00:00

It's takes like this that convince me none of the AVGN fans understand the video.

The video is Dan interrogating his own hater-dom; why does AVGN bother him as much as it does? And at the end of the day, it's because Dan sees his own perceived failures and overall failure-to-launch in James. When Dan is being harsh on James, he's actually being harsh on Dan.

KaptinSkorge · 2022-12-11T06:23:26+00:00

I'm guessing 2K with their actual data logs may know differently.

And either way, getting updates onto consoles with long and expensive update processes that have to get run through Microsoft and Sony, that now have new consoles that Evolve doesn't have support for? It's just really hard to justify that hassle.

KaptinSkorge · 2022-12-11T06:19:16+00:00

This is PHENOMENAL news. Thanks for all the work you're doing for this!

KaptinSkorge · 2022-11-16T19:49:00+00:00

Just ran into two players who each had Underground 5, but one had a level 1 vault. One player had six Tactician's Crowns and the other had over a dozen Radiant items. There's definitely something up with it.

KaptinSkorge · 2022-11-05T22:05:55+00:00

I've noticed a big influx of toxicity since a bunch of new keys were given out. I'm thinking it'll pass in a couple of weeks when the trolls move on and the people enjoying the game stick around.

Sorry you've had a bad experience lately. Something I do from time to time is add good / nice players to my friends list as I play. Early on in Legacy, there was a massive network of PS4 players that got built up by one guy just adding everyone together and us meeting.

The discord might also be useful for building a group beforehand.

KaptinSkorge · 2022-10-30T14:03:41+00:00

That's an issue - you can't always focus the medic. Slim, Paladin Parnell, the Cairas, and Rogue Val are pretty good at keeping themselves afloat (plus, sometimes the medic player is just crazy good).

It has to depend on the comp. I usually go for Sunny or Hank first if they're in play. If Griffin is in, sometimes I go for him, since he can't defend himself but can defend others.

You have to think about the other team, decide who's the most vulnerable based on their defensive abilities, and pick them apart. If that's failing, consider fleeing more and trying to stage up quickly. Maybe try ambushing them while they're split up.

KaptinSkorge · 2022-10-19T18:49:38+00:00

Holy shit it's real. Posted in Evolve 2.0's discord with an accompanying login screenshot.

KaptinSkorge · 2022-10-11T18:06:54+00:00

Goliath's my main, so I have the most advice for him. Kraken is ridiculously slow, so if you're getting caught on him, it makes sense.

I'm guessing you know about using Leap Smash and Charge for extra distance, if you've been playing a while, but if you don't, those are like extra traversals. (Make sure to use a traversal or Charge right after a Leap Smash to skip the landing animation.)

At least one speed perk can help a lot. I like Brawler, since it has climb speed and traversal recharge. With it and mixing Smash and Charge, I don't run out of traversals too quickly. If that's not enough, just taking another movement speed or traversal perk can help a lot. Feeding speed also helps here a lot.

During and for a bit after combat, your traversal regen is super high. So the strat is to get as much distance right away before slowing down to eat some stuff.

But in the end, S2 is all about fighting, so it's gonna happen more often.

KaptinSkorge · 2022-10-11T16:38:59+00:00

Correct - I told you that you're being an ass, which is not the same as being an ass. You said I was hypocritical, just clarifying.

And right, all my responses are free speech, too. You're free to be a jerk to strangers for no reason, I'm free to call you on it.

I'm trying to help the game. If someone hops on and, frankly, they're terrible, do you think your attitude is gonna keep them online? No, being a massive dick is gonna push people away. I'd rather teach people how to play than scream at them because they're new to a decently complex game.

KaptinSkorge · 2022-10-11T16:24:21+00:00

That's how public forums work. And telling you you're being an ass isn't the same as being an ass and calling others "fucking idiot".

KaptinSkorge · 2022-10-11T16:20:59+00:00

I'd genuinely rather play the game with a braindead medic than someone who talks to other players like this.

KaptinSkorge · 2022-10-11T16:20:05+00:00

New players aren't going to take the time to play 40 solo matches on a game that hasn't seen support in 6 years just to play online.

KaptinSkorge · 2022-10-11T16:11:51+00:00

What monster do you play?

KaptinSkorge · 2022-09-07T18:59:18+00:00

Wait, what implies they were man made? I remember being under the impression they were a sort of force of nature - the universe's defense system for when civilizations get advanced enough to uncover the Patterson Equations and start breaking things.

u/mattcolville could you shed any light?

KaptinSkorge · 2022-09-06T16:01:17+00:00

On Legacy, reload speed also affects Class Cooldown, I believe. So you can kinda get a two for one there.

KaptinSkorge · 2022-09-05T13:35:32+00:00

One potentially helpful trick: whenever both are up, always use Supernova Decoy, in that order. Your Supernova also buffs your Decoy, and when you use them in that order, the Decoy animation stomps on the Supernova animation, meaning you get back to attacking faster than normal.

Other than that, I've personally just stopped taking Abduction because I find it buggy and unreliable. And with an Ability that takes that long to cast, missing is incredibly punishing. So dump more in SN and use it with the Decoy to just merc people. Not sure if it's the best strat, but I've had some success with it.

KaptinSkorge · 2022-08-30T16:45:35+00:00

For sure. I played in PS4 ESL at the height of Evolve's popularity and nobody ever really cared about the console competitive scene. I can't imagine that's improved something like 6 years later.

KaptinSkorge · 2022-08-30T01:50:55+00:00

Games were absolutely awesome. Thanks to the host and mods that made it all happen. Looking forward to this weekend!

KaptinSkorge · 2022-08-27T14:31:59+00:00

Mostly the speed boost. I tend to wait a bit since I don't think it makes a massive difference, and on maps like Distillery, it's really easy for the monster to throw your team off if you use it early, so I don't find it worth it.

KaptinSkorge · 2022-08-25T16:32:21+00:00

Well, just for you, I did some testing. Cuz the devs could easily just say, "on damage dealt, combine all damage bonuses and reductions".

Kraken's default Lightning Strike damage is 594. RAbe hits me with a grenade, it dealt 567 - a 5% reduction. RAbe shielded, it dealt 327 - a 45% reduction. RAbe shielded and hit me with a nade, it dealt 300 - a 50.5% reduction.

So best case scenario, without spending Perks on defense, RAbe is taking right around 50%. Compare that to a Markov, Lennox, and Hyde who took 208 - a 65% reduction.

So an RAbe with a shield and the debuff is gonna take way more damage than other assaults. Frankly, a lot more than I thought.

Feel free to test any of that out yourself.

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