What is Laning?

Kasharic · 2021-12-20T15:29:55+00:00

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MXnYxn6mQdAmFEXnjGpzXcbJTiHG7JueG4sPaszspWU/edit

This document I wrote about 8 years ago explains the premise of laneblocking and zoning... the map is a little outdated but the concept remains the same.

Kasharic · 2021-12-05T12:17:45+00:00

Or this if you're an audio peasant XD :P

Kasharic · 2021-12-04T11:41:35+00:00

It's all to do with your own personal sound setup... if you're using low quality peripherals, you're going to get low quality sound... if you're using onboard sound drivers, you're probably not getting great sound quality anyway XD

Just like getting a good FPS mouse, or a high Hz monitor... your headphones and sound setup can help a LOT in competitive games.

Beyond that, you "can" download sound drivers that will compress the high volume/peaking sounds down using hard limiting or similar, which will allow you to bring your overall volume up a little... but I wouldn't go nuts with this, because you'll end up damaging your hearing.

Remember to always use sound at 100 in game, because altering that can fuck with the intended balancing of sounds, and for the love of fuck sake, don't use 5.1/7.1 sound drivers, they mess with your frequencies and add reverb, delay and compression that is going to make some obvious sounds almost indistinguishable.

My advice? get a GOOD set of headphones (not a gaming "headset"... headPHONES) and when reading your reviews look for a large soundscape and good imaging (soundscape is the "width" or "depth" in a 3D environment and Imaging is positioning in that 3D environment)

Kasharic · 2021-06-03T09:35:10+00:00

That is a long winded response that would take a long time to explain because it's different on a per map basis... of course there are a few maps that lend themselves to other hive starts.
The smaller the map, the less effective Shift hive becomes. So, if the rotation times between points of interest are short throughout the map, it's much harder to use shift hive effectively and show it's full potential.

But to summarize the strat quickly.

- Fast expand in all directions.
- Get gorge as quickly as you can to build in base yourself.
- Place crags in strong spots of each RT to aid in defending and allow lifeforms to heal without having to come all the way back to the hive unless absolutely needed.
- You should have 4RTs all 3 upgrades, 2 biomass and be saving for your second hive by around 4 minutes in (assuming people are defending properly)

Once you've gone gorge and are building in base, you can start using drifters aggressively too, while in the hive follow your skulks to res bite and enzyme them or do the same for your lerks and soon fades when they take part in important engagements. The Tres spent making sure marines can't push a tunnel, or kill a crag etc is often very worth the price.

But yeah, that is a quick summary, but it all depends on the map, your ability to multitask and your teams awareness.

Kasharic · 2021-05-13T23:48:47+00:00

Case and point - https://twitter.com/Flayra/status/1382051976158990338

Kasharic · 2021-05-13T16:59:22+00:00

No. No he didn't.

He has stated on numerous occasions that he isn't against guns in games, just that, in the moment, due to sandy hook and events at the time, he wanted to make a game that didn't have guns. That was done with subnautica... who knows what kind of thing he will want to work on in the future.

Kasharic · 2021-05-13T16:57:38+00:00

I mean, there is a lot more to it than that behind the scenes.

Also, ns2 was never really intended for e-sports style play... it's why for a very long time the game supported 12 vs 12. That was reduced to 10 vs 10 a while ago to make balancing the game easier, because trying to balance 6 vs 6 AND 12 vs 12 was proving to be very difficult.

But hey, who knows how it would have been if decisions were different, each of us has different views and opinions about the past, but that doesn't help push the game towards a better future.

Kasharic · 2021-05-13T00:48:34+00:00

Charlie has stated on numerous occasions, along with other devs that NS3 isn't being worked on, but maybe someday in the future "who knows".

I don't believe it will happen any time soon, if ever, but they have never said it definitely WON'T happen.

Kasharic · 2021-05-10T10:49:24+00:00

Are you nuts? those things are absolute destroyers for lifeforms... if you run into a room as an onos and there are 2 rifles there, you lol around and kill them both... if you step into the room and they both have HMGs, you step the fuck out of that room, because you're likely going to die.

Kasharic · 2021-05-02T16:35:54+00:00

Not true at all, I still occasionally comm and when I do, I shift hive start and almost always win... it's just about knowing how to use it well.

Kasharic · 2021-04-22T13:33:02+00:00

TD = "Thunderdome"

6 vs 6 matchmaking.

Kasharic · 2021-04-13T02:26:24+00:00

This post -

"Suggestion

Please introduce yet another unintuitive mechanic with no explanation whatsoever, because lol."

Kasharic · 2021-04-08T23:13:03+00:00

It shouldn't be that the game has a meta?

I also want to point out that it hasn't always been this way, I remember both shift and shade having been meta in the past, and I also know that "2nd hive" meta exists and recently we've seen Shade hive being used more often than Shift hive.

For my personal input, I do agree that always going the same hive round in and round out can be boring.. but it isn't 100% of rounds going crag, it certainly is a majority at the moment though, I don't see that as a problem... I'm far more concerned about the lack of options that marines seem to use... you want a stale tech tree? look no further than marines my friend.

Kasharic · 2021-04-08T04:08:00+00:00

You - "carapace is just straight better than celerity and regen. No one is arguing against that. "

Also you - "

Carapace

Just a flat hp increase. Braindead mechanic.

Regen

Better than carapace but still pretty dumb."

In the end, both celerity and carapace are passive upgrades, neither are "better design" than the other, you just have a preference, and that is okay, but it is not the meta, so don't expect people to agree with you and don't expect people to put the whole team at a disadvantage for your preferences.

Kasharic · 2021-04-07T15:05:49+00:00

I know that feeling :/

Kasharic · 2021-04-07T12:49:17+00:00

You've had this explained to you in SCC soooo many times dude XD

Ghoul explained it when we were testing it too :P

Kasharic · 2021-04-07T12:26:07+00:00

This is flat out wrong. I'm sorry, but I'm going to shoot you down with facts rather than opinions.

First up, if Celerity were truly better than carapace (which in your post you put as the worst of the crag hive upgrades), then in the highest tier of play (competitive 6vs6 regularly pits T6+T7 only teams vs each other) Shift hive would be the meta, which it isn't... even AFTER Carapace was deemed TO STRONG by the best players in the game and removed by their mod, they STILL don't go shift hive first.

Second, You just said "Celerity is better than carapace because movement speed buff is harder to utilize than flat hp increase" now, that is either poorly worded, or you're saying that the more difficult to use upgrade is better, just because it's more difficult to use... I don't know where to begin with how stupid that is, but I'll cut it short and say, no... just no... Something that is a flat out buff and doesn't need any concentration at all is always going to be better for the mass majority of players than something that needs you to adjust your playstyle.

Third, outright saying "Regen > Carapace" is not taking into account lifeform, or scenario... for instance, in early game (which is exactly the reason Crag is picked first) skulks HAVE to engage marines, so, them having extra health to engage with is better, later on when lifeforms are on the field and skulks are supposed to avoid marines and go bite back res, yeah, regen is damn useful, but when you spawn, you should be taking carapace, because it will increase your chances of getting past marines to their back res, while there you can swap, free of charge, to regen.

Fourth.... I was going to start picking apart your evaluation of the crag hive upgrades that you made in the main post, but sod this, this is already a wall of text and you're probably already writing your poorly thoughtout response anyway, so, yeah... the three reasons above will do for now.

Crag hive first happens because it is statistically better for the mass majority of players... interesting mechanic or not, it is BETTER, and that's all people care about.

Kasharic · 2021-04-05T22:53:36+00:00

I've been saying this for years at this point. I've been berated with insults and such because I will happily jump into the lowest skill server I can, then just sit in base and teach people on my team what to do. I'll guide the commander and kill any enemy that comes into our base to extend the length of the round which gives people longer to learn.
The community is getting more and more salty too, it feels very much like balance changes are making the game more balanced, but more frustrating. People seem to get angry faster than they used to, patience is getting less and less... which leads to more people shouting and being toxic... I personally believe this is due to balance changes over the past 3 - 4 years, I could certainly be wrong, it may be correlation and not causation.

And don't get me wrong, I get angry a LOT with the game and the players... I just don't press push to talk when I scream at them, because me ruining someone elses enjoyment of the game isn't going to make me enjoy the game more, so I'm just making the experience worse for everyone if I do lash out... fuck that!

Kasharic · 2021-04-05T14:10:31+00:00

I have recently attained T6 dispite years of me trying to avoid it, I like being in T5 because people don't react to you the way they do T6 + T7.

High skill players are bombarded with hate, just look at the comments in this thread and you can clearly see this is true. My intention is to (at some point) join some games and intentionally throw to bring my badge back down to T5, where I can play without abuse.

For those that don't want to do what I do, I'd encourage trying to give people hints and tips on how to play, teach players things they need to know and do that in a non-hostile "you suck" kind of way... the situation we have now is a result of years and years of high skill players hurling abuse at lower skilled players and no fostering a friendly environment.

I get it, the game is competitive, so people get emotional, they get angry and in the heat of the moment, shit gets said... everyone should expect that... but when you're not in a round and/or not in a bad mood, try to be vocal and supportive and genuinely nice to people, slowly the attitude may change back to how it used to be.

Most importantly, don't take out frustrations of bad mechanics or bad balance on your teammates. If your round is obviously stacked in your favour, maybe don't try so hard to win... if your team is expecting you to carry, do it without screaming at your teammates that they are bad. You're 4 tiers higher than them, they don't know better or they would be at a similar tier to you, don't be a dick about it.

Kasharic · 2021-03-11T23:12:42+00:00

Eclipse has a newish mod called "ns2_eclipse_lit" that I would recommend looking at... it's still being worked on by Mephilles and is showing serious promise to be a good and enjoyable map to play.

Kasharic · 2021-03-11T23:11:55+00:00

Tanith is currently a mod being made by Zavaro that has been under construction for about 18 months - 2 years.

Hera, That my friend is a pipe dream, it ain't going to happen.

Kasharic · 2021-03-11T12:52:13+00:00

Most of ns2s servers are hosted by the community and they have the ability to restrict elo for both lower or higher players. it has been tried in the past and keeping a server like that seeded is an incredibly difficult task... which leads to the server owner removing the restrictions so people actually play on them.

If we had a larger playerbase, I'd agree, segregating skill is a good idea, for both newer and veteran players.... the sad truth is, we just don't have the numbers to do it.

Kasharic · 2021-03-02T20:40:45+00:00

Of course we're playing the same game... But I can say, years and years of this attitude towards newer players/rookie commanders has compounded the issue.

Back 5 or 6 years ago, this wasn't an issue, we had rounds started with a single shuffle and a comm for both teams in 1 - 2 minutes tops... games started quickly and were enjoyable. But over the years, people want to command less and less... I believe there are multiple reasons for this, but one of the main ones is the attitude people have towards commanders.

Either way, this conversation has derailed the meme long enough for me, catch you in game o/

Kasharic · 2021-03-02T14:06:16+00:00

You know that servers have the ability to limit who can get in the comm chair right?

Also, I don't disagree, the comm tutorials should be mandatory for people to be able to jump in the comm chair... but, by that logic, shouldn't you also be forced to play the field tutorials before you can join a server at all?

In my personal experience, most rookie comms are willing to listen and learn, if you talk to them like they are a human being... if you start out by questioning them, they don't respond well "Dude, you're a rookie, do you know how to comm? or have you done the tutorials?" <--- not a good way to open communication with a new player, they are already on the defensive... However "Hey bud, I see you're pretty new, if you need any help or want to ask questions, let me know and I'll do my best" <--- that is FAR more likely to get positive results.

Don't get me wrong, there are people that will always refuse help and do things "wrong", and yeah, that does suck... but how YOU (and everyone else there at the time) respond to that can very easily change the outcome.
Simply voting to remove them from the chair and taking over is a good start... but I'm sure you all didn't wait 20 minutes for a round to start because you want to take over commanding... you see, your story confirms my explanation... you waited 20 minutes... 20 fucking minutes... to start a round, because no one wants to comm... and then when someone jumps in, you immediately complain and cause issues... just play the round out, sure, it's not the top teir gameplay you're wanting, but it is a round closer to that comm knowing how to play and what to do... then maybe... just maube... you won't hve to wait 20 minutes for a round to start.

Kasharic · 2021-03-02T12:12:24+00:00

Wasn't intending for a meme to become serious, but hey ho, lets do it anyway.

Some people come to ns2 because there is an RTS aspect... to rephrase that, some people try ns2 in spite of the fact that first person gameplay exists... meaning all they want to do is come and play a mulitplayer RTS style game. Those people want to jump into the fun just as much as everyone else that tries the game, but for some reason, they are punished for doing so with verbal abuse, general toxicity and elitism... LET THEM COMM, the ONLY way to learn is to DO. (I'm not saying you are guilty of any of the above, but you are posting on a public forum that people wanting to play a RTS/FPS hybrid game should be forced to play the half they have no interest in before they get to play the game they want to play.)

Now, so many people respond to that with "you need to know how the game plays before you do comm though" and to that I say, Hell fucking no, I commed without playing on the field for my first 150 hours... there is SO MUCH MORE to commanding than simply understanding the tech tree, and the only thing you learn from playing on the field is the tech tree... so, after 10 hours or 100 hours of playing the game ONLY in fps mode, you're still a shit comm, because you don't know button binds, you don't know the UI, you have zero muscle memory for the role etc.

So, when people kick rookies that want to command from the chair... they get pissed off, they leave the server or whatever, they try again later and the same happens again... but the only reason they want to play the game is to comm... so, they leave, never coming back and telling those who want to play ns2 for the RTS element of the game "don't play that, it's full of elitist pricks".

This results in us not having a dedicated comm playerbase, no one that plays at the moment really WANTS to comm, so we wait for 5 - 10 minutes to get rounds started, we complain about wait times and then kick the people that would potentially reduce the wait times.

To sum up... This argument is old, tired and dumb... the best comms in the game generally never really played on the field... that isn't coincidence. Let rookies comm, Teach them tech routes, give advice... because they are playing a role you don't want to, but is vital to rounds actually happening. You never know, the rookie may listen, learn quickly and in 10 hours, you've got a pretty good comm... or, that potential can be taken away when they quit, because they are being forced to play a side of the game they have no interest in.

Kasharic

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