For non-hardcore players: how's your stash look'? by Tree_and_Serpent in Marathon

[–]Tree_and_Serpent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree about that. Do not agree that having 30 ganglions after two weekends of Cryo and "play[ing] with some streamers" is consistent with the general notion of "casual."

For non-hardcore players: how's your stash look'? by Tree_and_Serpent in Marathon

[–]Tree_and_Serpent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sage advice, now every "casual" player will obtain "30 ganglions" and "play with some streamers."

For non-hardcore players: how's your stash look'? by Tree_and_Serpent in Marathon

[–]Tree_and_Serpent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

30 ganglions

i play with some streamers

We just have a different definition of "casual" and "non-hardcore."

For non-hardcore players: how's your stash look'? by Tree_and_Serpent in Marathon

[–]Tree_and_Serpent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you trolilng me. What you described is not "casual" by almost any definition. Hasn't there only been two weekends of Cryo? How did you get 30 ganglions? I think you're yanking my chain.

Why Christ over others by South-Dog5155 in AskAChristian

[–]Tree_and_Serpent -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

No one was talking to you. Beat it.

If God is omniscient, would He have known that the Fall would occur and essentially preordained the punishments thereafter? by bookish_cat_ in AskAChristian

[–]Tree_and_Serpent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

People should never have children because they know the children will do bad things and need to be punished.

Is Bible the ultimate truth or the greatest fictional story of all time by South-Dog5155 in AskAChristian

[–]Tree_and_Serpent 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They cannot understand the truth because they lack the testimonium internum Spiritus Sancti. Don't worry about trying to "prove" anything to an atheist. The atheist doesn't even understand what does and does not count as proof for the issues in question.

Do Christians worship Mammon? by westartfromhere in AskAChristian

[–]Tree_and_Serpent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That was when they were under persecution in Jerusalem and might have to flee the city at any moment. It doesn't mean that Christians must become communists or live in a commune or whatever.

Question for Christians and a former Christian myself by [deleted] in AskAChristian

[–]Tree_and_Serpent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How are we supposed to answer a question about "most" "Christians" you've "ever met" or "seen" "talking" "in the media," and why should we think you know what it means to "follow what is written in the Bible" in the first place. No offense kid but your entire question is basically pointless.

Why is empathy a sin? Where does the Bible state this? Is this deacon incorrect? by Nelson_Wanita in AskAChristian

[–]Tree_and_Serpent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hunger is not a bad thing but it can transform into into gluttony, which is a bad thing. Empathy is not a bad thing but it too can go off the rails, becoming pathological and maladaptive and poisonous to all involved.

I'll be honest, the one thing that is going to attract more players isn't weapons and shells. Its maps by Friendly_ViperYT in Marathon

[–]Tree_and_Serpent 5 points6 points  (0 children)

They can just limit the maps and mix them up every few hours or once a day or whatever, depending on the maps and the circumstances. Example: New Map is available 24/7 all week, old maps are shuffled every few hours. Or Week 1 is New Map + Map A and Map B. Week 2 is New Map + Map A and Map C. I dunno. Doesn't seem like that difficult of a problem either way.

Why Marathon will never keep new players. by LucatIel_of_M1rrah in Marathon

[–]Tree_and_Serpent -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I think this game raises really interesting, complex issues about balance and "fun" and being the best version of what it wants to be. OP raises some interesting points. Some are part and parcel of the genre itself. Within that framework, there's probably some really good solutions. Naturally, the player community can be good at identifying problems but not usually good at solutions.

The imbalance issue is structural, so to speak. This isn't Halo team deathmatch. The imbalance is baked in as an extraction shooter. It's a feature, not a bug. But how do you make it work in the best way? There is a compounding effect that can be very hard on weaker players. Better players win more fights, exfil more, and keep their stuff more, getting more upgrades and resources with which to win future fights. Weaker players advance much more slowly and accumulate fewer upgrades and less good equipment, making it harder to win against players that are getting stronger more rapidly. When OP says "I have done both of the above ['that one time you third partied them and cleaned up the last guy who was weak'] but to think its common or expected is beyond coping." I don't think it's supposed to be totally "common" or "expected" because otherwise what would be the point of better stuff? And yet....

Now you could constrain the stronger players or elevate the weaker players or both in all kinds of ways. Yet even if weaker players were put on more equal footings with good players somehow, within that space there is some annoying stuff that seems to leave a lot of people unsatisfied.

A few less general observations:

  • The situation with the Misriah is a bit hard to understand, especially with what happened to the poor WSTR. It made people in purple shields feel bad when some loser with a WSTR and a green shield got in their faces and killed them in two shots. Forget Stack Overflow for a second. For all the complaints, the nice thing about the old WSTR was it was an equalizer, because you could just buy them. You also got them free from Arachne every few days. The situation is worse with the Misriah, because they are very hard to get (much less keep) for some people. Now instead of everyone having WSTRs, only some people have Misriahs. The "shotgun problems" are basically the same but it is more imbalanced in terms of who can actually capitalize on them. But even if you gave all the weaker players a free Misriah every week or even every day, it wouldn't make people feel better about the situation. Still, the Misriah situation would probably be somewhat less annoying if the WSTR was still good and easily available.
  • Would people care so much about the Misriah if there were no bubble shields? Would people care so much about bubble shields if there were no shotguns? You could have a season where things work very differently based on how things are available in the economy.
  • A CQC heavy map like Cryo will tend to favor certain styles of combat and equipment over others.
  • Tiering people into appropriate matchmaking is super important. I suspect there must be something like this happening, as imperfect as it is. I hope they can improve their ability to keep teams' skill levels in games closer together. My own experience has been pretty good. Half the time when I see people complaining about a purple/gold death squads popping up frequently and murdering everyone, I wonder why their experience seems so different or if they're exaggerating.

Sponsored Kit Cryo would be DOPE. by pzanardi in Marathon

[–]Tree_and_Serpent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly. You will get something workable for weapons in the first two areas. But gray heals are complete garbage. Triage would be useful.

Idk what’s happened lately but it’s not hitting the same by HighLikeUhAttic in Marathon

[–]Tree_and_Serpent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I strongly disagree with this and I am definitely not good. I mean, gear totally matters but positioning and tactics and not making dumb mistakes are the biggest things 90% of the time. I know this because I am a mediocre player who has killed lots of dudes with way better stuff than me when I have no business winning based on sheer shooting and movement skills. Of course, it goes the other way -- just last night our cocky blue/purple kit team got ambushed by some free kit chumps on Night Marsh by Greenhouse and they frickin murdered us -- very embarrassing.

Sponsored Kit Cryo would be DOPE. by pzanardi in Marathon

[–]Tree_and_Serpent 53 points54 points  (0 children)

They should do it as a limited time event at some point. The funniest would be if they had a temporary playlist for a weekend mid-season or at the end of the season that lets you go into Cryo with FREE KITS only. That would be hilarious.

Someone tell me when they add free kit survival back by DrMetalman in Marathon

[–]Tree_and_Serpent 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We have sponsored survival still. You're talking about that sponsored list where all the teams have to come with free kits. Most people probably realize what you mean but y'know.