Hyborean Strain
Immortal Guides
49
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Posted - 2014.04.27 14:14:00 -
[1] - Quote
Currently the Orbital Strike mechanic serves as a way for proto-stompers to crush any attempts at rallying by their opponents in Public Matches/ gain more warpoints so they can OS again. While appropriately brutal for Eve, It is actively Anti-Fun (in pub matches at the very least). I may sound a little bitter, but I was wondering about ways to bring more depth to the OS system. Ideas I've had:
1. Everyone is sorted into squads when they drop. Of course if you're already in a squad, you're set. But I've found that A LOT of the time, it's just a disorganized mass of blueberries going about shooting things and contributing absolutely zero warpoints toward OS because they just aren't in a squad, and likely don't know that being in one helps. It also simply makes sense, because what kind of military commander comes up with a battle plan like: "Free for All! Just go for it guys"! There should still be a way for people to leave squad as normal, for all those guys who want the challenge of earning orbitals all by themselves, but overall, no more blueberries. Throw in a way for someone to assume (or relinquish) squad command as well. You would see an increase of people forming squads in general.
2. Nerfing OS. The 'starter' OS should have some nagging deficiencies like scatter effect (doesn't always land -exactly- where you want it) poor focusing (shells come down in a less tight pattern than currently, spreading the damage more haphazardly), and small but significant delays between the 'BROMM' sound and the impact, allowing people to maybe/slightly/just possibly escape death.
3. Skills that mitigate these same deficiencies.
4. Modules and equipment that these skills unlock. The OS ability itself should be built right into all dropsuits, as currently, but to maximize your effectiveness... There could be Militia/basic ones for budding lieutenants, with advanced and proto- versions of course. There are lots of options, like a target painter that allows scouts to increase the accuracy of a strike; or a module that passively increases the WP gain used for earning OS's. While there could be warts, such as everyone trying to be sure that they were the squad leader; cutting down on this could be as simple as having a orbital strike modules (similar to warfare links in Eve) passively benefit the entire squad.
5. Possibly bringing the full variety of Orbital Strikes to Pub Matches. For one thing this would allow people to hone their own OS abilities without having to enter a PC match, but it also significantly expands starter gameplay itself. Couple this with differing amounts of WP's necessary to pull off certain types of strikes. Players have more choices to make, which deepens the experience overall; and those choices count: "Do I use the wide range EM strike to mitigate the scatter effect, or do I save my WP's for a faster, more focused projectile strike to take out those vehicles?"
6. New orbital patterns, such as a sweeping strike which cuts across the battlefield in a direction you choose, or a "plus" shaped pattern that focuses damage to a central area while still spreading the love around.
7. Okay guys, give me some other ideas here.  |