Why is one faction's population tanking? - Page 2

Calisai · 2013-02-18, 08:52 AM

Originally Posted by Thunderhawk

NC have certainly enjoyed their new WG in North Indar thats for sure. They've never had it so good with Land percentage

The funny thing is... it's kinda a sucky map position. I remember when VS had the north... Had all this territory, but it was a pain to fight uphill to get into the south all the time. It looked like you owned a whole bunch, but was mostly a vacant desert and any fights on it were usually steamrolled zergfests.

I'm sure TR were happy to get the nice cozy SW. The SE seems like you are always fighting uphill or on the defensive.

The sad fact is... if 90% of the population wasn't always on Indar... it wouldn't matter that much...

Can't wait until more conts and hopefully dynamic Warpgates (or lattice or whatever the hell they decide to mess it up with) of some type.

Sturmhardt · 2013-02-18, 08:57 AM

Originally Posted by Ironside

it should be 1 faction per server, said it all along, none of this jumping to flavour of the month

This. It was a stupid move from SOE to enable people to play a different faction on the same server.

.sent via phone.

Thunderhawk · 2013-02-18, 08:57 AM

Well lets look at it objectively shall we ?

Infiltrator : Pretty even all 3 factions, TR have a beast of a Pistol though. (TR + 0.5)

Light Assault : Even

Medic : TR Medic gun is just godly. But people now use the NS-11 so evened out a bit. (I'll say even)

Engineer : Even

Heavy Assault : Even, you just need to use the right guns.

MAX : NC AI MAX is hands down best MAX for base fights. (NC +1)

----------------

Thats infantry out of the way, no reason to choose a faction on merit of weapons anyway, but then we get to vehicles.....

----------------

ESF : Mossie is by far the best ESF in the sky. (TR +1)
MBT : Prowler has become the best Tank in the game now (TR +1)
Lightnings : No comment (although enjoyed reading in /yell some NCs crying for VS Lightning nerf the other night)
Rest of vehicles are common pool.

----------------

So why would anyone pick VS ? New player that is. No reason whatsoever unless they like Purple.

Controversial comment coming up:-

I think each faction did well with 1 thing it excelled at,

TR were godly with ESFs had a good MAX and great weapons.

NC had a godly AI MAX, weapons hit hard at medium range.

VS had a godly MBT.

Now that all's "balanced" theres no reason to come VS.

(DO NOT EVEN TALK TO ME ABOUT BULLET DROP)

Canaris · 2013-02-18, 09:09 AM

Originally Posted by Thunderhawk

Well lets look at it objectively shall we ?

Infiltrator : Pretty even all 3 factions, TR have a beast of a Pistol though. (TR + 0.5)

Light Assault : Even

Medic : TR Medic gun is just godly. But people now use the NS-11 so evened out a bit. (I'll say even)

Engineer : Even

Heavy Assault : Even, you just need to use the right guns.

MAX : NC AI MAX is hands down best MAX for base fights. (NC +1)

----------------

Thats infantry out of the way, no reason to choose a faction on merit of weapons anyway, but then we get to vehicles.....

----------------

ESF : Mossie is by far the best ESF in the sky. (TR +1)
MBT : Prowler has become the best Tank in the game now (TR +1)
Lightnings : No comment (although enjoyed reading in /yell some NCs crying for VS Lightning nerf the other night)
Rest of vehicles are common pool.

----------------

So why would anyone pick VS ? New player that is. No reason whatsoever unless they like Purple.

Controversial comment coming up:-

I think each faction did well with 1 thing it excelled at,

TR were godly with ESFs had a good MAX and great weapons.

NC had a godly AI MAX, weapons hit hard at medium range.

VS had a godly MBT.

Now that all's "balanced" theres no reason to come VS.

(DO NOT EVEN TALK TO ME ABOUT BULLET DROP)

I'd argue that the Scythe is better than the Mossie, I've seen good pilots handle that thing in ways that make our aces drool with envy.

Binkley · 2013-02-18, 09:09 AM

Originally Posted by Ironside

it should be 1 faction per server, said it all along, none of this jumping to flavour of the month

+1

The other day I thought I saw someone team-kill a sundy parked in the garage at the Crown. At the time, I thought they did it to place their own sundy there to reap the spawn XP. Later, I wondered if it could have been a real life infiltrator, a player from the attacking faction logging in as the defending faction for the purpose of sabotage. Kind of far-fetched, I admit, but if true that kind of shit would really be bad for the game.

Assist · 2013-02-18, 09:14 AM

Originally Posted by Canaris

4th empire suck, that is all.

even on the offical forums there were so many whine threads from people who were VS and stated outright they were only in that faction because they thought it was OP, a slight nerf to the Mag and a couple of buffs to the Vanguard & Prowler and they jumped ship like it was on fire.

You can't do much about the suckers, I hope most went to the NC cos I don't want them in the TR even if it swells our ranks, I much prefer to shoot them in the face.

I think you hit the nail on the head here, though you may not have written this as I read it. I think indeed that so many were playing VS because of how OP they were. Now they're the underdog most would say, as far as balance goes. The question is, why do the other two factions have the loyal players and the VS (apparently) had only the fotm players? It seems to me that TR/NC attract players and the VS don't, as you stated the only reason people played them is because they were OP. To me this says there's a flaw of some sort that needs to be looked at. Why is VS so unattractive to players?

My theory is what TR/NC complain the most about the VS, our weapons. Most fotm players are usually min/max players and IMO the VS don't offer anything for min/max players. We have no bullet drop on our automatics which while a lot of people see it as an advantage, combined with the damage loss at range players like myself don't see it as an advantage. Your aim is something that can be corrected as a player, whereas the damage loss cannot be corrected. That's just one of my theories as to why VS is, IMO, the least played faction right now.

Bocheezu · 2013-02-18, 09:19 AM

I think it's mostly warpgate-related. Before the patch, Mattherson NC were easy to warpgate, while the VS were just impossible to deal with due to ARC bio and Ceres Biotech. The first week after the patch, with normal pops, the VS get warpgated no problem while NC packed NS Salvage enough to cause a server meltdown. I think the warpgates clearly had an effect. Whether that's enough to make someone switch factions, I don't know, but I think if I was a solo player and I looked at a map and saw my faction warpgated multiple times a week, I would start to look elsewhere because digging out of that SE canyon just sucks.

Thunderhawk · 2013-02-18, 09:19 AM

Originally Posted by Assist

Your aim is something that can be corrected as a player, whereas the damage loss cannot be corrected. That's just one of my theories as to why VS is, IMO, the least played faction right now.

That right there is the reason I dont respond to "but you have no bullet drop" arguments.

Calisai · 2013-02-18, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by Thunderhawk

Now that all's "balanced" theres no reason to come VS.

If all the weapons and vehicles were the exact same across the board... VS would still be the lowest faction just based on colors alone...

I mean... Purple/Teal compared to Red/Black or Blue/Gold....

LoL

The reasons I am a die-hard VS are many... but the colors are not one of them.

Calisai · 2013-02-18, 09:41 AM

Originally Posted by Canaris

I'd argue that the Scythe is better than the Mossie, I've seen good pilots handle that thing in ways that make our aces drool with envy.

Good pilots of all vehicles can make maneuvers that others can envy. However, I think it's the low skill performance that drives the 4th empire away. And those same players would see the changes to the Mag as devastating.

The Mag was the king of the low-skill ability to use the tank. Easy to point the tank at a target and click the trigger. No worry about driving one way and pointing the turret the other to shoot. There are a lot of god-awful drivers out there...

Personally, I've already adjusted to the new Mag... and get just as many high number killstreaks with it (more so with the AA changes and more footzerging going on...)

Personally, I'd have preferred dedicated drivers... but I've learned to live with it.

satori · 2013-02-18, 10:20 AM

The population on Jaeger had been very even up until recent days. VS numbers have been consistently lower lately. Even though my Mag has been parked, I have no interest in switching factions myself. Too much time and too many certs invested in VS.

Ironside · 2013-02-18, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by Binkley

+1

The other day I thought I saw someone team-kill a sundy parked in the garage at the Crown. At the time, I thought they did it to place their own sundy there to reap the spawn XP. Later, I wondered if it could have been a real life infiltrator, a player from the attacking faction logging in as the defending faction for the purpose of sabotage. Kind of far-fetched, I admit, but if true that kind of shit would really be bad for the game.

i've seen sundies blown many times by low level toons, makes you wonder

Thunderhawk · 2013-02-18, 10:41 AM

Relogging to perform an advantage is despicable behaviour and should not be allowed, there should be a 15 min cool down at least between switching factions on same servers. Hell, make it 30 min cool down.

SGOniell · 2013-02-18, 10:45 AM

Haven't noticed an issue on Jaeger, if anything VS are performing better now. They regularly cap Amerish and Esamir, whereas before that was what NC was doing.

Figment · 2013-02-18, 10:52 AM

In PS1 the best farming was done on the underpopped empire, defending chokepoint after chokepoint. >.> 15% or less was only seen in the dire late days of PS1. Typically, 25-28% would be a normal figure, but more than enough to make a stand, have a fighting chance or even expand.

In PS2 the best farming is done on the overpopped empire (aside from The Crown and Bio Domes initial defense, which means you should have a chance at owning it ;p), campsieging defenders and steamrolling and ghosting as many targets as possible (free exp!) and utilising the resource replenishment rate advantage that provides. 25% pop is by far and large insufficient to make a stand.

>.>