Poll: Respawn times

[Homingun]

Some astute and valuable observations going on here. A couple points to consider:

1. As Homingun has pointed out, inventory stations should change up the dynamics of stay-at-home play quite a bit, regardless of map size. Once those changes are in place, revisiting respawn timers may well be a necessity, but until they are -- and until we have more maps against which to judge our hypotheses (for, as Outlawl mentioned, given the current Legions gameplay mechanics size can make all the difference in the world) -- falling into speculation is inevitable. As such, we may have to voluntarily put this conversation on hold until a week or so after inventory stations are in, when we've gotten used to the new gameplay dynamics and have identified the inevitable problems that will have arisen.
2. While the specifics are going to have to wait, the dev team is working on other means by which players can find their niches within the game. This, too, will change things up considerably.

The question I want to ask is: Do we really need inventory stations? They make part of the game a chore (going to a station to get a class) and cater to chasing (considering you spawn in a outrider). So now we changed one aspect of the game (respawn times) and then to balance it out we are adding another aspect to the game (inventory stations). Frankly I don't mind inventory stations, but I would find it annoying to have to visit them just to get into my class after every respawn (tribes anyone?). To many, adding anything might seem like adding depth, but it might actually be detrimental to the game.

Also, why did we need to change the respawn time from the initial 5 anyway? It wasn't broken to begin with.

Homingun, I actually really like your thoughts on a body-block-enhancing replacement for iOD. The question comes to my mind, though: Which would be more fun? iOD's a pretty fun aspect of the game and is fairly core to current Sentinel gameplay. We risk turning people off of playing Sent altogether by removing what is, for some, the defining aspect of the armor class. Perhaps nerfing it slightly, but providing a more effective body-block alternative, would encourage HoFers to pick one or the other -- the ability to easily grab the flag when it's being tossed around like a hot potato, or the ability to effectively stop incoming cappers with a be-all, end-all body block.

It's definitely food for thought.

It would be more fun if I had double the health as an outrider. But it wouldn't make it fun for anyone else. That's where heavies stand right now. An example would be how dual hofs are a big turn off in pugs.

Heavies aren't used much except for their iOD. Having extreme maneuverability define a heavy class is a bit silly don't you think? Also, you might risk turning off the people who have gotten used to the easy button (I do hof btw), but you would gain much needed depth to the class. Then maybe the class could actually be taken seriously in the community. The idea I had proposed would give the heavy offensive capabilites such as the ability to grab the flag (shield doesn't take impulse and takes damage) or just survive and distract and defensive capabilities such as the ability to survive with the flag or body block. Maybe decreasing the health and mass to compensate for the changes might make it more balanced.

I touched on a bunch of different aspects of the game that might require threads of their own. After writing this, I realized just how off-topic I had gotten. But they are all interconnected and I hope people can understand where I'm coming from.

 

[skypredator]

Tanks have extreme agility. Some are even amphibious. But again, we're talking about the future. More importantly, though, we're talking about gameplay. To me, iOD is contradictory to such a heavy class, but what would the Sentinel be without iOD? It would be very slow and vulnerable. It would probably stop being used and eventually dropped from the game. The single major defining aspect of Legions is the concept of freedom of movement. I think the Devs originally had iOD for the Sentinel to make up for its lack of freedom of movement. Otherwise, Legions wouldn't be Legions. And that would just make people sad.

 

[Buhlitz]

I think the Devs originally had iOD for the Sentinel to make up for its lack of freedom of movement. Otherwise, Legions wouldn't be Legions. And that would just make people sad.

The iOD was created and implemented to help the at the time, severely underpowered sent. It was being used on defense by quality players but it just wasn't very effective.

@ Homingun

The problem isn't the iOD the problem is the wake. As we discussed in Ts3 and even demonstrated, it's the WAKE that makes it 'easy button' not the actual maneuverability which is still quite tame compared to other armors. It's a simple solution, remove the wake, but leave the iOD and perhaps have it take slightly more health.

As far as the spawns, I would honestly really like to try the game out with like 5-7 second respawns. I feel as if it would promote teamplay a bit more, and bring a much needed VALUE to each life you have, because as it stands and as it's been mentioned often times suicide is a very useful tactic because of how quickly you are back in game. It is also a map issue, but I think my proposed change should be applied to each map on a map by map basis.

One could also institute a destroyable asset that controls spawn times, or your spawn time could be effected by how often you've recently suicided, or whether or not your flag is at home. Flag is at home 5 secs, Flag is gone, 3 secs etc. There are plenty of ways to handle the imbalance.

 

[skypredator]

If the iOD were not "useful" when it was first implemented, why increase the percentage of health taken from each iOD burst? Sentinels are slow even with iOD when used by players who are not as experienced with it. Exceptions would be Stilgar, Jordo, and Trooper. Even then, they were a fairly easy target. I suggest decreasing the amount of health taken for each iOD burst, but increasing the time it would take for the Sentinel to recharge it's Thrusters energy if the energy was expended due to an iOD. THis would balance out the clumsiness of the Sentinel, and would keep the iOD form becoming too under/over powered.

 

[Buhlitz]

Sure , those are good suggestions. However, I think the only thing that needs to be done is take the 'wake' effect away from iOD that way you still need to "aim" your body at their body for body blocks, and it would lose a ton of it's spammy ness.

 

[skypredator]

Good idea. I find that, when playing LO, I can lose upwards of 40% of my health from the iOD wake alone. That's nearly an indirect hit from a rocket. Owie.

 

[Mabeline]

Good idea. I find that, when playing LO, I can lose upwards of 40% of my health from the iOD wake alone. That's nearly an indirect hit from a rocket. Owie.

That doesn't... do damage.

 

[Chi-Ro]

Personally I disagree, the only thing the wake does is stops cappers. The heavy grabbing flags is all the iOD itself, not wake. Maybe raising OD damage would help, but then what about blacking cappers? And if you raise spawn time too that could make for a heck of a hard time to play HOF vs more than two cappers. Not saying it's the wrong way to go about it, but maybe it's also not the best?

 

[skypredator]

That doesn't... do damage.

I'm pretty sure that an indirect hit from a rocket when you're on the ground will do some owchie-wawa to an Outrider. So does the wake from iOD and regular OD. It's the force of the iOD. Generally speaking, the air displaced by the Sentinel in iOD does damage. Either that, or I'm getting hit. Odd thing though, I make sure not to get hit. Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. And Chi Ro, there's no need to be racist against cappers. <3

 

[Daphinicus]

I'm pretty sure that an indirect hit from a rocket when you're on the ground will do some owchie-wawa to an Outrider. And Chi Ro, there's no need to be racist against cappers. <3

he was talking about the iOD wake. I'm pretty sure he's saying the iOD wake doesn't do damage, not the splash from a rocket.

 

[skypredator]

I sort of picked up on that. If I'm getting damaged from the iOD and I'm sure that I'm not getting hit directly, soem serious changes need to be made to the Sentinel, such as a smaller hitbox, lower health to compensate, more manueverability, and slower Jet Energy recharge if the energy was used for iOD.