Old, yes, but on request.

[n99]

This is an old post I made some time ago. With the host-change, this was lost, but Den asked me to put it back up because he said it was useful or something. It's backup, and those that remember the earlier post can probably find differences, since it was changed when I finalized it. Not gonna do that again, even though some of the things are not up-to-date any longer (e.g. I've changed my mind, etc.). Well, here it is, hope someone enjoys it, and maybe even shed a new light ont it.

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Another ‘Future of AQ2’ thread

Introduction

I call myself Nine, or ‘Japan’ on German/Scandinavian servers. I’m Dutch and I have been playing AQ2 for a couple of years now (5). I’m a very inactive player these days, plus, I suck. As you can see, under ‘number of posts’, I’m not a very active member of this forum either J. This does not mean, however, that I do not read the things said here, or do not care what happens to my favorite game: AQ2. After reading some older topics last night I decided to formulate my thoughts about the game and it’s future (in Word, no less). Alot of the things that I say or plan to say in this post are probably already said somewhere else and this post should probably be located under another thread – I leave it to the trusty admins what they want to do with it.

I. The Size of Our Community
There were some posts on this topic earlier, concerning the ‘recruiting’ of new players. I don’t know if I see the necessity of getting new players to play this game, and whether or not it has any chance of success – as said in those posts, the low-end graphics, combined with the speed of the game and the average level of skill at the moment will scare away everyone who doesn’t experience the love-at-first-sight feeling we all had in the beginning. You can get your friends to play, probably, and that would help a bit, but I believe we are adressing this entire issue backwards.
Instead of finding new players, we should focus on making sure the old ones keep playing. If you ask me, I like the fact that aq2 is not a big gaming community – it brings, for me, a feeling of being part of an elite sub-culture. However, people who have played this game for years and decide to leave the scene take something with them, and the scene will bleed dry because of this. Almost the entire Brittish aq2 scene have quit in the last year and a half, ever since Barrysworld pulled the plug. Although alot of prominent members of this forum seem to dislike the brittish, especially the top-segment of that scene, I feel we lost not only good and reliable servers but also a very vivid and lively community, who have helped establish the standard of play we now use. The Dutch community shrinked as well, with Nm3 (also not loved, I imagine), almost completely switching to RQ3 (bleh). I have no view on the size changes of the german and scandinavian scenes, I suspect people will say something on that matter in reply to this post. If we don’t find a way to address this ‘bleeding’ (bandage eh J) this scene will surely die in the coming years.

II. Weapons and Items (TNG)
Most important post on this topic, (that I’ve read) if you ask me, was Uncle- quoting Blue Vex (Uncle- you said it was old, could you date it?). I will copy-paste it here for reference.

Before I start, I would like to say to the ‘purists’ - as in, the people who would like to keep the original balance of the orignal seven weapon and five items (not counting the helmet). Don’t speak out to chances just yet, first, because I believe if we let AQ2 evolve, even in this respect, it might result in (even) better gameplay and in players staying instead of quiting (see I, above). Also, we could have seperate servers for everyone’s wishes, the amount of empty servers at any given time proves that this shouldn’t be a problem.
About the weapons, I agree on the increased rate of fire for the mp5, but not on the shotgun issue – since I think giving the shotgun another type of ammo it will increase the range and versatlity of this weapon, making it TOO powerful. I would also like it if you choose akimbo and laser or silencer u get that item on BOTH pistols, and I would like to see semi-automatic enabled on akimbo as well. Nato rounds, for the m4, should penetrate the vest from close range, but changing that will probably be the worst thing for the game – triple-kevs will kill snipers, and even now, its not that hard to hit head with m4, let alone three friggin’ kevlars.
Almost all of the items suggestions are good ones, in my opinion, but I have some suggestions of my own. New kevlar thigh pads that protect against from leg-damage from bullet-wounds (except from the SSG), but not from falling damage.
Another thing: remember punch? A flop, I think, but if there are coders and artists out there I would like to see a weaponbash cmd WITH animation for each weapon (except for knives of course, duh). How great would it be to able to pistol-whip someone to death in glorious animation.

III. Clans, Leagues and Servers

This is another tricky issue, I don’t think I’ve read much about this before, so here goes. The first ‘problem’ is the amount of clans that die within weeks (or even days) of their formation. This is especially annoying in tournaments and leagues (EAQL). I think that a way to address this problem is that a clan exist for a minunum amount of time before being eligable to join leagues or tournaments. Also, a similar problem is players leaving clans quite soon after joining the clan – sometimes it understandable, you might get into a fight with a long-time member, for instance, or you might get the ‘offer’ of your lifetime. However, player loyalty goes along way. I don’t know how to address this particular issue, except maybe players signing contracts (outch FIFA nightmares).
About leagues, I would like to see a twenty-something classic leagues in which everybody plays one game a week against one opponent until all clans have played all other clans (once, or twice?). Three points for wins, one for draws, zero for losses, etc., etc. This might be something for the future, with servers with a ping equal for every (broadbandth) player in holland, germany and scandinavia (south europe and east europe as well maybe?).
About servers, I’ve seen empty 10mbit servers (!), and I would like to see them change the maximum clients on those servers, like we did on Barrysworld the last games of its existence. Total chaos, and quite a bit of packetloss here and there – but FUN.
That’s the last, and biggest issue I would like to address before going to bed.

IV. FUN

That’s the most significant chance in the game the last few years – I sense that having fun is not as important anymore as it used to be. Skills and high standards of play are nice, but I believe fun should be the first thing on everyone’s mind again....

[Den]

thank you!

[Sulfate]

thanks indd