That's the rythm of Disco. If something becomes to popular, if it attracts too many players and activity, it must be nerfed. For the life of me, I really don't get it.
Too much value is attributed to the whining, and sometimes it seems like devs/admins/etc. don't temper it, but go all in and actually really fully believe everything the whiners say, if they are of course players of high status. Different player statements and experiences are treated unequally, depending on who utters them.
I was part of the RNC raids that lead to former [LN] leadership going haywire, and in all honesty it was the most severe overreaction I have ever witnessed on this server. So what if you lose? So what if RNC uses a heavy armor doctrine - why not organize LNS'ers and counter it with dread spam, rather than push admins/devs/whatever for a change? It was wrong, and staff handled it extremely poorly and one-sided with consideration of a handful of players rather than the vast majority enjoying the game. On a few occasions admins would even show up front and warn us about stuff that made no sense, as no-one had even fired any shots yet.
The thing is, in a competitive multiplayer game, the losing side will always cry (I've done that myself) and feel unfairly treated, and I think that has to do with gamers being more whiny than the general population and also being used to computer games being their little kingdom where they rule supreme. Staff should have thought about that, rather than nerf cruiser missiles, RNC cruisers, Rheinland ID's, jumpgates and now diplomacy.
The result is that now LNS got diddly squat to do, so if they see one VHF they send 4 dreads - it's boring for the dreads as they have no chance of a kill, and ditto for the fighter. The Gallia campaign doesn't alleviate this, as the GRN ID doesn't allow them to strike in Liberty.
(08-29-2014, 06:04 AM)Mímir Wrote: That's the rythm of Disco. If something becomes to popular, if it attracts too many players and activity, it must be nerfed. For the life of me, I really don't get it.
Maybe because of high status high profile players of the past? And no, that's not a conspir[A]cy, it's just basic human nature to be more inclined to listen to and adopt the viewpoints of those closer to you. No one can say they are free of bias. At least, that is my guess. It is odd that nothing ever happened to Liberty considering that it - probably more than any other house or faction - have the most rampant caps.
But look at Dublin - "oh there's a whole lot of you having fun and being super active? NERF!". Outcasts vs. Corsairs - "oh hi guys, we heard you like to raid. NERF!", "Oh, indie pirates having fun in their scrubby snubs in Liberty? NERF!" etc. etc.
In the case of Corsairs, it was like 4 players who liked to chat away in Crete orbit that were all anti-raid, in the case of indie pirates it was one Rogue on a collision course with everything and anything that pushed for it. It's remarkable that it has been relatively few players pushing for these changes that affect a whole lot of players - and also worth noting that those few players are gone, even though they got things the way they wanted, completely smashing the prospect of future activity. Too bad.
(08-29-2014, 06:40 AM)Mímir Wrote: But look at Dublin - "oh there's a whole lot of you having fun and being super active? NERF!". Outcasts vs. Corsairs - "oh hi guys, we heard you like to raid. NERF!", "Oh, indie pirates having fun in their scrubby snubs in Liberty? NERF!" etc. etc.
Don't forget about Omicron Minor/Delta Alaska madness. Best damn fun that was available on the server in 4.85. But they decided to make Minor a giant imposing monument of nuked fun, because the fun didn't fit in with a few people's view on how everyone has to play exactly the way they want them too (mainly meaning that everyone always lets the same people win and fulfill their fantasies of being the superheros while everyone else had to play as their footsoldiers).
User was banned for: Karlotta
Time left: (Permanent)
No but seriously. Who's idea was it to destroy them?
To my best recollection, it was Friday's idea.
(08-29-2014, 06:04 AM)Mímir Wrote: That's the rythm of Disco. If something becomes to popular, if it attracts too many players and activity, it must be nerfed. For the life of me, I really don't get it.
...
Players complain about lack of dynamism in the game universe. Mod update released. Suddenly, things change and players now complain that their favourite repetitive activities are gone or have changed. Devs spend longer time working on next mod update. Repeat cycle.
There's not really much that can be done about changing attitudes and policies as various members of the development and administration teams come and go over the years.
It's fair enough, I do know that it is impossible to cater to all and that us players for the most part come across as ungrateful bastards (and on that note I'd like to say thanks for the mod, the forum, the server and staff, I spent a lot of hours having fun for free because other people put in a lot of hard work).
That being said, it might be a good idea to look at the people that's been catered to and see what effect it actually wound up having, and maybe either re-think things or take it into consideration when making new changes. There's a habit of villainizing players and groups, and it's really counter-productive.
To take a few concrete examples, groups like RNC at large and CGS, I've personally had nothing but good experiences getting killed by them, and I don't think the forum image corresponds with my in-game experiences at all. In fact I have a theory that the more saintly people act on the forum, the bigger douches they are in-game and vice versa.
These activity-killers might be good for a few people, no doubt, but we'll have to think of the majority if we don't want to lose players (and attract new). That's what I think, I might be wrong though. But I think the idea of shielding players to this extent just makes them complacent and teaches them "wrong" values.
RM, LN, Nomads, Space Gods, whomever, blows up the Rheinland/Liberty jumpgate, except for a circuitous standoff far off the beaten path, with absolutely nothing of any strategic, tactical, or commercial value for at least two jumps either way, in an empty system.
On the other hand, just the other day I went from Texas to Hudson to Hamburg, after recieving a rude dump out of the trade lane to a destroyed jumpgate. All I did was cruise a minute or so over to the jumphole.
So, really, it's still connected. It's just not open to large capitals such as CR/BC/BB - Isn't that good, though? Isn't Liberty Navy notorious for capital-spamming everything? I made that run in a Camaro, and I think I could make it in my Serenity too.
What's stopping Rheinland from putting a force of Bomber/Gunboats through that hole?
What's stopping Liberty from clearing a path through the field? (Subcontract Junkers/IMG/DSE/???)
With regards to the gate-closing in the first place - Rheinland was getting wrecked, right? And they're the ones that blew up a pair of ludicrously expensive jumpgates, right? The only source for parts for those same gates being on the other side of them?
Whose boneheaded idea was that?!
If you want to close the gates? Surround one side with giant anti-capital mines, then park a couple battleships and accompanying screening elements off the gate. You could pull those same battleships off the Kusari, Bretonian, or Corsair/Hessian border, to make an opening for opportunists.
From the sound of things, this was a unilateral decision that didn't involve Rheinland Lawful, and made a fair few of them unhappy; It also had the unintended effect of killing their activity. Given that, as well as the in-character alternatives to such an incredibly drastic and relatively-permanent act, I can't help but question the wisdom of that decision, and I can't help but wonder why it's sticking.
Bad Changes are bad; Retcon or no, don't stick with them unless you've got a good reason.
Howard Williams - CEO, Williams-Mordhauser Distributing - "Just try and stop us"
Caroline Convair - General Secretary, Williams-Mordhauser Distributing - "Please excuse the CEO"