I know that some of the other people were a bit groggy tonight that we weren't helping defend their territories when they defended ours.
Frankly, I don't really care for how the Alliance system in this game works in general.
Alliance chat should be for Officers only and there should be discreet tools to help officers of the various Alliance members form strike teams.
This every initiate and member squabbling in Alliance chat over who fucked up what for which guild is going to have me not subscribing. I don't play games to get accused of fucking up someones sand castle.
The alliance chat is good for forming groups from the wider group of players (ie all 60 of the others)
Tonight was lackluster. Lost everything in our primetime zone because no one wanted to play. Welp.
That's why I have no intention of subscribing, I don't plan on playing every night, and don't want to lose all "my" progress because I had something else to do one day.
They should have gone with 2-3 factions (Like rebels and commonwealth! gasp!), so whichever guild "owned it" had the primary defend rights, and anyone else in the faction could defend it if no one from the owners would step up.
Although honestly, I just wanted this game to be more like planetside.
Also 50% tax still? Really? I don't mind helping fill the coffers so you guys can AvA, but taking half the cash for no benefit is a bit high.
This is more a problem with how our Alliance is structured now. Once we get things squared away, we'll be able to hold territory better
And yes, alliance coffers are more important than your cosmetic armor. Trust me, every penny is being put to use.
If you think this is drama then you have not experienced real dramabombs before.
You're actually right, i haven't. I also was having a bad day. The day is better now. I just needed some time to cool it before i said or did something dumb that i'd regret.
I'll be back AvAing again in no time, for now im just gonna bust it on ME2 for a day. I mean im already a good level, 25. I'll be dropping in for PVP and PVE regularly. But the AvA i have been doing non-stop, its time to do some other stuff to lol. I've never been this deep into a game and its clan oriented stuff before. It's fun, really fun, but also sometimes i need a break from it.
I know that some of the other people were a bit groggy tonight that we weren't helping defend their territories when they defended ours.
Frankly, I don't really care for how the Alliance system in this game works in general.
Alliance chat should be for Officers only and there should be discreet tools to help officers of the various Alliance members form strike teams.
This every initiate and member squabbling in Alliance chat over who fucked up what for which guild is going to have me not subscribing. I don't play games to get accused of fucking up someones sand castle.
The alliance chat is good for forming groups from the wider group of players (ie all 60 of the others)
Tonight was lackluster. Lost everything in our primetime zone because no one wanted to play. Welp.
That's why I have no intention of subscribing, I don't plan on playing every night, and don't want to lose all "my" progress because I had something else to do one day.
They should have gone with 2-3 factions (Like rebels and commonwealth! gasp!), so whichever guild "owned it" had the primary defend rights, and anyone else in the faction could defend it if no one from the owners would step up.
Although honestly, I just wanted this game to be more like planetside.
Also 50% tax still? Really? I don't mind helping fill the coffers so you guys can AvA, but taking half the cash for no benefit is a bit high.
This is more a problem with how our Alliance is structured now. Once we get things squared away, we'll be able to hold territory better
And yes, alliance coffers are more important than your cosmetic armor. Trust me, every penny is being put to use.
But is it being put to use well?
From what I've seen whenever I look at the conquest map, we are just taking random hexes in the other map, which seems like a waste of credits.
'Waste of credits'. Credits are those things that you use to buy cool armor with once every dozen levels with, right? And maybe some dyes, which cost an handful of missions worth? That number that increases pointlessly underneath my experience bar? I'm not seeing what there is to waste. Maybe thats because I have no idea how much money I've actually earned in GA because I spend it all on bases until I'm broke, and then reach in and grab 20k from the agency to buy more.
It'll go down at some point, I'm sure. What is there to spend it on though?
Frankly, I don't really care for how the Alliance system in this game works in general.
Likewise.
With the current system, the alliances with the largest amount of poopsockers will dominate. You need to have strikeforces available every single night in order to keep your territories defended.
I only have so much time to play each day, and if I spend it all in AvA I won't have any time to do PvP and PvE to get cash for the agency.
Frankly, I don't really care for how the Alliance system in this game works in general.
Likewise.
With the current system, the alliances with the largest amount of poopsockers will dominate. You need to have strikeforces available every single night in order to keep your territories defended.
I only have so much time to play each day, and if I spend it all in AvA I won't have any time to do PvP and PvE to get cash for the agency.
And this is the major dilemma we are facing. The AvA costs tons of money, but gives little reward in return, especially to the lower tier agency members. All they get is marginally good XP and 0 credits for each battle. And at least half of the credits they do earn all end up going toward more AvA.
I agree with Jasconius on the poor design of the Alliance channel and I too try to use only to fill out ranks on short teams.
It is starting to work itself out where it seems that we are all falling into 2 groups by this stage.
Group A are semi-casual, low stress dudes who just want a little challenge here and there, some good natured ass-hattery with like minded dudes, and a reliable gameplay experience grouping up with more or less familiar faces, and likely won't be subbing after March.
Group B seem to be pretty "dedicated" (read addicted) and spend most days shooting on more than 1 AvA map, take the game significantly more seriously than the casual Joe Awesomepants, get more easily bent out of shape over technical points of the game, are looking to to spend time more or less the same dudes on there team on a regular basis, and don't get why noone else is turning down mid-afternoon booty calls from insanely attractive female friends so they can be on in case we need to defend.
Full disclosure: I admit to being a B-man myself and I'm sure there are a few people that might go into either category on a given day but it seems like most of us have a reliable pattern more or less.
Here may be something to consider if we can agree on this "We're different but we like each other enough to get along" premise. If it the smaller, insular, RL-buddies Agencies in the Alliance could be convinced to merge into the KHCS primary group we'd have some working room to find a solution to appease both groups. The friend circles can still be friends and keep to themselves more w/o upsetting people while still being in the big tent. If we can then designate the KHCS Agency as Group A territory everyone would know what to expect up front and there isn't room for misunderstandings.
We could now have space to create a sister Agency in the Alliance for the Group B folks, with the majority of the chronic players working from the same page now we could focus on some of the issues we see emerging regarding Conquest since we have more time and interest in these things anyhow. Group B could make an active recruiting effort. The new recruits would have to show that they can meet 2 requirements to satisfy both the A and B groups, 1) They have to be good enough to satisfy play/skill/time demands of Group B and 2) they have to satisfy the socially agreeable and friendly standards of group A. If a massive prick like Mage and his ilk rear their ugly heads we boot them hard right out of the Alliance never to be heard from again on the basis that they did not meet requirement 2. If the new guys aren't measuring up to the standards of requirement 1 but they're good guys and they get on well with everyone else then they can just sidestep into the Group A army with no shame.
KHCS being in charge of the Alliance gets to dictate whether requirement 2 is being met by Group B, Old and New members alike and if for some reason Group B is mutating into a missive festering stink-anus of pedo-bear approved kitten raping buttfucks then they just eject the whole group B agency.
To address the limited benefits of AvA for Group A types who have an issue with high taxes, we make Group B bear the brunt of the Conquest charges and go back to what seemed like a surprisingly effective model of low taxes and rely on large money donations from agency members. This way we can build up a larger competetive population to push in Conquest, have the oversight of the casual dudes, and have a large pool that should statistically provide enough people at any given time to form scratch defense strikeforces to hold the line and allow the casual guys with subscriptions the opportunity to play AvA. It would be on group B's plate to just accept whether they win or lose as another challenge and the cost of dealing with a friendly group of well-meaning dudes. (Remember we all have days we suck, sometimes they aren't things we can fix like bad lag or steam crashes)
There may be some holes in my proposed solution, but I figure someone ought to put something out there and a get a directed discussion on the issue going before everyone just melts down. Input from everyone would be a good thing and maybe we can work this out.
'Waste of credits'. Credits are those things that you use to buy cool armor with once every dozen levels with, right? And maybe some dyes, which cost an handful of missions worth? That number that increases pointlessly underneath my experience bar? I'm not seeing what there is to waste. Maybe thats because I have no idea how much money I've actually earned in GA because I spend it all on bases until I'm broke, and then reach in and grab 20k from the agency to buy more.
It'll go down at some point, I'm sure. What is there to spend it on though?
Armor, dye, the special armor pieces from the store below the auction hall, crafting to get the enhancements.
All of these things are permanent, and a better investment than paying out large chunks of credits so you guys can go grab every hex possible even though you have little chance of holding onto all of them.
Like I said, I don't object to having a tax to help you guys have your AvA fun, but 50% is kind of ridiculous for something that gives no benefits to anyone except the groups doing AvA.
Yeah, I expected that kind of rift when I learned that AvA doesn't give any money.
I think that at least successful defenses should give cash.
I tend to agree.
I also think that both sides here have a legitimate argument, although frankly the drama in Alliance chat is a serious turn-off. We should be more strategic on our taking and holding hexes, rather than spreading uncontrolled through the map. Conquest is about slow and methodical expansion, never stretching beyond your means, etc, and most of the people actually playing AvA are just throwing that particular rulebook out the window hunting for MOAR HEXES. There's a balance here, and we haven't found it yet.
I like how confusion over some miscommunication in alliance chat turns into some kind of drama episode : /
Seriously, this isn't drama.
And your right, we are still finding our balance in terms of AvA. I think that once people hit 30 and things even out we'll see a huge improvement in not just attendance but hex capture and control.
So I just saw the Giantbomb quick look for this game. How do monkeys like that get a job playing games?
calling them monkeys is an insult to monkeys everywhere, i apologize
I love Giant Bomb, but when Jeff decides he doesn't like a game, it seems like he'll never give it a chance to shine after that point.
The game's tutorial could do a better job of explaining stuff, but it was pretty silly how he almost never used the mini-gun, instead relying on the machine-gun for pretty much the whole thing.
They do have a point about the game looking older than it is. I'm willing to bet the textures weren't even the real problem; just the total lack of AA.
I'm not a graphics whore by any stretch of the imagination, but this is probably my biggest pet peeve with the game right now. I hate seeing the jaggies all over the place, in a game from fucking 2010 on a rig that can run with everything maxed.
They do have a point about the game looking older than it is. I'm willing to bet the textures weren't even the real problem; just the total lack of AA.
I'm not a graphics whore by any stretch of the imagination, but this is probably my biggest pet peeve with the game right now. I hate seeing the jaggies all over the place, in a game from fucking 2010 on a rig that can run with everything maxed.
When you start you have such a terrible power pool that the assault rifle is nearly as effective, I agree they did sound just kinda whiny, though.
Seriously,though, trying to kill dudes with an assault sans skill points or a medic is an awful, awful time. Sometimes it is with both of those. Knockback is lame, where's my Natascha!
They do have a point about the game looking older than it is. I'm willing to bet the textures weren't even the real problem; just the total lack of AA.
I'm not a graphics whore by any stretch of the imagination, but this is probably my biggest pet peeve with the game right now. I hate seeing the jaggies all over the place, in a game from fucking 2010 on a rig that can run with everything maxed.
Unreal Engine. Borderlands also lacks AA.
I know that. Developers need to either find a workaround or stop using that engine. If nHancer can sloppily force AA on it, I'd hope the people behind the actual game can make it work without dropping performance by 25%-50%.
They do have a point about the game looking older than it is. I'm willing to bet the textures weren't even the real problem; just the total lack of AA.
I'm not a graphics whore by any stretch of the imagination, but this is probably my biggest pet peeve with the game right now. I hate seeing the jaggies all over the place, in a game from fucking 2010 on a rig that can run with everything maxed.
Unreal Engine. Borderlands also lacks AA.
I know that. Developers need to either find a workaround or stop using that engine. If nHancer can sloppily force AA on it, I'd hope the people behind the actual game can make it work without dropping performance by 25%-50%.
Do you even understand what AA is.
AA is an increasingly outdated graphics feature, and there is a reason why Unreal doesn't use it.
1) It's ridiculously expensive, resource wise, and it gets more expensive as resolution increases
2) It doesn't really matter if you are playing at HD resolutions.
AA dithers pixels to make hard edges seem smooth, and it hearkens back to the days when games were played at 800x600, or somewhereabouts, and pixel lines were much much more noticeable
If you are playing at 1920xabillion, then you really shouldn't need AA unless you are a manic or just being groggy for the sake of it.
Unreal would rather have you play at 1080p with no AA than play at 1280x1024 with 16x AA
They do have a point about the game looking older than it is. I'm willing to bet the textures weren't even the real problem; just the total lack of AA.
I'm not a graphics whore by any stretch of the imagination, but this is probably my biggest pet peeve with the game right now. I hate seeing the jaggies all over the place, in a game from fucking 2010 on a rig that can run with everything maxed.
Unreal Engine. Borderlands also lacks AA.
I know that. Developers need to either find a workaround or stop using that engine. If nHancer can sloppily force AA on it, I'd hope the people behind the actual game can make it work without dropping performance by 25%-50%.
Do you even understand what AA is.
AA is an increasingly outdated graphics feature, and there is a reason why Unreal doesn't use it.
1) It's ridiculously expensive, resource wise, and it gets more expensive as resolution increases
2) It doesn't really matter if you are playing at HD resolutions.
AA dithers pixels to make hard edges seem smooth, and it hearkens back to the days when games were played at 800x600, or somewhereabouts, and pixel lines were much much more noticeable
If you are playing at 1920xabillion, then you really shouldn't need AA unless you are a manic or just being groggy for the sake of it.
Unreal would rather have you play at 1080p with no AA than play at 1280x1024 with 16x AA
Actually the UE3 engine has this thing called "deferred lighting" which isn't compatible with AA yet. They didn't just dump AA exactly.
You're right that less games use AA mostly because it isn't needed really because there are natural blur post effects and all kinds of jazz now that just don't blend too well with AA. yAA isn't "outdated" because some games still use it and people still use it in CGI. Though with all the new stuff that don't play well with it and higher resolutions, we just don't need it as much anymore, but it isn't "outdated".
But don't most people still play on normal sized monitors? I know I'm rocking two 1440x900's. Of all my gamer friends I only know of one who actually plays on an LCD big enough to not need AA.
Yeah, I expected that kind of rift when I learned that AvA doesn't give any money.
I think that at least successful defenses should give cash.
Yeah I was thinking this too, especially since they have to pay to attack you.
Edit: On a side note about the AA I definately agree that if there are ways around it that indeed do the same thing it's much better, for example bloom is always good as it smooths out the edges and is a million times less resource intensive than AA.
I guess my point is that if you have a computer that can run this game with any respectable level of detail AND anti-aliasing, you can probably afford the 1080p monitors that run for about 300 dollars these days if you get them from Dell or Samsung.
I don't know all the ways that one person can get "Defense" points, but I seem to lead that stat by a ridiculous margin every match I play.
Just want to gauge opinion here, the other agencies in GLA are suggesting cutting KCHS down to 20-30 active members, ie the super dedicated AVAers/our A-Team, and kicking everyone else. They also want to hold 1 or 2 hexes and keep those instead of expanding.
I need to know what our general population of active AVAers is. If you are in the agency to just play with friends or stay out of AVA that's understandable, but I need to know this. Right now it's presumed that if you are in the agency, you are there to support the agency/alliance, and that means AVAing whenever we're in trouble or looking to set up multiple SFs. This may not be evident now as everyone is leveling and we're cherry picking the lvl 20s and such, but it will be much more obvious once everyone comes into the 27-30 range.
How much are people paying for rusty plates these days? I've been paying 2500 a pop, which is much cheaper than you'll find on the AH, but I've been accused of paying far too much.
Just want to gauge opinion here, the other agencies in GLA are suggesting cutting KCHS down to 20-30 active members, ie the super dedicated AVAers/our A-Team, and kicking everyone else. They also want to hold 1 or 2 hexes and keep those instead of expanding.
Like I said, I don't object to having a tax to help you guys have your AvA fun, but 50% is kind of ridiculous for something that gives no benefits to anyone except the groups doing AvA.
Why aren't you doing AvA, too? The coordinated fights are pretty damn fun. For that matter, why isn't everyone? A few nights back there were about a dozen in our agency who were online but doing random matches while we were getting attacked from all angles. We asked repeatedly to get some more people to help defend (its good experience, too!) and nobody did.
Now don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to dictate how someone spends their game time. I'm honestly trying to understand why someone would buy this game and ignore the AvA portion of it.
Just want to gauge opinion here, the other agencies in GLA are suggesting cutting KCHS down to 20-30 active members, ie the super dedicated AVAers/our A-Team, and kicking everyone else. They also want to hold 1 or 2 hexes and keep those instead of expanding.
I need to know what our general population of active AVAers is. If you are in the agency to just play with friends or stay out of AVA that's understandable, but I need to know this. Right now it's presumed that if you are in the agency, you are there to support the agency/alliance, and that means AVAing whenever we're in trouble or looking to set up multiple SFs. This may not be evident now as everyone is leveling and we're cherry picking the lvl 20s and such, but it will be much more obvious once everyone comes into the 27-30 range.
This is a dumb thing to do, sure not everyone plays every day but that is no reason to kick them. Nor should we keep to 2 hexes we can do nothing with. I'd rather have some of those tiny agencies get together in bigger agencies so its easier to organise things.
Like I said, I don't object to having a tax to help you guys have your AvA fun, but 50% is kind of ridiculous for something that gives no benefits to anyone except the groups doing AvA.
Why aren't you doing AvA, too? The coordinated fights are pretty damn fun. For that matter, why isn't everyone? A few nights back there were about a dozen in our agency who were online but doing random matches while we were getting attacked from all angles. We asked repeatedly to get some more people to help defend (its good experience, too!) and nobody did.
Now don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to dictate how someone spends their game time. I'm honestly trying to understand why someone would buy this game and ignore the AvA portion of it.
Well currently primarily, because I am working 10 hour shifts at work, and weekends, and my hours are only going to increase as time goes on, so my highest character is only 17. Not to mention the fact the AvA is usually over by the time I get home from work.
Secondly, it's just pvp without having to play with retarded pugs, and honestly not worth a monthly fee to me. If it had been more like planetside, with large battles going on I probably would have been all over it.
Just want to gauge opinion here, the other agencies in GLA are suggesting cutting KCHS down to 20-30 active members, ie the super dedicated AVAers/our A-Team, and kicking everyone else. They also want to hold 1 or 2 hexes and keep those instead of expanding.
I need to know what our general population of active AVAers is. If you are in the agency to just play with friends or stay out of AVA that's understandable, but I need to know this. Right now it's presumed that if you are in the agency, you are there to support the agency/alliance, and that means AVAing whenever we're in trouble or looking to set up multiple SFs. This may not be evident now as everyone is leveling and we're cherry picking the lvl 20s and such, but it will be much more obvious once everyone comes into the 27-30 range.
Uh... the game's been out five days. It's maybe a little early to be making those kinds of calls.
If KCHS is going to be all serious business right out of the gate then maybe some of us need to rethink being involved in the first place. I want to AvA enough to pay $10 a month, but not if it's going to be like raiding in WoW where we're kicking inactive people if they don't log in for a week or aren't leveling fast enough.
Just want to gauge opinion here, the other agencies in GLA are suggesting cutting KCHS down to 20-30 active members, ie the super dedicated AVAers/our A-Team, and kicking everyone else. They also want to hold 1 or 2 hexes and keep those instead of expanding.
If all you wanted to do was harvest the forum for AvA fodder and kick everyone else out then you could have saved us the trouble.
Their presumption is wrong, and your response is... to make their presumption right? Well what the fuck is that? You've already collected 50% tax on 100+ members.
I'll make you a deal, kick us out, but give us our money back, because I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's sent 5 or 6 figures into the bank.
Yeah, we all joined the KCHS thinking it was a PA agency, not just the cool kids club.
The shit thing is is that I would love to AvA constantly. Really would. But I work 5:30pm EST to 1:30am EST. I have to start getting ready for work at 4pm and I don't get home/on my computer until 2:30am. That leaves exactly one AvA round of the day I can be on for, and only then if I wake up early.
So I can only really AvA on the 2 days I have off, and shit often comes up.
I don't think the logical thing would be for 70 to 80 people to get kicked out of the agency so that 20 to 30 can play.
There is no need currently to change the setup in any substantial way is there? What advantages would there be for the 20-30 person 'elite' agency?
Fundamentally KCHS is the PA agency, not some tiny group for hardened players. If anyone wants to alter the setup they can leave KCHS rather than foisting their view on the large majority of members who want to enjoy the game without it turning into DKP dramas and binding obligations.
If there really is grumbling from some of the other agencies in our alliance, maybe the best thing would be for KCHS to remove itself from the alliance and a second, hardcore PA agency be set up to be part of that alliance for those who want to play it that way. Hell, you wouldn't even need to set up a new PA agency, you could just have those who wanted to join one of our current allies.
Personally though I prefer maintaining the current setup unless there is some pressing concern that hasn't been properly explained yet.
Let me set my earlier post straight. I am opposed to this cutting down because KCHS should inherently be the PA agency for all PA people. My original question of AVA participation was so I could make sure everyone was on the same page that the agency as a whole should AVA focused.
With that said, I think a large part of people in the agency, and I think the purpose of the agency overall, should be AVA. And if there is anybody that is counter to this idea, then they should speak up. Because frankly, for having 100 members, our turnout has been dismal. It's too early to tell, sure, but for the opening week of the game, it's not a good forecast.
Currently, the other agencies in the alliance believe that we have 100 members but only a few are truly active and committing to the effort. They take issues with KCHS expansionist methods and think we should be focusing, as I said, on one or two hexes.
I proposed that these agencies, due to their small player count, should merge to open up space for other agencies with higher member counts that could add us even more in the AVA effort. The leaders of these agencies countered that we should break down KCHS to get rid of dead-weight (what they called "casual players"). These agencies are actually multi-gaming communities that are pretty close knit and have been playing together since the early 90s, so they are completely opposed to merging and losing their individual community identities. So we're stuck in the mud essentially.
I propose that if the other agencies don't like that a PA guild is gonna be big and not always going to want to do what they like, that they can fuck off.
I've been seduced by STO. I only have so much time in a day!
Guys, tribbles.
They are so cute.
I'm sure they are, once you get through the 1000 person queue. I thought about purchasing the game earlier today but having read that thread I think I will hold off until things settle down.
Posts
This is more a problem with how our Alliance is structured now. Once we get things squared away, we'll be able to hold territory better
And yes, alliance coffers are more important than your cosmetic armor. Trust me, every penny is being put to use.
You're actually right, i haven't. I also was having a bad day. The day is better now. I just needed some time to cool it before i said or did something dumb that i'd regret.
I'll be back AvAing again in no time, for now im just gonna bust it on ME2 for a day. I mean im already a good level, 25. I'll be dropping in for PVP and PVE regularly. But the AvA i have been doing non-stop, its time to do some other stuff to lol. I've never been this deep into a game and its clan oriented stuff before. It's fun, really fun, but also sometimes i need a break from it.
But is it being put to use well?
From what I've seen whenever I look at the conquest map, we are just taking random hexes in the other map, which seems like a waste of credits.
It'll go down at some point, I'm sure. What is there to spend it on though?
Likewise.
With the current system, the alliances with the largest amount of poopsockers will dominate. You need to have strikeforces available every single night in order to keep your territories defended.
I only have so much time to play each day, and if I spend it all in AvA I won't have any time to do PvP and PvE to get cash for the agency.
And this is the major dilemma we are facing. The AvA costs tons of money, but gives little reward in return, especially to the lower tier agency members. All they get is marginally good XP and 0 credits for each battle. And at least half of the credits they do earn all end up going toward more AvA.
This is something they really need to fix.
...and then you need to pay for it.
It is starting to work itself out where it seems that we are all falling into 2 groups by this stage.
Group A are semi-casual, low stress dudes who just want a little challenge here and there, some good natured ass-hattery with like minded dudes, and a reliable gameplay experience grouping up with more or less familiar faces, and likely won't be subbing after March.
Group B seem to be pretty "dedicated" (read addicted) and spend most days shooting on more than 1 AvA map, take the game significantly more seriously than the casual Joe Awesomepants, get more easily bent out of shape over technical points of the game, are looking to to spend time more or less the same dudes on there team on a regular basis, and don't get why noone else is turning down mid-afternoon booty calls from insanely attractive female friends so they can be on in case we need to defend.
Full disclosure: I admit to being a B-man myself and I'm sure there are a few people that might go into either category on a given day but it seems like most of us have a reliable pattern more or less.
Here may be something to consider if we can agree on this "We're different but we like each other enough to get along" premise. If it the smaller, insular, RL-buddies Agencies in the Alliance could be convinced to merge into the KHCS primary group we'd have some working room to find a solution to appease both groups. The friend circles can still be friends and keep to themselves more w/o upsetting people while still being in the big tent. If we can then designate the KHCS Agency as Group A territory everyone would know what to expect up front and there isn't room for misunderstandings.
We could now have space to create a sister Agency in the Alliance for the Group B folks, with the majority of the chronic players working from the same page now we could focus on some of the issues we see emerging regarding Conquest since we have more time and interest in these things anyhow. Group B could make an active recruiting effort. The new recruits would have to show that they can meet 2 requirements to satisfy both the A and B groups, 1) They have to be good enough to satisfy play/skill/time demands of Group B and 2) they have to satisfy the socially agreeable and friendly standards of group A. If a massive prick like Mage and his ilk rear their ugly heads we boot them hard right out of the Alliance never to be heard from again on the basis that they did not meet requirement 2. If the new guys aren't measuring up to the standards of requirement 1 but they're good guys and they get on well with everyone else then they can just sidestep into the Group A army with no shame.
KHCS being in charge of the Alliance gets to dictate whether requirement 2 is being met by Group B, Old and New members alike and if for some reason Group B is mutating into a missive festering stink-anus of pedo-bear approved kitten raping buttfucks then they just eject the whole group B agency.
To address the limited benefits of AvA for Group A types who have an issue with high taxes, we make Group B bear the brunt of the Conquest charges and go back to what seemed like a surprisingly effective model of low taxes and rely on large money donations from agency members. This way we can build up a larger competetive population to push in Conquest, have the oversight of the casual dudes, and have a large pool that should statistically provide enough people at any given time to form scratch defense strikeforces to hold the line and allow the casual guys with subscriptions the opportunity to play AvA. It would be on group B's plate to just accept whether they win or lose as another challenge and the cost of dealing with a friendly group of well-meaning dudes. (Remember we all have days we suck, sometimes they aren't things we can fix like bad lag or steam crashes)
There may be some holes in my proposed solution, but I figure someone ought to put something out there and a get a directed discussion on the issue going before everyone just melts down. Input from everyone would be a good thing and maybe we can work this out.
Armor, dye, the special armor pieces from the store below the auction hall, crafting to get the enhancements.
All of these things are permanent, and a better investment than paying out large chunks of credits so you guys can go grab every hex possible even though you have little chance of holding onto all of them.
Like I said, I don't object to having a tax to help you guys have your AvA fun, but 50% is kind of ridiculous for something that gives no benefits to anyone except the groups doing AvA.
I think that at least successful defenses should give cash.
I tend to agree.
I also think that both sides here have a legitimate argument, although frankly the drama in Alliance chat is a serious turn-off. We should be more strategic on our taking and holding hexes, rather than spreading uncontrolled through the map. Conquest is about slow and methodical expansion, never stretching beyond your means, etc, and most of the people actually playing AvA are just throwing that particular rulebook out the window hunting for MOAR HEXES. There's a balance here, and we haven't found it yet.
Seriously, this isn't drama.
And your right, we are still finding our balance in terms of AvA. I think that once people hit 30 and things even out we'll see a huge improvement in not just attendance but hex capture and control.
I love Giant Bomb, but when Jeff decides he doesn't like a game, it seems like he'll never give it a chance to shine after that point.
The game's tutorial could do a better job of explaining stuff, but it was pretty silly how he almost never used the mini-gun, instead relying on the machine-gun for pretty much the whole thing.
They do have a point about the game looking older than it is. I'm willing to bet the textures weren't even the real problem; just the total lack of AA.
No. Game. Should. Ship. Without. Proper. Anti. Aliasing.
I'm not a graphics whore by any stretch of the imagination, but this is probably my biggest pet peeve with the game right now. I hate seeing the jaggies all over the place, in a game from fucking 2010 on a rig that can run with everything maxed.
Unreal Engine. Borderlands also lacks AA.
Seriously,though, trying to kill dudes with an assault sans skill points or a medic is an awful, awful time. Sometimes it is with both of those. Knockback is lame, where's my Natascha!
I know that. Developers need to either find a workaround or stop using that engine. If nHancer can sloppily force AA on it, I'd hope the people behind the actual game can make it work without dropping performance by 25%-50%.
Do you even understand what AA is.
AA is an increasingly outdated graphics feature, and there is a reason why Unreal doesn't use it.
1) It's ridiculously expensive, resource wise, and it gets more expensive as resolution increases
2) It doesn't really matter if you are playing at HD resolutions.
AA dithers pixels to make hard edges seem smooth, and it hearkens back to the days when games were played at 800x600, or somewhereabouts, and pixel lines were much much more noticeable
If you are playing at 1920xabillion, then you really shouldn't need AA unless you are a manic or just being groggy for the sake of it.
Unreal would rather have you play at 1080p with no AA than play at 1280x1024 with 16x AA
Actually the UE3 engine has this thing called "deferred lighting" which isn't compatible with AA yet. They didn't just dump AA exactly.
You're right that less games use AA mostly because it isn't needed really because there are natural blur post effects and all kinds of jazz now that just don't blend too well with AA. yAA isn't "outdated" because some games still use it and people still use it in CGI. Though with all the new stuff that don't play well with it and higher resolutions, we just don't need it as much anymore, but it isn't "outdated".
Yeah I was thinking this too, especially since they have to pay to attack you.
Edit: On a side note about the AA I definately agree that if there are ways around it that indeed do the same thing it's much better, for example bloom is always good as it smooths out the edges and is a million times less resource intensive than AA.
I don't know all the ways that one person can get "Defense" points, but I seem to lead that stat by a ridiculous margin every match I play.
Yeah, there's tons of ways to rack up the various points.
I think damaging/killing someone on the point gives a huge chunk of defense.
I need to know what our general population of active AVAers is. If you are in the agency to just play with friends or stay out of AVA that's understandable, but I need to know this. Right now it's presumed that if you are in the agency, you are there to support the agency/alliance, and that means AVAing whenever we're in trouble or looking to set up multiple SFs. This may not be evident now as everyone is leveling and we're cherry picking the lvl 20s and such, but it will be much more obvious once everyone comes into the 27-30 range.
This is stupid and so are the people saying it.
Why aren't you doing AvA, too? The coordinated fights are pretty damn fun. For that matter, why isn't everyone? A few nights back there were about a dozen in our agency who were online but doing random matches while we were getting attacked from all angles. We asked repeatedly to get some more people to help defend (its good experience, too!) and nobody did.
Now don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to dictate how someone spends their game time. I'm honestly trying to understand why someone would buy this game and ignore the AvA portion of it.
This is a dumb thing to do, sure not everyone plays every day but that is no reason to kick them. Nor should we keep to 2 hexes we can do nothing with. I'd rather have some of those tiny agencies get together in bigger agencies so its easier to organise things.
Well currently primarily, because I am working 10 hour shifts at work, and weekends, and my hours are only going to increase as time goes on, so my highest character is only 17. Not to mention the fact the AvA is usually over by the time I get home from work.
Secondly, it's just pvp without having to play with retarded pugs, and honestly not worth a monthly fee to me. If it had been more like planetside, with large battles going on I probably would have been all over it.
Uh... the game's been out five days. It's maybe a little early to be making those kinds of calls.
If KCHS is going to be all serious business right out of the gate then maybe some of us need to rethink being involved in the first place. I want to AvA enough to pay $10 a month, but not if it's going to be like raiding in WoW where we're kicking inactive people if they don't log in for a week or aren't leveling fast enough.
Their presumption is wrong, and your response is... to make their presumption right? Well what the fuck is that? You've already collected 50% tax on 100+ members.
I'll make you a deal, kick us out, but give us our money back, because I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who's sent 5 or 6 figures into the bank.
In-game mail will be fine.
The shit thing is is that I would love to AvA constantly. Really would. But I work 5:30pm EST to 1:30am EST. I have to start getting ready for work at 4pm and I don't get home/on my computer until 2:30am. That leaves exactly one AvA round of the day I can be on for, and only then if I wake up early.
So I can only really AvA on the 2 days I have off, and shit often comes up.
There is no need currently to change the setup in any substantial way is there? What advantages would there be for the 20-30 person 'elite' agency?
Fundamentally KCHS is the PA agency, not some tiny group for hardened players. If anyone wants to alter the setup they can leave KCHS rather than foisting their view on the large majority of members who want to enjoy the game without it turning into DKP dramas and binding obligations.
If there really is grumbling from some of the other agencies in our alliance, maybe the best thing would be for KCHS to remove itself from the alliance and a second, hardcore PA agency be set up to be part of that alliance for those who want to play it that way. Hell, you wouldn't even need to set up a new PA agency, you could just have those who wanted to join one of our current allies.
Personally though I prefer maintaining the current setup unless there is some pressing concern that hasn't been properly explained yet.
With that said, I think a large part of people in the agency, and I think the purpose of the agency overall, should be AVA. And if there is anybody that is counter to this idea, then they should speak up. Because frankly, for having 100 members, our turnout has been dismal. It's too early to tell, sure, but for the opening week of the game, it's not a good forecast.
Currently, the other agencies in the alliance believe that we have 100 members but only a few are truly active and committing to the effort. They take issues with KCHS expansionist methods and think we should be focusing, as I said, on one or two hexes.
I proposed that these agencies, due to their small player count, should merge to open up space for other agencies with higher member counts that could add us even more in the AVA effort. The leaders of these agencies countered that we should break down KCHS to get rid of dead-weight (what they called "casual players"). These agencies are actually multi-gaming communities that are pretty close knit and have been playing together since the early 90s, so they are completely opposed to merging and losing their individual community identities. So we're stuck in the mud essentially.
Guys, tribbles.
They are so cute.
I'm sure they are, once you get through the 1000 person queue. I thought about purchasing the game earlier today but having read that thread I think I will hold off until things settle down.