The Vegas is slippery, but it doesn't matter how it handles, 'cause you look like a pimp while you're driving it.
That would be the Fresno.
Had a chance to see hacks from a firsthand perspective yesterday. Was over at a friend's place and he was telling me about how he'd been using it.
After seeing what the hacks do and how it made his character behave while playing, I'm starting to think there are a LOT more hackers than I was previously willing to believe.
There are a ton. A fucking ton. I am no slouch in shooting, and I started to believe it was the fact that I was playing against hackers as to why I was just getting mowed down.
So I started /telling people who I felt where just down and out killing me. I got a great many "LOLYANUB" replies.
They need to fix the hacking issue before anything happens. It really makes the game un-fun. I know I quit due to imbalances and hacking. I got 16 hours left, I'll come use them when I hear good things.
I think the part I dislike most about APB is that you basically can't play alone if you want to have fun. I'm sitting here thinking should I play solo? And all the horrible memories of playing solo come back. And I do not play.
Didn't they just implement a big patch to implement PunkBuster? Is PB very easy to get around?
They turned PB on, and there was horrible lag.
They "emergency patched" the servers to fix the lag. From the looks of it, the emergency patch was turning PB off again.
At any rate, the way PB detects hacks is easily defeated.
Also, with 3 hours left of my original 50, I am done with APB for now. I was playing solo because I was working on a specific contact, but I was taking backups and calling for backup when I could so I wouldn't have to completely solo.
Apparently matchmaking works COMPLETELY off of threat level. So, if I started a mission on my own, one of the following would happen.
- I would get APB'd by someone with lower threat, and that person would be able to call for backup. Another lower threat person would back them up, so then I would get no option to call for backup myself. Leaving me to complete my mission playing 2v1. It doesn't matter what your threat level is, 2v1 in this game is NEVER fair.
- OR I would get APB'd by someone of equal threat who was 200 ranks higher than my character with 3 level 3 upgrades, and a 3-slot gun. Again, no option for backup because hey, we're the same threat level.
Couple that with people that I can now visually identify as hacking and the game just instantly became un-fun.
So, I'm done. Yes, I know the game isn't meant to be played solo. But it's just about the only way to progress through contacts. Any group you get, either pickup or clan is almost never working on a contact you have unlocked.
Well, you're right to say that it's a bad idea to solo APB. I basically have been working with Ein every time I've played this game for the last 60 hours and we've done fine.
But, so what if your group isn't working your contact? You're still getting Praetorians/Tigers rep. I mean, my first 20 hours were nearly all contacts I didn't have because Ein was first working toward the rocket launcher, then toward the NL9. I didn't get much contact rep but I did get up to 20 with both factions pretty quickly.
I still have at least two or three totally awesome moments each night I play, so I'm not giving up on the game just yet.
And I still have a Savage 3 for sale, people! Sheesh.
All the contacts have different unlocks. You also must have all contacts to 6 to unlock all the open-slotted weapons.
It's fairly easy to hit the lvl 3 contact requirement to unlock the next contact by playing solo. My goal was to play them all to 3 to get them all unlocked that way I wouldn't have to worry about which contact my group was doing later.
acidlacedpenguinInstitutionalizedSafe in jail.Registered Userregular
edited July 2010
The trick (well for crims at least) is to log on, do missions for your contact pretty much unopposed until notoriety level 3, then continue doing missions until you get cherry picked, if it's winnable keep doing it, if it's un-winnable just go back to the social and play around with your symbol/car/clothes/character designer until your notoriety cools off.
Or just play when groupmates are around.
acidlacedpenguin on
GT: Acidboogie PSNid: AcidLacedPenguiN
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acidlacedpenguinInstitutionalizedSafe in jail.Registered Userregular
edited July 2010
why is no one playing while I play anymore? Also why are there only 1200 people on Zombie tonight?
If the game has one server at 1200 pop after a couple months? Yikes.
I do not think it will survive, unless sweeping changes are made, and then made public to pull back those who left.
One of its two servers, and it's only been a month. The worst part is quite a few people likely won't buy simply because they fear the servers won't last long.
Ein and I were tearing shit up today, until once again my father's poorly placed power strip had the power button hit on accident, leaving him in a 4v1 match. Tons of fun, though. I'll be on my enforcer on Zombie from 130-5ish eastern today
DaMoonRulz on
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acidlacedpenguinInstitutionalizedSafe in jail.Registered Userregular
edited July 2010
people need to stop acting like babies. So what if there's cheating and/or imbalances? The missions against other players take a max of like 10 minutes, after that you can go back to doing fun stuff.
I'm waiting for the big "Patch" they keep saying is coming.
Matchmaking
We've already made a fair amount of progress on developing the On/Off Duty system and had some internal playtesting on it last week. The playtest uncovered various issues which are being worked on at the moment. It also uncovered a number of problems with how the system is presented and explained to players, so we're also working on updating various UI elements to support the system and make it more intuitive.
Work is also proceeding with the Pure Skill district ruleset, and we're hopeful that we'll be able to release this along with the new matchmaking system, or very shortly thereafter.
Vehicle Handling
The new pass on vehicle handling is now largely complete and has been through internal QA as well as a team playtest here. Overall the effect is considered to be a clear improvement on the existing system, with vehicles being much more responsive in most situations.
Combat
We've been playtesting our new weapon values, complete with recoil, for a couple of weeks now and are close to the point of being very satisfied with them. The weapons feel more reactive and have much more individual character, and with the addition of new audio effects the overall experience is a lot more satisfying. There's still some work to be done on the camera and visual effects, but progress has been rapid and I hope that we can have a first round of testing on PTW in the very near future.
Missions
I think I mentioned in the original post that we've already started prototyping and playtesting various changes to some of the contentious stage types to improve the way they play and reduce the imbalance and opportunity for exploits. The VIP-on-both-sides, which is the first of these, is already a much better play experience and leads to much more of a cat-and-mouse game than the current one-sided version. Prototypes for new versions of Checkpoint Capture and Item Capture using a bonus time system are underway and then we'll be looking at the most difficult of the bunch - Escape. As an aside, we're also looking to alleviate problems with vehicle delivery missions by removing the dropoff timer and making delivery instantaneous, so that crazy mad-dash deliveries will be much more viable.
Although, I think the "Pure Skill" District is a dumb idea and will be nothing about skill at all.
mojojoeoA block off the park, living the dream.Registered Userregular
edited July 2010
I think I mentioned in the original post that we've already started prototyping and playtesting various changes to some of the contentious stage types to improve the way they play and reduce the imbalance and opportunity for exploits. The VIP-on-both-sides, which is the first of these, is already a much better play experience and leads to much more of a cat-and-mouse game than the current one-sided version. Prototypes for new versions of Checkpoint Capture and Item Capture using a bonus time system are underway and then we'll be looking at the most difficult of the bunch - Escape. As an aside, we're also looking to alleviate problems with vehicle delivery missions by removing the dropoff timer and making delivery instantaneous, so that crazy mad-dash deliveries will be much more viable.
Not sure I like the idea of instantaneous drop offs. Or two way VIPs being better than a one way VIP. Yes escapes suck and it sucks when they(vip) run, but are they taking away 'the chase?'
wish my pc was not in RMA hell right now so i could play....
mojojoeo on
Chief Wiggum: "Ladies, please. All our founding fathers, astronauts, and World Series heroes have been either drunk or on cocaine."
Instantaneous drop-offs are a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because those were the most bullshitty stages to clear (whoops, ten second dropoff and they're all here... with grenades... and an OSMAW.) A curse because, well, they were the most fun uses of grenades and an OSMAW.
On the whole, I like it.
Two way VIP is infinitely better than one-way. Any change they make that promotes combat and tactics as opposed to running away for 15 minutes is a win in my book, but it does diminish the value of our Supercar a little.
Also, fix the escape timer so that you can actually escape within the time limit. If you're solo and take a bounty on 4 criminals, you can just go do something else because the escape timer is so skewed at that point that even if the criminals got no penalties, they'd still lose.
That's not exactly Escaping then, is it? More like... Fight-For-Your-Freedom-Ing.
They're Criminals, right? No respect for the law? How about filling the Escape bar gives you a win and some cash/standing, but taking out the Enforcers completely gives you a win and double/triple the cash/standing? Wouldn't you get more street cred by taking the fight to the Enforcers when they interfere in your business?
Instantaneous drop-offs are a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because those were the most bullshitty stages to clear (whoops, ten second dropoff and they're all here... with grenades... and an OSMAW.) A curse because, well, they were the most fun uses of grenades and an OSMAW.
On the whole, I like it.
Two way VIP is infinitely better than one-way. Any change they make that promotes combat and tactics as opposed to running away for 15 minutes is a win in my book, but it does diminish the value of our Supercar a little.
That doesnt promote 2 Vips running away from each other while the non counting 'others' skirmish?
That's not exactly Escaping then, is it? More like... Fight-For-Your-Freedom-Ing.
They're Criminals, right? No respect for the law? How about filling the Escape bar gives you a win and some cash/standing, but taking out the Enforcers completely gives you a win and double/triple the cash/standing? Wouldn't you get more street cred by taking the fight to the Enforcers when they interfere in your business?
How about they fix the timer so you CAN escape and put in range limits on dispatching enforcers for escape so you have a chance to catch them; make it where if they guy is already 500 out in a car I dont dipatch on him and insta lose the chase. IE 100 yards on foot 250 if you are already mobile (in car). A side effect is That it would also cut down on escape missions in general as it eliminates most of the possible people from being dispatched.
mojojoeo on
Chief Wiggum: "Ladies, please. All our founding fathers, astronauts, and World Series heroes have been either drunk or on cocaine."
As of 1.3.1, the following changes will take place:
* Criminal v Criminal matchmaking has been turned off
* System-generated bounties have been turned off - bounties can now only be entered into by witnessing unopposed criminals. This means that the chances of Calls For Backup being bounty missions will be greatly reduced, so those of you who have said that you generally avoid answering CFB because of the number of bounty missions should be able to relax a little and help out the poor souls who need your muscle.
Changes to weapons in 1.3.1
As ever, when we make changes to weapons, it''s not simply as a concession to people raising concerns on the forums. When weapon balance issues come up, we correlate these with feedback from our QA department and from team members who play regularly on the live service. After some discussion, we''ve decided to make the following changes:
N-Tec:
* Base accuracy has been reduced slightly.
* Movement penalty has been reduced slightly to compensate for base accuracy change.
* Number of shots before accuracy degradation is applied has been lowered (becomes less accurate faster).
* Maximum level of inaccuracy the weapon can reach has been slightly increased.
* Benefit gained via Marksmanship mode has been slightly reduced.
OCA-EW:
* Minimum damage percentage at max range has been increased slightly.
* Base accuracy has been reduced slightly.
* Max Range has been reduced by 5m & Effective range reduced by a further 2m.
* Number of shots before accuracy degradation is applied has been lowered (becomes less accurate faster).
* Magazine capacity of the weapon has been reduced from 34 to 28 rounds.
Both of these changes are an effort to reduce the effectiveness of continuous full-auto fire.
NL-9:
So I guess this is the hot topic. After some considerable discussion, we have decided to remodel the NL-9 to behave the way it looks - as a Less Than Lethal shotgun. The NL-9 has been reworked to behave almost identically to the JG-840 shotgun - short range, two-shot stun, with a pellet spread.
I think they're all pretty smart changes. I always felt like there wasn't enough difference between the effective ranges of the OCA and NTEC, as I'd get picked off from what I consider a long range by full-auto OCAs quite a bit.
I would like to see ROF increased for STARs, OBIRs, and Obeyas.
Doesn't really sound like the N-TEC and OCA have been nerfed all that much... what's always bugged me about the N-Tec is it's ability to outshoot an Obeya as long as it's in range. At 50 meters, my gun should be better, and sometimes it's not, and that's somewhat baffling.
Changing the NL9 to a pellet stungun is odd. I agree with reducing the range, but giving it a pellet spread and very short range? What does it do, a sliver of Stamina damage per pellet? If it's effective range is now an arm's length, why would you ever use it over the PIG?
Doesn't really sound like the N-TEC and OCA have been nerfed all that much... what's always bugged me about the N-Tec is it's ability to outshoot an Obeya as long as it's in range. At 50 meters, my gun should be better, and sometimes it's not, and that's somewhat baffling.
Changing the NL9 to a pellet stungun is odd. I agree with reducing the range, but giving it a pellet spread and very short range? What does it do, a sliver of Stamina damage per pellet? If it's effective range is now an arm's length, why would you ever use it over the PIG?
Generally the nerfbat hits too hard. Thats pretty silly as the other shottys are usless in most situations. Pellet spread all crazy and what not.
Have to see how the ntec and oca handle now. Interesting!
mojojoeo on
Chief Wiggum: "Ladies, please. All our founding fathers, astronauts, and World Series heroes have been either drunk or on cocaine."
I just woke up (ed. note; at 5:45 pm? lol) and literally spilled my coffee reading this. Why don't you just delete the weapons from the game. Both of these weapons are now useless. Your also giving other weapons a increased boost from upgrades over the Ntec and OCA because the specific nerfs on each. I am in no way defending these guns and I would be alright with a nerf but this is a little too excessive.
Why wouldn't you add the recoil and overall game fixes on the combat system before nerfing specific guns? Do you all even know how to develop a game. /facepalm
Oh and I have sent support.apb.com plent of emails. I would and I am sure anyone else will require our upgrades to be popped out of your guns and put in our inventory or better yet, a re-selection of our upgrades. When you nerf something, you are altering the object in which we had selected because current values, since you are changing these weapons, I believe anyone with an Ntec and or OCA should be allowed to reselect our upgrades due to the value being changed. I see no need to use the weapon and would like to change to a new primary but cannot because I have used up me level 3 upgrades that I got in my previous weapon.
I just cancelled my contact with AT&T for free because they changed the unlimited data plan to a capped one. Due to me paying for an current value and it being changed, I am allowed to void my service at no charge with them because they are changing a value in which I am paying for to one that I would be paying without my signed consent. (contact)
Now this is not exactly the same but you get my point. If you do not allow us Ntec or OCA users to reselect and or retrieve our upgrades from our weapons, you will see a decline in population even more. Essentially you would be telling us to ❤❤❤❤ ourselves and that is not a good thing when you do not have a very big playerbase in general.
Changes look good from what I can tell. Now they just need to make the shotgun's spread a little less and give them more damage at say 20 meters and we will have more weapons to choose from that are useful.
Maybe i can go back to my precious Obeya more now.
I apologize to the guys I was playing with today. My dad's comp is sometimes up to handling the game and sometimes not. I cursed loudly when the computer crashed in the middle of a getaway.
They need to buff the SHAW so that it kills everything in 1 hit.
Posts
out of personal interest i have been tracking la rocha by trying to log in near the same time every day and doing /pop
That would be the Fresno.
Had a chance to see hacks from a firsthand perspective yesterday. Was over at a friend's place and he was telling me about how he'd been using it.
After seeing what the hacks do and how it made his character behave while playing, I'm starting to think there are a LOT more hackers than I was previously willing to believe.
PSN: Beltaine-77 | Steam: beltane77 | Battle.net BadHaggis#1433
So I started /telling people who I felt where just down and out killing me. I got a great many "LOLYANUB" replies.
They need to fix the hacking issue before anything happens. It really makes the game un-fun. I know I quit due to imbalances and hacking. I got 16 hours left, I'll come use them when I hear good things.
People are blaming upgrades and LTL because they just don't realize how rampant the hacking actually is.
PSN: Beltaine-77 | Steam: beltane77 | Battle.net BadHaggis#1433
-Raph Koster
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTnmanYkP9U
I think the part I dislike most about APB is that you basically can't play alone if you want to have fun. I'm sitting here thinking should I play solo? And all the horrible memories of playing solo come back. And I do not play.
Steam: MightyPotatoKing
They turned PB on, and there was horrible lag.
They "emergency patched" the servers to fix the lag. From the looks of it, the emergency patch was turning PB off again.
At any rate, the way PB detects hacks is easily defeated.
Also, with 3 hours left of my original 50, I am done with APB for now. I was playing solo because I was working on a specific contact, but I was taking backups and calling for backup when I could so I wouldn't have to completely solo.
Apparently matchmaking works COMPLETELY off of threat level. So, if I started a mission on my own, one of the following would happen.
- I would get APB'd by someone with lower threat, and that person would be able to call for backup. Another lower threat person would back them up, so then I would get no option to call for backup myself. Leaving me to complete my mission playing 2v1. It doesn't matter what your threat level is, 2v1 in this game is NEVER fair.
- OR I would get APB'd by someone of equal threat who was 200 ranks higher than my character with 3 level 3 upgrades, and a 3-slot gun. Again, no option for backup because hey, we're the same threat level.
Couple that with people that I can now visually identify as hacking and the game just instantly became un-fun.
So, I'm done. Yes, I know the game isn't meant to be played solo. But it's just about the only way to progress through contacts. Any group you get, either pickup or clan is almost never working on a contact you have unlocked.
PSN: Beltaine-77 | Steam: beltane77 | Battle.net BadHaggis#1433
But, so what if your group isn't working your contact? You're still getting Praetorians/Tigers rep. I mean, my first 20 hours were nearly all contacts I didn't have because Ein was first working toward the rocket launcher, then toward the NL9. I didn't get much contact rep but I did get up to 20 with both factions pretty quickly.
I still have at least two or three totally awesome moments each night I play, so I'm not giving up on the game just yet.
And I still have a Savage 3 for sale, people! Sheesh.
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
It's fairly easy to hit the lvl 3 contact requirement to unlock the next contact by playing solo. My goal was to play them all to 3 to get them all unlocked that way I wouldn't have to worry about which contact my group was doing later.
PSN: Beltaine-77 | Steam: beltane77 | Battle.net BadHaggis#1433
Or just play when groupmates are around.
*ding ding ding*
I still play it cause I like running people over.
I do not think it will survive, unless sweeping changes are made, and then made public to pull back those who left.
One of its two servers, and it's only been a month. The worst part is quite a few people likely won't buy simply because they fear the servers won't last long.
Although, I think the "Pure Skill" District is a dumb idea and will be nothing about skill at all.
PSN: Beltaine-77 | Steam: beltane77 | Battle.net BadHaggis#1433
Not sure I like the idea of instantaneous drop offs. Or two way VIPs being better than a one way VIP. Yes escapes suck and it sucks when they(vip) run, but are they taking away 'the chase?'
wish my pc was not in RMA hell right now so i could play....
On the whole, I like it.
Two way VIP is infinitely better than one-way. Any change they make that promotes combat and tactics as opposed to running away for 15 minutes is a win in my book, but it does diminish the value of our Supercar a little.
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
Successful escape = Tie
If you want a Win, you need to make the takeouts.
Also, fix the escape timer so that you can actually escape within the time limit. If you're solo and take a bounty on 4 criminals, you can just go do something else because the escape timer is so skewed at that point that even if the criminals got no penalties, they'd still lose.
I've seen it happen first hand.
PSN: Beltaine-77 | Steam: beltane77 | Battle.net BadHaggis#1433
That's not exactly Escaping then, is it? More like... Fight-For-Your-Freedom-Ing.
They're Criminals, right? No respect for the law? How about filling the Escape bar gives you a win and some cash/standing, but taking out the Enforcers completely gives you a win and double/triple the cash/standing? Wouldn't you get more street cred by taking the fight to the Enforcers when they interfere in your business?
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
That doesnt promote 2 Vips running away from each other while the non counting 'others' skirmish?
How about they fix the timer so you CAN escape and put in range limits on dispatching enforcers for escape so you have a chance to catch them; make it where if they guy is already 500 out in a car I dont dipatch on him and insta lose the chase. IE 100 yards on foot 250 if you are already mobile (in car). A side effect is That it would also cut down on escape missions in general as it eliminates most of the possible people from being dispatched.
Seriously, 2 VIPs could lead to some major exploiting. Keep the VIP's away from each other and the others just farm each other for kills.
As far as Escape missions go, the real issue is getting into cars and neither side being able to catch the other.
Maybe implement a rubber-banding system where pursuers get a speed boost based on distance from target? Or just make traffic heavier.
PSN: Beltaine-77 | Steam: beltane77 | Battle.net BadHaggis#1433
I think they're all pretty smart changes. I always felt like there wasn't enough difference between the effective ranges of the OCA and NTEC, as I'd get picked off from what I consider a long range by full-auto OCAs quite a bit.
I would like to see ROF increased for STARs, OBIRs, and Obeyas.
I can dream.
Thoughts?
PSN: Beltaine-77 | Steam: beltane77 | Battle.net BadHaggis#1433
Changing the NL9 to a pellet stungun is odd. I agree with reducing the range, but giving it a pellet spread and very short range? What does it do, a sliver of Stamina damage per pellet? If it's effective range is now an arm's length, why would you ever use it over the PIG?
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
PSN: Beltaine-77 | Steam: beltane77 | Battle.net BadHaggis#1433
Generally the nerfbat hits too hard. Thats pretty silly as the other shottys are usless in most situations. Pellet spread all crazy and what not.
Have to see how the ntec and oca handle now. Interesting!
SLIGHT NERFS RUIN MY LIFE
MORE NEWS AT 11
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
Maybe i can go back to my precious Obeya more now.
They need to buff the SHAW so that it kills everything in 1 hit.