I didn't twist words at all. I directly quoted and used literally in context. You twisted words. 'You can twist words all you want.'... And your anecdotal 'feelings' simply don't factor in to this discussion; sorry darling. As we already know, even on Connery, NC are being outperformed by TR and VS, both in achievements, captures, KPU, KPH and KDR.
What he seems to be is saying is: "NC is Hard mode...... and we're not sure how to fix that". I'm not entirely sure I agree with that however (as there are several NC weapons that just don't perform whether it's your first time with them or your billionth).
Balance is a slippery slope. Those that call for it will never be satisfied. Even worse so, because the asymmetrical nature of the game will never allow apples-apples comparisons- making the perceived reliance on rage over reason even more pronounced. Stop with the balance, and get in the game. there is plenty of opportunity right now to be successful with any faction...despite the raging on the forums.
Looks like you've dealt with it by using our one competitive LMG and two NS weapons as your top three. Running away from the problem weapons is dealing with it indeed. Maybe you should be one donning spandex.
1. Up the RPM, Up the magazine size by 10, reduce damage of the Anchor and make it so it matches to TTK of the Orion, and MSW-R/T9-Carv. 2. Enforcer is being worked on* 3. lower the reload time on the Max AI, but slightly tone damage down. 4. Provide NS Long range weaponary, and NS shotguns for Max's. 5. Change Max ability: A shield that protects all around for 1 ,1.5 ,2 ,2.5, 3 seconds. Has a cooldown, and can fire when used. Those are some of the buffs I think you guys could use.
Sorry, but when even the Devs are saying "yes, balance isn't right" you may as well give up with that "there is no balance/this is not the balance you are looking for" silliness.
Where did you learn that in-game setbacks mean the game is broken? Was it single player scripted-win games perchance? Anyway, let's see if you will address my point: Where is the end of asymmetrical balance efforts once it starts, and how are they measured other than in the amount of tears they produce?
Yeah he is saying that. The thing is even that doesn't neccesarily have anything to do with any weapon "skill cap" though (although equally it might), but could just be occuring because you have to get very, very good (and perhaps significantly tweak your tactics) to "significantly lessen" the weapons direct drawbacks.
Higby's saying it, not me. You need to have an argument with him (which you'll lose as the balance change will happen)!
No, what it sounds like is that Higby has had a crisis of conscience after pushing buffs and nerfs this year that have either made an option over-perform to the most extreme of depths or under-perform to the extent that it's no longer considered a option for any purpose. We had the Magrider, which was so good in January that you wouldn't catch a VS soiling his feet on the ground in most circumstances, and would just gunner up if he lost his vehicle and was on cooldown. Then he broke it to be next to useless (the nerf had unintended consequences for Magrider handling that weren't fixed till later). Then he buffed the Prowler because it was under-performing at that point in time, giving us the Prowler HE infantry murder spam of the time. We had Annihilator invisible rocket span for a good period of time where an entire squad would use the Annihilator to reduce entire vehicle rushes to dust and create a no-vehicle zone in a kilometer radius around them. Then the annihilator was destroyed as a viable weapon. Then the Annihilator came back as the Striker, except only one faction could create these no-vehicle zones around them. We also had the Phoenix, which was a horrendously overpowered infantry murder weapon that threatened to replace the entire NC arsenal with nothing but it, but was nerfed near instantly, while the Lancer was nerfed down before they released it because they thought it would be the over-performing ESRL of the three (which made me question their knowledge of their own game). We had pump-shotguns which threatened to turn this game into a OHKO-fest again, but were nerfed along with every other shotgun in the game, which ended up heavily damaging the NC MAX's viability. Of course, we have ZOE as well, which is effectively a better infantryman with dual-wielding weapons he can't aim, which has been nerfed before and will be nerfed again. Meanwhile, Aegis and Lockdown are looked at as underwhelming compared to the always-available Charge. We also have harassers, which completely invalidate the Flash as a competitive vehicle as it does everything the Flash can do, better (except cloak I guess), can surpass MBTs at infantry farming and can match MBTs at anti-vehicle warfare. Looking at the past year, their balancing policy has been an absolute mess. It would be good if they take these mistakes and learn from them as Higby is purporting they are (by wanting to balance the game without throwing us the next cheese). I don't particularly hold much confidence in this actually happening, though. As players, we're good at finding the cheese and congregating to it. This is a combined arms game with numerous balances attached to the stats of every single weapon. They're going to screw up. It's not like Starcraft was balanced from the start. They just need to keep active and make sure each foul up takes the game closer to balance than farther away, and I'll be happy with it. To be honest though, I feel like the game is farther from balance now than it was when the game was released, but a lot of that is due to new weapons which try too hard to justify their existence and end up over-performing. It could just be that a lot of the hate was on ESFs at the time too, and that left very little hate for the ground weapons because it was rocketpods this, rocketpods that. Either way, I'm biased, but that's how I feel comparing balance now to balance then. Also, I know there's going to be a lot of hate in regards to, "Well, the TR/VS got to have X for half a year, why can't the NC have over-performing weapons too!?" Perpetuating the imbalances that are destroying the enjoyment of this game for others is not in the best interests of any of us, though. Lets hope they actually do manage to figure out a way to rebalance the NC without turning some ability into the next God of Destruction or making such an underwhelming pass that the NC as a whole remain the buttmonkey of Auraxis. I honestly wouldn't hold out too much hope, but we shouldn't be wishing to be turned into an over-performing whirlwind of vengeance, as the only thing that will be reduced to dust by doing so is the population numbers of the game, same effect as many of the other lingering imbalances have had.
Not arguing with the developers. That's as fruitless as begging them to make my game easier. My concern goes much deeper. How many times are we going to want our game to hand us wins on a silver platter before we figure out that overcoming the challenge is where the reward is?
Honestly I'm just glad to see SOE embracing asymmertical factions. Thank god they "get" that...I was scared this would turn into Call of Duty. As for NC, I hope they get some buffs but he can't really come out and say "NC are getting buffs" Do you know how many people would cry over that?
Alright guys, I asked the original question on Reddit. I thought the answer Higby gave was pretty clear. There will be adjustments to cross-faction gameplay issues (I.E harassers, common pool etc), and there will be some (though less) faction specific adjustments too. This does not necessarily mean that NC will be getting buffed, but other factions' gear/abilities/vehicles may be toned down to bring us all in-line. But overall: Let's just wait and see.
Me either. Also to thread: CALM DOWN. If Higby made the DPS of the Gauss saw FAR out DPS high ROF weapons if every shot hit, it would mean that players with higher accuracy would wtfdominate. They want to buff stuff for the NC but they already have a higher DPS and they don't want to lower the TTK too drastically. I would just go with my nerf honestly. Get rid of adv laser on high ROF weapons and give them to slow firing ones OR make new slow firing hard hitting weapons for all factions in which all would benefit from. This would also presumably give TR their first 167max carbine, VS another 167max choice with SPA, and NC a 200max carbine with SPA and great hipfire. High ROF shouldn't have such high accuracy because their high ROF makes up for their lack of accuracy.
Uh...wow. Higby's statement seemed to start off well by admitting that the NC have overwhelming balance issues and weaknesses and then said if we buff the NC the fractional percentage of the best players in the game are going to be better. Okay, so using said Higby logic NOTHING SHOULD BE BUFFED EVER because the best players in said faction we'll always be better if you buff things that they use. That's like saying, "Well sure plain wooden stick is a terrible weapon but there is one guy who's really, really good with plain wooden stick and if we buffed plain wooden stick and made it like a plain wooden pointy stick, that one guy would be even better."
