It Seems the mod is somewhat Dead after v1.4.5

[RenegadeGaming]

I just joined this forum to inform you that the latest version of this mod is turning off a lot of the players in this community, I myself am new to this mod only a month in, but it seems this recent update will cause the eventual death of this mod. This is depressing considering the fact this is my only backup entertainment that has lightsabers and doesn't have an overly toxic community. The deserting of the servers that were full only a couple weeks ago has given me memories of the death of My favorite game, Star Wars Republic Commando. I would really hope to see the servers alive again, as this was somewhat a hassle to install considering my Norton Antivirus.
-RenegadeGaming

UNRELATED: Reason being, I have a crash bug on SWBF2 So I cant play hero assault because every time I would load in, It causes the whole entire server to crash. I believe this is something to do with my router.

 

[noel]

Ive also noticed a decrease in players

Duel was starting to get really popular, there was like 70-80 people across 2-3 servers at some points

The problem is is that the devs are making old members of the community happy, instead of making new people happy.

This is great because there are a lot of loyal and old players coming back, however these players don't stay long.

There were so many new faces coming into the community and really getting into it, names like cain, icetea, only got one kenobi, rvacts, oJosephV, Cheeky nandos. All you had to do was look at the most recent t.cult's list of members, there were about 20 new active players that were playing every day.

1.4.5 comes and the saber combat does a flip turn and now they're gone because they're frustrated at how far backwards they've went skill-wise.

So now that they're gone, we have in their wake about 5 old players who have come back and (I can't say for sure but I'm guessing) they'll end up leaving by the time the next update comes along, then they might revisit it for a while, who knows.

The point is we've traded 20 people for 5 people who are the most loud/active/opinionated people on the forums, and thus their word shapes the way the game is played.

I'm not bitter about 1.4.5, I think it's a good patch, I just don't neccessarily think it will be the best thing for the mod's lifeline.

There was obviously a reason for people staying around when 1.4.4 was in place, I feel like it was far more easy to understand for new people because you could get a long way without having to learn how to swingblock 4 hitters (which has to be the most boring thing to learn in the game).

Now that you literally can't compete without 4 hitters with swingblock and a lot of yaw, it's offputting for new people because it takes far more work to get even anywhere near decent with.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, 1.4.4 with nerfed blue and cyan and slower pbc, in my opinion, would have really pushed a system which was working and getting a lot of people to play

that doesn't mean to say that this update won't suddenly amass a huge amount of pooularity, and if it does, then I will take back all that I have said here

 

[k4far]

I am watching numbers at Jack'lul quite often. Take a look at the bottom of his tracker at different times.

It is at least 120+ players each day at some point and that did not change gladly.

I have a crash bug on SWBF2 So I cant play hero assault because every time I would load in, It causes the whole entire server to crash. I believe this is something to do with my router.

If you enjoy Battlefront 2 then I know everything. Game for brain dead.

Turning off a lot of the players in this community, I myself am new to this.

You could not do much in a month so what is the value of what you are saying.

 

[noel]

I am watching numbers at Jack'lul quite often. Take a look at the bottom of his tracker at different times.

It is at least 120+ players each day at some point and that did not change gladly.



If you enjoy Battlefront 2 then I know everything. Game for brain dead.



You could not do much in a month so what is the value of what you are saying.

Because he's the voice of a new player, and likely representative of what new players are thinking?

 

[k4far]

Because he's the voice of a new player, and likely representative of what new players are thinking?

Nah.

You measure actual population over years or many months, at least. This is for attention... worthless thread.

 

[jewbacca]

Well.. It's not quite uncommon for new players to think that mb2 is dead, or something :-/


Might be that new players state their concerns just to get some clarification from community? Because they kinda like this mod, and stuff, but afraid that it might die. Dunno...

 

[S o l d i e r]

The reason new players are leaving is because it's so hard to "git gud" in this game. You can say Battlefront is for brain dead, but it's new-player friendly. MB2 isn't. MB2 favours the elitist players who played for many years. Everything in this game is complicated and complex. Especially the sabering system. There isn't even a proper in-game tutorial. There are only written tutorials and the library, and people don't come here to read pages long just to learn how to play the game, not to talk about any more advanced stuff (I, for instance, still don't know what ACM is despite playing for many years). You literally have to be an autist and to break your mouse to swingblock between consecutive swings and perfect block, including that you've played for several years at least to perfect it. What can a new player do? He enters the game and gets raped by an elitist who calls him a "noob". The end.

Another reason why players in general are leaving is because this game hasn't been fundamentally changed since 2008. Yes, there have been new maps, new models, certain tweaks and small additions to classes, etc., but the gameplay and classes are fundamentally the same and no new classes were added. I've seen the videos from 2008 and was negatively surprised to see that the game is fundamentally the same right now as back then. MB2 is stuck in a constant loop of fixing what's broken and what's not broken, that it just fails to deliver any significant new content. Every game gets boring if this is the case.

And finally, probably the most dominant reason MB2 is dying is because this game is 14 years old. JKA no longer gets any attention anywhere after 14 years. JKA is dying and MB2 is dying with it. What do you think, that people would try JKA today while more up to date games with impossible graphics, gameplays and engines than ever? No. They don't even know about it, and much less about MB2. Now, I started playing video games about the time JKA was released (but not JKA at that time yet), and still the best graphics for me are the graphics of that time. New graphics are just too detailed for me and overwhelming and everything. New games are more about the graphics than gameplay. But still, the graphics, for example, from Dark Forces and older 2D games, I just don't like and I would never play those games, while there are people who played them back then that do love those graphics. What do you think, that people who are used to new graphics would find JKA alluring? No. It just looks bad to them, just like Dark Forces looks bad to me.

 

[k4far]

I have been saying myself this game is dying because of being pissed after getting killed so many times over and over.
Dark Sounds has a very elite fanbase due to the effort required to succeed at this game.

 

[jewbacca]

He enters the game and gets raped by an elitist who calls him a "noob". The end.

Well, when I started to play I just got to duel server and was instantly raped by Hlevie (true story). On top of being huge asshole he was also unfriendly and extremely unhelpful. But it didn't turned me off, instead because I had such an example of what a good player is capable off, I could also see the depth of this game, and I wished to become better. I still do.

I believe this was a reason for many other duelists to stay and learn. Same as me, they just wanted to become better and do cool stuff with glowing dildos. I guess mb2 sabering is just not for guys who don't want to spend their time learning. No amount of videos and tutorials can change that.

 

[S o l d i e r]

I could also see the depth of this game

It's okay for a game to have depth, but when there is too much of it you get crushed by the pressure.

 

[{Δ} Achilles]

You shouldn't expect to join the game and be stomping someone who has spent years mastering a mechanic after just a couple of months, this disgusting entitlement of "I want to be good but I don't want to have to work at it" annoys me almost as much as "but its a team game" arguments do. The game is complex to learn, yes, perhaps too complex, however it should continue having as much depth as it does, and should have even more depth.

There is a difference between a skill floor and a skill ceiling, the gunning skill floor is about as low as it gets.

 

[jewbacca]

Whoa, I actually agree with Achilles here. Might be my elitist arrogance, here, but I think theres some sort of natural selection in place. Only those who can and wish to learn stay here.

Same with any other competitive game, actually. Take starcraft 1, for example, newer player stand no chance even against an average player. Not to mention newer player most often can't even see what he is doing wrong. It takes a lot of effort to git gud, actually. Not everyone can spend that much time studying demos and stuff like that.

So I guess glowing sticks are just not for them? Elitism intensifies.

 

[jewbacca]

However, it wouldn't hurt to have more visual and sonud cues. Some things have to be more distinguishable, visual and sound cues are extremely important for understanding what's going on in duel.

Maybe some new animations to distinguish bodyhits from pb, running attacks from walking attacks and stuff like that. Dunno, it might help, but it sounds like a lot of work (

 

[S o l d i e r]

You can't compare Starcraft with MB2. Blizzard's maxim is "easy to learn, hard to master". MB2 is "hard to learn, hard to master". If you want people to get in-game and to master a thing, they first have to learn it, and that's what MB2 is missing. MB2 has no single-player or tutorials for players to learn how to play the game. The library isn't helpful either. The problem is that when you first enter the game you don't know what's going on and it's not so easy to learn even the basics, not to talk about mastering things. Old players might take these basics as granted, but they forget how they were when they were starting.

 

[jewbacca]

Blizzard's maxim is "easy to learn, hard to master"

I took starcraft as an example becase it is nowhere near easy to learn. You would keep losing over and over agian, and game wouldn't tell you why. You NEED to read stuff and watch replays to win.

And no, single player campaign in starcraft can't really prepare you for online gameplay. No amount practice with bots will do. Though, I have to admit, It does a better job than mb2 single player campaign, which doesn't even exists.

 

[kvinto]

You can't compare Starcraft with MB2. Blizzard's maxim is "easy to learn, hard to master". MB2 is "hard to learn, hard to master". If you want people to get in-game and to master a thing, they first have to learn it, and that's what MB2 is missing. MB2 has no single-player or tutorials for players to learn how to play the game. The library isn't helpful either. The problem is that when you first enter the game you don't know what's going on and it's not so easy to learn even the basics, not to talk about mastering things. Old players might take these basics as granted, but they forget how they were when they were starting.

M B 2 H A S N O T U T O R I A L S

 

[S o l d i e r]

M B 2 H A S N O T U T O R I A L S

What I meant was in-game mission-like tutorials. If you read my previous post you would know why they are much better than reading pages long of written tutorials. Practice is always better than theory, and less dull.

 

[Liniyka_xddd]

You would keep losing over and over agian, and game wouldn't tell you why. You NEED to read stuff and watch replays to win.

Bad example. In starcraft, if you completed the campaign, you already know all the mechanics. You don't need to watch tutorials to learn how to construct buildings, use unit abilities, etc. What you don't know are strategies and tactics.

But in mb2, not only you don't know the tactics, but you also have no idea how to operate the damn lightsaber. BP, MBlock, ACM, Halfswings, Swingblocking - all these things are quite confusing when first encountered.

 

[S o l d i e r]

I took starcraft as an example becase it is nowhere near easy to learn. You would keep losing over and over agian, and game wouldn't tell you why. You NEED to read stuff and watch replays to win.

And no, single player campaign in starcraft can't really prepare you for online gameplay. No amount practice with bots will do. Though, I have to admit, It does a better job than mb2 single player campaign, which doesn't even exists.

I didn't mean it teaches you how to complete campaign levels or beat online players, but it teaches you the basics which you can build on later on. In MB2 even the basics are complicated and hard and aren't taught.

Bad example. In starcraft, if you completed the campaign, you already know all the mechanics. You don't need to watch tutorials to learn how to construct buildings, use unit abilities, etc. What you don't know are strategies and tactics.
But in mb2, not only you don't know the tactics, but you also have no idea how to operate the damn lightsaber. BP, MBlock, ACM, Halfswings, Swingblocking - all these things are quite confusing when first encountered.

Exactly.

 

[jewbacca]

Well, seems like I misunderstood what you meant in the first place. Yeh, mb2 missing some clear ingame explanation of many mechanics.

I believe this is something that was discussed a lot in the past, and it was the mian reason behind addition of library and mb2_duel_training map. Dunno about library, but mb2_duel_training was quite helpful.

Clearly that doesn't count as proper ingame tutorial.. but it seems like it would be a lot of job to do some "proper" tutorials, and it also would be really unwise to do it before actual mb2 sabering is frozen.