46
The Lounge / Re: The Bragging Thread
« on: June 03, 2013, 03:00:11 am »
I have the most manly name in Guns of Icarus 
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47
General Discussion / My Interview With Muse
« on: June 03, 2013, 12:38:34 am »
Here's an article-ized version of an interview I did with Howard and Eric. I talked with them a little about adventure mode and I felt I got a better understanding of how it would all come together. It was a really interesting discussion and I hope I did a decent job condensing it. Maybe some of you guys might find it interesting 
http://www.awesomegames.co.uk/guns-of-icarus-online-interview-with-howard-tsao-and-eric-chun
http://www.awesomegames.co.uk/guns-of-icarus-online-interview-with-howard-tsao-and-eric-chun
48
Community Events / Re: Tipping Group C: Icarus Sky Tourney
« on: May 31, 2013, 11:59:18 am »
1st Qualifier: Falconeers
1st KO: Valiant
2nd Qualifier: Polaris
2nd KO: Gents
Valiant have a tough group to go up against in their first competitive match. I'm sure they're a good team, but I don't know enough about them to bet on them getting through given the circumstances. Gents seem to be rolling out virtually an entirely new team lately in an environment where team consistency and big-match experience are so important. The experience of Polaris and the overall skill of the Falconeers should carry them both through.
1st KO: Valiant
2nd Qualifier: Polaris
2nd KO: Gents
Valiant have a tough group to go up against in their first competitive match. I'm sure they're a good team, but I don't know enough about them to bet on them getting through given the circumstances. Gents seem to be rolling out virtually an entirely new team lately in an environment where team consistency and big-match experience are so important. The experience of Polaris and the overall skill of the Falconeers should carry them both through.
49
General Discussion / Re: No tolerance for Deviation from Strategic norm
« on: May 28, 2013, 02:21:13 am »
The phrasing was melodramatic. It placed too much emphasis on the captain just "sucking it up" and dealing with whatever hand he was dealt or otherwise not being worthy of being called a true captain. I was trying to reiterate as others have here, that it cuts both ways. If you actually agree with what I'm saying then fair enough, but if so I think that point could've been made in a more moderate tone.
50
General Discussion / Re: No tolerance for Deviation from Strategic norm
« on: May 27, 2013, 11:51:58 pm »I absolutely cannot stand it when other pilots quit because they want all engineers, or they don't want two gunners. If you want to try to run the perfect loadout with the perfect crew, join a tournament. For what amounts to a pick-up game at the public ball courts, get over yourself and just play the damn game.
If you're not willing to flex your ship for the crew and expect the crew to do all of the changing for a public game, you're a captain in slot selection only.
This is rather melodramatic. Like most of the veteran captains here, I am delighted to play with newer players who are eager to listen and learn. Players who ignore me or shout obscenities at me when I politely request that there are at least two engineers on the ship I don't really enjoy playing with. If a new player says "Can I play with this class/ship/loadout because I want to practice it and/or get the achievements?" I would be only too happy to oblige. It's the players who are obtuse and don't even attempt to constructively communicate why they're doing what they're doing I eventually give up on for a better crew.
Likewise, I once had a level one co-pilot who flew a squid, picked all mercuries and parked directly in front of a galleon's left broadside. This was a little frustrating and didn't work out too well. Still, he listened to me carefully when I explained to him a better strategy and loadout to try with the squid, and how to use it effectively with an ally, and we were winning matches in no time (by the way, this wasn't Gilder, as funny as that would be XD). I was really happy about this. If a co-pilot wants to ignore me or insult me when I'm trying to work with him and give him advice, however, I see little point in playing with them other than out of a perverse curiosity to see how badly they do.
If I'm engineering and a captain asks me to go with a certain loadout, then I'll respect it, even if I disagree, because it's his/her ship and they know how they want it to function. It's no fun for the captain if I just ignore him and go pilot/gunner when he wants me to buff and repair his engines and hull.
Just to summarize; communication is the key. It's fine if you want to play a second/third gunner, or an unconventional ship and loadout, but at least talk to the rest of your team about it first. If they're not ok with it, that's a shame, but there are plenty of other matches you can join.
51
Community Events / Re: Tipping W1: Icarus Sky Tourney
« on: May 25, 2013, 03:41:29 pm »
Team 1: Corvus
Team 2: Museosaurs
Corvus are a top tier team who showed their quite substantial skill last time we saw them and they've had loads of time to practice since then. Barring some random disaster where multiple key members can't make it to the game on the day, they are making it out of this bracket. Muse have plenty of Cogs experience and game knowledge, but I have a feeling the goon squad have been practicing hard and are taking pride in representing the SA community so their match will be a close one, I think. The two ships merged together with no experience working as a team are at a crippling disadvantage that will be very difficult to overcome.
I'm ok with twenty minutes to spare, right? XD
Team 2: Museosaurs
Corvus are a top tier team who showed their quite substantial skill last time we saw them and they've had loads of time to practice since then. Barring some random disaster where multiple key members can't make it to the game on the day, they are making it out of this bracket. Muse have plenty of Cogs experience and game knowledge, but I have a feeling the goon squad have been practicing hard and are taking pride in representing the SA community so their match will be a close one, I think. The two ships merged together with no experience working as a team are at a crippling disadvantage that will be very difficult to overcome.
I'm ok with twenty minutes to spare, right? XD
52
Community Events / Re: "The Cogs" Ruleset
« on: May 17, 2013, 10:52:13 am »
I'm glad Smollett elaborated on things a little. This isn't really about The Paddling or BFS. We were just the ones who let the genie out of the bottle who opened pandora's box, causing all the worms contained in all the cans in the world to burst out.
A great deal of the arguments for and against this tactic are based on speculation at this point. I'm pretty sure that's why Swallow is continuing to allow it. It could turn out to be an occasional risk/reward tactic that sometimes goes horribly wrong, or it could indeed be something everyone uses all the time that breaks the game and has to be changed. Thing is, changing the Cogs or the mechanics of GoI based on one moment in one game is pretty dramatic, and I can see why Swallow and Muse would go with the "wait and see" approach instead. Personally, I don't have any particular attachment to suicide tactics one way or the other, and I'll adapt to the changes best I can on the rocky road to GoI becoming more well-balanced.
A great deal of the arguments for and against this tactic are based on speculation at this point. I'm pretty sure that's why Swallow is continuing to allow it. It could turn out to be an occasional risk/reward tactic that sometimes goes horribly wrong, or it could indeed be something everyone uses all the time that breaks the game and has to be changed. Thing is, changing the Cogs or the mechanics of GoI based on one moment in one game is pretty dramatic, and I can see why Swallow and Muse would go with the "wait and see" approach instead. Personally, I don't have any particular attachment to suicide tactics one way or the other, and I'll adapt to the changes best I can on the rocky road to GoI becoming more well-balanced.
53
Gameplay / Re: Suicide - risk/reward option or cheap tactic?
« on: May 14, 2013, 10:18:54 am »
Gilder is taking things very personally at this point and I don't think most of the others are intending it that way. I understand his frustration, but I hope things get dialed back a notch before it gets ugly.
In a competitive game, any tactic that is within the scope of the rules and mechanics can and will be used. Gilder's suicide is no more ludicrous than noble heroes in Dota murdering their own troops to "deny" enemy heroes some gold, and that's an encouraged part of the game because it's an understood part of the well-developed meta. I questioned it at first, but eventually I realized it was like questioning why the queen is dashing out to the front line in chess while her husband stays at home. Interesting point but irrelevant as regards competitive play. It is not a question of the "morality" of Gilder's tactic; it is purely a balance issue (and I'm glad for those here who've tried to discuss it as such). If Gilder's "suicide squid" tactic is deemed to unbalance the game, then it will probably get fixed by Muse or otherwise ruled out by tournament organizers. This is how sports evolve, and GoI is still very young and underdeveloped as a competitive game. At this point, the game is changing on a fundamental level practically every week.
Hopefully one day the rules and mechanics of GoI will "settle" somewhat on a good balance and the tournament teams will be guaranteed stable servers to play on for high-level games. Until then, I just hope we can all just roll with it and keep the game fun and civil.
In a competitive game, any tactic that is within the scope of the rules and mechanics can and will be used. Gilder's suicide is no more ludicrous than noble heroes in Dota murdering their own troops to "deny" enemy heroes some gold, and that's an encouraged part of the game because it's an understood part of the well-developed meta. I questioned it at first, but eventually I realized it was like questioning why the queen is dashing out to the front line in chess while her husband stays at home. Interesting point but irrelevant as regards competitive play. It is not a question of the "morality" of Gilder's tactic; it is purely a balance issue (and I'm glad for those here who've tried to discuss it as such). If Gilder's "suicide squid" tactic is deemed to unbalance the game, then it will probably get fixed by Muse or otherwise ruled out by tournament organizers. This is how sports evolve, and GoI is still very young and underdeveloped as a competitive game. At this point, the game is changing on a fundamental level practically every week.
Hopefully one day the rules and mechanics of GoI will "settle" somewhat on a good balance and the tournament teams will be guaranteed stable servers to play on for high-level games. Until then, I just hope we can all just roll with it and keep the game fun and civil.
54
Community Events / Re: "The Cogs" Week 8 - Discussion
« on: May 12, 2013, 01:33:58 pm »
He wasn't talking about our game against you guys as regards the slo-mo issue. He was talking about our game with Destructoid. That game was running in slo-mo for all of us.
I think what Gilder's saying is that he chose the safest ship for our match with The Brood because it would be least effected in the event of lag or slo-mo, which was a distinct possibility given the lobby lag and the general instability of the server that night. I think the actual match ran ok for everyone though.
I think what Gilder's saying is that he chose the safest ship for our match with The Brood because it would be least effected in the event of lag or slo-mo, which was a distinct possibility given the lobby lag and the general instability of the server that night. I think the actual match ran ok for everyone though.
55
Community Events / Re: Cogs reflections...
« on: May 06, 2013, 12:38:49 am »
I started to panic. I can't excuse that. On such a cloudy and claustrophobic map when things are getting frantic it can be difficult to tell when you're meatgrinding and when you're about to make a crucial save. I can really respect the teams who have developed that good communication and situational awareness to avoid those kind of situations. Obviously it's something we have to work on when we're competing at such a high level.
I'm looking forward to getting that battle-hardened sense of calm-under-pressure you're talking about, Smollett. I think that's something that separates GoI from most games. Being able to stick together through thick and thin and developing that intangible chemistry with others is one of the things that makes GoI so compelling for me. It's why I've spent hundreds of hours playing it!
We did make mistakes that we should learn from, lag or no lag. I appreciate your words, Smollett and Sunderland, and I hope we can be one of those teams that can suffer defeats but come out better for it.
I'm looking forward to getting that battle-hardened sense of calm-under-pressure you're talking about, Smollett. I think that's something that separates GoI from most games. Being able to stick together through thick and thin and developing that intangible chemistry with others is one of the things that makes GoI so compelling for me. It's why I've spent hundreds of hours playing it!
We did make mistakes that we should learn from, lag or no lag. I appreciate your words, Smollett and Sunderland, and I hope we can be one of those teams that can suffer defeats but come out better for it.
56
Community Events / Re: Hungry Duck Games Round 3 - 05/04/2013 5:15pm EST
« on: May 05, 2013, 11:13:40 pm »
Really enjoyed co-commentating on this with Mr. Arrow! Was hard to keep track of all the action, but I hope I had a few decent insights. Looking forward to the next Hungry Ducks!
57
Community Events / Re: Cogs reflections...
« on: May 05, 2013, 11:02:29 pm »
The match with Polaris wasn't the BFS at our best. Between Gilder getting crippling lag, the last-minute substitutions of crucial crew members and me just starting to panic from it all, we weren't able to perform at our usual level.
I'm not saying that we would've won had it not been for these problems, but we would've at least had a much better showing. Swallow said at the start of the match that we were using the squid to its full potential. That was right before Gilder started to experience extreme lag. I think it's pretty obvious to anyone familiar with him that his normally picture perfect flying was suffering after that point.
Polaris are a good team, and I was looking forward to giving everyone watching a good match against them. I hope in future we'll be able to bring our best on game day, win or lose. I think it's a learning experience for me, at least, to keep a cool head and have a back-up plan for those points when everything goes wrong at the worst possible time.
I'm not saying that we would've won had it not been for these problems, but we would've at least had a much better showing. Swallow said at the start of the match that we were using the squid to its full potential. That was right before Gilder started to experience extreme lag. I think it's pretty obvious to anyone familiar with him that his normally picture perfect flying was suffering after that point.
Polaris are a good team, and I was looking forward to giving everyone watching a good match against them. I hope in future we'll be able to bring our best on game day, win or lose. I think it's a learning experience for me, at least, to keep a cool head and have a back-up plan for those points when everything goes wrong at the worst possible time.
58
Community Events / Re: Cogs Tipping Competition Week 7
« on: May 03, 2013, 01:11:11 pm »
Match 1: Pastas 5-2
Match 2: Not betting on my own match
Match 3: MNS 5-4
The Whalers have had a lot of time to prepare and they have some good individual players. I'm sure they've drilled some good teamwork into them by now. However, the pastas seem to have re-organized and look ready to bring their long range skills to bear on the wide open dunes. I think with the new patch MNS can use their innovation to find a clever way to win, but The Paddling won't go down easy.
We know what a deadly team Polaris are. What with us being the underdogs tipping-wise against a team reputed for being a Russian powerhouse, I've been watching this video to get pysched up for the match!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SUzcDUERLo
Match 2: Not betting on my own match
Match 3: MNS 5-4
The Whalers have had a lot of time to prepare and they have some good individual players. I'm sure they've drilled some good teamwork into them by now. However, the pastas seem to have re-organized and look ready to bring their long range skills to bear on the wide open dunes. I think with the new patch MNS can use their innovation to find a clever way to win, but The Paddling won't go down easy.
We know what a deadly team Polaris are. What with us being the underdogs tipping-wise against a team reputed for being a Russian powerhouse, I've been watching this video to get pysched up for the match!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SUzcDUERLo
59
Community Events / Re: Cogs reflections...
« on: April 29, 2013, 11:46:20 am »
I think some clarification is in order. I think what Gilder is saying is not that the test server gave us an advantage over Muse - it definitely didn't - but rather that both us and Muse weren't able to have a match where we could use builds we were comfortable with. The test server created a very tense and stressful environment for in the BFS where we'd have to completely re-consider our strategy every day because of the constant patches. As Gilder says, his squid was just not the same as the one on the main server. My role in the squadron wasn't as badly effected as Gilder's, but my wingman being so clearly uncomfortable added to the strain I was under getting everything organized practically and tactically in time for our participation.
I agree that Muse get run down a bit too much. Many experienced and credible players were predicting a Muse victory in the tipping thread and we respected them as a legitimate threat. Some saw Muse as having no tactical coherency, but they did have a strategy. They tried to focus me down long-range while I was closing the distance and they did actually pop my balloon with the lumberjack once or twice, even at long range when I was moving quite fast. Once we'd gotten in close though, it was very difficult for them to regroup and reconsider their strategy in time. It really is a shame that Gilder wasn't satisfied with the match as in spite of everything, I think we still made a fairly strong and interesting Cogs debut.
I hope my tone came across right in the community chat. I was not happy that Muse had been removed from Cogs rotation (and since then, we've seen they're still in anyway) more just relieved that after all the difficulties of the test server business, we'd won our match and were finally in the Cogs. The whole "Muse team is bad" thing is really just a joke that gets frequently taken too far. They may not have the experience and the training most of the other Cogs teams do, but them actually taking time out to play the game with everyone, and putting up a good fight against some of the best teams in the game is pretty gosh-darn impressive. Howard was also very helpful in making sure we all got on the test server ok. We even got a few gifts in addition to getting access to the beta. Muse are very considerate to the community.
There is a lot to like about the new patch. Muse have mostly done a good job of mixing things up and rebalancing them. There are definitely still problems technical and balance-wise, but I'm sure those will be addressed.
I think it's good that Gilder brought some of this out in the open. It's better to bring these things to the forefront and hash them out before they become too pressing. The Cogs are not exactly easy to organise, either for OE or for the teams themselves and it's worth having a discussion about concerns we've been having, while still respecting the effort everyone has put into the event.
I agree that Muse get run down a bit too much. Many experienced and credible players were predicting a Muse victory in the tipping thread and we respected them as a legitimate threat. Some saw Muse as having no tactical coherency, but they did have a strategy. They tried to focus me down long-range while I was closing the distance and they did actually pop my balloon with the lumberjack once or twice, even at long range when I was moving quite fast. Once we'd gotten in close though, it was very difficult for them to regroup and reconsider their strategy in time. It really is a shame that Gilder wasn't satisfied with the match as in spite of everything, I think we still made a fairly strong and interesting Cogs debut.
I hope my tone came across right in the community chat. I was not happy that Muse had been removed from Cogs rotation (and since then, we've seen they're still in anyway) more just relieved that after all the difficulties of the test server business, we'd won our match and were finally in the Cogs. The whole "Muse team is bad" thing is really just a joke that gets frequently taken too far. They may not have the experience and the training most of the other Cogs teams do, but them actually taking time out to play the game with everyone, and putting up a good fight against some of the best teams in the game is pretty gosh-darn impressive. Howard was also very helpful in making sure we all got on the test server ok. We even got a few gifts in addition to getting access to the beta. Muse are very considerate to the community.
There is a lot to like about the new patch. Muse have mostly done a good job of mixing things up and rebalancing them. There are definitely still problems technical and balance-wise, but I'm sure those will be addressed.
I think it's good that Gilder brought some of this out in the open. It's better to bring these things to the forefront and hash them out before they become too pressing. The Cogs are not exactly easy to organise, either for OE or for the teams themselves and it's worth having a discussion about concerns we've been having, while still respecting the effort everyone has put into the event.
60
General Discussion / Re: The Next Tournament: A Suggestion
« on: April 18, 2013, 01:23:14 pm »
The Bully Boys would definitely be up for something like this. A small, informal tourney could be set up without too much hassle that could grow into something bigger and more concrete later.
I do like the thought of some sort of 3v3 league of the Cogs as well. Would give more players a chance to get in on some competitive action each week.
I do like the thought of some sort of 3v3 league of the Cogs as well. Would give more players a chance to get in on some competitive action each week.