Hello everyone,
I'm an old player that comes back every now and then to check out the progression of this game.
I've always thought that this game has great potential but I find it difficult to play this game for a longer period of time.
A lot of things have been improved since the last time I've played so I'm really happy to see that.
I do however think that there's still room for a lot of improvement which is the reason why I've made this thread.
There's no reason to invent the wheel again so many of my suggestions are coming from other successful games.
1) Chat
One of the first things you'll see when you log-in to the game is the chat, in my case:
1) Sometimes I like to go to the park, bend over sideways and just stick things in my ass
2) Well fuck off then
3) I like to lick my girls butt
4) Shut up
5) "Insert random foreign language"
6) Penis
7) Stfu whore I just got the game
Etc.
This mainly has to do with the fact that the game is on sale right now and many new people are trying the game out.
It gives people a distorted view of the community right away because I've met many kind people on this game.
This is the reason why many popular games don't have a global chat on the main page of their lobby, have a look at all the popular MOBA games for example.
To make things worse you aren't able to close or minimize the chat so you're forced to switch to another tab.
I'm aware that there's a profanity filter in the options but it's not like people will look for it right away, they usually just ignore it.
Also, all games use similar key-bindings to chat and I think it's weird that this game uses non standard key-bindings.
T (team) and Y (all) or common in FPS games, Enter (team) and Shift-Enter (all) are common in MOBA games and
Enter with the usage of /s /p /g /c are common in MMORPG's and just Enter for a lot of general things.
2) The class icons in the upper right corner
These icons serve multiple purposes it seems like which is only confusing in my opinion.
If you're on the character page you can click on it to switch between the load-outs of the classes.
However, if you're on you a random page (let's say ship) you can still click on them even though you don't see any changes until you switch to the character page again.
The second function it has is the switching between classes for the matchmaking system.
The third function is that you can switch role with it in the lobby.
It would be better of these icons were removed there.
- If you want people to switch between class pages, put it on the character page (which it already is).
- If you want people to select their class for match-making, put it in the matchmaking section.
- If you want people to select their class in the lobby, put it in the lobby.
Alternatively you can keep the icons there and use them to switch between the character pages,
replace the big character icon on top (redundant) with something else such as a spectator icon for example.
Also, remove the < Gunner Loadout > on the character page (redundant).
3) The matchmaking system
In my opinion it feels unnatural to set the match options before you click on play instead of after.
In almost any game that I've played you have to click on play first and then you select the match options or choose what you'd like to do.
It would be better if you'd implement a more clear and familiar / popular menu like League of Legends for example.
I understand that you can't copy paste the exact menu obviously but just to go the idea across:
http://i.imgur.com/RWA5YYF.png.
Due to population issues you can temporarily add continent flags right next to it.
Make it also possible for people to select multiple modes and amount of players for shorter waiting times.
This is something that eventually should be gone.
A few other things:
- When you click play you aren't able to cancel instantly
- Time in queue indication / optionally: average wait time
- You should not not see your opponent in the lobby
- Leavers and AFK'ers should be penalized
4) Miscellaneous things
- Add a ranked ladder / scoreboard
- You should be able to create your own team and be in multiple for ranked matches (optionally: you can merge this with clans)
- Display solo / clan ratings of all the modes on a player's profile (optionally: private/public toggle)
- When you press alt-tab in-game you'll see Team 1 and Team 2, change that into Red Team / Blue Team instead or make it show the clan name.
Some of these things are more important than others, I especially think that the matchmaking and ranked teams / ladders are the most important.
All of the other things are also important nonetheless. I think it's important to make the game convenient and more accessible to people.
There's no need to invent everything again, there's plenty of solid examples up for grabbing just like the League of Legends example I've shared.
I honestly believe that (most of) the things that I've mentioned are necessary to get this game to the next level.
After all of the interface, matchmaking and competitive features are fixed and implemented it's all about the game-play itself.
I haven't played actively for a long period of time so I cannot say anything about balancing
nor do I have the energy to suggest things how to make the game itself more interesting at the moment.
Perhaps I'll make another post about all game-play related things later on once (some of) these things have been addressed.
Thank you for reading and I hope it's helpful.
