test content
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc

** This effect cannot be resisted.

redrickyredricky Member Posts: 1,004 Arc User
edited September 2012 in PvP Gameplay
TLDR: Timeout is not fun, not fun is bad for business, make PH grant immunity, and ES a counter if applied from outside the effect.

I have run around screaming with my hair on fire in response to release notes in the past. I was sure that the Subspace Snare on the Sci Bort would lead to griefing because you can jam somebody inside an object in PvP. I screamed bloody murder, it went live, as is, and wasn't a problem. So I'm not going to howl about OP Timeships yet.

But, somebody said that not everything needs a counter, and I said I disagree completely. I felt it in my bones that I disagreed, and the thought stuck with me. So without attempting to make a balance or OP argument in relation to other ships and abilities, here's why I object to the 2 set bonus on paper.

On the issue of things having counters, I'm not a real big believer in fairness in real life. As a soldier I did my best to make sure everything was as unfair as possible for the other guy, and as my son grows up I will teach him that in a fight there is no such thing as fairness. But this is my game, my sheltered happy space cocoon. There are devs standing over it who should make sure that everybody is a beautiful and unique snowflake who has a shot at winning if they just keep trying. I don't want to be forced to stop trying, even for 7 seconds.

Devs, you are the DM, the GM. This aspect of the job includes making sure everybody is having fun, and playing. If somebody was running tabletop a game and told a player that they couldn't do anything for a set amount of time, that player might say "Ok, well I have a really high save in this area, don't I get to roll the dice each round to see if I can save against it?" If the DM said no, the other people in the room would probably give him hell. They built their characters, painted their miniatures, assembled their costumes, and poured their Mt. Dew, and now they just have to sit there because the DM says there's no counter? At least if they get to roll on the save each round they are doing something. Even if they never make the save, they'll use that time to plan how to make their character better for the next time. Operationally, they're screwed, but they are motivated to plan strategically for next time, and this is still playing, they are still in the game.

On the topic of this power in this game, specifically, I'm sure the devs took the time early on to reduce load screen times in the game design. Now, they've introduced a power that creates a Temporal Load Screen without the courtesy of fun game facts while we wait.
It's not a stun. It's complete removal from the battlefield. You cannot act, or be acted upon, in any way.

35 seconds of a hold where you were getting pounded to a paste by the other team would definitely be way out-of-bounds for what could be considered fair gameplay. 35 seconds of time-out, where nobody can do anything to you, is something very different. Powerful, yes. But not a complete "I Win" situation.
To put this in context, bort is talking about a 5 man premade chaining this ability which is why he's using 35 seconds.

I'm glad that hard stuns that leave you standing there like King Hippo pushing his teeth back in have been recognized as a bad thing.

I feel that a "time out" is also a bad thing. In that moment, taking my hands off of the keyboard accomplishes the same thing as leaving them there. In that moment, playing is the same as not playing. I believe that if players to have that moment often enough they will get your message and not play, permanently.

Let's imagine that a different, though equally horrid, mechanic had been chosen. In order to resist this timeout you have to mash a key more times than the your opponent mashes the key while time is being reversed. (Ignoring connection speed issues and everything else that makes this terrible) In that moment players will damn sure be focused on the game. They won't glance at the clock or notice that copy of Skyrim sitting unopened.

So give me a Polarize Hull soft counter. It didn't make any sense as a counter to the Subspace Snare (which didn't make sense to begin with because if you can shove somebody into a subspace tunnel, why would you bring them out the other side undamaged? But I digress) but somebody decided it needed something to counter it.

Let Extend Shields counter and break it if the extender is outside the radius of the power.
_______________
CommanderDonatra@Capt.Sisko: ahhh is it supposed to do that?
Norvo Tigan@dontdrunkimshoot: hell ya, maybe
Sign In or Register to comment.