Hi-Rez buys Tribes IP; plans MMO

[Thrawn]

The thing is, if they just made base defense matter more people would actually do it.  As it is, a lot of people treat CTF like team death match because they can respawn with a full loadout and go.  Team death match is FINE, but I don't know why people who like it don't just play that mode.

My honest guess is because people that just play TDM get good at it.  If you just join CTF you get more new players and can pick off and kill random snipers and defenders and such and convince yourself that your some super amazing player because you went 10-0 while your flag got capped 5 times before 10 minutes.

Hi-Rez keeps pushing that it's "team-based gameplay" but so many game play choices seem to go against that.

[Malakili]

Hi-Rez keeps pushing that it's "team-based gameplay" but so many game play choices seem to go against that.

Free to play design means they don't want to scare away new players, I think a LOT of the default ruleset is based around this simple fact. 

[Malakili]

Interesting discussion of Tribes: Ascend maps. He talks mainly from a competitive standpoint, but I particularly liked how he cut the maps up into different parts based around what kind of action happens there.

http://www.spinfusor.org/2012/04/03/the-map-review/

[Kageru]

Subscription games don't intentionally try to scare off new players either... unless they are happy to be niche titles. Which to be honest this one might as well accept with either revenue approach.

[Malakili]

Subscription games don't intentionally try to scare off new players either... unless they are happy to be niche titles. Which to be honest this one might as well accept with either revenue approach.

Fair enough.  I was really talking about in comparison to just selling a 60 dollar box, but your point stands.  I would, however, say that free to play games probably want to be extra accessible because they are going to get a lot of people trying the game SIMPLY because it has no barrier to entry.  Obviously that is the point, but if you are requiring people to pay up front, you're already selecting for a population that at least cares a LITTLE about your game. 

Its neither here nor there because the cat is out of the bag at this point, but I think a number of the problems this game is facing come from the fact that they are designing it around F2P.   Loadouts being the obvious one when compared to Tribes 2 where you could mix and match any item/pack/weapon in the game (so long as it was available to the armor type you chose).   But even things like spawning with your full loadout they have flat out stated are because they think people should have access to their things they paid real money for without having to go to the inventory station.  This is a TERRIBLE way to think if you are trying to design a game.

[Malakili]

Well "Release" is tomorrow, for whatever that means for a game in open beta that is already taking your money.  Regardless, it is coming with a pretty major looking patch:

https://hi-rez.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/312

With this patch, Tribes Ascend has dropped the "Open Beta" moniker. The game will continue to evolve and improve with regular updates after this patch, but we now have moved to Version 1.0! Progress made by players during the beta period is preserved.
Players who reach at least Level 10 in Beta will earn the "Veteran" Badge with an XP reward upon their first login following the official game launch time (Thursday, April 12, at 2:00 PM US Eastern).
A new CTF map, Raindance, has been added to the Quick Play rotation.
A new gametype, Capture and Hold, has been added with three initial maps (Katabatic, Raindance and Outskirts).
Significant additional functionality has been added under a "SOCIAL" menu. Among the changes:
People that have friended you now appear on your Social menu as "Followers". Followers may be friended reciprocally, or blocked.
You may now send a message to online Friends and Followers. When typing in the chat console, use the format "@playername <message>" to send a message to a specific player. Block a player to avoid receiving messages from them. You can universally block the hud notifications for new messages using the NOTIFICATIONS section under SETTINGS.
A variety of other cleanups and feature enhancements to improve the friend functionality have been implemented.
Players can now test unowned weapons and classes in the Target Practice map under Training. Classes and Weapons will still appear locked on your menu, but if you select them, you can try them.
All gametypes have a warm-up timer lasting 20 seconds after a second player has joined the match.
The HUD now shows the status of player deployables.
An early Sneak Preview of upcoming Custom Server functionality has been included in this release. Additional functionality is expected in future releases. During the Sneak Preview:
Hi-Rez will operate a limited number of Custom Servers that players may join that take advantage of customized game rules. You may browse the list of available Custom Servers from the PLAY menu. Note that this server browser includes only Custom Servers, and not regular public matches accessed through the Play menu. Some servers reserved for competition play or other purposes may only be accessed using a password. Additional servers will be added regularly during the Sneak Preview period to test various Custom Server functionality.
Players will not yet be able to rent and configure their own servers. This functionality will be coming in an upcoming release.

I'm looking forward to trying out the competitive mode, and the new map (which is a remake of a Tribes 1 and 2 map). 

[Malakili]

Alright, I'm happy to report back that this patch is freaking amazing.

[Thrawn]

Alright, I'm happy to report back that this patch is freaking amazing.

Got to try it last night, you won't ever find me playing anywhere but a server with naked spawn, FF on, no oribital/tactical strikes.  Now I just need one with no health regen and I'll be mostly happy. 

[Malakili]

Alright, I'm happy to report back that this patch is freaking amazing.

Got to try it last night, you won't ever find me playing anywhere but a server with naked spawn, FF on, no oribital/tactical strikes.  Now I just need one with no health regen and I'll be mostly happy. 

Yea, no regen is the last thing needed to make that ruleset about perfect.  It actually is kind of needed with naked spawn, else its kind of easy to get a JUG in your base with infinite health and only light spinfusers to stop him.  If you could chip away at him, it would be ok.

[Malakili]

A pretty awesome fan trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TOtuw4qq4gA

[MahrinSkel]

BTW, Rabbit is back as a private server option, some of the maps are buggy (got trapped in a tunnel and found some invisible walls) but it's still a pretty good way to practice skiing.

--Dave

[Ratman_tf]

...

How do I get out of a vehicle?

[Pennilenko]

G

[Nightblade]

Tired of people giving me shit for playing the "EZ MODE thumper tech" I started playing grenade launcher raider. At first I loathed this class, the grenade launcher is criminally hard to hit people with outdoors, the damage shield sucks for mobility and there are no extra options for secondary weapons. I was ready to dismiss the class but then I started getting used to aiming the grenade launcher outdoors, and knowing when to use his ridiculously powerful SMG. Also I switched to the stealth pack. Fanastically fun class, you know you're doing something right when you get a PM from someone that says "Skill-less cunt" after airmailing a passerby in the field.

[Ratman_tf]

G

Gawd, thank you!

[MahrinSkel]

Tired of people giving me shit for playing the "EZ MODE thumper tech" I started playing grenade launcher raider. At first I loathed this class, the grenade launcher is criminally hard to hit people with outdoors, the damage shield sucks for mobility and there are no extra options for secondary weapons. I was ready to dismiss the class but then I started getting used to aiming the grenade launcher outdoors, and knowing when to use his ridiculously powerful SMG. Also I switched to the stealth pack. Fanastically fun class, you know you're doing something right when you get a PM from someone that says "Skill-less cunt" after airmailing a passerby in the field.

I've been using the stealth-pack raider for quite a while.  It's *amazing* how much people depend on the little pointer over your head, and how many you can walk right up to and drop a triple-sticky on without them having any idea of what just happened.  Stopped using the grenade launcher, it was just too easy once I realized it would always go off when it hit dead-on.

--Dave

[Malakili]

Can I just note how much I love the thrown discs for the Juggernaut.  Not only are they just awesome in concept, they make the JUG a pretty formidable death matching class.

[Malakili]

Another new patch on the way, with new weapons for the Raider:
http://hi-rez.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/317/session/L3RpbWUvMTMzNTIzMjAwNC9zaWQvanE0MjdwV2s%3D

Added 3 new weapons for the Raider class:
Plasma Gun: A flexible weapon, the Plasma Gun fires massive spheres of plasma that explode on contact, with excellent rate of fire.
NJ5-B SMG: The NJ5-B has a slower rate of fire than its predecessor, but deals more damage per hit. It can also fire while in scope.
Cluster Grenade: The cluster grenade breaks apart into several smaller bomblets on detonation, each exploding for additional damage.
Add two new skins to the Raider class (Griever and Mercenary).
Increased damage on the Infiltrator’s Prism Mines by roughly 14%.
Increased damage on the Brute’s Light Sticky Grenade by 10%.
Increased damage on the Doombringer’s Heavy Bolt Launcher by roughly 7%.
Increased Technician’s Sparrow Pistol clip size by 2, adjusted starting ammo to 144.
Call-ins will no longer fully reset when being moved too quickly or hitting an invalid target location. Instead they will lose build-up time.

Perhaps most notably they are adding in the ability to buy and run custom servers as well. 

I'm glad to see the Plasma gun back, but I don't know if I will actually buy any of this, I only rarely play raider to begin with.  The cluster grenades sound good for clearing flag stands though.

[Mrbloodworth]

Video of said update.

Tribes: Ascend Preview - Raid And Pillage Update

[K9]

I installed this today and played a few games. It's fun, but it's not perfect.

Cons:
The matchmaking dropped me into games that were 85-99% done more times than I got fresh games, and I don't see a way to queue for new games. The xp rewards are pretty underwhelming, and unlike LoL where you can be opening up new and interesting things after even just a couple of matches, here you're look at a lot of games to open up even a single class. Banking all your XP to get a class you (might) want to play is no fun because the grind is slow, and the basic entry-level classes are hardly powerhouses in their own regards. Without a way to actually test out the classes it makes me even more reluctant to sink XP into unlocking one (if I ever get enough xp to get there). As a result of this there seems to be an abundance of the free classes on most servers, and a shortage of other classes, which doesn't really help when the game seems to be balanced around having a good mix of all nine classes present. The slow progress, coupled with the depressing dullness of most of the unlocks (+1 grenades, woo....) makes me shy away from this game. I get that it is a freemium title, but the balance seems to have been tipped a little too strongly towards purchases made with Gold rather than XP. At the minimum it would be better if all classes were available to play, or they did something like LoL where 2/6 of the unlockable classes were available to try every day or so.

Pros:
The game is quite fun, and it has all the qualities that make an FPS satisfying. The maps are great, the weapons feel satisfying to use, and when skiing goes well it's really fun.

Overall though, the somewhat miserly xp rewards, and the steep learning curve make this game less fun than I think it should be.

[Threash]

If the games were almost done that means you were a couple minutes away from a brand new game.

[Pennilenko]

Also you can use classes in the training section that you don't already own.

[Kitsune]

Yeah, if the game throws you into a match that's almost done, just play it out.  You'll automatically be joined with the rest of those players in the match that begins immediately afterward.

[K9]

These are all useful bits of information that the game did not make obvious to me, thanks.

[Malakili]

The Plasma gun is absurdly good, even after they released the hit box size by 40%.   I got 15 mid airs in one game with it last night and I didn't even play the entire match as Raider. 

[K9]

Video of said update.

Tribes: Ascend Preview - Raid And Pillage Update

Just watched this, the way he doesn't look at the camera is oddly unsettling.

[Kitsune]

If anyone has a utility pack code for the soldier, I missed out on it and would appreciate one!  I have a spinfusor code to offer in exchange.

[Malakili]

Just watched this, the way he doesn't look at the camera is oddly unsettling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8Wi1BSBNxAg

New map!

[Mrbloodworth]

Just watched this, the way he doesn't look at the camera is oddly unsettling.

Keep in mind. This is the same group that brought us this: http://youtu.be/Sk-phCfH5ro

[HaemishM]

So after having an email from them in my inbox for a week promising me a 3-day XP boost, and my friends telling me they enjoyed it, I tried this out again for the hell of it. I didn't like the class system in beta, but that was before they scrapped it and rebuilt it from scratch. I can say that what they created was an absolute success. The grind that was inherent in the other system is non-existent in this. With the extra XP some gold I got for liking them on Facebook, I was able to unlock the sniper and infiltrator class, upgrade some stuff on a few classes and had a blast with it. I liked it enough that I'm considering dropping some real money on it.

HaemishM is the name, of course, if you see me on.

[HaemishM]

Anybody know why their Account Management part of the site/game is down and has been for the last 24 hours? Did they get hacked or something?

[Mrbloodworth]

No idea. Could be doing some upgrades, or adding the other game they are working on.

[Mrbloodworth]

Tribes Ascend - Staying Alive Update

[Malakili]

Interesting update.  The most interesting thing to me, by far, is the addition of the ability to watch streams from in the client.  I absolutely expect this sort of thing to become standard in competitive games.

[Mrbloodworth]

Tribes: Ascend Update #5 - Accelerate



Announcement Trailer - Tribes PK