The finale was very fun from my perspective as a Conscript. That being said there were parts that felt kind of messed up. I realize it may have been/was likely from a balance perspective, but I also feel like there were way better ways to balance it than how it was done. For staff, please understand, while it may seem based on the amount of wording used for the "negative" feedback that I'm unhappy/critical, that's not the case. Overall this finale was
fun I
enjoyed it and I would happily
play again - It's just hard to write a lot of positive feedback and not sound like you're trying to suck up.
Really, you guys did a fantastic job. Well fucking done. I'm looking forward, more so now than before, to playing on live, and I hope there's more events like this in the future. I would
love to see some kind of prolonged event or side server where a mix of Conscripts, OTA/CP, and CWU/CIC forces work to push back the weakened Xen malignancy. Clearing map by map over an extended time. I know that may be a huge ask and we might not see it but how fucking cool would that be to each week have a map or two where we have to do objectives, and maybe there's Vorts and Patriots that have to do their own or counter it, and depending on how that goes directly influences the world map.
Part 1, Topside: Overall, this fight was fun. It reminded me of the old Onslaught maps gmod had, defending a base for as long as possible from overwhelming numbers. I'm not unhappy with this fight at all, but my feedback for the balance stuff is:
- =We lost our ATR because News bluescreened. Nobodies fault, but IIRC nothing was done by GMs to remedy this. I don't recall if News ever made it back during this fight to use the ATR. When it was clear News was not able to come back I think a replacement should have been given.
- =I was told to only have 6 rockets for the RPG I was given, and the enemy it got used against was the Gene Worm. I was not getting any damage #s from the Gene Worm, so I have no idea if I was helping or not. I shot all 6 rockets into it, and it didn't die, then I peeked around the corner a little later and it was gone. I realize it may be a limitation of the mods used but if the Gene worm was an entity that could only be removed by GM, not actually killed, then it should have been made more clear through the orange GM announcement messages when it was at "hp stages", otherwise it just felt at the time that it was a "Let's let this be here to soak up ammo and attention and I'll remove it when I feel like it's done enough" - Later there ended up being two other opportunities when having rocket ammo would have been super helpful. To fight the Gargantua, and to hit the weird portal tower thingy.
- =At the start, we were given HP and Armor wall thingies to heal and repair. They seemed to regenerate, but not super fast. Granted they were a bit strong, I don't necessarily disagree with removing them, but we had nothing else to compensate for their loss, and it was a huge blow. We didn't have any armor repair kits or extra armor at all, and our medicine was very limited. There was a very clear and defined shift/line at this point where our defense went from "harried but holding" to "literally crumbling".
- =Our ammo was also extremely limited. Not saying the GMs were stingy by any means, but we only got what we started with at the beginning. By the time the Gargantua arrived I only had a pistol with 2 magazines. This is expanded upon in the feedback for the lower level facility defense but generally it ended up feeling like a purpseful handicap when a facility like this would otherwise have had reserves for us to draw from.
- =The spawning of the Xen soldier creatures directly inside our compound was. . . frustrating. As was the gate controls being outside the compound, so we had zero way to really secure that. It would have been cooler if the attacking forces had to fight their way up to the gate and blow it up to get in. Woulda been a lot more dramatic and fun than "hey the gate's open but we can't do anything about that"
- =Being flat out told not to execute vorts/rebels but then them being allowed to do the same was not cool. I think someone tried walking it back to say that we weren't allowed to execute out of combat? But that's not what the original directive was, and that was only clearly stated after the fight was over. We were flat told do not execute
- =Fucking Shaw. The legal metagaming was honestly kind of BS. We should have had a way to get rid of or disrupt him. That's all I'm going to say.
Part 2, The Facility: Also a fun fight. Really enjoyed the swap to CQB. The facility was cool and interestingly designed. I wish I'd had more time to explore.
=The impromptu nature of the prep at the beginning was really hectic and felt rushed. I think this was because y'all honestly didn't expect us to have to go down here? IDK. This isn't really negative feedback honestly y'all did a great job and I know you had a LOT going on so don't take this as negative feedback.
=Again, plagued by the lack of ammunition, medicine, and supplies in general. Yes, we got what we asked for, but the problem with that is knowing what to ask for and not being able to ask for
more once the fighting has started. I don't understand from a lore perspective why the ascension facility, above or below ground, was not prepped for defense like at all. There were no turrets, no emplacements underground, no synths or drones underground, no HP/armor regenerating devices (something that would 1000% be inside an ascension facility), and no lockers for ammunition, magazines, weapons, rations, armor repair, etc. It felt like we were on the back foot for this part of the defense. A desperate last stand with what we had on us and nothing else, when in reality this was a hugely important Combine facility that should have had supplies for us to use for defense. It honestly would have taken a huge load off of the GM's work plate if y'all had just given us containers full of stuff. An ammo box or locker for ammo, armor or repair kits, rations, weapons/mags, medicine, etc. It wouldn't have really been OP because we'd have to retreat to rearm but it would have made the fight have more ebb and flow.
=It legitimately felt like the rebels were respawning and had more starting ammo/supplies than us. That part could have just been the effect of the strength of the Vort healy magic tho.
=The spawning of Xen aliens inside the facility to "assist the push felt cheesy.
=The force fields allowing intruders to pass, and the combine armored doors opening for the intruders by button press rather than having to be hacked or blown up.
That being said, honestly, overall, very fun, very satisfied
in general. These are just nitpicks or places for staff to think on for alternative methods of balancing, because as it stands it felt at times that Conscripts/Combine were actively being hamstrung or railroaded to give the rebel factions a chance. Which, I get, I really do. You want it to feel fun for everyone. You want everyone to enjoy it. But that does tend to leave a sour taste in the one faction's mouth when they do "everything right" and then they get a "well actually" moment.
