How is making a map bigger to compensate for power weapons "dumbing down" sounds to me more like making it fun for people who don't happen to have one at the time while if you are actually any good you will still rock with one. I don't need a small hallway to get kills with a rocket launcher.
With no leveling, I assume that there will be no fixed starting zone for new players. Being thrown into the heat of battle, in turn means that a new player should still have a chance to kill a veteran, otherwise its doom to fail from the start.It seems that the most important thing is to balance weapons and armours. What will seperate newcommers from veterans is battlefield and equipment experience i.e. knowing how to use the enviroment to their advantage and picking the right equipment for the job at hand. Mastering anything based on skill takes time and is usually a steep learning curve. Playing with people who are better than you will elevate your own game in the end, even if it takes time and is fustrating. The biggest challenge is to make sure players feel rewarded for the time they sink into it.
While I can understand the term "dumbing down" and dislike many of its instances (with content difficulty from Vanilla WoW to its current state or the "streamlining" of skills and attribute in TES games from Morrowind to Skyrim being two prime examples), I also must emphasize that I dislike games that have a "cliffs of despair" style learning curve (i.e. Dwarf Fortress), for even though they tend to result in a very hardy (if not fanatical) fan base, said fan-base is often very small, and not only because all non-players are "filthy casuals". I like to liken discussions like this to parachuting, with four different models (shamelessly stolen from a 4chan pic): 1.Beginners are given a rather large parachute. Thogh the sheer size of their model limits their freedom of movement, it also allows them to get a grasp on how parachuting works. 2. Then there's those with normal-sized parachutes. They are the vast majority of the parachuters. Though their smaller parachutes requires them to be more careful than the newbies, it also allows them to do stuff the latter can't. 3. Third are the really good parachuters, who have a very small parachute. They need to be extra-careful, but in turn, they have access to a very large list of aerial maneuvers and can access much of very good the stuff that normal parachuters can't. of course, no-one is forced to get up on this tier, and those who don't want to stay normal parachuters and still can have their fun. 4. Finally, there's some people who are so manically obsessed with showing themselves (or others) how "1337" they are that they jump with no parachute at all and, after crashing to the ground, start to complain that "the ground is to soft" and "not enough of my bones are broken, fucking noob game". TL/DR: A good game should contain the option of doing extra-challenging stuff for the sake of doing extra-challenging stuff, but it should not force players to chose this option.
I actually agree with the OP, His post was garbage but the concept is important. The game should have a large skill celling, the gap needs to be there if it's going to be a skill based combat system. GunZ is a good example of a game with a good skill celling. The gameplay should not be dumbed down to accommodate bad players, That has always been my stance on multiplayer games. Unlocks should not be made easier so more people can get them, that defeats the purpose of making them difficult unlocks. People who die constantly should not get bonuses to help them win because that defeats the purpose of fair gameplay and balance. A losing faction should also not get bonuses because that just handicaps the people who are playing well. tl;dr : Stop helping people who are only in need of help because they aren't good at the game.
Here's the thing about unlocks - given time, any player, no matter how bad, will acquire them. The trick is making weapons that are unique, powerful and difficult to use. A good example might be something like, I don't know, the shock rifle in unreal. So hard to use that most players avoid it, but devastating in the hands of those with the know how. If I have to use Halo as an example, think of it as the difference between the needler and the battle rifle. New players will use the needler because it's easy and looks cool, and they'll occasionally get kills when they get lucky and sneak up on someone, but most of the time a good player will stomp them with the longer range and higher accuracy rifle. Over time, the new player gets better, and makes the switch to the higher skill weapon. Plus, it makes it pretty easy to pick out the people who don't know what they're doing. It's not a terrible paradigm to have, all things considered. New players get enough reward to stick with the game and learn the ropes, but the experienced vets keep a solid advantage over them as long as they're careful.
You want a Good Example of, No easy game for Noobs, Mount n Blade Warband, everytime i play it i imagine that im a Space Marine with a Chainsword.
Alright thanks for the input guys, didnt know that my topic was so controversial (or my argument for that matter). i didnt mean to start a shitstorm though
You were right, The game does need to not be dumbed down to pander for casual players or people who don't meet the average community skill level.
