A General Summary of my Opinions of Star Conflict

Game Discussion Miscellaneous
1

So, before I even start to say anything, I’ma just going to point something out:

Just because I am mainly a T2 (I have ended up in T3 matches before) player and I’ve clocked only 20 or so hours (at the time of writing) in battle, this does not mean that ‘omg he hasn’t played that long so [my] opinion doesn’t matter!’. It does. Everyone’s opinion matters. Just some more than others. I’ve watched, I’ve listened, I’ve read and I’ve observed enough that I am confident in saying my knowledge of the game is a solid as any average player’s, and therefore my reasoning is fair.

Yes, I did just make that large, because otherwise half of you would have skipped it and then started posting utter drivel about how my opinions are worthless due to my lack of experience. Experience is half the game. The other half is knowledge (though it goes without saying, experience = more knowledge). Get over it.

So, now the disclaimer has been said and done, I will get on to the actual reason behind this topic: my general feedback on everything in Star Conflict. I can’t pretend to know much about any patches before 0.8.0 as I have only briefly managed to catch glimpses of gameplay by observing from the chair next to my good friend in England whilst he played 0.7.9 and .10.

Graphics

What can I say? Excellent. The medium graphics setting - the one I normally use - is outstanding in clarity and detail, and I have to say this is one of the best aspects of the game. Considering I use an Acer Aspire with an i5 core (2430M 2.4 GHz with up to 3.0GHz) and 6GB of DDR3 memory, this is pretty much as high as I can go before my Nvidia GPU (GT 520M) starts to complain and my framerate drops quite viciously. I get, on average, about 20 fps, 30 fps with Razer Gamebooster active (get this program).

For a game like this to have visuals as stunning and glorious as this, I must say that I am impressed.

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

Reason: I can’t play on high graphics, so I can’t give a full opinion. :sad:

Gameplay

This one is quite a bit longer than graphics, but stick around and I’ll walk through with each and every bit. Note that post-game and miscellaneous such as the equipment purchasing, tech trees, looting system etc are found in sections of their own.

So, let’s start off with the negatives so I can end this section on a high note!

Main problem I have with gameplay is that some ships (maybe not specifically the ships, but definitely the modules etc) just seem… Unnecessarily overpowered. Don’t you even think about scrolling down and making a post. Don’t even think about it. Why? Well, it’s mostly to do with interceptors and frigates.

A lot of people are unhappy with engineers and interceptors in all the tiers due to them being overpowered in one tier, and then underpowered in another. I think this stems mainly from the devs desperately trying to satisfy everyone’s wishes - which deserves my praise - but the way you’re trying to do it is wrong. You’re treating all the tiers the same, applying the same buffs and same nerfs to all ships across tiers 1 to 4, and this is not the way to go.

In tiers one and two, interceptors have become so dominating in play style and so ridiculously - hilariously - powerful it’s basically just bashing your face into your keyboard and hey! You’ve got some kills! No. No. You guys need to think about how the meta is different per tier. 2 is completely different from 3. In 2, you can play solo and do well. In 3, you get rolfstomped by organised squads who know exactly what they’re doing and how to counter the moves you make. In tier 3, interceptor hulls are of little more use than paper. In tier 2, it’s difficult to bring them down, even when in another interceptor.

Solution to this is just to remove a few of the buffs you’ve gifted interceptors with in the last couple of smaller updates and give the higher tier ones more of a fighting chance. Like I said, they have paper hulls and this really does ruin it for some players.

Engineers are the other side of this coin. Where do I start? Okay, the turret nerf from 6 to 4 was a good idea, as engineers are not goddamn tanks and never should be. Guards are the bullet sponges. Guards are movable shields that can dish out some hideous damage. Engineers are there for support.

I’m an engineer player by trade and the recent nerfs to this excellent class have really gone and pxxxxd me off, if you pardon my French. My job was not to sit at the beacon and murder everything that gets near and heal my teammates while I am at it, but instead to sit about 3km away, where my fields are close enough to function and I’m far enough away from the action not to get blown away as soon as the xxxx hits the fan. Now, I have the job of guards: sit there and be a bullet sponge, or my fields do jack all to help my teammates. Why? I’ll tell you why: the abuse of engineer clustering.

I am in no way in support of this completely overpowered setup, because it’s basically showing a lack of fair sportsmanship and how you have absolutely no clue on how to save yourself otherwise, of which there are a heck of a lot. I won’t name them, as the ‘elitist’ T3 players should be able to figure them out in their own time. But damn, is it annoying: cycling remote shields is just… Ugh. Now, I understand the nerf to these, but the nerfs to the mass shield and nanodrone cloud were unnecessary. And before any of you interceptor pilots start mouthing off about how you couldn’t kill another inty even with debuffs etc on whilst they were inside an engineer field, let me remind you that this is not your job. It never was. Kill the frigate and leave the interceptor to a tackler. Or, if you’re that annoyed, switch to a tackler, kill them, send a PM to them gloating about how you killed them, and return to playing as an interceptor.

Now, as a fix for the clustering, why not just prevent more than one remote generator activating in a certain area for a certain period of time? Or, if you really want to, just have it short out active modules and prevent their activation for a certain time afterwards? The missile shield support offered by guards? Yep, you guessed it: gone. It would greatly reduce an engineer cluster’s efficiency and leave players with a choice to make: do I want a slow and steady regen for my teammates, or would I prefer a faster, more powerful one which leaves them and me vulnerable for a short period of time? (On an unrelated note, I would just go for the slow regen. I like it more :D)

I think that’s about it for balancing issues. Fighters are good and do their job well, which is killing interceptors. Seriously, guys: with the right modules you can reduce an interceptor to a crawl slower than a frigate’s. I’ve done it. It’s downright hilarious and often dissuades six to seven interceptors per side, like in tier 2 games. Plus, it makes the pilot mad, which is always funny to see.

Now, for the positives!

The gameplay - as in actual controls etc - is brilliant. I love it. I love the way you can jink, turn, dodge and move, as well as customising loadouts to make a ship good at a specific task. I’d say the only thing missing from here are special manoeuvres.

Those of you who have played Halo will have flown a banshee at some point. It’s inevitable. Now, you know how you’re able to press the B button or something (can’t quite recall as I have not played for a long time) and you execute a really fancy move that allows you to dodge missiles? Add this to Star Conflict, and BOOM! Interceptors and fighters have just gotten a helluva lot cooler.

Interceptors could be able to pull off advanced and basic dodges, fighters only basic ones. Frigates don’t get anything from this, but it could be compensated for somehow. Dodging could reduce the chance to be smacked by a missile and also help you out of a sticky situation fast.

If this ever happens, a barrel roll must be implemented. No arguments.

…I’m sorry. I had to. I just had to.

Overall rating: 8/10

Reward System

This is my favourite part of Star Conflict to complain about! :smiley:

So…
…
…
Looting System.

*Cue groans of despair here*

Well, we all have our own opinions, and I know some of you (hi there Censored! XD) will mash your face on the keyboard for this being brought up yet again, but I really think this needs to be brought into the light.

The looting system is… Crap. There. I said it. I’ve said it a thousand times to myself and others. Why? Because
 

The current system is a GS sink primarily designed to get the developers and Gaijin more cash, at the cost of detracting from the overall experience.

-Sabre01 (me)

The rest of that post is found on page four of [You Screwed Up](< base_url >/index.php?/topic/19771-you-screwed-up/page-4?).

Look, guys. The looting system is now worthless due to the damn ninja nerfs on grey loot, which makes it worthless as my repair costs in a Rank 4 ship even when coming up relatively high on the leaderboard eat through them and part of my total earnings from the match. This is even worse in T3 and T4, where more than half your earnings can go to restocking and repairing your ship(s).

This, and the fact that you can pay for a 30% chance. I have no real words to actually represent my… I can’t even find an emotion to describe it it’s so stupid! At best, a mixture of disdain, confusion and flat out anger, with a bit of facepalm thrown in for good measure. You want us to pay for a 30% chance to get something?

I don’t think any of us want anything less than a 90% chance of getting something when we’re paying for it [insert: in a game]. It’s like buying something in a shop. You don’t go in, take an item and pay at the counter, and then the cashier says “Sorry, but you only get this 30% of the time when you pay. But I’ll still take the money!”. It’s all or nothing.

-Sabre01 (me)

Same basic principle. If we are going to pay for it, we should get full satisfaction, not a 30% chance of satisfaction. You really want to make money off us?

A lot of us are suckers for aesthetics (not myself, though I have an entire posse of guys back in England who just love their aesthetics) and will happily fork out [insert: a lot] money for paint jobs, stickers and even full-on personalisation. Some of us do like having the more powerful items earlier (hence PTW, but there are always those who follow), and wouldn’t mind paying for those. You need to prioritise your customer satisfaction over your income, and your income will magically rise as if your players are more willing to pay because your game is worth it! Isn’t that strange?

-Sabre01 (me)

[I’ve said this twice already, so I’m not copypasting it again.](< base_url >/index.php?/topic/19918-looting-overhaul-proposal/)

Overall Rating: What do you think?

Miscellaneous

(I’m really tired now, so this’ll be short and sweet. Hopefully)

Now onto ship trees, the equipment tab and implants. Well, maybe not the implants, as I’m happy with those. You’ve done that right.

The equipment tab is a little haphazard, IMO. It’s genuinely confusing to new players and needs either a walk through to come up on the first time you use it (I didn’t get it) or a good deal of simplification. I spent half an hour trying to figure out how everything worked before I could change the guns on my Lynx. This isn’t a good thing.

The ship tree… You know what? Forget it. I’m too tired to finish this off and my brain is starting to short out on me, so I’ll complete it some other time.

Peace.

TL;DR: There isn’t one. Go to the top, read through it. I’ll be able to tell if you have when you’re posting. If you haven’t, refer to my reply to Censored’s post below for a guideline on what will happen.

2

SHORT VERSION: If you have read one of his posts, you have read them all. Its just the same thing over again with a compliment on the graphics at the beginning.

3

SHORT VERSION: If you have read one of his posts, you have read them all. Its just the same thing over again with a compliment on the graphics at the beginning.

Have you really? Wow. I’m flattered, Censored. [/blindlyobvioussarcasm]

Neither have you read through the entire post. Please look at the TL;DR section at the bottom.

4

I did read the whole thing surprisingly… Though my brain went numb about half way through and the words started to sound in my head like a Peanuts gang special with the teacher talking. You just keep saying the same thing… over and over and over, adding more words to it each time to try to make it a little different. But the point is, its always the same thing when you remove the extra words. Crying about Frig’s in some form or fashion, Crying over Interceptors in some form or fashion, and crying over loot in some form or fashion. This time you just added in a few things that you do like to make it not so negative.

In your first post, before you ninja edited it, there was no TL:DR either.

And quoting yourself? Really? There is nothing I can say here. 

5

I did read the whole thing surprisingly… Though my brain went numb about half way through and the words started to sound in my head like a Peanuts gang special with the teacher talking. You just keep saying the same thing… over and over and over, adding more words to it each time to try to make it a little different. But the point is, its always the same thing when you remove the extra words. Crying about Frig’s in some form or fashion, Crying over Interceptors in some form or fashion, and crying over loot in some form or fashion. This time you just added in a few things that you do like to make it not so negative.

In your first post, before you ninja edited it, there was no TL:DR either.

And quoting yourself? Really? There is nothing I can say here.

…You done yet? Yes? Good. Now, if has anyone got something useful to say, please say it.

And I quote myself solely for the reason that - to drill my point into heads like yours - I have to reiterate myself over and over before it finally clicks. I’ve done it on other forums with rules like this one. If I really have to, I’ll do it here.

6

Now, if has anyone got something useful to say, please say it.

 

We are all still waiting on you.

7

Thanks for the nice feedback, but it would be better to use one topic for each issue.

8

I would like to commend you for acknowledging the disparity between T2 and T3, and your subsequent clarifications as to which tier you are addressing. I think much of the frustration you’re encountering is due to players getting irritated at some (not all) T2 players decrying foul play only after experiencing a couple games in T3. I don’t like discrediting the opinion of others based on something like number of games played, but recent altercations have left me, shall we say, a bit rattled.

 

Keeping this short, Error beat me to the punch by suggesting individual topics. May I also recommend using some of the threads already open for discussion?

9

I think he hit the nail on the head pretty much…

 

The balance changes hit amongst all tiers while T2 is mostly fine(Exept for plasma arc needing a slight debuff(losing about 500 damage/s to start with and see how that works out) and T3 is complained about a lot. So I think the changes need to hit that tier mostly and not the T1/T2 where the problems in T3/T4 are not even available due to different mods in T2.

10

I think he hit the nail on the head pretty much…

 

The balance changes hit amongst all tiers while T2 is mostly fine(Exept for plasma arc needing a slight debuff(losing about 500 damage/s to start with and see how that works out) and T3 is complained about a lot. So I think the changes need to hit that tier mostly and not the T1/T2 where the problems in T3/T4 are not even available due to different mods in T2.

 

I think the ion beam module needs to be taken away from the interceptors and given to the fighters. I am sick and tired of applying my debuffs to an interceptor and having them nullified by a phase remodulator, so the ion beam will help fix that. For that matter, most of the interceptor modules in T2 need nerfing. The Plasma Arc in particular.

11

I’m +1’ing just for the opening paragraph… I am so sick of the “Old Guard” who insist the Real Game starts at Rank 12.

12

I’m +1’ing just for the opening paragraph… I am so sick of the “Old Guard” who insist the Real Game starts at Rank 12.

As am I. Well, to be more accurate, I am tired of people who claim one tier is superior to another. At the same time, the game is at a point right now where tier distinction is absolutely necessary in these discussions about balance. The frustration comes when individuals of one tier feel as if individuals of another are suggesting changes to something they may not have much experience in. I back out of conversations regarding T2 because of this (I am a T3 pilot). For example, stating that interceptors are not the strongest class seems ridiculous if the context is T2, but it is accurate in T3.

13

I think the ion beam module needs to be taken away from the interceptors and given to the fighters. I am sick and tired of applying my debuffs to an interceptor and having them nullified by a phase remodulator, so the ion beam will help fix that. For that matter, most of the interceptor modules in T2 need nerfing. The Plasma Arc in particular.

I disagree, interceptors ( in T2) need their mods to be slightly OP in comparison to other mods to be useful, since they lack the health and DPS other ships have.

14

I disagree, interceptors ( in T2) need their mods to be slightly OP in comparison to other mods to be useful, since they lack the health and DPS other ships have.

 

Bacon… I fly an interceptor killer and their modules just kill my efficiency. The phase remod being the most irritating of the bunch. As long as tacklers have some way to disable interceptors from escaping via use of their modules, I’m happy. This is how a normal scenario goes:

 

  1. I target a recon/ECM, line up my crosshairs with the target lead.

  2. I activate my buffs and get ready to bring the pain.

  3. Recon cloaks/ECM uses ion beam.

  4. I scream obscenities.

  5. Recon/ECM comes back around and murders me whilst I’m defenceless. Not even missiles can save me.

  6. Cov Ops just turns their plasma arc on at close range before I can stop.

 

…I see a problem here.

15

Yes…just like any ships module will kill your efficiency…that’s what they are for, to support the user…

 

And if you get killed in the 6 seconds you are ion emitted, you got larger problems than that ion emitter.
their cloak is 5 seconds, and drains a shitton of cap, so they wont travel far, the ion emitter is only 6 seconds and you can still sit on their xxxx while they try to escape or you tank their xxxx dps…

 

The cov ops i can understand, but not all cov ops pilots are that good at aiming their plasma arc, most are terrible at it.(they even manage to miss my frigate…)

16

Yes…just like any ships module will kill your efficiency…that’s what they are for, to support the user…

 

And if you get killed in the 6 seconds you are ion emitted, you got larger problems than that ion emitter.

their cloak is 5 seconds, and drains a shitton of cap, so they wont travel far, the ion emitter is only 6 seconds and you can still sit on their xxxx while they try to escape or you tank their xxxx dps…

 

The cov ops i can understand, but not all cov ops pilots are that good at aiming their plasma arc, most are terrible at it.(they even manage to miss my frigate…)

 

When a recon cloaks, it removes your debuffs. The main problem I have with this is that it forces your modules to cool down.

 

And I can’t hit interceptors with plasma. They’re too damn fast. But I did come up with something to fix this.

17

I will post this again seeing how some might have missed the post and who ever might read this.

 

From the Developer Q&A

 

Q: How would you characterize the gameplay experience in each of the different ship tiers?

A: T1-T2 is for new players or those who like less complicated gameplay. T3 is for farming credits and developing your chops as a veteran pilot, as well as good tier for F2P players. T4 has all the core ships for endgame play, clan wars, etc.

 

Also the reason that T2 and T1 were pretty much untouched were because there is so little to touch in the first place. Like any competitive game it gets balanced from the top and in this instance maybe tweeks at the lower tiers. The reason there is so much going on in T3 is because there is a wide range of varying things that could happen when someone that plays at a higher level can see than someone with bear minimal experience would even notice. Honestly i cant give an opinion of t2 or t1 because i never play it but when it comes to T3 the one that i play 100% of the time since around my 500th game played I can tell you about this.

 

The reason so many people have problems is that THE REAL GAME STARTS IN T3. It opens up the world of options that you don’t get to see in T2. Also many of the pilots skill level are going to be better because your rarely going to find that guy with 20 games played in T3. I’m just trying to get people to see that the jump from t2 -t3 is a chasm that they need to cross if they wish to play against better players. The days of getting 45,62, 87 game win streaks are over and I’m cool with that now that more people are populating T3.

Thanks for pretty much proving my point…

 

As far as I’m concerned, the real game begins once you can launch confident in what you are doing and how it helps the team to win. You dismiss Tier 1 out of hand, but I think it is in many ways one of the most enjoyable tiers - it is simple to the point of elegant, with all the strategy and tactics effectively boiled down to who is the better pilot, rather than who has the best module loadout.

 

Tier 2 remains my tier of choice. It has complexity, but not too much. It is fast-paced, but energy-management matters a lot more; you really have to choose between spamming the afterburner and having your modules ready to fire when the trouble starts. Depending on what ships you own, T2 might also earn you more money.

 

Frankly, nobody cares if the devs consider T1 and T2 “training” tiers. All anybody cares about is whether the game is fun or not in whatever tear they are playing.

18

Thanks for pretty much proving my point…

 

As far as I’m concerned, the real game begins once you can launch confident in what you are doing and how it helps the team to win. You dismiss Tier 1 out of hand, but I think it is in many ways one of the most enjoyable tiers - it is simple to the point of elegant, with all the strategy and tactics effectively boiled down to who is the better pilot, rather than who has the best module loadout.

 

Tier 2 remains my tier of choice. It has complexity, but not too much. It is fast-paced, but energy-management matters a lot more; you really have to choose between spamming the afterburner and having your modules ready to fire when the trouble starts. Depending on what ships you own, T2 might also earn you more money.

 

Frankly, nobody cares if the devs consider T1 and T2 “training” tiers. All anybody cares about is whether the game is fun or not in whatever tear they are playing.

To each his or her own. Though I would be careful saying something like nobody cares what the devs think because, as I imagine, they are people too and get just as frustrated when others don’t seem to listen to them. We cannot ask them to hear us out if we do not give them respect as well.

 

In the end, it’s all about having fun and some people have fun differently than others. Perspective matters a lot; I find T3 more engaging because of the greater complexity. This is subjective. The fact that the game has more options in T3+ and is currently being built with an emphasis on later tiers is not.

19

This is subjective. The fact that the game has more options in T3+ and is currently being built with an emphasis on later tiers is not [subjective].

 

Neither is the fact that hardly any players engage in T4 PvP. And it’s not for lack of T4 players.

 

I agree with Jasan; writing off T1 and 2 as “starting tiers” is a mistake. There is a reason T2/3 is more populated than T4. If the developers screwed up T2 as badly as they did T4, I’d go back to flying T1 ships regardless of the reward decrease and accusations of “Bambi farming”.

 

At the end of the day I play a game to have fun. If it ceases to be fun, I try to make it fun. If I can’t, I stop playing. Take a look at where the center of the population is residing, and you’ll see what the community considers ‘fun’.

 

It sure as heck isn’t Tier 4. 

20

To each his or her own. Though I would be careful saying something like nobody cares what the devs think because, as I imagine, they are people too and get just as frustrated when others don’t seem to listen to them. We cannot ask them to hear us out if we do not give them respect as well.

And likewise, we should not respect the developers if they do not listen to us.

 

It is very clear that Tier 2 is, in the eyes of a great many players, the “proper” tier. Tier 1 feels incomplete by comparison and can be generally accepted as the entry level, and Tier 3 is simply inaccessible due to poorly applied costing and rewards. Now, there are two ways the developers can look at this:

 

The Correct Way.

They accept the word of their player base. They recognise that people are playing Tier 2, and oftentimes playing it long after the Devs feel said player should have moved on. They then begin a project of looking into why they do this - polls, questionnaires, forum topics and so forth. They use this information to try and find what it is that is keeping people in Tier 2 and then either look to bring about changes to the higher Tiers to encourage the “loitering” T2 players to move up, or they work to expand the game in such a way that playing in Tier 2 forever is a valid and viable option.

 

The Wrong Way.

They reject the player base and act out of spite, seeking to punish players who remain in lower tiers and damaging the game balance in lower tiers for the sake of the unpopular and little-used higher tiers.

 

Currently, the Devs are straying toward the wrong way. I don’t want to be forced to play tier 3 because I honestly don’t think it is as enjoyable as tier 2; I have more ships available to me at T2, my ships are better (relatively speaking) in T2 than in T3, the gameplay feels faster and more intense, and the matches generally launch faster.

However, if I do play tier 2 then I am punished by a reduced loyalty boost, making it extremely difficult to grind race ranks. This in turn means that I do not have the option of simply skipping the crap ranks and unlocking the T3 / T4 end ships in Tier 2 and then using a mountain of money to buy my way straight to the end. There is also the issue that when they make balance changes they clearly aren’t making them with Tier 2 in mind. If they were, Interceptors would have been brought into line and frigates would be something other than floating bullseyes.