How would YOU balance the game?

[mizolo]

What the title says.



What would YOU do to balance the gameplay?

What changes would YOU make?

Why would YOU make those changes?

What would YOU do to make things more interesting for xenos?

What would YOU do about predators?

What do YOU think the win ratio should be? Round#:Marines:Xenos



I'll answer my own questions:

I would start by making xenos more sturdy, but perhaps take longer to regenerate their health.

I would nerf marine damage maybe just a little bit, or not at all, but majorly buff xeno health, and reduce re-gen rates.

I would do these because xenos could be able to do actual damage in combat and not get instantly obliterated without having a second thought to retreat.

I would make xenos have the option of either picking a 5 char unique number of R-###, or remain anonymous with just ###, I think this would make xenos more identifyable, but still remain anonymous.

I think predators are a little easy to kill at the moment. I would buff their armor, and give them binoculars.

I personally think the win ratio should be ... 1 : 2 ... Marines : Xenos

[bobatnight]

I'd buff lurkers.

[UnwaveringGrey]

I would start by making xenos more sturdy, but perhaps take longer to regenerate their health.

I would nerf marine damage maybe just a little bit, or not at all, but majorly buff xeno health, and reduce re-gen rates.

Just remember it's not xenos versus marines, it's XvM and also MvM via friendly fire. Reducing marine damage helps with friendly fire and buffs xenos, while buffing xeno health leaves FF where it is and just makes xenos tougher. Xeno regen rates are their real strength versus marines. Buffing their HP but reducing regen might be a net debuff.

I would make xenos have the option of either picking a 5 char unique number of R-###, or remain anonymous with just ###, I think this would make xenos more identifyable, but still remain anonymous.

100% agree.

I personally think the win ratio should be ... 1 : 2 ... Marines : Xenos

Isn't that already the goal? Or something like it? I thought the devs were aiming for like 60% or 70% xeno win rate?

[DefinitelyAlone0309]

1. A complete removal of any RNG element in our combat system (neuro, tackle, armor, slash damage, crit attack) and replace them with more reliable but weaker versions (Neuro can either be TGMC's version of halloss, which can be gay; or it can be a guaranteed 2-3 second stun with a 6 second cd. Tackle can be a decent slow until the 3rd consecutive tackles in a small period of time which leads to a knockdown. Marine armor should be a flat percentage reduction of damage, and slash damage should only be 1 number with no high or low value. Then remove crit attack). The rest of the RNG is just a number thing (Crusher charge, stomp, acid spits, acid spray...). The in-depth details can be talked about later

2. Xeno identification: Ckey in Hive Status, unique and static numbers, or just names that can only be seen in Hive Status. Anything works.

3. Remove the random fling part of nades, but lower its explosion+stun radius to 5x5 only.

Let's start with those ideas first.

[MasterShakeEZ]

I would remove MP ooc protection. Then I would have to see how much that buffed the Epic Gamers so I could balance the xenos after the massive amounts of losses they would be taking.

[IMMASPACENINJA]

i'd delet the tank, screech and carriers
das it

[Chaznoodles]

In no particular order;

Remove Trijent and Ice from rotation until they�re properly balanced for playtesting, to stop the �vote �� and leave� mentality.
Remove whitelists to reduce the forming of cliques and the OOC protection they bring, punish said post-whitelist roles in-server instead of relegating it to the forums.
Have the same small group working on marine AND xenos balance tweaks, so they aren�t being made independently and can be thought over in regards to other mechanics, which can then be balanced accordingly.
Remove squad req or implement a Vend All button, QoL.
Rework neuro to do stamina-based damage, make nests gradually heal until flashing red, reduce the number of instawin buttons xenos castes have, xenos identification, rework queen to be more akin to NS2 commanding rather than screech machine.

[EquitablePerson]

Secondary win condition for xenos, hold the planet or point on planet for X or similar. Will prevent the much loved 80 man retreat meta.
Teach the devs to realize buffing one side while nerfing the other has a compounding effect.
Remove the kits, every PFC doesn't need to be a mini-spec.
Shut off marine late-joins after X time- exactly when up for debate when. Will shorten rounds and stop the marines from being the unstoppable tide not the beanos.
Make strains and the burrower not shit.
Remove the decap change, helmets aren't magic that stop your head from flying off its shoudlers(ie via your neck) Remove the pain nerf (marines shouldn't be SPESS MUHREENS)
Remove or rework defibs, dying means jack shit currently.

A few ideas off the top of my head. Not to all be added at once or at all. Bit by bit to see what works and what doesn't with thorough testing.

[CABAL]

Secondary win condition for xenos, hold the planet or point on planet for X or similar. Will prevent the much loved 80 man retreat meta.
Teach the devs to realize buffing one side while nerfing the other has a compounding effect.
Remove the kits, every PFC doesn't need to be a mini-spec.
Shut off marine late-joins after X time- exactly when up for debate when. Will shorten rounds and stop the marines from being the unstoppable tide not the beanos.
Make strains and the burrower not shit.
Remove the decap change, helmets aren't magic that stop your head from flying off its shoudlers(ie via your neck) Remove the pain nerf (marines shouldn't be SPESS MUHREENS)
Remove or rework defibs, dying means jack shit currently.

A few ideas off the top of my head. Not to all be added at once or at all. Bit by bit to see what works and what doesn't with thorough testing.

1) Yeah, 80 injured marines vs 30 benos means that it is indeed much loved meta. Marines are allowed to Evac only if they have less than 50 men, including Ship Crew.
2) Teach beno mains about 70% beno winrate goal.
3) Only flamer kit gives something comparable to a mini-spec. Other shit is just slight extension of whatever there is. Is there medic spec? Is there self-defence spec? Is there Carabine spec?
4) Then shut off beno larvaes as well.
5) They are not. Not taking strain as Defender for example means that you are pretty much crippled. Others change your playstyle. Maybe you want Mutators to return? "OOORAH!" for pure stats boosts.
6) Don't remove it, nobody likes Quick deaths, Decap chance means that rav can do it reliably. Pain was and is already tweaked.
6) Dying means broken bones, IB, organ damage (blindness included) and heart damage.

A few "Anti-HardOnBenoMain" ideas off the top of my helmet, so that sharp beno arguments won't decap me in one slash.

[Madventurer]

1: Tone down damage all around. Rocket Tag Gameplay is not fun, at least give everyone a chance to do something instead of getting instakilled by decap or RPG.

2: Make boiler have longer delay between shots. Two boilers can lock down any chokepoint with no chance of pushing. Every map has chokepoints marines HAVE to go through, few of them have CAS/OB possibility.

3: Make acid and neuro/acid spit cost more plasma and/or decrease plasma regen for relevant castes a bit. Aciding half of the map is already pretty easy for xenos, especially after elder +. Acid is easy and cheap way to cancel out any work marines do if they leave a spot unguarded for 30 seconds.

4: Give xenos a slow source of respawns. +1 burrowed larva every 30 mins (?), speed scaled to server population. This way there are more xenos to fight and their death matters slightly less.

5: Give marines a ticking DEFCON counter. Roughly at rate of 1 level for 1-2h. This way long rounds get forced into eventual standoff, while slow rate of gain discourages excessive camping. Numbers should be tweaked for the stated goal.

6: Make sentries significantly weaker, but make them significantly cheaper and more available. In addition to having a pick for a sentry at prep, there would be a guaranteed sentry in the engi prep vendor. Req point cost should be around 30-40. More ASRS sentries. This way FOBs have significantly better defenses without massive amounts of marines twiddling their thumbs there, especially on certain maps with large areas in need of defense (LV LZ1, for example). As a drawback, sentries would not be very dangerous individually, just enough to deter lone xenos from wrecking unguarded sections of FOBs with ease (such as with acid).

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Numbers again should be tweaked to accomodate the goals, not set in stone. Xenos should maintain a power level above marines, except for the tweaks here. Buffs to other aspects as necessary.