Embrace the Suck

[Dolth]

You're not going to stop in the middle of combat and wave at an ancient sentin.

No. No.
You are going to smash that wave macro you have among the 20ish of macros you have.

[Xentro]

Losing is !!FUN!!

[NoahKirchner]

They added a grey mask so everyone had the same shape and was named Unknown once... That was good. If only the shape could be easier to spot (not fuzzy grey) that would be insanely great. No more metagaming.

I think a nice colour for it would be green or red because in Alien Covenant the xenomorph sees in green and in avp 2010 people have blue/green/red outlines depending on what kind of enemy they are.

That could actually be neat, thinking about it, to just steal the same system that avp 2010 uses. Red for dangerous, armed host, blue for synthetic host, green for unarmed host.

[Dolth]

That would be really neat. No more metagaming regarding the name or class of the marine, plus a tiny bit of RP from AVP (which I have and love btw).

[VortexGaming]

Yesterday muhreens embraced the suck by loosing a 7 v 100 with xenos

[Drownie]

The "suck" starts being annoying when you always see the same thing.
LV = Marines try push the river, we get destroyed at Hydro and then lose FoB in about 9 minutes.
Prison = Marines push xenos a bit, then we get pushed back to LZ-1, only to be breached from Comms or East Cades.
Solaris = No matter if they get research or lambda, they always will keep spamming boiler gas until we lose all defences and half of the marines, so they can push further and breach comms at LZ-1.

I don't think I need to show more examples, you got the point that we're always in a cycle of losing with a minimal chance of winning, what make us feel that no matter what we do and no matter what we change we are not going to change the inexorable lose.

The objective of the game is fight against the xenos/marines, and that somehow prevents us from enjoying the round in the way you wish us to. Because we are humans and we usually put our happiness before the wish to accomplish something, we have a few players that can assimilate the wish of accomplishment with the happiness, here are born the roleplayers.

The problem here, it's that we can't please the "RolePlayers" and the "Cannon Fodders"(Yes, I'm calling myself that heheh) together, the only way we could do that is put a perfect balance in the Xenos/Marines winning, but unfortunately maintain a balance like that would end in the annoyance of repetition again, again and again.
Because ya know, we can't put good updates that aren't going to favor some side in a sensible game like that.

[Azfrief]

Yeeeeeaaaaah, no. This entire mindset is shit and not really helpful or useful at all. Get rid of it.

[Desolane900]

Yeeeeeaaaaah, no. This entire mindset is shit and not really helpful or useful at all. Get rid of it.

That's just, like, your opinion, man.

[Reuben Owen]

Regarding the "the aim of the game is a marine loss w/ good storytelling along the way" stance by the staff:

I used to be okay with this. But after three years on this server, the more I've come to realize how boring and unfulfilling it is. Why waste thirty to forty minutes of my time gearing up and getting to know my squad, just so I can end up bleeding out in some dark, alien-infested corner, every. single. game? Sure, it makes for good storytelling or whatever. But it creates a sense of sameness that's overwhelmingly stale and boring.

This is why Whiskey Outpost was best.
Was quick + no waiting around.

[Bulaven]

Are you concerned with winning the round? Do you think exploiting bugs is the best way to victory? Do you get salty when you die or lose?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, this post is for you.

Embrace the Suck

What is the suck? The suck is the way the game is altered to make it so that if you're a marine player, you get shit on around every turn.

You may be asking "But why is the game made to be this way? Shouldn't everyone have fun?"

The answer is simple. Everyone could be having fun, if they would embrace the suck.

The game is tailored to write a story, as roleplaying games often are. The story of Colonial Marines is to tell the tale of the ultimate badasses, warriors of technological superiority and weapons that can kill an elephant getting absolutely destroyed by the galaxy's best killing machines. The canonical story of Colonial Marines is, what I imagine to be, the marines die and the Sulaco is infested with xenomorphs. Correct me if I'm wrong but this is the way the game seems to be tailored. The game is a story, a novel, a book, and the players are the characters. Does it always end in an Alien Major/Minor? No. But that is just the story unfolding. The marines fighting tooth and nail to gain what semblance of victory they can grasp from the cold claws of defeat.

The point I want to get across to the community is that you're a character in a story. You're not the main character, though you may play an important role in the story. Maybe you're one of the important characters that makes a splash and lives to the end. Maybe you're a background character that lives for a few paragraphs and ends as a faceless backdrop. Maybe you're the character that plays an important role with zero gratification. It's a story. Don't try and corner spit. Don't try and build mechs. Don't try and duplicate marksman magazines. Just sit back and play the game. Or observe and watch the story unfold. Each round is a book. Every minute a paragraph.

A roleplaying game is, surprise, a game where the players play a role. Believe it or not, Colonial Marines is a roleplaying game. Instead of worrying about powergaming and trying to get a victory (which you get no reward for) just play a role, enjoy the round, write the book. Take some time to develop your character and their relations with those around them. Ignore the immersion breaking trolls. And by god, don't powergame to ruin someone's round or try and make your side win. All you do is piss people off and hurt your own reputation.

This has been a Public Service Announcement from your friendly neighborhood reformed shitter.

Exactly. Couldn't have said it better, myself. You've got to have an appreciation for the eternal Ying-Yang that is Role-playing. You win some, you lose some.. But? In the end? It is truly the journey, not the destination.

[Build_R_]

I see that people are concerned with how it's the same results on each map but is it that important? Why not focus on your own role and the people you're next to instead of fixing on the larger picture?

[Dolth]

Weapons and such are too weak to actively control the way you dig through xeno. It's mostly a random momentum that helps sometimes, AKA steamroll.

[Dolth]

I just can't. I swear, I try embracing the suck but it's so hard.

EDIT:



That's a Mature Ravager (903).
A huge, nasty red alien with enormous scythed claws.
It bleeds with sizzling wounds.

Can someone remove my luck curse?

[Poops_Buttly]

I'm not sure how it enriched the plot of that round that a Predator RDK'd me as a spitter who started the round as an ayy and had just hit elite, 1v1 despite my running, emoting and trying to get into vents to get away because I knew there was nothing I could do against something faster, stronger and tougher than me.

[Karmac]

play the game knowing you'll accomplish nothing and you'll probably die to some stupid bs or you'll find yourself hating CM's guts because the reality of it is the game's a piece of shit

[TheMaskedMan2]

I just like playing 2D spaceman shoot game cause it’s fun and i’m a sick masochist who enjoys suffering.

[Bulaven]

I just like playing 2D spaceman shoot game cause it’s fun and i’m a sick masochist who enjoys suffering.

You... Holy crap, it all makes sense, now.

[Bulaven]

The "suck" starts being annoying when you always see the same thing.
LV = Marines try push the river, we get destroyed at Hydro and then lose FoB in about 9 minutes.
Prison = Marines push xenos a bit, then we get pushed back to LZ-1, only to be breached from Comms or East Cades.
Solaris = No matter if they get research or lambda, they always will keep spamming boiler gas until we lose all defences and half of the marines, so they can push further and breach comms at LZ-1.

I don't think I need to show more examples, you got the point that we're always in a cycle of losing with a minimal chance of winning, what make us feel that no matter what we do and no matter what we change we are not going to change the inexorable lose.

The objective of the game is fight against the xenos/marines, and that somehow prevents us from enjoying the round in the way you wish us to. Because we are humans and we usually put our happiness before the wish to accomplish something, we have a few players that can assimilate the wish of accomplishment with the happiness, here are born the roleplayers.

The problem here, it's that we can't please the "RolePlayers" and the "Cannon Fodders"(Yes, I'm calling myself that heheh) together, the only way we could do that is put a perfect balance in the Xenos/Marines winning, but unfortunately maintain a balance like that would end in the annoyance of repetition again, again and again.
Because ya know, we can't put good updates that aren't going to favor some side in a sensible game like that.

I am a heavy Roleplayer, and have been for thirteen years, now. To me? The winning is simply the McGuffin. It's an objective. It drives the story forward. But I? Personally? Don't mind losing. If it happens? More RP for me. If we win? More RP for me. I will give orders. I will do my best to make sure we -Do- win.. But I can appreciate losing.

[Gnorse]

I don't give a shit if we win or lose as long as it's a fair fight. stomps on either side aren't fun.

[Grubstank]

Winning isn't really important to me -- but I do think that something needs to be done about the obscenely long prep time and the way that a lot of rounds drag out forever.

Spending a minimum of 25 minutes standing in line or bickering with the RO to actually send down some metal with the engineers -- repeating that time sink every single round is just agonizing. Basic attachments in prep vendors does help this, but it hasn't made as large an impact as I would have hoped for.

It can be tough to get good roleplay when your partners are whatever baldies happened to stand beside you in the req line. Even if we don't rebalance the game to cut out the waiting period before the drop, it's important that we find a way to minimize reqs, imo. The game would be a lot more open to RP that way

[Drownie]

People just forget that the win rate has a direct correlation with the balance.

[Bulaven]

Come to think of it, most survivors die due to the stupidity of the Marines coming to save them. While some goofball is delaying the briefing, some poor schmuck is running for dear life.

[Lorem123]

I'm not sure how anyone can think this mindset is a good idea. Especially with statements like "don't worry about powergaming" when the alien side always powergames as hard as possible. If the marines don't do the same, they don't even get a chance to roleplay. It's just a straight stomp.

[RunAwayScientist]

The "suck" starts being annoying when you always see the same thing.
LV = Marines try push the river, we get destroyed at Hydro and then lose FoB in about 9 minutes.
Prison = Marines push xenos a bit, then we get pushed back to LZ-1, only to be breached from Comms or East Cades.

Drownie's on to something, here.

^ This is fixable. This has to do with CO metas and how the COs can change them up to try new tactics and ways of tackling maps.


That is an immediate, short-term, viable solution. Everyone, including the benos, will have more fun if COs/XOs attack maps differently and in creative ways.


@Desolane900 - I trust the salt is gud?

[KaiserBlackwood]

Mostly we get killed by FF, or goddamned tsunami of xenos. There is too much of them to handle, and so small amount of guns to kill em/