8v8 Discussion Thread

Turf Takeover is my favorite mode since I tend to like the potentially longer play time afforded by the bigger multi-stage map.

I had noticed the smaller teams this morning when I switched off from the Weekly Challenge but dismissed it initially as an underpopulated lobby. I will state that I was never really effected by lag issues in Turf Takeover- at worst all I observed is some minor stuttering or the Cart on certain maps and the audio breaking when things got really chaotic.

I don't think I've played enough just yet to form an opinion but based on the handful of games I have played so far I have some first impressions.

The map does appear under-populated as other people in this thread have mentioned and even when you are in the specific region where the action is occurring there doesn't seem to be a lot happening because a certain percentage of your team gets vanquished, then has to respawn and then sprint to try to rejoin.

The dynamic for Pushing the Cart or capturing an objective has definitely changed with the smaller team size. Previously you'd have certain players on your team working the objective- Pushing the Cart opposed by those trying to stop it from being pushed or players in the actual Objective Zone trying to capture it or prevent it from being captured. Beyond these players actively working the objective itself you had the other portion of the team supporting that activity by flanking their opponents or trying to support those working the objective with mid-to-long range fire.

With the smaller teams this dynamic doesn't work as well since not actively working the objective stalls the progress, so the attacking team can't really afford to spare any players to invest time in flanking the defenders to thin out the opposition while the defending players don't have to modify their tactics much at all on maps where Pushing the Cart is the initial assaulting team goal. 

It seems that the first side to gel as a team gets an advantage and that any rapid vanquish streak removing members of either team quickly enough forces a shift in the tide of battle as those vanquished players race to try to rejoin the action. A team which gets a decent number of players vanquished is more likely to see more get vanquished which results in that team being strung out between their spawn and wherever the heat of battle is occurring which makes it less likely for them to be able to function as a team again.

My impression is also that the attacking team will be disadvantaged on certain maps where Bombs or Batteries need to be carried. Because players carrying an item to an objective point have their special abilities disabled, they can't sprint and their position is singled out to the enemy team they usually need to be escorted and there are now fer team members who can do so-  especially since there can be three simultaneous carriers. With 12v12 this means that battles which reach the final objective point become desperate crazy affairs full of chaos- which is arguably the best part- but with the smaller team sizes I haven't observed the same level of action and I'm having a hard time recalling if the assaulting team has been successful in any of the more recent Turf takeover games I've been in.

Since I completed the Weekly Challenge I'll be more active in Turf Takeover so I should be able to flesh out what I think overall but I do agree with one of the other opinions that a choice between a 12v12 and 8v8 might be a good option- with the caveat being that players will probably ultimately wind up in whichever one is being picked more often on that particular day.