As I said I intentionally went back and played GW1 again over the weekend. Got some Taco bandits in (I so miss that mode), some Gardens and Graveyards, and the other modes that have made the migration to GW2. Despite GW2’s foibles I found I missed certain aspects of GW2 although I love those old maps. Taco Bandits on Jewel Junction, Vanquish Confirmed on Suburban Flats, etc. were all great moments I recently had. Bringing the old maps to the new game with more class balances would help the old hands of the original game while still supporting the new game. I 100% agree that the old game has some advantage over the new one but the new one has so many other things I consider amazing; the Backyard Battleground, some of the new customizations (although I miss some of the old ones as well), the new classes (balance issues notwithstanding), and the ability to play with bots when you want to just go nuts.
Overwatch is very good. I’m level 57 in the game, focusing mostly on Symmetra, Mercy, and Pharah. One thing I found annoying in that game though is unless my teleporter is up as Symmetra, the walk back to the action is worse than the large maps in GW2. I believe this is largely intentional but nothing is more frustrating than not being able to defend objective A because I’m still running back from spawn. The biggest issue I’ve had in Overwatch isn’t the great players you indicate, although they clearly exist, is such broken teams as 5 Torbjorn’s and a Mercy defending Volskaya’s Point B. That was rage inducing to be sure.
One issue with the GW2 Turf Takeover maps is that the teleporters’ placement in regards to your spawn area and the destination/entry points of the teleporters make me scratch my head. On the 3rd Moonbase Z point I’ve spawned where the walk to either the teleporter destination or the entry point was pretty much the same distance. That reduces the value of such utilities significantly. Also I’ve spawned and had no idea where the entry point for a teleporter is until I acclimated myself with the maps and this too reduces the value of the teleporters.
I like your idea of a free for all. The game has a decent amount of game modes now, even with the glaring omission of Taco bandits but more is always welcome. I know most people play Turf Takeover but mixing it up is a good thing as well. Perhaps we could have an open world Backyard Battleground or a selection of them where anyone can go instead of a private one just to mix it up with the community for fun. My friends and I have had some good times in our own backyards; getting multiple bosses while several AI characters get in the fight while we do as well is great fun so I can get behind your idea 100%!
That gnome portal in the Town Hall promises something for the future of the game. I still hold out for the old maps to be migrated forward, but adding your idea as well would be great fun.
I've noticed a lot of the game modes (in both GW's) are hopelessly underused but that's probably down to what Boolerex says in the fact that they're just not very interesting to play. I'm not saying it's the definitive way forward but freshening game modes by introducing different ways to play can't be a bad thing. Free for all is reasonably popular because you can basically do what you want without the need to conform to any rules of gamplay / teamplay whatsoever, so in a lot of respects it's a good alternative to the confines of these 'rule' based scenarios.
Wow, I completely overlooked the backyard and it's multiplayer potential. If you close up the sewers and plant / zombie bases then I have to agree that it would make an excellent alternative. As a single map that doesn't invole progression unlocks it's of a good size to host quite a lot of game types that don't involve converging on a single spot so why not implement it within the selectable multiplayer maps?
Regarding map migration. Much as I adore the GW1 maps (well, the maps I have actually seen lol) I'm not quite sure if reproducing them for GW2 is an entirely good thing. Aside from the fact that they have been played over and over again by just about everyone I don't remain convinced that they will be equally as enjoyable second time around. A sequel perhaps should be a sequel in it's entirety and porting 'classic' maps sometimes takes away the unique feel of a game. A perfect example (from games I have purchased) is Forza 6. F6 is effectively the whole of Forza 5 plus a few extras and simply migrating the entire game into it's sequel has somewhat spoils the 'newness' of the game. PopCap have to be given a great deal of credit because if nothing else they presented a game that bore absolutely no resemblance to it's predecessor, giving the impression that the purchase was indeed for something 100% brand new. My way of thinking is that if GW2 would simply have been GW1 in it's entirety - plus a few more maps - then it's appeal would have been greatly reduced. OK, so the sequel would have probably presented the old maps with more graphical splendour but again, do they really need to be updated to make them better? But everyone has their own opinions as to content so I guess others will disagree...
Re: The gnome portal. I don't know if you have noticed this but there is a near identical town hall in Zombopolis, so it may well be the case that this 'hidden' portal in the backyard town hall simply relates to the already unlocked town hall in Zombopolis... Who knows.
On the gnome portal:
I have noticed the town halls but gnomes are all about temporal power, hence infinity time as a prime example, so some kind of time theme there makes a lot of sense here thematically.
On the old maps:
I see your point about them perhaps being overused. My main interest with it is nostalgic. If/when they do migrate them to the new game there will undoubtedly be changes. All the same I find adding more maps is a good thing. More options for quests and ops is one reason. We also only have 2 Gardens & Graveyards maps and 3 Herbal Assault maps whereas in the old game we had 4 G&G maps (I don't consider the night versions as truly separate maps). That gives GW2 1 more turf takeover map but less variety in the separate types. Even if we don't get the old maps we need more maps.
Honestly I think the largest issue is class and map balance. Once we get those issues under control we can use new maps, class variants, etc.
I'm also curious about the 2 'missing' classes, one from each side that are often brought up among the community in regards to the 2 empty slots, 1 each in the respective home bases in the backyard battleground. More classes may muddy the role waters even more than they are now though.
If I had a dollar for every time I accidently left the booth during a turf takeover game and went to the backyard I would have like 23 bucks.
@B0RiS_THE_FR0G wrote:
I've noticed a lot of the game modes (in both GW's) are hopelessly underused but that's probably down to what Boolerex says in the fact that they're just not very interesting to play.
Never said that expect for taco bandit, gnome bomb game are hype as hell most of the time for exemple,but it rather clear that most of the player base generally hang around Turf takeover or team vanquish. Thankfully popcap moved the mixed mode playlist in second position instead of Team vanquish,which helped a bit to populate it.
Yes I know you didn't. I was just using your reference to emphasise that people don't play other game modes because they're not very interesting to play. In you're instance it's Taco Bandit and the truly awful gnome bomb....
Apologies if it sounded like I misquoted you.
Re: The mysterious portal.
Well I hope you're right but until PopCap reveal all then I guess we'll never know. One thing that does puzzle me regarding the multiplayer maps is why they didn't make them available as free roam locations within the backyard. It wouldn't be too difficult to place random warp gates around the play area and allow players to drift between zones in order to (possibly) compete in various sub games within their designated destination. Aside from making single player a huge experience it would also allow players to learn the maps without the hassle of having to play competitively. Who knows, maybe this mystery portal will be the gateway to all levels.
Re: Gestures / taunts.
Yes, I am 100% with you on this one. As a self confessed abuser of the taunts (the footsoldier ones are borderline obscene) I severely miss the ability to be downright offensive to my fellow gamers because on some occasions (particularly in a close fought one-to-one duel) the taunt can be more satisfying than the kill itself. Nothing like provoking a bit of the proverbial red mist. The taunts system employed in GW2 gives the impression that PopCap have taken the PEGI rating a bit too seriously and gone all politically correct on us for the benefit of not offending the younger gamers. Humbug.
Re Maps:
I'm guessing that, much like what happened in GW1, the maps will come over time as part of content updates so it may well be the case that everyone will see considerably more variants in Herbal assault and G&G. The important thing to remember about the old maps though is that GW1 is currently quite an active game and any migration whilst the game is still a sellable / playable commodity probably won't happen in the short term anyway. Well probably not with the more popular maps of G&G. Perhaps a long way down the road when the servers have finally shut down (when it will be a true nostalgia trip) would be the better option, with PopCap employing the 'brand new' approach until that time arises. It's weird because sometimes I get the feeling that GW2 simply doesn't merit the inclusion of GW1 maps because in a twisted way it kind of taints the integrity of the original game. Adopting an uber-protective stance, so to speak lol... Hmm, sounds kind of not normal, doesn't it ?
Well it's been nice chatting (makes a change for a thread to remain sensible throughout) but I don't really think I can add much more to the equation. All I will say is; Let's just hope that for the sake of the game things do improve considerably and GW2 does become the worthy successor that it deserves to be.
