The great impulse power dynamic problem, and my ideas on how to fix it

[LifetimeThiccness]

Warning: LOTS of yapping
The power dynamic problem is something ive seen in every impulse server ive ever been in so far, and can be described as the following: OTA>REBs>CPs, with the REBS being able to pick their fights. Because of this, the rebs will almost always go after the CPs, and avoid the OTA like the plague, even go so far as to DC during JW so they dont loose their kits to them. And i dont really blame them, cause going up against them- even as a organized force almost always ends up with you and the lads getting brutally raped.

I mean. One OTA is worth 2-3 kitted out rebs, and on a high pop server, theres 12 or even MORE of them.

This leads to a boring cycle of rebs bullying CPs for their lunch money until the big brother OTA gets called in to chase off the bullies. Rinse and repeat until JW. And the rest of the time the OTA are either doing their best impression of a statue, or are shooting naked refugees in the outlands because no way in hell is someone gonna be stupid enough to bring a kit over there just to loose it.

So the steps i want to take to combat this problem is as follows:
Shorten the TTK: A shorter TTK has a bigger emphasis on individual skill and positioning white a longer TTK favors gear, and numbers. Shortening the TTK would give both CPs, and rebs the ability to punch above their weight classes without completely negating the combat advantage of being a juggernaut with a M60. Now there's gonna be some bitching at first, but i feel its mostly just growing pains as people learn to adjust their strategies to fit the new TTK. The infamous OTA conga line is NOT gonna work against a rebel machinegun nest when a machinegun can kill an OTA in 4-8 shots. They're gonna have to try something else, such as flanking, or throwing a grenade.

Give CPs the ability to initiate their OWN fights: I feel like rebs should be allowed to fight without a suit with the caveat that they can only use a normal pistol. To compensate the CPs should be able to sweep blocks, do random searches, kick down doors, and even do shadowraids with a 30 minute cooldown. The rebs shouldnt be the only ones who can normally initiate the fights.

Make the OTA alot less passive: Limited amount of OTA should be able to participate in the previously mentioned activities, and basically perform as the party's tank as it were. I feel like one OTA to every 3 CPs is a place we can start.

And nerf the OTA as necessary to compensate: I sure as shit think their weapons should be among the most damaging in the game, im not asking to change THAT, but maybe do some things under the hood to make them less tanky, i think OTA comes with damage resistance ON TOP of their SP, i say ditch one, and leave the other. Either have SP, OR damage resistance. If we decide to try out TacRP, i vote ditching the latter so the guns can interact with the SP system, or if we're using anything else, stick to simple damage resistance.

 

[seqelb]

sweep blocks, do random searches, kick down doors, and even do shadowraids with a 30 minute cooldown

All of this exists already as long as there is RP pretext

nerf the OTA as necessary to compensate

OTA "beefiness" is dependant on rank, the most basic OTA will struggle dealing with an organised group

 

[LifetimeThiccness]

Unless OTA have deployment rules based on rank, i feel like thats not the best balance method to have for them. Cause, what do you do when all the OTA become high rank? I feel like they should be balanced based on class.

 

[LifetimeThiccness]

Not to mention having tanky-ness be defined by role, NOT rank lets me figure out how tough someone is based on visual indicators.

The red one being tougher then the blue one. THAT is something i can wrap my head around. The blue one being tougher then the blue one is TBH gamey, and kinda BS.

And considering its these indicators that tell me whether i should run away, or fight. Id rather if we did that instead of rank.

 

[seqelb]

what do you do when all the OTA become high rank?

There are whitelists for all OTA ranks above EOW.

The red one being tougher then the blue one. THAT is something i can wrap my head around. The blue one being tougher then the blue one is TBH gamey

I do not see how this is an issue? you are complaining you have to learn about the server and not treat it as a PVP haven.

 

[LifetimeThiccness]

Well this isint exactly something you can learn with server knowledge. Only way you can really tell what rank an OTA is, is to walk up, and check their name.
(That or metagame)

 

[seqelb]

Well this isint exactly something you can learn with server knowledge. Only way you can really tell what rank an OTA is, is to walk up, and check their name.
(That or metagame)

You are wrong, the uniforms are different, even without knowing their rank you can tell they are higher rank than standard rank and file. However you will be able to tell their rank because of the usernames and leader board which can't be avoided. I still fail to understand your issue on the fact of OTA.

 

[Tryki999]

First of all, we are not going to stay like Impulse. Anything related to how it functioned is not a concern for the future of our server. That said, as long as updates are still catching up, it's important to consider balancing.

Our OTA units currently do not have a major advantage over rebels in terms of health or armor. They are roughly equal to a decently geared rebel. While the server has been closed, we have been doing a lot of playtesting, and PvP scenarios like 1v1s or 3v3s and so on, they are always evenly matched. Of course, as you mentioned, no one enjoys fighting a large group of Overwatch soldiers, but I believe rebel progression and loot acquisition should be linked to fighting OTAs. Changing how rebels obtain certain items and introducing new ones to replace current crafting and progression could create a more stable and engaging progression system for both new and experienced players. Creating first scrap weapons same demage worse accuracy and all, same for amour, moving through crafting skills finding more ways how to obtain certain weapons then just loot = craft repeat, including pvp and so on. More to that will be with our survival update.

Creating specific zones where rebels and OTAs can fight regularly would help a lot. From my experience on Landis, the Outlands were basically a PvP area for both factions to tear each other up. Meanwhile, the city was intended for RP but often felt empty due to the lack of roleplay features.

I do not think TTK has much impact on gameplay overall. It depends more on the strategy a player uses. Right now, fights can end in seconds. Making it even shorter would not help. It is already short enough to overwhelm a player, yet just long enough to give them a slight chance to react. That said, it still depends on the weapon used. Some weapons, like a shotgun fired point-blank from behind, offer almost no time to react.

I agree that CPs should be much more proactive. The current problem is that, in the regular Impulse framework, there is little reason to own an apartment. We are working to change that so apartment searches can become a more active part of everyone’s gameplay. Even through that CP's shouldnt be combat faction I never was fan of stuff like Vice units from impulse acting like proto-OTA's. Pure combat should take place in the Outlands, sewers and during JW's, allowing OTAs and rebels to engage there, while CPs handle the city and yea that will take a lot of effort to achieve.

I also agree that OTAs should have more to do. Unfortunately, not every map can support this properly. We have more updates coming, but we are still early in development. Many Combine combat features are not yet part of the current roadmap.

As mentioned earlier, OTAs are not intended to be one-man armies. You can defeat an OTA in a 1v1, even without full gear. However, we do want to give OTAs more tools and gadgets to outsmart and outgear rebels. This could include things like night vision, flashbangs, smoke grenades, breaching charges, and possibly manhacks in the future.

Also thank you for your feedback you are really appriciated we are early in development and I hope with more updates we can bring more balanced and fun game for everyone.

 

[Tryki999]

First of all, we are not going to stay like Impulse. Anything related to how it functioned is not a concern for the future of our server. That said, as long as updates are still catching up, it's important to consider balancing.

Our OTA units currently do not have a major advantage over rebels in terms of health or armor. They are roughly equal to a decently geared rebel. While the server has been closed, we have been doing a lot of playtesting, and PvP scenarios like 1v1s or 3v3s and so on, they are always evenly matched. Of course, as you mentioned, no one enjoys fighting a large group of Overwatch soldiers, but I believe rebel progression and loot acquisition should be linked to fighting OTAs. Changing how rebels obtain certain items and introducing new ones to replace current crafting and progression could create a more stable and engaging progression system for both new and experienced players. Creating first scrap weapons same demage worse accuracy and all, same for amour, moving through crafting skills finding more ways how to obtain certain weapons then just loot = craft repeat, including pvp and so on. More to that will be with our survival update.

Creating specific zones where rebels and OTAs can fight regularly would help a lot. From my experience on Landis, the Outlands were basically a PvP area for both factions to tear each other up. Meanwhile, the city was intended for RP but often felt empty due to the lack of roleplay features.

I do not think TTK has much impact on gameplay overall. It depends more on the strategy a player uses. Right now, fights can end in seconds. Making it even shorter would not help. It is already short enough to overwhelm a player, yet just long enough to give them a slight chance to react. That said, it still depends on the weapon used. Some weapons, like a shotgun fired point-blank from behind, offer almost no time to react.

I agree that CPs should be much more proactive. The current problem is that, in the regular Impulse framework, there is little reason to own an apartment. We are working to change that so apartment searches can become a more active part of everyone’s gameplay. Even through that CP's shouldnt be combat faction I never was fan of stuff like Vice units from impulse acting like proto-OTA's. Pure combat should take place in the Outlands, sewers and during JW's, allowing OTAs and rebels to engage there, while CPs handle the city and yea that will take a lot of effort to achieve.

I also agree that OTAs should have more to do. Unfortunately, not every map can support this properly. We have more updates coming, but we are still early in development. Many Combine combat features are not yet part of the current roadmap.

As mentioned earlier, OTAs are not intended to be one-man armies. You can defeat an OTA in a 1v1, even without full gear. However, we do want to give OTAs more tools and gadgets to outsmart and outgear rebels. This could include things like night vision, flashbangs, smoke grenades, breaching charges, and possibly manhacks in the future.

Also thank you for your feedback you are really appriciated we are early in development and I hope with more updates we can bring more balanced and fun game for everyone.

Also I have to note this is my opinion we can always switch the things up as conversation happens and things switch