I started just like most everyone else, Free to Play and in Adventure Mode and raiding, and when I hit 4000 ps, PvP.
But lets stop there for a minute to talk about my experience up to that point; it was a quiet experience in Adventure Mode. Not a lonely one as I met survivors here and there. I had no idea gen chat existed, so, sitting at the gas station in between the little green “raids” and watching newbie and long-time players drive by, taking pot shots at the raiders, my chats were the small ones had between lost strangers finding unexpected company.
At that time I had Tortuga, a 4 wheeled standard Huntsman with rapiers, and Tortuga carried me a long way. Yeah, the wheels went from starters to racing tires, to apc’s. And the modules got switched around to what ever I could experiment with.
Damn, starting to ramble…
Up to the point right before starting PvP at 4k ps, I thought I had found the perfect game. I dropped Star Trek Online and Second Life like hot potatoes in favor of the Wasteland Experience.
Not being any spring chicken to PvP of any sort, having spent nearly 10 years in WoW, not to mention the PvP systems that SL had to offer in its heyday, as well as in STO. However, none of that experience prepared me for what I was about to step foot into with Crossout’s PvP.
I’m going to unload my smelly crap about it, and some of you have heard this rant before, so,
The TLDR;
- Crossout’s idea of PvP is a goddamn circus!
- Once you accept that, then, things aren’t so bad.
It really does seem that “Balance” (or whatever concept we can come up for the word) is left in the hands of the players to piece together (or figure out). But, because not all players are intellectually equal, massive issues are glaringly apparent. I used this analogy before, and I’ll use it again, looking at things like a theme park:
We have a park (crossout), it has Raid Land, Adventure Land, and an open field with a jungle-gym to let everyone expend some energy trying out all the things they’ve collected while inside the park. Then, of course, we have a bunch of people enjoying its facilities.
On any given day, a group of long-time park attendees with their season pass that show up at this park to settle a score, they’ve been at this for a long time and there’s a bunch of “unspoken rules” between them all (rules learned over the years that don’t need repeating), they don’t need protective gear, nothing, and they get to having fun.
Then, we got the high school and college gangs showing up during spring break and summer, and Xmas to use the same park. Some of them even brought their cute little costumes from the last time they came to park, and the long-time attendees chuckle at how the newbies squabble about dressing-up or not because one of them don’t got enough money for a dainty costume to wear to the park.
Then, the sad part is, when someone goes and use the Gaijin vending machine for a costume, they get mocked for being able to afford one when someone else can’t.
Then, we got the pee-wee league fully geared up in their parents stuff, completely ignorant of the rules, charging full bore into everyone’s knee caps all over the place. Doesn’t matter if you’re in Raid Land, Adventure Land or out in the wide open field, getting knee-capped outta nowhere is just a part of the Crossout PvP experience.
The long-time players just vacate the field into the bleachers (gen chat) to join the party while we watch the high-school get plowed by the OP college leagues while, at the same time, there’s a bunch of pee-wees in OP gear knee-capping anyone dumb enough to stop and whisper “@#$% TRASH!”
Rant over.
Moving on. Over the last 3 years, I think, the weapons and modules and cabins in the rare, special and epic tiers have really been rounded out very well. Yes, there are a couple straggler items yet to be tooled properly. What are those items? You may ask. Well, that’s between me and the ones that can actually do something about it, the devs.
I’ve made my suggestions on weapons (based on community outcry) and I’ve made my suggestions on game content (based on my own ideas of what the game lacks). The things I will say that have happened (that I’m all on board for) were nerfing of Lancelots and Reapers. Not to mention the inertia changes to cripple the effectiveness of Wedge builds. Hate me if you must. I’m also VERY happy about the addition of destructible terrain.
Hot Topic. I’m becoming satisfied with the evolution of the bot AI. I haven’t been pinned by an ally bot in almost a year, nor have I run across derp-bot trying to lick old chewing gum off the walls. The bots God-Mode aiming is still very present, however, it seems like (and I could be wrong) and I stress “it seems like” their aggro-zone or target prioritizations have been ramped down just a tad bit. What makes me say this? Well, just that I’m able to shake bots off my tail a little more easily. In short, it seems like their leashes have been tightened, and I like that.
I would like to say that, I think, the camera steering should now be solely restricted to the ariel combat mode. If that’s not possible, then I understand BUT, and it’s a big Smely BUTT! Hovers and other omni directional builds VASTLY benefit from camera steering over Wheeled-Gun builds. I do think that, since we’re passed forming the foundations of the ariel mode, it is time to erect stringent partitions between the modes in order to save Wheeled-Gun Builds from completely going obsolete. It’s either that or we watch the continued rise of Auto-aim assisted builds. The caveat to all of this is Crossplay.
Crossplay has been teased for the better part of 2 years now and, rumor is, there was never a plan to be a crossplay game. Add on top of that, the gaming communities shared opinion that the PC version takes more skill to participate in, i.e. PC version is Hard Mode compared to the console versions. It seems this has to do with the consoles already having auto-aim assisted builds. Can you see where I’m going with this?
I do not honestly think we’re going to get a game with strict partitions between the modes, in order to separate camera-steering from the rest of the game. I honestly think that the devs are tooling down the PC version in order to align it with the console versions. This is sad on several fronts for many, yours truly included. But, and here’s the biggest smelly butt of them all, BUT tides change. They change all the time. Where once the deep end allowed for death defy dives, now the shallows sit, just because we can’t dive does not mean we can’t find new ways to enjoy the shallows…for the time being that is…because as I said, the tides change all the time and, when the console gamers have gotten used to how the PC gamers play…I’m certain all platforms will begin to get ramped right back up to where PC used to be. But that’s gonna take time. Years. I’m in it. Are you?
would be hilarious for when they pwn somebody hard…that’s probably against the rules though, so maybe they need horns they can lay into when they win, or flares.