To play or not to play...

Drake · 08-28-2009, 12:46 PM

... or rather it's WHAT to play.

I've been playing L4D since the demo and somehow it never got OVERLY boring. Sure, there were times when I just got to a point (usually after playing 2 expert campaigns in a row) where I HAD to stop. However, with versus getting more and more challenging (frustians config + CEVO) I have failed to get bored with L4D entirely. It still holds my interest even if it just makes me rage at times.

So, the question is, SHOULD I buy L4D2 simply because that's where the competitive scene will go? Should I even bother, or will that game wear down faster than this one as far as comp play goes? I am fairly tempted to simply drop L4D/2 play altogether even though I love it and switch back to TF2 which will keep a comp scene for a long while.

I understand that L4D isn't dead competitively yet, but over here in Europe it's going fast. I don't want to spend money on a game that I'll play for 40 hours and then drop, and I also don't want to pay for a game that I don't support Valve making.

So here I ask you, fellow L4Ders, should I spend my 50 on the new title and hope that the competitive scene drives on and gets better, or should I move on to more competitive titles in hopes that I'll continue to grow my skill in those areas?

MUNKY · 08-28-2009, 12:54 PM

modern warfare2

Esoteric_Irony · 08-28-2009, 01:05 PM

I've always found L4D enjoyable and I still find it enjoyable, every now and then I'll play a campaign as well just because I don't find it boring.
As for L4D2, I'm buying that solely on the campaign experience it'll be, I'm completely ignoring L4D2 versus atm, just because its a complete mystery as to how it will function (what with having 6 special infected classes etc)

I think the competative aspect of L4D2 can't properly be judged until we find out how versus works, it really depends on how it grows after the game is released, as there will definately be a small competative scene with at least a few smal tournaments. Also, seeing how buggy L4D is (especially when it first came out) a competative scene will also depend on what sort of configs or mods are made to balance out whatever issues there are.

Nightmerrr · 08-28-2009, 02:20 PM

even if l4d2 isnt competitive, the pub scene for l4d2 will be fun.. New guns/maps/SI/characters.. It's really going to be a lot of fun I think.

Jerkstore · 08-28-2009, 02:45 PM

I'll buy L4D2 for the same reason I bought L4D; it looks like a fun game. I never "planned" on joining a team or playing competitively in L4D, it was just natural because I had more fun playing competitively than I did in pubs. Nobody knows whether the sequel will be better or worse for competition... so just buy the game if it looks good to you.

dmonixed · 08-28-2009, 03:07 PM

ive never once bought a game based on competitive play, bought l4d because of the demo, the co op concept was so new and fun and its been fun to play for the past almost a year now.

Drake · 08-28-2009, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerkstore

I'll buy L4D2 for the same reason I bought L4D; it looks like a fun game. I never "planned" on joining a team or playing competitively in L4D, it was just natural because I had more fun playing competitively than I did in pubs. Nobody knows whether the sequel will be better or worse for competition... so just buy the game if it looks good to you.

I understand what you're saying now, and the game probably is worth the 50. The problem with me is that it looks and probably plays like L4D in almost every aspect, and I rarely buy a game unless I know I'm going to get 100+ hours out of it. If I buy L4D2 and it turns out to be too similar to L4D in that I dislike campaign due to overplaying then I don't think I'll have gotten my money's worth. Another issue with it is that it is a betrayal of Valve and several of their promises, but I won't get into that debate.

Thanks for replying. In retrospect I think I was going to buy it anyways, just needed some extra input from the comp peeps.

cloudsofa · 08-28-2009, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MUNKY

modern warfare2

this

v3locity · 08-28-2009, 03:47 PM

I probably won't buy L4D2 until they have a pretty big sale on it, and even at that point I won't buy it so I can play it, I'll buy it just so I can have it. I haven't had any desire to play L4D for the past few months (before I had even started writing for CommL4D), and L4D2 hasn't really done anything to change that. L4D just got terribly boring real quick, and I'm too busy with TF2 now to even care about L4D2.

MUNKY · 08-28-2009, 10:09 PM

lies, we all know we will buy it, and we will all play it just like we did the first...but hey its what we do :) back to OP, mw2 is looks awesome

Xone · 08-28-2009, 10:17 PM

l4d1 will become a thing of the past

rehpyc · 08-28-2009, 10:40 PM

It kind of depends on if you are short on money or $50 (we're all guessing it'll be that price) is much for you to take a venture with L4D2 or not. If you don't feel you got your money's worth with L4D, L4D2 doesn't seem THAT far off from being the same game.. it's just added content that should have been provided for L4D.

If you only buy one game out of the few good titles coming in November/December (CoD 6, Bioshock, Assassin's Creed 2, L4D2, etc), you'll probably get your most money's worth from CoD 6, granted you enjoy the CoD style of play. The competitive community there is bound to be strong both online and with LAN tournaments.

Drake · 08-29-2009, 05:04 AM

Yeah, the issue being with CoD I play on a laptop and I imagine that a full new game with kickass graphics won't take too kindly to my 1.5GHz processor :P

Still, I'll look into CoD6 to see if I can be bothered. I like the style of play and I've watched some shoutcasts. How much does ping play into CoD? Is it as harsh as L4D because I get a constant 100 ping in L4D servers :D

Again, thanks for the opinions guys.

Alex · 08-29-2009, 11:33 AM

If you played cod5 on your laptop then exspect cod6 to run even better than that horrible game did. Also exspect a Huge community, hilarious forums and tons of LANs all over the us.

~~Byung~~ · 08-29-2009, 11:43 AM

Nerdy.

Xone · 08-29-2009, 02:11 PM

hilarious forums you say?

Macro` · 08-29-2009, 02:48 PM

ill wait until 2 months post-release when they have a steam half off weekend or some shit like they always do to rack in post-release sales.

Macro` · 08-29-2009, 02:49 PM

ill wait until 2 months post-release when they have a steam half off weekend or some shit like they always do to rack in post-release sales.

^--- in regards to l4d2

Alex · 08-29-2009, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xone

hilarious forums you say?

yep

Jerkstore · 08-29-2009, 04:45 PM

Natural Selection 2 will have the best mod community possibly ever.
Modern Warfare 2 will have the biggest competitive scene possibly ever.
Left 4 Dead 2 will have relatively the same competitive community... a few small tournaments and die with a fart. Same as L4D1 is doing now.

But all 3 games look fun as hell and will most certainly be in the top 5 pc games of '09.

xan · 08-31-2009, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex

If you played cod5 on your laptop then exspect cod6 to run even better than that horrible game did. Also exspect a Huge community, hilarious forums and tons of LANs all over the us.

also - expect to change mods/rulesets 1 a month

Macro` · 08-31-2009, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerkstore

Natural Selection 2 will have the best mod community possibly ever.
Modern Warfare 2 will have the biggest competitive scene possibly ever.
Left 4 Dead 2 will have relatively the same competitive community... a few small tournaments and die with a fart. Same as L4D1 is doing now.

But all 3 games look fun as hell and will most certainly be in the top 5 pc games of '09.

I agree with those facts, but I don't think you give NS2 enough credit. NS1 was so extremely competitive when everbody played, and if everyone was to come back it would be the exact same formula, barring that the developers don't fuck the game up too much.

MW2 obviously has the playerbase to create it's own competitive scene, but skill-wise, ns2 will rival it.

Drake · 08-31-2009, 12:16 PM

I've never played NS (and I don't own HL1 so I can't just DL it). I know there are aliens involved, but why is it so competitive?

Jerkstore · 08-31-2009, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macro`

I agree with those facts, but I don't think you give NS2 enough credit. NS1 was so extremely competitive when everbody played, and if everyone was to come back it would be the exact same formula, barring that the developers don't fuck the game up too much.

MW2 obviously has the playerbase to create it's own competitive scene, but skill-wise, ns2 will rival it.

Well there's no doubt NS2 will retain the amazing gameplay from the first. At the very least, they're not going to change a whole lot from the sound of it. So it'll be the same great game, hopefully this time it will get more attention. But MW2 has millions of dollars in advertising and there's no possible way NS2 will be as big as it (at first). If it's even better than NS1, word will spread.

One thing you can be sure of is the modding in ns2. In-game level editing, texturing models basically in real time, entire game scripted in LUA... going to be the easiest game to mod ever.

and Drake I just pubbed a lot in ns1 about 5 years ago... but it's competitive because it mixes RTS with FPS. You need to manage resources in order to get upgrades, which are needed for better weapons/armor/mobility. Marines depend on their commander to buy upgrades, while aliens can upgrade themselves. You get res by killing enemies and building nodes (controlling the map). You can't be a solo star; your team has to do well to keep the res up. And if you suck, you're costing your teammates greatly. And there's some very fast mobility in the game with certain aliens, and marines who eventually get jetpacks. Someone else could explain better, but that's my memory of it.

rehpyc · 08-31-2009, 04:35 PM

NS1 was a great game, and I'm definitely excited for NS2.. but the game wasn't ever THAT big.. far from it, actually. It was one of those mods that took many by surprise when it was first released, and it didn't get a terrible amount of publicity on major gaming sites during its time. Hopefully it does turn out well so it can gain some notably large LAN tournaments this time around.

Drake · 08-31-2009, 05:42 PM

Ah ok, NS sounds like OFP:CTI was back in the day, although I can see how different sides would mix things up. If it's a mod then I'll definitely pick it up. If it's a full priced game I'll probably have to look into which I want more, MW2 or NS2. I guess it'll depend on the competitive scene for both even though I know that MW2 is gonna be HUGE.

I just hope it's not 80 bucks when it comes out :/

Jerkstore · 08-31-2009, 06:11 PM

It's 20 bucks. Pre-order and get the beta, or $40 to get first access to the alpha (what me and the cool kids are doing).

http://www.naturalselection2.com/buy

Alex · 08-31-2009, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macro`

I agree with those facts, but I don't think you give NS2 enough credit. NS1 was so extremely competitive when everbody played, and if everyone was to come back it would be the exact same formula, barring that the developers don't fuck the game up too much.

perhaps within it's community, intense matches but how much money did that game have in tournaments compared to the others of it's time?

-Omerta- · 09-01-2009, 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rehpyc

NS1 was a great game, and I'm definitely excited for NS2.. but the game wasn't ever THAT big.. far from it, actually. It was one of those mods that took many by surprise when it was first released, and it didn't get a terrible amount of publicity on major gaming sites during its time. Hopefully it does turn out well so it can gain some notably large LAN tournaments this time around.

Not going to lie, never even heard of NS until jerkstore jerked it off all over this forum. NS2 Looks incredibly interesting and it's something I'd pick up. Regardless of the competitive level or not.

Including MW2, and sadly L4D2...annnddd that new star wars MMO looks insanely good.

Macro` · 09-01-2009, 12:29 PM

Yeah, jerkstore did a pretty good job describing NS. Here are some more interesting facts//gameplay mechanics.

There was a lot of game mechanics that could be used due to how the HL1 engine was written. Bunny hopping on aliens and wallstrafing, to name a few, gave people the ability to separate themselves from the rest. Soon there after, marine bunnyhopping became a huge part of the game and early map control, which took a bit of practice. The game was highly scriptable, with 3hops (each time you press space bar, the game counts it as 3, which made it easier to time bunny hops), pistol scripts (pistol fires when you press down on mouse1 as well as when you release, for faster pistol shots), and many other things.

Some gameplay mechanics:

In competitive play, teams were 6v6, with one of the marines taking part as the commander. The commander has a top down view of the map and is able to drop medpacks and ammo, as well as build marine structures that give each marine upgrades. He was also in charge of deciding which tech the marines would go: phase gates or early weapons//armor upgrades to name a few. Phase gates are like engineer teleports in tf2, being that there was one in the marine spawn, and one somewhere outside in the field WHERE THE MARINES WOULD HAVE TO BUILD IT, which was a huge choke point for both the marines and aliens.

Map control was a major part of the game. Resources are what gave aliens the abilities to upgrade their lifeforms (~14 nodes on a map, each node gives +1 res every ~5 seconds -- So if aliens had 6 nodes, every 5 seconds, every alien [6 of them, 6 nodes] would get +1 res]). The more res you had, the faster aliens got higher life forms, and the faster marines got weapons upgrades, jetpacks, heavy armor etc.

Tl;dr :: Ns is an Rts (one out of 12 players) mixed with FPS that had a huge basis on individual skill, teamwork, and map control.