Was playing with this idea every now and again, just got out of match against a bunch of beginners where my team, despite my attempts to get them to slow down, rolled them so hard that so many of them quit that wz shut down.

 

What do you consider to be just rude, or outright wrong? Or do you thik that anything goes?

 

The idea behind this is that the game should give something to both sides and the other 15-23 people are not there to provide you entertainment at the expense of their own. So here are some of mine:

 

- Do not push the opposition to spawn (spawn camping is out of the question), no matter how weak or bad they might be

Exiting hyperspace and getting instantly blown up is hardly fun for the recieving party. Moreover, if people on the opposing team are inexperienced enough to give you the confidence to do that and are not able to break through it, you are denying them the opportunity to learn even the basic flying lessons. If someone zones in for the first time and gets totally shut down up to the point of frustration, do you think they will want to repeat that experience any time soon?

 

- Do not single out/hunt a person over and over again

In other words, don't make it personal. The game modes have clear objectives and despite the fact that deathmatch is about kiling the opposition, there are at least 7 other targets to choose from. Unless the person in question is suicidal enough to come looking for trouble repeatedly, don't go out of your way to purposefuly kill that guy just because [insert rationalization here]. Cover your area, protect a satellite, peel off allies, but don't go chasing one guy all across the map out of some petty reason.

 

- Do not play with your food

When facing a clearly inferior opposition, make it clean. Draining all their power with ions and letting them helplessly float in space is probably not the most pleasant experience you can give them. You know they're dead, they probably know they're dead, finish it and move on.

 

- Be generous to new guys

If they have enough sense to get a satellite AND guard it, let them. They will get more requisition for upgrages, you can farm the respawning turrets, and you will still win with the other two. Couple extra minutes won't kill you, and the next pop might even come faster if you don't make others lose interest after a steamroll.

 

 

Do you have any unwritten rules you try to adhere to?

My guild plays by these whenever we get in a GSF mood, they used to be pretty common in games, not much anymore. Can't blame people from wanting to be the most ruthless in PvP possible either tho, even if it doesn't encourage new players who face it to return again, eating fresh sirloin buffs your leaderboard epeen faster than a diet of salad, I just don't like playing that way.

i agree with those and i'll add:

 

Don't Gloat

 

You won, well done you. There is no need to try to make what you think are "witty" comments or worse, log over imp/rep simply to gloat about the win. Respect the other team, if its a wargame then a GG in /1 is good enough.

I have some different ideas.

 

In general, I recommend you explode enemies without mercy or reason.

 

The idea behind this is that players should play the game to the best of their ability and enjoy themselves as much as possible, while avoiding griefing or harassing enemy teammates. Since the enemies know it is a pvp game, this might mean trying to help them become more skilled after the game, playing with them on your cross faction alt, or just blowing them up and letting them figure it out. Certainly you should never play weak ships against good players, as this is generally insulting to them.

 

Here's some great tips:

 

Do not attack friendly targets.

Enemy targets are marked in red. Attack those. If you attack friendly targets, it is rude, and does not damage the enemy. It also does not damage the friendly target. If you need to interact with friendly targets, consider a ship with green heal beams. The green beams can hit them because they are green.

 

Remove all red nameplates.

Red names are enemies. Remove them with blasters, mines, railguns, or by leading them to crash. The more red names you explode, the better chances your team has of winning, in general. If the red names are all clustered around their spawn, this is the best result. Not only are they not hurting your teammates, but they are all in one place for further explodering.

 

Remove all red nodes.

Some nodes turn red when your team is not performing properly. By ensuring that no red names are around (see above) and being close to the node, you can correct the color. The node will change to green. If there are no red nodes, this is a good result. If all nodes are green, this is the best result.

 

Three capping is best.

If there was a four cap, it would be better. Instead, strive for three. At some point, maybe the devs will patch in a fourth node, and then you can four cap. But for now, four capping is only legend.

 

Domination- Be careful with enemy cap ships

In Domination, the enemy capital ships form a blockade of defense. Do not fly too close unless you have charged plating. With charged plating, you can fly into the enemy hangar, and drop mines. You can also use distortion field to fly into range for a couple seconds, but in general, stay back. Sniping enemies as they leave their spawn is possible as well.

 

Team Death Match- Enemy cap ships mark good places for your mines

In team death match, the enemy cap ships serve only to mark two good places to drop mines and drones (there are others, but a third good one is halfway between the two enemy capital ships). Putting a bunch of mines and drones on the enemy cap ships works well, but enemies will often choose to spawn somewhere that doesn't trigger an immediate explosion. In this case, you will have to leave your harvest point to hunt them down. It's still worth it, though.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Verain

I have some different ideas.

 

In general, I recommend you explode enemies without mercy or reason.

 

The idea behind this is that players should play the game to the best of their ability and enjoy themselves as much as possible, while avoiding griefing or harassing enemy teammates. Since the enemies know it is a pvp game, this might mean trying to help them become more skilled after the game, playing with them on your cross faction alt, or just blowing them up and letting them figure it out. Certainly you should never play weak ships against good players, as this is generally insulting to them.

 

Here's some great tips:

 

Do not attack friendly targets.

Enemy targets are marked in red. Attack those. If you attack friendly targets, it is rude, and does not damage the enemy. It also does not damage the friendly target. If you need to interact with friendly targets, consider a ship with green heal beams. The green beams can hit them because they are green.

 

Remove all red nameplates.

Red names are enemies. Remove them with blasters, mines, railguns, or by leading them to crash. The more red names you explode, the better chances your team has of winning, in general. If the red names are all clustered around their spawn, this is the best result. Not only are they not hurting your teammates, but they are all in one place for further explodering.

 

Remove all red nodes.

Some nodes turn red when your team is not performing properly. By ensuring that no red names are around (see above) and being close to the node, you can correct the color. The node will change to green. If there are no red nodes, this is a good result. If all nodes are green, this is the best result.

 

Three capping is best.

If there was a four cap, it would be better. Instead, strive for three. At some point, maybe the devs will patch in a fourth node, and then you can four cap. But for now, four capping is only legend.

 

Domination- Be careful with enemy cap ships

In Domination, the enemy capital ships form a blockade of defense. Do not fly too close unless you have charged plating. With charged plating, you can fly into the enemy hangar, and drop mines. You can also use distortion field to fly into range for a couple seconds, but in general, stay back. Sniping enemies as they leave their spawn is possible as well.

 

Team Death Match- Enemy cap ships mark good places for your mines

In team death match, the enemy cap ships serve only to mark two good places to drop mines and drones (there are others, but a third good one is halfway between the two enemy capital ships). Putting a bunch of mines and drones on the enemy cap ships works well, but enemies will often choose to spawn somewhere that doesn't trigger an immediate explosion. In this case, you will have to leave your harvest point to hunt them down. It's still worth it, though.

 

I feel all of the above fits into the "Do not play with your food" category.

I would like to say I am compassionate, but at the end of the day: RED=DEAD Edited June 5, 2015 by Mintas

i agree with those and i'll add:

 

Don't Gloat

 

You won, well done you. There is no need to try to make what you think are "witty" comments or worse, log over imp/rep simply to gloat about the win. Respect the other team, if its a wargame then a GG in /1 is good enough.

 

Maybe... don't take enemy team member comments as a personal insult (unless you're totally sure that they meant to insult). If someone is happy about winning against your team , it is a sign of respect after all

Also, if you demand something from your opponents, ask the same thing from your guildies .

 

I have some different ideas.

 

In general, I recommend you explode enemies without mercy or reason.(...)

 

This is efficient. And honorless, especially planting mines at spawn (I know that sometimes you get involved in fight close to spawn - but farming enemies that way is plain lameness.

 

 

***

 

Another thing: don't use cheap tactics (like GS wall / GS-bomber deathball), unless the enemy use it first.; especially it the enemy has team clearly weaker than yours.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Bolo_Yeung

Play what you want whatever way you want and don't judge others for doing or enjoying something different.

Play what you want whatever way you want and don't judge others for doing or enjoying something different.

 

Heh, clearly, the community must pull together in the pvp-only game and agree not to pvp, or something.

'taking it easy' on new players is not how pvp games work and sounds dangerously close to medal and stat padding which is already out of control on Bergeran Colony and I assume other servers as well (correct me if this is not the case).

 

Imagine what kind of flack you would get telling people in the alderaan civil war or denova pvp maps asking their teammates not to 3 cap or take it easy on new players... I doubt it would end well.

 

Play what you want whatever way you want and don't judge others for doing or enjoying something different.

^ if only

Edited June 5, 2015 by Monumenta

This is efficient. And honorless, especially planting mines at spawn (I know that sometimes you get involved in fight close to spawn - but farming enemies that way is plain lameness.

 

Another thing: don't use cheap tactics (like GS wall / GS-bomber deathball), unless the enemy use it first.; especially it the enemy has team clearly weaker than yours.

 

These kind of self imposed rules are fine for you but the idea that everyone's going to feel the same way is way off base, including the devs which made all these tactics possible in their game.

 

Again, imagine asking people in a pvp match to conform to not using powerful abilities or not to fight people in certain places on the map for the sake of sportsmanship.

I won't get into ethics or "honor", but there is some game theory to consider.

 

Let's assume your overarching goal is "have as much fun as possible playing GSF for time duration X".

 

There are several contributing factors to this, and I think most veteran pilots would agree that they want all three of the below criteria to be true:

 

1) Queues pop frequently

2) Teams are not so unbalanced in your favor that you get bored

3) Teams are not so unbalanced against you that you get shut down

 

The above is my ranking, but individual pilots may rank them differently. My first order bit is that I want queues to pop, because for me, just being in a match where I can fly around and fight things is rewarding. My second order bit is that I want to have an opportunity to play hard in a competitive ship. My third order bit is that I don't want to be SO outmatched that the entire enemy team focuses me, and I get so little support that I effectively can't do anything.

 

Again, putting aside all notion of honor or mercy, my own selfish goals (and their relative priority) mean that I have motivation to keep the queues popping.

If we had an enormous, healthy GSF population, queues would pop regardless of how I play. Some nights that's true, but some night's it's not. I hope that one day, it will be true at all hours.

 

But in those time periods when the queues are not guaranteed, I need to consider those three goals against each other, as well as my overall meta goal of "have as much fun as possible playing GSF for time duration X". And this logic means I act very differently in TDM vs. Domination.

 

First let's look at Domination. If I'm in a Domination match where my team severely outmatches the other ... I have to consider the potential benefits and risks of 3-capping vs. 2-capping.

 

First, 3-capping:

 

3-capping against an inferior team decreases the likelihood queues will keep popping.

3-capping will end the match more quickly, and if there's not another match afterward, it means less time having fun playing GSF.

3-capping will deny the enemy team any ability to fortify, except at their capital ship. This means that they won't be able to build up any defenses, and killing them will be easy... and potentially boring.

 

Now, 2-capping:

 

2-capping allows the team to fortify at a satellite, which creates a zone of challenge for me to attack. Attacking a node where almost all of a team is defending is exciting and thrilling, and allows me to show off and/or increase my skill.

2-capping extends the duration of the match, meaning I get to have more fun longer and post bigger numbers.

2-capping allows the enemy team to get requisition. This increases the chance that they will one day develop into more legitimate competition.

2-capping is less demoralizing to the enemy, and may increase the chance that they will queue up again.

 

For Domination, the choice for me is clear. I will 2-cap if possible--for entirely self-serving reasons. Now, as an added benefit, I've hopefully helped bolster my server's GSF community and given them some time and space to practice and learn. I am happy about that. But after a long day at work, make no mistake--I'm there for my own entertainment. And for me, 3-capping an inferior team is just boring.

 

Heck, if I could convince the rest of my team to do it, I'd let the enemy 3-cap and fortify and then challenge myself and my team to stage a comeback. I've tried a few times, but my team never plays along..

 

 

Now before you ignore my claims of selfish-motivation and call me a carebear, let's look at what I do in TDM. If the enemy team is even remotely competitive, I will generally jump in one of my better ships (or a ship I am trying to set a record in). I will then play my absolute hardest and most viciously. I will follow the enemy back to their spawn and kill them. Then I will tab target to the nearest enemy (who is usually at a spawn) and kill them too.

 

I will try to get every DO and steal every kill. In those matches, the challenge is not coming from my enemy--it's coming from my own team, and my past performances. I want to be the Boss Monster that the other team has to struggle to contain. I want to top the scoreboard in absurd fashion. I'm good at the game, and I've put a lot of effort into it, and I feel I deserve to show off a bit. TDM is where I let myself feel free to do so.

 

Now if the enemy team is truly, miserably terrible, then I'll fly some non-traditional or funky ship in Deathmatch. A Bomber or a Strike, or a double-missile Jurgoran or a double-torpedo Dustmaker, or a Clarion with Ion Missiles. But then I will still play my absolute hardest to top the scoreboard. I never take my foot off the gas.

 

Yes, this may harm the chances that the queue keeps popping. But in this case, my #2 goal supercedes my #1 goal. Taking my foot off the gas in TDM is just way too boring for me--I can't do it. The most mercy I can show is to drive a van instead of a racecar. But I'm going to try my hardest to make that van a DOOMVAN (I think that's going to be my new name for the Decimus).

 

Unlike Domination, in TDM you can always make your own challenge and fun, because you can always play purely for your own best personal performance.

I know that statement will rub some the wrong way, but it's how I enjoy the game. And when Domination comes up, I'm happy to play a supportive team role if that's what we need to win.

 

Of course, the best way to achieve all three of my goals is to keep jumping back and forth between factions. That way, even if I help slaughter a team in one match, the next match I'll be carrying them. Conquest interferes with that sometimes, but it's something I'm trying to do more on TEH.

 

Anyway, my point in all of this is that there's little hope in changing someone to do something "honorable". Instead, all you can do is see if someone's personal goals align with what "honorable play" might resemble. For me, my behavior in Domination does, but my behavior in TDM does not.

Edited June 6, 2015 by Nemarus

These kind of self imposed rules are fine for you but the idea that everyone's going to feel the same way is way off base,

Yep, but you can ask others to follow some rules you feel right - and discuss those rules as well

 

including the devs which made all these tactics possible in their game.

Heard that about one exploit a while ago... then cries of outrage when people got banned for using it. Not everything that is in game is working as intended ... especially when this particular part of the game was neglected by devs for a few months.

 

Again, imagine asking people in a pvp match to conform to not using powerful abilities or not to fight people in certain places on the map for the sake of sportsmanship.

 

Sure. Some people wants to "own" by any means, some are playing for fun... and aren't saying 'gg' afer 1000:x or 50:2 win. If you face weaker team, try to get reqs for other ship, that isn't as powerful...

 

About 3-capping - I'd say that 3-cap if possible THEN, if the enemy team is clearly weaker, leave 1-2 sats with no/low defenses, allow them to cap. You will win anyway, so allow them to learn mechanics of the game...

Often I see 5-6 from total 8 ships defending one node while the rest is pointlessly attacking other 2 (while my team splits, like, 4-4 and farm those 2-3 enemies continuously).

Play what you want whatever way you want and don't judge others for doing or enjoying something different.

 

This is pretty much my code, though I will admit, I judge my guildmates when they shoot my poor quell with ion rail or blcs. Then I judge them very harshly...with protorps.

Good sportsmanship never makes a competitive activity less enjoyable (with the exception of the poor sports, who only grow more frustrated when good sports don't sink to their level).

 

Verain's first post here made me smile

 

Way I see it, virtues such as "honor" or "courage" or "cowardice" can't be applied to video games, i.e. a perfectly nice person IRL might be a complete *** in-game, and vice versa; there's really nothing wrong with that. That's just my opinion, though.

The only thing that I'm consistent enough on to really call it a, "code," would be:

 

Thou shalt Ion Rail Spam the snot out of bomberballs.

 

 

Other than that it really varies on conditions.

 

Regular faction swapping helps. Getting crushed isn't that great, but if people figure that they've got reasonably even odds of the coin landing on the "we got demolished" side vs the "we demolished them" side typically they'll be a lot more willing to endure the defeats without dropping queue.

Edited June 6, 2015 by Ramalina

bottom line is you are trying to control other people, other peoples ques, other peoples moral, other peoples tactics and you are using some fake code to justify it, I dont agree, I say do your thing and quit acting like your way is superior and everyone else needs to conform to you, behavior like that would not be welcome in any other mode of the game Edited June 6, 2015 by Monumenta

bottom line is you are trying to control other people, other peoples ques, other peoples moral, other peoples tactics and you are using some fake code to justify it, I dont agree, I say do your thing and quit acting like your way is superior and everyone else needs to conform to you, behavior like that would not be welcome in any other mode of the game

 

lolumadbro?

 

There's nothing wrong with what the OP is saying. Nice flame though.

In a blow out, I swap to my hose spec scout.

 

Or T3 scout with thermites!

The real question is how do we create an environment where new GSF players will join and stick around long enough to get competitive. How we play probably makes less of a difference than how the experienced players support the new players between matches, and how the devs could make it easier for newer players.

 

Most GSF pilots seem to be glad to help other pilots. Everybody here agrees that better tutorials would be a big help for new players, but that's up to the devs. One thing that the devs could do that should be easy to implement would be to have a mission where after your first 10 GSF matches you get 10000 ship req for whichever ship in your hangar you choose. This would give a quick boost for new players in their favorite ship, after they have had a chance to get an idea of how they play and had a chance to do some research on gearing.

 

I do make some allowances in matches where my side appears to be heavily favored. I might play a strike instead of a gunship or t2 scout. If we have 2 sats capped and fortified I might not make a big effort to get the last. Sometimes when we are behind in a domination match I will try to tie up 2 or three enemies by single handedly attacking a fortified sat with a gunship, even though I expect to fail, so that other pilots will have a better chance somewhere else. I do play both factions. But I think the best thing for the morale of new pilots is to be on the winning side of a close match, because they can see that any improvement in their performance can contribute to success.

bottom line is you are trying to control other people, other peoples ques, other peoples moral, other peoples tactics and you are using some fake code to justify it, I dont agree, I say do your thing and quit acting like your way is superior and everyone else needs to conform to you, behavior like that would not be welcome in any other mode of the game

 

I would leave out the personal attack, but I definitely agree with this sentiment.

I am one of the newish players that routinely gets rolled in GSF. I don't expect a free pass but I can see how getting rolled repeatedly would make many players lose interest. I generally suck at PVP so I accepted the fact long ago that as long as a game doesn't overly punish me for failure, I can slowly build my way to mediocre.

 

I am at that stage now where I feel I am excitedly mediocre. I can tell when I am going to get destroyed based on who is on the other side (if I see 3 pilots with colors in their name on the other side I know I am screwed ) I also know when I am in a match and I am the only pilot with more than 2 ships I had better play my butt off if I want to get any medals at all.

 

I don't find it discouraging to lose in GSF but perhaps the rewards should be a little higher even in defeat. If you get stomped into the ground and tried your hardest and played your role to the best of your ability and you come out with only a medal or two it can pretty frustrating. I mean in ground pvp it seems really easy to "pad your stats" but maybe that is because I am still learning and I still don't know the many and varied ways to rack up points in GSF.

Honor is one thing, trying to reverse declining population in GSF (and SWTOR) is another thing and not necessarily related. It's a nice idea from... WhiteKnight?

 

For example, honor to the Republic is fine. Dominating GSF for hours with a Republic pre-made is perfectly honorable. But is it good for the health of the GSF population on that server?

 

I'm talking about the Red Eclipse. I only play there occasionally. But from what I can see, the Republic utterly demolishes the Empire match after match, and the top players stay grouped on the Republic side the whole time. I have never seen an Empire pre-made there.

 

We've gone through this before. There is nothing wrong with top pilots wanting to team up and play together for hours. Some of them will switch faction or switch server every 2 - 3 matches or whatever and continue dominating from the other side. Just not the Red Eclipse, apparently.

Edited June 6, 2015 by Linuxizer

perhaps the rewards should be a little higher even in defeat

 

Maybe so. But I am curious- you do know that medals mean absolutely nothing towards power gain, right? Some cheeves look at medal count, but your ship will level up at the same rate with 0 medals as with all of them.

 

Not disagreeing with the rewards-for-loss thing, just making sure that unlike the ground game, medals are meaningless.

Edited June 6, 2015 by Verain

See I learned something already. I assumed that medals had an impact on the amount of req. you came out of the match with. Live and learn.