Posts by blackdog

  • Star Wars

    Quote from FMPONE

    8 hours ago, FMPONE said: I tried to watch Last Jedi and it was so bad I was shook. Somehow worse than the Lucas prequels.

    I thought the first Abrams Star Wars was pretty good, and visually pretty good. but man, they blew the last one hard.

    I’ve only heard bad things about it, yet people that criticise it are still excited about the next one… which they just announced will be the longest running SW movie, because this is the new trend to give credibility to your work ?

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    btw same people proclaim to be big superhero movie fans, but don’t go to see Joker. I guess FX sell.

  • DE_CACHE (new version)

    Anyhow, I had put a pin into this because I couldn't reply on the phone, but haven't been using the PC at home lately either

    Quote from Interfearance

    On 10/17/2019 at 11:25 PM, Interfearance said: @blackdog I for one am not really too opposed to the platform because the old one was pretty hard and more of a novelty than a reliable route. It is a good part to experiment on. This iterative mapping based on feedback reminds me: Why is stopping Valve from trying to find ways to balance unpopular maps like Train and Nuke?

    I can't make the jump, have never practised it, so it doesn't phase me. Without playing the map, my take is that the cubby is too protected and the platform is a good excuse to put a fence there to make it shallower.

    For the question, I guess we would all like to be Valve employees to know the answer! ? I guess the ever-shifting manpower allowed by Valve's structure doesn't help. But hey! This iterative approach is the one they've taken with Vertigo, so one would think this is what they'll do with Mirage, or whatever map gets reworked next.

    Popularity argument: I had to look this up because I haven't followed the tournaments closely, it felt every time I tuned in I would see (in order of frequency): Train, Nuke, Overpass, Mirage, Inferno... but the numbers say it's actually the other way around, with D2 to be the most played. Would be interesting to see a breakdown by tournament phase, I mean do the most played maps get those numbers thanks to the BO1 and fall-off in the play-offs?

    Balance: do we actually need to balance the maps to be as close to 50-50%? I remember at the time I was playing CS:S for fun (with a clan, but we didn't know what we were doing) that I used to be very mad when an imbalanced map like Aztec was voted next... but nowadays it seems to me that these maps fit nicely in the overall experience offering good stories (comeback!11) and in the contest of a pro-tournament are part of the strategy of a match in the map-pick mind-game: you float, you pick? And you can use it at your advantage doing what Astralis did with Nuke: perfect the T side that nobody wants to play and win the map right there and then.

    Check this out:

    • Mirage and Dust 2 were "imbalanced" as much as Nuke in 2018
    • Mirage and Dust 2 in 2018 were "imbalanced" as much as Overpass is in 2019
    • Train in 2019 has a 4% higher delta compared to 2018, but then was as imbalanced as Nuke in 2019
    • Mirage, Nuke, Overpass are within a 5 matches delta, Dust 2 was favoured only 20 matches more than these in 2019, while in 2018 the two most played maps lead the others by ~100 matches!
    • Cache is the only map really favouring Ts
    • Vertigo is almost perfect 50-50 but nobody picks it anyway

    Source:

    What those maps have in common? Except Vertigo, they haven't been substantially updated in the last two years (Nuke update was in Feb 2018).

    So what to make of all this and answer your question @Interfearance?

    1. I think that the perception of how well balanced maps are is probably wrong (eye test) given that the balance of maps shifts overtime as pros come up with new solutions despite the maps being unchanged;
    2. Manpower;
    3. I think Valve can't make substantial gameplay changes to more than two maps per year, but unless some unintended abuse surfaces, they want to keep it to one map, especially with an iterative approach, so that pros have always something to fall back to, otherwise teams would end up permabanning both the updated maps making it for boring tournaments and Valve not getting any data to improve the maps;
    4. A style choice: the current rate of updates encourages a tactical gameplay, which is the trait of CS; if you were to substantially refresh the maps more frequently than once every two years, you would favour teams rich in raw aiming skill, you would encourage orgs to create "super-teams" and the result would be a scene much similar to COD;
    5. Balance is also altered with weapon ballistics and economy, because all of a sudden you can encourage a certain type of engagement;
    6. Valve is also dealing with an ever-increasing e-sports scene, forget the competition from other games, there's still so much money on the line and companies are trying to cut bigger shares with exclusive, longer tournaments; there's the prospect of Majors not being the most prestigious award to get... so when you put all of this into perspective, updating a map can easily fall way behind in the priorities.

    @FMPONE and Sal made the argument of "seasons" way back in 2015, and I had the same feeling as a casual player: I really didn't like that what I can play is determined by what pros deem "worthy". Nowadays, having followed the pro scene in the last couple of years, I'm quite happy because teams don't perfect strategies in less than 6 months. I can also try to emulate tricks the pros do, much alike when playing basketball I would emulate tricks I saw the NBA players do. Right now what I'd like to see would be for Valve to rotate one map every year, giving to the new entry a minimum two year window of service. Also I'd love them to give a chance to community maps and promote them to the big leagues, but I can see very well how that is problematic (just think that if they didn't acquire or at least temporarily license the map, they couldn't guarantee the necessary updates the pro scene would drive).

  • DE_CACHE (new version)

    Quote from fewseb

    5 hours ago, fewseb said: Gooseman left in 2007 because Valve wouldnt let him work on Counter Strike 2 mainly because they didnt want him making the realistic tactical shooter he always wanted to make, he really didnt like how CS became all about the competitive side and preferred 12 v 12 instead of 5 v 5.

    In every recount I’ve heard, Gooseman never blamed Valve for anything, he says in this interview at 16 min that he couldn’t work with the restrictions the community creates. Not sure how that translates in mandare in the company, but I remember he always talked about having lots of freedom. I think to remember, maybe from elsewhere -there are several interviews he has done- that he felt too under pressure to deliver the sequel.

    I don’t know, i played so much the original GoldSrc mods, still I was just a casual player and as such I wanted fun stuff added to the games, I remember fantasising with my friends what would be possible in DoD and CS thanks to the new physics engine: we wanted the disable vehicles like BF, we wanted object manipulation to create cover, etc.

    What he did in his indie game had lots of fun ingredients, just took too long to build, and was still very clunky when shown.

  • Joker (Joaquin Phoenix)

    Been to see it last night, before it got off the IMAX rotation.

    Really a great movie. Loved the teased alternate origin story, that would be such a badass turn of events in the dynamics.

    The scene in the apartment with the short colleague was hilarious, and I was feeling guilty at the same time.

    Everybody is talking sequel, and I wouldn’t be against it after such a treat, but it kinda feels it needs to have Batman in there if they do. It’s a big mess with all the work in progress for the new Batman, which is conceptually outside the current DCEU but also isn’t part of this Joker‘s Earth.

    A but surprised in seeing colleagues that are super into the super hero genre not going, I wonder if they are victims of the smear campaign or just invest in cinema tickets if there are lots of FX.

  • Valorant

    Quote from mtchromatic

    6 hours ago, mtchromatic said: They also show a character throwing a "smokescreen" kinda thing. Having stuff like that be only for one class lowers the skill ceiling, you wouldn't be able to do complex executes if not everyone has the ability to throw smokes.

    I think you are mistaken, you can see two characters throwing the smoke (one has green one white), so I would imagine that’s like a perk if not standard equipment.

    Quote from Boccolotto

    1 hour ago, Boccolotto said: The movement and the shotting phase reminds me a lot those f2p korean fps like Crossfire or Blackshot. even the map reminds me the same thing, very close spaces. the only difference is there are heroes like Overwatch.

    Interesting approach to talk about netcode and cheaters as first video ... but I'm still not convinced.

    Well it’s Riot games, that’s the market they aim to so why should it feel different.

    A bit surprised by the terminology used, but they are clearly targeting the hardcore crowd at this moment, just like Lawbreakers did, just in a different way.

  • DE_CACHE (new version)

    Quote from Interfearance

    1 hour ago, Interfearance said: @blackdog As devil's advocate here, does adding the platform not remove the skill needed and necessity to complete the old jump? What was wrong with the previous version?

    Of course it makes it easier, but the first part is still very hard, to the point that YouTubers that show this kind of things still can’t do it at the first attempt.

    By the way, it’s not just about the jump, the platform gives a new angle for Ts that boost. It gives something to hide under to CTs that push mid, so creates new corners for players to check.

    Not sure if is good or bad, playtime will tell. But is better to try new things and then change, then keep everything as it was.

    I think the Cache update is super-iterative, something that should/could have been done a few years back and something that I would see all maps go through. Small changes to balance the game, accommodate new meta that players develop… then after a couple of substantial minor updates (like this), remake/remaster the map radically, allowing for substantial changes in layout.

  • Joker (Joaquin Phoenix)

    In theory this was a one-off movie, outside the current DCEU. Apparently Phoenix accepted the role because he doesn’t want to be tied with multi-film contracts. That’s why the movie is “DC Black Label”.

    But after all the money coming in they might reconsider.

  • DE_CACHE (new version)

    Quote from monolith

    14 hours ago, monolith said: I'm not sure how that's a good point. That's like saying the ladder speed nerf in 2015 was okay because, "Oh, I couldn't do the ladder strafe to pallet on Nuke anyway!"

    But now you will never be able to do it. Just like the self-boost. Now you will never be able to do the original jump in a match.

    Quote from Vaya

    3 hours ago, Vaya said: Times change.

    More importantly, @monolith you are talking about polar opposites: the examples you make is removing something, while the Cache change adds allowing more people to do it.

  • Blizzard suspends Hearthstone player for Hong-Kong support.

    Quote from Radu

    On 10/10/2019 at 12:18 PM, Radu said: But I have to admit, it is getting tiresome to see this kind of shit happen so often. It feels like every other week or so there's some new drama revolving something in the games industry. And I have to ask, how do the other non-gaming companies and organizations manage? Do they simply have better PR people? Is this something to do specifically with this industry?

    Didn't get the chance to reply to this. I'm no insider for any other industry, at most I know a little bit of the influencers and "creators" (youtubers) rings... and it seems to me they spur their drama too. It can't be as much, as I've never heard of Instagrammers ("IGers") called in front of the senate.

    I never reflected on this before your post, but if I had to speculate, I'd say this drama in the game industry (or social media) must have to do with the age group.

    ~

    Regarding the Blizzard story, one of those youtubers people like to hate very appropriately pointed out that (unfortunately) no boicot will be a big enough loss to be comparable to the China money... suggesting nothing's really gonna change.

    They reduced the ban and returned the money to Blitzchung but at the same time they have been issuing 1,000 years suspensions to people in forums. ONE THOUSAND YEARS BANS. They also suspiciously removed the largest Rei statue from their shop (captured on stream).

    I'm so baffled by their PR moves just before their Blizzcon, I wonder what they are going to do for that, because people are organising protests, collecting funds to walk in with tshirts saying "free HK", Winnie the Poo and Rei costumes.