See, it’s statements like this,
But nope, instead they made a game where spamming LMB is the most successful form of attack.
that make it difficult for me to muster much respect for MW players that argue the futility of DW. I’m not half stupid enough to delude myself into thinking that DW WASN’T futile and ultimately worth sweet fuck all, but making blanket statements like this is just outright wrong. If anything, stab was made most effective by DW’s enhanced speed, as you can’t do shit to block a fast stab from a fast weapon that’s being dragged slightly. All the drag nerf did was make it so that you couldn’t get the longest, heaviest weapon available and infini-drag to victory the way you could in MW at the time of DW’s release. Hell, the entire reason I tested the DW beta was because I like the idea of NOT being able to go into a MW pub and wreck the shit out of everyone by taking a zwei and spinning.
The speed increase is stupid because it made LMB’s the most effective form of attack. The weapon variation is cool, but it’s a nightmare to balance. (viking spear, spartan, etc.) The removal of a specialized range class is fine, I actually like that. The drag “balance” was a drag nerf. It nerfed drags FFS. Such casual. It wasn’t some silly side project wtf. New models, maps, animations, voices, mechanics, yes I’m sure it only took a few weeks.
The weapon variation was a fucking godsend after having played MW for several months, and which at the time had recently gotten a balance patch that made MAA completely insane. Combine this with plenty of players getting fed up with the archers that had finally figured out that they could be completely unopposed in your average TDM or TO game, and suddenly, everyone’s at least willing to give the new game a shot. Hell, I was a massive opponent of the whole game until I played it. The weapon balance was pretty good after the post-release patch which took samurai down to reasonable levels. Hell, DW still has the most balanced duels I’ve ever seen, with each class being able to hold it’s own assuming similar skill. Only a select few things were broken, and what was was fantastically broken (viking spear, spartan shield, etc) The weapon balance wasn’t easy, but they nearly nailed it after the first balance patch.
Yes the LMB meta, very high-skill.
I can make inane statements about video game combat too! “Yes, the turn-your-sensitivity-up-and-masturbate-while-you-click meta, very high-skill.” Look, you’ve made several very good points which I agree with, but this is utter BS. It’s not hard to win by mashing lmb as a scrub in MW either, but shockingly, people learn to block this as they improve in DW too! The skill ceiling definitely lost some height with the drag nerf, but you didn’t have people hitting each other with swings that passed through the character’s own back anywhere near as often either. Not to mention the depth the game gained when every class was given a ranged weapon to effectively skirmish with, which opened up a whole new avenue of combat which had been completely and totally unexplored by MW due to the ranged class being the only one who had ranged weaponry outside cheap throwables.
I liked all this, DW on its own isn’t a bad game. But the players who were alpha testing it, (best players in MW) said that it had potential to be great but TB ignored their feedback and made changes without their consent. This is why we’ve got this LMB meta now that has an extremely low skill-ceiling. Any MW player could go into DW and wreck everyone. It was boring and shallow.
Couldn’t agree more with the alpha comments and TB’s complete and utter lack of response. MW players, when playing DW tend to try to drag, realize it doesn’t do anywhere near as much damage, get killed repeatedly, and then leave after shouting that the game was bullshit and everyone in the room was unskilled. You’d get the rare one who’d stick around and get disgustingly good, (a la Irish Canadian) but for the most part, they’d find something foreign and difficult, decided they’d rather stick to their comfort zone, and then leave after saying nasty things. Hardly atypical of your average person, but I really, really don’t think you’ve got much to back up your declaration of superiority there. The skillsets don’t overlap much past level 30, on either side.
So what every single multiplayer game on the planet is “stagnant” because the entire game isn’t changed in every patch?
It’s stagnant when the game literally cannot improve or expand in any meaningful way. This isn’t always a bad thing, looking at things like CS;GO and TF2, but C:MW is nowhere near that point, can never approach it due to the class system that makes it work as well and satisfyingly as it does, and as such is left in a rather unpleasant position for anyone who wants to see the game flourish and flesh out a fairly empty genre.
You’re theory-crafting right now. You’re saying that DW>MW because MW “lacks the ability to evolve, change, or grow…”? What the fuck are you even talking about? I think with the over 20 patches it’s changed a lot since release.
Having played since a few weeks after release, I agree completely with you. MW has changed loads since release, and mostly for the better in my opinion. What I’m talking about with DW is that because it never balanced itself around teamplay with 4 relatively straightforward classes, it has the ability to incorporate more classes and playstyles than MW ever can. In addition, because it was always balanced on a class by class basis, attempting to make them all equal through asymmetrical balance, instead of focusing on how they would perform in a team setting, you end up with a game that is by and large more flexible with it’s game mode options, and allows for far more variety in terms of tactics, map design, and objectives.
DW took months of development time away from MW and it’s not even a good game. It’s dead. All that effort and all the time is down the shitter to the detriment of MW which is their main game.
MW has gotten years of development at this point, and while having changed for the better, core combat hasn’t improved by any wide margin, no objectives have gotten any more interesting or in depth than “Stand here and hope you have a decent team”, and has no prospects for any further improvement or development outside further balancing, maybe a few more weapons, and ever more maps.
My problem isn’t with MW. MW is a fine game, and an amazing success for a first-time studio. My problem is that when the devs took aside six months to work on a game that GOD FORBID, might improve on the original formula, or at least allow for some variety for people who want more Chivalry but don’t like throwing themselves into a meat grinder round after round, or playing with a competitive community that can’t decide what’s cheap and what’s skillful. It seems to me a terrible waste that the devs are more than happy to keep pumping out skin after skin and map after map for a game that can never get better, while ignoring their second game to the extent of refusing to acknowledge the existence of UI breaking bugs.