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Unread postby icycalm » 20 Dec 2014 11:57

Played a bunch of games with Beakman, and at the last game agentx/Robby joined us for a 3v3v3. They are both good enough for any kind of games you might want to play, which is awesome. Robby could use some help with keyboard shortcuts and stuff, but he's got the basics down. Great games.
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Unread postby icycalm » 23 Dec 2014 12:12

Removed Beakman from the group because I messaged him on Steam two days in a row and received no response from him. He even seemed to be hiding from me, as he would log out of Steam a couple of minutes after receiving my messages. Not sure how he expects to play with other people when he can't even figure out how to communicate with them.

So I have basically despaired of making a big team for PA solely through this forum, and I have started asking PA players in the MP lobby if they want to become part of our team. We are trying a Spanish guy called theiban right now, and maybe we'll also try out a friend of his soon. More people to follow. This approach has the advantage of ensuring that all the people I try out love PA, since they bought it on their own and are already playing it on their own, without needing me to motivate them to do it, but the disadvantage is that they may not understand how to play as part of a team, and may not be willing to accept me as the group's de facto leader. That's why I am saying that we are "trying them out". My actual standards are pretty low in terms of competence. All I am asking for is for people who love the game and know all the commands, units and buildings. They don't have to actually be good. But if they can't integrate into the team, they can't play with us. This is the big problem. Still, I am hopeful, and even certain, that I will eventually achieve the team I want to make if I just keep going. We definitely have a 7-person team right now, and if iban works out, which he seemed to yesterday, we'll be 8. If I can get this number up to 20 or 30 people I should be able to play 3v3s and above all day any day of the week if I want, which is my goal.

Another thing I want to explain is that I am open to other players assuming command of the team for a game now and then, if they want. And even for many games, if they like it and are at least decent at it. But I need to explain how that works, because I don't think anyone understands what "assuming command of the team" means. I'll try to do that soon, maybe in my review, or if not in the forum.
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Unread postby icycalm » 24 Dec 2014 02:30

icycalm: wanna play?
Qpo: yes, but I've been drinking a bit tonight and I'm still a bit drunk
icycalm: how much?
Qpo: so I don't think I should play
Qpo: not that much
Qpo: but I gotta eat something and just recover for a bit
icycalm: yeah, it might be better if I sleep too
Qpo: haven't been home more than 10 minutes
icycalm: already played a lot today
Qpo: cool
Qpo: with Iban?
icycalm: iban, recoil and rory
icycalm: 4-5 games
icycalm: great stuff
Qpo: sounds awesome
icycalm: iban's custom system was great
icycalm: starts on a water planet
Qpo: haha cool
icycalm: and then moves off to space with gas giants and metal planet
icycalm: 4v4v2
icycalm: with 4 randoms and 2 BRN guys with 1.5 econ
Qpo: man, sounds so cool
Qpo: wow
icycalm: the BRN guys blew up our water planet in the end
icycalm: with the laser
icycalm: really fun game though
icycalm: we took the entire water planet
icycalm: then almost kicked them from the gas giant
icycalm: man, I cant stop playing this shit
icycalm: gimme until easter and i'll have 30 guys in the team
icycalm: anyway, i'll let you recover
Qpo: ok
Qpo: sounds really awesome, looking forward to play more the coming weeks
icycalm: ok, gnight dude
Qpo: good night
Qpo: and
Qpo: Merry Christmas!
icycalm: you too my friend
Qpo: :)
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Unread postby icycalm » 02 Jan 2015 02:44

Okay, time for a reality check.

I've been playing a bunch of ranked 1v1s, and they are surprisingly fun. The 5 or 6 maps are very well designed, if you can get over the fact that they are mirrored, and the battles are always fast and hectic and relentless. It is a huge rush and very addictive. Very different from the large team games we normally play, in that there are no "dead" times or slow times, and so on. It's war from the first moment to the last, even if you almost never see T2 or nukes or orbital, and so on. The trick to them is to give your commander the plan for an ENTIRE BASE at the very start of the game (using the Shift key to queue build commands), and then leave him at it while you go scout and harass the opponent within less than a minute. Do this and you will see a whole new dimension in the game, and you will also understand why the clans keep beating us so overwhelmingly.

So ranked 1v1s is the way to become a better player. It is the foundation of basic skills on which you can later build in order to become a good team member. And we all suck at them at this point. And no one is trying to improve on them except jeff, and now me.

So basically we do not have a team (or at least a 4v4 team) that can challenge the other clans, and the way we are going about it we never will. We are not even closing the huge chasm that divides us, since they are playing far more than us, so they will be beating us even MORE overwhelmingly as the season wears on, not less. I mean, the Exodus guys have not even bothered to upload our last videos to their YouTube account. That's how boring they consider them (you can see them on Zaphod's channel, but not on Exodus'). And even the novelty of the new clan, and the unconventional strategies, and the funny interviews and so on, have almost grown old by now. From now on it will be crushing defeat after crushing defeat, to the point where there won't even be anything there to talk about during the interviews, only uncomfortable silences.

I believe we can give them a good fight, and I believe we can grow as a team, but we have to play the damn game to do that, and we have to play it properly. This means individual 1v1 practice for all team members of a set number of hours a week, and it means 4v4 practice for all the best team members TOGETHER (i.e. there won't be space for less experienced team members to join these games, and we won't be playing weird setups such as 3v3v3v1s and so on because these basically teach you almost nothing about how to do 4v4s against highly organized opponents).

I am not talking autism. We will still not be watching videos or copying build orders. But we will make a concentrated effort to improve, PROVIDED that we enjoy ourselves doing so.

However, I don't think that anyone except me, and perhaps also jeff, would enjoy playing in the manner I have outlined. Because if they did they'd already be doing it. So what I am saying is that we don't have a team that can compete at that level, and there's no more fun to be had in continuing to try. The first couple of times it was fun because it was a new thing for us and we had no idea how overwhelmingly outmatched we were, but now we know, and with a little exercise of the imagination, as I did above, we can see the road ahead of us, and I say we just give up.

It's not about whether we win or lose. Crushing defeats are just as boring as overwhelming victories. There needs to be some back and forth in order for a game to be fun, and in order for there to be some back and forth the opponents must be roughly equally matched. And that's why we are having so much more fun in the MP lobby, where pretty much no one can beat us but the clans. And that's why we play 2v2v2v2v2s and 4v6s and so on, to make the fights more evenly matched with the randoms, and therefore more fun. But you can't do that in a tournament -- you can't ask Quitch to allow us to do a 5v4. It would result in a much more fun game (we've already done it with Promethean once, and the game lasted over an hour and was loads of fun), but tournaments don't work that way. So the only way to make the fights a bit more equal is to improve.

I am ready to make the commitment, and if there are at least 3 more people who feel the same way (and who are also already registered for Clan Wars, and who can guarantee that they can make the Jan 17 fixtures), then let's talk about our practice schedule. Otherwise recoil should email Quitch with the news that we are quitting and a link to this post that explains everything.
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Unread postby Qpo » 02 Jan 2015 06:31

It sounds like fun but I'm unfortunately not ready to make that commitment at this point in time.
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Unread postby icycalm » 02 Jan 2015 12:17

I understand. There's basically no one who likes RTSes enough among you to have a chance of ever giving a decent fight to those guys. None of you were really playing RTSes before this, and you would all drop this in a heartbeat for an FPS or something like D:OS. So we can just continue having fun in the MP lobby whenever we feel like it. We are doing great there. Too good even, which is why we are in the current debacle.

I, however, like the game and the genre enough to put some extra effort into them, and will continue to do so in the 1v1 ranked mode. If jeff also plans to do this, we can start playing 2v2s as a proper clan, and take it from there. There are even 2v2 tournaments we can enter. And maybe someone will sign up to the forum after my review is done who is also an RTS nut and we'll be able to do 3v3s one day. Build the clan from the ground up, is what I am saying, one dedicated player at a time. The game will keep expanding and improving for years, and I plan to continue playing it indefinitely. With the number of hours I am putting in it, I have a shot of one day challenging those guys, but if I continue playing random games with random people I will never get there. Past a certain point it's no longer the amount of practice you put in, but its quality. And I can't do quality practice in team games if my teammates are not also up for it. Y'alls are keeping me down lol! So lemme know if anyone wants to get serious about this, and especially jeff.
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Unread postby icycalm » 02 Jan 2015 12:51

No need for recoil to email Quitch, I posted in the PA forum: https://forums.uberent.com/threads/clan ... st-1050648
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Unread postby jeffrobot494 » 02 Jan 2015 14:12

I don't want to icy. I don't want to play any more than I already do.
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Unread postby icycalm » 02 Jan 2015 14:19

You wouldn't play more than you already do. You'd play the same, but instead of spending half your time in 1v1s and the other half in random team games, you'd spend the other half in 2v2s with me.

But whatever. Read the Clan Wars thread I linked above. Exodus doesn't care if we suck and they still want us to finish this, so we'll finish this. In the meantime I'll keep playing 1v1s, and if anyone ever wants to play serious 2v2s with me, they can let me know here.
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Unread postby icycalm » 02 Jan 2015 14:23

To clarify, for people who've never pursued anything hard and therefore don't know how this sort of thing works:

icycalm wrote:You'd play the same, but instead of spending half your time in 1v1s and the other half in random team games, you'd spend the other half in 2v2s with me.


What I am talking about is quality practice. What we are doing now is throwaway practice. It is the difference between people you see at the gym who are jacked, and people who go there their whole lives but continue to look exactly the same as the day they started.
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Unread postby icycalm » 02 Jan 2015 15:20

By the way, I hate using the word "practice" in connection with videogames. Practice is usually less fun than the actual game, even in real sports, but what I am proposing will not be practice in this way. It's not like we'll be doing pushups or something, or practicing harassing for 30 minutes, then sniping for 30 minutes, then comm-boxing for 30 minutes, and so on. I will never go that far with a videogame. All I want to do is play in a more structured manner, not in order to WIN, but because this will allow more effective coordination between team members, which will make the game more FUN. I want to reach that higher level of the game, not in order to rise in the ranks of clans, but in order to finally play a new genre, the team-based RTS.

It's just that the market for this kind of game is nearly nonexistent. The vast majority of players do not like RTS, and of the few that do, the vast majority of those do not like teammplay (or are not capable of it, which amounts to the same thing, from the perspective of someone who is capable of it). There's only a tiny handful of people that satisfy both these criteria, and they are all apparently already playing for the other clans on Clan Wars :(
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Unread postby icycalm » 02 Jan 2015 15:38

Believe it or not, I am even considering joining another clan at some point, if I see that I will never be able to bring my own up to that level.
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Unread postby Some guy » 02 Jan 2015 16:53

I'm interested. I'm not as good as jeff, Qpo or recoil but I definitely want to give this a shot.
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Unread postby icycalm » 02 Jan 2015 17:05

Some guy: So I just read your posts on the forum about clan practice and I'm interested in it
Some guy: I know you'd prefer someone better to play 2v2 games with
icycalm: that's cool
icycalm: but...
icycalm: yeah
icycalm: we can try
icycalm: but I am not sure how far we'll get
icycalm: who knows though
icycalm: people sometimes surprise me
icycalm: maybe all you need is more playtime
icycalm: post that in the thread
Some guy: Well I'll be playing Divinity in like ten minutes with the guys but sometime after that we can play tonight
icycalm: maybe if others see it they will be encouraged
Some guy: sure
Some guy: posted
icycalm: so just basically give priority to 2v2s with me
icycalm: hf with D:OS, and maybe we'll play later
Some guy: Thanks
icycalm: btw
icycalm: you'd have to play a lot of 1v1s
icycalm: i am in silver currently, which sucks
Some guy: Yeah me too
icycalm: if we can't both get into gold, this will never work for us
icycalm: i started out in platinum lol, after 5 matches
icycalm: then five matches later... silver
Some guy: Nice little reality check there!
icycalm: yep
icycalm: that's what made me realize the size of the chasm, and post all that suff in the forum
icycalm: at the very least we'll become better coordinated and beat the randoms even more soundly
Some guy: true
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Unread postby recoil » 02 Jan 2015 17:42

I'll put some time into ranked 1v1, I'm sure if I take the plunge I'll get hooked on it.
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Unread postby icycalm » 02 Jan 2015 18:26

No D:OS on Saturday after steven's recent post. Who is up for serious 4v4s on Saturday at 7PM? We play a game (only on Clan Wars systems), then discuss how it went and what we can do to improve our strategy, then we play again, and again, until people start dropping out.

And to simulate Clan Wars conditions we'll play 4v6s, and maybe even give the randoms eco boosts. Doesn't matter if we lose every match. We want to see how far we can improve our efficiency. And if we do well, we'll go on BRN's or P's TeamSpeak and invite them to a match on the spot.
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Unread postby recoil » 02 Jan 2015 21:19

Count me in for Saturday.
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Unread postby Qpo » 03 Jan 2015 00:27

Count me out for Saturday. Hope you guys have a great session though.
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Unread postby icycalm » 03 Jan 2015 00:41

We played some 3v4s and 3v5s with Qpo and Robby just now, and won about half of them. So if tomorrow it's just recoil and me, we'll do 2v3s probably. I doubt we can do 2v4s. The coordination bonus kicks in exponentially with each additional teammate.
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Unread postby ChevRage » 03 Jan 2015 14:42

I haven't played the game in what feels like a long time, but I do want to get back to playing it regularly again. But that might not happen until Monday, so I'll have to miss out on today's games.

As for the serious practice, I want to play a few more matches before deciding, I think. Sounds interesting though.
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Unread postby icycalm » 03 Jan 2015 18:02

http://exodusesports.com/tournament/loc-arena/

eXodus eSports wrote:LoC: The Arena

banner.png


A new year means new tournaments, and in that vein exodus esports is proud to present League of Commanders: The Arena, a 3v3 double-elimination tournament featuring the mod League of Commanders on the 10th January 2015.

A full breakdown of the mod is available in a recent eXodus article.

Do battle using unprofessionally named commanders, each of which wields unique powers. Do you choose the Marshall with its superb vision and radar? The ZaphodX, with its improved Uber Cannon and high health? Or even the Otterfamily, with its artillery mount?

sambasti-400x302.png
sambasti-400x302.png (174.75 KiB) Viewed 34801 times


Do you know MOBAs? What rock have you been living under? In similar style to a MOBA draft – where teams take it in turns to pick champions – we will be utilising pick rotation mode. Each commander may only be chosen once, and if the other team pick it then you’re out of luck! Choose wisely and with an eye for synergy between your team’s commanders’ abilities.

To play just find two people to team up with and sign up under the same team name and you’re in! Can’t find two other people? Post in this thread, others will be looking as well.

The set of systems to be used in this event will be made available on January 5, but your teams should start practicing as soon as possible on whatever systems you already have!

There are three commander codes up for grabs courtesy of Uber Entertainment, one for each member of the winning team. These are Shadowdaemon, Spiderofmean, and Gambitdfa. These three skins unlock Otterfamily, PRoeleert, and Sambasti, respectively. Both the first and second place teams will secure the right to name a commander ability in the mod.

img_quad_shadowdaemon.png


To participate you will need both the server and UI mods. See below for download links.

Featuring casting from WPMarshall and Captain Conundrum (author of the mod), we hope to see you in January for what we are sure will be a thrilling tournament, full of exciting games and unintended cock-ups. Help us usher in the new year in style.


https://forums.uberent.com/threads/exod ... st-1051099

I wrote:I will join if I can get two friends to play with me (which I should be able to). One question. Is there any way for us to mod the mod so that we can revert the names of the commanders to the original ones? If it's as easy as editing a text file, I'd like to do it. It won't affect our participation to the tournament, but it'd make me very happy and I'd play this mod a lot more because it is truly awesome.


So who's up for this? Most of the people already signed up seem nooby, so we might be able to win a match or two here. The "unprofessionally named commanders" quip in the tournament's description is a reference to this thread of mine, by the way: https://forums.uberent.com/threads/to-t ... ase.66658/
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Unread postby Qpo » 03 Jan 2015 19:25

I've got an exam the 9th so I won't be playing much PA up until then, so I'm out. (The sign-up ends when the tournament starts though, so if there are spots left on Saturday I might have a change of heart, but probably not.)
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Unread postby icycalm » 03 Jan 2015 20:19

No one's going to block off their Saturday until the last moment in case you have a "change of heart", Qpo. I certainly wouldn't. We will register for the tournament within the next couple of days if I can get two more players. I was even hoping for a Cult A and Cult B team, but we'll see.
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Unread postby Some guy » 03 Jan 2015 21:20

I'd like to give this a shot.
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Unread postby jeffrobot494 » 04 Jan 2015 01:33

I will fight for the glory of The Cult.
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