Get Unreal Tournament III while it's cheap

[JoshGuru7]

Originally posted by: jbourne77
Personally, I *love* UT3's gameplay. Furthermore, the people who bitch and moan that the gameplay is as equally borked as the interface can't express WHY they feel that way. They just regurgitate the same tired "I want UT99 gameplay" blah blah blah.

I like UT3 gameplay (hoverboard!) but I can definitely empathize with people who prefer UT.
- nearly perfect weapon balance (RL > Sniper > Shock > RL)
- translocator was FUN
- interface was both clean and functional
- UT3 vehicles increase camp factor

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: JoshGuru7

Originally posted by: jbourne77
Personally, I *love* UT3's gameplay. Furthermore, the people who bitch and moan that the gameplay is as equally borked as the interface can't express WHY they feel that way. They just regurgitate the same tired "I want UT99 gameplay" blah blah blah.

I like UT3 gameplay (hoverboard!) but I can definitely empathize with people who prefer UT.
- nearly perfect weapon balance (RL > Sniper > Shock > RL)
- translocator was FUN
- interface was both clean and functional
- UT3 vehicles increase camp factor

Vehicles are only present in two of the six gametypes. Vehicles don't explain the lack of DM, TDM, CTF, and Duel players.

 

[Oyeve]

I got the collectors version from gogamer about 6 months ago for 15 bucks. Its actually a pretty decent game.

 

[evident]

i cant believe i paid $50 for this crap when it came out. Epic better make it right or i will be a sad sad person. i've been dying to play a ut like shooter forever

 

[soccerballtux]

Originally posted by: evident
i cant believe i paid $50 for this crap when it came out. Epic better make it right or i will be a sad sad person. i've been dying to play a ut like shooter forever

Me too I payed 50 lol

 

[Sureshot324]

Not enough modes? It has 6 modes right out of the box. If you ask me, the fact that it has too many modes has been hurting it since UT2k3. There aren't enough people to go around to fill up the servers for each mode. I wrote a program that aggregates the online population of UT3. Here are those stats right now (Gametype/Servers/Players):

CTF/58/52
DM/174/114
Duel/49/28
TDM/80/138
vCTF/69/177
Warfare/78/98
Other/33/36

Most of the Duel servers are listen servers, so I don't really see that affecting much. But these numbers are VERY consistent day-to-day. There are 541 servers online with 643 players. That's a ratio of 1.2. 429 of those servers are empty and only 12 of them are full. Of the full servers, 9 of them are vCTF.

vCTF is, by far, the most popular gametype, as it typically shadows the rest by a huge margin. Adding more modes isn't going to do anything. The player base needs to be streamlined, and I've been saying this since UT2k3. Any mode that wouldn't survive in a game by itself isn't worth having in this game, because all it's doing to do is splinter the base without any real added benefit.

The GUI

I'm also not convinced that the interface is what sank this game. If a game is good and you have the means to find a server, you'll play it regardless of how clunky the interface might be. Plenty of games have demonstrated this. UT3's interface TOTALLY SUCKS, but it's functional (albeit barely). You can find servers with it, and if you really wanted to tweak the game's graphics, PC gamers have always been willing - even eager - to go straight to the config files.

Personally, I *love* UT3's gameplay. Furthermore, the people who bitch and moan that the gameplay is as equally borked as the interface can't express WHY they feel that way. They just regurgitate the same tired "I want UT99 gameplay" blah blah blah.

So that begs the question: what gives?

People are tired of arena shooters. It's a niche now. It was popular and mainstream when it was pretty much the only option for an FPS. While I can't explain people's tastes, you can't deny that these fantasy shooters - Unreal or otherwise - sell like crap these days. People are always trying to explain it by faulting the game in some manner when there's really a much simpler explanation for it: they're no longer in demand.

Agreed. I remember buying Quake 4 and being shocked at how few players there were online. People made all kinds of excuses for why it failed but the fact is, there was nothing wrong with the game. It played pretty much like the other Quake games, which is definitely not a bad thing.

IMO the reason that arena shooters are declining in popularity isn't even that people are tired of them, it's that people are tired of getting owned in them. Skill plays a far bigger factor. A game like Team Fortress 2 you can jump into as a complete n00b and do ok. Not so in UT or Quake.

This is why I have high hopes for Quake Live. If the skill based matchmaking works like it's supposed to (this is a big question mark), then this could be the comeback of the genre.

A great example of skill based match making done right is Company of Heroes. I haven't been much of an RTS player in the past and there's no way I could've gotten into such a deep and complex RTS like CoH without starting out playing against other n00bs and only playing better players when I was ready. The game matches you up based on your highest rank associated with your CD key, so there's no way expert players can beat up on newbies, even by creating a new profile. As you play you're driven to get better because you want to increase your rank/level, almost like how a WoW player keeps playing to increase their level.

This is what Quake/UT need. Getting pwned repeatedly by pro players sucks, there's no question about that. But playing a game of pure skill against equal players is 10x more fun then playing a game of random chance IMO.

 

[xCxStylex]

Great post. I never even realized this, but I agree with it 100% completely. In a 100% skill based game, uneven or unbalanced games aren't fun and turn players away.

Noobs can still do pretty well in TF2, as the scoring system allows for scrubs to feel better. The kill to death ratio isn't emphasized where as in quake, it's the only thing that matters (aside from team Flag Caps or team wins in Team Arena).

As I've been playing quake live, I find that I'm getting my ass handed to me to pro players who have been playing q3 since q3 came out. The skill matching system doesn't work too well right now because there are a lot of highly skilled players, a few average gamers like myself, and even fewer "noobs" who probably give up even trying to play quake after getting owned. But playing fairly even games have been the most fun I've ever had though!

Originally posted by: Sureshot324

I remember buying Quake 4 and being shocked at how few players there were online. People made all kinds of excuses for why it failed but the fact is, there was nothing wrong with the game. It played pretty much like the other Quake games, which is definitely not a bad thing.

IMO the reason that arena shooters are declining in popularity isn't even that people are tired of them, it's that people are tired of getting owned in them. Skill plays a far bigger factor. A game like Team Fortress 2 you can jump into as a complete n00b and do ok. Not so in UT or Quake.

This is why I have high hopes for Quake Live. If the skill based matchmaking works like it's supposed to (this is a big question mark), then this could be the comeback of the genre.

A great example of skill based match making done right is Company of Heroes. I haven't been much of an RTS player in the past and there's no way I could've gotten into such a deep and complex RTS like CoH without starting out playing against other n00bs and only playing better players when I was ready. The game matches you up based on your highest rank associated with your CD key, so there's no way expert players can beat up on newbies, even by creating a new profile. As you play you're driven to get better because you want to increase your rank/level, almost like how a WoW player keeps playing to increase their level.

This is what Quake/UT need. Getting pwned repeatedly by pro players sucks, there's no question about that. But playing a game of pure skill against equal players is 10x more fun then playing a game of random chance IMO.

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: Sureshot324
Agreed. I remember buying Quake 4 and being shocked at how few players there were online. People made all kinds of excuses for why it failed but the fact is, there was nothing wrong with the game. It played pretty much like the other Quake games, which is definitely not a bad thing.

No.

Q4 did not play like Q3.
Q3 was an insanely fast paced awesome fps.
Q4 was a slow clunky heavy-feeling fps that myself & many others simply could not get into, no matter how hard we tried.

Originally posted by: Sureshot324
People are tired of arena shooters. It's a niche now. It was popular and mainstream when it was pretty much the only option for an FPS. While I can't explain people's tastes, you can't deny that these fantasy shooters - Unreal or otherwise - sell like crap these days. People are always trying to explain it by faulting the game in some manner when there's really a much simpler explanation for it: they're no longer in demand.

This is true though.

People like n00btastic games.

I don't mind an fps with a high learning curve.

UT2k4 (my fave game ever) wasn't even close to n00b friendly...if you didn't play a ton for at least a few months, you were gonna suck, & while i'd consider myself a better than average player, i could never attain the level of skill the the top echelon players had, no matter how hard i practised & tried for all those years.

I liked the challenge though; it pushed me to never stop trying harder.

Games that most people play these days annoy me, since while there's certainly a difference between a good player & bad, there simply isn't that much to many of them, & i feel the challenge isn't really there.

Of course, my favorite games are the harder style.
UT2k4, UT3, Q3 was before my gaming time but i still love it, Painkiller, etc.

I guess i'm a dying kind though.

 

[lxskllr]

I never had to win to have fun at UT2k4 online. When I started, my goal was to not be last. If I finished somewhere up from the bottom, I won. Of course I sometimes had to rely on late arrivals to "win" :^D

As I got better, I raised my goals.... 4th might be the winning position for for me. Now I do pretty well, but there's still players that pwn me, especially on the competition maps. I still have fun, and it's still a learning experience. People need to quit being whiny bitches, and put in the work to improve. The arena games are the only games I play online, and it'll probably always be like that. I like going up against other players in a pure skill setting. It's very satisfying when you win, and you only have yourself to blame when you lose :^)

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Wait, so the OP is saying that UT2K3 was fixed with UT2K4, and yet we're supposed to buy UT3 while its cheap because they're supposedly "fixing" it again...well if they fix it like they "fixed" UT2K3...yeah...

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally posted by: n7Of course, my favorite games are the harder style.
UT2k4, UT3, Q3 was before my gaming time but i still love it, Painkiller, etc.

It's too bad you didn't get to experience UT99 CTF and DOMination back in the day. They were the best.

 

[BassBomb]

Did they put back LAN server creation options that were present in 2004?
Can't stand making a server to play with friends when theres almost no options

 

[HeXploiT]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles
Wait, so the OP is saying that UT2K3 was fixed with UT2K4, and yet we're supposed to buy UT3 while its cheap because they're supposedly "fixing" it again...well if they fix it like they "fixed" UT2K3...yeah...

Reread the original post.

 

[brxndxn]

My beef with the UT series is that they're always taking modes out instead of just adding new ones.. Hell.. keep the maps from the previous versions - just upgrade their graphics.. and add more maps..

Domination was my favorite play mode (for UT99 I think).. Then UT2k3 didn't have it.. (or at least the same way).. Then in UT2k3, I liked insti-gib bombing run.. and that dissappeared from UT2k4..

Just make a highly-customizeable game.. and give me the option to join a server that rotates random maps and random game modes.. Then I'm happy. I have ADD. Look a bird.. I need stimulation.. I can't play the same game mode more than 30 minutes. Dammit.. I'm late for a Dr. Appointment.