Shataan wrote on Mar 9, 2012, 16:15:
"N00b. You never skied. "
Aaaah, I chose not to use the skiing exploit. Doesn`t make me a nOOb. And if I played this new Tribes, I doubt I`d use skiing.... cause I still consider it an exploit. But say what ya like.... ya will anyways. ;p
I have to assume you didn't play Tribes for very long because if you refused to ski, you would have been utterly destroyed. Skiing did begin as an exploit, yes, but it quickly became the defining mechanic of the game. That's what made T1 so amazing. It's probably the pinnacle of emergent gameplay. Almost every tactic and strategy that players eventually came up with was never intended by the developers. Skiing, mine-discing, disc-jumping, grenade-jumping, mortar-jumping, bodyblocking, midair flag passing, using scouts to gain momentum, using skiing for heavy offense, using beacons to stop your forward movement or propel you straight up, using enemy missiles to gain momentum... the flexibility of the game's systems allowed for a depth that you don't see in shooters anymore.
Tribes: Ascend places a lot of arbitrary limitations on players, which greatly reduces the potential depth of the game. Class-specific loadouts, boundaries around the mission area, minimal vertical lift on the jetpack, negligible boost from disc-jumping from a standstill, small maps... the game is still fun but it's not going to ever match up to T1 unless they give players more freedom.
I always liked Katabatic and it's nice to see it make a return, but ya more maps, and especially vehicle-centric maps, are needed.
Eh, to each their own. I'd prefer that they remove vehicles completely, as they are never balanced. In T1, vehicles were easy to destroy and you could kill the pilot without harming the vehicle. That's the best option IMO. In T2, vehicles had tons of shields and firepower, making them impossible to take out unless you had a missile launcher or your entire team was focused on taking one out. In T:V, vehicles were just annoying. In T:A, vehicles are about as obnoxious as they were in T2.