Alright guys ...


   Tunngle has allowed a number of new players to suddenly jump on the bandwagon and experience online play for the first time.  This is exciting both because it gives us lots of new games to play and it let's all the guys who have been told "try it online before getting upset over balance" a chance to actually do that.  But in the last few days I have been noticing some things that are leaving me a little sour ...

  So I'd like to take this opportunity to both clear up some things and to issue a warning to those who think that playing FO online is like being the biggest kid on the playground at school...


BLACKLISTING:

   This is generally reserved for VERY competitive games where people stake their self-worth to how many wins they have at Starcraft.  This is NOT Fleet Operations.  This is not an acceptable attitude if you want to continue to play in a very small group of players who all are familiar with one another.

   I am seeing people in the Tunngle Lobby refer to people being "blacklisted" because:

• A. - They spam certain ships.
• B. - They argue with each other.
• C. - They lost and they want to spite people.

  Let me be clear here:
THE ONLY THING BEING "BLACKLISTED" BY SOMEONE MEANS IS THAT THEY WILL PROBABLY NOT LET YOU INTO THEIR GAME IF THEY HOST.  Someone blacklisting you does not mean that you are barred from playing with them at all.  It does NOT mean they can somehow prevent you from playing games with others.

   Tunngle has a feature that allows you to "block" another person.  That person can no longer see you in the lobby nor hear what you have to say.  This creates some odd "ghost conversations" that people have when one of those blocked people is around.


   TUNNGLE LOBBY:

Tunngle has a feature that finally let's us all communicate together in a lobby.  This is a great opportunity for us all to become more familiar with one another and to easily set up games.  It's also an easy way for a new player to jump in and find some people willing to teach them.  Wippien was harder because it was nothing but many 1 on 1 conversations.

Calling people out in the Lobby and trash-talking them to others in their face is not alright.  ---ESPECIALLY---  when it comes to calling them a noob because they made your team lose or something petty like that.  I mean c'mon ... what are we?  Fifth graders?  People are going to be new.  Help them get better.  This brings me to:


  TREATING NEW PLAYERS:

We are very lucky to have lots of new players online.  3.1 brought lots more online, and Tunngle has brought even more.  Now we're seeing a major influx of players that are new to online play.  This is great in many ways and frustrating in others.  New players means teams have to be carefully balanced to be fair, people's tempers flare up and get excited, and especially new players can feel as though they are walking into a party where they don't know anyone.

• A. - When deciding teams, please try and make sure that teams are as balanced as possible.  It's never a bad thing to speak up and say "hey I'm waaaay new to Multiplayer".  It's then up to the more experienced online players to ensure the teams are fair and that those new people get the help they need.
• B. - Once inside a game, you need to treat new players kindly and supportively so that they have the best possible chance to grow and get better.  We may think it's easy to just say "OMG you have so many resources give them to me or spend them what are you doing omfgroflcopter".  That may be just too much for them to handle.  Say "alright so you've got oodles of cash.  Build another lvl1 yard over here and que up a billion Akiras/KbeajQ/Generix".  Help them understand what they should be making without being an asshole....
• C. - Let them know what they're doing right.  Clearly a new player to MP isn't going to micro their ships the best, nor are they going to know where they need to be at all times.  It's fucking hard!  This is a great game and it's complicated so cut them some slack and give some advice.  If it doesn't work out and your precious fleet of Breen Cruisers blows up because they didn't help ... so what?  It's just a game and you can rebuild.  They will see what happened and life will continue.

NOW ... on to some rules we all need to agree on ... Vet and Newb alike.

Changes in 3.1.1:

• SPAM

This is really the only thing we should need to clarify.  Spamming is more of an issue now than it used to be.  The reason is because since the new features in 3.1 came out there are just things to which we have to adapt.

There is no RULE against spamming as of right now.  Spamming the ships that we all know will pwn everything is not against any rules ... it's just really REALLY lame.  Keep that in mind.  These ships are the "spammers" because they truly are too difficult to counter in large numbers:

• K'vort

Taq'Roja in particular and Martok to a lesser extent.  These ships are great but are just too easily spammable at the moment.  Their passive has no real weakness and works wonders.  K'vort spam beats just about everything else at the moment.

• Norway

Plasma Coil is not as bad as it was ages ago but it's still pretty bad considering how fast the Norway is now.

• Intrepid

Fast, hits hard, hard to kill, good passive, strong special, cheap.  Has enough shielding and speed to usually get away before being destroyed.

• Excelsior II

Powerful, long ranged, and with Guided Quantums, Excel II's can be pumped out rapidly due to the low Fed supply usage and Mayson's enhanced structure building.  Annihilates Battleships and swats away Interceptors.  It's speed reduction was a good change from 3.0.7, but now it has become a slow-moving wall of torpedoes.

• V-13

Excessive Strike is one of those abilities that let's you build up a "critical mass" of ships.  Once you've got enough you can simply click a button and everything dies (like the Griffin in 3.0.7).

• Breen Cruisers

Long ranged 360 degree firing, cloak, and extra damage to small units, 40% extra damage passive to medium ranged units.  Too fast for a long ranged unit on top of that.  Engine upgrades for Breen ships give them even faster mobility and let them become the lamesauce kiters they were in 3.0.7.  Breen Cruisers have always been a bitch and are still spammed willy-nilly now.

These ships right now are the most common reasons for people to be accused of "spamming".  Excelsior II's were left off this list because they are expensive, slow to build, and slow to move.  They have enough counters that they aren't really all that practical to spam anymore.  That and we really just don't see them spammed much anymore.

Spamming these ships is really looked down upon.  There is no RULE against it because it cannot be enforced and there's a major gray area around what constitutes "spamming them" or just having some because they're good.  I have found that expert players can very easily try "other" tactics by mixing their fleets and still beat newer players that choose to spam.  I certainly have more fun losing with a mixed fleet than winning with spam.


Mayson:

We are all aware that Mr. Admiral Mayson is still the most powerful faction out there.  If you disagree, take a trip down history lane through the forum's billions of topics on the subject.  Read them all.  Play online against a Mayson player a few times.  Then tell me he's not still the strongest.

There is no RULE against playing as Mayson.  But keep in mind that if you do, you are going to be playing with a distinct advantage over anyone else except MAYBE Taq'roja Klingons.  This is just a fact.  New players always choose Mayson and there's a reason for it.  Mayson is like riding a bike with training wheels: you may never fall over, but you aren't getting very far or achieving much.



SO let's have fun online instead of acting like babies.

Yep I pretty much agree with everything as well
Especially for people who get really tense in online game --> I really wish u'd lighten up, its just a game guys!

Well put, Mal. 

Hear, hear Boggz  .

I think in general the more chances there are to take advantage of one specific strategy that almost never fails (I.E. spam that works), the more opportunities for people to get pissed off at each other. Right now there's a good deal of bad-mouthing going on in the lobby and I think it's because people are taking wins and losses too seriously, and are forgetting what it is to have a nice balanced game. ...and so the tendency comes to spam spam spam... cuz nobody wants to lose, right? Right? 

That being said, I think once spam is counterable in the next patchs, we'll get comments that more revolve around "who suxxorzs", which, frankly, is very disappointing as well. What happened to people wanting to show others how to be a good teammate and learn which units are good for what? To reiterate what's been stated before this post, calling people a "noob" just because they've played slightly less long than you is not acceptable. I'd say that 80% of the people who are playing online have been playing Fleet Ops for less than a month or two - but that should not mean you have to be out to prove something! Show your skills by teaching and helping people who are newer to FO - and older - than you are.

I understand that there's a great desire to win, but really, if your opponent's are all bad because you don't teach them anything or guide them in a team game (or because you pick Mayson and then pick Mijural) - what's the point in even playing? "You" should want everybody to be on equal footing. Might as well just play against the AI easy if you want to win. It shouldn't be about rubbing a - and remember this well (just cuz it's the internet doesn't make it any less true) - fellow human's face in the mud 

Don't forget the B'rel or Breen Cruiser Boggz

Also I encountered people... "encouraging" or more trying to push their teammates to spam ships and attack and so on. Something I rather not like to see in the future.

Well turns out that this is the internet and bad sports just come with the turf...I've played loads of games online, so it doesn't phase me. Trust me, the only thing you can do to "combat" it is to not be a jerk yourself, and ignore those who are.

Well anothing thing makes the breen spam that much worse. Its the bonus engine upgrades the Breen get, thus allowing you to effectivly kite most units.
It seems its just a combination of things that make the breen cruisers a bitch to play against, especially if a player knows what he's doing.
Otherwise in a team game yesterday we pwned both the breen and the kvort spam in 1 game And then in another, intrepid + warpin spam and later defiant spam lol. Granted though, the guys doing it, could have used it better

Hmm, well, what about rhienn spam? Would that technicly be included on the list? I ask this simply because I can pretty much destroy an opponent if i rush the upgrade yard and get the refit rhienns. Breen Cruisers included..

Yeah, I know, costs a crap ton, but for every refit rhienn, i can take down 2-3 kvorts, 2 breen cruisers, etc, and it can be easily spammed in team games. They aren't as fast as the official spam ships, but they pack one hell of a punch