Wing Commander Arena Released! (July 25, 2007)

[Eder]

Yadda, yadda, yadda.

I'm sorry, I don't even own an XBox or plan on buying one just for Arena or anything, but it's plain to see that you're being an idiot. Stop being an idiot, it's not a good thing. You've voiced such absolutely moronic complaints such as:

- "I was hoping to see old fighters, like Hornets or Scimitars!" (Hornets or Scimitars would make you like the game... but Rapiers don't? And you say you're not Trolling? Right.)

- "Why aren't there comm faces? WC games have comm faces!" (Read: "I'm looking for very specific things which have little impact on gameplay to complain about, because I want to conveniently ignore all the actually relevant similarities between Arena and the other WC games")

- "They should have made more different ships instead of variants... but they couldn't get the artists for it!" (Any amateur idiot with half a brain cell - like me - can come up with a hundred little ships in a week. If you don't know what you're talking about, don't talk. I don't ever voice my opinions about quantum physics.)

- "These are the same 3 ships with different stats! This sucks!" which then turns into "Ah, but Privateer let you change the stats of the same 4 ships! That rocked!"

- Shouting "It's an ARCADE game!" doesn't turn the previous dozen Wing Commander games into simulators - get over yourself. If WC4 had multiplayer and showed you the HUD from the Chase View camera, it'd be the same game, except slower paced.

Could Arena be better? Definitely, because any game could be better. I can also think of many things I would like to see in it as well. Would I like to see more ships? Yes. Would I like to see those comm videos? Yes, maybe if I could turn them off if they ever got old. Does the absence of these things automatically make the game suck, or justify any sort of "it's NOT Wing Commander" attitude? No. The gameplay is what counts, and you just barely addressed it. You came in here with a dozen inconsequential nitpicks and tried to pass them as the reason the game is not Wing Commander. Why would you want to convince yourself, or anyone else, that a fun Wing Commander game isn't (or shouldn't be, whatever) Wing Commander?

And then you bitched that people were arguing that the game is fun despite its differences in regards to previous WC games ("How dare you all say that this fun game is Wing Commander and expect that to be taken as anything other than fanboyism! Listen to my unanswered desires, like the absence of Hornets! Clearly, if my Hornets are nowhere to be found, this is just a random game with the Wing Commander brand name slapped to it!"). Seriously, just take a step back and stop being a jerk and see if you can discuss reasons why you don't like the actual game. It's not about convincing people that this is different from previous WC games, because we all know that.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

(Any amateur idiot with half a brain cell - like me - can come up with a hundred little ships in a week. If you don't know what you're talking about, don't talk. I don't ever voice my opinions about quantum physics.)

Quantum physics is a problem and it's up to us honest Americans to do something about it! Who's with me?

 

[ChrisReid]

Hell, yes! I pity any of the "vets" who have to play with me on their team. I mean, I'm slowly getting the hang of it, but I still suck hard at the Boneyard and Bear-Pit games. Greetings to ChrisReid, who kicked my butt in I don't know how many ways in today's match.

After I gave LOAF some more target practice (felt like a clay pigeon at times), I was finally rewarded with the Rapier Cavalier - and I think I'm finally in love.

Yeah, I didn't realize till afterwards that that was you. Even if LOAF and I came out ahead in that battle, you're the one who unlocked the Cavalier! (I'm still waiting/working on it)

Am I correct to assume that I can find equally (un-)skilled players in ranked games?

The skill ranges quite a bit. You can find new players and some incredibly tough opponents. As more games get going, the truskill rating will tend to put you towards similarly skilled players.

 

[Shipgate]

As I've been playing Arena more and more, I've been trying to come up with strategies. But this seems to be the inherent problem with arcade games. It seems to be more about how fast you can fire all your weapons at once. I'm hoping the game isn't as straightforward as that. But the only clever thing I've added to my playbook so far is to afterburn out of the vicinity where I'm being heavily attacked. And that's not terribly clever either.

So if anyone has any pointers they'd like to give me, I'd really appreciate it. Otherwise I'll just keep playing and hope that I can manage to stay alive longer than I have been.

Ooh, I also want to say how grateful I am that afterburners don't run out of fuel, but recharge instead. Just like the Dragon. Makes more sense that they'd work that way.

 

[Falcon988]

Tactics depend on what fighter you're using. The game has nothing to do with how fast you can get your shots off, you have to know how to get the most out of the ship you're flying. I guarantee you if you go into a fight with that mentality against someone who really knows what they're doing you will lose and lose hard.

Personally, I really can't see how anyone can use those medium fighters to any effect. Maybe it's just my mentality. Other people I see are really figuring 'em out good. I played a good 1 on 2 match against two Confee Rapiers this morning (maybe the guys I played against are reading this heh) and they put up a good fight. But you have to know how to use them. They weren't just mashing buttons, they were fighting intelligently, using team tactics to corner me and get a full burst off which would destroy me (Darket and all), etc.

When I first started playing yesterday morning just minutes after it came out I was playing in a game with all these CIC guys and we were talking about how we had no idea what we were doing and were just mashing buttons and praying for the best. With more experience though it's become a very in-depth and tactical game.

 

[Tooner623]

Y'know... I'm loving Arena, I am.... but this talk of "comm videos" has me thinking.

Wouldn't it have been cool if the x-box live vision camera could've been implemented somehow? I suppose it would take one "out of the experience" if suddenly your wingman was revealed to be wearing a t-shirt and jeans, but still...

 

[LeHah]

Wouldn't it have been cool if the x-box live vision camera could've been implemented somehow?

I think some of the unmentionable things that have happened on XBLA Uno should prove that viewing someone else's webcam is not always the best idea.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Sean was actually on #WingNut talking about how they wanted to do comm videos (animated, though, not with the camera), but that they just couldn't find enough time to do it.

Probably couldn't have the camera, though - Arena is *very* tight in terms of what it uses bandwidth for.

 

[Dundradal]

Sean was actually on #WingNut talking about how they wanted to do comm videos (animated, though, not with the camera), but that they just couldn't find enough time to do it.

Probably couldn't have the camera, though - Arena is *very* tight in terms of what it uses bandwidth for.

The only thing I would have liked to have seen is what we were talking about yesterday in the private Bearpit. You can never tell who is talking unless you know their voice (which after that game I think I've got everybody down now), if they could have maybe had the triangle above people blink or light up somehow when someone is talking it would be real helpful in certain matches (especially capship battles).

Other than that I'm very impressed by Arena. I still have to unlock 2 confed ships, but so far the Drathli Rhino is by far and away my favorite fighter. It's a tank and has the weapons to match.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

I'm preferring the Rapier Cavalier to the Rhino - I like the guns better. I have two ships left to unlock, too (two Paktahns).

 

[Shipgate]

Tactics depend on what fighter you're using. The game has nothing to do with how fast you can get your shots off, you have to know how to get the most out of the ship you're flying. I guarantee you if you go into a fight with that mentality against someone who really knows what they're doing you will lose and lose hard.

Personally, I really can't see how anyone can use those medium fighters to any effect. Maybe it's just my mentality. Other people I see are really figuring 'em out good. I played a good 1 on 2 match against two Confee Rapiers this morning (maybe the guys I played against are reading this heh) and they put up a good fight. But you have to know how to use them. They weren't just mashing buttons, they were fighting intelligently, using team tactics to corner me and get a full burst off which would destroy me (Darket and all), etc.

When I first started playing yesterday morning just minutes after it came out I was playing in a game with all these CIC guys and we were talking about how we had no idea what we were doing and were just mashing buttons and praying for the best. With more experience though it's become a very in-depth and tactical game.

Hmm, yeah, I'll be honest. That's all I'm doing is going in firing all missiles and guns then tailing it out of there till I cna come back for another round. It's even been hard getting used to all the fighters and what each ones are good for what.

It's easier for me to understand a ship's stats in numbers like in the previous WC manuals as opposed to the bar lengths for each stat of each ship.

Anyway, I hope to find most of you on there tonight. I'm stuck at work right now. I really can't wait to play though.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

There are stat numbers in the manual, if you prefer those. I haven't bothered with the bar lengths at all.

 

[Dundradal]

I'm preferring the Rapier Cavalier to the Rhino - I like the guns better. I have two ships left to unlock, too (two Paktahns).

Interesting to hear. I'll have to work on unlocking it when I have a chance (which seems like it won't be very soon I have a ton of school work due this weekend)

 

[Spoon]

Having played my first 5-6 player cap ship and a 8-10 player bear pit game I still say this game is a decent fun game. Nothing "WOWZOMGBBQ!AWESOME!!!1one!" but I never expected as much from an Arcade game anyway. What is really going to make this game fun is having the right people to play with. Socialising and playing as a team is what is going to make this game a real fun experience. Not just blasting away in silence.

I see people are having a bit of a harder time getting used to the controls. I personally found the controls very wel done and I pretty much instantly got the hang of it. Thumbs up for Arena for that. I don't have that often with games.

 

[Dundradal]

What is really going to make this game fun is having the right people to play with. Socialising and playing as a team is what is going to make this game a real fun experience. Not just blasting away in silence.

I can say that we had a great time in a private Bearpit yesterday with wingnuts chatting back and forth about playing the newest WC game. I thought the day would never come, but it was great. I can't wait till we organize some big CIC member battles, I'm pretty sure then they'll be plenty of chatting then. Although, you can't taunt the opposing team...which is a bit of a downer.

 

[Falcon988]

Well the bars are useful because they tell you how much afterburner you have and how much power you have in your guns. All stuff that you need to keep in mind. As far as my ship's strength though, I generally just try to avoid incoming fire and don't pay attention too much until the ejection alert starts nagging me heh. Which is ironic considering, as far as I know, Kilrathi ships don't have ejection seats. But I'm just nitpicky heh.


EDIT: Well then again, now that I think about it, it may not be an eject warning you hear inside the Kat ships. Probably it's just a general alarm "WARNING WARNING TAKE ONE MORE HIT AND YOU'RE SCREWED". Having thought of that, I hereby withdraw my nitpick.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Most Kilrathi ships *do* have ejection seats - a few specific ones don't. Kilrathi eject constantly in WC3 (little red and white seats you can shoot down), and there are several Wing Commander Academy episodes thati involve ejected Kilrathi pilots (Word of Honor).

 

[Falcon988]

Most Kilrathi ships *do* have ejection seats - a few specific ones don't. Kilrathi eject constantly in WC3 (little red and white seats you can shoot down), and there are several Wing Commander Academy episodes thati involve ejected Kilrathi pilots (Word of Honor).

Ohhhh yea, I remember those examples now. My mistake. I do seem to remember though in SM2 that the Dralthis they commandeered were not equipped with ejection seats? I definitely recall the ejecting Kilrathi in Heart of the Tiger and Academy episodes though.

 

[Death]

Yes, the SM2 Dralthis were specifically mentioned (by Halcyon, IIRC) to not have ejection seats.

 

[Bandit LOAF]

That's right, the Dralthi IIs didn't have ejection seats.