Can we get an article or post about in-game play experience?

LOAF or Chris or others? Can we get a clean repost (outside of the locked thread) either in a post or an article about your experiences playing the early alpha/beta version of Arena?

I'd like to find out some particulars about how the game handles capital ships and interactions between players, etc.
 
I can try and answer questions if you want.

The capital ship is dozens and dozens of destroyable components -- all the little boxes and turrets you see in the movie need to be attacked and knocked out before the ship will go down. In the Midway defense mission it's the same thing -- except you have to defend the ship from incoming attackers (this wasn't implemented when I played -- but an article today said it was working now...).

The interesting thing about interaction between players is that there's no static lobby --- when you start a game you can fly around the map and take potshots at people until the actual mission/mode starts. In order to communicate you need to key your mic -- press down on the direction pad... that frees up bandwidth, makes it seem more like you're using a comm system and prevents mindless trash-talking.
 
I should add the proviso that I saw this all weeks ago -- it could have been changed completely between then and when it's released. I've seen some pretty substantial visual changes just in the last few hours (Perry Naval Base wasn't there when I saw the game).

Also, I don't represent EA in any way -- so I can't promise anything in any direction.
 
Cool :)

At the time you got hands-on, did the components have any kind of knock-on effect?

I.E. if you destroyed a module that supplies power to the big guns on the side of the ship, do they stop firing or fire more slowly?
 
the concept is based, specifically, on something I've seen in Star Wars Battlefront 2... during the space battles, one of the things you can do is board the enemy flagship and knock out their auto turrets... these are energy and repeating cannon turrets on the hull that enhance its NPC operated weaponry. When you destroy the turret mainframe in the CIC of the flagship, the auto turrets stop firing, which GREATLY degrades the ability of the other side to defend its ship.

If that was available in WC:Arena, you could, conceivably, hit some series of armored control boxes which would degrade defensive OR offensive fire
 
I think the capital ship strike will be very popular. While you're doing this coordinated assault, the enemy team is trying to do the same to your carrier. So while you have to manage a mix of bombers and escorts to conduct the strike, some of your friends will need to hang back and manage defense. The game also does a neat job of making this all work on your roughly two dimensional plane. As you strip the enemy battleship of its turrets, shield generators and such, it'll "sink" down towards the planet you're all orbiting, which enables you to reach a "higher" level of the ship's superstructure. Above that is a third level where you attack the ship's bridge. And the ship isn't just sitting there. Both giant capships are circling around above this world trying to get a good angle on each other too. You have to be careful not to get caught between these massive broadsides that they shoot at eachother.
 
The capital ship battle seems the most exciting part of the game. A really long way from a couple of scimitars against a ralari.
 
Hey, I LOVED strafing a ralari...particularly when you could just slash in past the fighters and unload your missiles at PBR ;-)

Well..slash as well as possible in a scimm ;-)
 
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