Post by zuboki on Sept 15, 2012 14:06:10 GMT -5
After putting in a fairly decent amount of time with this game, I've noticed a couple of trends that players seem to be fitting themselves into. Below, I've named and described how they fit in to the "big picture". These are just my observations- if you agree/disagree, have something to add, or think I missed something, please reply!
What purpose does this serve? It'd be a great springboard for designing new tanks and game mechanics, and to analyze general player behaviors. For instance, the Sentry-type players seem to benefit most from cooperative play, as Frontiersmen and Scouts have no real use for a second follower. How could a second player support someone of those two playstyles? What mechanics could be introduced to allow for it? How would planned new mechanics interact with these general playstyles? What kinds of crossover or synergy exists among the three? Why am I still asking questions?
- The Sentry- Players who crowd around Origin, or cities nearby that have good Resource strength and no wilderness buff. Sentries will farm the areas around their city of choice, gaining no small amount of gridshards and also having the good chances for finding nice prisms and a steady supply of lenses. They'll return to upgrade their towns and buildings periodically, and avoid enemies that take too long to kill or are too dangerous, like GroundForts and Supertanks (until they become powerful enough to make killing them worthwhile). Since they generally won't need to carry more than 20k gridshards at any time, and they can easily avoid tougher enemies, they're the lowest-risk playstyle among the three. They further the end-goal by building up towns, but due to the exponential cost increase in building, their returns suffer if they don't move to a new town every so often. Powerful tanks such as the Ash and Homer are excellent sentries, since they don't particularly need speed or defense.
- The Scout- Players who dart around near the edges of wilderness, searching for new towns to settle. Scouts will do battle with the weaker minions they come across while exploring, gaining gridshards, prisms, and lenses at a rate just a little bit below the Sentry. They'll spend most of their shards on upgrading new towns and buildings to level 2 or 3. They avoid most enemies except those easy to kill in passing, since the primary motivation is exploring. Depending on their luck in finding towns,they may end up carrying 100k or more gridshards; this is somewhat risky, especially if they travel in buffed areas (If they die with 100k gridshards, that's a lot of lost progress). They further the end-goal by finding new towns and settling them with the basics, which is always efficient in gridshards (moreso than upgrading existing structures), but heavily dependent on luck (finding towns in the first place, finding towns with good towers/resources). Speedy tanks that can hold their own and kill many smaller enemies fast, such as the Tesla or Corsair, make good scouts.
- The Frontiersman- Players who delve into the wilderness buff looking for towns. They're essentially extremely dedicated scouts. Their personal returns suffer greatly, as they take a lot longer to kill buffed enemies (if they bother doing so in the first place). They won't have gridshards unless they pull a Sentry or Scout stint, so they really only contribute by finding towns for others to invest in. They generally have the highest risk for death, but no real loss of progress due to their lack of wealth. They further the end-goal by finding towns, and being the first likely on the scene to an Armada attack (once those become, y'know, actually threatening). Fast and defensive tanks such as the Mustangs are well-suited to the mantle of the frontiersman, who doesn't need attack power nearly as badly as the other two.
What purpose does this serve? It'd be a great springboard for designing new tanks and game mechanics, and to analyze general player behaviors. For instance, the Sentry-type players seem to benefit most from cooperative play, as Frontiersmen and Scouts have no real use for a second follower. How could a second player support someone of those two playstyles? What mechanics could be introduced to allow for it? How would planned new mechanics interact with these general playstyles? What kinds of crossover or synergy exists among the three? Why am I still asking questions?
