The problem with deployments

[Ccmonty]

Ok so last nights deployment IMO was the perfect example of the current problems that our deployments have

The NPC HP is so high that they can tank multiple 1k damage rockets and entire mags of a Z6. This problem is made worse on Zombies and Bugs because while NPCs with guns will move a bit and shoot at you, Bugs and Zombies will BUMMRUSH once aggro'd and if its a fast zombie or antlion the person being targeted is either going to be on deaths door or just dead, and thats not even mentioning the head crabs which are a pain to hit because of their size made even worse by the Lag, Which is so high during deployments that attacks often whiff or dont do damage to enemys because the game didnt register then input.

This creates a feedback loop:

-> Enemy HP is way to high because it has to compensate for the number of players and the lag -> players get frustrated and want enemy HP turned down so they can actually kill them -> enemy HP is to low so the players brute force their way through the event to quickly -> players going to quickly means more NPCs need to be spawned but spawning to many causes lag so the only solution is to increase the enemy HP ->

repeat the above loop for the entire event

However there is also another problem: How do we keep the entire playerbase entertained for the event? simple! Do a shoot em up! "But I don't wanna do a shoot em up" well too fucking bad because trying to do an RP event with 80+ people leads almost always leads to 1/3 of the server standing around doing fuck all! "ok so I'll do a shoot em up" great! have fun listening to people whining that the NPC HP is to high and that the event is boring and basic!

And one more thing I'm gonna be honest about. the numbers high staff want us to hit consistently in order for us to get ES back, are NOT NUMBERS THE BOX CAN HANDEL. the server starts CHUGGING at 75ish people and they want us to hit that consistently? HOW. People arent going to want to play on a server thats chugging constantly. Its better to have 40 players with most of them being active and doing stuff, as opposed to 80 players where nearly half of them are AFK because their bored or because the server is chugging to the point of unplayability for them

Bring back battalion/regiment deployments and give us back ES FFS PLEASE

rant over