Scout! Where's the incentive?

[Bridget]

This thread is to discuss and formulate solutions for something I think is a problem. That problem is that there is little or no incentive to play the Scout class. There are a few problems with this class that I want to discuss. Here they are:

1. The Medic is a better class all-around. Why play a weak Scout that dies from one fragmentation grenade when you can armor up with the Medic? Who would choose that weak pool of health over a self-regenerating pool of health? What does the Scout have that makes him unique and that truely sets him apart in how he plays? Next to nothing. Meanwhile, the Medic does everything the Scout does and more. He can heal other offensive members. He can infect enemies. He can even concussion jump just like the Scout!

2. Considering all of the things the Medic can do that the Scout can not, Scout is a 'do or die 'class. Your only objective is to grab the flag and either inch it closer to the capture point or capture it completely. Other then that, you become next to useless. Once the Medic's concussion grenades are depleted, the Medic can go about healing team mates and damaging the enemy, influencing the battle. What can a Scout do? He either gets slaughtered easily or purposely to hitch a ride back to respawn for another try.

3. The Scout sends mixed feelings. New players or migrants from Team Fortress 2 either expect the class to be combat oriented through and through from the weapons or from their expectations of the class and how he works in other games, respectively. They begin to wonder what the hell the point of the class is, and when someone tells them "movement" they just think to the Medic, who satisfies them for his ability to fight and with the movement bonus of the Scout. Why would they play Scout?

The Scout is that niche class that is only played by people who need that little extra speed to snag the flag once they've failed with something like a Spy or Medic. The class becomes useless for the average player because the demand it requires to stay alive and do the job (high evasion) come as a side-effect to difficult-to-master skills: bunny-hopping and concussion jumping. There are no alternative movement skills to build off of; nothing to keep the Scout fresh even at lower play; nothing that allows the Scout different levels of play and different play-styles.

So, I have a few suggestions and ideas. Consider them individually and supply your own.

Get rid of Medic's concussion grenades to at-least make the Scout appeal for something. Give the Medic an adrenaline shot that simply boosts his run/bhop speed temporarily. What if you could fill it by infecting enemies or something? MORE REWARD BASED WEAPONS IMO. If you want ground-horizontal movement: The Medic's your choice. If you want dynamic 'sailing through the air' concussion jumps, then you pick the Scout. If this is a bad idea, what about limiting the Medic's ability to air strafe with his concussion grenades so the Scout has somewhat of an advantage?

Implement new movement modes that are intuitive and easy to utilize. Instead of expecting everyone to just play the class to a threshold where they suddenly know bunnyhop, give them movement skills like wall jumping or dashing to fill the void in the meantime. Again,let the class function even at lower levels.

Keep the Scout moving. If the Scout stops moving, then there's a problem, most likely. If you somehow survive off two or three failed concussion jumps, you become useless. What's a good fix? Implement a system that regenerates movement capabilities. What if concussion grenades were replaced with a charging bar that once full conc'd the Scout in the direction he was facing? You could even charge the bar up faster by bunnyhopping or by moving in general.

4. Get rid of Scout's weapons. Replace them with non-combat items that either give the Scout a movement advantage, actively help his team mates, or deny the enemy movement abilities or disable their other abilities. What about an icepick like weapon that allowed the Scout to climb walls? What about bringing back caltrops? What about x and y and z? He needs a loadout that advertises tactics over straight-forward combat, because the latter is not his specialty.

What do you think about the Scout? What do you suggest? Blah.

[GenghisTron]

Scouts are invaluable in competitive play.

/thread

[eomoyaff]

don't even start with the scout bridget. Fuck that. The class is perfectly fine where it is. I like the way he plays. Don't even begin to talk about fucking with my class.

The way it works.

Medics blow shit up. Scouts consistently hit flag in the process. It all boils down to skill, thats it. Medics make the job easier for the scout by supplying him health and taking out objectives such as the demo and sg, thus making it easier for the scout to get in and out with the flag.

Easy Concept and it works. It all boils down to skill. That's it, the whole sh'bang, ta'da, that's all folks.

[slamdunk]

scout is just fine.. u have a speed advantage if u know how to use it.. if u cant do proper concs or bhops so play medic thats all having a medic in ur team is important for scouts tbh.. thats y there is team play

[wakka]

The jump-pad makes people play scout.

I think it's the main pro of the scout that if someone chooses to play it they are benefiting their whole team by building a jump-pad even if they never touch the flag.

That being said jump-pads are good, scouts are good and the game is good. Although I think individual class discussion is great and could help dev's, I also feel no new player to FF is going to stop playing FF because of the scout class.

[RnZ]

Only thing that sux about the scout is his jump-pad, just delete the stupid thing.
It will make competitive play a lot more fun and i will never have to worry about teammates raging at me for not building one.

[immortal]

Originally Posted by RnZ

Only thing that sux about the scout is his jump-pad, just delete the stupid thing.
It will make competitive play a lot more fun and i will never have to worry about teammates raging at me for not building one.

yeah.