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Old 02-20-2010, 06:18 AM   #1
Bridget
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Scout! Where's the incentive?

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.

Last edited by Bridget; 02-20-2010 at 06:21 AM. Reason: -s
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Old 02-20-2010, 06:42 AM   #2
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Scouts are invaluable in competitive play.

/thread
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Old 02-20-2010, 07:23 AM   #3
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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.

Last edited by eomoyaff; 02-20-2010 at 07:28 AM.
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Old 02-20-2010, 10:35 AM   #4
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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
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Old 02-20-2010, 10:43 AM   #5
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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.
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Old 02-20-2010, 12:34 PM   #6
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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.
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Old 02-20-2010, 01:19 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RnZ View Post
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.
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Old 02-20-2010, 01:49 PM   #8
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Old 02-20-2010, 02:35 PM   #9
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lol... I don't see this getting locked - nothing yet anyway
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Old 02-21-2010, 12:48 PM   #10
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"Who would choose that weak pool of health over a self-regenerating pool of health?"
I do. Because he's that fast. If I die a lot or need to kill an sg I might try medic or something else, but there are times when I prefer to play scout.

I do not believe there is much of a problem with scout. I do miss the caltrops and don't care for the jump pad.

I do see ur point that both the med and scout are similar in speed. Maybe that should be changed.
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Old 02-21-2010, 04:36 PM   #11
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Can't see a lot wrong with the Scout overall.

If you look at it from a new players perspective there really isn't much reason to be a Scout and it's certainly not much fun. I just don't think it's realistic to try and change the Scout in order to appeal to newer players.
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Old 02-21-2010, 04:51 PM   #12
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Scouts fine. He needs a primary grenade, though.
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Old 02-21-2010, 06:04 PM   #13
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"Get rid of Medic's concussion grenades"

Hmm let me just never read anymore of Bridget's suggestions.
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Old 02-22-2010, 04:24 AM   #14
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Bridget...you have way too much time on your hands and a gift of gab.

the scout is just fine. leave the class be.
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Old 02-22-2010, 04:38 AM   #15
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I don't know whether to facepalm or to laugh, but either way you just made my ignore list. Gratz.
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Old 02-22-2010, 05:35 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by VentuSag3 View Post
I don't know whether to facepalm or to laugh, but either way you just made my ignore list. Gratz.
Damn, some whiny twelve year old blocked me on a forum. What ever will I do?

Anyway, to everyone else who doesn't have to have their hand held crossing the street (Ventu), this thread was never made to consider the Scout as a problem or the way he plays NOW a problem. I'm saying the Scout doesn't appeal to lower levels of play. The Scout is both difficult to pick up and to master because its effectiveness is contingent upon mastering difficult skills like bunnyhop and concussion jumping. There is no other way to play the Scout. An example of what I mean?

The Medic dominates with good movement skills, the same ones that the Scout uses: Bunnyhopping and concussion grenade jumping. The class, however, is not totally dependent upon those skills to be used effectively. You don't have to bunnyhop or conc about to be a good Medic; It just makes shit easier. The Scout doesn't work like this. In order to play the class, you are expected to be experienced from the start as the Scout can only be effectively played in the experienced manner.

I am suggesting more beginner friendly movement abilities and giving the Scout non-combat weapons and items that would make him usable even to someone who can't bunnyhop well or pull off sick concussion jumps. I am suggesting making the Scout available to both the beginner as a support class that helps in capturing the flag and to the expert as the movement class that does the capturing.

I do agree the Scout is fine, but something being fine doesn't mean it is perfect and can't be improved upon or made even better. Improvements can be beneficial additions as well as solutions to problems.
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Old 02-22-2010, 07:43 AM   #17
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A scout simply doesn't doesn't work when you have 8 people turting defense on destroy. The scout is still viable in 'lower levels' of play, hell, I've seen noobs go scout just to put up a jumppad. However, the problem is that in pubs, it frequently turns into a spamfest/11v11 defense game, where even soldiers have a hard time surviving.
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Old 02-22-2010, 01:11 PM   #18
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If this reaches another 20 pages then zzz.

Scout is faster. Simple as that.

Last edited by moosh; 02-22-2010 at 01:11 PM.
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Old 02-22-2010, 06:31 PM   #19
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I don't know whether to facepalm or to laugh, but either way you just made my ignore list. Gratz.
gotta love ignore announcements.
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Old 02-22-2010, 06:39 PM   #20
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I don't know whether to facepalm or to laugh, but either way you just made my ignore list. Gratz.
Damn I loves me some petty drama.
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