Tribes: Ascend

[Crazycarl]

I've seen videos of this, and it seems to be a pretty fun and faithful interpretation of Tribes. Anyway, Penny Arcade has a bunch of beta keys they're handing out: http://penny-arcade.com/static/tribes-ascend

Signup link!

https://account.hirezstudios.com/tri...campaign=email

[BOSTWIX]

Not gunna lie. I've been playing this like crazy. I love it.

[FF_MATT]

i agree is very funn i member playin the first one back in the day and then i found this

[Dexter]

ive been playing this for like a week straight its awesome

[FreaK367]

Looks great, I've been playing Tribes games since the first, and I have Tribes Vengeance lying around somewhere.

The only problem I can see with the game is the fact that Hi-Rez studios are behind it. Meaning if they stick to their guns and do what they did with Global Agenda, I expect a horrible FTP system that requires you to spend money to get most of the bloody features of the game.

Had a quick look on their website and seen "Tribes Gold", which just hints at what I was thinking. In Global Agenda, A FTP account cannot Trade, which translates to "cannot make very much money or get unique items or gain access to a profession or ANYTHING". And it restricts lots of other features that make FTP accounts very limited.

If they use a similar system with Tribes Ascend, or just a similar idea, they will restrict core gameplay elements and limit FTP accounts, which puts pressure on people to feel forced to spend money if they want to continue to play. Instead of doing what a good FTP game should do which is Encourage people to spend money and make them happy to spend money to get an edge over others.

Silkroad Online is an MMORPG that has a good system, nothing major is limited for FTP accounts, and FTP can still max level and get great items and everything, the game is so big and packed with features. Doing it like that encourages people to spend money here and there to get little extras, like a pet, or consumables, special items etc... I ended up spending about £70/$110 through my time playing on it. And I was happy to spend the money because I felt like what I was buying was worth it, and it was a decision I wanted to make, and wasn't forced to make.

So Tribes Ascend might once again display the greed and bad ideas of Hi-Rez Studios.



Another example: Global Agenda has 3 Currencies, and has shops and items dedicated to each currency, 1 currency is basic money, but FTP accounts cannot trade with others, so are limited (and it can only buy basic items) 1 currency can be made VERY slowly in game, but you pretty much need to spend money to get enough to spend on things. Another currency can ONLY be bought with real money, so there's no earning it, and only the best items can be bought with that.

That's greed, having 3 different currencies in a game to try and extort money from people, limiting things you actually need to get better to one of the paid currencies.

I really hope they don't ruin Tribes Ascend.




Is it too late to try this game out?, or will I need to wait until the open beta?

[FreaK367]

Sorry for the double post, but to add on from that, the pre-order page also lists a 30-day Booster and VIP Status, which are both elements of Global Agenda. I really hate Hi-Rez studios.

[Crazycarl]

I played for maybe 6 hours last night (which is a testament to how fun it is), and am nowhere near the point where I can unlock a third class. It's really annoying to see other players with weapons I could put to good use, and knowing how long it would take to get those.

I have no problem with paying for features on a "free" game as long as its balanced; the F2P status just ensures that there will be plenty of new players.

[Dexter]

yeah, if you have any interest, i recommend boosting so you can at least have a variety of classes at a decent rate, even after they recently dropped the token requirements. soldier is my favorite by far but I like flipping through stuff.

and yea, I'm in the same boat carl, I played it for 12 hours straight this weekend. I havent done that kinda shit in I dont know how many years

[NeonLight]

I'm down to play, name is Voss. Gotta grab me form steam (GoSu Voss) or on #ff.pickup on irc and I'll join you guys

[FreaK367]

How does one get a beta key to start playing?, or do I need to wait until the open beta next year?, want to try it out.

[CHURCHMOUTH]

i had to hang by my hands in a swamp filled with leeches for days for mine

[oaties]

Originally Posted by CHURCHMOUTH

i had to hang by my hands in a swamp filled with leeches for days for mine

;(

[CHURCHMOUTH]

thanks oatiez

[Raynian]

If you need a key, just browse /v/. There's always a thread up with people dropping keys left and right.

As for the f2p shit - which it is - I'm really not liking it. After prolly about 40-50 hours, I finally have enough tokens to unlock one of the cheaper classes. And as it is, there is a ton of imbalance between the classes. Sniper is still horrendously gay (wow, who'd have thought?), going up against 3+ techies is ridiculous, and raider rapes everything with the secondary weapon, which can drop a heavy in a second flat.

Also hitscan hitscan hitscan, regenerating health, universal ammo drops, hitscan, shitty jets, 3 maps in rotation, hitscan.

That said, it is for the most part fun, although I know hi-rez won't fix some of the issues with it. So it's a tossup between T:A, which has a future and might still get better, versus T2c, which is better, but has a small community - of which a significant portion of the players use happymod (aimbot) in.

[Raynian]

Woops.

[FreaK367]

"CONGRATULATIONS!

You have been selected to be one of the first people to play and give feedback on Tribes: Ascend, the fast-paced action shooter from Hi-Rez Studios.

This e-mail contains an activation key that you may use to get started as a member of the Tribes: Ascend Early Testing Program."


Well, that was easy, I just did it through the official website, asked to be a beta tester yesterday, and got that email today. Heh, I thought getting one would be considerably harder.

[Dexter]

ya the hitscan shit sucks, i would prefer it toned down across the board. sniper isnt bad tho, it takes a good amount of hits to kill anything but a light and headshots dont do bonus damage. raider secondary runs the fucking game right now tho

[Crazycarl]

I have a key to give out if anyone wants.

[Raynian]

The main issues with sniper are the ridiculous utility they're given, and the ability to start churning out tha deepz as soon as they spawn. It's most egregious on crossfire - one drop jammer in the base can practically sensor jam your entire team (which also jams enemy infiltrators), and the mines they have fuck over would-be cappers.

A side note about why I hate sniper mines more than mines in T2. In T2, your standard offensive loadout would be something like disc/cg/grenade launcher. As you fly in to get the flag, you'd first clear it with either a mine disc, or some grenade spam. That would knock any HoFs (heavy on flag) away, and possibly kill LoFs. Even if you were coming at the flag from below, you could shoot some grenades to knock them away and blow up mines.

In T:A, if you're jetting up to grab the flag, you can't do shit to clear the flagstand unless you're a raider (ha, ha). None of the weapons arc properly and gel with the class-feel to help with clearing the flagstand. The best you can try to do is throw a HH grenade to blow up the claymore, but then you're gonna get bodyblocked by a HoF (or even engineer or whatever) and chances are the grenade will just blow you up - since weapons don't inherit enough momentum.

Then snipers get the ridiculous sniper towers on drydock, and katabatic is a mess anyways. There's not enough fog on any of the maps to inhibit snipers at all. Another thing that's missing from T:A. Also, not needing to hit an inventory station, even a remote one, means that killing a sniper just puts him out of action for a measly five seconds. It's kinda the same issue that FF has, and unless sniper gets nerfed, we're going to see a lot of people raping with sniper in T:A, either legitly or using aimbots.

T1 and T2 had sniper done properly. First, you had to hit an inventory (or remote inventory) to get the laser rifle - or pick one up off the ground/a dead player, but that's circumstancial and dependant on the map. You also needed an e-pack, and it took one of your precious 3 weapon slots. Also, the damage was directly tied to energy, instead of T:A's clumsy "slower recharge if jetting, but doesn't really stop jets at all" system. Yay snipers can just rabbit the instant you walk up behind them.

Basically - fuck snipers. It's still not fun to get killed by a sniper.

[Dexter]

Originally Posted by Raynian

The main issues with sniper are the ridiculous utility they're given, and the ability to start churning out tha deepz as soon as they spawn. It's most egregious on crossfire - one drop jammer in the base can practically sensor jam your entire team (which also jams enemy infiltrators), and the mines they have fuck over would-be cappers.

A side note about why I hate sniper mines more than mines in T2. In T2, your standard offensive loadout would be something like disc/cg/grenade launcher. As you fly in to get the flag, you'd first clear it with either a mine disc, or some grenade spam. That would knock any HoFs (heavy on flag) away, and possibly kill LoFs. Even if you were coming at the flag from below, you could shoot some grenades to knock them away and blow up mines.

In T:A, if you're jetting up to grab the flag, you can't do shit to clear the flagstand unless you're a raider (ha, ha). None of the weapons arc properly and gel with the class-feel to help with clearing the flagstand. The best you can try to do is throw a HH grenade to blow up the claymore, but then you're gonna get bodyblocked by a HoF (or even engineer or whatever) and chances are the grenade will just blow you up - since weapons don't inherit enough momentum.

Then snipers get the ridiculous sniper towers on drydock, and katabatic is a mess anyways. There's not enough fog on any of the maps to inhibit snipers at all. Another thing that's missing from T:A. Also, not needing to hit an inventory station, even a remote one, means that killing a sniper just puts him out of action for a measly five seconds. It's kinda the same issue that FF has, and unless sniper gets nerfed, we're going to see a lot of people raping with sniper in T:A, either legitly or using aimbots.

T1 and T2 had sniper done properly. First, you had to hit an inventory (or remote inventory) to get the laser rifle - or pick one up off the ground/a dead player, but that's circumstancial and dependant on the map. You also needed an e-pack, and it took one of your precious 3 weapon slots. Also, the damage was directly tied to energy, instead of T:A's clumsy "slower recharge if jetting, but doesn't really stop jets at all" system. Yay snipers can just rabbit the instant you walk up behind them.

Basically - fuck snipers. It's still not fun to get killed by a sniper.

some valid points BUT, unlock sniper and try it out. you will be amazed m8 (I actually just want you to waste tokens)