Let me preface this by saying that Gears of War 2 is an awesome game. Epic did many, many things right this time around. I love the new weapons, Horde, campaign, new characters, etc. But Jim, I think you took people bitching about the shotgun as the only complaint against the game, but that is not the case. I personally couldn't care less about the shotgun, as I rarely used it in my 2 years of faithful Gears 1 playtime. I was a lancer/pistol guy myself.
Anyway, my point is that there are some very valid complaints that seemed to go ignored in you article. The main complaint(for myself anyway) is matchmaking. Now, I fully agree with matchmaking for ranked games, as it helps even out team-stacking and supposedly host advantage. My complaint is the lack of options. I, and many others, would like a server list a la Gears 1 for non-ranked/public matches. Yes, I know Gears 2 has private matches, but there is no way to search for them and only your friends can join. I love playing with a team of friends against random people, not just people on my friends list. I also like to play mainly execution, as I do not care for warzone. But, with the current system, it is all a vote, and only for 2 options that the server chooses. Now, I know some people love the matchmaking, and that's awesome. But Epic should give those of us who do not require as much "hand-holding" a server list. Let us pick our options and search to see if anyone is hosting with those options. A forum poster over at the official Gears forums said it best:
"1. Cant decide game type.
2. Cant decide map.
3. Cant decide what side I want to be.
4. Cant decide the number of rounds.
5. Cant decide if I want to host or not.
6. Cant decide between ranked or unranked.
7. Cant decide what server I play on.
8. Cant decide server based on ping.
9. Cant decide bleed out time.
10. Cant even quit if I need to.
11. FFS I cant even stay and the end of a match if I want to."
Also, the chainsaw is a huge problem. And the only reason is because it does not lower when the person is hit. I have watched numerous times where a person will run across the map with his chainsaw revved and not miss a beat while walking through lancer fire, shotgun fire, pistol fire, and hell, even a whole clip of flamethrower fire. It really does need to have a damage stop for the thing.
I will agree again about the shotgun. But, only to an extent. Yes, it was severely overpowered/inconsistent in Gears 1. But, that's no reason to make it damn near useless. "Useless" may sound extreme, but I've seen numerous youtube videos of offline play where point-blank aimed shotgun shots do nothing. Much less what I've seen with my own eyes. And, as a personal opinon, but definitely not a request, I feel the active-down sniper should have remained the same. Only because of the ability to crawl away would now cancel out any active-whore sniping techniques from the first Gears. I personally felt that making the sniper down someone was what made it a power weapon. But, again, that's just a personal pet-peeve, not really anything that needs to be addressed like what was mentioned above. I only ask that you don't lump the legitimate complaints in with the "OMG I can't HOST shotgun no morez" complaints. Thanks for your time.
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So say we all!
Ok, I know how to solve problems 1 through 6, and number 9 : pick private matches, or when you're in a public match, it's technically ranked.
But the matchmaking in general is a huge step up from Gears 1, so I can't complain. I also liked Jim's article, since I hear it so much online.
Snaileb sighting!
I agree with that list, it really is catered to the less "hardcore" players when I believe Gears is more of a "hardcore" game.
"ya wet blanket!" lol, just kidding;) Whatever you just said, I agree with it:) And I love you...you sexy beast you! Can't wait to come home tonight and play more Gears:)
@Snaileb: Wrong. You cannot just pick a "private match" , as only your friends can join because only they know about the game. Unless epic adds a search private games functionality, then it will be just like Halo 3 customs. I, and many others, like filling up a room(with random people) and going from map to map trying to best each other for hours. Private matches are just you, maybe some friends, and some bots. You play a match, then get booted back to the lobby instead of cycling over to the next map. For unranked, we really need a "player match" option similar to Gears 1. Or again, the ability to search for different types of private games.
All I hear is wah...maybe cause I am not the biggest fan of Gears of War 2 or maybe cause it is funny to laugh at people who are complaining that the shotgun glitch is taken out. Don't you just hate glitches? Now I know you don't focus on the shotgun but still...that was the main focus of Jim's article's comments.
Getting used to the weapons isnt a big deal to me. Yes the shotgun is different and yes stopping power completely changes the game. But the people bitching are the same people who bitched after the first title update to the first gears and then the second. Wah wah its a new fucking game. Put some time into it and learn it. I do agree about matchmaking. The matchmaking is shit. Absolute shit. You cant pick the gametype you want, you cant pick the map that you want, and thats fucking annoying. Especially when your playing on the territories playlist just to have fun and the whole other team is only after achievements so they pick whatever gametype suits their needs. Or the stupid fucks who play nothing but king of the kill because they think it nets the most kills so they can get seriously 2.0.
You know when the games gonna get better? When the fact that its new wears off and when the people who only play it for achievements get all 1000 points and fuck off to another game.
Yeah I loved the public match making system in Gears 1, but everything in Gears 2 is just such an improvement. I guess I really haven't gotten to that point where private matches are annoying for lack of hosting options that didn't make it from Gears 1.
That's why I hated the matchmaking in Halo 3. It was the same exact way for everything.
At least in Halo you had playlists, you could go full slayer or objective matches, Gears 2 has nothing other than fan vote and 90% of people choose execution or warzone since almost nobody can wrap their heads around anything other than "shoot enemy till dead."
Shotgun is shit, its less than worthless now so is the flamer since you can still chainsaw someone through the fire, overall, I pretty much hate the PvP, I've done Horde and co-op and will continue to do so.
@usedtabe: What he means is that public matches are now ranked because everything has its own leaderboards and achievements carry across all modes. Like CoD4, Gear 2 doesn't make ranking a big deal because it's all ranked.
Also, the chainsaw doesn't lower all the way but it does need to be re-revved. AND people do get slowed down with it. If you saw someone run across an entire map under fire and still chainsaw someone then the person was simply better than everyone shooting at them, because I've stopped people with chainsaws from killing me within the range they are supposed to be able to reach within. One good shotgun blast to the chest and it buys enough time to dive backwards and blast them again to the ground. Simple as that. It's called skill.
Also, if you want to be host, you simply want host advantage. If you want to choose anything else, play a private match. What Epic did was genius, it took the control out of EVERYONE'S hands so NO ONE had a clear advantage. Anyone whining about it just exploited it the first time around. Simple as that.
I know what he meant. I was saying that we still need public matches like they were. Being able to choose your game and map at all times while still playing with random people should not be a luxury, considering it was offered in the first Gears. I never hosted in gears, my team ran as "anti-host", but I'd still rather put up with someone hosting than this bullshit no option mode. And obviously my point flew over your head, otherwise you would not have mentioned private matches, considering I already explained how that is not really an option. I used to always bitch about host getting easy kills. And no matter what you believe, waling through the flamethrower to chainsaw someone is not "skill".
Well you see, people that play gears like Snail, B-Radicate and yours truly, we have this thing called skill.
Just don't suck balls at the game and you won't have to bitch as much.
What the hell does having skills have to do with wanting options for public matches. You're an idiot if you read all I wrote as just "bitching". And, for your information, my team would slaughter you on your host in Gears 1 or 2, without ever touching a shotgun. So don't bring any talk of "skills" in here when it's a discussion on options left out of the game. I understand the game needed changes, but to make the chainsaw the new host shotgun is only changing weapon-hate placement. If you get shot, the chainsaw should lower, end of story. If I point blank you with a shotgun while you're revving a chainsaw, your chainsaw should stop. Oh, and for those who cannot read, the list was a quote that someone else wrote, not my own, which I say in plain english.
A couple of times last night I shot a guy square in the chest with a shotgun while he had his chainsaw revved. He didn't even flinch. The shotgun took too long to fire again and I was sucked into the chainsaw. I think that's one thing that needs to be changed is just how close you need to be for the chainsaw animation to trigger. Right now I think it happens a second or 2 too early.
@USEDTABE - "...my team would slaughter you on your host in Gears 1 or 2, without ever touching a shotgun."
and without the chainsaw. that's why i'll pic the hammer burst instead of the lancer...because of stupid fags chansawing more often it seems like. I'm boycotting the lancer, cause it's fun to hear them bitch when i take them down without the lancer...he he he.