Topic: Does anyone play on GSA anymore?

[FPF-DieHard]

Just curious.   I don't have it installed right now and was wondering if it was worth it.

[FPF-Tobin Dax]

DIF-Josh and friends.

[knightstorm]

I go there alot because its the only place where I can reliably get pvp.  My connection lags too much at the moment for me to challenge people on the campaign.  The only problem with gs is that everyone seems to like flying adv either that or dreads all around.  uggh.

[FPF-DieHard]

I go there alot because its the only place where I can reliably get pvp.  My connection lags too much at the moment for me to challenge people on the campaign.  The only problem with gs is that everyone seems to like flying adv either that or dreads all around.  uggh.

Yeah, that's kinda what turned me off on GSA in the first place.  Not the Dreads, the ADV Era

[Magnum357]

I play on the GSA a lot.  I do agree, some people like the Advanced/X2 ships so I play in those games often.  That is part of the reason why I am making my own custom shiplist, it has X ships, but only X1 ships.  But some people do play with the Regular warships often on GSA if you request it.  I guess the younger crowd likes all those "advanced" weapons to kick butt with.

[knightstorm]

I go there alot because its the only place where I can reliably get pvp.  My connection lags too much at the moment for me to challenge people on the campaign.  The only problem with gs is that everyone seems to like flying adv either that or dreads all around.  uggh.

Yeah, that's kinda what turned me off on GSA in the first place.  Not the Dreads, the ADV Era

The reason I started spending time on gamespy was because I wanted to improve my pvp for the campaigns.  I don't like dread fights because those are ships I will never fly on the campaigns.

[Roychipoqua_Mace]

I also play on GSA, the only game I play with multiplayer. I agree that any X fights are tedious, especially the advanced X2 ones. There are so few ships to pick from, and some players will always pick a certain one. Flying around at speed 31 and little energy management is not fun. And nothing is worse than finding an interesting BPV game at about 100-200 points, only to find the host saying X is allowed.
It's better than nothing, but still dull. Some hosts always stick with the X battles in Gamespy, but most seem to like playing without X ships.

DH, please do try it out; it will mean more anti-X players!

[FPF-DieHard]

I re-installed last night, I think I'm going to start hanging out there on a regular basis after AOTK4 is over.

I love X-ships, just think the Taldren ones are crappy.

[Magnum357]

Ya, I think when Taldren was designing SFC OP (this is just my guess) they based a lot of the X2 weapons on propsals sent to ADB about how X2 should be like.  ADB still does not know what X2 ships, if ever, will be like.  I have only seen proposal by fans and the Taldren X2 ships seem similar to those. 

I was thinking about adding X2 ships to my custom shiplist mode, but I would definitly tone them down.  There are just too many problems with them.  Some problems come to mind like the Overloaded Phasers (ADB baned them for X ships, but there are not quite as bad in SFC), the G2 Phasers are totally a game breaker, I have seen SFB fan proposals that make better sense for G2 Gatling Phasers then the rediculas ones in OP.  The Heavy Disruptor and Photons are somewhat ok, but OP did not include X1 Photons which have more capbilities to load faster, more flexibility.  There have been a few proposals for X2 Photons in SFB, but there standard damage output is no more then 10 or 12 points instead of the 16 to 32 that Heavy Photons have.  The Heavy Photon feels more like a Quantum Torpedo!  lol

Anyway, maybe we should make a few of these suggestions for SFC4.  If those guys really do have the source code for OP, they could adjust a few things with the X1 and X2 weapons.

[knightstorm]

I think the taldren X ships wouldn't be so bad if they had a little less power. When I can charge 6 OL torps at speed 30, something is wrong.  I nice mod for them might be to adjust their power curve to make energy management closer to that on the race's command cruiser.

[Tus-XC]

Well hey, if you all need a guy who dont' fly dreads or xships on GSA, just hit me up.  I usually fly 1 of three ships... the R-WER, R-KE, and the R-KVL... i like my rommies old school

[Rod ONeal]

I think that ADB had X2 designs in the old commander's edition. Anyone else know for sure?

[Corbomite]

I think that ADB had X2 designs in the old commander's edition. Anyone else know for sure?

Yes, they were dumped in the Doomsday Edition.

[Pestalence_XC]

SFC, SFC II EAW and SFC 2 OP are designed after the Doomsday Edition.. lol

[Magnum357]

I think I heard that aswell that ADB designed some X2 material before Doomsday edition, but from what I heard, both the X1 and X2 ships were way too powerful so they had to scrap them. 

On ADB's old Legacy site, there has been quite a bit of discussion on X2 technology by Fans, and some of the tech systems they have been brainstorming for the past few years I think would help X2 be more then just adding more weapons and power, but ADB is not rushing this and hoping, if they ever release such ships, to be balanced.  Heck, Steve Cole has stated publically that he wants X2 ships to be able to be defeated by X1 or even General War vessels, so the fans have been taking careful study and testing of there ideas.  I'm not sure if its possible to do this, but it would be nice for a General War ship to possibly beat an X2 vessel, even if its a remote one.

[Tulwar]

First of all, I haven't figured out how to get GSA to penetrate my firewalls.  I can get on the Dyna, but GSA, no.

But man, this has turned into a really good thread on X-ships!

The problem with Taldren's 2nd gen X-ships is that they were created without any systematic method to provide balance.  Once you assign a relative value to all the weapons available and disregard Taldren's configuration, bringing them in line is not that difficult.  The stock shiplist is full of errors and oversights that you need to deal with as well; for instance, while the hvy cruisers all have the same move base, the frigates are all over the map.

The only X-weapon that might be over-powered is the Hvy Photon.  MRVs come into line with just a small reduction in number and improved defences on all ships.  This does require other improvement to Mirak ships so they can still compete!  The PG2 is not that powerful when the ships are made to match, it's simply worth slightly more than 2 X-phasers.  As far as other weapons go, they are usually underpowered.  Fast plasma and plasma snares are not particularly more powerful than standard weapons, and the ESG Lance is much less useful than a standard ESG.  As far as the the hvy phasers go, they just don't have the power of other weapons.  Hvy disruptors are about right in all regards, and a full spread consumes fewer hardpoints than the equivalent in standard disruptors.

On my off-line computer, I have a vastly expanded armada of 2nd gen X-ships.  I think they are reasonably balanced.  Some ships, like the F-XCA are hardly altered, but others bare no resemblance to the stock ships.

[Commander Maxillius]

There are a few X2 ships that Taldren got right.  IMHO all of the Romulan X2s are balanced pretty well.  I take that back, NONE of the X2 frigates make any sense.  Hull that small should have either gobs of power OR weapons coming out their ears, not both.

[Roychipoqua_Mace]

There are a few X2 ships that Taldren got right.  IMHO all of the Romulan X2s are balanced pretty well.  I take that back, NONE of the X2 frigates make any sense.  Hull that small should have either gobs of power OR weapons coming out their ears, not both.

Oh yes, the frigs! Don't you especially love the R-XFF and H-XFF? I think they should combine the two, then you could have 4 ph-G2 and cloak at Speed 31. Maybe add some Ph4 too.

[FPF-DieHard]

So i went to GSA last night and saw about 5 people signed on with no rooms running.   Looks deader than D2.  We're at an end of an era, hopefully SFC4 will bring new life.

I'll be on Dnet TS toniht if anyone if up for some IP games.

[Roychipoqua_Mace]

I was on last night too and for a while no rooms were up, but eventually Lander and Spider hosted and there were some good games. The 325 Adv game was very fun. Sometimes, people will hang around in the chat area even if they aren't really there.

On a good night, there may be 16 people. I could only wish for that to be every day. It seems Friday and Saturday nights from 9 PM- 12 AM (Eastern) are always the most popular, for good reasons.

Everything would be better if LameGamespy didn't crash or drop everyone's connection right when a room is about to launch.

[Tus-XC]

So i went to GSA last night and saw about 5 people signed on with no rooms running.   Looks deader than D2.  We're at an end of an era, hopefully SFC4 will bring new life.

I'll be on Dnet TS toniht if anyone if up for some IP games.

part of that is GSA broke the sfc rooms... they don't update like they should so you never know if there is one up or not

[Slider]

I'm going to try to be on some this week to play some fun games. Hopefully not advanced.
  But what the heck I'll play anything.

See ya

Slider

[Slider]

Ok Im on where are you....

[FPF-DieHard]

GSA last night was AWESOME!   I had more fun PvP last night that I did on the whole month-long AOTK4.  I'm a total n00b and have no idea what to pick at the different BPVs but it was still a lot of fun.

I got to fly with a bunch of old school vets who I never flew with before.   The "450 ADV" crowd is small enough that we can just take over if we want.   I'll be back on tonight at around 9 PM eastern time.

[Roychipoqua_Mace]

The turnout was great last night! I recognized a few names from Dnet in the Gamespy lobby, definitely looking forward to having more players. 

As for the 450 Advanced crowd, would it be suicide to take a dreadnought or battleship into one of those battles? Nothing would feel better than beating some XCA's in an older school ship (although I can't say DNs and BBs aren't heavy metal).

[Corbomite]

The turnout was great last night! I recognized a few names from Dnet in the Gamespy lobby, definitely looking forward to having more players. 

As for the 450 Advanced crowd, would it be suicide to take a dreadnought or battleship into one of those battles? Nothing would feel better than beating some XCA's in an older school ship (although I can't say DNs and BBs aren't heavy metal).

We used to do it all the time. The ISC BB/BBZ can do the job as well as the F-BB. The trick is to out hull them and use your superior power to out last them. Usuallly this involves a slow to medium speed castle approach, even against plasma. I've even done it with a R-PRA.

[FPF-DieHard]

As for the 450 Advanced crowd, would it be suicide to take a dreadnought or battleship into one of those battles? Nothing would feel better than beating some XCA's in an older school ship (although I can't say DNs and BBs aren't heavy metal).

I don't think it would be, even the most munchkin XCA would have a very hard time with an I-BBZ.

We did this with SFB back in the day when the old scholl X2 ships were still official.  I took a B10K, my brother a Fed XCC.  It was a slaughter, it didn't have a chance.

[Tus-XC]

I know i'll be on tonight... for my 4th pvp game in 1.5 years

[FPF-DieHard]

I know i'll be on tonight... for my 4th pvp game in 1.5 years

We did 4 last night

200 Late: 3v3 
79 late: 2v2
170 Mid:  2v2
185 Late: 3v3

We'll get you back up to speed!

[knightstorm]

The turnout was great last night! I recognized a few names from Dnet in the Gamespy lobby, definitely looking forward to having more players. 

As for the 450 Advanced crowd, would it be suicide to take a dreadnought or battleship into one of those battles? Nothing would feel better than beating some XCA's in an older school ship (although I can't say DNs and BBs aren't heavy metal).

A BB still trumps an adv ship.  I have done so in the past.  They normally specify no dreads when they set the rules for those games.

[Tus-XC]

I know i'll be on tonight... for my 4th pvp game in 1.5 years

We did 4 last night

200 Late: 3v3 
79 late: 2v2
170 Mid:  2v2
185 Late: 3v3

We'll get you back up to speed!

hehe, well lets see...

180 Mid:  i took a KE
150 mid ( think): I took NLC (or was it NCL... i don't know feddies)
110 mid:  I took a WER

[Slider]

You have to be conscious of who your playing with. Generally playing with guys you know is going to be a better experience than with some of the people left in GSA who tend to be too eager to impress unwary players with their flying.

That said be open minded about Bpvs, try to mix it up but have a handful that allow all races to have an even shot at winning and everyone will be ok. However after the level of rust I displayed last night I might be a bit more picky.

I got gutted in a C7 last night and thats not happened to me since 2001. A Very humbling experience which tells me I have a road to walk to get back to gaming form.

I may be on tonight, however the wife wasnt too happy with my extended bowling hours and I'm on vacation next week so I'll miss out on the fun. Hopefully this will continue till I get back.

Slidey

[Age]

I don't but I did give it a try and most played advanced era which is something I don't like to do all the time as I am use to late or mid era and I don't know the players that well unlike here.I would mind getting on with DH to show me more of some of those nice tactics it is just the timing has to be right.I do prefer The Dyna over it anyday.

[FPF-DieHard]

Where do the non-Dynaverse GSA players gather?   What forum do they use?   Had a blast flying with Picard and others last night and want to try to get them over to our corner of the universe.

[FPF-DieHard]

The turnout was great last night! I recognized a few names from Dnet in the Gamespy lobby, definitely looking forward to having more players. 

As for the 450 Advanced crowd, would it be suicide to take a dreadnought or battleship into one of those battles? Nothing would feel better than beating some XCA's in an older school ship (although I can't say DNs and BBs aren't heavy metal).

A BB still trumps an adv ship.  I have done so in the past.  They normally specify no dreads when they set the rules for those games.

Most of the X2 cruisers weigh in at under 300 so in a lot of circumstances you can't take a BB. 

That ISC cruiser with the 6 PPDs in insane.  Seriously, the person who gave that a 300ish BPV needs to have their head examined.  I'll fly it everytime because I don't want to be out-cheesed but my God it's off the hook.   The only viable strategy when fighting PPD ships is to chase them, how do you do that against a ship with 2 rear-firing PPDs?

[Corbomite]

The turnout was great last night! I recognized a few names from Dnet in the Gamespy lobby, definitely looking forward to having more players. 

As for the 450 Advanced crowd, would it be suicide to take a dreadnought or battleship into one of those battles? Nothing would feel better than beating some XCA's in an older school ship (although I can't say DNs and BBs aren't heavy metal).

A BB still trumps an adv ship.  I have done so in the past.  They normally specify no dreads when they set the rules for those games.

Most of the X2 cruisers weigh in at under 300 so in a lot of circumstances you can't take a BB. 

That ISC cruiser with the 6 PPDs in insane.  Seriously, the person who gave that a 300ish BPV needs to have their head examined.  I'll fly it everytime because I don't want to be out-cheesed but my God it's off the hook.   The only viable strategy when fighting PPD ships is to chase them, how do you do that against a ship with 2 rear-firing PPDs?

Take Rom, cloak, and make them come to you. Or don't chase them and take Fed. Heavy Proxies are pretty mean. Discussing tactics with X-Ships is pretty much a waste of time as some are way OTT and some seem good on paper, but can't compete with their counterparts so "suck" in comparison.

[Roychipoqua_Mace]

Great games last night! The forty minute 3v3 black hole at 200 L was especially nasty. We kept our distance, but then closed in and that's when the fur flew  . Ouch...

Any advanced games should be played at around 400 or so. IMO, 300 is too low, because certain races (like the Feds) have all three of their X2 at below 300, while others (like the Romulans or Hydrans) only have maybe an XCF below 300.

Maybe a good way to mix the Adv and regular crowds would be a good X1 match.

Where do the non-Dynaverse GSA players gather?   What forum do they use?   Had a blast flying with Picard and others last night and want to try to get them over to our corner of the universe.

I don't know if many of the non-Dnet players have other forums. A lot of the players belong to CUGS and they have a small forum, but nothing like this. There is a CUGS teamspeak channel though, should be on their main site.

[FPF-DieHard]

Maybe a good way to mix the Adv and regular crowds would be a good X1 match.

For their BPVs the X1 ships are MUCH better balance than the X2 ships.   Let's fly some 175 late tonight, the F-DDX might actually get me out of the I-CW for a while