*** The Official Tribes: Ascend Thread! ***

[BuffetSlayer]

Hey guys - I wanted to follow up regarding SLI performance for tribes ascend. Well I upgraded to a second 680 and tested out the performance on Dry Dock and Arx and it was 120FPS all the way. No drops whatsoever.

Have any of you been running Tribes in SLI/Crossfire?

Hi mate, thanks for that info. I will hopefully be building a new rig next year and I am going to go the 120FPS route.

Had a few games the other night and the servers seem very empty.

I also noticed that the EU ladder seems devoid of any major teams. I'm guess the EU scene has moved somewhere else?

Where did you play? Were you playing Pub or Pug? I cant comment on the pug servers, but the EU pubs tend to be fairly full most of the time. Very often there will be 4-5 28 player servers all full (Level 8 +). None of the level 30+ servers ever have any players. I have played only once in one of those servers and there were like 12 of us.

Unfortunately, it seems Hi Rez have abandoned Tribes because there have been no updates or patches in a long time and the server lag is a real problem too. It seems poorly optimised for many people and it makes playing a real chore sometimes.

I still play often, but due to the really bad servers I am not enjoying it as much as I used to. There has been a marked increase in Obsidian players in pubs in recent months but I am not sure if that is due to teams being abandoned and the decline of the pug/comp scene or not.

I cant help but feel frustrated. In Tribes we have a world class skill based game that is likely to fall by the wayside because it isnt EZ mode CoD, and also because I think Hi Rez made some poor business choices. I really hope Smite was worth it for them

Mind you, I have had a couple of people enquiring after me to join teams recently so I guess there must be an active scene somewhere. I was told a couple of days ago that pugging is alive and kicking, but perhaps the skill levels may have fallen somewhat.

I saw Kennet the other day. He no longer wears a FLAM tag, but another (cant remember what it is though) and I have seen plenty of other tagged players in pubs too. It could be that top tier players have moved around and perhaps formed new teams etc.

Anyway, I hope things are going well for you. Take it easy.

Buff

 

[.:SAmSuNG:.]

Good to hear your back playing alittle kiwi. Maybe you can jump on one evening for a few games or something. Comp has slowed down alittle but EUTL season 3 is starting soon so should see some big teams play again. ~flam have started scrimming a few teams including vertigo and idk? to test the new rule set for the next season.


uncle_rufus whats your game id? If you wanna add me T1LuiGi im pretty active if you wanna few games.

 

[uncle_rufus]

uncle_rufus whats your game id? If you wanna add me T1LuiGi im pretty active if you wanna few games.

It's UncleRufus though I expect it will be a while before I get back into the swing of things properly - currently doing pretty poorly!

 

[Sunbed]

I'm still playing this, glad others are too. Not sure what it is, but I find these type of games more fun than the likes of CSGO (and I enjoy that!). It must be the movement.

I've no idea why T:A isn't more popular. I know a few people from the old Wolf:ET and ETQW scene and I'd expect them to be all over a game like this, but nope. Anyone know what the 'next' popular fast shooter will be?

 

[uncle_rufus]

I'm still playing this, glad others are too. Not sure what it is, but I find these type of games more fun than the likes of CSGO (and I enjoy that!). It must be the movement.

I've no idea why T:A isn't more popular. I know a few people from the old Wolf:ET and ETQW scene and I'd expect them to be all over a game like this, but nope. Anyone know what the 'next' popular fast shooter will be?

I completely agree, I think the reasons I like this game so much are:

1. The way you move around requires a bit of practice to develop your skills and even then is challenging

2. It's different to anything else, and that's always nice

3. Pulling off awesome stuff is cool as balls

 

[BuffetSlayer]

I'm still playing this, glad others are too. Not sure what it is, but I find these type of games more fun than the likes of CSGO (and I enjoy that!). It must be the movement.

I've no idea why T:A isn't more popular. I know a few people from the old Wolf:ET and ETQW scene and I'd expect them to be all over a game like this, but nope. Anyone know what the 'next' popular fast shooter will be?

My personal opinion, for what it is worth, is that EZ mode games like CoD reward players far more quickly for a lot less time/effort/skill than something like Tribes. You can appear good in those games but not actually be any good - but appearing good makes people feel good and satisfies a shallow ego

Tribes requires a lot of effort to even be an average player, which it seems a lot of modern gamers either are not prepared to, or do not have time to put in.

I reckon it goes a little something like this:

Guy feels great in CoD with kill streaks, and achievement unlocks and reckons he is a good player. He hears about TA and thinks well it is free, I will have a go!

So he comes to TA for a play and firstly it is so far removed from what he is used to he is bewildered from the get go. Secondly he is getting spanked so hard by better players he is sick of looking at the respawn timer and all the while he can't figure out why his Spinfusor keeps aiming wonky! Added to that he thinks some people might be hacking because WTF they can fly!??!

In the space of an hour he has gone from believing he is a good player to being smacked down so hard he leaves a crater the size of the Grand Canyon.

But of course it can't be him that is the the problem because he has 200 achievements on CoD and 57 stacked kill streaks. Its obviously TA and the wonky Spinfusors that are the problem!

So he leaves, muttering obscenities about how TA is a rubbish game and goes back to his warm comfort zone in CoD.

The tragedy in this story is this guy just walked out on a massive opportunity to become a far better all round game player.

Rinse and repeat, and that is why I believe TA is not more popular!

Anyways, I am also glad to hear people are still playing. I love TA. The lag is getting silly though. Hopefully HiRez will switch provider or something because the game is totally broken for me right now. I wouldn't mind if I knew roughly where my ping was at. Scoreboard says 31, chain says 100+ and it keeps changing

So hard to have any kind of consistency. In Drydock last night the lag was so bad that the game was actually failing. I was Sent and it was losing so much data that shots I was making on my mouse didn't get made in game, and when I did make a shot and hit, it took a second or more for the hit to register. Using an inv station was silent, the sound didn't trigger, nor did the animations and when walking off it, I had no weapon - I had to switch using my mousewheel!

So a second part of why I think TA is not more popular is that pubs have been broken for months, which is where new players will get their first experiences of the game. It does not show TA in the best light, unfortunately

Anyway, my game name is BuffetSlayer if folks want to add me.

I am now at the point where I am so frustrated with pubs I may go comp (if a team will have me). If it means I can play lag free I will make the switch! lol

Have fun all, happy plating!

Cheers

Buff

 

[.:SAmSuNG:.]

I recently decided to start a new account just to mess about with smurfing but while ranking up in the newbie servers i noticed 2 bad points.

1, After idk 2 years of playing T:A i saw my first hacker. These hackers are making accounts that get banned before they reach level 8 so I would never normally see them in the normal level 8+ servers. The problem with this is all the possible new players are screaming hacker at any player thats a lot better than them. This i feel is putting off new guys filtering through into the higher ranked servers.

2, There seemed to be quite a few level 9-25 players still hanging around in the 1-8 servers which are basically there to just let new players get to grips with the basics of moment and reasons you may choose a class for a certain role. I asked these guys wtf are they still playing in the newbie servers and they replied that they just weren't good enough to play in the higher ranked servers so would rather just stomp any new blood that may or may not stick around long enough to realise the potential of T:A. Im guessing these may be some of the COD style players who are not willing to put in the small amount of effort to at least advance to being able to contribute to a level 8+ pub game.

Both the reasons above I feel are stopping quite a few new players sticking with the game. As much as some comp players try to help pub players make the step to a more competitive player I think their efforts are alittle wasted as a larger influx of players will mean more talent that in turn would naturally grow the comp scene.

PS: uncle added u.

 

[uncle_rufus]

Cool may see you around

It's different generations really - I like nothing more than a game which is super challenging, but modern players seem (as mentioned above) to want to be constantly rewarded and made out to be progressing even if they aren't really getting any better... I remember when I briefly played MW2 and for the first few weeks I was getting "REACHED LEVEL XX" "BLAH BLAH UNLOCKED" etc popping up so frequently that I even briefly tried to find out if I could disable the distracting messages (don't think you can)...

Compare that to Tribes where I feel like I've been lvl 16 for an eternity and I seem to creep up a mm or so of that progress bar every night I put in a few hours, but I'm not too bothered...

Currently I am struggling to get back to being good when on the offense, flag running or attacking the enemy base... but if I go Brute or something and defend the base instead I can still do pretty good

 

[BuffetSlayer]

I recently decided to start a new account just to mess about with smurfing but while ranking up in the newbie servers i noticed 2 bad points.

1, After idk 2 years of playing T:A i saw my first hacker. These hackers are making accounts that get banned before they reach level 8 so I would never normally see them in the normal level 8+ servers. The problem with this is all the possible new players are screaming hacker at any player thats a lot better than them. This i feel is putting off new guys filtering through into the higher ranked servers.

2, There seemed to be quite a few level 9-25 players still hanging around in the 1-8 servers which are basically there to just let new players get to grips with the basics of moment and reasons you may choose a class for a certain role. I asked these guys wtf are they still playing in the newbie servers and they replied that they just weren't good enough to play in the higher ranked servers so would rather just stomp any new blood that may or may not stick around long enough to realise the potential of T:A. Im guessing these may be some of the COD style players who are not willing to put in the small amount of effort to at least advance to being able to contribute to a level 8+ pub game.

Both the reasons above I feel are stopping quite a few new players sticking with the game. As much as some comp players try to help pub players make the step to a more competitive player I think their efforts are alittle wasted as a larger influx of players will mean more talent that in turn would naturally grow the comp scene.

PS: uncle added u.

Fair comments. However, I don't think hackers are all being caught before level 8.

I have noticed several players in recent months who are very very suspicious. Most of them tend to use hitscan weapons like Eagle and Nova. I know right? Someone owning a server with an Eagle. Just feels wrong somehow. One guy was on O and absolutely decimated everyone with a pistol!

But it is the Sents that appear to be the most suspicious.

Maybe the influx of level 15-25 Sents that rarely miss is a coincidence, or maybe there was a collective effort from Pro Sents to smurf. I don't know.

Maybe they are just very good, but having played sent A LOT and having watched some top tier Sents, they miss quite a lot as consistently hitting targets that keep changing direction is extremely hard. So these low level Sents hitting every shot just seem very suspicious.

Luckily, though, these players are not prevalent. So maybe they are just Pro class awesome absolutely amazing players? Honestly I really don't know, but if they are not earning money with skills like that, they are wasted

Regarding servers, I'm sure Hi Rez used to block player access based on their rank. I know when I first started I could not get into higher ranked servers until I was something like rank 11. It seems like it would be an easy task to make sure that only level 1-8 players play in 1-8 servers, but that wont fix Smurfs.

As for Smurfing I just don't get it but a lot of players seem to be doing it. It is blatantly obvious who Smurfs are, and if one is in a level 1-8 server at rank 4 but is kicking everyones ass they will surely be contributing to driving new blood away from the game?

Maybe the newer players are not right by calling smurfs hackers, but you can't really blame them. Firstly they probably don't know what a Smurf is, and secondly a high skilled player is going to appear to be some kind of hacker in a server full of new blood as their ability will be so much higher. Kind of like putting a large hungry wolf in a room full of kittens. To someone really new to the game, is the actual end result of dueling with a high skilled player or a hacker actually any different? I'm not so sure it is.

So to me, surely skillful Smurfs in 1-8 servers are contributing to driving away new players just as much as hackers?

Cheers

Buff

 

[uncle_rufus]

The above is probably true but in general the game itself will drive away certain types of player as discussed in your other post without the help of hackers or "smurfs" (? I assume this is just second accounts setup for the purpose of stomping people as a low ranked player?)... When you come up against players better than you in Tribes (which lets face it there nearly always will be some) you often get murdered horribly again and again... Worse still is when you come up against a team of players who have the edge over your team (or have several players working together whilst your team do not)...

Take those games we were in last night, I felt like your team were playing well compared to ours and using good teamwork, not to mention having several decent players, and there were periods where there were more enemy players in our base than frendlies, with individual players like myself completely unable to take back control (1 v 3,4,5 or more situations are never going to go well)... I stuck with it for a few more rounds before I had to leave anyway but I know a lot of players would get very turned-off by situations like that, possibly to the point of not bothering to come back and try again...

Like I said it's not a situation exclusive to this game, but I feel like the beating you get when you end up in that situation somehow feels more extreme and unfair in Tribes (though I'm not completely sure why)

 

[BuffetSlayer]

The above is probably true but in general the game itself will drive away certain types of player as discussed in your other post without the help of hackers or "smurfs" (? I assume this is just second accounts setup for the purpose of stomping people as a low ranked player?)... When you come up against players better than you in Tribes (which lets face it there nearly always will be some) you often get murdered horribly again and again... Worse still is when you come up against a team of players who have the edge over your team (or have several players working together whilst your team do not)...

Take those games we were in last night, I felt like your team were playing well compared to ours and using good teamwork, not to mention having several decent players, and there were periods where there were more enemy players in our base than frendlies, with individual players like myself completely unable to take back control (1 v 3,4,5 or more situations are never going to go well)... I stuck with it for a few more rounds before I had to leave anyway but I know a lot of players would get very turned-off by situations like that, possibly to the point of not bothering to come back and try again...

Like I said it's not a situation exclusive to this game, but I feel like the beating you get when you end up in that situation somehow feels more extreme and unfair in Tribes (though I'm not completely sure why)

Yeah good points. I think it is possibly that in Tribes teamwork is essential to actually do well. A lot of modern shooters make it easier to be a lone wolf, as it were, and still do well. If you try that in Tribes you are going to get smacked down time and time again against any team with even a smidge of organisation.

Part of the problem is classes. Pub players often tend to pick what they want to play not what their team needs. Additionally, Tribes falters a bit in CTF pubs because the game balancing does not really lend itself to 14v14.

You can still have some cracking 14v14 games, but there are a few issues with game balancing and team balancing too. I think a fairer way to decide teams is to make the server force players to a certain team randomly. It is too easy in pubs for a group of Obsidians to keep making sure they are on the same team and thus wreck the balance. Queue lots of 5-0 games!! I see this all the time.

I think I would like to see some 7v7 pubs to be honest. These would act as a prep/practice ground for those wanting to get into comp, and perhaps should be limited to players above level 30 only.

But perhaps the biggest changes have got to be optimisation and dare I say it patching game/weapon balance. Hi Rez have not released anything in months.

Whilst the weapons are fairly balanced, I still don't think they are right. Sub machine guns with more power than rifles? SN7 with 180dmg but a similar fire rate to an NJ5? Shocklance capable of taking down a full medium in 1 hit? One of my utter pet hates is the Holdout Shotgun. A light class with a secondary weapon that is 50% more powerful than the Brutes Hammer? Orly? lol

So I think there is a lot of work to be done, but Hi Rez have pretty much abandoned it, or at least it seems that way. New players are up against a wall of obstacles and I am sorry to say laggy servers is perhaps one of the main things, along with hackers and smurfing. My suspicions that hackers are not being caught is partly fueled by the fact that Hi Rez seem to have stopped supporting the game. Are they really on top of things? Are they really checking through the reported players and banning the hackers? I don't know for certain, but I doubt it simply because their resources are tied up elsewhere.

I guess smurfing allows a player to operate without the expectations attached to their name/rank. I can see how that is liberating, but I still think it hobbles new people to the game. Maybe a better way would be for Hi Rez to allow a player to use XP to buy a 2nd account, with a new name, and choose what level they want to be from 8 to whatever level they currently are. So a level 50 player could use a new account and set his level from 8-50. Likewise a level 36 player could set a new account at level 8-36 and so on. That would hopefully stop the need for smurf accounts to invade the level 1-8 servers. Unless of course the underlying reason for smurfing is indeed to beat up on some new bloods, in which case it is very very sad and shame on anyone doing it!!

 

[.:SAmSuNG:.]

The reason i and I would say others decided to make a smurf account is not to stomp in new blood servers (having to play in them is just to reach level 8) but to say be a level 9 or 10 and dominate some of the higher rank servers which rattles some cages. Having a bit of banter I find makes the game more intense when you stomp some idiots.

Buffet which team has approached you? Im thinking of joining a house team to play in the EUTL just for fun. Some new team is looking for players on reddit. They seem average but might be a option. Also if your considering it maybe try start working on a position you could play comp. Im guessing roaming D or Disruption would be your choice?

 

[1kiwi]

Who are you thinking of joining Brad?

 

[.:SAmSuNG:.]

Well this team is asking for players.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Tribes/comments/1mpoot/team_annihilation_recruiting/

Not too sure yet I dropped the guy a message to see what he says. Dunno if I would try go for the main capper role as not really played comp in other roles. Im guessing the skill level might be quite a bit lower than the pro teams though which is good.

Not looking for anything too serious just have some fun. Also might miss a few games next month due to work. I dropped melur a message to see what his views were on this before making any decision.

 

[1kiwi]

Fair play mate. Good luck!

 

[BuffetSlayer]

The reason i and I would say others decided to make a smurf account is not to stomp in new blood servers (having to play in them is just to reach level 8) but to say be a level 9 or 10 and dominate some of the higher rank servers which rattles some cages. Having a bit of banter I find makes the game more intense when you stomp some idiots.

Buffet which team has approached you? Im thinking of joining a house team to play in the EUTL just for fun. Some new team is looking for players on reddit. They seem average but might be a option. Also if your considering it maybe try start working on a position you could play comp. Im guessing roaming D or Disruption would be your choice?

I am fairly effective as soldier on O or roaming D. It's probably my best class, although if I am considering comp play I think I need to start practicing with Raider as it seems the class of choice for dueling / O.

I would make a competent Sent if I played it like I used to, but with my lack of practice and my lags I am really struggling with that class at the moment. Cant believe how bad my Sent play is at the moment compared to a few months ago!

The teams were nobody special I don't think. One guy was making a new team and was after players - he didn't say what it was called. The other was a low level (?) team I think, and I cant remember for the life of me what it is right now. I want to say PLD, but I don't think it was. It was late and I was a little drunk!

I found this an interesting read - it is a bit out of date, but reading between the lines it pretty much indicates that Hi Rez will not really work on Tribes in future, preferring instead to lean towards the idea of a user SDK. I also think the responses from Todd are a little dismissive of customer/fan desires and it very much seems the whole position of Hi Rez is "Well Tribes was OK but we can make a bucket load more cash from Smite, so why should we bother with Tribes?". I guess as a business entity you cant blame them for that approach, but I cant help feeling like it is a big opportunity missed.

This quote made me laugh

SMITE is growing incredibly fast and, as a studio, we’ve learned the value of focus

No as a studio you have learned the value of latching onto a popular market that brings in bucket loads of cash

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/07/19/hi-rez-on-tribes-failings-and-future-tribes-ascend-2/

 

[BuffetSlayer]

The reason i and I would say others decided to make a smurf account is not to stomp in new blood servers (having to play in them is just to reach level 8) but to say be a level 9 or 10 and dominate some of the higher rank servers which rattles some cages. Having a bit of banter I find makes the game more intense when you stomp some idiots.

Buffet which team has approached you? Im thinking of joining a house team to play in the EUTL just for fun. Some new team is looking for players on reddit. They seem average but might be a option. Also if your considering it maybe try start working on a position you could play comp. Im guessing roaming D or Disruption would be your choice?

Just followed your reddit link (I couldnt earlier as work block it).

That is the same guy who was asking me to join a team the other night. Hey we could have been team mates and not known it!!

 

[.:SAmSuNG:.]

You interested then? I sent him a message that you may wanna join em.

 

[BuffetSlayer]

Quick question for you guys using 27''+ monitors - how do you find it in Tribes?

I am planning my next build and I am aiming to update my entire setup, and build a rig that is 120FPS compatible.

But when reading about monitors suitable for FPS - it seems that 27'' monitors are generally discounted for FPS gamers due to their size.

I read some pro FPS gamers saying that you shouldnt really go above 24'' for FPS gaming. They reckon 27'' just means a large part of the screen is in your peripheral vision.

It does not seem to stack up somehow though, as a 27'' is not that much bigger than a 24'' (??).

I was just wondering what the collective experiences are of my fellow gamers!

Cheers

Buff

 

[uncle_rufus]

27" as a length is not a lot bigger than 24" but when you apply it to a screen it becomes quite a decent amount... But I'd have thought it makes more of a difference depending on how close you sit - in the past I've had tiny little desks where the keyboard and mouse barely fit on the available space and the monitor is barely 1ft in front of my face, I can't imagine a big screen would have been very good there...

My only other thought is surely having extra peripheral vision would be an advantage? I guess only if the game supports setting your FOV quite high (which I think Tribes does)