Incoming nerfs/changes

[Thekk]

The drop in points makes Ice & Base points more important which make Shatter less PVP focused. I've been frustrated because even now, trying to direct people to focus on the PVE aspect pisses off the kill-focused people in the team. That's not their fault either because we're here to fight people not ice.

Going to reuse the numbers I posted in another thread.

The points available on the maps are the following:

• 4 large crystals (300) and 18 small crystals (70), for a total of 2460 or an average of 820 per company
• 2 points per 3 seconds of outpost control (or 40 per minute)
• An overall increase of 5 points per kill (+10 for a company, -5 for another)

There are multiple crystal spawn patterns, but the most common ones have the last crystals spawning at either 8:00 or 10:00. If they take 2 minutes to kill, then the match will be 12 to 14 minutes old when it happens. That would give a company around 560 points in the best case (14 mins and no control change)

Currently, that gives us the following breakdown:

• Crystals : 820/1800 = 45,6%
• Outposts : 560/1800 = 31,1%
• Kills : 420/1800 (requires 84 kills/death) = 23,3%

The thing is this is only if the match ends with the last crystal. In reality, that's rarely the case and the result is that outposts generate more points and kills less. If the game lasts the whole 20 minutes, the spread is going to be closer to 45/45/10. Games that last that long usually do because there's not much fighting going on and that is reflected.

With the 1600 limit, the numbers are now:

• Crystals : 820/1600 = 51,2%
• Outposts : 560/1600 = 35%
• Kills : 220/1600 (requires 44 kills/deaths) = 13,8%

With this limit, it is very unlikely that the match will ever last 20 minutes as the potential crystal (820) and outpost (800) points bring us over it. If the objective is to make matches end nearly after the last crystal is destroyed, then it's one way to achieve it. However, the spreads clearly show that PvP which already has a marginal part in the total end score is going to matter even less. You could very will win with very minimal fighting, which wasn't possible before and it feels like that misses the point.

In my opinion, a better option would have been to increase the overall points gained from a kill to 10. The result of that would be to reduce the number of kills/deaths needed to 42 (about the same as what will be needed after the change) without increasing the overall importance of crystals, which is already pretty high (some would argue too high). That also makes it more enticing to engage other teams instead of hiding in a corner until the next crystal spawns.

Currently it doesn't feel like it's even worth it trying to attack someone at a crystal because they'll generate more points in the time it takes you to kill them than you will killing them.

All this might boils down to cultural differences between NA/EU and Japan. I remember someone saying that our Seal Rock matches were bloodbaths compared to theirs. This change caters to that mindset and clashes with ours.