I just want to comment on some of the rhetoric used when discussing the game.
Everyone knows that when an esport gets a rebooted title, the community starts drawing lines between new and old players. The conversation goes,
Player 1: "you can't change _____, that's what made GAME1 unique"
Player 2: "if you want to play GAME1, go play GAME1, this is GAME2 now"
The more often this conversation happens, the more the animosity grows, and the louder the shit-spew of toxicity becomes. The problem here is the echo-chamber can only handle so much shit. The more shit you pack in, the less room you have when you actually need your voice to be heard. Stop sweating the small issues, because if people keep alienating themselves over them, the more everyone else will just hear shit. Plus, this is quake, it's already going to be a shitwar between new and old players regardless of gameplay opinions posted to forums, it might be worthwhile to limit some animosity.
So I want to talk about zoom damage. Sorry that's not right. I want to talk about the conversations around zoom damage; It seems like an alright example of what I'm talking about, and also it's current.
First off, I think everyone needs to come to terms with the fact that most changes like this are not removed outright by developers. The other thing we need to remember, is that when a player says they "won't play a game with 'this'" on a forum, no one fucking believes them. We've seen that line time and time again with updates and reboots. You always keep playing. You will begrudgingly play with it, after a year 49.5% of you forget you ever cared, the other 49.5% eventually view it as a positive. The last 1% of complainers actually follow through with their threat, and no one ever notices they left. So please face the fact that if "we" are playing Champions a year from now, we will probably be zooming in. But do you want to have at least SOME say in how that zoom is going to work? I know I would like to! But if you actually want to be heard, we gotta clear some of the shit out of the echo-chamber.
Now I would like you to consider at what point of change you would consider the game compromised? What change would make game no longer "be" quake? Somewhere out there is a line waiting to be crossed. If that change ever came, do you want to be taken seriously? because to all the new players and to the developers, they will have heard this from you before when you were sweating the small stuff, and you kept playing then, so why should they listen now? Congrats, you shot your wad early. You cried wolf, and now your village will starve because you have no more sheep, and quake sucks. Don't let that happen. If you don't like a change, think it through in your head WHY you don't like it. Model its actual effects on game-play over VARIETY of situations. Does broadening your thought about it change your opinion? Not from outright denial to outright acceptance, I wouldn't expect that. But maybe you will concede that there might be some situations where a change you initially dislike could improve competitive gameplay. Once you actually understand the change, you'll have a better idea how badly you want to go to bat for it.
Do this for zooming damage right now. Include whatever caveats and changes you might include if you were the developer, but visualize a situation zoom damage makes quake better. More fun, more cerebral, more competitive, or even more casual (ha, don't do that..). If you can't come up with one thing, stop posting in forums, because this is not that change that ruins quake. Zoom damage is not the arrival of the wolves. It is an idea the developers are trying out that may or may not have a positive effect. Can we have a collective reality check on where we are right now? I don't mean that, "oh we're just in beta", I mean the collective competitive level we are at right now. Yeah, all the veterans still have their mechanics and fundamentals, but we also have so many new variables added that none of you can say with certainty what gameplay from a good player will look like a year from now. Frankly, you don't even know if the competition will focus on Duel (current, or classic), 4v4TDM, CTF or any other mode (although 4v4tdm is the objective best choice). Right now, We are fucking kindergardeners playing with blocks to see how they fit. Stop throwing away blocks because you don't like them while you're 5 years old. When we get to university that block might have come in handy.
And lets say we've had the game for a while, the players who are *actually* in high end competition [you aren't] have had enough time to understand and develop some of these new tools and options we have. Maybe we even have some playable servers at that point. Lets say we get there and you still think zoom is a net negative, and that the best solution is outright removal. Well congrats! At that point we are in college, you are no longer a fucking 5 year old. You'll have enough experience to explain WHY it's a detriment, and with much more clarity than "it's retarded".
So I also picked zoom for this post because there are some good comments out there already that are actually trying to model how it effects the game. I assume anyone reading this post also saw yesterday's post on zoom damage, but I'll link it here as [well](https://www.reddit.com/r/QuakeChampions/comments/6bs8m8/why_the_fk_does_zooming_deal_bonus_damage/)
Shall we read some cherrypicked comments?
Here is the top comment to gauge community opinion: https://www.reddit.com/r/QuakeChampions/comments/6bs8m8/why_the_fk_does_zooming_deal_bonus_damage/dhp3q3v/
Totally valid opinion, and totally expected considering the current atmosphere. Explanation would be nice, but whatever, he at least didn't insult half the player base like everyone else.
https://www.reddit.com/r/QuakeChampions/comments/6bs8m8/why_the_fk_does_zooming_deal_bonus_damage/dhpjuqa/
This comment is "totaly" shit. This is an example of alimenting anyone who DOES think it's a good mechanics.
https://www.reddit.com/r/QuakeChampions/comments/6bs8m8/why_the_fk_does_zooming_deal_bonus_damage/dhqe3jz/
This is an example of the strawman fallacy. No one in favor of zoom will be swayed by this comment, because no one in that camp is actually thinking this. So good job *trying* to bring some brain cells to the conversation, but you kinda
outed yourself as an idiot to the opposition.
https://www.reddit.com/r/QuakeChampions/comments/6bs8m8/why_the_fk_does_zooming_deal_bonus_damage/dhpxv7r/
This is actually close to reasonable! He has at least started to **think** about the mechanic and what it could effect. He needs to continue through and think about what actually happens during gameplay. I know we talk about quake as this crazy fast twitch shooter where every shot is a 180 flick while flying through the air across the map, but that's just what we tell ourselves. The truth is that if someone is that players move in bursts of speed but spend half the time holding an area or sneaking with walk. rail battles are almost always dictated around corners, and often holding those long angles. Real game play doesn't look like a highlight video. We spend what? 75% of the time maybe more preparing for a fight, and 25% fighting. We move fast while getting to the fight, but once we're there and going to engage, we're not moving that fast. So I agree that limiting mechanics is a bad thing, I just don't think it's practically relevant. Maybe with the mg, I guess. Not to rail though, those players would be stopped anyways, and probably zoomed in if this were QL.
https://www.reddit.com/r/QuakeChampions/comments/6bs8m8/why_the_fk_does_zooming_deal_bonus_damage/dhr5obh/
User kind of states their reasoning (risk/reward) but doesn't explain if that's actually beneficial. Complete alienation of his opposition (you just compare them to fucking star craft nerds??). Failure to recognize his opposition's argument. To play optimally, they ARE forced to zoom, maybe we have different opinions of what optimally means. OP is trying to make the case that there is no decision as the benefit is all with zoom, this comment failed to seriously address that, and failed to apply risk/reward to that. Also, by addressing "purist quake die hards" this becomes a confrontation against vets from what they will perceive as a new player, and since it really doesn't address their point of view it reinforces their opinion that the new players misunderstand quake and therefore have invalid opinions on its mechanics.
I wish there were some more comments in support of the change (and there are, I'm just lazy), because so many of you guys are completely missing the point of those against (that is when they make a valid point); Hint it's not always just because it's new.
Ok so I'm being a bit of a dick for effect. There are comments in that thread that really are trying to be constructive. I just wanted to point out how reactionary everyone has been about certain changes, and how that comes off to players who disagree with you, and more importantly how it's going to come off to iD. Remember that if you don't like a change, it was THEIR idea. Maybe consider how closely they are going to listen to you when you write, "Who is game designer and why he thinks that it's a good mechanics?" Also, I want to state that I'm not just saying this for "Player 1", "Player 2" needs to think deeper about mechanics, and whether a change really brings a positive outcome on gameplay- like yes a change may bring depth, but depth doesn't immediately equate to a positive effect. And frankly make sure you're understanding what the older players are talking about if you're new. You guys aren't speaking the same language right now, so things like risk/reward are understood but can be applied very differently between different subsections of players. Watch some old vods from competitions with good commentary/analysis, it's going to help you improve if nothing else!
PS: This is kinda long and I probably should edit and proofread it, but the thing is I have some whisky. I just don't see the importance in the face of that. So, I'm sorry if this whole thing is illegible. And if anyone's curious, right now I'm about split on whether I like zoom.
TLDR: Think shit through, pick your battles, and BOTH players 1 and 2 are right.
EDIT: Fuck I am going to edit, because I found a thread I thought I lost. Here is a comment that I feel actually uses braincells, is fucking cordial, and actually has the goal of bettering the game: https://www.reddit.com/r/QuakeChampions/comments/6bx8ym/champions_devs_playing_the_game_and_giving_tips/dhr7bzj/