Gah! Do something! Anything! To fix GSF!

[Orchestration]

I have been playing star wars game since I was a kid.

 

X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Rogue Squadron, even the poor excuses for an X-Wing clones that existed is Star Wars Galaxies.

 

I used to play X-Wing Alliance on MSN Gaming Zone, I was half decent.

 

I enjoyed them all for the most part and to me GSF most resembles Rogue Squadron but...

 

It is just god awful! And so horribly unbalanced! I have played 12 matches now and lost 10 of them! And they are not close losses for the most part, it is more like 5 points to the Republic 800 to the Imps.

 

It is just not fun! I am only there to add points to some other players stats whilst mine take a horrible nose dive! And can I reset my score sheet? Nope! Way to rub my nose in the fact I am bad!

 

And it is not like I am learning anything! I will fly along, heading towards the enemy when suddenly something pops up behind me from out of nowhere, even though I have been spaming the target closest enemy button (which just never seems to work, I can see a player 4000m in front of me why is it targeting the turret 20,000m away?). The boom I die in like 1-2 hits!

 

On the off chance that I do get to shoot at something the controls are so god awful for me I can not hit a thing! On the off chance I do hit someone it does no damage! Whilst me yep, still getting 2 shotted from everyone and their dog from 7000m away.

 

How about letting people get some practice in? Set up some PVE scenarios that actually teach the game, maybe with an instructor giving a voice over explaining whats happening? Get people used to the controls and play against increasing odds where enemies get more numerous and evasive?

 

That is once of the most basic things X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter did. You started off facing a single TIE Fighter that flew in a straight line, then it started doing basic maneuvers, then shooting back at you, then 2 TIE Fighters, going to 3, then getting TIE Interceptors, followed by TIE Advanced.

 

I would say give us game pad controls, it would make things a lot easier for me, but i figure I am doing something horribly wrong since others seem to kick butt with the mouse and keyboard but I just can't figure it out.

[Nemarus]

I have been playing star wars game since I was a kid.

 

X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Rogue Squadron, even the poor excuses for an X-Wing clones that existed is Star Wars Galaxies.

 

I used to play X-Wing Alliance on MSN Gaming Zone, I was half decent.

 

I enjoyed them all for the most part and to me GSF most resembles Rogue Squadron but...

 

It is just god awful! And so horribly unbalanced! I have played 12 matches now and lost 10 of them! And they are not close losses for the most part, it is more like 5 points to the Republic 800 to the Imps.

 

It is just not fun! I am only there to add points to some other players stats whilst mine take a horrible nose dive! And can I reset my score sheet? Nope! Way to rub my nose in the fact I am bad!

 

And it is not like I am learning anything! I will fly along, heading towards the enemy when suddenly something pops up behind me from out of nowhere, even though I have been spaming the target closest enemy button (which just never seems to work, I can see a player 4000m in front of me why is it targeting the turret 20,000m away?). The boom I die in like 1-2 hits!

 

On the off chance that I do get to shoot at something the controls are so god awful for me I can not hit a thing! On the off chance I do hit someone it does no damage! Whilst me yep, still getting 2 shotted from everyone and their dog from 7000m away.

 

How about letting people get some practice in? Set up some PVE scenarios that actually teach the game, maybe with an instructor giving a voice over explaining whats happening? Get people used to the controls and play against increasing odds where enemies get more numerous and evasive?

 

That is once of the most basic things X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter did. You started off facing a single TIE Fighter that flew in a straight line, then it started doing basic maneuvers, then shooting back at you, then 2 TIE Fighters, going to 3, then getting TIE Interceptors, followed by TIE Advanced.

 

I would say give us game pad controls, it would make things a lot easier for me, but i figure I am doing something horribly wrong since others seem to kick butt with the mouse and keyboard but I just can't figure it out.

 

Run the tutorial ( the {?} in the top right corner of the hangar UI ). Then make sure to look at Starfighter key bindings. These will take you basic commands, like "E" to target what is directly in front of you. Also turn down your mouse sensitivity to around 25%.

 

Finally, make sure you know your weapon range. Most weapons have a max range of 4000-5000. As a beginner, I recommend using the Strike, not the Scout. Your first purchase should be Cluster Missiles. Between those and the Strike's Heavy Laser cannons, you should be able to get some kills. Just note that Heavy Laser Cannons are meant for long range work -- 4000-6000m. They won't do well at close range. That's when you want to switch to Rapids.

 

Most of all, practice practice practice.

 

I was also an avid X-wing / TIE Fighter pilot, and with practice I became one of the best on my server. It does take practice and patience though.

 

Also look in Starfighter settings and be sure to turn on expanded weapon tooltips. And read all the tooltips!

Edited May 21, 2014 by Nemarus

[Kalphitis]

If you care enough to post on these forums, maybe you'll care enough to read some GSF guides Plenty out there.

 

Maybe start here: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=729222

[Slinktress]

Does "R" actually do what it's supposed to for anyone? I thought I was just getting unlucky with having all of my shooters directly behind me so they don't appear in the target window, but as I get better at S, reverse... I still can't reply-target.

 

Is there an advanced ability for doing tighter 180s or a reverse loop to face your tailpipe enemy? If not, there SHOULD BE. In Star Wars, your gunman can always shoot behind the ship. The Millenium Falcon was fast but it didn't turn on a dime, thus rear turrets.

 

I'm new, but I've been reading all I can on the forums and watching videos.

 

I've cycled through half a dozen friends TRYING to make them like GSF (even with me giving advice via voice comms), but the controls, lack of matching or bolster for new players, and the tailpipe madness make them quit every time

[Gavin_Kelvar]

I will fly along, heading towards the enemy when suddenly something pops up behind me from out of nowhere, even though I have been spaming the target closest enemy button (which just never seems to work, I can see a player 4000m in front of me why is it targeting the turret 20,000m away?). The boom I die in like 1-2 hits!

 

I would strongly recommend relying on your map/radar more than the target closest enemy.

 

Does "R" actually do what it's supposed to for anyone? I thought I was just getting unlucky with having all of my shooters directly behind me so they don't appear in the target window, but as I get better at S, reverse... I still can't reply-target.

 

R only works if they actually hit you. If they miss (either due to poor aim or you used an engine ability to evade a missile) you can't target them with R.

 

Is there an advanced ability for doing tighter 180s or a reverse loop to face your tailpipe enemy? If not, there SHOULD BE. In Star Wars, your gunman can always shoot behind the ship. The Millenium Falcon was fast but it didn't turn on a dime, thus rear turrets.

 

Retro thrusters and Koiogran turn both allow you the chance to get on an enemy's tail (Koiogran does a 180 turn, if you've played flight sims you might know it better as an Immelmann Turn; retros propels you straight back briefly, think of Luke Skywalker during the speederbike chase on Endor).

 

In Star Wars with the exception of some Y-Wings and the ARC-170 Star Wars starfighters lack tailgunners to shoot behind the ship (Luke in his X-Wing had no tailgunner for example). GSF follows that model.

[SammyGStatus]

Click the question mark in the top right corner (after you press "h" to bring up your hangar) to start the tutorial.

[Slinktress]

Click the question mark in the top right corner (after you press "h" to bring up your hangar) to start the tutorial.

 

If you read up, the OP and I who have guildmate complaints have already used this. It is extremely limited because there are no enemies flying around in it. This needs to be improved ASAP.

 

Here's a video tutorial I found, and ironically, he has so little control as an experienced pilot he crashes accidently during the video LOL.

 

The further your mouse curser is out of that "center circle" the faster you should turn, at least to a point.

 

Another idea would be to have 4 on 4 noobie dogfight arenas; ALL low level t1 ships, or matched sets, but REAL GENUINE WORKING matched or no queue pop.

[General_Brass]

I have been playing star wars game since I was a kid.

 

X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Rogue Squadron, even the poor excuses for an X-Wing clones that existed is Star Wars Galaxies.

 

I used to play X-Wing Alliance on MSN Gaming Zone, I was half decent.

 

I enjoyed them all for the most part and to me GSF most resembles Rogue Squadron but...

 

It is just god awful! And so horribly unbalanced! I have played 12 matches now and lost 10 of them! And they are not close losses for the most part, it is more like 5 points to the Republic 800 to the Imps.

 

It is just not fun! I am only there to add points to some other players stats whilst mine take a horrible nose dive! And can I reset my score sheet? Nope! Way to rub my nose in the fact I am bad!

 

And it is not like I am learning anything! I will fly along, heading towards the enemy when suddenly something pops up behind me from out of nowhere, even though I have been spaming the target closest enemy button (which just never seems to work, I can see a player 4000m in front of me why is it targeting the turret 20,000m away?). The boom I die in like 1-2 hits!

 

On the off chance that I do get to shoot at something the controls are so god awful for me I can not hit a thing! On the off chance I do hit someone it does no damage! Whilst me yep, still getting 2 shotted from everyone and their dog from 7000m away.

 

How about letting people get some practice in? Set up some PVE scenarios that actually teach the game, maybe with an instructor giving a voice over explaining whats happening? Get people used to the controls and play against increasing odds where enemies get more numerous and evasive?

 

That is once of the most basic things X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter did. You started off facing a single TIE Fighter that flew in a straight line, then it started doing basic maneuvers, then shooting back at you, then 2 TIE Fighters, going to 3, then getting TIE Interceptors, followed by TIE Advanced.

 

I would say give us game pad controls, it would make things a lot easier for me, but i figure I am doing something horribly wrong since others seem to kick butt with the mouse and keyboard but I just can't figure it out.

 

Fair assessment the game doesn't do much to provide a welcoming experience to new players and it allows advantage to be piled onto of advantage by more experienced players. I found the record comment hitting close to home as I have friends that had good records from when the game composition favored them and stopped playing to preserve them.

Edited May 21, 2014 by General_Brass

[Kalphitis]

I have friends that had good records from when the game composition favored them and stopped playing to preserve them.

 

I have And can I reset my score sheet? Nope! Way to rub my nose in the fact I am bad!

 

The records, for the most part, are meaningless. I don't really know why they're in the game. Two things:

 

1) If you care that much about them, and it bothers you, you need to just chill. Chill man It's a game.

 

2) Nobody else will ever care what your records say. If you have a really impressive K/D ratio, or W/L ratio, it means absolutely nothing. If you have a really bad K/D or W/L ratio, it means absolutely nothing. There is no competition in this game. There is no realistic matchmaking.

 

If you care about competition, GSF isn't the game for you. If you have fun flying around and shooting stuff, it is.

[General_Brass]

 

If you care about competition, GSF isn't the game for you. If you have fun flying around and shooting stuff, it is.

 

LOL, Tell it to the people who go out of their way to make it miserable for new players

[Asbetos]

I have been playing star wars game since I was a kid.

 

X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Rogue Squadron, even the poor excuses for an X-Wing clones that existed is Star Wars Galaxies.

 

I used to play X-Wing Alliance on MSN Gaming Zone, I was half decent.

 

I enjoyed them all for the most part and to me GSF most resembles Rogue Squadron but...

 

It is just god awful! And so horribly unbalanced! I have played 12 matches now and lost 10 of them! And they are not close losses for the most part, it is more like 5 points to the Republic 800 to the Imps.

 

It is just not fun! I am only there to add points to some other players stats whilst mine take a horrible nose dive! And can I reset my score sheet? Nope! Way to rub my nose in the fact I am bad!

 

And it is not like I am learning anything! I will fly along, heading towards the enemy when suddenly something pops up behind me from out of nowhere, even though I have been spaming the target closest enemy button (which just never seems to work, I can see a player 4000m in front of me why is it targeting the turret 20,000m away?). The boom I die in like 1-2 hits!

 

On the off chance that I do get to shoot at something the controls are so god awful for me I can not hit a thing! On the off chance I do hit someone it does no damage! Whilst me yep, still getting 2 shotted from everyone and their dog from 7000m away.

 

How about letting people get some practice in? Set up some PVE scenarios that actually teach the game, maybe with an instructor giving a voice over explaining whats happening? Get people used to the controls and play against increasing odds where enemies get more numerous and evasive?

 

That is once of the most basic things X-Wing Vs. TIE Fighter did. You started off facing a single TIE Fighter that flew in a straight line, then it started doing basic maneuvers, then shooting back at you, then 2 TIE Fighters, going to 3, then getting TIE Interceptors, followed by TIE Advanced.

 

I would say give us game pad controls, it would make things a lot easier for me, but i figure I am doing something horribly wrong since others seem to kick butt with the mouse and keyboard but I just can't figure it out.

 

Short story: L2P!

 

Longer story: this is NOT X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Rogue Squadron, even the poor excuses for an X-Wing clones that existed is Star Wars Galaxies, it is not even Freelancer (which I find GSF resembles the most). This is different game that you need to learn anew. Having skill in those games is probably helpful to get you started, but by no means will it make you awesome right from the start. For that, you need the correct loadout upgraded a bit at least and lots and lots of practice.

 

From your post I understand that you played all those games on a joystick/gamepad, correct? I presume that's why you find the controls "awful". Personally, I spent 1000s of hours on Freelancer where the controls are quite similar and I had no problems adjusting. Check out the controls in the options and play around with them, see what suits you the most.

 

As for the tutorial: yes, I agree, it is awful, that's why you gotta stick with the awful results at the start, but you will learn and notice progress as you practice. Alternatively, I can suggest playing Freelancer SP at least, it is a great game and should give you at least SOME practice. I doubt the price is more than a few bucks.

 

And for the end, read this:

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=737470

and this:

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=729222 (whole threat would be prefferable, but it is quite long and quite a bit of advanced stuff there, so not really mandatory)

and if you still have questions, this:

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=741384

 

And, of course, find a skilled pilot (from your own observation, aces list on these forums... whatever you like) and ask questions, ask them to fly with you, ask them to explain things to you, I'm pretty sure most wouldn't mind teaching.

Edited May 21, 2014 by Asbetos

[lpsmash]

The biggest problem I see after playing about 80 matches (obviously not an expert) : there are two battle types; domination and elimination and these two have something that sucks the fun out of them.

 

In domination, stacking bombers and creating a minefield around some points makes it so it's impractical and improbable to capture it. It's really annoying trying to go capture a point and just seeing 3 turrets, railgun sentries and a bajilion mines.

 

In elimination, gunships picking up the damage boost and one-shotting people. That's just dumb, really. I don't know who though that was a good idea, but it's not. Unless they think it's fine to have fps like action (sniper head-shot).

 

Anyways, I still had a lot of fun playing GSF and a lot of good dogfighting where I got outmaneuvered by many and outmaneuvered a few. It's fun except mainly for those two thing I mentioned.

Edited May 21, 2014 by lpsmash

[Fractalsponge]

The biggest problem I see after playing about 80 matches (obviously not an expert) : there are two battle types; domination and elimination and these two have something that sucks the fun out of them.

 

In domination, stacking bombers and creating a minefield around some points makes it so it's impractical and improbable to capture it. It's really annoying trying to go capture a point and just seeing 3 turrets, railgun sentries and a bajilion mines.

 

In elimination, gunships picking up the damage boost and one-shotting people. That's just dumb, really. I don't know who though that was a good idea, but it's not. Unless they think it's fine to have fps like action (sniper head-shot).

 

Anyways, I still had a lot of fun playing GSF and a lot of good dogfighting where I got outmaneuvered by many and outmaneuvered a few. It's fun except mainly for those two thing I mentioned.

 

You have to shift your expectations. GSF isn't meant to be dogfighting only. Bombers, gunships, and the T3 support ships, never mind the various group-buff wingman abilities are all built with the expectation that there are non-dogfighting roles and niches that ships can fill. You have to adapt to deal with them, and you might even enjoy filling that role for your team. They are SUPPOSED to have ways of stopping people from dogfighting freely. That's the whole point of some of these classes. There are also plenty of ways to deal with them. Learn THIS game, not X-Wing vs TIE Fighter.

 

There are balance issues, such as bomber stacking in domination, that make it disproportionately hard for new GSF players to contribute. The tactics and ship builds to deal with them exist, but just aren't available to people stuck in starter ships with little requisition to play around with. This is where getting a group of good pilots together matters a lot. Most servers have custom Gsf chat channels; check Stasie's thread for these. Join them, and start talking to good pilots after matches. Form regular groups, and your experience will be a lot better. Just like going into OPs with a guild group is better than pugging.

[DamascusAdontise]

First and foremost welcome to GSF!

 

Its always nice to see new players. First thing to do though is checkout the guides in my sig, one will help you to understand what to expect from the game and the other talks about builds and ship tactics. This game is different from any other game you have played, namely because most of the games you listed were PvE (not against real people) or had a rudimentary PvP accompaniment (save for SWG which was a full fledged game)

 

There is a tutorial in this game, but its terrible and needs to be replaced. I agree with you on that whole heartedly, though I am not sure we will get one anytime soon. I also believe there should be a "new pilot bonus" to help pilots earn new components and ships faster. There are many things this game could do better, but controls and ship combat are where it really shines IMO.

 

This game has a large learning curve in both how to fly and how to use your ship and its components. There is really a lot to manage, so I am not surprised that your first matches did not go well (mine did not either)

 

The important thing to understand is that you cannot walk into this game and immediately be a contender. The ships have upgrades and components that you can purchase, making veteran players much more dangerous. Beyond the components though there is a high skill factor as well, many veterans have been playing long enough to get "good" at the game (meaning as a new player you have an uphill battle to fight)

 

While this can be frustrating it is no different from any other PvP based game. Arm yourself with knowledge, read the guides and start to spec out your ship. Attempt to stuff the frustration, you will need to complete dalies + weeklies in order to gear up and learn how to play. Unfortunately there is no way around this, I suggest you start adding good pilots to your friends list and asking them to group. Safety in numbers! Additionally veteran pilots can help teach you the ropes (embrace these people)

 

At any rate, things are pretty well balanced at the moment. There are a few minor things needed but these are slowly being addressed one by one. Its not a bad game mechanic or overpowered gear or premades ruining your games its a lack of experience and possibly a lack of good pilots on your team. Both of these things can be fixed, if you want to.

 

Goodluck I hope to see you stick around!

 

*Edit* As you will see some people on these forums have a very poor attitude and post mostly garbage. Ignore these people, they are not here to help out just to shout their own agenda and spew trash across the forums all day =) there are however many people here willing to help out. keep a positive attitude it helps a lot (the negative nellies are not any better off for all their QQ)

Edited May 21, 2014 by DamascusAdontise

[Sidenti]

*Edit* As you will see some people on these forums have a very poor attitude and post mostly garbage. Ignore these people, they are not here to help out just to shout their own agenda and spew trash across the forums all day =) there are however many people here willing to help out. keep a positive attitude it helps a lot (the negative nellies are not any better off for all their QQ)

 

I hate cherry-picking, but technological limitations forced me to do so.

 

While I agree with you (and represent that portion of the community from time to time), it helps if ALL parties have the same positive, can-do attitude. That includes the original poster.

 

Life's frustrating. I get that. But it doesn't have to be. -bp