Originally posted by DoKGonZo
SlapShot,
I've been dealing with the psychology of this genre since 1987 (and, no, I ain't a shrink). As such, there are behavior trends I expect to see in response to events and changes in the game itself.
Truces can be overt, implied, or the product of group-think. I posted elsewhere that I expect to see the side which booms on an overlapping squad night (a'la RJO) to get ganged the following nights as "pay back." That's a group-think truce. And it more or less self-balances the arena as any gains from the boom night are retaken the following nights. (Working together against the boom is an implied truce.)
But now we have a situation where the boom night is difused and a truce of any kind is rewarded as the side in the hole can't get out nearly as easily thanks to ENY. So a group-think truce now becomes part of the normal behavior - because it's easier for others to "win" (for some twisted definition of "winning") that way.
On top of which, the self-righteous justification that Rooks "always had overwhelming numbers" makes it easier to carry this behavior forward and feel ok in doing so.
The southern-exposure theory has now been proven false on this map reset. It may have been true at one point, but something else has changed and the attack vector now is aimed by politics instead of the compass.
When ENY kicked in it was "Fly another plane, Princess" to the Rooks. What's hilarious is that now when Rooks complain that they're in the hole and ENY keeps 'em there, I see B&K say things here like "get more organized." That's rich - cuz if they did that in the first place ENY wouldn't have been needed.
What all this tells me is that balance wasn't the desired result by the pro-ENY camp - it was to take away someone else's advantage. And that's a completely different thing. Which isn't to say balancing code is a bad idea. But it's being taken advantage of and since this favors 2/3 of the player base I guess the remaining 1/3 can just take it or leave. How's that for balance?
Dok,
I recognize your longevity in this genre and as a result, your posts are read by me with all seriousness, but on the other hand, it does not automatically validate your points and/or observations.
Here is my take ...
Prior to ENY, there was a tremendous imbalance and it was the Rooks that enjoyed the over abundance of players. A year or so ago, the Rooks were in the hole and in a big way. This forced the Rooks to get
organized, and along with some switching by squads in both the Knights and Bish, helped swing the pendulum and get them out of the hole.
For a long period of time, things were pretty even, but somewhere along the line, and I can't put a time period on it, the Rooks gained much more strength and it came with "numbers".
Prior to ENY be instituted, there were MANY whines/post that the Rooks were hording and running amok on the maps. Many a Rook responded to these claims stating that it really wasn't the numbers, but their more effective/superior communication and organizational/strategic skills. This pissed alot of people off, so this is probably why you won't get much sympathy from people who were not Rooks during this timeframe which does support your quote ...
On top of which, the self-righteous justification that Rooks "always had overwhelming numbers" makes it easier to carry this behavior forward and feel ok in doing so.Now that the ENY has taken the numbers away from them, they seem to be confused and their organization has gone out the window and is fractured. To me, this validates the ENY action. Take the numbers advantage away, and the Rooks are really no different than any other country.
The Southern-Exposure theory is not false. There are always exceptions, and you have witnessed a couple of them, but for all intents and purposes, the theory will always be more true than false.
I can theorize that the country that enjoys the west in Mindano will never be reset ... in the 3 years that I have been here, I have only see it reset ONCE ... so that theory will be more true than false, but there is always a chance that it will be false.
I haven't flown in the past few days, but I too was surprised, to see the Knights push northward into Rook territory. What also surprised me was the level of organization that the Knights have displayed lately. I can assure you that this has not been the norm for the Knights for quite some time. Why all of a sudden ? .. It could be due to the fact that some who have switched, have brought new and fresh feelings to the Knights which has spurned a new or revived level of organization. Take my word for it ... very very rarely does the southern country ever push north and win.
What all this tells me is that balance wasn't the desired result by the pro-ENY camp - it was to take away someone else's advantage.I am a card carrying member of the pro-ENY camp, and I can assure you that it is balance that I wanted, and it truely did take away an advatange ... the numbers advantage.
With that eliminated from the MA, what is left over, at this point in time, is the deep set animosity that the Bish and Knights developed towards the Rooks. This is your "payback" scenario and that is why you see "Fly another plane, Princess" or "get more organized" responses ... had the Rook posters had not been so smug when appeals were made for balance, maybe things might be different. They basically made their own bed ... you know the rest. Animosity is something, I believe, that HTC can't fix with coding changes or ENY tweaking.
I personally attack both the Bish and Rooks, it all depends upon where the fights are (non-hording fights) and where the attacks are coming from. I also do believe that there are some more tweaks that could be made to the ENY limiter.
