This subject has been beat to death. But time has passed and I enjoy hearing other peoples perspective on esr. You guys are pretty humorous as well as intelligent.
All the weapons in quake are situation specific and breath life into quake as much as the fluidity of movement. The tier level of weapons was essential for single player. Each new weapon you found made you feel much more empowered. In multiplayer it was all about acquiring the most powerful weapons asap, and in the QW days the weapons were the ingredients for a lethal adrenaline dance like no other game. The lightning gun and rocket launcher reigned supreme. Rockets hit for a possible 150dmg per second. LG could hit for a whopping 300dmg per second.
http://wiki.quakeworld.nu/Lightning_Gun
Then of course, our beloved railgun came into the scene which changed the dynamic, but in a good way. No longer could a person run and hide without the likeliness of taking a 100 dmg blow from the railgun. The railgun added a more authoritative stance to the polished aimers of the game. It's cooldown made for an effective vulnerability but it dished out when used wisely and confidently. A new situation specific weapon that was very much welcomed.
As most of us know, the weapons have taken a bit of change over the years but mostly in the QL years. Q3 had an 8dmg per bolt which fired 20 bolts per second, a maximum of 160dmg a second. This was an extreme change but the lg was still as effective as QW. One might say QW's weapons were too lethal, and that's a fair point. I personally loved QW's method but Q3 was refreshing change considering it's rate of fire being much quicker. This was the trend that was followed since, faster rate of fire, less cool down time and less dmg.
QL's method isn't something I could label as wonderful, nor do I dislike it absolutely. I'm in between. Nevertheless, I find myself longing for 7dmg LG and I miss the lethal feeling of 100dmg railgun with longer cooldown. Seemed more beefy that way.
At the 30% accuracy thresh-hold you empty just about all your LG bolts into one opponent. I think newcomers feel pushed away by this. They rage almost always after getting dominated by strong LG players. That's been common since Q3, but it hasn't always taken so long to be dominated; it's dramatic. Quicker death = less time to feel indignation. Longer death = over dramatic and more time to feel helpless and frustrated. Again, players with strong LG have always raged newcomers, but i can't help but feel that it's nerf was a bad decision for both perspectives.
There is much more I could say about other weapons (I miss ssg) that came and went but I'll leave it there. How do you guys feel about the changes to weapons over the years?
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