![shaftwhores only by [EXE]dann](/files/avatars/2007/51852-shaftwhore.gif "shaftwhores only by [EXE]dann"){kind=small}
Hey,
I made a post in the official ql suggestion forum, but this is probably a better place to get meaningful feedback. I copy the text below.
Suggestion
Short version: add default lag to it, increase its damage.
Long version: Back in the days, when internet connections were slow and the netcode a bit crappier, shaft had a certain "amount of lag" (*) which made it usable only in certain situations. It was powerful if used well, as the damage per second was high, but you could not abuse it (use it in the wrong situation) or would get raped by other weapons.
(*) this is a bit imprecise, but I hope it's clear enough.
When connections and netcode started improving, the weapon balance got screwed up. Shaft became usable everywhere, up to the point where top 1on1 was pure shaft raping, putting everything else in the shadow.
Solving this was problematic: lowering its dps would make it useless, increasing it would make it overpowered.
The solution in quake live is to change the dps based on the distance. The design behind the current implementation is that you have a low dps for long-mid range combats so that it's not overpowered, mid dps for mid range and high dps for close range which pays of but put you at risk against sg and rl.
This solution is appealing in some sense because it reduces the shaft spam, but is somewhat "choppy" as it breaks the distance in discrete intervals which are not represented graphically, making the shaft damage a bit obscure to the player. The habitat in which the shaft is now optimal is also debatable.
Adding lag to the shaft would solve the problems of balance, bringing it back to what worked well in the past. Because of the delay, you must predict. The difficulty of prediction depends on the distance and relative speed / direction of the two players. This is something that a player can master, because everything (as well as the weapon lag) is there to be seen. But no matter how good you become, the other weapons will prevail in their respective habitats.
I made a post in the official ql suggestion forum, but this is probably a better place to get meaningful feedback. I copy the text below.
Suggestion
Short version: add default lag to it, increase its damage.
Long version: Back in the days, when internet connections were slow and the netcode a bit crappier, shaft had a certain "amount of lag" (*) which made it usable only in certain situations. It was powerful if used well, as the damage per second was high, but you could not abuse it (use it in the wrong situation) or would get raped by other weapons.
(*) this is a bit imprecise, but I hope it's clear enough.
When connections and netcode started improving, the weapon balance got screwed up. Shaft became usable everywhere, up to the point where top 1on1 was pure shaft raping, putting everything else in the shadow.
Solving this was problematic: lowering its dps would make it useless, increasing it would make it overpowered.
The solution in quake live is to change the dps based on the distance. The design behind the current implementation is that you have a low dps for long-mid range combats so that it's not overpowered, mid dps for mid range and high dps for close range which pays of but put you at risk against sg and rl.
This solution is appealing in some sense because it reduces the shaft spam, but is somewhat "choppy" as it breaks the distance in discrete intervals which are not represented graphically, making the shaft damage a bit obscure to the player. The habitat in which the shaft is now optimal is also debatable.
Adding lag to the shaft would solve the problems of balance, bringing it back to what worked well in the past. Because of the delay, you must predict. The difficulty of prediction depends on the distance and relative speed / direction of the two players. This is something that a player can master, because everything (as well as the weapon lag) is there to be seen. But no matter how good you become, the other weapons will prevail in their respective habitats.
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