You're clearly blind. It's no surprise to me they are changing everything. Why would you trust a company with the future of a game that has had some success but has a declining userbase without altering it? Alternatively, why do you think the flies would stick to the honey this time around if it didn't work last time? Obviously id Software saw the only logical solution to work towards their future: launch on Steam. But Steam says nonono not with that track record. Not unless you change it to something we like.

So they did. For steam. That's why these changes are here - it's for it to be released on steam, as part of their agreement.

Welcome to the future of Quake Live. The old is gone.

"But Steam says nonono not with that track record. Not unless you change it to something we like."

Your source on this?
The issue with getting the game on steam prior to this was with the platform, steam would not support a browser-plugin based game. After that I believe it was business/management steering away from steam due to financial aspects.
Where was anything said regarding Steam/Valve having anything to say about Quake's present gameplay?

You can't trust words coming from companies, it doesn't matter who they are. They are just going to tell you the best thing they can to not hurt their image. Therefor there is no source material and use your brain.

He asks for a source because the idea that steam/valve would care enough to forbid a release is ludicrous.

Therefore there is no source material

There isn't because it isn't true.

"Track record" doesn't enter into it, as there are plenty of indie companies with games on steam who have absolutely no track record.

The game just has to be reasonably good and a deal can be made, and there are much worse games than QL on steam.

The changes were made in an attempt to address the ongoing problem of new users not sticking around. If they made no changes to the game, they'd miss out on an important opportunity because if they can get a greater number of new players to stay, the influx of new players from the steam release could be a huge boost to the project.

Otherwise the population would simply subside after a bit, and subscriptions would stay the same, putting the game on a path of imminent shutdown in a year or so.

Agreed. Nice post Lorfa.

lol

The voice announcers - wtf

In duel there is no longer " you are tied for the lead " :((

From my perspective id is focusing more on making QL more of a stand alone game. If you look at DotA and DotA 2 they don't have too many gameplay differences but there are somethings that just stay with the older version. For one some heroes aren't imported into DotA 2 yet. Someone could then argue "Why should I play dota 2 if I cant play all the heroes I want to?" I hear a lot of the same complaints coming from the Quake community when they say that they can play CPMA, OSP, and Defrag in Q3 so why play QL?

Quake Live is a new but somewhat changed Q3 as we all understand. I think it's time to let go of trying to compare it to Q3 and treat it as its own game. The game needs to change to grow out of it's old shell. Going back to DotA again, Icefrog, creator of dota, makes plenty of balance changes to DotA every few months that keep the game fresh to casuals and pros. Why can't this happen to Quake? I'm not saying to throw everything out the window and make plasma start exploding on walls but changes sometimes could be welcomed.

I understand many community members may feel a strong attachment towards the old version of QL. It was something we played for many years without many complaints apart from wanting matchmaking and other features. This is the first time in many years that we see strong strides towards new developments in Quake Live! Sure it may not be what you want but I think it's ten times better than adding a few maps to the game that you will hardly see on public servers.

Seeing id making steps towards something fresh and new is exciting because it means they care again. I leave you with this question, would you rather have them just release the same stale content every couple months or start to work towards something bigger than what QL is now?

would you rather have them just release the same stale content every couple months or start to work towards something bigger than what QL is now?

the game has been dead to me for over a year now. I stopped caring because caring was just frustrating me, this project had huge potential and they blew it

adding loadouts and changing announcers isn't "caring", it's a quick update that gets attention. Caring would mean they actually are concerned about the future of the game and want growth to the player base, you know LONGEVITY

they screwed up FFA, put in 'loadouts', and changed the voice over, what Q3 fan would stick around for a game that isn't even close to the same as what they enjoyed? It's not "hey remember Quake 3? Come play QL", it's "hey remember Quake 3? Come play a botched, non-familiar version of it!"

Ladders. Matchmaking. In-game aesthetics/sounds to be purchased. Replay/demo support.

The answers have been there the whole time, but they literally admitted it's too hard. Oh they care, but not when it gets difficult

this is how I feel about the whole thing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAUY1J8KizU

"Seeing id making steps towards something fresh and new is exciting because it means they care again."

: D

He's got a point though, they wouldn't update QL if they were about to fold. Then again, it's ID so better not over estimate them.....

Not great logic.
They announced the changes as their hope to make the best impact with a release on steam, if that doesn't work they'll be in trouble.

Seeing id making steps towards something fresh and new is exciting because it means they care again.

ROFL holy shit you're clueless

what makes you think "casuals" know about quake III or quake in general ? that it's the game they expect launching it ? I think your definition of "casual" differs from mine

are casuals people playing tf2 when they want a fps ? and prison architect or little indie games available for a couple of bucks on steam ?

or bf/cod players playing on public servers ?

the game is OLD dude, 15 fucking years. I launch the ql website and I see empty cubic maps with no details, you can play in space and you shoot green robots (also known as mat hacks in other games). oh it certainly screams free to play, because nobody would want to pay to play that

it should have a short trailer showing what you can do INSIDE the game, because that's where the huge difference is : the gameplay, everything else is (obviously) years behind

I don't want to read hardcore bullshit angry esr mob one liners like "if you're a real gamer, you don't care how it looks" "my picmip 13654 is fine thank you" "oh I really regret not being able to camp with a rifle in dense foliage", IT LOOKS OLD, it's 2014 ! just because it barely runs on your 8 y.o computer with vertex lighting doesn't mean it's great, WE ARE THE MINORITY

but even then, just like on a saturday night in newcastle, you can look terrible and score

current players : 26,452 peak : 26,452 Unturned
http://store.steampowered.com/app/304930/

why is this lego zombie survival game doing good ? because : a. it's on steam b. it's free c. it's trendy

next f2p shooter in the stats : http://store.steampowered.com/app/230410/
current 23,431 peak 24,138

a. it's on steam b. it's free c. it looks like it's been made in the last 2 years

arena shooters are not trendy at all, a franchise like unreal tournament is developed by a team of... I don't know, 5 ? it got some publicity because it's a known title and they're taking community suggestions for it.

I'm not staring at my set of balls thinking I'm hardcore because I enjoy quake, but compared to what games are now ? yeah, it is, (and yeah, I have nice balls) you die and die and die and there's absolutely nobody to help you except a few tips when you launch the game, no "dota for noobs" or accessible, simple guides "how to rock in quake in 10 minutes". that would (hopefully) change with steam.

even if you play with your friends (that alone will take some conviction) and are fortunate enough to be in the same team, you'll get raped and (most likely) shit talked to oblivion because everything is new : it's faster than most fps, you can barely learn the map because people keep killing you, you have no base or fixed spawn, you don't know how to strafe, where the weapons are, why your screen isn't turning red when you're injured and why your health isn't coming back, why this guy is so hard to kill (because he's stacked)
no vehicles, no slow pace, no minimap, no spawn on your teammates, no hiding on the roof of a building thinking you're the last of a generation of great snipers

best case scenario : they talk about it later "oh yeah that old looking game, man I had to idea what was happening, we got stomped hard and left"

worst case scenario : "shitty game, I shoot people and they don't die, everybody is jumping around and looks the same, no classes, complete garbage"

that's why you have loadouts (not the best way to go but certainly the cheapest one), that's why you have new shiny rewards, that's why you have a "play now" button (server browser ? OLD !)

I've read here and there that classic ffa servers aren't populated anymore, well no fucking shit ? all those guys ending 7-34 now have the possibility to get a few frags and actually have fun, even killing the eventual winner who knows what he's doing but has a tougher time dominating and running the whole map. of course they all left the moment they could feel better about their game, leading to packed servers so everybody plays on them and so on

again, we are the minority, I love the game, but you look at it objectively (or worse, with the eyes of a 15-20 y.o) and there are no incentive to get into it unless somebody has linked you a video, a friend talked about it and you feel interested by what you see... and I haven't even talked about the gear you need, having to read about sensitivity, polling rate and all that, you take it for granted because you've been in that environment for years but it's a lot to take in just to play a free 2 play shooter.

the only counter example I can think of is cs:go but frankly, it got off the ground thanks to skins (also helping finance a big dreamhack prize pool, getting the attention of everybody), a widely known name, a very experienced editor (with their own platform) when it comes to make AND support multiplayer games. it's also a lot closer to modern shooters (realism in weapons, physics, maps) QL is a side project run by 2 dudes in an office in texas

it'll have a fine start (steam stats wise) because it's quake, the press will talk about it coming on steam but it's the last slug in the rail and time is ticking

what is certain, is that the minority lost

Sure, but like anything it's a business. Zenimax isn't a charity. Not saying people don't have the right to complain but at the end of the day if there's not a big base of players then the game will eventually get the plug pulled from it.

It's obvious to anyone that over the past couple of years that QL's user base has been dwindling.

Zenimax care's about the game. They care about the game getting more players or these updates wouldn't be happening.

Who the hell cares about GFX? Except CoD kids. Sorry, had to.

Btw QL / Q3 (and especially some DeFRaG maps) is still beautiful on full graphics. The colors, the contrast, the saturation, the textures. It's true though that you need developed aesthetics sense to realize that.

"even killing the eventual winner who knows what he's doing but has a tougher time dominating and running the whole map"

Just no. It's easier to UTTERLY DESTROY than ever.

So you don't like the changes, great, you're not alone.

They're not making the changes for steam, they're making the changes to attract more new players, and steam is one of those changes. They explained this in the August 27 update btw.

>> Why would a casual play a botched/screwed up version of Quake 3?

A casual doesn't even know Q3 exists.

yeah, the arena shooter has been niche for about 10 years now.

..

because anyone that comes from steam is not going to know that it's a different game from a few months ago

The updates have failed to address either the concerns of the casuals who don't play, or the concerns of the experienced players who do.
Casuals are uninterested because of how dated the game/interface are. They don't care about loadouts/voiceovers and the rest of that shit... gamers will feel compelled to play any game that is modern and streamlined, they'll be persistent if the game is rewarding on a fundamental level. Doesn't matter how often you get owned. If the game is responsive, looks good, sounds good, feels good... people will play. The more people that play, the more noobs/casuals, the more fun those noobs/casuals have with people around their level.
Sure, being owned by experienced players day in day out doesn't help, but it wasn't the biggest issue.

The only thing QL can hope for from steam is a massive influx of noobs, and maybe the return of older diehards who left... but I wouldn't count on it sticking. Casuals will be frustrated by how badly QL's interface/graphics/player framework match up with more modern/cheaper/more populated titles.... returning hardcores will laugh at the new changes and be completely uninterested in staying... not to mention probably just leave again because none of the legitimate concerns of experienced players were ever actually addressed.

There needs to be a new game. Not a resurrection of an old one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCuyPI3yqV0

I never did understand the whole concept of Quake Live. It's literally just Quake 3. Lefaq?

No, it started that way years ago but has continually been changed so it now varies greatly from q3

No.

Whole point was it was 'Live' quick and easy to play and ever evolving.

Clearly, it failed miserably.

i'm not sure i understand your response. can you clarify?

A lot of people have the attitude that the game has undergone so many changes that it should be considered a new or separate game. I just think it's basically like a modded Q3.

Furthermore, I don't understand how QL was supposed to attract new players over Q3. Indeed, it seems like it didn't.

Hats. I rest my case.

Are you the real diabz?

there's a little diabz in all of us

So true. ;)

googled it cause I thought it's a copypasta. wp

What did they really ruin to be honest? CA and Duel are intact. The only thing people seriously play anymore. Duel is srs, and CA is harhar. Nobody plays other modes. FFA was always just a scrub fest for a no lifer to play quad control against a bunch of chaff to boost his ego. That formula wasn't working, and that's exactly where noobs are going/and will go upon a steam release. Since the mode is already a joke, and nobody plays it, make it noob friendly by catering to a format that will be familiar to noobs.

Announcer voice. Really? Of all things? This is what has everyone up in arms? This RUINED QL? A simple cosmetic change that effects nothing? This is why id doesn't listen to you guys. You rage about nothing.

There actually were some questionable changes in the 'big' update. LG knockback for instance. And after the leveler heads in the community reasoned with id, they quickly reversed that changed.

Hi sponge

I thought it was popular to put unfinished games on steam though?

http://strawpoll.me/2590166

Needs this option :

C O O L L E R
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anyone here pitting?

pffft