In its current state, Free for All is not a bad game. It is however, a game with many easily fixable issues. In this thread I will cover what these issues are, and discuss a few ways they can be resolved. Free for All is comparable to Black Ops II; it is so close to being perfect, but there are just enough annoyances that any amount of fun is seriously endangered.
FFA is so close to being the perfect game. In my opinion, I think the toxicity is the biggest problem, though I feel the maps complement a lot of the behaviours found in toxic people. Please save FFA. It has been sub-par for too long, despite having so few flaws. Thank youuu for reading this x
@Camezonda @Efcluke94 @AnimalTamer1 @IdkWhoToTagAnymoreWhoIsEvenHeadAdminNowadays @Sophie @Spuuuni
Part One - The Maps
With all due respect, I think maps have gotten worse on this server in the past few years. There seems to be more emphasis on aesthetics than gameplay. Case in point, the map 'Classic'.
These blocks don't do much to the appearance of the map, and to the uninformed they may seem completely arbitrary. To the more informed however, they are a well-spaced jump into the library, an extremely rewarding shortcut that rewards skill under pressure and benefits solo players greatly. Not only do you need to jump from a specific block, you also need to direct and space it perfectly, otherwise you fall into the very vulnerable pit below.
Here is another area that seems uninspired and pointless, but it is actually one of the best spots of the map. It is a one-way route; if you are hit from the truck onto the street, you cannot get back. It again punishes targeting behaviours and rewards players for both their combat and map knowledge. It gives players a chance to escape certain death, but the cost is knowledge and skill. The risk is coming into close range with the very person you're trying to escape, and the time loss of climbing a ladder to get into a position of advantage.
A final example. Again, the blocks seem sporadic and unnecessary. But they are spaced well enough to act as stepping stones that allow you to traverse the rough terrain much easier and more consistently. Yet again, they reward good parkour and map knowledge, especially under pressure. The risk is that you'll slow to a halt if you misspace a jump. The map is constantly rewarding your skills, both in parkour and combat, as well as your knowledge of the map and its various quirks. It feels like no block in the entire map has been placed without reason. If you see an odd block placement somewhere, it is probably there for a reason.
Now, compare it to the map 'Mirage'. Here is a spot with great potential. Does it do anything? Of course not. It's a time waste if anything, taking longer and offering more fall damage than the alternative. Had this map been made at the same time as 'Classic', it would be a clever strafe to a height advantage, or a shortcut to the window across. None of the other maps in Free for All reward the player for map knowledge other than the map's actual layout. There is nothing rewarding you for exceptional parkour under pressure, and nothing you can use to escape combat, like the truck, or the slime blocks beneath the skyscrapers, in 'Classic'. This is why I was thirsty for Admin rank back in the day, so I could reform some of these maps and give them elements which complement different styles of play. Where you are fighting always matters in 'Classic'. It never matters in 'Flatlands', 'Savannah' or 'Kingdom', unless you're an archer near water or Samurai up high.
Fighting in the forest of 'Classic'? You have head-bumping to speed yourself up in flight; trees which can be parkoured on to create a gap; a river for various escapes, archer traps, situational advantages, etc.; nearby lava for an environmental advantage; mounds which benefit high-knockback weapons.
Fighting by the beach? Mounds for the aforementioned reason; water for environmental advantages; small rooftops you can jump to; a well for high-risk escapes.
Fighting in the city? Multiple entrances to the sewers for high-risk escapes; scattered debris which reward good parkour and navigation skills; a high ladder upwards for a high-risk escape; lava for environmental advantages; buildings to hiding out in; shortcuts to the beach and centre; high-ground advantages, etc.
No other map has this level of depth and variety. This is why in 'Savannah' or 'Flatlands', all you see is an ocean of Beast kits. It's because the kit's playstyle is the only one ever rewarded.
I think 'Mirage' is the biggest waste of potential. It'd be really neat with all the buildings it has, if two or so rooftops were actually accessible. They should be difficult to reach, but provide a way for archers to go on killstreaks without being torn apart by all the close-quarters fighting. They should also be low enough that archers can land easy hits against opponents in common places, whilst being accessible in only one way to allow archers to easily defend themselves. Also, these spots should overlook one another, simulating the long-range combat seen on the many buildings in 'Classic'.
There are plenty of redstone opportunities that are also missed in 'Mirage':
Look at all these rooftops and tell me it wouldn't be fun as heck to run around on them:
With all due respect, I think maps have gotten worse on this server in the past few years. There seems to be more emphasis on aesthetics than gameplay. Case in point, the map 'Classic'.
These blocks don't do much to the appearance of the map, and to the uninformed they may seem completely arbitrary. To the more informed however, they are a well-spaced jump into the library, an extremely rewarding shortcut that rewards skill under pressure and benefits solo players greatly. Not only do you need to jump from a specific block, you also need to direct and space it perfectly, otherwise you fall into the very vulnerable pit below.
Here is another area that seems uninspired and pointless, but it is actually one of the best spots of the map. It is a one-way route; if you are hit from the truck onto the street, you cannot get back. It again punishes targeting behaviours and rewards players for both their combat and map knowledge. It gives players a chance to escape certain death, but the cost is knowledge and skill. The risk is coming into close range with the very person you're trying to escape, and the time loss of climbing a ladder to get into a position of advantage.
A final example. Again, the blocks seem sporadic and unnecessary. But they are spaced well enough to act as stepping stones that allow you to traverse the rough terrain much easier and more consistently. Yet again, they reward good parkour and map knowledge, especially under pressure. The risk is that you'll slow to a halt if you misspace a jump. The map is constantly rewarding your skills, both in parkour and combat, as well as your knowledge of the map and its various quirks. It feels like no block in the entire map has been placed without reason. If you see an odd block placement somewhere, it is probably there for a reason.
Now, compare it to the map 'Mirage'. Here is a spot with great potential. Does it do anything? Of course not. It's a time waste if anything, taking longer and offering more fall damage than the alternative. Had this map been made at the same time as 'Classic', it would be a clever strafe to a height advantage, or a shortcut to the window across. None of the other maps in Free for All reward the player for map knowledge other than the map's actual layout. There is nothing rewarding you for exceptional parkour under pressure, and nothing you can use to escape combat, like the truck, or the slime blocks beneath the skyscrapers, in 'Classic'. This is why I was thirsty for Admin rank back in the day, so I could reform some of these maps and give them elements which complement different styles of play. Where you are fighting always matters in 'Classic'. It never matters in 'Flatlands', 'Savannah' or 'Kingdom', unless you're an archer near water or Samurai up high.
Fighting in the forest of 'Classic'? You have head-bumping to speed yourself up in flight; trees which can be parkoured on to create a gap; a river for various escapes, archer traps, situational advantages, etc.; nearby lava for an environmental advantage; mounds which benefit high-knockback weapons.
Fighting by the beach? Mounds for the aforementioned reason; water for environmental advantages; small rooftops you can jump to; a well for high-risk escapes.
Fighting in the city? Multiple entrances to the sewers for high-risk escapes; scattered debris which reward good parkour and navigation skills; a high ladder upwards for a high-risk escape; lava for environmental advantages; buildings to hiding out in; shortcuts to the beach and centre; high-ground advantages, etc.
No other map has this level of depth and variety. This is why in 'Savannah' or 'Flatlands', all you see is an ocean of Beast kits. It's because the kit's playstyle is the only one ever rewarded.
I think 'Mirage' is the biggest waste of potential. It'd be really neat with all the buildings it has, if two or so rooftops were actually accessible. They should be difficult to reach, but provide a way for archers to go on killstreaks without being torn apart by all the close-quarters fighting. They should also be low enough that archers can land easy hits against opponents in common places, whilst being accessible in only one way to allow archers to easily defend themselves. Also, these spots should overlook one another, simulating the long-range combat seen on the many buildings in 'Classic'.
There are plenty of redstone opportunities that are also missed in 'Mirage':
Look at all these rooftops and tell me it wouldn't be fun as heck to run around on them:
Part Two - The Toxicity
Free for All has a serious toxicity issue. The source? Mostly teamers, but almost always tryhards. Keep ignoring it if you like, but it is a problem. Personally, it was enough to make me quit the game I had loved for years. Died to somebody better than you? You're an ez noob. Parents can't afford a £60 internet package? You need to stop hotspotting McDonalds so they can have more fun killing you. Used a bow? You're a bow-spamming noob. Used potions? Fight them 1v1 with a real kit. Killed them when they're typing? Enjoy being targeted for not asking permission before attacking them. Interrupted a 1v1? You're dead. Get used to being chased by a pack of six cringy predators. Tactically ran away from a losing battle? Coward! Disgusting, filthy coward! Swine! Bought an item from the shop? You repulsive, filthy, disgusting, nasty, vile, sickening, atrocious, absolute...
The solution? It's hard to say. I had hoped the kit rebalance would flush most of them out but apparently not, probably because the reasons mentioned in Part One; everybody still uses the Beast or Swordsman kits. The best bet would be to encourage a more varied way of playing, as per the suggestions in Part One. Also, make the game feel more casual to play. Have announced loot crates fall at random locations with weapons like tridents and Punch I bows. Randomly give players items just for staying alive for long periods of time. Award xp and point multipliers based on your current killstreak.
Killstreak 5 - 1.25x point multiplier
Killstreak 10 - 1.25x experience multiplier
Killstreak 25 - 1.5x point multiplier
Killstreak 30 - 1.5x experience multiplier
Killstreak 50 - 1.75x point multiplier
Killstreak 55 - 1.75x experience multiplier
Killstreak 75 - 2x point multiplier
Killstreak 80 - 2x experience multiplier
Killstreak 100 - 3x point multiplier
Another fine suggestion would be to encourage more team play. Clan members are the biggest toxicity issue in this game, however I think if you were to disallow teaming, you would kill the game. Perhaps have a frequent message pop up in chat along the lines of 'Struggling to stay alive? Try teaming up with your fellow players to give you an edge on your rivals!'
You'd be surprised how many people still think the name 'Free for All' somehow implies that teaming is not allowed, or is against the spirit of the game. By encouraging players to team against these clans, you'd be at least giving the illusion of a fairer fight. Also, I think supply crates would help encourage more cooperation among players. If locations are randomised and announced moments before they land, it'll help randomise the payouts and won't necessarily disproportionately benefit teamers who can camp the spawns in advance.
Lastly, add repercussions for being toxic to other players. Here are two examples:
-1 experience for saying 'ez'
-2 experience for saying 'noob'
It'll be easily worked around, but to the annoyance of the people typing it. After all, they're vulnerable every second their chat box is open. If they have to type workarounds, it'll leave them unnecessarily vulnerable and hopefully will discourage them from typing at all. Let's face it, most of these tryhards only ever speak in chat to be condescending or berating to somebody less skilled than them anyways.
Free for All has a serious toxicity issue. The source? Mostly teamers, but almost always tryhards. Keep ignoring it if you like, but it is a problem. Personally, it was enough to make me quit the game I had loved for years. Died to somebody better than you? You're an ez noob. Parents can't afford a £60 internet package? You need to stop hotspotting McDonalds so they can have more fun killing you. Used a bow? You're a bow-spamming noob. Used potions? Fight them 1v1 with a real kit. Killed them when they're typing? Enjoy being targeted for not asking permission before attacking them. Interrupted a 1v1? You're dead. Get used to being chased by a pack of six cringy predators. Tactically ran away from a losing battle? Coward! Disgusting, filthy coward! Swine! Bought an item from the shop? You repulsive, filthy, disgusting, nasty, vile, sickening, atrocious, absolute...
The solution? It's hard to say. I had hoped the kit rebalance would flush most of them out but apparently not, probably because the reasons mentioned in Part One; everybody still uses the Beast or Swordsman kits. The best bet would be to encourage a more varied way of playing, as per the suggestions in Part One. Also, make the game feel more casual to play. Have announced loot crates fall at random locations with weapons like tridents and Punch I bows. Randomly give players items just for staying alive for long periods of time. Award xp and point multipliers based on your current killstreak.
Killstreak 5 - 1.25x point multiplier
Killstreak 10 - 1.25x experience multiplier
Killstreak 25 - 1.5x point multiplier
Killstreak 30 - 1.5x experience multiplier
Killstreak 50 - 1.75x point multiplier
Killstreak 55 - 1.75x experience multiplier
Killstreak 75 - 2x point multiplier
Killstreak 80 - 2x experience multiplier
Killstreak 100 - 3x point multiplier
Another fine suggestion would be to encourage more team play. Clan members are the biggest toxicity issue in this game, however I think if you were to disallow teaming, you would kill the game. Perhaps have a frequent message pop up in chat along the lines of 'Struggling to stay alive? Try teaming up with your fellow players to give you an edge on your rivals!'
You'd be surprised how many people still think the name 'Free for All' somehow implies that teaming is not allowed, or is against the spirit of the game. By encouraging players to team against these clans, you'd be at least giving the illusion of a fairer fight. Also, I think supply crates would help encourage more cooperation among players. If locations are randomised and announced moments before they land, it'll help randomise the payouts and won't necessarily disproportionately benefit teamers who can camp the spawns in advance.
Lastly, add repercussions for being toxic to other players. Here are two examples:
-1 experience for saying 'ez'
-2 experience for saying 'noob'
It'll be easily worked around, but to the annoyance of the people typing it. After all, they're vulnerable every second their chat box is open. If they have to type workarounds, it'll leave them unnecessarily vulnerable and hopefully will discourage them from typing at all. Let's face it, most of these tryhards only ever speak in chat to be condescending or berating to somebody less skilled than them anyways.
Part Three - The Shop
The shop is... not great. There's very little you can buy in the shop, and there isn't anything exclusive to certain maps (another dynamic I think would be really cool!). Shopping is frowned upon and is a source of toxicity, because of the high costs of buying gear and the effectiveness of buying said gear. It encourages players to gang up on "shoppers" so they lose large amounts of points. It makes strategical sense to team up on the stronger player, but it is very discouraging to players who spend all they have on armour only to be given no fair chance.
The solution to ridding the shop of its negative stigma is to encourage greater use of the shop. First things first, lower the prices. Add an 'armour set' option beside each set of armour, allowing players to buy all four pieces of the set at once. Set the cost of the 'armour set' option to be slightly cheaper than each individual piece. For example, the Protection III diamond armour set currently costs 200 points. Firstly, naturally lower this to 160 points, and then add an 'armour set' option for 120 points. That is a 30% decrease from current prices, making the set more affordable to newer players and making KitPvP gameplay slightly more self-sustainable. However, it comes at the price of possibly buying gear you didn't need.
Secondly, add an 'arrow quiver' to the Weapon Shop menu, gifting the player 64 arrows at once for the cost of ten points. This is a huge discount, but keep in mind every three arrows shot that don't kill currently are a wasted point. The archery play-style is the only one to currently have a constant upkeep. Yep, the most unique kit in the game actively punishes poorer players for using it.
People should be reminded that the shop exists. Broadcast that people can type /shop to access it at any time, and put an item in people's inventories that lets them click to open the shop.
The Misc Shop menu should have enchanting books, and each kill against a player should earn you a set amount of experience points. Each map could then have a "forge" consisting of anvils and enchanting tables (an idea considered in the past but scrapped) where players can interactively - and dangerously - enhance their load-outs. Unenchanted armour sets should be added to the shop for low costs to encourage this type of activity, and it would be the only way to earn the likes of Sharpness V swords, Power V bows and Protection IV armour. You would be introducing an element of progression into the game (with which achievements could be added), and tackling one of its greatest current issues: Repetition.
Map-Exclusive Shop Items
I think it'll be really neat to have shop items that are exclusive to certain maps. It'll further tackle the issue of every map that isn't 'Classic' feeling like another blank arena where the location of the fight has no significance. Here are a few examples, all of which aim to complement the map in question:
Savannah - Depth Strider Boots (varying levels) - Complements the aquatic areas of the map and is especially a benefit to archers who are too vulnerable against other projectile users in water for the kit to ever be viable
Classic - Feather Falling Boots (tier II) - Complements the high-risk verticality often seen on rooftops of this map
Classic - Fire Protection potions - Encourages activity around the volcano, of which there is currently very little. This area was once very popular due to the Pyromaniac kit back in 2014, but has since declined. Also, given that it's the location of an enchanting table already, it makes sense for this area to be "The Forge" discussed prior
Kingdom - Trident - One of the worst maps in the game imo, I think it should be home to different play styles that have it stand out against all the other maps, which do everything Kingdom does but better
Kingdom - Punch I, Power II Bow - With so much space and so little verticality, adopting an archer playstyle is borderline suicidal on this map. This bow will make archery slightly more viable, as will hopefully future map reworks
Tropical - Jump Boost II Potion - With so much verticality on this map, I think it'd be nice to be able to climb the many mounds and bridges a little bit faster
Flatlands - I think this map is fine without any shop exclusives. It feels the purest of all the maps, so should be left as is
Mirage - Speed I Potion - You do a lot of narrow-corridor running in this map. This potion will make movement a little more enjoyable whilst helping you push through the crowds of combatants fighting in such narrow spaces, getting you to your destination alive
The shop is... not great. There's very little you can buy in the shop, and there isn't anything exclusive to certain maps (another dynamic I think would be really cool!). Shopping is frowned upon and is a source of toxicity, because of the high costs of buying gear and the effectiveness of buying said gear. It encourages players to gang up on "shoppers" so they lose large amounts of points. It makes strategical sense to team up on the stronger player, but it is very discouraging to players who spend all they have on armour only to be given no fair chance.
The solution to ridding the shop of its negative stigma is to encourage greater use of the shop. First things first, lower the prices. Add an 'armour set' option beside each set of armour, allowing players to buy all four pieces of the set at once. Set the cost of the 'armour set' option to be slightly cheaper than each individual piece. For example, the Protection III diamond armour set currently costs 200 points. Firstly, naturally lower this to 160 points, and then add an 'armour set' option for 120 points. That is a 30% decrease from current prices, making the set more affordable to newer players and making KitPvP gameplay slightly more self-sustainable. However, it comes at the price of possibly buying gear you didn't need.
Secondly, add an 'arrow quiver' to the Weapon Shop menu, gifting the player 64 arrows at once for the cost of ten points. This is a huge discount, but keep in mind every three arrows shot that don't kill currently are a wasted point. The archery play-style is the only one to currently have a constant upkeep. Yep, the most unique kit in the game actively punishes poorer players for using it.
People should be reminded that the shop exists. Broadcast that people can type /shop to access it at any time, and put an item in people's inventories that lets them click to open the shop.
The Misc Shop menu should have enchanting books, and each kill against a player should earn you a set amount of experience points. Each map could then have a "forge" consisting of anvils and enchanting tables (an idea considered in the past but scrapped) where players can interactively - and dangerously - enhance their load-outs. Unenchanted armour sets should be added to the shop for low costs to encourage this type of activity, and it would be the only way to earn the likes of Sharpness V swords, Power V bows and Protection IV armour. You would be introducing an element of progression into the game (with which achievements could be added), and tackling one of its greatest current issues: Repetition.
Map-Exclusive Shop Items
I think it'll be really neat to have shop items that are exclusive to certain maps. It'll further tackle the issue of every map that isn't 'Classic' feeling like another blank arena where the location of the fight has no significance. Here are a few examples, all of which aim to complement the map in question:
Savannah - Depth Strider Boots (varying levels) - Complements the aquatic areas of the map and is especially a benefit to archers who are too vulnerable against other projectile users in water for the kit to ever be viable
Classic - Feather Falling Boots (tier II) - Complements the high-risk verticality often seen on rooftops of this map
Classic - Fire Protection potions - Encourages activity around the volcano, of which there is currently very little. This area was once very popular due to the Pyromaniac kit back in 2014, but has since declined. Also, given that it's the location of an enchanting table already, it makes sense for this area to be "The Forge" discussed prior
Kingdom - Trident - One of the worst maps in the game imo, I think it should be home to different play styles that have it stand out against all the other maps, which do everything Kingdom does but better
Kingdom - Punch I, Power II Bow - With so much space and so little verticality, adopting an archer playstyle is borderline suicidal on this map. This bow will make archery slightly more viable, as will hopefully future map reworks
Tropical - Jump Boost II Potion - With so much verticality on this map, I think it'd be nice to be able to climb the many mounds and bridges a little bit faster
Flatlands - I think this map is fine without any shop exclusives. It feels the purest of all the maps, so should be left as is
Mirage - Speed I Potion - You do a lot of narrow-corridor running in this map. This potion will make movement a little more enjoyable whilst helping you push through the crowds of combatants fighting in such narrow spaces, getting you to your destination alive
Part Four - Kit Balancing
The previous kit rebalance did wonderful things for the game. However, it did leave a few kits feeling underwhelming. The Archer is currently the least satisfying kit in my opinion, but I think that's down to the maps rather than the kit itself.
Beast kit - Fine
Swordsman kit - Fine
Archer kit - Fine, but could spawn with more arrows. Even the best archers in the world have to constantly buy arrows because of how few you start with, how many arrows the Beast kit can eat, and how any missed arrows are completely lost
Samurai kit - Still dies extremely early. Could do with a tiny defence boost, just to make it somewhat more viable
Wizard kit - Really bad. It needs to be able to regain its potions somehow, perhaps every five kills it should be able to completely refresh its kit. The gear itself is fine, but it's one-time use. Also, extending its Speed Potion by 50% or so would also help it survive the kits that otherwise out-tank it
"Shut up" says xImNIGHTMARE, because some kid asked them a question
"u cant pvp" says xImNIGHTMARE, because I used the "wrong" kit
This happened whilst typing out this final part of the thread, so yeah... I'm not even trying to run into tryhards, they are just that inescapable. There were four people in the game!
The previous kit rebalance did wonderful things for the game. However, it did leave a few kits feeling underwhelming. The Archer is currently the least satisfying kit in my opinion, but I think that's down to the maps rather than the kit itself.
Beast kit - Fine
Swordsman kit - Fine
Archer kit - Fine, but could spawn with more arrows. Even the best archers in the world have to constantly buy arrows because of how few you start with, how many arrows the Beast kit can eat, and how any missed arrows are completely lost
Samurai kit - Still dies extremely early. Could do with a tiny defence boost, just to make it somewhat more viable
Wizard kit - Really bad. It needs to be able to regain its potions somehow, perhaps every five kills it should be able to completely refresh its kit. The gear itself is fine, but it's one-time use. Also, extending its Speed Potion by 50% or so would also help it survive the kits that otherwise out-tank it
"Shut up" says xImNIGHTMARE, because some kid asked them a question
"u cant pvp" says xImNIGHTMARE, because I used the "wrong" kit
This happened whilst typing out this final part of the thread, so yeah... I'm not even trying to run into tryhards, they are just that inescapable. There were four people in the game!
FFA is so close to being the perfect game. In my opinion, I think the toxicity is the biggest problem, though I feel the maps complement a lot of the behaviours found in toxic people. Please save FFA. It has been sub-par for too long, despite having so few flaws. Thank youuu for reading this x
@Camezonda @Efcluke94 @AnimalTamer1 @IdkWhoToTagAnymoreWhoIsEvenHeadAdminNowadays @Sophie @Spuuuni
