
muFFlyx
STEAM_0:0:41392054
Joined: Jun 24, 2015
Posted: 07-25-2016 21:12
STEAM_0:0:41392054
Joined: Jun 24, 2015
Posted: 07-25-2016 21:12
So I've come back and I've been playing on the JB server for the past couple of days, and I've noticed something that I don't think many people have commented on.
Jailbreak is fun. It's base rules really do make it and enjoyable gamemode, and a good warden/guards make it shine even more. There's usually a clear distinction between the seasoned vets and the newbies in how well they know what they're doing and how they manipulate the mechanics. All the same, there's one thing that absolutely kills it for me: a stale map.
Don't get me wrong, jb_newsummer_v2 is probably the best JB map out there (at least for GMod), and SG's players are constantly creating new fun and inventing new ways to play it. It contains tons of interesting games as well as elements that can be molded to what the warden wants. If there was ever a better map for GMod JB, I don't know what it is. Of course, everything I just said is subjective. It also isn't my exact opinion. Nostalgia compels me to admire other maps that I played when I was active on Chessnut's Corner as well, some maybe even a bit more than newsummer. I would still say that, even objectively, newsummer is the JB map that is best developed for GMod.
Ingenuity can only go so far, though. To me, who was very active here in early 2015 and has played nothing but newsummer on JB for at least a year, aspects of the map are beginning to grow...well, old. There aren't many location-specific commands that can fool most people anymore, since a large portion of players are familiar with the map. The gameroom games are a bit bland to me, especially since they're relatively easy to master (I will give Deagle Toss and S4S the benefit of the doubt, since they are very rarely, if not ever played). Overall, it's becoming more and more difficult to find ways to spice up the increasingly repetitive rounds. After all, uniqueness is a big part of what drives fun.
So, what are the solutions to this ever-growing conformity of playstyles? Simply put, there are a lot of things that can be done. Adding more content to the server and tweaking the old (as Jake and Armpit are diligently working on) is a surefire way to add more possibilities; that is, until even this has little effect. Just as any other variable has limits in a constant environment, additions and fixes by themselves can't revitalize the server forever. Thus, we move next to cracking open the map in Hammer ("we" meaning whoever this post may concern/is addressed to). While I am in no way qualified to know what I'm talking about when it comes to this, editing the map to change things or create extensions could work. It could also upset people who are used to the current way the map works or don't feel the need to refine what isn't necessarily "broken".
This discussion then leads to what I am proposing: we add a new map to the currently nonexistent rotation. In my opinion, there is no better map to add to this server than ba_jail_blackops. Like newsummer, blackops is one of the most highly optimized maps for GMod, and also shares a lot with it. A lot of the games are the same (albeit with some minor changes/twists), but the map is very large and open, with a lot of areas to experiment and have fun. I know at least some of you are familiar with the map, but I have to assume that there is a portion of you who haven't played a JB map other than newsummer.
If today isn't yet the time to discuss this, that's understandable. But I do hope that this topic is one to debate, and possibly one to affect future progression of the JB server.
Of course, if I'm the only one with these opinions, I'll shut up.
“Change is the essence of life; be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.”― Reinhold Niebuhr
Jailbreak is fun. It's base rules really do make it and enjoyable gamemode, and a good warden/guards make it shine even more. There's usually a clear distinction between the seasoned vets and the newbies in how well they know what they're doing and how they manipulate the mechanics. All the same, there's one thing that absolutely kills it for me: a stale map.
Don't get me wrong, jb_newsummer_v2 is probably the best JB map out there (at least for GMod), and SG's players are constantly creating new fun and inventing new ways to play it. It contains tons of interesting games as well as elements that can be molded to what the warden wants. If there was ever a better map for GMod JB, I don't know what it is. Of course, everything I just said is subjective. It also isn't my exact opinion. Nostalgia compels me to admire other maps that I played when I was active on Chessnut's Corner as well, some maybe even a bit more than newsummer. I would still say that, even objectively, newsummer is the JB map that is best developed for GMod.
Ingenuity can only go so far, though. To me, who was very active here in early 2015 and has played nothing but newsummer on JB for at least a year, aspects of the map are beginning to grow...well, old. There aren't many location-specific commands that can fool most people anymore, since a large portion of players are familiar with the map. The gameroom games are a bit bland to me, especially since they're relatively easy to master (I will give Deagle Toss and S4S the benefit of the doubt, since they are very rarely, if not ever played). Overall, it's becoming more and more difficult to find ways to spice up the increasingly repetitive rounds. After all, uniqueness is a big part of what drives fun.
So, what are the solutions to this ever-growing conformity of playstyles? Simply put, there are a lot of things that can be done. Adding more content to the server and tweaking the old (as Jake and Armpit are diligently working on) is a surefire way to add more possibilities; that is, until even this has little effect. Just as any other variable has limits in a constant environment, additions and fixes by themselves can't revitalize the server forever. Thus, we move next to cracking open the map in Hammer ("we" meaning whoever this post may concern/is addressed to). While I am in no way qualified to know what I'm talking about when it comes to this, editing the map to change things or create extensions could work. It could also upset people who are used to the current way the map works or don't feel the need to refine what isn't necessarily "broken".
This discussion then leads to what I am proposing: we add a new map to the currently nonexistent rotation. In my opinion, there is no better map to add to this server than ba_jail_blackops. Like newsummer, blackops is one of the most highly optimized maps for GMod, and also shares a lot with it. A lot of the games are the same (albeit with some minor changes/twists), but the map is very large and open, with a lot of areas to experiment and have fun. I know at least some of you are familiar with the map, but I have to assume that there is a portion of you who haven't played a JB map other than newsummer.
If today isn't yet the time to discuss this, that's understandable. But I do hope that this topic is one to debate, and possibly one to affect future progression of the JB server.
Of course, if I'm the only one with these opinions, I'll shut up.
“Change is the essence of life; be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.”― Reinhold Niebuhr