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[MMaRsu]

So I'm playing this now, so far I'm into the caverns, just met some old feller and then I quit for now. How far along am I?

This far in, I'm impressed by the graphics, but it's not wowing me at all. I like the game, and it's a very good game, but it's not really wowing me. Oh and the only character I like is Carmine & Cole, and Marcus is pretty cool still. Just like in the first game though.

But I really don't care about Tai ( who the fuck is he, and why should I care? ), or about Dom's wife.

Graphics wise, I know it's the style of the game, but when I'm out in the snow, the snow still looks fucking greyish. Hardly any colour in this game so far, which I find saddening. But aside from the colours, the graphics are insane.

Oh, and vehicle controls? FUCK THAT.

 

[Kill Your Masters]

Some wow moments should come soon. (at least they came for me)

 

[Aladuf]

While the respawn times for grenades are too low, removing them entirely sounds like overkill. Why not switch them with a weapon that only has one spawn point, at a fairly equal distance from both teams' start points?

*shrugs*

We never thought about it really, one day Third asked me if we should take them out and we just did, and ever since then we've just kept the same settings. It's not bad at all really, and like I pointed out to some of the guys last night, it's really interesting to see how much different the matches turn out on some maps with the grenades gone.

 

[Snowden]

I never liked the standard weapons only matches in Gears of War 1. Lacking in variety, and while it did change how matches played, it never felt like it was for the better to me.

The nice thing with grenades, and power weapons in general is how it encourages not cloistering together as one large team, but instead splitting off in twos or threes to take different weapons/areas. By paring down the number of weapon points, sticking together as a single mass becomes a lot more viable, if you can get whatever the long-distance weapon on the map is going to be. And one big mass vs. another big mass just doesn't appeal to me.

I know many people complain in the first and second games about certain maps boiling down to a mad rush to 'x' power weapon, and in the case of something like the mortar, that's true. For the more balanced power weapons like the Boomshot and Sniper Rifle though, I feel like people ruin the experience for themselves by taking up the mantle of being the person who always charges to the center of the map. If that's how you start each match, it does get monotonous. If you trade off those duties each round though, you can enjoy greater diversity in how you move through the map.

If you're just fucking around, I suppose none of this matters.

 

[Sectus]

I know many people complain in the first and second games about certain maps boiling down to a mad rush to 'x' power weapon, and in the case of something like the mortar, that's true. For the more balanced power weapons like the Boomshot and Sniper Rifle though, I feel like people ruin the experience for themselves by taking up the mantle of being the person who always charges to the center of the map. If that's how you start each match, it does get monotonous. If you trade off those duties each round though, you can enjoy greater diversity in how you move through the map.

If you're just fucking around, I suppose none of this matters.

Boomshot is a "more balanced" power weapon? I'd say it's the most powerful one, unless the guy using it messes up.

Sniper rifle, torque bow, ink grenades, chaingun and flamethrower are the "lesser" power weapons in my opinion (with the pistols being pretty much pointless). I don't mind having those. But mortar, boomshot and frag grenades basically decides the entire match. I wouldn't mind having matches with those 3 weapons removed.

 

[ToyMachine228]

But mortar, boomshot and frag grenades basically decides the entire match. I wouldn't mind having matches with those 3 weapons removed.

I would definitely sign on to the removal of the Mortar. And not Frag Grenades but Smoke Grenades. Being able to tag them to walls removes the need for teamwork since you can have a Smoke watch your back instead and just come around the corner and blow the downed guy in half.

 

[Snowden]

I'd say it's the most powerful one, unless the guy using it messes up.

Its been my experience that most people will waste at least one of their three shots. In the hands of a skilled player, the Boomshot can be devastating, but its still restricted to only three shots. With the lower trajectory in Gears 2, its range has been lowered somewhat as well. I'm far more fearful of a good Torque Bowman. They can take out an entire team easily.

Frag grenades can decide a match if you run around balls-out into a planted one; adjust your play style to be more cautious when rounding corners and that becomes less of an issue. Of course, if you're fleeing for your life from two-three enemies, you might forget to check, but then, that's part of the point. Otherwise, so long as you're aware of your surroundings, you should almost always be able to avoid a thrown one. Stopping power has nerfed grenade tagging considerably.

Power weapons are called that for a reason though. If you have to entirely restrict whole parts of the game's arsenal to enjoy yourself, that points to a pretty big problem, either with the game design, or how you interact within that design.

 

[Aladuf]

(with the pistols being pretty much pointless)

The Boltok will never get respect.

Third and I had some intense Boltok battles during our matches last night, he's getting quite good at poppin' headshots with it from very far away, and while I got a couple long range headshots on him with it my favorite kill last night had to be when we were dueling and I popped his head with a Boltok blindfire. The damn thing will get a headshot with 2 shots if you're accurate at all, I still don't know why it doesn't get more use.

 

[The Librarian]

Seeing this again reminded me of when we were doing our photoshoots with the train last night how I did the roll into it right as it came at me and the damn thing got a headshot on me. That was awesome. :lol

I want to do some photoshoots with you guys. Sounds like fun.

 

[Aladuf]

I want to do some photoshoots with you guys. Sounds like fun.

Hell yeah, the more people the better. Whenever you see me or the other guys in a private match join in with us. It's always great to break away from the match all of a sudden to get some pix.

 

[Sectus]

The Boltok will never get respect.

Third and I had some intense Boltok battles during our matches last night, he's getting quite good at poppin' headshots with it from very far away, and while I got a couple long range headshots on him with it my favorite kill last night had to be when we were dueling and I popped his head with a Boltok blindfire. The damn thing will get a headshot with 2 shots if you're accurate at all, I still don't know why it doesn't get more use.

I've been trying to use boltok a bit myself but it just seems to take too many shots. From what I can tell you don't get an instant kill even with a headshot, you need 2 or 3 headshots for it to be a kill. If I'm wrong, I'll try to experiment with it more.

Its been my experience that most people will waste at least one of their three shots. In the hands of a skilled player, the Boomshot can be devastating, but its still restricted to only three shots. With the lower trajectory in Gears 2, its range has been lowered somewhat as well. I'm far more fearful of a good Torque Bowman. They can take out an entire team easily.

Frag grenades can decide a match if you run around balls-out into a planted one; adjust your play style to be more cautious when rounding corners and that becomes less of an issue. Of course, if you're fleeing for your life from two-three enemies, you might forget to check, but then, that's part of the point. Otherwise, so long as you're aware of your surroundings, you should almost always be able to avoid a thrown one. Stopping power has nerfed grenade tagging considerably.

Power weapons are called that for a reason though. If you have to entirely restrict whole parts of the game's arsenal to enjoy yourself, that points to a pretty big problem, either with the game design, or how you interact within that design.

Well, wall tags are only half of the problem. Grenades are also very powerful when simply thrown, especially if you're in a 2vs2 or 3vs3 situation and while fighting another guy you might not notice a grenade suddenly landing near your feet.

I really really really can't comprehend why frag grenades comes in 2, while ink grenades (which are much less useful) comes as a single grenade. The spawn rate for frags are also way too fast. If you're in a match where you can spawn, you MUST have someone camping the frag grenades. They spawn so fast you can easily set up a minefield and support other players on the map with thrown grenades.

 

[h3ro]

The Boltok will never get respect.

I love the Boltok! Poppin' headshots with it are so satisfying!

I was going to jump in yesterday with all you guys but I figured you were all doing you're own thing, if the whole group is on again, I'll jump in, all those pics are lacking some Dizzy action...

Also, Aladuf, my brother wanted to know if it's cool if he jumps in with the GAF crew, he's sick of waiting on matchmaking...

 

[Snowden]

Well, wall tags are only half of the problem. Grenades are also very powerful when simply thrown, especially if you're in a 2vs2 or 3vs3 situation and while fighting another guy you might not notice a grenade suddenly landing near your feet.

I don't know. I nearly always notice the sound of a grenade dropping near me, and do my best to roll away. It doesn't always work, but its not an insta-kill. If you were never able to get any kills off of a thrown grenade, I think it would be even more frustrating and lead people to do more wall-tagging than they already do, which leads us to...

I really really really can't comprehend why frag grenades comes in 2, while ink grenades (which are much less useful) comes as a single grenade. The spawn rate for frags are also way too fast. If you're in a match where you can spawn, you MUST have someone camping the frag grenades. They spawn so fast you can easily set up a minefield and support other players on the map with thrown grenades.

excellent points that I absolutely agree with. In the first game, two grenades at a time made far more sense. There's no good reason to allow two frags at a time now. Even if the spawn times on grenades is changed, I still feel they should make all grenades single pick-ups. Do both, and I think it would alleviate the headache that comes from the exploitation. By itself, I think wall-tagging has been a good addition.

 

[Shins]

 

[Aladuf]

I love the Boltok! Poppin' headshots with it are so satisfying!

I was going to jump in yesterday with all you guys but I figured you were all doing you're own thing, if the whole group is on again, I'll jump in, all those pics are lacking some Dizzy action...

Also, Aladuf, my brother wanted to know if it's cool if he jumps in with the GAF crew, he's sick of waiting on matchmaking...

Seriously, you and your brother along with anyone else can join into our matches whenever you want. We do private matches 90% of the time and we're always looking to fill up them up as often as possible.

 

[Aladuf]

Muted me. I think he's on his period.

Muted you? You weren't saying anything all night, you would just let out a groan here and there and then sent me some random message saying something and left 2 rounds into our public match. It's actually funny that you say that I'm on my period because I think that's exactly what someone said about you once you left last night.

And Flunkie was just making a joke there.

 

[Shins]

 

[The Librarian]

I love the Boltok pistol. It's a good weapon.

 

[NIN90]

Great, my Flashback code doesn't work.
Just great.

 

[Penguin]

Seriously, you and your brother along with anyone else can join into our matches whenever you want. We do private matches 90% of the time and we're always looking to fill up them up as often as possible.

Don't listen to him... Aladuf is an evil person.
He kicks people out, doesn't invite them to his "party chat" and then he kicks you when you are down!

I was downed by one of his teammates so he decided the best course of action was a headshot with his sniper.

 

[Aladuf]

lol, you're doing it again

You're so talkative today, you should do that when we all play instead of having me, Recovery, and Third talk and then you come in every 10 minutes to go "UHHHEEEEHHHAHA".

edit: I just wanted to be clear with this too, I know him in real life so I'm not hating on any GAFer's here or whatever.. just ironing out a quirk I'm having with a friend.

 

[Aladuf]

Don't listen to him... Aladuf is an evil person.
He kicks people out, doesn't invite them to his "party chat" and then he kicks you when you are down!

I was downed by one of his teammates so he decided the best course of action was a headshot with his sniper.

:lol :lol

But I've never been the host.

 

[Penguin]

:lol :lol

But I've never been the host.

Oh play innocent now.
And I see you also don't tell people about your cover charge?

1000 MS points to get into his games! And then its a two kill minimal in your first game or you are booted. And if you kill him... well let heaven have mercy on your soul.

 

[Narcosis]

Great, my Flashback code doesn't work.
Just great.

If it doesn't work when you first enter, try looking to see if it's in your download history. I know some people had trouble getting the gold Lancers when they used the redeem Code feature, but the DL showed in their history

 

[NIN90]

If it doesn't work when you first enter, try looking to see if it's in your download history. I know some people had trouble getting the gold Lancers when they used the redeem Code feature, but the DL showed in their history

Doesn't work either.

 

[Aladuf]

Oh play innocent now.
And I see you also don't tell people about your cover charge?

1000 MS points to get into his games! And then its a two kill minimal in your first game or you are booted. And if you kill him... well let heaven have mercy on your soul.

Apparently ThirdEngine hasn't told people about the rigorous boot camp-like training I made him do in Gears of War before I'd ever allow him to be on my team, and how I made Full Recovery reject playing any of his consoles for nearly 80 days before we could play Gears after he sniped me once. I'm just kidding everyone

Spoiler

... or am I?

Of course you subjected me to the worst torture of all before we ever played Gears, I had to post on those evil forums for nearly 3 months. :'(

 

[MMaRsu]

There's a GAF MP crew? I'd like to play some games sometime

 

[Aladuf]

There's a GAF MP crew? I'd like to play some games sometime

Yeah, there's at least one group of us who play nightly, you can send a FR to either (or all), Aladuf23, I ThirdEngine I, or Full Recovery and you should be set.

 

[RSTEIN]

Hey guys,

Sorry I've been coughing so much lately. I went to the hospital today. I have bronchitis... gave me some codine and a puffer. Hopefully that means less coughing and more talking

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Matchmaking still ganked?

 

[Penguin]

Apparently ThirdEngine hasn't told people about the rigorous boot camp-like training I made him do in Gears of War before I'd ever allow him to be on my team, and how I made Full Recovery reject playing any of his consoles for nearly 80 days before we could play Gears after he sniped me once. I'm just kidding everyone

Spoiler

... or am I?

Of course you subjected me to the worst torture of all before we ever played Gears, I had to post on those evil forums for nearly 3 months. :'(

It was not that bad...

And if I remember correctly, you had to play Smackdown in order to play Gears with me.

Hey guys,

Sorry I've been coughing so much lately. I went to the hospital today. I have bronchitis... gave me some codine and a puffer. Hopefully that means less coughing and more talking

Or less coughing and no talking.

 

[ZROCOOL]

Sorry guys about leave, power outage happen to the whole neighborhood. So I was stuck without power for about 2 painful hours.

And what is this photoshoting going on without me?!?ll! I want in.


oh and I have some unfinished business with aladuf! >:|

 

[Aladuf]

It was not that bad...

And if I remember correctly, you had to play Smackdown in order to play Gears with me.

The forums weren't bad, the Smackdown game was punishment.

Sorry guys about leave, power outage happen to the whole neighborhood. So I was stuck without power for about 2 painful hours.

And what is this photoshoting going on without me?!?ll! I want in.


oh and I have some unfinished business with aladuf! >:|

I was wondering what happened to you, we all thought it was strange that you just left so abruptly since usually you'll mention that you've got to go or whatever. As for the unfinished business, you still need to check your capture card for that snipe, I'd definitely like to see how that looked from your angle.

 

[ThirdEngine]

If you're accurate and have an active reload, the Boltok can be far more effective than the HB as long as you're keeping your distance. Like 'duf said last night, you never know when the person using it scores a quick active to shoot faster. Two or three shots later, your head is gone.

Frags have been removed because of the bad experiences we've had in Public matches, where people like to hole up and score easy kills. I'm pretty sure that GAF wouldn't be that cheap, so I guess it's up to the other guys if we should have them in again. Still, I don't think we'll ever be using the big power weapons for a looong time. We don't just 'fuck around' while doing our matches either. Sure, here and there we'll take a break for photos, Boltok battles, or the occasional smoke-tag your team while friendly-fire is on. For the most part though, we have good competitive matches.

Also, I'm going to say this for about the hundreth time:

Yes we do Private matches every night, and are always looking for more people to fill them up. We start around 8:00 EST and play for a very good while. The more people, the better.

As far as last night goes, it was both the best and worst night I've had with Gears 2. Our Private matches were classic and having a full room for those few games made things so much more fun. Public matchmaking is completely fucking broken, though. Seriously Cliff, why the fuck do I show up without a weapon and not being able to do anything but crabwalk the entire round? The lag was also ridiculously bad, to the point where everyone was either teleporting or taking cover in the most bizzare places possible.

Looking foward to our matches tonight.

 

[Aladuf]

We don't just 'fuck around' while doing our matches either. Sure, here and there we'll take a break for photos, Boltok battles, or the occasional smoke-tag your team while friendly-fire is on. For the most part though, we have good competitive matches.

Yeah this is true, I wouldn't want anybody to come into the matches just expecting photoshoots. :lol
They always seem to happen a couple rounds into a match here and there when something goofy happens or whatever, then we'll break away from the match to mess around. I just didn't want to imply earlier that we just start up a match and begin shooting pictures.

As far as last night goes, it was both the best and worst night I've had with Gears 2. Our Private matches were classic and having a full room for those few games made things so much more fun. Public matchmaking is completely fucking broken, though. Seriously Cliff, why the fuck do I show up without a weapon and not being able to do anything but crabwalk the entire round? The lag was also ridiculously bad, to the point where everyone was either teleporting or taking cover in the most bizzare places possible.

Looking foward to our matches tonight.

Matchmaking was a complete fucking joke last night, and I'd be convinced that the lag was purposely created by the host on the other team but it happened in what?, 3-4 straight matches? Most of the matches were never to the extent that the one match on Blood Drive was where everyone was teleporting and I told you guys how I had 9-10 seconds of bullet lag but they were still unplayable and it sucked.

But yeah, once the private matches found their groove they were once again the most fun I've had in MP by far. If only we could have that consistency in public matches soon.

 

[Flunkie]

You're so talkative today, you should do that when we all play instead of having me, Recovery, and Third talk and then you come in every 10 minutes to go "UHHHEEEEHHHAHA".

That's my boy.

 

[ZROCOOL]

The forums weren't bad, the Smackdown game was punishment.


I was wondering what happened to you, we all thought it was strange that you just left so abruptly since usually you'll mention that you've got to go or whatever. As for the unfinished business, you still need to check your capture card for that snipe, I'd definitely like to see how that looked from your angle.

Yeah I was planning to play with you guys intil the bitter end, but that happened. So I took a short drive to sonic for that late night eat and sweet. lol

As for the awesomeness snipe shot, when I get home ill check it out.

oh and third is telling the truth, playing with the group can be fun but serious at the sametime.

 

[Future PhaZe]

Does anyone feel that tagging walls should simply be taken out of the game? All they do is heavily promote camping, and create situations where people have to be so absolutely hesitant in certain areas that it brings the game to a crawl at times.

Really I haven't heard a good argument for them yet. All of them are relatively useful on their own. Frags themselves are probably essential to preventing power rushes, and inks can be almost as useful in dissuading certain movements and preventing blind rushes into certain areas. I see no reason why players should be able to stick things to walls and what not.

 

[Dosia]

Does anyone feel that tagging walls should simply be taken out of the game? All they do is heavily promote camping, and create situations where people have to be so absolutely hesitant in certain areas that it brings the game to a crawl at times.

Really I haven't heard a good argument for them yet. All of them are relatively useful on their own. Frags themselves are probably essential to preventing power rushes, and inks can be almost as useful in dissuading certain movements and preventing blind rushes into certain areas. I see no reason why players should be able to stick things to walls and what not.

Yes. Tagging walls is lame.

 

[The Librarian]

Yes. Tagging walls is fun.

Fixed.

 

[Dosia]

Fixed.

Fun if you like to die randomly and camp like a bitch.

 

[ToyMachine228]

The Boltok Magum on Insane is ridiculous. Locust drops you in one or two shots with it. It's probably the cheapest aspect of playing on Insane.

 

[ThirdEngine]

The Boltok Magum on Insane is ridiculous. Locust drops you in one or two shots with it. It's probably the cheapest aspect of playing on Insane.

Play against an Insane bot that has a Longshot.

 

[Mr.Squirrel]

is the map pack and gold lancer gone? its coming up as 99,999 points for me.....

 

[KevinRo]

my only problem, which i've had with GoW1 and I still have with GoW2 is that the game is played like dodgeball. everyone races to the power weapons in the beginning and based on the grenades and bum rushing with the shotgun one team gets the power weapon or not. really pisses me off when i play smart but my teamates just rush in and are all dead.

 

[Aladuf]

Play against an Insane bot that has a Longshot.

don't....remind...me

that fucker took us out 1 vs. 4 with all headshots last night, WHAT THE HELL?!?!

 

[Phaethon0017]

Hey guys. Nobody on my friends list is online and I need some help finishing Horde 31-36. Please add Phaethon360 if you're online and bored.

 

[The Librarian]

don't....remind...me

that fucker took us out 1 vs. 4 with all headshots last night, WHAT THE HELL?!?!

If I was on your team, he wouldn't have gotten me because I would have been a ninja.

 

[Aladuf]

If I was on your team, he wouldn't have gotten me because I would have been a ninja.

Then you need to be on our team tonight.

 

[The Librarian]

Then you need to be on our team tonight.

I have some time to play!