I suggest having a buff for all players during the first 5 minutes or so to make everyone just as effective at building things as engineers. The purpose of this is to make it so that at least at first, everyone doesn't need to go engineer to get everything established. I think this would be nice incase there is a effective zerg rush in the very start of maps. I've kinda been in one once. There were about 6 players to a team, the commander placed a VF, then we built an APC and drove strait for their base, it went down quite fast. Though it was awesome. Another point I'd like to make is that for people who's determined to go a specific class, it wont be like they wont be gimped in terms of building something, at least at the start. Later in the game though, I fully expect engineers to put up outposts and the like but the purpose is to make it so thats its less forced to go engineer during the start of a round.
The problem with that though is that nobody will go engineer if you can get calc power with unlimited energy and still carry a big gun. I also think 5 minutes is too long, considering how fast Empires games move. I'd say maybe a minute would make this balanced out.
What picard said- way too long, and way too powerful, and in my opinion, way too unnecessary. If (and this is a BIG if) the classes are balanced, then such a change is superfluous and detrimental to gameplay by making engineers severely disadvantaged. IF the classes are balanced, you should have at least a smattering of the other classes at start to prevent these rushes. But this really starts the debate on rushing and how effective it should be-- which I don't really have any answers to and should probably get it's own thread. (Or at least add to one of the dozens of threads already on the topic.)
That would make rush tactics the only tactics; as if you wont rush the first 1 min; you loose map controll... Currently there is a risk involved with APC rushing or any kind of rushing early; is that you could end up overspreading; not establishing the refs; and if your rush fails; you are behind...
Engineers are both builders and healers with good enough guns. I would still go engy just to rev/heal people. Imo, the buff would be better placed over the primary rax, possibly extending over a quarter of the map for about 3.5 minutes. Rather than a global for 1 minute/5 minutes.
im more for that the building phase at the start of the game be slower... slow down the rushes and more importantly slow the construction of things at the front enough that instead of just having one person able to easily do it as an engineer, they require guarding. THAT'S teamwork.
OMFG don't go mentioning build pahses that will drive me fricking insane, I had enough of that in the mod Sourceforts, then noob admins would extend the build pahse to make inpenetrable bases and the match just suxed as you took 10 mins to take away one panel of the base defence since everyone was rocketeer and spamming the floor outside thier base..Enough off topic lol, so yeah build pahses will ruin the mod for sure (think we established that in my initial ramblings). As for a 5 min buff way too long, just imagine the comm plating a VF then everyone is either Soldier or Grenidier and they all rush the enemy base in an apc, not only can they rape the enemy with ease BUT they can build up mg/ml turrets in the enemy base that the comm plants at the same speed as an engi (2-3 players could have a turret up in seconds). Would be way too unfair. Maybe something like a min would be good in getting up the initial armoury and refs close tot he base etc (although those with slower computers would never benefit from the buff since they would be loading the map well after the 1 min buff started server side lol).
Hmmm, yea, ok, point taken. I was just concerned that some players, when there aren't a lot that want to go to a different class really slow down the start of the match thusly crippling later gameplay. Then again, most of the time when this happens, nobody want to go commander so I do it at default, and THEN my team loses. Coincidence?
