Tribes: Ascend Jetpack Jamboree

[Spectre-7]

God I love this freaking game. Anyone else still playing, or is it just me?

For those not in the know, Tribes: Ascend is the newest addition to the Tribes franchise, a multiplayer first-person (or third-person) shooter series in which power-armored psychos with jetpacks blast around a rolling landscape at high-speeds, trying to blow each other to pieces and capture the other team's flag. Tribes: Ascend is currently in closed beta, but will be Free-to-Play when released, and beta keys aren't terribly difficult to get a hold of right now.

The game's been described as a cross between a first-person shooter and a flight sim, but what does that mean really? Well, in most FPSs, you run around at 10 MPH and can jump a few feet; in Tribes, you slide over the ground at 100 MPH and jump-jet a few hundred feet into the air (or a few thousand with a good ramp).

What's that look like? A bit like this...
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If you're just getting started, check out this tutorial on skiing, which will help you feel like less of a scrub when you finally get in.

Skiing Tutorial:
KNpEgIIYe-g

...and here's some more gameplay just to whet your appetite.
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I'm Spectre-7 in-game. Feel free to add me, and we'll blow some guys up!

[digitalErich]

I'm a massive Tribes fan, but I think their payment model ruined this game for me. I have no interest in playing a Tribes game when in nearly every game you play, 80% of the players are in medium armor.

I pretty much gave up on the beta and I'm waiting to see what adjustments they make once it gets released.

[Spectre-7]

Prices on classes have dropped a lot in the last few updates, with one light and one heavy class each available at bargain basement prices. Without spending a dime, I currently have Soldier and Ranger (the two starting medium classes), plus Pathfinder (a light) and Juggernaut (a heavy), and enough tokens saved up to unlock any one of the others. I'd generally estimate that fewer than 50% of players are in medium armors in most games.

Also, for anyone worried about the game's addition of hitscan weapons, this morning's update changed all of the rapid-fire hitscan weapons (Ranger's assault rifle, Raider and Technician's SMGs) into projectile weapons like the classic chaingun.

There's really a ton of work going into the game right now, and large updates hit every week on average. No real reason to wait for release to see how it's shaping up, IMO.

[digitalErich]

Oh, I'll definitly be playing this at some point, but with the way the leveling was working, the rate of change, and BF3 still incredibly fun, I'm just not investing any time in this right now. Once it gets close to release and everything is a bit more stable I'll be playing it.

The skiing is great.

[Lint of Death]

I played this a lot when I started up until this week because I got busy waiting all week for League of Legends, Dungeons of Dredmor, and Team Fortress 2 to all get their updates out and working :p

I love Tribes: Ascend so far, I should get back to it soonish. I'm LintOfDeath on there so feel free to add me!

[Spectre-7]

I played this a lot when I started up until this week because I got busy waiting all week for League of Legends, Dungeons of Dredmor, and Team Fortress 2 to all get their updates out and working :p

I love Tribes: Ascend so far, I should get back to it soonish. I'm LintOfDeath on there so feel free to add me!

Yay! I knew I couldn't be the only one! I'll add you next time I'm on. :D

[Spectre-7]

Anyone else? Come on, there must be more jetpack aficionados out there.

Not in the beta yet? I've got an extra code right now, so just ask I'll shoot it your way.

[BrassGecko]

This looks like it has everything I loved about Tribes 2 and I would love a beta key.

On the other hand my computer has died and is out of commission for probably the next week, so no jetpacking for me either way until that's sorted out.

[Spectre-7]

This looks like it has everything I loved about Tribes 2 and I would love a beta key.

On the other hand my computer has died and is out of commission for probably the next week, so no jetpacking for me either way until that's sorted out.

Check your PM box, and happy jetting once you get your hardware all sorted out! :D

[Dahzer the Cosmic Fool]

Id be up for it, im not sure how my schedule will be but ill hop on when i can, i believe i am Dahzer in game

[diablopath]

Oh my god you people need to play this with me. We need to setup on Skype and we need to play this game together.

Now that all my grades in are in and I'm free to live my life again, I acquired a beta key and gave this game a shot last night. And oh my god it's everything I wanted from a Tribes game.

YOU PLAY WITH ME OR YOU ARE DEAD TO ME.

[Spectre-7]

Id be up for it, im not sure how my schedule will be but ill hop on when i can, i believe i am Dahzer in game

I think I've already got you on my friends list... although honestly, their social stuff needs serious work. There's no confirmation when adding someone, and I think I've seen one person online once. Hoping they get that sorted soon.

Oh my god you people need to play this with me. We need to setup on Skype and we need to play this game together.

Now that all my grades in are in and I'm free to live my life again, I acquired a beta key and gave this game a shot last night. And oh my god it's everything I wanted from a Tribes game.

YOU PLAY WITH ME OR YOU ARE DEAD TO ME.

Now that's the kind of excitement I'm hoping to see! :D

[diablopath]

I think I've already got you on my friends list... although honestly, their social stuff needs serious work. There's no confirmation when adding someone, and I think I've seen one person online once. Hoping they get that sorted soon.



Now that's the kind of excitement I'm hoping to see! :D

My name is diablopath on there.

You need to add me and we need to exchange Skypes.

[Dahzer the Cosmic Fool]

we could use skype or we could use the CoG TS i believe, i also have a ts that we could use if needed

[diablopath]

Skype is so much cleaner than TS. I enjoy using it much more :/

[Lint of Death]

There's no confirmation, you just become able to see if the other person is online and then join their game. Friendship is a one-way street :D

[crazyD]

If anyone has another spare, I would appreciate it. They just won't give me a key!

[Spectre-7]

If anyone has another spare, I would appreciate it. They just won't give me a key!

They're giving them out fairly regularly from what I hear, but I won't get anymore until Brass redeems his. As soon as I get more, I'll certainly shoot one your way.

[diablopath]

I took care of him.

Check your PM inbox, D.

[crazyD]

diablo, you are awesome. I signed up for the beta a while ago, not sure why I haven't gotten a key already.

[crazyD]

I am theRealCrazyD because both crazyD and thecrazyD were already taken. Fucking madness.

[diablopath]

Man, that's really crazy.

[BrassGecko]

They're giving them out fairly regularly from what I hear, but I won't get anymore until Brass redeems his. As soon as I get more, I'll certainly shoot one your way.

Whoops! Didn't mean to hold your key hostage. I'd have made the account yesterday, but I got depressed at learning this is another group who thinks "brass" is a naughty word.

Because that kind of username filter works so well.

Sigh.

Edit: Still can't play for a while, but I've claimed the key. Also, they accept symbols in passwords... except $ causes an error. Nice.

[Spectre-7]

Oh, no worries. That's the first I've given out, and there hasn't exactly been a rush on them.

So... suppose you'll be the BronzeGecko then?

[BrassGecko]

Oh, no worries. That's the first I've given out, and there hasn't exactly been a rush on them.

So... suppose you'll be the BronzeGecko then?

I went with BGecko :/

I'm used to answering to Brass or Gecko, I would probably ignore someone saying Bronze!

[diablopath]

Would you fellas like to join me and my friend tonight? It'd be nice to get 4-5 people on Skype and in the same game. I had a lot of fun earlier this afternoon with him.

[diablopath]

We're going on now. Hit me up on skype, joseph.cox89

[diablopath]

GGs Spectre. I had to drop, my ping was outrageously high. I'm not sure what's causing it :/

[Spectre-7]

GGs Spectre. I had to drop, my ping was outrageously high. I'm not sure what's causing it :/

Mine was pretty bad on that server too; I started seeing the fire animation play late, and discs were flying out from where I was a few seconds before. Messy.

[diablopath]

Mine was pretty bad on that server too; I started seeing the fire animation play late, and discs were flying out from where I was a few seconds before. Messy.

If you ignore my suggestions for voice chat one more time I am going to murder your entire family.

[Spectre-7]

If you ignore my suggestions for voice chat one more time I am going to murder your entire family.

Heh... not ignored precisely. I'm just not a big fan of outside voice chat solutions. Not sure why, but I friggin' hate 'em and always have.

In other news, I picked up the Scrambler class yesterday. Feels like it needs some work. A lot of work. I like the concept of the Arx Buster (fires a volley of 3 stickies that detonate a half-second after they land), but it's difficult as all hell to get kills with that thing. The back-up pistol is a joke.

[diablopath]

Heh... not ignored precisely. I'm just not a big fan of outside voice chat solutions. Not sure why, but I friggin' hate 'em and always have.

In other news, I picked up the Scrambler class yesterday. Feels like it needs some work. A lot of work. I like the concept of the Arx Buster (fires a volley of 3 stickies that detonate a half-second after they land), but it's difficult as all hell to get kills with that thing. The back-up pistol is a joke.

Come to Skype. You will love us and the plotting that we do.

I've been all about the Pathfinder. I tried the Jumper, but meh. Can't do it.

Pathfinder 4 lyfe.

[Lint of Death]

In other news, I picked up the Scrambler class yesterday. Feels like it needs some work. A lot of work. I like the concept of the Arx Buster (fires a volley of 3 stickies that detonate a half-second after they land), but it's difficult as all hell to get kills with that thing. The back-up pistol is a joke.

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The Scrambler is awesome! You have to be aware that it's got the highest Difficulty rating in the game right now. :)

My faves right now are the Infiltrator and the Jumper.

[Spectre-7]

g8u7KHZtRG8
The Scrambler is awesome! You have to be aware that it's got the highest Difficulty rating in the game right now. :)

...which means his weapons are consistently worse than virtually everyone else's. :) I've got a fair amount of experience under my felt with him now (and had seen that video before), and there's just rarely a situation where I wouldn't prefer someone else's kit. Unless I'm in a very, very cramped corridor. Then he's okay.

For anyone else looking to play, I have 4 more keys to give away! Just drop me a line and get yourself a beta key.

[Lint of Death]

...which means his weapons are consistently worse than virtually everyone else's. :)

I dunno, man, those sticky nades are powerful! Even one can nearly kill someone, and you can fire three in a quick burst. But then, I'm the kind of person who uses the Loch N' Load in TF2, so I may be biased :p

[Spectre-7]

I dunno, man, those sticky nades are powerful!

Not as powerful as a Spinfusor. A disc will one-shot a light, and you need at least two Arx rounds for a guaranteed kill even against an Infiltrator.

Even one can nearly kill someone,

A light, sure. A medium takes at least 3 direct hits to kill, and a heavy takes about two whole volleys.

and you can fire three in a quick burst.

And that's precisely what makes the weapon such a beast in very tight corridors (coupled with flashbangs, no less), but the second a room is more open, you're at a significant disadvantage to anyone with a direct fire weapon. A Thumper will devour you.

I'm typically defending the gen room alone and I'm happy engaging one or two attackers by myself as a Scrambler. The second they start rushing me with 3 or more though, I pretty much have to switch to Soldier or I don't stand a fighting chance. And that's only on maps with tight basements (Bella Omega, Drydock, maybe Crossfire); there's pretty much no point at all in using him for defense on Katabatic because all of the assault classes simply do a better job in the wider space.

Again, I really enjoy the concept of the class, and I've been playing a ton of him (finished out everything but his two Perks, which seem pretty useless), but he's essentially the single weakest class at the moment, and his perfect niche boils down to supporting groups of better armed teammates or hunting Infiltrators. I'd just like to see him refined a bit.

[BrassGecko]

I'm super pleased with how this game feels, and I am apparently not bad at it! Enough Tribes 2 experience appears to have carried over to have me skiing around pretty excellently, though that Pathfinder class will be my first unlock.

I'll go through and add all the cog names from this thread next time I play. Thanks much, Spectre!

[diablopath]

I also have some keys if you guys are interested.

[Spectre-7]

After some reconsideration (and a round where I went 29:6 k/d), the Scrambler is... pretty good. Still wish he had a better secondary weapon, though, and it'd be nice if the flashbangs didn't occasionally flash me when I'm around the corner.

I ended up buying a 10-day boost shortly before the holidays, and I now have every class but the Sentinel, and most of their skill-trees unlocked. I was surprised to discover how much I enjoy the heavy classes--I'm really into mobility, and I figured being weighted down would be a serious drag--but once I'm done with unlocks, my mains will probably be Jumper, Pathfinder, Soldier, & Scrambler.

I'll go through and add all the cog names from this thread next time I play. Thanks much, Spectre!

You're very welcome, sir. BTW, I may have messed up at the start of the thread, and I think my in-game name is actually Spectre7 (no hyphen). Annoying, because my login is with the hyphen, but they don't allow any non-alphanumerics in player names. Grumble, grumble, grumble...

Oh, and 4 keys still up for grabs! :)

[Vandabo]

I played this back when the beta had just started. I really enjoyed playing the Rabbit mode, just for the love of the movement in the game. However, I think it was the Jumper class was completely unfair, because they could do something that essentially made them able to maintain top speed indefinitely while jumping, so they could grab the flag and just jump around the map in big circles and it would be really difficult to track them down. Is this still the case?

[Spectre-7]

Jumper has been updated a lot, and his jump isn't nearly as powerful/sustainable as it was at the start of beta. That being said, I haven't played Rabbit since the beginning, so I'm not sure how well that mode is working right now. It seems like the kind of game where everyone would want to be Pathfinder, Jumper, or Ranger.

[Lint of Death]

Yeah it's weird, I honestly do not understand how the Pathfinder seems to be faster than the Jumper. The Jumper's the one with the speed boost pack! Also without energy regen like the Pathfinder, Ranger, and Soldier have, the Jumper (before skill purchases at least) is a pretty crappy jumper in comparison.

Edit: Also hope you saw me, Spectre, I joined you in a game and bitched at our team for a little while :p

[diablopath]

LINT. DO YOU USE SKYPE?

My friend and I get so frustrated when we can't put together neat little strategies because there is no way to communicate them to other players. We would love to get a good solid group of people together to do these things with.

[BrassGecko]

LINT. DO YOU USE SKYPE?

My friend and I get so frustrated when we can't put together neat little strategies because there is no way to communicate them to other players. We would love to get a good solid group of people together to do these things with.

I didn't really read the whole debate from earlier, but the cog TS server works nicely.

[Spectre-7]

Edit: Also hope you saw me, Spectre, I joined you in a game and bitched at our team for a little while :p

Was that a match on Drydock this morning? I noticed some folks complaining about the team, but I was too busy chasing the flag runner to pay much attention to it. Just hopped in for a bit of quick skiing really; not sure who logs in on Wednesday morning expecting tight teamwork and epic matches. ;)

On the Skype subject, I will log in one of these days. Feeling slightly less anti-social recently.

[diablopath]

I didn't really read the whole debate from earlier, but the cog TS server works nicely.

Are there ever people on there? I've just used skype for friends and ease.

[Lint of Death]

LINT. DO YOU USE SKYPE?

I prefer TS3 and its secksy push-to-talk!

Was that a match on Drydock this morning? I noticed some folks complaining about the team, but I was too busy chasing the flag runner to pay much attention to it. Just hopped in for a bit of quick skiing really; not sure who logs in on Wednesday morning expecting tight teamwork and epic matches. ;)

Oh yes it was. I just got pretty frustrated because for at least the first half I was usually the only person who stayed back to defend the base (outside and in), and there were between 2 and 5 enemies who basically lived there and nobody was helping clear them out most of the time. Not expecting epic teamwork, but c'mon :(

[Spectre-7]

Oh yes it was. I just got pretty frustrated because for at least the first half I was usually the only person who stayed back to defend the base (outside and in), and there were between 2 and 5 enemies who basically lived there and nobody was helping clear them out most of the time. Not expecting epic teamwork, but c'mon :(

Naw, I hear ya. I usually focus on base-d, and any other time, I probably would've been down in the tunnels already, but I just wanted to jet around a bit. Our team was so dysfunctional, I figured it wasn't really worth worrying about, anyway.

The real pisser about that game was the final cap. I buzzed by the runner, missed him with a disc and then figured I'd head him off at their flag. He swooped in and I tossed an impact nitron... BAM! My timing was off, he capped the flag, and the match was over. Hilariously though, I actually did manage to knock the flag loose, and it bounced ten feet past the stand. You could still see both flags in the freeze frame.

Edit: Oh, on the subject of Jumper vs. Pathfinder, the Pathfinder is intentionally faster. The Jumper's pack accelerates him up to ~160, and he has a lower speed-cap than the Pathfinder. Meanwhile, the Pathfinder's increased energy allows him to climb higher (thus fall farther), and jet past more climbs. Essentially, the Pathfinder has a higher top end, but the Jumper can get up to speed faster.

[Lint of Death]

You would think that the Jumper would be the best at, y'know, Jumping :p

[Spectre-7]

There's a new update today, and Jesus H. Christ, they've changed everything.

New UI, completely restructured class and perk system (different weapon load-outs for classes!), removed tokens in favor of 2-tier XP/Gold system... the list goes on and on and on... and I think I love it.

They're refunding all previous unlocks back into your XP pool, so I estimate I'll be spending ~150,000 XP this evening.

Check out the overview here, (http://www.hirezstudios.com/hirezwp/?p=1660) or head here for the full (long ass) patch notes. (http://hi-rez.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/297)

[diablopath]

The only response I can muster is...

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

The two biggest changes I wanted to see are there. Plus a bunch of other shit I wasn't expecting.

[Lint of Death]

There's a new update today, and Jesus H. Christ, they've changed everything.

New UI, completely restructured class and perk system (different weapon load-outs for classes!), removed tokens in favor of 2-tier XP/Gold system... the list goes on and on and on... and I think I love it.

They're refunding all previous unlocks back into your XP pool, so I estimate I'll be spending ~150,000 XP this evening.

Check out the overview here, (http://www.hirezstudios.com/hirezwp/?p=1660) or head here for the full (long ass) patch notes. (http://hi-rez.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/297)

Only 150k xp, Spectre? I had over 480k to spend after the refund, looks like my boost's been extended a week as well. I've also come out of it with more gold remaining than I had before but I haven't bought anywhere near all the new guns/perks though I did get a fuckton.

The biggest changes I wanted are there as well, diablo. This patch is full of win even if it's still trying to get money out of me.

[Spectre-7]

I was off (almost exactly) by an order of magnitude. I estimated 150,000 and ended up with 1,503,742 or something like that... and I've spent every last cent. And now I have 15 days of boost on top of it. Yeesh.

[Ten19]

Previous to this patch I was really struggling with my enjoyment with the game. However, they made some of the classes easier to unlock and with the Technician, I really found my niche and have been enjoying the shit out of this with Brass and Lint.

[BrassGecko]

Juggernaut and indoor/outdoor tank driver are my current favorites!

[diablopath]

Oh my god yesterday's patch and today's hotfix fucked the Shrike so hard. It's entirely unusable now. =[

[diablopath]

Couple of friends and I got bored, so we put together a video of our nightly session.

As you can see, I'm still adjusting to the Shrike.

Km7PbglZRZY

[Ten19]

Anyone here really anxious to get into the beta? Just got a beta key to give out, guessing other testers will be getting one too.

[diablopath]

I got one as well. It's already easy enough to get one, as you can simply like Tribes: Ascend on Facebook and they'll give you a key.

I'm assuming that everybody who wants in will have an easy time getting in. Otherwise, post here, and I imagine we'll be able to take care of everybody.

[Ten19]

Just a heads up for anyone who isn't playing but is interested, Tribes: Ascend will be open beta starting tomorrow!

[diablopath]

The patch is cool. They finally fixed the Shrike to perfection. I got in a good hour today, and I'm much more comfortable in it.

Anybody get a chance to try out the new map? Spectre7 and I ran it today, and I thought it was pretty cool. Much bigger map, so there's more room to have fun. Speeds on it were incredible. I believe the highest speed in our game was somewhere along the lines of 560. Map kind of reminds me of Beggar's Run from Tribes: Aerial Assault.

[Spectre-7]

I'm really digging Temple Ruins... except for this jerk who keeps running me over in a Shrike. Looking forward to seeing more organized teams out there.

[diablopath]

I'm really digging Temple Ruins... except for this jerk who keeps running me over in a Shrike. Looking forward to seeing more organized teams out there.

You sided with the wrong team.

You got some good shots in on me, though. I hate chasing cappers that are willing to shoot back.

[Lint of Death]

I have not tried the new CTF map, but I did a full match of arena and it was quite cool. Winning made it extra cool, of course. They need, need, NEED a party system for that mode in order to play with friends.

[Spectre-7]

Burnt about 120,000 XP today buying extra perks and goodies. Finally decided to get my pistol back for soldier, 'cause found myself missing it as a finishing weapon. Just doesn't make a lot of sense to have both a spinfusor and a thumper, honestly.

Also did some testing with Pathfinder and the Potential Energy perk, and... Oh. My. Lord. I didn't realize the energy absorption worked on self-damage as well. Disc-jumps are fracking incredible. Will definitely have to give that a good test as flag-capper sometime.

The new maps are pretty much all good from what I've seen. Love the speed you can build up on Temple Ruins just jetting around, and the volcanic TDM map (Inferno, I think) also seems quite nice, but I don't really care for TDM much.

I'm also really impressed by the new music they've added with this update. Might need to snatch those from the game directory and slap 'em on my mp3 player.

[DoctorFinger]

Got some time in on this for the first time since the patch, and it's a totally different game. The improvements are huge, technically and in terms of gameplay.

BTW, my username is Dominus.

[Lint of Death]

BTW, my username is Dominus.

Awesome; Brass, Ten19 and myself all play quite often (and on teamspeak!). Look forward to joining ya, remember that the game cooperates splendidly with Steam overlay.

[Spectre-7]

BTW, my username is Dominus.

Added. I'll see if I can drop in on ya.

I considered submitting a news story for the open beta, but laziness overtook me. Seems like a big enough development though, doesn't it?

[diablopath]

Added. I'll see if I can drop in on ya.

I considered submitting a news story for the open beta, but laziness overtook me. Seems like a big enough development though, doesn't it?

I think so. The game has shifted majorly twice since I started the beta, so I think it's a good thing to keep others who might not be paying attention as updated as possible. I think a lot of others would be as impressed as I've been with Hirez's attention to this game.

[DoctorFinger]

I changed my game name to the usual DoctorFinger. I should be back on tonight

[BrassGecko]

I changed my game name to the usual DoctorFinger. I should be back on tonight

Let me know when you're playing, I'll probably be good to join you. I imagine same goes for Ten and Lint!

[Reverant]

Just tried this again this morning for the first time in a couple months. Holy mother loving monkeys. It's incredible. I'm buying the $50 pack tonight based on the 10 minutes this morning played alone.

Reverant is my handle.

[c0m3d14n]

i think i read in the loadingscreen gameplay tips once that you can somehow try out items before you buy them, is this correct, and if so how?

[Spectre-7]

You were previously able to check new armors out in training mode, but I think the recent patch broke it. I'd expect the funcionality to be back soon, though.

[Reverant]

Roll with me, and you roll with a hurricane:

http://i.imgur.com/68lRy.jpg

[diablopath]

Oh, baby, I'm not impressed.

Seriously, we need to set up a Tribes night. I've only played with a few of you, which is ridiculous.

[Reverant]

I'm actually only good in the fights themselves. I dedicated myself to mastering the disc launcher in the original game to the point I neglected the actual objective :p In TDM, I'm a monster. In CTF, I'm mostly useless because I only patrol the middle areas looking for someone to fight!

[c0m3d14n]

i need some pointers ^^ i have 80000 xp to spend but im not sure what i should buy.
should i buy armorupgrades or perks before aquiring new weapons? most alternative weapons seem not that different from the default ones in playstyle

[Lint of Death]

i need some pointers ^^ i have 80000 xp to spend but im not sure what i should buy.
should i buy armorupgrades or perks before aquiring new weapons? most alternative weapons seem not that different from the default ones in playstyle

Landmines for the Doombringer are gamechangers as far as playstyle goes. They, and the jammer pack for the Raider, are two of the best packs/weapons I can recommend. I imagine the new pack and grenade for the Soldier are great, but I don't have them yet. Heavy Bolt Thrower for the Doombringer is definitely solid.

[Reverant]

Whoa! That's quite a hunk of EXP. I would pimp out what you've been using most in terms of armor and weapon upgrades. I bought my Soldier the Spinfusor, which in conjunction with the Thumper DX makes it an immortal beast on the field.

[Libuke]

Got around to downloading it and playing a little bit today and had a good time. Just played TDM to get the hang of skiing and stuff like that. Still need to figure out a key binding set up I like though I think.

[Dahzer the Cosmic Fool]

well i havent played this in a long while until a few days ago and damn im enjoying it again.... we definately need to get a big group together, and what voice are we using again vent? ts3?

[DoctorFinger]

Hi-Rez has announced an official launch date of April 12. All progress made in the beta will carry over to the full release.

[Reverant]

Right now, Tribes Ascend sits around an 8/10 for me. I'm having lots of fun, and I don't regret paying $50 for the upper tier pack, but there's some things that bug me.

1. CTF is too small. T2's 64-player CTF battles felt truly epic, but TA's player count is too low to reproduce that feel.
2. Vehicles are basically non-existent. You won't see them at all for the first several minutes of gameplay because it takes time to accumulate those credits, but those credits can be used for the more immediately satisfying and useful Tactical Strike. Plus, where the hell is the bomber?
3. I hate the flag in TDM. If you have an objective in the game, it's no longer TDM. It's hard to get a decent duel going if your opponent is prone to turning tail and chasing a flag.
4. Arena mode is really awesome, and it's where I've been spending most my time. But it only has two maps, and both are on flat structures. A real Tribes duel needs terrain to feel satisfying.
5. Health regenerates too fast. It's a very simple affair to jet away from a duel like a chicken and let your health accumulate again.

[diablopath]

I find more duels in CTF than I do anywhere else. Lots of times I'll be going through the midfield, and I'll shoot at anything I pass. If somebody else stops, I'll oblige them and we engage. It's really fun, never gets old.

For me, the player count is fine, because my Tribes experience was on the PS2, which until the end, was limited at 8v8 games. We made it work and it was a lot of fun.

I don't like the fact that vehicles cost so much, especially when they're so easily destroyed.

I don't like the fact we don't have a Bomber. Or a transport.

[LordDon]

Ok, this is just amazing:

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[Lint of Death]

That's probably the greatest thing I will have seen all week, and Jon Stewart referenced Leeroy Jenkins on Wednesday.

[DoctorFinger]

New patch is out, including a new CTF map (Sunstar) and an revised map put back in rotation (Temple Ruins). Full patch notes under the tags.

Major Highlights

Sunstar, a new Capture the Flag map,has been added to the Quick Play rotation. Note that this map is not in its final design or art state.
Temple Ruins, a Capture the Flag map, has been added back to the Quick Play rotation after significant revisions. Note that this map is not in its final design or art state.
The European server region has been split into two regions in order for users to better select the region that gives them the best performance: Europe - London and Europe - Amsterdam.
The Asia server region has been split into two regions in order for users to better select the region that gives them the best performance: Asia - Japan and Asia - Singapore.
A variety of physics changes have been made in order to fix several issues impacting the fluidity of movement. This includes the elimination of several items that would cause deadstops and hitches, as well as a bug that would allow you to ski/jet along the boundary wall. Changes were also made in order to fix a few issues that would occur when traveling up steep hills. Additional improvements are planned for future releases.
A variety of improvements to server performance have been implemented. Additional improvements are planned for future patches.
Users may now choose to turn off unwanted HUD elements using the SETTINGS menu.
Reticules and HUD icons have undergone a significant polish pass.
User settings are now stored server-side. Settings may be reset as a result of this patch, but future patches should not have to reset bindings, etc.

Weapon/Balance Items

The Impact Nitron grenade will force you to drop the flag if it is used for self-damage.
Increased Heavy run speed by 20%.
Increased maximum reduction of weapon switch time on the Quick Draw perk from 20% to 50%.
Modified inheritance on the Grenade Launcher (now 50%).
The cost of the Tactical strike was increased to 4000 credits from 3500.

Additional Items

While in a match, the Class Select screen provides an indication of how many of your teammates are currently playing each class.
The new Purchase Vehicle menu now shows how many of each type of vehicles are currently spawned. The option to purchase a vehicle is locked when a max for that vehicle is reached in a match.
New Features are showcased when entering the menus.
Fixed an issue where throwing grenades or executing melee attacks in rapid succession could have the server and client get out of sync and animate strangely.
If a player picks up a dropped ammo pickup while their current weapon has zero ammo, the weapon automatically reloads the new ammo into the clip.
Made a variety of changes to weapon FX to help improve performance.
Fixed issues with Quick Draw perk where the client was not scaling the putdown/retrieve animations correctly and where the server was not switching fast enough (and leading to some dry fires).
A variety of UI-related bug fixes and improvements were implemented.
Fixed a bug that that would cause occassional “dry fires” of weapon.
Fixed a bug that would prevent you from adding or removing friends until you restarted the game client.
Fixed a bug in which the client would lock up under extended packet loss.
Fixed an issue in which information was not updating correctly on equipment page when scrolling perks.
Variety of cleanups and bug fixes to the badges system, including some adjustments to XP rewards from badges.
The end of match screen now highlights XP earned from badges during the match.
Fixed an issue where the Pathfinder’s Light Assault Rifle would fire repeatedly in a training map.
Fixed an issue where mine icons were disappearing.
Added new effects to the Shrike.
Fixed an issue where Supply Drops were able to be deployed on areas not intended.
Fixed an issue where melee attacks were causing double damage in certain situations.
Fixed an issue where melee sounds and effects were playing when no damage was done.
Fixed an issue where the Beowulf gunner was able to fire faster than intended.
Fixed an issue where firing and reloading a shotgun was allowing them to be fired faster than intended.
Fixed an issue where zoom was not being re-enabled when a player was zoomed and a reload occurred.
Fixed an issue where pushing someone to their death with Sonic Punch was not properly rewarding the kill.
Fixed an issue where players were able to either stand on or hop over the boundary wall in some maps.
Fixed an issue where the energy conduit in Nightabatic TDM did not extend all the way to the ground.
Fixed several collision issues in Outskirts TDM
Fixed an issue where friendly players and vehicles were taking damage from friendly turrets.
Fixed an issue where entering a vehicle while firing a weapon would continuously fire that weapon in training and roaming maps.
Fixed an issue where the fumbled flag post process effect wasn’t playing.
Fixed an issue where friends on the enemy team were having their marker drawn over exceptionally long distances.
Fixed an issue where player-owned deployables and projectiles were not being destroyed when becoming a spectator.
When in-scope with the Sniper Rifles using the Sentinel Class, the targeting reticule no longer color shifts to red when hovering over enemy players. Although, the reticule does continue to turn green when hovering over friendly players.
Fixed an issue where vehicle sounds would constantly play if you exited the Beowulf as the gunner while it was on fire.
Fixed an issue where there could be two flag carriers on the same team in Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag.
Fixed an issue where teams could be credited for multiple flag caps or a single flag cap if the flag carrier landed on the flag (either on-stand or out in the field) in a certain way with the Reach perk active.
Fixed an issue where the call-in confirmation sound would play but the call-in wouldn’t activate.

[Reverant]

Will they EVER add more Arena maps? My favorite mode needs some loving.

[Lint of Death]

Will they EVER add more Arena maps? My favorite mode needs some loving.

Haha, they've only had maybe 2 patches since Arena debuted? What they really need are friends list improvements to make Arena truly playable with friends. If I weren't sucked into ME3 and such right now I would definitely be playing a lot of Arena solo anyway.

[DoctorFinger]

The new map is small. I spawned practically right on top of the enemy base, and my base at the same time. It was very different from what I expect from Tribes maps. Not bad, but different.

[Spectre-7]

The Impact Nitron grenade will force you to drop the flag if it is used for self-damage.

Awww... but it was so fun tossing an Impact Nitron at the flag a quarter second before grabbing it. Combined with the Potential Energy, it made me very difficult to chase even on a llama-grab. :(

In all seriousness, there are a lot of good changes listed in there. Looking forward to testing it out.

[Spectre-7]

If someone even half-coordinated uses it, the sniper rifle ruins this game.

[DoctorFinger]

New "Smoke & Dagger" update went live today. 3 new weapons and 2 new skins for the Infiltrator, plus a new arena map (Walled In).

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The full changelog

Major Highlights

Three new weapons and two new skins have been added to the Infiltrator class. Watch the Cloak & Dagger Update Video for more.
A new Arena map, Walled In, has been added to the Quick Play rotation.
Several additional HUD features have been implemented, including:
Flag status (who is carrying the flag and timer until flag reset).
Friend Notifications when players come online/go offline.

Weapon/Balance Items

Three new weapons added for Infiltrator
Jackal: The Jackal fires up to three rounds that stick to any surface, and are remote triggered for detonation.
Throwing Knives: Throwing Knives deal impressive damage on a direct hit, and have a small splash damage radius.
Smoke Grenade: Instantly vanish without waiting the normal reveal time from taking damage or firing a weapon. In addition, remain in stealth for 2 seconds even if you take damage. Firing a weapon will still break stealth.
Adjusted visual style on Infiltrator's Prism Mines to be more in line with other mines and harder to detect at long range.
Fixed an issue where Shrike's were not taking damage from bullet projectiles at certain angles and locations.
Added improved proximity checking for deployables to prevent the Doombringer's force field from covering the flag when placed at certain angles and locations.
Pathfinder's Bolt Launcher projectile now detonates after 6 seconds of flight, reduced to match that of the Heavy Bolt Launcher and Spinfusor type weapons.
Direct-hit damage bonus reduced by roughly 4% on Pathfinder's Bolt launcher.
Increased knock-back from Pathfinder's Light Spinfusor by approx. 10% (now matches the Bolt Launcher).
Increased damage fall-off on Sentinel's BXT1 Sniper Rifle. Falloff range is 33% more aggressive, and the maximum falloff amount was increased 5%.
Improved the targeting of Call-In's when targeting terrain.

Additional Items

If a player jump/jets while already going faster in the Z axis than the jump would set, the jump no longer resets the Z-axis velocity. This fixes an issue in which a jump/jet could slow your momentum unintentionally.
Additional work has been done to eliminate some "deadstops" while skiing/jetting. Please report any remaining situations in which you stop movement suddenly and unexpectedly while skiing.
The current match is now hidden from the scoreboard when players are at the Team Selection screen. A future patch will hide additional information.
A variety of cleanups have been made to several maps.
Implemented a change intended to fix a situation in which hit/damage numbers would be delayed in appearing. Please report if you still see this issue..
Fixed an issue that would cause the flag to fall through the world in some conditions.
Fixed an issue where the Brute's Nova Colt could lose texture resolution at high speeds
A variety of backend server work has been done in preparation for future functionality.

Known Issues

Damage numbers from your turret may appear over reticule where not expected.
I haven't tried the new map yet, but I hope to later. I wonder if this means they're going to do major updates one class at a time, sort of how TF2 does them. That could be cool, but I guarantee there will be a zillion Infiltrators running around today.

[Lint of Death]

That's a sweet update, I'm just disappointed that the Infiltrator stuff is so pricey. The best 'deal' (both skins and all 3 weapons) is nearly $20 I think. The game's technically still a beta, and it's already costing so much to get what little premium-exclusive content there is.

Edit: I'm also wondering how those skins facilitate easy friend-or-foe identification, as the Infiltrator is already designed to confuse those systems somewhat.

[Acidpoptart]

I hope you are all still playing this! I am loving it. Name is Acidpoptart in game.

[Lint of Death]

I know I am!

[Reverant]

I am too.

Got to play Raindance yesterday! As a purist, I'm slightly disappointed. One thing we tend to forget about Tribes 1 is that the scale was extremely small. The view distance was very limited, and so everything was a lot closer together than in the following games. I think the scale of this Raindance is around 3x the original, meaning there's just a lot more empty space. Also, no rocket turrets! Come on...

Edit: My account name is chirz but my name in the game is Reverant. I'm not sure which you need to add someone as a friend. Anyone should feel free to hit me up in-game sometime!

[DoctorFinger]

The "Raid & Pillage" update goes live today adding 2 new skins and 3 new weapons for the Raider.

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Major Highlights

Three new weapons and two new skins have been added to the Raider class.
Players may now setup Custom Servers from inside the game menu system. Custom servers are private “rooms” for you to rent and play Tribes: Ascend in. Custom servers can be password protected. The sever administrator can choose from scores of custom rulesets to help tailor the play experience as desired.
A new Capture and Hold map has been added to the Quick Play rotation (Night Drydock).
Several improvements to player movement in networked games have been implemented. This eliminates some of the “jerkiness” while moving within the game, especially when playing at high ping.


Weapon/Balance Items

Added 3 new weapons for the Raider class:
Plasma Gun: A flexible weapon, the Plasma Gun fires massive spheres of plasma that explode on contact, with excellent rate of fire.
NJ5-B SMG: The NJ5-B has a slower rate of fire than its predecessor, but deals more damage per hit. It can also fire while in scope.
Cluster Grenade: The cluster grenade breaks apart into several smaller bomblets on detonation, each exploding for additional damage.
Add two new skins to the Raider class (Griever and Mercenary).
Increased damage on the Infiltrator’s Prism Mines by roughly 14%.
Increased damage on the Brute’s Light Sticky Grenade by 10%.
Increased damage on the Doombringer’s Heavy Bolt Launcher by roughly 7%.
Increased Technician’s Sparrow Pistol clip size by 2, adjusted starting ammo to 144.
Call-ins will no longer fully reset when being moved too quickly or hitting an invalid target location. Instead they will lose build-up time.


Custom Server Notes

Read the Custom Server FAQ.
All players may create their own custom servers under PLAY NOW | CUSTOM SERVERS | MANAGE SERVERS on the main menu.
In order to activate a custom server, you must ADD RENTAL TIME using gold. You can add additional time in 10-Day, 30-Day and 90-Day buckets.
All Custom Servers are assigned to a specific server region. You may change the assigned region at any time through the Custom Server configuration menus. The Custom Servers use the same pooled/virtual server infrastructure that is used for Quick Matches. So when a match is spun up on your Custom Server, it is done so from the shared pool of server resources available in the specific server region you chose upon server setup.
As the owner of a custom server, you may always administer your server. You may also set an ADMIN PASSWORD that other users can use to gain access to some (but not all) administrative features of your custom server.
XP and Badge Rewards
Players earn their normal Base XP on non-password protected servers.
Bonus XP is only awarded on Custom Servers when at least 6 players have been on the server at some point during a match.
No XP is awarded on custom servers that require a password.
Badges, Statistics and First Win of the Day are disabled on Custom Servers (so you do not earn progress toward badges while playing on Custom Servers).


Additional Items

Match-making and backfilling logic has been improved to make it easier to get into matches with your friends (additional improvements planned for future releases).
An issue where weapons could dry-fire if fired immediately after switching has been fixed.
Perks are visually represented as implant chips within the main menu.
Fixed an issue where players could sometimes appear to be jetpacking after a death.
Fixed an issue where the Infiltrator’s Jackal would not perform an inactive reload if all of the rounds had been detonated and if the player switched weapons before the reload completed.
Fixed an issue where the first-person weapon and body and mesh could jolt and pop while jetpacking.
Fixed issues with the Determination perk not working properly.
Fixed an issue where mines were being activated by friendlies in custom servers with friendly fire enabled.
Fixed an issue where the Brute's Nova Colt and Sentinel's Nova Blaster could fire an extra shot if the clip was emptied rapidly.
Reworked a bit of the spawn point rotation logic by fixing an issue where players would not respawn at certain spawn points.
Fixed an issue where the announcer voices would sometimes abruptly cut out.
Reworked spawn locations for Capture and Hold maps so that base-owned spawn locations are slightly further away from the captured base.
The flagstand on CTF Temple Ruins has been moved back to its original position.
Vehicles will now have proper marker coloring if a friend is in the vehicle.
Fixed an issue where throwing a grenade and then meleeing (or vice versa) would cause you to throw an extra grenade or melee again.
Fixed an issue where mines were able to be pushed around by vehicles, this was visual-only and had no affect on gameplay.
Fixed an issue where player deployables weren’t able to be properly placed in certain situations, resulting in ammo consumption when it wasn’t deployed.
Resolved an issue on Sunstar where players could get outside the map boundary.
The servers will be down for a few hours while the update is pushed.

[Reverant]

Plasma gun, eh? Almost forgot about that one. That's real staple of the original games.

These constant updates for new guns makes me wish I could refund my gold. I honestly hadn't expected to see all these new weapons drop when I used it all up in the beta. I'm not sure if they added that firing range mode that lets you test weapons yet, but I certainly didn't have it back then. I had to blow real money to find out how those weapons operated.

The more I think about it, the more it irritates me. I'm a good player, and I have VIP and the exp boost, but it still takes a lot of playing to unlock a single weapon. I feel like unlocking weapons is like paying for talent points in an MMO, and instead of respeccing you pay more money to unlock the talents you wanted.

[diablopath]

Match-making and backfilling logic has been improved to make it easier to get into matches with your friends (additional improvements planned for future releases).

This is the biggest issue in this game among my friends and I. We have had some serious issues since the game came out of beta getting in games together, which really just ruins the experience. I'm not so worried about always being on the same team as them, at least for a round or two, because it is actually a lot of fun to grief the fuck out of your pals. But dammit, multiplayer gaming for me now is a social thing, not a competitive thing. If I can't play with my friends, I don't want to bother. This game needs a party system so bad it hurts.

[Lint of Death]

The game especially needs a party system for Arena.

Capture and Hold is SO MUCH FUN. I love it. The new Raider stuff, including the Griever skin, is excellent. I might still prefer the ARX Buster, since I love destroying buildings, but the plasma gun is easier to use when destroying things at long range. The new SMG is wonderful, and I haven't tried the new grenade yet because I prefer blowing up generators.

[Spectre-7]

Figures that I finally burned 100,000 XP on the stupid Juggernaut's MG, and they go and release new weapons for the Raider. Looks like I've got some grinding to do.

...and yeah, Capture & Hold is a lot of fun, so much so that it's actually become my go-to game recently. It's more like hopping into a good deathmatch game, and you don't feel quite as screwed if your team is totally out to lunch.

[DoctorFinger]

Tried to play a game this morning and was absolutely annihilated by the new Raider gun.

I spent some money last night to try and spec up my Tech and Sentinel, and it made a big difference. I'm holding off spending more gold until there's something I clearly want, but with how much I've been playing it was money well spent.

[Reverant]

I do like C&H more than CTF so far. I am, and always will be, a duelist at heart, so CTF's emphasis on avoiding conflict and guarding the flag generally disappoints me. So far, I'd rank the modes Arena > C&H > TDM > CTF.

It's pretty obvious at this point that Hi-Rez has no intention to let players mod the game the way they want (who'd pay then?!), but I'm optimistic that they'll allow custom maps at some point. Custom mappers come up with the craziest and best maps.

[digitalErich]

They should just make a TAC mode. That would silence probably 60% of the people clamoring for mods.

[DoctorFinger]

What's TAC?

[Reverant]

Team Aerial Combat implies air vehicles with a teamwork aspect, which T:A does not have. No bomber, no transport (or LPC / HPC for T1 TAC vets). People want mods because the majority of T1 players played mods as the main game, and virtually all at least dabbled in them. I think T2 was similar, but to a lesser extent. Really, we want what we remember loving... and for many, it's the mods and custom maps. And private servers.

I think I speak for a lot of guys that have stuck with Tribes since the late 90s when I say I really enjoy the game that I paid for in Tribes:Ascend, but there are glaring omissions and limitations compared to the first two that we hope Hi-Rez addresses in their next title.

[Reverant]

What's TAC?

TAC is a Tribes 1/2 mod. It stands for Team Aerial Combat, and the premise was the ground killed you instantly, so teams had to do battle with each other in the air with various vehicles. I didn't get much TAC2, but in T1's TAC there were a couple objective types, like CTF and C&H. It was very team oriented. Solo players were almost worthless.

I think it'd be a very easy mode to add if Hi-Rez programmed in the proper vehicles. Not sure if you played T2, but T:A is missing the two big air vehicles.

[Spectre-7]

That plasma gun is annoying as shit to play against. I've never been hit so many times in mid-air by so many different players, and the thing only takes three hits to kill a soldier at full health. That's healthy to dead in just under a second, give or take.

[Spectre-7]

Hey, they have stats now!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/30744812/TribesStats_20120425.jpg

Anyone else care to share?

[digitalErich]

Honestly, I might take bigger games (# of players) over mods, at least in the short term.

[diablopath]

I can't take screen shots of my screen for whatever reason. I post it over into paint and it's just a black image. I don't feel like troubleshooting that right now.

I will say this:

Damn, Spectre. We're about even, but you blow my midair count out of the water. If only Shrike roadkills counted as midairs...

[Spectre-7]

I can't take screen shots of my screen for whatever reason. I post it over into paint and it's just a black image. I don't feel like troubleshooting that right now.

I had the same problem. Went into options and switched to windowed mode, and voila!

Damn, Spectre. We're about even, but you blow my midair count out of the water. If only Shrike roadkills counted as midairs...

Oh, you and your rascally vehicular manslaughter. Ouch.

Honestly, I've been trying to focus on tracking airborne targets better since I started Ascend, and I seem to average about 2 blue plate specials a round, but I still feel like I'm missing constantly. It's infuriating how many discs I watch go wizzing by. Damn difficult business, and I'd love to be more consistent... might just start spending more time in the shooting range again.

[Lint of Death]

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/540673906657572124/5B599F9DC44D7A18A1B8D9787FB4D625F3AD119C/

Spectre I feel like teasing you about having played 124 matches and only destroying 4 generators. C'mon, man, blow that shit up! I've got you beat by more than 10x per hour :p

Also, the flag defense/capture stats are clearly bugged.

[Spectre-7]

Spectre I feel like teasing you about having played 124 matches and only destroying 4 generators. C'mon, man, blow that shit up! I've got you beat by more than 10x per hour :p

I blew up 4 gens? I wonder how that happened... must've accidentally blasted 'em while trying to flush out a flag-carrier. ;)

Also, the flag defense/capture stats are clearly bugged.

Oh, good call. I didn't even notice.

[DoctorFinger]

Looks like the complaints about the new Raider plasma gun were pretty universal. Weapon/Balance Items

Increased damage on Brute’s Heavy Spinfusor by roughly 7%.
Modified the Pathfinder's Light Assault Rifle so that it has an increased projectile speed and fall-off begins at a greater distance (buffed). Projectile speed now matches that of the Soldier’s Assault Rifle.
Reduced the collision size of Raider’s Plasma Gun projectile by roughly 40%. The weapon’s damage and rate of fire remain the same.

Bug Fixes

Fixed an issue that impacted the ability of the Shrike to fly vertically.
Fixed an issue in which the First Win of the Day bonus was not being awarded in some scenarios.
Fixed an issue that would prevent a player from deploying deployables.
Recently earned badges are now shown correctly on the profile page.
Several bug fixes and cleanups on the menu UI.

[Lint of Death]

Fixed an issue in which the First Win of the Day bonus was not being awarded in some scenarios.

... E.g., losing? :o

[Joshkdmw]

Y'all can add me up. Name's Joshkdmw, Pathfinder supreme and owner of all but one class.

[Hotcod]

So gave this game a go at long last last night and I'm actually really enjoying it, enough that I dropped some money for gold early on to unlock the classes I was more interested in playing. Which I'm glad I did, I'm alight at the straight up fighting but it turns out my place in the game is likely as a base/flag defence tech. Played a few hours tonight and was always near the top of the score board :) What's a bit funny is that I'm actually doing rather good in toe to toe combat, the techs SMG is actually rather damn cool and while I'm sure i'll unlock the thumper at some point but I do more chasing of flag carriers than I do indoor fighting.

[DoctorFinger]

all they need now is a party system and maybe voice chat

[Reverant]

all they need now is a party system and maybe voice chat

...and it's ready for XBL! :p

[diablopath]

Yeah, but seriously, it needs a fucking party system.

My friends and I, on some nights, spend maybe 20 minutes trying to get into a game together.

[Lint of Death]

all they need now is a party system and maybe voice chat

I'm totally with you on the party system, but I'd prefer everyone use the in-game VGS instead of implementing mics. I enjoy the voice acting and the VGS system's efficiency (much faster to activate the relevant voice command than actually say it in most cases). For the people I want to talk to I'll be on TeamSpeak with them, for the others I'd honestly prefer to never hear them.

[diablopath]

Has any game ever done voice chat correctly? We just use Skype. It's clean and easy.

[Spectre-7]

Has any game ever done voice chat correctly?

Yeah, every game Valve has ever released.

[Joshkdmw]

Yeah, every game Valve has ever released.

I don't remember the voice chat being very good in Half-Life. Hell, Freeman never talked at ALL.

[Reverant]

I don't remember the voice chat being very good in Half-Life. Hell, Freeman never talked at ALL.

I was tempted to go there. Glad someone else did it for me :D

[Spectre-7]

The original Half-Life is the reason I made the comment. It had online multiplayer with dedicated servers out of the box, and added in-game voice communication around September, 2001. As a result, mods that ran on GoldSrc (Half-Life's engine) also supported voice chat natively, including Counter-Strike, TFC, Day of Defeat, Firearms, Opera, Action Half-Life, etc.

[Joshkdmw]

The original Half-Life is the reason I made the comment. It had online multiplayer with dedicated servers out of the box, and added in-game voice communication around September, 2001. As a result, mods that ran on GoldSrc (Half-Life's engine) also supported voice chat natively, including Counter-Strike, TFC, Day of Defeat, Firearms, Opera, Action Half-Life, etc.

I object on the grounds that it's ruinous to my goof.

[Spectre-7]

New patch going live today.

Tribes Ascend Version 1.0.961.0 (Tartarus Update)
Tribes: Ascend Version 1.0.961.0 (the Tartarus Update) is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, May 8. The servers will be down for several hours while the update is applied.

Major Highlights:
A new CTF map has been added, Tartarus.
A new Arena map has been added, Hinterlands.
Users may now configure up to four pre-established loadouts (or profiles) per class. These can be used to more quickly switch between favored configurations for each class. Loadout slots are purchasable using XP or Gold.
Users may now QUICK SWITCH between classes and loadouts while in a match using the “ENTER” key on the numpad (default). This is an alternate way to change classes/loadouts versus using the Class Select menu ("I" Screen) that does not require you to open the game menu and is much faster.
Users will now be presented with a customized “DEAL OF THE DAY.” This is a deal tailored to the individual and presents special pricing on an item that the user does not already own. The timer for the deal of the day resets at the same time as the timer for the First Win of the Day.
The gold packages have been changed. The $30 and $50 packages now give significantly more bonus gold than previous, but do not include an XP booster. Users continue to earn permanent VIP status (which increases XP gain by 50% after their first real-money purchase).
IMPORTANT USABILITY NOTE: With this release, you always close the console window using the ESCAPE key. You can no longer close the console window using the same key that launches the console (default “tilde”). This is necessary to solve issues when people rebind that key, as well as on some countries’ keyboard layouts.

Weapon/Balance Items:
Shrike price reduced on public servers to 4000.
Beowulf price reduced on public servers to 2500.
Gravcycle price reduced on public servers to 500.
Reduced the amount of knockback the flag receives from explosions in air (reducing punting).
New Accolades have been added:
Investor: Earned every 2 minutes that a Base Radar or Generator that you upgraded remains online.
Turret Support: Earned if a Base Turret you upgraded gets a kill.
Hot Air: Earned for getting a mid-air kill with the Plasma Gun. (Replaces Air-Mail).
An exit speed cap of 200kph has been added to the Shrike.
Fixed an issue in which the Pathfinder’s Thrust Pack could sometimes not correctly thrust the player.
Fixed an issue in which the Pathfinder’s Light Assault Rifle was not always firing three rounds.

Custom Server Notes:
XP is now rewarded on password protected servers so long as at least 8 people participate in a match.
Server owners can now choose between multiple spawn types. This includes Normal spawning, Naked Pathfinder, and Core spawning (Pathfinder, Soldier, and Juggernaut with unlocks).
Fixed a bug in which configuration options would not be saved properly in some cases. This audio/video settings, custom servers, etc.
Fixed a bug in which servers would go offline and require a manual restart after the overall game servers were restarted.
Variety of other minor cleanups and fixes.

Additional Items:
Fixed an issue where the jet-only option for a keybind was jump jetting instead.
Fixed an issue where the whiteout grenade could cause the permanent loss of IFF’s in certain situations.
Deaths from hitting a player equipped with the Super Heavy perk will now play a splat sound.
Fixed an issue where projectile explosion sounds and effects wouldn’t play in certain situations in close-quarter combat.
Fixed an issue where inventory and vehicle stations weren’t properly updated when the generator went online or offline.
Fixed an issue where meleeing while zoomed could cause the zoomed-in reticule to still be active after you released the zoom button.
Fixed an issue where throwing a grenade while spawning a vehicle could leave the player without weapons.
Fixed an issue where the firing sound would not properly stop on constant-fire weapons after a reload.
Fixed an issue where de-cloaking with a call-in active would display the wrong active call-in information.
Fixed an issue where reloading a weapon while zoomed would not properly resume zooming when the reload had finished.
Vehicle stations have been added to Outskirts Capture and Hold.
Fixed an issue where vehicle station markers were not displaying in Capture and Hold.
Fixed an issue where player input wasn’t being properly reset at the end of a round in Arena.
Fixed a client crash when placing deployables (i.e. Doombringer’s Force Field, Technician’s Light Turret, etc) in certain areas when roaming.
Fixed an issue where players weren’t able to place a deployable on certain areas of the flag stand of Katabatic.
Fixed various UI presentation bugs.
Performance optimizations done on Arx Novena aqueducts.
Fixed an issue with the voting keybinds, they have now been restored to their previous values (F5 for no, F6 for yes).

[Reverant]

The original Half-Life is the reason I made the comment. It had online multiplayer with dedicated servers out of the box, and added in-game voice communication around September, 2001. As a result, mods that ran on GoldSrc (Half-Life's engine) also supported voice chat natively, including Counter-Strike, TFC, Day of Defeat, Firearms, Opera, Action Half-Life, etc.

I object on the grounds that it's ruinous to my goof.

Oh. I thought we were joking about the fact that we didn't have jack shit in 1998.

New patch going live today.

This is my first F2P game so maybe I'm just paranoid, but Hi-Rez really seems to be doing its best to pump money out of players.

[diablopath]

This is my first F2P game so maybe I'm just paranoid, but Hi-Rez really seems to be doing its best to pump money out of players.

Really? I don't feel this way at all. I bought a $30 pack when I first started playing that gave me enough gold and boost to get/earn what I want. I now have pretty much everything unlocked, and everything I play is upgraded.

They do really well about putting patches out and adding content. Seems to be once every 2-3 weeks at this point. That, btw, is all free.

So, I think they're doing a swell job.

[Reverant]

I do understand all that. But I can't help but see that despite having both paid XP bonuses, the XP accumulation is so slow that I feel paying for big items is the only viable option. I won't accuse them of stringing me along or anything so drastic, but I feel somewhat disappointed in regards to the payment method. Heck, if they asked me to pay $60 or 70 upfront for all content ever, I probably would have.

But again, I am new to the F2P system.

[AntonThaGreat]

As a Pathfinder who hasn't paid a penny for Tribes, I often end up in the top 3 players of the match, so I feel like they aren't really trying to push me into giving them money.

If I played more often than I do and more competively I would probably shell out money for the sweet perks and equipment... but I can get along just fine without it, which is key here.

[digitalErich]

You assume that everyone else's ultimate goal is to top the score list. Some people play just to have fun, and part of that fun for a lot of people, myself included, is switching classes and roles on the fly. Sometimes it's to help the team, other times just for variety. If I finish well, bonus.

I think the game is priced pretty fairly, but I can see were Rev might be coming from.

[AntonThaGreat]

You assume that everyone else's ultimate goal is to top the score list. Some people play just to have fun, and part of that fun for a lot of people, myself included, is switching classes and roles on the fly. Sometimes it's to help the team, other times just for variety. If I finish well, bonus.

I think the game is priced pretty fairly, but I can see were Rev might be coming from.

I switch roles once in a blue. I have a few classes unlocked. Even some upgrades for classes I play infrequently. All of this was for free after a few hours of play. I still don't see the issue, really.

My point is you don't need to pay to have fun or play successfully.

[Lint of Death]

I consider the prices fair, but I have a different perspective than most. I think of the weapons, belt items, and utility packs as analogous to purchasable characters in League of Legends: every time you buy one, you're buying a new way to play the game, oftentimes a dramatically new way. Plasma Guns, Land Mines, and Jammer Packs, to name one from each category, each cater to fundamentally different playstyles from the base classes so the prices make sense when I compare them to other games.

[DoctorFinger]

vJXIzoIZ6UY

Yay, new update time! The 'Staying Alive' update focuses on the Brute, a class I personally don't play very much. Although the new Gladiator weapon may get me into that role more often.

Major Highlights

Three new weapons have been added to the Brute class. Watch the Staying Alive Update video for additional information.
A “Watch Now” option has been added to the main menu. From this menu, you can view Featured Live Streams of Tribes from TwitchTV, as well as watch Featured YouTube Videos from Hi-Rez and the Community.
Players that have an active booster will be awarded 1,200 XP daily (at approximately 10:00 GMT). This is on top of your booster’s regular rewards.


NOTE: Upon installation of this patch, a small pre-requisite program will be run by the Tribes Launcher. This is an update to the game’s embedded browser in order to enable the “Watch Now” functionality.

Weapon/Balance Items


Added 3 new weapons for the Brute class:

The Gladiator fires a charged round that sticks to walls and releases multiple shockwaves. Detonates instantly in a focused blast if it hits an enemy.
The Plasma Cannon is the big brother to the Plasma Gun, firing balls of energy that explode on contact.
The Survival Pack increases maximum energy pool by 15, and can be modified for extra health and run speed, and energy regeneration.

The Rage Perk now grants 35% mass reduction against knockback while the player is enraged. (More powerful disk jumping).
Increased the distance from the flag the Rage Perk will activate by 33%.
Added an invulnerability timer to vehicle spawns, 2.25s from the time the vehicle spawns in.
Reduced collision size on Raider’s Plasma Gun projectile by roughly 12%.
Reduced damage on Infiltrator’s Jackal by roughly 4%.
Increased damage on Soldier’s Proximity Grenade by roughly 3%.

Additional Items


Fixed an issue in which some accolades were not showing up on the Profile screen.
Fixed an issue in which a deploying mine could be detonated obsolete by their owner.
Fixed an issue in which players could lose weapons when placing a deployable in certain high-lag situations.
Fixed an issue in which players in a passenger seat could be teleported into a vehicle they spawned, breaking several gameplay mechanics.
Fixed a bug in Team Deathmatch in which you could spawn on a “third” team.
Fixed an issue where players with the Pilot perk equipped could change teams instantly while they were in a vehicle.
Fixed an issue in which the game console could open while you were in the in-game web-browser.
Fixed an issue where swapping the Saber Launcher to a Repair Tool was still trying to target other players.
Players can only suicide once every five seconds.
Fixed an issue where deploying mines and then walking over them was causing them to explode.
Fixed an issue where the flag could sometimes “hop” as it came to a stop when thrown on a hill.
Fixed an issue where sticky projectiles could stick and explode targets differently between server and client.

[Lint of Death]

Fuck! Just, like, three friggin' days after I started playing again and their goddamn sales of the day got me to spend some of the gold I saved up! :mad: