Engineer's Link Gun Fire Rate

I am concerned that adding Engineers will have increased the amount of network traffic. Giving people an infinite weapon means they fire it a lot more.
So whereas players like AMs and WMS will be using Flaks or Rocket Launchers, firing a low number of projectiles per second, Engineers will be using their links and firing at around 13 projectiles per second. More when beserking.
So put 4 engineers together, and you have an awful lot of projectiles.

So I am proposing a simple change. Half the fire rate of the Engineer Link, but double the damage. Overall the damage done will be the same, but the network load should be significantly less.

Thoughts?

I know where you are coming from but I'd rather have it be the same as it is right now. I prefer to have more shots that do less damage because then you have a higher percentage of hits. a slow fire makes it miss more and a high damage is no good if you can't land the hit. + I know alot of people don't like that the alt fire does alot more damage even with a shorter range so adding more damage to the regular fire link would make even more mad... or make those mad even madder.

is the issue with server traffic that we are getting close to going over the allowed traffic or that slowdown is being experienced?

Trooper wrote:

is the issue with server traffic that we are getting close to going over the allowed traffic or that slowdown is being experienced?

When the action gets really intense some people do not see ANY projectiles. So we are well over.

When you are firing a weapon and not seeing the projectiles, and when you don't see the titan rocks coming at you, it gets a little frustrating.

Trooper wrote:

.... I know alot of people don't like that the alt fire does alot more damage even with a shorter range so adding more damage to the regular fire link would make even more mad...

I am not proposing increasing the overall damage done by the primary link fire. Double the damage but half the fire rate. Essentially the same net damage.

It was just an idea. It is not a show stopper one way or the other. Just trying to do what I can to make the game more playable for everyone.

I actually like the idea being as wep speed and dam bonus are usually the first things maxed by engineers (automatic inf wep duh !)
I'll be the first to admit I spam like heck with my engineer (more than with my Medic by far) not sure about the -50/+50 though how bout -25/+25 to start either way it will cut down on the link spam
after playing UT3 at BBS I was going to suggest bounce weapons (They are FUN) but cause an incredible amount of spam (link of bounce 10 and max ammo regen goes on forever)
and please no crying about nerfing the engineers.They peak much sooner than any other class (I'm scoring 1000+ consistently without trying too hard)

thanks for all the hard work Szlat

I set it to double damage half speed on a test server. And it just doesn't feel right. My head tells me its doing the same damage, and the monsters fall, but the thud...thud...thud of the link when beserking just makes me want to scream faster faster. I want thudthudthudthud.

So I don't think the half speed will work. I'll try the three quarter speed, with a third extra damage and see if that is better.

Szlat wrote:

I set it to double damage half speed on a test server. And it just doesn't feel right. My head tells me its doing the same damage, and the monsters fall, but the thud...thud...thud of the link when beserking just makes me want to scream faster faster. I want thudthudthudthud.

So I don't think the half speed will work. I'll try the three quarter speed, with a third extra damage and see if that is better.

My two cents: A change like this would be better accepted if you weren't giving someone a weapon whose functionality is known, and a weapon whose "feel" is designed for a faster firing rate.

Change the appearance of the weapon (maybe use the UT2003 link gun) and the sound effects, and it will probably feel a lot better.

Even at 3/4 speed it doesn't feel right. So I am abandoning this thought. It was an idea, but will never take off.

Its not going to feel right because you are used to it.
I don't think it is the link guns that are pushing the bandwidth limits.

In fact do you know if the "invisible boulder issue" is really related to DC's bandwidth and not a individuals network connection?

Also doesn't the flack use more bandwidth anyway...each shot fires about 5-10 projectiles that bounce off of the wall.

What if you go more subtle with 90% speed and 10% db...not enough for anyone to notice a major change, but can make a difference in shots fired when many engineers are on.

Ok, take the idea and apply it to something not player controlled.

Half speed + Double damage on regular offensive sents. Nobody will feel the difference, it will cut down traffic _some_ (not a ton, but it will help, no?). They should get the exact same DPS because they autotrack anyway.

Lt.Crumpet wrote:

Ok, take the idea and apply it to something not player controlled.

Half speed + Double damage on regular offensive sents. Nobody will feel the difference, it will cut down traffic _some_ (not a ton, but it will help, no?). They should get the exact same DPS because they autotrack anyway.

I don't think it would be a significant gain since usually there are not as many offensive sents out in later waves compared to engineers firing their link guns.
There are no true statistics, but I estimate that only 1 of 5 engineers will have a offensive sent out in the later waves.

@szlat: How does reflection work with metal monsters? does a portion of the reflected shot get absorbed, or is it there a probability of absorption? If the later, wouldn't slowing down the rate of fire reduce the effectiveness of the weapon against metal monsters? If a metal titan only needs one more hit, and there is a 10% chance of absorption, then getting 10 shots out would be better than getting 5 more powerful shots.

Also flies are tough to shoot with a slow link gun.

kill sents have a bad accuracy rate too... that would be some of the problem with that idea... a heavy hit is only good if you can land it.