[MSE_Karen]

As a Free to Play game, Spacelords welcomes lots of new players who try the game for the first time every day. Most players are curious about Spacelords unique features and gameplay, but inevitably there are some who decide it is not a game for them, and quit the match. That’s perfectly fine -you can’t please everybody- but the rest of the team will be left in a disadvantage, having to face the invading factions and maybe even an Antagonist with an understrength squad.

It may be also the case that players lose their connection to the game, and while they try to reconnect their teammates would struggle to achieve the mission’s objectives. Well, no more. The Cortez family comes to the rescue!

When the SpaceGuilds update goes live, if a player disconnects from a game one of Cortez’s brothers will teleport into the fray, taking the player’s place. Far from being mere AIs, the Cortez bros are quite capable allies, able to hold their ground against the toughest enemies. Moreover, when they are killed, their demise won’t detract from the Raiders’ lives pool. Of course, if the missing players reconnect to the game, they will rejoin the fight and Cortez’s brothers will teleport back to the Beluga.



We reckon this is a useful (and fun!) new feature that will help solving a recurrent but unavoidable problem. We hope you enjoy it and look forward hearing what you think of it in the Spacelords Official Forum, Twitter and Facebook.

See you on the Broke… Wait, what? Didn’t you know Cortez had brothers? Didn’t we mention that before? And what are those rumours saying that Dr. Kuzmann was seen leaving Cortez’s dormitory with his toothbrush in a medical sample container? 

[pululon]

This is fucking amazing XD

now let us play with these guys in the practice mode XD

[Placelord]

IMO the lack of minimap and radar is a key feature that goes towards making this game unique. I don't think I would have familiarized myself with the arenas as organically if I was compelled to rely on a HUD element to assess my environment.

Also it gives the player's a whole additional "Sense" (for lack of a better word). It's going to have an impact on the core interaction.

I think the gameplay, as is, is solid. The problems are all quality of life. The stuff that makes new players lose interest. What we need in the next patch is to cut down trolls, timesinks and encourage cooperative play.

Make voice chat default or prompt players to use it.
Make cutscenes skip based on votes.
Make the rewards screens skippable or parred down.
Allow people to surrender without penalty if the half or more disconnect and/or the match has gone on for over 45 mins.
Don't end matches when the antag disconnects.

These are all serious barriers to this game being widely adopted. Most gamers will just quit out the first or second time they lose 15 minutes getting thrashed or doing nothing. This feature just isn't a worthwhile addition when there are real gains to be had

[PohtHehd]

IMO the lack of minimap and radar is a key feature that goes towards making this game unique. I don't think I would have familiarized myself with the arenas as organically if I was compelled to rely on a HUD element to assess my environment.

Also it gives the player's a whole additional "Sense" (for lack of a better word). It's going to have an impact on the core interaction.

I think the gameplay, as is, is solid. The problems are all quality of life. The stuff that makes new players lose interest. What we need in the next patch is to cut down trolls, timesinks and encourage cooperative play.

Make voice chat default or prompt players to use it.
Make cutscenes skip based on votes.
Make the rewards screens skippable or parred down.
Allow people to surrender without penalty if the half or more disconnect and/or the match has gone on for over 45 mins.
Don't end matches when the antag disconnects.

This feature just isn't a worthwhile addition when there are real gains to be had

Here I will chronologically rescind your points.
-Yes, you would still get to know the maps. You would still be playing the game. This makes no sense.
-Having an impact on the core interaction is the point, you goof.
-I have voice chat on. The only time someone has used it with me was to say a lot of horrible things. I will probably mute anyone who tries to talk to me now, I'm good enough that I don't need their yapping in my ear.
-Cutscenes are loading screens, just like the Cortez rewards screen. They could just get rid of them and add a Spacelords splash screen with the word "Loading" if you want, but then you'd probably be like "Why does this game have loading screens? They should be pared down." If someone wants to enjoy a cutscene fully, I don't see why I should care. No one is forcing anyone to stare at the screen while they play out.
-Man, I..do not run into a situation very often where I have been in any match for more than 30 minutes, let alone 45 minutes. Surrendering should always give a penalty. What? Surrendering is bad, it means you're bad at the game. It shouldn't be a get-out-of-jail-free card.
-Why..not end the match when an Antagonist disconnects..? It is my reward for solidly stomping their face into the ground so hard they quit like a coward. Like a surrendering coward.
-Uh, wrong dude. The addition of Cortez addresses a major issue in the game and it does it in an awesome way. Now when lowbies jump ship I get to play with FUCKING CORTEZ. How is this not something to you? Jesus Christ. And the Raid-ar is cool. Now I can easily see when Elites have spawned even if I'm not looking in that direction and now Local antagonists will have to be extra stealth and Wardogs can attract attention easier, which are the main points of those factions being emboldened. Win-win-win.
---------
Also,

Guys, we just got fucking CORTEZ and y'all still bitchin' bout' shit.

Come on, now.

Are you kidding me?

We just got CORTEZ HOLYSHIT and he has brothers, what the fuck?

Ah, shit, now I got the hype train going.

Bless you, MSE.

KUZMANNNNNNNNNN

A lore reader's bane.

[Level9Drow]

This...is...AWESOME!!!! I cannot wait!

[XjabberwockieX]

I absolutely love the Cortez bro addition. Can't wait to see it in action when someone disconnects.

[Ac3_f4ce]

I didnt want Cortez as a playable Character, I liked him as the pilot. This is genius! You put him on the board but kept him as an NPC. Good job MSE!

Also 3 things.

1. Who doesn't want to win matches when an Antag quits? There nothing more satisfying than  going on a rare bp mission, an anatag jumping in, then winning said match only 5 mins in and getting your rare BP because you obliterated the Antag. (that was a mouthful)

2. I too, do not care for the "Raid-ar". It only really benefits Raiders.

3. How is this not a worthwhile addition to the game? This addresses one of the most devastating problems in this game. Rage-quitting/disconnects. If Cortez is as strong as the they say this will encourage players to play through mentor matches and Antag missions where players are known for rage quitting/disconnecting. This Feature can greatly improve the player moral across the board, and make the game more enjoyable for new players.

[Tekato]

Does this mean we might be able to use one of these brother's as a raider in the future?

[Placelord]

To Pohthehd: Yeah I dig Cortez, but I'm posting here because I'd like the devs to see my valid concerns. The main one being how much of a barrier to new players the current system can be.

So, on to your rebuttals. You say my point makes no sense. UI does have a measurable effect on a player's experience.
https://youtu.be/FzOCkXsyIqo

If the rewards sequence serves as a load screen then why do I have to wait an average of 3 minutes through a load screen after the rewards screen to get back to that main menu?

You say no one is forcing me to wait. They literally are doing just that. Whenever someone chooses to watch the cutscenes there's a good chance some teammates will just quit out.

You say you don't ever get matches that go over 30 minutes. Good for you. But it happens and when it does it significantly reduces my desire to keep playing. I don't have a lot of time after work to game and I'm not going to want to waste it making little to no progress.

An average hour of play might net me one and a half matches if I'm lucky and that's not accounting for the quality of said matches. When the in game purchases are this expensive that hind of return rate is not hopeful.

And finally the chat. Yeah you use it. But over the course of 4 weeks of play I haven't run into a single player with chat on. In a game that requires coordination and strategy with no communication among players is fundamentally broken. I have to just pray that people magically get on the same page or resign myself to another lost half hour of frustration.

You seem to be having a great time, and good for you. I want people to have a positive experience with this game. I want the population to be plentiful and prosperous. But the fact is that to enjoy this game the player has to put up with a lot of bullcrap that most people won't have the patience for.

Just invalidating these points outright in such a dismissive manner isn't doing anything to improve the experience. It's just going to make less people want to look elsewhere. That is unless you like waiting upwards of 10 minutes to get into matches

[Level9Drow]

Guys, do you know what this means? When a level 1 Harec disconnects he will be replaced by a competent Cortez brother. OMG so EXCITED! Because we all know the AI ally will be better than glass J.I. Joe Harec.

This distant ones have heard my cries online and have answered my prayers.

[PohtHehd]

That is unless you like waiting upwards of 10 minutes to get into matches

Hahaha..haha..dude..

What would you say if I told you I have waited a whole hour for a match? Granted this was back in my MMR 0 days. To pass the time I did what I do when I wait for cutscenes to end: read, go around the 'net and smoke.

If you find what I said to be invalidating your opinions then you might consider that what I am saying is actually strong evidence to the contrary of those opinions.

Also, you have not said how totally sweet Cortez is with conviction so I am starting to suspect you're a spy after my everlasting gobstopper formula.

[Level9Drow]

Well, to be fair to both of you I think the queue is slow at any MMR that has the least amount of players. So it's probably a bell curve with the middle having the most players and the ends having the least. You will probably get the most quickest queue times at about 30 to 50%.

[Urgehal]

Yooooooooooooooooooooooo!

This kicks ass, you guys rock MSE! Love this idea on multiple levels, can't wait lol 

[PohtHehd]

Well, to be fair to both of you I think the queue is slow at any MMR that has the least amount of players. So it's probably a bell curve with the middle having the most players and the ends having the least. You will probably get the most quickest queue times at about 30 to 50%.

We weren't discussing queue times.

I was shutting down a spammer who wasn't getting enough attention so they came here to vomit their diatribe of nonsense because it was a thread with a MSE name attached to it.

[LoganMaze]

OMG this gave me a good laugh! thanks for the update, its both helpful (a lot) and funny.