New Player Feedback

[vladimzap]

Heyho,

I thought a new players perspective might be of interest to some people.

I've actively participated in five matches so far; this is my only experience in SS13.

Maps I've played on as a PFC Marine:

Ice
Big Red x2
Prison x2

The outcome so far has always been a Xeno victory, same with the rounds I've spectated.

Some thoughts:

Positive: Good initial tutorial on the wiki; I was able to fee reasonably useful as a PFC (but so far I got the impression that you need to use a shotgun to be effective in combat)
Positive: I like the pacing in the beginning of a round; having some time to prepare and do light RP is nice before the first landing
Positive: people generally seem to play their roles well; medical saved my ass more than once and command does... the best it can with a bunch of internet randos.

Negative: I strongly dislike the chokepoint fights that are quite common; I tend to stick to the second line (less chance of fucking up as a newbie) but that often means the only thing I'm doing is watching because of the danger of FF
Negative but personal preference: Prison Map - having so many marines charge down 2-3 tile wide corridors really isn't much fun

Neutral since it could be seen as plus or minus depending on your preferences: I find two things about the RP pretty cringy - on the marine side it's the whole pretending to go in blind thing, leading to the same awkward dancing around certain issues like vents or facehuggers in chat each round. Personally I would prefer an update of the setting to give the marines general knowledge of the xenos to act on once they are encountered. The second thing is even more irrelevant, but hearing the queen mention mention "Tallhosts" and "TComms" or "CIC" in the same sentence feels cringy to the extent that it bothers me even as a dead marine. (I mean the marines at least pretend RP, don't they?)

Overall I have to say that from my perspective all rounds have played out the same: land on the planet and fail to accomplish much > evac to the ship > aliens wreck everything on the ship.
I'm not sure if the marines ever win planetside, but it sure feels like everything we did down there in the rounds I've played was pointless - things feel... predictable.
This point is the biggest reason making me doubt that I'll join many more matches, even though I really like the concept of SS13 CM.

Anyways, this isn't the most comprehensive review/feedback ever, I just wrote down what came to my mind.

Take care and good hunting

[Maxim Inc]

(but so far I got the impression that you need to use a shotgun to be effective in combat)

AHAH! Brother, you have nooooo idea how hard it is now a days to win without a shotty in your hands. Heh...

[Lorem123]

Yeah until the developers stop figuring out new castes to give the xenos, just use a shotgun with buckshot and a bayonet. Right now the game's balance is really bad for marines, making the shotgun the only weapon worth a damn.
But it's very fun to use once you figure it out! You can kill most xenos in a 1v1 if you aim it well.

[Maxim Inc]

I like to take my chance and make a break for the nearest marines, but yeah the Xeno-Marine compaarision is pretty heavy for the Xeno's. Not to mention how this new system makes the old system like a stroll in the park.

[Jeser]

Jesus fucking christ, new player joined play CM in summer, doesn't have brainrot, read wiki before playing and is capable to analyze. Wew, lad, let me hug ya, we fucking lack more new players like you. Also, yeah, shotguns are good but only when you get used to FF as minimum as possible. It's amusing how accurate your observations, tho.

[ThesoldierLLJK]

Next time I play CO I'm going to make it a standing order that all PFC will need to carry shotguns with buckshot.

[Symbiosis]

Next time I play CO I'm going to make it a standing order that all PFC will need to carry shotguns with buckshot.

I’m stealing your idea, it’s a good one.

No medics with SMGs, just shotguns for days.

[ThePiachu]

I think Commander Tex does that regularly. I saw them get all the wooden stocks from Requisitions once and make a squad full of shotty wielding Marines.

[TopHatPenguin]

Positive: Good initial tutorial on the wiki; I was able to fee reasonably useful as a PFC (but so far I got the impression that you need to use a shotgun to be effective in combat)

Glad it could help. From your perspective as a new player did you find anything hard to find or infuriating to read through on the wiki?

[vladimzap]

Glad it could help. From your perspective as a new player did you find anything hard to find or infuriating to read through on the wiki?

I can see that a lot of work went into the wiki, I'm trying to build up a similarly structured know-how database at work, so I know how difficult it can be to present information in a way that's easily accessable. (and how frustrating it can be if nobody reads it)

I encountered some hurdles in my first match, but most of them can be explained by me not being familiar with the controls of SS13 at all.
- in which order to put on armor
- how do dual wield two hand wield my gun
- how to unbuckle from the dropship seats - I just remembered seeing this mentioned on the wiki, I must have missed the chair sprite then, because I remember fumbling around and only just making it off my first dropship before it took off again

What I tried - and failed - to find twice was a list of available chat channels. (edit: scratch that: just found it under hotkeys)
But this was kind of in the heat of the moment so I might have overlooked something.
I don't remember why I needed this though as a lowly PFC won't use much more than talk and squad.
What exactly is a mentor? I only found the ahelp command, but it doesn't seem appropriate for asking questions.

Like with the shotguns, I have no clue yet what I can/should request from requisitions.
Are AP mags just not in the auto vendors? Or am I too slow to get them?

I'd like to try playing as a medic at some point, but for that I definitely have additional reading to do.

If you see a guy named Dallas Fiddler around - be nice to him, that might be me

PS: a shotgun only round sounds like it could go very wrong very quickly

[Maxim Inc]

Ok, here we go
1st. the AP mags are just in the vendor to a) fuck with your head because there sold out automatically, and b) give the engies some incentive to hack them because 8/10 times that produces 7-12 AP mags in the vendor.
2nd. if you want to play a medic read the Chem list a few times learn to shoot one handed well and prepare for massive amounts of screaming directed at you.
3rd. for shotties there are many setups here are mine; FRONTLINE ( mag harnesss, mini flamer, flacchettes/buchshot, BC/COMP), BACK LINE ( EB, slugs, RDS, vert grip, Woodstock) TANK( slugs, BC, mini flamer, mag harness, Woodstock)

Hope this helped you its always great to see some new blood on the server, Bravo's always open for new marines

[ThesoldierLLJK]

I'd like to try playing as a medic at some point, but for that I definitely have additional reading to do.

It's not that hard, mostly just analyzing what damage they have and administering appropriate drugs and treatment. Your main goal is to stabilize someone if they need surgery to get back to the Almayer. Or to patch up minor injuries so the person can continue the fight

[nekcy]

~snip~

Welcome to CM my friend, don't forget you're here forever!

To unbuckle from the chair and most of the things in CM/ss13 you can click on it or right click to open an option box, BUT! You can do better using macros, take a look at https://cm-ss13.com/wiki/Macros

It's handy to have a resist hotkey for rolling in the ground when you're on fire, resist grabs, resist out of resin nests, unbuckle from chair and so on
If you're using a shotgun it's good to have a macro to pump it or spin revolver cylinders for style points!

As for req, try asking anything you want and maybe they will have 'em, mostly people get some attachments, grenades, machetes, flechette, ap rifle mags, webbings, extended ammo mag(rifle/smg/pistol), SMG holsters and maybe a kiss in the cheek

Also try to play as xenos or set up your preferences to be a xeno when you die, know thyself and know thy enemy

[BillyBoBBizWorth]

Negative: I strongly dislike the chokepoint fights that are quite common; I tend to stick to the second line (less chance of fucking up as a newbie) but that often means the only thing I'm doing is watching because of the danger of FF
Negative but personal preference: Prison Map - having so many marines charge down 2-3 tile wide corridors really isn't much fun

Neutral since it could be seen as plus or minus depending on your preferences: I find two things about the RP pretty cringy - on the marine side it's the whole pretending to go in blind thing, leading to the same awkward dancing around certain issues like vents or facehuggers in chat each round. Personally I would prefer an update of the setting to give the marines general knowledge of the xenos to act on once they are encountered. The second thing is even more irrelevant, but hearing the queen mention mention "Tallhosts" and "TComms" or "CIC" in the same sentence feels cringy to the extent that it bothers me even as a dead marine. (I mean the marines at least pretend RP, don't they?)

Overall I have to say that from my perspective all rounds have played out the same: land on the planet and fail to accomplish much > evac to the ship > aliens wreck everything on the ship.
I'm not sure if the marines ever win planetside, but it sure feels like everything we did down there in the rounds I've played was pointless - things feel... predictable.
This point is the biggest reason making me doubt that I'll join many more matches, even though I really like the concept of SS13 CM.

Your observations are correct, i also quite dislike the amount of chokepoints, its always the same ones used for the most part too.Ive thought for a while that standard 4-5 tile wide hallways would really open up alot of potential scenarios, and also gives space for newer players to get on a flanking sides and push with more experienced players.

Theres only a few spots where wicked pushes happen in wide open spaces, even if your not on the squad to push north on LV, go to T-Fort anyways after the fog drops and you will see heaps of action almost everytime, its almost always the same playout, but the action is there.

The yard is the equivalent to tfort on prison map

Marines do win planetside, just last night there was a couple rounds we crushed the xenoes in 1+ hour give or take.

[xXen0zS1ay3rXx]

Barrelcharged buckshot shotties are my best friend

[Maxim Inc]

Barrelcharged buckshot shotties are my best friend

BC shotty is love, BC shotty is life.

[Lorem123]

Yeah only use a shotgun with a bayonet or barrel charger if you can. Ignore the M41A, M39, and M4A3 pistol (Except for the .45 M4A3, which kicks ass)

[CaptainYankee]

What exactly is a mentor? I only found the ahelp command, but it doesn't seem appropriate for asking questions.

Mentors exist to answer questions asked in ahelps! Ask anything and everything. There are even some pre-written responses for some of the more common questions!