This is essentially a recommendation on what to do. Since you are constantly faced, with the very even sided. Marines or Aliens being OP. You balance one thing, but you unbalance another. Make one stronger, the other then becomes weaker - then you have to make them even stronger, or remove something you added. It's impossible to perfectly balance anything and this argument is why you in fact should not be balancing things between these two factions.
Benefits (How this will benefit the server and game as a whole):
It will hold tighter to the true Aliens universe and it's also a tested as well as proven fact of Roleplay as well as games.
Details (Description of how you think this would work, the benefits, etc):
Right instead of answering the question to it's specifics I'll just start typing - whatever this is.
The Aliens, Predators and Aliens Vs Predator universes all have a very, very common thing. The aliens, in fact - are the advanced race, the top predators, the thing that makes you shit your pants and wake up with sweat dripping down your forehead because you had a dream about them. They are the monsters of the universes, the things that come in, kill everyone and leave very little in terms of survivors. The thing about CM is, really - they are barely that. Marines can run about like their Master Chief and give these aliens what for, specialists, engineers and marines who have a good firing position absolutely decimate aliens. The only things that really do hit Marines hard, are the Tier 3's - but even a Praetorian or a Ravager can find themselves getting destroyed by a Specialist or even just ONE grenade. But in any case, Aliens the universe, comic - or whatever. Has always held the idea that the humans had to struggle to survive, they had to use every skill, resource and possibly mental strategy they could get their hands on in order to make sure they weren't lunch. This is what a lot of gamers crave, a hard game - having to try really hard for something that is quite basic, to stay alive. You want to try and reinforce that, this fight or die situation, where the weak die and the strong probably still die. It's a hopelessness you add to the game, this reality and immersion that holds players into their characters as they are roleplaying.
The best roleplay and situations I have experienced and I think most of us can agree have experienced, is when the odds were stacked against the Marines. Where they were in their darkest hour, but they somehow managed - against all odds, to survive, to dominate and kill the aliens. It makes those victories that much sweeter, when you expect to die, to really get demolished - yet somehow you make it. That's what makes amazing roleplay and gameplay, when those moments of badassery have actually been truly earned by you, not just because the game wants to hand it to you on a silver platter.
If any of you have played Dungeons And Dragons, specifically on Roll20 - you'll understand this in much more detail. My fondest memories of DnD have been when I absolutely thought my character was going to die, I was just sitting on the edge of my seat, thinking - this is it. This is eight months gone, I'll have to make a new one and somehow, it doesn't happen. Anyway, that's my rant over. But the morale of the story is that the Marines should have a hopelesness and should be at a disadvantage, not because the Marines should always lose. But because it creates much better roleplay, it adds to the immersion and it makes victory that much sweeter.
- TMOC.
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