The death of the Arena Shooter.

Deviationer said:
Looks like UrbanTerror is still alive an kicking
http://www.urbanterror.info/

FSK405 Superman server FTW
http://www.fsk405.com/news.php
Click to expand...

Urban Terror is the undead Q3 mod. It's been around for something like a decade now with relatively consistent updates for the first 5 or 6 years. Even now, the developers are still working on it. Most of its popularity now is centered in Europe, but in my time with the game it had a fairly bustling competitive scene in the US.

Yes, I just looked at the Wikipedia page - Initial release date: August 5 2000.
 
With the amount of RPGs and 40mm whored in Battlefield BC2, you'd think you were playing an arena shooter. :p
 
I played pretty much every mainstream FPS and there is no doubt that the competitive spirit that the UT and Quake series had is slow diminishing. Quake Live is still actively played but the competition aspect of it is the only thing keeping it around. Dueling is much more popular now due to team deathmatch and CTF teams being scarce. Sadly, id and Epic have both stepped back from this style of gameplay and are focusing on completely different genre's. id is focusing on a Fallout 3 type style with RAGE and Epic is taking Gears of War to the Halo series scale.

I want the Quake 1/2/3 feeling back. I want a big community with tons of competition at every level of play. Either it be newb, or intermediate or professional, I miss the CALeague, I miss CPL, and I even miss PGL (old schoolers can recall this).

Until then, Bad Company 2 is keeping me occupied. One day Quake 5 will come out and we can all slaughter each other and be happy. :) (Quake 4 was ..... sigh.)
 
johnnyfiive said:
I played pretty much every mainstream FPS and there is no doubt that the competitive spirit that the UT and Quake series had is slow diminishing. Quake Live is still actively played but the competition aspect of it is the only thing keeping it around. Dueling is much more popular now due to team deathmatch and CTF teams being scarce. Sadly, id and Epic have both stepped back from this style of gameplay and are focusing on completely different genre's. id is focusing on a Fallout 3 type style with RAGE and Epic is taking Gears of War to the Halo series scale.

I want the Quake 1/2/3 feeling back. I want a big community with tons of competition at every level of play. Either it be newb, or intermediate or professional, I miss the CALeague, I miss CPL, and I even miss PGL (old schoolers can recall this).

Until then, Bad Company 2 is keeping me occupied. One day Quake 5 will come out and we can all slaughter each other and be happy. :) (Quake 4 was ..... sigh.)
Click to expand...

http://www.caleague.com/
http://www.thecpl.com/

It won't be the same but still interesting.
 
I never really "got" arena shooters, probably mainly because DM has bored me to absolute tears in every game I've tried it in.
 
johnnyfiive said:
One day Quake 5 will come out and we can all slaughter each other and be happy. :) (Quake 4 was ..... sigh.)
Click to expand...
I bet if we ever get a quake 5 it would sell like shit :( kids these days think "waaah, its not 'realistic', it sucks!" or "waaah, its too hard to be good in this game, too much skill separation, it sucks!"

seriously.... competitive FPS play died around mid decade as quake 3 and UT2004 aged....
 
Shlomo said:
...No I wouldn't?
Click to expand...

I've seen players jump from balconies blasting people below with rpgs like they took it right out of Quake. Just an observation, it's not even an opinion.
 
Last edited:
brucedeluxe169 said:
Quake 3 Arena/Rocket Arena 3 *were* methodical and cerebral... more so than *any* other game when you really get down to it.....

seriously, you had to think *fast* to hang in there, and you had to think *smart* if you wanted to win....

I agree with the OP and others that already commented, the problem is a generational one. Those of us that came of age with the MP games of the 90s are living real lives now, and since the 90s, the less skill demanding, more noob friendly Halos, Call of Duties, and Battlefields have all come and sold like gangbusters to the generation that has replaced us (who were too young to really get into the Quake 3, UT days), and now the current generation is accustomed to a much slower, less skill intensive style of play.

In short: the old player base isn't the main audience now, and the new one isn't as skilled, or as interested in that style of demanding gameplay any more.

Thats what it is really, its sad, but at least we still have Quake Live....


My kingdom for a Rocket Arena resurrection though.... :(

thanks guys for making me depressed for the day....
Click to expand...

I'm not going re state what I said two years ago, but you have definitely hit the nail on the head

Fail said:
when i want serious twitch gameplay, i fire up CoD 4 and play Killhouse FFA

pretty fun
Click to expand...


Holy f*cking face palm :(
 
Last edited:
Jynio said:
<SNIP>
Or, allow players to only fly, but remove all sense of an up or down. I can't even think of a game that has something similar to that. In terms of movement, I guess it would be like you're flying a spaceship or plane, where you can use every axis of rotation. Except, well, it would be a FPS, and the movements would be instant. It would definitely be a unique experience since you're fighting people that are flying sideways and upside down around you.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the "Descent " Series.

Descent ][ is what got me first started into computers. Had to learn how to tweak that old compaq to get it to play ok.
Like the others,at the time it had a great community and was a blast to play.(Even though I almost always got owned)

They are pretty cheap to pick up now at gog.com
 
krameriffic said:
Urban Terror is the undead Q3 mod. It's been around for something like a decade now with relatively consistent updates for the first 5 or 6 years. Even now, the developers are still working on it. Most of its popularity now is centered in Europe, but in my time with the game it had a fairly bustling competitive scene in the US.

Yes, I just looked at the Wikipedia page - Initial release date: August 5 2000.
Click to expand...

Yep. It's nice they have switched to using ioquake. Helps a lot to get more people to play when you don't have to hunt and find a retail quake 3 copy. For the past couple of years I go through spurts where I'll play urban terror every day for about 1-3 months, and then 3-6 months off.

Another quake 3 mod that was epic was quake 3 fortress. damn so many good times with that. I really wish Enemy Territory Fortress was more popular when it came out. It died an unfair quick death.

I think it's time for Splash Damage to do another Fortress style mod or game to compete with TF2. I think their arena style to fortress is better.
 
brucedeluxe169 said:
I bet if we ever get a quake 5 it would sell like shit :( kids these days think "waaah, its not 'realistic', it sucks!" or "waaah, its too hard to be good in this game, too much skill separation, it sucks!"

seriously.... competitive FPS play died around mid decade as quake 3 and UT2004 aged....
Click to expand...

The very reason this form of gameplay is doomed. This attitude among it's followers will ensure the next foray into this will be the final nail in the coffin. That and anything a dev will attempt to bring in new players will be killed by fanatic's of this style of play. Plus UT3 is actually a good game and it got epic no where. I really don't know what all the doom and gloom is about. Obviously the hardcore here will scoff at anything done to bring in the "newbs" and graphics are for "console fanboi's" so why not just play the established titles that are polished to perfection have, mods galore and elite communities?
 
Commander0Zero said:
Obviously the hardcore here will scoff at anything done to bring in the "newbs" and graphics are for "console fanboi's" so why not just play the established titles that are polished to perfection have, mods galore and elite communities?
Click to expand...

after a certain point, old games really do lose their appeal...

I was a *huge* quake 3 and UT nut.... really huge.... I just can't describe it... but after so many years, the old games just got less fun....

the hackers totally mastered the art of hacking those games, and as casual players dropped the game, the remaining ultra hardcore population + the hackers just make playing full matches much less of a joy.....

fresh games keep things fun, and I completely agree with you, UT3 was indeed pretty good, and actually represents a good happy medium between arena shooter skill and newbie friendliness....


which gets me thinking: could the arena shooter make a comeback once/if ever the major consoles use keyboard/mouse for their main input? that would mean games wouldnt have to be dumbed down, and cross platform play would mean huge player bases.....

ahhh... dreams...
 
I never much cared for arena shooters. Although to be fair I never much cared for multiplayer games in general. I think a lot of the appeal of the semi-realistic military style shooter is a direct result of playing as something you don't have a chance to do during your daily life. There is a large population of the gaming community that will never serve in the armed forces, especially in a direct infantry role. Similarly there is probably an even larger population that will never even shoot a gun. The mystique of the whole thing is inticing. Much in the same way people get pleasure in running over pedestrians in the GTA series.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top