Do people enjoy the concept of killstreak bonuses in FPS games? Generic killstreak discussion about Crysis 3 and other shooters. Please try to leave a comment explaining why you voted for your chosen option

I'm personally against the concept, it's completely backwards. Those who can efficiently kill others and need no help...why do they get handed tools to kill MORE effectively and give their enemies even less of a chance (often zero chance)? When someone is that good, the last thing they need to be given several extra easy/free no-skill kills as a "reward". It makes no sense whatsoever and is impossible to justify.

Crysis 2 had moderately powerful killstreaks (still unnecessary for my tastes), but Crysis 3 went completely full-retard with killstreaks to the point of them becoming a core method of farming kills.

Just an example pulled from Crysis3S, you will find several leaderboard-toppers (not gonna name names) with Swarmer as their 2nd or 3rd best "weapon". Yes, a killstreak is their 2nd most effective weapon.
I guarantee they would have had untold thousands of kills with Orbital Strike, Ceph Gunship and while under the effects of Maximum Nanosuit. Maximum Radar is also a big help, it has a fairly high uptime due to someone in the team keeping it active.

Call Of Duty has been the main inspiration for killstreaks, so a lot of games parrot what it does in an attempt to cash-in to it's success. Either that, or the developers feel it's a genuinely good addition.

I personally feel it's something that needs to go once and for all. It doesn't help the game grow when newbies get obliterated over and over by more experienced players abusing killstreaks to slaughter them. Actually forget newbies, it doesn't help when respectable veterans (coming over from other games) just want to have a decent match without someone repeatedly insta-killing them with killstreak bonuses. They feel conflicted about stooping down to using bonuses themselves because the opponent isn't even given a chance to react/survive, the kill feels utterly meaningless.

If there was a future multiplayer Crysis title, and if you considered buying it, would you support the return of killstreak bonuses?

I personally despise the killstreaks in Crysis 3 for the very points you stated and would rather have Crytek not implement any if there is to be a future Crysis game. For this very reason I only play on servers with the Maximum game modifier, as I actually find it fun. You have to rely on yourself and your teammates (just don't hug each other :b ) to succed in the match. I very very rarely ever play on any other servers, especially those with the Standard modifier. Maximum Radar is not that bad I suppose as it gives you a slight advantage at knowing where your enemy is, so you actually have to get your ass to them or wait for them to come to you to kill them. The Swarmer and Orbital on the other hand...Those are killstreaks that are garaunteed point and click kills if your head hasn't been recently caved in. Max Nanosuit is also free kills for like, what, 25(?) seconds. It's also quite hard to distinct a person who's using Max Nano and who's just in armor, Ofc you'll figure it out after you empty a whole clip into them and they still roll over you, at least give the guy some big "F*** OFF" symbol saying he's invincible and that you should probably avoid him in that period of time.

So, no, killstreaks should not exist in my opinion.

I think killstreak rewards should be either removed completely or placed on the map like the power ups in Arena shooters (Unreal, Halo, Quake etc.). Placing the "rewards" on the map could promote movement but the problem that the rewards basically hands over kills is still there.

Killstreak rewards sound stupid and those can be annoying when being in the losing team. Try to fight back? I'll just spam my mass helicopter orbital maximum nanosuit crap and unleash hounds on you. Have fun while I kill you without effort! Sometimes this has gone so far that it has ruined games for me. For example, you could see enemies through walls in Homefront and your vehicle repaired itself when you killed enough enemies. That wasn't fun, that was just game-ruining experience. It was simply way too easy to go on a long killing spree in that game.

So no, I wouldn't want killstreak rewards. If developers are obsessed with a reward in Crysis, just add some random power-ups to the game.

I like killstreaks. As a bad player (I had never received a Max Nanosuit in Crysis 3), I like the feeling they give you of "you are doing well, go on!". But they should NEVER give you more 1 than free kill or a slight advantage. They could be merely cosmetic changes in short streaks, or they could even be negative in really long streaks (when you are doing TOO well)! And they should be increasingly difficult to get: 1st after 3 kills, 2nd after 6, 3rd after 12 kills, 4th after 24 kills, and so on (just an example).

Of course we are talking about a non-realistic genre. In realistic games they are completely out of place.

I think killstreak rewards should be either removed completely or placed on the map like the power ups in Arena shooters (Unreal, Halo, Quake etc.). Placing the "rewards" on the map could promote movement but the problem that the rewards basically hands over kills is still there.

That's sorta what Pinger is to an extent, and yep that problem of handing over free kills is definitely there as you say

Any decent pinger driver who knows to simply stay out in the open (away from ledges) can go on an absolute murdering spree before they are taken out. Not to mention you get zero points for doing damage to the pinger if the driver simply jumps out.

I like the implementation of a *currency* system, a la counter strike or tribes.

Meaning that kills get you money, or points, or whatever, and you can use that to obtain multiple things. I agree that the killstreaks should be balanced more; swarmer's a big big problem because it's just a super powered rocket launcher, which to my mind is much worse than orbital strikes or max suits because it directly increases your offensive power, and with retriever you can use swarmers to get swarmers and it's all over.

I think killstreak rewards should be either removed completely or placed on the map like the power ups in Arena shooters (Unreal, Halo, Quake etc.). Placing the "rewards" on the map could promote movement but the problem that the rewards basically hands over kills is still there.

That's sorta what Pinger is to an extent, and yep that problem of handing over free kills is definitely there as you say

Any decent pinger driver who knows to simply stay out in the open (away from ledges) can go on an absolute murdering spree before they are taken out. Not to mention you get zero points for doing damage to the pinger if the driver simply jumps out.

No,no. You've got it all wrong. A good pinger pilot deliberately goes close to ledges as to lure enemies to rip them and fail as they get pinged. Or you park it near high ground, get out,hide near-by, wait for someone to get in (wait for a minute at most) and then just rip them out. At least that's what I do...Sorry,used to do before this game was ruined.

Besides the pinger should be left in because if an enemy gets in a pinger I will ALWAYS be there to rip their ass out of MY bringer of death. Plus there is nothing better than giving an opposing spammer a taste of their own medicine.

As for support bonuses, they need to be rethought and replaced with ones that are weaker e.g. C2 support bonuses (a max suit could easily be obliterated and the only bonus that posed a threat was the gunship which was fairly easy to take out).

I would say it different way there is majority of the players, I mean nubs n random players(99%) which play this game for win with all brainless perks and guns, crytek is just happy cos they get their money almost for free with zero multiplayer balancing.

Btw I think its still better than cod mw2/3 perk system, which is the most nub friendly who played dat game understand me.


perks, no thanks I try harder to improve

Okay, so I'm going to use a Killstreak reward string from one of my other favorite games to make a point here:

Game
Transformers: War for Cybertron

Killstreaks in this game are class based, so I'm going to call out the only class that had anything close to balanced killstreak rewards and name what they are and what they do and why I feel they were fair.

Scout class

3 Kills: Orbital Beacon

This put a red triangle (marker) on every enemy. This marker was invisible to the enemy but could be seen by all team members, even through walls and the 'Cloak' ability.

Why it's fair:

1) It's timer is only about 35 seconds or so.

2) If one was already active and another teammate activates one, it doesn't do anything; the original timer on the board still stands. i.e., I activate my KSR and then 20 seconds later, you activate the same thing (assuming a 35 second timer) the time remaining on the clock is still 15 seconds, not 50 second. It's not additive (if there's 1 second left on the timer when another player activates? same deal)

3) The maps were huge and only 2 of the classes possessed enough speed to traverse great distances with ease. These 2 classes have significantly lower health and armor values and die easily and only 1 of them (Scout) has actual sniper weapons. Hiding or running is the perfect answer.

4) The weakest class in the game had the ability to bypass this KSR altogether by using the Disguise ability, which alters their player colors to make them look like the opposing team. Also, they can fly. Yay for living to fight another day!

5) Character color schemes in this game allow them to easily blend in to the backgrounds even at great distances and the cloak ability is about 95% invisible (albeit with distinct, directionally accurate sound effects when close).


5 Kills: Energon Recharger

This ability allows the user (an only the user) to automatically regenerate damage they have taken or are currently taking at a fixed rate for a short period of time.

1) The fixed rate is relatively low and easily circumvented by every class.

2) Regen rates don't increase if debuffs are applied to the player in question. See point #1.

3) Only the Scout who earned it gets this ability, no one else is affected.

4) The user of the ability is outlined in big, moving, glowing white crosses that are easily sighted from anywhere on the map.

5) The ability timer is 35 seconds and follows the same timer rule as the Orbital Beacon, so even if you have one 'saved' from a previous kill streak, you have to let one end and the reset timer expire (about 5 seconds) before you can successfully guarantee another.

6) Game timers are set at 14 minutes (TDM) and Kill count caps at 40 kills per team. A single good player can easily rack up 10~ish kills in less than 10. Great players (see me whistling and pretending this doesn't apply to me? go check out my youtube) can rack up 20+ in 7 or less. Good luck getting off that saved KSR from your last killstreak.

7 Kills: Orbital Beacon 2.0

This KSR not only places a temporary red triangle marker (just like Orbital Beacon) on enemy players, it also places the Sniper Marker (or 'Mark Target') on every enemy, and temporarily slows them to 15% (loss of movement and visual acuity of 85%) of their full speed and reduces overall armor rating by 35% percent.

1) The timer on the slow-down is only 3 or 4 seconds. Timing your activation right is everything or the KSR is wasted.

2) The timer for the sniper mark is only 7~ish seconds. If they're good at running and you are slow at aiming, you better hope your teammates can take advantage of it or that you're very, very close when you pop it.

3) The red triangle viewable by your team is on the same timer as the sniper mark. When the visible mark goes away, so does the mark for the opposing team.

4) Any abilities that would increase your speed or movement activated after the use of the KSR (Dash, Ram, etc.) will not be affected by the slow down.

5) Any armor buffs that are applied during the debuff-time will not only remove the debuff, but will provide the normal armor buff ability (Warcry after OB 2.0 removes the sniper mark and eliminates the armor debuff for both the user and any/all teammates in range of the activation, as per the norm of Warcry).


I use this as a shining example of how fair Kill Streak Rewards can be, if a system of checks and balances are in place to keep them that way.

Though, I will note to all here who may have played T:WfC that the Scout was the only one of the classes that had anywhere near fair KSR's because every other class had at least one insanely broken KSR, with Leader Class just being broken 24/7/365

I like killstreaks. I have low self-esteem, a low paying job, and I may be a transsixual with genderphobic issues. When I go on a killstreak rampage I feel like God has touched me for a brief moment in time, gently stroking my ego so I have the courage to wake up every day and take on the world........

I don't like kill streak bonuses. But if I want a bonus perk then it should be like unreal tournament series (specially redeemer, I like that weapon).. Or those perks should spawn randomly at random places at random time and only once per match..

I don't like kill streak bonuses. But if I want a bonus perk then it should be like unreal tournament series (specially redeemer, I like that weapon).. Or those perks should spawn randomly at random places at random time and only once per match..

So something like alien weapons currently are, but more random and fewer of them lying around.
Still, would you support it if something as powerful as Bolt Sniper or Mortar was simply lying around, the first person to grab it gets handed a bunch of free/easy one-shot-kills?
It svcks to get played the "aww bad luck" card just because you were unfortunate enough to end up in the path of someone using a super-weapon.

It's a similar feeling to Battleifeld 3 when I find myself in the path of an enemy tank/helicopter, that feeling of "uh oh, you have a pea-shooter and your opponent has an armored war machine, GG take the death". But at least BF3 isn't trying to be an arena shooter like Crysis 3 so desperately is -_-

Still, would you support it if something as powerful as Bolt Sniper or Mortar was simply lying around, the first person to grab it gets handed a bunch of free/easy one-shot-kills?

I think he means something a bit different. The example of Redeemer he used - that was really high risk/high reward weapon. You were usually risking just by trying to pick that weapon up as it used to spawn on places others could have secured from distance (it was not random spawn, it always spawned on a place everyone was very well aware of). If I'm not mistaken, you had only one shot so it was quite crucial to make it worth. Also, using that thing in close quarters was basically suicide as the explosion radios was huge (if opponent surprised you from behind the corner, you just killed both of you). Swarmer (from the point of mechanics) looks like a joke compared to Redeemer.

I think he means something a bit different. The example of Redeemer he used - that was really high risk/high reward weapon. You were usually risking just by trying to pick that weapon up as it used to spawn on places others could have secured from distance (it was not random spawn, it always spawned on a place everyone was very well aware of). If I'm not mistaken, you had only one shot so it was quite crucial to make it worth. Also, using that thing in close quarters was basically suicide as the explosion radios was huge (if opponent surprised you from behind the corner, you just killed both of you). Swarmer (from the point of mechanics) looks like a joke compared to Redeemer.

I could dig that
Something that actually requires thought/consideration and isn't just a retard-proof potato cannon.

Thankfully there are ways to make arena shooters more varied and interesting without just having CounterStrike style "just you, your gun and nothing else" gameplay. But such ideas have to be handled very carefully and with great thought. One way to completely mishandle it is Crysis 3, lol.

Crytek development session:

Dev1: How to greatly change gameplay?
Dev2: Change? Why? Can't we just build on Crysis 2's ideas?
Dev1: No, that's dumb. You're dumb. Go away.
Dev5: You are all wrong, we need to go back to Crysis Wars gameplay.
Cevat: WHO SAID THAT?! FIRE THAT MAN.
*Dev5 was fired*
Dev4: How about lots of one-shot-kill mechanics?
Dev2: Dude that is the most stupid idea I've ever heard.
Cevat: EXCELLENT IDEA, DO IT
Dev2: Cevat, why are you even here?
Cevat: I SAID DO IT
Dev1: And lots of alien weapons everywhere? Way more powerful than normal guns!
Dev2: No no no, that's a dumb idea-
Cevat: EXCELLENT IDEA, DO IT. PUT THEM EVERYWHERE, EVERYWHEREERE
Dev2: .......
Dev4: Also buff the hell out of killstreaks, yes?
Dev2: Are you all completely insane??
Cevat: DEV2 YOU'RE FIRED
*Dev2 was fired*
Cevat: HUNTER MODE IS GONNA BE SO POPULAR AWW YESSS

well say Xuvial, skill based gaming is dying

I don't actually mind Killstreak bonuses. I think it could be flipped around as well, however.

Provide the losing team with an opportunity to get back into the game, perhaps.

Another idea would be to have the 'winning' team's killstreaks be risky. Choose to keep on potentially winning, or take a risky move to push your killcount that much higher, possibly putting yourself at a disadvantage if you don't play it right, etc.

I think he means something a bit different. The example of Redeemer he used - that was really high risk/high reward weapon. You were usually risking just by trying to pick that weapon up as it used to spawn on places others could have secured from distance (it was not random spawn, it always spawned on a place everyone was very well aware of). If I'm not mistaken, you had only one shot so it was quite crucial to make it worth. Also, using that thing in close quarters was basically suicide as the explosion radios was huge (if opponent surprised you from behind the corner, you just killed both of you). Swarmer (from the point of mechanics) looks like a joke compared to Redeemer.

I could dig that
Something that actually requires thought/consideration and isn't just a retard-proof potato cannon.

Thankfully there are ways to make arena shooters more varied and interesting without just having CounterStrike style "just you, your gun and nothing else" gameplay. But such ideas have to be handled very carefully and with great thought. One way to completely mishandle it is Crysis 3, lol.

Crytek development session:

Dev1: How to greatly change gameplay?
Dev2: Change? Why? Can't we just build on Crysis 2's ideas?
Dev1: No, that's dumb. You're dumb. Go away.
Dev5: You are all wrong, we need to go back to Crysis Wars gameplay.
Cevat: WHO SAID THAT?! FIRE THAT MAN.
*Dev5 was fired*
Dev4: How about lots of one-shot-kill mechanics?
Dev2: Dude that is the most stupid idea I've ever heard.
Cevat: EXCELLENT IDEA, DO IT
Dev2: Cevat, why are you even here?
Cevat: I SAID DO IT
Dev1: And lots of alien weapons everywhere? Way more powerful than normal guns!
Dev2: No no no, that's a dumb idea-
Cevat: EXCELLENT IDEA, DO IT. PUT THEM EVERYWHERE, EVERYWHEREERE
Dev2: .......
Dev4: Also buff the hell out of killstreaks, yes?
Dev2: Are you all completely insane??
Cevat: DEV2 YOU'RE FIRED
*Dev2 was fired*
Cevat: HUNTER MODE IS GONNA BE SO POPULAR AWW YESSS

Here is an interesting fact.
I was actually Dev 2.
Just kidding

I don't actually mind Killstreak bonuses. I think it could be flipped around as well, however.

Provide the losing team with an opportunity to get back into the game, perhaps.

Another idea would be to have the 'winning' team's killstreaks be risky. Choose to keep on potentially winning, or take a risky move to push your killcount that much higher, possibly putting yourself at a disadvantage if you don't play it right, etc.

How's about a limit? For example you can use one support bonus once in a match. Or if you go above say 12 kills then you can't use support bonuses. So if you manage a couple of radars and maybe a gamma instead of a full 12 streak, tough.

I don't actually mind Killstreak bonuses. I think it could be flipped around as well, however.

Provide the losing team with an opportunity to get back into the game, perhaps.

Another idea would be to have the 'winning' team's killstreaks be risky. Choose to keep on potentially winning, or take a risky move to push your killcount that much higher, possibly putting yourself at a disadvantage if you don't play it right, etc.

How's about a limit? For example you can use one support bonus once in a match. Or if you go above say 12 kills then you can't use support bonuses. So if you manage a couple of radars and maybe a gamma instead of a full 12 streak, tough.

Actually.. what about combining my idea with yours? You get one bonus. You can use it after a lose streak or a killstreak, the lose streak being powerful, the killstreak being risky. Adds an element of strategy.

I don't actually mind Killstreak bonuses. I think it could be flipped around as well, however.

Provide the losing team with an opportunity to get back into the game, perhaps.

Another idea would be to have the 'winning' team's killstreaks be risky. Choose to keep on potentially winning, or take a risky move to push your killcount that much higher, possibly putting yourself at a disadvantage if you don't play it right, etc.

How's about a limit? For example you can use one support bonus once in a match. Or if you go above say 12 kills then you can't use support bonuses. So if you manage a couple of radars and maybe a gamma instead of a full 12 streak, tough.

Actually.. what about combining my idea with yours? You get one bonus. You can use it after a lose streak or a killstreak, the lose streak being powerful, the killstreak being risky. Adds an element of strategy.

That would be good.

No, I don't enjoy them. They should be banished from the face of this good earth in any game that considers itself "balanced and competitive"!

Weapon pickups, so long as they aren't stupid imba, are perfectly OK. Item spawn control is a classic Arena Shooter skill.

streak bonusses are good exept if they helping you making kills. a uav or a radar
is nice if they show ppl. but an attack helicopter svcks becouse ppl start camping more only to get a thing in air that helps you.
i like run in a map and shoot ppl without all that non-sence things as armor or stealth. just normal tdm. that why i stopped buying new call of dutys and started playing battlefield 3. ofc there are naab campers but no more attack helis from the campers. if in cod a camper gets a heli he maybe get best score in the round with camping and using a heli. they dont deserve that. in battlefield 3 i get better scores by running in map
but for crysis 3, i bought this cuz its beautyful and i had to build new pc so needed a beautyful game i bought crysis 3 but its was more difficult then other fps games. i deleted it 4 times from pc but everytime i thought it was 50 euro. i installed it again and now its fine. i think cuz i bought a good gaming monitor from BenQ. its nice exept... (i posted somewhere else) (a topic what have to change in C3 instead of making a new site)
btw i play this atm cuz dice destroyed bf3 in hope ppl buy bf4... NOT
then i try another game like this to play.
end story

streak bonusses are good exept if they helping you making kills. a uav or a radar
is nice if they show ppl. but an attack helicopter svcks becouse ppl start camping more only to get a thing in air that helps you.
i like run in a map and shoot ppl without all that non-sence things as armor or stealth. just normal tdm. that why i stopped buying new call of dutys and started playing battlefield 3. ofc there are naab campers but no more attack helis from the campers. if in cod a camper gets a heli he maybe get best score in the round with camping and using a heli. they dont deserve that. in battlefield 3 i get better scores by running in map
but for crysis 3, i bought this cuz its beautyful and i had to build new pc so needed a beautyful game i bought crysis 3 but its was more difficult then other fps games. i deleted it 4 times from pc but everytime i thought it was 50 euro. i installed it again and now its fine. i think cuz i bought a good gaming monitor from BenQ. its nice exept... (i posted somewhere else) (a topic what have to change in C3 instead of making a new site)
btw i play this atm cuz dice destroyed bf3 in hope ppl buy bf4... NOT
then i try another game like this to play.
end story

Rest assured, this game was ruined a couple of months ago.

I'm not a huge fan of them considering I can never get them, then all the people who manage to get them end up absolutely wrecking everybody for the rest of the round, Thus, decreasing my own chances of getting kill streaks even further. It shifts the balance too much, gives too much of an advantage.

I like killstreaks. I have low self-esteem, a low paying job, and I may be a transsixual with genderphobic issues. When I go on a killstreak rampage I feel like God has touched me for a brief moment in time, gently stroking my ego so I have the courage to wake up every day and take on the world........

Wow... don't even know how to respond to your post.