Project Reality Forums

Its my belief that alot of unpopular maps could be made popular with a few gameplay changes. The "beauty" and artistic quality of a map does not make it fun to play if something is wrong with the assets or the flags. Qwai was popular when it had assymetrical gameplay, now its not. This proves that the physical layout of maps is not as important as flags and assets. Another example is Kozelsk. What is the deal with no bleed for either team? Why attack at all? 2-3 hours of camping in the woods waiting for the enemy to approach while getting killed by tanks is not so fun.

It is hard to understand exactly the mechanisms that makes maps fun, therefore we need to experiment more, maybe an open beta where different maps are tested with regards to flag placement, bleed and assets should be started. A few servers around the world could be selected to participate. Their maplist would be the regular maps but with alterations in regards to flags and assets etc. A situation like we have now with "qwai" could have been avoid with an open beta. Even if a download is needed for such a beta, I bet there are tons of servers and players that would be willing to participate and provide feedback on the forum, as long as it doesnt compromise the ability to play on regular servers. I think everyone would be happy with this, and there must be many mappers that feel their maps deserve a second chance.