I agree with OJ. Just because "deathmatch" is in the title of the game doesn't mean you need to restrict yourself (and the players) to that kind of gameplay.
Again, setting aside the whole "deathmatch in the title" argument (because it's basically arguing semantics), you seem to heavily be missing one of my points, Mess. One of my main gripes with old MM1FIR being replaced was that there was no devteam-playerbase communication on the issue. We were left entirely in the dark until it was WAY too late! MM1FIR was not abhorrently bad like MM5WAV or MM5GYR were, so we honestly deserved to have some input before the fact -- and we still DO deserve input, because there seems to be a lot of split opinions on the old map. It's worth looking into again.
To reiterate, the above issue is NOT about MM1FIR specifically, it's about clarity and communication.
On to the next problem: robot master/map identity. Not only do I think it is very silly to try and reflect a robot master's personality in the map itself, but if I absolutely had to use that method of map-making, I would say old MM1FIR does a much better job of representing Fireman than new MM1FIR does. Tricky navigation, high intensity gameplay, fire traps, ladders, the whole nine fucking yards. I felt right at home at old MM1FIR because by god, it /felt like Fireman/. New MM1FIR is a very low-pressure, low-intensity map; not something very characteristic of a hot-headed robot, don't you think? Setting aside subjective views on robot master representation in maps, you failed to address my concern about map homogenization. New MM1FIR blatantly does not bring anything new to the table, and offers a very shallow amount of complexity. Rather than trying to salvage the old fast paced gameplay so people would have something different to play on besides "halls and rooms deathmatch map number 75" (this is basically what the game is now btw) you just said fuck it, and put in Ivory's old map. Very lazy.
And damn, you respond to legitimate complaints about good vanilla content being removed with "Make a mod"? Way to leave a sour taste in the mouth of everyone trying to comprehend your haphazardly concocted responses. Damn straight the game is geared toward vanilla - I remember how you were left in charge of duel and left it unplayable without hefty player modding for years.
Provided no reasoning? You can't read my friend. I listed the reasoning right there. Let me spell it out for you again. It's not practical to balance for every mode on every weapon. Please offer SPECIFIC FEEDBACK instead of overly broad complaints. If a particular weapon is a problem in a particular mode then it's good to know WHY.When did we start talking about weapons? Are you paying attention? Not only is there an easy solution to the 100+ weapon problem (skype me for details fam), but the main topic of discussion here is player demand in regard to maps, NOT weapons.From this I conclude that either Deathmatch is an intrinsically unpopular mode or the dev team is far more capable at balancing around non-DM modes, even unconsciously
I'm not sure what you're implying here.He's saying that either: People hate deathmatch (true, statistics don't lie), OR you mappers on the devteam are simply not capable of making DM maps that are fun, therefore people play different modes on them. Considering there's been Deathmatch servers always available (shoutouts to BE) as well as organized events to try to rekindle its popularity, I don't think it's a matter of anti-DM culture. If there are other plausible reasons for this, please chime in.
If other modes are as popular as they are, then I'm confused as to why you think there's even a problem to begin with. As I mentioned above, SPECIFIC FEEDBACK is necessary to understand the underlying problems of the playerbase. Saying "This mod isn't balanced for XYZ" is just going to be ignored because it's completely useless.Well here's a problem: an unfun, frustrating, boring, outdated gamemode is being shoved in our face 24/7 when we don't want it. There, is that enough? That's one of many problems, here.
And gee, you know what a great way of obtaining specific feedback is? Playing the game for once. No, internal testing and playing on release day don't count. If you can't get your hands dirty every once in a while to learn what players want, I'm not excited to see what's in store for MM9.