People still play online?

[Envious_Elazul]

Yeah, there is a reason linebattles actually have rules about formations/tactics, because otherwise the team lining up would in most cases be massacred by the team that was allowed to use any tactics or formations.

The classic example in Warband is archers/cross-bowman, if you line your team up in one nice line any archer/cross-bowman will have a field day. Especially, if they can hit you from two different sides (i.e. even with a shield you can't defend), which is exactly the type of attack that most good teams try to set up in a match.

However, if you say "you have to follow these rules about formations and you can only attack in this way" then the matches that occur are in a sense very "artificial". Before anyone complains by artificial I mean that the type of combat that occurs in linebattles does not occur in native because it doesn't provide any real advantages, hence linebattles are not a dynamic form of combat in the grander sense.

In the end, teamwork and individual skill are the defining features of native matches.

Are you sure about this stuff you are saying? You mean staying as a group would lose against some random group which does what they want? You guys are speaking about line formation as it would be the thing, but the thing is to stick as a group and not going ramboing and so. When there is 100 vs 100 "linebattle", it truly needs some organized stuff and leadership, otherwise it is just a common battle server and everyone does what they want and then its mostly about luck who wins and who has bad luck to run into bad spot.

I have been a leader many times in those linebattles. Sometimes leading wolfpack, sometimes brothers clan. The thing is to read other groups from our side and enemy groups. Watching what happens on the battlefield. Mostly it's wise to attack smaller groups, like if you see one inf group vs enemy inf group, just lead your guys to there to get advantage by numbers. Just like in 8vs8 matches, you try to look for 2vs1 fights to get rid of some enemy fast and easily.

And yes, you can somehow compare this events to competitive matches, just with bigger numbers and no flag waiting. Let's see. In 8vs8 competitive match there is usually couple of archers taking a good spot, infantry ready to fight where archers can help them and eventually some horseman will come from behind to help infs to fight. Same happens in linebattles. Cavalry is supporting archers and infantry, archers are looking for good spots to shoot and infantry are fighting somewhere or some inf group can also be protecting archer groups. If enemies are spreading out and not staying in groups, it's very easy to take them out with cavalry or infantry group.

Archer groups are special thing. They would have over-powered advantage by spreading out to everywhere and just running around and shooting. Thats why they are meant to stick together. But you can still gain this advantage to form a crossfire with another archer group.

 

[Úlfheðinn]

Are you sure about this stuff you are saying? You mean staying as a group would lose against some random group which does what they want? You guys are speaking about line formation as it would be the thing, but the thing is to stick as a group and not going ramboing and so.

No, I am saying that if we have two teams and one is forced to fight with the rules of linebattles and the other is free to do what they want in regards to tactics, the latter will win.

Native clans are organized, we use tactics and formations, but generally we don't have specific rules that limit where the archers (or any class) can go, when they can fire/attack, how they can fire/attack, etc.

Of course when we've had large matches in native, where we use more "large scale" formations, but there is still a level of fluidity present in the tactics that isn't present in linebattles because beyond factions decided at start there were are "rules of engagement".

Ramboing isn't part of the discussion, since we are talking about competition/organized matches and that isn't an advised tactic in native.

 

[The Hash-singing Slasher]

Um of course they do! I spend 95% of my Warband time on Multiplayer.

 

[zutt2]

Yes that still very much goes on. what you are looking for is a regiment Join ours

"shameless recruitment spiel removed"