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Probably the worst thing to happen to PoE since I started playing is that my favorite server (and it's hard to find favorite servers with a limited player base) started putting Frontline maps into its rotation. The reason why this is so bad for me is because I absolutely hate Frontline mode. To start off, I'll state that I think the idea of Frontline mode is fundamentally flawed (I think having 60 people fight over two flags is invariably a bad idea), but the reason I really hate Frontline mode isn't because of that, but because the maps and gameplay in Point of Existence specifically make Frontline mode an especially bad idea.
Point #1: There are an odd number of flags on most Frontline maps. This is a bad idea because it means that one team is going to have ticket bleed almost immediately depending on who reaches the middle flag first. For reasons that should be obvious, taking a flag in Frontline is more difficult than in Conquest, so the team that can bunker down at the middle flag first has a large advantage right off the bat.
Point #2: You lose all your back spawns when you capture flags further up the battlefield. This wouldn't be so bad if not for the fact that each flag usually spawns several vehicles, which will respawn but only for as long as you control that flag. Now revisiting the first point, what do you suppose happens when team #1 defeats team #2 when they meet at the middle flag? Team #2, having lost, presumably loses a large fraction of their tanks, APCs, and transports, while team #1 more than likely has some or many surviving the attack, which they no doubt will repair to full strength. Result? Team #1, which already has a large advantage in controlling the middle flag, also has more tanks and APCs since they have, in addition to whatever will continually respawn at their flag, anything from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd flag that survived the attack on the middle flag. Being able to spawn at only one flag also lends itself to the possibility of base rape.
Point #3: This last point is really a problem against specific maps, but it warrants mentioning. Some of the Frontline maps have huge flat areas between flags, offering little to no cover. Trying to advance through that isn’t easy even when both forces are evenly matched, but as detailed in point #2, the two teams are very often not evenly matched. This may just be me being stupid, but if I see a barren field with no promising concealment and I suspect a superior force is waiting for me to try and cross through it, I generally try to avoid walking into said death trap. I won't delve too far into this, but on a side-rant when you try to fight a tank column just sitting in the middle of a field (remembering that your team has no aircraft and fewer tanks and that you can't easily go around it), it becomes painfully apparent how worthless the AT kit is at range.
Point #1: There are an odd number of flags on most Frontline maps. This is a bad idea because it means that one team is going to have ticket bleed almost immediately depending on who reaches the middle flag first. For reasons that should be obvious, taking a flag in Frontline is more difficult than in Conquest, so the team that can bunker down at the middle flag first has a large advantage right off the bat.
Point #2: You lose all your back spawns when you capture flags further up the battlefield. This wouldn't be so bad if not for the fact that each flag usually spawns several vehicles, which will respawn but only for as long as you control that flag. Now revisiting the first point, what do you suppose happens when team #1 defeats team #2 when they meet at the middle flag? Team #2, having lost, presumably loses a large fraction of their tanks, APCs, and transports, while team #1 more than likely has some or many surviving the attack, which they no doubt will repair to full strength. Result? Team #1, which already has a large advantage in controlling the middle flag, also has more tanks and APCs since they have, in addition to whatever will continually respawn at their flag, anything from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd flag that survived the attack on the middle flag. Being able to spawn at only one flag also lends itself to the possibility of base rape.
Point #3: This last point is really a problem against specific maps, but it warrants mentioning. Some of the Frontline maps have huge flat areas between flags, offering little to no cover. Trying to advance through that isn’t easy even when both forces are evenly matched, but as detailed in point #2, the two teams are very often not evenly matched. This may just be me being stupid, but if I see a barren field with no promising concealment and I suspect a superior force is waiting for me to try and cross through it, I generally try to avoid walking into said death trap. I won't delve too far into this, but on a side-rant when you try to fight a tank column just sitting in the middle of a field (remembering that your team has no aircraft and fewer tanks and that you can't easily go around it), it becomes painfully apparent how worthless the AT kit is at range.
C
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