How do you feel about rank?

[Twiddle]

Personally, I think rank should be dependant on the extend rate of the game. Battle Garegga can stick its spiked dildo in my ass because it gives me as many lives as I can get away with, but Raiden Fighters' exponentially increasing rank just isn't fair without extends, despite how much I like the game.

Give an honest answer.

[BulletMagnet]

*this space reserved for Rando's complaint at how often this subject comes up...or that it ever comes up at all*

Oh, and to save the trouble of it being said later... "ban plz!"

[Super Laydock]

I hate it! And if we're talking about the original R-type... easy poll!

[Twiddle]

for the record all non-leo r-types are the embodiment of what i hate about rankless games

[Salem Witch Trials!]

Amen. Leo rocks my socks off.

Usually I don't like rank (like in gradius V for example, although its one of my favorite games ever)

BUT with garegga the game is so well set up and balanced that without the crazy rank it wouldn't be such a marvelous game.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

I don't like ranking when a game becomes so hard you must suicide to have a chance. It's just plain bad gameplay design.

[Shatterhand]

It depends.

Simply.

If rank is there to make the game harder for who's trying to make a good score, or to balance the game when you are over-powered , yeah, it's good.

If it's there to make life harder for someone who's good at the game, or it has obscure settings, then no, I don't like it.

[gameoverDude]

In some games like Zanac Neo and Border Down, rank can be exploited to boost your score. Zach's Zanac FAQ says something about taking your respective W3 to cause more Drovs to come out and then blowing up the split shells for more points.

Border Down's is simple- higher rank, more bullets, more break laser opportunity- more potential points. The 70M trick on the stage 3 boss requires full rank to get done right.

If Battle Garegga's rank gets unmanageable, you may need to take a different approach to it. The suicides are actually another weapon thanks to the shrapnel your destroyed ship leaves behind (consider it like using the Mijin ninja magic in Revenge of Shinobi- which costs a life but hurts your enemies even more than it does you). One spot in stage 4 has several tanks that can be smoked easily using this method.

Heaven forbid you somehow lose your options in Gradius V. In that event, you'll be taken to the cleaners in the last couple of stages.

Now Smash TV's daily high score based rank system is an example of something gone wrong. One high-scoring player who puts up 12,000,000 or more will cause a serious spike in the difficulty level. Rank should be tailored to an individual player's performance for their own game, not based on overall players on that machine.

[Twiddle]

If Battle Garegga's rank gets unmanageable, you may need to take a different approach to it. The suicides are actually another weapon thanks to the shrapnel your destroyed ship leaves behind (consider it like using the Mijin ninja magic in Revenge of Shinobi- which costs a life but hurts your enemies even more than it does you). One spot in stage 4 has several tanks that can be smoked easily using this method.

The problem with most people who are turned off by Battle Garegga and similar suicide-oriented games is that they're unsettled by the idea of using their lives as weapons to score higher or get farther. These players mostly play the over-defensive bottom-of-the-screen "turtling" way that games from the 80s foster, and the very kind of play Garegga discourages. If the player is willing, Garegga teaches him or her to take risks and serves as a good yet sometimes unsettling transition from old shooter play methods to modern shooter play methods.

[Arznei]

I hate it.

Shooting games are meant to be about BLOWING SHIT UP.

[Twiddle]

Go play MUSHA. You don't even have to move 85% of the time.

[DEL]

Having watched the Archer Ibara replay, I'm not sure I like the fact that even a Jap master has to suicide at all times & be on his last life throughout the whole game - or else face complete Rank Hell.

- That's just a little bit extreme for my taste.
I would prefer that the programmers design a game that has almost handleable max rank. Something more like Batrider's rank system - that makes things hard when you have more than 1 life, but still manageable (if you have the skills).
.
.
Cue Rando VS BM flamewar#5

[zinger]

Depends on the game but... It's a huge part of both Garegga and Border Down, my favourite games. I guess I love rank, as long as it's carefully implented (ideally, it should be designed to affect scoring and vice versa).

[BulletMagnet]

Cue Rando VS BM flamewar#5

'Fraid not.

Anyways, it's good to see that most voted that it "depends on the game"...shows that at least a majority here realize that any rank system is not an absolute "good" or "bad" thing, it can either help or hurt a game (or a bit of both) depending on how it's implemented. And that's without even taking personal preferences into consideration.

[ahnslaught]

Like most here, I also think it totally depends. The way I see it, it's just another way to balance a game; i.e. Gradius's power up system (where you are screwed if you die), or checkpoints (which force you to face your challenges and not credit feed your way out).

Plus, variety is the spice of life, right? There's enough shooters where you don't have to suidice or keep power down or whatever and blow up as much as possible that I think it's a nice change of pace to have completely different gameplay styles in our small, but favored, genre.

[doctorx0079]

R-TYPE DOES HAVE RANK. In original R-Type, the more powered-up your ship is, the more enemies fire at you and the faster their shots are. If you don't believe me, try getting to stage 6 with full power, play a little ways, lose a ship and then look at the difference. Even at full rank though, it isn't as hard as the second loop. R-Type's rank is relatively minor compared to, say, Battle Garegga. It is there, though.

[Twiddle]

R-TYPE DOES HAVE RANK. In original R-Type, the more powered-up your ship is, the more enemies fire at you and the faster their shots are. If you don't believe me, try getting to stage 6 with full power, play a little ways, lose a ship and then look at the difference. Even at full rank though, it isn't as hard as the second loop. R-Type's rank is relatively minor compared to, say, Battle Garegga. It is there, though.

Those aren't the things that kill you in R-Type though.

[FRO]

I'll be the first to add that a "Rank stinks" option should have been included. I mean, cmon, that's an easy one.

[Icarus]

This thread makes me laugh.

[Twiddle]

I was hoping to start shit but it failed

[BulletMagnet]

Hopefully at least from now on there'll be less complaints about all the "rank-hating whiners" always trying to start trouble.

[Super Laydock]

Hopefully at least from now on there'll be less complaints about all the "rank-hating whiners" always trying to start trouble.

Next week isn't over yet.

[Icarus]

This thread will be 20 pages long by the end of Raizing Week. I guarantee it.
Bring some marshmallows.

[BulletMagnet]

And I guarantee that the majority of those 20 pages will be complaints about how many "haters" there are...before the haters even post anything.

Bring some tacos.

[Icarus]

You're the one mentioning the "haters" BM. I haven't even said anything yet. ^_-
I don't intend to either. I'd rather just play Raizing games and enjoy them.

[Super Laydock]

Bring some tacos.

Indeed, complaining and hating on an empty stomach isn't much fun.

[BulletMagnet]

You're the one mentioning the "haters" BM. I haven't even said anything yet. ^_-

Yeah, I'm sure you're convinced that this whole thread would be filled completely with meaningful, thought-provoking discussion. That sort of thing "makes you laugh" after all.

I'd rather just play Raizing games and enjoy them.

So would most people here, I'm sure. Though considering that the semi-unpopular Blazing Star week drew much criticism but few (if any) hurt feelings, I don't think there's much to worry about either way, as long as everyone keeps his head on straight.

[Icarus]

Yeah, I'm sure you're convinced that this whole thread would be filled completely with meaningful, thought-provoking discussion. That sort of thing "makes you laugh" after all.

Nothing ever changes there. ^_-

I don't think there's much to worry about either way, as long as everyone keeps his head on straight.

That is largely dependent on which game gets selected.

[Rob]

yawn

[BulletMagnet]

That is largely dependent on which game gets selected.

No, it's dependent on whether people are actually willing to, as you said, just play the thing. Again, Blazing Star drew plenty of complaints, but the complaints weren't of the "anyone who likes this game suxx0rz!" nature, and likewise the game's fans didn't go ballistic in response. Every game has fans and detractors, it just depends on how fanatical they are, or choose to be.