23 votes

Deadlock breaks 100,000 concurrent players with new peak

15 comments

  1. [14]
    carrotflowerr
    Link
    How do you guys feel about Deadlock? Is it really the (Overwatch/TF2) killer?

    How do you guys feel about Deadlock? Is it really the (Overwatch/TF2) killer?

    4 votes
    1. [4]
      TheJorro
      Link Parent
      It is not at all like Overwatch or TF2, it's a straight up MOBA game. This game has very little appeal for someone looking for another multiplayer shooter, it has much more to offer someone...

      It is not at all like Overwatch or TF2, it's a straight up MOBA game. This game has very little appeal for someone looking for another multiplayer shooter, it has much more to offer someone looking to replace DOTA2 or League of Legends.

      18 votes
      1. [3]
        kari
        Link Parent
        I disagree, at least personally. I've never played a MOBA before Deadlock, and don't really want to, but I'm still enjoying playing Deadlock even right now when it's down to ~10k-15k concurrent...

        This game has very little appeal for someone looking for another multiplayer shooter

        I disagree, at least personally. I've never played a MOBA before Deadlock, and don't really want to, but I'm still enjoying playing Deadlock even right now when it's down to ~10k-15k concurrent players. I agree that it's not an Overwatch or TF2 killer (it seems like maybe Marvel Rivals could be that), but I really like Deadlock for the shooter mechanics even if it just happens to be a MOBA. There are some things like the movement in Deadlock that I think are super great and I don't think we've really had a (popular) game with movement this good since TF2 (and maybe Titanfall 2, too).

        1 vote
        1. [2]
          ChingShih
          Link Parent
          I agree, it has a lot going for it. It has some growing pains, and latency issues for me, but overall it has a lot of potential. I was also on the lookout for a new MP shooter when I started...

          I agree, it has a lot going for it. It has some growing pains, and latency issues for me, but overall it has a lot of potential.

          I was also on the lookout for a new MP shooter when I started playing Deadlock last year, but I also understood the MOBA concepts having been a DOTA (1) player for a short time. I agree that it's not a TF2 or Overwatch killer, nor is it going to draw people away from CoD or CS2 in a meaningful way.

          Lately I've been struggling with finding suitable matches in my skill level because of the lack of players in recent weeks. The skill range within matches exaggerates skill gaps. That means I'm often across from one of the better players in the match and, while it sometimes remains a competitive lane experience for the first 9 (...or 15), at the end of the day we're just stunting each other's progression. Meanwhile there will be two people in other lanes who are absolutely feeding, and I can't help them because I'm skill-gapped compared to their lane adversaries.

          I think the skill gap is a lot more apparent in Deadlock, as it is in its beta phase, but also because it is more of a pure MOBA than FPS or squad shooters and the like. Comebacks while down by 30k+ souls are very, very hard and really require the entire team to come together and play smart. It's very difficult for a single person to carry the team into a comeback like in CoD or CS2 -- but it's exceptionally easy for a single person to get fed early and carry the team to a lot of early- and mid-game successes and gap the other team to the extent that they play defense and can't even farm.

          2 votes
          1. kari
            Link Parent
            100% feel that. When the new characters came out, it was nice for a few days while the concurrent players was up to 20k or so but it's dropped down again and a lot of my games are pretty rough....

            Lately I've been struggling with finding suitable matches in my skill level because of the lack of players in recent weeks.

            100% feel that. When the new characters came out, it was nice for a few days while the concurrent players was up to 20k or so but it's dropped down again and a lot of my games are pretty rough. Like I said, I've never played a MOBA before, but it's brutal when I'm winning lane but one or two other lanes are feeding so suddenly I get ganked and can't do anything really the rest of the game... and I'm only in like Ritualist(?).

            I think if player counts come back up it has the beginnings of a very very good game.

            2 votes
    2. Crestwave
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      I've found it to be super fun so far, as someone who has never been interested in DOTA/LOL. It's true that it's more of a MOBA than a typical hero shooter, but I personally invited my Overwatch...
      • Exemplary

      I've found it to be super fun so far, as someone who has never been interested in DOTA/LOL. It's true that it's more of a MOBA than a typical hero shooter, but I personally invited my Overwatch friends to play it and basically all of them have gotten addicted to it. I wouldn't necessarily say it would kill hero shooters, but there is definitely some cross-over appeal, especially for the players who like them for the characters and abilities rather than the gunplay itself.

      The game is clearly still in development and has a bunch of placeholders, but it's quite polished overall. The universal mechanics like melee, parry, dash{,/jump}, sliding and, more recently, wall jumping add a lot of fun movement and potential skill expression to basically every character while not feeling overwhelming. The zip lines are super fun and tie in perfectly with the MOBA laning elements. The character design and aesthetic is great and pretty much everyone I've tried feels powerful and impactful.

      Another thing I wanted to mention is how much the developers are killing it on the meta-side of the game. Even from this early period, the game already has an in-game build browser where builds can easily be shared and used, which is huge for new player accessibility. It has everything you need, supporting both the shop and the in-game abilities/upgrades + coming with comments/advice.

      Valve also seems committed to punishing cheaters and toxicity, issuing hardware bans even for "regular toxicity" (i.e., w/o slurs), which is super refreshing. Finally, the official forums are just a regular XenForo website instead of being hosted on Steam or Reddit. Which is a green flag, in my opinion. :-)

      12 votes
    3. [3]
      Nemoder
      Link Parent
      At its heart it is still a competitive MOBA, people who just want to spawn and shoot an enemy on even ground will struggle with it. But the success of other MOBAs means it still has a strong...

      At its heart it is still a competitive MOBA, people who just want to spawn and shoot an enemy on even ground will struggle with it. But the success of other MOBAs means it still has a strong audience. Coming from Dota2 I find it to be pretty fun so far.

      5 votes
      1. [2]
        dreamless_patio
        Link Parent
        I have never played anything in the genre, and my first match k/d was 0-30 along with a couple other new players. The team chat was...less than supportive. I uninstalled because I don't have...

        I have never played anything in the genre, and my first match k/d was 0-30 along with a couple other new players. The team chat was...less than supportive. I uninstalled because I don't have thousands of hours to sink into it until it potentially gets fun.

        5 votes
        1. Nemoder
          Link Parent
          Yeah that was my first few games as well, and I've got waay too many hours in other MOBAs. It just takes awhile for the matchmaking to know everyones skill level to find balanced matches. The...

          Yeah that was my first few games as well, and I've got waay too many hours in other MOBAs. It just takes awhile for the matchmaking to know everyones skill level to find balanced matches. The toxicity is definitely still a problem, though Valve does take the reports seriously and will ban people if they continue to be awful.

          2 votes
    4. teaearlgraycold
      Link Parent
      I tried it out. The genre isn’t my thing, but the execution seems good. The aesthetic seems off to me, but so did TF2 for years before I got over that and played a good amount. It will do well but...

      I tried it out. The genre isn’t my thing, but the execution seems good. The aesthetic seems off to me, but so did TF2 for years before I got over that and played a good amount. It will do well but IMO there isn’t anything about it that strikes me as so inspired that it will capture the existing market.

      3 votes
    5. ogre
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      It’s a refreshing entry into the MOBA genre. I’ve got about 60 hours in it. It’s been a great game to play with friends, and it’s surprisingly polished for how early in development it is. You...

      It’s a refreshing entry into the MOBA genre. I’ve got about 60 hours in it. It’s been a great game to play with friends, and it’s surprisingly polished for how early in development it is. You would think it’s a beta test close to release but Valve is regularly making significant changes to art, map layout, and hero abilities. My only issue with it is that matches can run too long (up to an hour) and it’s not something I can play when I want to take a quick break from work.

      Edit: another thing, early on in the test the snowball/steamroll was really bad. For a while the matchmaking pool was too small to prevent new players from matching with more experienced parties. Your first few games can be no fun because there’s not a lot you can do once the enemy team has a gold/xp lead. Valve targeted some updates to address this, but I haven’t had as much time to play recently so I’m not sure how common it still is.

      2 votes
    6. [2]
      Lapbunny
      Link Parent
      I've enjoyed it more than Overwatch, but funny enough in this alpha state with incomplete and abrupt character redesigns about to drop I think it has about as much character as Overwatch. I like...

      I've enjoyed it more than Overwatch, but funny enough in this alpha state with incomplete and abrupt character redesigns about to drop I think it has about as much character as Overwatch. I like the general game flow, I think it's a good transition of MOBA ideas where actual coordination is rewarded, but there's just some spice that's missing that makes it feel far from the party atmosphere of TF2, or the streamlined gameplay of HotS or semi-recent LoL. A lot of the enjoyment I've pulled was from the jank of playing an early game, and I'm pretty sure that's evaporating quick with the influx of people.

      2 votes
      1. Nemoder
        Link Parent
        Yeah I'm guessing the aesthetic is intentionally drab to both make the heroes stand out more and to eventually sell more shiny DLC. I don't mind that though, makes it easier to follow the action.

        Yeah I'm guessing the aesthetic is intentionally drab to both make the heroes stand out more and to eventually sell more shiny DLC. I don't mind that though, makes it easier to follow the action.

        2 votes
    7. Bullmaestro
      Link Parent
      Very good game for something supposedly in early development My only real gripe is that the matchmaking is dogshit. I've had too many games where I've been stuck in the pre-game lobby and kicked 5...

      Very good game for something supposedly in early development My only real gripe is that the matchmaking is dogshit. I've had too many games where I've been stuck in the pre-game lobby and kicked 5 mins later because insufficient players joined. Also, the quality of teammates is about as consistent as a dollop of bird shit on a car windscreen.