What would you suggest a solo player should do in Foxhole? Is front line combat enough? Is their only option to try and find other players to enhance their experience?
As much as I like the core idea of entirely player driven gameplay I think that introduction of some more automatization to logistics could help with the feeling of "having second job". Some time ago I thought that adding air based logistics would enable fun and engaging way of automization, but it adds another layer to gameplay. "Air" map for player controlled aircraft is a "no no" for current game, I think at least, haven't played in a bit. Simplification of ammunition maybe? Lower requirement for war operations? I dunno, time is gonna tell.
@@dirt-for-brains6311 I personally think you're onto something there, although I'm sure many players would object to us saying it. It seems to me that a facility is the key to having serious fun with logistics, but it's simply not realistic for casual / solo / small groups to use them. There must be a way of getting that to happen, for smaller groups to contribute to the overall logistics effort without impacting the more organised regiments. Air is a very interesting concept! Did you hear they're developing a medieval version of Foxhole? That'd be interesting!
Playing back line logi helps you understand the value of equipment. Front line combat teaches you which equipment gets used the most. Just take your time and ask “dumb” questions in region chat if you don’t want to use global.
@@twiglets2 I too think that facilities are the key, maybe making them less dependent on players or even more intertwined between their buildings? Something like it works in "Factorio"? There is another thing that could be done, facilities resource input, output and quality of products could be tied to number of players participating in production a bit different to how it works now, instead of players doing everything now so that facilities produce anything, they could have some mini-games of production to make it more engaging. These kind of mini-ganes (They would be more of quasi-minigames than full blooded ones now that I think more about it) would increase quality of production be it by lowering resource cost, time, making quality higher or any other way. Basically, facilities function somewhere along 50% to what they should do to be useful, but with players participating in their production they could be ramped up to 100% or even 200% or whatever is worth it and makes it rewarding for players. Of course some other way to reward them would be reeaaaaally good, I still think that some medals and trinkets could be great, people love customization and stuff, maybe items could get stamps to them that would inform user "This rifle was made with love in XXX facility" ( :DD ) As for the medieval game, that sounds really cool, however I wonder if it is really shot at standalone game made for itself or maybe it's a way for obtaining more funds for "Foxhole" development, either way I truly hope it succeds :DD
@@twiglets2 for facilities, especially now with the Msupp update I’ve seen more and more people opting to collaborate with bigger regis to work together on facilities so that solos and clanman can work together and not get mentally drained by facilities. I know some people just like to work alone but I see it as a solution. Also with the Msupp change I’ve seen many people opting or discussing to build less facilities but more focused on the public, so solos have more chance to get facility locked stuff.
I've been hearing some people say foxhole is dying due to player numbers drooping after an update and I say to them player number drops when new players pick it up and aren't interested so it drops and then stagnates most of the time. A game only starts dying when it's consistent and loyal players start to stop playing game entirely and development of the game gets slower and slower.
@childchildson3953 I've heard the game is dying too, and you only need to check the player count to see the game is doing rather well. However I suspect many regular players have taken a pause, and the player numbers are bolstered by new recruits - we shall see if they last! I have no doubt Foxhole we maintain enough players to fill Able shard for several more years at least, but I do hope the devs set their sights higher than one shard and really go for it!
Foxhole has never been healthier. People need to realize this game has a noob-->Vet-->Burnout cycle of about 6 months - a couple years. Many players quit for a time after after 5-10 wars only to return at a later date. This, along with the waves of new players that occur every few months, always keep the games population up. I remember when I started, player activity was around 1k players. Now it's consistently 2-3k.
I bought this game like 2 weeks ago and have 50 hours playtime I can say it's fun but even after so few hours I see the problems with it. I don't think I will continue playing it really I enjoy being an infantry but when a guy with a bayonet moving like a puma comes to you it's not fun. Full accuracy still the shot misses, you die from everything but the enemy shots,(grenades, artillery, random AI, gas grenades) it feels very fast paced when it comes to infantry from what I expected from this game, more about positioning, strategy which it is but the shooting system it's just bad
That is part of the story. But Foxhole is a big time sink (if you want to do more than "just 90 minutes of frontline shooting"). Even commited players have other things to do, like real life with job/family/other things. Or to be quite heretic, they have other interests that demand a share of their free time. Take me as an example: I have a rather demanding job, I have a family, I have pets and other hobbies. If I'm relaxing on the PC I tend to gravitate to other 'time sinks' like Kerbal Space Program or flight simming on a quite realistic level. And now that the winter is out and spring rolls in, I need much more time to tend my garden (which is the best antidote to my job). And now, try to fit in Foxhole into this. ^^ I think Foxhole needs more space for casual/time constraint players in all aspects. Let me do 2-3 logi runs and a bit of fighting in my 2 hours play time. Maybe add a 'inefficient' general facility, that can do everything (so I don't need seperate facilites to produce all the parts materials ... just a facility that produces every commonly needed material), but a slower rate or with higher imput need. But that doesn't demand to be babysitted all the time. Foxhole still struggles with the fundamentally different playstyles of casual and fully commited players. And the latter tend to be less forgving towards those casuals who are 'inefficient' and compete with them over resources (components, oil, scrap, building space and now they drive up maintainenance costs too).
i would love for there to be a sandbox shard, one where have an infinite stockpile of stuff for players to experiment with things, like different bunker layouts or training exercises for armor, artillery or infantry groups
I feel like foxholes biggest strength in longevity is That it’s the only game I can come back to in 4 months and enjoy a lot, and a feel like a lot of people get these breaks and returns to playing the game as well, as it can easily draw me back in
@antilad5584 I have noticed many players say they're done with the game, but eventually get drawn back in! I hope the developers take foxhole to the next levels soon, it feels like they've been "tinkering" lately, and not always for the best!
@@twiglets2 One of the biggest apparently the devs have to limit certain mechanics such as players counts on each region is due to the engine limitations. Foxhole is made with a modified version of the Unreal engine which wasn't made to handle this kind of game. They somehow made it work but are still hampered by those limitations. Their new game Anvil uses a new engine made in house which intends fix a lot of the issues Foxhole has. Think about it if Anvil becomes a success with the new engine they could make a foxhole sequel with it in the near future. Hopefully it would address nearly most of the technical issues plaguing the game from a development standpoint.
@@smokey_mcbong that would be so awesome. Have you tried Anvil? I've seen some people have tried the game but they may have just been big TH-camrs with early access or something. Looks cool!
@@twiglets2 No, I have not tried it but it looks promising. I won't lie I am not the biggest fan of the medieval setting but I am willing to give ti a chance for sure.
Regarding server population issues, I think that more clear picture from the devs would be welcomed while joining the server. We dont know what is the max server capacity, so we dont even know if the game is functioning like it's meant to be. I absolutely agree that 2nd server could be great, and that probaby, with player numbers we have now, it could run on fraction of the map. I would like to see clear information regarding player count on the faction selection screen. For example, that we can see there is 1000 players maximum capacity on either side and how much is taken/reserved already. It means that players could "reserve" the spot on a server and for example after some days not playing (like 5 or 7) they would be kicked out of the spot and had to join again (in the same faction in the same war). Maybe it could mitigate the queues problem too? Also, I wouldnt stick too much to an idea that Baker server is newbee server, because once veteran players see it, they abandon Able to steamroll new players xd
@mateuszfelisiak480 A very good point, veterans will find it hard to resist a good steamroll! More information is always a good thing (I think?). A small Baker map would be interesting as an alternative at least.
@@averygoodfantasticname4206 I think yes and no, they were too short lived to become established which I believe it part of the problem. Some players definitely enjoyed a second server as a place to be more casual, but it only existed for a couple months before being shut down due to lack of numbers. If the game had sufficient player numbers for a long enough period of time I suspect a second server would be great, but therein lies the problem! You need the player numbers to get a good second server, but you need a good second server to get the player numbers!
The only way a second or third shard could work and be interesting. Would be to make the other shards offer differnt gameplay incentives. Its boring if all the shards are doing the same thing. Which is why shards 2 & 3 quickly fizzled out and struggled to grow the game as indicated in the video. A solution would be similar to make shard 2 a much smaller more contested map. Or shard 3 could be a shard offering much higher resource gains for new players to experiment. Or shard three could be a new gameplay mode of some kind instead of the usual open war. By changing up the gameplay options it makes the game more inviting to more people and incentive to use them. Where else multiple shards will always be seen as which one has the most activity making the remaining shards pointless. Which is what we witnessed happening. It is a good move we are back to one server shard to group the community into one much bigger war keeping the game interesting. But like the video highlights. Once the game hits it's ceiling for max supported players. It becomes trapped unable to grow further.
i think the larger shards should stay but smaller sized and quicker shards should be added. A LOOOONG war is tiring to many, shorter wars would help new players learn quicker and would create a sort of casual scene
@senior9250 Absolutely, it would be interesting to see how many players take up the option of a shorter war, I suspect demand would be high without impacting the numbers on Able shard
3:40 ayeeeeeeeeeeeee 🐻 Love your vids btw. Though ill disagree on the solution of adding more shards. Way back when, we used to have what was know as skirmish islands or maps that would contribute to the main war effort while being separate short more "match like" entities. Those need to come back. (Reference my updates 0.10 & 0.11)
@ISawABear strange that they got rid of it as that's exactly the sort of thing I was thinking would be cool, I'll check those out. Thanks for stopping by! 🐻
So I haven't thought this out fully but what if Foxhole had dedicated teams for each server? That way it's less complicated when a shard is created because there isn't a hoard of workers working on all three at once and messing up, instead it's an organised team of maybe twenty or so to maintain and update the server!
I've always thought logistics or Frontline troops should be supplemented by ai players, like in running with rifles. Higher level players could be able to assemble and command them, giving a reason to command roles.
@wannaajed6254 I'm glad you mentioned Running with Rifles, I gave it a try last month but found the servers were rather empty. I felt like I may be doing something wrong though...! Any tips for someone trying to get into RwR?
@@twiglets2 bots is the only way to have fun, in settings you can set more bots, their health, accuracy etc, same for team bots. Online players fight against bots too since they're actually good fighters. It's surprisingly the most hardcore game of its type where one round usually kills so you're forced to go to the armory and spend money you accumulated by collecting artifacts off dead veterans. If you see random items on the ground pick them up and sell them at the armory holding E I believe and dragging. That let's you unlock hidden guns, and advanced tech like MG nests, mortars and soldiers in your unit who follow you and you can command. My favorite thing to do is get a vehicle and command my driver to drive me about while I kill bots. A campaign on singleplayer can last a few hours as you have to drive back enemy forces, and the historical sides are super fun.
The bots are in ways better than people because they come in squads and work to support the squad leader. If you run at enemies they just murder you so cover is key, crouching, laying etc
Your coverage has made me real interested in starting it, but the lack of a trial/demo and not knowing if I can get into it as a solo player means I'm just not willing to try it, especially since we have so many great games to play. I'd love to find another game worth wasting all my time in though.
@IanGerritsen I think you've made a wise decision to not take the plunge, as someone who has I can confirm it is difficult to decide whether to play or not. It's a great game, but the problems are real and there are likely better games to get stuck into. Out of interesting, what are you / have you been playing of late? I need to keep up with the times!
@@twiglets2 I'm hangin' out for a good MMO still, that itch is mostly getting scratched by gacha games (Azur Lane, PGR, even just started... Genshin... -_-). But single player stuff is Shadow Empire and Distant Worlds 2 which has improved hugely since release, nice crunchy deep strategy games. There's some great games coming this year from indies and midsize publishers like Slitherine and Microprose so there's plenty stuff soon to tide us over thankfully. Task Force Admiral, Sea Power, and Broken Arrow come to mind for ones I think we share an interest in.
@@IanGerritsen I'm glad to see you mention Distant World's 2 in particular! I was underwhelmed by it upon release so didn't purchase but sounds like it's worth another look
I think the solution for high population isn’t a new shard but rather an expansion for each of the hex’s player count. Currently I believe a hex can hold 240 players this is enough for regular months, but as soon as an update is released there are cues. Shards aren’t a good solution to this either as seen with team dominant shards. The devs just need to increase player size for hex’s and decrease them when there are less players. This would keep the teams balanced and allow for more people to play.
I was a very short term, casual player that joined around the Inferno update. It was a fun time but I was ultimately put off by UI, controls and perspective. Shooting just didn't feel good and the camera angle always frustrated me because I just wanted to see stuff from a frist person view. The meta game mechanics such as base building, logi/economy, vehicles etc. are amazing but I just didn't warm up to the day to day gameplay. I'm really just waiting for a game that copies Foxhole but with an over the shoulder 3rd person camera or straight up FPS. (I know WWII online is a thing but that's too old for my taste).
@knightloltrec You have an interesting perspective! Often players think the logistics systems etc that were introduced as part of the inferno update are too complex for a solo player to enjoy. Do you agree with that?
@@twiglets2 Learning logi was fun. Scrapping, driving cranes and handling containers, refining etc. and doing your first logi runs alone to the frontline in your truck afraid of partisans was really gratifying and intense. Dropping off a bunch of ammo/mats/shirts in a contested base and getting tons of Commendations felt like you alone were making an impact. But of course, in the long run the novelty wore off and it felt more like a job than anything. I joined a clan for about 3 weeks but it was very time intensive. Foxhole seems like an "all or nothing" game to me. Just checking by now and then doesn't mesh well with the persistent war.
I agree with you on your ideas regarding player count and there has to be some solution regarding that. In the near term, I think the worst threat is the current balance as the developers these days are more interested in what looks and sounds cool versus what the factions really need (and would develop) to counter the other. Combine this with sweeping buffs and nerfs (which should be a last resort in favor of more modest adjustments) and you wind up with very ticked off veteran players. An example would be the recent grenade changes which favor one faction massively. It needs to be resolved but doing so would make the buffed faction as upset as the nerfed faction is now. Moreover, probably the biggest problem for tank combat is the heavy field guns introduced in Update 50. They can kill most tanks in a couple of shots, are resilient enough to tank shots themselves, and are far cheaper than tanks with equivalent weaponry. The result is that tank line battles are no longer fun as it is much more worthwhile to spam these guns than to invest into more powerful tanks, let alone risk them in bold pushes. I am still hopeful for the game but poor decisions on Siegecamp's part give me doubt.
@Zorro9129 I would be very interested to be a fly on the wall in their meetings. How do they decide which changes to make? It makes me think that there should be a more community inclusive process for deciding which changes to make. Don't get me wrong, that could be an absolute nightmare, but I feel the Foxhole community is more mature than your average community, and so something could work. I find this with Hell Let Loose too, the developers seem more focussed on new content than working on what they already have. Though this most recent update did bring me more hope in that regard, they seem to have made some positive changes, though you've pointed out several that are questionable!
@@twiglets2 yeah it would be nice to have more community input especially communications regarding the map before the war is released. I don’t understand why every war needs to have this gold rush like scramble at the beginning in order to determine who is going to use facilities oil fields etc. also asymmetry is part of the game a lot of people complain about balance. But there have been periods were every faction has been the strong one. incremental changes would definitely be good. At least when it comes to nerfs / buffs
@@smokedbeefandcheese4144 It would be nice if they got to a place where it's "fun to lose" because the game is fun to play. I suspect human nature will get in the way of that one!
Maybe put up a shard that expands and retracts as needed. So instead of having 37 zones have 4, 9, 16 zones. And expand or retract then in this new shard as compared to the player sizes over a week (with 1-2 days before changes go into effect so people can make changes or prep)
You explained the 'dilemma' perfectly. There has to be 2 shards, 1 normal(able) and 1 smoll(beta) Smoll should be open to everyone, tech sped up, and resource gathering shortened, production, fastened, and accsesable for player under a certain rank, or even 'retired' players to join and teach new guys... basically have it as a Giant tutorial, manned by some retired people, who dont want to play on able(the big for everyone server). Basically, what Dev Branch is all about, nobady plays it to 'win' everyone treats it as a big tutorial. Big for everone server(able) current one, is good, just EXPAND IT(player capacity)! Persistent world war, losses it's effect, when the said war, is not exclusive, and shared between "shards"... To have to 'persistent world war' be good, is to have 1 big server for EVERYONE! indeed that is hard to pull off, but ITS THE RIGHT THING.
A second shard should have different rulesets, perhaps even have it in a different timeline (lore potential). You could even design a PVE shard where collies and blueberries have to unite to defeat a new enemy - something along the line of a Mongol style invasion. There are numerous possibilities, but since the game relies almost entirely on new purchases to stay afloat, they must try something different.
The shard solution is not to throw everyone into a separate shard. But to instead divide the current map between shards. Sort of like how each hex is a server. Instead of per hex, this would be one shard per row of vertical hexes. Vertically there are seven rows of hexes by counting 1,2,3 from left to rigth. Seven rows means seven shards. There are other config ideas such as doing rings of hexes per shard or most active hexes transfer automatically into a higher tier performance based shard of servers. But those ideas take even longer to explain. Either way, saves server resources by focusing on these lanes of traffic instead of the entire map at once. Additionally does not divide up the community by forcing people into shard A or B. It would take decent amonnts of network and game structure changes to accomplish however. Other than that idea, for the game to fit its one open world theme and one massive war concept. There would need to be more hexes to further split up where the players are focusing their time. Right now the map only has a few hexes where groups of players want to go and that bottlenecks the player focus. Players need more reason to not just focus on front lines and that in turn helps server performance by motivating players to other parts of the map. Something the game often struggles in doing by only providing action/interest on a front line.
@geronimo5537 This is why I make videos like this, to see comments that give completely new ideas (to me at least!) I do wonder if the devs are thinking along these lines as it makes a lot of sense to me!
@@twiglets2 thanks for the compliment. Maybe we will get lucky and a dev with some pull could push the team towards some of these ideas shared either from the video or comments.
The answer is the same as a similar yet high res question; do mmos have a future? It also has to include games like Eve online where griefing is legal. That game has survived over the years, it has its addicts. The answer is yes. People will keep buying and keep trying Foxhole. Keep hoping. In any multiplayer games there will always be a disappointing teammate or someone the game could be better without. Idk why some games actually make sure that this happens like in World of Warships/Tanks by forbidding players to pick their own teams and forcing them to play with random team mates. While games like Dota2 let you make your own team. These games are not mmos but the problem is the same. Personally I have once again decided to not play mmo's or games that facilitate grief so the answer for me is whatever. Foxhole can not remove the wrench from the game, can it? It can not let a general make a pte sit out from a fight. It can not let players not spam little facilities that will not produce anything all over the world and ruin the msupp consumption rate for everyone around them. The newbie will never learn because newbies will keep buying the game and vets will keep realizing these things and keep quitting.
@@Flawdakage That's a good question! I believe Men of War Assault Squad 2 has a map editor, as does Men of War Gates of Hell Ostfront. It's worth double checking as I'm not 100% and that's just off the top of my head!
Recently returned to Foxhole. Here is my idea: As this is a WW2 inspired game. Let's use that as our model. Rather than Shards. We have fronts. Western Front, Eastern Front. To main theaters. You could also have smaller Campaigns. Such as North Africa, Pacific Islands and so on. Then the clans can combine and plan strategy. Who will fight where? How many resources and forces to commit to each front? Each front will face a different challenge. The frozen winters of the Eastern. The sandy deserts in North Africa. The Navy battles in the Pacific and amphibious assaults. Each front gives Victory Points for 'winning', X amount of VP's win the Global war. So like what happened in history. If the Western front is won, some resources can now be diverted to the Pacific front. For example.
@stevezturner7052 Great ideas, I can see that working very well! How do you find foxhole now you've recently returned? I don't know when you last played but I've heard players say the latest update is a modest improvement
@@twiglets2 More and improved units and in depth game play. I agree with you that there needs to be a better tutorial and training for new players. Again the strength of the game is also it's weakness. As a solo player it is very limited what you can do. Joining a clad, doesn't solve those problems sometimes. Timezone issues, ego issues, a lot of effort goings into recruiting in some clans, yet in some cases very little or no effort into cultivating those new recruits into the 'clad'. Sometimes, within those 'organizations', you find your ignored , no options for growth and sometimes you find out it's just 'disorganization' clad.
I was 100% going to buy the game but after hearing all the horror stories of annoying clans, and sabatoge/trolling, as well as the crazy amount of time necessary (not solo friendly). I didn't buy it :(
@bigrig8539 I would love to say that the game is perfect and you made the wrong decision, but those issues you raise are real issues. With that said, I've personally never had a bad experience with clans, so it doesn't happen to everybody all the time. Much of what makes Foxhole great isn't accessible to newer / more casual players for two reasons. It either demands a lot of your time as it's a persistent war, or you need to work with organised regiments, and realistically you need both unfortunately! But I am asking around for activities solo players can do that I may be missing, so hoping to learn something!
@rebel4029 Now that's an interesting thought! I believe Foxhole was originally a third person over the shoulder shooter and they changed it to top down, so it's feasible!
The solution has been in the works for a while now called the R2 Engine, which can handle thousands of players and way more assets per server than the current Foxhole engine. But sadly, this engine will not be coming to foxhole, but will used to power Siege Camps futures games, including their next game called Anvil Empires.
@IlikeWarGames Very interesting! I saw a demo of Anvil Empires, it looks cool. A real shame that tech won't be coming to Foxhole but I suppose there are legitimate technical reasons for that
After reading some of these comments i have to say: foxhole players on the internet (youtube, reddit, etc.) have no resemblance to players in game. Foxhole is the friendliest community i have found in any game, period. Unfortunately, its human nature that people feel more motivated to share bad experiences than good ones
@TheYognaut64 Absolutely, many comments have been from players who tried the game once, had a bad experience and then quit. I suppose if a player enjoys a game they will be too busy playing it to share their experience in TH-cam comments! That said, it depends. There is toxicity out there in Foxhole, whether it's more or less than other games is debatable.
Game got to complicated for my casual brain. I come in from workinging and may only have a hour and I use to go do Logi runs in the day then at night when I come in from work again I fight on the front lines. I am a farmer so I work through out the day but never have lot of down time.
@infantryblack I tried to log on and play last night to do some front line logi, all the forward zones had queues to get into...I logged off and played War Thunder instead!
The problem is not that alts have micro p**is. Its the the fact that their p**is doesnt exist at all. I stopped playing the game a while ago so I don't know if the problems are still present or fixed anyway here is my serious opinion if anyone intrested in. First of all I have around 1k+ hour exp in the game so im quite experienced and i have seen a lot. When last time played the game it had cheating issue. Occasionaly i ran in to players with accuracy/stability hack and once even with fire rate hack. Report system can be abused by regiments or group of players. Reporting players based on personal issues. Alts.... Logi tedious and takes a lot of time. Alsi some frontlines oversuplied other are abandoned. Reasource managment overall. Its way harder to push than deffend especially with low numbers. Thats why most of the fronts are nothing but repetative bridge battles and when your region has finaly has enough number to push everybody wants to get in to that region. Meanwhile at the other side of the map 10 player trying to hold a base againts 20 tank. Rank is the only selfprogression what you can get and it doesnt even matter because some players sell/trade their commands. Also because of you can get high rank by doing only logi on the battle field it doesnt necessary indicate real battle experience and you dont know if you can trust the player's opinion on the battlefield or not. New and unexperienced players tend to follow the highest and loudest player even if his ideas bad and might cause problems. If you are not part of a regiment or a big group the game feels like a giant soloq but even if you are you may still encounter problems. Lack of tutorial for new players. There are clear balance issues and always will be.
stevenelmgren723 Thanks for your opinion, always interesting to hear from experienced players. I'm curious, if you could choose one thing to change about Foxhole, what would it be? If you have two or three, even better!
@@twiglets2 First of all the basics: No cheating any part of the game. If there is still cheating among infantry then the game needs a GOOD hack shield. Removing possibility of "hive". Controling more than one caracter at the same time. No alts. Fixing it somehow. Idk. Better report system. Real tutorial for new players. Gameplay: Bassicly fixing what i said above. Although some stuff cannot be fixed like the feeling of a giant soloq. Even with regiments. Unless you are the one who call the shots you have little or no effect over all but problem is even if you acomplish something somehow there is no selfprogresssion. Or in some cases big regiment takes a credit for what you have acomplished. I have seen it beffore. Ranking system needs some changes but its hard to tell what to change and how. Right now it doesnt realy reflect any real thing. Not even the amount of hour you played. Because if you played only logi you might get major in 200 hour. If played only medic you might get it in 2000 hour. If you only gather materials you are still Cpl even affter 5000 hour. Although if you trade your commands has a lot of frinds who feed you commends you might became major in a 100 hour. Logi has way too many problems to list.
@@twiglets2 Actually I think they are completely aware of the problems but most of it either cannot be fixed or hard to fix and require a lot of thoughts. Thats probably one of the reason for anvil. Where they can kinda "start over".
Until they fix building and better reward the player time and effort required to do so I can't come back. Also war 100 was grueling and I can't bring that into my life again.
can we make a small or large system, that there's many small groups of players helping each other out like 7 groups ,each one has a day in the week to only do logistics so all of them put up the effort. like a clan united by many small groups. of course theres needs to be someone who organizes the groups on what day a week and try to compinsate for people playing some days and some players are sick in bed but i think it would help grow the smaller groups into clans of there own after one or 2 wars and if they dont like the united clan style they can leave by themselve or join another clan
@@twiglets2 The biggest problem with the system i just mentioned is that if one group leaves all the others need to pick up the slack which will lead to more players leaving and the clan would collapse. i have not thought of a way to counter this sadly.
@@DumbIShallBe I think you have highlighted the problem with Foxhole more broadly. The need for players to be online is constant, when they're not there the rest pick up the slack and there comes a point where it simply doesn't work!
Okay, hot take, here's some grains of salt to take it with, but: As far as my understanding of Foxhole goes, Wardens are supposed to be a defensive faction, with Loughcasters beating Argentis on flat field but Dusks destroying Aaltos in close quarter (I am simplifying here, but I'd argue that Colonial weapons are overall more efficient than Warden ones in close or urban combat, but Warden weapons are more punitive and have a longer range overall) In exchange, Warden gets cheaper artillery but more expensive tanks (that also ties into the quality vs quantity mindsets), and had for a long time the upper hand in late game, meaning that if Colonials broke Warden ranks before the Wardens reached full power, it was a Colonial victory. If the Wardens defended long enough for them to reach their potential, they'd have the upper hand, and, if not crippled earlier, would win With the amount of content growing, wars have to let players experience at least half of it, drawing the fight longer. Letting Wardens have late game would then mean (and meant) certain death for Colonials, as breaking through became harder and harder. On the other hand, giving no advantage to the Wardens would mean that they can't have the early game nor can they have the late game This means that a modification on both the mindset and the purpose of Warden tactics and gear need a rework that does not seem like a priority yet On a second note, as a veteran Warden player, our weapons feel far more efficient, but either very situational (White Flask need to have infantry close to a tank with anti tank having reach on the enemy tank, for example) or hard to hit without preparing the situation (non-mounted bonesaw having a very short range, a fairly avoidable trajectory due to a strong arc and noticeable travel time) On the other hand, every Colonial weapon I have laid my hands upon felt less efficient, but having a wider range of uses (I'm thinking of the Argenti) or easier to hit (Ignifist being barely avoidable if you are rushed). I think it gives Colonial a feeling of unfairness, as their weapon deals less damage and are less efficient, whereas it give Wardens the feeling to be playing on hard mode and that mistakes aren't punished by the game fairly, forcing you to stay on edge and plan every little action If I am wrong, you are welcome to correct me and give more information in your replies. Just be polite, please ^^ P.S.: If you mention Clancy Raca vs KRR Auger, it was, for me, one of the best example of an interesting unbalance (though they should have blocked snipers on barges instead of nerfing them into the ground). Veteran Colonials used the Auger as a precision rifle, being able to "snipe" on the move and taking advantage of it's relatively fast aiming speed to hit and then change position or follow a target. On the other hand, Wardens used the Raca as sniper, forcing them to stay immobile and making shots targeting a moving enemy an impressive feat
@daysknigh8064 that was an interesting read, I look forward to seeing others responses! Slightly off topic but do you think Foxhole could benefit from a rework of the rifle/SMG etc shooting system in general? It's rather...unique, and certainly frustrating at times!
This seems like an accurate and fair account of game balance as it is right now. Except that I feel like Warden tanks are under so much threat now at end game from Banes and Stygians that Wardens are effectively forced to sit out the night, (This is really bad). I want the end game to be as close to equally balanced as it can be, with a Warden power spike when Cutlers unlock, and a Colonial power spike when Falchions unlock, (and the level out at the end as I mentioned). Personally I feel like night time is too big of an issue at end game and basically forces Warden players to stop fighting (unless they are okay with losing many tanks). I dream of more ways to light up the night, Warden torchlight helmets (that go in radio slot), hand throwable flares, cheaper flares in general, sticky grenades that light up tanks for like two minutes. (Possible lazy solution is to put headlights on the Stygian, but that is not ideal). I know you were tackling weapon balance but I feel like tank and anti tank balance is most important imo, and night time plays a massive role when Stygians unlock. P.S: Hiding a Stygian behind a gate is also a problem. Tank fights at end game legit come down to: Wardens killing a gate, and then colonials building more gates so they can play around them with push guns (especially the Stygian). Maybe push guns need to be visible at all times now, IDK. But having tank fights revolving around gates is jus another clear symptom of the problem I am trying to outline.
Sure bud, as a player who bought the game for the first time in September 2022 and only played it for about a month, in Baker shard. I'll say that the game is a bit difficult for new players to grasp how supplies and logistics works, and very few players have the time, nor the patience to show noobies the ropes, the game becomes a Frontline battle simulation (running to your death or camping in a foxhole) for hours on end. Or running supplies for hours on end, both become boring after an hour of repetitive motions. The game is all about the discord, which I hate discord, joining a clan is the only way to truly participate, I'm more of a solo player(at most I want to work with a group of 5) and the most importantly annoying aspect of the game was... When you're a noobly player just learning the ropes you'll find yourself teamkilled by the experienced players who think that their way of playing is the only way. They have no issue charging forward with their tanks only to abruptly reverse after taking one enemy round, running over any supporting infantry foolish enough to believe we where doing an attack push, they remove any build up that I would do(I would spend literally hours setting up, tank traps, mines ,sand bags, barbed wire) by showing up with their entitled tanker mentality, and WRENCH, ALL MY HARD WORK DOWN. And interestingly would charge forward, get shot once, reverse and leave. Destroying all my work and not even making a difference. All in all the entitled vehicle players are what destroyed the game for me.
I even tried telling a tank crew one time that the emplacements that they where destroying where the very same ones I had put up, and No they didn't stop removing them, so I threw an anti tank grenade at their vehicle ( because let's be fair,,, why is it OK for them to destroy my hard work but not ok for me to destroy their hard work) and tried to explain to them how what they where doing to my work would be the same as me destroying their vehicle,,, and do you want to guess what happened? Ya, they grouped up on me they all reported me for griefing and every time they saw me they team killed me. Irony? MLG gamers are just cancer and TANKERS are super sweaty MLG
@@WharGhoul_ Wow, I'm sorry to hear how much of a s*** experience you've had! Unfortunately I've heard of similar happenings before so I'm not surprised which is unfortunate. Have you given up on the game now or will you give it a second chance in the future?
@@WharGhoul_ Its bad but that how it is. Stay away from any moving object if you dont want to end up on ground. Also building is hard topic and your building could legit harm or slow down others operations, so dont build anything big without need (like minefields im middle of nowhere or any object on road that is not gate).
@alexturnbackthearmy1907 "it's bad but that's how it is" is the worst defense to a game I've heard. And that's also the calibre of player playing, which should speak for itself
Played solo for a while but the clan mentality in this game just put me off. I'm sure it's fun when you're in a clan but I just don't wanna make that kinda time commitment.
@markhynes1230 I'm in a similar position, the clan thing just won't happen for me so I'd like to think there are ways for solo or small groups to at least interact or join in with larger groups without having to join a Discord, it should be built into the game so you can pile into an organised push!
In a little guy clan, not hyper active every, or active at all but we occasionally pull off fun things remembered in lockheed some days ago i gas naded 2 gunboats and a pal stole one and so did i
@@twiglets2 Most dont mind (tho i was only in two). If you are here its good, if you arent here, that is fine as well. But navy is fun as hell, especially arty job.
The future of this game is an inevitable decline and death because you have to be in a clan to do anything besides frontline body throwing and partisan bullshit. And clan people in this game are greedy, loud and stupid. Anvil Empires will have the same problems but even worse, I fully expect it to flop.
Saw a concept wherein the hexes stay the same but the map is a Est. v Wst. with a huge ocean in the middle and two solid land masses on either side. Imagine the shards are actually different fronts offering different map layouts. Able is a NvS land war. Baker is a EvW war that reaches over an ocean. Charlie is a desert map that made of textures of existing but with new weather types. Three theaters of war running and the global war isnt over untill enough global victory points are won. Able may be a warden favor stalemate as wardens are winning the baker front and loosing everything on charlie.
@checkmate2936 That would be seriously cool! Perhaps also being able to shift resources between the three shards would give them an interconnected feel of sorts
Hey to simplify my opinion on the issues with pop and the persistent war what I think they can do is expand the map and add a secondary more elongated map with maybe like 1.5 times as big as the normal one just add more regions basically
@rdichmann Planes! Now there's a thought that blows my mind... biplanes where you can drop bombs / grenades...how awesome. I think they're more likely to release a new game though haha
@@rdichmann Trraaaaains! I'm excited to see what they do with the navy update, though I imagine it'll be the domain of the regiments which makes me sad as a largely solo player. Hope I'm wrong!
Nowadays new comers can't do much in game since all the shit are lock to clan and squad 🤣, even if you try to communicate with tank clan they will just simply run you to death. Glad this game is dying with the toxic community
@adityakurnia1162 I find it hard to play these days. Got excited to do some front line logistics earlier this week, couldn't get into a front line Hex due to queues, ergh!
The main issue is the community of clans that think they own every inch of the map and must have a input on every item or structure a non clan player crafts. If you even try to make a point to them then they just mass report you and demo your BB and structures. So toxic it makes Rust look sane. 600H of FH and I'm tired of the uphill battle of the solo in this game. The try hard clans will run any newly gained players off in no time.
@@twiglets2 I have a few hundred on steam but most don't get opened lol a lot of ARPG's at the moment 40K Martyr, Grim Dawn, D2R, Baldur's gate 3. I still love foxhole as a game, I've played since war 28 but every time I come back to the game I have the same problem and it's the clans.
What would you suggest a solo player should do in Foxhole? Is front line combat enough? Is their only option to try and find other players to enhance their experience?
As much as I like the core idea of entirely player driven gameplay I think that introduction of some more automatization to logistics could help with the feeling of "having second job".
Some time ago I thought that adding air based logistics would enable fun and engaging way of automization, but it adds another layer to gameplay. "Air" map for player controlled aircraft is a "no no" for current game, I think at least, haven't played in a bit. Simplification of ammunition maybe?
Lower requirement for war operations? I dunno, time is gonna tell.
@@dirt-for-brains6311 I personally think you're onto something there, although I'm sure many players would object to us saying it.
It seems to me that a facility is the key to having serious fun with logistics, but it's simply not realistic for casual / solo / small groups to use them. There must be a way of getting that to happen, for smaller groups to contribute to the overall logistics effort without impacting the more organised regiments. Air is a very interesting concept!
Did you hear they're developing a medieval version of Foxhole? That'd be interesting!
Playing back line logi helps you understand the value of equipment. Front line combat teaches you which equipment gets used the most. Just take your time and ask “dumb” questions in region chat if you don’t want to use global.
@@twiglets2 I too think that facilities are the key, maybe making them less dependent on players or even more intertwined between their buildings? Something like it works in "Factorio"?
There is another thing that could be done, facilities resource input, output and quality of products could be tied to number of players participating in production a bit different to how it works now, instead of players doing everything now so that facilities produce anything, they could have some mini-games of production to make it more engaging. These kind of mini-ganes (They would be more of quasi-minigames than full blooded ones now that I think more about it) would increase quality of production be it by lowering resource cost, time, making quality higher or any other way. Basically, facilities function somewhere along 50% to what they should do to be useful, but with players participating in their production they could be ramped up to 100% or even 200% or whatever is worth it and makes it rewarding for players. Of course some other way to reward them would be reeaaaaally good, I still think that some medals and trinkets could be great, people love customization and stuff, maybe items could get stamps to them that would inform user "This rifle was made with love in XXX facility" ( :DD )
As for the medieval game, that sounds really cool, however I wonder if it is really shot at standalone game made for itself or maybe it's a way for obtaining more funds for "Foxhole" development, either way I truly hope it succeds :DD
@@twiglets2 for facilities, especially now with the Msupp update I’ve seen more and more people opting to collaborate with bigger regis to work together on facilities so that solos and clanman can work together and not get mentally drained by facilities. I know some people just like to work alone but I see it as a solution.
Also with the Msupp change I’ve seen many people opting or discussing to build less facilities but more focused on the public, so solos have more chance to get facility locked stuff.
I've been hearing some people say foxhole is dying due to player numbers drooping after an update and I say to them player number drops when new players pick it up and aren't interested so it drops and then stagnates most of the time. A game only starts dying when it's consistent and loyal players start to stop playing game entirely and development of the game gets slower and slower.
@childchildson3953 I've heard the game is dying too, and you only need to check the player count to see the game is doing rather well. However I suspect many regular players have taken a pause, and the player numbers are bolstered by new recruits - we shall see if they last!
I have no doubt Foxhole we maintain enough players to fill Able shard for several more years at least, but I do hope the devs set their sights higher than one shard and really go for it!
@@twiglets2 wise word mate wise words.
Foxhole has never been healthier.
People need to realize this game has a noob-->Vet-->Burnout cycle of about 6 months - a couple years.
Many players quit for a time after after 5-10 wars only to return at a later date.
This, along with the waves of new players that occur every few months, always keep the games population up.
I remember when I started, player activity was around 1k players. Now it's consistently 2-3k.
I bought this game like 2 weeks ago and have 50 hours playtime I can say it's fun but even after so few hours I see the problems with it. I don't think I will continue playing it really I enjoy being an infantry but when a guy with a bayonet moving like a puma comes to you it's not fun. Full accuracy still the shot misses, you die from everything but the enemy shots,(grenades, artillery, random AI, gas grenades) it feels very fast paced when it comes to infantry from what I expected from this game, more about positioning, strategy which it is but the shooting system it's just bad
That is part of the story. But Foxhole is a big time sink (if you want to do more than "just 90 minutes of frontline shooting"). Even commited players have other things to do, like real life with job/family/other things. Or to be quite heretic, they have other interests that demand a share of their free time. Take me as an example: I have a rather demanding job, I have a family, I have pets and other hobbies. If I'm relaxing on the PC I tend to gravitate to other 'time sinks' like Kerbal Space Program or flight simming on a quite realistic level. And now that the winter is out and spring rolls in, I need much more time to tend my garden (which is the best antidote to my job). And now, try to fit in Foxhole into this. ^^
I think Foxhole needs more space for casual/time constraint players in all aspects. Let me do 2-3 logi runs and a bit of fighting in my 2 hours play time. Maybe add a 'inefficient' general facility, that can do everything (so I don't need seperate facilites to produce all the parts materials ... just a facility that produces every commonly needed material), but a slower rate or with higher imput need. But that doesn't demand to be babysitted all the time.
Foxhole still struggles with the fundamentally different playstyles of casual and fully commited players. And the latter tend to be less forgving towards those casuals who are 'inefficient' and compete with them over resources (components, oil, scrap, building space and now they drive up maintainenance costs too).
i would love for there to be a sandbox shard, one where have an infinite stockpile of stuff for players to experiment with things, like different bunker layouts or training exercises for armor, artillery or infantry groups
@Umimugo Something like that would be awesome, a place for new and casual players to learn and for more serious players to take a break!
I feel like foxholes biggest strength in longevity is That it’s the only game I can come back to in 4 months and enjoy a lot, and a feel like a lot of people get these breaks and returns to playing the game as well, as it can easily draw me back in
@antilad5584 I have noticed many players say they're done with the game, but eventually get drawn back in!
I hope the developers take foxhole to the next levels soon, it feels like they've been "tinkering" lately, and not always for the best!
@@twiglets2 One of the biggest apparently the devs have to limit certain mechanics such as players counts on each region is due to the engine limitations. Foxhole is made with a modified version of the Unreal engine which wasn't made to handle this kind of game. They somehow made it work but are still hampered by those limitations. Their new game Anvil uses a new engine made in house which intends fix a lot of the issues Foxhole has.
Think about it if Anvil becomes a success with the new engine they could make a foxhole sequel with it in the near future. Hopefully it would address nearly most of the technical issues plaguing the game from a development standpoint.
@@smokey_mcbong that would be so awesome. Have you tried Anvil? I've seen some people have tried the game but they may have just been big TH-camrs with early access or something. Looks cool!
@@twiglets2 No, I have not tried it but it looks promising. I won't lie I am not the biggest fan of the medieval setting but I am willing to give ti a chance for sure.
I definitely think Skirmish Mode needs to return and also a smaller Baker shard, meaning one with a cordoned off map
Regarding server population issues, I think that more clear picture from the devs would be welcomed while joining the server. We dont know what is the max server capacity, so we dont even know if the game is functioning like it's meant to be. I absolutely agree that 2nd server could be great, and that probaby, with player numbers we have now, it could run on fraction of the map. I would like to see clear information regarding player count on the faction selection screen. For example, that we can see there is 1000 players maximum capacity on either side and how much is taken/reserved already. It means that players could "reserve" the spot on a server and for example after some days not playing (like 5 or 7) they would be kicked out of the spot and had to join again (in the same faction in the same war). Maybe it could mitigate the queues problem too? Also, I wouldnt stick too much to an idea that Baker server is newbee server, because once veteran players see it, they abandon Able to steamroll new players xd
@mateuszfelisiak480 A very good point, veterans will find it hard to resist a good steamroll!
More information is always a good thing (I think?). A small Baker map would be interesting as an alternative at least.
hasn't several servers happened and it sucked?
@@averygoodfantasticname4206 I think yes and no, they were too short lived to become established which I believe it part of the problem. Some players definitely enjoyed a second server as a place to be more casual, but it only existed for a couple months before being shut down due to lack of numbers.
If the game had sufficient player numbers for a long enough period of time I suspect a second server would be great, but therein lies the problem! You need the player numbers to get a good second server, but you need a good second server to get the player numbers!
The only way a second or third shard could work and be interesting. Would be to make the other shards offer differnt gameplay incentives. Its boring if all the shards are doing the same thing. Which is why shards 2 & 3 quickly fizzled out and struggled to grow the game as indicated in the video. A solution would be similar to make shard 2 a much smaller more contested map. Or shard 3 could be a shard offering much higher resource gains for new players to experiment. Or shard three could be a new gameplay mode of some kind instead of the usual open war. By changing up the gameplay options it makes the game more inviting to more people and incentive to use them. Where else multiple shards will always be seen as which one has the most activity making the remaining shards pointless. Which is what we witnessed happening.
It is a good move we are back to one server shard to group the community into one much bigger war keeping the game interesting. But like the video highlights. Once the game hits it's ceiling for max supported players. It becomes trapped unable to grow further.
i think the larger shards should stay but smaller sized and quicker shards should be added. A LOOOONG war is tiring to many, shorter wars would help new players learn quicker and would create a sort of casual scene
@senior9250 Absolutely, it would be interesting to see how many players take up the option of a shorter war, I suspect demand would be high without impacting the numbers on Able shard
They just need to make the long wars not so monotonous and boring after 30 days.
3:40 ayeeeeeeeeeeeee 🐻
Love your vids btw. Though ill disagree on the solution of adding more shards. Way back when, we used to have what was know as skirmish islands or maps that would contribute to the main war effort while being separate short more "match like" entities. Those need to come back. (Reference my updates 0.10 & 0.11)
@ISawABear strange that they got rid of it as that's exactly the sort of thing I was thinking would be cool, I'll check those out. Thanks for stopping by! 🐻
So I haven't thought this out fully but what if Foxhole had dedicated teams for each server? That way it's less complicated when a shard is created because there isn't a hoard of workers working on all three at once and messing up, instead it's an organised team of maybe twenty or so to maintain and update the server!
I've always thought logistics or Frontline troops should be supplemented by ai players, like in running with rifles. Higher level players could be able to assemble and command them, giving a reason to command roles.
@wannaajed6254 I'm glad you mentioned Running with Rifles, I gave it a try last month but found the servers were rather empty. I felt like I may be doing something wrong though...! Any tips for someone trying to get into RwR?
@@twiglets2 bots is the only way to have fun, in settings you can set more bots, their health, accuracy etc, same for team bots. Online players fight against bots too since they're actually good fighters. It's surprisingly the most hardcore game of its type where one round usually kills so you're forced to go to the armory and spend money you accumulated by collecting artifacts off dead veterans. If you see random items on the ground pick them up and sell them at the armory holding E I believe and dragging. That let's you unlock hidden guns, and advanced tech like MG nests, mortars and soldiers in your unit who follow you and you can command. My favorite thing to do is get a vehicle and command my driver to drive me about while I kill bots. A campaign on singleplayer can last a few hours as you have to drive back enemy forces, and the historical sides are super fun.
The bots are in ways better than people because they come in squads and work to support the squad leader. If you run at enemies they just murder you so cover is key, crouching, laying etc
perfect alt description
very accurate
@sickbozo8152 Thanks Bozo, it came from the heart, and all too easily!
Love this video! Would love for you to make a new one based on this recent update with naval.
@blindfire4ever thank you! I've struggled to get back into foxhole since the naval update, have you played it much?
Your coverage has made me real interested in starting it, but the lack of a trial/demo and not knowing if I can get into it as a solo player means I'm just not willing to try it, especially since we have so many great games to play. I'd love to find another game worth wasting all my time in though.
@IanGerritsen I think you've made a wise decision to not take the plunge, as someone who has I can confirm it is difficult to decide whether to play or not. It's a great game, but the problems are real and there are likely better games to get stuck into.
Out of interesting, what are you / have you been playing of late? I need to keep up with the times!
@@twiglets2 I'm hangin' out for a good MMO still, that itch is mostly getting scratched by gacha games (Azur Lane, PGR, even just started... Genshin... -_-). But single player stuff is Shadow Empire and Distant Worlds 2 which has improved hugely since release, nice crunchy deep strategy games.
There's some great games coming this year from indies and midsize publishers like Slitherine and Microprose so there's plenty stuff soon to tide us over thankfully. Task Force Admiral, Sea Power, and Broken Arrow come to mind for ones I think we share an interest in.
@@IanGerritsen I'm glad to see you mention Distant World's 2 in particular! I was underwhelmed by it upon release so didn't purchase but sounds like it's worth another look
alts, multilogging, botting or how we calld it back in the day "cheating" is the cancer of mmos and killed the whole genre
I think the solution for high population isn’t a new shard but rather an expansion for each of the hex’s player count. Currently I believe a hex can hold 240 players this is enough for regular months, but as soon as an update is released there are cues. Shards aren’t a good solution to this either as seen with team dominant shards. The devs just need to increase player size for hex’s and decrease them when there are less players. This would keep the teams balanced and allow for more people to play.
I was a very short term, casual player that joined around the Inferno update. It was a fun time but I was ultimately put off by UI, controls and perspective. Shooting just didn't feel good and the camera angle always frustrated me because I just wanted to see stuff from a frist person view. The meta game mechanics such as base building, logi/economy, vehicles etc. are amazing but I just didn't warm up to the day to day gameplay.
I'm really just waiting for a game that copies Foxhole but with an over the shoulder 3rd person camera or straight up FPS. (I know WWII online is a thing but that's too old for my taste).
@knightloltrec You have an interesting perspective! Often players think the logistics systems etc that were introduced as part of the inferno update are too complex for a solo player to enjoy. Do you agree with that?
@@twiglets2 Learning logi was fun. Scrapping, driving cranes and handling containers, refining etc. and doing your first logi runs alone to the frontline in your truck afraid of partisans was really gratifying and intense. Dropping off a bunch of ammo/mats/shirts in a contested base and getting tons of Commendations felt like you alone were making an impact. But of course, in the long run the novelty wore off and it felt more like a job than anything. I joined a clan for about 3 weeks but it was very time intensive. Foxhole seems like an "all or nothing" game to me. Just checking by now and then doesn't mesh well with the persistent war.
@@knight_lautrec_of_carim 100% that is my experience too, interesting to hear it from a new player
I agree with you on your ideas regarding player count and there has to be some solution regarding that. In the near term, I think the worst threat is the current balance as the developers these days are more interested in what looks and sounds cool versus what the factions really need (and would develop) to counter the other. Combine this with sweeping buffs and nerfs (which should be a last resort in favor of more modest adjustments) and you wind up with very ticked off veteran players. An example would be the recent grenade changes which favor one faction massively. It needs to be resolved but doing so would make the buffed faction as upset as the nerfed faction is now. Moreover, probably the biggest problem for tank combat is the heavy field guns introduced in Update 50. They can kill most tanks in a couple of shots, are resilient enough to tank shots themselves, and are far cheaper than tanks with equivalent weaponry. The result is that tank line battles are no longer fun as it is much more worthwhile to spam these guns than to invest into more powerful tanks, let alone risk them in bold pushes.
I am still hopeful for the game but poor decisions on Siegecamp's part give me doubt.
@Zorro9129 I would be very interested to be a fly on the wall in their meetings. How do they decide which changes to make?
It makes me think that there should be a more community inclusive process for deciding which changes to make. Don't get me wrong, that could be an absolute nightmare, but I feel the Foxhole community is more mature than your average community, and so something could work.
I find this with Hell Let Loose too, the developers seem more focussed on new content than working on what they already have. Though this most recent update did bring me more hope in that regard, they seem to have made some positive changes, though you've pointed out several that are questionable!
@@twiglets2 yeah it would be nice to have more community input especially communications regarding the map before the war is released. I don’t understand why every war needs to have this gold rush like scramble at the beginning in order to determine who is going to use facilities oil fields etc. also asymmetry is part of the game a lot of people complain about balance. But there have been periods were every faction has been the strong one. incremental changes would definitely be good. At least when it comes to nerfs / buffs
@@smokedbeefandcheese4144 It would be nice if they got to a place where it's "fun to lose" because the game is fun to play. I suspect human nature will get in the way of that one!
Maybe put up a shard that expands and retracts as needed. So instead of having 37 zones have 4, 9, 16 zones. And expand or retract then in this new shard as compared to the player sizes over a week (with 1-2 days before changes go into effect so people can make changes or prep)
What if they have a official “basic training” shard where all new players go first and play. Then when they’re ready they’ll be promoted to war.
You explained the 'dilemma' perfectly.
There has to be 2 shards, 1 normal(able) and 1 smoll(beta)
Smoll should be open to everyone, tech sped up, and resource gathering shortened, production, fastened, and accsesable for player under a certain rank, or even 'retired' players to join and teach new guys... basically have it as a Giant tutorial, manned by some retired people, who dont want to play on able(the big for everyone server). Basically, what Dev Branch is all about, nobady plays it to 'win' everyone treats it as a big tutorial.
Big for everone server(able) current one, is good, just EXPAND IT(player capacity)!
Persistent world war, losses it's effect, when the said war, is not exclusive, and shared between "shards"... To have to 'persistent world war' be good, is to have 1 big server for EVERYONE! indeed that is hard to pull off, but ITS THE RIGHT THING.
@augiz261 That big tutorial shard sounds fun to me, I'd probably only ever play on that!
A second shard should have different rulesets, perhaps even have it in a different timeline (lore potential). You could even design a PVE shard where collies and blueberries have to unite to defeat a new enemy - something along the line of a Mongol style invasion. There are numerous possibilities, but since the game relies almost entirely on new purchases to stay afloat, they must try something different.
Like a permanent zombie mode? That thing was cool as hell, but i didnt know that game existed when it ended, so i missed it completly.
The shard solution is not to throw everyone into a separate shard. But to instead divide the current map between shards. Sort of like how each hex is a server. Instead of per hex, this would be one shard per row of vertical hexes. Vertically there are seven rows of hexes by counting 1,2,3 from left to rigth. Seven rows means seven shards. There are other config ideas such as doing rings of hexes per shard or most active hexes transfer automatically into a higher tier performance based shard of servers. But those ideas take even longer to explain. Either way, saves server resources by focusing on these lanes of traffic instead of the entire map at once. Additionally does not divide up the community by forcing people into shard A or B. It would take decent amonnts of network and game structure changes to accomplish however.
Other than that idea, for the game to fit its one open world theme and one massive war concept. There would need to be more hexes to further split up where the players are focusing their time. Right now the map only has a few hexes where groups of players want to go and that bottlenecks the player focus. Players need more reason to not just focus on front lines and that in turn helps server performance by motivating players to other parts of the map. Something the game often struggles in doing by only providing action/interest on a front line.
@geronimo5537 This is why I make videos like this, to see comments that give completely new ideas (to me at least!) I do wonder if the devs are thinking along these lines as it makes a lot of sense to me!
@@twiglets2 thanks for the compliment. Maybe we will get lucky and a dev with some pull could push the team towards some of these ideas shared either from the video or comments.
@@geronimo5537 I shall sit here with fingers firmly crossed that they do my friend
The answer is the same as a similar yet high res question; do mmos have a future? It also has to include games like Eve online where griefing is legal. That game has survived over the years, it has its addicts. The answer is yes. People will keep buying and keep trying Foxhole. Keep hoping. In any multiplayer games there will always be a disappointing teammate or someone the game could be better without. Idk why some games actually make sure that this happens like in World of Warships/Tanks by forbidding players to pick their own teams and forcing them to play with random team mates. While games like Dota2 let you make your own team. These games are not mmos but the problem is the same. Personally I have once again decided to not play mmo's or games that facilitate grief so the answer for me is whatever. Foxhole can not remove the wrench from the game, can it? It can not let a general make a pte sit out from a fight. It can not let players not spam little facilities that will not produce anything all over the world and ruin the msupp consumption rate for everyone around them. The newbie will never learn because newbies will keep buying the game and vets will keep realizing these things and keep quitting.
Might be time to take another peak over at Foxhole for the large Naval Warfare Update
@TheGreekG33k Agreed!
I’m new to strategy games. Can you recommend a WW2 game with map building with pc/ai versus mode?
Last strategy game I played was Empire Earth 2
@@Flawdakage That's a good question! I believe Men of War Assault Squad 2 has a map editor, as does Men of War Gates of Hell Ostfront.
It's worth double checking as I'm not 100% and that's just off the top of my head!
Recently returned to Foxhole.
Here is my idea:
As this is a WW2 inspired game. Let's use that as our model. Rather than Shards. We have fronts.
Western Front, Eastern Front. To main theaters.
You could also have smaller Campaigns. Such as North Africa, Pacific Islands and so on.
Then the clans can combine and plan strategy. Who will fight where? How many resources and forces to commit to each front?
Each front will face a different challenge. The frozen winters of the Eastern. The sandy deserts in North Africa. The Navy battles in the Pacific and amphibious assaults.
Each front gives Victory Points for 'winning', X amount of VP's win the Global war. So like what happened in history. If the Western front is won, some resources can now be diverted to the Pacific front. For example.
@stevezturner7052 Great ideas, I can see that working very well! How do you find foxhole now you've recently returned?
I don't know when you last played but I've heard players say the latest update is a modest improvement
@@twiglets2 More and improved units and in depth game play.
I agree with you that there needs to be a better tutorial and training for new players.
Again the strength of the game is also it's weakness. As a solo player it is very limited what you can do.
Joining a clad, doesn't solve those problems sometimes.
Timezone issues, ego issues, a lot of effort goings into recruiting in some clans, yet in some cases very little or no effort into cultivating those new recruits into the 'clad'.
Sometimes, within those 'organizations', you find your ignored , no options for growth and sometimes you find out it's just 'disorganization' clad.
I was 100% going to buy the game but after hearing all the horror stories of annoying clans, and sabatoge/trolling, as well as the crazy amount of time necessary (not solo friendly). I didn't buy it :(
@bigrig8539 I would love to say that the game is perfect and you made the wrong decision, but those issues you raise are real issues.
With that said, I've personally never had a bad experience with clans, so it doesn't happen to everybody all the time.
Much of what makes Foxhole great isn't accessible to newer / more casual players for two reasons. It either demands a lot of your time as it's a persistent war, or you need to work with organised regiments, and realistically you need both unfortunately!
But I am asking around for activities solo players can do that I may be missing, so hoping to learn something!
Imagine if Foxhole had TPS view like GoH
@rebel4029 Now that's an interesting thought! I believe Foxhole was originally a third person over the shoulder shooter and they changed it to top down, so it's feasible!
The solution has been in the works for a while now called the R2 Engine, which can handle thousands of players and way more assets per server than the current Foxhole engine. But sadly, this engine will not be coming to foxhole, but will used to power Siege Camps futures games, including their next game called Anvil Empires.
@IlikeWarGames Very interesting! I saw a demo of Anvil Empires, it looks cool. A real shame that tech won't be coming to Foxhole but I suppose there are legitimate technical reasons for that
rip my fellow charliebros
yes because im gonna buy this game tommorow
@pixell6651 Good luck, let us know how you get on!
After reading some of these comments i have to say: foxhole players on the internet (youtube, reddit, etc.) have no resemblance to players in game. Foxhole is the friendliest community i have found in any game, period. Unfortunately, its human nature that people feel more motivated to share bad experiences than good ones
@TheYognaut64 Absolutely, many comments have been from players who tried the game once, had a bad experience and then quit. I suppose if a player enjoys a game they will be too busy playing it to share their experience in TH-cam comments!
That said, it depends. There is toxicity out there in Foxhole, whether it's more or less than other games is debatable.
Game got to complicated for my casual brain. I come in from workinging and may only have a hour and I use to go do Logi runs in the day then at night when I come in from work again I fight on the front lines. I am a farmer so I work through out the day but never have lot of down time.
@infantryblack I tried to log on and play last night to do some front line logi, all the forward zones had queues to get into...I logged off and played War Thunder instead!
The problem is not that alts have micro p**is. Its the the fact that their p**is doesnt exist at all.
I stopped playing the game a while ago so I don't know if the problems are still present or fixed anyway here is my serious opinion if anyone intrested in.
First of all I have around 1k+ hour exp in the game so im quite experienced and i have seen a lot.
When last time played the game it had cheating issue. Occasionaly i ran in to players with accuracy/stability hack and once even with fire rate hack.
Report system can be abused by regiments or group of players. Reporting players based on personal issues.
Alts....
Logi tedious and takes a lot of time. Alsi some frontlines oversuplied other are abandoned.
Reasource managment overall.
Its way harder to push than deffend especially with low numbers. Thats why most of the fronts are nothing but repetative bridge battles and when your region has finaly has enough number to push everybody wants to get in to that region. Meanwhile at the other side of the map 10 player trying to hold a base againts 20 tank.
Rank is the only selfprogression what you can get and it doesnt even matter because some players sell/trade their commands.
Also because of you can get high rank by doing only logi on the battle field it doesnt necessary indicate real battle experience and you dont know if you can trust the player's opinion on the battlefield or not. New and unexperienced players tend to follow the highest and loudest player even if his ideas bad and might cause problems.
If you are not part of a regiment or a big group the game feels like a giant soloq but even if you are you may still encounter problems.
Lack of tutorial for new players.
There are clear balance issues and always will be.
stevenelmgren723 Thanks for your opinion, always interesting to hear from experienced players.
I'm curious, if you could choose one thing to change about Foxhole, what would it be?
If you have two or three, even better!
@@twiglets2
First of all the basics:
No cheating any part of the game. If there is still cheating among infantry then the game needs a GOOD hack shield.
Removing possibility of "hive". Controling more than one caracter at the same time.
No alts. Fixing it somehow. Idk.
Better report system.
Real tutorial for new players.
Gameplay: Bassicly fixing what i said above.
Although some stuff cannot be fixed like the feeling of a giant soloq. Even with regiments. Unless you are the one who call the shots you have little or no effect over all but problem is even if you acomplish something somehow there is no selfprogresssion. Or in some cases big regiment takes a credit for what you have acomplished. I have seen it beffore.
Ranking system needs some changes but its hard to tell what to change and how. Right now it doesnt realy reflect any real thing. Not even the amount of hour you played. Because if you played only logi you might get major in 200 hour. If played only medic you might get it in 2000 hour. If you only gather materials you are still Cpl even affter 5000 hour. Although if you trade your commands has a lot of frinds who feed you commends you might became major in a 100 hour.
Logi has way too many problems to list.
@@stevenelmgren723 It's a sad situation, but I hope the developers have some answers up their sleeves! Maybe they are distracted by their new game..
@@twiglets2 Actually I think they are completely aware of the problems but most of it either cannot be fixed or hard to fix and require a lot of thoughts. Thats probably one of the reason for anvil. Where they can kinda "start over".
Until they fix building and better reward the player time and effort required to do so I can't come back.
Also war 100 was grueling and I can't bring that into my life again.
@BinaryReaper It sounds like you have some stories to tell!
The game simply need a working tutorial
@Seekcourse 100% it'd make a huge difference to new player retention, and I'd finally understand how to play the game too...
can we make a small or large system, that there's many small groups of players helping each other out like 7 groups ,each one has a day in the week to only do logistics so all of them put up the effort. like a clan united by many small groups. of course theres needs to be someone who organizes the groups on what day a week and try to compinsate for people playing some days and some players are sick in bed but i think it would help grow the smaller groups into clans of there own after one or 2 wars and if they dont like the united clan style they can leave by themselve or join another clan
@user-vy3ul5bv6o What a great idea! I wonder if someone is doing this already but we haven't heard about it?
@@twiglets2 The biggest problem with the system i just mentioned is that if one group leaves all the others need to pick up the slack which will lead to more players leaving and the clan would collapse. i have not thought of a way to counter this sadly.
@@DumbIShallBe I think you have highlighted the problem with Foxhole more broadly. The need for players to be online is constant, when they're not there the rest pick up the slack and there comes a point where it simply doesn't work!
5:26 So you are trying to present your own statements as 'Ancient Wisdom'?
@Myrkin The process of learning from the past before trying to predict the future is ancient wisdom. Everything I said after was probably nonsense!
Okay, hot take, here's some grains of salt to take it with, but:
As far as my understanding of Foxhole goes, Wardens are supposed to be a defensive faction, with Loughcasters beating Argentis on flat field but Dusks destroying Aaltos in close quarter (I am simplifying here, but I'd argue that Colonial weapons are overall more efficient than Warden ones in close or urban combat, but Warden weapons are more punitive and have a longer range overall)
In exchange, Warden gets cheaper artillery but more expensive tanks (that also ties into the quality vs quantity mindsets), and had for a long time the upper hand in late game, meaning that if Colonials broke Warden ranks before the Wardens reached full power, it was a Colonial victory. If the Wardens defended long enough for them to reach their potential, they'd have the upper hand, and, if not crippled earlier, would win
With the amount of content growing, wars have to let players experience at least half of it, drawing the fight longer. Letting Wardens have late game would then mean (and meant) certain death for Colonials, as breaking through became harder and harder. On the other hand, giving no advantage to the Wardens would mean that they can't have the early game nor can they have the late game
This means that a modification on both the mindset and the purpose of Warden tactics and gear need a rework that does not seem like a priority yet
On a second note, as a veteran Warden player, our weapons feel far more efficient, but either very situational (White Flask need to have infantry close to a tank with anti tank having reach on the enemy tank, for example) or hard to hit without preparing the situation (non-mounted bonesaw having a very short range, a fairly avoidable trajectory due to a strong arc and noticeable travel time)
On the other hand, every Colonial weapon I have laid my hands upon felt less efficient, but having a wider range of uses (I'm thinking of the Argenti) or easier to hit (Ignifist being barely avoidable if you are rushed).
I think it gives Colonial a feeling of unfairness, as their weapon deals less damage and are less efficient, whereas it give Wardens the feeling to be playing on hard mode and that mistakes aren't punished by the game fairly, forcing you to stay on edge and plan every little action
If I am wrong, you are welcome to correct me and give more information in your replies. Just be polite, please ^^
P.S.: If you mention Clancy Raca vs KRR Auger, it was, for me, one of the best example of an interesting unbalance (though they should have blocked snipers on barges instead of nerfing them into the ground). Veteran Colonials used the Auger as a precision rifle, being able to "snipe" on the move and taking advantage of it's relatively fast aiming speed to hit and then change position or follow a target. On the other hand, Wardens used the Raca as sniper, forcing them to stay immobile and making shots targeting a moving enemy an impressive feat
@daysknigh8064 that was an interesting read, I look forward to seeing others responses!
Slightly off topic but do you think Foxhole could benefit from a rework of the rifle/SMG etc shooting system in general? It's rather...unique, and certainly frustrating at times!
This seems like an accurate and fair account of game balance as it is right now. Except that I feel like Warden tanks are under so much threat now at end game from Banes and Stygians that Wardens are effectively forced to sit out the night, (This is really bad). I want the end game to be as close to equally balanced as it can be, with a Warden power spike when Cutlers unlock, and a Colonial power spike when Falchions unlock, (and the level out at the end as I mentioned).
Personally I feel like night time is too big of an issue at end game and basically forces Warden players to stop fighting (unless they are okay with losing many tanks). I dream of more ways to light up the night, Warden torchlight helmets (that go in radio slot), hand throwable flares, cheaper flares in general, sticky grenades that light up tanks for like two minutes. (Possible lazy solution is to put headlights on the Stygian, but that is not ideal). I know you were tackling weapon balance but I feel like tank and anti tank balance is most important imo, and night time plays a massive role when Stygians unlock.
P.S: Hiding a Stygian behind a gate is also a problem. Tank fights at end game legit come down to: Wardens killing a gate, and then colonials building more gates so they can play around them with push guns (especially the Stygian). Maybe push guns need to be visible at all times now, IDK. But having tank fights revolving around gates is jus another clear symptom of the problem I am trying to outline.
I played on them all.
Sure bud, as a player who bought the game for the first time in September 2022 and only played it for about a month, in Baker shard.
I'll say that the game is a bit difficult for new players to grasp how supplies and logistics works, and very few players have the time, nor the patience to show noobies the ropes, the game becomes a Frontline battle simulation (running to your death or camping in a foxhole) for hours on end. Or running supplies for hours on end, both become boring after an hour of repetitive motions.
The game is all about the discord, which I hate discord, joining a clan is the only way to truly participate, I'm more of a solo player(at most I want to work with a group of 5) and the most importantly annoying aspect of the game was...
When you're a noobly player just learning the ropes you'll find yourself teamkilled by the experienced players who think that their way of playing is the only way. They have no issue charging forward with their tanks only to abruptly reverse after taking one enemy round, running over any supporting infantry foolish enough to believe we where doing an attack push, they remove any build up that I would do(I would spend literally hours setting up, tank traps, mines ,sand bags, barbed wire) by showing up with their entitled tanker mentality, and WRENCH, ALL MY HARD WORK DOWN. And interestingly would charge forward, get shot once, reverse and leave. Destroying all my work and not even making a difference.
All in all the entitled vehicle players are what destroyed the game for me.
I even tried telling a tank crew one time that the emplacements that they where destroying where the very same ones I had put up, and No they didn't stop removing them, so I threw an anti tank grenade at their vehicle ( because let's be fair,,, why is it OK for them to destroy my hard work but not ok for me to destroy their hard work) and tried to explain to them how what they where doing to my work would be the same as me destroying their vehicle,,, and do you want to guess what happened?
Ya, they grouped up on me they all reported me for griefing and every time they saw me they team killed me. Irony?
MLG gamers are just cancer and TANKERS are super sweaty MLG
@@WharGhoul_ Wow, I'm sorry to hear how much of a s*** experience you've had! Unfortunately I've heard of similar happenings before so I'm not surprised which is unfortunate.
Have you given up on the game now or will you give it a second chance in the future?
@@twiglets2 I won't. I'll probably wait for the foxhole spiritual successor.
@@WharGhoul_ Its bad but that how it is. Stay away from any moving object if you dont want to end up on ground. Also building is hard topic and your building could legit harm or slow down others operations, so dont build anything big without need (like minefields im middle of nowhere or any object on road that is not gate).
@alexturnbackthearmy1907 "it's bad but that's how it is" is the worst defense to a game I've heard. And that's also the calibre of player playing, which should speak for itself
Played solo for a while but the clan mentality in this game just put me off. I'm sure it's fun when you're in a clan but I just don't wanna make that kinda time commitment.
@markhynes1230 I'm in a similar position, the clan thing just won't happen for me so I'd like to think there are ways for solo or small groups to at least interact or join in with larger groups without having to join a Discord, it should be built into the game so you can pile into an organised push!
In a little guy clan, not hyper active every, or active at all but we occasionally pull off fun things
remembered in lockheed some days ago i gas naded 2 gunboats and a pal stole one and so did i
@@axious9613 Sounds fun! Are you in a clan that doesn't mind how often you log on?
@@twiglets2 Pretty much
@@twiglets2 Most dont mind (tho i was only in two). If you are here its good, if you arent here, that is fine as well. But navy is fun as hell, especially arty job.
Brilliant work 😂
@creativeterror Thank you! (David Attenborough says hi)
can you help me sir
Lol Naval Update and new map areas.
Will foxhole ever become free? I'm broke.
amazing video
Glad you think so!
if anybody knows the devs, put a good word in for me;
get me unbanned
The future of this game is an inevitable decline and death because you have to be in a clan to do anything besides frontline body throwing and partisan bullshit. And clan people in this game are greedy, loud and stupid. Anvil Empires will have the same problems but even worse, I fully expect it to flop.
hello sir i must ask for a favor!
Saw a concept wherein the hexes stay the same but the map is a Est. v Wst. with a huge ocean in the middle and two solid land masses on either side. Imagine the shards are actually different fronts offering different map layouts. Able is a NvS land war. Baker is a EvW war that reaches over an ocean. Charlie is a desert map that made of textures of existing but with new weather types. Three theaters of war running and the global war isnt over untill enough global victory points are won. Able may be a warden favor stalemate as wardens are winning the baker front and loosing everything on charlie.
@checkmate2936 That would be seriously cool! Perhaps also being able to shift resources between the three shards would give them an interconnected feel of sorts
auto kick after 5 mins afk
Hey to simplify my opinion on the issues with pop and the persistent war what I think they can do is expand the map and add a secondary more elongated map with maybe like 1.5 times as big as the normal one just add more regions basically
Damn, nice voice
@narrator6003 Why thank you!
planes end of 2023?
@rdichmann Planes! Now there's a thought that blows my mind... biplanes where you can drop bombs / grenades...how awesome.
I think they're more likely to release a new game though haha
@@twiglets2 when that gets added all I will hear is sabaton red baron from friendly biplanes.
Probably not but I'm looking forward to a navy update.
@@Zorro9129 next update is the navy one and u gotta have faith. People said trains wouldn't be a thing but here we are
@@rdichmann Trraaaaains! I'm excited to see what they do with the navy update, though I imagine it'll be the domain of the regiments which makes me sad as a largely solo player. Hope I'm wrong!
i would like you to get me unbanned
Nowadays new comers can't do much in game since all the shit are lock to clan and squad 🤣, even if you try to communicate with tank clan they will just simply run you to death. Glad this game is dying with the toxic community
@adityakurnia1162 I find it hard to play these days. Got excited to do some front line logistics earlier this week, couldn't get into a front line Hex due to queues, ergh!
@@twiglets2 sure you can, to harvest and get nothing to appreciate 🤣
The main issue is the community of clans that think they own every inch of the map and must have a input on every item or structure a non clan player crafts. If you even try to make a point to them then they just mass report you and demo your BB and structures. So toxic it makes Rust look sane. 600H of FH and I'm tired of the uphill battle of the solo in this game. The try hard clans will run any newly gained players off in no time.
@Zooker2255 May I ask which games you do play now if not Foxhole? Just curious!
@@twiglets2 I have a few hundred on steam but most don't get opened lol a lot of ARPG's at the moment 40K Martyr, Grim Dawn, D2R, Baldur's gate 3. I still love foxhole as a game, I've played since war 28 but every time I come back to the game I have the same problem and it's the clans.