What made NW from 2011/12-2016 so much fun?

[PapaBean]

For me I have to say it was the mix of the comp scene and the amazing maps you would see at events.  As a mapmaker I know that maps are what kept the community coming back to the game at least for the casual side.

When it comes to the comp side, I think I enjoyed those years the most since that's when some of the largest turnouts for leagues ever happened. (at least for NA) On top of that, how skilled players were was pretty even across the board.  You could also train a regiment to improve and get better.  I am not gonna diss on 2017-present or on newgens or on current wannabe top tier shits, but it seems that as people have aged out/left the skilled players seem to all bunch up.  Perhaps that's what made the "Old Gen" era great.  You didn't have just one or two really great regiments you had several.  You had skilled, smart, and approachable leaders who didn't just care about their regiment but they cared about the community.  I gotta give a hand to those regiment leaders/community memebers (whether I liked you or not) who actually helped the community grow and made the game fun.  The rivalry, the fellowship, and the friends that I personally made in that time period really made it...."The good old days"         

[suns]

grown regs > stack regs

[Runepkyz]

BBG community 4lyfe.

[~NickCole~]

WeastSide vs EastSide best rivalry

[PapaBean]

WeastSide vs EastSide best rivalry

Oh god that was a thing

[maccle]

WeastSide vs EastSide best rivalry

Oh god that was a thing

as a founding member of the eastside.. Fuck the weastside yall are waste

[maccle]

i think the main thing was that the majority of players didn't know what was going on, they got recruited to a regiment somehow and then were extremely loyal to the reg they were a part of, even if they were bad. People trained to get better with the people they had and that's the reason it was more fun. People cared more because they were more connected to their reg and wanted them to succeed, compared to now where people don't give a fuck because the reg is probably gonna disband anyway in 3 days. Also I think people took competitive play more seriously and there were a lot more competitive regiments who were pretty actively not trolling and played pretty much everyday.

[DrunkenSpartan]

For me, 63e’s rivalry with basically all of NA. Being a part of the “evil empire” was hella fun. Even in 2016 we still had a strong influence, and a strong lineup. The friendships I formed with several 63e carry on to this day and are easily the strongest friendships I’ve had with anyone on NW, hands down, period. Fartknocker, Derp, Vorik, Curtis, even Squirts are easily some of the best people to rely on and talk to. The memories of how much of a powerhouse we were will hold a special place in my memory forever. From 100 man warm ups to event attendance so strong we’d be on both teams in a 200 man event. I will especially never forget all the hard work people like Zen put into it to keep the 63e going at a time when Karth was losing popularity at an increasing rate. The 63e is where I learned how to play this game and it shows- I’m an s-keyer at heart and I owe that to melee instruction I received in 2016. But the 63e for me, at least, will always be one of those truly great regiments in NW. It elevated the state of the game and brought it to a new level. To my former 63e comrades, you know what I’m talking about. And if you hate this post, then you probably got smacked by us more often that not, or have a huge grudge that blows way out of proportion to anything else in this crusty dying game.

Spoiler

[close]

La garde meurt et ne se rend pas.

[Python | Smeagol]

For EU i think from 2012-late 2017 was the most fun, probably cus the comp community was much larger. I can remember so many names of good players who have not played in years. Tournaments seemed to be much better with a more even spread of top players. Meta was also a bit less cancerous.

[Godsworn Alexiel]

It all went downhill once 45e became toxic trolls because had a lot of fun doing it. Before they realized this they were actually not toxic at all. "Troll regs before this were less toxic and moreso about having internal fun trolling each other. Other kids copied them/adopted their ways and members. Even classically "polite" regiments had a shift in the way they interacted with others. Gradually changed the community from a politer pride based competitive scene to a Ad Hom personal attack based social scene. It became less about having fun and more about beating another person at all costs. Before this it was moreso about playing the game with your team on average. You would randomly go around and ask people why they joined x reg and their answers often were "its better than x" or "To beat x lol"

Increased turnover rates, increased tribalism, increased toxicity, personal attacks that went way too far and transcended the online realm.

All this contributed to game decay and reduction in player counts

also the 63e monopoly was bad for overall player numbers. If you unironically think that it was good for the game you don't understand economics/are lying to people who don't understand it.

I think that the introduction of meager amounts of money to try to galvanize competition might have been bad in the long run, as it forced leaders to start an old gen arms race all the time which constantly spread the sentiment of how people hated the game and were only here for the money that wasn't even a lot. This likely discouraged people who really did love the game. Also inflated the numbers to make the community think the game was doing better than it really was.

The older player base also left because they grew up and don't have the time to play every day after school. I remember that competitive regs would have 1v1s nearly every day and that members would ask me "can we do a 1v1 or gf today" basically every day I hadn't scheduled something for a certain day within the week. Such a thing happening now likely is far too great a strain on people's schedules.

[Pinoy12]

45e toxic wut?!!!
Falseeeeeeee

[suns]

45e merge into LG slowly dried comp

[JollyCanadian]

BBG community 4lyfe.

still going babe!

[Pinoy12]

45e merge into LG slowly dried comp

Pretty much. Especially since the 45e members that joined had major power in that regiment. I pushed the limits so hard because I knew they wouldn't risk kicking me out, thus losing the stack and possibly risked losing the league.

[JollyCanadian]

also the interest in comp went down especially for new players and regiments who didn't like to lose. Pubs don't care much at all for regiments as well. there's a ton of factors that went into the downfall. 

2012-16 had so much interest and excited in the community which made it so engaging. 10/10 would go back