Capture the Flag not really suitable the way it is.

[Thorgan]

Hey there

I really don't like Capture the Flag the way it is in AoS.
It's not the mode itself that is bad for AoS but mostly the maps which are much better suited for other modes such as King of the Hill. Please bear with me as I explain.

A good Capture the Flag map (for any shooter) has to be set up in a specific way.
For one there must be a short distance between the flag of a team and its respawn point. Also the flag can't be behind respawn point. The idea is that the defending team has an advantage with a shorter respawn time but they still can't defend the flag instantly and the attacking team doesn't have to spawn camp to grab the flag.
In consequence a good CtF map would be shaped like an "X" with the respawn points at the ends of one line and the flag at the ends of the other line. One example for this would be ctf_Turbine from TF2 (imo the best non-custom TF2 CTF map).
Another possibility is to have the flag in front of the respawn point. This works but it leads to a longer path to walk to the combat area which is undesirable. Most 2D shooters use this setup for CtF maps.

In AoS the maps are clearly not set up this way.
On most maps the respawn point is either exactly on the flag or very close to it. So if you grab the flag you have to be wary of enemies respawning right on top of you. The only way you can really grab the flag is by spawncamping everyone till you are out of danger. And we all know spawncamping is very unfun.
It also leads to the stranger situation that if you sneaked around the sides and grab the flag you hope the enemy team is pushing far enough away toward your base so you can run out of the spawn to safety. Or at least far enough so somebody else can grab the suitcase once you died.

In AoS there is another way to grab the flag: Tunneling.
This strategy works but it really is quite stupid.
For one tunneling is quite boring and takes absolutely no skill. You simply hold down a few keys for an extended amount of time. There is also no way to really stop a tunneler unless you camp the flag, also no very fun. And after the tunneler grabs the flag there is no real way to stop him. He simply runs through the tunnel. There is no way for you to find the tunnel or the exit fast enough to stop him while he's running through it. And once he's out of the tunnel the flag lies on the floor past the point where you can really keep it save for a prolonged period of time.

This is really a huge turnoff for me as the entire game right now doesn't really have an enjoyable goal. Most players don't even seem to go for the flag and just simply play it like a deathmatch game. And AoS is not really suited for deathmatch.
It's especially annoying because it's such a small mistake. I really like the mechanics of AoS and they're a lot of fun. But without a real goal it's just not all that interesting.

And there are quite a few ways to fix this. For one the addition of King of the Hill or Control Point mechanics. These plain bridge maps would be perfect for king of the hill. And Control Point maps like in TF2 would be awesome with AoS mechanics. IIRC AoS was supposed to be similar TF2. Right now it isn't even though it really could be with a few better maps and game modes.

Sorry for the text wall but I hate it when a great game is ruined by comparably small mistakes like this. I really want to enjoy this game, believe me ._.

[kmaj]

There are TC/TOW modes with control points, most maps are better with TOW than with CTF. I also prefer 1CTF to CTF, although these modes are hosted by few servers.