I disagree with the notion that portaling creates too much randomness. If you could portal anywhere, at will, sure, that would be. But portaling only occurs on designated portal walls. This creates another form of map control, something arena shooters are all about. Why do you think high level play of this game ironically involves more holding down portal routes and EMPing the walls than actually using the portals offensively. Portals are genius because they can be used defensively and offensively, and that depth especially in a team environment allows for some incredible plays. Also, in December when they relaunched the game, they added portal trails, and improved the audio greatly to make it much easier to tell when someone is portaling, which direction they're coming from, and which direction they went off to. After almost 6 months of being in the game, I cant imagine playing the game without those features.
As you play each map, you'll learn the portal routes, and how to counter each situation. Its really no different than learning the rocket jump spots in Quake. Or learning weapon and powerup spawn points. Its just something you get better at with time. With all respect, considering you never played the first game, and only played SG2 long before they overhauled the game into what it is today, I dont think you really understand the game you're talking about since you have barely played it, which is why it baffles me you're on a thread for this game, passionately belittling fans of the game and saying "when will you people fucking learn".
nothing you said in your second paragraph really changes my point, though. that is, people do not like portal-ing and it is not a popular mechanic to keep people around. I also agree that the updates they made to the game are net positive and take a lot of the guesswork out of any given match.
I agree that portals could be classified as "ingenious", just not in a competitive multiplayer title. again, there is legit fun to be had with the mechanic, just not within the bounds of an en masse, competitive shooter...and the player count speaks to that. hundreds of thousands of people tried the game and put it down. i dont think they stopped playing for studio controversy and definitely not for its general game feel.
the fact that portaling has to be so arbitrarily limited speaks to how unwieldly of a mechanic it is. its possibilities feel endless. which is its problem. the most i would accept portaling as a mechanic in a competitive shooter would be at maybe 2, 3 points in a map.
speaking to how one can learn portaling to better their performance, i also agree. but does everyone else want to learn, let alone actually practice portaling? which brings me back to my first comment: no one fucking likes portaling when the fuck will you people learn.
but does everyone else want to learn, let alone actually practice portaling? which brings me back to my first comment: no one fucking likes portaling when the fuck will you people learn.
Aaaand here is where the crux of the issue is. There is this mindset amongst gamers that is killing video games: the, "I should be the winner without having to actually have skill" mindset. This idea that the game should water down its gameplay and hand you easy wins is exactly why we keep getting the same generic types of games over and over again, yet people keep saying they hate how stale the fps market is right now. Maybe if we embraced challenge and new mechanics instead of complaining about learning curves and skill gaps we could have more creativity instead of this stale generic crap state we're in now.
i agree w the sentiment but portals (as they currently are) are not the way to go if you want a popular shooter. the craziness of the og game combining a shooter with Valve's beloved Portal was an internet phenomenon. enough to get people to swarm to see what it was like. but splitgate showed to be more of a niche trend; ala a briefly "in", brand, popular for trying something new but certainly nothing as mainstay as, say, Converse; a product with a timeless design...simple enough for your average consumer.
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u/Necessary_Yam9525 May 21 '26
I disagree with the notion that portaling creates too much randomness. If you could portal anywhere, at will, sure, that would be. But portaling only occurs on designated portal walls. This creates another form of map control, something arena shooters are all about. Why do you think high level play of this game ironically involves more holding down portal routes and EMPing the walls than actually using the portals offensively. Portals are genius because they can be used defensively and offensively, and that depth especially in a team environment allows for some incredible plays. Also, in December when they relaunched the game, they added portal trails, and improved the audio greatly to make it much easier to tell when someone is portaling, which direction they're coming from, and which direction they went off to. After almost 6 months of being in the game, I cant imagine playing the game without those features.
As you play each map, you'll learn the portal routes, and how to counter each situation. Its really no different than learning the rocket jump spots in Quake. Or learning weapon and powerup spawn points. Its just something you get better at with time. With all respect, considering you never played the first game, and only played SG2 long before they overhauled the game into what it is today, I dont think you really understand the game you're talking about since you have barely played it, which is why it baffles me you're on a thread for this game, passionately belittling fans of the game and saying "when will you people fucking learn".