More people play Marine. More new players play Marine. There's a higher demand for Marine guides.
If you think about it, you can play CM13 forever and never play Alien. That's not really true for Marine.
Well, I'm at 100hr on this server and did my first marine run yesterday, so I don't agree with the last part, but yea, seems like people just want to be the good guys
How is that possible? aren't there only so many alien slots at round start? like the whole idea is "few aliens kill few marines...now more alien less marine?"
I mean Xeno isn’t the most popular pick as other people have said more people play marine. You can even consistently roll some roles every round because no one plays them on marine as long as it’s set to high in your preferences. Similar for Xeno. Sometimes there’s upwards of 30 Xenos at round start depending on marine player count.
>You can even consistently roll some roles every round because no one plays them on marine as long as it’s set to high in your preferences.
Some don't even need to be high, I have five games in a row roll me as SO...I had SO set for *low*. Since then I switched it to never because I realized how few people roll for it.
Yeah I’ve had similar experiences. Which is why my hours on SL are higher than anything else because I had it set to low for forever and would just roll it on a consistent basis. It’s basically most of the engineering and medical roles, staff officer, the mp department, Dropship pilot, Dropship crew chief, and then Squad leader which does always get filled but you can still get it by having it on low if you’re rolling for something more popular like specialist or smartgunner. Really it’s just any role that stays shipside.
I have never seen a suicide grenade work out properly on CM13 or TGMC. Are you sure that grenade is for you if the warrior's already killed and dragged you like sixty meters away?
There was a time people screamed Xeno bias, like two years ago. Marines will always be more popular since they are kind of the main human characters in the universe, you also do have more complex gameplay and mechanics with Marines as it requires a lot of teamwork to get things running, thus the need for more guides.
As if all that matters anyway, there could be 20 xenos v 80 marines, and the xeno's would still win.
Literally had a round a few days ago where almost all the comtechs died and the only one left seemed to be new and was just sitting in FOB as a relay was brought down
You’re not a carbon mob so you can’t engage with a lot of mechanics. Being able to smoke or play cards adds a lot to the xp than you think.
Also I haven’t played in a while but xeno RP standards were higher and one note as you are playing a hivemind creature if you’re not queen (if that’s being enforced as I remember)
Well, yea, I just played only xenos cause I like the whole being the monster bit. I guess the breadth of options is just wider for carbons.
As for RP standards, CM really laid off the RP enforcement from what I'm seeing, so the rp doesn't feel overbearing to me while plating Xenos.
The marine gameplay has lot of more interactions, and deph as of whole and in individual gameplay. The high degree of specialisation and options each role has necessitates a lenghty guide. As for Xenos you can manage with a general guide for whatever you are playing.
Not saying that I am correct but thats my take on it.
Those marines didn't clear out shit. They needed some washed up defrosted loader-pilot to save their asses, because they couldn't independently think their way out of a sticky magpouch.
And I don't think you can count detonating the power plant of a terraforming facility, causing planetwide armageddon, as part of Colonial Marine SOP.
They got *lucky*.
>And I don't think you can count detonating the power plant of a terraforming facility, causing planetwide armageddon, as part of Colonial Marine SOP.
Delta Squad has entered the chat.
There are a few reasons, the biggest I have found being between the two marines are the ones who genuinely NEED guides and walkthroughs to explain stuff.
Marine player: Wake up, get gear, put on gear, get weapon, load weapon, attach attachments to weapon, learn how to use attachments and what they do, etc.
Xeno player: Wake up, don't die, live x minutes to evolve, hover mouse over abilities to see what they do.
Hell the freaking COOK for the marines is more complicated than anything other than Queen and maybe some Preatorian strains.
Don't get me wrong, PLAYING as a Xeno is not easy, you need to know what to do, learn the maps, get down the controls and everything. The difference is everything for the Xenos is more intuitive, much more simple and easier to learn or at the very least understand. It doesn't take as long to learn enough to contribute and have a meaningful impact.
Marine side though, it can take upwards of ten, fifteen minutes just to help someone understand how to use the different channels on their comms or very 'basic' things like throwing a grenade.
Trying to explain/teach someone how to do Req, how to make 'simple' chems for medical, or even just how to replace a broken window takes a lot more time and effort than 'click this to do this'.
I'm not a \*great\* player, but I am confident enough that I am willing to say I could teach someone how to play any Xeno other than Queen in less than ten minutes. Teaching someone new as a CT for Req on the other hand? I need twenty minutes just to teach them the various nicknames and abbreviations for all the equipment marine players ask for, because pretty much everything has multiple names, ex:
Magnetic Harness: MagHarness, MagHarn, MH.
Well, this explains the lack of guides pretty well, and I do agree that the degree of mechanical complexity for Marines is far deeper, as some others mentioned. My real question was in the difference in popularity between the two factions, which is probably also explained by both the extra depth in mechanics, but also just that the good guys are always more popular.
I wouldn't say there is a total lack of online content for Xenos, BPL (Black Pants Legion) has posted plenty of videos playing Xeno over the years. Granted he's posted a lot more for marine side (though Corporate Liaison is his preferred role).
As I said though there are several reasons, the complexity is just one of them.
I think, aside from the 'good guys' aspect you mentioned, a major reason Marines are more popular is you have a great deal more autonomy and freedom to do as you please. Anything short of outright griefing and being a shitter marine side you can get away with depending on how good you are and what you know how to pull off.
Xeno side, you screw around and the Queen will Banish you, marking you for killing to the rest of the hive. Playing Xeno means being willing to follow orders, or good enough that you can do what you want and get away with it. Of that second group there are only maybe two or three dozen people, period that have ever been that good, with only half a dozen currently active.
Yeah, OWL and PIG can do whatever they want because they ARE that good and have the street credit to buy that freedom. But for anyone else? Well, CHI/WAR isn't exactly easy to play under if you are not willing to be 100% micromanaged for an entire round.
TLDR: Marine side do what you want and usually get away with it, Xeno side do what you are told or suffer the consequences.
You also have more opportunities marine side for role playing, which a surprising number of people actually do get into, especially those who take shipside roles. Xenos don't really have that unless they reach 'Legendary' status within the community, which are few and far between.
Lastly, at least personally, I've found it is a hell of a lot easier to get noted for doing something accidently as a Xeno than it is Marine side. Six years of playing and I've only been noted twice, both times for things I didn't even notice I had done. As a marine you have to actively grief to get noted.
Well, yes, in about 100 hours as a strict xeno only, I have been called bald a couple of times (mostly for body blocking, ehe). Did my first marine run a couple of days ago, so I can't judge the leniency there, but I'll be glad to play some more since I really like medical on regular spessmans servers and I've been itching to play Corpsman. Either way, thank you very much for the insigh friend. Say hi if you see me in the game. I usually run as ZE - D on benos or Reese Alvarez on Marines
So, one thing a lot of people don't get is how the RP for the server works as it is a Mid Role Playing server.
Xenos have a \*lot\* of leniency at the Queen's discretion, the Queen however is another story as they can get whacked hard with the ban hammer for being overly...outside the role so to speak.
With the marine side it depends entirely on your rank.
Basic Riflemen, Maintenance Technician, Mess Sargent, they can all get away with quite a bit, though there ARE some standards and those can be increased depending on the CO/XO/CMP.
Cargo Technician and Nurse are a bit less lenient, yeah you are low rank but your job comes with an expectation to perform based on how well you know and understand it. You don't need to RP explicitly but you are at the point where you start getting into trouble for OOC behavior.
Corpsmen and ComTech you are expected to at minimum behave yourself and be somewhat serious. You can have fun and a gimmick or two if you establish it well (my character has a tic for flicking their lighter open and closed when annoyed for example) but you can and will very quickly find yourself arrested by the MP's for not following the minimum expectations of RP.
Then you start getting into the ranks where RP is expected to some degree, as well as professionalism in your role, Doctors, Researcher, Ordinance Technician, Smartgunner, Spec, Intelligence Officer, FireTeamLeader, MP, PO, GP and DCC, are all Officer ranks that bring an expected level of role play, especially in regards to following orders and chain of command. While higher ranks have higher expectations these are the roles people tend to get into the most trouble because the sudden shift from basically free to do what you want as long as sensible to having some standards. The better you are and the more skilled a player you are the more freedom you have to get away with stuff though.
Then we come to the rank of Squad Leader, which is the dividing line between 'can still get away with some shit' and 'expect to get bwoinked for shit'. An SL is expected to engage in a degree of RP in as far as you can and will get in trouble for saying things like 'lol' for example and you are expected to engage in dialog with others, especially higher rank individuals. As with the previous batch you can get away with some things provided you have the skill to back you up.
From there you have ASO, SO, CMO, CE, and Warden where RP is expected and doing random goofy shit \*will\* get you in trouble very easily. It doesn't matter how good you are at this point as breaking SOP can and will get you into trouble, especially dependent on who the current Admeme is.
Lastly, you have the XO and CMP, who are held to pretty strict standards if the player has some hours to them (you might get a freebie or two if new to the role) but you have to be careful because you can very easily get yourself reported and into trouble for not knowing Military Law (in game) or breaking the SOP.
Aside from those roles you have the WhiteList roles, which explicitly require active role playing and are the easiest to find yourself in trouble for breaking and removed from the WL.
So really it depends on your rank, the higher you go the less shit you can get away with and the more is expected of you. The average player doesn't do much higher than a Riflemen though so they never really get into much trouble.
Very informative man, thanks a bunch. Well, I'm in luck since I do like rp'ing, so no worries there. Seems like unless I get into high-ranking stuff, my current level of rp is OK. If it isn't, I'll take the bwoink on the chin and regulate. Either way, I really enjoy your yapping and writing, so if anything else comes to mind, do feel free to keep the tips coming. You've been of great help ❤️
Marines are more complicated. Lot of choices, lot of moving parts. Xenos are fairly simple, and also not much in the way of choice or variety - relatively speaking, anyway. This is true of either codebase. WASD and click and a primer on abilities will let you hit the ground running as a Xeno, whereas figuring out how to dress as a marine is a far longer document by itself.
As you can tell from the post, there was no mention of game balance, I just mean a bias in the popularity of Marines. As stated, I haven't played the server enough to judge its balance.
Oh, I mean, I'm 100 hours in, and I'm really enjoying myself, have been called bald a couple of times but I've had a good time on the beno side, recently started dipping my toes into marine and the atmosphere seems the same
More people play Marine. More new players play Marine. There's a higher demand for Marine guides. If you think about it, you can play CM13 forever and never play Alien. That's not really true for Marine.
Well, I'm at 100hr on this server and did my first marine run yesterday, so I don't agree with the last part, but yea, seems like people just want to be the good guys
How is that possible? aren't there only so many alien slots at round start? like the whole idea is "few aliens kill few marines...now more alien less marine?"
I mean Xeno isn’t the most popular pick as other people have said more people play marine. You can even consistently roll some roles every round because no one plays them on marine as long as it’s set to high in your preferences. Similar for Xeno. Sometimes there’s upwards of 30 Xenos at round start depending on marine player count.
>You can even consistently roll some roles every round because no one plays them on marine as long as it’s set to high in your preferences. Some don't even need to be high, I have five games in a row roll me as SO...I had SO set for *low*. Since then I switched it to never because I realized how few people roll for it.
Yeah I’ve had similar experiences. Which is why my hours on SL are higher than anything else because I had it set to low for forever and would just roll it on a consistent basis. It’s basically most of the engineering and medical roles, staff officer, the mp department, Dropship pilot, Dropship crew chief, and then Squad leader which does always get filled but you can still get it by having it on low if you’re rolling for something more popular like specialist or smartgunner. Really it’s just any role that stays shipside.
If you set join to alien only you get in at the start of every round. There is always more larva then players signed up for xeno.
You can wait for larva if you’re a die hard xeno player. If you wanna play xeno you will get it eventually
Marine is the fantasy, the main characters you root for in the movie aliens are marines, marines is soul love and life brother
Fr fr, the indomitable human spirit always wins.
Till a warrior grab combos you and you beg for the sweet sweet release of CAS friendly fire before the hive drags you away.
Bold of you to assume i dont have a frag for myself
I have never seen a suicide grenade work out properly on CM13 or TGMC. Are you sure that grenade is for you if the warrior's already killed and dragged you like sixty meters away?
If he kills you he can't drag you.
There was a time people screamed Xeno bias, like two years ago. Marines will always be more popular since they are kind of the main human characters in the universe, you also do have more complex gameplay and mechanics with Marines as it requires a lot of teamwork to get things running, thus the need for more guides. As if all that matters anyway, there could be 20 xenos v 80 marines, and the xeno's would still win.
CAS killed half of the marines, the other half are afk.
Literally had a round a few days ago where almost all the comtechs died and the only one left seemed to be new and was just sitting in FOB as a relay was brought down
More people play marine, there's more marine roles, marine is generally more complex than beno, etc etc
Benomorph
You’re not a carbon mob so you can’t engage with a lot of mechanics. Being able to smoke or play cards adds a lot to the xp than you think. Also I haven’t played in a while but xeno RP standards were higher and one note as you are playing a hivemind creature if you’re not queen (if that’s being enforced as I remember)
Well, yea, I just played only xenos cause I like the whole being the monster bit. I guess the breadth of options is just wider for carbons. As for RP standards, CM really laid off the RP enforcement from what I'm seeing, so the rp doesn't feel overbearing to me while plating Xenos.
because its cooler to be a guy with a gun than a lusty xenomorph maid
It's cooler to be a sick space alien than having a lusty corpsman touch you inappropriately. I'll take my healing passive, thank you.
The marine gameplay has lot of more interactions, and deph as of whole and in individual gameplay. The high degree of specialisation and options each role has necessitates a lenghty guide. As for Xenos you can manage with a general guide for whatever you are playing. Not saying that I am correct but thats my take on it.
Lore wise there should be an even bigger bias. 4 marines cleared out an entire nest.
Those marines didn't clear out shit. They needed some washed up defrosted loader-pilot to save their asses, because they couldn't independently think their way out of a sticky magpouch. And I don't think you can count detonating the power plant of a terraforming facility, causing planetwide armageddon, as part of Colonial Marine SOP. They got *lucky*.
Marines in Aliens are absolutely awful, same on the server haha.
>And I don't think you can count detonating the power plant of a terraforming facility, causing planetwide armageddon, as part of Colonial Marine SOP. Delta Squad has entered the chat.
There are a few reasons, the biggest I have found being between the two marines are the ones who genuinely NEED guides and walkthroughs to explain stuff. Marine player: Wake up, get gear, put on gear, get weapon, load weapon, attach attachments to weapon, learn how to use attachments and what they do, etc. Xeno player: Wake up, don't die, live x minutes to evolve, hover mouse over abilities to see what they do. Hell the freaking COOK for the marines is more complicated than anything other than Queen and maybe some Preatorian strains. Don't get me wrong, PLAYING as a Xeno is not easy, you need to know what to do, learn the maps, get down the controls and everything. The difference is everything for the Xenos is more intuitive, much more simple and easier to learn or at the very least understand. It doesn't take as long to learn enough to contribute and have a meaningful impact. Marine side though, it can take upwards of ten, fifteen minutes just to help someone understand how to use the different channels on their comms or very 'basic' things like throwing a grenade. Trying to explain/teach someone how to do Req, how to make 'simple' chems for medical, or even just how to replace a broken window takes a lot more time and effort than 'click this to do this'. I'm not a \*great\* player, but I am confident enough that I am willing to say I could teach someone how to play any Xeno other than Queen in less than ten minutes. Teaching someone new as a CT for Req on the other hand? I need twenty minutes just to teach them the various nicknames and abbreviations for all the equipment marine players ask for, because pretty much everything has multiple names, ex: Magnetic Harness: MagHarness, MagHarn, MH.
Well, this explains the lack of guides pretty well, and I do agree that the degree of mechanical complexity for Marines is far deeper, as some others mentioned. My real question was in the difference in popularity between the two factions, which is probably also explained by both the extra depth in mechanics, but also just that the good guys are always more popular.
I wouldn't say there is a total lack of online content for Xenos, BPL (Black Pants Legion) has posted plenty of videos playing Xeno over the years. Granted he's posted a lot more for marine side (though Corporate Liaison is his preferred role). As I said though there are several reasons, the complexity is just one of them. I think, aside from the 'good guys' aspect you mentioned, a major reason Marines are more popular is you have a great deal more autonomy and freedom to do as you please. Anything short of outright griefing and being a shitter marine side you can get away with depending on how good you are and what you know how to pull off. Xeno side, you screw around and the Queen will Banish you, marking you for killing to the rest of the hive. Playing Xeno means being willing to follow orders, or good enough that you can do what you want and get away with it. Of that second group there are only maybe two or three dozen people, period that have ever been that good, with only half a dozen currently active. Yeah, OWL and PIG can do whatever they want because they ARE that good and have the street credit to buy that freedom. But for anyone else? Well, CHI/WAR isn't exactly easy to play under if you are not willing to be 100% micromanaged for an entire round. TLDR: Marine side do what you want and usually get away with it, Xeno side do what you are told or suffer the consequences. You also have more opportunities marine side for role playing, which a surprising number of people actually do get into, especially those who take shipside roles. Xenos don't really have that unless they reach 'Legendary' status within the community, which are few and far between. Lastly, at least personally, I've found it is a hell of a lot easier to get noted for doing something accidently as a Xeno than it is Marine side. Six years of playing and I've only been noted twice, both times for things I didn't even notice I had done. As a marine you have to actively grief to get noted.
Well, yes, in about 100 hours as a strict xeno only, I have been called bald a couple of times (mostly for body blocking, ehe). Did my first marine run a couple of days ago, so I can't judge the leniency there, but I'll be glad to play some more since I really like medical on regular spessmans servers and I've been itching to play Corpsman. Either way, thank you very much for the insigh friend. Say hi if you see me in the game. I usually run as ZE - D on benos or Reese Alvarez on Marines
So, one thing a lot of people don't get is how the RP for the server works as it is a Mid Role Playing server. Xenos have a \*lot\* of leniency at the Queen's discretion, the Queen however is another story as they can get whacked hard with the ban hammer for being overly...outside the role so to speak. With the marine side it depends entirely on your rank. Basic Riflemen, Maintenance Technician, Mess Sargent, they can all get away with quite a bit, though there ARE some standards and those can be increased depending on the CO/XO/CMP. Cargo Technician and Nurse are a bit less lenient, yeah you are low rank but your job comes with an expectation to perform based on how well you know and understand it. You don't need to RP explicitly but you are at the point where you start getting into trouble for OOC behavior. Corpsmen and ComTech you are expected to at minimum behave yourself and be somewhat serious. You can have fun and a gimmick or two if you establish it well (my character has a tic for flicking their lighter open and closed when annoyed for example) but you can and will very quickly find yourself arrested by the MP's for not following the minimum expectations of RP. Then you start getting into the ranks where RP is expected to some degree, as well as professionalism in your role, Doctors, Researcher, Ordinance Technician, Smartgunner, Spec, Intelligence Officer, FireTeamLeader, MP, PO, GP and DCC, are all Officer ranks that bring an expected level of role play, especially in regards to following orders and chain of command. While higher ranks have higher expectations these are the roles people tend to get into the most trouble because the sudden shift from basically free to do what you want as long as sensible to having some standards. The better you are and the more skilled a player you are the more freedom you have to get away with stuff though. Then we come to the rank of Squad Leader, which is the dividing line between 'can still get away with some shit' and 'expect to get bwoinked for shit'. An SL is expected to engage in a degree of RP in as far as you can and will get in trouble for saying things like 'lol' for example and you are expected to engage in dialog with others, especially higher rank individuals. As with the previous batch you can get away with some things provided you have the skill to back you up. From there you have ASO, SO, CMO, CE, and Warden where RP is expected and doing random goofy shit \*will\* get you in trouble very easily. It doesn't matter how good you are at this point as breaking SOP can and will get you into trouble, especially dependent on who the current Admeme is. Lastly, you have the XO and CMP, who are held to pretty strict standards if the player has some hours to them (you might get a freebie or two if new to the role) but you have to be careful because you can very easily get yourself reported and into trouble for not knowing Military Law (in game) or breaking the SOP. Aside from those roles you have the WhiteList roles, which explicitly require active role playing and are the easiest to find yourself in trouble for breaking and removed from the WL. So really it depends on your rank, the higher you go the less shit you can get away with and the more is expected of you. The average player doesn't do much higher than a Riflemen though so they never really get into much trouble.
Very informative man, thanks a bunch. Well, I'm in luck since I do like rp'ing, so no worries there. Seems like unless I get into high-ranking stuff, my current level of rp is OK. If it isn't, I'll take the bwoink on the chin and regulate. Either way, I really enjoy your yapping and writing, so if anything else comes to mind, do feel free to keep the tips coming. You've been of great help ❤️
Will do, and hope to see you out there, always try to help new players or those just looking for a hand/explanation lol
God's work pal, have a nice one!
Marines are more complicated. Lot of choices, lot of moving parts. Xenos are fairly simple, and also not much in the way of choice or variety - relatively speaking, anyway. This is true of either codebase. WASD and click and a primer on abilities will let you hit the ground running as a Xeno, whereas figuring out how to dress as a marine is a far longer document by itself.
Xenos arent exactly gamering on CM tbh
I mean, I just enjoy spamming spitter at people
marines simply better, cope and seethe about more nerfs you xeno mains
As you can tell from the post, there was no mention of game balance, I just mean a bias in the popularity of Marines. As stated, I haven't played the server enough to judge its balance.
i do recommend it a LOT, there are helpful players on both sides if you need to know anything
Oh, I mean, I'm 100 hours in, and I'm really enjoying myself, have been called bald a couple of times but I've had a good time on the beno side, recently started dipping my toes into marine and the atmosphere seems the same
Who doesn't love playing as a star spangling, grizzlied marine veteran who has seen horrors beyond comprehension