Should all Nailguns be replaced with SNG

[PapaSmurf]

I feel that the nailgun is pretty useless weapon, in fact, the sg is a better weapon than the ng. With that in mind, should all nailguns on DM maps be replaced with the Super Nailgun? I feel this would immediately improve DM1, DM2, and possibly DM3.

DM1 for sure, since there's only 1 RL and 1 GL on the map, so the SNG becomes important if your opponent is controlling the 1 RL.

Same with DM2. In 1v1 matches, a popular strategy to employ is to control the 2 RLs and the GL, leaving only the SSG and NG for their opponent. If the NG were replaced with the SNG, then it would make it slightly more difficult to implement this strategy, as you would be able to ambush your opponent in a small quarters situation with the SNG.

As for DM3, would replacing the NG with the SNG in the RA room change the map dynamics in a team game? It might. If one team has control of the map, meaning they have RL and Quad locked down, then the other team is limited in their options of gaining control. Usually this involves trying to get the LG, and either discharging to disrupt their opponents pattern. Or get the LG and get back to RA. Or, what some like to do, is power up with RA, mega health, and SNG and try and steal the Quad. Now, if there is a second SNG on the RA side of the map, this means more players have access to the SNG for attacking the team in control of the map.

So, what say you, denizens of quakeone.com, should the Nailgun be retired from deathmatch play, and be replaced permanently with the SNG?

[Mr.Burns]

It's just my humble opinion, but rather than reduce the range of weapons available a different approach may be to change the function of the NG to see if it cant be improved in a more creative way.
For example, the NG in the Quake Painkeep mod fires nails which rebound off wails and floors which can be very useful for laying down covering fire or flushing out those dreaded campers.
I tend to avoid the team death servers so its not clear to me at least whether this would be suitable but I'm sure there must be other improvements that can be made such as greater damage/wider spread/etc. Again, it's just my very humble 2 cents worth
KR's

Monty

[PapaSmurf]

Yeah, but that fundamentally changes the game, and that would require a client side download of a mod. My approach can simply be implemented by replacing the nailgun with the super nailgun on the server side map by editing the .bsp file.

You also mention reducing the range of weapon availability. I really don't see this as a reduction of weapon availability, since the SNG is a pure upgrade of the NG. There is nothing functionally different between the two, except for the fact that the NG has nails that do 9 pts of damage, and the SNG has nails that do 18 pts of damage (at the cost of 2 nails in your ammo). So, there is no reduction in range of weapon availability since they do exactly the same thing, only one has more power. Additionally, the nailgun is a downgrade from the shotgun in almost every situation. The only weapon worse than the nailgun is the axe...

The nailgun still serves a purpose in single player, for pacing and ammo conservation, but I feel it has no place in multiplayer. Another idea would be to give everyone the nailgun permanently, like the shotgun and the axe.

Now, if you want to make a change to how the nailgun functions, I would rather see it become like the machinegun from Q3. That would make it a viable weapon.