[DISCLAIMER: Bought the game on a separate account half a decade ago that clocked in 255 hours (and more from playing in offline mode).]
I was having fun for a good, long time... until I got bored of the base gamemodes on offer. I care for the "Instant Action" modes, not the "Arcade" mode.
Here are the "Instant Action" modes this game offers (without mods):[list][*]Battle - Eliminate the enemy's tickets.[list][*]Both teams have three(3) battalions with a set number of tickets (depending on match length).
[*]With each lost battalion, less bots from that team are in play for the remainder of the match.
[*]With more flags in control, or neutralizing all of the enemy's flags, you can also "bleed" the enemy of their tickets.[/list][*]Domination - Hold more flags than the enemy.[list][*]Both teams have three battalions; you lose one if you hold less within the given time limit in a round.
[*]Three flags are randomly chosen per round.[/list][*]Point Match - Score a set number of points more than the enemy.[list][*]Set number to win depends on game length.
[*]Each kill is multiplied by the amount of flags your team owns.
[*]You can also win by neutralizing all of the enemy's flags.[/list][*]Skirmish - Eliminate the enemy, or hold more flags to win.[list][*]Respawn waves vary depending on match length.
[*]Otherwise, a mix between "Domination" and "Battle".[/list][*]Spec Ops - A one-life mode where you complete a set of objectives and escape.[*]Haunted - A one-life zombie-esque survival gamemode.[/list]
I only care for the normal battle gamemodes with respawns (so [i]not[/i] Spec Ops or Haunted).
But what is there eventually grows to play out in such an incredibly samey fashion to the point that it loses its replay value. These modes ultimately just amount to killing people and capturing flags, with fronts constantly shifting and no concrete areas of backline flags. It's like varying flavors of the mode "Conquest" from [i]Battlefield[/i], and I never cared for that kind of mode to begin with. However, official custom gamemode support has taken such a massive backseat that people who have grown bored of what is here are left hanging and scrambling with the little leeway the game offers.
There [i]are[/i] custom gamemodes available in the workshop made without proper support, [b]but[/b] you are left to choose one of two ways to experience them, with their own caveats:[olist][*]You can download an unsupported, older version of the game and use custom gamemodes made for them. As of writing, there is a workshop mod offering "Frontlines" and "King of the Hill" gamemodes via a parent "Ravensharp API" workshop mod that has been around for years. When set up properly, the game actually considers them gamemodes, and you can select them normally like the vanilla modes. [b]However[/b], it is no longer maintained, and it only works on Early Access Builds 25 and 26 (the former works better than the latter). This subjects you to not only missing out on game updates, but also mods where support for your chosen game version may be phased out in order to stay compatible with the latest version.
[*]You can try dabbling with current-version-supported "gamemodes" in the form of mutators, [b]but[/b] you have to find maps that work for how they (unfortunately) have to be made [i]because[/i] of the lack of official custom gamemode support. As of writing, there is a "Breakthrough" mode offered via a mutator in the workshop. However, it does not work seamlessly for some maps, even maps that theoretically should not have any problems with it [b]without[/b] tinkering. The points could be in a perfectly straight line (the "Project WW3 Oasis" workshop map, for instance), and the "attackers" can ignore capturing them in order and instead go for a "backline" flag. Since the aforementioned map predates the gamemode mutator (along with the fact that the AI likely were not coded to play on that map in the form of "Breakthrough"), you may then be left having to waste time looking around for maps where the AI [i][b]don't[/b][/i] do that. And given that the mutator in question is relatively new, it may lower your chances of finding something that works even more.[/olist]
It's not the modder's fault for having to work with these kinds of limitations for years.
And the priorities SteelRaven7 has with this game in terms of content does not jive with me. Nowadays I'm only bouncing off of it and leaving with a growing sense of frustration towards these new experiences that are slowly being added but still support the same monotonous ways the actual [i]gameplay[/i] rolls out that I've seen countless times.
And that's not getting into obvious bugs or design flaws that have been around for a while, if not the beginning.[list][*]Toggling the "Configure Flags" option in "Point Match" makes it so that until a flag is captured (if it started as neutral) or is neutralized, the game thinks both teams have zero(0) flags, even if they [i]do[/i] have flags. Until resolved, the game [i][b]does not count points from kills[/b][/i]. This bug was introduced somewhere between Early Access Builds 27 and 29, and has been around for about [i][b]10 builds[/b][/i] or at least [i][b]2 years[/b][/i] at this point.[*]For Domination, any flag on a given map can become a control point for the mode, which includes the [i][b]starting flags[/b][/i]. Those same starting flags can also be neutralized, and teams could be barred from spawning [i][b]for the rest of the game[/b][/i]. There is no toggle to lock teams' starting flags from being neutralized or captured (again, without mods, which in this case only adds [b]more[/b] problems), no way to choose what flags become control points for the game, or even a way to end the game if a team is completely wiped from the map. And while I was not around since the mode was first added, I would say that it has been like this the whole time, since it is [i][b]still[/b][/i] like this as of Early Access Build 38 (current version as of writing).[/list]
Both of these have existed since before SteelRaven picked up a team to work on the game with him. Speaking of which, he still needs to update the "Early Access" disclaimer that [i]still[/i] says he's developing it alone.
If you are like me and you want something more than what is here in terms of gamemodes, this game should be best left on its own until, for me, a proper "Breakthrough" mode and (not half-baked) official custom gamemode support actually arrives, and, for you, what you are looking for. Because while I did have a few good years of fun, it can only last for so long before I've had enough of the same stuff.
And mods can only do so much in this matter.
