Jockey replacement idea.

[Bonehead]

I'm a huge fan of L4D. The first one felt dark and gritty, but with that black humor thrown in to make you laugh every once in a while. My biggest problem with l4d2, is that it went too goofy on me. Every once in a while I'm brought back to how RIDICULOUS I think the jockey is. I seriously want to know who's idea that was. It's a great concept, but the outcome looks like something from the imagination of a five year old.

On top of this, the jockey gives the survivors a break when it comes to a rather important mechanic, and that's friendly fire. To me, it seems cheap, that when a jockey is rubbing his nuts on the back of your friend's neck, that all three other survivors can unleash a barrage of shotgun shells from autoshotguns, killing said jockey, but with no penalty to the fact that they pumped their friend over there, with about fifteen pounds of lead.

Normally I don't like most suggestions for new SI, even my own, but this idea has been floating around in my head for a while, sorry if it was already brought up.

I'd like to see the jockey replaced by something survivor height. Thinking of something that will grab the survivor from behind, and dig it's claws into their chest/neck. What this would start, is a dragging stage. The infected at that point is capable of dragging the survivor backwards. Now I know this would rid of most of the "walking off the cliff" moments the jockey currently has, but the catch here is, shooting straight forward at said survivor, would indeed kill the infected, but with high friendly fire damage.

This would effectively make the survivors think for once, instead of "HEY THIS THING IS GLOWING RED, SHOOT IT". The idea isn't entirely fleshed out, but it's a start. Tell me what you think. Also, remember, there's a difference between constructive criticism, and being an asshat.
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[Visi]

I understand your point about the jockey being more comical than horrifying. Looking at concept art for the jockey, it looks pretty damn creepy on paper, but in-game it's just... adorable.

I'm unsure about your suggestion overall, but one thing I'll point out is that pretty much all other SI incap or grab you in a way that is just as precarious as the jockey when it comes to friendly fire immunity.

[Bonehead]

I agree completely, for some reason though, the anti-friendly fire field sticks out the most to me with the jockey. Not sure why.

[Gimmeh Jibbs!]

Buckshot doesn't always penetrate flesh fully. At close range, sure, there would be a fair bit of full penetration, but at a distance, a Jockey makes a good meatshield for his unhappy ride. That'll change with real bullets, though. 5.56 especially ought to go right through. Bullets going through bodies is a complicated subject, and Jockey friendly fire meatshielding kinda covers its own rear there.

[i cyberbully magnum users]

The negated FF damage when shooting someone pounced by SI is actually among all SI iirc.

The jockey is bs. The mechanics are awful, they can scratch you immediately after being shoved.

[*****R*****]

I agree the jockey is one irritating little ***, but I think it's good to have at least one SI at knee level, makes for a bit of interest.

[MunkeyThrust]

Lol, meatshielding.

[Bonehead]

Ursprungligen skrivet av *****R*****:

I agree the jockey is one irritating little ***, but I think it's good to have at least one SI at knee level, makes for a bit of interest.

I agree with this as well. My big problem with this though, is perception. He's knee level.. when you're playing as him, you're the same hight as the survivors. I know that I'm actually shorter, but it would be nice to know exactly what I'm hidden by.

[*****R*****]

'when you're playing as him, you're the same hight as the survivors'.

Yeah, that's a good point.... wonder how that slipped past the development stage :)

[steemed hems]

Smoker's and jockey's roles are same. Move survivors to danger. I still don't get the point of adding jockey to game.