Yoyo - if you were involved in Deathball before sprint first started - then you will know that EVERYONE who thought themselves a superstar attacker - would permanently goalhang.
This made the game mega boring / stupid. These goalhangers would stay next to the penalty box and refuse to move back.
The only way you could counter them was to drop a defender all the way back with them. Ie p-box camp. This is very skill limiting both to the defender and attacker. It also invariably led to the goal hanger's side getting owned, as this player would contribute nothing to the game. Nothing.
The player would goal hang for the very simple reason - if no-one was back there gaurding them - and a ball was passed to them .... then no-one could chase them down and they'd get a free goal.
Goal hangers ruin the game. Simple.
When sprint was introduce the whole goal hanger scene disappeared virtually instantly (except for a few diehards ... cough dj...).
Reason is simple - A defender could easily zone off the goal hanger and play in front of them. Doing this enables the defender to intercept all incoming passes being looped over their head through quick manoeuvering ie sprinting.
The defender then has a role in the game. The can still contribute to the offence through getting the ball and passes back into attack. They can cover more area and have more fun.
The goal hanger is taken comletely out of the game because of sprinting. It just isn't a viable tactic - they do not get enough of their 'cheap 1vkeeper' opportunities. This player will now move back and HELP out his team - hence improving the quality of the game overall.
If you take out sprinting - then the defender cannot zone off - they are forced to play a man. As you say - it becomes bad defence to be anywhere but p-box camping.
And guess what - this is boring. People don't do it. They never defended before sprint came along. I still go into Euro servers (no sprint) and am amazed by two things.
No-one will defend.
There is always goal hangers.
Consider what these two facts do towards the skill level of the game. It decreases overall in every aspect. The game becomes not just boring because it is slower... but because the tactics involved become so lame.
Once sprinting came about - people started to realise cheap goal hanging tactics no longer worked. You'd get swamped before you got a shot off.
They started to realise they'd have to work the ball downfield through good positioning and 'teamwork'.
(note: teamwork is not lobbing a ball downfield and hoping a goal hanger can catch / score)
Defence also became more important in the face of these improved attacks. Teams realised that they needed to work together as a team to cover these better structured attacks. The attacks came faster with more structure.
Overall skills have improved tremendously since sprint came into our leagues.
If you want proof - go look through the demo's of the games from back in Jan or whenever the first 5v5 league started that were pre-sprint.
Goal hangers / lack of defence.
Attacks that come thick and fast with far more structure and variety far exceed the nonsense that gets thrown up in non- sprint standard attacks.
You may claim that sprint only leads to solo hero's.. which is just as bad as goal hangers...
I say - don't compare publics to clan matches. Solo's have no place in clan games - they 'never' score against a reasonable structured defence.
Teamwork is the key. The ability for an extra player to sprint into position and create another attack option is vital to scoring. Without sprint, all you've got is boost to get that player into attack.
You'll find inevitably that the player who get the ball in offence won't have as much support. He won't have as many options, and will be forced into trying for the shot himself. This was also a pre-sprint trait. I call it the bunny hop.
Player with ball moves not much slower than player without ball. They can keep out of range of the defender for longer, giving them more time to setup a standard shot. They will invariably make a four jump unhit attempt from potentially inside the penalty box. No keeper stops these.
With sprint - this does not and cannot happen against any decent keeper. The attacker will be gibbed as soon as they even think of charging. This forces the attacker to 'attempt other options'. Guess what... these require skill. Volleys, either to self or team-mate can defeat a sprinting defender.
The skill level of shots used to score has improved absolutely 1000% since the introduction of sprint. IT HAD TO.
Prior to sprint - there is only a set skill level of an attacker that can be achieved. You cannot exceed this level as there is no need to. Defence will not stop you on a normal shot, why bother trying anything else.
With sprint, the game comes alive. Shots need to be better. Keepers can save more. You need to improve.
Someone like Armagon has far exceeded the skill levels of anything shown pre-sprint.
The game HAS improved. Taking away a skillset such as sprint dumbs the game down. It is a backwards step.
HOWEVER... sprint in its current form is just silly.
DB1.6 sprint is perfect... we're used to it.
Petition davidm to bloomen fix it...
OR let's make an ausDB version and fix it ourselves.
