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As for secrets being a poor mechanic to rely upon completely, I agree. I think a mixture of obvious vents and weapons and hidden ones is best. Then newer players have a chance like you say while still giving the map depth for veterans. If there are no secrets, veteran rebellers will quickly tire of a new map before getting to know it. Also, good mapmakers these days balance their maps under the assumption that most veteran players will know the useful secrets because that is what ends up happening.
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Eh, most veteran players aren't playing Jailbreak anymore, unless you mean 2-4 year vets, then maybe. I've been playing since 2008, back when there was one then two maps on our server and it was 44 slots in CS:Source.
Its not really no secrets to learn but the player base and the map mechanics that a lot of 7+ year vets want better. If you have a player base of Ts that willing to rebel as a team or do dumb things its fun, having a CT team thats competent and also fun then its enjoyable rather than on the opposite side of having useless CTs, trying to herd 20-30 Ts plus half of your own CTs together and that becomes frustrating and drains you of energy.
In addition, new map mechanics such as objectives to complete the map over 3-5 rounds (something that I was slowly working on but then well we don't have a tech team to add maps so there was no point to continue to work plus I just got burnt of mapping) and unlocking some cool things or events or forcing the next map as a psuedo-mission completed status, simple objectives such as planting the bomb, or just one or two special rounds that gives a breather to regular rounds but still fit within the narrative of Jailbreak make it fun.
If the only reason they're willing to continue playing is new secrets, then they're not interested in the game mode its self and they have no obligation to continue to play on the server since they 100%'d it in their mind and at best they may wait a few weeks, maybe a few months before no longer playing if nothing new is added. Think of it this way if you played WoW or any MMO: Do you continue to keep playing if you've capped out all your characters and have the best gear and ActiBlizz stops giving you content but your friends still play because theyre not at that level, or do you just quit because there's no new content even though your friends haven't completed all of the content available then?. I've played the same maps and their versions for months at a time before an updated version came along and in the end, its the player base that most people are willing to stick with regardless of the maps.
There were times where I had fun with people I liked such as
dunk182,
FrazarMan (or just
Frazar idk cuz he dont post much if at all),
Blackestsoul,
Captain Nighthawk,
eje007,
iamevilbear,
Cryptex,
frap,
RedDragonKnight
(when he was fun), @(not legend cuz hes a party pooper), and many many others (sorry if I forgot you) that even just seeing one of them on was a reason to play.
Even if it was on a map that was really not changed for 3, 6, 9, 12 months but still fit the over arching aspect of : Prisoners go rebel and take over the prison; guards dont let the prisoners take over the prison; then people will play it if they liked the flow of the map. There were also many others (@Yehhp,
Nick,
crc1225,
Fistacles
,
teimyw8,
FurtenFur,
David (but hes bad),
xblade111
,
l0l, @tj,
MarcoThePotato,
MrBoeJangles [or w/e he changed it to],
soulOfASinner,
_MEGA,
NMsniper, and many many others) I enjoyed playing with I came back 2 almost 3 years ago after playing other games than just CSS/CSGO. People are willing to put up with a lot and still have fun based on the social aspect but if the gamemode is nothing what they are used to expecting then that group of players feels alienated or disenfranchised with what it's become.