I love Generations, and I've logged hundreds of hours on it, but I'm really sorry the Slipgater's Super Nailgun isn't better.  It was such a badass weapon in Quake, but it might as well not even be in G:A.  I watched a demo of a game on DM12, Slipgaters vs. Strogg teams, and the SNG practically never got used.  Tabun, the player the demo was following got 1 frag with it, by accident, when he ran out of ammo for another weapon and it switched to the SNG.  I didn't see Tabun ever get an intentional frag with the SNG, but I did see him...

--run out of ammo for ev,erything except the SNG, switch to the axe, and kill someone.
--use the SNG to shoot open a door, which completely exhausted the starting ammo
--run into the plasma gun room, see the SNG, and run back out.
--discharge his shaft into the water rather than use his only other weapon, the SNG.
--use the NG while quaded, not getting any kills
--use the double shotgun even though he had the SNG and 200 nails
--run away from a player with a machinegun because he only had an SNG.

From the demo, Tabun looked like an incredible player, tipping the odds in favor of whoever's team he was on..  If even he doesn't want to use the SNG, I think it should be changed.  Maybe the speed of the nails should be upped, or maybe it should come with more ammo.  It wouldn't unbalance the Slipgater class unless it was better than the RL or the shaft, which it wouldn't be.   I just think it's too bad that what was such an awesome weapon in Q1 gets so little use in Generations.  

I use the SNG a bit. Watch Phoenix' demos from the Slipgate Lithium game. It's in the .99f demo thread somewhere. The camera isn't always pointed towards me, but it does catch me getting kills with the SNG. When I have rockets, I never use the SNG unless I'm turning a corner (demo02 shows this off extremely well, as I get 2 kills with it by doing this), so I don't blow myself up. If I have the shaft, the SNG will rarely get used because the shaft is better in all categories.

I'm not the best Gen player around, by far, but I switch weapons a lot during a fight. And yes, the SNG is one of those weapons I switch to on occasion. Sometimes people don't expect it.. and some other times it's good for spamming a hallway. But it's not the best means of killing... and it never was.

I understand what you guys are saying.  To be honest, the main reason I wish I could use the SNG more was that I like the new model     You're certainly right that QW was never all about the Nailgun, and I suppose I would prefer to have the class authentic.  I guess it's time for me to buckle down and get good with the RL...
 

You got to hate timezones (or sleep.. or .. whatever), delayed response follows:

Let me clarify a few things in regards to the demo that is somehow incorrectly regarded and presented as some kind of proof here:

- My playing style varies practically from day to day. Some days I will avoid using grenades, some days I'll stick to rail only - others I won't touch nails or plasma. You can't take a single demo and present it as either an unchanging style of play, or a proof of arsenal-choice.

- If I shoot a door to open, I fire one nail. If I'm shooting more than that, I'm probably anticipating someone to run through it in a hurry :p
- When I'm running away, this has more to do with respawning items or health than with the actual weapons available, especially if I still have nails.

- I very often switch to fists/axe/gauntlet even when I don't have to, just like I do a good discharge in the water when I can - for fun, because that's the real reason I (and everyone) should be making those choices for :]

- Even when I'm trying to kick as much ass as possible, I prefer shotguns. Hitscan weapons allow me to keep more in control of the situation, and they just feel nice to play with - this is a personal preference.

- My general aggressive-defensive/fast paced style of play allows for relatively few moments where delayed suppressive fire is useful. That would exactly be the times that I recommend the use of flamer, SNG, hyper etc.

- And finally, everyone keeps gabbing about how good I am, but let's be realistic here: I'm not a supergamer, I happen to be an amateur too. I make mistakes, I have off-days (probably while that demo was recorded, by the sound of it ) and, most importantly, just like everybody else,  I have strong and weak points in the arena; I suck with some weapons, and kick ass with others. Although I use my nails better than some others, this is generally one of my weak spots.

Even so, there is only one person on the planet who knows what I want, and that's me :]
And I want to use the SNG, because it's cool. Don't be fooled by what you see every now and then.

Maybe its time wew had a nailgun only match. that would get everyone using it. It might mean a new map or something.....

Awesome demo, lol... 10 to 3. I tried the same thing and won 10 to 8. Nailguns only is pretty harsh on my play style, lol.

... i'm all for raising to 50 too ...

Well ammo in q1 respawned at a MUCH faster rate than it does in q3... so if someone picks up all the ammo, you're just stuck with the 30 from the pickup.

Nice shooting there Tab!  You're about the only other player I've seen so far that knows how to properly lead with that thing.  Excellent demonstration, and yes, the Ranger bot tends to be a bit of a dolt unless he's got the rocket launcher.

I'm not too keen on lowering the ammo counts for the large crates.  I don't see where having too much nail ammo is ever a problem.  Running short when you really, really need it is what normally tends to happen.  I have no problems with upping the weapon pickup quantity to 50, especially since that's only 25 actual shots from the SNG.  The proposed Oldschool mode will remain at 30, but 50 for normal play seems perfectly reasonable to me.