As it currently stands, the Spade's capabilities of dredging terrain are far too powerful for individual players.
What I propose is that the Spade ought to be capable of digging ONLY the 3 highest blocks of terrain, starting from the level's initialization.

[tl:dr summary at bottom]

Games with default terrain generation settings will consistently (meaning "always") degrade into a scenario where individual players tunnel at, or near zero-elevation, in a path straight from one end of the map to the other. This element being present in the game defeats the purpose of being able to place blocks to fortify and protect the intelligence, and worst of all removes the necessity for teamwork. A team charging together on the surface for the intelligence is far less effective at acquiring intelligence than an equally-sized group of individuals digging their own tunnels.

Now I know some here will -reflexively- backlash against this, so I'd like to offer some counter-arguments to the typical platforms of opposition.

1. "You can't nerf the Spade! The game is called 'Ace of Spades' for a reason!"
Yes, and that reason has -nothing- to do with the spade. It has to do with paying homage to war-culture, and caricature war-heroes in movies such as Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, and Platoon.

Here is some further education on the subject: http://www.newtsgames.com/death-card-history.html

2. "You can't nerf the Spade! It's not 'in the spirit' of the game!"
First of all, the game is in beta, so just what constitutes the "spirit of the game" is entirely open to change. Secondly, the primary aspects of the game ought to be team work, and constructing fortifications. But again, the spade being as powerful as it is detracts greatly from both of these other qualities of gameplay, which ought to have much more presence than the spade.

3. "They built tunnels in WWI, WWI, and the Vietnam War, and that's what I'm doing!"
They -mostly- built trenches. And sure, the vietcong made tunnels, but they took YEARS to make. And more importantly, they took -teams- of men to create, and operate effectively.

4. "Just play on a level with zero elevation!"
It is a poor way to attempt to balance gameplay by conforming the entire environment to balance itself around the tool, when it ought to be the other way around.

And here's one other thing to consider: maybe try it out for a a release or two, and see how it feels. It's still in beta, so if it doesn't fly, it can always be changed back.

[tl:dr]
So what I am proposing, officially, is that...

Spade: only ought to be capable of digging the top 3 blocks of the level. It should -only- be a tool for quickly creating trenches and other -surface- features. It should -not- be capable of digging player-placed blocks.

Pickaxe: For digging and destruction. Can dig through any terrain block, as well as those placed by players.

This would shift more balance to be in favor of the team that wisely employs fortifications, and uses teamwork. YOU CAN STILL MAKE TUNNELS, but now you have to do it with a pickaxe, meaning: it's more effective to make tunnels with team mates, making a tunnel will be an investment (rather than a task that 1 man can do alone), and the sound of a pickaxe will be a -clear- indicator of tunneling, or sabotage.

i agree with you that tunnels are far to easy to create.
so i thought up a solution.
you start with 50 block and you can spade or mine a total of 50 more making your max block inventory 100. once you get to 100 you can not mine any more and must dump your block some. there will be a purge option available to dump all blocks out in a hemisphere shape on the ground. this makes both physical scene and solves the problem.

No way.

"No Way" says Deuce13'sGhost.

Well then, why not?

Or are you one of those level-tunnelers? :P

They only thing I could say about the block dropping thing is that it would lag the game if done too much.

well tunneling is a big part of this game, and it would be hard to get your team mates together just to dig a tunnel. It's just extremely unnecesary.

^agreed

^

That's where cooperation/ teamwork comes in, but I guess you and most people would rather being doing your own thing right?

I agree with the Spade nerf.

Cool idea, but it might get a little difficult to know which blocks you can dig with the spade and which are under that 3 block limit or player-placed.

This won't kill tunneling though, we do have the pick. You'll just succeed in pissing off a bunch of people.

No. The spade isn't overpowered in any way. Perhaps it should be made a little slower, but that's it. After that, hands off my tool.

I spend 1 hour just trying to get on a server that dosent time out, If I find one I don't want to waste 20 minutes on a tunnel till I get disconnected.

no way.
the spade is fine, tunnels are a strategic advantage.
some of the best intel runs ive partaken in/done involved tunneling either under or over the intel.
don't take tunnels away from us.

AND do note that Aos isn't one of those games that has to be realistic.

Digging tunnels like a boss. It's a purposely placed element for the win.

I am pretty sure "Ace of Spades" is a double entendre and you have some fine points to make here but you are overthinking this way too much. On some of the maps such as Urban Tank Fight and Aquatic Assault I took this into consideration by making the maps relatively shallow.

@tons0phun, I absolutely agree with you and at the same time completely disagree haha.

To improve gameplay in this regard, it is the MAPS that need to change, not the items.

@Mafia200100
Actually, the spade is overpowered, completely. In fact if you look up, you'll see I presented some clear arguments as to why it is. Namely, it detracts from the qualities of teamwork, and building, to a severe extent.

If you feel that it is not overpowered, please explain why. I'm open to hearing your arguments as well, but you must make them heard beyond saying "No, it isn't, hands off my tool."

@[HK]Frosty
Tunnels and tunneling are not being removed, this will balance them in adjustment with other elements of gameplay. If building a tunnel to infiltrate the enemy's lines, it should be an endeavor that takes more than one soldier, and takes more than a few minutes. Building a tunnel underground should be as much as an endeavor as building an elevated bridge on the surface.

@Buffet_of_Lies, PinkDozer
You're probably right about the double entendre, however your solution involves changing the entire in-game world to meet the impact the tool has on gameplay. But that does still not solve the issue of how powerful of a digging tool it is on every other level.

Again to say though, balancing the spade would not remove tunneling. Rather, it'd bring its impact on gameplay to be equal with teamwork, and fortifications. Because as it stands right now, an individual "Tunnel Rat" could circumvent the best-made fortifications, dig straight up, and do so in a way that evades the awareness of entire teams who may very well be occupying said fortifications. Given some time, a single soldier could even, by himself, collapse all of the terrain under a structure. You have no doubt tried, or done this once before yes?

That is too much capability bestowed upon any individual soldier. It ought to be a team-effort, just like defending a bunker, just like defending intel, just like making a charge into enemy territory.

I have to say that I almost completely agree with this. However, I'll explain how I am seeing it...

The spade can currently dig out the block you are pointing at, and the blocks above and below that. A player can very easily tunnel from one side of the map to the other (on maps with relatively high elevation of land). The spade should be able to dig out the highest three blocks of that area. Not just once, but always. However, if there is land above the three blocks you are about to dig, it should not work. This way, the spade can still be used to dig out huge areas, but you can't simply dig through a mountain.

The pickaxe is still there, people. I find it extremely annoying when one guy tunnels through the entire map and steals the intel, because it makes so sense and it's pretty difficult to find out where they are while they dig the tunnel. That's just how I see it, though. I don't think the top three layers of the map should be tagged as "spade-able", but I do agree that it needs to be nerfed.

@Niggins McFee
That's not a bad idea...hell, I might even switch to endorsing that one instead! :P
That way the Spade still retains its digging power for creating surface features, but the privilege of tunneling and building destruction is conferred to the pickaxe.

Yes.
I think this is how it ought to be!

Or the spade could have a maximum of 50 shovels per life.

Tunneling has been a tactic in all 4-5 months of this game's existence, and to change it now would be ridiculous. Even if its still a beta, that doesn't mean that it's okay to change core mechanics. Look how badly people responded to the rifle cone.

I'm guessing that you didn't play this game when there were only gen maps. Otherwise, you would remember how important tunnels were, and that sometimes almost a whole team would use one to move through the blue mountains.

@Zinger

I still have my aos21 installer.

And it was actually when there were ONLY generated maps that spade-tunneling was the biggest problem of the game. Yours argument falls under the #2 [see original post] example argument; claiming that tunneling with the spade is "Core mechanics" when it is in -beta-, and what constitutes core elements of the game is still open to debate and change.
It is why we have these forums.

Tunneling IS important, I agree to that. And again, even with this balance to the spade, you can -still- tunnel. Tunneling will not be removed from the game.

But the fact that an individual soldier can currently create a tunnel, by themselves, from one end of the map to the other in nearly a minute is far too much empowerment. It detracts from gameplay when an individual can put in little effort [tunneling], and circumvent the efforts of an entire team [guarding strategic terrain points, building fortifications].

Spider fort to protect intel
Dig pit below the spider fort
?????
PROFIT.

@topic:
Err,I kind agree with this.I think it's okay.But now you almost dont see a default map,almost all servers I see have custom maps.

I'M A DEUCE DIGGING A HOLE. DIGGY DIGGY HOLE.

And yes, I kinda agree.

To me, beta is just a title. People will still have feelings towards parts of the game changing.

I think that the downsides of tunneling balance out with the positives. Downsides being:
1. Taking a while to make. It takes a lot longer than a minute in most cases.
2. Less players fighting above ground, meaning a team can fight up to the other team's spawn
3. If a tunnel is found (and they can be found), both teams can use it.
4. You still have to get to the intel, and the intel is usually guarded and easy to see.

That being said, there are tons of valid points in your argument. Regarding to ANY suggestion, my view is always that the players should have to adapt to a tactic, not have it removed, especially if that tactic is available to everyone.

If the spade is overpowered then the pickaxe is too. With the speed of the spade's digging cycle, you can easily destroy blocks at the same rate with the pickaxe, if not faster. Thus, the spade is not overpowered.

Here's an idea - just make it so you can't dig at all! Then, not only will it ruin part of the core game dynamics, alienating most of its loyal fans, it would also make this game just another shooter. Isn't that great.

Sarcasm aside, the spade does not require nerfing. If it does, you might as well remove it, because everyone will just dig their tunnels with pickaxes instead. Ergo - problem remains unsolved.

I agree with mafia ^. When I first started playing this game i made all my tunnels with the pickax ( i was too much of a deuce to know the spade destroyed 3 blocks) but now that i tunnel with the spade not a much has changed it only takes a little longer with the pickax. So either way people will still tunnel and it won't change much if you remove the spade, so might as well keep it so all the die-hard spade fans don't get pissed.

@Mafia200100
The pickaxe is not overpowered, and it is in fact slower than the Spade. If the pickaxe were faster, it's what people would use for tunneling instead. The pickaxe digs one block at a time which requires focused attention, and in the time it takes for the pickaxe to demolish 2 blocks the pickaxe demolishes 3, and with significantly less noise. If you were to destroy 100 blocks with the pickaxe, somebody with the spade could destroy 150. That is a significant difference.

And again, the problem isn't tunneling.
The problem is with the qualities of gameplay inherent to tunneling, and how easy the spade makes it for a lone soldier to effectively build tunnels. Tunneling ought to be relegated solely to the pickaxe, where it will make a lot of noise, and will be as labor/focus-intensive as constructing things on the surface. You could still tunnel just as effectively if you pair up with somebody.

If the Spade was changed to only dig -surface- features, I would not object to it digging even faster

@jnp777
Argument type #2; saying it doesn't need to change because "That's just how it's been"
People will still tunnel, yes, it has been addressed that tunneling is no problem.

It's how fast, how silently, and how much it demands (or doesn't) of a team to create a tunnel, which are the problem.

*sigh*
Well there goes my speed doors.

"no way.
the spade is fine, tunnels are a strategic advantage.
some of the best intel runs ive partaken in/done involved tunneling either under or over the intel.
don't take tunnels away from us.

AND do note that Aos isn't one of those games that has to be realistic. "

- AGREED ALL THE WAY

"If the spade is overpowered then the pickaxe is too. With the speed of the spade's digging cycle, you can easily destroy blocks at the same rate with the pickaxe, if not faster. Thus, the spade is not overpowered.

Here's an idea - just make it so you can't dig at all! Then, not only will it ruin part of the core game dynamics, alienating most of its loyal fans, it would also make this game just another shooter. Isn't that great.

Sarcasm aside, the spade does not require nerfing. If it does, you might as well remove it, because everyone will just dig their tunnels with pickaxes instead. Ergo - problem remains unsolved." I AGREE WITH YOU ALL THE WAY MAFIA!!!!