Hi astrophe

I've read your post a few times, popped back in and read it again, very thought provoking and apt

The mode you describe essentially already exists in many forms. For Vietcong 2 - Fist Bravo, my team and I implemented a mode called Hold The Line (HTL) where a team of upto 6 players had to defend their location against a never ending swarm of Vietcong and NVA troops, respawning in waves.

The team had to survive until the extraction chopper arrived to airlift them out.

In other games this mode has taken the form of 'Seek and Destroy' in Call of Duty and no doubt exists in hundreds of other ways in many other titles.

That's not to say that your idea isn't entirely unique, but more that it is clearly a strong component for modern FPS games, which is continually being re-invented and tweaked in the drive to get a perfect incarnation of this defend/attack style game modes.

Certainly within our current project we are working towards similiar multiplayer modes that have elements of this mode as well as implementing ways to include this game play within the core game play experience.

It's certainly a very important part of any multiplayer FPS title and having a solid design for it can give you the edge.

Nice post