Syndicates Feedback By Einde : Let's Move Forward !

[LascarCapable]

Keep in mind that if you are running an affinity booster you will naturally be getting more reputation than those that dont (becuse reputation is based off of affinity gain).  Typically double but there are also descrepencies if players are outside the affinity sharing range as well and how much you use powers (that affinity isnt shared).

 

I've found that boosters aside, our group members got much the same reputation gains (only minor variances) reguardless of the end of mission results (as some group members were vastly further ahead in their stats, but much the same rep gains).

 

I wasn't under effect of an affinity booster when I played that excavation node. I positive about it. So I'd say that reputation gains may vary following the scoreboard...

[Loswaith]

I wasn't under effect of an affinity booster when I played that excavation node. I positive about it. So I'd say that reputation gains may vary following the scoreboard...

Excavations tend to be a bit different in that players scatter a lot more so it is quite possible that you found yourself in more of a hotspot of spawns than other players, and due to the scattering side of things players are often out of range of others for the shared affinity gain (shared affinity is localised not global to the missions, so you can be out of range of the sharing).  So in the case of excavation, yes it would show a difference (as more kills equals more affinity gained).  Feel free to try defence or the like (where you stick togeather more) and see what I mean.

However some of the missions (my observations are over about 5-6 missions, so hardly conclusive) I have done otherwise some players have killed vastly more (as in 4 to 5 times that of myself) only to gain the much the same reputation (infact I was personaly slightly ahead by less than 10 rep).

 

The key here is though is that reputation is all based on the affinity gained for that mission.  You earn vaslty more affinity you will get vastly more rep and typically becuse you are more in the heat of things your stats will also be higher.

 

Though this is moot to the original discussion.

Edited November 1, 2014 by Loswaith

[LascarCapable]

Excavations tend to be a bit different in that players scatter a lot more so it is quite possible that you found yourself in more of a hotspot of spawns than other players, and due to the scattering side of things players are often out of range of others for the shared affinity gain (shared affinity is localised not global to the missions, so you can be out of range of the sharing).  So in the case of excavation, yes it would show a difference (as more kills equals more affinity gained).  Feel free to try defence or the like (where you stick togeather more) and see what I mean.

However some of the missions (my observations are over about 5-6 missions, so hardly conclusive) I have done otherwise some players have killed vastly more (as in 4 to 5 times that of myself) only to gain the much the same reputation (infact I was personaly slightly ahead by less than 10 rep).

 

The key here is though is that reputation is all based on the affinity gained for that mission.  You earn vaslty more affinity you will get vastly more rep and typically becuse you are more in the heat of things your stats will also be higher.

 

Though this is moot to the original discussion.

 

Well, there's a quick wait to find the truth : let's just bring a buddy in an extermination mission, telling him to stick with you but without touching anything (No shooting, no power using), and at the end compare the amount of reputation earned.

 

I'll try that later, if I am not lazy.

[Magnar21]

Syndicates were just what I was the most hyped about when U15 was announced. At the end when it came out, I was still happy, but a bit disappoint. I think that there's some parts of the idea that could be pushed further. Yet the stuff available seems awesome and I just can't wait to see new content for the syndicates. I am still dreaming about the day I'll be able to get those weapon and warframe mods.

 

 

I'll start with the Reputation System :

 

First, I find that it's too bad that Sigils available with reputation points does not reward the user with more reputation points earned at the end of the mission. This would just mean that Sigils are a pointless investment until you reached the max rank available. Better Sigils should reward you more than that. I am not saying that it should give you a stat bonus... But it should at least make you able to earn reputation faster. After all, ranking up will ask you more and more reputation points to grab.

 

Second, I feel that there should be a way to earn reputation faster, but dependent of which Syndicate you're supporting. For exemple : when you're supporting Steel Meridian, you would be able to get more reputation by killing grineers (because Steel Meridian does not accept the injustice of the current Grineer Governement). If you're supporting Cephalon Suda, you would be able to earn more reputation if you open lockers (because the Sudas greets curiousness)... All Syndicates have a different story, a different personnality, I think we should personnify that bits of lore with some in game properties.

 

 

Let's now talk about the syndicates missions. As some of you may have noticed, you are greeted with three daily syndicate alerts when you are at the first rank of your Syndicates. I feel like it's just too low. I'd love to see in addition to the daily syndicate alerts some randomly generated syndicate alerts. I don't know if it's already the case though... Also, I think it's a pity that our Syndicate master does not replace the Lotus during those alerts. I'd just love to see that, but I guess that the staff already though about it and this should come later. Last, Syndicate alerts feel too close of the base alerts. I think that some objective changes based on the Syndicate's lore would be really nice. For exemple, Cephalon Suda does not tolerate destruction and is extremely curious about the universe : how about making some missions based on stealthly scanning some living beings, resulting in a mission failure if you kill something ? Just something that changes from the ordinary missions.

 

 

I should at the end talk about the other prizes that you may earn with the syndicates, but I barely unlocked a lot of things for now. So I should leave my feedback about that for (much) later.

 

 

At the end, I love the principle of Syndicates, but I really feel like there should be a lot of things to add to it. Syndicates brings a lot of lore to the game, it's a pity that it's not exploited further. However, I am hopeful about the syndicate system being improved sooner of later. It's a good start in my opinion, so let's move forward to something even nicer and funnier to complete.

 

Thanks for reading.

Good post. Maybe someone should create a Mega(feedback)Thread with all the suggestions in it?

[TinFoilMkIV]

A glad this thread came back up, I remember reading this a while back but didn't feel like I'd had enough chance to check out the syndicates to a point where I was willing to comment on the state of things.

 

My thoughts on sigils is this, there should be bonuses relating to acquiring more sigils within a syndicate, but not tied to the sigil itself. You should recieve a passive reputation bonus for each sigil unlocked but not require that sigil to be equipped to receive the bonus. Otherwise we end up with problems along the lines of the arcane helmets, where people wear sigils they don't like because it's "the best". I like the specialization bonuses mentioned earlier but I'd rather see that as a new equip slot, something like the auras where it is a special item that isn't physically seen but applies a personal bonus. Also these would preferably not be in the form of a mod or affect capacities and such whatsoever, more like the dragon keys where its something you carry and gain an effect from. Actually yea, basically like a dragon key but with a positive effect.

 

Faster rep? I'm okay with some minor bonuses, maybe tied to the above mentioned specialty items, but I wouldn't do anything too big. Instead I would prefer to expand on how we gain rep. We have the basic affinity to rep conversion for those people who like to go out and kill all the things, and that's fine. What we don't have is a system that benefits doing pretty much anything else. A few times the idea to have objective/mission completion based rep rewards has come up. This is good, put this on top of affinity based gains, not replacing. Also how bout all those cool hidden and out of the way areas that basically have a few extra rounds for your gun and some pocket change? Add some uncommon syndicate related objects that can spawn in and reward themed items such as recovered equipment or data that could be returned to the syndicate of your choice. Even if one method still comes out ahead at least players have a choice in how they like to play while still gaining noticeable amounts of rep. For a much more detailed thread on this sort of thing I'd recommend checking this out if you can handle your text https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/340692-refining-the-syndicate-system/

 

For syndicate missions I've heard some interesting things. I don't have much specifics to offer myself other than definitely expand on the syndicate dialogue and story.

 

I am also in favor of bumping up the rank at which a reactor/catalyst shows up as a requirement due to their limited and unreliable windows of time where they can be obtained in game. I'ts not unreasonable to expect a player to be able to pick up a few over time, but I'd put them higher up on the requirements.

 

Also as we expand the offering of the syndicates I'd like to see some more mid tier and less specialized rewards. Weapon and frame specific rewards are great, but some middle ground would sound good to me. Right now we have melee weapon types, which was primarily because it was required for melee 2.0. How bout we start categorizing our firearms? we already have category specific mods such as thunderbolt and firestorm, but they aren't always clear about their compatibility with things like the ignis or the attica. Right now we have; sidearms, sniper rifles, shotguns, and the "none of the above" category that is rifles. Not only would weapon categories clean up the game clarity a lot in terms of mods, but it would make room for factions to offer family and category based mods, such as things that apply to all "braton" type rifles, or all heavy pistols.

[Santiak]

Some good points, albeit I tend to disagree with some of them.

 

Cumulative Standing Gain:

My main issue with a cumulative gain based on amount of Sigils purchased, is that it is, perhaps, self-defeating; you spend points to get more points faster. Unless it's a substantial bonus, or there are some rewards that will require far more Standing than one could get without having purchased all Sigils, it more or less amounts to masking the issue of slow progression.

You get to see more points each mission, but the investment (which, granted, it would be) cancels itself out, in terms of reaching the highest rank faster.

It would also "force" players to purchase Sigils they weren't all that interested in to begin with, just for the sake of Standing gain - so it would also be detached from player choice, being more an obligation than a venue for player costumization, I feel.

 

Finally, from the viewpoint of the Syndicate, I have trouble rationalising why having Sigils stored in your chest'o'goodies would make them like you more.

 

Which ties neatly into the next point:

 

 

Unseen items generating more Standing Gain:

While it is an option, I'd hope it wouldn't be something that just sits in your inventory doing nothing. Have it be some item that's unique to that Syndicate, and that you'd have to actively make use of to benefit from.

 

To take Cephalon Suda as an example, a unique Scanner that ultimately reveals hitherto unkown information about objects you scan sufficiently, earning you a fat Standing gain as a result, and a nice bonus during the process itself - e.g. +25 points for a scan during a mission, and an additional +2500 once you completely unlock an object, perhaps even +10000 if it's a hidden piece of knowledge that requires multiple objects to be scanned, possibly with no visible link, so it's a matter of chance - "exploring the unkown" and all that.

That is, unfortunately, also the easiest example I can think of.

 

Steel Meridian would have an invasive bugging device, which would have to applied via a sneak attack, that would reveal more of the Grineers next move?

Red Veil much the same, but collecting samples from Infested, perhaps?

I digress - but it's something worth ruminating on.

 

While that is, in my opinion, a very good way to involve players, and give them the tools to increase their standing gain - if they opt to do what is in line with their chosen Syndicate - I would, as mentioned, rather not have it be some static item in your inventory, offering little in the way of alternate or augmented playstyles - in which case it would be another superficial addition that brought little to the actual gameplay.

 

As TinFoilMkIV touches upon, Syndicate specific missions would be very nice indeed.

Rather than "Exterminate", "Defense", "Survival", etc., each Syndicate would offer - for example - "Cephalon Suda" missions, possibly alongside the more 'mundane' mission types we're so used to.

Perhaps they'd be focused around the usage of said inventory items, or replace them altogether, but it would certainly spice things up a bit, and bring a great deal of meaning to being part of a Syndicate.

 

Subsequent brain-farts:

When I think about Sigils, I've come to regard them - or at least the first few ranks worth of Sigils - as "Sponsorships".

In essence, logos you don to gain the benefit of a specific Syndicate - slowly inching your way into their good graces, earning their trust, all that good jazz.

 

However, at later stages, I'd imagine the roles would be reversed; the Syndicates come to depend on you.

The logos you don are no longer "Sponsorships", but Accolades of your devotion - granted to you by the Syndicate in appreciation, rather than as a neutral badge telling others whos service you're in.

 

Which made me think; what if, the Sigils themselves were kept as mostly cosmetic items? Wearing one might garner you a Standing gain, but it would be much the same irrespective of which Sigil you donned - you'd still only be showing your sponsor.

Instead, add Accents, much smaller decorations that could be used alongside a Sigil. These would be much smaller and much less imposing than the Sigils, but they would add certain benefits for you; be it in relation to your Syndicate, to other Syndicates, missions, warframes, weapons, etc. - pretty much the previously mentioned uniquely styled bonuses, but perhaps with less of a focus on Standing gain.

 

Think of Accents as miniature Mods with less direct impact.

Perhaps even have them be unlocked by Syndicate specific achievements, rather than by spending Standing?

 

Sigil effects:

Likewise, in regards to the effects seen on higher rank Sigils, I'd love to have it be dependent on Standing, so even the basic Sigil would gain nifty effects as you progressed through the Ranks - perhaps with more elaborate effects once you reach and surpass the highest rank?

 

 

In other words:

So instead of me having to purchase every Sigil to be effective, or the highest tier to be visually stunning, I could use the Sigil I liked the most, flanked by Accolades showing my achievements in the Syndicate, each (or however many we might be able to add in) granting me a small boon of some sort.

Both of which would eventually give both the impression of me being a high ranking member of the Syndicate (effects), show my support of said Syndicate (a sigil), and grant me support from the Syndicate I so vehemently help (accolade(s)).

Edited November 13, 2014 by Santiak