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Gene_Freak

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Posts posted by Gene_Freak

  1. On 2021-03-21 at 9:16 PM, kunaon said:

    is it possible to make it a bit "bounty"-like ? Let's say the flow like this: (maaaaybe it will give more balance to the time spend in RJ and mission)

    1. Enter the RJ space - kill fighters / Crewships (1st wave)
    2.  POI1 - rescue some guy(s). Then lotus says that guy give info about someone we need to capture
    3. RJ - kill fighters/crewships (2nd wave reinforcement)
    4. POI2 - Capture some guy. Then lotus says that guy give us a name to assassinate
    5. RJ - Kill fighter/crewships/security nodes
    6. POI3 - assassination of that said target. Maybe an upgraded version of jackal that can only be defeated by.. nech. :D

    This feels like what they're dipping a toe into with the new Corpus missions, and while it's currently uneven I'm enthusiastic about the potential and the direction. My big hope out of all these iterations of Railjack is that they end up with something like the sortie / bounty system, too - like, a daily where you do RJ / AW space objectives in between a string of hit-and-run ground missions, culminating in an explosion-dense set piece against a big boss or a big ship or a big boss' big ship :laugh:

    • Like 1
  2. Gunnery 10 needs a full rethink. It's not even just the heat penalty, I do not want control of my weapons taken from me. I can see the targeting assist reticles just fine and I know how to walk fire to a target. Improved artillery? Post-slingshotting buffs? Remote use of unmanned guns as pilot? Even just something forgettable would be fine so that I don't have to leave Gunnery at 9 indefinitely.

  3. I'm concerned that by limiting it to maximum targeted enemy health values instead of the actual attack damage you're still preventing the power from properly affecting the surrounding enemies. You still have to fight against armor, shield gating and flat damage resistance, which means that the impacted damage will still be negligible at higher levels. Doubling a tickle just makes it a more annoying tickle, it still doesn't qualify as a proper attack.

    It really feels at times like there's a lot of design choices made that have no bearing on the way anyone actually plays Warframe. Like, you want this power to be limited to maybe killing nearby weak grunts if you target the heaviest unit in the mob and you land with an attack that kills them in a single hit. Why? Why does someone on the design think that's fun, or an organic way to play Warframe at all? Why would I want a power that relies on perfect circumstances, timing and practice to kind-of-irritate a group of enemies? I'm reminded of the aborted IPS status rebalance from years back that would've changed (among other things) impact to a ragdoll based on damage dealt, and the use example given was a Loki on the Plains irritating a single heavy gunner by repeatedly knocking them over with a Vectis. It's stuff like that, and this now, that makes me wonder how much of Warframe is deliberately designed to be the frenetic technicolor nightmare that we love and how much is just the unintended consequence of players pushing the game to extremes in a way the devs never envisioned.

    I'm not saying this because I'm hoping that some devs will reconsider their design choices with Marked for Death, I'm saying this because I'm hoping they'll reevaluate their design ethos entirely. There's too much of a disconnect between the game we're playing and the game some think we're playing.

    • Like 8
  4. The buff duration of Split Flights is my biggest issue with it in practice (excluding weapon limitations or what have you), especially when you consider that it takes at least one hit to bring your weapon up to where Split Chamber brought it before. Bow weapons are slow firing by their nature, and two seconds is too limiting for practical use. Five seconds would be a more fair time for the buff - I also think two seconds would work if the stacks decayed one at a time instead of resetting entirely.

    • Like 2
  5. On going over 100% status:

    It feels like this was a long time coming. It's not earth-shattering (yet), but it's good to see all the same. I think this would be a lot bigger change if more status weapons had much, much higher starting status values. Like, an innate 50-70% on most status-type weapons. Hell, I'd be game to try some heavy, single-shot weapons that start around 120%!

    On elementals procing at the same rate as IPS:

    Also feels like an overdue change, but this runs into the problem that non-melee weapons' 7-point IPS damage mods are all well below useful values, meaning that it'll be much harder for players to build around IPS status. Bringing them all up to the same 90% bonus that melee weapons have would make more IPS-dominant builds viable on primary and secondary weapons, and would allow players to tune their status levels to their liking.

    On shotgun/multishot status changes:

    While I agree fundamentally that the oversight that allowed 100% builds needed changing for the sake of mechanic transparency, I don't believe that you went far enough in buffing per-pellet status chances. This largely ties in with needing status weapons to start with much higher values - if you want status to be competitive with crit (which sounds like a big motivator for these changes, from watching the devstreams) then you can't be afraid of letting us go ham with it! :tongue:

    On changes to status procs:

    Viral won out huge here, and actually brings some of that "compete with crit" flavor to the status pot luck. The Corrosive and Magnetic changes are part of a larger set of overall changes and all of that needs a lot more testing before I can say anything for sure. Most of the DoT statuses seem about where they were, though I'll probably want to tweak some of my Slash and Gas builds that I've used against the Corpus.

    Every variation of "this neither applies a DoT nor increases incoming damage" played a meaningless game of musical chairs, which is such a wasted opportunity. It really cannot be overstated how little we want status effects that only apply CC or only non-lethally debuff the enemy. Knocking living targets over is actually worse than doing nothing, since a prone target is much harder to hit. When given the choice between "the enemy is attacking less," "the enemy is moving less" and "the enemy is both of those and also dead," players will always want the third option. When designing a status effect the question you should always be asking yourself is, "Can the afflicted target be killed faster as a result of this status?" If the answer is no, then reconsider.

  6. I am also seeing this bug. Noticed when experimenting with my builds after The Old Blood.

    8Tis45r.jpg

    The default energy color is overriding the custom energy color, as shown here.

    FfaaNt3.jpg

    Selecting a custom energy color correctly displays in the color picker and will correctly display until you leave the arsenal.

    E4nH8ci.jpg

    Returning to the arsenal shows the weapon has reverted to the default energy colors again.

  7. The Euphona Prime alt-fire animation has been broken for an extremely long time - this is the third time it's been reported in the span of nearly a year with no action taken. I've tested it on multiple computers and installs. When you perform an alt-fire with the Euphona Prime, it performs a standard pistol firing animation instead of the correct fire-then-spin animation that it is supposed to have. Please correct this issue, it interferes with the timing of shots as the animation does not line up with the weapon's actual behavior.

  8. I'm still doing a deep dive into the different weapons and stances, but so far this has been the most significant improvement to gameplay since Movement 2.0. Probably the biggest change has been to the variety of viable mod configurations - some of mine are centered around building combo for boosting mods and never letting it drop, like how many were before, but now I've also built some centered around pumping and dumping combo, and others that just rely on starting combo for spamming heavy attacks. Most of my problems have been technical, like some mods not working right and others only working if you're host. My initial thoughts and concerns regarding the current system:

    -I'm not entirely sure how Glaives work alongside heavy attacks. The throw is on the heavy key, but it doesn't seem to either dump the combo counter or benefit from the multiplier / heavy mods. I'm totally ready to accept that this could just be me not understanding the weapon's altered stances, though.

    -Heavy attack wind-ups are far too slow on the whole. I really only use them when I've modded specifically for them via either Amalgam Organ Shatter or Killing Blow, otherwise they're just too clumsy to reliably make use of, even while standing in the middle of a group that isn't getting vaporized by your teammates.

    -Lifting isn't a significant mechanic. It's main use seems to be to keep heavier targets teed up for follow-ups if they should survive a heavy attack or heavy slam. In practice, it's basically just another status effect - which is fine, but not something I would go out of my way to mod for or even really think about while playing.

    -Gunblades stances feel kind of awkward. I don't know what could be done about that aside from an entirely new, different stance, but in general they feel kind of stilted and janky.

    Thank you, DE, for finally getting this update through. Hopefully I'll have more detailed feedback once I've put a few dozen more hours into the new system.

    • Like 2
  9. I'm having an issue where my rivens that have additional starting combo don't apply unless I'm the host. I've been able to reproduce it pretty consistently.

    Most recent example: I've got a Sibear riven that gives me 40.8 starting combo. Entering an ESO mission as a client, my melee combo counter shows no combo and using melee adds to it as normal, starting at one. Once the initial host left between rounds and the role migrated to me, my combo counter immediately perked up to 3x / 40.

  10. The Skana shown in the stream had a damage of 120, unmodded. Currently it's 35 on the live server. That's nearly a 3.5x boost to base damage. If those numbers hold for the rest of the arsenal, with a few maybe getting more love than others (I want the Pangolin Sword to be usable so badly), then I'm not too concerned about losing the combo counter damage bonus.

  11. I've been trying to find a solution to this, something that would solve the biggest languishing problems with the current melee iteration and evolve the system into something more substantial while also requiring the least amount of man-hours to implement. This is where I'm at.

     

    First, the combo counter should be on the screen next to the ammo counter regardless of what's currently in-hand. If you're trying to break down the barriers between gunplay and melee, this is absolutely vital.

    Next, re-implement quick melee using the proposed combo system demonstrated with Wukong's Iron Staff and shown in several Devstreams - with attacks executed based on movement and gap-closers on an aim>melee combo. While this is close to what you've already shown intentions to implement, the most important part is that these attacks are on quick melee. The current system for weapon switching is responsible for several flow-breaking problems that would require more fixes to make work than is worth it. If you want us to have those cool "Devil May Cry" strikes on the ready at all times, this would be the way to do it that wouldn't be disruptive to the current game mechanics.

    Now the meat: holding the switch weapon key should equip melee like it used to in 2.0, but while before this was called sword alone, now we're calling it channeling. While channeling, your melee, fire, alt fire and aim keys are now your melee, charge attack, gap-closer and block keys (with players able to redefine these controls, of course). Channeling doesn't provide additional damage by default anymore but, while previously the damage bonus was component to the combo counter and was modified by mods, now the bonus damage is dictated strictly by "Channeling Damage" bonus mods and is applied as a total damage multiplier (as opposed to being additive with Pressure Point, rivens etc). And while previously channeling cost the player 5 energy per strike, it now grants the player 5 energy per kill. Mods and focus powers that affect "Channeling Efficiency" grant bonus energy based on their percent, and mods that penalize energy reduce the bonus until it reaches zero (without going negative and costing the player energy per kill).

    Very few mods would require any alterations. Focused Defense, True Punishment and Quickening should have their efficiency penalties converted to ~60-80% bonuses (as the other effects of the mods are so anemic) and Life Strike should have its "Life Steal" value at a fixed amount (20%?) while its penalty is reduced with each level (80-60-40-20?) to make it worth leveling. Otherwise, the other mods (even rivens!) already line up with my proposed alterations - you wouldn't even need to change the phrasing. Exalted melee weapons would count as channeling when active, changing their mod dynamic and opening up some interesting possibilities. As for the "one handed melee, one handed gun" systems that have been partially demonstrated, this could be implemented by having your quick melee count as channeling while still giving you normal use of your sidearm. The choice of modding for channeling becomes considerably more meaningful with these changes.

    What I'm proposing would require no new content, no new systems and no significant changes to what you've already demonstrated. At the same time, this fixes the most crippling problems currently affecting melee combat, provides a new means of active energy gain that's readily accessible to new players, adds much more variety to the melee modding process, and satisfies both the want of immediate access to flashy combos alongside gunplay and the want of a dedicated melee mode with precise controls and a unique power dynamic.

    • Like 1
  12. The effects are gorgeous and the stat changes (especially for the Cernos P and Daikyu) are excellent. I've always loved my bows, and now I love them even more.

    I noticed that some animations don't seem to be working correctly when wall latching. For instance, I can see the string on the bow move when I charge, but I don't seem to be physically drawing it. It isn't impacting gameplay, but it does look odd.

  13. It's just another example of how the execution of everything in 2.9 is so clearly ramshackle and sloppy. The fact that you start gliding uncontrollably when you get shot while jumping says everything about how little thought or effort was actually put into these changes, and the fact that it's still that way half a year later and not just a funny anecdote about an obvious oversight that was corrected after release says everything about how little thought or effort we should expect to see from here on out.

    Instead of rewriting any of the melee backend, they just removed a few commands and wired others together with no regard for the consequences. That's it, no forethought, no actual game design. The targeted slam is the only actual new functionality that was added, it's also the first thing they ever showed regarding Melee 3.0 nearly fifteen months ago.

    The reason there's so many issues with autoblock isn't because the concept of passive damage reduction with melee equipped is faulty or because so many people just love holding right click, but because several functions of different mods and weapons (and even basic game functions like gliding with no zoom) are bound to block and not one moment of effort was expended to make them remain functional. Melee and gear interactions are annoying for the same reasons - they didn't get rid of "sword alone" like they said, they made it the only choice in a way that doesn't play nice with most equipped items. People brought up almost every issue that's been said in this thread before 2.9's release, but DE at this point are openly not listening to our feedback (see: the augment patch) so it's not surprising that those portents fell on deaf ears.

    Last stream Steve said that they were only "cracking the surface" on melee changes, and I'd believe it - I sincerely don't think that there's any active work going on for melee on any regular basis. It's why they bounce or ignore questions on the subject, why they're vague when they have to say something, why not a single employee will even acknowledge any of the issues that have been endlessly restated here over the last half year. Core gameplay improvements are and will always be a non-priority so long as expansions and pretty baubles bring in more fast cash. It's like a city building amphitheaters and theme parks to chase tourist dollars, meanwhile the streets turn to the potholes and the water system rots. I've let several coupons go by that I might not have, but I don't feel comfortable giving this company my money right now.

    Nothing would make me happier than being wrong. If the next devstream shows a comprehensive overview of what's being worked on to correct the current issues and make improvements to the "ninja" part of their "space ninja" game, I'll be hooting and hollering louder than anyone. But I know in my heart that, during the usual concept art and deluxe skin white noise, Reb will broach the subject (bless her for always trying) and the rest of the room will exchange awkward, silent glances before stammering a bit and quickly changing the subject. 

  14. I added to a report of this well over a year ago but I can't find the post anymore. I've tried this across three different computers running bespoke installs, and in every one the alt-fire for the Euphona Prime does not play the correct animation (the flip-spin), instead using a standard pistol recoil animation. Aside from being detrimental to the feel of the weapon, it throws off your ability to time follow-up shots - the weapon will sit idle for a beat since the incorrect animation doesn't line up with the actual firing behaviors.

  15. They didn't make any progress towards fixing the problems at first because they'd just released the changes, then it was because Tennocon was coming up, and currently it's because they're still recovering from Tennocon. Soon they'll be neglecting melee because they're working hard to get a new expansion out, then because they just released a new expansion and need to support it, and eventually because they're on holiday break. 

    Looking forward to seeing "Melee 2.9.9" on next year's whiteboard :tired:

    • Like 2
  16. This thread never getting a civility warning is really just more evidence that nobody at DE is reading it :tongue:

    Sheldon recently made (the closest thing in five months we've seen to) a statement about Melee 3.0 at the very end of a largely unrelated interview about DE's development practices:

    Finally, how's progress on the melee refresh, and what are the next steps for that?

    Sheldon Carter: It's going really well, the things that's we've done so far we're really happy with - we kind of hit a road block with the last couple of miles of it, and I think that has more to do with how much we turned all of our focus to Empyrean and TennoCon. I think once we come back from that, and once we figure out a couple of really key elements of how some of the other weapons are going to work... it's close. Sorry for the vagueness, it's one of those ones where each try in the last while we've said no to. So it's just going to require the guys working on it to go back to the drawing board one more time, but I guess we're halfway through the 3.0, we're 2.9!

  17. Steve posted this on Twitter earlier today, demoing finisher cutscenes

    https://mobile.twitter.com/sj_sinclair/status/1129385939980177409

    This makes finishers even slower than they already are, which is remarkable considering most everyone builds their finisher daggers around speed specifically to avoid the long animations. How have two and a half months straight of "make melee combat smoother, faster and more fluid" feedback resulted in "slow things down more and take more control away from the player"?

    I genuinely don't think anyone's reading this. Maybe it's our fault for posting our feedback in the official feedback thread, maybe we should be posting it exclusively on Twitter so someone might actually see it.

    • Like 3
  18. I'm 100%-ing Nightwave thus far and I've barely gotten enough Cred to do anything meaningful - I can't imagine how hard it must be for new players to catch up on basic stuff right now. Creds being such a chokepoint feels like an oversight more than a deliberate attempt to alter the tempo and progress of rewards.

    I hope the same mindset behind the excellent recent Plains of Eidolon updates and pet changes - more carrot, less stick - will be applied to the next Nightwave series!

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