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Nightwave System Analysis


HKFrosty
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These are my thoughts and stuff regarding the issue while I was replying to a Steam thread. It might be beneficial to put it here as I don't see a thorough analysis which could be my inefficiency in researching.

I believe the dislike on Nightwave System is the very fundamentals of how one acquires rewards, and there are unique rewards locked in Nightwave currently. (TL;DR ahead)

Nightwave System replaced Alerts. Pros and Cons but there is a need to explain how both work or else people will just keep on debating on this forever.
Alerts. It has random missions appearing with a specific reward. By completing the mission before it expires which normally take roughly an hour, the player can get the reward. Very straightforward.
Nightwave. It rewards the player an amount of a specific currency after completing several tasks and reach to certain rank (or beyond 30 from what I have heard). Players can then use the currency to get what they want in the reward table. Guaranteed reward.
The main difference between two systems is that the acquisition method is fundamentally different. For example if I want to get a Vauban Neuroptics Blueprint, back then I would only need to do 1 mission to get it when it appears. Now I will need to do multiple tasks to get the currency to get the neuroptics blueprint. With alert system, I would need to wait for indefinite time to get it with the possibility of missing out due to the roughly 1 hour timespan to start the mission. With the Nightwave system, I will need to complete quite an amount of tasks until I can save up the currency to buy it directly. There are problems to each methods but it is a very subjective matter to argue which method is better. While we cannot assume players' circumstances in real life that affect their gaming preferences, we can put up a thorough analysis on why it is good/bad.

Alerts:
+ Quick reward acquisition. 1 mission and bam, you have the reward.
- Indefinite wait time. You never know when the reward you want will appear.
- Time limit. If you miss it as it expires, you will have to wait for the next time it comes.

Nightwave:
+ Progression-based reward. You save enough currency, you have the reward.
+ Accumulative. Currency can be reserved and used at any time.
(-) Tedious. It takes a lot more effort to get specific rewards, or even the currency.

While it is arguable that nightwave tasks can be tedious, the fact that alerts only require players to do only 1 mission to get specific loot takes way less effort, thus comparatively speaking, alert system is better than nightwave in terms of effort.
It is also very common that people argue that you can just play the game to solve the problem, but this is not a valid approach as it involves more variables to measure if it is better for specific player types. For example, availability to play (time schedules), physical capabilities (possible sickness/fatigues), financial concerns (internet connection limits), etc. By claiming simply playing the game to get the loot is also assuming that they are always available to the extent that the variables mentioned are insignificant. When suggested sleeping time takes 1/3 of a day, with all possible activities considered, it is illogical to think one can play games continuously for a long period of time.
This, by no means, to claim that alert system is any better as it is very random that it is unreliable to get specific rewards quickly. Plus the expiry time indicates high chance of people missing out. Using the rough 1 hour estimate of alert expiry time and standard sleeping time only, which is 8 hours, that means players will still have 7 hours unavailable to do alerts when they appear (assuming they don't miss out alerts that appear 1 minute before sleep, and 59 minutes before waking up). It is still a long time gap.


Then what is the point of addressing all this?

It is player preferences. Some players prefer doing less/quick work to get what they what. Some players prefer guaranteed acquisition of reward by progressions. It is mainly a tug between Convenience and Warranty or Stockpiling. It is not for us to determine how and what they should prefer.


So why should we care? Like it is pointless to compare anyways as they are fundamentally different? And you are not even legally bound to do nightwave anyways?

The real problem with the current nightwave system is not the acquisition of loot. It is that there are unique, gameplay-related loot limited to only nightwave. For a long time, Warframe has important rewards available in many methods. Forma, being one of the most game-changing item, you can acquire it by chance on Lua (via completing the music memory room), Relics, Sorties; or redeem it with points/standings in events such as Plague Star, or progressing in invasions, or even nightwave with its 7th and 27th rank reward. This covers the different kinds of players to still be available to get Forma in their preferred way. However, there is no other way but to progress through nightwave system to get Umbra Forma, Wild Frenzy (the grakata mod), Bursting Mass (the mutalist quanta mod) and, Napalm Grenades (the penta mod). They affect gameplay experience as they alter the mechanics of weapons, and Umbra Forma being itself.

The proper concern is that will there be alternative ways to get the mentioned loot in the future so that players who dislike the current acquisition of the mentioned loot do not have to rely on nightwave to get them. While I suspect Tau System might have a play on Umbra Forma, it is just my personal anticipation and not supposed to be taken seriously. After all, the unique rewards have been displayed and there have been noticeable oppositions, that's what matters.

TL;DR: It is inappropriate to compare alerts and nightwave that why people should embrace/ditch one another as it is not the main problem. Main problem is there is only 1 way on acquiring unique loot that are only available to nightwave currently, and the direction to improve this situation is to have a method that can cover most player cohorts as much as possible when rewarding.

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10 minutes ago, HKFrosty said:

Progression-based reward. You save enough currency, you have the reward.

except it's still random what the store offers and your progress gets reset, so if you didnt see the thing you wantedin the offers within the alotted time, you get to eat crow.

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A major flaw with Nightwave is it how it treats newer players.

Auras, Nitain, Vauban, numerous weapons, and even Alternate Helmets are all locked behind this massive grindwall now.

Numerous challenges are impossible for new players, so the amount of standing given to new players is dramatically cut when compared to more-established ones, and then even if a newer player can finally start ranking up to even GET wolf credits, all of their progress will be washed away.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again here:
Ranks and standing (or wolf credits) need to be ditched for this system to work.

 

Leaving either standing or wolf credits as the resource used (Doing a challenge would then net that resource) to buy what is needed/wanted is something that would create a more fitting replacement for the original alert system, and one that does not hurt newer players.

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