Predictions And Thoughts (Livestream 16 Topics): Melee Combos & Enemy Amount

[leonvision]

just like to give some of my thoughts and predictions on some matters that was discussed in livestream #16. the two topics i want to focus on in this thread is the melee chains and new mission types.

 

first off, i know the melee chains is pretty far off, but if the livestream's commentary is anything to go by, the new melee combos will encourage players to mix between standard strikes and charged strikes. here's why i dont think it would work, currently, melee damage is split into standard strike and charged strikes. and it's logically to ONLY go standard strike build or charged build, now, the new melee combos asks the player to use both strikes, which is exclusively affected by different mods. here is my prediction, players will continue to either spam only charged melee strikes, or spam only standard strike. unless they overhaul the melee mods, and make all melee damage mods affect both standard and melee strike. but again, im aware this is mostly in the concept stage, or only briefly skimmed over the livestream, and there's much we dont know, and much that can change.

 

_____

 

and to my 2nd topic, the devs in the livestream touched on the fact defense and survival is popular, the came to the conclusion that people likes the shear number of enemies, players loves to killing. i wouldnt disagree, but im not entirely confident this should apply to other mission types. here is why i think this, right now, defense and survival are both endless modes, but also what have in common is the mode is ABOUT the killing, there's no getting from point A to point B, it's just kill to survival, and that's why the killing is enjoyable in those two modes. and i believe this should be taken as the playerbase wanting swarms of enemies in every game mode. survival and defense is there to cater to the playerbase that wants the mass murder-y feel.

 

but when it comes to missions that ISNT about the killing, it's about getting to your destination, move datamasses, i dont think enemy "floods" is suitable. there should still be enough enemies at a time to pose danger, but, anecdotally, having too much enemies in modes about traversing being an annoyance, it's either rush and not kill at all or slow down to a crawl and clear room from room, neither seems appealing.

 

also, i believe the popularity of defense and survival might not be all about the fun in mass murder-y gameplay, it's about the reward, the guaranteed void key, the mutator mods at 20min+. these are what is appealing to me, and no doubt many others, and i believe, the main reason why there is such a different in popularity. so for new mission types to thrive like survival and defense did, a comparable reward needs to be in place to encourage players to play different mission types.

 

as a conclusion, i'd like to make a friendly reminder, im aware they are both just idea, not yet features, they're still concepts, so much can change. but here's my thought on what they have said.

[VegetableBasket]

I agree in general. Scott did mention giving better rewards for stealthy gameplay, so I think there's definitely room to explore there.

[leonvision]

I agree in general. Scott did mention giving better rewards for stealthy gameplay, so I think there's definitely room to explore there.

 

im aware of this, but i was specifically talking about mission types, not the method of completion a player chooses.

[BETAOPTICS]

Well they are going to look into the melee mods in the future, that has been said and the damage and armor system overhaul will probably affect the melee combat quite a lot as well so more build types will be viable, even hybrids. What comes to mission types, you failed to realize the problem itself, you mentioned it but didn't take anything from it.

That is the rewards I'm talking about. Now, we all know and you are correct on this OP that the main reason people play these missions is rewards, they are much, much more rewarding that other game modes. Why are they more rewarding? Well because mods drop mainly from mobs, so you will get more mods and more resources as well and not only those, but you also get an end reward. This is the problem, you currently need a lot of mobs for effective farming so they are sort of right in their statement as well.

That being said, some like mass murdering and I do admit that missions such as datamining and rescue are just too easy because there isn't enough enemies. Especially rescue missions where if everyone rushes and no one is coming with the hostage, the enemies will only spawn ahead of you and you can safely leave the hostage behind, instead it should work so that you really need to cover the hostage and this is done easiest by adding more enemies so the hostage is more fragile and likely to get killed.

Edited October 21, 2013 by BETAOPTICS

[LazyTheGypsy]

*snippity snip*

On the topic of the second half.

Well, the way I see it, this game could benefit strongly from the way the levels work in Left 4 Dead.

 

For those who haven't played (which I highly doubt)

The way the levels work in Left 4 Dead there are parts of the game where you'll have to open a door that may trigger an alarm, or wait for an elevator to come down that will spawn a buttload of enemies at once and you have to stand your ground for 3-4 minutes while you wait for whatever to obstacle to move out of the way.

 

Mobile Defense is a good example. It's generally considered the most efficient way to grind out experience, and probably the most enjoyable mission type that isn't endless like Defense or Survival.

 

The original post states why it's so popular as well. It's all about the slaughterfest, yo.

 

 Now if we could incorporate that "wait for this event happen (the hacking process)" in missions that would cause higher enemy spawns for periods of times, the other missions would be significantly more enjoyable.

 

And hey, it might make stealth a viable option as well. If you don't have the gear to fight your way through, it'd provide a better stealth option.

Maybe one of those more advanced hacking terminals you see in the mastery test. If you succeed at a whole lot 4 or 5 of those before you get to event x, you'd be able to get past without triggering an alarm or opening a seperate way through.

[leonvision]

Well, the way I see it, this game could benefit strongly from the way the levels work in Left 4 Dead.

 

For those who haven't played (which I highly doubt)

The way the levels work in Left 4 Dead there are parts of the game where you'll have to open a door that may trigger an alarm, or wait for an elevator to come down that will spawn a buttload of enemies at once and you have to stand your ground for 3-4 minutes while you wait for whatever to obstacle to move out of the way.

 

Mobile Defense is a good example. It's generally considered the most efficient way to grind out experience, and probably the most enjoyable mission type that isn't endless like Defense or Survival.

 

The original post states why it's so popular as well. It's all about the slaughterfest, yo.

 

 Now if we could incorporate that "wait for this event happen (the hacking process)" in missions that would cause higher enemy spawns for periods of times, the other missions would be significantly more enjoyable.

 

And hey, it might make stealth a viable option as well. If you don't have the gear to fight your way through, it'd provide a better stealth option.

Maybe one of those more advanced hacking terminals you see in the mastery test. If you succeed at a whole lot 4 or 5 of those before you get to event x, you'd be able to get past without triggering an alarm or opening a seperate way through.

 

i was stating mission types such as survival, def and mob def is ABOUT the killing, so it's ok to have that amount of enemies. but i was also saying other missions types that ISNT about the killing should have less spawn, since the team should be focusing on completing the objective, instead of focusing on the killing.

 

also, i dont think having people wait for the hack process is suitable for all missions, let that stay in the mob def mission type.

 

and right now, Stealth needs good gear to be done properly (since you mostly need to 1hko), so if you have good enough gear to stealth, you wont be fearing the enemy's firepower anyway.