Can we get an availability timer indicator for Invasions?

[RazerXPrime]

Perhaps there is something other than the arbitrary % system that I'm missing, but it's a waste to spend 2 missions to find out you cannot complete the third because the entire invasion is gone. This means I cannot get the rewards from the Invasion AND I'm stuck with 2 missions for nightwave, meaning I have to do either 1 more mission to complete the 9 requirement and accept I do not get the rewards for the invasion or do another 2 for the rewards...

I'ts not the end of the world, but it's pretty annoying.

[GnarlsDarkley]

I use this website if I need timer or to know if it's worth to log in 

https://tenno.tools/

[RazerXPrime]

6 minutes ago, GnarlsDarkley said:

I use this website if I need timer or to know if it's worth to log in 

https://tenno.tools/

I'd like the game to tell me, instead of relying on a website that gives me an estimate.

There's also https://hub.warframestat.us/#/ with different timers. It's not reliable.

[Hobie-wan]

But the progress on invasions is based on the number of people playing one side or the other. That site can estimate, but it's still going to be guessing based on the last however minutes of activity it is extrapolating on. But there could be a sudden surge of people playing that invasion mission because a large number of people in a certain time zone started getting home from some some imaginary "normal work hours" job if it's one sided thing against infestation. Or there could be wild swings in the number of people on one side of the invasion or the other.

There can never be an accurate timer on them. If you start running an invasion with only a few % left, you're running a risk of not getting 3 runs in.

[Tiltskillet]

24 minutes ago, Hobie-wan said:

But the progress on invasions is based on the number of people playing one side or the other. That site can estimate, but it's still going to be guessing based on the last however minutes of activity it is extrapolating on. But there could be a sudden surge of people playing that invasion mission because a large number of people in a certain time zone started getting home from some some imaginary "normal work hours" job if it's one sided thing against infestation. Or there could be wild swings in the number of people on one side of the invasion or the other.

There can never be an accurate timer on them. If you start running an invasion with only a few % left, you're running a risk of not getting 3 runs in.

They could do a kind of hybrid system, where it works like now until one side is 100%. At that point it goes into "Last Stand" timer, maybe an hour or two hours, with an indicator and a countdown on the invasion bar.

OTOH, it's sort of hard to imagine Invasions getting or deserving the work unless it's part of a larger revamp.

5 hours ago, RazerXPrime said:

I'ts not the end of the world, but it's pretty annoying.

Yeah.  It's probably obvious, but for NW the workaround is just to pick a few quick missions and not worry about the Invasion rewards.   Depending on the map, they can be less than a minute.    Minimizes the annoyance, at least.

[Tesseract7777]

5 hours ago, RazerXPrime said:

I'd like the game to tell me, instead of relying on a website that gives me an estimate.

There's also https://hub.warframestat.us/#/ with different timers. It's not reliable.

Even the site tracker is only so accurate, as others have explained, as it is just an estimate. They are not on a hard timer, player involvement can speed them up some. 

You will never have a perfectly accurate tracker. 

[RazerXPrime]

1 hour ago, Hobie-wan said:

But the progress on invasions is based on the number of people playing one side or the other. That site can estimate, but it's still going to be guessing based on the last however minutes of activity it is extrapolating on. But there could be a sudden surge of people playing that invasion mission because a large number of people in a certain time zone started getting home from some some imaginary "normal work hours" job if it's one sided thing against infestation. Or there could be wild swings in the number of people on one side of the invasion or the other.

There can never be an accurate timer on them. If you start running an invasion with only a few % left, you're running a risk of not getting 3 runs in.

I wonder how they work though. I was doing one that was at 70% and it cancelled right after I was done with the second one. It cancelled together with all the ones on the planet with different degrees of completion.

[Tesseract7777]

16 minutes ago, RazerXPrime said:

I wonder how they work though. I was doing one that was at 70% and it cancelled right after I was done with the second one. It cancelled together with all the ones on the planet with different degrees of completion.

I think it works in a couple ways, but I could be wrong I haven't tested it or looked it up exactly for sure: 

1) players doing it enough can speed it up. 

however that being said:

2) I think they are also still on a hard timer to keep things moving. 

So eventually if certain invasions aren't being played enough they time out on their timer anyways 

[RazerXPrime]

Just now, Tesseract7777 said:

I think it works in a couple ways, but I could be wrong I haven't tested it or looked it up exactly for sure: 

1) players doing it enough can speed it up. 

however that being said:

2) I think they are also still on a hard timer to keep things moving. 

So eventually if certain invasions aren't being played enough they time out on their timer anyways 

Hm yes, but if there's a hard timer then I'd like the game to provide information and a grace period priod to cancelling it. That way I can decide to do one or not. This one felt like it wasn't "completed" but just cancelled by a timer. And if that's a thing then the game should inform us prior to this period being over.

[Tesseract7777]

Just now, RazerXPrime said:

Hm yes, but if there's a hard timer then I'd like the game to provide information and a grace period priod to cancelling it. That way I can decide to do one or not. This one felt like it wasn't "completed" but just cancelled by a timer. And if that's a thing then the game should inform us prior to this period being over.

I agree like a lot of things in the WF UI it could be better indicated in game. I understand the feeling trust me, I've thought I could complete an invasion before too and lost out. 

It always feels bad man. 

[Hobie-wan]

6 hours ago, Tiltskillet said:

They could do a kind of hybrid system, where it works like now until one side is 100%. At that point it goes into "Last Stand" timer, maybe an hour or two hours, with an indicator and a countdown on the invasion bar.

OTOH, it's sort of hard to imagine Invasions getting or deserving the work unless it's part of a larger revamp.

That would be a whole lot of work for the handful of people that might actually look at it. Think about how many people claim to be surprised that Baro has already left, an event is over, or a Nightwave week/season is over despite those actually being on a set timer  and having indicators and warnings in game already. Heck, even when there is a set time I've seen recent threads with people complaining that it ended a few minutes early either according to their local clock or even the time displayed in game. But not every clock in the entire world is synchronized, not even 2 servers sitting next to each other.

As always, waiting until the last moment ot get something finished is a game of chicken that one risks losing.

[Tiltskillet]

54 minutes ago, Hobie-wan said:

As always, waiting until the last moment ot get something finished is a game of chicken that one risks losing.

There's truth in that, but the argument would have even more merit if we knew when the last moment actually was.  😄  Or, for that matter, when the first moment was.   I don't think we can entirely fault people for missing events  when their start times are completely opaque and the finish time a vague, "You've got a little while yet...unless you don't!"

Yeah, some people will  screw up even with clockwork times posted 3 months in advance, but this thread isn't really about that.  It's more about polish on DE's end. 

And yeah, I agree, it's a of work to expect DE to put into really old content that's probably only briefly relevant in the game time of most players.

OTOH, that probably says something about my low expectations for DE where polish is concerned.