Mastery rank 9 test has lost it's purpose

[Chan]

Mastery rank 9 has quickly become the make or break point for a lot of players. I feel the original intent has been lost and this test no longer serves any purpose other to infuriate new players. as mr 26 it's sad to see my friends leave the game because a mastery test was too "unfair" or "didn't work properly". I suggest a change.

Instead of sneaking around to get stealth kills why not utilize the new heavy attack function?
Instead of sneaking and not being seen, how about instead giving players harder target practice?
Maybe it would be more fun to test if the player could stay out of enemy sights for 10s, 20s and then 30s..?

Either way I believe that what needs to be changed is the execution of the mastery test because the mr 27 is objectively easier than mr 9 test.

[(NSW)Greybones]

Some tests are easier to build the purpose of the test away. You got options if you want to bypass the test.

Personally I’d say take the option to bring custom builds out of all of the tests and give the player a basic Warframe dummy with a weapon dummy stand-in, forcing the player to engage with systems that the game offers instead of bypassing them with custom builds.

It may set expectations for the MR 9 test, instead of the sudden perceived spike in difficulty

late edit: 🤔 Might also prepare players when they aren’t able to fight with all their equipment/mods/whatever combinations that they normally use to make the game easy

[ZenDash]

Warframe's difficulty is already kind of a meme, let's not dumb it down further

If a simple mastery test turned them down then they wouldn't have stuck around on this game for long anyway

[(NSW)BenHiraga]

I'm bad at video games (and therefore Warframe), yet I managed to pass the MR9 test just last week.

Took me six practice rounds and two actual tries, which didn't feel like "make-or-break" level of frustration for me.

Just one player's experience, though.

[Chan]

2 hours ago, (NSW)BenHiraga said:

I'm bad at video games (and therefore Warframe), yet I managed to pass the MR9 test just last week.

Took me six practice rounds and two actual tries, which didn't feel like "make-or-break" level of frustration for me.

Just one player's experience, though.

Some of my friends found it annoying to wait 24h to retry everytime, but yeah it was no big deal for me either.

[Chan]

18 hours ago, ZenDash said:

Warframe's difficulty is already kind of a meme, let's not dumb it down further

If a simple mastery test turned them down then they wouldn't have stuck around on this game for long anyway

Well, we won't know for sure, but I see your point. Difficulty should not be based of factors of things unknown to the player. The stealth mechanics are not explained so it's not a case of difficulty, the actual hard part is just the game relying on that new players that got to that mr don't know how to play stealthly, nor is this a playstyle ever used normally.

[Lutesque]

I honestly don't even get the point of MR Tests anymore....

This is a weird thing for DE to lose Players over.... 🤔

[Chan]

19 hours ago, (NSW)Greybones said:

Some tests are easier to build the purpose of the test away. You got options if you want to bypass the test.

Personally I’d say take the option to bring custom builds out of all of the tests and give the player a basic Warframe dummy with a weapon dummy stand-in, forcing the player to engage with systems that the game offers instead of bypassing them with custom builds.

It may set expectations for the MR 9 test, instead of the sudden perceived spike in difficulty

late edit: 🤔 Might also prepare players when they aren’t able to fight with all their equipment/mods/whatever combinations that they normally use to make the game easy

I do agree, it's just that most players won't ever have to play sneakily or try not to be seen.

!New war spoiler!

Spoiler

Even in the new war the stealth part is simply avoidable by brute force. I did sneak during some parts, but if I got spotted I just bolted to the nearest exit.

 

[Chan]

Just now, Lutesque said:

I honestly don't even get the point of MR Tests anymore....

This is a weird thing for DE to lose Players over.... 🤔

Agreed, I think the mastery test system should be reworked, but maybe that'll be for the new player experience part 2

[(NSW)Greybones]

1 hour ago, Chan said:

I do agree, it's just that most players won't ever have to play sneakily or try not to be seen.

!New war spoiler!

  Reveal hidden contents

Even in the new war the stealth part is simply avoidable by brute force. I did sneak during some parts, but if I got spotted I just bolted to the nearest exit.

 

Not gonna read the spoiler as I’ve not done New War yet, but thanks for the consideration.

If a player is playing to grind or are only ever using overtuned builds, it’s true that they don’t need to sneak. The test is still going to test the player’s capacity to utilise game systems (like being stealthy), because while the option to overpower everything is there for the player to choose to use, there’s still foundational systems that see use if a player doesn’t use the overpower options.

While I would love to see the entire testing system force a player to engage, DE have (I guess) noted that not everyone plays for sneaking mechanics, so players have the option to overpower the test as elsewhere

[(NSW)BenHiraga]

2 hours ago, Chan said:

Some of my friends found it annoying to wait 24h to retry everytime, but yeah it was no big deal for me either.

Did they not make use of the Practice feature?

Personally, I find the mastery rank test practice invaluable. I wish there was a similar option to practice Maroo’s treasure hunts without having to dash through derelict every time, because I SUCK at those things. 

[(XBOX)Bibo1GerUk]

The MR test is an annoying load of crap.

Practice runs can only be done once. Then you're exited and have to start the mission selection all over again. Why?

The fact that the MR test has a 24hour cooldown if you failed is another stupid idea.

Maybe at higher MR levels (20+) it may seem okay but for lower ones it is like throwing a stick between the legs to halt your progression.

Sure, the rewards after successfully leveling up are nice, but you've already done the work to earn them. The fact that some tests can also simply be cheesed because you have the right Warframe is just another thing that players will learn about when they watch yt vids. But maybe that's okay because then they can sell more of them 🙄

I can totally understand if people stop playing after too many these. It isn't neccesarily a question of wether someone has the right midset for playing a grindy PvE game, it can also simply be that they're fed up when devs force them to do some arbitrary tests or missions. There are enough other games out that value a person's time.

[Chan]

42 minutes ago, (NSW)BenHiraga said:

Did they not make use of the Practice feature?

Personally, I find the mastery rank test practice invaluable. I wish there was a similar option to practice Maroo’s treasure hunts without having to dash through derelict every time, because I SUCK at those things. 

They did make use of the practice feature but failed either way.

[SimulatedKnave]

MR9 is quite doable.  The early game DOES involve a moderate amount of stealth play, and at MR9 you should still remember how to do it (trust me, I am still fairly new.  I remember).  Plus killing stuff is fun, things are decently spread out, and there's a reasonable amount of cover.  It's pretty doable, and nice that it's an actual challenge in a way a lot of the others weren't.  I recall finding it frustrating but not impossible, and once I realized there was a practice feature all was well.  Stealth IS part of warframe, and I would rather players have to learn to think a bit in the early part of the game.  

 

The MR19 test, OTOH, can die in a fire.  Even with a glaive and enemy radar and watching a video of someone doing a perfect run of it it's still HARD, and far too easy to get spotted by someone who saw a corner of your hand from the other side of the map.  Doubly hard because it's difficult to tell which way the glowy blue guys are facing because well, they're glowy and blue.  

 

Also, there are plenty of "harder target practice" options in the MR tests.  The game does NOT need more of those.  This is supposed to be a skill test, not a twitch reflexes test.