Game Difficulty

[Nori]

Most employers give resumes 30-60 seconds for an applicant to sell themselves, I would wager feedback in a video game is even less, so I'll keep this feedback short.  The game is too easy for some players.   Making a few new weapons a week isn't a good way to keep people interested in the game.  Most maps are underplayed.  There is little reason to play longer than a week or two.

 

This isn't a skill based bash, its an issue from a person who plays with a group of four who have lvl 30 gear supercharged with generally lvl 5 mods.  Solo Pluto missions are some of the highest level areas, but they're still not hard.  Even so, I really don't want to solo.  I want to play with the mentioned group, making the hardest content currently available very easy.  Whats my suggestion?  I don't have one, I'm not a gamer designer.  I'm just bringing up a concern. 

 

There is nothing really to do in game.  Now, dont get me wrong, we have plenty of new frames we can grind to 30 and even more weapons. Why would we grind new weapons or frames knowing we wont use them?  This isnt adding content in my opinion, its redoing old content to store new gear.  There needs to be something done with mastery.  We could combine our issue with the game being too easy with mastery.  As you level your mastery you get options to increase mob difficulty, spawn rate, level, things of that nature.  Maybe an option to keep from getting other players up (would add a use for trinity and they purchasable self rez.)  These self controlled difficulty sliders then could have a miniscule effect on loot drops.  100% harder level ~ 10% more drops.

 

New weapons every week shouldn't be a large push for developers working on content.  I feel that overhead/capital could better be used to add new planets, new systems, and enemies.  While we have been flooded with new weapons we level and store, we've been fighting the same one dimensional mobs for a while.  How about some new, useful map types.  Is there a reason to progress your characters in maps other than Kappa and Zini?  Maybe do all the maps in the system once for alert missions.

 

Finally, getting a shotgun, bow, rifle, pistol, slow melee, fast melee, sentinel, and a few war-frames to 30 takes under 2 weeks.  The purchase of orokin reactors and catalysts for the above would take 220 plat for the orokin, 20 for three frame slots, 12 for the weapons.. that's 252 plat.  Now, my math is probably off somewhere; I'm terrible at it.  But, you can get a character totally supercharged with a frame and weapon for every scenario and group role needed in the game for the $20 founder package.  This isn't me saying I want to pay more for plat, Its me seeking additional reasons to buy more. 

 

In closing, the only purpose in leveling past the handful of markedly superior frames and weapons is to raise mastery level.  Mastery has no impact in the current game past level 4.  This defeats the purpose entirely of grinding up new weapons and frames.  Adding new weapons and frames with a higher mastery level isn't the route to go, there is already a shopping cart ful of weapons and frames I never plan on using.  Adding passive perks to mastery level is a poor choice as well, making the game even easier is the wrong direction.  I feel unlocking difficulty sliders based on mastery level will fix many of the issues I've listed.  Thanks for reading.

[Rakuall]

Some good Ideas, but difficulty sliders should only go up (no 25% difficulty for easier soloing), and should only be available in Private. I don't want to jump into a random 30-40 mission thinking I can handle it at my current frame/gear level, only to find out it's 150% 30-40 mission and I'm so far out of my league as to be useless.

[corpseshock]

+1

 

Last time in a mission someone said: "Damn, i prepared for war and get confronted with kindergarten."

[Nori]

Some good Ideas, but difficulty sliders should only go up (no 25% difficulty for easier soloing), and should only be available in Private. I don't want to jump into a random 30-40 mission thinking I can handle it at my current frame/gear level, only to find out it's 150% 30-40 mission and I'm so far out of my league as to be useless.

 

Good point Rakuall, Never thought of someone dropping the difficulty.  I don't know if I agree with only working in private, however.  I'm sure there are at least a handful of players looking for the game to be much more difficult and thus entertaining.  I would like to be able to group up with these random people.  Your point does make me think of the gamer who started two days ago and wants to ride along with a high level group for that +20% loot drop?   They would be holding the group back.  Some details would need to be worked out for sure. 

[Lactamid]

Hate to be the one to say it but part of the problem is that weapons and frames are not tied together. You ask, and others have stated that there is no "reason" to play some of the maps as xini (and kappa) are so much more rewarding.
No imagine you getting to Kappa/ Xini with your lvl 1 frame...but with your lvl 1 weapon aswell...and finding yourself with players with the same type of gear. Now you might make it to lvl 5, but it would be substantionally harder.

This is however not a good option as having such a massive restriction would kill much gamplay, harder to find teams and so on - leveling frames and weapons is what mastry is about.

But perhaps there should be some kind of link between the frame you are using and the weaponary it can use? Aswell as some type of xp nerf/ lvl restriction/ AI targetting the weakest unit.

 

I wan't to make it clear that I do NOT considder these a solution, I simply do not know how to solve it - but there is a problem with "rushing" frames as the ordinary/intended gameplay is clearly lacking.

[TheTenthDoc]

Unfortunately reactors and catalysts virtually break the game with the way the mod system is implemented. The existence of a floor mod value+1/benefit means the extra 30 points turn you/your guns into a monster. If they didn't exist the game would be much, much more challenging.

Edited April 20, 2013 by TheTenthDoc

[Nori]

Unfortunately reactors and catalysts virtually break the game with the way the mod system is implemented. The existence of a floor mod value+1/benefit means the extra 30 points turn you/your guns into a monster. If they didn't exist the game would be much, much more challenging.

 

This is a good point.  They do  exist though.  While I have no clue about specific numbers and I can only speculate, I bet people buying reactors and catalysts are a good volume of the plat store.  Completely cutting them out of the game would be much more difficult than any fix to redo difficulty.

[Rakuall]

Good point Rakuall, Never thought of someone dropping the difficulty.  I don't know if I agree with only working in private, however.  I'm sure there are at least a handful of players looking for the game to be much more difficult and thus entertaining.  I would like to be able to group up with these random people.  Your point does make me think of the gamer who started two days ago and wants to ride along with a high level group for that +20% loot drop?   They would be holding the group back.  Some details would need to be worked out for sure. 

 

There's the Fora and ingame regional chat to set up private matches. There's also clans; you could start a "We Like It Hard" or a "Harder Better Faster" clan.

 

Or (this just occurred) allow the sliders in Online as well as Private, but have a 'Don't join custom difficulty games" checkbox on the map screen.

[TheTenthDoc]

This is a good point.  They do  exist though.  While I have no clue about specific numbers and I can only speculate, I bet people buying reactors and catalysts are a good volume of the plat store.  Completely cutting them out of the game would be much more difficult than any fix to redo difficulty.

 

Oh yeah, I'm not suggesting getting rid of them. Just saying they're a big part of the lack of challenge: if all content bar defense missions is designed to be soloable by uncharged frames and weapons, using items that more than double the potency of your frame and weapons will make the game too easy for a lot of the player base, especially in co-op.

[RunNGun]

I think they could implement not a difficulty slider, but different levels of difficulty (easy, normal, hard, elite) and adjust the monster HP and dmg accordingly.

I think they should start with 2 difficulties (normal and hard), then maybe add more later.

Now, for this to work online, they would have to separate each level accordingly. Let's say I click on Tolstoj in Mercury. The game could prompt me to select a difficulty, then I could join the match-making system.

Squadrons running the mission would be divided into 2 pools: those running normal, and those running hard. That way someone looking to join a hard mission would not be put on a team running normal, or vice versa.

Now, I realize that there are mainly 2 ways to add difficulty:

1. Giving monsters steroids and increasing HP and dmg.

2. Including new monsters that have some sort of utility mechanic (stun, knockdown, freeze, etc.)

The second one is more difficult to do, and since this game is still in beta, I will give the devs the benefit of the doubt. They have included various monsters that are annoying and special (Shockwave MOAs, Grineer roller balls, Ospreys, etc.)

I feel the culprit of the difficulty problem lies within the 1st one. For people with supercharged everything, things simply die too fast and don't deal enough damage.

This is only for those super end-game people with everything they have supercharged. For lower-leveled people, it is pretty difficult.