Rank Testing Needs More Info

[Renderboy]

Some stuff in a beta is simple to report. Rank testing, though, feels so broken to me that it merits a bit more  -- a report that brings to light the player side of the experience.

 

I have a Mag warframe. I've logged about 18 hours of playtime. 90% of that time has been with friends doing missions in Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and one of the outer planets. My warframe is level 21, I think. Each of my current weapons is around level 13 or 15.

 

When I dinged on the XP bar, I was excited to take the test. I had passed the training/tutorial on the first try and was excited to see how my time & experience with the game would serve me during the trial.

 

Attempt #1: Playing without sound late at night. Since there's no text to support the voiced objective, I only saw the popup in the corner for achievement, which wasn't for pistol, so I used other weapons. Very quickly failed the mission, but didn't understand why because there's no text feedback either, aside from "Mission Failed". Went to try again... but it's on a 24-hour timer.

 

Attempt #2: Next day was playing and had sound turned on. Voice-over says that I'm supposed to use my sidearm, yet the test starts me off with my rifle and enemies spawning and charging at me. So I shot some and wallran up the columns, then started picking them off, and -- "Mission Failed"?! Okay, wait. The columns are climbable, but if player climbs them then they fail the test? Or maybe I'm not supposed to leave the little ring? I don't know, because the game doesn't tell me anything -- and I can't try it again for another 24 hours.

 

Attempt #3: Tried staying in the ring. That can't be right. I'm using the slow pistol (Lex?) with the high damage, and even with shield and vitality upgrades on my warframe the melee attackers chop me up. Maybe it was just the wall running that caused me to fail on the previous attempt?

 

Attempt #4: Left the ring and ran around shooting and reloading. With the Lex, though, the slow fire rate, small clip size and slow reload caused the time to run out before I could kill everything. So now I've failed again, but with a pistol that I saved up for because it seems like it should be awesome. And it is. Just not in *this* sidearm test, which makes me question my build/playstyle. I have no trouble in-game with friends, but this test makes me think that I must be doing something wrong, since I can't even get past the first rank. Fun left the building days ago, but I figured I'd soldier on to contribute my findings to the beta.

 

Attempt #5: I pull everything out of the Lex and switch back to the starting pistol, which has a similar level, so I can use most of the mods. Wave 1 cleared. Wave 2 cleared. Wave 3... I run out of guys to shoot, but the timer is still counting down. I run all over the arena looking for whoever is left or what I'm supposed to do next. Is there someone left, maybe hiding behind one of the pillars? If so, I can't find him. Do I need to hit a "finish" button? I don't see one anywhere. Am I supposed to run back and stand in the ring? Time runs out. Mission failed.

 

So that's 0 for 5, and I'm now at the point where I'm not even sure what's causing me to fail the test. Please consider putting more in-game guidance for the tests. Thanks for reading.

[Zarkosan]

Thats sad and true! I passed all tests at the first time, but my friends got huge problems with them. There should be a briefing before the test starts.

[-.SP.-G43riel]

what? really ? i don't even...

 

it's harder for me to understand how someone can fail that much for not understanding the rank test than the actual test it self...

[Zarkosan]

The Problem is, you and me go in there, hear what to do or read the wikia and simply do it. Some people dont understand english as good as other. Some people need a helping hand.

 

There would be no problem with a small text-based briefing in front of the tests. ;)

Edited April 30, 2013 by Zarkosan

[Mak_Gohae]

I failed the last two test my first time around because i didnt know what to do or ended up doing something else because of the bonus thing popping up.

 

I even made a threat about it and said that maybe... not knowing what to do is part of the test. You are supposed to figure it out quickly.

[gamefreak9149]

I fully support a briefing, or in game text so I can what she says to do to complete the test encase someone is deaf, or just missed what she said.

[FeastofWire]

i still have not passed my rank 1 test with excalibur. any pointers would be appreciated.

[Boarchild]

I second this.

 

It is really confusing as to what the objective of the test is. There is no briefing, no telling of a time limit, no rules about not leaving the circle or not, no telling where they are coming from etc. People should not be forced to read a wiki before playing the game.

 

This really should feature a text briefing, outlining what you can and cannot do, telling you you are on a time limit, and not starting the test Before you click ok.

 

Removing the bonus popup for this would be a huge relief aswell, as I've seen numerous people get confused by it and fail because they are trying to do what the bonus popup is telling them.