Why The Alerts System Needs Changing.

[Argoms]

As I keep saying, the alerts system isn't good as it is. It really does more harm than good.

 

The current alert system creates opportunities for disappointment purely because you were living your life and not waiting for alerts 24/7. Now, don't start saying how you shouldn't feel entitled to that alert reward because it was a gift  and not a right, or how you should just support the developer. The point is, at the time that you realized you missed the alert, you had one of two reactions:

"Oh, didn't matter much to me anyway."

"Damnit, missed another <item> alert!"

 

You were either disappointed or indifferent. If you didn't care, then you wouldn't have bought it from the market anyway. If you did care, would you really get out your credit card and buy some plat? Judging by complaint threads that pop up almost every time a rare alert comes up, the reaction is more likely to complain about how it didn't feel fair, or that you were busy at the time. Does this help anyone?

 

A system that gives out rare/market-only items doesn't have to create the feeling that you missed something important that you could've gotten if you hadn't done something. The current system promotes letting the alerts run everything if you want to avoid this feeling. To the people who say not to let it because it will have a negative impact on your life- Why should it reward this sort of behavior?

 

If you want to make the system random, it should be random in a way that doesn't create a feeling of responsibility for the player. There are people trying to justify calling home and getting someone to do the alert for you, ffs.

Edited May 15, 2013 by Argoms

[Scherhardt]

Don't worry, it'll get better soon.

[Argoms]

Don't worry, it'll get better soon.

DE soon, Zombie soon, or Valve soon?

[crow-k]

Well, I have a great idea how to fix it.We take them away as possible alert loot. now ZZIIIIP its gone.

THEN we add in their place..... more credits...

After that we need to establish one boss, that is harder than all bosses combined and take 20 of us to kill, the first true raid boss. And he will drop it

O yea he will drop it. 

Someone about 1/100 of the time. I might even say lower is necessary  But on top of that only one potato will drop, you will have to decide amongst yourselves as grown adults. 

 

With this setup I feel players will feel they a)earned their reward and it wasn't just a random alert that they may have or not have been there for. Now the boss is always there respawns 1 minute after death. OOO you can even put him in a DOJO room so thats how they get it! 

Build the room, get the raid boss. I am liking this so much. B)Be able to play on their own schedule with people they know or trust or heck maybe just 19 strangers. Use any combination of the above. 

 

The one last option i see is do nothing . And realize that while it dies suck you were unable to get the item you wanted it is part of being an adult, even if you a kid. It is part of life. We have jobs, families and responsibilities. He could carry around a phone app, he could get some sweet hacker to make it so the twitter feed would sound an alarm in his computer. One actual discussion in my clan was that the member could give his info so he could play it, since there is no trading, so you can not steal something from them. Just make sure you can get back in if the passwords magically change. In the end this system is random. There have been a lot of potatoes in the last month. Tell him/her to be strong and lose his life,friends, etc. and he might get it a little faster. 

Good luck

[Adalonie]

kinda agree with OP to a certain extend.

appreciate if devs could look into improving the system.

not complaining, just saying it can be better.

[crow-k]

This is true. Things can always be improved on. 

[Namacyst]

As I keep saying, the alerts system isn't good as it is. It really does more harm than good.

 

The current alert system creates opportunities for disappointment purely because you were living your life and not waiting for alerts 24/7. Now, don't start saying how you shouldn't feel entitled to that alert reward because it was a gift  and not a right, or how you should just support the developer. The point is, at the time that you realized you missed the alert, you had one of two reactions:

"Oh, didn't matter much to me anyway."

"Damnit, missed another <item> alert!"

Alerts are a Bonus.. everything they reward is something you WANT and not something you need to play the game. And guess what... if you want something then you have to do something for it... which means playing the game as much as you can to get as many rewards as you can. Noone forces you to sleep when you miss an Alert at night, to keep your job or friends or whatever you do when you are not playing. It is your choice. It's your fault not the Alerts.

You were either disappointed or indifferent. If you didn't care, then you wouldn't have bought it from the market anyway. If you did care, would you really get out your credit card and buy some plat? Judging by complaint threads that pop up almost every time a rare alert comes up, the reaction is more likely to complain about how it didn't feel fair, or that you were busy at the time. Does this help anyone?

Does this thread help anyone but you because it seems you did miss many alerts with goodies in it because you had other things to do? How about the people that did not do what you did when you missed the alert. Maybe they woul've rather gone with you to the movies or slept in your bed with you or shared a workshift with you instead of getting the Alert you missed. How fair is that?

A system that gives out rare/market-only items doesn't have to create the feeling that you missed something important that you could've gotten if you hadn't done something. The current system promotes letting the alerts run everything if you want to avoid this feeling. To the people who say not to let it because it will have a negative impact on your life- Why should it reward this sort of behavior?

Why should you be rewarded ingame for something you did not do in- but outside of the game.. for example painted your nails red, washed your car or whatever you do when you miss alerts? The point of Alerts.. besides creating a sense of urgency when it comes to certain missions, is to make DE money! Yes, there are people who can't play 24/7 and yes they miss alerts.. alot and they are pissed about it like you are. And then they miss the same alert another time and then they pay if they really want the item. The Alert system promotes nothing! You do! You think it's important to let the Alerts run the things you do to some point because you WANT "the" item... because you have the feel you won't get it. It's all about YOUR behaviour like making this thread because you do care about Alerts.

If you want to make the system random, it should be random in a way that doesn't create a feeling of responsibility for the player. There are people trying to justify calling home and getting someone to do the alert for you, ffs.

Everybode is his own master. If you do what you wrote people do to get rewards... welcome to enslavement. If you feel responsible.. don't forget to feed your Alert or he will piss on your carpet. I can't say it enough... the Alerts are not perfect.. far from it but the biggest problem is not the Alert... it's people like you who think Alerts are too important. It's WANT and DISAPPOINTMENT and UNFAIRNESS and all those feelings that meke Alerts look bad in your eyes... but really they aren't.

 

I know many things i wrote may seem unfair or made up but when you think about them it will be interesting for you. I for example have everything an alert can offer me except 2-3 items. Not because i wanted them or camped Alerts everyday. Hell i can't even count the Alerts that i "missed", if you want to call it miss. Yes i do care about them.. the Evil Alerts but in a different matter. For me they are part of the game. The game i play alot because i like it very much.. not the Alerts. That's what i meant with "Alerts are a Bonus". See it like eating your favorite chocolate everyday because you love it.. and this chocolate has little stickers in them ... many different kinds. At some point you will have them all (and are fat ^^) ...all the stickers.. not because you wanted them all but because you love your chocolate. By the way.. this is Thread number 3252367623 about this Topic and everybody gets it.. but in the end noone cares because when you get your next Alert with an item you wanted.. everything is fine again ^^

 

Cheers

[Adalonie]

Alerts are a Bonus.. everything they reward is something you WANT and not something you need to play the game. And guess what... if you want something then you have to do something for it... which means playing the game as much as you can to get as many rewards as you can. Noone forces you to sleep when you miss an Alert at night, to keep your job or friends or whatever you do when you are not playing. It is your choice. It's your fault not the Alerts.

Does this thread help anyone but you because it seems you did miss many alerts with goodies in it because you had other things to do? How about the people that did not do what you did when you missed the alert. Maybe they woul've rather gone with you to the movies or slept in your bed with you or shared a workshift with you instead of getting the Alert you missed. How fair is that?

Why should you be rewarded ingame for something you did not do in- but outside of the game.. for example painted your nails red, washed your car or whatever you do when you miss alerts? The point of Alerts.. besides creating a sense of urgency when it comes to certain missions, is to make DE money! Yes, there are people who can't play 24/7 and yes they miss alerts.. alot and they are &!$$ed about it like you are. And then they miss the same alert another time and then they pay if they really want the item. The Alert system promotes nothing! You do! You think it's important to let the Alerts run the things you do to some point because you WANT "the" item... because you have the feel you won't get it. It's all about YOUR behaviour like making this thread because you do care about Alerts.

Everybode is his own master. If you do what you wrote people do to get rewards... welcome to enslavement. If you feel responsible.. don't forget to feed your Alert or he will &!$$ on your carpet. I can't say it enough... the Alerts are not perfect.. far from it but the biggest problem is not the Alert... it's people like you who think Alerts are too important. It's WANT and DISAPPOINTMENT and UNFAIRNESS and all those feelings that meke Alerts look bad in your eyes... but really they aren't.

 

I know many things i wrote may seem unfair or made up but when you think about them it will be interesting for you. I for example have everything an alert can offer me except 2-3 items. Not because i wanted them or camped Alerts everyday. Hell i can't even count the Alerts that i "missed", if you want to call it miss. Yes i do care about them.. the Evil Alerts but in a different matter. For me they are part of the game. The game i play alot because i like it very much.. not the Alerts. That's what i meant with "Alerts are a Bonus". See it like eating your favorite chocolate everyday because you love it.. and this chocolate has little stickers in them ... many different kinds. At some point you will have them all (and are fat ^^) ...all the stickers.. not because you wanted them all but because you love your chocolate. By the way.. this is Thread number 3252367623 about this Topic and everybody gets it.. but in the end noone cares because when you get your next Alert with an item you wanted.. everything is fine again ^^

 

Cheers

why are you so defensive? op is not complaining. he is just suggesting that things could be improved so that everyone gets a fair chance to get stuff from playing.

anyway, imo, if DE can improve on the system, players will appreciate and it will in turn generate more revenue.

if not, i agree with you to a certain extend too. its a bonus if we happen to get the alert. not an entitlement. if we Want it. we buy it. as simple as that.

[SynthReBorn]

As far as I see, maybe what could be improved on would be a better rotation of the rewards.  I'd still keep some things rare like certain weapons/blueprints, but make it so that we see them a bit more often rather than just some credits or certain artifacts.

 

For the most part the system works good as is, sure It's annoying when you miss something that you've set your eyes on, who's not going to be on that token?  But you can't be expected to be there all the time, and obviously the less you play due to whatever the less of a potential opportunity that you'll have to get what you want because it's random, it's chance.  Heck it's the same practically for those who play all the time, can you imagine what it must be like to be on for hours upon hours at a time to get nothing?

[Argoms]

@Namacyst
You're missing the point entirely. It's like you didn't even read the post and jumped straight to the conclusion that I was whining about how I deserve to have all the plat-exclusive items.

This isn't about me selfishly wanting every alert item instantly. This is about the fact that alerts aren't going to make DE money, while also frustrating a large portion of the userbase. Hell, half the rare alert rewards aren't even available in the plat store.

 

@Other people

I'm not saying we should completely remove the idea of randomness from the alerts, or that they should be given out on set days. I'm saying that we should at least make them random in a way that doesn't make you feel like you played a part in not getting the item. For example (and this is a bad one, but it sort of makes the point)- change potatoes do daily login reward only (and post-livestream alert or whatever). By doing this (and increasing the chance of a potato to make up for the lack of alerts), you never "miss" an alert by sleeping in/going out etc. However, it's still a random chance to get one, and just as rare (statistically) as before.

Edited May 15, 2013 by Argoms

[Motox831]

Well, I have a great idea how to fix it.We take them away as possible alert loot. now ZZIIIIP its gone.

THEN we add in their place..... more credits...

After that we need to establish one boss, that is harder than all bosses combined and take 20 of us to kill, the first true raid boss. And he will drop it

O yea he will drop it. 

Someone about 1/100 of the time. I might even say lower is necessary  But on top of that only one potato will drop, you will have to decide amongst yourselves as grown adults. 

 

With this setup I feel players will feel they a)earned their reward and it wasn't just a random alert that they may have or not have been there for. Now the boss is always there respawns 1 minute after death. OOO you can even put him in a DOJO room so thats how they get it! 

Build the room, get the raid boss. I am liking this so much. B)Be able to play on their own schedule with people they know or trust or heck maybe just 19 strangers. Use any combination of the above. 

 

The one last option i see is do nothing . And realize that while it dies suck you were unable to get the item you wanted it is part of being an adult, even if you a kid. It is part of life. We have jobs, families and responsibilities. He could carry around a phone app, he could get some sweet hacker to make it so the twitter feed would sound an alarm in his computer. One actual discussion in my clan was that the member could give his info so he could play it, since there is no trading, so you can not steal something from them. Just make sure you can get back in if the passwords magically change. In the end this system is random. There have been a lot of potatoes in the last month. Tell him/her to be strong and lose his life,friends, etc. and he might get it a little faster. 

Good luck

 

I like that you came up with an idea for a raid within the Dojo.

 

With some thinking outside the box tell me what you think about this:

 

 

Raid Room:

Resource Cost: 50k-100k Of Each Material In Game.

 

 

(Hypothetically speaking, if they add a crafting system inside Dojo. **Basing this off the mention of it in stream)

They could add the possibility of crafting the Raid Boss. 

 

Raid Boss Resource Cost: 50k Of Each Material (Sounds outrageous, but this should be considered **PART** end game farming)

 

Build Time: 5 Days (Allowed to Raid Once a Week)

This allows you to summon the boss in your Raid Room 1 Time to Farm. (Continues Farming Requires More Resource/Mats)

 

Drop Table:

Orokin Reactor (Rare Drop)

Orokin Catalyst (Rare Drop)

Blueprints (Cosmetic Typical Alert Drops)

Warframe Slot (Rare Drop)

Weapon Slot (Rare Drop)

Newly Released Mods

High Rare Fusion Cores

High Amounts of Resources

Dojo Trophy

Artifacts

 

Pros:

This Allows Creating Major Importance to Building your Dojo.

Item Drops without waiting for Alerts once a week

Allows farming for Mats during the week as a clan

Raid Boss Fun DUHHH

 

Cons:

Chance of dying to end game boss and loosing materials spent to summon.

High amount of players looking for exploits on materials.

Single Players wouldn't stand a chance

 

 

Just a thought and Idea outside the box. If anything Agrees or wants to add more go for it! 

 

______________________________________________________________

 

Away from that discussion, with my studies on alerts I have found most Item alerts meet Europe Times and the average gaming hours for Americans have little to no item alerts.

This is based off about a 3 week period of playing a lot. But just go look at the forums and what time alerts were. It truly matches up. Although its random, I believe there should be an adjustment to evenly supply important item alerts within the same time period for both American Active Hours and European Hours. 

Edited May 15, 2013 by Motox831

[Namacyst]

Away from that discussion, with my studies on alerts I have found most Item alerts meet Europe Times and the average gaming hours for Americans have little to no item alerts.

This is based off about a 3 week period of playing a lot. But just go look at the forums and what time alerts were. It truly matches up. But its random so everything i just said is crap anyways because you can't measure randomness.

 

Fixed it for you.

[Argoms]

You can't measure randomness

You're kidding me, right?

[Excitonex]

I don't understand people who get all uppity about missing alerts. So what if this game has things that happen in real time? If you go away for a weekend and miss an extermination event for a prime Warframe are you going to demand they change that system too? Alerts are part of the game and should only be cause for concern when you are playing. If you're at work and getting potato alerts on your phone, well, you should re-examine some things.

 

I enjoy the alert system because it adds a feeling that the universe in Warframe is more dynamic than most games. I never know what I'm going to see when I log on or finish a mission. Sometimes I get all 2k alerts, sometimes I get 2 potatoes in a row.

[NotaCobra]

Op states that alerts either make you indifferent or disapointed...

 

I think OP is an idiot.

 

Why?

 

Alerts make me either happy or indifferent.

My phone buzzes, I look down, wahoo catalyst.

My phone buzzes, I look down, eh shotgun scavenger

 

You want to know what happens if I'm at work?

 

My phone doesn't buzz, it's on silent and the app is closed.

 

 

Guess what, alerts are great.

Don't get but flustered because you didn't get some item you wanted, if you can't play, ignore it.

Be happy when something does drop, you got a catalyst for a 10 minute mission.

 

 

 

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, if you want catalysts, reactors or blueprints so badly that you are disappointed when you miss them, fork out the $5 it takes to buy a whole pile of the damn things.

[Drakontis]

I have like 5 Reactor BP's from alerts and logins. No catalysts. Not complaining, just stating a fact. I heard there were like 4 different potato (Not sure if they were catalyst or reactor) drops this last weekend or so and I never saw a single one. I didn't even see them on the twitter feed (I'd have the app if I had a phone. : |   ) when I got home. But I'm not worked up about it. I didn't buy platinum because of alerts... okay, I did, but not for that reason. I bought platinum because alerts are there and allow free players to get the stuff they want. THAT is among the reasons I bought platinum. 

[Jedi]

if you have steam you can join a user group that lets you know with little notifications that there is an Alert, even apps as described above.

 

It would be nice for some one to make a widget.

[Carcharias]

Meh, I don't have a problem with the current system. Of course I don't watch the twitter feed either, so I don't know what I'm missing when I'm at work. Ignorance is bliss you should try it sometime :) When I'm in game if I happen to see an alert in between the missions I'm working on then great. But I'm not going to stop my life and drop everything to get to the computer for a game. It's a game, I make progress in it when I have the time and inclination, when I don't I'm not online anyways.

[Motox831]

Fixed it for you.

 

I'll do a report on the times alert were sent that contain items.

 

I guarantee the % of randomness will turn into a consistency % of European Times compared to American Times. 

[_Rue_]

I'll do a report on the times alert were sent that contain items.

 

I guarantee the % of randomness will turn into a consistency % of European Times compared to American Times. 

 

Do it for a year and I'd think about considering it. your sample size is too small.

 

I like how alerts are. Learn from it.; learn to let go. You can't control everything. The faster you understand that the better off you'll be.

 

So if you do not like a person at work/school, what do you do?

1) complain to your boss and get the guy/girl/guy+girl/girl+guy removed?

2) are you gonna do something to adapt to the situation?

 

:)

[Argoms]

So if you do not like a person at work/school, what do you do?

1) complain to your boss and get the guy/girl/guy+girl/girl+guy removed?

2) are you gonna do something to adapt to the situation?

This is beta. This is a game mechanic that I feel has problems. If anything, this is more like a flickering light that gives you a headache while you work in an office environment- if you don't bring it up, nothing changes. If you do, something may change.

 

 

 

I think OP is an idiot.

 

Oh yay, straight to ad hominem. Not even going to bother with this one.

 

 

 

 

Meh, I don't have a problem with the current system. Of course I don't watch the twitter feed either, so I don't know what I'm missing when I'm at work. Ignorance is bliss you should try it sometime :) When I'm in game if I happen to see an alert in between the missions I'm working on then great. But I'm not going to stop my life and drop everything to get to the computer for a game. It's a game, I make progress in it when I have the time and inclination, when I don't I'm not online anyways.

The problem is about the fact that there are quite a lot of people who do get disappointed. If we changed the alerts system to something that avoided more disappointment for them while still giving you an occasional plat-exclusive item, what's there to lose?

 

I don't understand people who get all uppity about missing alerts. So what if this game has things that happen in real time? If you go away for a weekend and miss an extermination event for a prime Warframe are you going to demand they change that system too? Alerts are part of the game and should only be cause for concern when you are playing. If you're at work and getting potato alerts on your phone, well, you should re-examine some things.

 

I enjoy the alert system because it adds a feeling that the universe in Warframe is more dynamic than most games. I never know what I'm going to see when I log on or finish a mission. Sometimes I get all 2k alerts, sometimes I get 2 potatoes in a row.

You may not understand them, but you have to accept that they exist (because they do). Why not change the system in a way that can be better for them while not being worse for you? You enjoy this system, but surely you don't think it's the perfect way to do things?

 

I have like 5 Reactor BP's from alerts and logins. No catalysts. Not complaining, just stating a fact. I heard there were like 4 different potato (Not sure if they were catalyst or reactor) drops this last weekend or so and I never saw a single one. I didn't even see them on the twitter feed (I'd have the app if I had a phone. : |   ) when I got home. But I'm not worked up about it. I didn't buy platinum because of alerts... okay, I did, but not for that reason. I bought platinum because alerts are there and allow free players to get the stuff they want. THAT is among the reasons I bought platinum. 

Again, the problem is that this system is very easy to get worked up about because you can see exactly when you missed the alert. While you may not have problems with it, some other people do (as evidenced by the complaint thread that pops up after pretty much every rare alert).

[Drakontis]

 

Again, the problem is that this system is very easy to get worked up about because you can see exactly when you missed the alert. While you may not have problems with it, some other people do (as evidenced by the complaint thread that pops up after pretty much every rare alert).

 

 

I think maybe my POV on this is skewed because of my previous F2P experiences. Combat Arms is almost unforgivingly Pay to Win. Sure, you can do okay with GP gear and I often do okay, but if you want THE BEST, be prepared to shell out 25 dollars (unless there's a sale) on an assault rifle or SMG. This game allows us to gain most of the things people want that are platinum, FOR FREE, and the fact that it's even an option has made me respect this game and the company. The fact that people complain incessantly about it makes me view them as whiney because they missed one (Or a few) opportunities for an item that they wouldn't even have the opportunity of getting if this game was made/produced/backed by a company like Nexon. 

[NotaCobra]

Oh yay, straight to ad hominem. Not even going to bother with this one.

 

 

Alternately, you could pull your head out of your arse and read the explanation as to why I believe OP is an idiot, so as not to look like yet another idiot.

 

Believe it or not, one can state the obvious and still be correct.

[_Rue_]

This is beta. This is a game mechanic that I feel has problems. If anything, this is more like a flickering light that gives you a headache while you work in an office environment- if you don't bring it up, nothing changes. If you do, something may change.

 

Indeed it is. I think It's fine though. It's a matter of preference. I do not want to spend hours grinding for something. That's what Warframe BPs are for. Alerts are a nice change from that. I've got twitter on my computer (got an account just for this~and I do not have a cell) and do the alerts that give me what I want. If I miss something, then I'll just have to wait some more. It'll come.

 

A flickering light is not a good metaphor since it really doesn't annoy everyone. It just annoys some people. Just like a certain office mate annoys some people, but not others. You presume that everyone hates the current alert system. Apparently you have to accept it is not true.

 

Your opinion matters and you have the right to voice it. Just as everyone else. So go and talk about the merits of the system, but I caution you against  forcing people to see it they way you see it just because.

 

Just let go. You missed 10 potatoes, no biggie. more will come. You just have to wait. Accept what you can change and change it. Accept what you can't change and live with it. It's life.

[Argoms]

Rue- may just be me then. A lot of people I know don't have problems with occasional flickering lights, so it works as an example to me. I didn't miss anything, and I'm not accepting that I can't change this because I can. Every voice against the current alert system will add up, right? 

 

I think maybe my POV on this is skewed because of my previous F2P experiences. Combat Arms is almost unforgivingly Pay to Win. Sure, you can do okay with GP gear and I often do okay, but if you want THE BEST, be prepared to shell out 25 dollars (unless there's a sale) on an assault rifle or SMG. This game allows us to gain most of the things people want that are platinum, FOR FREE, and the fact that it's even an option has made me respect this game and the company. The fact that people complain incessantly about it makes me view them as whiney because they missed one (Or a few) opportunities for an item that they wouldn't even have the opportunity of getting if this game was made/produced/backed by a company like Nexon.

But it isn't. It wouldn't be the same game if it was. Trying to say that this is fine because it's better than nexon isn't any more helpful than saying it can run off of a purely cosmetic cash shop like tf2.

 

I'll keep saying this- changing the alerts system doesn't mean giving everyone everything. The frequencies that someone gets a rare item could remain exactly the same, with only the way it's given changing. There's that old example of World of Warcraft's experience bonus system- changing phrasing can change how the player receives the same things drastically.

Edited May 15, 2013 by Argoms