Rank Tests; Ninjas Shouldn't Be Given Pop Quizzes

[Taranis49]

I posted this in another thread, but felt it could be deserving of its own thread (and to avoid derailing that one).

 

While I've seen some griping about the wait times for failing one, that fails to touch upon the biggest issue in my view; the tests themselves and the way they're handled.

 

First, there's the failure to disclose what the test actually entails until it's taken. Unless you're deliberately setting up the test taker to fail it in advance, this is well, stupid. I speak from some measure of experience: when I or any other guy had to go through marksmanship qualification in basic, we were informed exactly what it entailed beforehand, how many targets we needed to hit, etc. likewise for PT tests, we were informed in what time we had to run our two miles and so on.

 

This in spite of the fact that the test givers were the same guys who had us stand around in chambers filled with CS gas. Why? Because at the end of the day, despite those shenanigans, they actually wanted their trainees to succeed.

 

Second is that a good many of the rank tests (atleast those I've done thus far), fail to accomplish what is ostensibly their primary goal; testing your skill. They test the quality of your equipment. Attempt to pass the Rank 6 (marksmanship) test with a Snipetron or any weapon with a small magazine and lengthy reload: simply due to the latter, I can guarantee you'll fail even with 100% accuracy... in a marksmanship test.

 

Third, and this is admittedly more subjective, the order of them doesn't flow well. You go from ventilating a bunch of simulated enemies, to "Surprise! We're going to try and murder you for this test!", to hacking, to... calm day on the practice range? After that second one, I'd have to start asking what the competition is paying.

 

I also find it somewhat immersion breaking in the sense of the general progression of the game "we need you to go kill a General that's been stealing artifacts, or rescue a hostage vital to our war effort, or... go shoot at some spare disco balls we have laying around in storage."

 

Finally, a lot of the tests are well, tedious. By the time you take the rank 5 hacking test, you've likely hacked literally hundreds of terminals... and I consider that one of the better tests as it alleviates the second issue at the beginning of this post, since hacking doesn't care what weapon you're using or how well-modded it is (and the hacking test involved ciphers I haven't seen elsewhere, bonus). By the time you take the rank 6 marksmanship test? I'd lay good odds the test taker has shot hundreds if not thousands of enemy soldiers in the face just to get to that test... That seems backwards. In my case, at least, I've never really felt a sense of accomplishment from passing a test due to that fact - it was always a feeling of "Am I done yet? Can I go now? Finally...".

 

Considering there's supposedly a war going on and the Tenno apparently don't have a single major place in the solar system to call their own, no visible command structure, etc. a "field promotion" system makes more sense to me rather than the idea there's still formal, standardized testing at all: the game already tracks how many terminals you've successfully hacked, how many heads you've filled with bullets, buckshot, arrows, etc. maybe those could actually count towards the next rank, not just the ability to take an arbitrary test for a given rank, but actually achieve the rank itself. It'd make the in-mission challenges to do stuff like get 10 headshots or what have you actually worth doing too, especially if you happen to be using a level 30 frame.

Edited June 3, 2013 by Taranis49

[f3llyn]

Agreed with all that you said 100%. The mastery tests are badly done.

[FluffyBunnySlippers]

I agree with many of the points raised, the tests do seem like a very under-developed aspect of the game. 

 

I'd like tests that actually make sense from the point of game progression....by this I mean something along the lines of "special" missions. When you qualify for a test Lotus, instead of sending you to the white room of ultimate annoyance, instead sends you on a specialized mission where the goal (and mission hazards) test one (or possibly more) particular aspect(s) of your gameplay. As you say, make the "achievements " that are already in-game have some meaning.

 

Possibly even add some reward beyond level-up for successful completion...one suggestion I've heard was to actually have a weapon slot (or frame slot) open up for successfully completing these missions, which one depending on the level/ difficulty. One hell of a reward perhaps, but not spammable....could even be every other test so as to not upset DE's accountants too much ;)

Edited June 3, 2013 by FluffyBunnySlippers

[alchemistjkt]

i kind of like the idea of the tests to level up in warframe, though i do have to agree that the way it is handled is a bit derp at best. they really need to polish the tests, and the order of them (the first or second should be a hack test imo, followed by a wall run test) as well as adding new ones... after all, the current rank 8, 9 and 10 tests are all wall runs.

only thing i have to disagree with op, is that the test should remain "hidden" until you take it... we are suppose to be magic $%*&^ space ninjas, we should be ready for anything.

[Taranis49]

I agree with many of the points raised, the tests do seem like a very under-developed aspect of the game. 

 

I'd like tests that actually make sense from the point of game progression....by this I mean something along the lines of "special" missions. When you qualify for a test Lotus, instead of sending you to the white room of ultimate annoyance, instead sends you on a specialized mission where the goal (and mission hazards) test one (or possibly more) particular aspect(s) of your gameplay. As you say, make the "achievements " that are already in-game have some meaning.

 

Possibly even add some reward beyond level-up for successful completion...one suggestion I've heard was to actually have a weapon slot (or frame slot) open up for successfully completing these missions, which one depending on the level/ difficulty. One hell of a reward perhaps, but not spammable....could even be every other test so as to not upset DE's accountants too much ;)

I like that idea; it sounds a helluva lot more fun than the current "do this one thing a couple dozen more times even though you've already done it no less than a few hundred times by now", and god forbid, it makes more logical sense to me than the idea of pulling your super-elite centuries-old units off the front lines to go play in the holodeck for no good reason.

 

While I rag on the survival test, one of the good things about it is that there wasn't a "wrong" way to succeed; there was some freedom of choice about how to complete it. By contrast, have the wrong sort of weapon or don't have the right mods in the marksmanship test? It's not difficult, it's flatly impossible to succeed no matter how skilled you are simply because skill won't reload a given weapon any faster. In the case of a true test of skill, it should be possible to succeed regardless of the tool used.

 

i kind of like the idea of the tests to level up in warframe, though i do have to agree that the way it is handled is a bit derp at best. they really need to polish the tests, and the order of them (the first or second should be a hack test imo, followed by a wall run test) as well as adding new ones... after all, the current rank 8, 9 and 10 tests are all wall runs.

only thing i have to disagree with op, is that the test should remain "hidden" until you take it... we are suppose to be magic $%*&^ space ninjas, we should be ready for anything.

 

Tenno are soldiers/warriors, not kids in school. Every single super-awesome warrior society in history you care to name told their guys what was expected of them beforehand.

 

"Being prepared for everything" is a nice catchphrase, but it's worthless as actual advice for anything, especially when you can only carry three weapons and potentially only use one in a given test and that a good chunk of the weapons themselves are specialized for a given role. And there's still the issue that it doesn't test YOU, it tests your gear.

Edited June 3, 2013 by Taranis49

[Phaenur]

I like the concept of tests, and for that matter the White Room, in general.  I feel that they mesh very nicely with the Animesque space-ninja aesthetic.  That said, I agree that there isn't really a purpose to most of them - it's just the same thing we've done in the hundreds of missions leading up to them, only with a flashy new background.  What I'd consider instead is using at least the early tests to teach and guarantee mastery of certain skills.  Players normally learn on the fly and most mechanics (reviving, hacking, treasure hunting) are reasonably simple, but parkour and proper timing on the others are less so.  So, you've got the prologue teaching you basic movement and combat.  Your Rank One test handles combat, then if you pass you move on to, say, basic parkour.  You get the one of the same tests that are currently set for the top ranks after that, and then maybe learn basic teamwork - which leads to another test where you have to parkour and fight your way through enemies to rescue an overwhelmed ally.  There are really only a few of these that can really be done, so after you've imparted "basic skills" in the first two or three ranks you do what FluffyBunnySlippers suggested and run special missions instead for the remaining tests.  Maybe Rank 10 will bring you back to the White Room for a timed Orokin Tower run or something, but I feel like once you've proven your competence your future tests are actually meaningful parts of the war.