An Idea For How To Fix The Alert System.

[Rakaija]

Make the ? rewards completely random.

As it stands now, there is no reason for the ? reward to exist at all. The ? pops up in-game, we look on twitter (if it's functioning properly) or our smartphone app (which can also malfunction) and we know exactly what the ? is. Why would DE put a ? in-game only to throw out a twitter alert system and develop an app just to tell us what it is?

On top of that, no one can be completely prepared to be there 24/7 for an alert that they really want. Personally, I now feel anxious going to work or school or even out to dinner with my girlfriend, just because I might miss an alert I've been waiting for. As crazy as it might sound, since IRL -should- trump games at all points, I feel like many other people share this sentiment.

If the ? rewards were completely random, at least people would be able to run them at their own leisure and still be able to have a chance at the thing that they want the most. They could actually -work- towards it. Also, because of the limited availability of alert rewards, it cannot be farmed to oblivion, which makes frames like Vauban still frustrating to get. Because of this frustration, it will -still- encourage players who do not have patience and limited time to buy him (and future warframes) from the market.

Of course no random system will ever be perfect. But at least if the reward was completely random, rather than the time of the alert being random, I could have a decent night's sleep without worrying about missing Vauban or Glaive.

What do you guys think? It's not a perfect solution, as I said before, but from my perspective it's far more favorable than what we're dealing with now.

[McWafflez]

?

[Lane]

That would be worse I think.

People would feel even more 'anxious going to work or school' because they would literally try the best not to miss any chance to do these '?' alerts at all costs.

So nah.

Edited June 11, 2013 by Pull

[Rakaija]

That would be worse I think.

People would feel even more 'anxious going to work or school' because they would literally try the best not to miss any chance to do these '?' alerts at all costs.

So nah.

 

Yet there are dozens of alerts every single day that are just for credits right now. Dozens that I and many other people who do not bother with at all. Why feel anxious about missing alerts while you are dealing with real life, when you come home and you will get about 5-6 alerts before it's time to sleep?

Or would you prefer waiting weeks inbetween getting a chance at seeing a part of a warframe you've been wanting? I'm sure once many people wake up, they're going to be a tad miffed at the glaive being in the wee hours of the morning again.

[Lane]

Yet there are dozens of alerts every single day that are just for credits right now. Dozens that I and many other people who do not bother with at all. Why feel anxious about missing alerts while you are dealing with real life, when you come home and you will get about 5-6 alerts before it's time to sleep?

Or would you prefer waiting weeks inbetween getting a chance at seeing a part of a warframe you've been wanting? I'm sure once many people wake up, they're going to be a tad miffed at the glaive being in the wee hours of the morning again.

The fundamental reason of running '?' Alert Missions is because you want that item.

I mean, having completely random 'alert' missions would only intensify the grindy-ness of this game.

So if really do prioritize your real life as we all ought to, I don't think missing a chance to grab a virtual item or two would hurt either, or would it?

Edited June 11, 2013 by Pull

[Hybridon]

They have a twitter and a app to make you guys connect to other stuff they made, thats pure selling techniques, even if for free, makes you attached to the game.

 

I like it as it is, giving me whats in the ?, that way Ill only do the alert if it has high credits or if it has something I need. Id hate to put aside my other things just to keep getting random rewards, when I could be doing other stuff that is much more fun for me.

 

Just my opinion ofc.

[Deadly-Bagel]

I agree the ? in-game doesn't make any sense but meh.

 

But yes, making alerts completely random is just going to make people not want to do them. How many artifact and blueprint alerts are there that I either have or don't want? The frequency of the "good" alerts means I'll completely stop doing any at all because they just won't be worth it.

 

I think extending ? alerts for up to 12 hours would be better, but that's just my opinion.

[Saxo]

I always said that it was a strange system simply became you knew what you was going to get before even starting. Why even put a ? when you can just go on twitter and find out the reward anyway?

[alchemistjkt]

cool... so i can keep getting that one damn artifact over and over and over again, but never get anything else because of another layer of rng... sounds fun.

might as well call warframe "rng-frame" the game where you get nothing you want... ever

/sarcasm

jokes aside, this is an old idea, and perhaps not the most fleshed out of one.

while i do agree that the current alert system is somewhat broken, its still better than this.

we need less rng to kick us around.

[Hybridon]

I always said that it was a strange system simply became you knew what you was going to get before even starting. Why even put a ? when you can just go on twitter and find out the reward anyway?

 

So you go to there twitter and download the app, and people create free content that shows you whats the alert...

 

Its simple sales techniques, you add content out of the game to keep people more connected, simple as that.

[alchemistjkt]

So you go to there twitter and download the app, and people create free content that shows you whats the alert...

 

Its simple sales techniques, you add content out of the game to keep people more connected, simple as that.

lol wut?

[Hybridon]

lol wut?

 

They have a ? in-game, and at the same time they tell you what it is on twitter and on there app.

 

Thats a sale technique, you make content out of you're main product (the game) using twitter, facebook and so on, making you be more connected with them. Many here when not online ingame are checking out twitter, or have that app on, or even are here on forums.

 

All techniques to make us more likely to get addicted, and therefore to spend money on the game.

[Lumireaver]

 

Always remember... it will roll again.

[VegetableBasket]

Quick anecdote: Yesterday I went out to eat with my girlfriend and she told me we shouldn't bring our phones in so we aren't distracted, so I left it in the car. This place was a buffet so naturally as soon as I got home I had to go #2 pretty bad. I take a look at twitter mid-dump and realize I have 9 minutes left on vauban systems. I yell "TURN ON MY COMPUTER! TURN ON MY COMPUTER!" and she's kind of panicked, asking me, "Why? For what?" and I wipe my butt as fast as I can and managed to get them with only a couple minutes to spare. Thank god I didn't crash.

I don't know what the point of that story is, but it seems kind of weird I let the alert system have such a hold over me. I guess I could decide I don't care, I am a human being with willpower and all, but I guess I'd like a system that didn't twist my real life arm so much about earning all the earnable items.

The ? in-game makes no sense, especially when we're checking a twitter that ONLY spits out alert info. Now, the app currently ONLY spits out what the twitter does, but it's supposed to expand, so I can see them wanting us to get it, since they'll probably slap ads on it later, or something. Any fairy dedicated player is always checking the twitter in their spare time, it's not like they need to give us an incentive to pick up our phone when we're already in-game.

That being said, I'd kind of prefer the suggested system over the current one, because I would at least get excited to do ? missions instead of disappointed to see another pistol scavenger (Has anyone EVER used that artifact on purpose?) on Twitter, but I do also remember the pre-Twitter days when I'd be disappointed by my constant artifact drops when it was a surprise.

Edited June 11, 2013 by V3G3T4BL3

[Zerikin]

They should just make the ? alerts last for much longer so people have a better shot at getting them. The current system is quite silly IMO.

[Skeloton]

 

Always remember... it will roll again.

Still need the alert only items to at least have some nonalert way of acquisition. That and we need a decrease in credit only alert volume and more item alerts. Oh and perhaps a more uniform distribution of alerts throughout the day.

Edited June 11, 2013 by Skeloton

[-HAKUNA-YOUR-TATAS-]

Hey OP we heard you wanna Randomize the Random ? Alert system so we thought we'd Randomize the Randomness in this thread so your Random Alerts could be more Random.

Edited June 11, 2013 by sushidubya

[archiadus]

They should just make the ? alerts last for much longer so people have a better shot at getting them. The current system is quite silly IMO.

 

Would be nice if they made the rare item alerts last 8 - 12 hours,  no one likes waking up in the morning only to realise that they missed a vauban helmet alert by 9 minutes, as it is now you're either forced to stay up forever and / or share your account with players all over the world just to make sure that you don't miss out on that one rare ? alert..

[SmokeBraid]

If you're literally feeling anxious about not being able to answer an alert, just buy the item you're looking for. $20 to never again have to worry about an alert again is cheap therapy.

 

This is assuming what you want is available for platinum, of course.

[Saxo]

Would be nice if they made the rare item alerts last 8 - 12 hours,  no one likes waking up in the morning only to realise that they missed a vauban helmet alert by 9 minutes, as it is now you're either forced to stay up forever and / or share your account with players all over the world just to make sure that you don't miss out on that one rare ? alert..

 

What most people who say this don't seem to get is if they did this the items would no longer be rare.

 

Also nothing is forcing you to stay up or share your account, if you want it that bad you can buy it for plat. Take how much the item you want costs in plat, convert it into your currency, then imagine if someone offered you that amount to stay up all night, would you?

[Wymoro]

In my opinion, the current system is broken. It's not entirely random, as it has an element of weight involved. However, due to the fact that it is partially random, important alerts can show up in the most inconvient of times, which does not reward persistent play, instead it rewards those who simply have the ability to keep informed and have no other commitments. For a newer dedicated player it also promotes hermit type behavior. For a more experienced player it has the benefit of allowing them to simply log in when needed, but gives them absolutely no control over their game experience when it comes to certain content. I am all for requiring many of these items to require a large time investment, but the player needs to have some control over their destiny or the grind becomes seemingly futile, especially if you happen to have a commitment for the 30 minutes that your dream item is available once a ?month?.

 

RANDOM RANT:

 

The system is not random, no matter how many people decide to call it such. Forget the fact that true random behavior is impossible to produce via a script, and simply take a look at the number of artifacts vs. the number of blueprints in the alert 'pool' of resources. Over time, if the system was truly random, any alert with a real reward would have a greater than 2/3 chance of being a blueprint simply due to the fact that there are only ten (10) artifacts. Once you've actually taken a look at the system you realize that it is weighted. Artifacts have a higher chance to be selected. Other items may be equally as likely, though you cannot discount the chance of clusters in a faux random system.

 

Anyway, I implore people to stop saying the system is completely random. While there may be random variables, it is undoubtedly weighted in some form or another. I also implore the people trying to say it isn't random by citing the fact that there are clusters of 'Vauban, Heat, Dark, etc', as those do occur often in random systems. A classical example is drawing a pattern of raindrops. If you space them evenly, or even close, it's just plain wrong. A real random pattern of raindrops looks a bit like the night sky, with clusters in some places and bare spaces in others.

[cloudsora]

Yet there are dozens of alerts every single day that are just for credits right now. Dozens that I and many other people who do not bother with at all. Why feel anxious about missing alerts while you are dealing with real life, when you come home and you will get about 5-6 alerts before it's time to sleep?

Or would you prefer waiting weeks inbetween getting a chance at seeing a part of a warframe you've been wanting? I'm sure once many people wake up, they're going to be a tad miffed at the glaive being in the wee hours of the morning again.

I agree I'm pissed I missed the vauban parts 6 times now because of S#&$ I had to do, and the majority of what they've posted recently are S#&$ty scavenger artifacts.