Rare Alerts vs Common Alerts: Earning Stuff

[Arcalane]

I'm not sure this should go in gameplay feedback or wherever since it's not really about gameplay per se, and it doesn't really fit anywhere else.

-------------------------------------------------------

Preface: 'Common' alerts, in this sense, are alerts that dish out only credits, and are incredibly common. 'Rare' alerts are those with [?] rewards.

Right now, there is zero incentive to complete common alerts, beyond a slightly increased credit payout. They pop up maybe one every hour or so, depending. Compare rare alerts, which can occur at times of day inconvenient for many players, some of whom are unable or unwilling to shell out cash at this phase, that they can be erratic in general frequency and pattern of rewards, nevermind how often they hand out weapon blueprints for the sake of keeping the important items rare. This is discouraging.

But, every alert coming with a [?] reward, or rewards being random per-player would probably be equally discouraging. Because either you devalue everything (case A) or people get screwed over by the drop system (case B). And the latter case is no fun for anyone, as I'm sure people who try to build their own warframes have found.

Thus, a simple proposal comes to mind-

Completing common alerts rewards you with 'victory points'. These VPs can then be spent in a special Marketplace-esque section to purchase things that you actually want or need - all of the stuff you might usually get from a rare alert; artifacts, blueprints, etc. etc.

Cheaper VP 'rewards' could be small caches of rare materials or stuff that can be hard to find in large quantities without excessive grinding or the drop system feeling generous.

-------------------------------------------------------

That's all, folks. Lemme know what you think!

[Mibu]

So... TL;DR Develop a currency system for completing alerts. Gotcha.

[Mebhin]

Badgers of Justice make a return...

Tho seriously. I agree. The game as it stands right now inbetween grinding Earth/Pluto for Rubido and Mods when I can get up the effort is basically sitting at the System screen doing stuff on my other monitor checking each alert as it comes up.

It's very much like the equivalent of camping a rare spawn in an MMO. Except without the added fun of guild chat, general chat, other players popping by to see what you're doing and the whole 'random player encounter' that makes MMOs so darn addictive.

I hope we get some sort of incentive in the future to actually PLAY the game to get things rather than sitting mostly AFK in what is equivalent to 'town' minus the fun of a chat channel or any sort of community to while away the hours with.

There aren't even any flying mounts to sit around on various important NPCs with! Sheesh! (this is sarcasm...please don't hurt me)

Edited January 24, 2013 by Mebhin

[cypherhalo]

Nice proposal. While I understand the need for grindng/farming, making it too random is just frustrating. Your proposal gives players a sense of progression which I think is an important thing. I can better handle the grinding if I feel like I'm getting somewhere.

[Shackram]

I believe the alert system needs to be reworked, because having to go thru' 3 layers of RNG for a random item that can't be gotten any other way is pretty convulted.

There's the RNG that generates when and where the alert pops up.

Then the RNG that decides if the event has a random reward or just credits.

And then the RNG that decides what the random reward is.

Your proposal makes sense, i like it.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Shackram

[Arcalane]

So... TL;DR Develop a currency system for completing alerts. Gotcha.

Pretty much. The idea is to make the alert system viable for everyone, not just people who can be at their computers near-24/7, without tying the acquisition of rarer items and materials to Credit purchases since credits can be obtained simply by playing any mission.

It also serves to reduce what's sprung up recently with people sitting around not playing the game and simply waiting for a rare alert with something good. That shouldn't be encouraged - we're in the beta phase; the devs need data, feedback, and people looking for bugs/glitches; all of these can be gained through actually playing the game, not camping the alerts system.

[UkyoSonoda]

Lately Ive been doing them all because it seems like the alerts have a boosted mod and material drop rate as well.

[therealzothaq]

The points would have to be pretty high, otherwise people wouldn't buy platinum.

[Ronteque]

This is definitely a good idea. The current alert system is poorly put together. Even when a "?" alert comes up, most people are just camping around the forum waiting for someone to post the reward before even doing it.

Edit: On second thoughts, this idea HAS to get in! This is one of the best thing I have heard that will actually help to increase the longevity of Warframe.

Edited January 25, 2013 by Ronteque

[aheed]

I support this idea. The catalyst and reactor are far to hard to come by without a method of farm.

[Volume]

I suggested badge of justices before as well, but the more I think about it, I'm not sure if it's a good idea.

If I was a dev I'd feel mixed about it because then you have people who will just play for 8 hours a day and never buy anything. Not that this is bad for the game, because it gives other people who might buy something companions to play with, but still. People will out-farm faster than is expected. Content will be consumed faster than it is created.

Some people will get their 700 badges unlock all they need in a day or too, and stop playing.

The current system, as punishing as it is, gives you a reason to log in every day. And gives you a reason to do certain missions. And by that I mean it's a lol-forced-grind, but still.

[aheed]

They charge for mags yet we can grind for those, why should catalysts and reactors be the exception? There always will be people who won't pay for anything the same goes for league too but i'm pretty sure the number of people who would take shortcuts and boosts outweighs the people who would like to farm their stuff.

[Bro-Doper]

I think the way it`s set up now is great. There is nothing you cant get from actually playing (besides the color pallet and avatars and the contributor stuff). Even if the stuff is a pain in the butt to get ( like orokin reactors and catalysts) but that's half the fun of the game for me. If I have to get lucky to get exactly what I want I feel that much better when I do finally get it. And If I ever feel like I really need something I'll shell over 10 bucks, it's no big deal. Although I agree they need a better incentive to play the common alerts an even rare alerts.

Edited January 27, 2013 by Bro-Doper

[aheed]

The problem with reactors and catalysts is they block progress and in over 40 hours of play i've never seen one obtained in game without purchase. A bit more than a pain in my eyes. And you should NEVER REQUIRE LUCK for progress. never ever ever.

[Tekkaman-Blade]

I like this idea.