Issues with Sortie Reward Table

[GrimMyfanwy]

So currently, I feel that there are some glaring issues with the sortie reward table. The first and foremost is this:

Having an Exilus Adapter (EA) BP in the rewards list is a horrible choice, and I can only think that changing it from a fully built adaptor, as it was before TTW is an oversight. But just in case this change was intentional, let me put the two main reasons why this is bad.

• It's expensive and time-consuming to build: The EA takes not one but two forma to make, meaning in build time we are talking 3 full days, the same amount of time it takes to build a warframe. I'm pretty sure that the majority of DE's plat return is on store purchases of upgrades like formas, Catalysts, and such, but asking 35 plat worth of stuff be used to build a reward is unreasonable. Especially when that reward is...
• Available in-game with no RNG gate: Cephalon Simaris offers these for 50k standing any time you want it, and honestly, it is not hard to fully get your daily standing in one or two missions. So why is something that is so easily attained in-game also on the sortie reward list, and as a RARE reward at that? I will bet cash that most players buy EA when they need them. You gave hardcore F2P a way to get them in-game with Simaris, leave it at that.
• It's not that valuable: Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's not useful, it is, but it doesn't have as much value as the other things on the rare section by a longshot. A player's demand for forma is endless; with all the weapon choices in-game, a catalyst will always be appreciated; And even reactors are welcomed due to sentinels and companions, but with the EA, most players are only going to want 7-8 at most for their main frames. You only will ever need as many EA as you do frames, since they are the only things you can use them on, and most players only use them on frames they really like. That means they have a limited viability as a reward.

Another issue is the Forma: The problem is a forma isn't equal to a Reactor or Catalyst BP, it's less. You can get a forma BP from 90%+ of the relics in the game, meaning you can farm for them at any time, you CAN'T do this for Reactors or Catalyst. By having the forma built and ready to use, you added a good amount of value to it, because it wasn't just the materials that were saved, it was that 24-hour build time. It's this build gate that is the thing that holds players back with forma, not their rarity. But that still doesn't bring it up to being worthy of a rare drop.

Finally, there is endo. Endo is something a player is always going to need, yes, and it should be a reward, but with the introduction of Ayatan sculptures and their stars, endo is pretty plentiful in the game as is. This caused the value of the endo reward in sorties to players at this point to plummet. the base reward is only 33% more than the average sculptures turn in and actually less than the rarest sculpture. If you want endo reward to mean something in sorties, other than disappointment, they should both be raised by at least 50%. The reasoning behind this is that if you were to draw 3 excavation missions in a sortie, you would have a total of 12 "A" rotations. Heiracon has taught us that this would give on average 1200 endo total, but take much less time than the more difficult sortie version. Sorties, with the additional handicaps, should reward players much more than what normal missions would, that is their whole point.

Look, in my opinion, sortie rewards are a mess, and it is causing a lot of hard feelings to a large chunk of the player base doing them because of how we are doing the sorties for the riven mods, whereas before, most players skipped sorties unless it had an event weapon attached to it they wanted. Personally, I have played every sortie since TWW, and have only gotten 4 riven mods, and it's supposed to be a common drop, I have had to buy them at extortion-level prices just so I can enjoy this part of the game. It would have been nice over these past few weeks that, when I didn't get the reward I wanted, I had gotten something that still felt like an actual reward. Remember, the players doing sorties aren't fresh-faced MR5's who just jumped in anymore, they are players who have cleared all the relays and can be considered reasonably geared and experienced players at that point. The rewards should be aimed at that demographic.

 

EDit: I also wanted to say thank you for the game DE, and I hope everyone there has a joyous holiday season.

 

Edit Edit: Removed hyperbole and gross exageration of figures on endo.

Edited December 11, 2016 by GrimKonstantin