Alert System Rework

[DaChoo]

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Alright, let me start by saying that the alert system is cool. However, it is far from perfect in execution and could be quite easily improved with a few tweaks (which the recent alert system update forwent in favor of a simple time/duration tweak). I posted this to Reddit for some discussion, and am now posting it here in the hopes it gets noticed/receives more input, but I'll link it here for now.

 

http://www.reddit.com/r/Warframe/comments/1hq26g/alerts_why_they_suck_and_how_to_fix_them/

 

Oh, and my font here got screwed up, don't even know how.

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Let me start with my assumptions. If you disagree with these, then it is basically a given that you will also disagree with everything following.

The alert system is meant to

A) incentivize logging in and playing when an alert comes up

B) incentivize breaking up loot/progression runs with temporary high-reward missions for variety

C) act as a limiter for high-demand goods, allowing them to be obtained but in limited quantity over time

 

I submit that an alert system could perform better in one or more categories than the current one, without any harm to the others.

 

A) currently, the alert system is terrible with regards to incentivizing logging on and playing. Alert rewards are telegraphed in the Twitter feed and are non-randomized. This means an alert is either definitely worth doing or not worth doing, and there is no middle ground. Additionally, alerts become less and less appealing as you accumulate more and more alert rewards. Fewer and fewer alerts will offer something you want, and whether these pop up at a time when you are awake/available is pure luck. Alerts which are not beneficial when you are available become a source of frustration (another missed loot drop, basically), and alerts which are beneficial at a bad time are even worse. The only good alerts are ones which you need when you need them, and there is no gratifying feeling-you didn't earn it. At all.

B) Same as 'A'. Why stop what you're doing unless the alert is the exact one you need?

C) Alerts are a good limiter for high demand goods, but... Not on the basis of effort or need, but simply of being there at the right time (alerts aren't exactly challenging...)

 

So, given these problems, can't DE do anything to improve this frustrating system? An easy improvement for A) and B) would be to make alert rewards truly random, like a login reward that can be earned multiple times in a day. Sure, this would keep luck a factor in earning artifacts that you want, but at least missing an alert isn't specifically any worse than missing any other, and every alert has the chance of giving what you want, meaning whenever an alert becomes available (which would be less frequently but for longer than now), there is a compelling reason to do this.

 

So basically, make alert rewards random, based on a loot table.

 

Responses to expected arguments below

 

A popular counterpoint appears to be, "I already don't like when I don't get the mod/BP drops I wanted, why would I want that for alerts?" This may appear to be a reasonable statement, but let me explain this curtly; you need the disappointment to make the actual reward... rewarding. And now, with an analogy. You think you like the cookie for the taste, but it's only because of the bitterness of the vegetables. Too many cookies, and now you're sick of them and don't want any anymore (and no, being disappointed/rewarded by the Twitter feed doesn't count, as you exert almost no effort to check it. Winning and losing give no feeling without investment). I never heard more complaints about grind and farming than my time playing MMOs, but guess what? When all was said and done and they got the loot, that was when the real complaints started... nothing to do, to aim for, etc. Let me quote a post by u/Ivence, which was worded splendidly.

"My biggest problem is similar to what you're stating, the things that attract players to games like Warframe are twofold: The grind and The gamble. The grind is that continuous reward from leveling up your account, suits and weapons and the gamble is the sense of playing the slots you get every time you pick up a mod, finish a tower key, finish a defense extraction wave, etc etc. The current reward missions aren't a gamble though, they're a mystery box with a window cut into the side of it and they need some major rethinking."

 

Another argument is, "I want to be able to get my stuff in a reliable space of time, without counting on RNG". My response to this is; rethink the game you're playing. Everything else is RNG dependent. The alert system is actually quite anomalous. More importantly, Warframe has 2 main components; gameplay and items/progression. The gameplay can be self-satisfying, but then why do you care how long it takes to get items? You're still playing the game. If the items/progression are what keeps you hooked, then try to understand that it is precisely the fact that items have a rarity that makes them difficult to obtain that makes them valuable to have. Alerts nullify this value, by and large-they are unchallenging and only deny access to those who are not online, basically (you can ride along in a party of 4 and still earn all benefits). You need an artificial cap to make your effort valuable. This could be grind, but then the alert system would have to be majorly reworked. RNG is a faster method to achieve a similar result.

 

"Why change it? It's fine as is." Well, aside from the listed reasons (which include improving the capability of alerts to perform the function for which they  exist in the first place), a good additional benefit is that this would make the structure of alerts much more easily mod-able. Now loot tables could be generated by the enemy type in the alert destination, mission type, or enemy difficulty. Currently, this would be strange, as a loot would be determined beforehand, then assigned to an appropriate planet in a pointless effort to stay thematic, at least on the surface. Alert reward tables could be improved by how frequently you do them, whereas now... everyone gets the same prize, whether it's the only alert you've ever done or the thousandth. There is no reason whatsoever to do alerts which don't give you the prize you wanted.

 

Also, as an aside, this change would improve the cohesiveness of the game mechanics. Just like mod drops, boss drops, defense rewards, and login bonuses, alerts should be a mystery box that you pick up with high hopes, not a shop where you go in, look if you want anything, and take it if the price is right. That's what platinum is for.

 

(I apologize for any logical mistakes, I am tired as I write this and have already noticed and fixed several obvious errors as I was writing. Rest assured I'll clean this up in the morning. For now, thanks for reading, and just to get this out there, I LOVE this game. My criticisms are because I want it to succeed so very badly and think my ideas may be helpful in the long run, not because I feel personally gypped or anything like that.)

 

[Tempera]

Another argument is, "I want to be able to get my stuff in a reliable space of time, without counting on RNG". My response to this is; rethink the game you're playing. Everything else is RNG dependent. The alert system is actually quite anomalous.

Just as a note; the RNG system, as it stands, is incredibly S#&$ty.

 

The current alert system is pretty awful due to the reasons you've stated, but I don't think that moving the alert system towards the same RNG system as the rest of the game is the right way to go.

[Seeryxlas]

Might want to wait a bit as the alert system was JUST redone and was put in motion, give it some more time before doing a judgement like this (though this would be VERY valid if this was posted a month ago, very very valid.) 

On a side note the the alerts are not based on the twitter feed, the twitter feed is based on the alert RNG. Before you have to check in with others who completed it and you could never tell what in the world it was(resulting in very frustrated people)

[Zantestsuken]

currently, the alert system is terrible with regards to incentivizing logging on and playing. Alert rewards are telegraphed in the Twitter feed and are non-randomized. This means an anlert is either definitely worth doing or not worth doing, and there is no middle ground.

 

LOOOOL so I'm not the only one that got irritated by this point. When I see a ? on an Alert I was curious to find out what it dropped. But when I found out that by looking on Twitter you could just prevent some time losses, the bulls**t alarm started to scream.

Thank god I'm not alone, DaChoo thanks.

[VeronikaStripper]

Check this thread for a good way to stop the irritation.

 

https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/75118-alert-point-system-or-alternate/