[Richard Talks:] Mobile Defense

[Yzjdriel]

Hey there.  This one will probably be pretty short, so let's get right to it.

Like all discussions, this will be better if it's actually discussed.  So please, share your thoughts!

I will not be talking about nerfs, powercreep, meta, or anything else that invariably ends up being a hot-button issue anywhere in this thread.  I would ask you all to do the same when responding.

Now then.

MOBILE DEFENSE MISSIONS

You think they're awesome, you think they're a chore, you think they're a darn sight better than Deception even though that isn't saying much, whatever you think (or don't think) about them, Mobile Defense missions are a thing that exists.  And just as everything else in this game has its own place and its own issues, so do these.

Here's my take on them:

Simply Put:  Pick up USB, run, plug USB into computer, stop the bad guys from blowing up the computer, rinse & repeat.

Pros:  A refreshing take on the 'point defense' idea, this mission type is not something you see in every game - though I'd be lying if I told you it's unique to Warframe; the physical progression to the next terminal while the enemies scale up is a real plus, as it really feels like you're moving forward in difficulty as you move forward through the map.

Cons:  Terminals have a bad habit of spawning in the same room in some tilesets; while that's not bad in itself, having all three plug-ins in the same room is just plain dumb.  And then there's that long-standing bug with host migration.

What to Change:  In my opinion, there's nothing that wrong with the mode itself save for the boring, repetitive tilesets, the bugs, and the lackluster spawn rates of enemies.  So to fix that, I propose something simple: no matter the number of "legal" consoles in a single tile, make only one of them be an actual defense target (with the exception of that Saturn tile where you do a straight Defense at the end, since that's special).  In the meantime, fix the bugs and buff spawn rates.

Bottom Line:  Bugs are bad and should be fixed, and moving to a terminal that's not even across the room just to hack into the computers from there doesn't make a whole lot of sense when we could be moving to a different room to access what could at least believably be a different system.

 

I would appreciate your constructive criticism on this topic.

Have fun and be safe, Tenno.

Edited April 21, 2017 by Yzjdriel

[Naftal]

Biggest problem with Mdef is no rewards. They're like 10min missions with rewards equal to 1min capture or something.

Also don't use colored text on forums, using default color changes it accordingly to people using either light or dark background.

[RealisticName]

i like survival better coz i can run around hitting people with my mace

anyway thats my opinion on this whole thing

Edited April 19, 2017 by RealisticName

[Yzjdriel]

10 minutes ago, Naftal said:

Biggest problem with Mdef is no rewards. They're like 10min missions with rewards equal to 1min capture or something.

The reward issue isn't one that pertains specifically to MD.  Though I agree that the tables in general need to be adjusted, I'm not sure how far I'd like to see them adjusted.  Besides, that's a whole different thread full of issues to discuss - and believe me, I have a thread about mission rewards in the works.

5 minutes ago, RealisticName said:

i like survival better coz i can run around hitting people with my mace

anyway thats my opinion on this whole thing

Your opinion on Mobile Defense is that you like Survival better.  Thanks, mate, that's really helpful.  

[RealisticName]

 

Just now, Yzjdriel said:

The reward issue isn't one that pertains specifically to MD.  Though I agree that the tables in general need to be adjusted, I'm not sure how far I'd like to see them adjusted.  Besides, that's a whole different thread full of issues to discuss - and believe me, I have a thread about mission rewards in the works.

Your opinion on Mobile Defense is that you like Survival better.  Thanks, mate, that's really helpful.  

[(XBOX)CannyJack]

So, if you keep the normal "plug baby into machine" play (my wife calls it "the baby," as in, "who in the hell is carrying the baby?") then there isn't much you can do to add interest to the game. I like the idea of keeping consoles separate, making you actually cover some ground, and of course the bugs should be addressed. 

What I'd like to see is twisting the mode a bit, give it some variety or additional challenge. For instance:

Simultaneous defense: you have to defend 2 consoles at the same time, and you have to plug in the datamass simultaneously (somewhat like the Friendship Doors). Problematic for solo players, but if you're alone, it just wouldn't activate that way or something. 

Active Hack: you don't just drop the datamass into the machine and let the Lotus do her thing; one of you actually has to perform actions to hack the console. It would require inventing a new hacking minigame of some sort (or a "VR World" thing or whatever). Biggest problem, again, is that this would require a squad, since a solo player couldn't do it.

Destroy the Data Cores: while hacking a console and defending it, every so often the Lotus says "I've disabled protective measures on one of their data cores. Go and destroy it." You have a (reasonable) time limit to find and blow up a data core that has been unlocked. It's on the map, you just have to get to it and shoot it. Alternatively, perhaps she says "I've located a Supply Cache, go and hack the lock to empty it." You run to it and hack the container, getting something similar to a cache reward (so basically a combination of Mobile Defense + Light Spy). 

Edited April 19, 2017 by (XB1)CannyJack

[FireSegment]

17 hours ago, Yzjdriel said:

(with the exception of that Saturn tile where you do a straight Defense at the end, since that's special)

i have no idea which room u talking about, dont recall any long hallway with a MD spot in grinner ship tileset so far.

about the main idea im also confuse, if we only need to defense 1 "legal" target, what make it different than a larger defense ? or do u mean when we finish defense we bring the datamass to other console to active mini-boss like Lynx/Manic or something? (that would be cool actually, however feel really similar to some Sabotage map)

You are right on MD mission are fine the way it is, just that talking about it now make me realize DE spend all their good idea on a mission to Sabotage now already, we have meaningful defense phase on most of them, and it have cache, puzzle(cold/fire one), miniboss (underwater tileset manic, void/derelic lynx and the twin) ....so ... yeah ... MD could take a lot of designed thing from sabotage to improve it own, since MD is an extremely old mission type. 

 

edit: what the [Richard Talks:] in the title mean? Also i must say that u font color is really hard to read in dark theme (i need to ctrl+a to read)

Edited April 20, 2017 by FireSegment

[Yzjdriel]

On 4/20/2017 at 3:34 AM, FireSegment said:

i have no idea which room u talking about, dont recall any long hallway with a MD spot in grinner ship tileset so far.

about the main idea im also confuse, if we only need to defense 1 "legal" target, what make it different than a larger defense ? or do u mean when we finish defense we bring the datamass to other console to active mini-boss like Lynx/Manic or something? (that would be cool actually, however feel really similar to some Sabotage map)

You are right on MD mission are fine the way it is, just that talking about it now make me realize DE spend all their good idea on a mission to Sabotage now already, we have meaningful defense phase on most of them, and it have cache, puzzle(cold/fire one), miniboss (underwater tileset manic, void/derelic lynx and the twin) ....so ... yeah ... MD could take a lot of designed thing from sabotage to improve it own, since MD is an extremely old mission type. 

 

edit: what the [Richard Talks:] in the title mean? Also i must say that u font color is really hard to read in dark theme (i need to ctrl+a to read)

The MD on Saturn has you defend two consoles in the same room, then defend a cryopod that comes out of a friendship door.

I'm saying that sometimes you hit a tile where there are two consoles that could be MD objectives, and the game wants you to defend both of them (this usually happens on Corpus tilesets).  I'm saying that the game shouldn't select more than one console per tile as a defense objective, making the move between each console be longer than five feet.

 

[Richard Talks:] is a tag referencing the fact that this is a series of related threads in which I discuss the state of the game as i see it - Richard is my primary RP OC, not my name, but it's a way to collect all my threads under one search heading.  That's a couple of people who've taken issue with the text color now - I'll fix that up.