So, What *would* You Like To See From Events?

[Phaenur]

It's been the same story with every event from the Fusion MOA swarm through to today - even as the bar(s) slide inexorably towards completion the forums are flooded with complaint threads.  Many of these have good points, some I even agree with, but there are always a few that just rant and I've only ever seen a handful that go beyond criticism to proposed solutions.  That said, there are important issues raised by the various threads, so I'm going to summarize them before I get to the main thrust of this post.

 

1. All players need to be able to contribute

Main Offender(s): Fusion MOA Invasion

DE heard the feedback on the first event and responded amazingly well.  Every event since then has had at least some content at low levels, and the current one hasn't gone past Mars levels while I've been on (not saying much, but still).

 

2. The operations are inevitably too grindy (the big one right now)

Main Offender(s): All, particularly the current one

As has been noted before, grinding is pretty much the name of the game right now (it doesn't have to be, and I'll get to that in a minute).  Some of the operations have actually given a relief from the grinds we'd normally be performing, whether through spawning Fusion MOAs in every Corpus mission or mixing up the enemy levels aboard the Formorians, but since there's actually a target things feel worse instead of better - and some, like the one going on right now, are unashamedly limited in scope.

 

3. The events seem small, no matter how big they're supposed to be

Main Offender(s): Sling Stone/Fomorians

This is one I'm really going to lay into in the rest of the post, but it's a serious concern considering that the events are currently our Big Epic Moments.  In order to facilitate the grind, though, the Fomorian levels were often smaller than corresponding Galleon maps, and the Corpus Scoutships aren't really any different from the standard maps either.  Spawn rates for the Fusion MOAs had a similar problem, and the spy drones were kind of the inverse - there were way more of them than I think most players expected, frequently entire swarms in a single room.  Considering the potential for fun - and, of course, undistilled awesomeness - in events, I'd say that this more than anything else needs to be a key focus for future efforts.

 

4. Players only play up to the reward targets unless they're really, really devoted

Main Offender(s): Everything but the Fusion MOAs

I agree here, and would personally prefer the reward conditions weren't published until the event was completed (successfully or not, it doesn't matter).  This is less because players only go to that target, though, and more because they feel forced to get at least that target - and that, of course, means a different grind than the one they're comfortable with.  My guess is that removing the numbers would make players more interested in contributing instead of less, partly out of self-interest but mostly because of the qualities of the event itself.

 

 

 

All right, now for the thread title to earn its keep.  Personally, I felt that the Fomorian event was the best of the bunch.  Grindy, to be sure, but so is everything else in the game, and the looming threat of the penalty kept us blowing those things out of space all weekend.  It was fast-paced, it was hectic, and since there was a genuine chance we could lose, if only in isolated locations, we went through a much greater effort to win.  All the same, though, there were really only two mission types - Fomorian bombing runs and Infested Defense (Endless or Mobile based on preference) for the greatest concentration of enemies and thus Corruptors.  I'd like to see something on the same scale in the future, maybe even a second wave of Fomorians (or a Corpus equivalent, or Infested Fomorian hulks), but with a different model for destruction.  Here's where we get into my suggestion - a multistage capital ship assault, the sort of thing the Fomorians could have been.  The by-now famous Cells thread included occasional mentions of this sort of thing, and I think it could be set up for community events beautifully.

 

This sort of event would involve, like Sling Stone, the arrival of multiple massive ships threatening something Tenno hold dear (like resources).  Unlike Sling Stone, each ship would get what is essentially its own temporary planetary map, divided into four or five "tiers."  Each tier would need a certain number of successes to push through to the next.  A possible layout would be a couple dozen Exterminates to clear the docking areas, followed by split into Spy and Mobile Defense missions to get the doors open.  After that we would ransack the ship, wrecking generators and capturing important enemy personnel - and, from time to time, defending areas of the ship we'd occupied (Sabotage, Capture, Defense).  Finally, we'd seize control of the ship with the aid of Tenno specialists who had already been captured and brought aboard (Rescue, except the destinations are the old Deception nav rooms), perform a final cluster of mobile defense missions to let the Lotus frolic in the network, and ride triumphantly off into the sunset.

 

This has the advantage of the ship actually feeling massive, practically enforcing multiple mission types, and allowing players to cooperate in a less...awkward manner than before (color-coded Corruptors, kills credited to one player only, and invite-only keys are all offenders here).  There would be some sense of genuine coherence between missions, whereas the Fomorians felt like they could have been a swarm of tiny ships instead, and that could really only help player immersion.  Like the Fomorians there would be a genuine threat of losing individual parts of the event even if we were successful, and even more than the Fomorians the model could be generalized to other tilesets - want to conquer a planet?  Settlement maps.  Kick the enemy out of the Asteroid Belt?  Outpost and Mine maps.  Clear Infested space hulks?  Infested skins on anything.

 

I think my template here has some solid potential for future events, but I'm not dead-set on it either.  I'd love to hear other ideas on what events "could be" and how you might set them up to avoid the problems - or build on the strengths - of the system so far.  So, what would you like to see from events?  Go ahead and tell us.

[123Olympian]

This event has been the best, wonderful amount of effort than the others.

 

-Besides the 30% more grind.

Edited August 11, 2013 by 123Olympian

[Zareek]

As long as there are no exclusive rewards for anyone, and the rewards doesnt require 50 hours of hardcore gaming, then Im happy for the most part.

[Phaenur]

I'm glad someone thinks so (unless that was just very subtle sarcasm, which that edit suggests), but let's be honest here, it's been just under two days by the clock and we've already got on the order of fifteen pages of discussion between those four alone.  And, like I said in the OP, there are genuine criticisms and not just simple griping.  That's why I posted this thread - do you want to see more event's like today's?  Or like the last one?  What model would you like to see more of?

[kyuosumaru]

well considering how there is a multiparty bug I would like to see multiparty events like for example

 

the tenno raid a orokin void tower where a lot of corrupted are there we go through it doing numerous objectives after that we fight a very powerful boss which could also have phases in order to beat it

 

... after they fix the buggy invite system and cpu usage.

[Aggh]

 

4. Players only play up to the reward targets unless they're really, really devoted

Main Offender(s): Everything but the Fusion MOAs

I agree here, and would personally prefer the reward conditions weren't published until the event was completed (successfully or not, it doesn't matter).  This is less because players only go to that target, though, and more because they feel forced to get at least that target - and that, of course, means a different grind than the one they're comfortable with.  My guess is that removing the numbers would make players more interested in contributing instead of less, partly out of self-interest but mostly because of the qualities of the event itself.

 

 

 

Actually, it was the exact opposite.  Even in clans, the addition of the mod rewards has increased activity significantly.  Did you see people spamming LF CV in recruiting before they were added? 

 

The only reason people kept grinding for the fusion moa event is because it actually looked like we might fail.  It hasn't been the case for the other events.

 

These events definitely need proper match making to avoid chat spam and make it more reasonable for pug players to do these events.

Edited August 11, 2013 by Aggh

[Shion963]

An event mission that doesn't drastically ramp the difficulty if players aren't part of a full cell.

[Enguzrad]

Well I tried to came up with my own event idea, maybe you can find something which could be used in future: https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/93131-event-idea/
Btw I haven't done single run in this event yet. And even with these nice mods as reward, I don't feel like doing it. But it looks like we are going to win anyway.

[DiabolusUrsus]

If I were running the event, it would go a little more like this:

1. Tenno must embark on alert missions that give access to Corpus Solar Rail satellite stations, and perform a series of successive, increasingly difficult hacking sequences to trigger a system scan with the satellite's sensors. The scan temporarily reveals a fixed set of 'Void Ruptures' and allows the Tenno to access them for a limited amount of time. The idea is that while the Corpus are ahead of other factions in terms of accessing the Void, they are still leagues behind where the Orokin were before they went extinct, and Corpus ships leave trace signatures when they enter the Void. When I say fixed set, I mean that it is pre-decided which of the ruptures leads to a ship with a Corpus scout.

2. The Tenno must select one of the ruptures to venture into in search of the Corpus ships. If they pick the wrong rupture, they get sucked into a derelict ship adrift in the void, which features a new 'Void Storm' hazard. The conditions of this hazard randomly warp corrputed enemies onto the ship, cause lightning storms that ravage tiles of the ship and dynamically alter levels of gravity. The Tenno must make their way through the ship, re-enable its shielding systems, and then escape the ship as its reactor struggles to keep the shields running against the aforementioned storm. I know, I know, timer this, timer that. But it's immersive, and as a result of the ship being in such critical condtion, its security lockdown functions aren't in working order. Upon completion of the mission, the ship goes *boom* and the rupture closes permanently after the Tenno escape. (This is on an individual basis.)

3. Upon selecting the correct rupture, the Tenno are transported onto a Corpus ship tasked with capturing the resident scout(s). However, these capture missions function a bit differently. The numbers of scouts on board scale with the number of party members (if they don't already...). If the Tenno break stealth (e.g. trigger an alarm) before reaching the scouts, instead of the scouts just sitting there and waiting for the inevitable, a timer will trigger and the scouts will begin moving with an escort squad to the nearest escape shuttle. The Tenno must then work quickly to intercept the escaping scouts or fail the mission if all scouts escape. Failing the mission results in the scouts relocating, and the Corpus being the shrewd pragmatists that they are will open new decoy ruptures in the system in case the Tenno try sniffing around for their scouts again.

 

4. Upon successfully capturing all remaining scouts, there is a 33% chance of a secondary objective where the Tenno must plant a datacore into the ship's communications system for the Lotus. She uses the interface to raise false communications with other Scout ships supposedly relaying information about Tenno movements in the system. If done successfully, the next time Tenno scan for ruptures in a different system, the Corpus will relay a short message to their comrades, identifying their location.

My suggestion for the event is a bit convoluted, yes... and it makes use of an alarming number of timers. However, I feel like it would be a lot more immersive, and the Tenno would have the opportunity to really feel the 'danger' Alad mentioned of being drawn into the Void storms. It would certainly be much better than the current system of "Do these generic standard missions under specific conditions."

[Agent_of_Change]

1. All players need to be able to contribute

Main Offender(s): Fusion MOA Invasion

DE heard the feedback on the first event and responded amazingly well.  Every event since then has had at least some content at low levels, and the current one hasn't gone past Mars levels while I've been on (not saying much, but still).

 

Can't agree more, and this event did a good job keeping it accessible but as a caveat I would add that it needs to be more than a cake walk as well.  An accessible gimee mission is almost as bad as an inaccessible mission.  I would rephrase your number 1 to this:

 

1. All players need to be able to contribute and be challenged while doing so.

 

 

2. The operations are inevitably too grindy (the big one right now)

Main Offender(s): All, particularly the current one

As has been noted before, grinding is pretty much the name of the game right now (it doesn't have to be, and I'll get to that in a minute).  Some of the operations have actually given a relief from the grinds we'd normally be performing, whether through spawning Fusion MOAs in every Corpus mission or mixing up the enemy levels aboard the Formorians, but since there's actually a target things feel worse instead of better - and some, like the one going on right now, are unashamedly limited in scope.

 

Bingo.  The main issue with the grindyness of this mission in particular is there was next to nothing to distinguish the phases from each other.  Essentially it felt like there was just a reset on the counter twice rather than actually advancing anything.  If anything I would have had phase 1 be what phase 3 was and then had each subsequent phase change something drastically.

 

3. The events seem small, no matter how big they're supposed to be

Main Offender(s): Sling Stone/Fomorians

This is one I'm really going to lay into in the rest of the post, but it's a serious concern considering that the events are currently our Big Epic Moments.  In order to facilitate the grind, though, the Fomorian levels were often smaller than corresponding Galleon maps, and the Corpus Scoutships aren't really any different from the standard maps either.  Spawn rates for the Fusion MOAs had a similar problem, and the spy drones were kind of the inverse - there were way more of them than I think most players expected, frequently entire swarms in a single room.  Considering the potential for fun - and, of course, undistilled awesomeness - in events, I'd say that this more than anything else needs to be a key focus for future efforts.

 

I agree and disagree here.  I think a sense of scale is missing yes, but without meaningful narrative we won't really get that.  Absent that and until 1 and 2 are nailed down bigger means longer and that would currently just be a terrible idea.

 

4. Players only play up to the reward targets unless they're really, really devoted

Main Offender(s): Everything but the Fusion MOAs

I agree here, and would personally prefer the reward conditions weren't published until the event was completed (successfully or not, it doesn't matter).  This is less because players only go to that target, though, and more because they feel forced to get at least that target - and that, of course, means a different grind than the one they're comfortable with.  My guess is that removing the numbers would make players more interested in contributing instead of less, partly out of self-interest but mostly because of the qualities of the event itself.

 

I think De's math works out that if enough people hit the reward targets the event succeeds, and if it doesn't they should reevaluate their math so that it does.  That's the solution really.  Personally though, i loved that the personal reward was delayed in it's announcement, and personally i really hope people who decided not to help out the community while saying "I'll let someone else do it" miss out on the rewards because of it.  If DE wants to keep us on our toes well, we now know that they can and will do so, I guess you should participate just in case or stop caring about getting all the widgets.

 

----

 

Overall i think your ideas are interesting. But what i want to see from a future event is for the event itself to be content not something put together from pre-existing stuff.  I liked this event more than all previous events right up until it became clear that rounds 2 and 3  were more of the same to fill time. my recipe for a great event.

 

1. spread accessibility and challenge for all players.

 

2. Carrot and Stick: make global rewards that affect everyone and have consequences for failure.

 

3. Personal rewards if any should be kept close to the chest and only hinted at if necessary.  No specifics about targets or what the reward is until mid/late in the game.

 

4. Narrative linked

 

5. Multi-phased with each element significantly changed from the last in a progressive manner.  The changes should be significant enough to distinguish the stages from each other and be a change of pace.

 

6. multiple mission types/new mission types/ event only mission type.

 

7. new content, if you aren't going to go with changing phases give us something we haven't dealt with before as the event.  use a new mission type or tileset as the event only missions and then AFTER the event allow it into the game proper.

 

8. Find a way to score an event that weights skill, ability, and familiarity with the game and warframes over being able and willing to speed run missions with at little sleep as possible.

 

9. Encourage teamwork and community interaction.

Edited August 12, 2013 by Agent_of_Change

[Sni7ch]

I want options. I would use this event and explained what I would have done. 

 

- Farming the 2 parts of the key is fine. 

- The key figures out the group size (1, 2-3, and 4)

- Groups of 1 will get X points with enemies at around level 70

- Groups of 2-3 will get X points with enemies at around level 50

- Groups of 4 will get X points with enemies at around level 30

[General_Krull]

Why not have an event where everyone can contribute in some way, and I mean multiple ways of getting points. Like in this event it could be like points for the captures and at the same time there could be optional missions to cause distractions that give x amount of points. So people who get bored of running trough bloom infested ships can go to some different missions to kill corpus, sabotage or whatever. 

 

The problem with this event isn't the concept though, it's the mission types and how they work. Like if you can breeze past everything, ignore all enemies except targets and still get full points there's something wrong. 

 

Oh yes as I think and type at the same time another way of making this different is having kill count/time and other performance related things affect the points. Like you if you kill everything, complete mission in some par time and capture everything you should get more points than if you just rush. If all of these contributed to scoring people would be more inclined to actually play the mission instead of Super Sonic Racing.

[MeteorKing]

I didn't read anything here becuase TL;DR, but I have had an idea for an event that I thought might be cool, so if it's similar to anything posted above, just call me out.

 

Whatever the event lore is, the actual task that the group would have to complete is somewhat more complicated than a normal mission, but still requires teamwork.  So what would happen is you fight your way through a few rooms until you locate the control pannel, wherever it may be.  Once at the control pannel you will have to fight through hacking puzzles to bring down shields on reactors.  While you're doing this there are dues coming to kill you, because, duh, you're messing with their ship.  This sounds easy, but the catch is that the only way to end the mission is to blow up the ship.  The only way to blow up the ship is by destorying both ship reactors (or whatever, you gotta break two things).  So you're sitting there, mashing away at hacking puzzles and two of your fellow tenno dash off to break the ship while the final party member is left to protect you while you do important computer stuff.  Once both reactors are down the usual timer of self-destruction starts ticking, and the group quickly exits the soon-to-be-exploded ship.

 

IT SOUNDED A LOT COOLER IN MY HEAD, SHUT UP!