Problems with the game's progression and F2P model

(sleeepy) #1

So I’ve played 6-7 hours today and wanted to post my feedback. A lot of what I’m going to say is going to be negative so I’ll just start by saying DB is still fun in its core gameplay but this latest patch brought a lot of problems.

  1. Why can’t we play matchmaking from the start? Why do we have to endure 8v8 airstrike spam for so long before we can actually play the game. I’m fine with a restriction on ranked at the beginning but please make unranked matchmaking the same as ranked. If you really want to 8v8, go to the server browser. A lot of players will get the wrong impression of this game after playing 8v8 with mercs and maps that weren’t designed for it.

  2. Tying in with 1, why does it take so long to level? As I mentioned I played 6-7 hours. Nearly every match I played I topscored by a large margin. Getting 12k+ points a match was not uncommon. And after all that, I’m still only level 6. I’m thinking it takes 20-25 hours for a casual player to actually unlock matchmaking and start playing the game for real. Do you really think the average F2P casual is going to sink 25 hours into a game just to queue with his friends? This has to change right now or the game will die no matter how good the gameplay is.

  3. The cost of new mercs. I’m ignoring the 30k credit bonus I got for playing in the previous betas because a new player won’t have that. From my experience you get ~12k credits for levels 3 and 5. Combined with the missions and 100-200 credits per match the first 30k comes pretty quickly. After that however I don’t see how it’s feasible to unlock mercs with credits. Let’s say we do all 3 missions every day and play 10 matches winning 100 credits each. That’s 2800 per day. That’s 11 straight days to unlock 1 merc, and this is about as quick as humanly possible. The average player will be lucky to get half that amount daily.

  4. Cosmetics. Where are they? I feel like SD/Nexon seem to have missed the memo where F2P games have a ton of cosmetic options for real cash. Players get to look cool and the company makes money. Win-win. Instead all the cosmetics are tied to loadout cards which are only available for credits. This is 2015, how many successful F2P games have there been that all sell cosmetics? Why can’t I drop $20 to pimp out my Skyhammer with a kilt and bagpipes? How are SD/Nexon expecting to make any money off this game? Please tell me this is all just temporary and we will get a real F2P model soon.

  5. Speaking of cosmetics, why are the Obsidian ones so bad? Props to whoever modeled them but they do not fit in at all. Fragger looks like Thunder with the helmet and face shield. Sawbonez looks more like a GI in Vietnam than a medic. I actually thought he was a new merc the first time I saw him. Mercs should be as distinct as possible and until now they were. Please fix this before it gets out of hand with even more cosmetics that completely change the look of the merc.

  6. The card system is another disappointment. For months I was hearing rumors of being able to craft the exact card you want. Sounds cool, putting together the exact mix of augments and weapons to suit your playstyle. Sadly instead we got RNG on top of the crate RNG system. I don’t mind so much for casual play because the difference in the loadouts is nothing compared to the difference in skill that exists in pub servers. But I always thought DB had competitive potential and I can’t possibly see how this system can work in a competitive setting. Imagine being a top Sawbonez player and trying to craft a card with Potent Packs, Help Up and Extra Supplies just so you can compete with all the other Sawbonezes. How long would it take you until you gave up? The crafting system needs to be redone into a real crafting system and not another slot machine. Let us break down lower-tier cards into some “card currency” and spend that to put together the exact card we want. Then you can separate the cosmetics from the loadouts and charge real money for them. Another win-win.

That’s about all I can remember for now. The changes to Fragger and the shotguns made the game better and I can’t wait to play Stoker and Redeye soon. I hope you at least consider my points and do everything you can to make DB successful.

(sleeepy) #2

Bump for the new day. Would love to see if others feel the same way or not.

(Nail) #3

to quote someone who thinks he’s special, (he actually is)

“Nothing is Final”

(etherealJar) #4

Agreed with everything OP said. At the very least SD needs to adjust the pricing of the content asap. I wouldn’t be able to convince any of my friends to play the game with such a huge paywall.

(Advanced) #5

Completely agree with all things said, +1

Especially with being forced to play casual until level 7… I don’t want to play that mode for 25 hours just to start playing the game the way it was meant to be experienced.

Just keep low level accounts playing other low level accounts and the MM experience shouldn’t have to suffer.

(Hipolipolopigus) #6

+1, but good luck convincing the devs to drop RNG, it’s the cornerstone in their monetization.

(INF3RN0) #7

Strongly agreed on all points, except 1/2. Remember that we’ve been playing for years now, where as much of the general population hasn’t. Having to play for a few days as a brand new player doesn’t seem too bad at all, and is likely better for everyone. People can still play with friends and we have access to servers smaller than 8v8. What might make sense however is to have a stat override- meaning high stats grants you earlier access to MM.

(Looms) #8

The card system in the current state is really bad. So would be crafting the loadout you want - ie. k121 with fast reaload, reaload on the run and bigger explosives…yeah, cc build if you ask me.

(INF3RN0) #9

Crafting should at least let you combine your preferred merc skin, weapon set/skins, and perk set. The perk sets are ‘supposidly’ pre-balanced- but many would disagree. The perks are meant to alter play styles ie combat, support, defensive, specialist, but many perks are a bit pointless compared to others. They definitely need work. Either way breaking up the content into more pieces would be better for everyone imo.

(The99thProblem) #10

[quote=“Nail;8647”]to quote someone who thinks he’s special, (he actually is)

“Nothing is Final”[/quote]

^This. Great ideas and your input will be taken into consideration.

(ToonBE) #11

@sleeepy I totally agree… It is bad atm:/ We all have the same idea on how it should be done and everybody agrees, but they seem to not listen.

And the lead to gold system? Seriously lead to gold?! Sure it could have been something more creative… It’s embarrassing tbh.

(irishrOy) #12

Yup.

Yesterday had a team with 6x Skyhammers.
and yes, constantly orbital-strikes, 24/7 every minute, every day.
Everyone and his grandma is playing skyhammer right now…

One the one hand it’s funny, of course, but it also really hammers the fairplay down by quite a bit…

Objective-based gameplay is not fun and worth it, if there are too many Skyhammers constantly spamming the objective with freaggin’ orbital-strikes.

(Steve Martin) #13

First thing you need to remember is this is still in Beta and SD is pretty good about responding to input.

Why is matchmaking something that’s going to make or break the game? The majority of people aren’t going to be playing using matchmaking… ranked or not. They are going to be using the server browser to find servers close to them with people they like to play with… not the horrible fad of xbox style matchmaking.

It doesn’t take a long time to level. That’s just your personal opinion and it’s not a fact just because you think it takes too long. A user’s need for instant gratification isn’t a reason to change something. After the first 2 or 3 months it won’t matter anyways… everyone will have everything unlocked and all characters available.

The cost of new mercs is part of the testing out of this system. THIS IS A BETA. YOU ARE HELPING TO TEST. THEY WANT TO SEE HOW IT PLAYS.

Cosmetics? Really? There is a reason make-up is found in the cosmetics isle. This is a beta… and chances are there will be a wipe prior to the actual release of the game… so you are purchasing mercs and beta access just for this beta. You aren’t purchasing things to take with you into the game’s release. If I’m wrong on that someone who knows what they are talking about let me know… but cosmetics and skins aren’t something that you worry about till after the game is done anyways… that’s why they are called cosmetics.

Complaining about not being able to do things you heard in a rumor is completely ridiculous. If it’s a rumor then it’s a rumor.

The people who keep posting about things that aren’t important will continually be disappointed because those things you complain about literally are not important… especially in a BETA.

I think all of your points would be ok/kind of ok if it was 6-12 months after release… but right now they just aren’t important and are basically opinions and not actual ‘broken’ game pieces.

This isn’t your game that you get to whine about until they make it how you want it.

I’m sorry but you’re not the first to just complain about small things that you want personally and then try to present them as something “wrong” with the game.

(ToonBE) #14

@“Steve Martin” I am guessing you don’t know how far along this game is… Open beta is this summer. Sleeepy has valid arguments.

(Szakalot) #15

I’m pretty sure they would not dare to wipe your mercs access after you’ve put real $$$ into it.

(Looms) #16

Merc/weapon skin - in game shop using real money, LoL/DotA/CS/w/e style. This is where they get real money from. Hell, they can even add loadout card skins/diff pictures.

Loadouts - you buy them using IG currency (but not in the state that is now) and craft. EVERY loadout from cache/shop has 3 perks (to equal the chances for all players). You can craft your loadout with few exceptions:

  • weapons come with preset packs (to avoid unbalanced combos),
  • you can craft the loadout with desired perks (i guess this would require some advanced crafting menu),
  • few perk combos (like k121 few posts above) are not allowed with certain weapons.
  • the most useless perks are removed from the game (noise, hp per death etc, not sure about this tho, people like weird combos),
  • you can choose a mec before the cache opens to roll a loadout for him.
(sleeepy) #17

@INF3RN0

New players should have the choice of matchmaking or server browser. If you look at every other big F2P game they allow you to play matchmaking from day 1. Usually it’s restricted to unranked which is 100% fine but you’re still learning to play the game with proper player numbers and ruleset (stopwatch).

@“Steve Martin”

I know it’s in beta, that’s precisely why I’m writing this. However, when a F2P game opens their shop to real money, that game is more or less “released” in my opinion. This is why I’m more forceful in my feedback.

The time to level does matter because people expect to queue with matchmaking with their friends. You might be stuck in the past with your opinions on the server browser. While I’m glad it’s in the game, a competitive-focused game will have a lot of people grinding matchmaking to try and rank up. Look at CS:GO, once the ultimate server browser FPS, now has the majority of the player base playing matchmaking. It’s not a horrible fad it’s reality.

Cosmetics are important now because there is no system in place for it. Cases are not bought with real money and are the only way to find cosmetics. Additionally they are tied to a loadout which sucks because I might get a skin I like but with a loadout I hate and vice versa. Weapon and player skins should be 100% separate from the cards and should be purchasable with real money. If the devs already know this then good, but the way things are now it doesn’t seem like it.

About crafting, I’m not complaining about a rumor, I’m complaining about the bad system. The fact that a better system was rumored just makes it worse.

6-12 months after release is way to late. The F2P market is ruthless. Games need to have their shit down 6-12 months before release. I love the game but mark my words it will not last without changes. Maybe I should leave suggestions instead of just pointing out flaws but I don’t want to design SD’s game for them. I’ll just briefly say:

  • Matchmaking and partying unlocked from start
  • Faster credit gain or reduced merc credit cost
  • Cash shop with player skins, weapon skins, xp boosters, taunts, etc
  • Separate loadouts from cosmetics
  • Improved loadout crafting system that give the player more control of their exact loadout
(Looms) #18

If SD want’s to keep players in the game, they better rethink entire crafring/credits/MM system. Overwatch is coming…

(Nail) #19

anything you unlock or buy is yours forever, this has been stated over and over by both Splash Damage and Nexon

but as stated before “Nothing is Final”