Unlock and Load – Levelling

(INF3RN0) #41

So I unlocked a “RARE” card the other night. How are these rated? Rarity of the augment set or a power ranking? The augments seem reasonable enough otherwise.

(spookify) #42

LUCKY!!! I will trade you!!

haha :rolleyes:

(Anti) #43

it’s pretty arbitrary and based on drop chance for the most part.

Rarer cards tend to be the ones that give a character more specialization (i.e. Fragger card with more offensive augments would be rarer than a Fragger card that gave more utility, in his case defensive augments). We could reverse that approach as well, depends what you folks think. Ultimately however we approach it some people value certain cards more or less than other people, it will be quite subjective I think.

(PixelTwitch) #44

Honestly I would like to see the “RARE” based on skins…
That way you can also have uncommon and common versions of the same cards (higher drop chance) but getting one with the skins you want would be the challenge!

Like Double Diamond camo for secondary and primary and a “elite” skin for the merc and that would be classed as a EPIC card
:smiley:

(titan) #45

Sorry I’m a bit confused after reading the thread can someone clarify
From what I can see you have:
Merc unlocks
Each merc then levels up individually
Leveling up mercs gives you perks which you can equip
Loot drops give loadout cards which come predefined with perks + equipment
Can these be customized with the unlocked perks?
Also can guns / equipment be changed and if so how? Can stolker use skyhammers gun for example

(spookify) #46

How is SD going to handle ranks or ranked games… With all this talk of diamond cards or rare cards what about the player rank themselves? Are you shooting for an LOL type ranking? Get that super cool border around your merc that makes everyone go Oh crap is a platinum player!

I could not imagine how addicting FPS would be with an LOL style ranking and match making system… Me and my faience will probably break up because I will be trying to be and keep the highest rank or be in the highest league…

(Anti) #47

[QUOTE=titan;507216]Sorry I’m a bit confused after reading the thread can someone clarify
From what I can see you have:
Merc unlocks
Each merc then levels up individually
Leveling up mercs gives you perks which you can equip
Loot drops give loadout cards which come predefined with perks + equipment
Can these be customized with the unlocked perks?
Also can guns / equipment be changed and if so how? Can stolker use skyhammers gun for example[/QUOTE]

The loadouts don’t just include augments, they also allow some alternate primary, secondary and melee weapons for each Merc. This isn’t a free choice of weapons, the alternates available are still limited on the Merc’s play style (i.e. close range Mercs still get close ranged alternate weapons).

The choice you can exercise right now is simply swapping loadouts on your Mercs. We’re considering weapons with attachments and ‘crafting’ of loadouts as well, but we need to test this initial system first.

(Anti) #48

[QUOTE=spookify;507218]How is SD going to handle ranks or ranked games… With all this talk of diamond cards or rare cards what about the player rank themselves? Are you shooting for an LOL type ranking? Get that super cool border around your merc that makes everyone go Oh crap is a platinum player!

I could not imagine how addicting FPS would be with an LOL style ranking and match making system… Me and my faience will probably break up because I will be trying to be and keep the highest rank or be in the highest league…[/QUOTE]

Ranked matchmaking and ‘league’ systems are something we’re investigating, but they’d be somewhat detached from the systems we’re discussing here.

(tokamak) #49

I’d urge you to try and make it work in one system first. Every other competitive F2P game can easily manage that. Even if it requires paying to fine tune the load outs further. That’s simply an investment pro players are expected to make.

Separating the two also communicates to the player base that there’s something fishy about the way the main game is played.

As long as the main game is free and fair then there’s nothing wrong with expecting the ‘pro’ crowd to chip in for a game they want specialise. Dirty Bomb after all, is not a charity.

That said:

Right now I feel like I have very little orientation in the way I’m processing. Random drops are great, absolutely, it’s an important part of the experience. But players should also have the ability to plan and navigate themselves to what they want to achieve first.

That means that although the random surprises can be kept, we also need complete and absolute transparency at what things are available and by what means. That means comprehensive tech trees (that include the card system as well).

This is not just important to retain players and have them work towards goals they set to themselves, it also builds trust with the player as a customer and makes it easier to justify purchases.

(titan) #50

[QUOTE=Anti;507219]The loadouts don’t just include augments, they also allow some alternate primary, secondary and melee weapons for each Merc. This isn’t a free choice of weapons, the alternates available are still limited on the Merc’s play style (i.e. close range Mercs still get close ranged alternate weapons).

The choice you can exercise right now is simply swapping loadouts on your Mercs. We’re considering weapons with attachments and ‘crafting’ of loadouts as well, but we need to test this initial system first.[/QUOTE]

thanks for the answer
again just to clarify :stuck_out_tongue: currently the only way to get different weapons is in the pre defined loadout cards dropped in crates?

(DB Genome editor) #51

I have to say I’m a bit disappointed to see specific merc unlocking at specific levels. I don’t have a problem with gradual unlocks as you progress, but I would have preferred to leave the choice of the order to the player like it was before with the credit unlocks. In other words, keep unlock slots a level 2, 5, 7, etc…, but let us pick which merc to unlock each time. Worst case, if for some reason you don’t want to give complete freedom you can arrange the mercs in groups (e.g. can only pick from group #1 until reaching a certain level, or must unlock a merc from each group before unlocking a second one from the same group, whatever…), as long as the player gets to exercise preferences, it would move away from the generic unlock progression.

Also, are there any plans for a recycling scheme for loadouts you don’t want? Some sort of buyback or trading? Or even just a “Delete” button? I can see my inventory getting filled with loadouts I will never use, either for mercs I don’t play or because I prefer other loadouts for the merc I do play.

(Anti) #52

[QUOTE=Djiesse;507299]

Also, are there any plans for a recycling scheme for loadouts you don’t want? Some sort of buyback or trading? Or even just a “Delete” button? I can see my inventory getting filled with loadouts I will never use, either for mercs I don’t play or because I prefer other loadouts for the merc I do play.[/QUOTE]

Yes, we have a recycling system in the works

(DJswirlyAlien) #53

Add card gambling matches. Card gambling matches would be so awesome. Also I want to see videos on youtube of people losing their cards.

(tokamak) #54

I think a combination of both needs to happen.

Exotic niche mercs should be more valuable, but the big cookie cutter mercs definitely require more player control.

In WoT for example, the tech tree is enormously path-dependant. That means players really need to make important decisions in how they climb it. Sacrificing certain perks for shortcuts etc. It’s tremendously rewarding for players that figure out the most efficient ways to get to where they want.

(Humate) #55 
springy - Reduces the penalty applied to the next jump, after completing a jump by 25%
flying pig - Falling damage reduced by 50%
sneaky - Reduces the amount of sound you generate when running by 50%
try hard -  Gain 10HP for each death you suffer without getting a kill, up to a maximum of 30HP.
guardian angel - Receive an audio waring whenever enemy artillery or airstrikes are incoming on your position.
looter - Killing an enemy Fire Support Merc will drop a small Ammo Pack, killing an enemy Medic will drop a small Health Pack. 
spares - Increases the maximum number of magazines that can be carried by 1.
tough - Reduces the delay until health regen starts by 20%
focus - Reduces flinching when hit while iron sighting or scoped by 50%
drilled - 50% reduction to reload time.
quick draw - 50% reduction to the time taken to raise and lower weapon
chopper - 20% increase to melee damage
unshakeable - Reduces the damage you take from explosives by 20%
fail safe - Reduces damage taken from your own explosives by 20%

Request - add the missing ones from the list thx

(tokamak) #56

[QUOTE=Anti;507212]it’s pretty arbitrary and based on drop chance for the most part.

Rarer cards tend to be the ones that give a character more specialization (i.e. Fragger card with more offensive augments would be rarer than a Fragger card that gave more utility, in his case defensive augments). We could reverse that approach as well, depends what you folks think. Ultimately however we approach it some people value certain cards more or less than other people, it will be quite subjective I think.[/QUOTE]

Rarity towards specialisation feels better than rarity towards all-rounding.

(tokamak) #57

Today a new video was released of the new Civilization game.

They updated the customisation tree. You can now go both horizontally as well as vertically. Very interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k51JPuGzabQ#t=179 (Starts at 3 mins)

In short this means that the tech trees stand alone. However, they’re also situated on a very rough grid The grid gives you different bonuses when you acquire enough points down a horizontal axis or a vertical axis.

This means that you can both specialise in specialism or specialise in generalism and still be further rewarded for it. The only people that don’t enjoy these bonuses are those that take a strange diagonal route through the trees (which may be because there’s an advantage from having a combination of specific perks from specific trees).

(Rokkamaisteri) #58

Sounds cool.
I see there’s some options that feel kinda obvious monetizing setups when closing to full release, hopefully these are balanced “well and fairly” if what I think is correct. :wink:

(DB Genome editor) #59

Hopefully it won’t be too long before we see it… Unlocked 8 loadouts so far and 3 are literally useless to me (1 duplicate, 1 clearly inferior to another I already have for the same merc, and 1 for a merc I never play). And 2 of the others can’t be used until I gain another 8 and 10 levels respectively… :frowning:

By the way, why so long before we can unlock a second engi? By the time we get to Bushwacker, we have already unlocked all available snipers and medics, 2/3 of the FOps, and 3/4 of the assaults. All medics are unlocked 9 levels before you get an alternative for engie!

(Raviolay) #60

I think you should use your exp to unlock what merc you want, each merc purchase increases the cost of the next merc.