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Post by rob on Sept 9, 2014 13:58:59 GMT -5
Greetings to all Brave Testers!
We didn't push last week, but we are pushing a day early this week. Build 111 includes the following:
* Reduce unlock levels for (almost) all tanks * Delete all tank unlock items * Delete tank unlock buy offers * Change all tank unlock droprates * Only allow augment & module installs on unlocked tanks
The new tank unlock levels are:
0: Silver 1: Valkyrie, Predator, Phantom, Avenger, Trailblazer, Mustang, Spectre 2: Fury, Wolverine, Hercules, Hornet, Hurricane, Viking 3: Guardian, Minotaur, Paladin, Wildfire, Corsair 4: Cutlass, Kraken, Vindicator, Scorpion 5: Dragon, Thunderbolt
The new tank unlock item drop rates are approximately .5% from medium and small forts, 1% from GCT, Drill and Delta, 50-60% from convoy bosses and 100% from subcommanders. Region bosses always drop one tank unlock and they have a 50% chance for a second; region boss redoubts drop at 10-20%. As with modules, all tank unlock items drop at level 1.
We expect to make changes to both the unlock levels of the tanks and the drop rates as we get experience playing with the new system. Corsair in particular got moved up pretty high due to its boss-killing powers and history of suicide cheese, and we're not sure if it belongs there or would be fine with some buffs or what.
Tim's been hard at work on installable shields; we are hoping to launch them next week.
I've been working on cheat detection. I turned on some kicking of cheaters; but I'm worried that it may sometimes kick non-cheaters. If you get kicked for no reason, please let me know what you were doing at the time so that I can make adjustments. Also please note that the cheat detection system isn't finished, and cheating is still easy to do, and it's still not allowed. (I banned some cheaters this week.)
As always, we really appreciate your help with the game. Thanks!
Rob & Tim Jetbolt Games
Edit: We also replaced tank unlock prizes for leveling towns (etc) with storage space.
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Post by Crunch on Sept 9, 2014 19:08:42 GMT -5
I haven't gotten to play the new build much yet, but I did notice some tile artifacts while leveling a city. GBear couldn't see them, so it's likely client side. Otherwise, I have no idea what would have caused it, as I didn't notice them until I had driven all the way back around the circumference of the city:
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Post by gingerbear on Sept 9, 2014 20:16:42 GMT -5
What is the mechanism for dropping the "difficult" part of the module materials? When someone hovers over an area, the region description says it drops a basic material and the corresponding difficult material. However, I tried to farm these materials on purpose and the difficult ones seemed to be random and almost never the ones that should have been, (based on the region description). Example: Polymatter. I know this is supposed to be somewhat rare (since level 1 is enough for module making), but having connecting like 20 minerals (in 2 appropriate regions) and still not getting any is pretty BS. I did get a lot of alphadynes, though.
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Zed
Very Brave Tester
slothful zealot
Posts: 16
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Post by Zed on Sept 10, 2014 6:14:30 GMT -5
What is the mechanism for dropping the "difficult" part of the module materials? Might get some insight into that hereAs for the tank unlock changes: - Moving Corsair up on the unlocks was a good decision, albeit you'll probably get enough tank unlocks from clearing a region to use suicide tactics against the region boss anyways. (Maybe implement cooldowns for unlocking tanks?) - The unlock droprates on convoy bosses and maybe even subcommanders seem a little high, judging by how readily available they are right now. - Doors (Excluder-class Barrier Units) drop tank unlocks, but Walls don't - It should be vice versa. (especially considering you can farm infinite amounts of unlocks by letting Doors regenerate after killing every segment except for the core) Other than that, happy to see something's being done about cheaters. Keep up the good work.
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Post by rob on Sept 11, 2014 10:06:55 GMT -5
Healguns are bugged; you'll get booted from the server if you use pally or hurricane...
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Post by amitp on Sept 11, 2014 10:47:47 GMT -5
healing is cheating!
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Post by rob on Sept 11, 2014 13:07:52 GMT -5
Healguns are fixed now.
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Post by gingerbear on Sept 12, 2014 12:53:08 GMT -5
So, I've been thinking... isn't the tank unlock drop system a bit too harsh for newcomers?
By the time they get to fight a subcommander they'll be bored out of their minds, and Silver is not exactly good to fight convoys, especially unupgraded. The game is currently barely played by anyone so the "fresh" testers won't easily get to taste new tanks, even less if they have to re-unlock them at every mishappened turn.
Yeah this could be totally different when a lot of people are around, but still...
I'd consider adding more tank unlocks as "prize" items, maybe when a city reaches level 12, or something? I'd also give out 1 tank unlock when a sector is cleared, regardless if the boss is successfully killed or not. Yeah, this could cause a sudden surge of "boss mules" when the end fight happens, but I don't think it is a common occurence to be afraid of, yet.
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Post by Crunch on Sept 12, 2014 16:55:55 GMT -5
gingerbear I agree. I think that the Silver should get some kind of buff, and there should be a few more "level 0" tanks (2 - 4?). It's currently too hard for a brand-new Silver to solo farm. I spent some time on a new account to see what a NUE would feel like right now, and it was excessively boring and difficult. Without a mass of other players, it's too time consuming to earn your first unlock. So, it would be useful and less boring for new players to have immediate access to a limited roster of tanks. However, any additional classes should act as an introduction to a niche in the game (sniper, voy-tank, scout, assault-tank, crowd-control, support, etc). Phantom, Avenger, and Hurricane seem like decent candidates for default tanks, as they're not overpowered atm and offer fairly different play experiences. On the note of "prize" tanks, I think that it's interesting but a bit redundant and involuntarily limiting. For instance, if a player got a Viking drop from a RB, he can only use it or sell it. However, if that same player got a Lvl 2 unlock, he could use it to unlock 2x Lvl 1 tanks, unlock any Lvl 2 tank, or merge to unlock for higher level tanks. The utility in the second scenario is much higher and thus, so is the value. It wouldn't be a good idea, imo, to add rare drops which only serve to irritate players who have no need for the item, "great, I got a 1/1000 drop and it's completely useless, would have rather gotten the [mod/coin/sto/etc] instead." That said, I think there is some potential for specific, rare unlock items. But I'd think they'd be something more aesthetically driven, a bit like shiny pokemon, if you're familiar. If all tanks had a rare color scheme, which could only be accessed via drops, then that would provide all the value the items needed to be sought after... although, this digresses from the original purpose of said drops, and is now catering to advanced players.
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Post by Justin on Sept 12, 2014 22:02:44 GMT -5
So, I've been thinking... isn't the tank unlock drop system a bit too harsh for newcomers? Yeah this could be totally different when a lot of people are around, but still... A lot of things become totally different when a lot of people are around in the grid. It's all about the difficulty of the game, and it changes with the introduction of every new player to a group. The problem has been (known? prevalent? not sure what word would fit best here) for awhile now, and it's the confusing stance on how many people are meant to be playing the game with each other. Basic fortress clearing can be done with as few as 2 people, entire regions can be cleared with 4, subcommanders vary on the type and experience of the group, but then regionbosses require a much larger group to defeat. Has the core ever been killed without the assistance of suicide bombers? I completely agree that the tanks are nearly impossible for newcomers to obtain, especially with the ghost town situation that this game is usually in. I've been playing on an alt, like crunchtime, and he seemed to cover my thoughts while playing. I was online in total today for at least an hour and got 4 pulchs (but I still have one blank prism), level 6 storage, 6 augment on half of my tank's stats, and level 6 on the silver. Of course you have to keep in mind that I'm not actually a newcomer - I know which enemies to kill in order to get specific loot, and I know what everything does and how to save a lot of time. When I first joined there were some active players (usually at least one other person online) so I don't know what it's like to join a seemingly dead online game that I know nothing about. I assume it would cause a lot of players to turn back running for a new game though. To the players who unlocked most/all of the tanks before the patch, that tank unlocks have become tank lives. I like the thought of that, but for a new player it'd be tragic to finally get the elusive and exclusive tank unlock and lose it immediately due to the innocence of their newly-ness. Progression would be impossible, for learning new tank playstyles inflicts a big loss and is a demotivator to those players. Suggestions: - After unlocking a tank, if you die on it, it goes to the garage and cannot be used for a certain amount of time unless you have a tank unlock (tank life). This kind of sounds like something that could lead to buying tank unlocks with real money, which I'm hesitant to form an opinion on as of now.
- Make tank unlocks craftable. Only issue I see with this is the nature of obtaining materials, which is only through minerals which are very limited resources (and as gingerbear mentioned, they're kind of silly to farm).
- [insert crunch's mention of more level 0 tanks of completely different playstyles
- Make tank unlocks more common, but introduce something (like fuel) that causes tanks to wear out and need to re-energize (pretty similar to first suggestion, but a bit more drastic of a change).
edit: Made things look neater
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Post by renenutet on Sept 13, 2014 13:11:37 GMT -5
BUG: Using Dragons spray blast thing crashes the game and resets you to Origin, like dying but you get to keep the tank.
EDIT: The spray gun thing is a red herring. Dragon just crashes the game intermittently.
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Post by Duco on Sept 17, 2014 9:27:14 GMT -5
Game stuck on "connecting..." again.
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Post by rob on Sept 17, 2014 11:57:48 GMT -5
Server should be back up now.
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