Build 65

[hypevosa]

I think, considering we still never kill the inner structure, they're still hard enough. Complain when we literally steamroll the entirety of the complex, zeta, and sub structures.

Convoys are the best loot in the game as it is right now. You deal with small complexes, making your way up to killing GCTs and Delta Refineries, and then you have convoys. While they're the endgame content for now, I'd hope there's alot more to come that will be that next level higher in terms of difficulty like the zeta complex.

If convoys were as easy to dispatch as deltas and GCTs, then I would have a problem.

[Kelsoo]

The thing is Hype, they almost are, and killing the main boss of any convoy is faster than a Zeta. I hear your reasoning for the Zeta's as well, but you can add high HP and a time limit to anything, it doesn't make it difficult. We are starting to break through and kill the innermost towers but I agree no where near a high rate.

[tarbomb]

The Town:

[Guest]

Here's the thing.

Basically.

Kelsoo plays during peak hours.

[Kelsoo]

Aug 30, 2013 23:36:12 GMT -5:

Here's the thing.

Basically.

Kelsoo plays during peak hours.

I don't play much anymore actually, and when I do get on, it's usually alone at lonely hours. When no one is on, either way convoys still go down to fast, me being on in peak hours or not does not change anything. And that is besides the fact that peak hours are any time during US Standard Daytime hours. And they are only extending, soon it will be most of an entire day. instead of only a specific 12 hours.

[hypevosa]

That's another thing to remember is we can't guarantee how many people are on at any time - convoys are very difficult and formidable in smaller groups, player numbers will always mean steamrolling, once we get 25 people online at once zetas will disappear in seconds. How do you combat that though unless you actually are going to start buffing things based on player numbers.

Honestly, I'd like to see convoys that start having minions or extra small gun fire etc that activate whenever X people are on, and perhaps even buff loot a little.

[Kelsoo]

Aug 30, 2013 23:55:52 GMT -5 hypevosa said:

That's another thing to remember is we can't guarantee how many people are on at any time - convoys are very difficult and formidable in smaller groups, player numbers will always mean steamrolling, once we get 25 people online at once zetas will disappear in seconds. How do you combat that though unless you actually are going to start buffing things based on player numbers.

Honestly, I'd like to see convoys that start having minions or extra small gun fire etc that activate whenever X people are on, and perhaps even buff loot a little.

Convoys aren't difficult in small numbers? Unless you're talking like groups of only 3 then they just take a while, but they are not in the least difficult, it is all about time and patience. Also for the most part nowadays you are likely to have 6-11 people on at any given time within daylight hours across the U.S. Convoys can be a problem largely if you try to solo them, or duo, but the game is a co-op game, so in a sense that is a good thing.

As for more people, I would hope player limits should be capped off at like 25, as of now the game can lag pretty greatly with just a Zeta crew on (most likely a pipe dream though, that would be a lot of servers depending on how many people are here in Prod) . I fear large number of tanks being on at any given time, it would mean the whole games HP and Damage scales would need re - working. and at that point you have to be guaranteed to always have large amounts of people on to compensate for the difficulty levels.

I think buffs when people are on should happen sure, but I don't think even with 25 people on, Zetas would go down that quickly. They take a bit of patience to damage.

[hypevosa]

Kelsoo, you're speaking as a player who knows all the strategies and the ways of avoiding damage from said enemies, it's like someone level 86 in WoW saying that X raid is "so easy" - they just know how to do it and have the tools to employ that method. Would you rather convoys be unpredictable and have 100% hits in their arsenal or something? How would you make things difficult enough that they would never *become* easy, yet keep them from being cheap at the same time?

All these convoys, on their inception, have kicked people's butts. The oft scoffed at lady-bug/Anti-matter Tanker regularly trounced players for a few days until we came up with a means to defeat it, tarbomb and I pulling out our corsairs and developing the blocking shear strategy (which is where the corsair shear was nerfed and the antimatter tanker gained flankers and a partner). The newest convoy has killed many as well. They become easy because we learn how to use the tools at our disposal to take them down, not because they're easy from the getgo.

My friend G4RN3T stopped playing because the game felt too complicated to her - this is a game of strategy and thought. If you are a master of either it will become easy for you in time. I don't think it's a bad thing when players can learn to deal with obstacles rather than "better gear, more people" as is often the only thought you need for many other games. I've taken down outer fortresses with 5 people on at a zeta before the nerf, giving us enough time and practice, we'd likely be able to kill the zeta itself. We really just can't see enough of them to develop solid strategies like with convoys.

[Kelsoo]

I understand your reasoning. But at the same time I'm mostly targeting the shear simplicity of convoys, and how easy it is to learn the patterns and how to rotate which shields most effectively, and the fact that after about 7 people are on one, that isn't really needed at all, you just run the thing over. I understand developing strategies and what you are going for here.

But what I am saying is these strategies are very basic and tedious. Now I don't really like bringing up Realm, but in theory after learning O1's patterns, he is a pretty simple boos right? But that doesn't change the fact that while simple and easy, he is still much fun to fight even being easy, and there are sometimes times of danger in that fight. As of now, in Grid, you have no danger against convoys, maybe I can blame myself for playing this game alot a month or two ago, but these fights should still be somewhat challenging. They lack challenge and danger, and are not very dynamic fights whatsoever and that's my gripe. All convoys revolve around either get in the front, or chase from back then parastun=death, and one will do a bit more damage then the other. Aside from the new convoy, which personally I love,

You could say that once mastered it should become easy, and you are completely right, but it should not become monotonous and somewhat uninvolving. And you could say my biggest gripe is just that all the convoys are far too identical, and revolve around the same, exact, strategy, becoming boring.

[hypevosa]

I dunno, I still enjoy killing all the different convoys - I see what type it is, select my specialized tank (Corsair for Baryonic and Antimatter tanker, Paladin for Flux, Avenger for Ionic, and (so far) corsair for the quantum carrier) and I employ the strategies I've developed for each tank - every one of which is not a "safe" strategy because it puts me directly in harm's path and usually in order to put others in a good position for damage. Maybe this is why I still find convoys enjoyable - I don't mean to say you aren't playing "right" but maybe you're playing too safe, and that's why you feel there's no challenge? I've not really watched you play though I've played with you, so I'm unsure.

Convoys, admittedly, are still simple enemies. They're the next, logical evolution from what we had before. Enemies were always static, now we're trying mobile enemies. Zetas are a step backward in my opinion as they added nothing really new to the game in this regard, I feel they should have been the next logical evolution: Static enemy that has dynamic behaviors - then we'll get the mobile enemies with dynamic behaviors - you know?

[Hock Space]

There is a bug where my rate of fire would increases greatly at random points when I'm playing(doesn't show it in my stats). I'm not sure how it happens maybe because of lag.

[hypevosa]

if you did this an hour ago, be certain you didn't just receive the lone wolf bonus for being the only one on - also be certain you weren't driving into a region that increases your cooldown bonus by 50%

[Hock Space]

no it happens when people are on too and I don't think i was in a cooldown region. actually it only usually starts when people are on. It happened before but I was in a cooldown region so I thought it was of that.

[hypevosa]

try to make a video if you can

[fire]

Personal opinion of Kraken. The tank has no purpose at the moment, except maybe the fact that you acquired a level 19 tank unlock. I personally farm better on a silver. The damage on this tank is weak, and it has little survivability. I was expecting it to be able to clear minions rather fast, but the flying minions of small towers still dominated me completely. I feel this tank needs a severe damage buff against minions if it is to do what was intended from the start.