Bungie Answered
Some suggestions about this game Ver 1.0
I thought Marathon has achieved a difference from other games, which is really great. The story and art style are also very coooool.
But I think there are still a lot of problems, and my focus this time is on gameplay, balance, and rationality.
1 Matchmaking and Ranked Mode gameplay experience
This is only a focus on the experience of the first three maps, the final map is not considered for now.
It's a disaster to deal with resource gathering, PVE, PVP, contracts, and story exploration when supplies are scarce.
Like a limiter or filter, whenever a player wants to enter a match, they have to be tormented by what they face.
1) Limiter 1 In-game supply issue
In-game supplies acquisition will greatly affect the game experience, in-game PVP balance, and looting loop.
This game is not friendly to new players, casual players, or players who join in the middle of the season.
In the early stages, it is difficult for players to maintain a stable match cycle when facing faction missions and supply pressure.
This naturally makes me think. Should we reconsider the economic system curve, growth system curve, and map difficulty curve for all players? Maybe we should reduce the steepness of the curve.
So first of all I think it is necessary to increase the amount of supply drops in the match.
Patch kits:
This is the hardest hit area of the problem.
I think it's understandable that the developers added depleted supply packs. But I don't think Bungie has done a good job of balancing the drop rates of standard and enhanced supplies.
Moreover, the patch kit has stacking problems, and the stacking of green and blue medicine is inconsistent, resulting in less backpack space for players in the early stage, and the PVP aspect is unbalanced and even illogical.
So my suggestion is to unify the number of patch kit stacks, say 4 or 5
Backpack:
Please add the UESC series backpacks. Currently, the drop rate of backpacks on the map is really too low. I hope backpacks can be obtained by killing UESC units.
For new players entering the map, the focus is definitely on looting and missions. In many cases, players cannot bypass UESC units to go straight to looting and missions.
But if I go to kill UESC units, what I get now is basically negative feedback. I spend noise, ammo, skills, and even throwables, yet I get no resources, and the resources actually decrease the more I fight.
Moreover, this often attracts other players to gang up on me, which is unfair and illogical. By the way I really want the UESC series backpack..
Shields:
I think it is possible to increase the drop rate of each quality of shield and the probability of obtaining shields from UESC units according to the map level
As for how to modify the drop rate, I think it is necessary to increase the total number of resource drops and reduce the drop rate of standard consumables.
(these are just consumables, not including collectibles or quest items, which is another issue)
If each season follows a 3+1 model, then please increase the drop rates of blue and green medkits and shields in the first three maps.
I'm not sure if there is a drop gradient in the first three maps, but I personally think having a drop gradient is correct.
For example
In the first map, the supply ratio in the map is 50% 40% 10% for white (standard) green (enhanced) and blue (deluxe)
The second map, white green blue 33% 33% 33%.
The third map, white green blue 10%, 40% 50%
In the first three maps, purple and gold can individually control the overall number
Of course, this is just a simple example, and it doesn't take into account the endgame map.
With the increase in supply drops in the map, new players will have a better experience compared to before, regardless of when they join the season
In terms of PVE, the drops that increase the supply in an appropriate amount can balance the large number of PVE elements that exist in the map, increasing the player's demand for consumables
In terms of PVP, whether in normal mode or ranked mode, this will appropriately flatten the gap between the two sides
Having enough in-game resources allows players to have the energy to do tasks and explore map elements and storylines.
So that players can complete missions, and have the resources and confidence to enter the ranked and endgame maps
2) Limiter 2 PVP Intensity Issue
This is not a purely PVE experience. Even in matchmaking mode, there will be complex PVP experiences.
You have to deal with complicated PVP situations, and there are no clear restrictions in matchmaking. Therefore, as long as players want, they can team up and ignore missions, simply hunting mission players can create enough pressure.
I personally think it is a better choice to make the matching mode more focused on collecting tasks and exploration, and the ranked mode more focused on PVP.
And I don't think PVE mode is a good choice. This would make the game modes numerous and complex, and there is also PVP ranking and endgame map branching, which would make matchmaking worse. In some cases, less is better.
So I think it's necessary to reduce the intensity of PVP matches in matchmaking
In matchmaking mode, reduce the number of teams participating on the existing map by 1 or 2.
In ranked mode, the number of existing teams can be maintained or even increased
3) Limiter 3 Contract difficulty issue
The contracts system that is too difficult will cost players a lot of time and energy, but the original intention of this design is actually understandable.
Because a season has 3 months, although it is not as long as 6 months, the designer may worry that the season content will run out early, resulting in nothing to do in the later stage.
However, difficult contracts and a steep out-of-game progression system can create significant power differences between players, which may ultimately lead players to completely abandon ranked battles and endgame content, or even give up playing the game altogether.
I don't think anyone would want to complete the current contracts again after the seasonal wipe, so I think there should be a lighter version of the contracts system (after completing the existing contracts once) and parallel new season story contracts after the seasonal wipe. Also, I personally think that even if the current contracts only need to be done once, their difficulty still needs to be greatly reduced.
In terms of faction development, I think that besides the values of salvages, another important impact is the drop rate of salvages on each map.
I think the current 3+1 mode is not ideal, before the outpost modification, from normal map to endgame map the span is huge, although the current outpost modification has alleviated the situation, but the problem still exists, many players are not ready to enter the endgame map, or the focus of entering the endgame map is still to search for salvages, so it leads to a poor experience in the endgame map.
I think that regular faction development and contracts should not be limited by the endgame map, so I think the map design should be changed from the current 3+1 mode to at least 3+a+b, A as a preparatory map for the final map B, where 3+a involves decryption and plot exploration, but the theme is still search, fight and escape.
Endgame Map B can place more emphasis on combat, decryption, story exploration, equipment drops, and collectible drops, which is similar to decryption raids.
So my ultimate idea is 7 maps, from the resource drop, PVP intensity, mission intensity, drop rarity (collection, mission), PVE intensity comprehensive evaluation, its difficulty order should be 4+a+b+c (2233+4+5+7)
For in-game resources, PVP intensity, difficult tasks and out-of-game development systems, it will be very easy for players to be unable to break through a conditional threshold, thus falling into a vicious circle, which will undoubtedly hit the player's enthusiasm online.
Therefore, in fact, if you want to have a better gaming experience, you are basically forced to bind a fixed team, which further increases the cost of entering the game, resulting in the limiter 4 L4.
2 PVP balance
It's a game with PVP rankings, so I think balance is crucial
Among the balance problems, I think the build system is especially difficult to handle.
1) Perk
PVP balance is already difficult to handle, and Marathon has plenty of shells and weapon perks, which will complicate the situation.
So I think the shell is designed as a whole with its implants and chips. It makes sense to design firearms, chips, and plug-ins as a whole.
For example
Design a shell, add enough attributes, and then split it up to make an implant.
Design a weapon, then add enough attributes, then remove part of it and design it as a chip and accessories.
At present, I guess marathon is supposed to be designed this way (maybe).
However, this has led to the possibility that some proprietary implants/chips may be designed as common accessories.
Like STACK OVERFLOW, the chip appearing on a shotgun is unbalanced and unreasonable (or is it just a perk inherited from Destiny 2)
And in my personal opinion, science fiction should be based on facts, and there is logic here. Otherwise, it is called magic.
How can a double-barreled shotgun fire 3 or even 4 rounds? I don't think it makes sense, it's not OK for me.
But if you tell me there's a chip that makes my gun automatically pop out of the magazine so that it can reload faster, that's OK for me, of course, I'm just giving an example.
Or we can make this chip dedicated to energy weapons, because energy weapons overflow is understandable, you can think of it as an extra capacitor in the chip that stores a certain amount of energy after each shot, and then releases it when firing after changing the magazine. But in this case, I think it's better not to make chips, but to make special attributes or special accessories (such as magazines) of certain firearms.
And I don't think the game can support me to build effectively at this stage, I need a channel where I can build steadily.
2) Melee Attack
I think we need to appropriately reduce melee attack.(FIXED)
3) Weapon
Some are too strong, some are too far-fetched, and I know it takes a long time to modify the stats or even build a new build for this weapon but ...
At present, it seems that range is a very important attribute of weapons in the game, so I want to know the damage outside the full damage range in the game, as well as the effective range of the accident at the full damage distance, and even the maximum range.
The most important thing at present, I think the recoil and shooting interval of the shotgun should be appropriately increased.
And the most important thing in balancing is to balance the ammunition, using the characteristics of the ammunition as the benchmark, and then adjusting the parameters according to the characteristics of the weapon platform.
There is really a lot of content to talk about in this regard, and I may not understand enough at present, so I will not focus on it here.
4) shell
I really like the design of the current shell, restrained and logical, which is great.
All I can say is that it adds a release time to the thief's drone grappling hook.
This skill is too OP for an interference skill.
3 Plausibility/Rationality
Science fiction should be based on facts, there is logic involved. Otherwise, it is called magic/fantasy.
I mentioned this earlier, and now I'm going to talk about this specifically, there are many things that are related to each other, and I can only break down the problem as much as possible.
I think plausibility/rationality is important, it can increase the immersion experience and increase the overall setting and plot appeal, but I put it in third place because it can take a lot of time and effort to do it
Aside from the previously STACK OVERFLOW perk, for example, during evacuation, is that matter teleportation? I do not accept the concept of matter teleportation because it would require enormous energy and computing power.
But honestly, I don't have any particularly good ideas either. The simplest replacement I can think of is a transport aircraft. During the Marathon, the evacuation point could be a specific airlock; once you enter it, it counts as evacuation. Then you can go through another airlock to enter the ship and leave, things like that.
Marathon involves a lot of settings, so let's take it one step at a time, prioritizing the rationality of perk and shell skills, as well as gameplay and balance.
But I think supplementing and modifying some settings will make the whole story better and more hardcore. I hope the Marathon series can become a sci-fi masterpiece that is not just limited to games.
4 The suppressive force of Thermal Sensor and Throwables
Thermal Sensor has more capabilities than regular sights, and can neutralize smoke grenades.
Throwables are a very important resource, so that speaks to the power of thermal sensor.
Moreover, thermal imaging has a strong ability to find enemies, so it should be at least purple quality.
I also think that eliminating friendly fire altogether is a mistake, as it will reduce the decision to use throwables and make them more arbitrary.
5 Kill data, hit display, battle report, and report button
If you want to do a service-oriented PVP game, those are the most basic things.
6 Firing Range
Add Firing Range for the game.
7 Insufficient customization of keys
I don't want to use the middle mouse button to mark on the minimap,
I don't even want to press the middle mouse button under any circumstances.
Bonus tips
You can have skills that increase the firewall debuff, which reduces the shield maximum value.
Adding an arsenal tag (repository copy) to the warehouse allows weapons to be placed separately in the arsenal.
Perhaps you can also put the task resources on a separate page.
In the blue-green map(4+a+b+c), items equipped by the player(weapon, shield, perk) When exceeding a certain quality(purple, gold) will be marked on the mini-map.
Conclusion
I'm here not to give an ultimate answer.
It takes me several days to write this. and among this process, basically every time I edit this document, the ideas in this article are constantly being updated
So I hope that this article can bring problems, perspectives, and ideas so you are free to feedback and take my point to your article.
I hope that Bungie can read everyone's thoughts, and make this game better and better, thank you for reading, thank you.
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Commentaires
Hi there,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas for Marathon! I really appreciate you taking the time to share your suggestions here.
While we appreciate your feedback, the best place to share it is on the Marathon Discord where our developers can see it, rather than our Help Forums. If you haven't already done so, please share your feedback and suggestions in the server's dedicated feedback channels.
Thanks a lot!
I tried. But i don't know how to post long article on Discord.
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