Author Topic: Reward system needs overhaul.  (Read 19845 times)

Keyixa

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Reward system needs overhaul.
on: May 27, 2017, 06:54:23 PM
Hi, enjoying my first beta so far, however, the biggest issue right now is far from technical.
No, the biggest issue in the game is the reward system, take for example the blueprints, in the rare case you do get one, not only do you have to compete with your teammates for the right to acquire it, you have to keep grinding the same mission a random amount of times for a specific one and also for the character you wish for.

The other monetary rewards are also split between the amount of players that select it. I don't see the point in doing that, this is a cooperative experience, no? Then why do we have to compete for our rewards?

This might be a logic decision if the game was F2P, which I understand it is not.

Missions also generally take quite a lot of time to complete (average of about 25 min. and it also doesn't help that you have to watch the cutscenes sometimes on public matches), while also not guaranteed to succeed and even more so if you're going against an antagonist (which should also receive rewards besides leaderboard ranking, especially more so if he's successful).

So what's the deal with the rewards being so meager and also having to compete over them?

Would be best to get a small amount of each currency (character, faction and gold) on fail and depending on the mission score (which isn't a bad idea, just a bit harsh in how it grades the players, best I could ever get was a bit about 7 out of 10 each time even if I never died and so on) and a medium/high amount on completion.

Solo players should also get a balanced reward system. Having them be shunned from obtaining the amounts you get in Multiplayer is a horrible idea. I can see rewarding Multiplayer with a bigger pool of rewards but it shouldn't be a requirement to have to play Multiplayer to progress your characters. 

That's why the system needs an overhaul, right now it's way too biased for Multiplayer and even then, way too hostile since it is competitive in a co-op game.

CosmonautCowboy

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Re: Reward system needs overhaul.
Reply #1 on: May 27, 2017, 07:06:27 PM
Solo players should also get a balanced reward system. Having them be shunned from obtaining the amounts you get in Multiplayer is a horrible idea. I can see rewarding Multiplayer with a bigger pool of rewards but it shouldn't be a requirement to have to play Multiplayer to progress your characters. 

That's why the system needs an overhaul, right now it's way too biased for Multiplayer and even then, way too hostile since it is competitive in a co-op game.
Having played more solo, I agree. It's extremely difficult to complete on your own, and getting nothing for it (other than gold) isn't going to sit well with people. If they have different difficulty modes for Solo, I can see easy not giving any rewards, but if the current setting is "normal," then it's robbery not to reward solo players with anything other than 1000 gold for completing a mission.

SoSen

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Re: Reward system needs overhaul.
Reply #2 on: May 27, 2017, 08:01:22 PM
I believe solo is actually easier by default as the bosses on mission 2 had way less health.

That being said I agree there should be some reward just not as much for people who want to solo vs the difficulty of 4v1 with stronger AI.

Also agree with the fact that the currency shouldn't be split at end. Maybe even a system that a player playing the raider has a higher percentage chance of getting the blue print to make it fair. Otherwise playing with pugs us to harsh and makes me only want to play with friends.

Let's not forget that without a full premade you do not know who your getting so individual score should be a thing if loot is split as you could die 0 times and have top dage but ur pug has 10 deaths no antagonist kills etc. And has as much right to the share as you?

Again makes me not Wana play with pugs and only friends which will be a hard press thing to get us to buy this game with this system in place as it is.

Gunshanks

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Re: Reward system needs overhaul.
Reply #3 on: June 08, 2017, 08:13:08 PM
Howdy,

Having just received the invite to the beta this coming weekend, I wanted to draw more attention to this thread if possible. The email contained the following line:

 "We’ve made changes to the UI/HUD to make it easier to access the solo and matchmaking modes. In addition, we hope the rewards interface is clearer now. "

Which is great and all, because the interface wasn't all that clear, but it doesn't sound like they've made any changes to how they plan to implement rewards. I've seen multiple feedback threads, all mentioning the reward system as a negative, which makes me wonder if they're still in the middle of trying to figure out how to change it, or if they don't intend to change it at all. Has anyone received word from any of the devs about planned changes therein?

The rewards are the single most frustrating thing about the game, sadly. As they currently stand, it would take way too long to get anything accomplished, and even with a wider variety of missions to play, you'll still have to play the same missions over and over and over again to get the blueprints you need, and then get the cash on top of it.

Keyixa

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Re: Reward system needs overhaul.
Reply #4 on: June 09, 2017, 02:04:21 PM
If the reward system stays the same, it will hurt the game, bad. It needs to have instanced rewards, each player should be rewarded with it's own currency and blueprint.

It's a massive mistake to have the loot system be competitive in a cooperative experience.

5aker

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Re: Reward system needs overhaul.
Reply #5 on: June 10, 2017, 06:46:57 PM
I just made an account to say this is why my friends and I will not be playing again after completing one mission. I can't fathom what you guys were thinking with this system. All I can say is WTF.

TehMud

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Re: Reward system needs overhaul.
Reply #6 on: June 10, 2017, 08:20:56 PM
I just made an account to say this is why my friends and I will not be playing again after completing one mission. I can't fathom what you guys were thinking with this system. All I can say is WTF.

I can understand the frustration over the Rewards system, but that is a ridiculous thing to never play the game again over. after one mission.

5aker

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Re: Reward system needs overhaul.
Reply #7 on: June 11, 2017, 12:19:56 AM
I just made an account to say this is why my friends and I will not be playing again after completing one mission. I can't fathom what you guys were thinking with this system. All I can say is WTF.

I can understand the frustration over the Rewards system, but that is a ridiculous thing to never play the game again over. after one mission.
I didn't say ever. I'll check it out at launch and see if they've fixed it. Right now none of us have any desire to subject ourselves to this anti-fun progression system for free, nevermind whatever they plan on charging for the game.

Gotta wonder who was sitting there thinking "Hey, you know what they'd really like? Let's make them grind for hours to get loot and shaft 3 of the 4 players when something worthwhile drops."

JeedyJay

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Re: Reward system needs overhaul.
Reply #8 on: June 11, 2017, 01:56:46 AM
Playing through an entire mission and getting nothing for it is just something I don't want to risk. Are there any plans on a baseline reward for each player based on mission performance? Because that would make me much more willing to vie for a choice drop instead of just picking something nobody else is going for.

Ebisu_rkz

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Re: Reward system needs overhaul.
Reply #9 on: June 12, 2017, 12:51:11 PM
I like the roll for the blueprint. You can go hunting blueprints and I find that fun. It's like raiding in a shooter game xD.

I hate the fact that we have to divide the coins/token1/token2 (sorry don't remember the names) if two or more ppl want the same option.

There will be a bottleneck for evey player in one of the three rewards (probably the same one of all players), this fact will get worse when the people won't care about the other tokens and they will roll for the same reward diving the rewards always by 3 on each game. That is something that happen in any game.

There should be a default option for the rewards.

I also think that this problem woudn't be so obvious if you would had a base reward. If I have a base reward I don't care that much about getting an extra reward divided by 3 or going without any choice, but ending the game without any type of reward is sad and a feel that you have lost your time.... and some games can be long.

xxSHEPERDxx

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Re: Reward system needs overhaul.
Reply #10 on: June 17, 2017, 08:03:07 PM
Agree with everything said.

MSE_Amat

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Re: Reward system needs overhaul.
Reply #11 on: June 19, 2017, 10:56:29 PM
This is very interesting feedback!

Allow me join you and see if I can add some perspective to the debate by defining the aims and goals of the reward-sharing system:

The driving force behind this system is player choice. Raiders of the Broken Planet has very different rewards that the players may want to unlock. We want the players to be able to focus on their own goals. We also want them to have to take interesting decisions in the process:
- Which mission awards more of the thing I'm interested in?
- Given the choices of the other players, is there a better option left out for me? Is there a big reward that I can snatch?
- Do I have great synergy with these players that are not interested in the same reward as me? Maybe I can invite them to my squad and play a couple more games with them.

The blueprint raffle is a cathartic, memorable moment. It can be as much frustrating to lose as it can be ecstatic to win. Note that the reward system forces no random outcomes on the players. They can choose not to participate in the blueprint raffle. There's 4 rewards for 4 players, so there's at least one guaranteed full reward awaiting the player who chooses not to participate.

Loot sharing is a common game mechanic in dungeon-based cooperative games. It creates dynamics between the players and a soft offer-and-demand system. Note that rewards are given out for losses as well as for victories. The only factor governing the quantity of the rewards is the speed and advance in the mission.

Even if a mission is completely impossible to beat, and Dr. Kuzman has got the Raiders on their knees, it's still worthwhile to fight until the end, because any amount of progress made on the boss' HP bar will reflect on the rewards. This is a very important message that we want to send to each Raider: No matter how impossible it seemed, every little push you made to make it to the finish had it's reward.

WYRDBOY

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Re: Reward system needs overhaul.
Reply #12 on: June 20, 2017, 04:16:04 PM
What I really like about the current system is the mind-games part, bluffing and trying to manipulate people into picking something else in PUGs is fun.

Keyixa

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Re: Reward system needs overhaul.
Reply #13 on: June 20, 2017, 04:16:51 PM
So you're saying you like your lottery system? It's objectively bad, very anti-cooperation and nobody here even likes the idea behind it. Not to mention, the current system for solo and antagonists which is even more abysmal since they get only a small fraction.

The whole point of the game is cooperation, and since most missions take around 15-20+ minutes to complete on average, the high difficulty and learning curve of most of them, having a reward system based on RNG and competition (with everyone being able to cut in to each others reward) is insane.

Take for example the blueprints, if all players select it, only one of them will be awarded, while the other 3 get NOTHING. That's right, playing for like 20~ minutes, even successfully completing a mission against an antagonist as well, your potential reward can even be NOTHING. It doesn't even make sense from a lore perspective since we aren't mercenaries or even actual raiders, we're playing as a rebel faction that has to defend the planet against the actual raiders.

I don't see the FUN in getting NOTHING for my efforts.

Keyixa

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Re: Reward system needs overhaul.
Reply #14 on: June 20, 2017, 04:19:11 PM
What I really like about the current system is the mind-games part, bluffing and trying to manipulate people into picking something else in PUGs is fun.

Yes, I bet griefing people is tons of fun, no? Like I said, objectively bad. If you really want to go against other players, it should be limited to the antagonist system.