its an easy problem to fix , just make the skitterlings indestructible until they have damaged the crystal
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all it needs is a change to the skitterlings coding to make them almost impossible to kill UNTILL they've bitten the crystal .
There's a lot of things going on here, so please bear with me. I agree with you in part but only in part.
There are people that do like to do their best to piss people off-you can't and won't change them. But you cannot be sure that that's what's happening here.
Other than parts of arkfalls, every other instance in the game contributes to the ranking up of weapons. Arkfalls are so far the biggest events in the game and in my opinion actually should be about using whatever weapon you have that can get the job done. It's also a semi-competition.
Yes, the skitterlings bite and weaken the crystal. But shooting at the crystal contributes to its destruction. And if larger bugs come along and are not killed, it meams more people are likely to be downed and not contribute to the destruction of the crystal. AOE weapons don't just hit skitterlings and can help take out a lot of the bigger bugs that you might actually get credit for killing and that might also help you get more ammo and loot. Even killing skitterlings helps with this.
Some people do aim for just the skitterlings-well, yes they do this sometimes to crap on other players but often it's because they're trying to get lots of loot and lots of kills to finish out the kills pursuit.
The arkfall might fail if the skitterlings can't bite the crystal. Pish posh. The only arkfalls that might fail are the ones where only 1 or 2 people show up-but this is just not happening for the most part. I've started some arkfalls parts by myself (mostly in San Fran) but never ended up alone. A few people have but if they're doing the arkfall alone then no one's using a rocket launcher. The fact is that most arkfalls are over in a few short minutes an most often you never can hit more than two of the smaller legs of a major one. So, if someone's using a rocket launcher at a red crystal it's not making an arkfall fail. I've got about 1000 hours now into this game and I've focused much of my time on arkfalls and only one has failed (other than the ones that glitch out). And that one was actually another glitched Scrapper one where it was impossible to destroy the heat sink. Not due to skitterling murder.
Ok, there's another real problem that was going on with Sieges and is also happening at arkfalls. Some advanced weapons from hotshots and other things are being used at arkfalls. There's a glitch that people are using to temporarily keep advanced rocket launchers-they teleport to a friend at an event and can use that weapon. It's been reported. I believe it is cheating. And most often the person using such a thing will brag about how great they are because the ROOL at arkfalls (one guy was saying he completed the Kenn Farm Siege solo and killed all the hulkers himself, was getting 10 million for a score at sieges). Later it comes out that they were using a weapon that they never should have had been able to use. Yes, the devs should fix that, but a responsible person should also know it's cheating.
And for the person that thinks it's just great to do stuff to make other people mad-grow up. If this is how you act in a game that is supposed to be fun for everyone then I can just imagine the joy you are in real life. Maybe the destroy the crystal arkfalls aren't fun for you, but other people think they are and are trying to have fun. Your solution is because you don't like them, you don't want anyone to. Very mature. The real solution if you don't like them is if you get to one, go somewhere else or snap your game in half. Problem solved.
One last word in this long response. I will and do use any weapon I have - they are all legitimate weapons to use in any situation. But being aware that I'm not playing this game alone, I also pay attention to the fact others want to enjoy it as well. I may use a ground pounder or a rocket launcher, but not exclusively. And, I don't target the skitterlings. I target the crystal and/or the bigger bugs. I throw pyro grenades at the crystal and at bigger bugs. I use all my weapons that same way. Skitterlings will die but they are not what I am aiming at and a lot of them get to the crystal. I also do substantial damage to the crystal. I don't aim for skitterlings, but I don't avoid hitting them either if they're in the way. And every arkfall I go to is over in a matter of a few minutes. Then, another one pops up.
I truly want people to give out some examples of arkfalls that have failed due to skitterling deaths. As I've said I've played about 1000 hours of this game, most of it focused on arkfalls (from the very beginning) and the only arkfall failures I've experienced have been from game glitches-crystal ones that don't end and one scrapper one.
I'm not saying that I think it's ok for people to run around just shooting the skitterlings (I really don't care if they do) but I've been at arkfalls where maybe 3 people are actively focused on destroying the crystal and others are just running around doing whatever and they're always destroyed very fast.
Actually, I kind of like it if others focus on other things so I can get the damage points and character xp for attacking the crystal.
When i`m the first one arriving at a cristal, i kill all the skitterlings :) when people start arriving i start shooting at the cristal or the bigger bugs. I just love to see the little ones exploding with the BMG`s.
If i arrive at a cristal with players there i shoot the cristal, the archers and the warriors, the monarchs , etc , but never the little ones.
It annoys me people driving around the cristals and people killing the little ones b4 they bite the cristal but i feel i don`t have the right to ask them to stop playing that way, if it wasn`t allowed they couldnīt do it but it is allowed unfortunately.
Like people complaining about this and that kind of weapon, people play with what they like because they can.
Someone said that if a particular cristal as 2 many people it would drove by and go to another cristal, that is exactly what i do, i`ll go find one less occupied :)
I'd say you're right to a point. "As intended"-just what does that mean? I agree it's not intended for someone to grab an advanced weapon from a hotshot and take it to an arkfall-that's just obviously wrong.
But, just because your EGO keeps saying the skitterlings are chomping on the crystal, that does not mean you can only shoot at the crystal and must leave the skitterlings alone.
All legitimately gotten weapons are intended to be used or else Trion would have made it impossible for you to use them. Also, it seems very likely that arkfalls were made as the PvE endgame (at least up until now maybe). Your weapons rank up when doing other things in the game, but not in arkfalls. So, it's almost natural to want to use your ranked up weapons for the biggest events in the game. It seems like that's what they're for.
I will keep posting this until someone can prove to me that arkfalls are failing all the time due to players killing skitterlings. And I will repeat that I personally don't target them-I target the crystal and the big bugs, but skitterlings do die by my hand. And arkfalls are over almost before I know it.
The real fact here is that people can get a lot of stuff from killing all the bugs at arkfalls. If I could I'd post a shot of what an arkfall looks like for me if I've shot a Mass Cannon that rained down over a crystal. You'd be amazed at the loot, ammo, salvage, and scrip.
I'm not always shooting because half the time I'm running around picking up stuff. It's the same for people that use BMGs, but mostly that happens when they use the heal function of a BMG.
I've been to far more arkfalls that have crystal parts that end in under a minute than I have any that last too long.
I don't think it should be changed at all. Unless someone can prove to me that skitterling murder is making it impossible to finish arkfalls on some large scale, this is a non-problem and I'd rather Trion focused their attention on important things.
If you're at a red crystal section of an arkfall and others are killing all the poor little guys, well let them. They're keeping all those bugs away from you (the big and the small) so you can focus on the crystal and maybe see your name in lights at the end of the arkfall. It's less work for you so all you have to do is shoot the crystal. Use your fastest, toughest weapon with the biggest magazine and don't stop shooting the crystal. While at the boss, focus on damaging the baby bug or beating up mama-do your best to ignore the other bugs. Then, laugh when you see people that killed 200 skitterlings at number 20 on that all important leaderboard while you're up at the top with 1 kill and 2 million in damage.