Anatomy of a Lock Keeper

[BJWyler]

From Creative Lead Trick Dempsey:

Ark hunters,

We’re releasing an update to the Warmaster instance to address social dynamics inside the event. Feedback from players fell into two broad categories: those that break locks and those that do not.

OK, I can see that, so let’s have it.

From Creative Lead Trick Dempsey:
Lock breakers break the Warmaster locks at the first opportunity, valuing their play time, entertainment, and the moment-to-moment rewards that come from constant action.

Wait a minute … Lock Keepers don’t value their play time and entertainment value? What moment-to-moment rewards are you talking about- aren’t rewards those things that come at the end of an event – events that since 1.5 actually take longer to complete thanks to bullet sponge enemies (though that thankfully has gotten better over time)? Isn’t part of playing a shooter if not well, at least with some modicum of skill, taking some time to sit back and strategize the best method for winning whatever it is we are about to encounter? Perhaps I should ask our Real Life combat veterans out there if the best course of action is to always run in guns blazing and not worry about strategy.

From Creative Lead Trick Dempsey:
They are playing Defiance for a limited time each day and they are guided by which events are active in the game.

Well, as a Lock Keeper, I am playing for a limited time each day as well. I feel fortunate now when I have time to log in at all to try to complete a Chimera daily for the pursuit. Heck, I wish I had more time to play with my clan members to help them finish pursuits and get my Gunslinger Arena gold pursuits complete. Unfortunately, I haven’t had that kind of time, and in a couple of months, am going to have even less. So I pretty much value each and every minute I spend in game very highly. I want to make sure that when I do have that time to play, that time results in success.

From Creative Lead Trick Dempsey:
Every part of the user interface supports this play method. Indicators and EGO instructions push these players forward, and they reap great rewards during their time. Lock breakers constitute a vast majority of players.

Not sure what this is all about. I know that EGO can tend to be a bit pushy now and then, and certainly doesn’t always recommend the best strategy when fighting. Seems to me, whenever I have entered the WM instance, Lock Keepers have been the majority, patiently waiting for enough players to have a reasonable chance of success. After all, fun, entertainment, and rewards aside, isn’t the ultimate point of playing/competing in something to win? I don’t know about anyone else, but after a while, if I am constantly losing, whatever it is I am doing becomes less and less fun. I guess that’s why the “Lock Keeper” mentality came about for the WM. After all, we were told specifically (several times) that the WM is difficult content intended for a minimum of 17-24 players to successfully complete. Naturally, the changes that came with 1.5 made that point even more critical.

From Creative Lead Trick Dempsey:Lock keepers seek to prolong the lock-breaking step until the number of players inside the Warmaster event meets or exceeds 24 players, often using chat and weapon intimidation to dissuade others in the instance.

Well yes. After all, that’s how you designed the event, isn’t it? The WM needs a certain amount of DPS within a very limited time frame in order to win the event. As such, isn’t the best strategy to ensure that said amount of DPS is available prior to the start of the timer? It seems to me that history has shown us over the last year of playing the WM that waiting to ensure that there are enough players in the instance, and hence enough DPS, is the best method to at least have a reasonable chance of victory. After all, if we are not playing to win, what’s the point of playing at all? As for intimidation, I have yet to see any instance of the WM where players were rude to those who did not understand the mechanics that were determined to work best based upon the elements handed to us.

From Creative Lead Trick Dempsey:These players value resources over time and aim to earn the legendary weapon drops from the Warmaster at all costs. Additionally, these players tend to have an extremely limited scope for value on items; anything that is not part of a predetermined list is deemed entirely worthless. These players are extremely active on the forums and in-game, but still constitute a small minority of players.

Oh, I see, so now we are getting into the old “Hardcore” vs. “Casual” argument here. Well, I got news for you. Not every “Hardcore” player places value of rewards over value of experience. As I have said several times already, the rewards are secondary to me. With the limited time I have to play the game, I want to make sure that time is not wasted by finishing in failure again, and again, and again. I want to progress and I want to win. Those are the achievements most valuable to me, so you had better go back to your demographics analyst and smack some sense into him or her, because they have no clue what they are talking about in this 21st Century Gaming Community. Yes, I do agree that only a small fraction of a game’s player base is active on the forums, but that has nothing to do with what they value or with them being “Lock Keepers.”

From Creative Lead Trick Dempsey:Here is how we are updating the event: When the last Volge in the upper level of the arkbreak is killed, the objective to open the vents appears. That objective now has a 30-second countdown. At that point, the vents will open themselves and the cage will appear in the room below. When the cage spawns, it begins a 3-minute countdown. During this countdown, the locks may be destroyed as normal. However, when the countdown completes, the locks shatter and the Warmaster is released. To be clear, from the moment the last Volge is killed in the lobby, there is a maximum of 3.5 minutes before the Warmaster fight starts.

Great, so an event that already treads a thin line between success and failure is pretty much geared to fail as much as possible now. Wow, that is some brilliant game design there!

From Creative Lead Trick Dempsey:Here This puts the game’s mechanics in line with the interface indicators in the game and the instructions from EGO.

So instead of fixing (or removing) what EGO said, you simply put in a mechanic to force people to follow her instructions. Wow, what a brilliant combat strategy that is. Thank God you choose the Gaming Industry as a career path instead of the Armed Forces.

From Creative Lead Trick Dempsey:Once inside the Warmaster event, players will proceed to its end in 10 to 15 minutes, thus freeing them to pursue their next adventure in a timely manner.

I was unaware that anyone was forced to spend time in content they do not want to spend. Obviously, there is the matter of not having an easy way to map out of an Arkbreak Interior instance, but I see that as an oversight and failure on the developers part to include such an UI element that allows for that and not a fault of the players.

From Creative Lead Trick Dempsey: Players aiming to maximize their chances to earn legendary gear or Warmaster kills now have the onus put on them to organize their teams before entering the event. They need to prepare their plans, leader designations, and group/friend invites such that they can execute them quickly. We are not, at this time, removing the exploit that allows players to exceed the event’s 24-player maximum, but we are requiring teams that wish to do so to achieve this in a timely fashion.

Yeah, that’s great. As a matter of fact, my clan often does that, but what tends to happen more often than not, our groups are broken up and placed into separate instances, which then requires re-logging and re-organizing again to try to get everyone into the same instance. Several times, it took upwards of 30-45 minutes before the clan members who wanted to participate in the event finally all got into the same instance and we could actually play the damn game. Again, who really is at fault here? The Lock Keepers who want to try to win the event, or the development staff that implemented a Raid style event with absolutely no way to plan and organize the group number required by the mechanics in order to beat the event? Seems to me, the failure here once again rests with the development team.

From Creative Lead Trick Dempsey: Players While lock keepers are not necessarily playing the Warmaster instance incorrectly, this is not how the event was designed to be played.

WTF!!?? We are not playing it wrong, but we are not playing it as designed? That makes absolutely zero sense. As I said before, nearly a year of vetting the mechanics on the live servers has seemed to me to have brought out the best strategy that offers the best chance of success. The only thing in question has always been which part of the WM to shoot at – and that is generally agreed upon by everyone in the instance prior to breaking the damn locks.

From Creative Lead Trick Dempsey: This change prevents them from holding an in-progress event hostage and allows the instance to progress as designed. Players who progress the Warmaster fight are not and have not been “griefers” as they are doing what the game has literally told them to do.

So now, those of us who want to win the event are held hostage by those who don’t care about success or failure. Thanks a lot for nothing, then. I agree they are not griefers if they do not understand the accepted strategy and are only following orders given by the game, but again, that means the failure is on the development staff for not understanding the mechanics of the very element they implemented.

From Creative Lead Trick Dempsey: We’ll continue to monitor feedback about the Warmaster event and this latest change, so please share your constructive experience-based insights with us on the forums.

Ohhhh, so now you want the feedback of the “Forum minority”. Well, guess what … we “Forum minority” have been providing feedback to your team for the last 14+ months. Fat lot of good it has done us so far it seems. It appears to me, you only value the feedback from the “Forum minority” when it is something that you want to hear. Not a good way to ingratiate yourself to the people spending money and playing this game.

Well, this has been my feedback. Fat lot of good it will do besides earn me an infraction or forum ban I suppose, but at least I feel I have now done my part to speak up for the "Minority" who has supported this game over the last year and more.

[NeuroticHitman]

[N3gativeCr33p]

Well, this has been my feedback. Fat lot of good it will do besides earn me an infraction or forum ban I suppose, but at least I feel I have now done my part to speak up for the "Minority" who has supported this game over the last year and more.

Great thread/post as always, Mr. Wyler!

[drackiller]

QFT very well said my friend.

[Festival]

"Lock breakers constitute a vast majority of players."

That absolutely ridiculous claim of Dempsey's made it obvious he's never actually been in a Warmaster attempt on the live servers (or he's lying through his teeth). Every single one I've been in (well over a hundred, probably a lot more) had, at most a half-dozen lockbreakers, versus somewhere between 5 and 30 lockkeepers. Without exception. From everything I've ever read about other platforms and regions, this holds true across the game.

The player base doesn't like being lied to, TD...not one jekking bit. Clueless, out-of-touch devs aren't a whole lot better.

[PseudoCool]

Well spoken BJ.. and I see I'm not the only one with a bee in my bonnet today

[DeadEye68]

I was just thinking ... if the most dedicated players are only "a small minority", doesn't that speak volumes ?

I see operation Warmaster Rage has now entered phase 2. After the initial outburst of anger structured reactions are coming forth. Those are going to be much more unpleasant.

[Storm58]

"Lock breakers constitute a vast majority of players."

That absolutely ridiculous claim of Dempsey's made it obvious he's never actually been in a Warmaster attempt on the live servers (or he's lying through his teeth). Every single one I've been in (well over a hundred, probably a lot more) had, at most a half-dozen lockbreakers, versus somewhere between 5 and 30 lockkeepers. Without exception. From everything I've ever read about other platforms and regions, this holds true across the game.

The player base doesn't like being lied to, TD...not one jekking bit. Clueless, out-of-touch devs aren't a whole lot better.

Pretty sure TD was categorizing EVERY Ark Hunter into either a "Lock Breaker" or "Lock Keeper," not just those that actually play the WM. If that is indeed the case, I would agree with him. I consider myself a "Lock Breaker" but I don't play the WM...

Just a different viewpoint.

[TheOz]

Nicely said BJ.

[Festival]

Pretty sure TD was categorizing EVERY Ark Hunter into either a "Lock Breaker" or "Lock Keeper," not just those that actually play the WM. If that is indeed the case, I would agree with him. I consider myself a "Lock Breaker" but I don't play the WM...

Just a different viewpoint.

You may be right, but I don't think he was speaking more generally. I think he was specifically referring to WM instances:

"We’re releasing an update to the Warmaster instance to address social dynamics inside the event. Feedback from players fell into two broad categories: those that break locks and those that do not."