A little explanation about gear progression

[Mavor]

Your favorites better be shotguns then if your going to use the in PVP lol

This game is currently broken and its losing players fast. Drastic changes need to happen fast or Defiance will not last long. Its only been a week and people are already starting to leave (myself included)

Every single game online game thats been released has had people leave early on. And they should! No game is for everyone - those who enjoy it are staying with it and thats all the matters. And from what Ive seen around the web (and in my circle of friends)those staying far outnumber those leaving.

Besides - not like this game relies on subscriptions to keep it afloat - so who cares who leaves?

[Mavor]

"....I think the reason this is up is more for newcomers as opposed to those of us that have made it to SF (you should know by then)."

Precisely =)

There appear(ed/s) to be confusion over the gear system - with folks mainly expecting your typical MMORPG style loot/progression - so I thought I'd point some things out. This games gear system works far closer to games like Stalker than it does World of Warcraft.

[jnt]

"....I think the reason this is up is more for newcomers as opposed to those of us that have made it to SF (you should know by then)."

Precisely =)

There appear(ed/s) to be confusion over the gear system - with folks mainly expecting your typical MMORPG style loot/progression - so I thought I'd point some things out. This games gear system works far closer to games like Stalker than it does World of Warcraft.

I think most people would like some progression in Defiance. At all.

Even tiny changes (synergy boni) really don't mean anything if the content never gets harder. Your Defiance character is only as powerful as you are good at playing shooters.

It's a bigger problem then gear progression. It starts easy and doesn't get harder. If you are physically capable of aiming a cursor you never actually get any better.

[Major Nelson]

The problem with having weapons gain more damage as they level is it would throw the entire game balance out of whack. If a level 100 AR did 100 damage and a level 1000 AR did 1000, you'd be absolutely decimating everything you came across.

Plus, on the side of realism (I know, I know, this game isnt realistic, but hear me out) - nothing makes a bullet 'do more damage' - a bullet does what it does, it flies fast and makes holes in things. Bigger the caliber, bigger the hole - thus the various weapon types. Aside from changing to a different weapon, the only way to cause more damage with the same weapon is to make sure more rounds land where you want them to. Preferrably on a nice shiny critical location =)

well not actually higher level enemies would kill you and equal ones would provide a challenge all while giving higher xp but if you decide to fight lower level stuff you would get 1 xp (game should be like this to add "prolonged playability" as once i do all pursuits im done, why? well whats the point i dont need to work for better gear, i like to work for good stuff or otherwise "grinding" becuase i like to try to be the best)

[jnt]

well not actually higher level enemies would kill you and equal ones would provide a challenge all while giving higher xp but if you decide to fight lower level stuff you would get 1 xp (game should be like this to add "prolonged playability" as once i do all pursuits im done, why? well whats the point i dont need to work for better gear, i like to work for good stuff or otherwise "grinding" becuase i like to try to be the best)

Basically.

Who actually enjoys leveling that slows down dramatically, doesn't make you stronger, and doesn't help you fight challenging content? What is the point of investing time atm?

[Cosmic Badger]

Basically.

Who actually enjoys leveling that slows down dramatically, doesn't make you stronger, and doesn't help you fight challenging content? What is the point of investing time atm?

THIS, i have pointed out in another post that there is simply no challenging group content in this MMO, its, in my opinion pretty dire currently.

Arkfalls are a zerg fest and i don't think i have ever seen anyone properly die in one.
The co-op instances are pretty much pew pew pew fall down and if you die pay 110 scrip and respawn 5 secs from where you died.

As someone else said, these kind of games require some kind of carrot on a stick to have people stay in game.
I always thought that it works well when you become more badass to take on more badass fights and work together with your friends.

Currently you gain small increments in strength but there is simply no content to challenge you at that.

Anyhoo just my thoughts, im sure people will disagree with me.

[jnt]

As an aside: My Defiance character gains power at the same rate while I play a completely different game. It's pretty nice.

[Scyris]

Personally I think trion just decided to be lazy, and not have to balance enemies at higher ego levels myself. For pvp they could just set it up so when your in pvp mode all weapons are capped to a certan damage per shot. but for pve they can scale higher. Number 1 offenders of this are the explosive weapons, they just do pretty **** damage for their low clip sizes. 808 dmg homing rocket launcher? why bother? I can click once with my AR and do like 1300 damage, and I have pretty damn good aim. Though I will admit I love the hell out of this shotgun I found, its a 10 round base combat shotgun that fires 808 damage grenades. Needless to say I tossed my other grenade lauchers since that one has a far bigger clip(double my grenade launchers I had) and fire rate. Thinking of modding it with damage, clip size, and a +melee damage stock.

I dunno, I just wish the guns went up in damage at higher ego levels, but what I wish more is that when you fill up the "exp bar" on a gun, that it wouldn't stop adding to your skill levels, bascally the game forces you to constantly change guns, I'd rather just use the one I like (correct me if I am wrong on this, I read it in these forums). Like I got a nice AR 390 damage, 3 shot burst, fire nano-effect(which proces alot), 39 clip with the mod I got and 2.2s reload. Melee is also radiation type damage as well. I'd use this gun forever if I'd still get exp for the skill level on my char when its xp bar is maxxed. Another nice gun is the one for finishing the current Episode, its apurple all 4 slots open, 222 damage, and on kill it gives u 15% grenade recharge, which bascally lets you throw them fairly often.

Grenades and shields are another issue, both need to scale better, a E-lv 200 grenade doesn't really do more damage than a ego level 1, most have identical stats. Kinda pointless.

[Mavor]

Equipment doesnt really start to show major differences until you get around 1000 EGO - which I would wager is about level 10ish in any other game. Basic vendor gear starts having most slots, if not all, open. Shields and nades start to differ in very serious ways. A Respark with a 10% damage reduction while shields are charging is just awesome - and a 0.0 det timer frag with a high min damage, say around 1500, is unreal...

[jnt]

Equipment doesnt really start to show major differences until you get around 1000 EGO - which I would wager is about level 10ish in any other game. Basic vendor gear starts having most slots, if not all, open. Shields and nades start to differ in very serious ways. A Respark with a 10% damage reduction while shields are charging is just awesome - and a 0.0 det timer frag with a high min damage, say around 1500, is unreal...

"Level 10 in any other game" let's ignore how hard that is to even really quantify. I've never played a game with say, 50 levels, that runs out of unique content at or before level 10.


Defiance is, by all appearances, built around a frame work. Based on communication from the developers I am 100% sure at this point that the whole game has been planned (level cap, gear etc) but only the level cap went in so far. There isn't really any content in place to support 5000 EGO yet. Apparently 5000 EGO is your target for mid season 2. The game was created and content was parceled out for a schedule.

Content is minimal to non existent along with difficulty at this point. Rather then suggesting anyone made a ****ty game, I find it far more rational to suggest that the developers lost the fight vs the accountants and have turned what would have been a decent release into a chopped up and rather empty year of content.