Lack of progression will push people away.

[Anim]

Id say until you hit at least 1000 EGO (Maybe even 1250) you really shouldnt be complaining about progression yet. Theres not a big enough difference in gear and whats available to you until you hit that point (with some exceptions for nice rares obviously).

1000 Ego strikes me as being roughly equal to the level 8-10 range in some other, 'typical' MMO game.

Except in other mmo's you havent done all the content by lvl 8-10. Theres no challenge in this game, somebody could create a brand new character and kill Nim straight away, theres no reason to do the main missions in order apart from the poorly written storyline and awful script.

[aylard82]

I agree with the OP.

I'm addicted to this game because i like to blow things away with tons of bullets or yelling : Boom, Headshot with a bolt action sniper on poor mutants.

However this game dangerously reminds me of Global Agenda. In GA pve is useless because you assault rifle is almost the same of a purple AR and honestly it's boring and repetitive. Progression in GA is only through the talent tree and unlocking different items to play with the more you level.

While the weapon system make perfect sense for shadow wars it would be nice if you could do more with the weapons other than put 4 mods on them, rewarding the player and giving him something to work for is a welcome addition to the longevity of a game, and no, mastery of a weapon is not something to work for at least for how long it doesn't take.

Arkfalls are good and beautiful the first time, but honestly, shooting crystals is not really the idea of fun, or shooting a symbiont over and over. I'm enjoying much more doing random PVE events like helping the farm defend against raiders or just shooting things in the face.

I perfectly understand this is a MMO shooter, but you also have to understand as a software house developing game that you have competition, shadow wars has to compete with games like GA, GRO,BF3 and anything large scale capping points around big maps, while PVE has to compete with other games PVE.

This is why Defiance is considered by most an average game, not because it's bad, because it's addicting as hell, but because it doesn't bring anything more that what the market has to offer.

So if Trion manages to up the level of this game from Average to Good i would definitely say this will be the next gen MMO, but so far it's not and since i'm TOTALLY ADDICTED to this game i'm afraid to see into the future if the game remains AS-IS.

[GT3000]

OP is totally right.

There's little vertical progression aside from situational/contextual perks that give you a sense of moving forward. You do adapt and become familiar with your skills and enemies but equipment-wise, I don't feel any stronger than I did at EGO 100 (I'm EGO 650 right now) and while the perks do somewhat liven up the gameplay and give more options it does feel a bit like I'm spinning my wheels in the mud. The only significant difference between then and now has been weapon modifiers (the nano-effects) and synergies. Everything else has been pretty bog-standard since EGO 10. Certainly not killing mutants any faster. I'm still using a fantastic LMG I found at EGO 215.

[KodiakX]

This entire post is based on the idea that "300" is much further along than 60.

There is, in fact, progression in the game. The problem? It's pretty deep in.

See early on most items have single stats. For example most items follow the following formula:

Green = 1 base modifier (1.15x crit dmg, or 1.10x magazine, or 1.15x melee dmg, etc)
Blue = 1 base modifier, sometimes a Synergy
Purple = 1 base modifier, 1 special modifier (15% grenade recharge on kill, 10% ego refresh on critical kill, etc), Synergy
Orange = 1-2 base modifiers (sometimes stronger such as a 1.25x crit dmg), 1 special modifier, Synergy

Now those are the basic stats on most of the weapons right out the game. It follows these trends pretty good with the only real noticeable thing as you level is full Synergies become more common.

HOWEVER...around 1600 that's when another progression tick comes into play. That's when you start to see basic level weapons get better and stronger. You start to see things such as basic greens having two set bonuses that are also stronger like an Orange:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile.../?id=139277536

Note the way that Assault Rifle has a 1.25x modifier instead of just a 1.15x modifier. You also see Blues with full Synergies and again the dual bonuses:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile.../?id=139277346
(note that's +40% melee damage...)

This means you can have greens with stronger base modifiers than Oranges. Think of it like this:



Another thing you'll notice is these weapons don't have all their mod slots. Likely what this means is as things ramp up towards 1500 (around 750? 1000?) weapons get all their mod slots and then lose them when they tick into the next bracket of power scaling. Over time I imagine you will see more mod slots in the bracket as you work towards the next bracket (which would make sense if it was around 3000-3200 or so because that'd give a place for a final bracket around 4500-4700 leading to 5000).

So the real problem isn't that there isn't progression, it's that progression takes such a long time that your average player won't notice it for quite some time. I mean really once you hit around 1250 and have done most of the pursuits (or grinded a lot) things slow down quite a bit as Major Arkfalls become your only real source of XP. That means your average person won't be hitting 1600 for a while (since honestly it REALLY slows down 1400-1500+) which means they likely won't start to see these bonuses kicking in.

[MTinMD]

Personally, I like the way things work in the game.

I like how if an EGO 3000 pops into an Ark Fall or a random event on the side of the road that person doesn't screw things up for the lower level random or grouped player.

If you are careful to select your perks to match your playstyle and weapons you can do significantly more damage. Example: fully upgraded overcharge combined with perk that increases crit damage on targets moving toward you, increased damage to enemies below you, increased crit damage on enemies not engaged in combat, more damage from behind, EGO ability refresh, etc etc. That combinatino will do quite a bit more damage than someone who chooses defensive perks like increased HP, cellular armor, etc etc. Throw in some good mods and/or the right synergies for your playstyle and perk choices and the damage increases even more. Even with white level 1 mods in the TACC assault rifles there is a noticeable increase in damage and aim, particularly when getting headshots.

Additionally, certain perk choices and weapon synergies or attributes are only available to people who have played for a while. However, mods and weapons with good synergies or attributes are available to low level players through the game of chance that is the lock boxes.

Those of you calling for for an auction house need only look at Diablo 3 to know why, from a loot standpoint, that is a hugely bad idea.........

[Cortechs]

Personally, I really like the progression system they have. I do not enjoy accelerated, vertical progression on loot. I always grow bored rather quickly in games that use that as a "hook". For me, fun has to be the hook.

[Auztinito]

It all comes down to you not liking 1 thing in the game that won't be changed.This is not the right game for you then.If you do like the game then play it but I'm pretty sure you have more than 1 game because if you didn't then go find some & play them.
Then there is people that like it the way is & don't want it changed.I say let the developers decide on what they want Defiance to be like.For all we know there might be a mix of both.Just agree to disagree.It is common sense.

[PseudoCool]

24 pages.. some whining.. some ranting..

ABSO-FRACKIN-LUTELY Nothing constructive from the "Give me MOAR POWER!" crowd. This game wasn't built or designed with the ever lovely gear-grinding-uber-cuz-I-play-15-hours-a-day-and-farm-like-a-monster-on-halloween-cuz-I-don't-have-a-life mindset.

WHY THE HECK Can't you people get that into your heads?

Is it because you feel small and insignificant like the little ants in the playground when you can't get your uber gear to torment and terrorize the noobs in PvP? Is it because in reality, without that gear to boost you, your not only the Anti-Uber, but not even a marginally decent player? GET OVER YOURSELF! Farm and learn your weapon.. and GET BETTER!

Stop trying to make Defiance the next cookie cutter MMO out there so YOU and your wittle blowhard friends who gotta have the latest shiney-shiney can feel like you have SOME sort of significance in this planet!

How about enjoying Defiance for what it IS instead of whining like little kids that just lost their binky over what it's NOT!

/rant off

[Cavadus]

This game's horizontal progression and extremely inclusive gameplay are the main reasons I play it. If it had a completely banal and trite gear treadmill and progression like a stereotypical MMORPG I'd uninstall the game.

I'm with PseudoCool on this one; I think baddies ask for the stuff in the OP because they need gear to compensate for a lack of personal skill.

[Rampermt]

I like the way it is because there is still a challenge in all areas and you can't just destroy everything because you are op for that area.