Over-Abundance of Emergencies

[Kreegan]

Yesterday was a little wierd. I didn't play all that long; I've long since decided that once I hit my point of frustration with the game for the day, I quit playing. Otherwise I would have already uninstalled...

Within the short time I played, this was my experience:

(1) I was doing a side mission. I no sooner reached the area then a minor Arkfall hit... OVERLAPPING (by around 50%) of the area of the side mission. Then some kind of emergency mission hit. Soon the area was crawling with raiders, bugs, and 99'ers AT THE SAME TIME.

Yeah, it didn't take very long before the area was also crawling with players going after the Arkfall, so eventually everything was cleaned up. However...

...to make matters worse, the location was in one of the Southwestern fields with all the stalks sticking up. It's hard enough to pick out the enemies in the field with those stalks, but with all of the visual effects going off and players running around, it didn't take very long before it was next to impossible to see targets in sights and pretty much all engagements had to be limited to hip shots.

(2) I went to do another side mission south of there, the usual "kill a bunch of raiders" mission where you just sit back with your sniper rifle and pick them all off.

Well, the south side of that mission overlapped a raider roadblock emergency that overlapped a bug spawn and - lo and behold! - another 99'er emergency of some type sprung up!

Unfortunately, there was no Arkfall to add to the mess, so there weren't other players around, but I guess the game decided to help me out. Raiders and 99'ers were killing bugs; bugs were killing raiders and 99'ers; and raiders and 99'ers appeared to also be killing each other.

Downside of that? Pretty soon the higher level of bugs, raiders, and 99'ers showed up...
------------------------------------
I just bugged out. I had finished my side mission, and there was no way in hell I was going to be able to finish any one of the emergency missions - however many there were - so I said the heck with it. Besides, I was COMPLETELY out of ammo on all weapons.

Unfortunately, I'm not exaggerating in the least bit. The scripting engine evidently runs no checks on areas where it fires off emergencies to determine whether or not other emergencies are already active in the area. It apparently only checks to see if a player is in the area.

The day before, I was down by the entrance to Port Stinson. I did an emergency mission there to rescue a bunch of hostages. As soon as I completed it, it started again - almost immediately - so I completed it again. It started again, so I did it again, this time with another player (would have been nice to have a chat system that actually was useful). We completed it... AND IT STARTED AGAIN... so we did it again, this time with yet another player.

I quit doing it after the sixth time; we did have several players cooperating, which was nice (though no chat), but - sheesh! - it was getting rather stupid. At least there was an ammo box handy...

Trion, you need a little bit better trigger than "is there a player in the area?" for your emergency missions. Right now, the spawning of emergency missions is absurd.

[SteveMND]

I don't mind the over-abundance of emergencies -- in fact, I really like, them as, finally, the game seems to feel like there's stuff going on in it aside from the two dozen or so 'hot-spots' that they keep recycling for most missions -- but I will agree that maybe they need to tweak the timer on how long a particular 'emergency location' can trigger; perhaps no less than five minutes after the last one there spawned or something.

[Dazz]

Lol, I was kinda surprised at all the overlap myself. The minimap was filled with purple dots, several kinds of mobs and minor arkfall took forever to complete. When it was done and the crystals vanished, there were still throngs of bugs, raiders and 99'ers and everyone was all WTF???

[Kreegan]

I don't mind the over-abundance of emergencies -- in fact, I really like, them as, finally, the game seems to feel like there's stuff going on in it aside from the two dozen or so 'hot-spots' that they keep recycling for most missions -- but I will agree that maybe they need to tweak the timer on how long a particular 'emergency location' can trigger; perhaps no less than five minutes after the last one there spawned or something.

When they overlap, there's a problem. Irrespective of what type of weapon you use, you can only service targets at a rate barely sufficient for one mission and you certainly don't have the ammo to handle multiple missions (especially if you use sniper rifles). When you have the mobs from two missions in the area simultaneously, unless you have help you're hosed. When you start getting the elite mobs in the area, if you have double (or triple) the quantity you can reasonably handle, you might as well give up.

The fundamental problem is that you can't "maneuver" or really use cover and concealment since the AI always knows where you are, shoots through walls, shoots with perfect accuracy, etc. If you attempt to maneuver when emergencies overlap, you simply maneuver right into another trigger point for more mobs.

It's bad enough already when mobs "teleport" behind you (I'm only an hour from Austin and I'm on a high speed link, so I'm pretty sure it's not lag); if you've got to deal with elites from too different directions, too, you might as well just give up.

Trion needs to get its proverbial head out of its rectal orifice and put some thought into how they lay out their missions both in terms of time and space. Right now the timing and spacing makes emergencies BORING and repetitive because they're stacked right on top of each other.

Personal opinion, anyway...

[Kreegan]

I wasn't only going WTF?, I was running all over trying to find an ammo resupply point.

[divot2001]

I usually just keep my head down while the Raiders fight the hellbugs. And after I complete the objectives I get as many cheap kills as I can before jumping in my Challenger and driving over a bunch of skitterlings on the way out.

[SteveMND]

Irrespective of what type of weapon you use, you can only service targets at a rate barely sufficient for one mission and you certainly don't have the ammo to handle multiple missions (especially if you use sniper rifles).

Well, sniper rifles are a specific case (I have a sniper as my main); they are designed to excel in locations where you have command over the battlefield and forewarning of whats going on. In a situation like these, trying to force a sniper rifle in there is going to almost always be a losing strategy.

That said, I don't think I've ever been in a situation yet where I can shoot targets at a rate "barely sufficient for one mission," and i'm a fat middle-aged man with no real twitch skills or shooter experience. As long as you keep moving, I've found, and pull back when tactically needed (and not use the sniper rifle in the middle of a pitched combat), I've not had too many problems, generally speaking.

And honestly, overlapping emergencies -- well, as long as they are of a different 'enemy type at least -- I've found to be much easier actually. Even if you do cheese off one of the groups, or the other, some judicious retreating, dodging and rolling tends to make sure that eventually one of them will shoot the other, and before long, they're fighting each other, allowing you to head back in and start shooting the guys already being targeted by the opposing forces.

The fundamental problem is that you can't "maneuver" or really use cover and concealment since the AI always knows where you are, shoots through walls, shoots with perfect accuracy, etc. If you attempt to maneuver when emergencies overlap, you simply maneuver right into another trigger point for more mobs.

See, I've seen this mentioned by other players, but I'm honestly of the opinion something else is going on and it's not necessarily the game/AI. I regularly stand behind cover, shooting over low walls, etc., and I can't think of any period where the bullets seem to 'magically' go through buildings, or hit me with perfect aim. I've seen enemy fire ricochet off my cover harmlessly regularly, and I've rolled out of the way of sniper fire, etc. Heck, I've often found a good defensible spot and just rip through an oncoming group while most of their shots bounce harmlessly off of cover.

I'm wondering if there's other causes in play here with some of these folks that seem to be 'magically' shot all the time.

[Kreegan]

Well, sniper rifles are a specific case (I have a sniper as my main); they are designed to excel in locations where you have command over the battlefield and forewarning of whats going on. In a situation like these, trying to force a sniper rifle in there is going to almost always be a losing strategy.

That said, I don't think I've ever been in a situation yet where I can shoot targets at a rate "barely sufficient for one mission," and i'm a fat middle-aged man with no real twitch skills or shooter experience. As long as you keep moving, I've found, and pull back when tactically needed (and not use the sniper rifle in the middle of a pitched combat), I've not had too many problems, generally speaking.

And honestly, overlapping emergencies -- well, as long as they are of a different 'enemy type at least -- I've found to be much easier actually. Even if you do cheese off one of the groups, or the other, some judicious retreating, dodging and rolling tends to make sure that eventually one of them will shoot the other, and before long, they're fighting each other, allowing you to head back in and start shooting the guys already being targeted by the opposing forces.



See, I've seen this mentioned by other players, but I'm honestly of the opinion something else is going on and it's not necessarily the game/AI. I regularly stand behind cover, shooting over low walls, etc., and I can't think of any period where the bullets seem to 'magically' go through buildings, or hit me with perfect aim. I've seen enemy fire ricochet off my cover harmlessly regularly, and I've rolled out of the way of sniper fire, etc. Heck, I've often found a good defensible spot and just rip through an oncoming group while most of their shots bounce harmlessly off of cover.

I'm wondering if there's other causes in play here with some of these folks that seem to be 'magically' shot all the time.

Your arrogance is showing; might want to hike up your jeans and check your zipper.

[SuperBean]

Your arrogance is showing; might want to hike up your jeans and check your zipper.

Pot, meet kettle.


Anywhooooo on topic:

Dynamic events are dynamic. Thats what makes them dynamic.

Adapt. Overcome. Get better. Whatever you want to call it - its all the same thing.

If you are sniping crowds of enemies, you are doing it wrong.

Dynamic game is Dynamic.

large crowd? use a launcher. Tight grouping? cluster launcher. loose spread out grouping? use a nade launcher, lmg etc

Stop being so one dimensional with the game.

Read and repeat the following out loud to yourself a few times:

My perks are not permanent. they need to change as the situation changes.
My weapons are not permanent, they need to change as the situation changes.
I will carry flash grenades with me, as well as cluster 'nades.
I will carry multiple weapon types.
I will set up and use multiple load outs.
I will get better today.
This is my load-out, there are many like it, but this one is mine, and its dynamic.



oh, and 'inb4criesofelitist'

[Kreegan]

Pot, meet kettle.

<-SNIP->

Nope, not 'pot meet kettle'.

You are reading a whole lot into a few statements for the sole purpose of massaging your own ego, distorting those statements so you can represent yourself as some kind of superior person. You are presuming that the obvious isn't obvious to anyone except yourself. To what end?

It's rather pathetic, actually. Hopefully, you have more in your life to hang your hat on than some imagined expertise in an on-line game. If not, you have my sympathy. I really feel sorry for you.