Goals.  I need to set more of them.

Progress in Warframe is an odd measure, since it’s like saying you’re done with the soup section of a buffet and moving to seafood.  Ain’t no measuring stick for that!  But Warframe has a conceptual value called Mastery Rank, and it’s based on the rank of various pieces of loot.  Get a sword to rank 30, get some MR.  Same with companions, pets, main weapons, side weapons, and archwings.  Right now, I’m at MR7.  The max is MR28, though MR16 is where the final content is unlocked (Riven).

That makes one set of goals of getting more stuff.  There are 42 main line Warframes.  27 of them have Prime variants (better stats, much harder to obtain).  I’ve gotten all the ones that drop from planets up to Neptune.  I’ve got the main blueprints for Chroma and Octavia as well.  That also means I have a fair chunk of main weapons, secondaries, and melee choices.  I’ve leveled a fair chunk of them, though it bears note that leveling them is not the simplest of things.

From 1-30 takes just under an hour.  You can level multiple items at the same time, though most weapons level faster if you use them.  Helene on Saturn is a defense mission against Grineer, and is the go-to place for people to level everything.  Easy groups, generally small room, plenty of drops.  It can get repetitive though, so I try to interlay some other missions to break the monotony.

Upgrading items is done with mods, which work like points-based bonuses you can slot into gear.  You can upgrade mods, which increases their point value, but each piece of gear has a max amount, so it turns into this interesting (?!) puzzle at times.  Many mods are useful, though the best are quite hard to come by.  A full leveling run (from 1-30) can get me ~250 or so mods, though 99.9% of them are sold.

If I was to set myself some goals for the next month or so, they would be as follows:

• Get to MR10
• Complete all nodes up to Neptune
• Complete Octavia & Chroma
• Acquire Titania & Grendel
• Complete Pluto missions (which should unlock lots of quests)
• Get into a Dojo (guild)

Some of those are more achievable than others.  Octavia in particular requires a random drop from a 20 minute mission, which are level 25-35.  Guess that will depend on luck for groups.  Even completing all nodes can be a major pain.  Archwing missions aren’t all that muchr fun, and I have a large dislike for Mobile Defense missions.

Still, if I can complete at least MR10 and up to Pluto, I guess I can consider the basic stuff all complete.  Then I can start worrying about factions and whatnot.

XCOM of attrition.

I rather enjoy the tactical/strategy squad genre.  I played the heck out of the original XCOM (even wrote my own mouse driver for it).  I’ve played every iteration since.  JAG was decent enough.  Syndicate is a top 20 all time game.  There are a half dozen in that vein every year that seem to pop up.  Sattelite Reign was a recent one.  Hard West.  Phoenix Point is a bit different, in that it’s designed by the same guy that made the first XCOM.  And hooo boy does that show throughout.  Couple thoughts after a few missions.

• Squads?  Check
• Alien bay guys?  Check
• Research & manufacturing?  Check
• Geoscape? Check
• Factions?  Check
• Action points in tactical mode? Check
• Classes?  Check

The foundational parts are all there, it’s a relatively familiar system.  What Phoenix Point (PP) does differently is apply the concept of time management to equation.  One effective strategy in XCOM is to take a more defensive approach to combat, primarily due to the rather low hit points, and extremely long periods of recovery after damage.  Losing a top-end Sniper for a couple weeks due to really bad luck rolls was super painful.

PP instead puts the clock front and center for a lot of actions.  You need to collect material to build things, and you get more material if you finish a mission quickly.  You are presented with multiple attack choices at the same time, but never really enough soldiers to complete them all on time.   There will be times when you simply run out of ammo.

PP also adds a fair chunk of hit points to every enemy, so that it takes 3-4 attacks to take out even the lowly grunts.  Rather than throw a half dozen enemies at you, there are less of them, but they last longer.  The net effect is that each map is the same time duration, but there’s always something going on, and usually more than 1 active target.

Free Aiming

Everyone has missed a point blank shot in XCOM.  It’s absolutely infuriating when it happens, and often at a key point in battle.  Hip shots still exist in PP, but it also adds a Free Aim mode, which is a much more realistic combat mechanic.

Dead to sights

In most cases, you can bring up your sights and find 2 concentric circles to assist with aiming.  There’s a 100% chance of it hitting the outer circle and 50% chance of the inner one.  As you get closer or farther from the target (or swap guns) the circles change in size.    Picking a part of the enemy has differing effects.  Maybe it disables an attack, maybe it restricts movement.  For some shielded enemies, maybe you can get by the shield and hit an exposed part.  Or perhaps you just want to take out the wall of the building to get a better shot next time… that works too.

This customized shooting makes a tremendous difference in combat.  XCOM sometimes felt like Excel with graphics, just a pretty pain on top of a number crunching machine.  PP says enough with that, and puts a lot of control in the player’s hand.  Yet with that control comes a suprising amount of challenge.  If you aren’t attacking the right enemies, what seems like a sure win can easily turn into a loss.

It will take some time to come to terms with PP.  There’s a lot to unpack here, and it’s going to take some time to get through it all.  From what I’ve seen so far, it should be a fun ride.

At work, we’ve gone through psych profiles (NOVA, Insight, Myers-Briggs), and for a long time I’ve been super dominant in one aspect.  I am not a cheerleader, I am a trailblazer.  I see broken things, I want to fix them and find more broken things.  We have an annual review of these profiles, and that allows any new staff to better understand the drivers of teammates.  Which then makes for much more pleasant conversations where both people are aiming for common ground.

There are analogies to gaming.  Bartle posits a 4 quadrant player profile, including Social, Killer, Explorer, Acheiver.  Everyone has a bit of each profile within themselves, though there are certainly dominant aspects.  In that space, I am strong in the Achievement section, with some exploration bits included.  I have next to no drive for the Killer persona, and the Social one is fairly weak as well.  In both of those cases, people will play shitty games because either they are dominating other people, or the other people are the reason to log on.  Generally speaking, an FPS is much more about the Killer model, and an old-school MMO (UO, EQ, WoW Classic)  is more about the social aspect.

I tend to strike more in the Exploration & Achievement sections.  Not in the absolute sense of finding every nook and cranny, and the obscure/grindable achievements though.  Both of those have very long tails.  I have little interest in ever getting a 100% complete, or a Platinum only to have a badge show up.  Now, if content is gated behind the activity, then sure, it’s a tad more interesting.  Things like FFX’s Monster Arena is a good example, and WoW’s pet menagerie is a bad example.

When I “finished” Jedi: Fallen Order, the rest of the game was about unlocking new cosmetics.  Meh.  No real interest.  Outer Worlds I had done nearly all the quests and explored all the zones, but only in the context of playing a specific character build.  To get “more” content, I’d need to restart with a different build.  I’m giving myself time to forget my first playthrough to make it more enjoyable the next time.

SWTOR is in an interesting spot.  There’s piles of content I missed (the near entirey of the Republic 1-50 storylines), so there’s a fair chunk there to face through.  I don’t have much interest in the end-game.  There was a time that I used to.  I raided a lot in early WoW.  I was runing dungeons a-plenty until WoD.  WoD’s implementation made me reconsider my gaming choices, and that meant looking at my gaming catalogue.  Instead of spending a few hours dungeoneering for extra gear, I would rather play something like Shadow of Mordor, or Slay the Spire.  I get why people would commit to a single game, and the social bonds therein.  But I’m good with having to go through 5-6 other GotY candidates instead.

Reviewing what I have left on deck game-wise, that leaves:

• SWTOR Republic class quests to 50.  Maybe, just maybe, get one of them out to Onslaught.
• Warframe. Not much more do to here until I get a Platinum coupon, allowing for a much larger inventory.  There’s a post here about online pricing…the coupon is the actual price.  Everything else feels like a penalty.
• Phoenix Point.  The XCOM successor of sorts from Julian Gollop who created the series.  I don’t expect it to be at the same level as XCOM2 at launch, but then again XCOM2 took it to another level with War of the Chosen (DLC) and the Long War (mod).

Part 2 of the dev watercooler discussions is up, and it deals with thoughts on itemization.  Since ARPGs are typically driven by the desire for better items, it’s worth a read.  First though, some history.

Diablo 2’s character power structure was a combination of items and skills.  The point investments in skills has a generally larger impact on gameplay than items did, yet there was still a lot of value in grinding for that perfect drop.  I won’t even get into the insanity of Runes.

Diablo 3’s character power is entirely driven by items, and the scale of randomness on rolls made some drops “god tier”.  Legendary items were eventually buffed to apply skill bonuses that impacted gameplay, and some bad luck protection with Kunai’s Cube.

Diablo 4 appears to be aiming more towards D2’s model, with skill point investment and items making up the power levels.  They are planning to eliminate the RNG on top of RNG (Ancient drops) from D3, yet still maintain some element of greater power structure.

The addition of horizontal stats to grant additional skills is an interesting touch.  Get 50 Demonic Power total across all items and get +2 Fireball sounds interesting.  Clearly they want to keep the zero DPS (ZPDS) support roles as viable, and there’s some diversity here in the choice between +proc and +damage.  Balancing those two seems a near impossible task mind you.

There’s also some drive to make rare (yellow) items viable, by having a random drop provide legendary affixes to non-legendary items.  Which, I guess is ok.  But that would require the difference between Rare and Legendary items to only be affixes.  If they have the same stat ranges, then this is reasonable.  If legendaries can roll say 20% better stats, then this is a useless system.

I’ve made a point recently that added complexity does not necessarily make for more interesting gameplay.  There’s a benefit of doubt here since the D3 live team has done some solid work.

This does beg the question relating to player progression, which is still a bit mysterious to me.  I think I understand the intent, but the devil is certainly in the details.  I guess another month before more clarity is provided.

In the larger lens, these types of conversations show that D4 is long ways off.  These are not minor questions, they are the fundamental to the game.  The sort of questions that Anthem should have asked themselves and avoided a horribad launch.  So both a yay in the fact that D4 is taking the planning seriously, but also a oooh in that Path of Exile 2 is most definitely going to launch prior.  Should be an interesting 2021.

I’m in a reflective mood of late.  Usually happens when I’m overloaded and the brain simply turns inwards for some rest.

I was thinking back on the various games I’ve played this year, and while quite a few had actual endings, most of them had more stuff to show.  Yet I tend to move on from those games and with no real regrets.  I was asking myself why and came to the conclusion that I’d hit plateaus.

I could have kept playing Jedi: Fallen Order and collected all the extra stims and cosmetics.  I could have completed every side quest in Outer Worlds.  Those are more achievements than actual content.  The parts I liked were closed, and I’m sure at some point I’ll give it another go.

The living games are a bit different.  Dauntless I went full in for a season pass, and took the next one off.  I’ve completed every single hunt, and the Beast Mastery system is an insane grind.  Drips and drops moving forward.  I’m more than content with the hammer, fists, swords, and guns as weapons.  I could learn pikes and axes, but I would need some serious crafting investment to make decent weapons.

Warframe is still there, but right now I’m simply looking for a 75% coupon for Plat to expand my inventory.  It’s like a buffet that never ends, and my ability to focus my goals is the real hurdle.  With Frost Prime and Soma Prime, I have one of the strongest setups.  Pretty much any other mix/match (for MR gains) is going to be a downgrade, or relearning.  I guess I should focus on getting all the nodes open for the first half dozen planets.

SWTOR I’ve done the main story quest for my dark side sorcerer.  Daily Onderon quests are there.  There’s at least 5 years of content that’s there for me to dip my toes into.  Plus the entire Legacy quests for the Republic side – on full opposite alts (e.g. Jedi Shadow).  I could run flashpoints til my eyes bleed for 306 gear, but then what?  I’m sure just regular bits will get me there eventually.  I am looking forward to the crew skill (crafting) update coming, cause woowee, is it ever a painful process currently.

I think this applies to a lot of stuff in my life.  I tend to go full speed until my main goals are achieved, never really striving for 100% but enough to consider myself a journeyman of sorts.  I’ll try things I absolutely have no interest in, a few times as well, and see if perhaps there’s something more to it.  Or, I’ll jump full to something I think looks really neat, only to see that the deep end is way deeper than I have time for.  Even at work, I generally only do one job for a couple years before I’ve learned everything I want to learn.  Not to say that I quit something, just that I’ve moved on to something else.

Hockey is a good example.  I’ve been playing since I was 5.  I’ve played all sorts of levels, and on a dozen+ teams as an adult.  If I don’t feel challenged, or that the team itself is “healthy”, I move on.  I took up coaching duties this year, and it’s certainly giving a different perspective on the sport.  Lots to learn, lots to share.

I still play games. That won’t end any time soon.  It’s just that the various goals I set for myself are achieved, even if there’s more to learn.  I hit my self-set plateau and choose to move on.

Life is ups and downs.  It’s full of contrasts and contradictions.  Canada loves the sun because we get bored of our dark igloos after a few months.  Utopia would drive me crazy, and certainly make it so that I wouldn’t appreciate it.  I need the challenging parts for me to properly recognize all the good I have around me, so that I don’t take it for granted.

And therein lies an interesting feature of top quality gaming, or at least what I consider top quality.  The ones that have stuck in my mind for ages are those where there are spots of reflection.  Spots where the story takes some time to breathe, to recall some of the adventure, and to prepare themselves for the next step.

I’m not talking about the calm before a storm, like the room before a boss piled with ammo/health packs.  That quiet is foreboding, it’s meant to build anxiety for what’s coming.  FPS games are all about that, and one of the main reasons they don’t click for me.  I mean those where the game simply stops being a game and turns into a story.

The gold standard

It doesn’t have to be a single time either.  While FFX certainly has the fire scene to both open the game and close the 2nd act, there are numerous other places where the game just stops to tell a story.  God of War opts to only have shorter versions (using the boat) while the major cutscenes are built for stress.  The Outer Worlds does it on the ship.  Celeste has quite a few interspersed scenes where she talks to her other half.

The best of those pauses allow you to take a few steps back and consider the world the developers are trying to build.  Some keep player agency (Dragon Age:Origins) and let you direct parts of the story.  Others turn to vignettes, where the characters take a breath and come to terms with what’s going on.  As graphics have improved, so has the ability to tell a story with facial expressions.

This set of clips from Jedi Fallen Order is what made the game for me.  This is just after Order 66, where all the jedi are gone, but it never really hits.  You visit various planets trying to find a list of Force sensitive kids, seeing how those planets lived.   Dathomir in particular has no respite, and feels oppressive. Every part of that planet wants you dead.  Then you meet Merrin, and the world turns into one of sorrow.   You’ve been playing for 8 hours by this point, then in a 2 minute scene you get it.  It’s also the point where Cal starts to question his place in the world, and the actual goal of his quest.

I’m sure everyone has a particular game and scene where their appreciation for it changed.  They make good games great, and have them stick in your brain for a very long time.

WoW Classic has people clearing Molten Core in 30 minutes.  I remember taking 30 minutes just for damn roll call, let along the actual content.  Nearly every bit of content (except raids) has been a tank & spank in WoW.  Compare that to something like FF14 where if you don’t avoid the bad, you simply die.

As games have progressed, so have the mechanics within the games.  Playing something like Ice Hockey on the NES, it seems like space magic to get NHL20 to actually do what you want it to do.  Things are without question more complicated, but are they really more interesting?

Today, most games are built upon others.  Either they are sequels, or they take bits and pieces from other games to make something “new”.   Now, I like baking.  I like chocolate and peanut butter.  I like cookies.  I know that just putting PB & chocolate in a bowl is not going to give me chocolate.  Games are similar in that you can’t just put systems together in a pile and hope your Frankenstein monster works.  The complexity of these mechanics makes them very dependent on their underlying systems.  A very casual look at Anthem shows what happens when you have a limited idea of what you’re doing and throw stuff at a wall.

The point, let’s get to it.

There’s a rather vocal part of the population that wants “interesting mechanics” to help evolve gaming.  When people use a word but don’t know what it tangibly means, that’s a buzzword.  I can look at plenty of games and think oh, that’s interesting.  Shadow of Mordor’s nemesis system is super interesting.  It can only exist in a procedurally generated world, where enemies are randomized and there’s a value in having named enemies.  Sure, Assassin’s Creed fits some of this criteria, but the story itself doesn’t make it a good fit.  Warframe recently launched the Lich mechanic which is similar to this, but it also comes with a crazy randomized grind prior.  The idea is interesting, the implementation is complex.

I’d position that the last few years of WoW’s development has been full of interesting ideas.  Artifact weapons, garrisons, heart of azeroth, island expeditions.  All of them are interesting.  All of them brought more headaches than benefits, each for various reasons that boil down to complexity.  Their basic premises are simple, but at some point in the dev cycle someone thought wouldn’t it be cool if? and people rolled with it.

I get it, these games need to keep bums in seats and wallets open.  After a while of eating the best lemon pie, eventually it’s just lemon pie (I really like lemon pie, ok?).  In order to innovate, it has to be interesting.  Yet in 2019, there are very few great new ideas.  The absolute best games don’t do new ideas.  The take existing ones and perfect the mechanics so that they are not insanely complex.  God of War is a simple action game.  Celeste is a platformer.  Outer Worlds is a stripped down RPG. Fallen Order is metroidvania. Return of the Obra Dinn is monochrome!

It’s not that risks aren’t needed.  It was a big risk to think that Kratos could possibly be considered a decent protagonist (that game would not have been half as good without him as the lead.)  It’s rather that the risks taken are intelligent risks that are supported by the crazy awesome work elsewhere.  There are dozens of games like this, and we gamers recognize it near instantly when we see it.  And we are twice as fast to recognize systems that simply do not work.  And with such a large volume of games available, it’s an easy swap out of game that is no longer interesting to one that is.

It’s simply more interesting to have an idea well executed.