Twitchy Questioning 7: Questions Are Forever

INTRO

As usual I have gathered up questions from fellow players on BSN (the Bioware Social Network forum, bsn-dot-boards-dot-net).
This week we have some questions about the 1.08 patch as well as general bug and gameplay questions.


NEW QUESTIONS

On XB1, consistently, about 30 seconds into a new game, the game stutters and then recovers. What is happening at that time?

What is the design intent behind sync kills? It’s not fun as a player to spend most of a wave in spectator mode, particularly when you got sync’d due to off-host connection issues.

Many enemies have a lack of audio cues. (Ex. Fiend and Destroyer are nearly silent when near a player until their big attacks happen.) What is the design intent behind this?

When you Respec a character that is not yet Rank X, it resets to that number of skill points, and further character ranks do *not* grant the missing skill points. This is particularly harmful for Ultra-Rare characters that are hard to rank up. Can this be looked at?


With 1.08, almost all melee attacks have improved damage, except the Angaran Firran and the Biotic Punch. What is the design rationale for this?

1.08 made improvements to basic melee attack damage almost across the board, yet jump-melee was untouched. What was the design rationale behind this decision?

With 1.08, Shockwave is now the only multi-detonator power that has a penalty to combo detonations. Is this intended design and if so, why?

From 1.06 to 1.08, many Assault Rifles received significant improvements, but not the Sandstorm. What is the intended niche for this weapon?

Regarding the new 1.08 packs, Reserves and Arsenal: does the improved chance for characters and weapons respectively affect the Rare chances, the Ultra-Rare chances, or both?

The Annihilation power doesn't prime enemies for about 5 seconds after it is activated. (Particularly noticeable when you’ve just turned it back on after being revived.) Can this be looked at?

In ME3, the Ammo Pack equivalent (Thermal Clip pack) granted bonus weapon damage for a short time, which made them more useful. Could a similar bonus be added in MEA? This would encourage players to use this currently underused consumable.

In ME3, the First Aid Pack equivalent (Ops pack) granted brief damage and stagger immunity (i-frames), which made it more useful for skilled play. Could First Aid Packs be modified to work this way in MEA?

Is there an upper limit on the number of consumables a player can own? In ME3 the limit was 255, which made it possible to obtain (what we now call) boosters once we had a large supply of all four consumables.

Could you rotate different Boosters per day/week for Mission Funds (MF), in addition to the XP Boosters currently available? This would allow players to spend MF on their preferred playstyle Boosters (ex. Ammo Capacity, weapon Rail Amps, melee, etc.).

Why do I keep getting matched with people I've blocked on Origin?

For MP armor color customization, would you consider adjustable finishes like matte, glossy, etc?



REPEAT QUESTIONS
www.reddit.com/r/MECoOp/comments/6eomml/twitch_chat_questions_for_bioware/

FOLLOW UPS

A few weeks ago you said you were looking into unlocking FOV (field of view) settings on console. Is that still a possibility?
ANSWERED by DiscoBabaloo: i'll need to follow up now that i'm back, but that was something on the list to look into

A few weeks ago you said you were looking into allowing console players to re-map powers. Is that still a possibility?
ANSWERED by DiscoBabaloo: ya same

A few weeks ago you said you were looking into allowing PC players to re-map the console button (currently tilde) away from other buttons that are used for powers. Is that still a possibility?

Deeper into the Ruins was popular and everyone liked the dynamic map. Can this map or others like it be added to the regular map rotation?

Can the 'Random' matchmaking filter be changed to search specifically for lobbies also set to 'Random'? Currently, 'Random' acts unintuitively like 'Any' which severely limits joining options. ‘Any’ appears heavily weighted towards Apex and popular maps/enemies, instead of being more varied as the proposed ‘Random’ would be.


DESIGN INTENT

Some actions have unintuitive priorities. Landing interrupts a reload. Rockets, cover vaulting, and revive interactions cannot interrupt a reload. Almost anything interrupts and puts away an equipped rocket. Is this something you will look at, to improve game flow?
ANSWERED by DiscoBabaloo: will check, but i think in this case some things are not easy to tweak (not without touching a lot of other systems) :/
Also Patch 1.08 states: Equipping the Cobra RPG now interrupts reloading


Shotguns are fully blocked by Shieldgate: all pellets’ damage is blocked by even 1 remaining hitpoint in shields. Is this intentional design, or something that should be reported as a bug?
ANSWERED by DiscoBabaloo: pretty sure that's being looked at

Chain Overloads do not detonate Combos (they did in ME3). Intentional design or bug?

Throw and Shockwave have combo detonation penalties -- is that intended? If so is it also intended for other area detonators to not have a combo detonation penalty?
Patch 1.08: Throw now does standard combo detonation damage (previous damage was -25%)

For weapon accuracy, is there a cap or point of diminishing returns?
Ex: stacking a weapon scope, the Turian Soldier passive tree, Turbocharge, and Fortify accuracy.

Certain enemy behavior seems suicidal, particularly dogs, who will charge through weapons fire or sustained powers (Flamethrower) to get to the player. Is this the intended design?

Observers still feel frustrating to fight -- their detection range is enormous and they seem to lock onto the player instantly with a hitscan weapon. Is this the intention with this enemy?

Charge-up weapons (ex: Venom) don’t hold their charge when the player performs any other action, which makes those weapons frustrating and not fun to use in this fast-paced game. What was the design intent behind this mechanic?

Projectile tracking for the Thokin is significantly more detrimental to the weapon in MP than it is useful. Is there consideration to make the projectiles travel faster or make the tracking more forgiving? (like able to hit an enemy by shooting over cover they're ducking behind)

How does matchmaking work? Does it take into account geographical distance (like Europe to U.S.A. or vice versa)?


BUGS

Are you aware of the issue that a downed ally who can be revived within view will prevent melee use? (This happens even on PC where revive and melee are on different keybinds!) This is extremely frustrating and cripples melee dependent classes.
ANSWERED: They are aware of melee bug when ally is downed.
Also Patch 1.08 states: Fixed issue that prevented melee attacks if the revive icon was near center screen

When reporting bugs, is there a way to know what game patch / version to report them?
Ex: Common weapon challenges were partially fixed in the last live update but most Common weapon challenges are still not progressing. Under what patch / version should the latter bug be reported?



USER INTERFACE

Can the U.I. text size be made adjustable, primarily for console users? The current text size is too small to read on TVs from more than a few feet away.

Would you consider adding an optional, more detailed killfeed with detailed damage information and timings? This would make testing much easier for both you and the dedicated fan community.

Is there any inclination to unhide the "hidden" stats on weapons? For example, reload time (in seconds), headshot multiplier, modifiers against defense types, etc. Previously you stated this might fit into a U.I. update.


Various timers are not shown in the game’s U.I. Why is this information hidden from the player?
(Examples: time until next Saving Barrier, Rage / Ascension kill count to goal, Rage countdown timer, Martial Artist killcount / bonus amount & countdown timer, Biotic Warrior countdown timer)

Would you consider allowing player to purchase multiples of the same pack using Credits / APs, or multiples of the same item using MFs? This would be a big help when you need to refill Consumables.

Would you consider adding manageable loadouts to the Character Customization screen, to allow players to save multiple sets of weapons and equipment?


JUST FOR FUN

Why do all the Asari MP characters have the same face?

Any chance of more, and different, melee options being added?
Note that 1.08 patch increased melee damage across the board.


OUTRO

Thank you very much for answering our questions! Keep up the good work.

1.08 & balance updates
1.07 - no official notes
1.06 & balance updates
1.05 & balance updates
1.04