Twitchy Questioning 17: Death Draws Questions

Possible Future Support

Will we still get Tiran Kandros videos for upcoming characters? BSN-ers enjoy those videos, but we didn't get one for the Batarian Vanguard.

Could you pin a list of known MP issues on EA Answers HQ, Bioware Blog, MassEffect.com, or somewhere? Explain what can and cannot be fixed, and cut down on repeated questions and new bug reports.

Given that everything going forward will be a server-side change, can you please notify us when balance changes are made? (esp. to char. skills) -- on the BW blog, Apex HQ, and in-game if possible. Otherwise, we have to figure things out by process of elimination.

We talked about how enemies spawn behind players as result of arena map setup. Is it possible to set a minimum distance for enemies to spawn in relation to players? So we have more time to react.

Is it possible to make the timer on Devices slightly longer and/or pause the timer while Device is being worked? Currently, it’s too easy to fail this objective - more frustrating than enjoyably frenetic.




Weapons

Piranha: Can you please take another look at the Piranha? It's really awful for both an N7 and an Ultra-Rare.

Valiant: Is it possible to reduce the in-scope view-kick? The huge kick makes its actual firerate *feel* bad due to the visual recoil. I find I space out my shots too much, unconsciously.

Why do most SRs have a hipfire penalty? Shouldn’t SRs do same damage regardless of whether you Aim Down Sights (ADS) or not?



Powers

Energy Drain: Is it possible to change rank 5B to make it a multi-detonator? Would make Exemplar better at dealing with Platinum armor hordes, and would also be nice booster to Asari Sentinel should she go Double Throw 5A+6A.



Equipment & Boosters

Equipment: a few weeks ago we thought all remaining new Equipment would show up in the Store before it became a truly random rotation. Is it possible to force the new Equipment to drop over the next several weeks?

Is it possible to increase the damage bonus from ammo? Even at Rank IV, 10% is not much of a bonus.

Is it possible to increase the shield bonus from Cyclonics? Currently they are almost useless (make no difference to enemy Time To Kill the player), given low base shields on player characters.



Game Mechanics

The Host Ping Indicator was a great addition, but it raised a few questions.
Host Ping 1 of 2: What does the indicator mean for the Host? (ex. you receive < 4 bars to yourself)
Host Ping 2 of 2: For non-Hosts, could you explain what the bars mean in terms of latency, packet loss, etc?

When looking at your telemetry for Platinum, what can you tell us about...
Telemetry 1 of 2: usage / success rate for certain characters (particularly Infiltrators - are they overused?)
Telemetry 2 of 2: usage / success rates for weapons (feels like only a few are Plat viable, which is boring)



Challenges
why not Melee challenges?; Map Challenges shouldn’t be tied to difficulty; asking them to check if new maps are actually in the challenge rotation

Would you consider a grace period for in-progress Daily Challenges? It’s frustrating when you start a game with ~20 minutes to go, the game takes unexpectedly long, and you get no credit for what is now yesterday’s challenge.

Is it possible to adjust the Map Challenges so they don’t require playing on specific difficulty levels? So they’d be Bronze (or higher), Silver (or higher), Gold (or higher), Platinum (or highe- joking).

Is it possible to add Platinum difficulty Challenges? It would be cool to have red & silver nameplates!

Is it possible to add Melee Challenges? There are Challenges that track almost everything else.

Can you adjust the Daily Challenge rotation to be less truly random? and more quasi-random with fewer repeats. So we don’t get stuck with the same map / enemy / etc. day after day.



Packs and Drop Rates
Direct questions about how packs and drop rates work. They have been surprisingly forthcoming with this information.

How are items weighted in packs? It seems like at any given rarity, items drop in the order characters, weapons, mods.

Are you willing to reveal the actual weighting of characters vs. weapons in Reserves and Arsenal Packs respectively?

What is the official rarity of Character Respec cards? (Out of curiosity.)



Long-Form Questions
Questions too long to answer in chat but that we hope they will talk about in a future episode. See BSN for details. Vote for this if you want me to propose it to Bioware.

Can you talk about how you make sense of fan feedback when updating the game? Bluntly, how do you know if BSN / reddit / Twitter feedback is truly representative of a large portion of the player base?

Are you willing to share any numbers or percentages around players at various difficulty levels, characters and weapons being used (or not!), trends over time, etc?

Hmmm. Not got any good questions anymore I'm afraid.

I'm not sure how intergrated their SP and MP sides are, probably very heavily, hence why the MP team has been somewhat downcast and unable to do more. I'd like to know MORE about how reliant the MP is from the SP side though.

1. Is it possible for the MP to reuse assets to create new things? eg Clone Kineticist, rename it, and new set of powers?
2. Is it possible for the MP to reuse SP assets to add new enemies? eg Adding Architect as a boss instead of X enemy?
3. Is it possible for the MP to reuse MP assets to create new equipment pieces? eg Copying Stronghold Package and renaming with new abilities?
4. Is it possible for the MP to REPLACE MP assets to create new things? eg Replacing Kineticist, same name, but new set of Powers?

I feel these 4 questsions and any honest answer about them (yes or no) will let us know what we can expect from Bioware about MEAMP in the future and how things are integrated right now (are ALL MP assets baked into the SP patch? Or could extra things be cloned from existing stuff to create "somewhat" new content?) :: edit :: (Or indeed, could we get new content through replacement of existing stuff temporaily? eg Kineticist gets replaced with Biotic Warper, with Ascension, Barrier, Singularity, Throw, Warp?) The reason I query this, is because if Server data controls what is available to unlock and how they function, new content could be pushed this way without disrupting the SP Patch or it's Assets) :: /edit ::

So many questions, but I don't think none of it will be answered, and there's also no easy way to ask these questions either.

A shame. Going back to unlocking what I have to unlock left.

I'm gonna take time between my usual shitposting to applaud your efforts here. No idea how you manage to overcome the asphyxiating tide of ennui and rise above the endless meh that biower continually exude regarding this game.

Hats off to you, good sir.

I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to say here, but there can't be any new kits or guns without a patch (and in case you haven't noticed, the new kits have mostly been reused assets from SP already, with only a few new powers). And there will be no more patches period, which includes MP - it was stated explicitly. The most they can do is tweak values that are supplied by the servers - which presumably includes some damage values etc. but they were iffy even on that.

So has it been confirmed that all MP is baked into the SP Patch? Or does Server data provide enough of an override for alterations other than just "balancing" numbers for weapons and powers? Because balancing occurs at the Server side after all. What else could be "overridden" on an Official capacity?

:: edit ::

I realise this reads like I'm just repeating myself, after being answered that new content requires a patch, but that's not what I'm asking. I'm trying to understand how far the Server side data can keep MP going other than through number balancing. Or whether injection of data could provide override opportunities to create "new" content through replacement, etc.

I don't know how direct of an answer this is, but modders on PC have already been able to edit existing kits using appearances, powers, and abilities of other kits and units that are already in the game.  I think at some point we can at least expect PC mods to be available to change some kits into other custom kits.  Not sure how much of that will work on or off host at the moment though, and it doesn't help console players, but it's something at least.

What about the new characters!????????????????
artificer, commando, etc etc??????????? :sob: :sob: :sob:

Yes, in fact I think some modders have already tested out the unreleased kits by swapping them with existing kits. We just have to wait for them to unlock via some kind of server setting or countdown timer or who knows what.

what about maps? no maps without patch? or can the maps be magically activated via server or something?

I also have the feeling like this is asking the dead for advice, but still you did a commendable job with all the questioning threads. Cheers, and what a shit-ass road. GG Biower.
In any event:

[ ] Reported
[x] Sorry, I'm Retired
[ ] Reserved For Future Use
[ ] Venom
[ ] No Bang
[ ] Those Poor Hamsters
[ ] RNG
[ ] 1v1 Me Babby
[ ] Hax
[ ] Ding Dong Bannu
[ ] In A Single Cast
[ ] E-Peen Thread
[ ] It's A Crutch
[ ] Playing The Weapon
[x] Biovar Pls
[ ] Necro
[ ] TL;DR
[x] Working As Intended™
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
[ ] LoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooL
[ ] BioWareMod
[ ] Support Class Only
[ ] Innuendo
[ ] L2P
[ ] Angry Pugs
[ ] Kitten GIFs
[ ] Off Topic
[ ] Inb4
[ ] Should Be Stickied
[ ] Krogan Dream
[x] I Should Go
[x] I Heartily Endorse This Product and/or Service
[x] Pre-order Cancelled
[ ] Yes, People Are Still Playing
[x] No, Nobody Plays Anymore
[ ] Git Gud
[ ] Tech Armor!
[ ] But I Hardly Know'er!
[x] GG
[x] Airlock
[x] And We Are Done Here
[ ] Butthurt/Nerdrage
[ ] Mustard Race Problems
[ ] LoL Console Peasant
[ ] Distance Causes Lag™
[ ] Maxed Manifest Problems
[ ] Unmaxed Manifest Problems
[ ] Space Magic
[x] Needs More Quarian Bum Bum
[ ] Quote Pyramids
[ ] No Time For Aerial Bombardment
[ ] Paging Cyonan
[ ] The Kit Is The Weapon
[ ] Good On A Turian
[ ] Trollstore =/
[x] ...
[ ] SP Butthurt
[ ] I Died In Bronze Tutorial
[x] Five Years
[ ] Y'all Are Kinda Weird
[ ] Vanquisher Only
[ ] Just Play The Damn Game
[ ] Outlaw Farming
[ ] I Need Ammo
[ ] Wait Till You Get It At X
[ ] Trash Can
[ ] Died Because Of Tilde
[ ] It's Not Bad With Turbo Charge
[ ] Watch Your Butt!
[ ] Don't Steal My Kills!
[ ] Post/Like Ratio
[ ] Food Pics
[ ] Jetpacks
[ ] +1 Ammo Capacity Mod
[ ] Feminism Ruined This Game
[ ] Bunz Alt Confirmed
[x] We Are Looking Into It
[x] Stay Classy, BSN

That's an excellent question and one that I plan to ask.

And this.

And this.

Right! Or more plausibly, replace one of the duplicate Human characters with one still called 'Human Adept / Engineer / (whatever)' but with a different power set.

Yes! Now is our chance to get weapons and powers seriously tweaked. Any gunsmiths care to provide some actual complelling numerical arguments?

*Some* questions are pointless, but not all. I've tried to weed out the really pointless ones already.

Right! This is what gives me hope that *if* Bioware is motivated enough, they can do some clever stuff with server-side tweaking.

Always reminds me of this scene. Award yourself 10 geek points if you recognize it! (no cheating by looking at the URL!)

"Waiter, more champaign. And plenty of ice!"



No. No new maps.

BY THE WAY.

This means all the people making fun of me for counting map variants as new content WERE WRONG! If it takes a patch to add a new map variant then YES, THE NEW MAP VARIANT *IS* NEW CONTENT.

Also, anyone wanna tell the map artists if re-coloring, re-lighting, and testing a new map should *not* count as new content? Because that's insulting to the work they put into it.

I hate this question but OK.

Git gud. The Combat challenge is one of the easiest. Human Soldier, nothin' but Frags & Concussive Shot. One Bronze Solo gets you ~30,000 points and you get the other ~5,000 in a Gold game.

There are people playing this game who weren't born when Time Bandits aired, or within the next decade OR TWO.