Hey everyone, filling in for /u/the_hezy and /u/jrandall0308 this week, who were too busy to do a full Live Stream Summary. I was a bit busy doing multiple things at once during the stream, but hopefully I got all the most important bits
Streamers today are Benoit and /u/bwebastiaanfrank , with Sean running the systems. They seem ready to bring us more untimely deaths hilarious APEX Hijinks.
Platinum will take place later in the stream, they are initially playing the weekly APEX Mission: Stepped on the Anthill. It is a Silver Mission, with Go for the Eyes, Pistol Skirmish, and Wounded Assault Team modifiers
Baastian talked about how tense he was watching Benoit play Platinum Difficulty last week (he got a cramp in his arm from squeezing his cup too hard, poor guy)
Baastian says he is a support player who likes helping the whole team. Benoit counters that you help the team the most by winning.
Bioware's invited teammates this week are Robtachi, Shackleshotgun, and SizeSixteens!
Objective on Wave 1 in the APEX Mission, because Benoit is a glutton for punishment
Objective also on Wave 2 of the APEX , where we see Bastiaan’s team-support on full display. Also, apparently Pizza Objective is referred to internally at Bioware as “the thingy.”
Shout out on stream for /u/lethalityconcept's Platinum Tier List by Benoit! Even if they didn't get his username right, this proves they do read Reddit.
Discussion of Architect as the “worst” kit for Platinum in the game (Benoit used the Architect in his failed Platinum attempt on last week's stream).
Benoit: “We agree with some people’s assessments on the effectiveness of Stealth kits in Platinum. So if you can’t beat them, join them.” Hence why the Bioware team is running the dapper Turian Agent this week.
Benoit: “This [APEX Mission] Is Silver Plus
Benoit likes exploring different dynamics in the game via APEX Mission modifiers, such as low-health modifiers with buffed CQC weapons to force players to run something with a high TTK in order to not die.
Baastian enjoys that the modifiers can encourage people to play different kits or builds.
Benoit loves how angry people get when one of “his” modifiers shows up. Mentions Jammed Weapons, Dwindling Supply as examples. “Tough love baby!”
Matobar aside: At this point we can confirm that Bioware Devs do hate Freedom
Indepth Bioware Team discussion of Robtachi’s color scheme. Devolved into discussing Sean’s puking habits. For a stream that prides itself on #NotSwearing, this got hilariously graphic.
Baastian dressed his Turian Agent for a fancy tuxedo dinner, compares him to "alien James Bond."
First death counter for the Stream on Wave 5. The rest of the Stream Team seems to be rooting against Baastian
Second death came later that same wave. There was much cheering at Bioware.
Baastian says he wants to have a talk with the level designers about putting barrels behind cover (PLEASE DO!). Mentioned "That bastard Joshua" by name
Apparently, Robtachi’s color scheme is based on the Joker. Everyone on the Stream Team turned in their nerd cards for not guessing this immediately.
Baastian mentioned getting the other streamers on to Discord, so that he can offer them moral support for their efforts to carry him through these games."My thoughts are with you in this trying time," indeed.
Baastian “loves” the Hurricane. So he and I have that in common, at least. He’s still a Freedom hater >:C
Baastian's third death is on Wave 7, because he broke the Golden Rule of not sitting at the Extraction Point with more than 1:40 left on the clock.
Bioware throws the question over to chat of whether Baastian is going to be subjected to Platinum this stream. The response was obvious.
Baastian confirms that he does, in fact, have a cup this stream. We were worried for his health, so this was very reassuring.
Benoit wants to take the downtime between matches to discuss “Ammo”. He asks the community “What do you want to see in an ammo pack?” Talked a lot about how they weren’t sure what would go into them, though they've already seen a lot of ideas on uBSN/Reddit. He also asks the chat for feedback!
He then commented immediately that people seemed to care much more about the Priming effect than about any damage boost, so Rarity is effectively meaningless for the Boosters.
Matobar aside: I added my own thoughts on the topic to Twitch Chat, which basically echoed this idea. Bioware, if you're reading this: For kits that rely on Ammo Boosters, the damage buff is almost completely irrelevant compared to the Priming effect. I guarantee you that if you just released a Basic Pack that only dropped Common/Uncommon Ammo Boosters, almost no one would complain. It would also become one of, if not the most purchased packs in the Store.
Benoit seemed to believe that Rarity does affect Priming, but Baastian said it is flat across the board.
First Death on the Platinum Run happens at Wave 1, where Baastian has an ill-fated encounter with a space dog.
Benoit confirms they will be very interested in feedback on the Ammo Pack question, both on Reddit and uBSN. He also said they will go through Twitch Chat logs.
Benoit takes credit for “Remnant Platinum,” says they divvied up the different factions for that Difficulty to explore new ideas and finish the content more quickly.
Benoit says that Remnant Plat is “Basically every enemy that I hate fighting, all of them, all at once.” Calm down there, Satan
Since Flame and Cryo debuffs compete with each other (applying one purges the other, etc.) Benoit mentions he is worried about “nerfing” Cryo simply by “buffing” Fire builds and making them more viable/ubiquitous. He commented that the community is really focused on Cryo right now, with the release of the Batarian Scrapper.
Second Platinum death is on Wave 2, due to Baastian finding out what happens when you stray too close to a Progenitor.
Baastian refers to his team-mates as “The dudes." Not sure if this means he wants to go bowling afterwards or not though.
Baastian says what we were all thinking the whole time and refers to the Remnant Ruins map as “a Remnant Dungeon.” :|
Sean comments that Benoit is a much more frantic player than Baastian, who loves getting behind cover and staying there for as long as he can. Benoit claims this makes him “Good”
Baastian can’t name names, but he says the team re-hired a “Good Player they used to work with” into a QA position. He mentioned liking finding “good homes” for people who work well together.
Benoit says that there needs to be an effort made to level up characters for the Tirian Kandros account that aren't the Salarian Architect, in order for them to attain their quest to “defeat Platinum.” This exposes the fact that Baastian was playing a kit not leveled to 20, making everyone else’s job harder.
Matobar aside: Fun and games aside Bioware, unless you're /u/drasca09 please don't bring a non-20 kit into Platinum. That's borderline BM for your teammates.
Baastian confirms he stole the Tirian Kandros account’s info, probably to spend all the Credits and Mission Funds on an anti-Freedom statue. • Every time Benoit asks Sean to level the Tirian Kandros accounts up, he's in a meeting. Sean mentions he has to go to a meeting right then, in fact, and nearly shuts off the stream. Maybe this is why Baastian's kit was underleveled?
Baastian says his favorite ME:A MP kits are the Human Soldier, Turian Soldier, and Salarian Architect
A Blaze Hydra sneaks up behind Baastian and wrecks his face, resulting in his next Platinum death.
Benoit blurts out that his favorite character in the Single Player is Drak without waiting for anyone else to ask. He also no idea why the Drak was not a Romantic Interest in ME:A, and says a lot of his friends complained about that fact to him.
Due to repeated deaths on the Objectives, the team loses the Platinum game on Wave 4 Upload. Benoit takes the opportunity to mention wanting an Overwatch-style “Overtime” system for Objectives. With 2 Uploads very far from being finished and enemies swarming everywhere, Baastian wonders aloud whether that would have made any difference for his team.
Baastian’s favorite Single-Player character is PeeBee
Baastian's Death Counter is at 10, though this is still less impressive than /u/Salsadips's epic Bronze Death that will be immortalized for all time
Benoit says he is taking Baastian’s marbles away from him if he loses the next Platinum game. This really confuses Baastian, who says straight up Benoit better not steal his stapler. Office politics at Bioware Montreal are really cutthroat, I guess
Baastian somehow becomes the only one alive on Wave 1 of the 2nd Plat attempt. He then experiences the “Dogs/Observers can detect you while cloaked(!?)” pain we’ve been feeling since forever, and gets his 11th death on Wave 1
Benoit: “Observers are powerful, yes, but counter-play does exist!”
Baastian: “The counter-play is hide.”
Benoit: “All my most painful APEX Modifiers come from a place of love.”
Sean: “I guess love hurts.”
Baastian’s next 3 deaths on Wave 2 (along with several of his teammates) are due to Destroyers in Platinum being a thing that exists.
His 4th death (still on Wave 2) comes from an Observer being slightly to the left of his cover. Powerful stuff.
Benoit really likes that players have to re-learn certain aspects of the game for Platinum, such as kiting tough enemies to avoid huge spikes of damage, or how to reliably finish Objectives
Baastian’s second Platinum run of the day ends before it really begins, thanks to Hack getting spawned as the Objective.
This week's stream ends with Bioware thanking everyone for joining, and shout-outs to the streamers who joined them: Robtachi, Shackleshotgun, and SizeSixteens!
Benoit asks once again for feedback on the idea of an “Ammo Pack,” so give all the thoughts you can so we get the best product possible!
EDIT: For those of you unable to catch the Live Stream, here's the VOD in all of its glory.[/spoiler/
