I don't think anyone said it's the players' fault.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3 decades of RPG gaming from green screen to 4K. Moderator posts mostly marked by 'Police' emoji. Other views shared are just personal ones. On UK time zone.
PTS Update and Patch notes - 6/25/2019 Hey Freelancers,
It’s time for an update to the PTS, which should be available for download on PC at 2pm Central Time. This update will contain a number of fixes and changes based on player feedback. We’ve also added in a version of the Seasonal store which contains a war chest for you to check out. If you have feedback on them you can share HERE on Answers HQ. We also have a new survey link if you’d like to share feedback on the latest version of the PTS here:
We want to thank all of you for the feedback you’ve provided as it helps us make improvements with each update. And now for some PTS notes 😊
New Features
A limited version of the Seasonal store is now available. Spend the Crystals you earn from playing through the Cataclysm and other events on seasonal rewards. Shaper Storm Events - Based on player feedback, creatures now spawn while waiting for the timer to finish counting down. Updates to Vara gameplay, VFX and cinematics. Boss Phases fully set up Transitions now working properly Attacks Updated Fire wall speed increased from 8 seconds to 4 seconds Ice projectile now seeks properly Beam now triggers properly after player frozen Dominion summon now works more than once Close range melee now has an air version for hovering players Pillar AOEs now have better timings and clearer VFXs Ground fire timing has been made easier to avoid Most attacks VFX and Animations have been improved Updates to cinematic scenes, including new animations. Cataclysm scoring is now affected by the difficulty selected. Based on player feedback, notifications were added to inform the player of when each tier in the Shaper Storm Event starts. Added/updated Inversion journal entries in the cortex. All current Inversions should now have names and descriptions. Added audio cue for when a player is ready in the start of expedition screen. The audio will fire if they are anywhere within the Star of Expedition screen (game mode, consumables, map, social, inversions), if they close the screen or navigate to the Forge they currently won't hear it.
Bug Fixes
Various lighting and environment art issues addressed within the Cataclysm area. Leaderboards: You are now able to see playcards other than just your own. Vara now drops loot after she is defeated. Fixed issues with VO not firing properly. Reduced the volume of chat wheel VO to prevent it from talking over mission VO. Fixed an issue where a party wipe in the Cataclysm caused completed arenas (other than the last one completed) to be reset and replayable. Fixed issues with gunfire visual effects showing incorrectly depending on whether the Cataclysm storm was on or off. Fixed an issue where the Cataclysm instructions were only being displayed for the first player to load in. Fixed an issue where the Inversions pop-up was being displayed again after respawning. Fixed an issue where your score for completing the Cataclysm was not reset for your next run if you didn’t defeat Vara in the previous run. Fixed some issues with the interactions between the pressure plates and shield domes containing echoes. Fixed several crashes. Lowered the difficulty of the Valkyries in the story missions based on player feedback. Cataclysm unlocked notification no longer appears each time you enter the Cataclysm. Added electric hazards to prevent players from avoiding the Anomaly. Fixed a chest that could spawn partially under the terrain after completing an arena in the Cataclysm. Fixed an issue where completing an arena in the Cataclysm showed “World Event Complete” instead of “Cataclysm Event Complete”. Fixed an issue where Valkyries would sometimes stop tracking and attacking players occasionally. Fixed an issue in the Cataclysm where a party wipe while fighting the Riftmaster caused the rift to remain shielded after respawning, making it impossible to complete the arena.
For a list of known issues please see the post HERE
We’ve made some changes on the PTS to the way that melee damage is calculated. I chatted with some of the team and they were able to give me a very detailed breakdown on these changes so that you all can better understand the intent as you provide feedback. Below is that breakdown.
The Melee damage changes
Previously, melee damage started at a base value and then automatically increased in power based on the average gear score of the player. This had the effect of emulating an item of the average rarity and level for that player, plus some average assumed inscription bonuses (and MSW effects if they are the appropriate level). Now that melee is its own actual item, it no longer uses this automatic scaling, but uses actual real scaling for the item and the bonuses that occur on that item. This means that if players want to get their melee damage back to what it was, they need to get a melee weapon of the appropriate rarity with similar inscription rolls. However, because it’s an actual item now, there is a much higher ceiling potential than there previously was, as our “assumed” inscription bonuses are in the middle of the possible bonus range. To the math for examples!
Examples (All examples here are assuming the player has 100% of bonus melee damage coming from other sources, like a component. If you have less than that, the system is more favorable to the new system and if you have higher values than that it’s more of a benefit to the old system):
Old System (Pretending as if there were MSW/LEG Support pieces) Level 30 MSW Ranger (671 GearScore) : Melee deals 12,800 damage Level 30 LEG Ranger (825 GearScore) : Melee deals 33,781 damage
New System, converting the MSW effects over to their equivalent in pure damage (MSW effects are set to a powerlevel that is intended to double the effective item’s DPS) Level 30 MSW Ranger (671 GearScore), Assuming the melee weapon itself has inscriptions worth a total of 50% (plus the 100% elsewhere): 11,197 Level 30 MSW Ranger (671 GearScore), Assuming you have gotten a local weapon damage (or melee damage) inscription worth a total of 100%: 13,436 Level 30 MSW Ranger (671 GearScore), Assuming you have gotten a local weapon damage (or melee damage) inscription worth a total of 200%: 17,915 Level 30 LEG Ranger (825 GearScore), Assuming you have gotten a local weapon damage (or melee damage) inscription worth a total of 100%: 19,001 Level 30 LEG Ranger (825 GearScore), Assuming you have gotten a local weapon damage (or melee damage) inscription worth a total of 300%: 31,669 Level 30 LEG Ranger (825 GearScore), Assuming you have gotten a local weapon damage (or melee damage) inscription worth a total of 425%: 39,586
There are a couple of important notes here:
We now include both melee damage bonus and weapon damage bonus as modifying melee weapon damage (not melee gear piece damage for Interceptors), so there are more total damage sources that boost your melee than previously existed. This should result in higher additive bonuses than previously were applied which will help offset some of the lowered base damage. (NOTE: This isn’t live on the PTS yet and will be coming in the next update) We have an upcoming change that will increase the base value of melee damage, as we agree that currently on PTS melee is under tuned. Increasing the base value is a multiplicative change on the entire system, right now we are looking at something like a 50% increase to base melee damage but that is still being iterated on internally. This buff might only apply to MSW/LEG melee weapons.
Let me know if you find this write up helpful, as I think it’s something we’d like to do more of in the future 😊
We’ve made some changes on the PTS to the way that melee damage is calculated. I chatted with some of the team and they were able to give me a very detailed breakdown on these changes so that you all can better understand the intent as you provide feedback. Below is that breakdown.
The Melee damage changes
Previously, melee damage started at a base value and then automatically increased in power based on the average gear score of the player. This had the effect of emulating an item of the average rarity and level for that player, plus some average assumed inscription bonuses (and MSW effects if they are the appropriate level). Now that melee is its own actual item, it no longer uses this automatic scaling, but uses actual real scaling for the item and the bonuses that occur on that item. This means that if players want to get their melee damage back to what it was, they need to get a melee weapon of the appropriate rarity with similar inscription rolls. However, because it’s an actual item now, there is a much higher ceiling potential than there previously was, as our “assumed” inscription bonuses are in the middle of the possible bonus range. To the math for examples!
Examples (All examples here are assuming the player has 100% of bonus melee damage coming from other sources, like a component. If you have less than that, the system is more favorable to the new system and if you have higher values than that it’s more of a benefit to the old system):
Old System (Pretending as if there were MSW/LEG Support pieces) Level 30 MSW Ranger (671 GearScore) : Melee deals 12,800 damage Level 30 LEG Ranger (825 GearScore) : Melee deals 33,781 damage
New System, converting the MSW effects over to their equivalent in pure damage (MSW effects are set to a powerlevel that is intended to double the effective item’s DPS) Level 30 MSW Ranger (671 GearScore), Assuming the melee weapon itself has inscriptions worth a total of 50% (plus the 100% elsewhere): 11,197 Level 30 MSW Ranger (671 GearScore), Assuming you have gotten a local weapon damage (or melee damage) inscription worth a total of 100%: 13,436 Level 30 MSW Ranger (671 GearScore), Assuming you have gotten a local weapon damage (or melee damage) inscription worth a total of 200%: 17,915 Level 30 LEG Ranger (825 GearScore), Assuming you have gotten a local weapon damage (or melee damage) inscription worth a total of 100%: 19,001 Level 30 LEG Ranger (825 GearScore), Assuming you have gotten a local weapon damage (or melee damage) inscription worth a total of 300%: 31,669 Level 30 LEG Ranger (825 GearScore), Assuming you have gotten a local weapon damage (or melee damage) inscription worth a total of 425%: 39,586
There are a couple of important notes here:
We now include both melee damage bonus and weapon damage bonus as modifying melee weapon damage (not melee gear piece damage for Interceptors), so there are more total damage sources that boost your melee than previously existed. This should result in higher additive bonuses than previously were applied which will help offset some of the lowered base damage. (NOTE: This isn’t live on the PTS yet and will be coming in the next update) We have an upcoming change that will increase the base value of melee damage, as we agree that currently on PTS melee is under tuned. Increasing the base value is a multiplicative change on the entire system, right now we are looking at something like a 50% increase to base melee damage but that is still being iterated on internally. This buff might only apply to MSW/LEG melee weapons.
Let me know if you find this write up helpful, as I think it’s something we’d like to do more of in the future 😊
Cheers, Darokaz
Although i appreciate the write up, is it me or do they make it intwntionally complicated?
Also, for the most part (i.e. Unless you have a lot of buffs to melee) this is a heavy nerf. And i expect backlash.
We’ve made some changes on the PTS to the way that melee damage is calculated. I chatted with some of the team and they were able to give me a very detailed breakdown on these changes so that you all can better understand the intent as you provide feedback. Below is that breakdown.
Snip
Although i appreciate the write up, is it me or do they make it intwntionally complicated?
Also, for the most part (i.e. Unless you have a lot of buffs to melee) this is a heavy nerf. And i expect backlash.
An interesting detailed example of the game's DPS calculations. Overly complex and easy to see why a patch can trigger the Law of Unintended Consequences. Complexity increases the probability of error.
Morpheus: "know what happened happened and that it could not have happened in any other way".
At this point, I'm not at all convinced that even BioWare knows. I'm sure they've had some target dates, but besides those hinted at to us, I think the internal target dates have slipped (and part of why the published roadmap has for all intents and purposes gone away).
For example, last week, Bioware told TPS folks that there was no update last week, they were busy incorporating feedback from folks playing TPS. What came out this week was a complete remove and replace of TPS, but as far as I can tell, changes were incremental at best.
Some story stuff was supposedly added, but the stuff I was able to access didn't match what was going on in the Cataclysm. The new store wasn't working right and Bioware turned it off, so a small patch came out, but as far as I can tell, the store still doesn't work. In fairness to Bioware, maybe access to the new store just hasn't been turned back on … perhaps that happened today.
Based on my limited experience and a data point of exactly one person, I think they have a ways to go. I thought July was a good timeframe, but I'm starting to think August at the earliest. Better to take their time to get it right, than rush it and have another bad rollout. IMO, there are some fundamental flaws with the cataclysm that need to be addressed, but those were not things adjusted with the latest rollout of TPS.
At this point, I'm not at all convinced that even BioWare knows. I'm sure they've had some target dates, but besides those hinted at to us, I think the internal target dates have slipped (and part of why the published roadmap has for all intents and purposes gone away).
For example, last week, Bioware told TPS folks that there was no update last week, they were busy incorporating feedback from folks playing TPS. What came out this week was a complete remove and replace of TPS, but as far as I can tell, changes were incremental at best.
Some story stuff was supposedly added, but the stuff I was able to access didn't match what was going on in the Cataclysm. The new store wasn't working right and Bioware turned it off, so a small patch came out, but as far as I can tell, the store still doesn't work. In fairness to Bioware, maybe access to the new store just hasn't been turned back on … perhaps that happened today.
Based on my limited experience and a data point of exactly one person, I think they have a ways to go. I thought July was a good timeframe, but I'm starting to think August at the earliest. Better to take their time to get it right, than rush it and have another bad rollout. IMO, there are some fundamental flaws with the cataclysm that need to be addressed, but those were not things adjusted with the latest rollout of TPS.
They are going to get their ass handed to them if they release anything but perfection so... maybe december?
At this point, I'm not at all convinced that even BioWare knows. I'm sure they've had some target dates, but besides those hinted at to us, I think the internal target dates have slipped (and part of why the published roadmap has for all intents and purposes gone away).
For example, last week, Bioware told TPS folks that there was no update last week, they were busy incorporating feedback from folks playing TPS. What came out this week was a complete remove and replace of TPS, but as far as I can tell, changes were incremental at best.
Some story stuff was supposedly added, but the stuff I was able to access didn't match what was going on in the Cataclysm. The new store wasn't working right and Bioware turned it off, so a small patch came out, but as far as I can tell, the store still doesn't work. In fairness to Bioware, maybe access to the new store just hasn't been turned back on … perhaps that happened today.
Based on my limited experience and a data point of exactly one person, I think they have a ways to go. I thought July was a good timeframe, but I'm starting to think August at the earliest. Better to take their time to get it right, than rush it and have another bad rollout. IMO, there are some fundamental flaws with the cataclysm that need to be addressed, but those were not things adjusted with the latest rollout of TPS.
So, as a functioning game component, is Cataclysm looking like it did during the reveal or has it undergone more detail than that? I wasn't impressed during the reveal and since I play on Xbox I can't participate in the TPS.
It doesn't matter to me so much as I still have a ton to do with the game as it is, but for those that are max'd out or burned out it might be too late to come back to play it.
It seems more are playing right now and I've seen a lot of junior pilots, especially when I play the quickplay missions, its always 4 of us. My problem right now is I'm playing a ton of games and its hard to get enough hours into each of them. Being retired certainly helps though!!
At this point, I'm not at all convinced that even BioWare knows. I'm sure they've had some target dates, but besides those hinted at to us, I think the internal target dates have slipped (and part of why the published roadmap has for all intents and purposes gone away).
For example, last week, Bioware told TPS folks that there was no update last week, they were busy incorporating feedback from folks playing TPS. What came out this week was a complete remove and replace of TPS, but as far as I can tell, changes were incremental at best.
Some story stuff was supposedly added, but the stuff I was able to access didn't match what was going on in the Cataclysm. The new store wasn't working right and Bioware turned it off, so a small patch came out, but as far as I can tell, the store still doesn't work. In fairness to Bioware, maybe access to the new store just hasn't been turned back on … perhaps that happened today.
Based on my limited experience and a data point of exactly one person, I think they have a ways to go. I thought July was a good timeframe, but I'm starting to think August at the earliest. Better to take their time to get it right, than rush it and have another bad rollout. IMO, there are some fundamental flaws with the cataclysm that need to be addressed, but those were not things adjusted with the latest rollout of TPS.
They are going to get their ass handed to them if they release anything but perfection so... maybe december?
Wow, I hope that won't be the case, especially for something that'll only be out for a month or so. I can just see the gaming headlines now as the summer slips away into the fall and no new updates are provided. I need to slap myself in the face and hope that was just a nightmare I just had, or you induced, hahahahahahaha!!! And yes, it better blow us away in the end and would be really, really nice if the end product resembled what we say at E3 2017.
At this point, I'm not at all convinced that even BioWare knows. I'm sure they've had some target dates, but besides those hinted at to us, I think the internal target dates have slipped (and part of why the published roadmap has for all intents and purposes gone away).
For example, last week, Bioware told TPS folks that there was no update last week, they were busy incorporating feedback from folks playing TPS. What came out this week was a complete remove and replace of TPS, but as far as I can tell, changes were incremental at best.
Some story stuff was supposedly added, but the stuff I was able to access didn't match what was going on in the Cataclysm. The new store wasn't working right and Bioware turned it off, so a small patch came out, but as far as I can tell, the store still doesn't work. In fairness to Bioware, maybe access to the new store just hasn't been turned back on … perhaps that happened today.
Based on my limited experience and a data point of exactly one person, I think they have a ways to go. I thought July was a good timeframe, but I'm starting to think August at the earliest. Better to take their time to get it right, than rush it and have another bad rollout. IMO, there are some fundamental flaws with the cataclysm that need to be addressed, but those were not things adjusted with the latest rollout of TPS.
So, as a functioning game component, is Cataclysm looking like it did during the reveal or has it undergone more detail than that? I wasn't impressed during the reveal and since I play on Xbox I can't participate in the TPS.
It doesn't matter to me so much as I still have a ton to do with the game as it is, but for those that are max'd out or burned out it might be too late to come back to play it.
It seems more are playing right now and I've seen a lot of junior pilots, especially when I play the quickplay missions, its always 4 of us. My problem right now is I'm playing a ton of games and its hard to get enough hours into each of them. Being retired certainly helps though!!
I don't think it looks that much different … after the initial install of TPS, they've had two full remove and replace downloads … and to me, the changes are pretty much on the margins for game play. Some bugs were fixed, some of the stuff in free play seems to have disappeared, there is a new store in the fort and now Vara drops loot. The story elements were good, but very brief and the latest add to the story … didn't match what was happening in the cataclysm … so I think it was out of order, but hints at changes to come in the cataclysm … stuff we have not yet seen in TPS.
My biggest concern right now is the game design requires a minimum of two players to start the cataclysm. From experience with Legendary Contracts (LCs), Legendary Missions (LMs) and strongholds ... I know it can take some time for other folks to show up. I gave up running GM2 LCs and LMs … because once you've done it … logged the accomplishment of doing it solo, it loses its appeal of doing it solo. So I run GM1 LCs and LMs … plus strongholds … if I have to solo an LC or LM … so be it. Usually, by the time I get to a point in the stronghold that I need at least one partner, that person is there.
In the cataclysm … you need that partner right off the bat. I've tried going directly to Vara's arena … it can be done … but that cuts out the rest of the cataclysm. Bioware might say that the player base for PTS is much smaller than the full game … my counter is that evidence from LCs, LMs and strongholds shows that we shouldn't expect teammates to show up right away in a match … that it may take a while. And since they've made it so that you can't solo the early portions of the cataclysm … it makes the game design untenable in the reality of the current player base. And IMO, there is not enough in the cataclysm to restore the player base significantly … if that happens, it will be with more extensive future changes to the game.
So, as a functioning game component, is Cataclysm looking like it did during the reveal or has it undergone more detail than that? I wasn't impressed during the reveal and since I play on Xbox I can't participate in the TPS.
It doesn't matter to me so much as I still have a ton to do with the game as it is, but for those that are max'd out or burned out it might be too late to come back to play it.
It seems more are playing right now and I've seen a lot of junior pilots, especially when I play the quickplay missions, its always 4 of us. My problem right now is I'm playing a ton of games and its hard to get enough hours into each of them. Being retired certainly helps though!!
I don't think it looks that much different … after the initial install of TPS, they've had two full remove and replace downloads … and to me, the changes are pretty much on the margins for game play. Some bugs were fixed, some of the stuff in free play seems to have disappeared, there is a new store in the fort and now Vara drops loot. The story elements were good, but very brief and the latest add to the story … didn't match what was happening in the cataclysm … so I think it was out of order, but hints at changes to come in the cataclysm … stuff we have not yet seen in TPS.
My biggest concern right now is the game design requires a minimum of two players to start the cataclysm. From experience with Legendary Contracts (LCs), Legendary Missions (LMs) and strongholds ... I know it can take some time for other folks to show up. I gave up running GM2 LCs and LMs … because once you've done it … logged the accomplishment of doing it solo, it loses its appeal of doing it solo. So I run GM1 LCs and LMs … plus strongholds … if I have to solo an LC or LM … so be it. Usually, by the time I get to a point in the stronghold that I need at least one partner, that person is there.
In the cataclysm … you need that partner right off the bat. I've tried going directly to Vara's arena … it can be done … but that cuts out the rest of the cataclysm. Bioware might say that the player base for PTS is much smaller than the full game … my counter is that evidence from LCs, LMs and strongholds shows that we shouldn't expect teammates to show up right away in a match … that it may take a while. And since they've made it so that you can't solo the early portions of the cataclysm … it makes the game design untenable in the reality of the current player base. And IMO, there is not enough in the cataclysm to restore the player base significantly … if that happens, it will be with more extensive future changes to the game.
Well hopefully they'll change the requirement to have 2 to start a Cataclysm run. I'd be one thing if it were an always available game mode, but since they only said it would run for 4-6 weeks makes having to have 2 to start it not very smart.
Was it confirmed that the amount of time it takes to complete the Cataclysm determines the type of loot you get? It'd be ok if the timed results only got you on a leaderboard, but if you end up getting better loot the faster you complete it, not good. For me, timed events in general just blow. It takes away from the game experience too much.
It might be. The timed portion makes completing all the challenge areas (dungeons, arenas … whatever you want to call them) more difficult. The more areas you complete, before taking on Vara, the higher your score. So to me, it's not so much being rewarded directly for doing something fast … but each event you complete adds time back onto the clock, potentially allowing you to complete another event … which is how you elevate your score (along with difficulty level).
In MEAMP, completing a hack, upload or an assassination faster awards more XP … so it wouldn't be unheard of if completing the whole thing faster gets you more points.
The highest scores (if I understand correctly) are achieved by completing more of the challenges and completing them at higher levels. I think originally, the level of difficulty was not in play, but they've changed that with the 25 June update. Also, you now get a treasure chest when you defeat Vara, not just when you complete one of the challenges. It's still in flux … won't surprise me if there are a lot of other changes before they finally wrap it up and deliver it to the base game.
Jesse Anderson @darokaz It looks like there is an issue in #AnthemGame today where legendary missions are not counting for the challenge today. It looks to be tied to the new legendary missions being the issue.
So if you’re trying to get credit today for the challenge you won’t be able to. I’ll work with the team to see when we can get a fix in place.
It was yesterday … another Dax LM that doesn't give credit … that's three Dax missions now. Originally, I thought it was tied to removing the cinematic from the original DAX story missions … but the LM yesterday doesn't have a cinematic originally tied to it … you complete the mission, you get the treasure chest, you get the mission complete banner in game … but back at the fort, no logging of the completed LM.
Jesse … this is the third Dax mission that's failed to give credit for the daily challenge.
Previous Dax missions were reported in EA's forum … you gave XP for one of those reports (in your defense, my report covered several items … but, still).
Andrew Johnson @untdrew Players have said time and time again that they want to hear more real conversations about how we make games. That is the purpose of EA Unplugged.
EA Unplugged #1 Unknown Challenges of Creating Apex Legends, Anthem & Battlefield V
I don't know particularly why, but I had a really hard time watching this. Every time I see Ben Irving on camera, I feel this intense pain in my chest, like seeing a mangled dead body being pulled out of a wreckage. Anyone else get that feeling too?
Last Edit: Jul 2, 2019 16:19:33 GMT by SirSourpuss
When I die, I want Bioware to carry my casket, so they can let me down, one last time.