Polls for Itemization and Progression, that hopefully provide the relevant context and nuance

[Flawless]

@Nish

If you take current system into context. Reading it it is basically the same.

@Flawless

I do not need any deterministic way to get around it.

@Flawless

Please randomize everything.

This 2 means the same to me.

You left out part of the first option.

If you take both options in their entirety, they are very obviously not the same at all.

Option 1 is: some things are random with no mitigation
Option 2 is: all things are random with no mitigation

[Flawless]

@Nish

@Flawless

Covering every detail of this aspect is not possbile, if you want to do it in a somewhat concise way.

Other poll did a better job with this.

let’s see.
No. Not really.

Edit: my summer heat fried brain misread the last option from the old poll (i thought it was talking about individual items, not about a weapon set).

[Nish]

We can agree to disagree. I think on the new poll the last option is too limiting. Progression longer than 10 hours isn’t something I detect in the wording.

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Edit: You seems to have edited the picture, so your comments on it can only be seen when you click on it… Whatever.

Edit 2: Oh now you edited it back to the original!

[Flawless]

@Nish

Edit: You seems to have edited the picture, so your comments on it can only be seen when you click on it… Whatever.

Edit 2: Oh now you edited it back to the original!

The original had an issue, which is what i tried to fix, making it worse.
Now i fixed it properly. The image is not the same as the original.

@Nish

We can agree to disagree. I think on the new poll the last option is too limiting. Progression longer than 10 hours isn’t something I detect in the wording.

As with every poll of that type, if your exact preference is not an option, you obviously pick the option closest to that.

[Nish]

@Flawless

As with every poll of that type, if your exact preference is not an option, you obviously pick the option closest to that.

No poll is perfect, but you could have done bit better, and I think you’d agree with that.

[Flawless]

@Nish

No poll is perfect, but you could have done bit better, and I think you’d agree with that.

I just noticed that my heat fried brain misread the old poll’s option.
The 10hrs to 90-95%, then another 20hrs to 100% was about a set, not about single weapons.

So yes you are right.
I would have added that option into my poll, had i read it properly.

Since adding an existing poll would remove all previous votes, i shall add the type of progression as an additional poll.

This is the question:

@Flawless

Assuming that the game provides a progression system, where it takes 10 hours to max out an item, what kind of pacing would you prefer?

I know, it is not perfect, considering that the other poll regarding the preferred time spent per item would be influenced by this.
Can’t be changed anymore, without deleting the votes.

[Frish]

The more of an arbitrary real-time barrier you put between me and slaying heretics, the more I am against it.

Gate prestige not power. Refine the gameplay and challenge.

Get rid of anything designed to manipulate players into playing longer.

Added bonus: If there is no material progress, then there is no need to migrate anything

[Pirx]

1. i’m ok with losing a bit of progress, if the new system is much better and i can make up for the loss quickly.
   in no case do i want to have to repeat all grinding.

2. give me my guns and my skill points and let me use them as i see fit.
   if you play auric maelstrom, leveling is not interesting. i leveled a new zealot to 30 recently and it was obvious. this requirement to level your character and gear is a roadblock for seasoned players who just want to create a new character and play. you really start playing when you have access to your full skill set and gear options at 30.

3. linear progression. keep it simple.

4. kark RNG. it’s the one sore I’ve been complaining about since the beta. RNG means something outside of my control, and i’m in charge in my game.
   people want to play, not to be told how to play, and if RNG was meant as a player retention mechanic, the results were not stellar.
   ok, perhaps a little RNG if fatshark thinks it’s really necessary for replayability, but one should be able to mitigate it quickly.

5. boost xp with materials. i’m not sitting on a mountain of loot just to have to start over with every pea shooter.

[Flawless]

@Pirx

linear progression. keep it simple.

You do not find linear progression almost anywhere.
It is almost always non linear.

Higher character level means more xp required for the next level up.
item upgrades usually get more expensive, the further you go.
In any game that lets you buy inventory space, the slots get more expensive the bigger your inventory gets.

I actually kinda like non linear progression.
It usually makes sense, too.
It often allows you to get to a good place rather quickly, and then grind out the last few % of your power over a longer period of time.

In darktide, that could mean that you can get your weapon to 80% stats across the board with T3 perks and blessings of choice within a very short time, so you can play the game properly.
Then you can grind out the last 20% of your weapon stats and grind for T4 perks and blessings.

[brosgw]

[BFCInsomnia]

“You were meant to destroy the progression Sith, not join them!”

[Pirx]

you have a point.
it’s ok for me too.
everything up to 30 is just boot camp. gaining points so i can build my finished character and start playing properly. how i get there concerns me less.

[Elodie]

Nice thread! Also not ultra biased like the other polls I’ve seen here since the announcement. For some clarification on my part:

@Flawless

Assuming that the new crafting system is great and that you love it,
what is your opinion on the migration from the old to the new system?

It’s a completely new system. In many games it’s normal for expansions or significant DLC to flatten or reset progression. This gives people more progression, enables a smooth gradual transition into the new stuff, and acts as a catch-up mechanic for new players.

That said, it’s specifically because of Darktide’s RNG & grindy nature why many of us have spent an insane amount of time on the game to get to where we are. They should be respectful of that. So while I have absolutely no issues with losing some progress, I am a bit concerned over the degree: How much will we lose, and how much will it take to catch up again?

If our current gear basically loses all its value, and if the grind we’re looking at is even remotely similar to what we’ve already done and the headstart from blessings proves to be minimal, then yeah that’s gonna be a critical problem. It would also set the worst tone & trust for any future developments.

But we just don’t know how it will play out until it’s out, so it’s pointless to speculate at this point. I choose to assume they’ll do it right. They have to be aware of the risks after all.

@Flawless

Assuming that we get a system where weapon families have to be leveled up in order to progress them (which it seems we are getting), which option would you prefer?

I just don’t like “level the skill / weapon you use” systems in general. Devs always mess it up one way or another. I mean love the idea certainly, to have something to show for what you most like to do, but the execution just never works as advertised. And we already know Darktide has plenty of weapons that depend entirely on specific blessings to function at all.

I mean let’s imagine this as an example:

• First you lose most of your progress
• Then your favorite weapons & builds happen to be the kind that need exclusive blessings to work at all like say, Power Cycler, Surge, etc. (just examples mind, don’t get stuck on those)
• Then we realize that to level those weapons, we have to go & grind Malice or something when all we’ve done for 1.5 years is T5+
• Ofc. bc everyone faces these same challenges, the overall performance of the entire playerbase will plummet so it’s not just you who needs to work harder, the rest of the pub teams will likewise be performing way worse too
• But then ofc. Mastery xp will very likely be based on mission difficulty & mods, just as our xp & rewards are, so lower difficulty means even slower progression. All to just rub it in how we’re forced to extend our stay doing what we don’t like in difficulties we don’t like with teams we don’t like, just because they took from us the progression we’d already earned.

There are so many levels of extra annoyance and bs there that come together in such a fantastic way, that it could literally destroy whatever motivation many of us have left. New players would hardly have it much better tho. Imagine them investing tons and tons of time playing on something they liked & hoped would be pog in the end, only to then find out it’s one of those weapons that has always sucked and isn’t likely to be buffed in years if ever.

I’m not saying all this will be the case, not at all. Just painting a picture of what could happen if they do it wrong, and just what the whole “level what you use” philosophy has certainly lead to in past games for me. x.x

So yes, I would very much like for there to be a way to level weapons you don’t use. Doesn’t really matter what kind. Could be Diamantine, could be something like a 3-to-1 Mastery xp conversion rate from a capped weapon to something else, anything really.

[Frish]

I suspect the easy answer to this is just bypass time with currency. Plasteel/diamantine/dockets that is!

If it takes real time to level weapons I reckon the benefits will be limited to cosmetics and baselined at 0, so vets can still experience the progression without a loss of power.

If not… well, then what you said

[Cerebrophage]

@Flawless

Assuming that we have a crafting system, how much RNG would you like in that system?

I’d like to mention a poll option that doesn’t fit me and I don’t feel comfortable putting forth my vote in any of the options. I am fine with some RNG as long as some of it can be mitigated in deterministic ways to get some of what I want. If I want to push the envelope to get what I want more, it’ll come at a cost to the weapon itself, making my choice to optimize the desired stat much more important: “Is the sacrifice this weapon endures worth the few extra points?”

[Armchair]

@AlphaOmegaMan

Well sure, but what am I supposed to do about this exactly?

You’re supposed to RAGE against the dying of the light.

[Flawless]

@Cerebrophage

I’d like to mention a poll option that doesn’t fit me

@Cerebrophage

If I want to push the envelope to get what I want more, it’ll come at a cost to the weapon itself

So if this was available in a deterministic way, you would be able to get what you want. Because this is what you want.

Therefore the option does fit you:

@Flawless

Some RNG is fine, as long as it can be mitigated via deterministic ways and as long as i am guaranteed to get what i want

[Cerebrophage]

@Flawless

So if this was available in a deterministic way, you would be able to get what you want. Because this is what you want.

Therefore the option does fit you:

I don’t think that option is good because who wants to sacrifice anything on their weapon? I think the language of the option is a bit vague for what I was seeking. I don’t want to sacrifice anything. But I also don’t want to get a weapon completely maxed out on all fields either. I’d rather have like (for instance) two steps forward on one stat and one step back on two others. Rather than having no cost. Am I making sense in what I am describing?

[Flawless]

You are making a bunch of assumptions about the context.
Stop making assumptions about the context and simply answer the question as it is asked, by selecting the option that is closest to what you want.

That is how polls work.