I know you guys think I'm all sunshine and rainbows about the game but I'm gonna list my gripes with the game and some suggestions I'd have to make it better. Up first, my gripes... My gripes with the game... Reapers in Attrition. I think this throws the flow of the end-game of Attrition completely off and as a Pilot you have really no defense against these Reapers who do huge splash damage and jump all over the map and punch you. Not to mention with the limited amount of health the Titans have now, I feel like it makes your Titan last for an even shorter duration. If you don't pay attention and take out these Reapers, they'll pretty doom your TItan without enemies even shooting at you. I just feel like the focus should be on Pilot vs Pilot with the AI as background fodder to make the game space feel more vibrant, not key aspects of the game mode. It's also a balance issue I feel because these Reapers are worth 5pts so you see a lot of people just farming them instead of engaging in Pilot vs Pilot combat. No silencers on Primary weapons. In my opinion, this makes absolutely no sense to me. I understand that the mini-map gives you less details now but why would they have silencers on Pistols then? or why would there be a kit to make jump jets and rodeo'ing silent? They obviously want the element of stealth in the game but you can't have stealth with any Primary weapons. Not having Anti-Titan AND Sidearm. I know some of you guys think that I thought that this shouldn't be the case, I think it should be, I was just trying to explain why I thought they made the decision. I feel like especially in Attrition there is absolutely no point in carrying a Pistol.. most weapons can do what you want them to do without having to switch to a sidearm. I think this limits the usefulness and also limits the amount of people who are going to even pick sidearms because you are huge detriment to your team if you're not team shooting Titans. No AI in other gametypes. I didn't know how I felt about this before until I got a lot of games in Attrition and went and played Hardpoint and CTF. Playing on these maps just seems so empty when you don't have AI running around, just feels weird. I feel like it also takes away from the usefulness of let's say less experienced players where they have no way of beefing up their Titan timer without engaging enemy Pilots which are few and far between it seems on these maps. I don't know if this is just because I'm used to having AI in all those other game modes or what but I want them back! Rodeo system. Believe it or not! Don't get me wrong, I'm getting used the new rodeo system and it's kind of winning me over. However, I'd do things a little bit different (see Suggestions section). My one gripe about the current rodeo system is the fact that I don't feel the grenades do enough damage. If I rodeo a Titan and successfully drop a grenade 3 times, that Titan should be dead. No challenges or Burn Cards. I much preferred the old Burn Card system instead of the new Boost system as the only boosts I've really found useful is the instant battery and amped weapons. I really liked looking at all of the challenges and completing that (I did all 990 in the first game) and not these challenges which are just tedious for no reason (killing 500 Titans with anti-Titan weapons, etc). Also, Burn Cards felt awesome when you unlocked and were honestly more powerful than Boosts but it felt like you were collecting something (I think because they were cards) but in this game it doesn't feel like you're really achieving anything except for meh camos (although Titan nose-arts are badass). My suggestions for the game... Take Reapers out of Attrition. I don't think that Reapers need to be in this game mode, it disrupts flow. I don't mind a little bit harder of enemies like the Stalkers but Reapers need to go. Allow all Primaries to have Silencers. It makes no sense that Pistols have silencers but Primaries don't. It seems like they want a stealth element.. but also don't? Allow anti-Titan and Sidearm. Even if the Titan health is lower, I think Pistols are made useless when you make people choose between anti-Titan and sidearm because most people (in general) want to help out their team take out enemy Titans as a Pilot. More AI in game modes. I'm actually a big fan of the AI sporadically fighting in game modes from the nuance it gives (making it feel more like a war) to the actual real benefit it servers of helping newer players get their Titans a little bit quicker while contributing to the team. A mix of regen shields and battery. My system for this would be as follows; Every Titan when called in starts with a regenerating shield. If you are to get rodeo'd and have your battery stolen, you no longer have any shield and it damages your health bar a bit. The only way to then getting a regenerating shield back would be to acquire another battery. This puts more emphasis on the batteries AND would please a lot of people who loved regenerating shields. I'd also up the damage a bit on the grenades when planted directly into a Titan skull. More varied challenges, plus stat tracking. I think there needs to be stat-tracking (which I've heard they're adding). I also think they need to diversify the challenges a little bit. Just killing 'X' number of Titans with 'X' weapon for hours on end to reach the end goal seems tedious and doesn't feel like you're accomplishing anything. I think they need to be more unique. Northstar needs a slight buff. Especially in Attrition there is absolutely no reason to use Northstar, she isn't very good at taking out Pilots and if it's 1v1 vs any other Titan chassis against a decent player, she's going down. So if you're not on a team it can get a bit frustrating using her. My thoughts on complaints I've heard... Titan Loadouts. I personally think they are good as-is. This could be due to the fact that if I were given the option to customize everything with my Titan, I'd probably end up with the exact Tone loadout. However, I feel like the Titans were really well balanced and if you were to allow full customization then you'd only see certain weapons being used and it'd create a bit of a balance issue. I think each Titan is designed to work in specific roles and if you don't have people to play with this can get a bit frustrating but with all this technology today, you should have at least 1 other person to play with. Movement. I've went back and played TF1 right after playing for a few hours on TF2 and YES, the base movement is slower but when combining everything that is in TF2, you can move faster. The grapple, the slide and the Stim is even faster. I think the movement is absolutely stunning and feels like butter in every which way possible. Remember, CoD started emulating TF, not the other way around (as far as movement is concerned). Maps. While I do like the overall design of maps better in TF1, there aren't any maps that I HATE in TF2. The only map I kind of dislike is Crash Site and that's because of spawns in Attrition, I feel like the top spawn has a very steep advantage. I actually enjoy most of them (I'll have a post ranking them soon).
Good points Ik0n! I so agree with the reapers, dont like em at all, then when me and my Titan got flattened by a reaper warpfall I was like..waaaahhhttt?!!?!? Yeah confusing isnt it with the silencers, I wonder what their reasoning is. I think the game may not need them - theres enough campers already Oh man I loved the grunts and their banter in tf1, was a great touch. in pilots vs pilots I can take em or leave em but agreed, they would be good in all modes (with a bit more character) Movement is awesome when you get used to it slide hopping (easier than proper b-hopping in tf1) is a joy and the combinations can be joyous. Smoother transitions than tf1, amd with stim, faster. I really think respawn gave teamwork and the social side a massive amount of attention in tf2: networks, titan loadouts, rodeo sidearms/anti t's, gamemodes all give the possibility of real in depth teamwork. Thats my view and with that I cant argue against the loadouts too much until we learn to utilise it in that way. Will say on the rodeo though, thats not a bad idea Ikon.
Excellent post very thoughtful and constructive. My only criticism is I wish I could have written it you echo exactly how I feel. There are a couple of posts in "where are the grunts" that add some thing about being more entertaining that add to this. I may have the post heading wrong but you will get it
You had me at "I know you guys think I'm all sunshine and rainbows" I agree with most of your comments and analysis. I especially agree with: -Allow anti-Titan and Sidearm. -A mix of regen shields and battery. -More varied challenges *** I actually think your suggestion about "A mix of regen shields and battery" would be an EXCELLENT compromise. I would be very happy with that. I only have some slight disagreements: -More AI in game modes - in modes where they belong like Attrition and Bounty hunt, absolutely. In Bounty Hunt, I would actually prefer no titan waves, but to have the grunt waves be seamless, one right after the other and so many grunts that you really have to worry about dying if you are not careful. Just non-stop action. However, in modes with objectives like Amped Hardpoint and CTF, I am very appreciative that they are not there to get in the way (giving away your position, blocking doorways and wrecking your flow, finishing you off after an epic battle with a pilot when you just need a few seconds to lick your wounds). I feel they should not have an impact on the objective modes and I am very happy they were removed from those. Titan Loadouts - I just feel the preset loadouts take away from customization/personalization. I mean, now I can make my titan and his gun be different colors, which I don't care about, but I can't change out the important stuff like his gun, ordinances, tactical ability, chassis and kits. I'm not worried about balance. I just want everyone to be able to personalize the important stuff on their titans. The balance can be worked out after the fact, but please give us the freedom. -Movement - I agree the Stim is better in TF2 and I love it. I also love the slide. However, I think the impact of just the slower ground speed is somewhat underestimated. It is like the connecting piece that is missing. if I am flying around the walls with the beefed up Stim it's amazing, but then if I touch the ground now, even if just for a second, now I'm a slow, sitting duck, stuck in molasses until I can get to another wall. If they just put the ground speed (or the maintaining of your air speed when you hit the ground) back to what it was in TF1, the movement would be perfect. -Maps - I just feel that overall they are small, tight and designed with choke points. I also don't like that there are only 9 when TF1 launched with 15.
Love yr work @Ik0n88x and I largely agree with you. The reapers don't to me seem to add anything and become a hinderance at that end of the game, I realised once you'd pointed them out that I'm not a fan of them. I stood up and yelled "Testify" when you mentioned silencers. When you play pubs on your own it is near essential to have a silencer. I wondered at the time if they thought it was a balance issue but other than that it doesn't seem to make sense. I also agree with the pilot loadouts which don't allow a secondary and a anti-titan weapon, it means for me that I have to duplicate loadouts with one and the other. I heard a really interesting piece about Rodeo's from the Devs. They explained that the reason they changed it was that had gotten feedback that in TF 1 once you were Rodeo'd that was it, your titan was toast. I couldn't have disagreed more. If you got rodeo'd in TF 1 you got out of your titan and shot them. You knew where they were. It wasn't rocket surgery. Sure in competitive it's different however in pubs 9 out of 10 suckers who rodeo'd you acted like you couldn't see them. I must say I miss burn cards to, I loved saving up my 50k for the special pack. The Boost system is cool however I haven't used anything other than amped weapons which I may say (just quietly) is massively OP, not that I wan't them nerfed or anything. In relation to loadouts I laughed when I read what you said about Tone, I don't think I've used anything else. Ronin is great class I'm yet to explore but Tone for mine is perfect. I also played TF 1 and 2 back to back the other day. I actually found the movement in TF 2 to be more 'sticky' but overall I can't say that I'd prefer one over the other, they are movement systems in two different games. The movement in both is for me perfect. I must say however when I played TF 1 I went 20 and 0, man there is alot of guys without thumbs in TF 1 whereas in TF 2 it seems to me that the skill level generally is higher, my sense is more players from other shooters are in the matches now. I'm seeing far more people posting up in spawn and camping choke points. The maps seem to be more around a mid map cluster of buildings with the flank routes being larger and more open. (Just an opinion based on an intuition) Nice work mate. Good post.
I completely agree with you. If someone rodeoed me, it was exactly the opposite of what the devs said, they were toast and my titan was going continue leaving a trail of destruction until their dropship exploded. You could get out and blow them away, you could back against a wall pop smoke and puncn up, you could go under an overhang and shoot cluster missiles and jump your titan out preserving most of it's health as soon as the rodeoer died, you could jump in front of a friendly titan and crouch down. So many choices. I think your intution is correct. Not a big fan of the choke points or the encouragement of camping or attracting the other FPS tendencies when to me the beautiful thing about Titanfall was that it was not a traditional FPS game. It makes me sad if it is going to move in the direction of becoming just another face lost in the crowd.
I agree about the Reapers and silencers. I wonder what the reasoning was with the silencers. I also love your battery idea.
It's been a while since I have been on these forums but I'm glad to see some of the old faces plus some new ones about! I largely agree with Ikon's OP and also with ensc's follow up ones. I'm enjoying Titanfall 2, but I have to confess that I still prefer Titanfall 1 over it. I have been switching back between the two for the last week to see which one "feels" better to me and I always found myself enjoying TF1 a hell of a lot more. I think after reading your post ensc tonight I have come to the conclusion that Titanfall 2 has moved too far into the direction of other generic fps's. It was like Respawn took 1 step forward with some things and improved on the things which made Titanfall unique then took two steps back on most others and largely recycled itself into a lesser product by trying to appeal to too broad an audience. For example; Maps; - The map sizes seems to be halfway between a CoD arena and a Battlefield map and I just feel it doesn't work all that great. - Because of the above, Titanfall 2 now allows far more opportunities for campers. - The maps seem to be pretty generic in their appearance and unremarkable. There's no "wow this looks like a space frontier" vibe. - No flora or fauna in the MP maps and no little turrets and things to capture. - Introduction of choke points are not needed. A lot of the time in the late stages of a match you have 3 or 4 titans or standing in the same place and just sniping. Movement; - I find the new movement system to be somewhat strange and slower. Its like the movement just doesn't flow or gel as well as it should. I'm not sure if its a fault with the actual speed, the size of the maps or a combination of both. - I do enjoy the addition of the slide and grapple. Titans: - The titans themselves feel some-what tacky and gimmicky and not something to fear as you can largely ignore them most of the time. I do think the "Tone" and "Legion" titans feels more like a spiritual successor to the titans in TF1, whilst the other titans are gimmicky fodder. The hover mode of Northstar was unique though. - The pre-selection of titans is a massive step backwards in my opinion. I miss my Atlas and outfitting him in different ways haha. - The new rodeo system with the titan cores is a massive step back for me. I preferred TF1's rodeoing. - Definitely agree with the reapers adding nothing of value to the game. - The titans just seem to not be involved in the fights anymore and instead are just used a barricade for the choke-points. Weapons and Gadgets; - Regarding weapons, I'm still on the fence about this one. I remember that choices were pretty limited in TF1 but all the choices seem to cover most play-styles. The new weapons add more variety but at the same time I'm not sure if they really add value to the gameplay. - I like all the new ordnance options. - I like all the new kit & boost options. - I don't see why you need to tie kit options to certain player models, like the boost kit looking like a robot. The TLDR version - Titanfall 2 in my opinion is not the spiritual successor of TF1. On a personal level I thought Respawn hit a massive winner with TF1 and all they needed to do was simply add a single player story arc, and introduce new maps, more varied kits, ordnance and boost options.
I don't know if this belongs here but... I posted elsewhere about getting several Boomtown maps in a row well I can now top that! Yesterday i got Forward Base Kodia three times in a row in Ampted Hardpoint then switched to Bounty Hunt and guess what map I got - you are correct and win the prize! Ok so it was time two switch from my PS4 to the Xbox, go into a Attrition for a warmup; you are correct Kodia again - it was just chance but made me smile, I think I am getting to know that map! All kidding aside I think there is a problem and Respawn are reportedly dealing with it. From my point of view, in part, it stems from the fact that if you are in a game with a group next game you are with others and that randomizes the map selection. I would often like to stay with the same folks as you sometimes have great competitive games and often make new friends. As a loner it was how I got to play with a Clan in COD. Before anyone jumps on me the Clan I selected was social, when someone came into the group that wanted to "strategize" they were set straight pretty quickly or "excommunicated".
Glad to have you back Pilot_KC. Some very thoughtful analysis and I agree with most of it. I definitely still prefer TF1 as well and agree that it just feels better and I enjoy it a lot more. It just feels more satisfying in my opinion, like I got to express myself. Many times in TF2 I feel like I am fighting hand cuffed inside of a cardboard box, especially in the titans. I agree that it just feels like they removed the spirit or essence of what made TF1 unique and moved more toward being a traditional FPS game. To me, pilot-wise, I think the reason the movement feels strange is the ground speed. The wall running, especially with Stim is actually even better, but if you hit that ground for even one second it's like you are stuck in molasses. If they put the ground speed back to what it was in TF1, then the overall movement in TF2 would actually be better. All titans are too slow though and if you get close to other titans, the friendly interference is just unbearable. I agree with most of your comments and I agree with this part 1000%: "Titanfall 2 in my opinion is not the spiritual successor of TF1. On a personal level I thought Respawn hit a massive winner with TF1 and all they needed to do was simply add a single player story arc, and introduce new maps, more varied kits, ordnance and boost options." DARK brings up a very good point that is only exacerbating an already HUGE problem that Respawn has created for themselves. 1) They only included 9 maps instead of 15 as TF1 had at launch (and we are only getting 1 more in the first DLC). 2) As Favyn described in his video, Steve Fukuda, Titanfall 2's Game Director said their goal was to design maps with 3 lanes and force predictable play. 3) As DARK points out, now you might play for an entire 1 or 2 hour session and only see 1 or 2 of those 9 maps. So now you have less maps with choke points and lanes designed for predictable play and you have a match creating engine that is feeding players the same map 3 times in a row. That gets old real quick and this is a HUGE problem they have created for themselves.
To change up maps I've noticed you have to switch up gametypes. It seems like some gametypes tend to play certain maps. Also to the "3 Lane" thing, all maps in TF1 basically had the 3 lane approach when you really look at it. That isn't the problem. The problem is the decrease in verticality that makes wallrunning and traversing the maps a bit more challenging, so in turn, they don't feel as fluid as the TF1 maps... all maps are 3 lane though.
I agree on the reapers. Even friendly reapers annoy me and have screwed me over by jumping in the way of shots or in front of me. I'm not a big fan of silencers though... campers are no fun and this could make it worse.
I hear what you are saying about the silencers but not sure that they are exclusively used by campers. When you play solo, silencers are really useful. Staying of the map with a silencer is a mainstay of shooters. But on the camping thing I agree in so far as many more people are stationary in TF 2 than was ever the case in TF1.
I find myself not shooting minions now with no suppressor as it gives away my position on the map. I make up the points by shooting pilots,
Hit 31 one pilot kills the other night, still to top 32 though. Some squeeker got 42 not long ago. Camped a lot he did.
I would refer you back to my original comment. Addendum: I am getting a touch better at this game thanks in part to Angel City, nice to have a bit of pre-loaded map awareness when you're trying to find your stride.