Syfy + Trion = Defiance MMO Action Shooter (PC 360 PS3)

[Ghambit]

Did they seriously not give an option to /tell someone?     So in order to have a convo you have to group.  Also, chat still goes offline when u disable voip.  And with voip enabled, there's no threshold adjustment, so you get to hear everything on someone's mic if they're not wearing phones.

Indeed, a console game through and through.  There's not even a mission log in the game, so you cant tell what you've done so far.  

No tells is definitely a but my voice has been disabled from day one and my chat works just fine.

My guess is if you disable it while in group-chat or some such the chat goes down.  Others have had the same issue.  Maybe it comes back, who knows.  Hell, I just figured out how to even chat in group yesterday. (apparently, you have to press "x" which moves a little chatpip to area/group/etc)

[Pennilenko]

What 'level' did you get to when you finished the content?

I've finished all missions that are not repeatable, I've also done a bunch of arkfalls. I'm sitting at 421 ego.


Also, I can't tell if Falconeer is being a douche or if he is being sincere. I haven't said anything about the game that isn't true or out of line with expectations for an MMO.

[Falconeer]

Absolutely sincere. Even if it took three days? Barely a single player. What the fuck.

Here's another question: how many "zones" are there after Mount Tam?

[kildorn]

There are three "zones" essentially, but the second is about twice the size of the others.

It's a very empty-ish world, and around 10-12 hours of content seems about right. The thing is that it's not particularly high quality well crafted content. 10-12 hours for a shooter is considered pretty normal (Infinite is what, 8ish?) due to all the polish that goes into every event and object placed. I enjoy Defiance for some stupid fun, but it's world does not seem anywhere near as detailed as other major titles. It actually seems like something they rushed out. Lots of detail in the guns and gun models. Lots of explosions and a decent open event system. Very little detail and polish in every other aspect.

[Draegan]

I tried the first dungeon last night. Wasn't that horrible.

The first are is annoying to get around and it's not very inspired but it does look like a devastated area. I wonder if the show part will shed some light on things. If there is anything else to go with the game.

But yeah, the game is just a bit of shallow fun. I enjoy it for a few hours here and there. I also like how there aren't any real levels, you just shoot shit.

[Pennilenko]

They really needed to market it as something else. I don't see how you can call it an MMO if you can't send messages to individual players. No global chat channel.

If I put aside my alpha and beta glasses, and looked at this from the perspective of somebody that knew nothing about the game, I wouldn't nearly be as upset if they said, "Hey guys, here is this game that progresses with this new TV show, here is the intro to play before the show starts in a couple of weeks, and we are updating the content as the show progresses."

Instead the marketing hyped it as a full on MMO, with the hook being a tied in TV show and shooter third person combat. My wife isn't a full on gamer like me, but she has played enough MMOs to have certain expectations from a game calling itself such. She honestly thought there would be at least a month's worth of content at the bare minimum.

[Threash]

MMO without all the other people would actually interest me as a feature.  So far i am having fun, but i can see how this is going to get old fairly quick.

[kildorn]

So far i am having fun, but i can see how this is going to get old fairly quick.

Pretty much what I'm up to. What's really amusing me is how close this world feels to Firefall.

Terrible accident! Mutanty thingies and aliens! Bugs from terraforming or something! Passable shooter!

Also got a laugh out of some random hostage I rescued dropping a fully voiced f-bomb, while the annoying plot missions insist on using their dumb replacement slang for it.

[Riggswolfe]

What 'level' did you get to when you finished the content?

I've finished all missions that are not repeatable, I've also done a bunch of arkfalls. I'm sitting at 421 ego.


Also, I can't tell if Falconeer is being a douche or if he is being sincere. I haven't said anything about the game that isn't true or out of line with expectations for an MMO.

Interesting. I thought I read somewhere that max Ego level right now is 2000 (or maybe 5000). I guess they're hoping people will pvp and stuff once they finish the story. (assuming Pvp gives you exps of course)

[Stormwaltz]

Also got a laugh out of some random hostage I rescued dropping a fully voiced f-bomb, while the annoying plot missions insist on using their dumb replacement slang for it.

Miss Replacement Slang also flips the bird at one point.

[kildorn]

What 'level' did you get to when you finished the content?

I've finished all missions that are not repeatable, I've also done a bunch of arkfalls. I'm sitting at 421 ego.


Also, I can't tell if Falconeer is being a douche or if he is being sincere. I haven't said anything about the game that isn't true or out of line with expectations for an MMO.

Interesting. I thought I read somewhere that max Ego level right now is 2000 (or maybe 5000). I guess they're hoping people will pvp and stuff once they finish the story. (assuming Pvp gives you exps of course)

I'm assuming that they plan on expanding the land mass a bit, and this is just season 1. Though I question how they plan on getting this to stay running for years.

Side note: this uses my least favorite form of scaling. The more players in an area, the more health the mobs get. Which turns into emptying weapons into what are essentially 2-3 shot trash targets in order to barely hurt them.

[Surlyboi]

Also got a laugh out of some random hostage I rescued dropping a fully voiced f-bomb, while the annoying plot missions insist on using their dumb replacement slang for it.

Miss Replacement Slang also flips the bird at one point.

The Marshal throws out a few f-bombs too. Replacement slang only seems to come from aliens.

[Signe]

Everyone says fuck all the time in all my games now.  I've become desensitized to fuck.

[Nonentity]

I've become desensitized to fuck.

Some men would pay for that.

/wave

[Nevermore]

I've become desensitized to fuck.

Some men would pay for that.

/wave

It's your avatar that makes this funny. 

[Signe]

I like it.  It's okay so far but I'm not entirely sure it's worth the money, either.  Isn't there new DLC coming in a few days?  Maybe that's where everything is!

And who is your avatar, Nevermore?  Is that you? 

[Fabricated]

It feels like a AA cover shooter without the cover, only MMO. Kinda feel like I wasted a bit of money but it's not too terrible outside of the interface.

[Ghambit]

And who is your avatar, Nevermore?  Is that you? 

Dear God I hope so.

[Fabricated]

Game is pretty mean at points, but I think that's because I'm not buying any gear and living off of quest rewards and drops.

[Nevermore]

I like it.  It's okay so far but I'm not entirely sure it's worth the money, either.  Isn't there new DLC coming in a few days?  Maybe that's where everything is!

And who is your avatar, Nevermore?  Is that you?  

Nope.

[Ghambit]

I'm gonna hold out hope that come the end of the content the game will roll right along with the show.  If I can pop in/out once a week and do something new I'll be happy.

[Riggswolfe]

I'm gonna hold out hope that come the end of the content the game will roll right along with the show.  If I can pop in/out once a week and do something new I'll be happy.

Once a week? Won't happen. If you look at your pursuits, they call this season 1 and I am guessing that means exactly what it sounds like. That this part of the game ties in with season 1 of the show. That said, the DLC pack said 5 DLC this year, so I'd guess roughly every 2 months or so we'll get some new stuff.

Also, on their blog they listed some stuff they're working on and one of them was chat.

[Falconeer]

I am going as far as saying that so far the ridiculously small amount of content is my only complaint. It's a casual game, and I was definitely enjoying the exploration and story driven shooting without feeling the need to invest hours in it like other MMOs, or caring too much about what is definitely half-assed. But to find out that it's not going to be long (at all) before I will be done with it and they will be asking me more money to get what... a few more quests? really pisses on my parade.

[Threash]

Seriously, you can't launch with this little content then charge thirty extra bucks for more.  I still hold out hope that I'll get sixty bucks of fun out of this but it is insulting to ask for more money.

[Signe]

I like it.  It's okay so far but I'm not entirely sure it's worth the money, either.  Isn't there new DLC coming in a few days?  Maybe that's where everything is!

And who is your avatar, Nevermore?  Is that you?  

Nope.

It's a very cool avatar.  She's awesome looking.

[Riggswolfe]

I am going as far as saying that so far the ridiculously small amount of content is my only complaint. It's a casual game, and I was definitely enjoying the exploration and story driven shooting without feeling the need to invest hours in it like other MMOs, or caring too much about what is definitely half-assed. But to find out that it's not going to be long (at all) before I will be done with it and they will be asking me more money to get what... a few more quests? really pisses on my parade.

I'm at 23 1/2 hours played and am in Marin now which I think is roughly half way through the story content. Doing coop plus pvp plus going for pursuits plus arkfalls really adds to the length of time you can spend in the game. That's why I asked whatshisname if he did all the content or just the story missions.

[Pendan]

Interesting. I thought I read somewhere that max Ego level right now is 2000 (or maybe 5000). I guess they're hoping people will pvp and stuff once they finish the story. (assuming Pvp gives you exps of course)

Doing all the achievements which I think they call pursuits will give you a lot of ego points. That will be a long grind.

Another "activity" you can do is grind faction points to be able to buy stuff. That is a very slow and long grind. I could go through the entire story start to finish much faster than getting enough faction to buy one purple level item. Most of the faction points appear to be locked behind dailies.

[Stormwaltz]

Yeesh, I haven't even seen a faction yet. I've been able to get back to where I ended beta - along the coast of Madera. I expect I'll slow down even more now that I'm seeing new things again. (Side note, the "hold off waves of uber enemies while the dickbag executive escapes" story mission is just as ludicrously balanced as it was in beta. I hadn't died anywhere else, but in order to complete that one I had to grind through the spawn camping mobs by rezzing, getting off as many shots as I could before dying, then rezzing again. Good thing money seems useless!)

Nathan Richardsson put out a blog today on technical issues, particularly on XBox, and what they're doing about them.

http://community.defiance.com/en/2013/04/04/day-2-in-the-life-of-defiance-little-bit-of-humble-little-bit-of-cautious/

He also exhorts people to try the PvP, which is... I mean, if you're the sort who likes shooter PvP, go play a shooter. Or Planetside 2, if you want scale. A big part of the reason I'm playing Defiance is because I like shooters but don't have the reflexes or competitive nature for that stuff.

[Ghambit]

Can you guys list your screenames? Maybe I'll pop open a clan or something.  Of course, listing screenames matters fuckall because if you're not online you can't be found.   

[Pendan]

Good thing money seems useless!

The economy is one of the things I have not seen talked about in this thread and I forgot to mention except for the general shallow game comment. Unless you are the type that wants every vehicle in every color possible I am not sure what the point of scrip is after you accumulate about 10k. You will spend a bit on weapons and mods but less than you earn.

[Signe]

I'm Signe.  Or Zombie Signe.  There's going to be a new race this week sometime, right?  Then I might be something else.  I haven't decided yet.  Oh, and I suck.

[Nija]

Here's the first dungeon and my first time running it. I was trying to be a helpful healer before I decided to say fuck it and just do a lot of damage.

Looks like it took ~25 minutes?

http://www.twitch.tv/nijasan/b/386677251?t=76m50s

[Ghambit]

That BMG does plenty of dmg if you have more than 1 target.

[Stormwaltz]

Defiance can't seem to decide what color my quad-runner thingy is. So far tonight, it's been blue, green, red, and silver.

[Nija]

That BMG does plenty of dmg if you have more than 1 target.

What's the trick? I've tried that but it only ticks everything for 40-60 damage. My shitty LMG seems like the best thing for sustained damage so far. Explosives are okay and so is the hatching thing, but those are a lot more tricky to use.