What in-game unlocks (items/skills/whatever) do you think should have unlocked earlier than they did?

[ZedClampet]

It drives me crazy when a developer holds an awesome item or skill back and finally gives it to you right near the end of the game.

Satisfactory is one of the biggest offenders. From the jetpack and hoverpack to trains and drones, all of this stuff is awesome, and I would have more fun if I got them near the beginning of the game.

Meanwhile, Atlas gives you the recipe for the submarine only after you've finished the Kraken, which used to be the end of the game. Why do I want it then? Of course, Atlas is supposed to be a multiplayer game that never ends, so I kind of understand the reasoning there.

I prefer Subnautica's method. When you unlock things is completely up to you.

So can you think of things that you got towards the end of a game and wished you had been given more time with?

 

[Brian Boru]

It drives me crazy when a developer holds an awesome item or skill back and finally gives it to you right near the end of the game

Oh yeah, pet annoyance of mine. I want the Apocalypse Tank and cruise missile sub now, dammit—not 3/4-4/5 thru game. Long range rifle scopes, bigger loot/inventory bag, extra health bars… it's a long list before ever getting to any particular weapons.

Civilization games cover that nicely with Advanced Start. Want to skip the axemen and archers? No problem, select Advanced Start in custom game and begin with riflemen etc.

It doesn't bug me too much, as in games I want to replay, there's usually a mod to unlock all this stuff from the beginning. If a game isn't worth replaying, then it doesn't matter a lot.

 

[Zloth]

Risen. Playing as a mage, you get the highest level spells right near the end of the game - giving little time to use the spells.

I can't think of any others off hand, though. Game designers have gotten pretty good about these issues, IMHO.

I prefer Subnautica's method. When you unlock things is completely up to you.

Eh? If you need uranium to build something, you aren't getting it in the first few hours. They do seem to provide multiple paths, though. The pacing seems very well done - there always seems to be three+ things I want to explore at any one time.

@Brian Boru - so Age of Wonders: Planetfall? Or the classic Alpha Centauri? High tech stuff, right off the bat!

 

[Pifanjr]

I do seem to finish the Vortex campaign of Total War: Warhammer 2 every time only a few turns after unlocking the last tier units. Every time I postponed the last battle just to be able to get some extra high tier units which I then get to use for one battle.

My current campaign might become an exception as playing as Vampire Coast you can unlock tier 5 units fairly early if you focus on the growth of your pirate ship, while progress to the victory condition is pretty slow since I abandoned all of my settlements and therefore have limited income to support multiple armies.

I'm also playing on a harder difficulty, which makes progress of the victory condition a bit slower as well. It is possible I was just playing on too easy of a difficulty before and therefore rushed the previous campaigns quicker than the developers intended.

 

[ZedClampet]

Eh? If you need uranium to build something, you aren't getting it in the first few hours. They do seem to provide multiple paths, though. The pacing seems very well done - there always seems to be three+ things I want to explore at any one time.

Everything is available immediately in Subnautica. Obviously, you need to unlock some things in a logical order to be able to go deeper. That's not the same as something being held behind a long level grind or whatever. I could probably get uranium in an hour because I know where everything is. Of course, there are better things to get in your first hour.

I do seem to finish the Vortex campaign of Total War: Warhammer 2 every time only a few turns after unlocking the last tier units. Every time I postponed the last battle just to be able to get some extra high tier units which I then get to use for one battle.

I have often thought from reading your game summaries that you play fast. Although I can play at different speeds, my natural style in Total War games is rather slow, which is one reason I'm not particularly enamored with the Vortex campaign or the main campaign in 3.

BTW, I just made it to a tier 5 capital in our Cathay game, and I'm on turn 58. I'd guess we are a little over half-way to the end.

Growth is really impacted by corruption in 3. Once the portals to Chaos start opening up, you can find yourself with negative growth pretty quickly and have to start working to bring it down until the next time the portals open.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

When I was playing HZD, I remember finding out you could only fast travel if you had fast travel packs. But then eventually, you can buy a golden fast travel pack that gives you unlimited fast traveling. I thought that was kind of dumb, and that you should be able to always fast travel as soon as you find camps.

 

[Johnway]

Alternate costumes. I've beaten the game and i'm unlikely to play the game again so getting an endgame skin is just crap.

 

[DXCHASE]

Alternate costumes. I've beaten the game and i'm unlikely to play the game again so getting an endgame skin is just crap.

I agree, along with any abilities, guns, armor that are locked behind "New Game Plus" completions, totally not doing that.

 

[Alm]

I had been playing that Hot Wheels racing game. It was a good game but it took so long to unlock new cars that I just put it down.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I used to love the game Kameo on the 360. But it was kind of annoying because you start off in the intro level with all of the playable characters. Then right after the intro, all of the sudden you have none of them, and you have to slowly earn them back one by one. I get it, but it was a little frustrating after having them all in the beginning.

 

[Withywarlock]

One of the most controversial examples of this was Thori'dal, the Stars' Fury in World of Warcraft, largely because it dropped from the final boss of the final raid of The Burning Crusade (TBC), and would be undermined by the following expansion's (Wrath of the Lich King, WotLK) dungeon gear. However there was also the problem of it not being Hunter specific, meaning characters who could use bows such as Warriors and Rogues could also get this as a stat stick if their raid leader/loot officer was bias toward them.

I used to love the game Kameo on the 360. But it was kind of annoying because you start off in the intro level with all of the playable characters. Then right after the intro, all of the sudden you have none of them, and you have to slowly earn them back one by one. I get it, but it was a little frustrating after having them all in the beginning.

100%. My friend's uncle came up for a term for that: abilitease. The same with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Darksiders, but this applies to any game that gives you all the abilities at the beginning before stripping them away in the following chapter.

EDIT: I don't know why one of my old quotations was added here, something to do with the quote feature. Apologise to whoever may have ended up tagged here by accident xD

 

[Brian Boru]

I don't know why one of my old quotations was added here, something to do with the quote feature

There's a rare glitch which can attribute a quote to a different member. Admin haven't been able to track it down—rare weirdos are the trickiest

 

[Colif]

It got me, I was wondering what you replied to in a thread I hadn't posted in.

rare weirdos are the trickiest

I feel I resemble that remark

 

[Pifanjr]

100%. My friend's uncle came up for a term for that: abilitease. The same with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Darksiders, but this applies to any game that gives you all the abilities at the beginning before stripping them away in the following chapter.

I really liked the abilitease in Prototype. It was fun seeing how powerful you'd be able to become, but it didn't feel frustrating to lose them, as it was a bit much to get all at once.

 

[mjs warlord]

Hi Zed i agree with what you said about Satisfactory , i have never played a game like this before so as you can imagine i have been on a very steep learning curve i currently have 232 hours played , usually 5 hours per session ( i am retired so have the time ) . It is without a doubt the most difficult but enjoyable game i have ever used , is all about common sense and the things you do reflect real life.

That said , if i started again which i am not going to do i would do things completely different.

I would make bigger gaps between my conveyors because you dont know at the time that you will need to make space for 2 into 1 to make a new product so you need to make space for the new line of product.

Other things that cause problems , conveyors .... when you open up more tiers you get better belts so you spend a lot of time re-building. ....... power poles .... one day you get a pole that can handle 10 lines , is it worth replacing and re-wiring , i dont think so , just use new poles when you can.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

There's a rare glitch which can attribute a quote to a different member. Admin haven't been able to track it down—rare weirdos are the trickiest

I've also noticed on here and on another forum that uses the same software that if you hit the "Quote button on a post, then get distracted and don't post any reply, when you come back to that thread later and post a reply, the quote is still there. I've had that happen days later, after I even forgot I was going to reply to someone.

 

[Brian Boru]

when you come back to that thread later and post a reply, the quote is still there

Yes, that happens me too every time I do as you describe. Seems to be a "live with it" feature for now.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Yes, that happens me too every time I do as you describe. Seems to be a "live with it" feature for now.

Yeah, that's just how forums work. I don't think it's something that will ever be changed on any forum.

 

[Colif]

That is the Drafts feature, forums will remember any reply you start and don't finish. Its handy if you forget to hit reply.

you can clear it by selecting drafts button & choosing delete draft

If its a quote in the multi quote box, it should have a delete option

its always possible you quoted me elsewhere and forgot and that is why the quote you posted didn't work? I don't know, I haven't seen it happen myself.

 

[flashn00b]

Been playing Chivalry 2 almost non-stop for the past couple of weeks, and I can safely say with full confidence that the Throwing Axes for the Skirmisher, along with the Man-at-arms subclass for the Footman should've been available much earlier than you'd actually get them. Considering that competitive multiplayer is the main focus of the game, it's really not all that ideal that you'd be stuck with a straight downgrade from the unlocks for a very long period of time.

Throwing Axes on Skirmisher is especially egregious since archers have a class limit and since it gets filled up fairly frequently, you'll be getting far less EXP for archer unlocks than you would other classes.

 

[Johnway]

Been playing Chivalry 2 almost non-stop for the past couple of weeks, and I can safely say with full confidence that the Throwing Axes for the Skirmisher, along with the Man-at-arms subclass for the Footman should've been available much earlier than you'd actually get them. Considering that competitive multiplayer is the main focus of the game, it's really not all that ideal that you'd be stuck with a straight downgrade from the unlocks for a very long period of time.

Throwing Axes on Skirmisher is especially egregious since archers have a class limit and since it gets filled up fairly frequently, you'll be getting far less EXP for archer unlocks than you would other classes.

Slightly off topic hows chivalry 2 these days? i played it for a free trial and didn't think i want it. But... its been toying with me for some time. I'm kinda holding back because i don't think i'll have time to play it and the games issues prevent me from wanting to get it.

But i digress, i agree with the unlocking of weapons /abilities to higher classes being a thing. There is ALWAYS the case that the higher level characters get the better stuff or has the flexibility advantage. If one weapon breaks the meta and everyone is using it, you can bet that you're not going to have a great time being dunked on whilst you grind for it.

The only game that i even felt remotely fair was planetside 2. The starting weapons are some of the best in the game and others are more side upgrades that give marginal advantages (ie in certain situations it has a minor advantage). Additionally, armor slots and utility slots are available if you take one of the predefined loadout. So even the beginner can PTFO and do his part. you can purchase individual weapons when you start customizing your own loadouts etc. But that said its not 100% perfect, an annoying tactic is an infiltrator decking a grenade launcher on their buggy cloaking and spamming explosives before driving away or an aerial player with rockets shelling you is never fun.

 

[flashn00b]

Slightly off topic hows chivalry 2 these days? i played it for a free trial and didn't think i want it. But... its been toying with me for some time. I'm kinda holding back because i don't think i'll have time to play it and the games issues prevent me from wanting to get it.

It's pretty okay if you don't mind playing on the 32v32 playlist since that seems to be the popular pick, though I've always thought that 20v20 was what the game was balanced around (Aberfell especially highlights this). Grinding for unlocks isn't AS bad as it is in other games, since there's a mode for exactly that in the form of Beginner Mode, a 6v6 playlist with a minimum player count of 20 (empty slots are filled by NPCs armed with some fairly dangerous tools with little knowledge on how to use them). Barring Beginner mode however, I find that the knight's starting kit is actually his strongest loadout, so you'll hardly ever feel pressured to grind for items.

Meanwhile, I think the Vanguard's in an okay position. I don't think you need to grind for too long to get the Raider subclass, and the Devastator's offensive power with his starting kit's nothing to scoff at. It's mainly the medic footman and skirmisher classes that are annoying to grind for. In the case of skirmisher, I wouldn't necessarily call it the most optimal way to play an archer class, but it's certainly a lot more fun than hiding behind a wall with longbow at hand and hoping that you don't get hit with a Vanguard's sprint attack from behind

So yeah, i think grinding for the Man-at-Arms subclass for the medic and getting throwing axes for the archer are really the only outliers in terms of item grinding, while the Vanguard and Knight are in a pretty good position as far as item unlocking is concerned.