June 2019 - Next Steps with RIOT

[MattScott 15242]

Hi everyone,

 

First, many many (many many) players have asked why we "wasted" time doing RIOT, and I think that's a valid question.

 

The mechanics for RIOT were specifically designed to give my team a chance to learn how the inner workings of APB fit together. I felt that we could implement this mode without taking a lot of dev resources, we could keep our focus on the Engine Upgrade, and that the experience would give us an excellent sandbox to make mistakes. If we messed up RIOT, we could simply set it aside with no lasting damage. If we mess up the main game, then it becomes much more difficult to fix.

 

The design for RIOT also included a number of underlying systems that we need. Some of them are focused on design elements such as cleaning up the district blocks or tracking new aspects of play. Other systems focused on replacing Joker Mystery Boxes. It's clear that legislation will eventually make these illegal, so we need new ways of building value that our players can spend money on.

Next, here are some interesting stats for the first week:

- RIOT was played 4x more on Citadel than on Jericho due to low population issues starting the mode

- Fight Club ran 2.2x more matches than RIOT during the same week on Jericho, but 92%+ of accounts playing FC also played RIOT

- Fight Club ran 1.2x more matches than RIOT during the same week on Citadel, but we saw 1.5x more accounts in RIOT than FC

- ~40% of the active player base during the week played RIOT at least once

 

We are spending a lot of time going through all the feedback here on the forums to see what is feasible. There have been lots of great suggestions.

 

There are clear issues with the mode, and the team is working on a relatively light weight pass of tweaks and fixes to make it more fun.

Areas that need work are: The end-game, Sound, and respawns.

 

Right now, the big decision I need to make is whether to:
(1) take the mode down until it has seen major work or
(2) add some more tiers along with another reward that will enable players to continue grinding Joker Tickets while we make changes.

I'm not interested in clinging to or defending something that isn't working, but I still see some value in the mode itself - just perhaps not in the original way we intended.

 

EDIT: I have two more updates planned, but ended up in meetings for the rest of the day, so I'll do those next week.

We are not moving forward with any Battle Pass or Seasonal content till the kinks are worked out.

 

Thanks,
Matt

[Parthian 344]

nice man thanks matt 

[Acornie 490]

Thanks Matt, for all your work, I appreciate that LO is coming at this objectively, and not just blindly trying to make something work that might not, it's really the most we can ask for

I really think with some work/time/tweaking it can be a thing, not a big new mode that will 'save Apb' but a fun side thing, like FC

Edited June 21, 2019 by Acornie

[Szambi 85]

I shall voteth for the numero dos!

[Hexerin 1140]

1 hour ago, MattScott said:

Other systems focused on replacing Joker Mystery Boxes. It's clear that legislation will eventually make these illegal, so we need new ways of building value that our players can spend money on.

Don't fuck it up. You have a chance to swing this for potentially major improvement of the game's overall state, but if you just replace one anti-consumer / predatory piece of shit with another then you'll find it come right back around across your face.

1 hour ago, MattScott said:

(1) take the mode down until it has seen major work

The correct choice, between those two.

[claude 223]

1 minute ago, Hexerin said:

Don't fuck it up. You have a chance to swing this for potentially major improvement of the game's overall state, but if you just replace one anti-consumer / predatory piece of shit with another then you'll find it come right back around across your face.

The correct choice, between those two.

Loot boxes in a free to play game that do not grant any significant advantages to the player at all are "predatory" and "anti-consumer?"

 

They aren't even that bad. All the legendaries are trash except the volcano, ursus and thunder. Not like they're so powerful that a player needs to obtain them in order to compete with others.

[vsb 6171]

this is what i needed to hear

 

idk if it was made clear or not, but it would have been nice to know riot was more of a behind the scenes test - a lot of players (myself included) have assumed riot is the major content focus moving forward, which is concerning 

 

im glad to hear there will be a balance/fix patch coming soon

 

i’m worried that you haven’t mentioned grouping issues (again)

 

for what it’s worth i think riot should stick around, there are clearly people who like it and if worst comes to worst it can be converted into a different mode

 

thanks for the update

 

 

Edited June 21, 2019 by Glaciers
typo

[AsgerLund 1271]

Make RIOT riot!

[iRawwwN 282]

2 hours ago, MattScott said:

(1) take the mode down until it has seen major work or

It kinda sucks that it takes so long to get the skin on Jericho.  I'm still rank 3 on Citadel, I don't feel like doing it for all my characters. The game mode itself isn't actually that bad, well once all the major fixes were implemented. It's still not what APB is meant to be though. There's tons of other avenues to bring players to (and back) the game, which is new contacts, new map (maybe after engine upgraded) and then of course the engine upgrade itself.

[Milim 32]

Make zones close themselves instead of players having to activate devices and fix spawns, that should up the pace and make games run a tad smoother.

 

Edit: The game mode itself is not to bad and I personally really enjoy it.

Edited June 21, 2019 by zeals

[CookiePuss 5378]

GG

[greenfield 135]

Dear Matt,

Thank you for keeping us posted.

[OvermoderatedForum 71]

I play on Jericho and it took me a few days to ease into it but I'm actually starting to enjoy Riot when we can get matches going so I'm glad it isn't being scrapped entirely.

 

That said I'm afraid if the mode is taken down then the people on Jericho who have been going for the skin will be upset that they grinded and spent a lot of time trying to find a match at all and still ended up with nothing for it. Some of us have been leaving ourselves sitting in districts for hours just to try and get matches started. 

 

The second option sounds hit or miss but allows people still playing to keep working toward the rewards. As someone who has been leaving their client running in Riot districts for hours trying to help get them started the past few days I personally lean toward this one for now because I still want that skin xD

[StunStick 140]

You know what would be a good idea?

Why don't you make RIOT a potential mode that can occur in Asylum, replacing the VIP mode that everyone hates. Then just make the "RIOT Pass" the "FC Pass" instead.

Expecially considering it seems like you don't want to give up on this mode no one asked for.

 

Even if you change it, I still think it was a waste of your time.

 

I'd also like to point out that your statistics are clearly skewed to make it seem like RIOT is more popular then it is, and even in doing that FC is still more popular. You didn't take into account the "Shiny New Car Effect" if something is new, it's always more popular.

Edited June 21, 2019 by StunStick

[Hexerin 1140]

10 minutes ago, Tizzie said:

That said I'm afraid if the mode is taken down then the people on Jericho who have been going for the skin will be upset that they grinded and spent a lot of time trying to find a match at all and still ended up with nothing for it. Some of us have been leaving ourselves sitting in districts for hours just to try and get matches started.

Honestly, they should just give Jericho players who participated at all the skin as a consolation for the troubles. It's not like it's some unknown that Jericho has no playerbase even during peak hours, it's absurd that they locked the skin behind such a huge grind with the implied expectation that RIOT would be super active all day long.

[Helix Reloaded 102]

2 hours ago, MattScott said:

(2) add some more tiers along with another reward that will enable players to continue grinding Joker Tickets while we make changes.

Voting for this.

As broken and unpolished as RIOT is, I still find the mode to be very fun and it's pretty much all I've been doing on APB since it came out.

I really don't think removing it is a smart choice. People that don't want to play it are already avoiding it, so why take it away from those of us that enjoy it?

Also I think more people would play if it was more rewarding, which is why I think when the battle-pass comes out, more people will be incentivized to play play.

 

It's also VERY CRITICAL that you fix the issues with RIOT before you launch the battle-pass.

Engine upgrade, RIOT mode fixes/balancing and the battle-pass need to happen AT THE SAME TIME for it to be a success. 

I believe there also needs to be some new weapons or vehicles added to the MISSION DISTRICTS, considering a LOT of the players have already maxxed all their contacts, so if the update only brings RIOT things, people that don't enjoy RIOT won't have any reason to play, even after the engine upgrade.

[Guest]

Thanks for keeping us updated.

I really appreciate your effort guys, don't drop the anchor.

 

There is still a very long road to pass but i trust in you and i will be there if needed.

 

PS Voting for the 2nd option btw.

Edited June 23, 2019 by Guest

[Narcisse 11]

Too Little, Too Late

Take It Down.

[Nickolai 206]

I was banking on the hope that this was just a test for the devs getting a feel for the game.

 

Glad I was right. 

 

As for RIOT....well, I think the community has spoken.

 

Also REALLY interested in how you will replace Joker boxes.

[IROCkiller 210]

I say take RIOT down and rework it. I'm personally in favor of making it a Planetside 2 style gamemode, I gave my thoughts as to how it would work here:

I think APB would benefit from a change like this, but I'm not a dev. I have no clue if the things I'm suggesting is possible.

Edited June 21, 2019 by IROCkiller

[owzzy 181]

The main issue I see with taking RIOT down is that people who have been grinding to reach rank 5 on the RIOT contact and obtain the Yakuza skin would have been well and truly shafted.

[ezmegaz68 168]

I'd keep riot running as there are some people who genuinely enjoy playing it I think and taking it down would be even further dissapointment for those few people

afterall there's no harm in keeping it running, if you don't want to play it then just don't play it

[Leefekyn 203]

3 hours ago, MattScott said:

 

- ~40% of the active player base during the week played RIOT at least once

 

Tons of people were bashing the mode, but 60% of active players didn't even try it. Not to say there weren't some legitimate complaints and issues with the mode, but that's staggering.

 

If players have input on the next move for those two options, I'd say the 2nd one seems to be pretty solid. I'd definitely like to see a way to remedy the issue with Jericho not getting a chance to play often before adding in new tiers/rewards though.

 

Glad to hear the team has had some practice working with the game's systems, and hope to see them continue to grow with the community.

Edited June 22, 2019 by Leefekyn

[Clandestine 390]

Quote

- ~40% of the active player base during the week played RIOT at least once

So 60% of our active playersbase didn't even try it? oO That's like...mission districts are religious. I'm really surprised by those numbers.

 

I would just leave the Riot on. It might improve in the future and in the game devoid of content it's always to have that one more thing you could do before logging out.

[Darkzero3802 611]

Hey @MattScott might I suggest more tiers to joker tickets and more rewards to the contact? This way lvling the role on the contact is worth abit more, however the rate at which you gain exp with the Riot contact needs to be vastly improved to compensate for the lack of players. this way its possible for most to lvl him. Riot also NEEDS its districts visible in the advanced tab so ppl can see its population so there more likely to join. If these things can be patched in next week more ppl should play riot.