Spiral Knights - Pacing the mission system

Pacing the mission system

5 replies [Last post]

Wed, 05/04/2016 - 14:41

Fangel

So I pretty much say this all over the place all the time so I figure I may as well make an actual suggestions post on it.

The biggest issue that Spiral Knights has is pacing. We can argue the forge later but right now I want to focus on the mission system. Early game we are pushed through missions too fast, only to smash into a hall of heroes and completely destroy the illusion of progress. Late game missions move on so slowly, especially since the hall of heroes become more and more of a grind.

Most players who play the game don't even consider playing the arcade because missions turn the game from open exploration into a linear story, and also provide the best reliable farming sources.

Thus, here are a few recommended fixes to make progression slower without limiting playtime:

a player completes a certain amount of levels
a player spends a certain amount of time in game
a certain amount of time has passed since the last mission set was completed

With one of the fixes above players will seek out other things to do while they wait. They might go into the arcade to farm some levels to unlock the next mission set. Maybe they'll idle in haven and make some friends. Perhaps they'll log off and then come back the next day to find a mail from the spiral order telling them they've been assigned new missions!

In a game about exploration, we are given very little reason to explore. I feel this sort of fix would aide in that.

Wed, 05/04/2016 - 14:54

Fehzor

When I wrote this suggestion I had the idea of making missions unlock in a few different ways myself based on what type of mission they were, since the basic mission structure is as follows-

Intro to X flavors (like intro to undead) = Find a themed level in the arcade, get a small tutorial of talk plus unlock that intro mission.

Flavor missions (like Arkus) = Find something special in the arcade, a very common scenario room.

pre-boss missions = Beat all flavor + intro missions, or just find the boss.

Boss missions =Find the boss in the arcade, or beat the pre-boss missions.

Of course Fnagle's ideas are fine too. Completing a certain amount of levels, playing a certain amount of time, or some combination of things like that would be great to just get players playing for a while. The important thing is that people play to explore, and not just to get through the game.

If anyone is interested, do read the discussions that my topic generated. They were quite excellent.

Sat, 05/07/2016 - 10:39

Ultimastrike

I think that the pacing of

I think that the pacing of the Missions needs to be alleviated in some way, not added to the grind. If you're waiting on time, or need to meet a certain requirement(outside of gear, that is), then it's just another grind. Sure, I agree with the whole time suggestion in terms of getting players to play Arcade more, but that's not the issue.

One of the ways I think that missions should have steady progression is probably through a quest line leading up to that mission. Such as "Run Arcade X times", or "Reach Moorcroft Manor" and the like. It'd keep players playing because that means you get to explore the Clockworks AND progress at the same time. Some can even gate progression like "Make a piece of 3* Equipment" or the like just so you'll be somewhat prepared.

As for the Hall of Heroes...not sure what can be done about that. That thing's always been a freaking wall to any player once they hit it. If anything, I'd honestly do away with Hall of Heroes missions since it gates progress heavily(until you find the CR to get orbs, which nowadays is an insane grind that will probably burn people out before it's done). Make the Hall of Heroes instead be an instance that you can enter from the Barracks and use it as a way to supply yourself with recipes that you need to make it down in the Clockworks. It'd still have the same function, but to have that sense of quest gating, you'd have to delve to a certain Depth of the Clockworks where the boss's area is(Depth 14-17 for JK, Depth 24-28 for Vanaduke, etc.) so that you can get a feeling for the area and get your bearings.

Also, I'd probably do away with the Knight Gates they have in the Arcade. If you go in unprepared and die once+Auto Revive then you either need better gear or you need to work on your playstyle.

Mon, 05/09/2016 - 14:11

Fehzor

Things really only became a grind when they added missions.

Before that your motivation was to play the game, rather than to progress which was quite beautiful. I mean sure you wanted to craft that next item and you'd do a few hundred jelly palaces but your end goal was more Spiral Knights playing and that's the kind of attitude this sort of thing aims to generate. You had 10 levels a day and you wanted to make the most of it and eventually you did get stuck farming FSC and that was a grind, but you were just making gear back then to do more FSC anyway so like what's the point?

Now your goal is to get past the hall of heroes, and that's painful because you're going on runs not because you want to but because there's something marvelous hidden behind that hall of heroes, you know? That's the idea behind this anyway. Introduce the players to the arcade and have the missions on the side as a sort of do it when it shows up type of thing, with exploration as the main event.

Tue, 05/10/2016 - 00:41

Fangel

Yeah

Before missions we had the Spiral Wardens would wouldn't let you go through to the next tier without appropriate gear anyways.

What this suggestion aims for is to lessen the grind by making you play the game, but it does so artificially. As it stands right now, you're grinding royal jelly palace for 4* orbs to move past that hall of heroes. Under this new system, you'd get a mission, do it, then run the arcade for a little while. By the time you reach the 4* hall of heroes, you have the funds necessary to get passed it, or you have the funds to almost do so at least.

This turns the game from "oh i need to grind for crowns" to "i have some time to kill before my next mission, i can run the arcade in the meantime". This severely cuts down that dreadful feeling of grinding while not actually changing that much about us playing the game.
It only feels like a grind because you see the other side. As long as the next mission is invisible to the player, then they won't know it's even there, and thus won't feel pressured to complete it. They can then simply "enjoy the game" until their next mission is assigned.

Tue, 05/10/2016 - 01:16

Sir-Pandabear

Yeah, but the wardens stopped you for 2* and 4* equipment. It never forced you to go 5*, which is why you could get away using only stuff like oRSS, Heavy Deconstructor and Vitasuit Deluxe.

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Pacing the mission system