Great Race Criticisms and maybe Praises too

keikomyst

Well, let's start with the good first...

You made it so every Flight TP can work. I'm pretty happy about that. You could have made it so only vehicles and R3 Jet Pack/Jet Boots could've done it, but you sidestepped that and that's nice.

The costume pieces look good.

Now, for the bad...

What you've given us is Starfox's training mode or Superman 64. We waited two (has it been longer?) weeks for what boils down to a minute and forty five seconds of 'fly through the rings.' The only replay value in the race is getting all of the costume pieces, and I got 'em all already.

It started out badly bugged as well, but that can't be helped, and you all did go and fix it pretty fast. Pat on the back for that.

The costume pieces weren't given any material textures! The helmet is stuck as Cloth, the Gauntlets are stuck as metal, and admittedly I didn't bother checking the boots but I bet they're stuck as Metal too. This is worse than Gravitar's boots only having a metal texture!

I would again like to reiterate that this is one minute and forty-five seconds of unique content, provided you don't count the wait time and repeats on alts or failed attempts.

People without Flight powers or vehicles are SoL. I tried using an UNTIL Hoverdisk, it's somehow not affected by the boosts, because I simply can't reach the finish line in time despite performing absolutely perfectly on the disk.

All in all, this race isn't very 'Great.' It's pretty mediocre as far as races go.

drgmstr

The race is a nice change even if it isn't original. So far I only have received the helmet and the boots due to my limited game time, and I am actually pleased that the helmet can be worn on Bestial Heads. Even if there is a lot of clipping, I am just happy that we received more customization with Bestial Heads. Now I feel like making a tribal outfit with my many animal like characters. :biggrin:

sparhawk

The little floating guide orbs are a horrible color choice also, they don't stand out very well against the sky background color. They should of used a color that stands out and is easier to see.

bioshrike

sparhawk wrote: »

The little floating guide orbs are a horrible color choice also, they don't stand out very well against the sky background color. They should of used a color that stands out and is easier to see.

They should have been larger and pulsing red... there's a reason the lights on top of aerials are red!

gerberatetra

This thing is STILL broken

I made it through all the rings in time and it failed me before the timer was up!

theravenforce

It was an interesting addition even if it is temporary, brings out the racer in people.

I think it wasnt explained well in terms of what people had to do to compete well and not fail.

I know it was bugged and to some extent is still a bit buggy, but I found myself (others no doubt) explaining that each ring grants a boost, the boost acts as a timer as well as a speed boost, if you do not get to the next ring before the speed ring boost runs out you will fail. If you do reach it, a sound will play and the boost will be refreshed.

I know that in some instances this is not working correctly, but kudos to the Devs for comming online and answering questions and fixing it so promptly, it was a nice suprise

So far I actually found Vehicles the most annoying to control, but the fastest none the less.

Ninja Leaf Teleport was by far my worst experience with regards travel power usage, the continued bug of it decending and refusing to go up properly, because you were meant to be affected by slow fall, caused me to fail before I even got to the first ring.

Mystic Flight was odd, sometimes I was able to blaze past vehicles and jet boot users, with CharmCaster I came first and second but with my Winter Fairy I was last and it sometimes didnt refresh my boosts..

Power Flight was a fun one to use, I came either second or third with it, I really enjoyed it

Cape Glide..wow..thats insane, on par with Vehicles some times and it takes tight corners very well if you time it correctly.

Jet Boots similar to Cape Glide, though I was suprised at how my friend who was also a jet boot user (same rank 3 boots as I) who was able to severely outpace me, I'd have thought we'd be at the same speed..

This might just be my experience, but I noted that shorter or smaller character tend to go perhaps a bit slower? I noted this with Jet Boots and Mystic Flight.

Overall I enjoy the race, it's good with music, that gets you all revved up

I am saddened that it did totally cut out ground based players, UNTIL Hoverdisc didnt seem to be affected by the boost and swinging was a nightmare to control and use (for me anyway).

I know it was said a ground race was to be done but not yet, so I guess its a matter of waiting for it along with ground vehicles.

alexofspades

It was quite a refreshing change from the typical updates we get (kill x mobs, kill boss, etc), focusing in a part that so far was completely unexplored from the game. I found the race to be very fun, and i sincerely hope it stays permanently.

We should also get more race tracks (or have them rotate between weeks) - perhaps one with obstacles that damage you (where tanky vehicles would be more efficient), one with obstacles that stop you and several curves (so that players with jetboots, having more maneuverability over vehicles, would reign) and perhaps a straight line (this could be at the Area 51 airfield) where sheer speed would be necessary.

Honestly, in a game where speed is so important (compared to other mmo's), it baffles me how long it took for us to get a race. I love it, eventhough its short content, and i honestly cant wait to see the rest of the Malvan Event!

Cryptic, +1 Respect

ramthananax

I've noticed several times that the guide dots just don't render at all- which makes the race damn near impossible to complete, as several of the rings aren't visible from the previous ring. As short and temporary as it is, this is just another half-polished CO event.

nextnametaken

The MMO I played just before this one showed up on Steam had a "Fly your vehicles in a racing arena" thing that the devs wasted months crafting. Nobody ever raced, nobody ever plays that game. Its been around ten years.
Five months back that dev posted all over the net to get people to throw money at their kickstarter and they barely got a wave of dismissal.

Why is Cryptic copying other people's failures and not even the cool parts like aileron rolls.
Aileron rolls rule!

crypticbuxom

Restricting them to the air is the only real fail of this alert. Its always the most obvious part of a feature or content that always gets overlooked. Everything else is spot on...except for the part where we had to test this on live.

bioshrike

I've been able to complete the blue (original) track without fail, but the red (newer) track is just a moss - no guide dots, and the rings aren't in sight of the previous once. I did notice that the red track rings have roman numerals on them, (I'm assuming so you know which one you;re supposed to go through next), but the layout is just horrible. Having to find the track shouldn't be part of racing it...

thearkady

Okay...

THE GOOD
Finally a piece of content where having a vehicle actually adds to the fun, because even jet Boots 3 just don't drift around corners like our flying bricks. (Soembody showed me a very interesting explosive side effect of that, too. Cool stuff!)

THE BAD
The red course shouldn't exist as a race course. It's a ****in' scavenger hunt and I'm not even going to bother trying to find the remaining gates unless Cryptic makes it a scavenger hunt mission (i.e. just pass all gates, no time limit).

THE UGLY
Yes, I've heared the race got "fixed". The amount of random fails I had over the last couple of days conclusively proves otherwise, and yesterday, I actually had the "race completed" but still no reward issue reappear. You're giving us a sorry excuse for new content and if that doesn't work.

locsmith12

I played DCUO for a bit and they had these race rings as well. They did it a bit better as they had a different set of rings depending on what your travel power was (they only had three, Flight, Acrobatics and Super Speed). As you got to higher level zones the races got harder. You could start a race just by crossing the starting line. They were really fun as a little distraction and were not presented as ?New Content?.

sarkastian

Criticism only, no "praise" for something this devoid of instructions. DCUO had the kindness of specified starting areas and a floating compass to show you where the next ring was. CO... well, as usual, no thought at all was put into this.

I see the zone-wide announcement that "the race" is about to start, and I should get to the starting area. Which is where, exactly? I don't know. I fly to the nearest ring. Is that the starting area? I don't know. All the rings look alike. The race starts, and I fly through this ring. Where do I go next? I don't know. I fly to the next ring I see and go through it. Am I flying in the right direction? Am I even in the effing race? I DON'T KNOW. People are posting about "guide orbs" and "music", but there is none of that. There is NO FEEDBACK AT ALL. Do these guides only exist on the highest video and audio settings? I DON'T KNOW. After the second ring, I can't see any other rings, although I had seen many before, but none are visible from where I am now. Now I see here that there are actually TWO courses. Well, WHICH ONE is the race that was just announced? And where is it? And where does it start?

Seriously, THIS is what the limited dev team is wasting its time on? What about the unresolved bugs from closed beta? The promised Telepathy revamp? The broken Nemesis system? The unresolved bugs from On Alert? No, unfortunately, they want to give us vehicles (for superheroes who can already fly, super jump, super speed or teleport on their own) and directionless "races" that can't be won without extensive knowledge that the devs aren't making public.

Introducing (more) tedium and frustration into a game like this doesn't win customers. It LOSES them.

flamingbunnyman

sarkastian wrote: »

I see the zone-wide announcement that "the race" is about to start, and I should get to the starting area. Which is where, exactly? I don't know.

It isn't a zone-wide announcement. It only happens if you're within a certain distance of the starting ring.

I fly to the nearest ring. Is that the starting area? I don't know. All the rings look alike.

Two rings - the start and the finish - look distinctly different. First off, they're thicker, and mostly opaque, instead of translucent blue or red. The start ring has a helicopter and Sapphire flying next to it. If you fly straight up from the center of Ren Cen, it's easy to find, because Sapphire will be marked on your map as a repeatable contact (green exclamation point). The finish ring looks the same as the start, but instead of the helicopter and Sapphire, there's a reward platform after it. The start ring has a force field in it, except for the brief window when you can join the race.

The race starts, and I fly through this ring. Where do I go next? I don't know. I fly to the next ring I see and go through it. Am I flying in the right direction? Am I even in the effing race? I DON'T KNOW.

When you pass through the right ring, there's a WHOOSH sound, a light screen shake, and you get a short duration buff that creates a streamer effect following you. If this doesn't happen when you pass through the first ring, you aren't in the race.

People are posting about "guide orbs" and "music", but there is none of that. There is NO FEEDBACK AT ALL. Do these guides only exist on the highest video and audio settings? I DON'T KNOW. After the second ring, I can't see any other rings, although I had seen many before, but none are visible from where I am now. Now I see here that there are actually TWO courses. Well, WHICH ONE is the race that was just announced? And where is it? And where does it start?

There is only one course at a time. Both start and end in the same place. They are differentiated by the color of their rings; blue for easy, red for hard. Don't do the hard one until you get the hang of the easy one. Different instances of Ren Cen are on different timers, so you might be able to change the active race by switching zones.
I don't know about any music associated with the event - never noticed it myself - but the guide orbs are only on the blue race. They are small glowing white dots that lead from one ring to the next. In addition, each ring is tilted left or right to indicate the general direction of the next ring. Both of these cues are visible at all graphic setting levels.
If the buff I mentioned above wears off before you get to the next ring, you'll fail.
Even on the easy race, there's a couple sharp corners that are easy to screw up on. You'll probably need a couple runs to really get the hang of it. I didn't complete it until my fourth or fifth try.

Seriously, THIS is what the limited dev team is wasting its time on? What about the unresolved bugs from closed beta? The promised Telepathy revamp? The broken Nemesis system? The unresolved bugs from On Alert? No, unfortunately, they want to give us vehicles (for superheroes who can already fly, super jump, super speed or teleport on their own) and directionless "races" that can't be won without extensive knowledge that the devs aren't making public.

Introducing (more) tedium and frustration into a game like this doesn't win customers. It LOSES them.

Oh, you don't actually want answers to your questions that were already answered in the game, had you read the info offered by the NPCs. Sorry for interrupting your rant. I hope you won't mind if I leave my answers here for anyone a little less ragey who wants to know.