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Marathon Alpha Impressions

Just gonna wait for the game to properly release at this point, so many conflicting opinions about the game's accessibility and longevity
 
Just gonna wait for the game to properly release at this point, so many conflicting opinions about the game's accessibility and longevity
Just play the Beta, you can bet your ass they will be trying to put their best foot forward with it, you'll know then if its something you'll like.

That's my plan anyways.
 
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This is a pretty poor response from a lead dev about solo viability. I think he is fighting so he may have not used all his brain to answer the question.



This might be the crack shot from Bungie who's considered the best player in the studio. I seriously hope he's not thinking "Well I've 1 v 3'd" a bunch of times so it's not an issue.
 
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This is a pretty poor response from a lead dev about solo viability. I think he is fighting so he may have not used all his brain to answer the question.



This might be the crack shot from Bungie who's considered the best player in the studio. I seriously hope he's not thinking "Well I've 1 v 3'd" a bunch of times so it's not an issue.


Bungie is clueless... if this is the first this guy is hearing this, it's evidence that they're not paying attention to real feedback or looking at what people are saying about the game...

They're delusional.
 
Bungie is clueless... if this is the first this guy is hearing this, it's evidence that they're not paying attention to real feedback or looking at what people are saying about the game...

They're delusional.
Its not the first they are hearing it, but for what ever reason they are not interested. Although worth noting this particular Dev is a map designer and not on systems, but yeah tone deaf here.
 
Its not the first they are hearing it, but for what ever reason they are not interested. Although worth noting this particular Dev is a map designer and not on systems, but yeah tone deaf here.

They're convinced that their shit don't stink but they're going to be in for a rude awakening.

And they'll be the first ones crying about layoffs...
 
They're convinced that their shit don't stink but they're going to be in for a rude awakening.

And they'll be the first ones crying about layoffs...
Beta is the real test for this game. If/when doesn't go down well the I would expect a delay to fit in modes that we all already know are essential, then again probably not they launch anyway and fix it later as usual.

As you know I do think this could be somewhat successful but it does need some big changes to get there IMO.

I did this journey with Destiny, I'm not 100% convinced I'm doing it again if they are not going to listen at this stage.
 
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I played the Alpha and I hated it. After two matches I uninstalled. It's absolutely boring and confusing. Concord was fun at least.

You must be from half of the group that never came back.

JKgvlsh.jpeg
 
I hate when devs think they know what gamers want more than what gamers actually ask for
I know right?

Maybe Solo is viable if you are geared correctly, purple shields, gold mods but who would be taking their best gear in solo when the odds are that stacked against you?
 
They're convinced that their shit don't stink but they're going to be in for a rude awakening.

And they'll be the first ones crying about layoffs...
The answer was poor but I seriously doubt this is their attitude.

The response to the alpha has been more negative than anyone would like and they appear to be spending a lot of effort getting critical feedback from players. Everyone at the studio has seen Bungie go from 1,500 employees to around 800. Firewalk closing after Concords failure...

Everyone working on Marathon has to be worried about long term employment if this ship sinks.
 
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Its not the first they are hearing it, but for what ever reason they are not interested. Although worth noting this particular Dev is a map designer and not on systems, but yeah tone deaf here.
It has been Bungie's Modus Operandi for the past decade. They only "listen" the players when the water is neck deep, then when the dust settles down they go back to their usual selves.
 
It has been Bungie's Modus Operandi for the past decade. They only "listen" the players when the water is neck deep, then when the dust settles down they go back to their usual selves.
And there are too many games coming out later this year and early next year to keep playing this in modes many don't want to play

Plus I don't know it can survive long enough to wait on these modes.
 
The answer was poor but I seriously doubt this is their attitude.

The response to the alpha has been more negative than anyone would like and they appear to be spending a lot of effort getting critical feedback from players. Everyone at the studio has seen Bungie go from 1,500 employees to around 800. Firewalk closing after Concords failure...

Everyone working on Marathon has to be worried about long term employment if this ship sinks.

You think the answer was bad but doubt that is their attitude?

That's because you don't like to deal with reality.

The reality is that Bungie is clueless here and they've dug their own grave and are doubling down now. There's no fixing that attitude. If they have this attitude after the previous layoffs and after concord, they're never going to learn their lesson.

Wildly incompetent here...
 
You think the answer was bad but doubt that is their attitude?

That's because you don't like to deal with reality.

The reality is that Bungie is clueless here and they've dug their own grave and are doubling down now. There's no fixing that attitude. If they have this attitude after the previous layoffs and after concord, they're never going to learn their lesson.

Wildly incompetent here...
I think these developers are told / trained to talk like politicians. There's probably a relatively small number of people who can influence TTK and 1 v 3 viability on the Marathon team.

So as clarky clarky said, this is a map guy who's likely defending the spot his PvP lead / friend drove the game to.

You really have to put yourself in the position of other people to see the bigger picture.
 
I think these developers are told / trained to talk like politicians. There's probably a relatively small number of people who can influence TTK and 1 v 3 viability on the Marathon team.

So as clarky clarky said, this is a map guy who's likely defending the spot his PvP lead / friend drove the game to.

You really have to put yourself in the position of other people to see the bigger picture.

LOL @ thinking these devs are doing real PR training. They aren't.

What do you do for a living?
 
It has been Bungie's Modus Operandi for the past decade. They only "listen" the players when the water is neck deep, then when the dust settles down they go back to their usual selves.
This is unfortunately the truth, and why I think Marathon will fail if they don't get it right at launch. People will not extend the same courtesy to Marathon like they did for Destiny.
 
I posted the interview with the Assistent Game Director twice already where he explained why there is no solo Q atm as they are focussing on getting the teamplay mechanics working first before adding other stuff...

But who wants to listen when they can just play deaf?

Maybe 3 times' the charm?

At 03:10
 
I posted the interview with the Assistent Game Director twice already where he explained why there is no solo Q atm as they are focussing on getting the teamplay mechanics working first before adding other stuff...

But who wants to listen when they can just play deaf?

Maybe 3 times' the charm?

At 03:10

Everybody seems to be saying that it is a mistake and they need to get solos and duos working also.
 
Probably a bit of the perception of sunk cost. Destiny 1&2 were perceived as great at launch so people hung around when it floundered and then recovered (multiple times). If Marathon cannot launch with good word of mouth people will avoid it.
 
Probably a bit of the perception of sunk cost. Destiny 1&2 were perceived as great at launch so people hung around when it floundered and then recovered (multiple times). If Marathon cannot launch with good word of mouth people will avoid it.
Pull the other one, D1 has a 6.1 user score on metacritic an was only saved by VOG. The less said about D2's launch state the better. That game nearly killed to studio.
 
I posted the interview with the Assistent Game Director twice already where he explained why there is no solo Q atm as they are focussing on getting the teamplay mechanics working first before adding other stuff...

But who wants to listen when they can just play deaf?

Maybe 3 times' the charm?

At 03:10

It's not about solo queue. It's about the severe punishment, and lack of fun counter plays, for getting picked.

In Tarkov, you can 1 v 3 teams (though it's hard) if you're lucky/skilled enough because you can drop enemies so quickly.

Marathon makes it so you're relatively f**ked if you're down a teammate or two. The game gives both the advantaged team and the disadvantaged team a lack of interesting options.
 
Yeah, agreed.

But he explains clearly what their aim is rn and it sounds very logical.
Yeah, its logical to develop that way but not logical to launch with only that mode. It will be a big turn off for many. I'll be fine but many won't.

I can't take that long to balance, and if you fuck it up then there will only be a short time until a wipe. Just stick them in as beta playlist or something.
 
D1 launch was horrible. The fucking story was such trash (basically non existent) dinklebot was horribly bland and generic. Their focus on being a looter shooter, with not that much interesting loot. It was no Borderlands in that regard.

Then you have the absolute bare amount of places to visit. One place was even just for one cutscene 😂😂😂. You think oh theres a planet I can go to, but nah, its just a cutscene.

And the cutscenes were boring.

Its crazy people even stuck around. Yes the pvp was pretty damn good, as can be expected from Bungie.

When I got D2 I played like the intro mission or something, and a bit on the first planet but it wasnt that much more interesting.

Then I heard about them "vaulting" (shelving) story content to push their new expansions. Lol.

Never went back
 
D1 launch was horrible. The fucking story was such trash (basically non existent) dinklebot was horribly bland and generic. Their focus on being a looter shooter, with not that much interesting loot. It was no Borderlands in that regard.

Then you have the absolute bare amount of places to visit. One place was even just for one cutscene 😂😂😂. You think oh theres a planet I can go to, but nah, its just a cutscene.

And the cutscenes were boring.

Its crazy people even stuck around. Yes the pvp was pretty damn good, as can be expected from Bungie.

When I got D2 I played like the intro mission or something, and a bit on the first planet but it wasnt that much more interesting.

Then I heard about them "vaulting" (shelving) story content to push their new expansions. Lol.

Never went back
Vaulting came way way after launch in D2. Removing random rolls on weapons and most of the grind were the main issues, wasn't until Warmind that they started to right the ship.

Vaulting never really bother me as it was content that nobody ever played and the game was being super unstable and very very large. I can understand people being pissed though.
 
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Yeah, its logical to develop that way but not logical to launch with only that mode. It will be a big turn off for many. I'll be fine but many won't.
He didn't say anything about launching without solo Q.
He even acknowledged that they consistently hear requests for solo Q.
I can't take that long to balance, and if you fuck it up then there will only be a short time until a wipe. Just stick them in as beta playlist or something.
And if like you say it can't take that long to balance, which I also agree with, it's okay if their focus at this point is teamplay.

It's not about solo queue. It's about the severe punishment, and lack of fun counter plays, for getting picked.

In Tarkov, you can 1 v 3 teams (though it's hard) if you're lucky/skilled enough because you can drop enemies so quickly.

Marathon makes it so you're relatively f**ked if you're down a teammate or two. The game gives both the advantaged team and the disadvantaged team a lack of interesting options.
Can't really comment as I haven't played either yet, but I think it's a bit early to scream murder at this moment.

Let first wait and see how they will address all the feedback from the closed alpha and what changes they've made when they release the beta.
 
Yeah, its logical to develop that way but not logical to launch with only that mode. It will be a big turn off for many. I'll be fine but many won't.

I can't take that long to balance, and if you fuck it up then there will only be a short time until a wipe. Just stick them in as beta playlist or something.
When they have had play testers telling them for quite awhile now they need a solo queue and they instead want to focus on team play it serves them right for whats coming

These companies have to pivot fast

People do indeed forget Fortnite started as a PVE team based zombie game, I actually bought it before the BR mode came about but they saw the appetite for BR and pivoted fast
 
He didn't say anything about launching without solo Q.
He even acknowledged that they consistently hear requests for solo Q.

And if like you say it can't take that long to balance, which I also agree with, it's okay if their focus at this point is teamplay.


Can't really comment as I haven't played either yet, but I think it's a bit early to scream murder at this moment.

Let first wait and see how they will address all the feedback from the closed alpha and what changes they've made when they release the beta.
I watched or read (cant remember which) an interview the other day and they said it wont be in for launch.
 
People do indeed forget Fortnite started as a PVE team based zombie game, I actually bought it before the BR mode came about but they saw the appetite for BR and pivoted fast
Same.

But BR made Fortnite explode, almost nobody cared about Save the World.

Fwiw, I played StW and moved on when they released BR.
 
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I watched some of the streams and omfg, I can hardly see anything on the screen because of all the visual vomit. I see people shooting at stuff and I see the hitmarkers, but it's impossible to see what they're shooting at. Disgusting.
 
It's weird how there are basically defenders saying it's not like Tarkov/Hunt, don't ask for a various number of changes. Yet some of those same people are clamouring for solo play. If you don't want a team based extraction game, then don't play it. Just because there are some strong bungie loyalists doesn't mean you can't walk away from the game.

The game is built around 3 player teams and the reason for that is tied to the little green man when taking squads out, the information is meant to be available to inform decision making.

Like that youtube video said, playing solo is playing like a rat and trying to gain advantages over squads by lowering the risk. Solo is probably more viable now as people are figuring out the game - once the mechanics and secrets are out on how to solve the toxic rooms etc people are going to be bouncing all over the map. It's will also unbalance the entire economy loading in to a game with 3 teams of 3 and 9 solo's.

I mean what's the endgame, Bungie just throw 18 individuals onto one map?

I'm honestly shocked at the amount of crying over it. Matchmaking exists, and friend parties exist. If you don't like matchmaking and don't have friends, maybe a tight group dependent based extraction shooter isn't the genre you should be playing.
 
You must be from half of the group that never came back.

JKgvlsh.jpeg
Sure people have work and all, but that excuse doesn't always ring true. There have been plenty of tests where people got in as much as they can and the day it's taken away they talk about how they can't wait to play it again. This just.... doesn't look like that by looking at the graphs at all.
 
Can't really comment as I haven't played either yet, but I think it's a bit early to scream murder at this moment.
I'm not screaming murder, but I do think this is a valid concern right now. 1 v 3 scenarios are going to happen a lot in this game and they have to be fun.
Let first wait and see how they will address all the feedback from the closed alpha and what changes they've made when they release the beta.
Agreed. I generally think this game has been in development for 2 years, so a lot can be done in 5 months (plus post launch).
 
It's weird how there are basically defenders saying it's not like Tarkov/Hunt, don't ask for a various number of changes. Yet some of those same people are clamouring for solo play. If you don't want a team based extraction game, then don't play it. Just because there are some strong bungie loyalists doesn't mean you can't walk away from the game.

The game is built around 3 player teams and the reason for that is tied to the little green man when taking squads out, the information is meant to be available to inform decision making.

Like that youtube video said, playing solo is playing like a rat and trying to gain advantages over squads by lowering the risk. Solo is probably more viable now as people are figuring out the game - once the mechanics and secrets are out on how to solve the toxic rooms etc people are going to be bouncing all over the map. It's will also unbalance the entire economy loading in to a game with 3 teams of 3 and 9 solo's.

I mean what's the endgame, Bungie just throw 18 individuals onto one map?

I'm honestly shocked at the amount of crying over it. Matchmaking exists, and friend parties exist. If you don't like matchmaking and don't have friends, maybe a tight group dependent based extraction shooter isn't the genre you should be playing.
Building and balancing a game around 3 player premade teams severely limits your audience.

I'll be playing either way but a hell of a lot of people won't because of it.
 
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The game looks unfinished precisely because of its art style, every asset and room seems like its a placeholder, reminiscent of Valve's map creator textures.

Since they "reboot" the game 2 years ago, I would wager they brought in Alberto Mielgo to try and save the game artistically, something that could be done quickly and then have a nice trailer to sell it as art style.

It also looks like some of the assets are literally the same from the Marathon shortfilm, Glitch looks exacly like the character from The Witness, even the art style/camera shots/effects are the same.


 
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The game looks unfinished precisely because of its art style, every asset and room seems like its a placeholder, reminiscent of Valve's map creator textures.

Since they "reboot" the game 2 years ago, I would wager they brought in Alberto Mielgo to try and save the game artistically, something that could be done quickly and then have a nice trailer to sell it as art style.

It also looks some of the assets are literally the same from the Marathon shortfilm, Glitch looks exacly like the character from The Witness, even the art style/camera shots/effects are the same.



Game looks unfinished because it is.
 
The game looks unfinished precisely because of its art style, every asset and room seems like its a placeholder, reminiscent of Valve's map creator textures.

Since they "reboot" the game 2 years ago, I would wager they brought in Alberto Mielgo to try and save the game artistically, something that could be done quickly and then have a nice trailer to sell it as art style.

It also looks like some of the assets are literally the same from the Marathon shortfilm, Glitch looks exacly like the character from The Witness, even the art style/camera shots/effects are the same.



I don't mind a closed alpha looking unfinished, its just that
 
It sure is, but thats what I mean, they brought someone in to try and save an unfinished mess and call it artstyle.

Its releasing in 5 months, "alpha" is just a courtesy at this point.
As someone who has been in many closed alphas this build is likely months old already its just super stabile
 
Because 300 dev's will be sitting on their plums for the next 5 months?

This "Alpha" branch is likely a few months old at this point.
I guess we'll see, but I cant remember the last time 5 months fixed so many issues, and looking at the interview with devs, they seem clueless.
 
I guess we'll see, but I cant remember the last time 5 months fixed so many issues, and looking at the interview with devs, they seem clueless.
Like I said this branch is likely a few months old. I don't think the game has issues that can't be solved in 6-8 months, we'll see I guess.
 
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