Real Bonuses In Chapter 3

When factions came out i was very excited. I am both a PvE and PvP player enjoying doing missions and GvG/HA. However, doing the first mission on the starter island, even though the scenery was very well designed, I was disapointed about the time limit instead of bonuses.

I have always enjoyed taking time over mission, taking about tactics, and figuring out how to do bonuses, which could sometimes take a few hours to do. But the time limit for me was an absolute joke that ruined PvE for me.

With the time limit, you cannot take your time and do it well, there are no fun bonuses to do, and you get ragequitters who quit if u jst miss out on the masters during the mission.

I hope that Chap 3 and all the other ones have real bonuses to do so we can have more fun in PvE. ATM im just doing PvP due to the time limit.

What do you guys think? Do you agree with me, or do you enjoy having a time limit and no real bonuses?

Rage quitters quit if you miss the masters? At that point, isn't the mission over anyway?

Well, i think that the new system rocks, i always hated bonus in Prophecies...and there is no real "Time Limit*, Master rank is optional...

i mean they time the mission on their watches or watever and if the mission goes over 20 mins or the masters time, they ragequit.

Never happend to me...

Do you think those people wouldnt have raqequit in Prophecies missions when you miss the bonus? I can think of a few missions in which that can easily happen and you try and get the kind of people that ragequit to take it easy and ponder strategy in Prophecies, like thats going to happen.

IMHO it requires a lot more tactical thinking and good teamwork to get Masters in Cantha then getting the bonus in Prophecies in most missions. Basically, even a half-assed team could get the bonus on most Prophecies missions, in Cantha you have to work for it a lot harder, I feel.

every single mission i do has the lowest rating because of 2 simple things.

1. i dont give a s*** about being *perfect* having to get *master*

2. i explore all over for the fun of it.
blank area over there while the clock is running? let it run as im going over there to see what they made as a treat for those who look instead of rushing by without even looking.

Meh, do missions twice, once to explore and grasp the mission, and once to blitz the master. Plenty of people did the bonus after doing the mission in Prophecies, after all.

im going to have to agree with the OP. i like the prophesy bonus system better as well. its true you do see more rage quitters leave after a "semi-wipe" because they dont feel theyre moving fast enough to get masters, and that really isnt fair to the people going through the mission for the first time. ive seen this happen at least a dozen times (between the 4 characters ive taken through factions to the 15k armor points), and usually the first one to leave is a monk, and that REALLY blows the chances for the rest of the party. not insulting all you monks out there - i monk myself quite a bit- but thats just what ive noticed.

also, i like KNOWING ive gotten the bonus and not having to wonder if my team was fast enough. under the prophesy system, i could take henchies, do the mission, bonus, and completely map out a mission in one trip. under this system, it takes at LEAST 2 trips (usually 3- one to do mission, another to do masters, and a 3rd to go back and map out an area) and i dont think thats very efficient. also, the days of going in solely for a bonus, completing it, and leaving are over- you HAVE to redo the entire mission anytime you try for masters and just hope. and hey, life's little emergencies are gonna happen. what if the phone rings? what if someone knocks on the door? what if the dog takes a dump on the carpet? (and yes ive been in a PUG where this happened to someone!) "AFK for a sec" used to be a minor annoyance, but now its a total hope crusher for missions.

dont get me wrong, im not completely against the time limit bonus system. i would suggest that for future chapters a combination of the two systems be used. go back to the prohpesy way for the majority of the missions, but still have a few (maybe up to 25%) of the missions require speed tactics.

In some cases you couldnt even do the bonus reasonably with the mission, like Ice Caves.

PS: If I do a mission specifically to get bonus or Masters I announce it prior to the start or while forming the party, if there are people that need the mission as well I always finish it or we all go back and try again.
That is how it should be done, I feel, rage quitters are just bad team players imho.

I'm going to agree with the OP. I liked the bonus system in Prophecies much better, for all the reasons given. I have had several quitters in Factions. People who have already done the mission and now want 'masters', and will quit if you even take time to pick up loot. Very poor way of doing things. I want to relax, take my time, and enjoy the game.

The bonuses in c1 were not worth the time of getting 1k exp. You could do that in 2 minutes solo. I hated arguing with people during a mission to not do the bonus. Then you had to find a group that didn't want to do the bonus taking longer to find a group.

The bonus system needs to have worthwild rewards. I'm not going to argue with some one for 10 minutes to have them ragequit because we are not doing the bonus usually blowing the entire mission.

Time limit is fine with me. Rather have the mission not take as long rather than taking a few hours after finding a group with a plan and doing the mission over and over.

I just hope Chapter 3 has content to Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 put together :X.

I agree with this. That is precisely why I prefer the Tyria bonus system. Assembling 8 good players to get a Masters time limit mission done right is hard. Most players are not good, so getting 7 other good ones to join on a mission they've already done can often be very time-consuming and a major pain. I'd prefer the easier bonus with less team-assembling aggravation.

I find the time limit very nice for PuGing. No arguing about the bonus or sitting around waiting for an elementalist to recharge. I see other people may not like this flavor, but I find it to be challenging and exciting.

Yes, but one could also easily argue that there should be a difference between 'bonus' and 'Masters' level, after all, in Cantha you have 3 levels, not 2. I have to admit I prefer the Cantha system where it does feel much more like an accomplishment to attain Master level then in Prophecies.

I see nothing wrong with rewarding good team play(ers) over bad ones even if the difference is rather minor in terms of direct reward.

I started out not liking the timed bonus system. I still prefer the Prophecies style bonus missions, myself. But, I don't think the timing requirement is all that hard anyway, now that I've done most missions.

Out of the 12 Missions I've done, Here's how long it's taken me to get masters:

1st Try - 7 out of 12 missions
2nd Try - 2 out of 12 missions
I haven't had a 3rd try at any, yet. (but the 2 others I've gotten 2 swords on, so not too bad on them, either.)

In Prophecies there are 2 kinds of bonuses - Storyline related ones, and one timed one (Thirsty river). In factions, there are 2 kind of bonuses - beat the clock and keep so many alive. I think it'd be pretty cool if they used a mix of bonus types in each upcoming chapter.

Oh, and I agree that when you're shooting for masters that you advertise it. You're more likely to get into a group where people will not stop to take 30 seconds to open that chest (10 second in the case of purple ones :P)

Edit: I finished the storyline through the Kurzick side tonight, and updated this post accordingly.

In some you HAD to do the bonus separately. Sanctum Cay for one. Oops, didn't see Tijgers post which says pretty much the same thing. The time limit IS in keeping with the 'rush, rush, rush' ethos of Factions, though.

The time limit is easy, just spamm for a Masters group, most ppl don't get masters first time anyway, make sure you announce your intent when forming or joining Pug's, that way you can take your time and get all the chests and lot and get to know the way in the mission then comeback for Masters.
Still it would be nice to see a even mix in next chapter between both kind of missions.

I don't know about rage quitters, but I did like the bonus-system of Prophecies better. I guess I just like taking my time and such.

Imagine trying to do Prophecy-style bonuses in Factions in the 13 missions over 5 characters. The time required for most people would be well over the 6-8 month period for the next chapter to be released. I'm also slightly disappointed that bonuses are -only- based on time, but there's just not much else they could do that wouldn't severly prolong a character's progress toward the Protector title.

the prophecies style would give you secondary objectives, which is typically how bonuses in video game missions are handled....

Maybe part 3 would involve both a speed bonus and secondary goal bonus ^^

i donnow......


i agree with OP, i liked GWP Bonus system much better. its like anouther mision, that you dont have to do, but can if you are bored

Not really. I was doing Vizunah Square tonight and both Monks rage quit when it became apparent that we weren't going to make masters. Eveyone else held on though and we did make expert.

Yeah, but now you get people arguing: "are we going to try and get the master's?!" "get more elementalists and rangers! We need to do this fast!!"

I liked the old bonus system better.

I think I like the Factions aspect of the Master's better than the Prophecies bonus. Very few of the bonuses in Prophecies offered much of a challenge, beyond simply something extra to do during the mission. In factions, it is a challenge to do most of the missions under the time, or protect the turtles / tree singers.

I've now completed the storyline 8 times, and gotten 3 Protector of Cantha titles so far. My fourth will be my monk, which I don't see taking very long. First time through, I have just been trying to complete the missions, leaving the Master's for later. This is probably more because I wasn't as interested in the title as I was accumulating amulets before. But as I go back, I clearly advertise that I am looking for a Master's group, even to the point of (Gyala Hatchery) confirming that we will just restart if any of the young turtles die. If the group just wants to do the mission, then I decide BEFORE starting the mission, whether I want to stay or find a different group. This works out just fine for everybody.

I just finished the bonus at THK for my first time tonight. We made it clear from the beginning that we were doing the bonus, and those that just wanted the mission simply left and found another group. If you just make your wishes clear in the outpost, there shouldn't be much of a problem during the mission - everybody is on the same page.

Since ANet implemented titles, it is now common to see "LF Master's Group" or "LF Bonus Group" all over. If you are not prepared to rush in Factions, don't join a "Master's Group". I think most people who are redoing missions for the Master's, clearly state "Master's Group", but people who are just trying to do the mission may not think much of it, and think "Yeah, sure, let's get the Master's", but they aren't prepared for rushing or they want to explore or whatever. If you don't want to rush, don't join a Master's group. Simple.

It's late at night, so I may be seeing things, but did someone say they sometimes take hours to do a mission ? OMG - what mission is that ?

I think I got a little off track, but basically, I like the challenge. I don't find most of the bonuses in Prophecies to be much of a challenge, but the timed ones, I feel a sense of accomplishment. I'm not saying timed missions as a way to get the highest level is the way to go, but I prefer it over the easy extra tasks in Prophecies. Hopefully ANet will have a 3rd method in C3.

i just want some variety. a prophecies style bonus, and the on the next mission a canthan style bonus, and then maybe something entirely different?

i'm a little tired of kill, crush, destroy.

i infact hated bonuses and thought it was a waste of time.. now the time limit bonus feature is out and i couldn't be happier.. the faster you do it the more bonus you get... rewarded for doing it quick... like finishing fast isn't a reward in itself.... what more could i ask for

Maybe third chapter would introduce different difficulty levels to missions. Party leader could choose if ppl want normal, hard, godly... Harder the difficulty, the more harder foes, different world conditions (-4 hp degen, 20% chance to miss target...) maybe couple alternative objectives, new bosses here and there etc..But not necessary any time limits though.

Just good challenges that need strategy & little bit wit. Harder difficulties might be a problem to pug-groups but encourage guilds to play together.

/signed

I think this is a great idea. I'd like to see it.

So far, I completely disagree. The only thing I have to do in Cantha is slam keys and keep running. It is mindless bull. I would agree that it requires tactical thinking, a personal thing, but that is not to be confused with strategy (higher eschalon of action).

Since the implementation of Factions, I find little to no reason to bother playing with those outside of personal friends in cooperative missions. The behavior is now much closer to that of PvP. I have no respect for it. If chapter three is going to be like this I will never again consider buying or recommending GW to anyone else to buy.

Fitz

I agree with th the OP too - I hate the rushing aspect of the time limits as you can't enjoy the missions, and no repeating them 3 times isn't a solution - there's already too much repetative stuff in factions to pad it out and make it seem bigger/last longer than it does.

Almost as annoying as the time limits are the having to keep x amopunt of AS (Artificial Stupidity) NPC/creatures alive.

The bonus system in Factions is stupid, and has created a
major problem in assembling pug's, you have ppl spamming
for forming masters groups and they *** themselves, been on
many teams like this, it is know "trick" now.
Also for certain missions ppl think there is only one "perfect"
team, so this makes it alot harder for certain classes to
get on one.
I was thinking about trying get 3 swords on all missions, but
after going back and trying a few "masters" groups, I feel this
will be total luck. Tried the Vizunah sq. yesterday for "masters"
the local side was one guy and all henchies, that team was
completely dead after second big fight, we still completed the
mission with 8 us and got 2 swords, but maybe I should have
"rage-quitted" because I knew masters was out the window.

I like the factions system better. It takes a good group to get through the mission fast on their first try. In prohecies you could get the bonus no matter how bad of a player you are if you spent a couple hours on it.

I didn't like the masters reward things because it encourages people to charge in instead of taking their time.

However, the nice thing is people redo the missions over while helping guildies and such which means you have more people in earlier missions actually doing the missions.

i would agree with you. It is tooo much like pvp thinking. Infact i would say it is more designed for pvp play.

It should be fun, not competive.

Master's award is same as bonuses, tests your ability in missions

Not really, it just wants to see how fast you can kill stuff.

It tests your finger dexterity thats all,
RUSH RUSH where is the fun in that? Freaking Ratrace

/agreed.

Time limit is just an easy way for developers to replace bonuses for missions, as those would actually require some additional work from them.