#ob64

[synchrobeetle]

checked out the ob64 tag here but still not a lot there, sadly. i'll at least add to it a bit. some of my favorite one-offs there

[bluebudgie]

did I fucking stutter when i said motbq. OB64 isnt even set in xytegenia you fake fans smh

[stormsbourne]

unicorn overlord better be good because I didn't really know I was itching for ogre battle/64 inspired tactics but seeing it in motion has brought the wild ob64 obsessed teenager in me back to the forefront

[paladorky]

This is historical

[kilolkat]

Things I got from Paladins Lore (OB64)

1. Evie now is even more interesting.

2. Skye was once a noble? That was unexpected.

3. IMO, Skye is a psycho for addicting to killing.

4. Viktor is actually a likable guy. (Go read the lore.)

5. Factions and units has revealed in the lore:

    - The Magistrate, the bad guy? They fight to gain the reign of the Crosswind hold (or somewhere I dunno. I don’t remember the lore mentioned that.) Their leader name is Khan. The known members are Viktor(The former commander of the Sentinels, now is lower rank), Strix(Once was a Sentinel, still work with The Magistrate if remember correctly.), Vivian, Ash(The war machine), Fernando and Lian(responded to their call/recruit ) , and Torvald(a researcher) maybe more that I can’t recall :/ Barik and Tyra once had worked for them.

    - The Resistance, the good guy? They oppose the Magistrate for the freedom of using magic. Their known members are most of the champions in the game.

    - The Outer Tribunal, basically Judge Dredd polices, known members are Lex and (former) Androxus, known to be  merciless, oathbound judges, and dedicated.

    - The unaligned, mostly bounty hunters and rouges such as Kinessa, Makoa, Maeve and Drogoz.

    - The Guild of thousand hands, founded and led by Zhin, kinda mafia godfather. Sha Lin used to be with them.

6. Lots of locations has revealed too such as Deepwerk, the place where engineers and clever people are at. Torvald and Barik were there.

7. Talus is very, very, very, really, a good boy.

8. Talus is basically a shonen anime protagonist.

9. Androxus and Lex were bros. (I suspected that long time ago.)

10. Androxus became a badass and left Lex.

11. Lex wants to hunt down Androxus.

12. That was actually tragic.

13. I ship that.

14. I don’t know how should I  feel about Buck’s and Ying’s lore. They’re confusing.

15. Nando was a squire.

16. Nando wasn’t a D after all.

17. Grohk’s lore makes him looks a lot more badass. (He never was btw)

18. Maeve is a half-tigron. That’s why she have feline features.

19. Her long coat was stolen form Magistrate’s fortress keep. It was a magic one too!

20. Ska’drin is a race. Talus is one of them. They lived on an island according to Makoa’s lore.

21. Makoa is the protector of Ska’drin.

22. Grover is a tree.

23. Inara is a Stagalla. She was created, not born.

24. Inara is a slow-headed mom. She’s cute.

25. Sha Lin is an another shonen-anime protagonist character.

26. Zhin is a mafia godfather.

27. Zhin is quite a menace.

28. Although, I got a Batman-vibe from his backstory.

29. Terminus is a zombie.

30. No mentioned about his old identity.

31. There was a lot more stone people (Stagalla).

32. Goblin seems to be problematic to all races.

33. Ruckus is one of them.

34. He accidentally built Bolt.

35. Bolt was a normal mining suit until Ruckus put a mind-stone into it.

36. The stone contains the soul of the fallen war golem.

37. Mal’Damba seems a lot more menacing.

38. Kinessa is still my waifu.

39. Hi-rez didn’t ruined her character, phew.

40. Drogoz didn’t have wing.

41. Ash is still a badass. But her backstory didn’t give her much of the character.

42. Pip is said to be unpredictable and dangerous. Although his voicelines didn’t say that way.

43. He’s cute lil’ fox.

44. Seris has taken the name of the city she completely destroyed upon first setting foot in the world of the living. (I copied that from the lore :P)

45. Tyra had signed into Magistrate’s army when she was very young.

Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed :)

Merry Xmas, everyone!

[queezleposts]

Hey, this doodled meme gets a little long, so I uploaded it to imgur instead! This is based on a ProZD video.

[big-robot-fan]

Y'all:Omg paladins is dead its gone pay to win omg I'm quitting paladins

Me,Someone whose fear died down, has actually read the patches, has survived shitty updates before, and has had all deal breaking objections taken out: dude chill you get a half dozen chest a day and half the modes are actually balanced. Sure the reduction of customization sucks but I don't mind recreating loadouts instead of using the same 1-2 every game because it's perfect for me. Also I'm hyped for kylo Zhin and frosty the nuclear snowman

[feralknights]

OB64 PTS#6

Unfortunately I didn’t proofread this as much as I probably should have.  But, after reading the notes, chatting with folks, getting opinions from others, and having a bit of a rough night I finally decided to put it all down:  My feelings and opinions about OB64 and the current direction of Paladins: Champions of the Realm.

So if you've read the fourm post that I'd written, you'd know that at the moment I have a lot to say about Paladins OB64, and very little of it is positive.  We're at the 6th iteration of the PTS, with it getting an eleventh-hour push-back another week for more bug issues, card balancing, and now the inclusion of what they're calling a "Classic" mode where the cards will be balanced as they are for Competitive.

Apparently I've garnered something of a reputation with members of the community about my essay-sized feedback; I go on and on with my points, and in almost every post I make sure to highlight and emphasize a few points:  I am not a professional player, I am not a competitive player, and I try to play Devil's Advocate with everything that I suggest on any champion or item adjustment in the game, no matter how insane or unreasonable.

Early on, I expressed sentiments to members of the development team-- those I am fortunate enough to speak with-- that I often times like a shake-up of the system.  Essence being reverted to gold sat all right with me, though if you remember, I was actually a staunch defender of the Essence system.  Yes, it added grind, but it retained a spirit of player agency and decision-making that helped bring me in and keep me in.

Then, the patch notes were released.  I spent an hour reading them again, and then again, and then again, trying to figure this out.  I actually said out loud, "what is their goal here?"  The most vocal components of the community across almost every platform of social media I followed the game on were crying out for a scant few things:  Bugfixes, matchmaking, and balance.  Vivian and Lex were the two most hated champions on the PC circuit; I was regaled with stories constantly about Skye being an auto-ban in competitive from my nephew, an avid console player.

Instead, we were served up this:  Cards Unbound.

We were told that feedback complained about the complexity of a 5-card, 4-point card, 12-point deck system was just "too high" for players.  We were told that this would be "more free than ever."  Then we also got a really cheeky jab at Battlefront 2's decisions on how to monetize content after being a $60 buy-in game.  Having spent a fair share of money on the game in the last year, I can definitely say that that particular comment left a bad, lasting impression on me; I was a Tier 3 founder within a few days of starting the game when they initially offered the pack.

The PTS iterations continued to roll on, leading us up to that 5-- PTS5, where I was hoping that they would provide us with a fair, balanced version of the Casual gameplay or just an announcement that they would scrap the system altogether.  Instead, we were left with card changes, balance notes that made absolutely no sense, and a version of the PTS that was so buggy and insane that streamers from pro to casual were remarking on how bad it is.  Youtube content creators practically rioting, and conspiracy theories flying left, right, and center.

I really don't want to buy into the conspiracy theories.  They breed fear.  They breed paranoia.  People start connecting dots that aren't there.  I do realize that we are in an insane world in 2017 with world leaders that lie and change lies as quickly and easily as they draw breath, but I'm a person that tries really hard to give people a second chance and asks for the data.  I want to see the metrics and data; I want to know what's going on.

The things I can see:  The bug fourms are riddled with people reporting bugs, but I have yet to see much more than *very faint* praise for the Cards Unbound system.  At the time of this writing, the main patch notes thread is currently 122 pages, with scattered pages and posts from fans that are exasperated and tired of fighting Hi-Rez with this.  The subreddit is still on fire with people upset with the changes; the OB64 additions video currently sits with an overwhelming 11k dislikes and a petition to have OB64 shelved has broken 7,700 signatures and it's only climbing.

I think this, more than anything, shows that a significant part of the recurring, constant playerbase loves this complexity.  They love the depth that Paladins provides versus it's competitors.  Personally, I loved throwing down at least five bucks every patch cycle or so, charging into the game and seeing what changes were lined up and how things shook out.  I'm a Skye main, so not only am I a rare breed that deals with way too much shit in the playerbase, but I am one that would look at all of these changes with a critical lens, asking myself "how can I get past this one champion's buff?  This new champion and this specific card combination?"

I'm not afraid to admit it:  Skye is what brought me into playing Paladins in the first place, but I stayed because of the world, the depth, and the complexity.  I'm borrowing and paraphrasing the words of Skillup from Youtube as I have in my prior posts, but I believe it bears some repeating:

"It's a statement to the industry that I hope other developers take note of:  Gamers aren't idiots.  We don't need our hands held all of the time.  Complexity and depth should be embraced, not feared."

I've met more people that were intrigued by the 12-point system of Paladins and the open beta experience than driven away from it.  Even friends that were afraid of the complexity acknowledged the depth and what it brought to the table in terms of customization and decision-making-- even if they weren't up for playing it, they still admired it.  They admired the product, and even folks that felt burned about the Tribes treatment felt that the system was something rich and diverse and good and something that the now-flooded "hero shooter" market needed in order to remain competitive and make a name for itself.

I remember reading the Q&A responses from the subreddit, and how they felt that players that should be in competitive are in casual rather than comp, and how they wanted to encourage and incentivize people to take the step to finally playing competitive.  Unfortunately, that's still not me:  I don't care about comp.  As dramatic as it sounds, and as I've said before, I absolutely despise draft picking with every fiber of my being.  I don't care about the competitive experience in Paladins, let alone any other game, be it League of Legends, Overwatch, Team Fortress, Battlerite, or even the few fledging times people tried to make Conclave a thing in Warframe.  I just don't care.  I've even said as much to Hi-Rez staff members in casual conversation; the only thing that would make me even remotely consider broaching the Competitive queue would be if they added a Skye skin as a seasonal reward.  However, considering she is far and away not a meta darling-- and how certain casters react when she was picked, something that still ires me to this day if only because casters should be more professional and objective-- I don't see that happening anytime in the next few years.

I remember feeling almost singled out, and even made a mockup:  'Bring back casual, make an unbound queue.'  Boom, done.  But even then it wouldn't be what I actually wanted, what actually kept me playing Paladins for so long even as someone that does not play or even particularly enjoy competitive, PVP-driven FPS experiences:  That 12-point card system.

PTS6 almost solves that, but it still feels like something of a slap in the face.

I don't mean that to sound dramatic, either, but it feels wholly limited and punishing because I don't want to play Cards Unbound.  I won't get those First Wins of the Day chests.  I won't get access to Onslaught unless I put myself into Unbound mode.  And then rather than simply leaving it branded as "Casual," they made the conscious decision to call this mode "Classic," as though it were the game mode that Paladins fans have known and loved for over a year-- a maneuver that was undoubtedly made for marketing purposes, as folks that come in with the Cards Unbound system would think that this is what the game always was, and what folks would eventually come to accept.  Plus, I won't get the same rewards for playing "Classic Mode."  Rather than treating Casual as a focal-point experience, it's being treated as a tacked-on afterthought that feels like it's meant to appease people on the fence rather than address the problems that people are having with the system.

But this all comes back to the same thing that I keep grappling with?  What is the mission of Cards Unbound?

I wasn't here for the closed beta phase of Paladins.  Point in fact, I came in kind of late compared to many people; I came in roughly around OB35-36, well after the era of Skye reigning supreme and champion balance being somewhat insane.  Even then, through all of the ups and downs of my favorites, I loved playing the game.  I didn't know about the closed beta systems and mechanics, and when I had heard them, it left me stunned that the system started with something that sounded so haphazard and unfocused and managed to sharply refine into something that was so simplistic on the surface, yet so complex as soon as you start digging into it.  I understood why the pros grabbed on with both hands, why teams flocked to it, why HRX2017 was such a big deal.

Paladins actually made me give a shit about esports.

CU feels like a bold, drastic step that should have been considered-- or implemented-- during a closed beta phase or even an alpha phase.  This is something that should have been done over a year ago, or an iteration of the prior level-as-you-play system from a year ago.  This feels like something that should be used in a game that is specifically not Paladins.  But, the company is so driven and committed to it that I don't think they're going to heed the vocal playerbase-- and to be fair, it feels like a vocal majority rather than the vocal minority-- that I doubt they're going to pull back from it right now.

I think PTS6 hits a place where I can finally sigh, throw up my hands, and say "I guess."  For all it's faults, for everything I feel is wrong with it, it's at least finally offering me a balanced casual experience even if I'm being shortchanged on my rewards and the investment of my time.  As a tier 3 Founder, I don't have to worry about buying Champions anymore, so again, the so-called "Classic" mode will offer me the trade of "worse advancement" for "balanced gameplay," though I still have to put the word "balanced" in those accursed quotation marks.  For as much as I can say, "I guess," I still don't like it.

I really wish I had a better solution, something that allows Hi-Rez to move ahead with their system.  I wish I had that much input or leeway on the company as a fan, a player, an artist, fanartist, and content creator, but I know I'm just one teeny tiny part of the machine.  I just keep coming up short; I really don't have a better offering of how to balance the system, or restore trust, or even restore the player agency that a game like this actually requires in order to flourish.

What I can say, though?

Community management and public relations needs to step up.  Please don't get me wrong here, either:  CMs have an incredibly tough job and they have to deal with a lot of hate, flaming, and bullshit, but they can't be silent day after day.  The team needs to be in front of this literally every single day, talking to the community, hosting more Q&A threads, developer livestreams, and actually showing that they're listening to the input.  They may be getting positive feedback that is steering the current state of the system, but in large part a lot of this could have been avoided:

The company should have been transparent in their goals and plans for this system months in advance.

2017 has been a turbulent year for gaming and developers.  Players are more savvy and less willing, especially in Western markets, to deal with developers that try to do things that they feel are short-changing or otherwise screwing players out of what they feel is a fun, fair, balanced experience.  “Transparency” and “trust” are two critical, key components of free to play gaming that I feel are unjustly overlooked or treated as unfeasable.  That is not the case at all.  As I noted earlier, gamers aren't idiots:  Transparency builds trust.  Being willing to course correct because you were open and honest with your playerbase creates options, opens doors, and makes your players more willing to trust and invest their time-- and money-- in the company and the game.

The community should have been involved in shaping Cards Unbound.

This is a dramatic change.  The community should have had input on how to shape this system over the course of weeks and months, rather than having an ill-conceived, ill-balanced, and frankly ill-executed system being dropped on their lap on a Wednesday afternoon.  I am not against the *concept* of a Cards Unbound system, but I feel like the system would have worked perfectly well within the 5-card, 4-point card confines they currently have.  I think Legendary cards having points and level values is a mistake.  This is a system that, like the Wrecker change, should not have left the PTS cycle.  It still should not leave the PTS cycle.  Honestly, I do openly implore the development team to just release the art assets in as OB64, then for OB65 heed the needs of the community:  Focus on balance.  Focus on bugfixes, and be willing to list not just the most pertinent, but all of them.

Seriously.  All of them.  There are more people than you think that are interested in knowing what and where the bugs were.  Allowing the players that level of trust to know where your mistakes are will make them more willing to quickly jump up and report the things that they see on a broader scale, and acknowledging those bugs quickly and effectively would foster a lot of trust with them.

The company should keep the "eject" button on the table for the patch.

I realize that is the crux of my personal opinion, but I feel that this is something that still needs to be reiterated, put on the table, and stated.  We don't have the metrics on player retention over the last few months, we don't know what the feedback is actually like beyond a quick glance at the fourms, and most tellingly, I cannot recall the last time that Hi-Rez has sent out a player survey to email boxes or had linked in the game's main screen/UI for over twenty patches.  Operating solely on what we can see-- the fourm announcements, a scant offering comment or three subreddit-- people are, bluntly, *pissed*.  I realize that Hi-Rez has done a lot to get OB64 ready, and I realize that there's a lot on the line for them to push what they have, but at a certain point there needs to be a willingness to say, "Maybe we should pump the brakes."

So, with all of this, at the end, all I can really say about OB64 comes down to a scant few things:  I like the skins.  I like the visuals.  I'm glad we're finally getting lore.  I'm really hoping Skye isn't just a cookiecutter villain or spy cliche.  I've heard Mal'damba might be more morally gray and pretty interesting.  I just ... look at the rest, sigh, and go, "I guess."

Balance changes that don't make sense.  Champions that still have innate caut at ridiculous levels.  Skye having her LMB damage reduced unnecessarily while also losing her 25% movement bonus in Hidden without anything to compensate for her kit being hit so hard.  "I guess."

I don't want to feel "I guess."  I want to have the same feelings I had for the last twenty patches, excited, ready to go, and continuing my hatred for anyone that picks Lex and Vivian.  I'm willing to give the patch a go.  I want to keep enjoying Paladins, but I don't want to see the playerbase pick up and leave.  I don't want to see people hating on the game.  I want to see Paladins succeed.  I want a Paladins Worlds 2020.  I want to be there for the game, as a community creator, commentator, blogger, or more.  I love this game, and I've met a lot of amazing people through it.  I've had my audience explode because of it, and I value what I've been given through it.

I just... don't want "I guess."

edit 12/14/17: Touched up a little bit of the grammar and some spelling errors, sorry about that.  I was having A Night!

[hades69fury]

I liked the skins, I want first the one of you and then the one of bk, but why paladins, because we returned to the same system of the closed beta, to nobody liked that system of improvement of the letters, now that they are with me more of 600k of essences I just hope you do not make it all come out and return crystals, because now it will be much needed .-.love the emote de evie.-.

[vocationalfox]

Rip Paladins

[arthy01]

So not only they fucked with Card System, but they also released a bugy patch and didin’t released the lore on OB64... Wow Hi-Rez way to fuck up your own game.

[synchrobeetle]

Probably won't post much here really but I feel i should at least have some Ogre Battle 64 everywhere I go. Since its Pride month here's Magnus and Yumil! I miss them...

[gideonthegarbagefox]

Paladins OB64: Memes of the Realm THE MOVIE

[paladorky]

OB64

[queezleposts]

OB64′s Flawed Progression System, Other Issues (as of initial PTS)

 So, I have quite a few thoughts to put together as of OB64 now that I’ve played a bit of it in PTS. Here’s a link to the patch notes for those interested.

The Progression System

So I’ve tried out the PTS and played there for a bit. Of course by “playing” I mean the majority of my time has been spent opening radiant chests trying to level the cards I want to no avail, much to my frustration.

Before I start though, a little discussion of the progression system I joined paladins with, and how we ended up with the preceding essence system.

Before the essence system (and legendary cards) the only currencies that existed were gold and crystals. Gold could be earned through gameplay and ranking whereas crystals could only be earned as a login bonus given that it was a premium currency. Gold could be used to purchase both champions and deck cards. If you played the game enough, and leveled up the champions you already owned, you could pick and choose which loadout cards you bought. Yes you could purchase radiant chests but the progression system was entirely untethered to rng mechanics. The player could pick however they progressed. This is why I started playing paladins in the first place; its in game progression system could be progressed through WITHOUT relying on loot boxes or paying a single cent.

Now the problem at the time was that there wasn’t a lot of content yet (this was also before mastery rewards for individual champions were added or even weekly or daily quests - we had FWOTD) so many veteran players were sitting on piles of unused gold. Sure there were other issues too, but this was the one most discussed in the community. One of the fixes to this situation - and yes, the devs mentioned this as one of the issues they wished to fix with this update - was the essence system. A new currency was introduced called “essence” which was specifically only for purchasing cards. The biggest complaint with this new system was in its initial state progression was solely tied to the rng mechanics of the radiant chests. There was no way to pick and choose which champion’s loadout you wished to progress! They responded quickly and fixed this, but the initial issue of veteran players simply sitting on piles of gold was now simply well...picked up and moved somewhere else. Now they were sitting on piles of essence instead.

This is what you saw a lot of people complaining about essence as it currently exists, and why people LIKE the removal of essence in the proposed OB64 system. They simply weren’t using it, and the gold problem could have just been fixed by adding more options to buy with gold (such as the aforementioned mastery rewards). The biggest problem with the new system is that we’re back to what the biggest issue was with the initial state of the essence system - it is tied inherently to rng mechanics and the radiant chests. I have opened what must be HUNDREDS of radiant chests in the PTS, all using specific legendary keys, and I still don’t have the cards leveled up that I want. It effectively takes away player choice, and disconnects progression from a feeling of something that is you know, earned. Connecting your progression to loot box systems in general is just bad form; we all saw the outrage when a similar system was put through with Battlefront II which was also as it happens a full price game.

Even with the addition of specific champion chests as mastery rewards, it is still, at its core a progression system based on rng mechanics. I didn’t like it with the initial release of the essence system and I don’t like it now. This is literally the same discussion that we had back then.

Now, if they stick with the reworking of the card point system that accompanies this, they need to give us avenues to acquire our card levels through straight purchase. Sure we have all the cards unlocked, but that’s a moot point when it is now THEIR LEVELS that are locked behind a rng paywall.

And that’s the thing; you could argue that all cards being unlocked is just smoke and mirrors. If each level of the card existed as a “separate” card and not a level on your current card, the effect is pretty much the same. It’s just in terms of presentation now.

If they keep our current point based card system but also want to create a more even playing field, a better solution might just be to have all legendary cards unlocked instead; leave deck cards as purchases one can decide on, but the initial legendary card that decides your playstyle BY ITSELF is unlocked. At the very least, it would be a much more simple fix. The fact of the matter is, as long as Hi Rez continues to push an rng progression system, it’s just not going to work. Build a progression system untethered to rng and base your monetization more around cosmetics and you’ll see a lot less complaint.

Casual (Quickplay) Versus Ranked

Now, as to making it so that everyone in casual plays with cards up to level five and everyone in ranked plays with cards only at level three, I do not like the artificial divide this creates between the two modes. If this is to go through, the only way you will be able to have a truly balanced game without having pressure to win will be customs. In my honest opinion, it should be the other way around.

If you wish to play a more zany arcade style game, it should be an option in customs but NOT in casual or “quick play” queue. All it does is create an artificial incentive to play ranked; you shouldn’t feel like you HAVE to play ranked to get a decent balanced game! You play ranked to CHALLENGE yourself. And not everybody wants that! Some people just want a chill balanced game without anything particularly “out” there.

It’s an overcomplication that just feels to the average player like its throwing balance out the window in order to force you to play ranked. And that’s the thing; if you want a balanced game you feel forced now under this system. You shouldn’t feel forced! You should legitimately want to play ranked; and no customs isn’t a good bandaid. Not only do you need to organize enough friends or people to fill two teams but they need to be at a similar point in their playtime or skill level as well! That’s just not a simple task for most people. It’s more complication than there needs to be!

My other point I would make is that having your ranked and casual mode be similar in terms of actual gameplay is more likely to make ranked an inviting option than to not. It allows people to test out and try new things in casual at their own pace, and then play them in ranked when they’re confident enough. Here’s the thing; not everyone playing ranked is playing it because they want to play in esports or even want to have that esports mentality; simply put a lot just play it for challenge alone, the in game rewards, the draft system, or to get an idea for how they’re improving at the core game itself. Sure having different draft systems is fine because it doesn’t really CHANGE how you play the actual game itself. Having different card point values DOES.

Making your CORE CASUAL (quickplay) mode “arcadey” instead of relegating “arcadey” to customs or a separate “arcade” queue in the casual options muddies the waters much to much. I simply can’t find myself liking it; but this change is inherently tied to the new card point system, and they’d have to definitely think about reworking it if they wish to make such changes.

What I Like

On to a happier subject; I actually do enjoy quite a few of the new legendaries added, and got to try a few of them at the very least in the shooting range or against bots. Quite a few of them are interesting and give some of the champions some much needed options.

The art side of the update looks fantastic, and I particularly like the change to the new match lobby presentation. Thank you for allowing Fernando to wink at me again. Snowman bomb king looks great, and I’m glad that angelic seris was created eventually despite not winning the community skin poll voting anyway.

“Magistrate’s Archives” map looks AMAZING and I love it to bits.

VIP system changes look interesting and definitely add something cool for those that opt in or otherwise.

Even though this technically isn’t supposed to ship with this patch the concept of “special quests” that unlock different champions backstory is also really cool and I’m looking forward to that.

But, the main thrust of my criticisms remain. In its current state, I don’t feel like the game would be moving in a good direction if what exists in the PTS is pushed through without some big changes.