[2019] [No Spoilers] My extensive feedback to the devs after this weekend

Originally posted by Veldrane_Agaroth

Hello everyone,
 
This is my feedback from extensive play this weekend.
The game was running on PC : i7-7700K, 1080 Ti, 16gb and game installed on a SATA3 SSD. 2 screens : 3440x1440@100Hz + 1080x1920@60Hz.
 
TL;DR : The game is fun and feels good to play... in between the too many downtimes. 4 Player experience with friend feels very good, but friend play in general need some tweaking because it's not easy to organize. I didn't experience too many game breaking bugs, but there is a lot of small annoying details that needs improvement, especially from a PC player point of view. Performance are not great, which was to be expected for an older build but I do hope for some improvement.
 
I will not go over launch problems again as their mostly independant from the game experience itself.
I will try to classify the subject to my best depending on when you encouter them.
I will not discuss Javelin balance as I think a non definitive build is a bit too early to comment on that.
Taking the liberty to mention the team I have seen on the sub to help this get some visibility on Bioware side : u/biocamden & u/Darokaz & u/BioWareJer
[EDIT] Thank for the gold kind stranger !! This is my first one !

 
First contact and performances

• The game first launched on my second display. As far as I can tell, this problem happened to anyone with a 2nd display with a different frequency and/or lower rez. This was fixable through settings but it was very disturbing nonetheless
  
• Game loads pretty fast, being able to skip the (new and neat) Bioware intro would be nice.
  
• Perfomance are not ideal yet (compared to what you can expect from Frotbite), FPS are pretty unstable with an average of 80 on my setup when I expect around 100FPS on ultra and more with some tweaking. I know however it should be normal with this kind of build.
  
• The loading sceens need an FPS limiter. 1000 fps is not good.
  
• The GPU usage was most of the time around 90-100%, but overall memory usage was pretty low (around 5 Gb) compared to the available capacity.
  

 
Menus (generic)

• They clearly are console port and the navigation on PC definitely needs some tweaking. I know this is mostly first time use only, so it's not top priority, but it would definitely feel better.
  
• They need to be more responsive : each "layer" needs to be fully displayed before you can clic anything + annoying fade effect.
  
• The content of a menu should be able to be immediately selected when clicking on an item : right now we have to enter the menu first, then clic on the item to be able to select it. This is worse on some menus like the social one.
  
• The tutorial menu needs a default secondary bind on F1, I think it's universally known as the "help" menu. It would probably help some people better understand the game elements.
  

 
Settings

• A lot of settings seems to have no effect and/or impact on performance (Motion Blur, AA)
  
• Some settings requires to restart the game to take effect but it's not clearly indicated
  
• An FOV slider is definitely missing but, honestly, I was not too annoyed by the default value on my 21:9 screen
  
• You can only have 3 emotes equiped, why do I need to bind 3 keys to scroll and use them when I could just bind 1 key for each of them ? (because it's a console port, I know).
  
• [EDIT] QOL : Disabling screenshake could be a good option. It didn't bother as it usually does so I didn't thought about it, but somebody brought it in the comments.
  

 
Tarsis

• There is a performance issue in general.
  
• Sometimes, for no reason an entire session in Tarsis will have lower FPS.
  
• We need to be able to run (shoiuld be there at release) and even maybe jump.
  
• After some level, when you have experience of the game you should be able to access some menus from anywhere (either shortcut or from the map). This would really improve the experience. I assume the lauch bay will help with this.
  
• The direction system through the door is a good idea
  
• When 2 characters/items are too close from each other you can occassionnaly interact with the wrong one (The Forge and the lady next to it for instance)
  
• The invite to interact with some elements doesn't display consistently and overall I think it should be highlighted better
  

 
The Forge

• Overall the forge is a very good tool and feels great to customize your Javelins. Having all the colors available from start is very nice. Thank you.
• That being said, a loading screen on what is basically you inventory is absolutely not acceptable.
  
• We also need a full stat receap : in looter game it is simply not acceptable to not know you overall stats and their effect.
  
• Items with a primer needs to be clearly indicated, as the one which can detonate are. The current icon is not visible/clear enough.
  
• Once you own multiple Javelin/Loadouts, the navigation is cumbersome. R to display Javelin, then select Loadout, then having to press ESC to edit the loadout doesnt make sense.
  
• Selecting a loadout is inconsistent/not reactive : as most things in the forge, the last thing you hovered tend to be displayed instead of the once you selected.
  
• Selecting a paint texture (ex: clean metallic) but hovering an other one (ex :metallic panel) when going back to recap will incorrectly displayed the hovered one (ex: Metallic panel) in the recap (but the proper kind of paint is displayed on the model).
  
• If you have multiple loadouts, or simply if a module is equiped through multiple Javelin, it's impossible to salvage it : you have to go through to all your Javelin and their loadouts to change it. This is very annoying. Add a confirmation box to allow removing from all the loadouts it is currently equiped on.
  
• Assuming an item is equiped only on 1 javelin, even after replacing it you cannot salvage it immediately, you need to leav the forge or switch loadout first before you can.
  
• Salvaging is unresponsive and dangerous right now because it is not responsive, the item often need a few seconds to disapear.
  
• Item sorting (per level) is not consistent, some higher level items are sometimes in the middle of the list.
  
• Item stats are sometimes not displayed entirely and have to scroll (Very slowly...), when there is actually some space just under. Just align the stats vertically.
  
• Some stats have "0%" displayed, we can only assume it's a bug.
  
• QOL : After some point in the game, let us access the forge from anywhere in Tarsis.
  
• QOL : add a "salvage all [insert rarity] items".
  
• QOL : sorting items by weapon type, then per level (I Know it's like this in the vault) would be nice. A small title between rows of items would do.
  
• Crafting : each pattern not earned yet should indicate how it is unlocked, possibly redirecting to the relevant challenge/feat.
  

 
The Vault
As for the forge you should be able to salvage an item even if equiped with a confirmation box.

 
Expedition Screen

• As the forge, it should be accessible from anywhere in Tarsis at some point in the game (I know the Launch bay might help with that).
  
• The screen is not intuitive and its space seems not well optimized.
  
• We should be able to scroll through the different expedition/difficulty options without displaying the map.
  
• If you can replay old missions, it should be done from here.
  

 
HUD

• The ultimate deserves a better indicator. These are some epic skills, a small bar under all your skill doesnt do it any justice.
  
• A visual on the HUD and/or your character should also clearly indicate the Ultimate is available.
  
• (not sure if this works) Pressing your ultimate button when it's not fully charged should display the same circle as the one displayed for normal skills when they are still on CD, perhaps with a different color.
  
• We need a challenge/feat tracker on the HUD, either the ones you decided to track in the menu, or the X closest from completion.
  
• In strongholds : other javelins health/shield bars should be visible on the HUD, especially to help track the one needing a rez.
  
• BUG : it seems that sometimes your ultimate bar seems full when it's actually not.
  
• [EDIT] QOL : We need a Mic activation indicator somewhere to know if we are actually talking or who is talking in the group.
  

 
Freeplay

• Good idea but this mod lack some action, and you tend to feel very "lonely". This should be the "adventure mode" of diablo and therefore need to feel more busy.
  
• The world event needs to be visible from anywhere on the map, and every player should be informed when they appear.
  
• World events should appear more often.
  
• This mode need some semi-private play when only your friend can join you. Right now it's almost impossible to join a friend and it requires him to leave his expedition and start a new one with you.
  
• The scaling of the difficulty is not clear : is the environnement balanced only around the difficulty ? or around the number of player in the expedition ? or around the number of player nearby ?
  
• Random spawns of monster coming in waves should be visible on map, even if not a world event.
  
• Player position should visiblme from further away.
  
• BUG : the World event near The Well seems to have no real "ending" after its second phase when you enter the well. I am not sure it count as a "mission" for the challenges requiring you to complete world events.
  
• BUG : a player joining (might ?) cause all the other players to go through a loading screen.
  
• BUG : a player ending the expedition can cause all the other player to end the expedition as well.
  
• QOL : We need a minimap.
  
• QOL : We need to be able to put waypoint either on the map or some kind of "flare" viisble in game from far.
  
• QOL : Some collectibles needs a small highlight to identify them as "collectibles", it is very easy to go past them and not even notice you can interact with them.
  
• QOL : A module granting you the small radar to help you locate collectibles on map could be useful.
  
• QOL : A module helping you to locate Ressources nodes would be helpful.
  
• QOL : some items should increase Freeplay flight speed.
  
• QOL : Knowing how much space you have left in your vault throughout the expedition could be useful on the long term. I have no idea what happens if you get too much loot and go over the vault limit.
  
• [EDIT] QOL : Respawn location is your initial start location and can bring you very far from where you were, closer local spawn point would be great.
  

 
Stronghold

• The different difficulties seemed well balanced, with hard actually being a decent challenged even with fully rare equipped javelins (The scar hunters might need some looking into though).
  
• A chest/item drop after the last is clearly missing, the end is very abrupt right now.
  
• A player suddenly going afk can block the entire party without any means to react. This is especially true if the character AFK in the camber with the dead spider just before the last both, the tether will not bring him to the boss room.
  
• Downed players need to be more visible. An audio message when they die could be nice. An "infinite ray" to the sky too.
  
• BUG (?) : We shouldn't be able to start a Stronghold with less than 4 players. I had a lot of instance of the stronghold starting with 2 players and we then had to wait for 2 others player to join us.
  
• BUG : if a player leaves the expedition while carrying some echoes in the first 2 "parts" of the dungeon, the echoes doesn't spawn back, effectively making it impossible to progress in the stronghold anymore. This happened to me twice.
  
• BUG : random crashes occured very often during the last boss fight, leading to a loading screen of death (stuck at 95%). I never encounter this kind of loading screen otherwise.
  
• QOL : Downed player need some mechanics to not get bored while downed : either spectate other player, or maybe very slowly move to a "safer" spot.
  
• QOL : a timer and/or score option for an additional reward at the end of the dungeon would be a good challenging addition.
  
• QOL : the loading screen should display information about your teammates (Javelin type at least).
  
• [EDIT] QOL : a target designation system with icons above the head of opponents to focus would be a good addition.
  

 
End of expedition screen

• This screen is way too slow, even with the skip all option.
  
• Some statistics about the run would be great, I want to be able (can be an optional screen) to knwo how I performed compared to others.
  

 
Social

• Already mentiuonned above but joining friend need some tweaking, especially for freeplay, to avoid going back to Tarsis first.
  
• I can invite my friend to a party, but I am not sure if my friend can invite their own, and I can't promote them to leader if they can't.
  
• Alliance system is a good idea, I am curious to know more about this in the final release.
  
• [EDIT] QOL : It's too hard to differenciate who is online or not in the friendlist. It is nice however to know what level is my offline friend. A visual clue should help us make the difference mose easily.
  

 
Gameplay / Misc.

• Swimming needs some tunning. The animation when you enter water is very disorienting.
  
• QOL : We could use a photo mode (when everything else is fixed).
  
• QOL : A "test bench" to test your loadout is sorely needed : you need to be able to chaneg your loadout on the fly in this area. Everything else inside can be graybox with maybe a range indicator on the ground.
  
• BUG : Making screenshot doesn't do anything in game or I was unable to locate the destination of screenshots, even if there is a screenshot folder.
  
• BUG : I didn't experience any sound issue (either from the MB Chipset or from Logitech G533) but a few friends suddenly had sound going off completely and I think I saw it mentionned on reddit as well.
  

 
My top 3 priorities

• A complete stats screen in the forge. No idea if it is long to implement but I guess the information are all somewhere and it's a matter of changing the layout of the forge.
  
• A test area. This is probably a feature they will have to develop, so unfortunately I don't expect it soon. Depending on how fast we reach 30 this will become more and more urgent.
  
• less loading screens whenever possibly (Forge especially)
  

Originally posted by CrispySlim

For those that have written large write ups such as this, would you guys want individual posts, or is there a megathread you are all reading up on?