[2020] Dauntless Experimental Test - Hunting Grounds, Island Events, and Gliders

Originally posted by buckliss

Is selection completely random, or do you take into account things like activity, hours, notoriety, etc?

Originally posted by Waffle_Hazard

How do you know if you're invited? Just being able to enter?

Originally posted by GentleOmnicide

Just pull up a creator channel with your controller. Pretend you’re playing.

sobs as we miss second invite

I really hope the update is worth it. Second time consoles get left out to test for an update we really don’t know will come out.

Originally posted by SWAT_Omega

It is okay, it is only on PC due to the process Certification system (the process when a new patch has to get approved to be released). The PTS is good to allow the devs to test and change quickly (some PTR servers in other game update multiple times a day), so when it comes to live servers it will be in the best playable condition.

I know it sucks but it ensures all players have the best experience when released.

Originally posted by durugudesu

how do i register for the future?

Originally posted by MrHorris

Is there going to be a place for more detailed feedback than the in-game survey? Or is that all you are looking for at this point?

Originally posted by MrHorris

Gliders

• Something definitely feels off with the controls for gliders, but I don’t know what it is (using kb/m). My instinct for controlling the glider was for it to be camera-controlled, which led to a couple faceplants. It did not take long to become accustomed to the keyboard controls but for as long as I played it never really felt natural. This isn’t me saying I think camera controls would be better, having free control over the camera while gliding (with the current flight model) is very cinematic and I can imagine it being far more useful if I am searching for a destination while gliding. Maybe it was how stiff the controls were? I dunno, I like how controllable the glider is, but I don’t like how it feels to control.
• The stamina on the glider is a bit on the low side. I get the need to limit our ability to fly around but it was so limiting that I could not explore
• The animation lock after the roll when falling from glider is plain bad but I am fairly sure yall already are on fixing that one.
• With us being in the air far more often the need for a ground-slam attack for weapons is bigger than ever. Would it be useful? Probably not. Would the highlight videos of people getting the final blow on Behemoths with ground slams be worth it? Absolutely.

Hunting Grounds Gameplay

• It would be interesting to see slaying a Behemoth spawn a big Aether jet at the Aether pool. Most of the combat arenas are in the low ground, which is great when approaching a Behemoth, but not so great when walking away from their corpse. The climb back up to high ground does not feel great and with the addition of Gliders it has the potential to be the cherry on top for slaying. It is a completely different game, but this kind of thing reminds me of what Apex Legends did with their combat arenas. Big bowls of fighting and a launch tower in the middle to get you out and on to the next bowl.
• The sky beam for the Event lighting up the surrounding landscape was awesome. The cylindrical beam is a bit corny but the lighting, while also a bit corny, looks way too cool to move away from.
• The chest that spawns from the event screams placeholder but I’ll still give my two cents. It would be cool if the crystals from Escalations would shoot out of the aether pool to hand out rewards.
• On the note of aether pool, I feel like having that be the source for replenishing your consumables would feel a bit better than having to dedicate a consumable slot in order to get more consumables. Maybe have the pools restock only stims/health potions after slaying the Behemoth.

Hunting Grounds Metagame

• Hunting Grounds feel like they are continuing down the path of lowering the value of killing a single Behemoth (which isn’t inherently bad). Once upon a time we did 10 min hunts to kill one Behemoth, now we are endlessly slaying them on a drop in / drop out basis. For awhile now slaying a Behemoth has not felt much like victory but rather just a steppingstone, Hunting Grounds cement that.
• Events seem like they are yall’s (Phx’s) attempt at “fixing” the issue of slaying a Behemoth not being enough to feel like a victory. Add some special lights, interesting modifiers, and a big treasure chest at the end. It is cool, I see the potential, basically turn Patrols into a create-your-own Escalation where you slay a bunch of normal Behemoths to get an event to spawn. Events give a "win state" for Hunting Grounds, which in my opinion they absolutely need.
• Now I am just ranting but the more I think about it the more I like the prospect of Hunting Grounds. Escalations and Patrols have felt like playing two different games, Patrols getting the short end of the stick and feeling unfulfilling in general. Hunting Grounds look like they are set up to make the Dauntless Experience™ a more consistent one.
• There are some hints in the UI/Ramsgate about some big progression changes coming, can’t comment on them but my interest has been piqued.