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    Gears of War | Gears 5 | What`s up - April 30,2020

    May 01, 2020

    Gears of War | Gears 5 | What`s up - April 30,2020

    Gears 5 | What`s up - April 30,2020

    Posted: 30 Apr 2020 01:59 PM PDT

    Time to Welcome some Grubs to Flavor-Town

    Posted: 30 Apr 2020 06:55 PM PDT

    Gears 5 Cosmetics & Unlocks System - Feedback Video and Long Writeup

    Posted: 01 May 2020 09:35 AM PDT

    Gears 5's Cosmetics & Unlocks System

    This week, I put out a series of videos discussing my views on the Cosmetics & Unlocks landscape in Gears 5. If you'd like to watch them, they are here:

    I'd recommend watching (though I'm biased), but if you don't really want to, here's a summary.

    I also have a PDF VERSION OF THIS HERE (and printable version here) if you'd find that easier to read.

    As usual, there are things that I'll mention in the videos that aren't brought up here, and things that I mention on here that weren't in the videos.

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    Intro:

    It's no secret that fans haven't exactly been thrilled with TC's implementation of cosmetics & unlocks in Gears 4 or Gears 5. This discussion focuses primarily on Gears 5, but I think it's important to understand how we got here....

    As I said, Gears 4's unlock system was met with quite a bit of resistance. This was mainly due to the insane prices that TC was charging for RNG packs. As prices and frequency improved overtime, the concerns changed. For a while it was on the RNG rates, but it eventually became a discussion of "direct purchase". The Coalition said that they heard (and understood) the feedback, and eventually we got a wonderful system:

    • There were Esports RNG Packs for Money (people still weren't too excited about this)
    • There were occasional sales for direct-purcahse Esports characters (this help offset the above annoyance)
    • All other content was earnable, but also had a monetary option
      • Monetary options included:
        • Direct purchase of characters
        • Purchase or better 10-card RNG packs
        • Purchase of $5 or $1 RNG packs
      • Earnable options included:
        • Earned 2000 CR or 400 CR RNG packs
      • Eventually all content was added to the crafting pool

    By the end, Gears 4 had an amazing system. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty close to ideal.

    Gears 5 comes along, and right out of the gate we've got some major issues. TC says that the system was designed based on fan feedback. While that's apparent in some instances, there's quite a few aspects that have people scratching their head. It really feels like TC cherry-picked feedback and didn't truly understand what fans wanted.

    In this thread, I wanted discuss the downfalls of the G5 system, and propose some solutions that I feel would help alleviate some of the concerns of the fanbase.

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    Paid Items:

    Paid Items get a pretty bad rep in Gears 5. I think this is due in-large to the wonderful system we had in Gears 4. The fact that everything (besides esports) was earnable in Gears 4 (for free) was fantastic. This however made some fans a bit complacent and expecting. I too was under this impression. When I saw Gears 5's store, my instinct was, "how could you?" or "wait, shouldn't this all be free?".

    As I sat back and looked at it, I realized, "Wait, stores are pretty common-place in games. We shouldn't really be mad at this". So, while I do feel the store has a place in Gears, I feel it is implemented poorly. In this section, I'd like to hit on both the pricing and the organizational structure of the store.

    Pricing:

    For a list of what I consider to be "fair" pricing, check out this image. I'm not saying that this is what the items should be priced at, this is just what I believe a fair "maximum price" would be.

    I don't buy cosmetics, so my judgment on prices probably isn't the best. Those values are just based on trends I've seen and discussions with the community. What I do feel is worth discussing though, are some common trends and themes present in this pricing structure. Here's a few keys I wanted to hit on:

    • Legacy items should mostly be reserved as free items
    • Jack is only playable in 1 mode...so his skins should be priced accordingly
    • All weapon skins should be purchasable on an individual basis or in bulk sets
    • Items like bloodsprays, banners, and marks should be VERY low in price

    The other thing, which I don't really know how to phrase, and I'm surprised it even needs to be said is...set up prices relative to each other and make them reasonable. This is primarily in regards to the Kryll weapon skins. They're sitting at $4 EACH right now...while you have the purple phantom skin SET sitting next to it for $5. They look cool, and people are happy with the way they look. Unfortunately, what could have been a positive discussion in the community turned into people ripping on TC for being greedy.

    Store Structure:

    TC's store is based on a simple principle - FOMO, or the Fear of Missing Out. FOMO is a predatory approach to sales/marketing in which the seller can raise prices by creating the illusion of scarcity. Sure, it may help sales in some aspects, but it's not very respectful to your fanbase.

    The best way to address this IMO is simply going back to the legacy/classic store type system that we used to have in the XB360 days. Keep all items available at all times. Don't limit items to only a week here and there.

    Of course the number of items has increased significantly over the years, so we'd need some formatting/organizational changes. What I would propose is the following:

    • Store Marketplace
      • All content should be available forever (no time limits)
        • Exceptions for annual holiday skins
      • Have filters to narrow down what you want to find. Some examples are:
        • Filter by character to see all items associated with that character
        • Filter by weapon to see all items associated with that weapon
        • Search "by name"
      • Leave the front-page of the store as-is. Have it showing daily/weekly "featured items"
        • These items would be at a discount (maybe 10%)
        • This keeps a store rotation & keeps hyping items
    • Existing Customization Screen
      • We currently have a customization menu that allows us to drill down and find all of the earnable items. Why not add the paid stuff in there as well. It would need to be a toggle, as some people wouldn't want to see it.
        • This basically takes the "filter" type thing from above, and uses and existing functionality to help organize things
      • This would give an additional place for users to see store items

    So, what benefits does this provide?

    I think there's 3 key benefits that we would gain from moving to a store like this:

    1. Users would no longer feel like TC is subjecting them to unnecessary FOMO
    2. Users who may join late (or be gone for a week) aren't missing out on things
    3. It keeps items in the store forever

    I think (3) is a really important point. TC spends a lot of time and money developing these items. Why should they be limited to only being in the store for a week or two? If you keep the rotating "display shelf" with discounted items, you can potentially bring in a large number of sales each week. But with this "full store" system, the revenue can continue to come in long down the road. It's almost like the "long tail" in statistics. You may not have a huge number of sales on non-featured items. But people still buy things...and over time, it adds up.

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    Tour of Duty:

    The Tour of Duty is a great addition to Gears 5. It's fantastic that it's all free (no paid path), and TC has done a great job of improving it since launch. I still see a few complaints though:

    1. Why go for stars once I've finished the tour?
    2. I finished too quickly, and now there's nothing to do.
    3. I joined late, why can't I get these old skins?
    4. There's too much filler content.

    On (4), I think TC has done a great job improving things. I also understand why there's filler. To start with, it's a shotgun blast approach. Give a ton of stuff. I may not care about 90%, but there's 10% that I really like...and each person has a different 10%. It also helps break the tour into more manageable levels. If they got rid of filler, it's not like we'd have more "good stuff". It just means we'd have less levels to go through.

    Back to (1), I feel this is a really good point. I see no reason that extra stars shouldn't add some scrap, XP, or even some iron for players. I also have another proposal, which I'll explain in a bit.

    For (2), I sorta understand it. But at the same time, many of the people with this complaint brought it upon themselves. One solution is to limit the number of stars you can earn per day. TC would never do that due to the lack of re-roll sales though. Another one would be to simply space some challenge throughout the tour. I'll hit on that more in a bit.

    Number (3) here is the big one I wanted to talk about though. Why not just let people get old skins?

    Unlocking Old Tour Content

    One solution to this is to simply add old tour content to the supply pool after a year or so. By this time, people have moved on to the latest and great anyways. I'll also add that it's not exactly like people needed to "work hard" to earn these items. Sure, maybe leave the general rewards as an exclusive reward. But overall, it's not like most of these really took any effort.

    I do understand some people have the mindset of, "why should they get it for free, I had to work for it". First off, you don't really need to work hard for it. It comes pretty easily. If anything it's more of an "I played during this operation" rather than any meaningful reward. But you know what...these people are right...they did earn it. And that brings me to a new solution:

    Earning Old Tour Content

    What if after a tour ends, any additional stars earned get applied to old tour content? It could even be situated so that it would require double-stars to unlock the old items. As an example:

    • Let's say I bought the game in January...so I missed OP1
    • I play through, and get 3/4 of the way through OP2...oh no, I missed that last 1/4
    • OP3 comes out and I play though that. I complete it, and still have a couple months left.
    • I keep earning stars...but now they count back towards OP1 stuff
    • I keep going (and it takes double-stars), but now I get 90% through OP1's TOD...and OP3 ends
    • I grind out OP4
    • I keep earning stars, and I get that last 10% of OP1 stuff
    • I keep earning stars, and now it counts towards that last 25% of OP2 stuff

    There, I've now earned the content. I had to put in a lot more work than anyone who got it during the proper Operation...but I finally earned it. I see no reason to exclude people from having access to these items...I for one am in the mindset of "earn and let earn".

    The main issue to address now though, is what to do about all of these stars for people who are all caught up? Well...let's look at challenges...

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    Challenges & Unlocks:

    I mentioned in the intro that TC seemed to cherry-pick parts of feedback. Challenges are a great example of this. People talked about how much they enjoyed the Gears 3 system where we had challenges to go for to unlock things. TC took this aspect of working towards unlocks, but then they wrecked it (IMO) by making everything time-limited. Its like someone saying they miss having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, so TC gives them peanut butter and jelly (without the bread)...and then TC gets confused as to why people are annoyed.

    Not only has TC added these silly time limits to challenge, but they've also vastly reduced the skill needed to complete them. To put it simply, "where's the recon armor"? I want challenges that offer rewards to show off. I don't care about showing off something because I played a lot in Op1. I care about showing off something that makes people go, "wow...he did that?". Give challenges meaning again!

    There's 2 key ways in which I'd like to see challenges implemented in Gears 5:

    Masters Challenges:

    We currently have Masters weapon skins, and we have some Escape leaderboards. In escape in particular nobody really cares about the skins. It's not something that's really worth showing off. I would propose that a series of "Master Characters" be implemented. Have a character for each mode that signifies "I did this".

    Have a Swarm character for achieving Masters in VS. Have a COG character for achieving something awesome in Masters Escape...and another one for something Horde related. Don't change what these are season to season. Have these be consistent, and be the status symbol of mastery.

    In the theme of Recon Armor, you could even have a "Gears Master" character. Have some special character that's awarded to any player that has earned all 3 Masters characters. I'm thinking something along the lines of the Epic Reaper...but without the abilities. Give people something that they'd be proud to show off.

    Operation Challenges:

    Not all challenges need to be insanely hard though. And even though I've said challenges shouldn't be time-limited, I do believe that timing can play an important role.

    Totems are a good example of some of these challenges. The totem system is kinda obsolete now that TC has changed it to XP only. I think that's a smart move due to the nature of the rewards for completing them. Imagine now though, if Totem rewards were cosmetic only (skins perhaps). To take it further, imagine if Totems were released on a weekly basis? Here's an example:

    • Operation 4 launches, and has an "Operation 4 - Week 1" Totem
      • This totem has 2-3 challenges similar to that of the Op1/2 character Totems
      • Completing both of these challenges unlocks a couple weapon skins or something
    • Each week, a new Totem launches (like "Operation 4 - Week 3" Totem for example)
    • If you complete all Operation 4 Totems, you get a reward (maybe a character skin or iron?)
      • None of the Totems expire...they last forever...we just get new ones released each week

    What Does This Accomplish?

    The Masters challenges are self-explanatory. They provide a true challenge for top-level players to go after.

    The Operation Challenges provide challenges to all ranges of players. It also keeps people coming back week to week. As new challenges come out, people will log in to complete them and claim their rewards.

    I view both of these as solutions to the "I completed my tour, now what?" issue I presented in the previous section.

    There is absolutely nothing meaningful (to me at least) about telling someone, "I played during OP1". Earn and let Earn. Don't put some artificial time-locks on challenges. Keep them open. If people are good enough to earn something, let them earn it.

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    Bringing It Together:

    We've covered the main topics, but let's bring it all together, how would these systems interact with each other in this new system?

    First and foremost, I feel that it solves some of the major complaints we've seen from fans:

    1. It reduces the FOMO atmosphere
    2. It allows people to earn content in a "skill-limited" or "effort-limited" way rather than "time-limited"
    3. It provides people with goals/objectives once the tour is over
    4. It breaks the illusion that the game is centered around the store.

    I've focused on the first 3, but (4) is something that hasn't been touched on yet. Since launch, fans have said that the game feels like it revolved around the store. I feel this is due in-large to the fact that the store gets hyped up each week. Even look at the bi-weekly dev blogs. The store and skins is always a big part of that at the bottom.

    The Tour of Duty gets hype at the beginning of the operation, but that dies off quickly. The Store gets hype each week as new stuff is added. If the approach changed, and all stuff was added at the beginning, both would get a ton of hype at the beginning. Having a rotating display of "on sale" items would help keep people attracted to the store, but not make it seem as important as it is currently. In addition, the inclusion of "Operation Challenges" would allow the earnable stuff to get hyped on a weekly basis.

    The last discussion point I wanted to bring up here is the connection between Paid & Earned content. I wasn't quite sure where to place this, so I'm just gonna throw it here.

    Something that TC should seriously consider eliminating is the divide of "sets" between paid & earned. We've had halloween skins have some be paid items while others are earnable. We currently have Lt Chutani & Fenix be earnable, while Lt Walker is money-only. Let's keep these sets separate. Choose a path, and stick with it.

    The other aspect in which paid/earned overlap is the earnable premium currency. As things stand now, we gain enough iron from the tour for ~1 character. An issue I see with this is that the store is set up on a weekly basis. We now need to wait to earn the iron, and then decided week-by-week if we want to spent it. It would be a much more consumer friendly approach to simply have the "full store", and let people decide what they want to spend it on.

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    Final Notes:

    For anyone who's read this far, thank you! Hopefully you agreed with some of my proposed solutions. I'd like to challenge each of you to think about the issues at hand, try to uncover the "root cause", and propose solutions of your own.

    How do you feel about these topics? Do you think these should be addressed, or would you rather they focus on other thing?

    As always, if you have suggestions for topics you'd like to see covered in the future, just let me know!

    submitted by /u/BChaps
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    Excuse me, what?

    Posted: 01 May 2020 09:19 AM PDT

    This cant be a coincidence

    Posted: 30 Apr 2020 11:18 PM PDT

    15 bonus AP from Vanguard Breach

    Posted: 01 May 2020 07:02 AM PDT

    Gears Tactics PSA

    Posted: 01 May 2020 08:36 AM PDT

    You can plant grenades on E-Holes the turn before they spew out units to shut them down. It seems pretty obvious but it's a rare achievement (7.59%) and I think this will make your lives easier on the boss fights.

    submitted by /u/Vizier_Thoth
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    Does boost affect Character XP?

    Posted: 01 May 2020 10:39 AM PDT

    I've seen conflicting statements and honestly can't tell from the game.

    Does an active boost give bonus character XP for horde? Or does the boost just help profile XP and supply drops

    submitted by /u/Snrm
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    me before and after quarantine

    Posted: 30 Apr 2020 12:57 PM PDT

    Sorry TC but this is the IDEAL female body for the franchise

    Posted: 30 Apr 2020 02:08 PM PDT

    Gears 5 vs. Gears 4

    Posted: 01 May 2020 04:00 AM PDT

    The Gears 5 game is really great:

    • The campaign is great, different from the first games, but very good compared to Gears 4 (lol).

    • The escape mode is a very good idea, I like this mode and I play every new map.

    • The moves, wall bouncing, etc... are so fluid and easy to compare to other games, it's very nice to move around in this game.

    But, I'm getting tired of Gears 5.

    Indeed, there are so many flaws in this fucking satan game:

    • Ranked games and the points suck. I've seen shitty players who had diamond skins but played like beginners. And on the other side, me, playing solo in ranked, getting MVP in almost every match, but when I lose, I get nothing but negative points (LOL).

    • The character system for the horde and the escape sucks. It takes too much time to xp your characters. In Escape, there is a way to speed up xp, so it's good if you know the tricks (I hope they'll never fix it LOL). But for the horde... Wow! If you want to xp a character, you'll have to take a holiday, and do nothing but play horde. Also, if after maximizing your character, if there's someone already playing it in the lobby, you can go fuck yourself.

    • Sometimes, if you want to find a game without letting it put you in with PC players, you can also fuck off in almost any game mode.

    • There's also something I don't understand. When I play in ranked mode, I get 30 ping. But when I play in quickplay, I get 100 ping (LOL). That's crazy.

    • Playing with pings in this game is like playing without a hand. I remember usually playing with a ping in Gears 4, but I didn't have that feeling.

    • And then some.

    So I decided to relaunch Gears 4 to take a look. And, wow! It's another game:

    • First of all, I don't understand why TC forgot almost everything they build in Gears 4. I've played a few versus games and nobody jumped 2 meters to stab me. Smoke can stun (thanks) and you can't see through it. There are no hitmarkers with the shotgun in Gears 4 on versus (I think that's the biggest mistake in Gears 5. Players who want to use the chainsaw need to get closer. And, one of the most important things, the crosshairs of the shotgun. We need to talk about that. In Gears 4, the reticule is smaller than in Gears 5. So, at close range, I feel that the shotgun is more efficient and more precise. The shotgun in Gears 4 is absolutely better than the one in Gears 5. I sponge more in Gears 5 than in Gears 4.

    • The movements in Gears 4 are better in my opinion. Why is that? You think I'm joking? No. It's just that in speed 4, the movements are stiffer. But that's the way a Gears should be! It's not a Gear of Duty, it's a Gear of War! I think they've found a good way to give the player the ability to move faster and better, while keeping a rigid gameplay in Gears 4.

    • The Lancer. What's the matter with you, big brother? Why in Gears 5 does the Lancer have so much ammo in his magazine? It's an assault rifle, not a Gatling.

    • I also wanted to compare my play time in the horde in Gears 4 to my play time in the horde + escape in Gears 5. I just played a few more hours in Gears 4, but almost all my characters are at maximum in Gears 4, but only 2 in Gears 5 (LMAO).

    I think there's too much to say, but I recommend that you take a look at Gears 4 to compare if you're starting to get frustrated with Gears 5.

    I don't know what TC is doing with Gears of War and I'm really worried. They do an update almost every week saying they've heard from people, but I don't think they're speaking the same language.

    So if you want to debate everything I've said, let's go ahead. And if you know of any way to speed up your horde characters xp, let me know. Don't get me wrong, I love Gears 5, but TC could do a lot more.

    submitted by /u/VingtCentimes20
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    I got this 2 kills with one shot, I am really proud about this ��

    Posted: 01 May 2020 03:05 AM PDT

    Anyone heard this quote from Mac before?

    Posted: 30 Apr 2020 04:09 PM PDT

    Gears tactics Xbox one

    Posted: 01 May 2020 09:17 AM PDT

    Does anyone know when gears tactics will release for Xbox one? (I have a computer but I want to get it on the Xbox because I always play the new gears games with my dad but he can't use the keyboard). Also will it be split screen Co-op?

    submitted by /u/koolaidman69nice
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    Which Gears of war enemies would you keep as pets Part 2

    Posted: 01 May 2020 08:39 AM PDT

    Part 2 includes enemies I didn't include in part 1

    View Poll

    submitted by /u/oinkmaster62
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    Can i play horde mode on gears 3 without xbox live gold or without internet connection ?

    Posted: 01 May 2020 06:15 AM PDT

    Gears tactics warning/tip.

    Posted: 01 May 2020 11:38 AM PDT

    Using overwatch on a grub hole with a heavy in half cover has a chance of the heavy unloading every single shot into the cover directly in front of them.

    I think it has to do with the bullets being produced lower than other classes, (but still not out of the barrel, apparently) so if they grab a wretch they burn everything they have on the cover directly in front of them.

    If anyone's bug hunting, I was between one and three moves away, equal elevation to the hole.

    Don't let your ironman run end like mine, and be aware of the heavy jank.

    I'm gonna take a break.

    submitted by /u/Paramortal
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    Got called a pussy for taking the flag to the endzone in gridiron

    Posted: 01 May 2020 12:16 AM PDT

    So I just reinstalled Gears and am liking the new game mode, but every couple of games it's like I get teammates that dont get it, like not putting themselves between opponents with the flag and our endzone and not taking the flag to theirs.

    I just finished a game where I killed a guy in our endzone on District and grabbed the flag and its 2v2. They rush us from one side, so when my teammate engages, I run the other way towards their endzone. He dies, but I score. All is good, right?

    Wrong.

    Dude calls me a pussy, tells me I keep running away, blah blah blah. Meanwhile, I have three times the eliminations he does and end up with MVP. We basically type back and forth in the chat like the toxic Gears players we are.

    I took a long hiatus from Gears, but I did miss the trash talking, just not from dumb things like this. Anyone else have any similar experiences? Apart from this, gridiron and the lack of flash bangs has been welcomed changes from me.

    submitted by /u/Redditistrash182
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    Haven’t played for 2 days��

    Posted: 01 May 2020 10:11 AM PDT

    20min+ Queue 2v2 Gnashers

    Posted: 30 Apr 2020 10:45 PM PDT

    What should we do if we reach the end and the door is CLOSED at the end ofEscape?!?!?!?!?!

    Posted: 30 Apr 2020 07:33 PM PDT

    Gear tactics all cuteness without commentary

    Posted: 01 May 2020 05:12 AM PDT

    Horde mode 1-50

    Posted: 01 May 2020 01:16 AM PDT

    Anyone down to run horde on forge? Advanced difficulty. Starting in about 5hrs. If down send message to BWade21 on Xbox

    submitted by /u/bwade21
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    What versus modes are still being played on Gears 4?

    Posted: 01 May 2020 08:48 AM PDT

    I can only get a game on King of the Hill.

    submitted by /u/garyfairbairn
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    Gears Tactics PC sudden fps drops

    Posted: 01 May 2020 08:40 AM PDT

    I have a problem with Gears Tactics where the game runs perfectly fine, but after playing a bit the game turns into a stuttering mess, and only way to stop it is to restart the game.

    Is there any way to solve this problem permanently? Im on the latest gpu drivers.

    Specs:

    Gpu: gtx 1080 Cpu: r5 1600x Ram: 16gb

    submitted by /u/HiddenMagnet
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