I want to keep this straight from the start. I understand the need for the
Mythoclast nerf, I even semi-supported it with its crazy 34% base reduction.
What I do not support, and cannot comprehend, is the lack of
information/transparency from Bungie. Whether we're talking about updated
content that doesn't reflect what was released in patch notes, or content
updates and "bug" fixes that are released weeks after promises were made to
fix other issues. The lack of reliable information from Bungie has been
frustrating for much of the community. I see this in the forums every day,
players are unable to express themselves and explode (sure some adolescence
is involved but doesn't account for the vast amount of negativity in the
forums).
I have two purposes within this post.
First I request that Bungie releases more detailed information pertaining to
classes and items in Destiny and more transparent patch notes that don't
summarize the summary of a change.
Second I will point out a problem with the current information system, and
why players need more detailed information. Using the Vex Mythoclast nerf
as my example.
We play a game that is unlike any individual game before it. There may be
similarities between Destiny and several other games, yet it is quite the
unique experience. It feels like a typical MMO at times, completing
strikes, grinding for items, raiding, even all the bugs and glitches remind
me of my gaming past. Though as it stands, being in a category unique to
itself.
There is very little information given to players to help them decide which
gear is best, or best suited to them. In fact the only way to understand
this information would be for a player (or players) to compile that
information as they unlocked it. This makes sense for some aspects of a
game, strike missions, the Vault of Glass, and important locations
throughout the game. These items are where players should need to band
together and compile information to help each other out. This is the game
experience!
What we should not have to do is equip every weapon/armor in the game just
to figure out what its base damage is, how impact modifies base damage, and
how Attack/Armor value further modifies damage/reduction in PVE. Compiling
this information requires multiple tests, PVE/PVP comparisons, slowly
upgrading an item to compare how each upgrade effects its overall
performance. The list could go on and on. The bottom line is this
information should be available from the start. It gives us more time to
enjoy playing Destiny by making more informed decisions, without spending
hours trying to compare two like items to find out which is better.
This is some of the information that I believe should be released to the
players.
[quote]
Numbered weapon stats (not just a white bar)
More Weapon stats. (Specifically the base damage of each weapon)
More detailed weapon stats.
More detailed information in weapon/armor upgrades.
How Attack rating of a weapon effects its damage in PVE.
How Defense rating of armor effect damage reduction.
How strike difficulty scales with 1, 2, 3 players.
Much more, but this would be a good start!
[/quote]
Now for Part two.
The Vex Mythoclast nerf as described in
[quote]"Hotfix - 10/14/2014" "1.0.2.2 The One About Mythoclast"[/quote]
[quote]
Exotic Weapons
Vex Mythoclast
- Base Damage decreased by 34%
- Increased Precision Damage multiplier from 1.25 -> 1.50 (headshot
bonus)
[/quote]
For the sake of any argument. Every stat that will be used is in PVP only.
A weapons attack value does not affect damage in PVP and may be ignored.
This is me showing significant evidence that something went very wrong when
this weapons damage was reduced.
(A quick note. It took several hours to gather most of this information,
and I did not (until today) receive the information necessary to come to my
ultimate conclusion)
Now for some calculations.
The impact stat is important for this. It is the multiplier from which
total damage is calculated from a weapons base. By all accounts that I have
found the Vex Mythoclast base impact was 35 prior to the nerf, and remains
at 35 after.
Prior to the nerf. Mythoclasts damage looked like this-
[quote]
35 Impact
45 Damage Per body shot
1.29 Base Weapon Damage
- 45/35 = 1.29 (1.285 rounded to the nearest hundredth)
56 Damage Per precision shot
- 1.25x precision modifier (45*1.25 = 56.25 rounded to the nearest
whole)
[/quote]
This is what the Mythoclast should have looked like after the supposed 34%
base damage reduction.
[quote]
35 Impact
30 Damage Per body shot
- Impact * Base Weapon Damage
.85 Base Weapon Damage
- 1.29 * (1 - .34) = .8514 rounded
45 Damage Per precision shot
- 1.50x precision modifier (30*1.50 = 45)
[/quote]
This is what we really got after the damage reduction.
[quote]
35 Impact
23 Damage Per body shot
.66 Base Weapon Damage
- 23/35 = .657 (.66 rounded to the nearest hundredth)
35 Damage Per precision shot
- 1.50x precision modifier (23*1.50 = 34.5 rounded to the nearest
whole)
[/quote]
This is where I, as well as many others, am confused. The written intent
was to reduce base damage by 34%. If Mythoclast base damage were 1 prior to
the reduction the end result would make some sense. Since a 34% reduction
from 1 is .66 nobody would question this. However the damage numbers do not
add up, or there were other hidden adjustments made to the damage or
modifiers of this weapon. As I don't believe this to be the case, my
conclusion is, someone made a serious mistake when writing the code for the
damage reduction. Apparently someone forgot the .29 after the 1 which
resulted in a 49% base damage reduction (1.29 * (1 - .49) = .6579 rounded).
When pointed out by the community that the effects of the reduction were too
much, we were given a reply stating that yes indeed the reduction was more
than intended, we'll look into a good number that fits pvp and pve. Well
that makes complete sense, or does it? Why ignore an obvious oversight that
could easily be corrected? Your statement tells the community that you are
going to spend quite a lot of time trying to figure out a good number.
First it was too high. Then it was too low, but was it supposed to be. We
ask about updates to important features within the game, we're told they are
in development or on their way. I've pointed out a simple oversight made by
someone running the code to update the Mythoclast, which to correct to the
intended result would have taken less time than it did to tell us that you
knew it was reduced too much and it's being worked on. The little things
make a big difference. Please for the sake of this game, give your players
a little more to work with, and perhaps take their concerns over content
updates and "fixes" with more than a grain of salt. I promise you will have
a much happier community.
I would appreciate it if someone, Deej or Developer, would address my
concerns here. Specifically, why we cannot seem to gain honest replies
about changes to the game, and why when a change breaks something it is not
fixed immediately (I'm not asking 24 hours, like 72 or so).
Overall I do enjoy destiny, yet I would enjoy it even more if I had more to
go on. Don't give us everything. Do give us something that we can work
with. Thank you!