Patch 5 Extreme difficulty has taken the fun out of the game for me | Forums

[Kean_1]

Yeah..... I do a lot of supporting using covering/diversion fire, etc. I'll also run out to help someone or heal a downed comrade in a firefight even though I know I don't have much of a chance. I'm not thinking about how any of this affects my stats or my ranking. Those stats also don't factor in the difficulty level or visual aids a player uses.

....and just to make it clear. I'm not in any way boasting because I only play in extreme mode and prefer not to use markers, etc. I do it because I find it much more immersive, intense and encourages more interaction with my team whether it's guiding/covering from an overwatch position while others infil, covering someone's back, covering corners on entry, etc. Without markers and relying solely on visual recon, there are usually unexpected encounters that you have to deal with. ...and yeah, I go down a lot more but when all goes to plan it is a much more satisfying (to me) when we pull it off. Tons of fun.

[Sleazus Fist]

I like the upgrading difficulty.

What I decided was that I'd back my difficulty down to easier and let tier mode control it for me.

Pretty early after purchase I switched to extreme and removed HUD markers and the map. After patch 4 I brought the map back and removed selective markers.

I'm about tier 39 right now and I was getting frustrated because I'd get into cqc and kept getting downed extremely quickly. So I moved the difficulty back to normal and set all the HUD setting to default. Now it has made it much easier while still being considerably more difficult than the core mode normal difficulty.

I like the idea so far although I'm not sure my fireteam buddy likes it like I do.

[Kean_1]

I like the upgrading difficulty.

What I decided was that I'd back my difficulty down to easier and let tier mode control it for me.

Pretty early after purchase I switched to extreme and removed HUD markers and the map. After patch 4 I brought the map back and removed selective markers.

I'm about tier 39 right now and I was getting frustrated because I'd get into cqc and kept getting downed extremely quickly. So I moved the difficulty back to normal and set all the HUD setting to default. Now it has made it much easier while still being considerably more difficult than the core mode normal difficulty.

I like the idea so far although I'm not sure my fireteam buddy likes it like I do.

I still play on extreme but I tend to keep the mini-map up for navigation, calling out direction (e.g. N, NW, E, etc.) and situational awareness when it comes to my teammates. I simply found it frustrating without the minimap and trying to infil with others. For example, I could easily lose someone while I'm covering (viewing down my sights) while on the move. Sound and peripheral awareness is simply not represented well enough in this game where I can rely on it to know where my team is. Also, not everyone is keen to tell you every time they move so I found myself asking "where did you go".

I do wish Ubi would introduce more options for the mini-map (like showing/hiding vehicles, etc.) like they did with the HUD. I don't like that I can't turn off enemy vehicles. .....or any vehicel for that matter. I would prefer only to see my own team. .....or maybe only being able to see my team or objects in an immediate vicinity.

[SERPENT 1333]

It was my understanding that the average lifetime stat was the average time you have survived under combat conditions (while still up). ....which makes sense since it is shown under the Combat section of the profile menu. I believe it is the time while "engaged" and/or "hunted" (not suspected).

Well, if you don't believe me, just divide your time played by your number of deaths (all your stats are on the GR Network). I'm positive that's how it works.

Plus, it wouldn't make sense not to include your time spent undetected while you are sneaking and sniping and whatnot. That's what "Ghosts" are supposed to do

Personally, I don't pay attention to stats considering how easy they are to pad. They can also lead some people who are obsessed with them to make selfish decisions in-game. .....like not providing covering fire or risking their character to help others.

The stats can actually tell you quite a lot about a player, but they need to be interpreted and viewed holistically. I guess someone could try to pad their stats, but what are they going to do exactly... stand there for hours doing nothing just to make their average lifetime go up? Then they would end up with a tiny amount of kills per hour, and you could tell that they were padding/boosting that stat. I've played with a lot of people, and I've never seen any "padding" going on.

Personally, I've found that the average lifetime stat says more about a player than anything else, as it definitely helps us recruit tactical players as opposed to run-and-gunners. Short lifetimes are a sign that someone is either just running forward and playing recklessly, or they are one of the "challenge seekers" who play on extreme and get killed left and right. Either playstyle is immersion-breaking for us, so we try to avoid those players. No offense to those who enjoy those playstyles, but they're just not for us.

Also if someone's tactical and stealth percentages are low (let's say below 35% or so) then they probably aren't taking their time and spotting enemies before shooting. Above that point, the tactical percentage doesn't mean that much, since a lot of people use the Rebel Spotting skill a lot, and this brings down your tactical percentage even if you are being very tactical otherwise. For stealth, most people are in the 40-60% range, even if they are trying to be stealthy most of the time. The reason is that while someone could indeed play stealthily 90% of the time, in that remaining 10% of the time - when all hell breaks loose - they end up getting more kills a lot more quickly. So that brings down their stealth percentage. Only rarely have I seen stealth percentages higher than 70% or so.

Precision is another one that needs interpretation. If it is in the single digits, then that's probably not a good sign. Few people are actually that low. Most people are in the mid-teens percentage-wise, even though that doesn't sound very high. Part of the reason is that the mini-gun really brings down that percentage, and a lot of people are tempted to use it despite missing most of their shots with it. The highest precision I've ever seen is like 33%, and being in the 20-25% range is actually pretty good compared to most people in this game.

So the stats can be quite helpful in gauging a player's style, but only if you know how to interpret them. My only real gripe is that Ubi set the thresholds for the classes ("playstyles") in unbelievably stupid places, so most players end up being considered Overwatch, despite there being 11 other classes. I'd say at least 60-65% of the people I've played with have been Overwatch, since the long range threshold is set so ridiculously low (~52.5 meters), and the tactical threshold is too (something like 15% and above is considered tactical.... someone was obviously asleep that day at Ubisoft). So nearly everyone is considered one of the tactical classes, even if they aren't tactical at all. Ranger is about 15-20% of players, Grunt maybe about 10-15% of players, Commando and Gunslinger are at 5% or even less.... and the other classes I never see at all. These threshold problems (particularly the range and tactical thresholds) are things that Ubi could easily fix, but I won't hold my breath.

[TristanKay]

Well, if you don't believe me, just divide your time played by your number of deaths (all your stats are on the GR Network).

Where's number of deaths on your profile? I can't locate it, but perhaps I'm looking at the wrong place? (The account I play with is NLxAROSA, feel free to look it up)

As for my stats:

Survivability: 19m11s
Tactical: 61%
Stealth kills: 73%
Precision: 22.50%

I know how I play, but based on those stats how do you think I play?

[Kean_1]

Well, if you don't believe me, just divide your time played by your number of deaths (all your stats are on the GR Network). I'm positive that's how it works.

Please don't think I was suggesting you were making it up. It was simply my understanding and frankly, I never gave much thought about it other than some of the initial conversations I read on the topic.

The stats can actually tell you quite a lot about a player, but they need to be interpreted and viewed holistically. I guess someone could try to pad their stats, but what are they going to do exactly... stand there for hours doing nothing just to make their average lifetime go up? Then they would end up with a tiny amount of kills per hour, and you could tell that they were padding/boosting that stat. I've played with a lot of people, and I've never seen any "padding" going on.

I can't understand why some people cheat in games, but we all know they do. The same goes for people who take advantage of exploits or shortcuts to improve their stats, etc. .....and in GRW it can be done in solo mode which is a more controlled environment. How rampant this sort of thing in GRW? ....I have no idea. What I do know is that I would rather not play with someone who focuses on how their stats are affected in a game. I have run into people like this in the early days after launch during public matchmaking but since then I have found friends who I play with exclusively.

In my case stats have never played a role in how I determine who I team up with and I don't concern myself with how my own stats are affected as I play. In GRW what matters most is that they share the same preferences to me like extreme difficulty, limited HUD (no markers) and enjoy working as a team. Personality also plays a role since I would rather not team up with someone who is rude, crude or egotistical (obnoxious). ....which is why I guess I prefer to team up with older adults like myself since most that I have met really just like the challenge and want to have fun as a team.

[Kean_1]

.....I would add, one of the major reasons I don't bother with leaderboards, stats and the like is my disdain of the inevitable posturing that occurs to belittle one another.

[SERPENT 1333]

I know how I play, but based on those stats how do you think I play?

Haha, better than most.

The number of deaths is at the bottom under detailed statistics.

I can't understand why some people cheat in games, but we all know they do. The same goes for people who take advantage of exploits or shortcuts to improve their stats, etc. .....and in GRW it can be done in solo mode which is a more controlled environment. How rampant this sort of thing in GRW? ....I have no idea.

Based on the tons of profiles and players I've seen, I'd say extremely rare, mainly because there is no payoff whatsoever for doing so in this game, unlike other games. The fact is that most people don't even know their detailed stats or even how all the categories are calculated. So that actually makes the stats more telling than in those games where people have an incentive to pad their stats in order to get something out of it (like leaderboard status). I think that's why I never see any suspicious stats like 99% accuracy ratings LOL. So IMO this game is a lot better in that regard than other games with combat statistics.

Another thing that I think is BRILLIANT is that the game doesn't display or even calculate a kill/death ratio (although technically the individual stats are there), unlike so many other shooters. That pretty much eliminates the silly stat boosters who cheat in order to get a 10,000-to-1 kill/death ratio.

I also agree that this game doesn't need and shouldn't have a leaderboard. The stats shouldn't be about competition, but instead about finding players that match your style.

[Str0ll1ng]

As for my stats:

Survivability: 19m11s
Tactical: 61%
Stealth kills: 73%
Precision: 22.50%

If we want to have a pissing contest -

my stats (all play on extreme and tiers - currently T32):
Survivability: 25m 54s
Tactical: 76%
Stealth Kills: 84%
Precision: 35.75%

Any advance on that

[SERPENT 1333]

If we want to have a pissing contest

Uh no, Tristan wasn't trying to have a pissing contest. We were talking about the percentages and whatnot being reflective of someone's playing style, not necessarily their skill (unless some stat is really low).

But congratulations on turning it into a pissing contest. We managed to avoid it up until now.