ok...
so i have spend quite the hours in the Preview build of the summer update.
first of.
i personally would love to be able to turn the event skins on the ZEDS on or off as i find and always have found the constand seasonal change in ZED skins annoying, especially when the hitbox doesn't follow suit. best case of this is the siren looking like it has no metal parts around its torso but when you hit it, there is clearly all the effect of hitting metal still in place I.E. the sound, the sparks and the reduced damage...
i love the idea of the upgrade system... HOWEVER:
reducing the damage of almost every weapon to compensate for the upgrade system is NOT the right way to go about it and reading trough the comments and post on both steam and the tripwire forums suggests that the majority of the community agrees.
the upgrade system could have been made alot deeper and comprehensive, including things like diffrent attachments that could be added to weapons like sights, laser pointers, muzzlebreaks, magpul handles on magasins ETC. just to name a few options.
not to mention the increase of magasin capacity, reduced recoil and ofcourse the already included increased damage, heck even reduced waight would be very welcome additions aswell. and those are just the few things i could come up with on top my head.
the addition of Robots.
oh boy.
ok... so... not fond of them...
i welcome the added challenge they provide HOWEVER, they are boring bullet spunges that takes all of your attention just to get rid of them...
they spawn before the scrake but any time during the game i precieve the E.D.A.R's as bigger threats then a bloody scrake.
there is no gore associated with the E.D.A.R's and that is quite a puzzle to me since you, during the EARLY ACCESS period were so proud of your M.E.A.T (Massive Evisceration and Trauma) system and now out of nowhere you choose to add an adversary that pretty much adds nothing to the games gory setting.
in what world could they NOT have been made out of flesh and be a set of entirely new ZEDs?
now since the E.D.A.R's are as the are it would be supurb would we be able to take out the weapons on the E.D.A.R's... but that is simply not the case and there is no other way of reducing the threat level they represent like with the Bloat (take off it's head and it is no longer able to puke on you)
a feature like that would also give the sharpshooter an additional task other then waiting for the scrakes and fleshpounds to spawn giving that the sharpshooter plays with the heavy weapons (Railgun, M99 AMR)
my opinion on the individual E.D.A.R's:
E.D.A.R. Blaster: Nothing In Line aside from the above mentioned topics.
E.D.A.R. Bomber: Nothing In Line aside from the above mentioned topics.
E.D.A.R. Trapper: this bloody thing as of right now is the only thing that is totally capabel of ruining a great round of Suicidal Endless and Survival. i have on more then one occasion been trapped by a Trapper from the other end of the map... the range of that bloody thing needs to be reduced drastically as it is basically able to get a hold of you just as you are doing your best to avoid getting overwhelmed by the mishmash of Scrakes and Fleshpounds that is already waaaay too close and you havent even noticed that the bloody thing has even spawned.
and that brings me on to the next issue with the Trapper: is is pretty much able to trap you regardles of how many ZEDS are in its way, it just zaps right trough them trapping you in a meatpile of ZEDS.
i have also experianced that the Trapper have been able to trap me from behind cover I.E. Cars and trough glass and numerous other inanimate objects.
I will also bring to your attention that the Preview build has only been out for a few days... but there is already a MOD on the steam workshop allowing the players to disable the spawing of the E.D.A.R's... i will provide a link for those who are interested in such a mod and as proof that the addistion of the E.D.A.R's might not have been your wisest choice of action
E.D.A.R. Removal MOD:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1389006807
the Weapons:
Doomstick:
pretty much does what it says on the tin.
four barrels, four shots.
works like a charm... but the sound is dull and it sound pretty much like the desert eagle with a severe case of manflu... and that goes for both primary and secondary fire.
M99 AMR:
It feels great to shoot.
but i assume that AMR stands for Anti Material Rifle.
and it puzzles me that there is not such a mechanic in the games that makes such a powerful weapon brilliantly suited for taking out the arms on a fleshpound or the chainsaw on a scrake without killing them, significantly reducing the threat level of the larger Zeds. perhaps even being able to temporarely disable the weapon systems of the bosses with a welplaced shot taking brilliant advantage of the scope that the sharpshooters weapons come equipt with. (Railgun, M99 AMR)
i have also noticed that the damage reduction of the weapon is outrageous when hitting metal when it should clearly be able to piss right through without much effort.
Static Strikers:
i have nothing to say about these brilliantly designed gauntlets as the time i have spend using them is quite limited.
Endless Mode:
not being a part of the summer update does not exclude it from the scrudeny i have in store for it.
i love it.
it's brilliant.
but there needs to be some kind of system in place to ensure that there is some variation between the boss spawns.
it gets really boring having to deal with the King Fleshpound 3-4 times in a row.
the same goes for the special waves I.E. Bobble Zeds or *insert random ZED* only waves. bobble zeds gets old really fast.
Scrolling through the list of changes done to pretty much every tier 4 weapon makes me wonder if you are planning to add a completely new set of tier 4 weapons since pretty much every current tier 4 weapon have been reduced in stats to match tier 3... or if it is just something you have done to match the weapons with the upgrade system.
whatever the case may be i would boldly advise you to inform the community clearly of such plans since the changes have been met with confusion and even in some cases with disgust.
myself somewhat included.
the Prestige System:
this is, to put it simple, a great and exagurated waste of time...
there are no gameplay related benefits to going prestige, only some added, all be it reduced, grind in releveling your favorit perk to lvl 25 for the second time.
what you get for your efforts is a lausy knife skin, Vault Dosh, and something else that i cannot remember... cosmetic skins i think it was.
the prestige system would have been a perfect opportunity to add additional skills and perk bonuses to a perk not per level or every five levels but for ever 25 level. right now my Commando is lvl 17 prestige and the only reason i have taken it that far is because it is my favorit and i want it back to lvl 25 again as soon as possible because i freakin' need it! had i choosen to do the prestige with the sharpshooter on the other hand i can garentee you that it would quite possibly never reach lvl 25 again...
this update is all in all pretty much (and it pains me to say this) like the Survivalist perk: A lazy, boring and unfinished addition to the game that lacks refinement, characteristics, effort and imagination.
i am well aware that this is just a preview build but of all the things i have seen so far i am (and this is putting it mildly) concurned with the future of the game.
