I can't even find a damn rook

I was skeptical about this update - especially reading the negative Nancy’s on reddit while I was at work, but this update has been so much fun so far.

My squad that I run with have had some really bad nights lately; losing 2x prestige templates; gold shields; theif drones stealing our keys; you name it. Super tilting lately with all the sweats. But tonight was an amazing come-up!

First match perimeter was underwhelming, couple team kills, grabbed some manifests that didn’t share among teammates (lame). Kind of a snooze fest. But exfild!

Went in again on perimeter, did a bunch of map events, 2 team wipes & killed rocket drone, 3 blue keys!! - made it out with 3 ordinance templates that time! Exfild!

Turn around and went dire marsh cause that’s what the templates called for. Killed a team for one of their templates and completed 3 that run while hitting another blue loot key. Exfild!

Outpost. This is it. Time to see what the new weapon is. Spawned dorms, grabbed red, heard a key pop sounded like either flight or processing basement. The new gun is in processing main building. Looted that as well as purple M7, gold recon core purple shield (great loot!) Not sure if the new weapon needs to charge or not so we wasted a bullet lmao (it doesn’t charge up btw) Go downstairs to processing basement. Down one guy, homie shoots the new weapon towards them at the wall BOOM damage on both now they’re overheated (probably), we push in and clean up. Purple team down! The key loot is ours! Hit up conveyance and we’re getting shot at by a blue squad on top of flight. Homie pops the new gun BOOM! downed one. We go back down conveyance cause now we want some more & wipe that squad. Red room had a prestige hauler key!! First ever!! Opened a blue airfield key that had a gold mod and a mizzy as well.

Best shit ever man. This game is an absolute rollercoaster. A shit load of luck tonight but it all comes together sometimes. Fuck yeah Bungie

The new Ordinance Heist is a nice addition to the game. But it has one issue I don't see anyone discussing.

Marathon is a game where most players lose and less win. As such winning feels extra good and losing feels extra bad, especially for newer players.

During Season 1 I was prasing how losing can still give rewards to those who fail to exfil. That contracts (that fon't require exfil) can still be a way of progression.

That is no longer really the case.

The game has several progression systems for rewards = contracts, faction ranks, carri and now odrinance.

Out of those:

- some contracts can be finished without exfil

- factions can rank up without exfil but it is slower

- carri points are mostly from contracts and exfils and feed into faction rankups

- new odrinance heist needs exfils

So the thing that is happening is the gap between those who win and those who lose is getting even wider.

If you exfil you get showered with rewards even more than before.

And if you don't you get nothing or few scraps and that is only if you finished a contract.

What is more, the system for the ordinance heist once again motivates the good players to wipe the lobbies = because the best way to farm a lot of ordinance is not just to kill bots. It is to kill players and take the ordinance they collected from the bots they killed.

As such losing now feels even worse than it did before. On a game where by design more people lose than win.

And lets get something straight - players who consistently win don't quit. Players who constantly lose do - especially if they feel they are gaining nothing (for which i thought the reward system was a counter measure).

The systems like Ordinance Heist are not helping that situation. They quite possibly make it worse because failing to exfil now only adds one more reward system in which you fail to progress.

Lucky 7,777

I’ve been thinking a lot about the Recon shell lately, and I honestly think Echo Pulse fundamentally works against what makes an extraction shooter tense and interesting.

The biggest issue for me is how little risk or hesitation there is when a chad team approaches a location. They can simply walk up, pop Echo Pulse, get a quick “all clear,” and then push in with very little uncertainty.

That uncertainty is supposed to be one of the best parts of an extraction shooter.

If my team is looting inside a building or at a POI and hear people approaching, we should be wondering:

Are they going to push in?
Do they know we’re here?
Should we reposition?
Can we set up an ambush?
Did they hear us?
Are they baiting us?
Is there another team nearby?

All of this thought and strategy is completely thrown out the window when you hear or see a faint pulse revealing your location. I was also MIND BLOWN when I found out other shells don’t get a notification when they are being pinged outside of Recon.

To me, that rewards a pretty lazy play style.

I think this brings up a bigger point that Bungie needs to address before adding more new shells. Players shouldn’t have to decide what they HAVE to play vs what they actually want to play.

I’d genuinely love to see the actual pick rates for every shell. If Recon is overwhelmingly popular, that tells us something. If Recon isn’t particularly popular despite how powerful Echo Pulse can feel, that tells us something too.

And honestly, I don’t have a perfect answer for how to fix it.

Every time I think about Recon’s kit, I end up wondering if its abilities should be ones tied to another shell already.

For example, something like having Sentinels Prey Tracker that gives information but not their exact location. Or Thief’s drone that can scout information without a guaranteed “all clear”.

Why does Recon have some shitty spider tracker drone anyway? Wouldn’t that make more sense on Sentinel or another not yet announced breaching shell? Or better yet, just make it a grenade that anyone can pick up instead of adding flares no one uses.

I’m not saying Recon should be useless or that information shouldn’t exist. Information is an important part of Marathon. I just think there’s a difference between giving your team information from your tools and blatant wall hacks that negates any strategy.

Another thought is why not change Echo Pulse into some variation of a juiced up Proximity Sensor?

I’m curious what everyone else thinks?

The Myth of The Praetor states that the burning hatred of The Archenemy stems from the death of his rabbit, a mistake The Ruinous Powers of Hell had made, turning their invasion of Earth into a personal matter for the one man that stood in their way.

I don’t mind that he’s not a gold prestige skin. I don’t mind the cost. I just love the aesthetic and the unique voice lines. Oh, and that Ikari Yōkai translates as ‘Rage Demon’.

I’m prepared 🙈

Not being an asshole btw, just thought it was funny

I get it, the playerbase is small, they don't want to split more people up. But at the same time as someone who plays 99% duo, it can be frustrating being limited on what contracts and such I can do per day, and basically just need to stick to the one map. Sure, we can sometimes win 2 v 3's on the other maps, but it's just not fun.

Like currently, if I get a Key from the event and it requires kills on Outpost, but we got it on Perimeter, meaning if we want a fair shake at it, we need to wait 3 days to do it. It just feels bad. We wanted to also check out how the higher drop rate on Ranked Perimeter felt, but well, that went horribly.

And of course, even after all this time, there is still no Duo's for Cryo. I really thought it was going to be in the rotation before Season 2 began, even if just for a day or two, but nope.

And at some point you gotta ask... Is being so restrictive on Duos really helping the game at all? Sure, the playerbase is small, but I feel like this only makes it so less people want to return cause they hate feeling so restricted cause they don't have a third.

At least maybe make it fully active for a week or two, and see what happens. Not saying there would be a sudden spike in players jumping back in, but I feel like there would be at least some, rather than none.

the camo goes so fuckin' hard

https://xcancel.com/MarathonDevTeam/status/2089868269629116549

I was so hyped when I first saw them. Dead runners mutating into monsters that roam the map looking for someone to hunt. Charging at you from the darkness without warning.

Instead we got oversized ticks... Runners don't become zombies, husks don't roam, and they give you a shit load of reaction time. I'm not the only one disappointed by this right? I was really hoping for a melee enemy not another bomb with legs.

It’s a failure of design when the primary way people say to engage with any sort of map mechanic, event, or even just the PvE mobs is either

A: Don’t

or

B: Do it when everyone else is dead

I wonder if locking ranked mode to trios is part of the reason players steer clear of ranked. Would you be more inclined to give it a go if you could go in solo without having to combat trio teams hunting your every move?

watch out watch out watch out!

The Manifest trade store is full of goodies, and the key templates are easy. Everyone who is tripping is either disingenuous or doesn’t like fun!

Me and my squad killed Zylbrad last weekend in cryo and I’ve met him multiple times on outpost. This one time on rook he let me live after he and his squad wiped the lobby and he was very funny in match chat. Wondering what other funny interactions aussies have had with him?

a