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Hello everyone,
It's hard to believe that a week has already flown by since we released the Outriders demo to the world… from the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much to everyone who has already taken their first steps into the world of Outriders!
Since demo launch we've closely watched over 2 million players download and battle their way through the war-torn hellscape of Enoch, and we're very excited to welcome many more as we advance to launch day on April 1st and beyond.
To that end, we wanted to share some bundled information about the demo launch week and our plans for the future.
Please use the BOLD FONT to find the issues that interest you the most.
Demo Launch Week - The story so far...As you will remember, we launched the demo last Thursday.
For a few short hours there were some connectivity issues that impacted players trying to access the game. To cut a long story short, while our planned-for infrastructure was ready for the raw number of total expected players, the speed with which those players were joining the demo during those first few hours surpassed even our expectations. So, while our backend systems scaled automatically and according to player population demand, they were unable to scale fast enough at the time.
Since then we have made changes to the backend and we should not experience a repeat of this particular issue when the game fully launches.
We kept everyone updated on the situation via our Twitter handle, but in future we will additionally rely more heavily on our Status Page to reflect the current situation.
The launch days also coincided with a temporary console services outage, the aftershocks of which may have impacted some players trying to get back into the game. We posted a fix for this here.
Since launch we have also been tracking issues and providing temporary workarounds for those that we are able to recreate on our side. These workarounds can be found in the Demo Help & Tracking Thread, but our actual goal is of course to ensure that these issues won't affect players to begin with.
Which brings us to what’s next...
What's next? What are our plans for the demo and for launch?As mentioned previously, any patches and changes for the demo need to be carefully balanced with our work towards launching the full game. Nevertheless, here are our plans for the future of the demo:
Patching the DemoWe currently have a patch in the pipeline and are intending to release it as soon as it has passed testing (likely early next week). Here is what it will address:
Resolutions that apply to ALL PLATFORMS:
Added a Motion Blur Toggle [ALL PLATFORMS] Made minor tweaks to frame rate output for certain items in cutscenes, however, we are working on a more comprehensive fix for the future [ALL PLATFORMS] Made improvements to cut down on the time it takes to Matchmake [ALL PLATFORMS] Made other minor improvements and fixesAdditional resolutions that apply only to PC:
Fixed a crash that repeatedly occurred when opening the menu or inventory [PC] Fixed a bug that deletes player gear if their connection drops out during a transition [PC] Improved subtitle display and synchronization during the “Bad Day” quest [PC]Additional resolutions that apply only to Xbox Platforms:
Fixed menu prompts not displaying correctly in supported non-English languages [XBOX]Additional resolutions that apply only to PlayStation Platforms:
Fixed store links on the “Buy Now” button in the Lobby [PS4/5] Note that while the ingame button will be fixed with the patch, you can still search the PlayStation store for "Outriders" should you wish to already pre-order it. Fixed bug that was causing an audio desynchronization in cutscenes [PS4/5] Changes to the DemoA backend update to the demo will be done during a short maintenance on Friday, March 5th at 3pm GMT. This will affect all platforms.
This change should be quite seamless and will not require you to download a patch. We are pre-announcing it now in order to give your advance notice of the changes.
Some of these changes, specifically those related to enemies, are in response to feedback we've seen coming in from players as well as what our own backend metrics are showing us.
Other changes are intended to only affect the demo, and may not be implemented in the full launch build.
We would like to issue a explanatory note of caution before getting into the changes: While we have balanced the main game with a certain progression system, this progression may be impacted by heavy farming of gear and/or mods in the demo. As some players are front-loading a lot of that progression (such as by trying to fill their mod library or acquire multiple Legendaries) within the demo content already, their experience of parts of the main game may well be impacted.
Of course, it's every player's decision how to play the game for themselves and we do not want to prevent people from farming the demo for gear if they enjoy it. However, we would like to ensure that this process is not overly simplistic, easy or prone to exploitation.
What's changing? Changes to Captains The Captain mob ability "Healing Light" will have its effectiveness reduced. The Captain mob ability "From the Ashes" and "Phoenix Aura" will have their cooldowns increased. Some players were finding it hard to fully kill Captains who would trigger these abilities, making for a frustrating rather than a challenging but fun encounter. Changes to Gauss Gauss will have his health points increased for repeat playthroughs. This is to ensure that he remains fun and challenging for players who are overpowered at this point in the story. Gauss healing from his ability "Steel Wall" will be increased. Changes to loot drops While we do not want to prevent farming runs (We get it!), the lootcave discovered via the triple chest-run, as well as the store exploit, do not feel to be within the spirit of the game. To that end, we are redirecting farming efforts to mechanics in the game that may be more enjoyable for players to play through and repeat. Epic items will no longer appear in shops and vendors (within the demo). Chests will no longer drop legendary items. Side quest rewards (on repeat runs) will now have a chance to drop legendary items.[[[EDIT- March 6th:
Update Regarding Chests Dropping Legendaries in the Outriders Demo:
Having listened to very reasonable community feedback, we have enabled the Gauss boss chest to drop Legendaries again as we should indeed be rewarding boss runs.
Other chests still cannot drop Legendaries.]]]
Drop rates for enemies are NOT being changed at this time as we feel these are balanced quite well for the average player experience. RIP that captain.
Note that running this backend update now is also a way for us to pre-emptively ensure that such backend balancing can be a straightforward, low impact method of also rectifying any excessive balance issues in the main game.
Other Notes and Things We're addressing: Camera Shake during Cut-scenes and Dialogues This is not something that we will be able to address fully for the demo, but we are aware of the desire from players to see the shaking reduced. We believe that removing the 30fps restriction during these scenes will help reduce the impact of the camera movement, but we are continuing to investigate what can be done here. Matchmaking While the upcoming patch may help alleviate some issues here, we are keeping a close eye on the time it takes to matchmake and are continually investigating where such matchmaking is taking longer than it should. The Cover System Since the demo launch, we have been paying special attention to all player feedback and have been reading discussions about the cover system in Outriders. While this is not something that we will be able to fix within the demo at this time, the main game will not only include a slew of bug fixes for many cover locations, but it will also address and fix a handful of systemic issues that are currently affecting the cover mechanic on a global level. Items disappearing from player inventories. This is an issue that we are treating very seriously and are doing our utmost to investigate. While our upcoming patch will address one bug causing this issue, we are continuing to track down other causes. In the spirit of transparency, while we do not currently have a system in place that can automatically restore an affected player’s complete inventory, our teams are nevertheless working hard to see what may be possible in the near future. Once we have identified and resolved the underlying causes for this issue, as well as further investigated the feasibility of a restoration system, we will provide the community with an update and try to get affected players back on their feet. Please keep an eye on our social channels and community for further news about this. Cheating and players using obvious exploits. We are aware of a handful of players who are using third party software to alter the game files and save data in their favour. While we cannot go into details (in order to not give such players an insight into our systems), we would like to assure all regular players that we are able to identify cheaters with relative ease via our backend system and that their actions should not affect your regular playing or your co-op experience.Finally, while we are continuing to work hard on polishing the main game, ready for launch on April 1st, we are continuing to track player feedback and bugs coming out of the demo.
We would like to close out this update by once again thanking everyone for playing the Outriders demo and sharing your feelings about it with us here. We can't wait for you to experience the full journey!
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This is a list of comments made by the developers in this thread:
Comment by thearcan:
Our pleasure. You guys deserve it.
Comment by thearcan:
Are there any plans to switch the controller layout for marking and dismantling items in the inventory? Using R3 constantly puts a lot of stress on analog sticks.
This is some feedback that we're aware of and have discussed, but I can't yet say whether we'd be able to implement it by launch.
Comment by thearcan:
We don't plan to share those at this point in time. We may do in future after launch after some careful consideration.
We want players to focus on just having fun, rather than only doing what is mathematically recommended.
Comment by thearcan:
Thanks for the tag, I'll take a look at your thread and will pass it on to the team.
Comment by thearcan:
How about the interact button on pc not working during dialogue if rebound?
We are also aware of this.
Comment by thearcan:
See the patch section.
Comment by thearcan:
It is intended to be fixed in the patch.
Comment by thearcan:
No one will be banned or penalized for doing such chest runs or showing how they were most efficiently done.
Comment by thearcan:
We're still deciding what we will be doing for the main game regarding chests. It's a decision that will require more thought given the larger extent of the main game.
As such a change can be done relatively painlessly on the backend (instead of via a patch) we will be able to tweak this on the fl...
Comment by thearcan:
As per the Patch Notes...
Fixed bug that was causing an audio desynchronization in cutscenes [PS4/5]
Comment by thearcan:
you gotta address those janky mini cutscenes everyone is talking about.
Our Creative Director and Lead Designer talked about this here.
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Thanks for being so transparent and open with the community!
ID: gpo0nhjID: gpo3ak4Keep making content so I can keep giving you money.
ID: gpqncs6I just want you to know that I am a player who pre-ordered Anthem, Fallout 76, and bought Cyberpunk soon after release without looking at reviews...
I was hesitant to even consider buying this game early, or pre-ordering. I’ve gone back and forth as to whether this game would be good and worth buying or not. But after playing the Demo with a random who became a friend, and the communication you guys have already had with the community...hell, even patching a demo and actually listening to the community on many things...
I’ll be pre-ordering Outriders.
ID: gpo1y9ySuper fun game so far! Well done, guys. Please feed back to the team that the core gameplay loop and skill design is awesome. There's nothing quite like trapping a group in an anomaly bubble and temporal slicing them into bits, or collecting a wall of bullets and firing them back at your enemies.
I've really enjoyed playing it and got a few of my buddies into it as well who were pleasantly surprised after not hearing anything about it.
ID: gpqlpdnPlease consider giving us a way to lock gear that we don't want to sell or break down.
ID: gpo3rp8The pace of this game is spot on man, very well done. Cant thank you enough for the transparency and just open communication. Its been awhile since Ive felt (not just my wallet) like I mattered as a video game customer.
3 thumbs up
ID: gpo70upYeah, this is how you communicate with your community! 🙂
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Loving the demo so far and definitely leaning towards a purchase.
, Can I bring attention to one specific point of feedback? The FOV on PC feels too low, especially on 1440p. Please see my post here for screenshots. I think this could be improved by increasing the distance between the camera and the player character on higher resolutions (ie pulling the camera back), and maybe increasing the maximum FOV slider from 90 to 100.In playing it definitely felt like I had blinders on and could only really see directly in front of me - it was hard to see/react to enemies to my left and right. It can also be disorienting when exploring inside spaces.
Thanks so much! Looking forward to the game.
ID: gpo6xeqThanks for the tag, I'll take a look at your thread and will pass it on to the team.
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Store exploit? I figured purples showing up in the store was intentional (even though no matter how many countless times I've checked I STILL haven't seen one...).
ID: gpnzvqkPeople were resetting their system clocks to jump ahead or backwards and find epics in the store.
ID: gpo2yqoWait what lol. So it's handled client side not server side? Shouldn't they change that instead of this solution?
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Keep up with that good communication and you got yourself a well-received looter-shooter.
ID: gporvhpAbsolutely. The fact that the devs are being so active with their community and telling it exactly how it is and what they plan to do is so refreshing. I'm really glad I stepped off the Anthem titanic when I did, I can't wait to get more involved with Outriders! Thanks SE and PCF!
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these devs 10/10 every time
ID: gpo94i6Would hug all of them ngl
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RIP that captain LOL
ID: gposoprOur face when hes the final boss/the god of death
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Considering you guys are patching a freakin' Demo...Says a lot how much you guys care about this game. Well Done! To April 1st!
ID: gpo0ngtThis kind of shit is what drew me into this game in the first place. Its obvious that the devs have a lot of love for this game and community, and are trying to do things right. That alone puts it ahead of a lot of AAA titles for me.
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While we do not want to prevent farming runs (We get it!), the lootcave discovered via the triple chest-run, as well as the store exploit, do not feel to be within the spirit of the game. To that end, we are redirecting farming efforts to mechanics in the game that may be more enjoyable for players to play through and repeat.
Honestly beyond phenomenal changes, I'm not overexaggerating.
You could have pulled an Anthem here and nuked loot drops to the ground, the method of moving rewards to the completion of a quest instead of eliminating the rewards altogether gives me 100% more confidence moving forward with this game.
I can't overstate enough how important this decision was in comparison to the decisions made by other development teams in similar spots previously.
Everyone who has touched a looter-shooter in the past 10 years should be through the moon with this minor demo patch.
ID: gpo0emkAgreed, I had a bad taste in my mouth almost on reflex at the start of the paragraph lol but it was soon gone thank god!
ID: gpo1se1Also they didn't nerf the captain drop rates, that's tied to gameplay and to do it well you need a good build.
Way different to just running around opening chests.
ID: gpocf3tRIP that captain.
ID: gpo19qyI fully agree with this change, also it will create a much more healthier approach by competing for fastest full clear times rather then repeating the same part of a mission over and over.
ID: gpoc5k1It's a much more measured response than we've seen from other developers. Bungie and BioWare both at times addressed loot exploits (including Destiny's original loot cave) in ways that felt like saying, "No fun allowed."
Here PCF understands the fun and drive behind farming, but want to help channel it in a way that's more productive, satisfying and ultimately not game-breaking once the full game launches.
If this is the kind of dev relations we're seeing during the demo, I'm extra optimistic for how they'll handle patches in the main game.
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Some extra feedback, it seems like there is a sound used to designated a legendary dropping. However, it's a bit quiet (if there is one.) If there isn't a sound, it could be a good idea to develop one as it acts like the bell Pavalov used during his experiment.
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This is how a dev team should be. Keep up the good work and transparency and your player base will always grow exponentially!!
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Love it! Can’t wait till launch!!!
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Wow... you addressed pretty much every single issue that players have been having with the demo so far. This is substantial and extremely impressive. Hats off to you PCF! Definitely a day 1 purchase for me.
Are there any plans to switch the controller layout for marking and dismantling items in the inventory? Using R3 constantly puts a lot of stress on analog sticks.
ID: gpo4amwAre there any plans to switch the controller layout for marking and dismantling items in the inventory? Using R3 constantly puts a lot of stress on analog sticks.
This is some feedback that we're aware of and have discussed, but I can't yet say whether we'd be able to implement it by launch.
ID: gpojzlbSuggest just switching the Mark for dismantle and dismantle buttons.
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I've loved the demo even with it's flaws here and there, can't wait for the full release. It's been awhile since I played a game that felt like it was made from love of doing so rather than to make money. The communication so far is what really sold me though, you guys are setting the standard for the industry with this. As long as you keep it up, your goodwill with the community will only continue to grow.
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Awesome update guys! Much appreciated!
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Please can you do something about dismantling. Having to wait for the mini preview before marking items is an ordeal
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As someone who has farmed the demo quite a bit, im grateful to see a the chest run loop nerfed to irrelevance. I TOTALLY AGREE that farming the game should be done through the more enjoyable mechanics in the game.
Otherwise you have lames streaming to YouTube and Twitch 5+ hours at a time just doing chest loops. How is that supposed to shine a positive light on this game? Get it outa here!
ID: gponzvnI believe this is in part true. I think they should consider making a special chest for bosses such as gauss that have cinematics preventing you from getting that sweet loot. Like the chest located in the tower after killing Gauss, should be a special chest that has Lego drop chance.
ID: gpoz86uYeah the chests spawning after killing a boss or captain should be special.
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Good to hear, on all fronts. Though I do wish Legendaries would still drop from chests, even if only a a tiny percentage.
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Is there also a fix coming that when you are in a party and the leaders does something that you have the delay of pressing g and then v.
Why not add an option that says ‘always follow party leader choices’ or something like that. Takes away the annoying delay menu.
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Repeatable side quests never gave rewards did they? I like the changes and the amount of info on said changes. Wish April 1st was closer 😉
ID: gpo04n9This caught me out too, but they actually do.
First time you do the quest, you get a choice of three items. But when you repeat it, a random rare item just gets added to your inventory upon completion.
ID: gpnzp4dI'm excited to have incentives to replay side missions again as well 😀
ID: gpo0936Damn rights. WAY more fun than opening chests.
ID: gpo2yuuYou don't get the option to choose a reward like the first completion. You just get a random item added to your inventory.
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Just want to say well done for your hard work the game feels amazing can’t wait for full game release on the 1st of April.
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I was a little skeptical about the game at first but y'all are knocking it out of the park with the transparency and updates
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What's about zooming out so we can see more around our character on screen. The camera feels tight.
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Our pleasure. You guys deserve it.