Gearbox & 2K Australia dropped the ball for Pre-Sequel

[-Mitsurules-]

It feels like an incomplete game to be blunt. Weapons are the same for the most part (aside from lasers being introduced), the story, while pretty freaking nice, is stretched out by heavy dialogue at times and some backtracking in the middle of it, and more than half the bosses aren't farm-able, which significantly reduces the replayability of the game.

To add insult to injury, Gearbox's and hope for recent set of hotfixes have reduced the drop rate of the Thingy legendary rocket launcher that didn't require hours at a time to get to drop. One could at the very least grind two Thingys and hope to get the legendary you want. Now its probably as insanely rare as all the other legendary items.

To nerf the game in such a manner when its biggest issue is lack of end game content is amazingly dumb to me. I've already grown tired of TPS due to this. They don't seem to be in any hurry to rectify any of these issues, so I won't be playing as a result. Perhaps if/when they fix these I'll come back

 

[Alkymist96]

I'm guessing that the intention was to make Iwajira have a similar drop rate for his dedicated item to e.g. Knuckledragger. You're right about the timing being really odd given the lack of repeatable bosses with interesting loot pools, though. That said, I'm still working through normal and TVHM with the original four characters, which will probably take me until Christmas... Still undecided about the Doppelganger (Jack double) and Holodome, and haven't peeked into the slaughter pit yet.

 

[Nathan-D]

There are so many glitches carried over from Borderlands 2 that I would have hoped Gearbox would have fixed, such as the Flakker glitch and modded badass rank - but I suppose that wasn't their top-priority. It puts me off somewhat when I join a game to help others and see a guy one-shotting everything and not taking damage. The new Jack bodyguard glitch is just as insane and game-breaking. But my biggest criticism is that bosses are not re-farmable, rather Gearbox seems to want us to farm vending/grinding machines. Also the new feature where your O2 runs out seems a bit pointless. The story was great, but there is just no replayability or end-game content. There's a reason why twice as many people are playing Borderlands 2 - because the pre-sequel is a half-baked mess that they should never have released. See here:

 

[Alkymist96]

Not played the game co-op at all, because most of the folks I know on-line didn't buy the game (or, if they did, they've already moved on). As a result, I seem to have managed to avoid all the glitches being reported. The grinder is an interesting element, and I use it, but you can't really use if for farming because you need the high level stuff to put in it first, and there aren't enough bosses with legendary drops, period. I'm fine with the O2 thing, though - it's a great addition. I also think that 2K Aus did a very good job of making it easy to not run out of O2. I've only done it three times: once, because I hadn't noticed Iwajira's cave didn't have an atmosphere; once, because I was being an idiot; and once, for an achievement. I'll keep playing for now, as I'm enjoying the change of pace from levelling through BL2 UVHM.

 

[Alkymist96]

Watching that embedded video got me a but frustrated. Sure, GBX put together UVHM for BL2. And yes, I now have two characters at level 72. But I do not want 2K Aus simply replicating UVHM from BL2 into TPS without thoroughly testing how this will affect the different action skills. Too much in the GBX forums detailing how specific skills are either underwhelming or completely broken in UVHM because of enemy health regen and the way DoT scaled up (or, more accurately, didn't). It took what, a year to get UVHM? Two for digistruct peak? Would you seriously want 2K Aus jamming all that stuff exactly as it is in BL2 into the new game without taking some time out to refine and test it all? TPS has been out for less than 2 months, for crying out loud! Oh well, back to the game...

 

[-Mitsurules-]

I'm guessing that the intention was to make Iwajira have a similar drop rate for his dedicated item to e.g. Knuckledragger. You're right about the timing being really odd given the lack of repeatable bosses with interesting loot pools, though. That said, I'm still working through normal and TVHM with the original four characters, which will probably take me until Christmas... Still undecided about the Doppelganger (Jack double) and Holodome, and haven't peeked into the slaughter pit yet.

I admit that I probably leveled up my toons far too quickly- the main 4 Vault Hunters are already at max level. Being unemployed gives me far too much free time. Still, even with ample free time with BL1 & BL2 I never got all toons leveled up that quickly, mainly because there was a lot to do in the end game with those games. I moved on to other toons quickly because I got bored once I got each of them to 50.

I had to control myself from starting a Jack character because I wanted to save him for later. If I do get this game back it won't be for a long time. I sold my PS3 this past Sunday, so not until I get a job will I be getting back into TPS. All the Season Pass content should be out by the time I'm able to get a PS3 again, assuming I want to pick up the game again. Aurelia will be out by then as well.

There are so many glitches carried over from Borderlands 2 that I would have hoped Gearbox would have fixed, such as the Flakker glitch and modded badass rank - but I suppose that wasn't their top-priority. It puts me off somewhat when I join a game to help others and see a guy one-shotting everything and not taking damage. The new Jack bodyguard glitch is just as insane and game-breaking. But my biggest criticism is that bosses are not re-farmable, rather Gearbox seems to want us to farm vending/grinding machines. Also the new feature where your O2 runs out seems a bit pointless. The story was great, but there is just no replayability or end-game content. There's a reason why twice as many people are playing Borderlands 2 - because the pre-sequel is a half-baked mess that they should never have released. See here:

I've controlled myself from playing with randoms since BL1, so the modded gear/Badass rank is a non-issue for me. Still, that's a complete bummer to hear man. Gearbox & 2KA have to address the replayability at some point. I just have a nagging feeling that this Holodome won't be enough, or even repeatable ala the Underdome save for maybe a Badass round, just like the Magic Slaughter in Tiny Tina's Dragon Keep DLC. I have the original Borderlands game on PC, so if I ever get a craving to do some looting I can go back to that.

 

[Alkymist96]

I've controlled myself from playing with randoms since BL1, so the modded gear/Badass rank is a non-issue for me. Still, that's a complete bummer to hear man. Gearbox & 2KA have to address the replayability at some point. I just have a nagging feeling that this Holodome won't be enough, or even repeatable ala the Underdome save for maybe a Badass round, just like the Magic Slaughter in Tiny Tina's Dragon Keep DLC. I have the original Borderlands game on PC, so if I ever get a craving to do some looting I can go back to that.

I think they already confirmed a replayable badass round? At least, that's what I remember reading over in the GBX forums. Then again, there's also a ton of speculation flying around; think I'll just wait and see what actually happens on this one before I make a purchase decision.

 

[Unfkozmo]

There are so many glitches carried over from Borderlands 2 that I would have hoped Gearbox would have fixed, such as the Flakker glitch and modded badass rank - but I suppose that wasn't their top-priority. It puts me off somewhat when I join a game to help others and see a guy one-shotting everything and not taking damage. The new Jack bodyguard glitch is just as insane and game-breaking. But my biggest criticism is that bosses are not re-farmable, rather Gearbox seems to want us to farm vending/grinding machines. Also the new feature where your O2 runs out seems a bit pointless. The story was great, but there is just no replayability or end-game content. There's a reason why twice as many people are playing Borderlands 2 - because the pre-sequel is a half-baked mess that they should never have released. See here:

Because they need to release it on next gen consoles. Nuff said, I want it on PS4!

 

[-Mitsurules-]

You can add the debacle that is the Holodome Onslaught to the list now. $10 for an over-sized Circle of Slaughter was a bad move. You spend more time looking for enemies than you do actually fighting. Only one truly new enemy in the place (Guardian Bulwark, a burly Eridian), the rest are Lost Legion, Dahl soldiers and Guardians. Flameknuckle is the only boss that spawns/re-spawns in the place- so much for giving people more things to farm for. Some of the new loot is intriguing, but hardly justifies the $10 price tag.

Since there's still nothing to do after reaching max level, you'll get bored with the game again after reaching level 60, so there's no real point to leveling up. Plus a few people are saying that UVHM is too easy this time around. Aside from badass enemies being a lot more beefier, mobbing doesn't really pose a threat. Back in BL2 I didn't UVHM wasn't all bad when the cap was 61, but it got out of hand after the second cap increase. I would have been fine with the same balances from that game minus the emphasis on Slag. Would have been lame if Cryo had been implemented the same way.

But yeah, the Pre-Sequel has gone from being a disappointing game with lousy decisions to seeming like a half-assed game that Gearbox never took seriously from the start. Perhaps it really should have been made into a BL2 campaign DLC. I'm honestly starting to feel like I've been conned out of my money.

 

[johnnywebb]

I played as Claptrap so I can't feel your pain with the O2 situation, but the only problem I had with the PreSequel was all the slowdown when shit gets crazy. Other than that, I thought the game was great, and funny as hell.

 

[legendofmidna]

The whole game just didn't feel as good to play as Borderlands 2. I'm not buying any presequel DLC as things stand, meanwhile I just bought the mechromancer pack and several friends just got BL2 GOTY.

I think one of the big issues for me, one that some people may disagree on or not care about, is that the writing and voice acting wasn't nearly as good. In Borderlands 2 I would sometimes be laughing so hard I had to pause the game. The characters and voices all just fit together so well. With the pre-sequel it feels.... more forced. I didn't laugh nearly as much. In fact the only character I really liked in the pre-sequel was Handsome Jack.

Oh, and it was way too short, and where the hell are the respawnable bosses? How the hell did they screw that up?

 

[Alkymist96]

Humour is very subjective. I've probably laughed more at TPS than BL2 (although Tiny Tina's AoDK has some great moments.) Then again, I'm a Brit, get most (if not all) of the Aussie references, and also get the humour. One thing I really like in the writing is the different dialogue you get depending on which character you're playing as. Janey's comment about her scar (and the various responses to it) are pretty funny in my book.

 

[legendofmidna]

Humour is very subjective. I've probably laughed more at TPS than BL2 (although Tiny Tina's AoDK has some great moments.) Then again, I'm a Brit, get most (if not all) of the Aussie references, and also get the humour. One thing I really like in the writing is the different dialogue you get depending on which character you're playing as. Janey's comment about her scar (and the various responses to it) are pretty funny in my book.

Y'know, that may actually have a large effect. I'm a 'murican, a super rural middle-of-nowhere 'murican, so the foreign aspect of the humor may have been entirely lost on me. Though I dont think anything in either game was as perfect as the entirety of TTAODK

 

[Alkymist96]

Humour is very subjective. I've probably laughed more at TPS than BL2 (although Tiny Tina's AoDK has some great moments.) Then again, I'm a Brit, get most (if not all) of the Aussie references, and also get the humour. One thing I really like in the writing is the different dialogue you get depending on which character you're playing as. Janey's comment about her scar (and the various responses to it) are pretty funny in my book.

Y'know, that may actually have a large effect. I'm a 'murican, a super rural middle-of-nowhere 'murican, so the foreign aspect of the humor may have been entirely lost on me. Though I dont think anything in either game was as perfect as the entirety of TTAODK

TTAODK works mostly because Geekdom knows no borders, but you if you know nothing about Captain Cook and Waltzing Matilda, the related side-quests & dialogue are just... bizarre.

 

[-Mitsurules-]

I think it was a good move for Gearbox to include mannerisms from other countries for a change. People all over the world love the Borderlands series so it was cool to see 2K Australia implement some of their own style of humor and Europe. Hopefully Gearbox continues to diversify with other countries if possible- for example, the events they do based on holidays that are mostly celebrated in America, they could start including holidays/events that other countries celebrate. Continue to expand your horizons and you can draw more people in.

Although, none of this will matter if Gearbox/2KA releases another half-assed game.

 

[M4n0w4r]

I agree it's not as good as BL2, which is my favourite of all three, but it's still a great game. The Aussie accents make this game hilarious, especially that shotgun you get from Pickle as a reward for finding his sister that swears at you when you use it ("Am I too much fxxkin' gun for ya!?" or "See ya' later, Cxxt!"). Speaking of Pickle, though, his cockney accent was wrong (Better than Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins, but still wrong), his use of rhyming slang while correct in content, was wrong because he said the word the slang means AFTER he said such slang (E.G. Bottle and Glass=Arse, how he described the CEO of Hyperion). As a cockney myself, I use that term to describe someone who is an arse (Along with Radio Rental=Mental E.G. You're fxxkin' radio mate!, Tom Tit=Shit, E.G. "I'm going for a tom, be right back").

I don't know if the writers did that so that the American audience would understand it or because the writers thought thats how we speak in 'Jolly Old'. But yeah, a little wrong. Still funny though.