4Game

This is a list of seven (7) quality of life improvement ideas. Whatcha think?

1. Accelerants need immediate use option.

2. Ults should count down by seconds not up by percent.

3. Team Tacs and Ults on the mini-map.

4. Better control when several mechanics depend on the same button.

5. Queueing without returning to lobby.

6. Ranked scoring needs to be more detailed and responsive.

7. I'm trying to get the jump on the enemies only.

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1. Ultimate Accelerants need an immediate use option.
   1. Having to pick them up and open the inventory before using slows the tempo and disrupts fluidity. Especially when you’re switching them out for some item you’ll just have to pick right back up. It’s several slower mechanics in a row.
   2. Because it doesn’t have a dedicated button like nades and heals, players have to go to inventory every time. This, in combination with the fact that movement is slowed during use, is why I believe it is greatly ignored.
   3. I think many players would want to use them immediately thus increasing the frequency of Ultimates which is just more fun and engaging.
   4. You could just assign them their own button, but an additional option for immediate use, I think, could be really interesting too.
2. The “clock” mechanic on Ultimate Abilities would improve if it counted down by the second, not up by a percentage.
   1. Consider this: you ask your teammate how much longer on his ultimate and he says he’s at 50%; this tells the team almost nothing. 50% of what amount of time? Or, counting at what rate?
   2. Instead, imagine you ask how long on his ultimate and he’s able to tell you 30 seconds. Immediately the entire team can interpret that information meaningfully and understand when to expect the availability of that Ultimate and thus begin to anticipate it and integrate it into their game plan.
   3. I think the game would be improved if EVERY mechanic with a loading/charging/recovering element used the same mechanic; counting down by the second. Uniformity across all mechanics would make situations easier to control and outcomes easier to anticipate; but it would be a lot of fun if even the Ultimate Ability mechanic alone was modified this way.
3. It would be great if the effects of all your team’s Tactical and Ultimates showed on the mini-map in the top left corner.
   1. This is an important 2nd perspective that helps teams understand the size and scope of their abilities on the terrain and gives more spatial awareness.
   2. The game devs already understand this and agree that this information is of value which is why some Tactical Abilities already appear on the map; it would be incredibly valuable to add them all, and include the Ultimates.
   3. It wouldn't run the risk of being cluttered because you would only see your own team’s, and every teammate isn’t perpetually using their Tac and Ult simultaneously for an unbroken 20 minutes over the entire map; abilities are only used situationally and most take up a relatively small space.
   4. The idea isn’t to be so incredibly detailed as to show every Bangalore and Gibby bomb as they drop, for example. It’s just to see the scale and placement of Ults more comprehensively.
4. More control options when at a door and trying to loot or revive or heal or open the door are critical.
   1. The wrong mechanic can often be used and it disrupts basic control of the character’s behavior.
   2. Furthermore, the problem often happens when it’s most critical to your survival and success (because mid-fight is when you’re most likely to have the need for some combination of reviving, healing, looting, and door control simultaneously).
5. The option to queue for the next match without having to return to the lobby would be incredibly convenient.
6. I think ranked scoring should be more detailed so that it is responsive to superior play and unresponsive to inferior.
   1. It would be nice if points were scored not just for kills, assists, and surviving every other team elimination, but also for things like certain intervals of damage done, solo-kills, finishers, surviving each team elimination when there are 5 or fewer squads left, and unique accomplishments denoting particularly skillful play such as wiping an entire squad on your own, etc..
   2. The badge requirements might act as a guide on what else to reward players for (wiping an entire squad, winning as kill leader, 4000dmg, etc.).
   3. (These are just examples, people. Relax. Don't have a meltdown reading them because they are not the examples you would have chosen. Just imagine the possibility and add in your own examples of more accurate ways to score ranked).
7. I don't know if anyone else experiences annoyance with this, but It would be cool to be able to raise and lower the volume on teammate movement specifically.
   1. Not team gunfire or unique abilities, just the extra sound effects for every little thing they do.
      1. So for example, combining the volume of their running, footsteps, sliding, climbing, etc into a single volume field you could raise or lower without having to raise or lower the broader audio fields.
   2. This gives the player control to hear his teammates but prioritize the sound of enemy movement over teammate movement so it is louder and more immediately distinguishable.
      1. Particularly for those situations when like 75 whole ass squads and an extra Wraith turn 1 small building into an angry ant hill and for some reason all you can hear is your Pathfinder cause he sounds like he's trying to do the Foley work for a broken office chair commercial with the sound turned up to 11. I digress.
   3. This issue isn't life or death by any means, it would just be a cool convenience to have.
      1. I have more than a hunch I'll be alone on this one.