Let's Discuss Ops

I am wondering, if the maps are at some point ( if they don't already ) set to feature hidden collectibles such as golden gnomes like GW2 or some other collectible item, then as things stand right now, it's going to be quite the chore to have to wait for the map rotation to feature the map you need to play on in order to obtain the item, it was nice in GW2 to just setup a round of Ops on the map you needed and trot off to obtain your collectible, if multiple people are off trying to obtain a collectible on the other end of the map instead of playing the match then this too will cause conflicts on maps as large as these.

As an aside, i have edited the original post to include information relevant to Ops mode that i failed to mention in my original post.

@mistincat@Iron_Guard8 @splash_damage I suspect that none of these or the turf maps will hide gnomes or anything - without options it would be too difficult to search the maps & disruptive to play.
I agree with you all & @tristkiss that the maps are really nice but too big for ops. Idk if it was the same for all of you, but I had Z-Tech for zombies followed by Z-Tech for plants & I would've preferred a map change.
The AIs having to be tracked down leaves the base relatively unprotected, means your team-mates scatter so each is more vulnerable. This is turn made autospawn almost inevitable @PuffinStuff88 I think, as when a player died all you saw was a very small revive circle & you had to look in every direction very carefully to spot it. THAT definitely needs changing, needs to be far more obvious where they are.
I was playing with 2 friends & a random. My friends & I are seasoned Ops players so would wait instead of respawning but we found it way too difficult to spot & get to each other in time. Idk though if the respawns are limited though, as they were, or if team retry is still an option??
I missed the final evacuation part as well & I also didn't like how the next round started again so quickly, leaving no real time for you to decide or discuss whether to do another round.
Timer function on pots/bots in turf works well to stop floods of spawnables but in Ops you need more freedom I think, especially for heal stations that get destroyed quickly.
I've seen on Twitter this morning a lot of discussion about this & info saying that this is Phase 1 of Ops & there'll be more changes phased in, the AIs having to be hunted down appeared to be 1 thing that they plan to address but not sure what else. Sorry, this was longer than I intended!!

I am also disappointed in this mode. The ops mode is the only reason I bought the game. Me and my wife have a lot of hours playing ops in GW2 and we feel like this is not what we were hoping for.

First of all, we would like the option to play offline.

Second, we would like to change the difficulty. (the waves should feel like some sort of threat to the garden/graveyard, otherwise its just redundant to have one to protect in the first place.)

And lastly, we would like more waves. (or at least the option to change number of waves)

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@mistincat wrote:
@PuffinStuff88I also miss the evacuation stage of the match actually, it really added a sense of urgency and excitement hoping everyone makes it out alive!

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This!

Ops isn’t Ops, if you’re not sensing urgency to evacuate.

GW2’s Ops were near perfect.  Why change them?

@spIash_damageExactly right, it is near perfect and i can't fathom why they didn't just bring that existing core functionality over to the new game and expand on it further and really refine it to make it perfect. Instead what we have is a watered down game mode that barely resembles the Ops we all know and love.

I don't mean to harp on about it or belittle the developers hard work in anyway, but this is just so far from what i think many of us were expecting, it really is disappointing and i hope the developers can appreciate our frustrations as fans of the series.

My issues with OPs so far (which many have mentioned before):

• Death is cheap: Dying means nothing anymore... There is no sense of urgency to go and revive others within a time limit... Instead, you can just leave others, they'll auto respawn after all. That also "cheapens" healing... .The sense of "carrying the whole team since you're the last man standing". is no more. Surviving and fighting behind covers and being at strategic locations also mean nothing.
• New heroes are OP: The new heroes are super powerful. That includes Snapdragon, Oak, Space Cadet, Electric Slide and Engineer. Most waves are really easy when you have any of those heroes in your team. (I know some people dislike or think that Snapdragons are weak, but they have generous AoE abilities and powerful ones too.)
• The difficulty is a Joke: I was really excited to finally play OPs in CRAAAZY!! mode... But I was greeted with a lukewarm uncooked steak instead that lacks any spice. What makes things worse is what I mentioned earlier about heroes being super powerful.
• One location?! That's boring... in GW1/GW2, each location was different than the other. It made each map feel like 3 different ones. Now, when you see a map, it's just that map...
• Pace is too slow: The first wave, the most boring wave... You kill a couple of zombies/plants... then have to wait around 10 ~ 15 seconds to finally encounter the rest by either moving, or them coming to you. The distance between enemy spawn till the objective is too long.
• Your effort means nothing: After all, we will all get the same exact coins, as long as we don't die. Someone can just sit back, do nothing and still get as much as anyone who poured their efforts to win. But of course, we now play to level up our heroes. So being active is better (for now). Unless I'm mistaken?
• There are no Disco/Vampire Zombies spawned from bosses. Unless I'm mistaken, again?
• Old Music, Reused. Don't get me wrong! I love the music, but this is a "new" game and the music composer is really great! The new Turf Takeover music is really amazing. Why not give us more tunes? if people wanted the classic music, they can have the option to switch back.
• Speed run is still difficult. Since GW1?

 I think that this time, they designed PvP maps first and then they added OPs later. In previous games, it felt the opposite way around... The maps were designed for OPs first then they used them for PvP. Most of these maps are more balanced PvP-wise than previous games.

What they can do now is:

• Re-introduce the old system of dying/respawning. After well, there are many healing abilities. Players' skills must be tested.
• Make all enemies sprint until they reach the first bots. If none, they proceed sprinting to the objective or players.
• Killing more, healing and being active should be more rewarding. That means, people who are more active should get more coins. Lazy players will still get coins, but not as much.
• Skill-based difficulty in the console playlist: The game should try to find people of similar skill rating (for PvP or even PvE) and adjust the game's difficult accordingly. If there are good players in the queue, then put them in a more difficult game but also reward them for that. This might be difficult to implement. or may take some time.
• Add custom modes: In order for people to play OPs without having to deal with the "auto-adjusting difficulty" mentioned above. They should be able to pick their maps, difficulties and of course sides manually. Whatever they pick, can be added to the console queue. What that means, if other players are picking "Garden/Graveyard OPs" from console, they can also join those custom games automatically. There won't be a need to browse for games. And there might be no waiting for any players.
• Add more defense locations: I fully understand that some maps can't handle this due to their design being PvP-oriented. But, at least if that's not possible, then add more weather conditions and day/noon/night to all maps to add more variety.
• Each map should have its own music: I know this seems "crazy" but what they can do is, pick a set of instruments that reflect those maps (e.g. Harmonica for cheese factory, Jungle/Ruins inspired themes..etc), remix all Garden/Graveyard OPs music based on that. If anyone played PvZ2 on mobile, they would understand how exciting and great it is to go to new worlds and listen to their unique music pieces that reflect the zone they were in. Music is important, it leaves a good impression/memories and adds more depth to any content. But what kind of memories will we have about BFN if the music is the same as before? The original PvZ, PvZ2 and even PvZ Heroes on mobile had great memorable tunes that you even used in GW2 and BFN.
• Add Evacuate or other final objectives: As a bonus reward. Final objectives could be planting bombs, carrying them, securing a payload to evacuation spot...etc.

For Neighborville!

@mistincatyou rock.. thanku for that... I'm very glad you took the liberty of taking a screenshot...
and how very astute of you to realise that the post might be deleted.

I stand by all I said and am still reeling with the disappointment... as I do feel they added it as an afterthought with no real care or concern for how those that loved this mode would feel.... this is not a mode on its own but basically a copy of the quest we had already done a good few times times in anticipation for the release of the "real" Ops...
and as @Iron_Guard8  has pointed out there is no evacuation either... super disappointed.
We went back last night and did another couple of games of it.... and to be honest it is boring.... in its present state many people will just not play it.
And the no time in between rounds etc... also not good ☹️

I don't mind multiplayer but I wouldn't want to play it all the time and really enjoy being able to play Ops and Team Vanquish, Gnome Bomb, Surburbination etc with AI on the difficulty of my choosing, play solo or to play with friends ....
not to mention exploring maps properly and in your own time to appreciate everything that has gone into them... and to fully absorb all the work the developers have put into them. All the nuances, the jokes, the detail etc etc.
All the above was a huge part of the game for me.... and many others I know and play with.

I was so disappointed I could have cried... gutted to the core.... but I am a grownup and its a game so course I controlled myself hahaha but the disappointment was very real.

However, this morning I see that Justin Weibe has tweeted that this is the "first phase" and they plan to introduce "elite" waves... we just have to hope that they just copy and paste the code from GW2 which as @s points out was near perfect....
although I think map and team choice may be gone forever.... but for me personally, I would rather have this choice and occasionally suffer a disconnection as the host player gets disconnected. It was never that big of a problem, or that often.

Link to Justins tweet below:
https://twitter.com/JA_Wiebe/status/1174119517640724480

Please please developers just bring back at least most of the Ops mode that many of us know and love, thanku in advance.

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@GammaX6 wrote:

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• There are no Disco/Vampire Zombies spawned from bosses. Unless I'm mistaken, again?

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I have had a disco zombie in every plants OPs boss round I’ve faced (usually multiple to be honest), and have also had Baron Von Bats as well, so they are still in there 🙂

Agree with you generally about everything else though 🙂