I really have noticed the changes in the bots and pots, as well as the other summonables, between the GW series and BFN. While I still really do like to make use of the summonables, they never seem to perform as well in BFN as they used to in other games. 😕
@stukapooka I have really being enjoying these discussions to be honest. Despite how often I place and make use of the summonables available, which is especially prevelant in BFN as they are only on a cooldown, I have been learning some things about the summonables through these discussions. For example, I did not realise that Flag Weeds and Zombies provided a damage resistance or that Vampire Zombies and Backup Dancers used to be summonable in GW. Also, I do wish the descriptions for the summonables were less "generalised" in BFN.
@Iron_Guard8 I completely agree with this. The summonables in BFN never seem to perform as well as they used to compared to previous shooters, it almost seems like they have deliberately been nerfed between GW2 and BFN for no apparent reason. The other thing is that having a much smaller variety of summonables compared to the previous shooters is really annoying, I liked having much more choice of summonable, which is why I really like your ideas for summonables in a potential future shooter (including having a much larger variety than BFN).
@PerniciousPea Thanks for reading these discussions. I like to share my point of view on the summonables while also providing information about them, and suggest ways that they could be changed in the future. Even though I still enjoy playing BFN, knowing that it could have turned out so much better if it was not rushed during development is such a shame and disappointment. Which is why I still hope that a future shooter will be a possibility. But this time, they can take their time if that is what they need.
Will provide one of my further discussions later on these summonables like I have been doing with the others!
Additional Note: I do also plan to make a thread regarding how I feel regarding how the summonables have changed between the shooters, along with some other similar threads. You all have inspired me to do this and I really enjoy participating in these discussions! 😇
Time to deal some area of effect damage with these Pots and Bots!
Introduction
The Pea Cannon and Rocket Bot are summonable variants that can deal splash damage to enemies, but have a relatively slow fire rate. Out of all of the Pots and Bots, these would be considered as the most basic variants. The Pea Cannon shoots out a single pea at a time, while the Rocket Bot shoots out a burst of 3 rockets at a time. However, the direct damage of the Pea Cannon is higher than its splash damage, while the Rocket Bot deals the same amount of damage regardless of if it deals splash damage or not.
My Thoughts
These summonables perform quite well as they are, being quite effective against enemy groups and being able to deal some good damage, while also being the basic summonables so they are not meant to be too powerful. I would recommend either providing some more damage at the cost of a lower fire rate, or a slight health buff as they do not have that much health as of currently, and can be taken out quickly by opponents.
I would give these summonable variants an Easy difficulty to defeat. They do not have a high fire rate and they should barely pose a threat to you unless your health is already low from any source. The summonables benefit by dealing damage in groups, so when taking it out, try and keep your distance from your allies (similar with COVID) before taking it out to reduce the damage it can do to your team.
The Pea Cannon and Rocket Bot both appear in Battle for Neighborville, which I really like, and they currently have no cooldown in game. I would actually prefer the cooldown to remain that way as they are the most basic summonables. This way, it always gives players an option to place a summonable at any given time. The other reason I suggest this is because these summonables seem to have been nerfed in this game and never seem to perform that well, so they need all the help that they can get.
In A Future Shooter
I would recommend these summonable variants being in a future shooter and having a low cost, due to being the weakest Pot and Bot summonables. They could cost about 1,000 Coins each to obtain and there could be a promotion where you gain bonus Pea Cannons or Rocket Bots if you buy them in a bundle, for example, you could buy 10 for 10,000 Coins and you gain an extra 3 for free, since they are not too powerful on their own. I would not suggest any unlock cost for these summonables as they are the basic variants, and it should be quite easy to get hold of them if players desire.
Overall
Due to them being the most basic summonable variants, I would suggest making them easy to obtain in a future shooter with no unlock cost and bundle offers. They perform quite well as they are now, but I would recommend giving them more damage (but at the cost of a slower fire rate to compensate) and maybe some more health, as they do not have much health currently.
@stukapooka as for the next game. Things do look dark right now, and having heard nothing doesn't inspire confidence. BfN's fate reminds me of another fairly recent EA title: Anthem. Both games had a lot of problems, both games had massive potential despite their problems, and both were abandoned before they could reach that potential.
The fact that we have no information on a new game by now is worrying, but PvZ has been a very successful IP for years, it's why EA bought PopCap in the first place. And all 3 shooters are still playable on all platforms, even PC, which apparently has the lowest population, I can get multiplayer matches on all 3, even if it's just TT. While the bigger YouTubers have largely moved on with the lack of new content for the shooters, you can still find smaller channels like Redhead Gaming and BobBox still putting out the videos and getting views. Not as many as Zack Scott who has millions of views on many of his PvZ shooter videos, but there is an audience there. Add to that, the Reddit with several posts a day, many of which are current game play footage, and they have to know people are hungry for a new game.
They really need to get it right though, maybe they are already in progress but put the hammer down on leaks, maybe they aren't working on one right now but will do so in the future, maybe BfN was the final game, I certainly hope it isn't the last one. Despite BfN not doing all that well compared to GW and GW2, I doubt it actually lost money. The way it was handled certainly irked a lot of people though, so they need a good game and it has to be handled well. I'd hate for the series to end with BfN.
