So I much like many of you
I imagine have been thinking quite a bit about the future of the titanfall franchise now about a month ago
I did a video where I gave you some of my general thoughts on how titanfall 3 could be more successful than titanfall 2
But I've really been thinking a little bit more in depth about that same discussion topic
I've been thinking a little bit more in depth about the things I'd like to see titanfall 3 do things that I think could really
Boost the success of the game and put it in a position
Where it has a much larger player base for a much longer period of time than titanfall 2 ever had
Had now in the past. I've also been brutally honest about just how successful
I think titanfall 3 could actually be I don't think it will ever be like overwatch
I think few games can reach that level of success
And we often see those games rotate in and out like every five to 10 years
I do however feel that titanfall 3 without a doubt in the right situation if the right things are done and
The proper executions are made could sit alongside of games like Rainbow six siege have 80 to 100 thousand concurrent players
Just on one platform, and potentially upwards of 300,000 players across all of its available platforms
I really do believe titanfall has the potential to be that game
But I feel like it needs a bit of refinement a bit of direction and most importantly
I think it needs a massive amount of work done to its progression system to reward pick up and play style players
So let's talk about that topic before we go any further. What does it pick up and play player?
I like to use the idea of a pickup and clay player because it covers a more accurate ground. It's a more accurate description
For the player that makes up the majority
Of a games community a lot of people will say
Casual to imply a player that doesn't play ranked like oh you got to appeal to the casuals
But you know you're saying it all wrong a casual player for me. I think in a more descriptive manner is someone who plays maybe
maybe an hour to ten hours a week a
Pick-up-and-play player it can be someone who's not at all interested in ranked or competitive play
But someone who my track over at one
Hours a week even there are someone who is massively invested in the game in its community
But they're not concerned about ranked or competitive play just doesn't tickle their fancy that is the majority of most communities
So I really do think that respawn first and foremost needs to consider
Implementations and design elements in titanfall three that are gonna hook that crowd and keep that crowd playing
Yes, ranked is important
And I think having the game exists on some sort of a competitive front is a very good way to drive
Growth for the player base when people see a game being played competitively. I think especially in this day and age
It does tend to draw them to want to play the game even if they don't play it at a ranked or competitive
Level it definitely is a powerful tool for growing the game
But I don't think it needs to be the first in foremost thing that
Respawn is working on and I think when you design a game
First and foremost around a competitive and ranked environment it ends up being far too sterile far too balanced
And you remove a lot of the fun factors that make it so enjoyable for that pick-up-and-play
Crowd which once again make up the majority of your player base
Those are the people that are gonna keep the game rocking and rolling and right now is
Titanfall - currently stands guess what that's the majority of the people?
Who are still playing the game the pickup and clay crowd so now that we've gotten that out of the way
Let's talk today progression systems. We're talking about a lot of things over the next several weeks
I'm gonna be breaking down a lot of
Individual topics putting them into their own videos because if I do this all in one video
I'll lose track of what I'm saying and it'll probably be in hour and a half long
So I hope you guys enjoy this series of
Theory crafting discussing the future of titanfall 3 now
When we talk today and tomorrow in the next video and so on and so forth I want you to keep this one very
Important thing in mind everything we talk about when it comes to improving a game or adding to a game
Cost a development studio time
money and manpower
So a lot of these things simply won't be doable
Depending on the current state of respawn as they're developing the project now
I think we'd all like to think since they're now owned by EA that they have a much larger resource pool potentially even the ability
To hire out or to obtain other Studios to do work for them. You know to really be able to increase their workload and
Distribute it further across more than just the small team that exists at respawn
That would be obviously fantastic for the team if they can have those resources
But whether or not those resources exist and the reality of making all the things we're about to talk about
actually happen
Lies a lot on the intricacies of game development so again. Please that keep that in mind. Let's move forward
let's talk progression systems as the progression system currently stands inside of Titan default to
Long term we have almost nothing to work for other than
Skins and camos which dropped pretty much at random through advocate gifts now
You can buy all of them with currency so the system is even more basic than it was before
But in terms of the initial early game progression unlocking all the Titans and the weapons takes maybe a couple of hours
It's a very straightforward and basic concept. That's been in shooters like this for a very long time
I think that system within itself is in
drastic need of an overhaul
And I've always stood by the idea of wiping systems like that giving players access to all of the available tools
But then requiring them to progress those tools
Individually so rather than having to get to rank 10 to unlock the flatline or something like that
Give players access to all of the available weapons right from the Gecko
But then make sure that each of those weapons has a more stacked feature set of attachments and hurts that have to be unlocked by
Utilizing those weapons so the player right from the get-go
Feels as if they've walked into a toy store where all the toys are available for them to play with at any given time
They're in a sandbox and all of the goodies are right there before them
But in order to unlock the full potential of those goodies of those toys of that bulldozer or that backhoe or that digger they have
to actually play with those things
It's I think a very
very extreme
concept that
No
One is really willing to dive into
We're way too obsessed with just throwing even a couple hours worth of progression into the game like seriously
Two three hours of progression is that really necessary when you could dedicate that progression
to more important port
Parts of the game and give that player that that sense of like holy crap look at all the cool stuff
I've got you know I almost feel like when we have these systems in place that
Try and trickle the weapons and the items to the player
Yeah, maybe it prevents a certain group from being overwhelmed, but I think for the most part
It really undermines just how much is there in reality titanfall 2 has a really expansive weapon set
Really diverse as well
We've got a lot of good stuff there
But I just feel like it's all devalued when you progress it like within three hours
If it was just all there from the get-go you'd say to yourself
Holy crap what weapon do I use first I don't even know and then you'd go on to unlock perks and attachments so
while that is a discussion I want to save for another video the idea of the
Customization system just for weapons the return of more perks and more attachments for the weapons
It is something we need to mention because I do think it obviously carries a lot of weight for the progression in the game
But let's move past stuff that affects gameplay and talk about the stuff that affects the individual
Let's talk about cosmetic progression again. That's the thing we started off talking about here skins and camos
It's about as bare-bones as it gets and
unfortunately, we've reached a point in time where
Skins and camos and cosmetic items are no longer earned in game or just in game
They're used to monetize the experience now
I'm actually ok with this
But we've sort of gone back to the stone Age's as
That change of the curve if you look at a game like halo reach for example it had an incredible amount of player customization
For a game that is about shooting another player in the face
That doesn't need to have anything happening with the individual player model it had a hell of a lot happening with the individual player model
we had alternative helmets we had chess rigs we had legs and arms there were so many ways to unlock and personalize your
Spartan it had a huge impact on the game long term, and I think it made the replayability of Halo Reach
The most replayable halo at that point in time you know taking aside
How people might have felt about the gameplay it was a huge leap forward in
customisation opt-ins ones that halo 3
Had dabbled in Halo 3 had a similar system with helmets and there were specific things you could unlock from the campaign reach
Just took that to the next level
We don't really see systems like that anymore. They're only in RPGs, and I've always been like give me more of that
cosmetic RPG goodness within my shooter, so I want you to imagine a future where titanfall 3
Gives you a bare-bones pilot at the start of your multiplayer career
maybe you align to a certain faction and that faction rather than just
Being there for the sake of a faction someone's voice that you hear a little bit of
thematic
flavor if you will actually has a set of unique gear that you can unlock so you have maybe a
full
List of basic gear that is unlocked just by playing the game regardless of the faction you are aligned to this gear includes things like
New helmets for your pilot chest rigs legs and arms you can customize all those things eventually
wouldn't that be freaking fantastic I know all of you right now are like yes a lot of people have talked about the idea of
customizing your own pilot and the only
sort of argument apart from of course the resource requirement for
Respawn has been well you want to be able to see the silhouette of a certain
Tactical so you know what it is and honestly when we talk once again guys about the pick-up-and-play community
I really think that stuff carries very little weights
Like I don't actually give a damn if I can tell that a guy's running cloak or not he puts cloak on ok he cloaked
That's more than enough for me. I'm not concerned about that. No one's sitting here saying well
I can't tell if that guy's running fast mags or extended mag on his rifle
I just don't think it has enough impact for us to worry about that when there's a whole
giant
potentially glorious future of
cosmetic customisation and most importantly personal player investment
Getting a player hooked and giving them a reason not just to move forward to unlock more stuff
But to keep playing the game on a personal level is so important, and if I can make my own
pilots, and if I can see oh
Dude, if I chase down that challenge I can get that helmet, and then maybe I'll go after that chest rig
That's gonna
Give me a hell of a lot of reasons to keep playing the game outside of just enjoying the core gameplay
so you're able to attract a
Really multifaceted audience in terms of what they want and what they actually enjoying the game
You might have that person who likes the core gameplay who finds it satisfying
But you know they tend to get frustrated from time to time
That cosmetic system could keep them playing and help them post past those frustrations
You can have the player like me who loves the court gameplay to death and who will always love it to death
Where that stuff is just icing on top of the cake I can sit down on the weekend turn to iniquity and be like dude
Check out this chess rook. I got he's like yo check out this purple shader. I got you
See these legs you see this helmet bro. Doesn't it look sick with my purple shader
You know I think that would be the next level of customization not just for titanfall
But reaching a point where first-person shooters are once again embracing these cosmetic RPG components that allow us to further customize our
individual pilots in stand apart from the rest of the crowd
I really think there is a huge amount of value behind that level of player investment that is being overlooked time and time again
Likely because it's a costly resource
But I think you can bring more players on board then it's absolutely worth it
And if you want to talk about making it really worth it let's talk a little bit of how you could monetize that system without
absolutely
Wrecking the progression portion of it now destiny 2 has struggled with its ever verse because there simply isn't enough
awesome cosmetic stuff available in the base game
had there been a much meteor pool of cosmetic items, and had the shaders been permanent I
Don't think people would care as much about ever verse
But because shaders are disposable because they fill up your inventory
and they feel very convoluted in very frustrating at this point and because of a lack of
cosmetic variants of different armor sets and weapons
specifically the armor sets and sparrows
Ever verse feels like it's taken a lot of that cosmetic goodness out of the game and put it behind a paywall
And while many of that stuff can be ran free through engrams. It's still the perception that matters here, so
Titanfall 2 has always been a game. That said hey if you want a cosmetic
Item if you want to get this special limited edition camo. We just released for our last few DLCs here
Just buy it straight out, so take that same concept and implement it to this
RPG customisation system you've got a bunch of stuff that is available in-game that you can unlock a combination of weapon skins camos and all
Those different pieces that make up a gear set helmet chest rig legs and arms right those are all available in-game you can unlock them
From completing challenges you can unlock them from reaching certain levels there could be specific
For reaching certain region points, but respawn can then show up when they drop their DLC
I imagine they're gonna continue to focus on free gameplay focus DLC so say they launched the return of glitch
Let's say glitch returns in titanfall 3
It's part of their first DLC alongside of two other new maps in
a perfect world anyways and maybe a featured game-mode they also can then sell some skins some camos and a
limited edition gear set for that expansion
So now they've got something that they can charge five plus dollars for that is purely cosmetic that ties into that progression system
And I can tell you right now, I would buy that
considering how many of us bought those premium skins and camos I imagine many of you would buy that I think it would be an
Incredible way to monetize the game and most importantly it would defy all expectations no loot boxes
in-game cosmetic progression and
Cosmetic items that I can just fucking buy straight up. I get fucking hype just thinking about man
It would blow people out of the water there would be no denying that respawn and titanfall 3 would have the best
monetization system on the market and if that
Doesn't give them an edge in the current state the current landscape of the gaming industry
Then everyone can go to hell because I mean come the fuck on
People that would be epic beyond belief and I really do think that that progression system within itself actually
Unlocking cosmetic items that effects the physical shape and appearance of your character
So you can personalize them and make them your own is something that
was just
Kind of don't to the side they put to the Past like a relic for some reason if respawn brought that back
I think that would be a huge
piece of the puzzle
That would be growing the success of titanfall 3 now
There's obviously a lot of other things that need to happen for titanfall 3 to be successful, but again
I think this day and age progression systems are so incredibly important for keeping players
involved hour after hour
hundreds of hours after hundreds of hours
So there you have it ladies and gentlemen my theory
my thoughts on what respawn could do to really take titanfall threes progression system to the next level and in the process have an
Outstanding way to monetize the game well into the future now
I want to remind you all of these things all these systems the models for the
pieces of gear in the model for the chest rigs the different helmet models these things all need to be created by an artist and
a modeler they need to be implemented and coded into the game they again cost time money and resources so
Everything I've talked about today is millions of dollars of work potentially. There's no
Guarantee that this sort of a system could work or will work or whatever work in titanfall 3?
But her free spawn did have the resources
I think this would be a
powerful powerful tool set that would boost the value of
Progression in titanfall 3 beyond anything that we see in this sort of a first-person shooter experience on the market today
It's been done before to great success with Halo 3 and Halo Reach, and I think respawn can do it again
Thank you guys so much for watching next time we talk about the future of titanfall 3
We'll be talking more in depth about weapon customization
How it can affect the core gameplay loop and even replayability and progression
when it comes to the actual gameplay portion of titanfall
3 the future of titanfall if you will
Thank you guys so much for watching feel free to leave any and all of your thoughts down in the comment section below and as
Always remember to play smart remember to play - challenge yourself, but most importantly remember to play for fun
You
