Gearbox! Gearbox! I'm a HUGE fan of your work, just a few questions...

[ProjectInsanity]

Let my start by saying, first and foremost, great game guys (or gg gaiz depending on how high the nerdometer runs around the office place). You've managed to produce a truly inspired, enjoyable game, that delivers laughs, entertainment, and an art style that is among the most memorable in recent gaming. My hat is off to you (or would be, if I wore one with any frequency).

That being said, as a longtime gaming enthusiast, I've got a few gripes which I think you'll acknowledge, as gamers yourselves, are legitimate. Furthermore, I feel they echo the general consensus among this community, and if you don't address them here, please at least take them to your dev team, and at a minimum keep them in mind for your next title (or DLC). Thanks in advance if you take the time to read this.

1. It's probably the most discussed recent topic, but bears repeating: Scale up the game! I'm not trying to be rude, but it seems like a no-brainer. You've created a wonderful game, with (DLC included) a pretty enjoyable mix of maps and baddies, but this becomes all but moot in the face of General Knoxx, which is something of a double-edged sword. Sure, it's nice to level up and visit new places, but the cost of reducing 80% of the game to irrelevant is a heavy one. I loved mixing up my Crimson Fastness runs with a bit of alien sniping at the Promontory, or maybe squishing some bugs in the Rust Commons East. Now, unless I want to snore my way through level 50 mobs with worthless loot, I'm destined to farm the Crawmerax ad nauseum, or make the run to Shank's prison and kill Chad for the 100th time. Not cool.

2. Please bring back Fast Travel. Coupled with point (1), this is a killer. As some of you guys are gamers, you MUST realize what a pain it is when you feel like a developer is attempting to artificially extend the gaming content by repetitive and unnecessary travel. I know some of you played WoW, and must recall the half hour (literally) griffon flights where you could afk to your local McDonald's and make it back before raid time. The fast travel system is already in place, it makes no sense to arbitrarily omit it from Zombie Island and Knoxx, and in the latter, makes it especially irksome to farm the few pockets of actual baddies that exist at 61 endgame.

3. Recognize that while Borderlands features many MMO elements, it is a console shooter/RPG. It's true that I actually enjoy that this game PLAYS like an MMO, to a degree, but the enjoyment stops when it forgets that it is, in fact, not an MMO. I was very careful, when purchasing your product, to note the absence of the familiar warning: "Attention: this game requires an internet connection and monthly subscription service to play." That's because I don't like having to co-op when I don't want to. I'm an avid gamer, but I also have a demanding real-life schedule, and for that reason, I've made the move to console gaming. As such, I think it's ridiculous that the acknowledged end-game boss, Crawmerax, essentially requires a group to take down (unless you're a Siren). A console game, in my opinion, should not force co-op play unless it's clearly labeled as an MMO. This brings me to a lesser point. Pearlescent/Cyan weapons are absurdly rare (for those of us who don't just go online and beg for 'duped' items, anyway.) I've played for probably 250+ hours, killed Crawmerax 50+ times, and have never seen one. I'm not saying they should be handed out like candy. Frankly, I found the orange level loot to be far too common in the pre-Knoxx game. But how many times is one expected to play through a fairly limited expansion pack just to see ONE cyan item?

4. Lastly, it's the glitches, the little things, that ultimately add up to make or break a game. I'm certainly not suggesting Borderlands is broken, but there are enough issues that it's seriously starting to detract from the experience. It's astounding to me that a LOOT-BASED game still doesn't have a full stat display on every item (and a little bit silly that it took so long to add even a fifth line of text). Likewise, it's disheartening that it took so long to fix Roland and Brick's mods, which arguably define the characters as much as the skill trees. What's worse, the new mods in Knoxx, which add a large part of the incentive for loot hunting in the expansion, mostly DISAPPEAR when you switch zones or log off. How did that one get overlooked? It starts as a non-issue, but eventually grows tiresome that extended ammo clips (via Roland's Support Gunner Mod) return to their default number of shots every time a character switches guns, brings up a menu, exits a vehicle, or enters phasewalk (Lilith). On phasewalk, was it really necessary to go the lazy route and lock out ALL other functions? Lilith can't jump, can't open a menu, and can’t even switch a gun. I understand you didn't want her to attack while stealthed, but the other stuff seems cumbersome and unnecessary. And I know it really doesn't matter, but could you please change the name of my favorite weapon, the Vitriolic PLAGUE to what it should be? It can't seem other than a little lazy to have the misnamed weapons remain, since it was a known issue almost from the start, as well as the penetrator sniper rifles still appearing as greens, even though the other glitched weapons had their colors properly adjusted.

I sincerely hope I didn't come off too harshly. At the end of the day, I really think this is a gem of a game, and it's currently my favorite. I just think that a little bit of polish goes a long way. Be well, and thanks for the world of Pandora, where I'll await any forthcoming changes as I desperately attempt to grab a second wind as I bleed out while spastically spinning circles thanks to the new glitch. I KID!

[Oscar Oli]

1. We need this.

2. We want this.

3. My moneys on BL2 (Borderworlds) being a MMO.

4. I understand some are unlucky but bugs are being fixed so its getting better.

[scarvet]

BORDERLAND DON'T NEED MORE MMO ELEMENT. Maybe they should have a system like WL Game save in Bioshock2, maybe they need more interactive between team members (trade, healing kit apply, ammo passing etc), maybe they need a deathmatch style extension, and more farmable boss/area; BUT NOT TURNING IT INTO WOW OR COD:MW2.

Edit: did misread OP, I apologize. However, co-op is fun! It is sort of purpose defeating that Lilith can consistently farm for Cramerax solo, but anything less or more would result in Cramerax too easy in solo, massive amount of people complain about certain players stealing/scamming weapon/items. Maybe some fine tuning to get it so every class can farm it with same sort of difficulty, like buff some classes......

MMO FPS doesn't work because....well....all sort of problem we learn from Leveling CS games

On co-op glitches...isn't that why we co-op with friends?

[ActiveCancer]

Don't have MMO element that's what makes it good a rpg well techinally RPS that doesns't revolve around lot's of people at one time just four

[ProjectInsanity]

Originally Posted by scarvet

Come on...another WoW kid? Seriously, go back to WoW or play CoD:MW2, or wait for that stupid Diabol 3

I think you're misreading my post. I said while I enjoy the MMO elements, Borderlands is decidedly NOT an MMO, nor do I have any desire for it to become an MMO, as I don't like being forced to party with other people to complete objectives or advance my character. That is precisely why I have an issue with Crawmerax being the "endgame."

[Redpaw 360]

The OP has valid points. I agree with his viewpoints and would like to see some of these issues addressed as well.

Disc Unreadable Errors: The game is loaded to the HDD, runs from the HDD, and no other game does this error. There is nothing worse than fighting up to the Armory door ( farthest point in the map ) and then getting the DDR message, and then again exactly at the same spot after reloading the game.

Bring on BL: DLC #4 after a few fixes.

[ProjectInsanity]

Scarv, I totally agree, please don't get me wrong. I LOVE that they included co-op. In fact, it's no understatement to say that's about 50% of why I bought this game in the first place. I found the PS3 co-op experience more than a little lacking, and Borderlands allowed me to sucker my girlfriend into indulging my weapon-collecting lunacy. Nevertheless, there are times where I just want to crank through the game solo, and I think I should have that option. I've simply never encountered a console game where I couldn't effectively solo the last boss. By all means, it SHOULD be a challenge, as Craw certainly is, but it should be feasible. Just my two cents.

[Grigori Rasputin]

I've hit level 50 and all I get are level 48 weapons, except for the Eridian. The Eridian weapons show up as level 49 in the pack. When I equip them, they show up as level 44. What's happening? Yeah, one more thing! Some how I managed, don't know how, to get 48 slots in my bdu.

[venomouspanda]

Originally Posted by Grigori Rasputin

I've hit level 50 and all I get are level 48 weapons, except for the Eridian. The Eridian weapons show up as level 49 in the pack. When I equip them, they show up as level 44. What's happening?

Your weapon proficiency level decreases the level requirement when the weapons are equipped. It's just a little glitch.

Edit: back on topic, I think most of your points are right on the money. However, I disagree with you about crawmerax requiring co-op to beat. Just check out the class discussion forum and you'll see lots of great tips to help you beat him with any character solo.

[s620ex1]

Always finding level 48s is just the game stage. Thats where it caps. The level dropping when equipt is reflection of your weapon proficienies. The higher they are, The lower the level the gun will apear when equipt.

Ninja'd