What Happened to Flame Notes In Rockband Blitz?????

[www1221]

1)750-1000
2)Reset and retool cutoffs
3)Almost never
4)-10

[Scythemaster 37]

1) What do you think Flame notes should be worth? It seems that most posters in this thread aren't opposed to the suggestion that Flame notes were previously over powered... but where do you see the balance between "over powered" and "under powered"?

I think Flame Notes should be the value they were before. You could make it to where Bandmate couldn't hit Flame Notes anymore.

2) If the Flame note values remain as is would you rather see the leaderboards reset or see them remain as is?

If you made it to where Flame Notes could not be hit by Bandmate, then you'd still need to reset the leaderboards. If you leave Flame Notes as they are, I think you should still reset the leaderboards. Ultimately, unless you're going to buff up some of the other powerups to make it so the current unattainable scores become attainable, you need to reset the leaderboards.

3) How often do you use Flame notes when playing Blitz? Never, sometimes, all the time?

Before the change I used them all the time.

4) How important are top leaderboard scores to you on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being "never think about them" and 10 being "they consume my every waking moment"?

Probably a 6, but having unattainable scores on the leaderboards just ruins any leaderboard-based game.

[Ketchupyoshi57]

1) What do you think Flame notes should be worth? It seems that most posters in this thread aren't opposed to the suggestion that Flame notes were previously over powered... but where do you see the balance between "over powered" and "under powered"?

I don't think the solution is as simple as changing their point value. Instead, something needs to be changed in the way flame notes spread to prevent infinite juggling. The many alternate solutions mentioned in this thread may be more difficult to implement, but it will result in a much more balanced game.

2) If the Flame note values remain as is would you rather see the leaderboards reset or see them remain as is?

I would rather see a partial reset of the leaderboards, if possible. Since only flame notes are affected, only flame note scores should be reset. However, this would frustrate a lot of players who mostly played flame notes under the old system. At this point, I think several of the other powerups might need to be buffed to make those scores attainable again if the leaderboards aren't reset. This won't solve the problem for all songs though, because Bandmate/Flame scores on 3-lane songs will still be literally unbeatable.

3) How often do you use Flame notes when playing Blitz? Never, sometimes, all the time?

Before the nerf, most of the time. About 70% of my powerup loadouts involved Jackpot/Flame or Bandmate/Flame, because they took a lot of skill to use and I was rewarded accordingly. After the nerf, never. In fact, I only use pinball now because it's the only way to get close to most of my flame scores.

4) How important are top leaderboard scores to you on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being "never think about them" and 10 being "they consume my every waking moment"?

10. I play competitively to the point of obsession using whatever strategy it takes to get to the top. Most of the fun in Blitz for me comes from figuring out what the person at #1 did and either improving their strategy or trying something even better. I don't consider a song "beaten" until I'm the best in the world at it. That being said, I haven't touched most of the songs with unobtainable flame scores since the nerf. My focus has shifted to songs where I can pinball or blast my way to victory.

[lemonsquared]

1) What do you think Flame notes should be worth? It seems that most posters in this thread aren't opposed to the suggestion that Flame notes were previously over powered... but where do you see the balance between "over powered" and "under powered"?

2) If the Flame note values remain as is would you rather see the leaderboards reset or see them remain as is?

3) How often do you use Flame notes when playing Blitz? Never, sometimes, all the time?

4) How important are top leaderboard scores to you on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being "never think about them" and 10 being "they consume my every waking moment"?

1) idk 1000
2) reset all scores before the first update
3) like 90% percent of the time
4) well uh 10 !?

[Nekketsu]

1) The original value, but buff Blitz mode and the other power-ups to make them somewhat more viable. The way flame notes are generated needs to be redone, but that's most likely impossible without a patch and I can see why you are reluctant to do that (the insane prices MS and Sony charge for them). As a middle road, maybe 800-1000. Leaving them at 350 or whatever actually makes them worth less and less the longer the song is..

2) You have to reset it. It's the only way as the way it is now it's impossible to top Jack/Flame and Band/Flame combos where the player knew what they were doing.


3) I alternated, and Band/Flame was one of the combos I liked to play with. I usually played Jack/Blast though.

4) About 5 or so. I liked comparing my score to the others on my friend list and my previous scores, but trying to top the top 10 was impossible for me at my skill level. Unfortunately I find it impossible to top a few of my band/flame scores now, which brings up the leaderboard problem I already mentioned.


For other purple note rebalancing, the only things I can think of is have Blast Notes cover a wider range but lower point value, Runaway Notes show up more often OR give something like a flucuating value depending on how perfect you were in chasing it (as in nailing every sparkly note gives you something like 25k, lowering the value each time you hit a non sparkly till it's 1k or so), speed pinball up significantly so it's not as cheesy as it is now. Pinball itself is hard to think of a way to balance though since it's so fundamentally different to how the game is 'supposed' to be played, and you'll always have problems with 1-2 lane songs with it.

Actually, maybe the best change to Flame Notes is breaking Blitz mode will also destroy a Flame Note chain. This will prevent button mashing cheesing, and will still allow the skilled players to do their Jack/Flame combos. Not really much you can do with Band/Flame, especially without penalizing people who did it without mashing.

[VAgentZero]

1) What do you think Flame notes should be worth? It seems that most posters in this thread aren't opposed to the suggestion that Flame notes were previously over powered... but where do you see the balance between "over powered" and "under powered"?

500-750. 1500 is way, way off the chain. I do echo the others' notions of depreciating value as Flame Notes go on (or perhaps a time limit for how long they can last.)

ETA: I also like the aforementioned idea that they drop if you miss a certain number of notes -- one, or just lose Blitz. It does seem pretty simple to spam.

2) If the Flame note values remain as is would you rather see the leaderboards reset or see them remain as is?

Reset them, solely because it keeps things on a fair playing field for existing and new players. (You may want to retain the data in the case of future changes.)

3) How often do you use Flame notes when playing Blitz? Never, sometimes, all the time?

Seldom, because they feel like an exploit to me, almost like a cheat.

4) How important are top leaderboard scores to you on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being "never think about them" and 10 being "they consume my every waking moment"?

3. I like to play to beat my own scores and those of my friends, and earn five and gold stars on my songs to improve my own efforts.

[Epsilon82]

Ugh...I picked the wrong time to duck out on this thread, right before an official response shows up.

First of all, Happy New Year, everyone!

I'll be uncharacteristically brief tonight, but I reserve the right to excessively bloviate tomorrow. ;-)

1) I believe Flame Notes should be kept exactly where they were, at 1500 points. Anything lower would essentially require a leaderboard wipe, and there are far better solutions to the exploit problem in the long term, even if they may require a software patch.

2) I don't even want to contemplate Flame note values remaining as is, but if they did, I don't see how the current leaderboards could have any meaning anymore. But the idea of losing all of the work and achievements we've garnered so far is incredibly disheartening. The mere possibility of having to resort to this exigency should make it obvious enough that leaving Flame notes in their present state is a terrible idea. In the end, I can't see myself playing the game with any regularity anymore if Flames aren't reverted at least to the point where Road Rage/Blast Notes can't consistently beat Jackpot/Flame on an average song.

3) I almost always used Flame Notes, except in songs that are too complex, fast, or dense for Jackpot to be practical for me, in which case I'd use Blast.

4) I'd have to say 7, but only because much to my incredible surprise I have actually found myself quite frequently approaching the top on quite a few songs. However, I very rarely play a song more than twice in a single sitting. I'm not the grinding type. If it weren't for the fact that I've somehow gotten good at the game, I'd say 4.

However, I think another valuable question would be "On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is the capability of improving your own scores?" My answer to that would be 11. As it stands now, nothing sticks in my craw worse than knowing that even some of my more mediocre Jack/Flame runs will be untouchable unless I start training myself to use that abomination of a powerup known as Pinball, something I have no interest in whatsoever. It's even worse to know that hundreds upon hundreds of songs on my list will have permanently lower placement just because I hadn't gotten around to replacing my early Road Rage/Blast Note scores before this nerf.

Well, apparently I'm incapable of being brief when it comes to discussing this game...so I'll shut up for now.

[Bront20]

1) 1500 was too much, 500 was too little. 1000 isn't a bad place to start. Problem is that 1500 was balanced for most normal use. It was the exploit of Jack/Flame (not really an exploit, but yields unusually good results) and Band/Flame (exploiting the timing window). I think 1500 and points shrinking down by 50 is a good compromise. But if that's too complex, then 1000 sounds like a good option.

2) I personally think that regular Leaderboard Resets could be made into an event. Do it every 4 months to a year. Give people a fresh chance to earn a top leaderboard spot. Just make sure you archive the old one for people to view. Hell, if you schedule a time to do it every 4 months, you can rebalance things every 4 months to change things up. Each rebalance will be trying to find the new ultimate combo. Maybe 2X gets a boost, or Shockwave is suddently the new hotness.

However, if you don't, then I don't think you should reset them till you get a 100% firm grasp on the power up balances. Otherwise you might have to do it again (And again) anyway.

3) I use flame on occasion, but usually when I'm aiming for an obsenely high score that I can't get with Road Rage/Blast Notes. Sometimes I go Rage/Flame or Jack/Blast, and occasionally I try Jack/Flame, but I just prefer Rage/Blast, and use that on 90% of the songs I play.

4) Probably a 4. I like them, I like to compete with friends on songs, and occasionally get a high score, but I don't fret when I don't, and I usually judge my performance more on getting a GS than a super high score.

[S1ckH4nds]

1) Reset the flame note value to where it was pre-nerf.
2) If the flame notes stay as they are now, it doesn't matter if you wipe or keep the leaderboards to me, as I probably won't play the game any further.
3) About 75% of my runs are either Jack/Flame or Band/Flame, with the remainder being Pin/Sync or Shock/Blast on faster & denser songs.
4) 10. Leaderboard competition is my main reason for playing the game, as score wars have pretty much disappeared from being a thing on my friends list.

[ilRadd]

In the interest of collecting as much info as possible before meeting with the team to discuss further, I thought it would be helpful to float a few short questions to posters in this thread. Please respond if you have a moment, it'll be really helpful in defining the overall temperature of the forum community.

1) What do you think Flame notes should be worth? It seems that most posters in this thread aren't opposed to the suggestion that Flame notes were previously over powered... but where do you see the balance between "over powered" and "under powered"?

2) If the Flame note values remain as is would you rather see the leaderboards reset or see them remain as is?

3) How often do you use Flame notes when playing Blitz? Never, sometimes, all the time?

4) How important are top leaderboard scores to you on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being "never think about them" and 10 being "they consume my every waking moment"?

I'll pass along any responses that pop up before Wednesday and will flesh these out to full fledged polls if we need more definitive stats. Thanks all.

1) I'm not sure - it's a tough call no matter what you do.
2) If they are going to remain, it would probably be best to reset the leaderboards & run a pass through gold star requirements for some of the tougher songs.
3) I sometimes use Flame Notes - I use blast & pinball more often though.
4) I do like seeing where I am on the leaderboards.