Dear NWI, there are a number of AI problems (listed below) in the current version of the game which started getting accumulated since update 1.8 that made PvE extremely boring and easy for some of us to the point it's no longer fun to play. I realize not all agree, which is why I'm suggesting instead of axing one player type group over the other, you make everyone happy and provide two AI difficulty options for all PvE game modes; one that's more forgiving targeted to more laid back casuals and another option that offers a truly challenging experience for those who enjoy that. I understand this will split the already small player base, but it's better than deterring either group from wanting to play your game in the first place. I am also suggesting only 2 options instead of 3 or 4 to mitigate that issue. It could look a little something like this https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2494745912 where the player can have both difficulties checked if they only care about queue time. If a miracle happens and somehow you actually agreed to do this, the naming you choose is of course up to you, but if you do go with those names I think it would be a good idea to rename Hardcore Checkpoint (the game mode) to something else, say Tactical Checkpoint or something, again the name you choose doesn't matter, this is just to avoid unnecessary confusion.

Having only one difficulty and trying to balance it for everyone just won't work, I already heard people saying they are still getting one tapped in 1.10, having two options instead will give you freedom to eliminate these issues that can be frustrating for some people without depriving others from the challenging experience they're after, win-win.

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Most of the times I see a post complaining about the AI, it's yet another post of a player pissed they got killed by a bot. This post on the other hand lists current AI problems that made the PvE experience very boring and easy. I might be missing some, but those are the major ones I'm noticing. Some of these appear to be caused by longstanding, ignored and unacknowledged bugs while others are caused by NWI's wise methods of constructing "solutions" to address complaints made by the players which ended up making things worse than they were before, looking at you "AI Overhaul."

Here is the list with a conclusion and a tl;dr at the end. These are not sorted in any particular order; however, number 1, 2 and 7 are the worst offenders.

The AI path finding has been borked since 1.9 if not before, and was reported but I have yet to see NWI acknowledges it as a known issue, which is mind boggling for such a major and obvious issue like this to not get noticed and continue to get ignored for so long. This is mostly apparent during the counterattack of the last objective. I've seen players wonder why it feels like the number of enemy bots is very low, well it's because of this issue. The number of enemy bots didn't decrease, but many can't find their way to you. Here's a sample video of these dumb bots that couldn't make up their minds to choose a path and kept circling around their spawn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ntDRYgOYQs
So it seems they finally acknowledged the issue. What took you so long and how long until you fix it?

Originally posted by LukeSimms:

Known Issues

• There may be an issue where AI may not navigate properly towards to the objective area and will run back and forth

Enemy bots no longer engage in firefight AT ALL past a certain distance that's fairly short. This was an intentional change introduced as part of the "AI Overhaul" in 1.8 as a "solution" to getting headshotted by a bot with a Uzi from across the map. Who thought this was a good idea? Just like the previous point, this affected the last objective counterattack in a number of maps where you get to mow down the bots and they don't do anything about it. You don't even need a magnified optic, it's that short. If we can shoot at them, they should be able to shoot back at us, it's that simple. This issue stacks with the one above in ways that made the last objective the easiest when it's supposed to be the hardest.

Originally posted by UncleBourbon:

Originally posted by WelcomeToTheShitshow:

Something I would add to weird ai behavior is that they get off the point for some reason. For example your team capped some obj and you get the info that enemies are on the obj. If you wait long enough or call out to them a few times they will just wander off into the sunset more or less. It would be a lot better if they would just stay on the obj or even better search the obj for you and your mates.

Yes, you're right about that one too, it could be related to the path finding issue idk.

Enemy insurgent bots used to attempt and be able at times to take down our helicopters, not anymore. This has been the case for a very long time now. I don't know if this is a bug or intentional change, but since it was never mentioned in any changelog, I'll call it a bug. This also has been reported and typical NWI hasn't acknowledged it. This problem further makes the last objective a lame joke as it's typically the time you'd call the helis. inb4 NWI's "fix" is to delete helis, I wouldn't be surprised at this point.

Originally posted by UncleBourbon:

Originally posted by GrimRose0:

The reason for not taking down helis is the reason you mentioned about range finding for engagements with AI. They lack the distance required to engage a Helicopter, so yeah.

Didn't think about that, you might be right.

Bots used to insta-melee you the moment you're in close proximity from them. When they do that you had no chance to kill them before they kill you since they seem to have no melee animation delay like you do. That was bad and people complained about that, so NWI made the bots take ages to do anything when you're right up their face. Why you gotta go the other end of the spectrum? Just make it possible to kill the bot if the player reacts fast enough, otherwise the player should die! This affects Frenzy bots as well. Another terrible change brought by the "AI Overhaul."

As part of the "AI Overhaul," the bots way of "taking cover" when you shoot at them is to stop and go prone. The funny thing is Frenzy bots do that too, which doesn't make any sense when instead of chasing you to melee yo ass they stop and go prone, like wtf is that?

Update 1.8 which was the start of the "AI Overhaul" increased the bots' time to shoot and to add insult to injury update 1.10 greatly reduced their shooting accuracy, they are literally programmed to miss shots on purpose for a PROLONGED period of time until the accuracy finally ramps up which at that point they already gave you enough alert to kill them first, I mean if they were not shooting at all it would actually be less easy, it's that bad, they're basically telling you "hey I'm here come get a free kill." It's absolutely terrible and all add up to turning PvE lame.

How is this fun?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlZq5Bd_fLM

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The game has always portrayed the PvE experience as intense and unforgiving, even Frenzy's tagline was "YOU THOUGHT CHECKPOINT WAS HARD," now both are too easy and boring, LAME. I don't know if this is due to a change of direction, misunderstanding complaints and constructing terrible solutions or the usual breaking of stuff, probably all of the above.

I said this before and I'll say it again, if we can't get a proper intelligent AI that's both challenging and fair, then I'd rather take a broken challenging AI that kills me unfairly than a broken easy AI that makes the game boring. Challenge is an important part of the fun, even if it's unfair at times, if it's not challenging it's not fun. In other words, bring back the old AI (pre 1.8), because while it was far from perfect, it was way better than what we currently have. I honestly can't think of anything brought by the "AI Overhaul" that's actually good.

Winning a game now tastes very bland and no longer feel satisfying. You or any of your teammates no longer get to experience the intensity of being the last man standing as often as it has been pre 1.8, and when that does happen "the clutch" is anticlimactic with the dumbed down AI.

I know the AI has always been inconsistent, but most of these problems are consistent in contributing to making PvE boring and easy. Also, none of these problems existed pre 1.8 in the first place, so it's not impossible to fix them.

The funny thing is I'm barely an average skilled player and I'm the one who had to highlight this ♥♥♥♥, which I bet will continue to get ignored and things will most probably get even worse, so I just wasted my time typing this, gj me.

Don't suggest me to play on community servers or PvP, neither are solutions to those problems.

Similar post that went ignored. https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/app/581320/discussions/0/3109142047897945913

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There are a number of AI problems that made PvE very easy and boring for some of us, these include:

1. Broken AI path finding
   
2. Bots are forbidden from firing at players past a certain distance
   
3. Bots tend to wander off obj allowing easy securing of said obj
   
4. Insurgent bots no longer attempt to shoot down helicopters
   
5. Bots can take ages to melee you
   
6. Other weird AI behavior like run, stop, prone, repeat. In Frenzy too *facepalm*
   
7. Greatly reduced the bots shooting accuracy while increasing their time to shoot

Request: add 2 AI difficulty options in official servers and make everyone happy, thx. https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2494745912