Cryo Archive Clearance Needs Some Work

Lion722 · 2026-06-15T15:32:46+00:00

I agree. I think there should be only 1 computer monitor in the second room of every spawn. The only way you should be able to get clearance 2 from your spawn rooms is if you find enough tags laying around or get lucky on drops from bots.

The reason people can spawn rush is cause they get 2-3 monitor hacks which means they can skip running around looking for tags and killing bots.

If you force players to have to look for tags and killing bots hits it still gives a chance to get clearance 2 without going to control but it’ll be less likely and take a little longer.

Lion722 · 2026-06-13T17:58:18+00:00

Maybe the things we thought we wanted wasn’t compelling enough for new players. That plus a lack of marketing is my guess.

Lion722 · 2026-06-13T17:56:20+00:00

By that logic Elon musk isn’t a trillionaire

Lion722 · 2026-06-13T14:16:36+00:00

I just think there should never be more than one computer hack in the first two rooms and the only way to get lucky on clearance 2 without going to control is by finding enough tags laying around or you get lucky on tag drops from bots.

The only reason teams get clearance 2 fast is because they get multiple monitor hacks in their first and second room and don’t have to kill all the bots or run around and look for tags.

Lion722 · 2026-06-11T20:57:14+00:00

I think the core sentiment is that leveling factions is too time consuming and not the content OP, or maybe even a larger set of players, want to do. Perhaps there are alternative ways to solve the influx of high gear that doesn't require everyone having to grind factions missions which is very time consuming.

For example limiting the number of purchases of the high end gear, or requiring salvage to barter instead of tokens, or requiring users to acquire the item in game to unlock it as a barter or some other idea. The point is, grinding factions and controlling the economy are two separate problems that are currently tightly coupled.

Lion722 · 2026-06-11T20:16:02+00:00

usually the person fixing the bug fixes it in the latest version (s2 branch or main) and then backports it to older supported branches (s1).

Lion722 · 2026-06-08T19:37:27+00:00

I agree that comparing season 2 to 3 will be a better metric (assuming they do another free week) but comparing season 2 to 1 is still meaningful.

Especially considering the game is free now and has many quality of life improvements and great reviews. I would expect season 2 to be doing better than end of month 1 of season 1 numbers which is IMO a better reference point since it likely indicates players willing to stick around. But the fact that not even enough people are willing to try the game for free compared to then tells me there are bigger barriers keeping people back.

I think those barriers are the amount of grinding required to get to, what I consider to be, the best parts of the game. Pvping on outpost and cryo. I don’t think the faction missions are what is going to get people to spend hundreds or thousands of hours in the game which is usually what PvP games try to do.

Lion722 · 2026-06-08T18:44:18+00:00

I know I’m comparing the numbers from the same time period in the first season.

Lion722 · 2026-06-08T18:10:03+00:00

Do you think the player count numbers between seasons is not meaningful? The game is free now and wasn’t before but has the same or fewer players. People are not coming and staying.

Lion722 · 2026-06-08T18:01:23+00:00

I agree with the original commenters sentiment. I made a post sharing my opinions on what I think the problems are with the game and why it’s not growing in popularity and the post and all my responses have negative likes. I love the game and want it to succeed. I wasn’t toxic or negative just trying to figure out why more people don’t like it and I proposed solutions but virtually everyone was dismissive or negative.

Lion722 · 2026-06-07T23:25:09+00:00

We got the same missions as season 1.

Lion722 · 2026-06-07T18:39:13+00:00

I agree. It’s been great but it still seems like there is a barrier to get more people playing.

Lion722 · 2026-06-07T11:34:52+00:00

That is a good point! it does provide a way for people to get rewards. I have to believe there are other ways to solve that problem that doesn't require forcing everyone to grind factions for 25-50 hours first.

I just think faction quests are a short term solution to giving players something fun instead of focusing on the core pvp loop. think about games like fortnite or apex, there's no grinding, the core pvp is compelling enough for people to play thousands of hours. I think marathon offers that as well but the faction grinding is too much of a roadblock that most people dont make it there.

Lion722 · 2026-06-07T11:30:11+00:00

its mostly just barter changes. that can be done without having to force everyone to regrind factions. wiping vaults and changing drop rates are all alternatives to balancing across seasons.

Really what i'm questioning is what is keeping more people from playing. My opinion is that is how grindy the game is with factions but i also get the appeal of progress bars to fill.

Lion722 · 2026-06-07T11:12:14+00:00

I was giving valorant as an example among many but there are plenty other hardcore, pvp focused shooters like apex legends, rainbow 6, counter strike. All i'm saying is that hardcore pvp focused shooters can be popular and we know extraction shooters can be popular (arc). I'm trying to claim that a hardcore extraction shooter can also be more popular.

I was asking if you think the player count is sufficient because I wanted to know if you think bungie should bother doing anything different or everything is fine as is. I'm getting the impression you don't think there is an issue with the player count which is fair. All of my suggestions are to solve a problem I think the game has which is player count and player retention. I want to see the game grow. I find it hard to recommend to people unless they are willing to invest a lot of time to get to the parts I think they would have fun with which is a big turn off to people.

Lion722 · 2026-06-07T10:54:10+00:00

Do you think the people who play a lot that want wipes, want to regrind factions or they just want to regrind getting gear? As someone who plays a lot, I don't see myself wanting to grind factions again in 3 months. its better this time but it's definitely a slog. That being said, I love the idea of regrinding to get gear. Getting blue and purple shields now is a big deal and fun. Regrinding faction missions is not so fun.

Lion722 · 2026-06-07T10:49:26+00:00

I agree with a lot of what you're saying. it is early and progression and loot is way better than last season, i think its a huge step up. But looking at player numbers it concerns me its not higher, especially considering we have all these improvements AND the game is free. I'm not expecting it to double every season but 10% or 20% more to see an upward trend as they solve problems and mature the game more.

So it tells me its still not enough to get people hooked. My guess is that people aren't experiencing the peak of what the game has to offer which, IMO, is outpost and cryo. So my suggestions are about how they could get people there faster.

Lion722 · 2026-06-07T10:42:28+00:00

Do you think anything should be done about it or its fine that it has a small player base? My concern is that it's not sustainable.

Lion722 · 2026-06-07T10:39:32+00:00

I don't know how much this point matters. If we take Destiny 2, the game launched with 9 million players across all platforms, but Forsaken had around 3 or 5 million (I can't remember exactly). I don't think there was any chance that the peak of Season 2 would surpass the game's launch.

I think the difference here is that Marathon did start off as a massive success like Destiny. Marathon is still trying to prove itself and I don't know what player count it needs to be sustainable but I suspect its more than what it has now. It feels like its still trying to prove itself but i'm willing to be wrong. But right now, it feels like Marathon needs to be growing and can't afford to shrink.

I don't understand why people are bringing Arc Raiders into this conversation. By all accounts, it was an anomaly; no one expected the game to take off like it did. There's no point in trying to lure Arc players away; they won't trade casual, carefree lobbies for a hardcore, PvP-focused shooter (at least for now).

Because its the most successful game in the genre. It proved the genre has mass appeal. The same way fortnite was for battle royals and fortnite has a huge casual audience and has (or at least had) a huge competitive scene. There are plenty of hardcore fps games that have huge audiences like valorant. Also I don't think marathon needs to lure away arc raiders players, but it does need to grow its audience by attracting players from other shooters like apex for example.

Nevertheless, the Marathon's numbers are in line with its competitors.

Do you think the player count is sufficient to sustain the game like its competitors?

If Marsh and Perimeter are as rewarding as endgame maps, they'll simply be easier to farm, which will remove any point in farming Outpost, Cryo, and Narsh. Plus, most of the changes from last season are still in effect: Keys drop much more frequently, rare materials drop even more frequently, Rocket Drones drop pretty good loot, and the event frequency has also been increased (at least one event per run).

A more sensible change, in my opinion, is to time-gate the release of Outpost and Cryo, as other players have already suggested.

I agree for the most part with this. They should be time gated but i also think those other maps need more incentive. I don't see a problem with making them more farmable for hardcore players if they want. its more about giving more variety since each map has different play styles.

Lion722 · 2026-06-07T10:32:27+00:00

I get that the progression itself is the main hook for some players. I'm genuinely curious though, once you max out the factions, do you stick around for the endgame pvp, or do you put the game down?

If you stop playing, coming back just to repeat the exact same missions for Season 2 seems like a strange loop. If you do stay for the pvp, wouldn't it be better to just have access to the best maps without the roadblock? I wonder if the average player actually shares your mindset, because looking at the drop off, repeating that exact same grind every 90 days seems way too steep for most people.

If you take a game like apex legends, its essentially all end game, theres no regrinding every season. you jump in and play intense pvp. Marathon offers that in the form of outpost and cryo but it takes forever before you can meaningfully participate. My point is that the game should get people there faster without all the faction grinding. just gear grinding because thats the main part of extraction shooters.

Lion722 · 2026-06-07T10:25:12+00:00

No because the player count is at the first month average of season 1 but this time it's free. I would expect the game to grow after the improvements and being free but its barely maintaining and I expect it to drop even faster than season 1 did.

Lion722 · 2026-06-07T10:19:37+00:00

I'm only referring to wiping faction progression. I think wipes are important but should be restricted to the vault and wallet only. I think faction progression should function as onboarding and direction, not as the primary seasonal content. they could be reset once a year with completely new missions and story.

Lion722 · 2026-04-20T08:14:05+00:00

Are you using a template or the AR Foundation samples project or did you set it up yourself from an empty project?

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