Bugs and design issues in Mod 15

[Adinos]

Module 15 is suffering from a number of problems, and while it is not the complete and utter disaster that Mod 6 was, it is still bad enough to hurt the game more than it helps.

Of course, some bugs and questionable design issues are always to be expected. Players know that, and expect most of the issues to be fixed eventually, but considering the small size of Mod 15, the number of issues is way beyond what anyone expected - it is clear that the module was rushed into release before it was tested sufficiently.

Let's just look at some of the issues:

• "Full delivery box". This is a "showstopper" bug. It basically happens when you fill up your delivery box before you reach the point in the quest chain where you can take anything from it. This is more likely to happen if you did not clear your 9 profession tasks before downloading Mod 15, and when you send your gatherers out the first time, you tell them to collect something like "as many Flax as possible". Your box will fill up, and you cannot empty it. Sure, if you tell them to go and gather just one copper ore, you will be fine, but not everyone does that. As a result, you have a number of frustrated players unable to proceed in professions. What is particularly annoying is that this was reported as a showstopper back in Preview....and not fixed in time for release.
  
• "Full inventory bug". This is another showstopper for anyone starting a new character - new players and those leveling up one or two new characters to take advantage of the current event. You just get stuck, unable to get get the final rewards from the Clockwork tower quest, and for a new player something like this may lead them to dismiss the game as buggy HAMSTER..."10 hours of my life I am not getting back".
  
• "The Callum issue". This is more like the typical bug one would expect to see ... something that requires a specific set of circumstances (in this case, picking a specific retainer for a male character)...annoying, but understandable how something like that was not caught by the limited QC. It's strange that it was not found on Preview, but maybe everyone either just used female crafters or picked some other retainer - I did at least, just didn't realize that the differences between the retainers were anything but cosmetic.
  
• "The alchemist flood". I really cannot consider this anything but a bug, when for most players the majority of random applications they get are for alchemists. Eventually you will get applications for other professions, of course, but maybe only after you have rejected or fired every alchemsist from the pool. Anyhow, this is frustrating - either a bug or a really bad design decision.
  
• "Overpriced applicants". Now, you can trade in your old assets, and use the credit to get new ones. However, unlike the 9 "free" ones you get in exchange for the slots you had unlocked, you have no control over what you get, and more likely than not you will end up having to fire them, wasting your credits. This is not a bug - it is clearly working as intended, so I'll classify this just as a really bad design decision.
  
• "Why upgrade?". Getting the workshop to rank 3 is easy, but rank 4 is an entirely different matter (unless you did it on the very first day before certain things were changed). The problem, however, is that there is no real benefit to spending all that effort on the upgrade. Sure, you cget a few more slots in the delivery box, but due to the limited number of tasks you can run at once, that's not really a big benefit. Yes, you do have a higher chance of getting applications from purple workers, but it seems most of those are overpaid divas with +150% commission cost or something like that. A significant effort with no clear benefit is an example of a bad design.
  
• "Getting the eggs". Many players got stuck on not being able to turn in the egg quest, but fortunately there was a workaround for that one...just watch all the cutscenes in full, so this was only a minor annoyance.. Still, something like this should never have gotten through testing.
  
• "80/100" People are getting stuck, not being able to reach the weekly limit for the new campaign the first week, which is a prime example of a bad design. Yes, you can get the additional 20 from the box, but that's only for a single character - it does not apply to alts. In theory, you can earn the remaining 20 if you random queue and happen to end up in the new skirmish, but the chances for that are low. So, again, bad design.
  
• "The +5" rings. The drop rate for the +5 rings seems indeed to have been increased nicely. However, even something as simple as this comes with flaws. Half of the +5 rings are not really feasible for most players. In the past they would have been salvage fodder, but now, unlike epic rings, well, you cannot convert the +5 legendary rings to RP, just sell them for a pitiful amount of gold. Also, while the drop rate of +5 riings from hunts does indeed seem to have been increased, people do not report a corresponding increase in +5 drop rate from Fane. If that's correct, I don't consider that fair.
  
• Assorted small issues reported on preview, but not fixed. People reported a number of minor things (like incorrect exchange value for Crucibles) on Preview, and they were not fixed in time for release or even in the first patch. This really discourages people from trying to help tracking down bugs.

So, yes. too many bugs and bad design decisions...and two "showstopper" issues still present. I really hope the developers were working overtime during the weekend to fix those.