I appreciate all the work the developers have put into this game so far. I'm a big fan of the era and really like where this game is headed in the long run. That said, I have some thoughts, ideas and quality of life issues to share with any developer or player interested. I tried to break this down into sections to make it an easier read.
Starting from biggest issue to smallest --
CREW MANAGEMENT:
(I love the idea of being able to build a crew of unique characters with their own traits and stories. So much of what's already here is great, these suggestions are just meant to put it over the top.)
* We should be able to assign Gangsters to rackets or patrols -- This to me seems like a no brainer. Yes, we can make our gangsters Lieutenants and give them their own neighborhood and safehouse to control, but that doesn't seem to do much other than take your best gangsters off the board for future action. What's the fun in investing in a gangster, leveling them up, only to stick them behind a desk for the rest of the game? Removing them from their safehouses to get them in a battle pisses them off, and can even lead to them quitting, when really it shouldn't. My pitch would be to make the Lt promotion permanent unless you fire them from your payroll entirely. They can leave their safehouses to do missions for you without having to be "demoted".
Beyond this switch, it would be nice to be able to assign your gangsters to work/oversee specific rackets as made men, before they're promoted to Lt. To me, this means assigning them to a racket (giving that racket certain perks based on their skills/backstory) but also keeps them in any fight which may arise should the racket be attacked. There could be costs to doing this for the player, for example if an alcoholic gangster is assigned to work a Speak, he/she could end up becoming more of a drunk et al. In addition, it would be nice to be able to set up smaller crews of your gangsters to patrol like the AI does. Yes, we can do that manually now (and I do it often, it's fun), but later in game it would make it much easier to be able to assign patrol routes to your crew.
* The Rich Love Lives of our Gangsters need some tweaks -- I love the notion that our crew have their own beefs and love interests already built into the game. But what I've noticed is that if you hire a gangster who doesn't have a previous love interest, they will fall in love with one of your other crew after working with them a certain amount of time. This feels like a mechanic that could use some clarity. It gets to be a hassle to have your best gangsters falling in love with someone who doesn't care for them, only to have them end up killing or quitting because of something you cannot control. What I'd love to see is some sort of mini-choice/game come up within the crew dynamics that lets you build to a love relationship or squash it. The mechanics for these choices seem to already be in place, but there are seemingly ways to make this whole interpersonal relationship angle more "playable" for the player rather than holding us hostage to its outcomes.
AI DIPLOMACY IS TOO UNPREDICTABLE TO BE MUCH FUN:
* Right now, aside from the crew management issues raised above, this is the biggest thing holding the game back from reaching its full potential imo. Diplomacy is just chaos. You can only have X amount of business deals with other gangsters at a time - but there's no warning or UI letting the player know this, either before striking a new deal or during the game. You can get on other gangster's good sides by trading weapons for cash, but there's really no other way to keep a rival's opinion of you high. I've offered tributes (they don't do much for long), I have avoided making ANY deals with anyone to keep everyone happy (doesn't help), I've tried focusing on only pleasing one other rival and helping them whenever they ask -- and yet I still get an "enemy" rating before long with almost everyone. Even when I tried a slow/smaller playthrough where I only focused on holding 5 rackets, not expanding, not becoming a threat, and not fighting with others. Despite this passive approach, I was hated by everyone sooner rather than later.
* I'm not a developer or coder/programmer so I don't have an answer for how to fix this issue, but it seems to me a starting point would be to allow players to do as many deals as they wish with other gangsters. Gangsters can still hold grudges with you if you do deals with other players, but it shouldn't be capped at 2 total deals at a time, certainly not without warning us that's the ceiling. It also doesn't seem to make much sense that the player is penalized by the AI for "not doing something" when another player breaks a business deal. I tried going to war immediately when someone broke off a deal with me, but that didn't do anything to raise that rating, so I'm not sure what the point of it is. We get penalized for diplomacy regardless of what we choose. I get that the end of the game requires us beating everyone else, but right now there's no way to "work with" other gangsters. Not really.
* The AI is also VERY slow to expand even in the highest level. In the playthrough I did recently where I intentionally tried to play slow and just focus on keeping 5-10 rackets (while trying to fully upgrade them all without fighting anyone but for when attacked), I was able to make it deep into 1925 before the AI really started expanding beyond their original footprint (they'd fight to take over each other's rackets but no one hardly ever expanded into abandoned buildings, empty neighborhoods, or even minor factions). I think this is one issue, along with the safehouse situation which I hit on below, that leads to "quick" victories even on the hardest level. If a player just goes out and takes one or two abandoned buildings per month, they'll be uber-powerful before the end of 1922 and the AI won't be able to catch up. I'm not sure what the fix here is, the last patch really upped the defensive measures taken by other gangs -- but didn't really slow down the player's ability to win the game within 2 years if they really want.
RACKET MANAGEMENT:
* I've done a few playthroughs now just trying to focus on the upgrading of my rackets to the highest levels to see what kind of perks/differences that can make. So far what I've noticed is that there really isn't an incentive to upgrade your rackets. Despite taking more time and money to fully upgrade 10 rackets, I saw little to no benefit to my playthrough than if I had just gone through and taken over empty buildings or existing rackets without upgrading any of them. Get 100 rackets (easy to do), don't upgrade any of them, and then it doesn't matter if you lose 1, 3, or even 5 in a month to raids or other factions. In fact, it was cheaper and faster to win if I did NOT upgrade Deflect or Security and just let the cops raid my places (or even other gangsters) and focused instead on taking new rackets to offset the losses. I'm not sure that's what the developers had in mind, but right now the best way to play is NOT to upgrade which seems counterintuitive.
* Also, it's been said by others but being able to re-name a racket seems like something we should be able to do at any point in time, not just when we first purchase/take over a racket.
QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUES / MISC:
* MISSING AI FIGHTS - I wish other gangs would have to fight it out with each other and thugs rather than being able to just walk up to a building, look at it, then absorb it magically into their empire. Playing "slow" the past few times allowed me to watch the AI work a bit, and there's never any fighting or shootouts, and I think this is a missed opportunity for fun (though I imagine it would add to processing time). It also leads to the often complained about problem of the AI patrols taking the loot boxes without having to fight the thugs for them, leaving a bunch of random thugs guarding no-longer-there loot crates.
* NO MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - We have a slot for miscellaneous items but so far there aren't any items we can use in that slot. Instead, a bunch of stuff that seem like misc items (boxing gloves, gun-kits, military manuals, pocket watches etc) all require the armor slot to activate. This makes the coolest items in the game (imo) completely useless because you're not going to use them over armor. This seems like another easy fix.
* SAFE HOUSES - the change to make safe house discovery slower in 1.03 was nice but still falls short. Within a year of knowing anyone, you'll have their safehouse location. I would propose making this more of an interactive process for the player. Why not have dialogue boxes and missions pop up to FIND the safe house? Tiny side missions you'd have to complete (such as, say, capturing or interrogating one of your rival's crew) would go a long ways to making this mechanic work as intended. Being able to end a faction in one fight, within a few months of knowing them, just makes the game way too fast.
* OTHER GANGSTERS - I wish we could poach other gangsters like the AI tries to do to our crew. We should be able to run into them in the game (outside of safe house fights) and try to win them over to our crew.
That's the long and short of it. Thanks for your time.
Starting from biggest issue to smallest --
CREW MANAGEMENT:
(I love the idea of being able to build a crew of unique characters with their own traits and stories. So much of what's already here is great, these suggestions are just meant to put it over the top.)
* We should be able to assign Gangsters to rackets or patrols -- This to me seems like a no brainer. Yes, we can make our gangsters Lieutenants and give them their own neighborhood and safehouse to control, but that doesn't seem to do much other than take your best gangsters off the board for future action. What's the fun in investing in a gangster, leveling them up, only to stick them behind a desk for the rest of the game? Removing them from their safehouses to get them in a battle pisses them off, and can even lead to them quitting, when really it shouldn't. My pitch would be to make the Lt promotion permanent unless you fire them from your payroll entirely. They can leave their safehouses to do missions for you without having to be "demoted".
Beyond this switch, it would be nice to be able to assign your gangsters to work/oversee specific rackets as made men, before they're promoted to Lt. To me, this means assigning them to a racket (giving that racket certain perks based on their skills/backstory) but also keeps them in any fight which may arise should the racket be attacked. There could be costs to doing this for the player, for example if an alcoholic gangster is assigned to work a Speak, he/she could end up becoming more of a drunk et al. In addition, it would be nice to be able to set up smaller crews of your gangsters to patrol like the AI does. Yes, we can do that manually now (and I do it often, it's fun), but later in game it would make it much easier to be able to assign patrol routes to your crew.
* The Rich Love Lives of our Gangsters need some tweaks -- I love the notion that our crew have their own beefs and love interests already built into the game. But what I've noticed is that if you hire a gangster who doesn't have a previous love interest, they will fall in love with one of your other crew after working with them a certain amount of time. This feels like a mechanic that could use some clarity. It gets to be a hassle to have your best gangsters falling in love with someone who doesn't care for them, only to have them end up killing or quitting because of something you cannot control. What I'd love to see is some sort of mini-choice/game come up within the crew dynamics that lets you build to a love relationship or squash it. The mechanics for these choices seem to already be in place, but there are seemingly ways to make this whole interpersonal relationship angle more "playable" for the player rather than holding us hostage to its outcomes.
AI DIPLOMACY IS TOO UNPREDICTABLE TO BE MUCH FUN:
* Right now, aside from the crew management issues raised above, this is the biggest thing holding the game back from reaching its full potential imo. Diplomacy is just chaos. You can only have X amount of business deals with other gangsters at a time - but there's no warning or UI letting the player know this, either before striking a new deal or during the game. You can get on other gangster's good sides by trading weapons for cash, but there's really no other way to keep a rival's opinion of you high. I've offered tributes (they don't do much for long), I have avoided making ANY deals with anyone to keep everyone happy (doesn't help), I've tried focusing on only pleasing one other rival and helping them whenever they ask -- and yet I still get an "enemy" rating before long with almost everyone. Even when I tried a slow/smaller playthrough where I only focused on holding 5 rackets, not expanding, not becoming a threat, and not fighting with others. Despite this passive approach, I was hated by everyone sooner rather than later.
* I'm not a developer or coder/programmer so I don't have an answer for how to fix this issue, but it seems to me a starting point would be to allow players to do as many deals as they wish with other gangsters. Gangsters can still hold grudges with you if you do deals with other players, but it shouldn't be capped at 2 total deals at a time, certainly not without warning us that's the ceiling. It also doesn't seem to make much sense that the player is penalized by the AI for "not doing something" when another player breaks a business deal. I tried going to war immediately when someone broke off a deal with me, but that didn't do anything to raise that rating, so I'm not sure what the point of it is. We get penalized for diplomacy regardless of what we choose. I get that the end of the game requires us beating everyone else, but right now there's no way to "work with" other gangsters. Not really.
* The AI is also VERY slow to expand even in the highest level. In the playthrough I did recently where I intentionally tried to play slow and just focus on keeping 5-10 rackets (while trying to fully upgrade them all without fighting anyone but for when attacked), I was able to make it deep into 1925 before the AI really started expanding beyond their original footprint (they'd fight to take over each other's rackets but no one hardly ever expanded into abandoned buildings, empty neighborhoods, or even minor factions). I think this is one issue, along with the safehouse situation which I hit on below, that leads to "quick" victories even on the hardest level. If a player just goes out and takes one or two abandoned buildings per month, they'll be uber-powerful before the end of 1922 and the AI won't be able to catch up. I'm not sure what the fix here is, the last patch really upped the defensive measures taken by other gangs -- but didn't really slow down the player's ability to win the game within 2 years if they really want.
RACKET MANAGEMENT:
* I've done a few playthroughs now just trying to focus on the upgrading of my rackets to the highest levels to see what kind of perks/differences that can make. So far what I've noticed is that there really isn't an incentive to upgrade your rackets. Despite taking more time and money to fully upgrade 10 rackets, I saw little to no benefit to my playthrough than if I had just gone through and taken over empty buildings or existing rackets without upgrading any of them. Get 100 rackets (easy to do), don't upgrade any of them, and then it doesn't matter if you lose 1, 3, or even 5 in a month to raids or other factions. In fact, it was cheaper and faster to win if I did NOT upgrade Deflect or Security and just let the cops raid my places (or even other gangsters) and focused instead on taking new rackets to offset the losses. I'm not sure that's what the developers had in mind, but right now the best way to play is NOT to upgrade which seems counterintuitive.
* Also, it's been said by others but being able to re-name a racket seems like something we should be able to do at any point in time, not just when we first purchase/take over a racket.
QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUES / MISC:
* MISSING AI FIGHTS - I wish other gangs would have to fight it out with each other and thugs rather than being able to just walk up to a building, look at it, then absorb it magically into their empire. Playing "slow" the past few times allowed me to watch the AI work a bit, and there's never any fighting or shootouts, and I think this is a missed opportunity for fun (though I imagine it would add to processing time). It also leads to the often complained about problem of the AI patrols taking the loot boxes without having to fight the thugs for them, leaving a bunch of random thugs guarding no-longer-there loot crates.
* NO MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS - We have a slot for miscellaneous items but so far there aren't any items we can use in that slot. Instead, a bunch of stuff that seem like misc items (boxing gloves, gun-kits, military manuals, pocket watches etc) all require the armor slot to activate. This makes the coolest items in the game (imo) completely useless because you're not going to use them over armor. This seems like another easy fix.
* SAFE HOUSES - the change to make safe house discovery slower in 1.03 was nice but still falls short. Within a year of knowing anyone, you'll have their safehouse location. I would propose making this more of an interactive process for the player. Why not have dialogue boxes and missions pop up to FIND the safe house? Tiny side missions you'd have to complete (such as, say, capturing or interrogating one of your rival's crew) would go a long ways to making this mechanic work as intended. Being able to end a faction in one fight, within a few months of knowing them, just makes the game way too fast.
* OTHER GANGSTERS - I wish we could poach other gangsters like the AI tries to do to our crew. We should be able to run into them in the game (outside of safe house fights) and try to win them over to our crew.
That's the long and short of it. Thanks for your time.
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