So, here's the deal. The whole 'FRS points for S-ranking Hard Mode' thing has resulted in most of us having a pretty wide spread of varying progress in this level. This wouldn't really be much of an issue since 10 or 15 or even 30 FRS points isn't THAT much of an advantage, but...

When everybody has different FRS tuning levels, nobody can trade designs reliably. This is constantly an issue with me and fen and Ky, and I imagine when more of us start joining the online party, it'll continue.

It seems to me that a viable solution for RH games is to just set a lower FRS limit that the less obsessive AC players can aspire to and we can all tune at so we can trade designs without having to jump through ridiculous hoops. Honestly, 300 would be fine with me but I found that you can get up to 320 or so without really having to put much effort into it beyond finding out what kind of designs work best on which missions. 315 or 320 seems like a good compromise since the guys who actually have the full 337 aren't having to give up much, and the people who haven't tried for the S-ranks don't have to do that much work to get caught up.

Thoughts?

Well I guess that depends on your skill level. 315-320 for you might not be that difficult, but for me, its been nothing but a bear. There are still missions I can't complete due to my lack of skill at the game. So I dunno about limiting someone. If someone really likes a design then I can't see why someone couldn't turn down the design to whatever points you have. That's just me though.

There are designs existing that need every tuning point they've got available. I could see a compromise being reached, though.

I'd really rather we just figure some way to swap a save so everyone can have the full range. I definitely get that it's not happy-making to be traded a schematic you can't use; I would just offer by way of comparison that for someone who did invest the time and effort into mining all the FRS memory possible out of the game, it's not really happy-making to have to give up something you worked for.

So how does one get more points anyway? I currently have 190 and have completed two story arcs - i seem to have all the parts available / in the store...

And I can certainly see how my design may be struggling against someone with more points. I'm anxious to balance that out but don't want to point mine so much that I never get online. Any help is appreciated - thanks!

you get extra FRS points for s-ranking missions in hard mode (1 each) and I think completing any of the non-coop missions on Hard at all will give you another 5 points. Some of them are easy too... there are some really odd missions that are single-player only: Support Red Berets, Eliminate Procyon, etc.

Thanks - do I need to complete any of the other story arcs / do they open new arenas? I think I've been through two different arenas...

Well... I think there are some parts and FRS points for each storyline ending of course but that's about it. You're not going to get anything *major*. If you want to boost your FRS total, going back and S-ranking stuff on Hard is where it's at.

COMPLETING everything on Hard is where you'll get most of your FRS points. You get 5 points for beating the mission at all, and 1 more for S-ranking it.

I thought it was only the non-partnership missions that gave 5 points for finishing. Is it all of them instead? I did the most of them on co-op for the fun of playing along with someone else, so I wasn't seeing results come up per-mission as I finished things.

Thanks Morris - looks like I'll need to go back and play everything on Hard which doesn't sound too bad with 5 points for each mission (+1) for S Rank! Thirteen looks like you might want to try the same thing if you didn't get those points for co-op

Good to see you around again Morris and THANKFULLY you can change your sig now if you want ; )

Actually, if you have the PS3 version and are feeling lazy, you can grab a full save from GFAQs. I did, though in my defense I had already gotten SS rank on the 360 version (which doesn't permit save swapping).

Don't worry about me man I've got the SS save with 442 FRS, blinging head stabilizers, everything.

You get all the FRS points even when you co-op, Thorne. You have to remember to SAVE YOUR FILE after playing. When you start your next single-player session you'll get all the notifications too. What I was saying is that I don't recall seeing 6 FRS points on S-ranks for partner-able missions, only the single-player ones.

And anything you CAN co-op isn't hard to S-rank by yourself anyway. Neat how they restricted the missions that would actually be the most interesting co-op, like the six-AC battle. THAT would be some cool stuff, but no.

I couldn't agree more. Even if they don't want you getting credit for the super-hard mission by coat-tailing a more skilled buddy, they could just prevent those points from counting. Or for that matter leave them in, it's a bloody insane mission that can basically be beaten most reasonably by CHEATING YOUR ASS OFF. How much cooler would it be to take a buddy and both of you get the actual sense of accomplishment along with the FRS?

Guys if all you want to fight are NEXTs why are you playing missions?

I don't know about some of the later partnership missions being "easy" to s-rank. Those bloody Land Crabs and their flying buddies... the Anti-Satellite batteries... they're not IMPOSSIBLE to ace in single player but it's not a fun romp (which IMO videogames should be, from time to time)

Because, as all too many topics and arguments on this forum should illustrate, human players are often game-abusers who make the experience distinctly less fun? And your known friends aren't always there to be testers?

I just don't think people should disparage against the majority of missions - including EVERY Arms Fort assault - just because they're even less a representation of "fair" multiplayer versus than a bunch of 'bots. You can still get a good feel for the limitations of your powertrain and anti-missile defenses, even if your weapon load might not get out for a proper jog in the park.

Personally my favorite non-partnership mission is Eliminate Procyon Cannons. ACFA needs a much bigger multiplayer version of that mission, maybe some AC-size bandannas and cardboard boxes.

And for goodness sake, I don't disparage those missions! I'd BLOODY LOVE to go up against the Answerer with a buddy, but IIRC that's another one of those really apocalyptic chapter-closers that's off limits to paired play.

If anything, make ALL the missions open to partnership, and give a totally separate array of awards for doing them with a partner. New decals, maybe even some more FRS, maybe some parts that only appear in those missions... maybe just trophies or gamerscore. It's not hard to rationalize the desire to play through missions with a friend if the missions are actually fun. With the exceptions of 95% of the AF missions (blade = lol, too easy) and a very small number of insanely stacked-deck ones (primarily just the 5-on-2 and maybe the Cranium depending on your build) the FA missions are fun IMO. Just open them all up to partnership - the player base will do the rest.

Answerer is partnerable. EVERY AF BATTLE is available. Just make your partner pinky-swear not to one-shot the thing with a pile bunker. I still don't know the magic spot to hit... I get kinda lost in all the wierd projections and stuff once I'm right up close. The unknown AF with Sol Dios cannons is another awesome match.

I HATE the bloody Arteria Cranium missions. Stupid ridges and stuff on the floor.

...and a grazing herd of Jet AFs on the other side of the main hump just in case you get bored with your Next playmates.