What would you want to see in a new Borderlands game?

I'll kind of reiterate on what I said in another thread I recently made. I got the first Borderlands around its release in 2009, and I tried playing it alone and with my brother but I felt the game was pretty boring so we or I didn't get that far into it. I tried going back maybe one to three times since then but never managed to gain any more enjoyment out of it. With that said, I had no desire to play two when it came out on last-gen. When the remaster came out, my brother and I were looking for a current-gen co-op game to play, so we got the remaster of two and again we kind of fell off of it and I especially got bored of it on my own. Now, mainly because I wanted to play Tales from the Borderlands, I reinstalled two, as well as one.

I started two and with only several minutes of playtime, I was enjoying it! I felt I needed to play the first one though so I started playing one and I have to say that I am loving it now. One huge turn off for me was the lack of a really intriguing story or a huge assortment of expressive characters aside from the humor, but now what's there is totally fine by me. Borderlands is yet another game going down on my list of games that I am disappointed in not getting into before. While I am loving what's there, and will surely get right into two after I'm done, I do have some thoughts on what three could bring.

I wouldn't say Borderlands feels outdated, but it can use some modern touches. I like the difficulty in the game and sometimes it can get hectic if you're surrounded by dudes your level or a level higher. I am dodging enemies that jump at me or quickly trying to take a guy down before everyone else takes me down. So, if they made enemies even more aggressive, they could balance it out by giving the player more abilities from the get-go like the ability to double jump, slide, clamber up onto ledges and toggle sprint similar to Titanfall 2. Dodging from side to side like in Halo 5, and though less necessary since Borderlands is largely an open setting with fewer corridor areas, perhaps a leaning functionality similar to Wolfenstein. Lastly, possibly the option to go prone. It could allow for steadier aiming.

Gameplay-wise, that's really all I'd want in terms of improvements: character maneuverability. Getting nitpicky, I'd also say that I'd like them to allow players to be more customizable with their upgrades. As a solo player, it makes more sense. I understand that if you have friends tagging along, each member of the squad might be in a different class which allows for a bigger assortment of skills being used, so everyone has a role. As a solo player though, I play with a sniper and a shotgun but I couldn't have chosen a class that deals with both. I would have really liked to choose what I'd want to excel at specifically with skill point upgrades. Though I did say the story and characters that are in it is fine as is, I also wouldn't mind them taking it a step further with those aspects.

Maybe they could get some of the writers from Tales from the Borderlands, I don't know (I haven't even played it yet, so I can't say if I'd like it myself, but it seems to be highly regarded). Yeah, I'm just excited about Borderlands and now I'm actually interested in whatever Borderlands 3 might be. What about all you? What would you like to see from Borderlands 3?

You nailed it with the idea of more maneuverability. Being able to climb, dodge, jump, swing, slide, etc. out of the way would be much appreciated.

My biggest issue would be the writing, though. Borderlands 1 was bland as heck and borderlands 2 was actively unfunny. With a funnier writer and a more refined movement system, I'd be all over borderlands 3.

Assuming I even give any more money to that garbage company.

Mostly I want multiplayer that doesn't suck ass with randoms. I played both games 99% solo, because it was never fun fighting over loot with randoms. It's not like the gameplay was ever tactical or strategic enough to require careful teamwork, so it's just pointless.

I don't hate the writing in 1 or 2, but I absolutely loved Tales from the Borderlands, so now they actually have a bar to meet. I'm no longer okay with just "okay".

I think in general they just really just have to step up their game with the next one for me to care. If not I'm okay with leaving Tales as my last experience.

Your ideas are good, but in addition, I'd like full character creation and more gear to equip, such as armor. Basically, I want more ways to distinguish my character, both in terms of build and appearance.

Less procedural generated guns or at least less guns with shitty gimmicks. I always hated the guns that shoot in an arc or guns that shoot faster the longer you hold the trigger.

Also a better skill tree and characters with more than one active ability. It takes way too much investment down a single branch before your character starts to remotely feel like a unique character from everyone else.

Ease up on the edgy/meme/referential humour. Also, at least some of the characters from TftB need to make an appearance.

The weapons should be more random, like Borderlands 1; most guns from the same manufacturer in Borderlands 2 felt near-identical. Also, gun modifiers that mix things up

I feel since we're now in the Destiny Anthem Division Warframe loot shooter quasi MMO era they kind of have to follow suit or end up left behind. In that spirit, I hope they have a solid ass amazing end game system in place from the get go. Something nobody can do except for example WoW recently with Legion.

- Pistols that don't take up half the screen.

- guns that move further away from you as you increase fov.

- denser levels that aren't huge just so you can drive around.

- less in your face humour.

- interesting skills for classes that aren't siren.

- some sort of skill based movement that lets you move faster like bunnyhopping.

- personal loot drops for coop.

- a non shit menu for PC.

Bring back everything weapon and gear-related from Borderlands 1. 2 felt like a prison where manufacturers and their "rules" ruined the whole joy and kind of the point of the whole a gazillion weapons-joy.
Give the option to start with a Level 50 character once you have completed the game. I seriously hate having to wander around the same starting area to level up new people, and I grow tired of it - and then I stop playing. Let me play around with it when you know I have the power to complete it anyway. Oh, and keep the badass-system but feel free to rename it. It's a great system.

Playing the game again right now. I just beat Sledge and turned it in at Fyrestone. I'm finding the menu a little hard to comprehend right off the bat when I open it, leaving me to buy items I don't actually want because I thought I was comparing something to what I have equipped, but it's really comparing it to things in the shop or other items in my inventory. Making it a little more streamlined or quicker to navigate would be nice. Also, in fighting two bosses so far, I think it would be cool if they made them more strategic, like the bosses in Metroid Prime or the recent Doom and not just about shooting them until they die.

victory

Lose the humour, not saying it needs to be uber serious, but more of a tone with Borderlands 1.

More customization as opposed to pre-designed characters.

Lose the dumb/gimmick guns.

Go full Diablo with it - customization/item slots for clothing/armour, scopes, add-ons, for weapons.

I vastly preferred the loot system in 1 over 2. If they could at least find a middle ground I would be happier. Also, ditch slag. It was a cool idea, but the last playthrough of the game and the endgame become so tedious when every fight boils down to slag it with the slag gun you are pretty much required to carry and then shoot it with your actual gun.

Glad people are mentioning a loot system closer to BL1. 2's guns sucked. Nearly all of them. There was so little diversity across the board compared to the first game, and the shooting mechanics weren't as smooth either. Not to mention the drop rates in 2 were impossibly bad. In 200 hours of play I found maybe 3 legendary weapons. The Pre-Sequel managed to fix that issue, though. I do still want the gimmicky guns, though. Some of them are fun and actually useful. The smiley face shotgun from BL1 was incredibly powerful.

I want a game more balanced for solo players. The True Vault Hunter mode in 2 was unplayable alone. And when you are playing co-op, having specific loot for each player needs to be implemented.

I suspect that 3 is going to learn a lot of things from Destiny when it comes to multiplayer stuff. Finding easier ways to match with people to take on those raid bosses so that content isn't totally locked for a large portion of the player base would be really nice. I suspect there will even be social hub areas. I don't need or want BL to become another Destiny, because BL is still a more robust and unique experience, but Destiny does a lot of smart things that Gearbox would be wise to learn from.

I hope the movement gets smoothed out and polished up in the next Borderlands, in addition to traversal options as mentioned already itt. Separate loot is a must. Some new characters, and more involved and synergistic skill trees too. Maybe gun parts and mods, with some vary rare parts for that BIS weapon upgrade. Maybe a "Mystic" vendor to let you dye and transmog your gear for unique looks, and reroll item affixes for currency/loot/gems, or w/e. I didn't mind the humor in BL2, but maybe changing the tone to a bit more serious would give the game some balance, instead of the constant cheesiness. I'm very excited, loved both of the previous games, and I'd be very happy to hear about BL3 at E3 this year. Fingers crossed.

Better shooting, Better Graphics, Better Writing

More variety in terms of guns. Make them feel more different than some stats, which include more gimmicks (even those that are cute but pointless)... Most of the guns in Borderlands felt like "just like the one you are carrying, but this one has 0.5 less recoil"

Also, more variety in terms of skills and visible customization options.

Good writing and settings would be appreciated (for example, the content we found on DLC like Tiny Tina's was more interesting than 80% of the rest of the campaign). Although I muted most voices halfway through the campaign, so take that as a measure of my opinion to its quality, and also how much attention I was paying to it.

More of the same really, Destiny has taken the Borderlands idea into all new disgusting and content sparse directions, so for a new Borderlands to come along and deliver a content rich enjoyable experience like it always did, without the modern requirement of being micro-transactioned up the ass, that would be pretty cool.

A Tales from the Borderlands sequel.

Could we get the movement and jumping from Titanfall but with the guns and equipment from Borderlands 1?

Like everyone has said, more movement and customisation options and ditch the manufacturer-specific stuff. It's boring.

If Borderlands 3 doesn't have additional customisation, I am zero percent interested.

Cross-platform play. More mobility. Deeper skill trees.

I really hated the whole "add 1% damage to X skill" upgrades that every skilltree had in Borderlands 2 (I don't remember if it was like this in 1), because at some point it made every character feel worthless until level 50. Though maybe that was just an issue compounded by the fact that I never got any above-average guns in that game, either time I played it.

Essentially I want it to be less of a grind to get a decent character rolling, but I'm certain the exact opposite will be true.

I think I hate Borderlands (finished the first one many times, got lost in the levels in the sequel.. even more times, running back and forth). Even as a co-op game it wasn't that good of an experience (not in my top-20).

So I hope they make a completely "new" game and ditch the cel-shaded toon renderer/shader, because that visual style does not look good.

@teddie said:

Bullshit 1% modifiers are also, literally, statistically insignificant in a game with dice rolls. Huge waste of time.

I'd like them to remove all of their overarching plot stuff, all characters and notions thereof, and publicly denounce Tiny Tina. Borderlands 2 makes me wince to think about it.

A way to create more characters that doesn't involve playing through an hour long tutorial every time

People are speaking negatively about two here and it's ironically making me more excited to see the changes from one to two, but in my memory, they played very similarly. It felt like it was more of the same. I want to ask, do you guys think I can finish all of these games before the new God of War comes out? I am doing all side missions and main missions then moving on to the next game and will do the same there and in the DLC's. I want to explore everything, but I am not really into end game stuff unless there is some kind of lore thing or new setting to see. I plan on hitting the credits of each game and moving on. Borderlands is super addictive. I was going to go to bed at seven this morning, but I stayed up and it was in large part due to having fun playing Borderlands. It's kind of crazy the perks you can get. I am more or less invincible and have infinite ammo. There is still a modicum of a challenge of course, but still, the perks are helpful in allowing me to run up to most guys and just blasting them away. I'm sure it'll get more challenging again once enemies are higher level than me, but in doing all side content they're all pretty far behind me that it makes all the content either 'trivial' or a few missions on 'normal' difficulty.

Let me take the scope off of some guns, I'm sick of shotguns and pistols with sniper rifle distances if I want to look down the sights.

After spending hundreds of hours with Borderlands on mute less irritating voice acting and writing would be great, would also like the loot to feel more special 99% of the time its junk a limited reforge option would be neat. Would love a horde mode activity rather than replaying the story as the second and third time as it feels like your running point to point after awhile.

loot that matters. I want to see status effects. I want to see elemental damage. Damage over time. Splash damage. Lifesteal. I'm not interested in comparing 10 weapons that are all the same.

Make it a Sci fi diablo game in first person.

Yeah...I thought I'd finally bang out the platinum trophy, but playing TVH mode solo to reach level 50 and gear up for Terramorphous is proving to be a fucking nightmare. I love the fact that they actually put some work into the mode, creating modified versions of enemies instead of just giving them more hit points and higher damage, and appreciate that it's actually a challenge - something Playthrough 2 in the first Borderlands sorely lacked - but it's proving to be more frustrating than fun, in no small part because 1) 95% of the guns you find over the course of playing are weak, inaccurate trash, 2) the skill tree was gimped to encourage (i.e. force) cooperative play, and 3) the whole "Badass rank" is a friggin' joke, unless dealing an additional 14.1% Gun Damage is meant to constitute being a badass. At no point have I ever felt like a badass in Borderlands 2.

- Less shitty internet humor

- Refine the cell-shaded look but don't toss - Randy Pitchford has been saying that the look of Borderlands is what has been holding it back from being a mainstream hit. That would be a mistake - going to a "normal" look would be a Battleborn/Overwatch scenario all over again.

- Some kind of randomized dungeon system - it seems harder to do in a 1st person game than Diablo but they would definitely help replayablility

- More ways to see other players in the world (the same goes for the Division 2)

One of the classes is just Duke Nukem.

In addition to what everyone has already said - if they try make a melee based class or character, have it actually be useful and not immediately outclassed by everything else in the game.

@wemibelle: Your thoughts pretty much echo mine on customization. More parts to equip would also potentially mean more reasons to keep playing.

Less is more.

It’s great that you can generate billions of guns and that there can be 200 hours worth of content, but I’d rather have 100,000 unique and well crafted guns and 60 hours of the best content Gearbox can come up with.

Borderlands was the game that brought quantity over quality to the masses.

I think the series has a great sense of style, from the music to the lavish intros NPCs get. But they need some of that flair to come across in the storytelling. The stories to the games are largely bland or bad, with excessive character work taking over for writing.

I laughed at Mr. Torque, but it would be nice if he didn’t have to fill the writing-void the way he does. Here, too, less is more.

The gameplay is fine, and I agree about earlier points regarding mobility skills. Skill trees are already great and creative.

Add armor that modifies stats AND is visible. Borderlands 2 went in the right direction with skins, but it wasn’t far enough.

I'd really like it if dudes didn't respawn when I died and got sent to a checkpoint. Also get rid of the current checkpoint system or just have the checkpoints be much more frequent.

I'm going to ignore the tone/writing/ art and just look at gameplay. The loot system needs redone. There are simply too many weapons dropping and 90% are simply vendor trash. On top of that they need to figure out a way to make the weapons more viable. While they had "a bazillion" guns only a few were every worth having, especially in the higher level content. Lastly there needs to be some way to get decent weapons you might actually want. I like the manufacturer system, it made it easy to decide what I liked, but the random drops coupled with the huge number of variations meant I had no way to ensure I had something I liked. Some sort of token/rep/currency (no real money) system that offers good rewards for a variety of preferences would be great, they don't need to be the best weapons in the game but at least take some of the chance out of it.

They also need to rethink end game content. The optional bosses weren't all that fun and were short and sweet. They need something akin to a Destiny raid with unique high end gear and additional challenges beyond a few new bosses.

@meteora3255: On the topic of vendor trash, Too Human had an amazing little system where you could filter your loot and auto-convert low rarity stuff into cash. Something like that would hugely benefit a game with too much loot (that also prides itself on too much loot).

@nutter: Now that you mention it Deathspank had a similar system where you could convert inventory items to cash. Now I just want all loot games to have this.

@nutter: 100,000 unique hand crafted guns is kind of an impossible wish dude. Borderlands only has "billions" of guns because they're procedurally generated. That's kinda the whole concept of the game. There's probably only like 100 or so unique gun designs and a few hundred modifiers that combine in different ways to make "different" guns. If they sat down and actually individually crafted each gun you'd be lucky to get 1000. A fraction of that to make them "well crafted".

I look at something like Warframe, which has one of the largest arsenals of uniquely designed weapons I can think of in a video game, but even after 5+ years of continually adding new weapons I don't think they're even close to 1000. (And plenty of those weapons are still kinda junk.)

@zeik: I’m not saying I want that exactly, I was kinda throwing numbers around, but billions of procedurally generated guns is an exercise in diminishing returns for the sake of a marketing line.

The game has tons of loot, and most of it is trash. It slows down gameplay, kills pacing, and makes discovery suck 99% of the time.

If they generate guns using more specific logic, they could still have guns be significantly different and meaningful without just crapping loop-breaking loot in your face.

Games have too much pace-breaking loot, and Borderlands was the herald and king of this over the past decade or so.

Make it less. Make it count. Stop stopping gameplay.

@dudeglove: I've thought about some of this too. Even if you take away the shadiness of the company, they released Aliens: Colonial Marines and Duke Nukem Forever which alone can and/or should give consumers pause (coupled with them hyping it up like they were something special when you know they knew they were shit). Still, I'm having fun with Borderlands and hoping that three be good. Also, I was wondering how people felt about Claptrap. In one aside from some of the repetitiveness, I like him fine and I'm curious to see how he differs in the other games.

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I'm still having fun with Borderlands, but at this point, I'm powerful enough and more or less just using one gun as it's all that's necessary, running back and forth through the environments to do the missions. I kind of just want to move onto two now. Whenever Claptrap says anything about another person having another mission, I get kind of annoyed. Also, the game has become a little more repetitive and it's somewhat detracting from the experience. Again, I'm still enjoying it and want to see everything I can before moving on, but I feel like I have seen what the game has to offer for the most part.

I think the skill tree needs to be over hauled. Leveling up isn't very exciting in borderlands due to how incremental it is (+5% turret duration, etc). I much prefer something like Diablo 3 where each time you level up you are basically getting a new ability or a modifier for an existing ability that changes it's playstyle. Having weapons/armor be where you get all your incremental stats (mostly) is much more interesting.

@ssully: I’f argue maybe meet somewhere in the middle. I played a new Diablo 3 character with a friend on expert.

We were leveling multiple times just walking across a field. If the rewards were less drastic, and maybe I just buffed an existing skill (like Borderlands), I’d have time to play with the skill and get to know it. Diablo skills and skill mods are so drastic that the game was just throwing upgrades at us faster than we could process them.

Borderlands skills come slower AND do less, so you have the opposite problem.

I may be alone on this one, but I’d like to see attribute points in more games (a la Diablo 2).

I'd cut gearbox some slack over Duke Nukem. At that point, you put out what you have and leave it there as a monument.

@nutter: That is a problem with current diablo, but that's only because they have rebalanced the game so much for repeat players. At this point, the game is balanced for people who have played through the game multiple times and have done multiple heroes, so they want to level fast. Before it was like this, you would actually have time between leveling up to try the abilities you just got and mix them with old ones. Now you literally can level up multiple times in a short period of time (8 mins? Maybe even less).

I also would add that I have grown to hate point systems. When fallout 4 removed the incremental points I rejoiced, because I fucking loathed how it worked in 3 and NV. When I level up I want it to matter, and nothing matters less then putting all of your level points in a skill, like speech, and then not be able to win a speech skill test because you are still a few points under the requirement. Or in the case of borderlands, I would constantly be struggling between buffing a skill I already got and getting a new one. I know I should buff an old skill because it will make me stronger overall, but I want to put the point in a new skill just so I have something different to keep the game fresh.

Better writing and a ramp up of the beginning parts of the game. Borderlands 2 is the epitome of trying too hard to be funny. It's like every line, name, character, moment, etc has to be a joke shoved into your face. It's like they're just throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks. No subtlety, nothing clever. Just joke joke joke. It's a style of comedy that I've grown to loathe more and more as it's gotten more prevalent.

But moving on...i think the beginning hours of Borderlands could use a massive overhaul. More powers, guns, and just general options. It's 2018. I ain't got 10 hours anymore to finally unlock that one upgrade I want and maybe get a weapon I like if I'm lucky. That shit needs to change. Either that or hire a new level/scenario/combat designer. I don't understand why the beginning of those games have to be so incredibly boring.

And it didn't hit me until I saw other people mention it in this thread: yeah, revamp the skill tree/leveling up while you're at it.

A lot of what everyone is saying, I agree with. One aspect I hope they improve is the world. It felt so barren and lifeless. Aside from the clumps of wildlife and various enemies trying to shred you, it was boring and gave me no desire to want to explore. So, with games like Breath of the Wild, HZD, Bloodborne, DS3, and various games with inviting worlds, I hope Borderlands creates something unique.