Greetings to all, hope you’re doing well (& cool). I apologize if this has already been brought up here on the forum, but I’m just now returning “work commitments” and “free travel” overseas (i.e. military).
Are we all done with new Elusive Target Arcade releases now that Freelancer is up and running? Did I miss any significant announcements regarding the E.T. Arcade marks? I loved replaying them and their quirks…
Many thanks in advance. S/F
Yeah… No. They haven’t had any new ET Arcade target sets for quite a while now. And they still have some ETs missing/never put in, regardless of the replayability we’d have with them (like the Fixer for example).
Don’t remember seeing any new sets announced with the roadmap (showing all the monthly releases for Year 3) either.
Now that we’re in mid-July, I think its pretty clear that the Arcade is “done” and isn’t going to have any more additions since the last batch was added in early December.
Shame that they didn’t add The Fixer since its the only one missing (since The Congressman and The Guru are available through The Deceivers). Although speaking of, The Deceivers only got added with the restricted loadout complication. Shame it didn’t get a less restricted outing.
maybe they realised they should have just made them fully replayable all along instead of whatever arcade is supposed to be 
Technically untrue, but yeah, they got all the other ones that they have the legal right to use.
The arcade mode is unlikely at this point to have any further content than it currently has. It’s a shame. They could have done a lot with all the old elusive targets but the arcade is all that they put out (plus the actual elusive target re-releases)
Thanks to all for looking and for your replies. Your insight and feedback is grealy appreciated!
So basically, IO personnel conjured up Freelancer to sort of “hold us over” in the WoA while they transfer a majority of their personnel & efforts to the 007 Project…
I don’t know how much extra work it would have been for the Arcade to continue with new targets & conditions, but Freelancer looks to be a (rogue-like) grind that’s set to keep us engaged for quite some time. It’s good to see that we have Year 3 ET’s, but it would have been even better with more Arcade ET’s. Especially, “The Fixer”…
I’m not sure I’d say it quite that way. You could look at like “IOI created a game mode that they absolutely did not have to create to provide more replayability for a (now) three year old game.”
Game studios are under no obligation to continue to create new content for a game past the initial release. They had every right to release Hitman 3 and let that be the game - full stop. Arcade mode, Elusive Targets, Freelancer and Ambrose Island were all free content that are bonuses on top of an already great game. In my opinion, to say that IOI is just tiding fans over while they work on other games is disingenuous at best.
You’re opinion is more on point than mine, as I’m just “venting”… 
I am a die-hard IOI Fan (always have been, always will be), and I have faith in their work/efforts in all things “Hitman”.
In addition to the “007 Project”, they could also release an updated “Freedom Fighters” while they’re at it (or re-release the original)… 
I do hope that they just make them all available, including the Fixer. Arcade mode as it currently exists can remain as a “challenge” thing for players who want to take groups of them at once, but the option to play any of the ETs at any time we like in their untouched format is all that’s really left for the game as far as major things, other than the ability to play fully offline.
They’re not missing they’re deliberately excluded.
Such a shame that the arcade is being discontinued, I really liked that mode. Normal ET mode is becoming so tired and obsolete, Its only purpose now is to unlock the suits for people who don’t have them and to be a chore to completitionist who want to have a perfect ET record.
My heart still hopes they’ll add some sort of “arcade randomizer” in the future.
maybe they realised they should have just made them fully replayable all along instead of whatever arcade is supposed to be
ETA was done to make them fully replayable. I feel like saying they aren’t replayable in ETA is just throwing unnecessary shade at it. Because they are replayable, just not in the way you or others wanted it to be.
Also, I do not feel like the Fixer is worth returning, not without redoing the briefing or the way it works, considering how much people fail on it apparently. It’s a similar issue with the Ex-Dictator and The Warlord – both of those are also apparently not well liked either.
Considering that it would be eternally replayable, that issue would not be a factor if it became available.
Imagine how many times you’d have to fail to realise why you get locked out every 12 hours on the Fixer. Yeah, I don’t buy that reasoning.
Bad game design is still bad game design; always flawed until fixed, and will badly age in the annals of history, even if you provide an eternity to complete it. Psychonauts 1’s last level, the Meat Circus, is still really REALLY bad design-wise, despite being more than 20 years old now, and is still, to this day, widely seen as a horrible level to complete because of the platforming’s’ difficulty spike.
Eternity does not make it a non-factor, it only amplifies how badly the game design has aged.
That not only makes little sense, but is based on a presumptive premise. Aside from players, who have had their hands held about what to do up until the Fixer’s release, failing it in large numbers, upon what basis can the claim be made that it’s bad design? Infinite replayability would mean that anyone who has still not paid attention to how this ET works (that’s on them, not the game’s design), would, once they’d figured it out, not have to worry about it again and be able to play it as much as they want… just like the rest of us with the ETs that give us trouble.
but they’re not really fully replayable if it’s a) with bonus complications, b) chained with other missions and c) on a cooldown timer. when people asked for the missions to be replayable this isn’t what anyone meant
it’s like we got hold of the monkeys paw and now everything we wish for is bundled as an escalation
Yes it is. You’re just trying to make a distinction. They are, indeed, still fully replayable. If anything, they’re harder to shake the gameplay up a bit, and the great majority of those are optional.
Uh…no? The cooldown timer only takes place if you fail, as that’s the punishment. That doesn’t affect it being “fully replayable”.
Escalations are not bad. There is absolutely good things to do with that format. People thinking escalations are bad is not as widely held an opinion than I think people realise.
A while ago, WildGold held a youtube poll to prove that escalations are not well liked, and even his own community (which would be biased to follow his influence), found them either okay or good, more than 75% of the votes were either of those options, very few votes were cast that has people say “I don’t like them”.
I should probably say, Youtube polls are not scientific, but it does paint a picture.
if there’s a cooldown timer when you die, it’s not fully replayable
Again, it’s there to act as a punishment. It stopping you from playing them is rather the point, and is not permanent. It’s to keep it thematic to the regular Elusive Targets of failing you, which is permanent
Also, some targets were reused between ETA contracts (The Appraisor, The Food Critic, The Iconoclast etc.) Some are one-time only admittedly, but still. Leveraging that as a game mechanic does not stop them from being “fully replayable”.