Bring Back the Challenge!!!
By
Blue Rabbit,
Posted on: 2008-12-22 18:19 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Yip. the game has been watered down through the issues, revamping danger zones like the hollows which are now no where near as daunting to travel through, the introduction of all these lovely L5 jetpacks. Debt, what debt ?
Debt was always a big factor along time ago, its very meaning less now.
In my time of playing CoH it has become a much easier game to get xp and stuff, sure its still fun adn the basics are still there but its not the game i started playing many moons ago.
I'm sure the devs will hopefully plan more higher level stuff since the route to L50 is lot quicker then used to be. Maybe its to quick now.
Any how i still enjoy Cox, just seems to have lost a bit of the danger element it used to have.
@Snow.
Defiant: Snow + many other alts
Arc ID 61069
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As to your statement re difficulty, it is now far easier to kill mobs. Less debt, IOs and general game enhancements, allied to increased experience (which I had already allowed for in my post) mean that killing mobs is far easier than previously.
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Scarlet, my dear, I don't g-. Sorry, wrong movie. 
The statement above implies you don't know what you're on about.
Explain how less debt and increased experience makes killing a mob easier? Please.
IOs... arguable. They do give some comparative benefits, but frankly, not half as much as you make out there. What they mostly do is provide a slottable item which doesn't stop working every five minutes.
Which 'general game enhancements' have made it easier to kill mobs? I honestly can't think of one. You can get around eaier. You can do content you might have missed. There are more tailors around. Most of the powers I used to rely on as a /regen Scrapper have been nerfed, so that's surely not what you're thinking of.
Overall, I continue to state that you are equating levelling rate with 'ease,' like you can 'win' City of Heroes by being fastest to 50. You have got better at this game. You have got used to it. You are showing all the signs of many a gamer who discovers the youth of today 'have it easy.' And they do, but it's not easier to actually play the game.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
Generally, Ravenswing has covered most of the points I would make more articulately than I would make them.
To those singing the praises of debt:
I remember issue 3. I remember spending the whole of level 19 streetsweeping because I couldn't get a team for Synapse (no global chat EU-side back then, remember) and there was no newspaper. Excruciatingly painful, but not even remotely challenging (other than perhaps challenging my will to keep playing the game).
These days, debt isn't even painful - and it wouldn't be even if it was back at issue 3 levels. Debt is a feather, violence is fun, pass me a 'wakey.
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I solo Snaptooth for candy canes. I am a sucky gamer, but my toons are well built. I would not try it with a Blaster, because I don't know how to.
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Temp Invuln + Force of Nature, or (possibly two sets of) four small purples.
DCUO and CO will never see my money. The Citygame will keep seeing my money for as long as I keep enjoying it
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Which 'general game enhancements' have made it easier to kill mobs? I honestly can't think of one.
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Not sure if you'd count this as a 'general' enhancement as it is AT specific, but I'd say that defiance v2.0 made it easier for blasters to kill mobs as:
1. they aren't mezzed into total inaction every 5 min.
2. they gain +dmg buffs pretty much from the end of the 1st attack.
In a similar manner the set bonuses may be small, but SIO bonuses can make a fair old difference. Admittedly, it may be more knowledgeable players who put the most thought into their builds and bonuses - but that just means that there's a double whammy of experienced players finding it easier due to their experience and due to their better-planned builds.
There's enough set bonuses to decrease mez duration, increase damage/recharge/defense etc... The individual effects may be small, but the overall, cumulative effect can make the game noticeably easier.
And anecdotally, teams (even PuGs) seem to plough through enemies quite easily and virtually without pausing. I'm pretty sure it never used to be this way - though admittedly in virtually any team of 8 you'll probably get 50%+ who have played for months if not years.
The game should be pretty much the same for new players still learning the ropes.
It won't be much different for many experienced soloers (and possibly duos) if they haven't spent lots of time on a great IO'd build (partly due to each AT having weak points).
But get a few experienced players and it can quickly become too easy at the hardest level.
Or at the very least, for some players it can quickly start to feel too easy...
By my mohawk shall ye know me!
my toons
Funny: Ee-Ai-Ee-Ai-Oh! #3662 * The foul-mouthed Handyman! #1076 * City of Norms #132944
Serious: To Save A Single World (#83744) * Marketing Opportunity (#83747)
I have to agree with Ravenswing's assessment earlier in this thread. I don't believe the game has become easier. Yes, thanks to patrol XP and a trimming back of Debt, the pace at which you can level has increased. This combined with the XP smoothing has made the 15-20 and 35-40 stretches into less of a grindfest.
However the challenge of individual mobs or spawns of mobs has not altered (in a handfull of cases the xp for some mobs has been trimmed, eg Comms Officers).
Based on my experience of playing the game, I do not believe IOs have had that much of an effect especially in the sub-30s.
One thing I find interesting is that we get a request for things to be made more challenging (this is not the first time a thread like this has appeared) and yet, when the nerf bat is wielded by Castle the boards echo with the howls of Doom.
If all the ATs got a blanket nerf to damage, health and end cost it would make things more challenging, but I suspect that the forums would run red with calls the Dev blood.
In the end it all comes down to "fun" a case in point, Kelds have received a number of buffs in recent months, their "kryptonite" enemies have been nerfed significantly and now, at least in my view, they are fun to play, unliked before i11 when I saw them as an irritation at best and a liability to the team at worst.
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In a similar manner the set bonuses may be small, but SIO bonuses can make a fair old difference.
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At level 50, yeah. You can afford to fully set up all your toons from level 5 up can you?
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And anecdotally, teams (even PuGs) seem to plough through enemies quite easily and virtually without pausing.
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My emphasis. Though, in reality, yes, PuGs can do that. They always could. I hate PuGs, they are anathema to me, but that's because they are so variable (both the people and the survivability). Get a reasonable PuG with reasonable players and they can plow through anything you like. They could do it when the game started, they can do it now.
Reverse Rose Tinted Specs Syndrome.
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Or at the very least, for some players it can quickly start to feel too easy
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Thank you for agreeing with me.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
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As to your statement re difficulty, it is now far easier to kill mobs. Less debt, IOs and general game enhancements, allied to increased experience (which I had already allowed for in my post) mean that killing mobs is far easier than previously.
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Scarlet, my dear, I don't g-. Sorry, wrong movie.
The statement above implies you don't know what you're on about.
Explain how less debt and increased experience makes killing a mob easier? Please.
IOs... arguable. They do give some comparative benefits, but frankly, not half as much as you make out there. What they mostly do is provide a slottable item which doesn't stop working every five minutes.
Which 'general game enhancements' have made it easier to kill mobs? I honestly can't think of one. You can get around eaier. You can do content you might have missed. There are more tailors around. Most of the powers I used to rely on as a /regen Scrapper have been nerfed, so that's surely not what you're thinking of.
Overall, I continue to state that you are equating levelling rate with 'ease,' like you can 'win' City of Heroes by being fastest to 50. You have got better at this game. You have got used to it. You are showing all the signs of many a gamer who discovers the youth of today 'have it easy.' And they do, but it's not easier to actually play the game.
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You're working too hard Wing. When I say Experience I mean that which I have gained as a player.
Defiant 2.0, Temp Powers, Zone revamps all fall under the category of "general game enhancements" to name but 3.
Thelonious Monk
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I remember the days of debt at lvl 10
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I feel old 
I remember debt at level 5. Just in time for the hollows to loom into view.
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Does it reflect bad on me that my mains still can't play in any setting but the lowest one, I can't take down an EB with any of them and I still find the game quite hard when playing with them?
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Depends on what your mains are. I have 2 level 50 blasters. one AR/Dev and the other Fire/Fire. the AR/Dev struggles at times against Heroic. The Fire/Fire runs on Unyielding so that she gets a challenge. To me this is a gross mis-balancing of the powersets.
In general I would say that the game is considerably more forgiving than it used to be. I can remember letting the noobs in the team rush in for the alpha so that I didn't faceplant. Now I am the noob leading the charge. So I die, so what. Any and all debt is usually paid off by the next spawn. With the addition of the low level travel powers gained via the radio missions there is less chance of getting creamed on the way to a mission. So things like the aggro radius that enemies have isn't learnt by new players. I used to think it a challenge to cross the gultch at level 5 dodging the enemies so I didn't go splat. Now I just hit kings, do the missions and get the flight pack. Then go to the hollows.
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Would the easiest way of making it harder without putting some people off be to add a new level of difficulty above Invincible
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But what would it add? more enemies? Higher level enemies? I know my MA/Regen can handle +5 bosses with little problem. Just to push my luck I rushed a fake nemesis and a warhulk both +5 to me. I kicked them all round PI and reaped the XP.
What we really need is better AI, I know it is a lot more work than just slapping more HP and a higher level on enemies, which is the usual response. Imaging the scene. An empath, a stone tanker, a blaster and a scrapper all go after a fake nemesis. The nemesis sees them coming and fires his knockback blast at the defender. the tanker taunts and he moves away from the tanker, who lumbers after him. He then recovers from the taunt and nails the blaster with a knockback. Seeing that the scrapper is about to crash in unstoppable he targets the scrapper and plants a good one on him, down goes the scrapper. The tanker taunts and the FN is off dodging again. The defender goes to rez the scrapper and the FN nails him with knockdown again. etc. etc. Ok I know that is not really how it would go, but wouldn'y it be nice if the enemies had other responses other than run at, hit, hit, hit, hit. or stand still, shoot, shoot, shoot. As other responses what about.
Panic. One of the groups is one shotted. A minon takes off to get help, while the rest do delaying tactics to let them escape.
Fall Back. The enemy falls back towards the next spawn. Attempting to either draw it out into a ranged battle or to get you to trigger the next spawn.
Tanker return. The enemy taunts you. You rush a white dwarf and it uses its taunt and pulls in the heroes.
Delaying tactics. Enemies throw down things like burn, ignite, caltrops, quicksand and then withdraw. The same as heroes do.
Rush em. The leader of a spawn (boss possibly) picks a random target and the whole spawn rushes them. This would be after the alpha so it would be an OMGWTFBBQ!!! moment.
By the way, yes, these are designed to get people killed. Teams with charge, hit, hit,hit,hit,hit,rez,hit,hit,hit,rez as tactics will find themselves getting hurt a lot more.
Also how about varying the powers that the enemies use as well? At present every hellion scorcher has the same powers. Don't they know about ED?
Or missions that actually require you to not wipeout everything moving, but infact give penalties if you try to. These could be more fun to deliberately fail as well. So you need to access a machine without destroying it. If it goes boom, you get increasing size waves of enemies coming to find out why the machine went boom. All you need to do is escape. Combine this with enemies throwing caltrops and you have a nasty mission, or some serious slaughtering fun. Have it be a maximum of N waves ending in an EB. When the team exit it is MISSION FAILED! so there is no farming chance there.
Want Mission Maker.. Want!
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I LIKE that! A lot. Better AI would be really nice, pets included. I15 overhaul plz?
Hopefully something like this might be possible, seeing as NC are now banging on about how the impossible is now possible. It would certainly be nice if they overhauled pet and hostage AI, as at the moment there are so many tripey moments in it.
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
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I fall firmly on the side of Syracuse, Ravenswing and others when it comes to my opinion on this. I can't seem to get the words out to put my PoV across in a correct fashion, but I still find the game challenging, and I'm pretty much normally on Heroic Mode. Does this mean I'm doing it wrong?
Probably.
But I do have fun still. Sure, introduce optional difficulty settings for those who want them, but I don't think bringing back the old level of debt will help (Especially with how it interacts with Patrol XP. Get defeated by say a purple outside just after lgging on and there goes a chunk of that XP bonus you logged off to save.)
ED and the GDN made the game harder. The Hollows change made the zone less annoying, especially since the days of huge Hollows teams and people around Wincott are over. Temp Travel powers mean that long slog between contacts and mission doors isn't quite as tedious, as when you come down to matters there isn't really much that draws you into the game world.
Defiant 2.0 gives us more use and versatility rather than going masochistic on ourselves to become a redlining wet paper tissue of death, who's completely useless if caught without a break free when mezzed and gives you a reliable, steady but -lesser- damage boost instead of the all or nothing from Defiance v1.
Also, the XP curve smoothing removed the damn awful 35-40 crunch point, where you would grind to a crawl and seem to have to climb up from 1-35 again just to get those levels. Reminded me of Ragnarok Online, where to get from level 98 to level 99 took the same experience as to get from level 1 to level 96.
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In a similar manner the set bonuses may be small, but SIO bonuses can make a fair old difference.
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At level 50, yeah. You can afford to fully set up all your toons from level 5 up can you?
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Many longtime players could equip their lowbies quite well if they decided to transfer INF from their higher characters.
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Or at the very least, for some players it can quickly start to feel too easy
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Thank you for agreeing with me.
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At least in part.
It's the old 80/20 rule. 80% perception and player experience earnt through time which I think we agree on; but there's still 20% the game actually being easier - which we may diagree on or you're keeping quieter on that score...
I do find it a slight problem even if it's only peoples perceptions though. Many people will start to lose interest in a game if they perceive it to be too easy. Not trying to subvert this thread to doom, but providing greater flexibility over difficulty to allow experienced teams to still feel that the game is challenging probably wouldn't be dev time wasted*.
And if the problem is real but restricted to experienced players that can still cause issues: so it's still just as difficult for TO'd newbies - but what happens when they team with 3 or 4 exemped 50s who blast through the mobs like a hot knife through I-can't-believe-it's-not-Nemesis?
Doesn't that risk making it seem too easy to the newbie as the experienced players take the strain?
And this type of thing certainly happens - at least I've seen it several times, eve if it was just on low level TFs...
* I say 'probably' as it obviously would be wasted devtime if it took 10 years of 100% effort to implement.. I'm guessing that it wouldn't be quite so difficult though...
By my mohawk shall ye know me!
my toons
Funny: Ee-Ai-Ee-Ai-Oh! #3662 * The foul-mouthed Handyman! #1076 * City of Norms #132944
Serious: To Save A Single World (#83744) * Marketing Opportunity (#83747)
I'm afraid to say that this game IS too easy. These days I can lvl a char in an unreal amount of time with no farming, PL etc and barely die ever. My very 1st lvl 50 took me just under a year which was Starscreamer himself. Recently I've been leveling my new corr and since launch of i13 he's got to 42 already. No farms, no PL, no endless freak grinding, and not even that much hardcore teaming. And yes I crank it to relent even solo as tbh if I don't it bores me with how easy it is. When in a few weeks I can almost hit 50 with THAT much ease ya know its too damned simple.
Yes, I am a more experienced player but thats the issue here - if you have played for a while the games more recent smoothing of xp, the addition of IOs made this game horrendously easy. My friends and I have been long asking for a setting more difficult than relentless as its just not hard enough. The normal penchant for making things hard as someone said was to buff the foes, but I would like to perhaps see an AI improvement as that last time they did that they just made enemies run away more, which isn't too complex if ya a dom. I'd like the greater AI as mentioned earlier in this thread as at least then I wouldn't be able to stand in melee range with my corr and just blast away with total ease - I might have to actually think then. Heck if ya wanted you could add this new superb AI work to some new 6th difficulty setting so those who are happy as-is won't be overwhelmed and those like me can get the challenge as we had it back in 2006 or so.
Bring back the challenge! And to the comment earlier about nerfing, most of the recent nerfs I agree with actually. But they've not made the game a greater challenge as the xp curve means I can negate the harder regions of leveling. The patrol xp stuff and even day jobs to help it mean the only reason my corr isn't 50 yet is because I'm staying with my relatives over Xmas lol
I still don't have a 50. You people need to learn how to utterly waste time.
Chairman of the Charity of Pain; accepting donations of blood and guts.
Prophet of the Creamy Truth; "If it's empty, fill it with cream."
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I'd like mobs to be able to sound the alarm if you didn't defeat them fast enough, so there'd me ambushes turning up.
Or have the ones who run away come back with help.
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I like this. I like this a lot. This happens in WoW (Gnomeregan), and it adds a more challenging aspect to the game because half the time you end up eating concrete.
/singed to this idea.
Happens in many other areas not just Gnomeregan iv always thought this a good and realistic tactic in WoW.
And if you want a challenge, lets set up a Hami Raid!
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Happens in many other areas not just Gnomeregan iv always thought this a good and realistic tactic in WoW.
And if you want a challenge, lets set up a Hami Raid!
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I only ever got up to a lvl 50 rogue before getting bored. But the reason I used Gnomeregan as an example was because when this alarm sounded, it brought back 4 EBs, which should be the same if implemented as a possible development for CoX 
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When I say Experience I mean that which I have gained as a player
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Well then... that's nice. So what about the poor shmuck just staring out? You want the game to get harder because you've learned to play it, well.. um... boo hoo.
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Defiant 2.0, Temp Powers, Zone revamps all fall under the category of "general game enhancements" to name but 3.
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Okay... can't say much about Defiance (I assume you mean the Blaster power, not the server), but that's one AT, not the whole game.
Temp Powers... I'm going to assume you mean the travel powers available from Safeguard/Mayhem missions. They do indeed make the game 'easier.' By this I mean that lowbie characters can get from A to B easier without discovering what's down the bottom of the Hollows, etc.
However, that reduces debt, it does not make it easier to kill anything.
Now, there's the Vet Powers. Those make it easier to kill things. But, of course, you have to have been playing for several months, if not years, to get those. So we're back to a Veteran winging about times long past if you're talking about those.
And there's always the point that you don't actually have to use any of these Temp Powers if you don't want to.
Zone revamps... have made the game easier? No. Zone revamps made the game more interesting.
Faultline was a waste of space you went to because the mission system forced you to do one hunt and kill there. Now it's a nice place to go spend time in with a series of interesting mission arcs.
The Hollows... don't make me laugh. People have avoided the Hollows for years because you get forced to go there, you had to have a team to do anything much, and it was just a lousy place to go near. Yes, people who love Zerging things enjoyed getting an 8-man team and hitting the place, but that's not for everyone. A lot of people visit Wincott and then never return. I went back there recently for the first time in 3-4 years, and actually spent some time doing missions there.
If you want to go Zerging mobs, there's still Perez, Boomtown, Eden....
So. You say the game is easier due to temp powers, I say don't use them then. You say it's easier due to zone revamps, I say it's more interesting.
You say I'm trying too hard. I say you have no argument, but you're desperate to prove you have.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
*shudders* don't mention Gnomeregan...possibly the worst instance in all of WoW to the point where you can somehow aggro mobs who are 30ft below you at random (or atleast it seems that way) even had a case where it seemed like the entire instance came down on us at one point because we must have kept ahead of one far off mob we aggroed who picked up everybody else on his way to come smite us.
Stockades, Gnomeregan, Uldaman all had tightly packed mobs that runners just love to aggro and can make for testicles to the wall moments where if you survive you end up practically waist deep in corpses.
Now back on topic, the game may have gotten easier, I know inventions helped this even if they do take quite a long while to get through non-farming methods, take a look at my invinc/SS tanker, using inventions I can plug the Psi-resistance hole that set has to a level where it matches the same resistance I have to elemental damage (34% roughly) and that's not going all out (I could probably hit 50% if I used purples and all the really expensive sets).
Mind you IO sets are more for the 'advanced' player (I take casual to mean someone that is perfectly happy ignoring IO sets, doesn't even consider to try to comprehend set bonuses though there are vets who have the same attitude and thankfully the game isn't built around IO's).
Also the Patrol XP has helped, though I consider it a godsend, I find the 40-50 slog incredibly tedious since it seems to take far longer than it should (for me anyway) until I hit 45 and join a farm team to power level me to 50 (usually in one or two sittings).
Still that's my 2 bottlecaps.
Badge Earned: Wing Clipper
A real showstopper!
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Well then... that's nice. So what about the poor shmuck just staring out? You want the game to get harder because you've learned to play it, well.. um... boo hoo.
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As on optional setting or new area of the game, yes. While I don't want the game to become unfriendly to beginners, but I do want something more challenging for me. Those are not mutually incompatible.
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The Hollows... don't make me laugh. People have avoided the Hollows for years because you get forced to go there, you had to have a team to do anything much, and it was just a lousy place to go near. Yes, people who love Zerging things enjoyed getting an 8-man team and hitting the place, but that's not for everyone. A lot of people visit Wincott and then never return. I went back there recently for the first time in 3-4 years, and actually spent some time doing missions there.
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Thanks to the Hollows changes, I recently did the entire series of contacts in there on my Stone/Stone Tanker. Wincott, Flux, Julius and the Mystic guy. I grabbed some random people just so they could see Atta's caves instead of Yet Another Radio Mission.
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In a similar manner the set bonuses may be small, but SIO bonuses can make a fair old difference.
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At level 50, yeah. You can afford to fully set up all your toons from level 5 up can you?
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Many longtime players could equip their lowbies quite well if they decided to transfer INF from their higher characters.
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Which the game does not encourage. So, you're saying that long time players (note, not newbies) can do something the game doesn't really support to make life easier for themselves. The choose to do this, but that means the game is too easy.
I realise that modern society says the individual is never at fault, but... please! 
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Or at the very least, for some players it can quickly start to feel too easy
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Thank you for agreeing with me.
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At least in part.
It's the old 80/20 rule. 80% perception and player experience earnt through time which I think we agree on; but there's still 20% the game actually being easier - which we may diagree on or you're keeping quieter on that score...
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I'd say it's possibly 5-10% easier. Maybe.
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I do find it a slight problem even if it's only peoples perceptions though. Many people will start to lose interest in a game if they perceive it to be too easy.
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11 million WoW subscribers says you're wrong.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
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Well then... that's nice. So what about the poor shmuck just staring out? You want the game to get harder because you've learned to play it, well.. um... boo hoo.
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As on optional setting or new area of the game, yes. While I don't want the game to become unfriendly to beginners, but I do want something more challenging for me. Those are not mutually incompatible.
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No, they aren't.
So, when you create your level one character, hop around the corner and set his difficulty level up a couple of notches.
There you go, instant challenge.
Partial sarcasm aside. I'd love to see better mob AI and all that jazz. I'll also greatly enjoy hearing the complaints if/when they implement it and everyone suddenly discovers they can't play any more.
However, my main complaint about this thread is that 'hardness' and 'challenge' is being equated to levelling speed. Which is really not the attitude I expect from people in this game.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
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11 million WoW subscribers says you're wrong.
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That many?? 
They must have a good marketing team!
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11 million WoW subscribers says you're wrong.
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That many?? They must have a good marketing team!
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A very good marketing team, huge budget, and a great deal of luck.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
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Many longtime players could equip their lowbies quite well if they decided to transfer INF from their higher characters.
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Which the game does not encourage. So, you're saying that long time players (note, not newbies) can do something the game doesn't really support to make life easier for themselves. The choose to do this, but that means the game is too easy.
I realise that modern society says the individual is never at fault, but... please!
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Modern society may take that view. I don't.
I'd fully agree it was the player's own fault if it was due to hacks. I'd agree if it was purely because of using 3rd party add-ons or support utilities. Maybe even if it was just because people plan builds in decent character designers.
I don't think that that is the case though. Some characters/teams will find the hardest difficulty too easy just because they play the game and use the systems the devs have coded. That isn't really the players fault is it?
And it is actually the case that many low level characters can do the same if they become lucky with drops and get the one that's worth millions (or at least could pre-I13, not entirely certain post-I13).
I've very seldom* transferred INF to low characters, I prefer to see how they play/level naturally. But even then, it's usually early to mid 30s when I have a build with pretty decent IO slotting - i.e it's not something you need to wait til 50 for. Of course, if you only consider purple IOs to be decent then your view will be different on this... but I don't think that's your view.
So: newbies can equip well with luck. Old timers with a transfer. And the rest may have to wait until early/mid 30s... not exactly making it hard to get kitted out with decent IO, are they?
btw - quite right that it isn't too hard to get kitted out with IOs, else the time invested in developing IOs would have been wasted. But at the same time if it's too easy to get a good IO build then the game suffers as it starts to feel too easy without being able to up the difficulty of the opposition.
And please note that a lot of people saying it's too easy (both here and previously in suggestions threads iirc) are asking for additional options to allow them increase difficulty.
I don't recall seeing many (possibly any) that ask for an across-the-board difficulty increase - so the difficulty for newbies and characters that didn't want higher difficulty wouldn't be affected.
I can't really see the damage/problem caused by allowing players to ramp up the difficulty if it's to their choosing. Of course, enforcing increased difficulty on players is a different kettle of fish.
* I did for my TF Omega challenge character to get a stealth IO by lvl 14
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