Scale TFs difficulty from solo to 8-man uberteam

My suggestion is intended to not alter the current experience of TFs, but add more choice for the players in how they approach them.

Here's the suggestion. Apply some sort of scaling to the difficulty of mobs in a TF and also to the rewards that the TF gives

After this is done, the following should be possible:

• I form/join a TF comprised of a full team of 8, and we do the TF exactly as we'd do it under the current system, and we get rewards as they would drop now.
• I form/join a TF that's comprised of the minimum number of members currently required to start said TF, and as above, we do it exactly as we would under the current system and the rewards dropped are the same as they currently are.
• I form/join a TF that's comprised of a lower number of members than the current minimum needed to start, and I find that the difficulty has been scaled down to compensate for the reduction in numbers, and that the rewards given by the TF have also reduced in line with the ease in difficulty.
• I solo a TF with my toon's difficulty settings set to the lowest. I find that the difficulty of the TF has been reduced so that it is completable (not necessarily very easily; in fact, I think it should be a challenge, but not impossible for a majority of Players) solo, but I receive no rewards at all save the fun of playing through it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow [The Incarnate System is] Jack Emmert all over again, only this time it's not "1 hero = 3 white minions" it's "1 hero = 3 white rocks."

Aren't they already working on this? I could've sworn...

Wait, no, I'm sorry, I was sleep-deprived. They're working on making them react to difficulty settings (including the one about how many heroes you equal), not the actual size of the team. AFAIK there's no plan to rescind the minimum sizes for formation. That's kind of one of the core concepts. Task Force and all. Sorry to get your hopes up, I completely misinterpreted what you were asking.

I can't imagine how the LRSF could ever scale to solo play. It involves a fight against first five Heroes (simultaneously) and then eight.

Completely in favor of a more robust Difficulty/Challenge/Reward structure that can apply to ALL content (TFs, Trials, Story Arcs, even Raids).

Completely not in favor of the dumbing down of requirements on content to the point that you're playing the "lite" version. It's one of the (many) reasons I left my vacation in WoW, and it's something I'm not in favor of for this game's TFs.

If you can play for 2 hours at a stretch, you can do most TFs in the game (including LRSF). If time is really that tight, then engage in some pre-planning when it comes to getting your group together.

Lemur. You complained about someone putting words in your mouth up there, and rightly so. Please don't assume for me wether or not my coh experience is cheapened by being able to see more of it. If you'd care to join me on freedom at 19:00 central european time friday, i can show you how difficult it is for me to get the TF experience i want. If we manage to get a big enough team together to start the LGTF, for example, i'll leave it to you to explain 'hey, we're not rushing so whats the problem?' when the other team members get annoyed because i've gone afk for half an hour to make a snack, have a stretch and chat to my mum on the phone. I'll expect everyone to wait for me too, btw.

And if you're free on saturday, lets do the Khan TF too. Maybe this time i can actually get to see Schadenfreud and whatever was in the one mission that the tank soloed without anyone else even entering.

And then we can finish off our slow TF weekend on sunday with an ITF where everybody waits for me to walk up the hill round the spiral path instead of getting a TP to the top.

make sure to keep the rest of the week free though in case unexpected factors mean we have to pause the TF and continue the next day or the day after that.

I'm not serious of course, i dobt expect you or anyone else to twiddle their thumbs while i take my time. When i was on a MoKhan attempt the other day, i understood completely the need to let the tank solo stuff to limit risk. I agreed with it too. As i said, i dont want to degrade anyone elses game. But even if you dont believe me, its NOT easy at all for me to see TFs at a sedate pace which allows me to soak up the atmosphere and read the narrative. And i think thats a shame.

I actually think that the devs will implement something similar to my suggestion some day. I think they're more generous-minded than you assume.

Time will tell, i guess.

Eco

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow [The Incarnate System is] Jack Emmert all over again, only this time it's not "1 hero = 3 white minions" it's "1 hero = 3 white rocks."

I have no issue with people soloing through the TFs, however, I can see why some people would want to maintain it as-is. Ideally, what I would like to see is 2 versions of the TF given out by the same contact. One is solo/small group compatible, while the other is the current version. If your group meets the TF requirements, then you start the original version of the TF, otherwise, you're sent off into the small group version.

The small group version would probably have the AV to EB code implemented, would reward a different badge than the regular TF, and would drop merits on the scale of a mission arc rather than a TF. This way, the people who would like to simply run through TF for the story can do so without any planning, but still aren't devaluing the TF by making it more worthwhile to run it solo than to put in the effort to get a group. Plus, if you're ever in a situation where you need one more person to get the TF started, and everyone else in the game have decided that TFs are the debil, then at least your group can do something.

Another thing that popped into my head while I was writing this would be "TF arcs." I think this is something that would be particularly good for the really large TFs like Lady Grey, STF, LRSF, and the Reichsman TFs. Instead of being sent off to run the TF, groups with too few people are sent instead through an arc where they're assisting the main TF.

*spoilers for the LGTF*

Alongside the LGTF, for instance. Penelope Yin is captured by the Rikti, and the TF frees her. Lady Grey would, for your first mission, send you to bring her from the mission to safety, while being attacked by Rikti and Psy Clocks.

Then, while the TF has you fight the Rikti Riders, the TF arc would have you rescues some of the captured psychics that the Rikti are using to open their portals.

While the TF rescues more psychics from a different location, you're off to make sure the Rikti don't try to launch an attack against the Hamidon in the Hive.

Then, when the TF goes head to head against the Honoree, the TF arc would have you shore up the defenses outside of the Rikti base, to stop Rikti reinforcements from swarming the TF as they close the portal.

*end spoilers*

I'll admit, it's a bit of a tagalong role, but it would let you get a bit more of the story without actually having to do the TF. Plus, it would give a bit more depth to the TF in being able to see it from another angle.