A Taskforce With REAL Challenges
I'd like to propose a Taskforce with several serious challenges for those who claim to not be challenged enough by the game itself.
As for the storyline/plot/enemies? I don't really know. Let's just say they're +2 - +4. Mission 1: A typical mission, but within the mission itself, Healing powers are reduced by 1/2, and players cannot be resurrected via other players. Enemies, however, have powers like Unchain Essence (but enemy-esque versions.) This would give sets that rely on Healing/DP a run for their money. In addition: Inherents do not work on this map. I realize that some ATs rely on inherents more than others; sorry. You're SOL. This isn't meant to provide an equal challenge to EVERY Archetype/Powerset combination. |
Turning off inherents is a bit trickier, mainly because there is no "turn off inherents" switch. There isn't even a clear definition on what is an "inherent" because its mostly a made-up term. Are the intrinsicly higher base recovery and regeneration attributes of VEATs inherent abilities, or not? Somewhat arbitrary, and there's no way to turn them "off."
Mission 2: The entire team is separated! 8 different, small maps that require the player to solo their way through; a nightmare for a team depending on their Healer/Buffer. If a player is defeated at this mission, they will not be able to go on. Period. They either have the option to quit the Taskforce as an individual or the team restarts entirely. |
Mission 3: Toggles do not work. At all. Friendly healing does damage to allies and enemies within radius. This mission works as a counter for the toggle-heavy sets. Does it favor certain powersets? Yes; that's part of the challenge. |
Mission 4: Healing and Damage are completely reversed; this includes Health's passive regen, which will be converted into DoT (your default regen is not considered in this, however.) You have your team to help you, but you're going to need some help from those Healers/Buffers. In addition, pets/henchmen do not work in this mission! Any pets/henchmen immediately become hostile towards their summoner! |
Mission 5: Your team is infected with a Supervirus! This ability randomly cancels out powers for a short period of time; including toggles, which it can drop if cancelling them out. In addition; every 60 seconds, the Supervirus will cause your character to vomit and thus drop all toggles. There are temporary cures for this Supervirus; at the back of the map. In addition, this map doesn't allow for resurrection. Think you can time your plays just right to do everything in a minute? |
Mission 6: You and your team are at a state of Confusion; you are able to target both friends and enemies and affect them equally. This will ensure that players pay attention to their AoEs and think carefully about their next move. This mission follows Mission 4's rule on pets and hostility. |
Mission 7: This mission has a 30:00 timer. The team suffers no default penalties aside from not being able to resurrect via ally, nor step back INTO the mission upon defeat. The team is grouped up and droves of enemies are thrown at them. From 30-25, it's minions. 25-20, it's lieutenants, 20-10, bosses, 10-5, elite bosses, 5-0 Arch-villains with a 1-0 minute addition of a Supervillain (similar to Reichsman or Lord of Winter-- their own category.) |
Once you complete this: Congratulations; you're now ready to play Dragonforce on Expert! |
I KNOW that the community can give me some improvements/tweaking on this idea to make it more gruesome. I'd really like to hear it. |
Mission 9: All powers suppressed except for Self Destruction and rezzes. Objective is to defeat the Crystal Titan.
Mission 10: All players are turned into clockwork gears, and must then defeat themselves scaled to archvillains.
Its not difficult to just plain kill players. The hard part, the part I'm puzzling over, is not judging whether any of these ideas is "hard" but rather do any of these ideas have a point? If its intended to be winnable, how? If its not, why dance around when you can just kill the players with a mission full of giant monsters armed with total focus and radiation infection?
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Arcanaville has spoken.
This does just seem like a massive dose of 'Looking for Pain.' It doesn't look challenging. That would be a Master Of run. This just looks Not Fun.
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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I keep rereading the OP trying to find some way to salvage... *something* from it.
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I'll stick to agreeing with you, Arcanaville, and others in saying "NO" to this "suggestion".
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Mission 8: Everyone forced to toggle Rest on permanently. Players debuffed to the defense and resistance floor. Require at least mag 100 immobilize protection just to move. Mission requires eight simultaneous clicks on objectives which spawn Ballistas at ten second intervals.
Mission 9: All powers suppressed except for Self Destruction and rezzes. Objective is to defeat the Crystal Titan. Mission 10: All players are turned into clockwork gears, and must then defeat themselves scaled to archvillains. |
Winner of Players' Choice Best Villainous Arc 2010: Fear and Loathing on Striga; ID #350522
You see, a lot of people on Guardian channel, and a few around the forums have been complaining that there's no real challenges.
These mechanics, however, would make some interesting challenges here and there:
- A lack of rezzing
- Splitting teams up
- Being 'infected' by viruses (debuffs)
- etc.
I would never dream of incorporating all/several of these into a mission or a taskforce.
Thanks for playing!
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Hi:
I tend to agree in spirit with Sigium in the concept of having more challenging TFs is truly needed. But I disagree with the process Sigium proposes. I do not like TFs were the concept of challenge is restricted to specific ATs; for instance once the Romans roar in ITF the controllers have been rendered powerless, thus yeah the "team" is challenged for there is no longer control available to assist in the defeat of the mob group, but it was 100% achieved at the controller's expense, and I truly oppose this practice. Imagine a mob group, after one of them yells, and the entire room with all mobs are immune to melee attacks, and their melee attacks ignore damage resistance; I bet that would be challenging, but grossly unfair to the melee types.
Frankly I want to see challenge that affects all ATs evenly, not just the support classes from the use of excessive status effect spamming for instance.
Making TFs more challenging, actually will be very difficult, because we have a lot of very capable and experienced players, essentially how you challenge a master player?
Lately I been paying closer attention on how our developers have been historically and lately addressing the concept of challenge, and in some instances I am far from impressed. For one I prefer if AVs follow AT rules as a whole. For instance I believe its totally inappropriate for Positron, a Rad Defender, to be empowered with the Scrapper ability of Moment of Glory, that is simply wrong, since Defenders have no ability to resist status effects, should non-melee based AVs be weaker in this department? I am not saying no resistances at all like players have to endure, but perhaps half as strong as the melee types?
When I look at classic AVs to modern AVs there is a huge difference on performance, which leads me to believe their should be a huge variety or differences in rewards for defeating them. For instance take Countess Crey, or any of the Praetorian AVs from Maria Jenkin's thread and compare them to the signature heroes you face at the end of Lord Recluse SF, or good ole Reichman. There is a significant difference, yet the reward is not there to account for such dramatic difference. Yet one might want to agree, by having "over the top" AVs challenge has been increased. Sadly in TFs like LRSF the challenge is really over-burdened by the support class, whose defenses are dependent on their powers that are in great part ineffective against AVs, now imagine 8 AVs at a time, attacking all over the place, sure it strains the Melee, but it really goes much harder on the "squoshies". Once more leading to the un-even challenging I mentioned earlier. Sadly it is easy to pick on the classes that have by design been made extremely vulnerable.
One would think puzzle solving to be a good challenge, and it is, but only the first time. So scrap that one.
I had suggested before, the mission maps, door entry locations, boss or glowy placement is fixed for TFs; making them excessively predictable. Why not use abilities as offered in AE where boss and object placement is random, map type is random, and truly randomize mission entrance, and perhaps even zone entrance. While it may not do much for increase challenge, it does something against the boredom of sheer repetitiveness and predictability.
I would look at missions whose failure has no repercussions, would suggest that should be changed. Say if you fail, you get two more clear all missions to make up for the failure, or something along those lines. Once more this suggestion, does little for increasing challenge in a significant manner.
Because of the nature of ATs and the designed vulnerabilites mainly on the support caste, having missions were players have to divide is not a good idea, for it may result in added team composition requirements, like two tanks, two healer/buffers, etc.
The thought above is also another consideration, we want more challenging TFs, but on the other hand, we do not want to force custom AT and build mixes so the TF can be completed, we want to make sure while its more challenging the average PUG could complete it. Now this consideration makes the effort to add challenge quite a bit tougher.
A thought of challenge that comes into mind, is "time", where you are not so much competing against the mobs themselves, but against yourself. If you complete the TF in less time you get a bonus in merits awarded, which I know contradicts the "longer and dumber" you approach a TF the more merits worth will become. Of course this suggestion comes with baggage of its own, such as all those other players complaining on the other players who can blow through the TF quickly, and stress even more the now 3 way conflict between players who do TFs for the merits, versus those who do it for the badges, versus those who do it to level. three different goals which often results with interplayer conflicts.
The more I think of it, the harder it is for me to think of a way to come-up with fair ways to add complexity to TF/SFs.
Hugs
Stormy
Lately I been paying closer attention on how our developers have been historically and lately addressing the concept of challenge, and in some instances I am far from impressed. For one I prefer if AVs follow AT rules as a whole. For instance I believe its totally inappropriate for Positron, a Rad Defender, to be empowered with the Scrapper ability of Moment of Glory, that is simply wrong, since Defenders have no ability to resist status effects, should non-melee based AVs be weaker in this department? I am not saying no resistances at all like players have to endure, but perhaps half as strong as the melee types?
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It would be nice for AVs to have to face similar rules as the players do but with key differences due to their AV status. Arguably a few powers could be excusable as AV-exclusive Ancillary/Patron Power Pools. A lot of the problem is that AVs, while soloable by some, are considered team content and with what our powers are they seemingly NEED to cheat.
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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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Statesman's TF not hard enough? Hehe, or did I just get on bad teams : P