Incarnate System: an insult to skilled players

Incarnate System: an insult to skilled players

1. Using the RNG (Random Number Generator) to distribute Incarnate Shards puts them in the hands of undeserving players and can deny the shards to worthy players. Randomness should not be used to determine who obtains Incarnate boosts but should be rewarded to those who succesfully demonstrate mastery of their individual skills.

Individual players need to have their skills tested before being rewarded with something as important as an Incarnate Shard. Using the same type RNG system as is used to determine the pick of real world lottery and slot machine numbers is an insult to the Incarnate System and the Incarnate characters. Skill, not luck, should determine who becomes an Incarnate.


2. I am concerned about the lazy programming that we seem to be heading towards with the future of the Incarnate System. Indications are that the future holds nothing but Raids involving many players. This means that the programming staff only need to create a couple of new TF's for each Incarnate slot release and throw them out to the user base while letting the RNG determine who gets the good stuff and who doesn't. Skilled players not required.

Look at the new content for Incarnates in issue 19. Two new difficult TF's...and that's it. Let the grind begin as these two TF's (and the others that give Incarnate rewards) are farmed over and over again by every type of PUG that can be assembled. Surely, the programming staff and management of this game can do better than that to weed out those deserving to be Incarnates from those not so worthy.


3. The Incarnate System should be totally skill based throughout. There are multiple ways this could be implemented but I will suggest two:

a. Create a huge arc wtih Ramiel as the primary contact where the rewards at the end of each mission is a Shard and the reward at the end of the arc is a Component. Each mission would fit with the Incarnate lore and would reveal more as the arc progresses. Missions could be done in teams or individually with equal rewards for a successful (not auto) completion. Arc could be repeated via Ourobouros.

b. Create a large, related series of Shard missions that are offered randomly to level 50 players who have opened the Alpha slot. A similar system is already in game offering TIP missions and a Shard Mission system could be derived from that programming. Yes, it would take a lot of work to create quality missions but this game deserves to have that work done so that individual players have a fair chance to demonstrate their skills to the esteemed Incarnates like Statesman and Lord Recluse.

4. RNG based rewards inevitably leads to incessant grinding which, most players will acknowledge, is the bane of any MMO game. Skilled players want content and massive amounts of meaningful content that provides them with a story line they can follow and be rewarded accordingly at the end for their diligence in completing it. Unskilled players just want the rewards without the thoughtful work and those players should not be Incarnates.

5. The Incarnate System could and should be much more individually testing that what it is and seems to be headed for in future releases. As it is now, the laziest, most unskilled players can join a TF PUG and be rewarded richly while more highly skilled players receive far fewer rewards (or none at all). In the lore of comic super heroes, the lesser skilled pretenders fail while the more highly skilled ones succeed. Allowing the RNG to determine who moves forward and who lags behind runs counter to everthing super hero lore is based upon.

Summary: Even with the first inteeration of the Incarnate System, the players deserve better and more than what has been done to this point. Allowing the RNG to control the system is an insult to the player base and to the Incarnate characters and lore. Change the thinking soon or risk the system crashing into disuse due its denial of skilled players the challenges and rewards they so richly deserve.

Wow someone is bitter the Random Number God took a disliking to him recently.

Skilled players are the ones running the taskforces OR soloing at x8 difficulty doing things.

You don't HAVE to grind for Shards, you can go balls to the wall and do Taskforces back to back (like I did the first day to got my uncommon Damage boost) but you can also take your sweet time and simply do the things you normally do, heck I got three shards just doing my daily 5 tip missions.

The whole point of the Incarnate system is that unlike other games which do the whole 'gear treadmill' and are less about skill and more about herding 25-40 cats at once this endgame system is completely soloable, it'll take you freaking ages to get the very rare stuff but a week or so of doing your 5 tips a day will net you both A-merits and Incarnate shards.

Besides just who the hell are you to determine a player 'unworthy' exactly.

Oh and big news, the new Taskforces are a rarity when it comes to the things actually being done, you see they don't award Incarnate Salvage and every other Taskforce does so the same taskforces people were running for merits are now being run for Incarnate shards and Salvage.

Plus just where in the hell are they going to get all this 'massive content', they don't just fart out these missions and even when they do they're not always well recieved (some people hate the Ramiel unlock arc, others love it). Not sure if you knew this but the build the devs work on, is usually an issue or two infront of what we're playing.

Seriously, 'unworthy players' and 'insult to the playerbase'? Get over yourself man, I went balls to the wall and got two uncommon Incarnate boosts in three days does that make me more worthy than you?

Perhaps it does.

'Worthy'? You're seriously saying some players aren't 'worthy' of a stupid little piece of digital coding? This isn't the holy grail or Excalibur we're talking about. If you made it to 50 and did the arc, bam, good enough for me. The incarnate system has managed to do an awesome job sparking interest in the playerbase to do old content that's still just as fun as when it first came out.

Get over yourself, brosef.

Two things:

- I don't smoke, but if I did, I'd ask for whatever the heck it is you obviously have been inhaling in copious amounts

and

- I don't have any .jpg ready, but boy, does this thread deliver!

1. Persistence is at the base of Incarnate rewards. Persist in punching level 50 enemies in the face and you will get Incarnate Shards.

2. Challenge is at the top, giving players the best rewards: components that you would have to otherwise convert from four Incarnate Shards. These challenging tasks include the Statesman TF, the Hamidon Raid, the Imperious TF, amongst others.

3. ???

4. Profit!

You are aware that the random drops are a supplementary system to the intended way of earning Shards and components, which is completion awards for various endgame TFs, right?

Grinding is an option, but it's stupid. Over the last few days, I'm played about 4 hours solo on 0x8/Bosses on one character. I have 7 Shards to show for it. Last weekend, I ran ONE ITF with some friends. I completed my Common Boost with that one TF, which took about 1.5 hours. And I got 3 of the 7 Shards that I mentioned above.

Yes, someone could join a TF and cruise along for a free reward. But your proposed method of tying it to Story Arcs would allow it too. Just have everyone on the team pick up the arc, and complete the missions together, just like people are doing for the Alpha Unlock.

Concerning "worthy" vs. "undeserving" players: LOL. Seriously? Whou are you to dictate who "deserves" a Shard? If I want to go out and do the work while a friend tags along and tries to help (but spends most of their time faceplanted) - like I did yesterday - who deserves the Shards? Is it any different from me giving a few million Inf or a handful of Rare IOs to a friend? Did they suddenly "not deserve" the money or IOs because it was a gift instead of something they "legitamately earned"?

"Players need to have their skill tested"? They do. Their skill is tested by defeating foes. Whether it's masses of enemies at x8, a long string of bosses at +4, whetever you fight at the regular difficulty, or a full team storming through TFs, you earn the Shards. If they were handed out "lottery style" then all you would have to do is log in, and get your Shard when the system decided that you had "won".

I'm not even touching the "lazy programmers" paragraph. You go do a better job, and maybe I'll be able to read that without laughing at you.

"the laziest, most unskilled players can join a TF PUG and be rewarded richly while more highly skilled players receive far fewer rewards" - Wrong. Yes, the "lazy, unskilled player" gets freebies. But NOT at the cost of the "highly skilled players". The end of TF reward is selected on a per-player basis. Likewise, each time an enemy is defeated, EVERY player on the team has a chance for a Shard. It is possible (though highly unlikely) that every person on an 8-man team could get a Shard from a single enemy defeat. Teaming actually increases Shard generation because of how this mechanic works.

Summary: The RNG doesn't control the system. Yes, it's a possible alternative. Many people I know think that this new system is the "better and more" that you insist we deserve. Your suggestion of making it so that only the "skilled" players can earn the rewards is what turns MMOs into grindfests and endless farming. And if you think that the currently implemented stuff doesn't challenge the players, then you haven't done the new TFs yet.

This thread is comedy gold!

Thank you all.

Shadowe's translation of the original post:

What a great way to start the day. Thanks OP, that was comedy gold!