The Impossible Mr. Trapdoor and Issue 19's New Theme

Do you know what I did with Snaptooth two years ago? I got him on a level 14, loaded a level 50 into the mission, and I cleaned his clock, repeatedly, for candy canes. I then used those canes to buy Winter's Gift slow resist recipes. Earlier this year, those were selling for 50M apiece.

So yeah, I'm totally sure Lady Winter was given GM scaling code just because of Level Shift buffs that no one even has yet. I'm sure that stunts like what I was doing had nothing at all to do with the devs experimenting on ways to counter things like what I did. (And yes, you can still do them with a little variation, even with the addition of SSK.)

If you look at our game's history, the game has been rife with examples where the devs get some new tech, and they use it extensively. The next release after they gain a new tool, they often have rolled that tool into several encounters, or new powersets, or new entities. This sometimes continues for one or more additional issues, even in cases where the new tool doesn't become deeply ingrained in the game. (For an example of the latter, look no further than the invention system. No, I don't just mean IOs - I mean every interface in the game where you can spend something to craft something, including all merit currencies and the Incarnate system.)

I see this as no different. The devs have some new toys and they're playing around with them, seeing how they can make new encounters and challenges. There's no such thing as "regular" content. There's just older content and new content that will continue to include this sort of experimentation by the devs. Some of it will be a great success, some of it people will hate, and some of it will get mixed reviews. Give feedback certainly, but consider that your conspiracy theories suggesting that the devs are out to get us and make everything going forward ludicrously difficult is really overboard.

The main key to Battle Maiden on Apex. When you go down, Dog Pile Battle Maiden, when she leave, take on 'People' and ignore the swords.

So much to LOL about in this thread.

Here's my 2 cents:
Devs pose a problem.
Players have 2 choices:
1. Decide the problem is too tough/frustrating/unfun. Don't do it.
2. Figure out a way to beat it/achieve the goal/contribute to the team.

I must admit, with respect to the LRSF, for a very long I was in the #1 camp; I thought it just sucked the big old ******** (put your own word in there). And it's still my least favorite TF. But if someone needs me to help out with it, and I can provide an AT that will help, I do, and it isn't nearly as sucky as it used to be, for me.

But people who don't like the STF/LGTF? Seriously, those are some of the funnest content in the game. Challenging, yes, but very fun. And when I say challenging, I mean that it's hard to run a Master's run successfully, and it needs a bit (5 minutes?) of planning (Like, for example, a tank makes these significantly easier. Not absolutely required, technically, but makes them easier.)

ITF? My favorite, until I19, and I don't know those 2 TFs well enough yet to make them my favorites; they may become my favorite before too long.

Dr. K? I Like it, but it is challenging. Cuda? Only done that one a couple of times, and I found it quite hard - I would only run it with people 'In The Know.'

Hami Raids? I did the old style raids, then I was totally intimidated by New Style, and HATED THEM! until some people (Madame Pistacio in particular among them - Thanks MP!) figured out a strategery, and I've been in on ~3 so far, as a taunt tank. Which makes me feel a warm and fuzy, because it makes me feel Important! So now, I LOVE the new Hami Raids - Go Figure! (Also, they GIMMEH SHARDZ!)

Rikti Ship Raids - I liked these things from the beginning - though I often faceplant... but SO WHAT? (Lucky I got brought up on a blaster, so faceplanting is not such a big deal to me - I attribute my extended longevity in this game mainly to this one fact.)

But my attitude is, Solve the Problem, or avoid it, if necessary, but I have yet to find a TF that is 'stupid and doesn't belong in the game.' (Though Old Posi and the Quartermaine TFs come quite close to that limit.)

Peope have done at least one of the new TFs in under 30 minutes, documented. The fact that that is possible, means, to me, that these TFs are NOT "too hard". I don't want Cake Walk content; I want challenging content with commensurate rewards, and OPTIONS that allow me to avoid undesired content [Which shards are specifically designed to address, and they do that exceedingly well. I don't HAVE to do the Cuda TF, I just run the ITF until I have enough shards to make the corresponding component.]

We're gettting more options.
We're getting challenging content.
We're getting desirable rewards. (Alpha enhancers, made of components, made of shards.)
Desirable rewards have a cost. (In this case, challenging content.)
Pay the cost, or find another way to access the reward desired. (Kill tons of enemies for shards.)

What's next??

I lol at Johnny Butane. Not the 'with you' kind of lol, but the 'at you' kind.

And not because you're "Johnny Butane", but because your arguments are specious, disingenuous, and illogical.

GLHF. Or don't, because you seem to have decided not to.

My god Heraclea, the entire BM fight gimmick is "here's some blue stuff, don't be here in 8 seconds." It's not some horribly subtle thing that has to be timed, nor is it something that if one player misses it, everyone wipes and the whole show is over. It's trivial to avoid and doesn't result in melee characters being useless.

The encounter is still easy and simple! The far harder part of it it trying to get people to understand that there are unlimited numbers of swords waiting in the wings to replace the ones that they kill, so don't kill all the swords. Literally the only change in the boss fight itself is that you must, at some intervals, move your character. That's it. It doesn't require split-second timing or everyone to coordinate a specific action. You just have to move around a little bit. Now, I admit that this goes against what melee have to deal with pretty much the entire game, but there it is. The world just got a tiny bit bigger, and there is something that requires the tiniest bit of change in your playstyle if you want to experience it. If that's too much to ask, then don't run the encounter I guess, but don't act like the sky is falling because the devs expect us to deal with new challenges to go along with our new levels of power.

I accept that I am not a hardcore enough gamer for the Incarnate system. Heck, I'm not even hardcore enough for the Invention system. I don't have the patience to sit down with Mids and plan out the entire level 50 build before I ever log into the game. I came to love being here because I didn't need a three week planning session to enjoy the game. All I needed to do was pick powers>decorate character>find hostile>punch face.

That said, I have never had a problem on live with Trapdoor. That's because I knew not to even bother trying to take him on solo. Unfortunately, now that I've seen what Incarnate means, I'm probably not going to bother even running the arc again, because at the moment, there really isn't anything the Incarnate system offers that interests me.

Re: Venture,

Based on your posts (historically, not just in here), you are one of the most inflexible, intolerant players I have ever had the opportunity to read the posts of on this forum. You have always come across as wholly intolerant of game mechanics, lore, and just about anything else that does not fit nicely into your own box which outlines what is good and what is bad. I mentioned it before - I subscribe frequently to slippery slope defensive positions. However, even I have some damping in my feedback loop - you're in full avalanche breakdown mode here. We have the barest hint of a couple of mechanics that try something new and you want to "shoot the camel". That's ridiculous, as most of your positions are, no matter how eloquently stated.

I'm happy to come back later and say I was wrong if this turns into some vast episode of the new dev team wandering down some unpleasant change path. I also trust that there will be other, more reasonable people providing ever louder negative feedback if that happens. I'm willing to risk certain unpleasant outcomes in order to give the devs some leeway to try new things, because I want the game to continue to evolve.