Please Stop Pushing the Awesome Button
By
Adeon Hawkwood,
Posted on: 2011-08-17 19:51 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
The rationale is pretty simple: you have to farm iTrials to get stuff, so you might as well farm the easiest one.
If they want people to play Keyes, they either have to increase its rewards or decrease the rewards for the others. More difficult fix is to completely re-jigger it. In the middle is the once-a-week option, or once-every-48-hours or something.
The Alt Alphabet ~ OPC: Other People's Characters ~ Terrific Screenshots of Cool ~ Superhero Fiction
I had a ton of fun the one time I ran Keyes, it actually required most of the team to not be braindead. It's a real shame it doesn't actually offer any real reward, cus they didn't add anything, such as a new incarnate slot, that requires you to run it. Same thing will happen to the underground. It seems to me it should be obvious that most players won't do anything challenging without an incentive. The COH developers can't seem to grasp something that devs of every other MMO understand about designing end-game content.
Quote:
I was just about to post this exact same thing.|
Originally Posted by Arguss
I had a ton of fun the one time I ran Keyes, it actually required most of the team to not be braindead. It's a real shame it doesn't actually offer any real reward, cus they didn't add anything, such as a new incarnate slot, that requires you to run it. Same thing will happen to the underground. It seems to me it should be obvious that most players won't do anything challenging without an incentive. The COH developers can't seem to grasp something that devs of every other MMO understand about designing end-game content.
|
I loved running and leading Keyes, but it just didn't have the same luster for me when I was already Tier 4'd out and didn't really have a need for anything astral or emps unlocked. Hopefully they update Keyes and the Underground when they add new slots so they are used to unlock them, too.
Current Badge Hunter: Plot Device (Rad/Thermal/Dark) - 1,268 Xbox Live: Friggin Taser
King of Electricity, Lead Inmate running the Carl and Sons asylum, the "Man" behind the Establishment, Given Honor in Hat Form By Paragon City (Favorite Forum Poster 2006!), Master of Ceremonies of the Fair Use Law podcast
Quote:
When I play, I'm usually grinding the iTrials. It's not because I'm stupid or "want it nao," it's because I want the gear at all. I'm not a roleplayer. I spend a significant amount of time "playing" mids, adjusting an alpha here or an IO there. I try to tweak the numbers to make my superhero as super as possible. This also means trying to obtain the best loot.|
Originally Posted by Winterminal
Ditto.
I hear your strife. I can't stand grinding, the ends do not justify the means, in my opinion. But a population of people who want their power and want it nao (a.k.a. many players) will take the fastest path of least resistance, and right now, that is the BAF trial. Personally, I think Lemur Lad summed it up quite nicely: |
And really, I'm doing this on a budget. I don't have a single complete purple set. I own not a single PvP IO. I still crave these things, however, and the iTrials are the only realistic way for me to get there.
Think about it. I just tweaked my SS/elec brute and made him supremely awesome with one caveat. I need the PvP +def. I really want to see this character come to life (that's how I derive my enjoyment from this game), and the trials are my only realistic way of achieving this. This particular IO costs ~2.5 bil, 30 hero merits, or 60 emp merits. For someone who doesn't spend too much time playing the market, 60 emp merits looks pretty enticing. I can earn a hero merit once every two days or 2 emp merits a day. I play maybe 3-4 times a week, so it's pretty easy to see why I might grind the trials. It would take me 15ish weeks of alignment grinding or 8ish weeks to get the emp merits.
Like it or not, the devs are turning this game into a gear-driven game. With IOs, shards, threads, and salvage, I'm always looking for the next item to make my character just a little bit more uber. I know others like socializing, others like roleplaying, and others like the story lines. I don't expect everyone to understand the enjoyment I get from having 1.5% more def or 5% more recharge, but I don't think it's fair to call me stupid.
And honestly, I don't particularly like the grind. I just don't like playing the other content thinking that my alt is somehow "incomplete." I really wish they'd bring the cost down somewhat or at least make anything as enticing as grinding the iTrials for gear. As it stands, however, for someone who does only play a couple of times a week, it feels almost like I'm wasting my time doing anything else if I'm aiming for better gear. The devs have made the deliberate choice to make it this way, so if anyone can be blamed, it is them.
As a side note, I really don't care for the new emphasis on league raids. Prior to incarnates, it seemed that the devs did their best to cater to those who prefer to go solo (excepting Hamidon). I never felt gimped playing on my own or with a regular team of random players. With a random assortment of seven other people, we could steamroll almost anything so teamwork, while it existed, was never really crucial. Now, especially with 30 second auto-damage, it seems that teamwork is required. This is why my favorite trial is BAF. It's not so much that I love BAF, it's that it's the hardest to screw up. We've taken people who've traditionally played as super heroes and made them be part of super leagues. Frankly, a lot of them aren't doing very well. I'm sure this would be different if I was around enough to be part of a dedicated SG, but I'm not. I have to run my trials with random people. I can't believe how many people don't read their league chat or don't know how to check for temp powers. Screwing up some on BAF is usually survivable, but having no grenades on LAM can really be a deal breaker. Don't even get me started on Keyes (which is why I never run it). I just don't know if it's a good idea on the devs' part to require people to be in a big league for a griefable trial. It can make things very frustrating.
Quote:
So you can earn your IO in 20 game sessions if you play each trial once per evening. Or you can earn it in 60 game sessions if you only play the BAF.|
Originally Posted by Oblivion21
... This particular IO costs ~2.5 bil, 30 hero merits, or 60 emp merits. For someone who doesn't spend too much time playing the market, 60 emp merits looks pretty enticing. I can earn a hero merit once every two days or 2 emp merits a day. I play maybe 3-4 times a week, ...
|
I think you just made my point, not yours.
Quote:
It's quite obvious from the statement you quoted that I don't just run the BAF. After running Lam and BAF, I've pretty much consumed my free time for the evening. Obviously, Keyes gets left out.|
Originally Posted by InfamousBrad
So you can earn your IO in 20 game sessions if you play each trial once per evening. Or you can earn it in 60 game sessions if you only play the BAF.
I think you just made my point, not yours. |
Also, look at the context of the post I was responding to. Running BAF 2 or 3 times a night or all 3 once a night for several weeks at a time is a grind no matter what. My response was addressing the grinding of the incarnate content, no matter the trial(s).
Too bad they don't seem to like the Keyes Trial much, maybe they just want to do it the easy way here, as many already got their slots filled and making Lambda/BAF much easier.