Magisterium Farm, So did the devs consider this possibility?

So with the launch of I23 comes the new Incarnate trial, Magisterium. Wanted to give it a try, first attempt went like this. Use the LFG tool to join Magisterium Incarnate Trial, get to first part (defeate 250 IDF), and as soon as this completes just about everyone quits. Really confused by this and decide to head to Dark Astoria and see Broadcast being spammed with Mag Farm Runs.

So wanting to really give it a try, and actually finish it I broadcast that I was doing Magisterium Incarnate Trial but let everyone know that it wasn't a farm run. Get a League together, finish first part, and about 5 people quit. Really annoyed by this, press on, couldn't get it going, try second time and this time success.

So is this what my experience with the Magisterium Incarnate Trial going to be like for the first week or so? Having to worry that people might bail as soon as they get their advanced psychic xp? Do the devs consider this an issue, should they even consider this an issue?

Honestly.. they should have seen this coming. This is what happens when you shoehorn a path to a new shiny into one Not-so-easy path.

On Beta the Magi was originally a cakewalk at the end.. so they tweaked his regen higher. I feel they pushed it a bit TOO high- just a bit. I have been on over 20 Magis so far, and over a dozen have failed because we get Tyrant down to 30-40% health and then stall- between scattering for lighting strikes every 20 seconds and killing wells every 30-45 seconds we don't have the DPS to get him past the 30-40 mark.

That's not to say it can't be done, I've done it several times... but it takes more coordination than most PUG Leagues can handle.

Add that to this being the ONLY way to get Hybrid, even then you still need 5-6 runs, and yeah, people will take the easy route just to unlock the powers- it's common sense. A Common Sense that the Devs STILL seem to lack when it comes to Trials. IF they had added Advanced IXP to say the UGT or MoM/TPN, or added it to DA even at a reduced rate it would have cut down on the farming, but they NEVER learn it seems... I'm afraid if you're looking to finish it, you may need to wait a while.

Lets face it, it's human nature to look for the perceived path of least resistance, the easy way, to achieve a desired goal. I'm sure if the devs implemented anything to minimize the advanced psychic xp farm the farmers would just pitch a fit because they feel the devs are forcing them to play a certain way, and whatever else they want to rant and rave about. Pretty much it's going to be a no-win situation for the dev team.

I saw the mag farm broadcasts and had no desire to really run with them or hold one. Shame, I really want to try this trial but I'll just put if off for a week and hopefully by then a majority of the farmers will have their hybrid incarnate slots and normal runs of the Magisterium trail will be more frequent.

Someone was throwing the idiot ball around the officers again, clearly...

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Originally Posted by Zwillinger 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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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

While people are farming it, i'll be trying to get the very hard way badge!

I dunno if it's just me, but I haven't noticed Astral's being awarded for completing each stage. Hell, I haven't noticed getting anything barring an SO for taking out the first 4 AV's...

clearly they need to switch the amount of ixp...give the 1% to the idf stage and the av's get the rest.this gives a real reason to finish it.

I havent gotten a Astral or EMP unless the whole iTrial is a success.

Haven't farmed it yet. Though in my experience what worked the best was have 6 people as dedicated Well of Light destroyers while everyone else beats on Cole.

However, some people are either to slow on the uptake to get the hell out of dodge when "air begins to tremble" pops up (I watch this based on people ding everytime to the lightning), or you have brutes/tankers thinking "I can take it for sure"

Trial is just too front laoded with iXP, as I've heard suggested elsewhere we should be fighting a few token IDP, then the three AV's, then get the 250, then Swan etc...would probably ease up on the farms a bit (not that I hate them, helluva lot quicker than full runs to unlock Hybrid)

Alternatively they could make the Hybrid unlock require the trial completion badge, have the XP sit at 99% until it's done etc...though I personally hate this idea.

I am not a fan of trials in any capacity though since Mag is the only way to unlock the slot I had no alternative but to run it. I am one of the people who have unlocked Hybrid through 4 trials (3 failures and 1 success) and now have no desire whatsoever to return. Thankfully I need nothing else from the trial.

If they didn't consider that people would do this, they didn't read our feedback in Beta. People, including me, posted that day one of VIP beta. It's just obvious based on how front-loaded the trial is with iXP.

But those people who were quitting non-farm trials were freaking idiots.

You push people, they push back.

The devs try to force people into the Magisterium trial after there was a huge outcry and demand for DA and a solo tract. Don't be surprised when they farm it to get it over with as soon as possible. And don't be shocked when some of those people don't want to 'play nice' and end up door sitting Phase 1 and walking out on legit trials.

The trial being 'fun' or 'easy' or not is irrelevant. Most people like cake, but if you put a metaphorical gun to their head force them to eat it, expect them to pass it off to the dog when you're not looking.


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The first time I did it we tried to finish it because almost no one had done it and we wanted to see what it was like. We failed at the end. The next few times the only thing running it was a farm and I ran those. When I was at 92% another team wanted to do the whole thing and we managed to pull it off and win.

It was fun. I enjoyed the trial-- and I HATE trials before I have my level shift to 50 + 3.

But, yeah. Having only one way to win the thing and making the reward front-loaded guarantees farming it.

And NOTHING is going to be so much fun that I want to do it four or five times in a row to get the reward I WANT.

Especially on servers where you don't have a large crowd of people running the trials.

The could reduce the IDF IXP by like 75%, and then give a massive IXP bonus for beating Tyrant.

The Magesterium is so perfectly set up for farming that I have to wonder if the devs didn't do it on purpose. After all, they gave us Death From Below as a way to speed through the early levels that many people were sick of repeating. Since there's currently only one way to unlock Hybrid, they may be ok with people zipping through it initially, with the idea that once they've got the slot unlocked they'll relax and start running the trial "properly".

IMO the problem is they actually intended us to run the same content 5 times in a row per character. The trial was a farm before we started farming it.

I don't want to criticize too heavily, because a developer's job is hard. But I do get sort of frustrated that they look at the popularity of BAF and Lambda, and then add more content to the top-end, instead of going "we need more stuff at the level of BAF and Lambda."

If nothing else, if you really have to do the same trials repeatedly with no other options for advancement, they might at least make the story and cutscenes explain why the fight happens 5 times. Am I defeating Cole on 5 parallel worlds? Does each fight represent some kind of timewarp? That's easier for me to overlook on task forces, because they don't dictate their own terms of replay.

well, for the outset, its not entirley surprising, i have been on a few of them and kind of completed the trial largely by happy accident(thought the group i accepted was a farm, and turnes out they were a great group and we stomped it). I think at first people are going to want the added power and for the knowledge to get more widely speead to the usual leaders. maybe not next weekend(i suspect that next weekend might be quiet), but shortly thereafter a lot of people will already have their slots and will be able to carry the trial better to completion for those who dont yet. I do agree that the ixp distribution is a bit off, almost all of it is in the first phase, subsequent ones should be more level. and this trial could also be leveled off.

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