Queues are bad for any content below the last 2-3 episodes. If I want to do lower tier content for styles, or feats, it can be a real drag. My suggestion is; Add an option in the on-duty menu to queue for any content. Award the player that does this with a case of Source Marks (10-15? Maybe?) and clamp the player to the level of the content. Maybe also let everyone in the group get some Source Marks per feat completed (you know, to actually entice players to help with feats)? I don’t know what the technical obstacles would be, but maybe you could even let players queueing in this way choose what loot pool their rewards draw from? Maybe someone just wants base items, so every boss drop would pull only from the base item pool. Not only would this be beneficial to the queue times, but it would also make old content fun to play again, since you’d be levelled towards the content. You know how to clamp characters, and the source mark reward shouldn’t be much different than the daily bonus instance reward, so theres nothing technical stopping you from implementing something like this. I think? Please upvote if you agree. And I would like to hear any additions to this idea. ✌
I agree that the old content doesn't get enough run. Tried to que up most content couple of episodes from the new stuff and you will wait all day. Be nice to run old content when you get to a certain CR solo-able if you can't get a group. Kinda like Sunstone or Bat Cave with the entrances in the Watch Tower.
Uh-oh, you used the "c" word there. Personally I don't have a problem with clamping, but I've yet to see a compelling argument that someone should get Mark rewards (especially the kind you're suggesting) for running content they've essentially outgrown.
While the exact methods suggested might not be the best or technically feasible, anything to get old content back in the mix is worthwhile in my opinion.
Give the content a "Hard Mode", where the CR scales with the players in the instance when it's generated. Problem solved.
It doesn’t have to be marks. But there needs to be some type of carrot to get players queue up for any content. I believe it was one year, or so, into ESO that they decided to scale all the content in the game to the same level, and suddenly all areas, all the dungeons, everything became relevant again. I guess clamping is the dcuo equivalent of scaling.
Still a couple of problems. First, the dev team works on a constant (if not consistent) basis to bring new content to players. That doesn't leave much in the way of time or resources to go back and keep adding new carrots to old content. Plus you'd have to keep making new carrots, because as soon as folks get the stuff they want they'll likely stop going back. That runs the risk of hurting new content delivery. Second? Clamping. Many folks around these parts react to that word in the same way a vampire reacts to garlic or a cross, and no matter what kind of carrot you put out there, they'll refuse to run it because they are clamped.
I remember when we used to be able to run all content, even stuff that was no longer stat relevant, and still receive Marks for them. Even back then, the queues weren't great. Source Marks just weren't useful enough to warrant the time invested into running stuff. Taking Source Marks and Episode Currency away outside of relevancy did not have some huge impact on old content; that stuff wasn't really popping beforehand. Adding Source Marks back in would not really change the queues significantly. Stat-clamping is something that I personally feel would have a greater negative impact than positive. Case in point for stat-clamping. If a player is unwilling to run older content when they are out-leveled for it, so powerful that it is both faster and failure-proof, then why on earth would downgrading their characters, making the raid harder, more likely to fail, more dependent upon other players, and a longer amount of time investment required, why would that ever motivate them to join in more than what they were previously? It removes the opportunity for over-leveled players to double back to try and get feats easier, which is pretty much the last reason that they even try. If you don't believe me about players not wanting to run stat-clamped slow content that has no tangible gear rewards, then try hopping into Legends PvE sometime. It's stat-clamped. There are garbage rewards. And nobody really cares enough to do it. The sad fact is, no matter what the players might be saying about wanting a challenge, MMOs have always been about the treadmill, so if you're not getting gear or feats, it is unlikely that it's going to be something that the players invest a lot of time or energy into. There is one thing that works. It's in the game right now, and it has been proven to work. Every week, despite the fact of no Source Marks, and despite the fact of no stat-clamping, we still get dozens of runs of Elite Gotham Zoo and Elite Panopticon. I can run those two raids, on their Elite level, basically every single day without difficulty in finding a group. I can barely get a group for Elite Metal I raids, but these two raids that are years old are still popping even through the random queue, every single day. And why is that? Man-Bat Henchmen and Ultraman's Cape. If you want something to stay relevant, then you need to put a drop in there for people to farm. It is that simple. There needs to be a rare drop. The rare drop needs to have a feat attached, so that players keep going even once they outlevel the content. And the rare drop needs to be tradable, so they keep going even after they finally get it. If you include a rare drop that meets those two simple criteria: tradable and with a feat, it will be something that people will run forever. The fact that these two back-to-back Episodes did it and remain relevant and active to this day, but the Development Team stopped doing it after Riddled With Crime and has never returned to this proven method suggests that the Development Team doesn't actually want the players to use the old content. When old content stays relevant, players have more to do. When they have more to do, they don't need to use Replay Badges as often on the new stuff. A rare drop with no feat, like Nekron's chest, is not enough to do it. A rare drop that is not tradable will also not work, because players will stop as soon as they get it. It needs to have a feat and be tradable, and then it would be set on farm status forever.
I love esos model .... although recently they’ve messed it up by stopping the champion system (aka their skill points system) which was the ultimate goal getting yo max champion points to get your character stronger ... a lot of people hated it so they froze it but I for one loved that I love thet first off there is no loot locks ... you can run content over and over and over all day... you chase set gear and there is a lot of sets out there for builds ... I also love the amount t of abilities we can use and passives That said super heroes is the one thing eso is missing for me ... I love the game but I keep comin back to this one ... if dcuo has esos model it would be a way better game ... flame on if you must but just my opinion
This topic is one that comes up every few weeks.... Let's face it, nothing is going to change as far as old content is concerned....
