So whenever we talk about the idea of "Old Content" and the need to run it, there's usually a main theme behind it. We need feats to get skill points from older content. We can't find other players that are willing to que because there's essentially no incentive left for them to run it. (Of course, you can always find a league; but I'd like an actual solution... not a temporary fix.) And without other players, we are essentially at the mercy of the que up system which doesn't work as content gets older and as players finish up the feats associated with them. And of course, there's the other reasons people may want to run the older content too(Iconic style drops, collection pieces, etc.) At length I've spoked about removing CR relevancy, because I felt like that's a big roadblock for why old content doesn't pop. But that's only one perspective. At any rate, CR relevancy does serve the purpose of trying to keep higher ups from smashing older stuff and being instantly rewarded for it. But it's flawed because the Feat System we have in DCUO forces us always back-track to older content and smash through it anyways. This is part of the reason why the Old Content Discussion gets so heated and some newer folks end up requesting stat-clamping, it's because Higher CR's are essentially forced into older content by design thanks to feats(you know, unless he or she already happens to own them.) and that ends up potentially ruining a potential learning curve for the new folks that want to try out the game. With this in mind, I always want to think about Solo Que/Portals as an option. I know in the past that the development team have responded with "We don't have the tech to do this" but in 2019 is that still the same case? We were told that human skin upgrades weren't possible, look what's coming in GU 94. We were told that new lair themes weren't possible, we got two new ones in the form of the Atlantis Lair and Brainiac themed lair. If DCUO's progression is meant to be straight forward, then we need to get rid of this long build up to wait to enter old content. "Oh but you don't need feats, the game is based more on your gear and less on your SP" That's true, but that should also highlight another fundamental flaw. The reason the game gets designed like that is essentially because players keep losing their chances to run content for feats as time goes on, and the game has to be adjusted for it. If we had a solo que/portal option, I don't imagine that the problem would be gone entirely; but I do imagine it would be helped greatly. "Oh but then Higher UP's couldn't smash/carry newer players if they need help"-Sure they can, all this system would do is let you smash through it without the need of 7 other higher ups that may not want to join you in smashing FOS 3 when they could be replaying spamming their end-game raids(I personally don't like that, but to each or his own.) With all things seemingly being revaluated, I'm making this thread for the sole purpose to ask: Can Solo Que/Portals be revaluated and can they be done in 2019 or in the near future? If we can't give higher ups an incentive to run the older content once they've completed all of their feats, then I believe a solo que/portal option is the next bet. Thoughts? And let me know if you agree/disagree. (And please, no strawman arguments. thanks.)
I would like it, but then the ques popping for new players or alts moving up would get worse. Then the fix would be to get a league. You said that is a temporary fix, but in reality that is the fix no matter how you look at it. Especially if you are looking for feats. Just queuing will not get you feats. The people in the insurance needs to want to do feats too. I run a lot of older content for different reasons. Prestige tokens, gear to salvage or prestige, base items, collections. I run a lot. People need more reasons to run it not more ways to get in.
This.^ If they were to implement walk-ins for every instance, what do we end game players get out of it other than instant access? Are the feats we need attainable without group effort? Are the loot drops still random? Can the content be completed solo? How are newer players and players leveling alts supposed to get content finished? How is anyone new supposed to get to end game in a reasonable time frame? Or understand the mechanics of certain fights? Veteran players are needed in older content and not for "smashing through it". Since CR differential was erased, smashing through old content has been hilariously neutered. I still have a laugh whenever I see one tank in Throne of the Dead. Daybreak just needs to dangle a shiny carrot over past episodes, the queues will pop and replays will sell.
How long before that starts affecting new content production, though? With each new episode release you get more and more content that the devs would have to dangle carrots for, and sooner or later having to constantly revisit old content means new content production will take a hit. It could even be argued that they've tried that before with Catalysts without much success. They scattered them throughout old content initially, but when the devs took them out of the content and put them on a vendor it adds weight to the thought/argument that putting carrots like that in old content didn't work as well as some people (whether they are player or dev) thought it might.
The first thing we all have to understand is that where we are as individual players are coming from (wanting to complete shizzy no one is ever queueing for) and where Daybreak is coming from (wanting robust queues for all content) are a bit far apart but I think there's a compromise. Once a character gets to a certain point (x CR above the content requirements plus y SP and maybe even z time spent in the queue) then they can solo queue (this would also work if in a smaller group but at least one character meets the requirements). This then opens up an auto-join version of the zone (kind of a sandbox) that allows anyone else queueing for this content to be auto-place in this version until the group is full. This allows for far more attempts by players of all levels to get into content in question far more often. This will become more important once the currency conversion happens. Between the level-skip you can get and this currency conversion, we're going to end up with lots of near-maxxed CR players that don't have enough SP and/or Augment levels to truly be relevant for the content. I've already been seeing this far more now than I have in previous DLC's. As an example: I've run the JLD Alert a couple of times over the past week and made it beyond Etrigan about only half the time for various reasons that are all related to a lack of game experience (no roles other than DPS and me running as a tank, those DPS doing horribly low damage, everyone too busy pew-pewing to rez, etc). There were runs where I ran as DPS except for the Turrets and Etrigan and still topped the DPS chart when the group disbanded after not being able to beat Etrigan in 2-3 attempts. I've always wanted solo queues but also understand why they haven't done it yet. I believe this sort of compromise might be the best option for all.
