Artifact Swapping Is A Joke

It's gonna be fun to see how long the developers prolong this artifact swapping nonsense. I do believe they could easily fix it, but it's making them money and that's that.
Like, have you seen the Dead King's Scepter swapping bug? They are literally resetting the 12 second damage timer by swapping the artifact in and out of their inventory. I'm watching Youtube and I see players pop up their inventory in the middle of a boss fight to swap an artifact then straight up die to a mechanic because they didn't see it. That is not fun gameplay, the only thing they are having fun with is being overpowered, while most other players are not.
You could argue that swapping armor in combat has always been a thing in the game but the items that players used to swap had cooldowns, artifacts don't, it's straight up comedy that their view of playing a video game is opening up their inventory every 2 seconds while covering their entire screen.
I'm not a scoreboard chaser, haven't been for a long while. But I will admit that the scoreboard brought some type of competitiveness to a PVE game that otherwise wouldn't be there.
I'm water, a power that is known for being weak in the DPS role, I've also used Tetrahedron of Urgrund for years now because I like helping out the group.
But seeing the damage difference nowadays is just beyond crazy, you can be in a raid with two max CR DPS players and at the end of the raid when you check the scoreboard, one of the players has done like 60 even 70 million more damage than the other player while being the exact same CR.
Something is obviously very broken, and frankly, it makes me question whether or not I should re-subscribe or just find another game that gets some more love and attention from their developers, and trust me, there are other games.
But I love DCUO and I would not want it to go to the trash bin.

Respectfully and with no outside agenda, are you saying if arts don't become locked while in combat soon, you may uninstall DCUO, or are you just hoping to see fewer bleed through effects from currently unequipped arts? Or something else... I just want to understand. Thanks.

Arti swapping is stupid and I personally wouldn't do it if I could (PS4 is not really great for doing it), past maybe a single swap at the start of a the fight or as some situation changed. I'd be more annoyed by getting hit during an 'inventory' phase or go through all the trouble of doing it just to come up short to some PC player who's using some macro or key bind to one up the already cheese practice (oh no...I'm sure NO ONE would do that....right?) Besides...we spend enough time in our inventories when NOT in a raid, it doesn't sound fun being in there 100x during a raid.

My complaint comes in when the players going out of their way to make the 'challenging' content easy by over-powering it with cheese...then can make a case for MORE challenging content (E+ anyone?) with progression points tied to it. Secondly, as it becomes more and more the norm, non-swapping players look less attractive or can be left out because they are not keeping up with those who swap...especially in said 'harder' content. No...it's not a 'requirement'....but neither are ANY artis...yet, we all know you won't last long in a group without those, will you?

Interesting thing, many people keep defending artswap here on forums but NONE of them are scoreborad cahsers. They're non existing kind.

Complete nonsense imo I don't have the desire nor years required to do such a thing pftttt. I will only go as far as change out a art for a situation before a fight and that's it. No way in hell I'm going to keep swapping that crap back and forth and on and off, lol hell No. If others wanna get there jollies off and measure their pencils with each other they can go right ahead.

Having the effect of several different artifacts while not having even one of them equipped is laughable.
I'm saying that if they keep leaving their game in a broken state like this, I will think twice before subscribing next time yes.
Why should I pay for something that is obviously broken.

When money is king, common sense unfortunately no longer exists in games like this...

Too many people cry about artifact swapping and start making excessive demands that the entire practice of gear swapping be stopped, those people need to give it up.

Its fine to fix artifacts where possible to limit the retention of stacked effects but the actual practice of swapping gear in combat is a thing and should always be a thing. /end

So you think it's normal to see people spending so much time on their inventory instead of concentrating on combat?

Firstly, I think it's none of your business what another player is or isn't doing, stop pocketwatching and worry about what you're doing.

Secondly, yes, it is perfectly fine for them to be doing whatever they want with their gear that they have earned and have access to use to overcome any said piece of content.

Personally, I don't care about the stacking of effects, However out of sympathy to the counter argument I compromise and say, ok remove the stacking of effects, because it's reasonable to accept the point that if you no longer have the item on, it's effect and benefit should cease.

That synpathy however entirely ends when players start to try and dictate to others what they should or shouldn't be able to do while in combat because they get all salty about someone going above and beyond to eek out a little more damage.

We have always had access to our inventories to alter our builds in combat by storing swapable items to move in and out, this isn't a new thing and it has only now become a problem for you and others because of the extent to which players are utilizing it or have become efficient at it, your subjective dislike for something that has been a thing for the entire existence of this game is unjustifiable and frankly laughable.

So having also said all that to justify my position, to now answer your question, is it normal, normal is not a thing because the time differs from individual to individual, so there's no definition for "normal'.

Is it however an acceptable thing to be doing, yes, yes it is.

Not that I disagree with you on the fact it is not another players business on principal, can you at least concede that besides people just 'becoming efficient at it' there are certain platform advantages/disadvantages that make it less an even playing field with one side having an advantage above the 'get gud' aspect?

Personally I'm fine with people doing it and don't care if it means I'd never 'beat' them in the almighty scoreboard. I'm not fine with them crying 'boring' and getting an entire new level of raid built to artificially add challenge to something they went out of their way to remove challenge from. Same position you have as 'there is no normal'....swapping or any 'meta' should not become the 'norm' for higher end runs or feats....yet, I'd wager if you looked at those things (E+ or high end feats) there is definitely a 'norm' for who's completed them and maybe who gets to even attempt them.

But I do agree...swapping can stay(even though I feel it's a dopey...non immersive...way to play), but the stacking should be addressed.

"Eek out a little more damage"

That's the most downplayed statement of the year. Do you really think players would spend all that time and/or money to max out more than 6 artifacts....to the extreme of ALL artifacts, and go in and out of inventory 20+ times in a single boss fight for just a million extra damage? Five million extra damage? No, it's far far more than that.

And yes, since pve is a team game, having someone constantly die because of this impacts the group. Even more, the video I think they're referencing, shows the swapper DPSing and swapping away, next to a dead teammate they don't even try to pick up, but when they die twice someone picks them up. I'm sure that person is probably screaming pick me up I'm the bestest damage person!!!

This game was never meant to be played out of an inventory screen. You like to make this about swapping gear, but it's not a comparable argument. No one was swapping any gear like this in the history of this game.

So swap arts to get through elite plus and taken down boss health quicker or no swap arts and say the elite plus health is too long?
Players do anything to get top damage but don't like art swapping?
I remember players wanting more arts slots but now don't like art swapping.

Although this focuses on Artifact Swapping specifically I would like to point out the at all your complaints can easily be leveled at the concept of “the meta”. The meta isn’t real, players make it up and then *force* it on everyone else. In the beginning nobody has to go with the meta (or Art-Swapping in this case) but eventually, like lemmings, people who do follow the meta demand that everyone also follow it as a form of gatekeeping. Content isn’t built around the meta, the meta is built around content. The devs (in any MMO) always have the power to shut down any meta at any time via balancing, they just choose to let those kinds of situations fester instead.

Right now it appears that art-swapping is becoming the meta, which means that eventually leagues and min-maxxers will start forcing it on others like they always have. Weapon Mastery, Artifacts, Allies, etc the cycle always repeats

So your fun is 100% dependent on what someone else is doing? That seems more like a you problem. I personally do not swap. Could I do more damage if I learned to swap? Probably. But I have no reason to do so. My fun is dependent on myself. If I like something I do it. If I don’t than why would I?

Devs have already stated that anything they see as a bug would be fixed but that swapping as a whole is acceptable. So if something is generally a real bug than they will fix it at some point. However making claims that “its not fun seeing others swap” than just don’t. It’s like going to the movies to see a move you know you won’t like and complaining that it’s terrible and it should be changed. Don’t like it? Don’t do it.

and from watching a utube to say the least "I'm watching Youtube and I see players pop up their inventory in the middle of a boss fight to swap an artifact then straight up die to a mechanic because they didn't see it. That is not fun gameplay"

I have to agree with you on this Deity!

my advice for OP is, keep doing you! forget about art swapping!

I concede that the system you choose to play on can have an impact on the speed at which you can undertake a swap, but no moreso than a person that might also be playing in a heavily dated PC.

So I think it also requires a concession on your part, acknowledging that some of these impacts are felt by you or more accurately put, players on dated hardware because they're on dated hardware.

It isn't reasonable to structure a game around the pretense that players remain competitive or not suffer from performance issues while running the game on bad hardware that on many levels is heading towards obsolescence.

You've probably made that concession, given your general position is not to remove swapping, but I'm simply posting this for the benefit of others reading this conversation.

As for casual swapping however, just to make that quick point as a side, I've tested swapping on all the systems and you can do it, you might not be able to swap all sweaty stacking 6 artifacts at once, but you certainly can swap, given you really only need to be doing this when the circumstances of the engagement dictate because of a transient change in circumstances or you're eeking out that little bit of extra performance, anyone can incorporate this into their playstyle irrespective of their platform.

Lets say for example the boss is near death, the DPS are out, but you can finish the boss if only you swapped on an artifact to boost damage a little in support or put on an orbital or henchmen.

The access to swap is there for a reason, it's a facility there to be used, no group should be wiping because they're opposed to swapping when swapping something would've prevented it or for that matter casual swapping would've improved the groups overall performance.

This right here is the issue I believe, and not the swapping itself. Developers have already stated they treat artifacts like other inventory items, which you should be able to change on the fly. I like this part of the game, but I'm also OK if they get rid of it.

Some effects lasting when you swap out an artifact seems like a bug, but others have also brought up examples like your trinket, which you can use, get the effects, then swap out.

The DKS damage reset on swap is a bug developers have acknowledged, but no idea how or when they could fix it without breaking something else.

I'm not mad at the damage they do, I don't care about the scoreboard to a certain degree. 2 to 3 people in elite are dying to maybe the easiest mechanic in the game, JUMP over wonder woman's death circle. It's cringe and the only excuses are either their timing is super bad or they're in the middle of a swap. I think its the latter and its annoying to be honest.