So, by now everyone here on the forums knows that the Devs mentioned a while back that their current strategy with releasing new paid content is that they will alternate between "small-group DLC" and "large-group DLC". However, a few things have changed since this strategy has been announced. Due to a huge amount of forum QQ from large-group content players, there will now be at least one Raid or 8-player Operation in every DLC starting with Halls of Power Part I. This means that players that prefer large-group content will always have something that will appeal to them during every DLC going forward (unless plans change). Also, with each DLC in T6 (and potentially T7) using its own seperate Mark, large-group content players will have a clear advantage when it comes to progression. Most end-game players have already geared-up from running Amazon Fury Part I. They will be able to enjoy everything contained within Halls of Power Part I (this DLC offers no content for small-groups to gain Marks of Power as far as I know, and the best gear will drop in Raids anyway; this will put them behind the curve gear-wise when War of the Light Part II comes out), and will also be able to enjoy War of the Light Part II even though it is meant for small-groups, since it will have at least one Raid or 8-player Operation as mentioned above to earn new Marks on. Doesn't this conflict with the above strategy of alternating DLC content so that the Devs can try to appeal to varying players with different in-game tastes? Will those that prefer to run small-group content be guaranteed at least one Solo or Duo in future large-group DLC, in the same interest of fairness? If so, then what is even the point of having alternating DLC content in the first place? Just so we're clear, I play and enjoy all forms of content, and I am not really trying to advocate for any particular side here. I like running Alerts, Operations, and Raids, but some days I only have enough time online to run a quick Solo or Duo. I would like everyone to have content that they will enjoy and apply to them. I'm just curious to see where this DLC release strategy is going, since the lines seem to be blurring (at least to me) more and more by the day.
large group content players is roughly 90% of the community( legendary community) and so it was a wise choice to always give them something each DLC.
I highly doubt that percentage is even close to accurate. The forums here are only a very small (but vocal) portion of this community, and Spytle has gone on record numerous times stating that the most popular type of content run by players in-game are Alerts, and Alerts are typically contained within both "small-group DLCs" and "large-group DLCs". However, even assuming for a second that your percentage is correct (for arguments sake), that kind of just reinforces one of my points from earlier: why bother alternating between small-group focused DLC and large-group focused DLC when all DLCs will have large-group content in them going forward anyway? Also with the new T6 Mark change, why alienate anyone from being able to gear-up? If the Devs had kept using Marks of Fury for Halls of Power Part I (like they said in the first place instead of using a blatant Bait-and-Switch tactic before changing their minds last minute), at least some Legendary members and Premiums that purchased Amazon Fury Part I and Halls of Power Part I and preferred small-group content would still be able to purchase HoP's gear without having to run content they don't like. If each T6 (and potentially T7) DLC will have their own separate Marks, and since large-group content players will always have something to play regardless of whether it's a "small-group DLC" or a "large-group DLC", then what is the point of the Devs current DLC release strategy? Why not just have each DLC going forward have one Solo, one Duo, one Alert/4-player Op, and one Raid/8-player Op (or some other numerical variation) to make everyone happy and call it a day?
The way I understand it the "Large vs Small" concept they had will be tweaked to "Something for everybody", which is how it should have always been. Instead of a small group content DLC only having duos and solos, there will probably be like an alert, a raid and 2 duos and 1 solo and in a large group content DLC 2 raids, 2 alerts and a duo with maybe some open world stuff in each. Any other way and you piss off too many people like they did when we were told we'd only get raids every other DLC at most and like they did when they said Halls of Power wouldnt have any solo/duo stuff. When you have an MMO that is driven by DLC sales and subscriptions, you have to give content that makes everyone want to sub. If I like raids and we dont get any, BUT I can still progress without the DLC, i'll unsub until we get a DLC with raids. The goal should be to release DLCs that appeal to as many people as possible, and the only way to do that is to pack the DLCs with a variety of content.
I agree. There really is no point of alternating between "small-group DLC" and "large-group DLC" if every future DLC is going to have at least one piece of large-group content in it anyway. That was kind of the point I was trying to make earlier, and why I was curious to see if this was still the Devs intended DLC release strategy going forward. Just release future DLC with content that appeals to everyone (instead of alternating between small and large) and be done with it.
They tried that with DLC9, minus the duos, and look where it got them, after 1 month population decline and people were disappointed. Then with AF1 the small content route, same problem population decline. However IMO they should have followed the Battle for Earth route. Which included everything, yes only 1 alert, however there were 2 raids and multiple single player content, not to mention multiple vendor gear so even if players had alot of opportunities to get marks they still had multiple sets of gear styles to obtain even after the 1st one. In a short they realized that people could get the gear in less than 2 weeks if they didnt change the mark. If the majority of the population did not like small man content, why would the devs resort to such a change to where it always had large man content
You cant just scrap the alternating idea, because then you get the arguments, "Well you guys just got 2 solos and 2 duos and I only got 1 raid!". Alternating between 2 and 1 raid is fine as long as they come with each DLC, just like going back and forth between 1 duo and 2-3 duos should be fine as long as they come with each DLC. It's not an easy thing from a development standpoint to balance. They only have so much memory/resources/time at their disposal and in an ideal world they'd make 2 raids, 2 solos, 2 duos, 2 alerts and 2 open world missions in every DLC, but they can't so they have to pick and choose what they make. 5-6 instances seems to be their number. If you spend too much time making one group happy, youll upset the other one, so alternating back and forth slightly, while still providing content for all is the most logical way to go. I wont be as happy when I get 1 raid vs 2, but its better then going from 3 raids to 0. Balance it, make everyone happy with each DLC release.
