Hmm, what kind of cheaters? If it's streamed and/or recorded and no exploits are utilized then it should be fine. But if there's cheating leading up to the raid, like duplicating items or something similar, then it wouldn't be that nice. However, I haven't encountered anything major in DCUO yet, but I've been away for many years...
There are cheat leagues that have at least one person who runs a speed hack program to break the game for their benefit. It's always the same people that get caught. Don't worry Obsidian will make a video exposing them.
This isn't one of those games, though. There isn't anything to be gained from being first to complete, not even any sort of bragging rights since there isn't any sort of mechanism to register feats like that. And speaking personally, the idea of making PvE content (which is inherently cooperative) competitive just seems silly at best, counterproductive at worst. We already have enough toxic behavior taking place, it's way too easy to imagine things getting MUCH worse by adding any sort of competitive aspect.
PvE content, even solo, can definitely be competitive. It's interesting that I have to explain this, I really didn't expect it. Even if there aren't many people doing it, it can still be competitive. The competition is then between those who participate. If somebody is using cheats and does a true first clear, it doesn't take away from others who participated legitimately. But if cheats are impossible to verify, then the competition definitely loses its charm. Also, I don't think people who participate in competitive PvE mix with random casuals like us (you might not be a casual, but I am). If somebody is toxic, it's not because they're racing for a world first... If anything, competitive PvE players will usually be very understanding of people who just log in after work to relax.
To be honest I was a big advocate of them putting platform mechanics in the raids. And personally I still stand by it as a way to give variety and some flavor to raids. I couldn't tell you if it worked or not though I did see the complaints but maybe it works out better in this era with the stat clamp.
I liked the platforming aspect myself; as you point out it makes that raid and others with that mechanic unique.
They have the metrics in the background. Like you said, they use to keep threads with updates of server first groups per round for the initial one or two versions of it. I'd say server firsts in this game could have been interesting a decade ago. At this stage the raids are beaten on the first day by most groups, even the higher tiered versions. The last time they had a DLC where the hardest raid feats couldn't be completed on launch day (the expectation was that you'd gear up for it), there was a huge divide in the community. Not sure we'll ever see anything like Paradox/Nexus at launch again. I'd agree with others at that stage - a server first doesn't mean much to me. It's just who logged in first.
They absolutely have the metrics in the background. They would have to have someone manually share it, though. When Prime Battleground was first launched, it was beaten in less than 7 minutes because the players exploited the roleless buffs and just stacked DPS. lol I remember how mad Spytle was when the players who did it shared the video on the forums. They removed roleless buffs from 8man instances. Paradox Wave was a different matter. The exploitable bug was really not a bug, but an oversight from the devs. Tyrant could only shoot downward and all the bosses were only able to attack x and y axis except for the one that shoots balls upward. So a specific league went flight and got the EO feat first week, I believe. Then we had several door glitches, etc. Then when Elite content came out, Quantum tunneling into the geometry was used. And finally, the reason why they stopped sharing the global metrics for SM was that players were cheating. They weren't using speed hacking, like the more recent SM. They were jumping to areas that allowed them to not get hit. It was all fun until the cheaters got showcased and ruined it for everyone else. I actually liked the idea of competitive PvE. I may not want to join in it, but I enjoy watching my friends do it. What it ends up being is just how to exploit to the top w/o getting banned. So I give up.
While I agree with you, there is plenty of competitiveness in PvE, thanks to the scorecard. I usually don't pay attention to it, myself, unless I'm playing as a tank. Then, even if I see I got "Most Boss Damage Received," I just feel like I did my job. But then, if my group made it through without somebody going down because the boss lost interest in me, I feel the same way. But some people need those statistics, though, apparently, and need to be #1 in all the categories.
Jumping from platform to platform, like in JLD: Shattered Gotham raid. Awful idea for DCUO. This game is not Super Mario.
The platforming itself was something different and fun. The fact that it was installed in group content and some players struggle with jumping (of all things) was what made it unbearable.
Oh that! EW! Absolutely never again I hope! I dread having to do that raid again since it is the Spotlight Week's raid.
