Monthly Episode Format needs to be reconsidered.

The monthly cycle is about to begin in the next three weeks with the following format:



The idea is all good in theory but not so much in practice. The episode is available on the Test server and having tested the same, I am not very excited.

The problem is that the raid difficulty is trivial for the end gaming community. It caters to everyone and does not present much of a challenge like any of the easy raids i.e. Labyrinth of Lost Souls, New Genesis Now, etc.

As far as raiding is concerned, this alienates the end gaming player base from having any challenging content available to them for nearly two months.

In my opinion, the monthly cycle should be revised wherein the first month contains a raid with an easy/normal difficulty mode and another with hard mode.

Hard mode should be differentiated from elite version of the raids as in the gear drops should remain the same irrespective of whichever mode the community prefers to play. The only change would be that a few feats can only be completed in the hard mode.

This would allow everyone to play and enjoy the content at their level of ability/skill. Those preferring a higher difficulty would not be disappointed alongside keeping the general community happy with appropriate difficulty.

Discuss.

naw I like this setup, to many ppl like to skip the easy and medium raids and jump right to hard raids when they clearly aren't ready or hell even good enough for them.

and this makes ppl gear up more then what they do now before attempting the hard raids. So IMHO this needs to stay if not for the reason I listed.

Sure the "L33Ts" will be on forums daily complaining its to easy the new raid I mean, because like you just said its going to be equivalent to say Labyrinth or NGN since its the 1st raid in this setup.

They're going to look at the difficulty. It's probably not working as intended. Is that your only objection to their plan, that this first raid is too easy?

Hard mode is a nice idea, but iirc the people on the forum who would play it have repeatedly said that they'll refuse to play it if it doesn't drop substantially better gear. So, idk.

Yeah, I'm good with how the format is now. I'm neutral on the need of a certain level of difficulty raid, but I want to keep the order as it is so we have a piece of content for large groups and a piece for small groups every month.

I like the idea of difficulty scaling with raids.

Swtor does it just fine.

They have three difficulty settings for their raids, each dropping progressively better loot.

They have storymode, hard mode and nightmare mode.

Story mode and hard mode have separate lockouts but hardmode and nightmare share the same lockout.

I see no reason something like this can't be implemented here.

I appreciate your viewpoint but you fail to see my perspective.

Only the First and Third monthly episodes contain raids which means that every three months we will only have two raids. If you look at the description above, the same corresponds to a Quarterly DLC in which they would package two raids, one or two alerts, one or two duos or some solo content. The same quarterly content is broken down in monthly episodes.

The quarterly DLC caters to everyone which include people who prefer small group content and people who prefer large group content. Amongst those that prefer large group content, the 2 raids come with normal difficulty and one of them has an elite version. All of this is available from the get-go and caters to all kinds of player base but such is not the case with the upcoming format.

The easy raid for the first month will alienate the so called hardcore/L33Ts/end gaming community for the next two months which wants challenging content. How is that fair to them?

That is why I make a case for hard mode for the same easy raid which drops the same gear and the player base has a choice to play whichever difficulty they prefer.

Most groups run with 5 dps now days and I'm sure they are on test so if you stack a full group up on test with cr 126 who have played alot together it's going to be easy .

If you want it hard take off gear. That way you guys can have best of both worlds.

I still say they should have begun Monthly content in May. Would've been perfect, alas the devs took the summer off.

If I just want to do everything the hard way, I don't need any new content. I can just take off all my gear and go to Khandaq and keep playing it but that would be the most absurd thing to do.

When a new piece of content comes out, It has to be likable and interesting. Why do you want the raid to not provide any challenge?

Umm....the content hasn't come off test yet...so how can it be "in practice"??? It hasn't rolled yet and it's already being called a failure (not your exact words, but that's the gist of it)?

Also realize this is the first raid, it's not meant to be hard and neither is the Duo (when have duos ever had "hard" mechanics???). It's still on test, and the Devs might up the difficulty a little. Also, these aren't your average players...you overestimate the average player's abilities...they unfortunately are the majority, and most of them have yet to master the art of Block or Lunge. These are things to keep in mind when judging the first raid that drops in the new monthly content format. Elite will be here soon enough.

More whine. Play with inexperienced players and don't watch videos before you enter a raid then talk about challenges. Lol the biggest issue is ppl watch YouTube videos and get walkthroughs from intelligent league mates and friends. Then they act high and mighty and discriminate on players at level. Let's replay and get OP then stick together and say everything is easy lol. Of course it's easy, when you figure out the mechanics or get them handed to you via YouTube... Ugh I hate this community some days. As soon as the next inner sanctum, prime battleground, fos2, DoX or thrones gets released we will get whining about it being too hard.... Then ppl will spam the easy stuff with replays then say is too easy....

People are missing one key thing, this isn't the hard raid, this one wont have Elite mode either, I actually believe the difficulty isn't so off considering the requirements for dominance are actually less than the current HoP 2 raids. But I played it and I did found there to be no real mechanics, besides Lashina one hitting a couple of guys, and Talia going immune, which I believe it's tied to adds arriving, I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I believe the issue lies in the lack of mechanics and not difficulty.

Nope, this plan is good as it is and I'm sure you'll agree once the content starts hitting live servers. Hope that helps!

Please take the time to read the OP carefully before you start whining about any supposed whining. I clearly stated after testing the raid and not after watching videos.
I played the raid on Test the minute it went live and our group completed the raid in 30 minutes or so on our first attempt. I don't rely on Utube videos or whatever else you are assuming without any facts.

See that's thing, it will not be soon enough because between HH and the new hard raid, 5-6 months would have passed. With the old format, we were at least getting 1 decent raid and the Elite version of it every 3 months. Like Scarred Nova said, the first episode should have been out in May. However, the Devs acknowledged that there might be difficulty issues with the raid and I'm hoping that they will buff it up a bit and change the mechanics to something more challenging.

My detailed feedback on the raid difficulty, raid mechanics and artwork is available on the testing feedback thread:
https://forums.daybreakgames.com/dcuo/index.php?threads/episode-15-the-bombshell-paradox.256578/

I understand your second point and that is why I suggested that hard mode should be differentiated with Elite raids and should have one or two feats as inventive to players who take up the hard mode.

Ok, I should have perhaps worded the part about practice differently since it's still not gone live.

Like you say that the first raid is supposed to be easy and should cater to the majority, I did not anywhere state that the raid difficulty level should be increased.
Keeping in view the average player ability, I made the post. Having a hard mode on the same raid will not affect the average player but will give the end gaming community something challenging,

Elite raids will drops in every third episode which means that players seeking challenging content will have to wait for 60 days each time unlike the quarterly DLC where there is something for everybody.

Well, As you said every three months you got a decent raid and the Elite Version of it. With this system you will. Its only just the first wave of the new system. In october (yes its 5 months after HH dropped) you will have a new Decent raid with Elite Version, and 3 months later you will another Decent raid with Elite Version. This is just the first wave guys. The easy raid is first, and who knows how the Elite Alert will feel in September?? Unfortunately just take the hit for the First 2 months, but once the monthly ball gets rolling the system should be fine.

Yes I understand that, but the timing to do this couldn't be more off. Many have left the game because of the issues with the latest GUs and most of us who are staying for now are hoping for some miracle that will revitalize the game. I fear that the lack of engaging content will drive even more of us towards other games. I don't know if my concerns are valid or not, but I think they are because when I talk to my friends and league mates, it seems everyone is hanging by a thread and there's more talk about going to other games then ever.