Stat Flattening: Preemptive measure?

Unless they have (optional) stat clamping in the works this update is only delaying a seemingly inevitability.

If they do not add stat clamping (or something to alleviate the challenge issue) the decision would (overall) turn out to be too much in favor of high end players. Based on what I am thinking (I did not illustrate it all here), the options they had to choose from would only buy them time to figure something else out.

In other words: the community extorted Daybreak. So the options they (seemingly) had was to either sacrifice balance in DCUO or subscribers. It seems they chose to sacrifice balance. And still, the community is still not thrilled with Daybreak's decisions.

Well, will see how this all turns out.

All the"balance"is at endgame. For what that's worth. If you're a competent gamer this game poses little challenge. If they increase difficulty most people can't handle it and complain.

I guess I don't understand what you mean by balance then.

Content is balanced to us as players. If you fight an NPC who has a CR of 59 and you have a CR of 58, you will take x number of DPS and the NPC will have x number of defense. If you fight an NPC who has a CR of 109 and you have a CR of 108 (same differential) then you will experience the exact same challenge from this NPC.

This is balance in my mind, but it sounds like you don't view it that way.

If you are saying that you don't agree with player CR exceeding NPC CR allowing the player to then over time become OP, then that's a different thing though. Originally the Devs had designed the CR differentials to function that way but players would die just running T2 content and testers didn't like it, nor did players commenting on testers videos.

Sounds like what they could do now is allow players to opt into stat clamping and enter a blind queue that will place you where your role is needed. The reward could be one MoV upon mission completion. Blind Q'ing would only set you up in content below your tier. The 1 MoV would not be subject to lockout and 'filling out the queue' with tier capped players will stem population issues at the fair trade expense of allowing players to infinitely farm MoV. One other measure to prevent exploitation would be to lock out this blind queue system if a player gets placed into a mission they dont like and quit, hoping for an easy reroll of the dice. Similarly, the player gets locked out if they initiate a vote to disband any group they are placed in. Only players willing to struggle through content successively will be able to keep the MoV reward going. This system supports the current model of best gear dropping in raids and not being purchaseable from vendors.

This should help clear up my point of view a bit more: https://forums.daybreakgames.com/dc...o-longer-rewarding.251066/page-3#post-3233976

The business is in end game. If you could continue to be satisfied running 4 year old content, there would be no reason for them to develop new content. The whole business model is designed (even more so after GU 47) to push you toward end game. That's how they sell subscriptions and micro transactions.

That undermines one of DCUO's most favored traits: its wealth of content. Take away "old" content and that trait vanishes.

I don't see how that proposal for rewards has anything to due to balance.

An OP player is the complete opposite of balance in DCUO. The developers are forcing a condition that was not originally intended to exist (pragmatically speaking). I believe this is why they are having issues (round hole, meet square peg). My link proposed a method where your rewarded for adhering to the rules of DCUO (adhering to them all and well). A player is taking down a boss not because they are OP but because they are skilled enough to do so.

Face-rolling in a group of players that cannot, is not balance. NPC's have health meters and attack patterns to provide challenge for the player. Health meters and attack patterns you likely won't see because they are KO'd before they can make a move.

Undermining the point of a role system is not balance either. The purpose of a healer is lost when a player can just walk into a raid of NPC's (alone) and barely lose (if any) HP.

Rewards is what drives this community to take action within DCUO. So if they are rewarded well for tackling (or re-tackling) a mission, they will probably do it. If the favored reward requires a non OP CR, they will probably do it. The implications from doing a mission ,as it was intended to be "played" should eventually balance out the game (the ripple effect in a way; where one thing leads to another).

You are thinking of balance in a different manner than I think most people and the Devs do.

Balance has always been in the vein of if a player has x Stats, is x CR, is x Level, has x DPS, etc. then how does that compare across other players with the same finite numbers in those things and how do each of those players compare to how they interact with NPC's and each other in PvP.

You are saying balance is:

• Group composition should be reviewed for matching so that players have similar Stats / CR / Level / DPS
• Group roles should be reviewed for only groups with specified numbers of each role (i.e. 2/2/2/2 or whatever other group role configuration you are wanting)
• Reducing a players stats to a maximum level per instance (Stat Clamping) and providing rewards if the instance or a boss is completed.

I don't think many people view these as game balance.

You mention that what the Devs are doing wasn't pragmatically originally intended. So you're saying you don't believe the devs ever intended players to get over geared for content to a point where they could run the content without any challenge? This happens in all MMO games (at least every one I've ever played) so I would be shocked at how the Devs wouldn't have known this.

I tend to agree. It seems as though the OP is arguing for homogeneity, i.e. stat (and role?) clamping. That has been argued to death on these forums. For the immediate future it is not being considered. (Thankfully, IMO.)

This feels like a really niche issue.
Because regardless of how geared other players are by getting to the same point faster they are no longer over geared people. they're allies, or competition.
Even at tier there are a very few notable pieces of content that were difficult for long periods of time. Pretty much exclusively paradox, Fos2, Inner and prime. And inner is a push tbh. Everything else even properly geared wasn't super challenging.

That's not the most favored trait, except maybe for you and select others. The most favored trait from most I've come across is being able to play a super powered character alongside your favorite DC heroes and villains.

It's clear from the way the game is set up that the bend is toward end game. Always has been. Marketing is toward the newest content. Short cuts have repeatedly been put in place to facilitate new players speeding their way to end game. Other games, like WoW, let you jump ahead by granting new players higher levels. It's like this in most every MMO I can think of.

I just think the way you envision the game is different from the way it truly is.

It is one of its most appealing elements. That is a necessity for DCUO. It needs a wealth of content to succeed.

Not face-rolling through raid bosses. To me, its bizarre to allow a player that much power over any threat in a game.

It does have a wealth of content for new players. You can only play the same content so many times, before it gets stale, though. That's why the drive is to the newest content. You progress, you get stronger, you move on to the new stuff. Going back is for finishing off feats. They simply aren't going to open all the content up for challenge and rewards. Even optional stat clamping is not likely to give mark rewards. They don't want you to linger in the old content. They want you to move on to (and buy) the next content. That's how they make money in this system. If DCUO were subscription only, you would have a point.

No it means in the devs words and minds that nothing in the game is ever broken and is always "working as intended."

Yeah... I'm gonna call BS on that since if it were actually true nothing would ever get fixed changed or adjusted.

Umm duh nothing ever does get fixed they just band-aid things which in turn breaks plenty more. That's exactly why this game and always will be "Working as Intended".

I heard it said that they fixed quite a bit in the resent update in terms of combat problems.