There are two ways that may solve this. 1. Consolidate the "Cheaters", the "Griefers" and the "Hackers" (maybe even the Trollers) and put them into one exclusive "phase". You can call this phase, "The Phantom Zone ". If you need more than one phase to contain them all then wow, just wow. 2. Temporarily suspend the primary in-game tool(s) they need to execute or at most, complete their "Villainy ". Example: "the suspension of the on-duty queue system because you abandoned a pick up group one too many times". You can get out of any these through good behavior or at least after a set time period. Side Note: this is under the premise that the developers are competent and can handle the rules needed to implement one and/or two.
I've been sticking to my league more or less exclusively since last dlc. I am frankly tired of pug groups that don't know the mechanics of the game. If you are top tier cr and still don't know what a red skull means there is a much deeper problem than what drops when. And on the EU servers at least, there are many instances of language barriers. I speak 3 languages fluently, yet have been in raids in the past where I simply could not communicate with people who clearly had no idea what to do. Therefore my play style has changed. I pretty much only raid with league or friends, and my replay badge usage has been reduced to almost zero. I see no point in replaying anymore just to get gear that will be useless eventually.
i stick to myself and the few friend, no need for leagues. I pretty much dislike everyone for the community as a whole
Competency has nothing to do with the ability to carry out your system. Such a system requires constant monitoring of the playerbase, which I might add is in the thousands. Monitoring everyone who does any kind of "villainy" in such a way would require a team of people whose sole purpose was to police the players every action. It is just not practical in a permanent sense. Reviewing player actions such as with this incident is one thing. Monitoring every action of every player is not the same, and really not possible.
You have a point, however... Not deliberately encouraging systemic exploitation then pretending like they didn't know it was happening would have been a better first step.
Two months ago I would not have any proof that 1 or 2 would work until I moved on to another MMO. It is doable. I also would not recommend having your argument be dependent on the amount resources SOE has. 1. They have become Daybreak Game Company. 2. I do not believe you have knowledge of the amount resources they have and can devote towards between now and 2/23/2016. Here is a scenario of what I was referring in the example of my previous post: A player abandons a queue before it even starts. The game warns them that if they do this two more times they will be unable to use the queue for the duration of the day. This is a supplementation for my first post on this thread
I agree with the OP in almost all points. It has come to a point where the RB has consumed almost all the integrity of the game. RNG systems are ok as long as they are free (meaning you can run all the times you want any specific content without being locked out of loot). But the moment you have to pay for taking your chances to get a piece of gear, then well, this is not more than a gambling system which I refuse to take part of. This is a road DCUO has been traveling for a long time now and I really doubt they will ever change their minds. It's obvious that the changes to the loot system intruced within the scope of this DLC reinforces the RB philosophy. If the hook was good, now with the Elite raids and the IL discrepancies is even better; and if we add to the equation all the tools based on DCUO Census then well... the perfect hook, like Mepps stated once "Be jealous". I personally don't care if my CR is 113, 114 or 115, I really don't; I don't PUG and I don't reset more than what my Legendary sub allows me to do. I just don't want to be part of this plundering, but the truth is that many are willing to and not everybody has the luck to not PUG the content and they have to; forcing them to be part of the RB hysteria or suffer the consequences. I said it many times, but I really wish all this RB centric system could be re-evaluated and changed. I really love games like Diablo 3, where you can run the instances as many time you wish for free, having a small chance to get the item you want, but always free. Hope they can find a good source of revenues not based on loot lockings but rather on cosmetics, for example.
It's actually a little worse than that. I've been hearing a lot of cheater talk the last week, as they sulked back to running content the way I do for at least a few days trying to replace the gear they're losing. (LFG last night was looking for 7 Electric DPS Throne groups, so I suspect some other cheap strategy is already here) What actually happens is that players wait until they've found a glitch, and that's a major trigger for when they really get into this splurge of replay badges. Here's the ones I've heard about in the last few DLCs: Mantis can be glitched to make the only hard fight in League Hall easy. Avararice can be gliched so that you fight Larfleeze easily. L&W can be gliched so the adds don't come out, or you get double loot. The replay spending spree accelerates madly because these glitches are found. There's a type of serial cheater in the game now who only spends big when they find the short-cut, so they burn through as many times as possible before it's fixed. And they've now gone months where that's actually the most efficient way to play the game.
Is this a typo or are you really a cr113 healer with only 7K resto? if so are you healing in DPS gear?
If no one has noticed the trend the current DLC CR should not impact the next DLC CR. T6 CR requirement always went back 1 more DLC for content. AF and HOP both had CR requirements of 100 - this could be accomplished with 2 DLC prior which was OC WotL and AF II both had CR of 106 - this could be accomplished with AF With that said the next DLC will use the highest obtained CR from WotL II which was 111 CR. So if you get just the 98 gear you should be all set or even the 99 gear. The reason this exist is that the developers have stated that players can skip every other DLC if players wanted to who were premium. So T7 CR requirement will be 111 if all continues as past DLCs.
Yes, I've always mixed my gear since day 1. My style. Honestly I would be fine with 5,500 - 6,000. Its not how much restoration you have but how you utilize it.
Sadly I agree with the OP. What was suppose to be a great DLC and a spark for the game, has turned into a devastating exploit and rift in the community. Not to mention the quantum uproar that is still amoung us, what once looked like a promising future for DCUO has turned into a bad start for the year for DCUO.
What about all the people it pushes away because they don't want to buy into the ******** RNG gambling system? MMORPGs that you're thinking of generally don't release a brand new set of vastly superior gear every 3 months. Therefore it isn't necessary for this game to have a system like this in place because DLCs have a shelf life of about 3 months long. After that, they merely become another rung on the ladder towards the most current gear and content. If they want raids to have re-playability, then they should put desirable trinkets and other vanity items in there for people to chase. You, yourself, shared with us a rare mount which has an extremely low drop rate in a specific raid in another game. A vanity item like this will not be rendered irrelevant within 3 months and is also doesn't progress your character so it doesn't matter when you receive it. People go bat-**** crazy in this game for vanity items. Look at the auras they do. If they make these rare vanity items tradable, too (perhaps not the pets but something else in addition to the pets) they could invigorate the economy and get people excited about money again. Imagine if Hades cloak was a unique, Legendary (rarity) style that only dropped from Hades in Thrones but could be traded freely by anyone who received it? You'd have the people who wanted, it chasing it and the people who wanted money for it chasing it too. Bottom line is that they don't need to put the best gear in a DLC behind a RNG system. There are plenty things they could, but don't do.
I agree with the OP. All this game has turned into is a glorified slot machine that preys on people who like to gamble. The saddest part of this whole thing, is that many people do not realize the cost to reset a raid is $2.50, and they are gambling that money each and every time they unlock a raid trying to get the best set of gear. What's even more hilarious is that the next DLC will have far superior gear in it as it is the start of T7. When replays first came out, the devs said that replays were just a way to put in the time soon rather than later at a cost, and a way for players who fell behind to catch up. That philosophy has changed dramatically, because all I see replay badges as now, are the chips that we get to wager in the virtual casino that DCUO has become. I hope the devs change this route they are on very soon because I really do not see a future for DCUO if they stay this course. It's only a matter of time before everyone sees this game for what it truly current is, a glorified slot machine. I'm really surprised this type of system in a video game is even legal, as last I checked, gambling is illegal in most states. P.S. This RNG system has had me playing less than usual.
I'm most bothered by the fact the punishment to the glitchers metaphorically did not even attempt to Balance the Scales. The glitchers STILL retain the MAJORITY of their ill-gotten rewards. It's like a child take 9 cookies when they were only suppose to take 3..... but as a punishment taking away 3 of the cookies leaving the child with 6. No matter how you look at it, that is by definitions not a punishment. In fact, it could be seen as being rewarded for wrongdoing. What type a message does that send to the other children? What type of message does that send to other DCUO players?
I said it when replays were first introduced and I'm still saying it, they are bad for the game. All I use them for now is feat unlocking. And I also am in agreement with the OP.
I remember running A&B with my Nature healer with less than 3K resto and was yelled at, yet no one died on my watch. The 14K resto players are no better than those of us with 6-7K resto.
It's nice to see such a strong negative reaction to the system that has been seen with this DLC. I honestly don't see why they can't meet in the middle and offer both methods of progression. Perhaps something along the lines of: - The best set of gear in the DLC unlocks inside a vendor once you complete a standard set of gear. - The exact same set of gear is a random, rare drop in the raids. - When you queue up for an instance, you're asked what type of reward you want to earn: Double/Triple Marks or a chance at the items. - The cost of the best gear has been grossly inflated so that it takes into consideration the daily amount of marks a player can earn when choosing the "Double" or "Triple" marks option instead of the gear drops. Then those who want to run content to earn marks to buy the gear can and those who want to take a chance on the raids dropping that gear can do that instead. At any time a player can choose to switch, but you can't do both at the same time. So you can't run a raid for a chance at a gear drop AND get double/triple marks, only the standard amount, which wouldn't co-inside with the amount of marks necessary to get the gear within a month. Putting numbers to that: Total Daily marks: 15 Total Daily marks when using "Triple Marks" option: 45 Days in a month: 28 Days in a month multiplied by number of free daily marks: 28 x 45 = 1260 So about 1260 Marks to buy a full set of the best gear. Completely unrealistic if you aren't using the double/triple marks option and instead are opting for loot drops. But realistic and not a short grind for those who want to use a grind method. Both parties happy, devs happy, It's not even a tech heavy solution either. Problem solved.
Automated systems tend to be flawed, as the punish just as many well meaning people as less then well meaning people. as an example, say I pug into a raid group, who decides they want to glitch the raid. Vote to be excused (which I am going to assumed is back in, as it is suppose to be) is ignored. So my options are either, a) Glitch the raid, since I am in the minority, so legitimately running the raid is not an option. or b) leave the instance, eat a deserter penalty, and THEN on top of that potentially be unable to queue for the raid for whatever length of time (in excess of the deserter) all because i would rather NOT cheat. So I am basically SOL either way. Not the way you want the system to work. Which is why you need physical people to look at logs and other things and determine that, in this case, I should not be punished above and beyond the deserter. But such a system is NOT practical given the population we have.