An Idea for difficulty for DEVS

[Gothdom]

Something crossed my mind that could give people who want a harder game incentives to TR: Curses

You know when you TR, you get a passive bonus and a class feat you can get throughout your new life. How about when you TR you offer the bonus or a curse as a choice. When you choose the curse, you also get a cursed feat you could choose throughout your life. There could even be an Anti-completionist. And since it's a challenge to complete a game with anti-completionist, a player who achieves one game with Anti-completionist could get a unique item.

Dev's thoughts?

[RistoffDervish]

Sorry and not to sound rude, but I doubt any Devs are going to respond to this. I can't see anyone choosing a permanent curse over a buff even if they think the game lacks challenge. Let them go quest naked if they want challenge.

OR - bring back the underlevel XP bonus. I like to occasionally underlevel quests for fun and challenge. This would be a simple and rewarding fix for those who would like challenge, but don't want to mess up their xp progression or feel they are not getting max out of it.

[Gothdom]

I can't see anyone choosing a permanent curse over a buff even if they think the game lacks challenge. Let them go quest naked if they want challenge.



That's why I think you should get a bonus incentive for completing a level 30 TR from a anti-completionist. Also, right now, those blubbering about the game difficulty SHOULD play naked... The way I propose offers a choice. No more nerfing talk, no more battle between elitists and casual players.

There's a lot of talk about builds and balance, and most of it is needed. But I really think a cursed system would work. I mean, I played Castlevania Order of Ecclesia in level 1 mode just to unlock level 255 mode.

If the incentive is worth it, people will play it.

[RistoffDervish]

I just can't see anyone actually choosing a curse, even those who complain about no challenge.

I would have to assume that the devs would not spend time programming a selectable nerf that they know nobody would choose. Just imagine how the majority of players would react to developer time being spent on such a venture. It would not be well received.

Underlevel XP bonus seems like a more realistic approach to dealing with challenge issues. That's something I'm sure most players would get behind.

[Gothdom]

I'll think I'll talk about this to Jerry on Wednesday noon stream.

[RistoffDervish]

Can you imagine the players response to reading these release notes for Update xx.x - NEW! Players can now nerf themselves!

Now I do see where you are coming from, but I don't think this is what most people want. Optional Nerfs are never going to fly because it is not the kind of nerf that people wanting more challenge are after. If the nerf isn't across the board, it is not a nerf, it is a disadvantage, and most players don't want that.

[Gothdom]

Can you imagine the players response to reading these release notes for Update xx.x - NEW! Players can now nerf themselves!

Now I do see where you are coming from, but I don't think this is what most people want. Optional Nerfs are never going to fly because it is not the kind of nerf that people wanting more challenge are after. If the nerf isn't across the board, it is not a nerf, it is a disadvantage, and most players don't want that.

The people who keep asking for a tougher game would go for it. These things exist in other games, so why not in this one? I think you underestimate people who want a challenge. It's an efficient way to offer a challenge to those who want it while leaving other players with the game as it is. I'm tired of seeing "This should be nerfed because my triple completionist kills everything too easily". Of course the simple answer is make a new toon, but it destroys the purpose of progression.

If those who want a challenge don't go for a thing like what I suggest, or create new toons, I think in all honesty that they won DDO and should move on and leave the rest of us with the game we have, not force change the game for something unfun for everyone else.

Heck I'm a somewhat casual player and if the incentive was really good, I'd go for it myself. It gives a sense of accomplishement.

[jalont]

The devs have already implemented the best system to handle difficulty. Three different difficulty settings is enough to handle the different types of players, it's just that the settings need to be tweaked a bit. We don't need any weird gimmicks here. We just need each difficulty to be balanced for each type of player.