New Difficulty Feedback: Casual

[Kalari]

I think instead of "casual" it should be called "beginner" it is an introduction to the quests and proceeds normal it would not be as derogatory as some fine the term "easy" and would be used to explain that this mode is scaled down to teach the ins and out of said quests.

But to call it casual to me assumes that people who may consider themselves casual players arent up to snuff enough to handle normal settings which to many of us with dungeon scaling has become laughingly easy. Maybe its the choice of word with this mode but I just think a even easier version then normal that isnt solo should be introduced as beginner just like level 0 in a game proceeds level 1 at times.

[techwench]

After thinking about it, I like a tag like "learning" or "training" the best. It implies it is easier and also that you should plan on moving up to harder difficulty at some time. It would also imply that the rewards are reduced from the normal mode. Certainly better than Casual.

/sign

I like it!

[ghortagg]

so i ll Try to Sum up the heated discussion above.

Casual Mode

1) Allows Sneak peak at quest for Story/discovery/training

2) May be a problem for High value Loot/Collectables that can be obtained too easily.

3) May faslely induce some players into thinking that they are Raid Ready.


OK
so we may continue on elaborationg comments on these points and try to come up with something sensible

[ezgoezit]

metalline handwraps are ml 10 so you probably won't be seeing any for a while.

However, you don't need metalline handwraps for the marut, you need anarchic ones, which are cheap and always at a broker.

You can get lucky in the Necropolis and score some of the Devout Handwraps which are +2 metalline handwraps of pure good with a ml of 8. Aside from that, they are right, these probably wouldn't be the pair you would want to use for that fight.

http://compendium.ddo.com/wiki/Weaponevout_Handwraps

Ez

[ddaedelus]

I think instead of "casual" it should be called "beginner" it is an introduction to the quests and proceeds normal it would not be as derogatory as some fine the term "easy" and would be used to explain that this mode is scaled down to teach the ins and out of said quests.

"Beginner" would be fine except that "beginner" difficulty on a level 20 quest seems a bit odd. Personally I'd be much more embarrassed to run a level 20 quest on "beginner" than I would on "easy."

"Training" as someone else suggested, is good.

But to call it casual to me assumes that people who may consider themselves casual players arent up to snuff enough to handle normal settings which to many of us with dungeon scaling has become laughingly easy. Maybe its the choice of word with this mode but I just think a even easier version then normal that isnt solo should be introduced as beginner just like level 0 in a game proceeds level 1 at times.

Agreed. If "solo" caused problems because it was inaccurate, then surely the word "casual" will cause similar problems.

[Horrorscope]

I maybe talking from emotions but why? why would we give an option to new players to tell them never try to get better?

I think instead of "casual" it should be called "beginner"

Why always think the worst? As one person mentioned about the PIT, it allows them to go in and understand it so when they do group it, they can be useful. Also many of us ultimately aim for Elite/Epic status. If I have to start at Casual and work my way up, that's ok, no? Then maybe you are right, there is a person that isn't ever going to nothing but Casual and never learn a darn thing. I guess I'll have to cross that bridge when I get there. Worry, nah. I notice you like to learn people them there lessons as if we should be worrying about these others.

Then were back on naming things this instead of that. These are the big things? What happens if they called it beginner and someone said "Instead of Beginner, they should have called it Casual"? There is no win here, there should be more silence and less worries.

[dopey69]

Actual the various settings should be more like

Easy, Whatever, Hard, Wicked Hard, OMG

pluss rep .....and i can't wait for OMG! LOL

[Horrorscope]

I personally love this setting (will write a longer thread later). I am not a casual player. But I have friends who are not great at this game, and this gives me the chance to play with them in content they simply could not handle.

There is a serious divide in this game between those with gear and those without. I have heavy-duty greensteel gear and some degree of raid items on my toons. My friends don't and their power levels are much lower because of it. I am really looking forward to running quests with them now that would make their eyes bleed before.

Good change, Turbine!

Holgar

Only certain people should enjoy this game! jk, I agree.

[Horrorscope]

To sum up most of it....

There is not an issue with the casual players as mush as rare drops should not drop and flagging should not apply on Casual Mode

This way they can do the quest, get use to it, the do it on norm+ for flagging and/or drops

I do agree, but one part sounds like "And the poor shall remain poor!".#

[dopey69]

How will it? there are less mobs, lower stats on monsters, less damage output from creatures...etc All this does is give you a preview of the quest layout and maybe some insight of what type some of monsters will be.

first you ask how will it and answer your own question lol. ne ways i think the ez mode will be nice for us map makers it is quite hard to map out an instance while rezzing and healing. solo is much better

[ddaedelus]

so i ll Try to Sum up the heated discussion above.

Casual Mode

1) Allows Sneak peak at quest for Story/discovery/training

2) May be a problem for High value Loot/Collectables that can be obtained too easily.

An understandable concern, but also fixable. Either change the collectible's drop rate, or make them only drop on certain difficulty levels.

3) May faslely induce some players into thinking that they are Raid Ready.

I really just don't think there's much merit to this complaint. Will there be idiots who think "I just finished every quest in the game on easy, I could never solo a quest on hard, but I just know I'm ready for raiding?" Sure. Life is full of idiots. Are these people going to be common? Or even common enough to notice over the rest of the bad players? I just can't imagine that that will be the case.

[Kalari]

Why always think the worst? As one person mentioned about the PIT, it allows them to go in and understand it so when they do group it, they can be useful. Also many of us ultimately aim for Elite/Epic status. If I have to start at Casual and work my way up, that's ok, no? Then maybe you are right, there is a person that isn't ever going to nothing but Casual and never learn a darn thing. I guess I'll have to cross that bridge when I get there. Worry, nah. I notice you like to learn people them there lessons as if we should be worrying about these others.

Then were back on naming things this instead of that. These are the big things? What happens if they called it beginner and someone said "Instead of Beginner, they should have called it Casual"? There is no win here, there should be more silence and less worries.

Have ya really learned nothing from my posts? Assume the worst and be pleasently surprised is my motto. Either way not against this easy mode as much as I find the name stupid I think casual is misleading and insulting to casual gamers who can handle quests just fine but meh whatever I dont feel like battling over stuff today just want to relax.

[Borror0]

Assume the worst and be pleasently surprised is my motto.

Careful for the confirmation bias, though.

[whysper]

metalline handwraps are ml 10 so you probably won't be seeing any for a while.

However, you don't need metalline handwraps for the marut, you need anarchic ones, which are cheap and always at a broker.

Presumably meant the golem if in fact speaking of VoN 4, not 3.

[Zool]

I like the idea of opening up the game to more people, however i share the concerns of alot of the posters in this thread.

Why not simply rework the entire difficulty settings,

(1) Easy (yes easy..i think we can all agree on the name here)

No first time XP bonus.
No Named loot
Does not flag character for raids

(2) Normal

As is atm

(3) Hard

As is atm
with an additional 25% chance of NAMED and RARE loot.
Sure normal loot is like 1 lvl above, but really who cares about stuff we just sell to vendors anyway

(4) Elite

As is atm
Has an additional 50% chance of NAMED and RARE loot

(5) Epic (if available on quest)

As is atm, tweak the drop rates on scrolls
Has an additional 75% chance of Named and Rare loot

Ok, the percentages are there to highlight my point, probably not a good idea to be that high. I also know there are other issues with say epic that im ignorning for the moment.

This is allow the entire playerbase to play the game at a personal pace, and it addresses the issues the vets have.
It encourages people to step up and group into elite to get say a better chance at boot ingredients for ToD

[Sarr]

For me, as a veteran play who knows hundreds of players both new and veteran also, it's a great change.

"Solo" was really weird difficulty, where you couldn't take a hireling. Opening this difficulty to soloers and very small groups too (like solo + a hireling or more, if you wanna waste some money ) is more organic for an MMO and really fits DDO as a group-intensive game. Just like D&D is.

Also, the term "Casual" - though some people don't like it now - is VERY accurate in my opinion. It addresses exactly the type of players who tend to solo in DDO, and those are really casual players. Plus some hardcore ones, but those will go solo on normal, hard or even elite anyway.

"Casual" is a term popular in DDO and MMO games in general, and I'm really impressed how Turbine knows it and takes notes. Not only here, with Night Cycle too, and many other changes to date. Impressive. Calling it "Easy" would lack that depth we need in DDO.

Of course this setting will need some fine tunning (most likely, as it is new!), but I get the impression that difficulty "Normal" is already a bit harder.
I've seen many more monsters on Korthos Island when playing on normal with just one hireling, for some testing (there are some unannotated changes on the island). It seems there's more of them in Wilderness too.

So I think that's great change, and from my testing on low levels it works just like it should. Great balance on Korthos Wilderness (played a Wizard, and he really needed to be careful with mana, though never died) and in It's fun, not tedious or tiring, and with new tooltips it's really more informative.
quests as well.
As of yet, there's nothing that I'd like to change in it as a leader of ~500 character guild. Again, impressive Turbine. TenTonHammer and MMORPG.COM don't even realize how good this game will soon be, even when they gave it those awards. I'd love to see the faces of those criticizing their awards once Update 3 goes live .

[Junts]

This mode should be called 'practice'.

[Shassa]

This mode should be called 'practice'.

Huh. I kinda like that.

I like "Easy" too though. It's easy to understand. How many times are we going to have to hear, "What does Casual mean?"

Kalari's idea of "Beginner" would be good too. No ambiguity there, either.

[joneb1999]

For me, as a veteran play who knows hundreds of players both new and veteran also, it's a great change.

"Solo" was really weird difficulty, where you couldn't take a hireling. Opening this difficulty to soloers and very small groups too (like solo + a hireling or more, if you wanna waste some money ) is more organic for an MMO and really fits DDO as a group-intensive game. Just like D&D is.

Also, the term "Casual" - though some people don't like it now - is VERY accurate in my opinion. It addresses exactly the type of players who tend to solo in DDO, and those are really casual players. Plus some hardcore ones, but those will go solo on normal, hard or even elite anyway.

"Casual" is a term popular in DDO and MMO games in general, and I'm really impressed how Turbine knows it and takes notes. Not only here, with Night Cycle too, and many other changes to date. Impressive. Calling it "Easy" would lack that depth we need in DDO.

Of course this setting will need some fine tunning (most likely, as it is new!), but I think I already see that diffiuclty "Normal" is harder.
I've seen many more monsters on Korthos Island when playing on normal with just one hireling, for some testing (there are some unannotated changes on the island). It seems there's more of them in Wilderness too.

So I think that's great change, and from my testing on low levels it works just like it should. Great balance on Korthos Wilderness (played a Wizard, and he really needed to be careful with mana, though never died) and in It's fun, not tedious or tiring, and with new tooltips it's really more informative.
quests as well.
As of yet, there's nothing that I'd like to change in it as a leader of ~500 character guild. Again, impressive Turbine. TenTonHammer and MMORPG.COM don't even realize how good this game will soon be, even when they gave it those awards. I'd love to see the faces of those criticizing their awards once Update 3 goes live .

I also think its a great addition especially for people who maybe play at odd times when its harder to get a pug and who find it hard to solo normal at the quest level designed for their level. It also helps give insight and teaching to each quest for beginners and allows people who enjoy the whole experience to stop and look around so that they are better prepared to play with a party of quick learners and vets at a later stage. This actually could mean less gimped quests eventually. Raids should not be casual or if casual is allowed a player should have to flag via normal play before they play from normal difficulty onwards.

[Borror0]

This mode should be called 'practice'.

Heh. I suggested MadFloyd to rename Solo into Training back in DDO:EU Beta.

Also, the term "Casual" - though some people don't like it now - is VERY accurate in my opinion. It addresses exactly the type of players who tend to solo in DDO, and those are really casual players. Plus some hardcore ones, but those will go solo on normal, hard or even elite anyway.

"Casual" is a term popular in DDO and MMO games in general, and I'm really impressed how Turbine knows it and takes notes. Not only here, with Night Cycle too, and many other changes to date. Impressive. Calling it "Easy" would lack that depth we need in DDO.

It's not about being accurate. It's about about clear.

The word hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia is a very accurate way to talk about "the fear of long words" but it's simply less clear than simply saying "the fear of long words". I could stick to it regardless, but if my intent is to get the right message across to the most people it would make more sense to use words everyone can understand.

Likewise, "Casual" feels odd in a list of difficulty setting. When you ask how hard something is, you're unlikely to get "of a casual difficulty" as an answer. However, easy is a term you're more likely to hear which is why players get the intent behind Easy. There might be better terms than Easy that are as clear but has a more appealing connotation but Easy trumps Casual.

But, you mention accuracy so let's address it.

No. It's not accurate either. While Turbine does intend to appeal to casual players with this (and they might succeed), the difficulty setting is not designed for them in any way.

A good example of casual gamer-oriented game design is New Super Mario Bros. Wii's Super Guide Mode that completes the game for you if you're stuck or unable to proceed because casual gamers tolerate hard to overcome challenges far less than typical gamers. However, other than making fights much easier, nothing has changed in the design of the quest For example, that maze in The Crucible is still has hard.

If accuracy is your goal, Easy would make more sense than Casual because the designs are not built for casuals.