10 Skull Mask of Deception Completion: Review of Reaper, Dec14th-16th, Captain's Crew

[Mr_Helmet]

"Is more valuable" does not mean what you think it means!

The feedback of players who have not run the content is of ZERO value. it's like reviewing a movie you haven't seen.

Cordo's just too nice to say that.

[Mr_Helmet]

A majority of players are not in Elite today; we don't expect a majority of players to run Reaper.

Sev~

Really? According to form DDO we only run Elite. So this isn't true?

[SirValentine]

Epic PLs working in Heroic is hilariously stupid OP.

Especially hilarious in that they put that in place after making such a fuss about, and removing, Twists in Heroic.

[Sam-u-r-eye]

Especially hilarious in that they put that in place after making such a fuss about, and removing, Twists in Heroic.

eburst, cocoon, and primal scream are way more broken in heroics than EPLs

i'm really not saying you were saying they were, but just in case some is lead along the silly line that they were

[Wizza]

"Is more valuable" does not mean what you think it means!



I have run Mask of Deception many times.

I have seen the video of it being run on the highest difficulty available.

I cannot run that difficulty myself as I cannot get on Lamannia and even if I did get on Lamannia there's no way I'd get into the groups to run it on that difficulty!

One day I may run it on that difficulty - It's unlikely but not impossible!

And I have accepted that it's heavily bugged, I've also stated my opinion that Severlin's admission that this bug could {and likely will} end with said quest being banned from having Reaper difficulty in the first place to be not a good thing!



Link?

Because Sev's statement here....

Mentions nothing about it being on a quest by quest basis!

Nothing about certain quests being doable on Reaper 10 by design!




You know full well that "Loot Farms" are not the same as "XP runs"!

I'm not running the same quest over and over ad infinitum, I'm running multiple quests one after the other!

We are well aware that there is a large variance in difficulty quest to quest. It is not the goal of Reaper to try to fix that. Yes, that means we are sure there will be quests that will be much easier to finish on high Reaper difficulties.

If a particular quest becomes problematic enough then we will make it unavailable for Reaper.

A majority of players are not in Elite today; we don't expect a majority of players to run Reaper.

Sev~

Severlin replied to every single of your point, basically saying the same things that I did.

You still argue with that. I can't help you. Good luck, and thanks Sev for making it even more clear than it already was.

[Mindos]

A majority of players are not in Elite today; we don't expect a majority of players to run Reaper.

Sev~

Then why are you devoting resources to this endeavor?

[Sam-u-r-eye]

Then why are you devoting resources to this endeavor?

As players grow they should not fall off of a cliff.
There should be a reasonable unending grind available to them when they reach the end of the TR train.
Something inherently beyond them.

That's my feel of it anyway.

[goldengibblet]

We are well aware that there is a large variance in difficulty quest to quest. It is not the goal of Reaper to try to fix that. Yes, that means we are sure there will be quests that will be much easier to finish on high Reaper difficulties.

If a particular quest becomes problematic enough then we will make it unavailable for Reaper.

A majority of players are not in Elite today; we don't expect a majority of players to run Reaper.

Sev~

Ah... But the Majority of lfms and also the majority of those really important TRtrains are run on Elite these days Sev. Reaper will become that new elite, if not handled delicately it could fractured the the log on base number and make it harder for new and returning players.

[SirValentine]

The Devs first posited Reaper 6 months ago?

But anyway - BEFORE Cannith Crafting was updated!

I'd say that Cannith Crafting Update was for the new post Reaper Meta not for Elite.

Crafting just matches the power level of the new random loot, which came out a year ago. Well, except lower, since it only goes up to 34, instead of 40.

[Sam-u-r-eye]

Crafting just matches the power level of the new random loot, which came out a year ago. Well, except lower, since it only goes up to 34, instead of 40.

CC is much more powerful given that you decide what goes where, including the 3rd slot and whether or not there is an augment.

I have 1 holy grail random drop of a lvl 40 item that is a con 17 resistance 13 bracers. They were recently replaced by a better CC item.

[Gremmlynn]

I don't understand why this. This game needs to promote different playstyles, not just the same old beatdown. At best, I would increase mobs' Listen and Spot, to make stealthing much, much harder.

Except that wouldn't make it any harder, just limit the number of characters that can successfully play reaper as if it were any other difficulty to those with sneak values that exceed those amounts.

[Gremmlynn]

That is not our problem, nor it should be Devs's problem. If you are entitled to something that is not for you, then problem is within you and nothing will make you change your mind. I already see it in the forum with feedback from people that have no intention to even run Reaper (or haven't even tried it once), and that feedback should just be ignored, completely.

That's a rather naive statement IMO. It's DM level thinking, in that it's premise is basically, "that's how it is and if you don't like it you can just not play". The difference being DM's don't rely on their game for their livelihoods. It is a dev problem because, right or wrong, that is the attitude of a large enough portion of their customer base to make it their problem.

Simply put, customers who feel entitled to something they aren't getting don't remain customers for long. Businesses that don't strive to meet the expectations of their customers generally don't stay in business long.

[Gremmlynn]

As someone who's been happy to point out things I think are bad for the game...that's not one of them.

How many TRs did you do before Bravery Bonus existed? That was ugly, painful, off-putting. Bravery Bonus was a massive win for the game, as far as I'm concerned.

Before Bravery, TRing was a choice between very 2 bad things: ultra-boring Normal x9 of a select few quests, or run a variety of content at a more challenging difficulty, but level up at a snails pace.

Now, Elite being trivialized by massive power bloat on gear & massive power bloat in enhancements is a whole other topic; there's a couple of things I'll gladly repeat really have been and continue to be bad for the game.

I heartily disagree.

That argument seems to use the premise that BB was the only possible solution to that particular problem. Personally, I think simply lowering the xp needed for multiple lives, probably to what is needed for a first life would have done the trick. Without making elite the only desirable difficulty for anyone to play and thus proxi-nerfed by the power creep needed to make it the defacto Normal difficulty.

You seem to miss the connection between BB and the power creep needed to retain players that expect access to that xp bonus.

[HAL]

As players grow they should not fall off of a cliff.
There should be a reasonable unending grind available to them when they reach the end of the TR train.
Something inherently beyond them.

That's my feel of it anyway.

Should there? Why?

In every MMO I've played (quite a number) or heard of, players eventually get to the point that they've done everything and are "done" with the game. Even in WoW players leave after experiencing the newest content, many of whom never return even when newer content is introduced.

[Cantor]

Really? According to form DDO we only run Elite. So this isn't true?

I think this is a difference between epic players and heroic players or TRer's and Alters.

I know plenty of people who don't heroic TR, they just make a new character and like to play epics.
I know plenty who are bored AF in epics after one trip to 30 and do a heroic/iconic TR.

My point is in heroics, I would bet most are playing elite (if you count first run of a quest, or highest run if not elite opener). I doubt anyone is at a normal quest difficulty play level other than a true brand new player with no mmo experience, and those people are probably on hard within 2 weeks.
But in epics, I would not be surprised that EN is the vast majority from people doing ER dailies xp grinds.

If one runs a high xp quest on E/H/N/N/N, thats mostly not on elite.... but that is elite by my ruberic.

[HAL]

I think this is a difference between epic players and heroic players or TRer's and Alters.

I know plenty of people who don't heroic TR, they just make a new character and like to play epics.
I know plenty who are bored AF in epics after one trip to 30 and do a heroic/iconic TR.

My point is in heroics, I would bet most are playing elite (if you count first run of a quest, or highest run if not elite opener). I doubt anyone is at a normal quest difficulty play level other than a true brand new player with no mmo experience, and those people are probably on hard within 2 weeks.
But in epics, I would not be surprised that EN is the vast majority from people doing ER dailies xp grinds.

If one runs a high xp quest on E/H/N/N/N, thats mostly not on elite.... but that is elite by my ruberic.

I think you are mostly correct, but I think that many new / Casual players are also running Hard in Heroics at least on more difficult quests, and once they reach a certain level (12 / 15).

There are also players who make alts and play them in Heroics. Even though TR is an option, not everyone does it. Despite my start date I only have 2 characters on their second life...I have played many other MMOs and am used to having many different alts. If your playstyle is to have alts, you probably aren't running quests multiple times (E/H/N/N/N) either.

[BigErkyKid]

I think you are mostly correct, but I think that many new / Casual players are also running Hard in Heroics at least on more difficult quests, and once they reach a certain level (12 / 15).

There are also players who make alts and play them in Heroics. Even though TR is an option, not everyone does it. Despite my start date I only have 2 characters on their second life...I have played many other MMOs and am used to having many different alts. If your playstyle is to have alts, you probably aren't running quests multiple times (E/H/N/N/N) either.

Two 2nd life toons in 11 years? Well that's something. Do you think there are many more players like you?

I am not trying to pick a fight, it is just very surprising to me.

Are you planning on running reaper?

[Mr_Helmet]

I think you are mostly correct, but I think that many new / Casual players are also running Hard in Heroics at least on more difficult quests, and once they reach a certain level (12 / 15).

I don't believe the words "many," "new," and "players" should ever be used in the same sentence when talking about DDO.

[HAL]

Two 2nd life toons in 11 years? Well that's something. Do you think there are many more players like you?

I am not trying to pick a fight, it is just very surprising to me.

Are you planning on running reaper?

I have been playing MMOs since the end of Ultima / beginning of Everquest andI have always been an altoholic. When TRing was first introduced I thought it was a silly idea. Why run the same character over and over when I can have as many as I wanted? Sure there were the Past Lives, but they weren't enough to tempt me to invest another life in an existing character when I could create a whole new character. My two characters with Past Lives are very recent and mainly because my two static groups wanted to TR.

I think its entirely probable that there are more players like me, I know several of them and I expect there are more. TRing isn't "advertised" very much in-game and I can't think of another MMO that has a similar mechanic, while alts are the norm.

I have been running Elite most of the time and am very comfortable with it. I expect my groups will want to at least try Reaper and will probably start running 1 or 2 Skulls instead of Elite. Maybe higher if SSG keeps nerfing Reaper like they are.

[HAL]

I don't believe the words "many," "new," and "players" should ever be used in the same sentence when talking about DDO.

Unlike others, I qualify my statements that use those words with "I think" and "in my opinion" or "in my experience".