Are you having fun in HC6?

[neain2008]

I kinda enjoyed my time so far on hardcore.

I got to 5k Favor and got my wings, and now that I got what I was aiming for, I am finding that I am very unmotivated to continue. The hounds were scary at first and at low levels, but as I got higher level and better gear I was able to solo a hound if I had to, though I had to watch my hp.

I will agree with everyone that the hound mechanic of showing up every so often was quite annoying as I have to take work calls every so often and I couldn't just kill everything around me and then take a break.

I liked the idea of the hounds, but past some point, they became more of a nuisance to me than true danger unless I wasn't at my computer for whatever reason. They just limited the number of people that got past level 5, and so limited the number of people past 10 by even more than normal.

I will add my 2 cents for a future hardcore to step away from the perma-death idea. Maybe (and this is stolen from someone else I saw on the forums) insta kill everyone in a quest if anyone dies, and kick them all back to their bind points. This would let them drastically change things up or raise the difficulty without it being quite as punishing as it currently is (losing hours and hours of work because of timing a trap wrong or getting lag in the wrong spot or going swimming in sharn lava by accident). Could even add more things to make soloing and piking less viable if that's the desire.

[ekaterina]

"I will add my 2 cents for a future hardcore to step away from the perma-death idea."

An odd suggestion given that hardcore *means* permadeath - it was the term used for this style of play for many years before some people started calling it permadeath. Many people still prefer the term hardcore.

I have no objection to temporary servers with differing rulesets - none at all - but if death is not permanent "hardcore" is very much the wrong name for them.

[kmoustakas]

Since we can't have polls, the simple question:

Are you having fun in HC season 6 with the hounds and the base +2?

My answer is no. I hate the hounds and the constant nagging by them.
I really hate this season. It's the worst season.
- unpredictable spawning
- constant nagging
- time wasting
- forces duo or full group
- you lose control over your own time and how you'd like or can play
- you can't take breaks while in a quest

Base+2 leads to needing to have optimized builds with semi forced group play.
A fvs, cleric or druid can solo, but a knives wielding pure rogue absolutely can't.

Given that many people aren't the brightest lamps,
I often prefer to solo quests and the hounds make that extra annoying.
I am not an elitist, never was and never will be, in fact I always made fun of those people,
but the truth is I prefer to play with people who know what they're doing, who know the quests
and not with people who made the dumbest mistakes.

I just hit 20 yesterday. When I think about all the farming required at 30+,
and all the hound stress on the way there I lose any motivation to play.
The 2 reasons why I still do is, even if I've sworn to not pay for a vip subscription this HC I still did,
because I didn't want to beg for openers and I had COVID when the season started, so I couldn't go outside, swimming and enjoying the sun and weather.
And I'd like to at least get to max level before I quit, even if there's no reward for that, but there should be.
Epics with base+2 on elite I imagine not being fun times.

I think you made a mistake listening to those "forum elitists" suggesting that hardcore means something other than the diablo2+ term hardcore, which effectively means permadeath. SWG with their padawans/jedis had permadeath and I supported it, an alpha class so powerful it can take on 20 other players and live but if it died, it died for good.
I'd suggest to not listen to those "forum elitists", but think about what could be a fun time for you if you played this game. Constant attacks every 200-500 seconds surely aren't those.

The next problem is guilds.
Deathsmile is always full, that's why this season I opted to join the streamer's guild.
Their problem however is they kick people, sometimes even if they're only 12 hours absent.
So the FORCED need to deal with this hound **** on a daily basis is what adds to the annoyance level.
Why can't you find a solution specially for HC, a global guild or buff system, let's be honest we're in those guilds because we want the buffs and transportation. Those are not social guilds.
So instead of thinking about how to make our lives miserable, think about how to make the better, more fun.
Find a solution for the guild problem.
Deathsmile however has a reasonable 1 day absent kick policy.
I wouldn't even mind 18 hours but this situation has been going on since I'd imagine the 1st HCL, I started playing in HC3, but even in HC3 the guild situation was a mess.

Long story short:
I'm not just not enjoying HC6, I hate it.
What about you?

So far I'm having a blast. Still going through the level 3 quests and I'm only level 5, taking it super slow.

[Dmitrythewizzy]

I am a terrible hardcore player. I am on my third try and still having a blast. I keep dying to traps I miss. This time I am gonna go arti rogue and just build to survive the stupid things. i'd say, keep giving people like me advice. I have learned a lot so far.

[Dark_Lord_Mary]

perhaps a surprising, but not unexpected, +2 down from +4 makes it more difficult to find groups and quest; i spend a lot of time waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting.

[Oxarhamar]

perhaps a surprising, but not unexpected, +2 down from +4 makes it more difficult to find groups and quest; i spend a lot of time waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting.

yeah +2 did increase difficulty a bit by not letting run over level both for questing and also for farming (but thats more of a nuisance)

But it certainly did limit groupinf more than anything else

[Diarden1]

I have been loving this season so far.

I have found hounds to be inconsequential to my journey so far. Traps are still the killer, as hounds have been little more than a nuisance. In groups they die in seconds, and solo (I solo on a pure barb and pure warlock) they go down before a second or third debuff happens, so less than 10 seconds. I've even slashed down a hound in the middle of me soloing the boss in Death House. Not today, house. Not today.

I agree with the randomness being annoying, as I have a newborn and have to run and get him if he's crying. That means recalling out of a quest and back to town, stopping the progress I had. That said, the wings are shiny, and I will get them regardless of the time it takes.

In my opinion, SSG should poll the HC community prior to Season 7 on whatever developmental ideas they have and get our feedback. We're ultimately the ones paying for the experience, so we should have some modicum of decision in the matter.

[Nebless]

Well I hit my goal of 100 favor for the bonus store points so that's it for me here.

Shifted to a normal server and had 3 mimic's from 3 chests all in the same dungeon which is a bit much so I think it's time to take a DDO break.

I'll see everyone again after the mimic's go back to sleep.

[vageta311]

I don't think I'll ever understand the "boo-hoo I can't afk in quests". This is hardcore, it isn't supposed to be casual... In fact hardcore is literally the opposite of casual. I understand that people have lives, phone calls, kids, etc..(myself included) but that is why you don't play hardcore if you're not able to deal with this. If something came up then I left the quest or took a risk and had my buddies guard me for the short time I had to step away. I never play HC in large groups, I play solo or with 1 or 2 of my buddies. At most we trio and not one of us have ever died to a hound. Not solo, not duo, not trio. Yes they were bugged and I know there were some unfair deaths, but now that these bugs are fixed the hounds are 100% completely reasonable challenges. Also the +2 instead of +4 quest level was a good change. Being 4 levels higher than base gives too much advantage, running on elite at level is what hardcore should have always been honestly.

As far as myself, I am having fun. It's not my favorite league mechanic, I much preferred the mimics as at least you got a reward for your troubles. Also I feel like the dogs would have been better if they were at least orange mobs with maybe higher DCs so you at least had a chance of CC if you had your DC's in check. That said their presence in the league doesn't bother me. In fact the first couple of days in HC were some of my most fun in a HC league. The fear was palpable, the deaths were relentless and it made me far more immersed than usual. Instead of chilling out, playing some spotify in the background and BSing on Discord.. we actually had to pay attention to make sure we heard the hound coming. Normally we kind of split up and zerg some of the quests, but this forced us to actually group as you're supposed to in D&D. Splitting your party in tabletop D&D is usually a very bad idea unless it's something you don't have control of, but DDO has gotten far too optimized with people just zerging everything, splitting the party, piking at the entrance... just too **** meta for its own good. This HC league fixed that immediately. Yes you can still zerg if you have a solid group, but you aren't splitting up anymore and you're taking the threat of the hounds seriously. Seems like a win to me. Sure some of the more casual players will suffer, but this is hardcore. It's not supposed to be accessible to everyone. I'm not talking about "skill" or other elitist ****, I'm talking about the time investment required, the focus required, the ability to shrug off a death and continue on without dampening your spirit. Some people are not cutout for this stuff, in fact I think that most are not.

Compared to PoE hardcore, this is very mild in punishment.

[Hafeal]

Loving it.

Much less solo play. Dual boxers greatly reduced.

Reduction to +2 was needed to improve challenge.

Just look at the leader boards and the rolling deaths - clearly hounds have been an obstacle with some staying power, even more than mimics where you just skipped the chest.

I found groups stick together and rally together for the most part, with players interacting more and making new friends.

[Uska]

Tired of dying seems sometimes hounds randomly hit harder or lag allows them to kill you

[Cernunan]

Most tedious and boring season so far.
the hounds are a snooze once you realize how to eliminate them, they are a yawn easy.

The change to +2 means nobody takes any chances, so it's slow and boring zzzzzzzzz. Any quest that is scary is just done on hard since there is plenty of favor now. It did not make it more challenging, nobody takes chances, they don't have to.

I really want the silly wings, so I am hanging in there, but it's not a challenge, just soooo tedious and boring. I may have to take a break after this snore fest.

[Phoenicis]

That^ bit is the part I'm finding the most irksome. The random-timer, find-you-anywhere mechanic is... well, <explitives>. There are those of us who can't put life on a full-stop pause during our play time. Normally we could find a dark corner or closeable room to AFK in to deal with life stuff.

Actually, there's one more thing about this season not mentioned in the OP. The way that anyone this season speaking out against the Hound mechanic is allowed to be stomped on, insulted, and bullied for their opinion and preferred play-style. Every season has a little bit of Leet vs Casual jousting, but this season it seems to have gotten rabid, and gone without check. That's a bummer.

Repeating myself from elsewhere, Hounds should have been limited to the upper tiers, at least Elite+ if not R+. The Leets get their game challenge and Casuals get to plod along at their pace with the lower tiers. Win/win.

----

Oh, yeah. No risk/reward for the Hounds. No tokens, no XP, not even a count in a Monster Manual*.

(*I actually haven't remembered to check my MM while logged in, so this may be wrong - tho I doubt it.)

I actually see more flack when someone complains about the +2 lockout than the Hounds.

Barring the no walking away aspect, hounds haven't been an issue for my wife and me once out of Korthos/Boarderlands.

And I agree, red named mobs should have SOME reward when killed, and when they are champs on top of that they only (rarely) drop rems?

[LittleLexi]

Loving it.

Much less solo play. Dual boxers greatly reduced.

Reduction to +2 was needed to improve challenge.

Just look at the leader boards and the rolling deaths - clearly hounds have been an obstacle with some staying power, even more than mimics where you just skipped the chest.

I found groups stick together and rally together for the most part, with players interacting more and making new friends.

This has been one of the best consequences of how this season has played out; with special emphasis on deterring dual-boxing(yuck) being a most welcome bonus.

[Oxarhamar]

This has been one of the best consequences of how this season has played out; with special emphasis on deterring dual-boxing(yuck) being a most welcome bonus.

Indeed

[Uska]

I have been loving this season so far.

I have found hounds to be inconsequential to my journey so far. Traps are still the killer, as hounds have been little more than a nuisance. In groups they die in seconds, and solo (I solo on a pure barb and pure warlock) they go down before a second or third debuff happens, so less than 10 seconds. I've even slashed down a hound in the middle of me soloing the boss in Death House. Not today, house. Not today.

I agree with the randomness being annoying, as I have a newborn and have to run and get him if he's crying. That means recalling out of a quest and back to town, stopping the progress I had. That said, the wings are shiny, and I will get them regardless of the time it takes.

In my opinion, SSG should poll the HC community prior to Season 7 on whatever developmental ideas they have and get our feedback. We're ultimately the ones paying for the experience, so we should have some modicum of decision in the matter.

The only thing that’s killed me so far has been hounds usually showing up when I’m fighting a named

[voter159]

Love it! I'm always a little on edge. I play a tanky paladin with my wife who plays ranged dps, and another tune I solo, it's a scourge ranger with a level of arti for traps. Note that both of my toons have lay on hands. Very helpful. Almost died today when a hound came during a long swim in two toed tobias. I was one tick away from death when I got out of the water and was able to lay on hands before the mobs there hit me. Very exciting!

BTW I hadn't played DDO in months, been playing fortnite, but this hardcore season brought me back.

It's not easy core, it's hard core. No one's forcing you to play it. If life requires occasional AFKs, play on the regular servers.

[ekaterina]

I admit there are some advantages to the hounds but I think SSG failed to focus on the disadvantages.

I can't believe they wanted to make it impossible to afk even briefly in a cleared area - and this may be the number one complaint of those unhappy with the new system. No afks wasn't the goal it was something they simply didn't feel was enough of an issue to worry about or never really considered it. More than a few players disagree.

More bothersome to some is the reduction in social aspects of the game. Many people now refuse to talk in chat - even guild chat or group chat - during a dungeon. Because even a 30 second delay may mean a new hound and it just could spawn in at a bad time or be bugged. Yes some are still bugged.

[Kayze]

The change to +2 means nobody takes any chances, so it's slow and boring zzzzzzzzz.

Hardcore league was always about risk reduction. Going slower will always be faster than rerolling a new character.

[Cernunan]

Hardcore league was always about risk reduction. Going slower will always be faster than rerolling a new character.

Thank you for agreeing with me and restating my point.

It makes it even more boring than it was previously. zzzzzzzzz