Is Reaper Mode going to kill the Game?

[Reaped and Ravaged]

That's a generalization that isn't true. R1 is plenty hard for lots of people and I've known many new/returning players to find it easy. It's a game where skill levels, time commitement, gear grinds, builds, etc. are all over the place and results will vary widely from player to player.

Side note: I move just as fast on 1st life alts with zero reaper points where I'm testing ideas out. So much power is based off knowledge, build, and gear.

You keep missing the key point: New Player Experience. Many new players quit on the basis of the poorly thought out advantages for reaper players. If its a challenge mode, make it a Challenge mode. Don't give away so much XP/Favor/DDO points to make it the Default player experience.

 

[rabidfox]

You keep missing the key point: New Player Experience. Many new players quit on the basis of the poorly thought out advantages for reaper players. If its a challenge mode, make it a Challenge mode. Don't give away so much XP/Favor/DDO points to make it the Default player experience.

New players don't have to do it. There's a bunch of people who are new who struggle on n/h let alone elite. And there's those who find elite too easy from the get go. That's why there's multiple setting choices.

 

[Reaped and Ravaged]

A traditional DDO balancing approach would be to make traps hit harder on the basis of how many past life feats you had. In a properly thought out grouping paradigm a Trapper class putting up an Heroic Elite LFM would get people joining, including completionists. Or just keep gold seal Rogue hirelings on permanent 15% off sale XD

 

[Col Kurtz]

A traditional DDO balancing approach would be to make traps hit harder on the basis of how many past life feats you had. In a properly thought out grouping paradigm a Trapper class putting up an Heroic Elite LFM would get people joining, including completionists. Or just keep gold seal Rogue hirelings on permanent 15% off sale XD

they really should have trapper hires for platinum...way to many quests have traps to make it pay to win.... and slap frogo into the ddo store for Vecnas sake

 

[Silverfox]

You keep missing the key point: New Player Experience. Many new players quit on the basis of the poorly thought out advantages for reaper players. If its a challenge mode, make it a Challenge mode. Don't give away so much XP/Favor/DDO points to make it the Default player experience.

Update 34 Release Notes:

Reaper Difficulty offers a new challenge for the toughest adventurers! Reaper difficulty can be selected from the quest portal UI for many quests and raids throughout the game. When you select Reaper difficulty, there is also a drop-down list of between one and ten Skulls, which affects quest/raid difficulty and reward. Special Reaper Bonuses can be found on items acquired in Reaper Difficulty, there is an increased chance to get named items, and you'll earn Reaper Experience. Reaper XP will award a Reaper Point at certain thresholds that can be spent on abilities in a special Reaper benefit tree, among other things! Warning: Reaper difficulty is meant for players who enjoy a serious challenge. You have been warned!

 

[Reaped and Ravaged]

Update 34 Release Notes:

Reaper Difficulty offers a new challenge for the toughest adventurers! Reaper difficulty can be selected from the quest portal UI for many quests and raids throughout the game. When you select Reaper difficulty, there is also a drop-down list of between one and ten Skulls, which affects quest/raid difficulty and reward. Special Reaper Bonuses can be found on items acquired in Reaper Difficulty, there is an increased chance to get named items, and you'll earn Reaper Experience. Reaper XP will award a Reaper Point at certain thresholds that can be spent on abilities in a special Reaper benefit tree, among other things! Warning: Reaper difficulty is meant for players who enjoy a serious challenge. You have been warned!

20 updates later this certainly is Not the case. Just ran r1 POP in GH with a lvl 16 Ranger. Cleared each room in under 10 seconds, last fight in 25. Something needs to be rebalanced

 

[Ying]

20 updates later this certainly is Not the case. Just ran r1 POP in GH with a lvl 16 Ranger. Cleared each room in under 10 seconds, last fight in 25. Something needs to be rebalanced

Yeah, the difficulty you run a quest on needs adjusting. If R1 is easy for you, then bump up the skulls. There are 10 versions of reaper for a reason. Pick the difficulty that either provides you a challenge, or the one that is most efficient in terms of XP:time. You chose the latter, but are complaining about the former.

 

[rabidfox]

20 updates later this certainly is Not the case. Just ran r1 POP in GH with a lvl 16 Ranger. Cleared each room in under 10 seconds, last fight in 25. Something needs to be rebalanced

11 pages later and now you're saying reaper is too easy...

 

[Silverfox]

20 updates later this certainly is Not the case. Just ran r1 POP in GH with a lvl 16 Ranger. Cleared each room in under 10 seconds, last fight in 25. Something needs to be rebalanced

You keep missing the key point: New Player Experience. Many new players quit on the basis of the poorly thought out advantages for reaper players. If its a challenge mode, make it a Challenge mode. Don't give away so much XP/Favor/DDO points to make it the Default player experience.

A strange response considering the post I was replying to was how new players quit on the basis of how poorly thought out reaper was and the response I get is how easy it is for you.

New players that join reaper or try to run reaper without understanding or being prepared for it, The results are completely on them.

Should I sign up for a grand master chess tournament and expect to win ? It's just a game after all.

 

[Gnyxl]

I'm an ex-DM for tabletop D&D. The way I see this as well as 'builds' is that they encourage people to build characters that are as invincible as they can make them. I don't allow this in my table-top games. Gaming should have a fair amount of challenge, and player characters should not be demi-gods. Honestly, I hate the idea of having to use a 'build' to have a survivable character - where's the creativity in that? Just rip off someone else's character template instead of building your own character by doing what you think is best. It's like looking at someone else's homework and copying it.

 

[Ying]

Honestly, I hate the idea of having to use a 'build' to have a survivable character - where's the creativity in that? Just rip off someone else's character template instead of building your own character by doing what you think is best. It's like looking at someone else's homework and copying it.

You've highlighted a large difference between table top and a massive online game. You've got the luxury of handholding players and making DM adjustments on the fly to tell a story. That's just not possible in a computer game. And no matter the game, there is always going to be S-Tier, A-Tier, B-Tier characters/classess/builds. The difference with DDO is that the Tier ranking changes over time as the meta evolves.

Calling people cheaters who use pre-existing builds is ludicrous. It's part of gamer culture. Especially in DDO, making an effective build takes many hours of work. And the majority of people either aren't capable of determining what an effective build is, or don't have the desire to dive that deep into esoteric game mechanics.

 

[erethizon1]

Replace "reaper" with "elite" in your post, and the problem remains.

Exactly. I was rallying against elite for years. I wanted to be able to get max favor by running normal and hard once each because elite was too difficult. Forcing people to play something too difficult for them because that is the only way to earn favor was never a great idea. I'm just glad power creep finally made elite easy enough for most people to solo.

 

[DBZ]

You always could solo elites stop building glass cannons with no defenses

 

[DDO Gaming]

Update 34 Release Notes:

Reaper Difficulty offers a new challenge for the toughest adventurers!

ie newbies need not apply. Have a nice day

 

[Gnyxl]

You've highlighted a large difference between table top and a massive online game. You've got the luxury of handholding players and making DM adjustments on the fly to tell a story. That's just not possible in a computer game. And no matter the game, there is always going to be S-Tier, A-Tier, B-Tier characters/classess/builds. The difference with DDO is that the Tier ranking changes over time as the meta evolves.

Calling people cheaters who use pre-existing builds is ludicrous. It's part of gamer culture. Especially in DDO, making an effective build takes many hours of work. And the majority of people either aren't capable of determining what an effective build is, or don't have the desire to dive that deep into esoteric game mechanics.

They can do whatever they like. What I don't like is when it effects MY game. If they cheat so bad that it's assumed everyone cheats in that way and the game creators adjust the game to accommodate the cheaters, then yeah I got a problem with it. What about your kids? Should teachers assume copying test answers is 'normal' and just allow all kids to do it? I call ********.

 

[Dude]

They can do whatever they like. What I don't like is when it effects MY game. If they cheat so bad that it's assumed everyone cheats in that way and the game creators adjust the game to accommodate the cheaters, then yeah I got a problem with it. What about your kids? Should teachers assume copying test answers is 'normal' and just allow all kids to do it? I call ********.

What about the children?!?!?!?!?!?!

reductio ad absurdum

 

[Teh_Troll]

I'm just glad power creep finally made elite easy enough for most people to solo.

This is horrible. This is what broke the game.

 

[Phungki]

And you are right the game is way too easy in its current state. It was better when you had Kobold Shamens throwing around blindness and were you lucky to get a holy weapon before level 6.

lol those were the days. actually used a heal kit once or twice, even the free club for Deleras

 

[Phungki]

This is horrible. This is what broke the game.

this is what makes it possible for some of us too play.

 

[Gnyxl]

What about the children?!?!?!?!?!?!

reductio ad absurdum

Anything to justify your cheating? Even more reductio ad absurdum.