Suggestion: add casual raid difficulty

[rabidfox]

Just going to preface this with: I have zero interest in this suggestion myself, it's not something I need as I don't have issues getting & doing raids. But from other posts, some people have trouble finding raid groups based off their time zone & current server populations and/or have trouble with even normal difficulty raids (if they try to solo/shortman them as result of not finding full groups). So on that note:

Add casual difficulty to raids (as that difficulty already exists for quests) and let hires be useable in casual difficulty mode (to make it easier for people to solo/shortman that need that extra help); just make the loot rate/runes acquired low enough that's a heavy trade-off vs normal raiding difficulties.

(*obviously a few raids would still be mechanically impossible to solo, but that's when short manning would come into play)

 

[Toede]

I support this suggestion, even though I would much rather take on the challenge of short-manning or soloing it at the difficulty already offered, if not running it the traditional way. Opening up content to more people with different situations or various skill level is never a bad thing. Games can both offer a more relaxed casual experience as well as proper challenge for those that want it. DDO already does this with everything else. It doesn't have to be binary.

 

[droid327]

Agreed, this would be a good stepping stone towards the raid gear that might make it easier to move up to Normal difficulty soloing

Raids like Chrono and ZR are already essentially just L30 solo quests, this would just make it possible to do them before we simply level way past them

 

[Guntango]

Sure, this would be a nice quality-of-life addition to the game for the 4.8 people on the forums who complain about raiding. Since my name is synonymous with man of the people, I have upvoted this suggestion that most of us would never use. <3

 

[The Narc]

Hardcore has proven that this is not needed, raids can be completed flawlessly without death at an appropriate level range. Some like the ones listed above can be soloed flawlessly in existing extreme ruleset permadeath guilds that currently exist, without ship buffs and favor buffs and limited untwinked gear on first life toons.

There is no need to provide casual access to the raids.

 

[axel15810]

I've always wanted to see them add a casual setting for raids - however not for the same reasons as the OP and I think it should give zero XP and zero loot. I'd be against making an easy more solo friendly difficulty for endgame raids if it had any loot or raid rune drops at all because raiding is supposed to be a group activity and in an MMO I think that is OK and it should stay that way - making rewards realistically obtainable solo would discourage people getting together to raid.

I would love to see it exist though in a zero rewards format so that people can learn the raid. There's a huge knowledge bottleneck in DDO where we have the vast majority of the population relying on a very small numbers of players to teach or lead them through the raid. It would be wonderful if people could enter raids and learn them alone, or atleast learn parts of them alone, but still need a group to get the rewards and complete higher difficulties.

I doubt SSG would ever do it though. Many raids are already easy to solo and all of them are easy to shortman. So it's more of a "would be nice" thing to have a learning difficulty rather than a necessity.

 

[Phoenicis]

Hardcore has proven that this is not needed, raids can be completed flawlessly without death at an appropriate level range. Some like the ones listed above can be soloed flawlessly in existing extreme ruleset permadeath guilds that currently exist, without ship buffs and favor buffs and limited untwinked gear on first life toons.

There is no need to provide casual access to the raids.

The top 1% (maybe 5%) can do as you state, whether thru third party programs, or just being that danged good.

I can't. I can short man quests with my wife way over level, and that's how we get raid completions. We may eventually get good enough to short man raids slightly over level.

For the record, I don't think this is a good idea, and won't upvote it.

 

[Alternative]

If past lives are "not needed," raid items are "not needed" even more.

 

[festasha]

Hardcore has proven that this is not needed, raids can be completed flawlessly without death at an appropriate level range. Some like the ones listed above can be soloed flawlessly in existing extreme ruleset permadeath guilds that currently exist, without ship buffs and favor buffs and limited untwinked gear on first life toons.

There is no need to provide casual access to the raids.

I disagree there are some people that may not have your level or skill or abilities so I upvoted this suggestion as this will possibly give others a chance to experience content that they may not feel comfortable with or do not play at optimum times.

 

[Toede]

I think if having the option to get a trickle of reward for a more casual raid option would discourage people from raiding, then that would suggest people don't actually like raiding and a "game" that forces people to engage in activities they don't enjoy is not a game at all since games are supposed to be fun. Obviously lots of people do enjoy raiding so therefore it would not discourage those that do enjoy it from continuing to do it. The only other reason is to try and gatekeep it, which is silly.

 

[Owlbear]

I've always wanted to see them add a casual setting for raids - however not for the same reasons as the OP and I think it should give zero XP and zero loot. I'd be against making an easy more solo friendly difficulty for endgame raids if it had any loot or raid rune drops at all because raiding is supposed to be a group activity and in an MMO I think that is OK and it should stay that way - making rewards realistically obtainable solo would discourage people getting together to raid.

I would love to see it exist though in a zero rewards format so that people can learn the raid. There's a huge knowledge bottleneck in DDO where we have the vast majority of the population relying on a very small numbers of players to teach or lead them through the raid. It would be wonderful if people could enter raids and learn them alone, or atleast learn parts of them alone, but still need a group to get the rewards and complete higher difficulties.

I doubt SSG would ever do it though. Many raids are already easy to solo and all of them are easy to shortman. So it's more of a "would be nice" thing to have a learning difficulty rather than a necessity.

Maybe they can give them a normal quest mode. So people can do it more casually with revive/re-enter quest options, hirelings, rest shrines, no raid timer etc. I don't really see a reason to cut the XP from completing it. DDO has a lot of XP anyway. For loot they could remove the named raid loot from the table and keep everything else like in normal quests. It would provide a more accessible practice mode and not totally useless to invest your time in without xp or loot.

 

[Guntango]

I think if having the option to get a trickle of reward for a more casual raid option would discourage people from raiding, then that would suggest people don't actually like raiding and a "game" that forces people to engage in activities they don't enjoy is not a game at all since games are supposed to be fun. Obviously lots of people do enjoy raiding so therefore it would not discourage those that do enjoy it from continuing to do it. The only other reason is to try and gatekeep it, which is silly.

Most people want to raid and do.

 

[Meowcifer]

Maybe they can give them a normal quest mode. So people can do it more casually with revive/re-enter quest options, hirelings, no raid timer etc. I don't really see a reason to cut the XP from completing it. DDO has a lot of XP anyway. For loot they could remove the named raid loot from the table and keep everything else like in normal quests. It would provide a more accessible practice mode and not totally useless to invest your time in without xp or loot.

This would also give people a chance to practice dealing with mechanics that only appear in R+, such as the curses in PN. I've seen a few people get completely shut out since they didn't have curse pots.

 

[Toede]

Most people want to raid and do.

I don't know if it is most people. I don't think there has ever been an official tabulation on that. But I would agree that a substantial amount of people enjoy raiding and do so on a regular basis, yes.

 

[Rakehell]

I would like the option as posted by the OP, as I know several of the friends and family I play with. I like the idea sometimes of playing more relaxed even if knowing that there is a lesser chance at reward. A chance to play some alts in the raid and not have to be a liability. Chance to play with smaller groups of less skilled/developed players.

I know I would make use of a casual mode and appreciate the option.

 

[The Narc]

Letting hirelings into raids would likely be more helpful for the more casual player.

 

[Ahpuch]

I think if they rewarded around 10 runes and no chance of loot dropping it would not discourage group raiding. It would allow anyone to play the content they paid for and at least have a chance of eventually getting a reward. It would still take a year for one item. Less if they want to buy timer bypasses (a win for SSG and game lifespan).

Likely, the player who learns the raid in casual will be more comfortable joining an LFM. They will feel like they know what they are doing and can contribute. And they will see the improvement in progress to their reward . IOW, it is more likely to increase Raid party participation than lessen it (IMO).

 

[rabidfox]

Even if it was 1/2 the runes and drop chance of normal difficulty, it wouldn't really effect people who already regularly raid. I currently don't join normal difficulty raids because I'm not going to go on timer when I can easily do R1s any night of the week; it's not worth giving up the extra runes and higher loot chances (plus chances at boosted gear). The people that I know tend to only settle for easier raid difficulties when solid grouping options aren't available and casual would be same thing, just with one more step easier available than right now.

Likely, the player who learns the raid in casual will be more comfortable joining an LFM. They will feel like they know what they are doing and can contribute. And they will see the improvement in progress to their reward . IOW, it is more likely to increase Raid party participation than lessen it (IMO).

I don't know how many people don't raid currently, but if it did help ease more people into raiding then it seems like it would be a win to me.

 

[droid327]

Most people want to raid and do.

I never understood why so many people complain that solo is boring, that only group play is fun, that people want to raid...but then also get defensive whenever a solo option is discussed, because somehow that will make everyone not want to raid together anymore, and no one will group up unless they're rewarded for it

You cant have it both ways

 

[Dandonk]

Sure, why not, if it helped even a few people more to get into raiding, this'd be a win. I don't really see much downside here.