Yesterday s0kun said that with 342, Heroic events will arrive. This is about 2 1/2 weeks or so away, so here is a post to put concerns or thoughts in one place where devs might look at it and consider things they may have not.
- Assuming the plan is the same - use the existing boost list structure to create the list of allowed characters - the number is extremely small compared to the 400 characters in game. Even with reinforcements possibly being a thing for PVE subs the number of toons will be a small % of total roster and create lots of issues for people who are not multi-year players and don’t have wide deep rosters to use. The boost list should either be much larger for these events specifically, or expanded in general, as it already is ridiculously small compared to what it was when it started as a % of total characters.
- Communiciation, communication, communication, communication. The game has no in-game News button that functions. Players used to Heroic bosses will expect a fairly large boost list, and if the list is just the week’s boosted characters, they may be surprised and angry if/when it’s much smaller and they can’t play very well. There needs to be a way to tell people in game what’s happening, even if just a link to the forum. GET THE NEWS BUTTON WORKING BEFORE DOING THIS.
- Rewards. Heroic events will be harder, or slower, or both than standard PVE which is a breeze for meta roster players. This means more time spent playing. Will rewards feel good enough to convince players to enter them? If not, there’s no point in doing all the work to set them up. Making a thing for people who just want to play the game longer with a handicapped roster without making the stuff you get feel worth the time tradeoff - it’s pointless as the number of players will be small who are happy with added challenge without significant reward bumps.
- Did I mention communication?
- I hope devs have a strong stomach for “more people will play will get better stuff so the player base will end up on average getting better stuff for the same time spent”. In a scenario where Heroic events run constantly, but the player base has already shrunk, and probably is still shrinking, then the average player will end up entering events and doing better than before. Some split of high grinders will inevitably happen, opening up more higher placement spots to lower level grinders. DO NOT under any circumstances start cutting PVE or PVP rewards. It is only going to make more people leave if some bean counter gets sweaty pits because Joe Casual gets 10 more 4s a month than they did last month.
- I am worried there will be some HP fee to enter Heroics; I will not be surprised if there is. I hope that tradeoff (reward bump) feels worth it. am not sure it’s worth doing when many players are already hanging on by a thread and this will amplify the feeling of pay to win some have etc, could lead to some added outflow of players at the margins.
- Communication
- PVP: I am concerned that the split of Heroics will lead to a lower target list, or the game will show you players who aren’t using Heroic teams or vice versa, and so a player who goes non-Heroic can spend all day trouncing the lousy boosted characters while a Heroic player can only target other Heroic teams. I worry PVP will become a mess if you’re trying to build a score up or somehow plan your attacks, that Heroic PVPs will result in lower scores for those players in them. So many issues that I am not sure the small group of devs can reasonably anticipate or test for amongst themselves (I am sure they cannot test for how it will actually play vs a game with thousands of players).
- I do not know how to manage this, but some players will inevitably feel like they are falling behind if they are locked into standard PVEs etc due to a smaller roster if the rewards in Heroics are significantly better. Probably, I would recommend bumping standard rewards somehow a bit. Or making a loaner system for Heroics so people can enter and play even if they can’t be competitive.
TLDR: Players are used to the game; shaking it up is fine as long as it’s handled well, and feels fair, and feels like an overall benefit. But regardless it’s a big risk. Communicate, communicate, communicate. Don’t be afraid to let players get a little more stuff in a game with 400 characters. Treat us well.
Lastly I hope the devs are prepped for rapid responses to fix issues when this is launched, because there WILL be bugs or unexpected problems. I would probably recommend not running any Heroic events that start on a weekend until at least a month goes by so that disruptions are minimized.
