One: a story mode with single clear nodes. Fixed rewards.
Two: a manic grindfest with good stuff hiding in there.
One of three things will happen: One will be more popular, two will be more popular, or people will happily play both as it breaks up two different gaming philosophies you’re trying to cram together.
You seem happy to test something people have expressly asked you NOT to do (increase clear rates) so can we try some things that are actually different?
People suggesting that they leave pve alone are ignoring the fact that prior to these tests there were loads of posts and topics being created all the time on here about what was wrong with it.
They have not got there yet but they have been trying to address significant issues like scaling and having to strictly play on a schedule, the previous test got closer but then had the problem that people could abuse grinding a node when it was still worth 20 points, so this time they have the clears capping out which is a positive but have set it at far too grindy a level which is a new problem to address.
The fundamental problem with any changes is that the devs put too much value on 4* covers and seem to think they should be rare, but the reality is that playing for several hours a day for a week to get a fixed 4* or two and a random 4* cover from progression rewards is not being excessively generous.
I’ve just raised a point similar to this on the stickied thread.
At the end of the day, giving us new covers is what pressures more casual players to cough up real world money. They can bar their content behind grindfests all they want, but if they want me and others like me to pony up for some Hero Points they need to worry us with expiring new characters that have to have a roster slot.