So I started playing this morning. Went into DDQ and got 60 XP for clearing all 6 nodes (yes, even the Cho node). Then went into the Heroic PvE. Got 30 XP for clearing the 3 prologue missions and did my 4 clears in the first sub. This evening when I do 2 more clears, I’ll get another 90 XP. Nice.
So then I went into Versus mode and got… nothing. You can’t get any XP in PvP except for the very rare 2* cover drop or the occasional progression reward of a 2* or 3* cover. Of course PvP has mostly the same progression rewards.
That’s a pretty big XP discrepancy between Story and Versus mode. Were the devs so desperate for people to play PvE that they made it the main way to increase your Shield rank?
PVP and PVE both give you 10 XP the very first time you clear a node in the event.
PVE has the additional benefit of 10 XP once you receive all rewards for a node.
You’ll also get 3 XP for each event token you open (PVP and PVE). Yeah, it’s nowhere near as much XP, but perhaps that’s on purpose, no?
10 XP for first win in every single LR isn’t half bad. Not to mention if you get in for all the seeds you’re bound to rack up a bunch of 2* covers just from hitting those 7-8 seed teams.
You also forgot things like shield sim rewards (which granted you can spread out over 4 weeks), opening a 10-pack from season rewards, progression 4* cover if champed, etc. It’s probably not as big of a difference as you think.
In short, yes. There has been frequent references to a lack of “engagement” in Story events, which is something that the developers have flagged a priority for some time now.
And, yes, a big part of that problem is the discrepancy between progression rewards. The 4* cover in PvP is perhaps the most obvious point of difference; it’s the single most easily attainable “guaranteed” progression. As a progression reward, it is quantity is limited only to the number of people who reach the point target. All other 4* covers are either limited to specific ending ranks, or at the mercy of RNG in Legendary Tokens.
The initial reveal of SHIELD Rank and Clearance Rank already seemed to suggest a focus on improving PvE rewards vs effort, so the “extra” XP doesn’t really come as a surprise.
I honestly think this has been a very good first step from Demiurge. It feels like we’re seeing a plan starting to take shape; I’m very keen for the next phases.
Beyond considerations such as player engagement in the various game modes, maybe the assumption is that pretty much everyone will get the xp from ddq and then the pve events get more xp than pvp because it has higher time commitments than pvp.