What node refresh rate would you prefer?

SnowcaTT

I'm honestly curious what people would like. I read about tons of burn-out after 4hor followed by Gamora followed by new scaling which seems to encourage grinding.

I also read from those trying to get T10, it seems the only way to compete now that everyone can grind every node every time is to wake up in the middle of the night (a couple of times?) and get your 2.5 hour times in. It seems this is encouraging dangerous behavior.

This PVE is 7 days, so you could grind every day about nine times. If you "only" do five runs you'll hit T150 - and you'll have gone through the same nodes you have done a couple of times before 35 more times.

For health of mind (stop the constant grind) and body (sleep), I'd love to see these nodes go back to 12 hours - but I wonder what everyone thinks about this.

Unknown

Aside from the 4hor event which was a special case, doing two or three refreshes a day reliably gets me top 50 so I don't know where you're getting that "five clears for top 100" estimate

I don't like 12 hour refreshes because you HAVE to hit those times on the dot or fall way behind. 4 hours seems about right for striking a balance between letting the hardcore sleep (with how weak rubberbanding is now, can you maintain top 10 by grinding a few times before bed? I'm asking, I honestly don't know) and letting the semi casual have a flexible schedule

fmftint

Node refresh for Prodigal Sun is 3 hours

simonsez

SnowcaTT wrote:

I'd love to see these nodes go back to 12 hours - but I wonder what everyone thinks about this.

Given that scaling is currently either buggy or radically rethought, if the refresh is 12 hours, how exactly will players differentiate themselves? You're going to turn PvE into a mode where split second timing is at a premium... begin the next grind at the earliest possible moment, and complete it as fast as possible to get all nodes refreshed ASAP. This sounds like a complete nightmare to me. I understand most people might not like the idea that in the current set-up, those who do well do so at the cost of some sleep, but I'm ok with extreme effort being rewarded.

SnowcaTT

gamar wrote:

Aside from the 4hor event which was a special case, doing two or three refreshes a day reliably gets me top 50 so I don't know where you're getting that "five clears for top 100" estimate

I don't like 12 hour refreshes because you HAVE to hit those times on the dot or fall way behind. 4 hours seems about right for striking a balance between letting the hardcore sleep (with how weak rubberbanding is now, can you maintain top 10 by grinding a few times before bed? I'm asking, I honestly don't know) and letting the semi casual have a flexible schedule

I've had a hard time keeping T150 when I can hit the essentials but can't hit the top couple regular nodes due to difficulty. That is mostly when I start right away - if you shard better and/or count on rubber-band, the top individual numbers are much easier to hit. Edited wording slightly to make it not seem so difficult but the same issue remains - if you want to hit anywhere top scores, you are really going to have to grind for a long time. And Simonsez is right, I'm fine with those putting in the most time getting the most rewards - maybe that's just "how it should be".

I think even at 6-8 hours people would be putting in tons (perhaps to much) of work.

Unknown

All refreshes should be long enough you can get some sleep without falling behind.

GrumpySmurf1002

I voted other, thinking 6 hours is the sweetspot. I'm ok with 4 hours though. On the weekends quicker refreshes are nice, since I have a little more flexible schedule.

Unknown

4 sounds perfect - do two before bed, do two before work (or one before work and one at lunch if that's possible); it fits much more naturally into the schedule. 6 would complicate that (do I do one or two) but I think would be better than the current arrangement. The current arrangement makes it too much of a chore.

Unknown

Aye, every 4 hours allows you to double clear before sleeping and isn't so far apart that the event feels dormant. It also reduces the advantage that some people get who enter the bracket at the start as 4 hours head start would only be 1 refresh ahead.

2.5 hours was... terrible. Get up, play MPQ. Drive to work, play MPQ in the car. Lunchtime, play MPQ. Leave work, play MPQ before driving home. Take the kids to bed, play MPQ. Have dinner, play MPQ. Watch some TV, play MPQ. Go to sleep, wake up 2.5hrs later - play MPQ, go back to sleep, wake up 2.5hrs later etc...

3hrs is barely better. 4 hours - SO much better.

user311

I wouldnt mind the same 2 1/2 hour refreshes if there was consistancy between the rubberbanding or better tiering. Im okay with the guys who want to grind getting top rewards (3 covers), but give those of us who want to pace ourselves an improved chance at getting 1-2 cover rewards as well. I do like the sound of 4 hours though.

Unknown

the entire point system needs an overhaul
Clearing all nodes every x minutes is just stupid.

babinro

Voted - Other

The Guantlet shows us that having no required refresh rate is ideal.

Don't force me to play your game every few hours.
I'm still logging in regularly without that forced requirement...don't worry.

Why not simply increase the mob levels with every victory and reward points accordingly?

Example:
Simple Starting Node - Every victory is 100 points.
- First battle is level 50 goons, 2nd battle is level 100 goons, level 150, ect forever

Moderate Difficulty Starting Node - Every victory is 200 points.
- First battle is level 100 goons, 2nd battle is level 150 goons, level 200, ect forever

Hard Difficulty Starting Node - Every victory is 300 points.
- First battle is level 150 goons, 2nd battle is level 200 goons, level 250, ect forever

Every victory gives out a guaranteed reward...none of this 20 ISO stuff. Easy nods could be mostly 1* tier covers and simple boosts. Moderate could be those ** tier covers and standard tokens. Hard could be ** tier covers with 250 ISO and 500 ISO rewards.

Note: These are just example levels and they could still scale based on roster so new players have a chance. The levels I provided here would be appropriate for end gamers like myself. So a new player may see something like level 5, 10, 15, rather than 50, 100, 150.

Unknown

If such a system was used it should be subject to personal scaling based on roster strength. The great advantage of PvE is that personal scaling kinda levels the playing field.

But yeah, an infinit(e/y) gauntlet sounds like a good idea.

Unknown

2.5 hours.
On a day when I want to play MPQ a lot, this gives me enough to do, with enough time for breaks, maybe 1.5-2 hour breaks if I need to do something, (cook/eat/clean/nap). If I want to play MPQ During those breaks, I can hit PVP or simulator, or do other roster management. If I need to take a longer break, I hit nodes twice and take a small penalty. Before bed, I can clear nodes three times (taking a small penalty from optimal), and sleep relatively contentedly. If I want to make top 2, then I can handle the extra sacrifice.

With longer refresh times, eg: 8 hours, it's just boring. There's nothing to do in MPQ for long stretches of time, and I have to switch to doing something else entirely for half the day before coming back. If forced, I probably wouldn't mind 4 hour refreshes too much. I'm amazed at how many people willingly give up sleep on a regular basis for this game. Can not handle that; I like sleep too much.

Ducky

I voted other for 6 hour refreshes.

Lystrata

I quite enjoy the 12 hour refreshes, but can see why they frustrate people - enough that I don't think implementing them on a regular basis would be worth it. I think 8 hours is a nice balance between gaming, life, sleep, work, etc. Could go with 4 if pushed, but I think that goes to the 'opposite' effect of 12. Too long for some, too short for others. 8 ftw (6 could also be ideal, though).

gamar wrote:

4 hours seems about right for striking a balance between letting the hardcore sleep (with how weak rubberbanding is now, can you maintain top 10 by grinding a few times before bed? I'm asking, I honestly don't know)

In my experience, yes. I usually start in the late-morning, play each refresh until I choose to go to sleep, hit each node 2-3 times (depending on how many there are / how tired I am) before doing so, sleep 6-7 hours, wake up, hit them again. And that's always been enough to keep me T10.

Though I know it's not the same for others, so there may be mitigating factors that vary from PvE to PvE. Null clue why it works for me and not others, really. But it is possible.

FierceKiwi

gamar wrote:

Aside from the 4hor event which was a special case, doing two or three refreshes a day reliably gets me top 50 so I don't know where you're getting that "five clears for top 100" estimate

I don't like 12 hour refreshes because you HAVE to hit those times on the dot or fall way behind. 4 hours seems about right for striking a balance between letting the hardcore sleep (with how weak rubberbanding is now, can you maintain top 10 by grinding a few times before bed? I'm asking, I honestly don't know) and letting the semi casual have a flexible schedule

Pretty easily unless you ended up in a horrible bracket (or the entire community goes crazy like 4hor).

ClydeFrog76

ThisSiteWorks wrote:

the entire point system needs an overhaul
Clearing all nodes every x minutes is just stupid.

Hear hear.

The repetition is just mind-numbing.

ClydeFrog76

daibar wrote:

There's nothing to do in MPQ for long stretches of time, and I have to switch to doing something else entirely for half the day before coming back.

I love how this is a bad thing.

Variety is the spice of life, my friend. Smell the roses.

Unknown

ClydeFrog76 wrote:

daibar wrote:

With longer refresh times, eg: 8 hours, it's just boring. There's nothing to do in MPQ for long stretches of time, and I have to switch to doing something else entirely for half the day before coming back.

I love how this is a bad thing.

Variety is the spice of life, my friend. Smell the roses.

(edit - Added back context).

Exactly. Why are people playing MPQ so much if they hate it so much? If I've had a 60 hour week, sometimes I don't want to do anything strenuous, and MPQ fits the bill. Give people the option, don't force people not to play just because other people don't want to.

Unknown

The only concern for long refresh time like 8 hours is that it wouldn't be very interesting if you have 200 guys tied with the same score which is quite possible given a sufficiently long refresh cycle. Although it is still fair (whoever did them first would have the tiebreaker) it is a bit silly. A longer refresh would also give the guys who started earlier an overwhelming advantage because if everyone can beat everything then whoever beat it first is never going to lose, and when you have 8 hours to beat something it is a lot easier to beat it than 2 or 3 hours. PvE is a lot about managing your health packs especially if you're attempting to do any PvP on the side, and very long refreshes would eliminate that. Again, that's not a bad thing, but you got to make sure it doesn't become whoever started first automatically wins either.