PVE Observation related to Scaling.

Unknown

My best character is PvP 125 after the boost from the event and I am seeing 200 plus level guys. I win 1 in 3 matches now and see no decline in levels. This scaling us a big time joke and has me ready to walk away. I hate going into a match and feeling like I need a perfect starting board to have a chance to win. But I guess d3 loves seeing rags and ares beat me down in 4 little moves.

LordWill

I guess I'll chime in here since I have been against community scaling from the start and this event has really shined a light on why it just doesn't work.

I wholeheartedly agree with davecazz. I think he expressed the sentiment of most veteran players.

We are punished for being too good at the game.
We are punished for taking the time to build our rosters and level characters.
We are punished for using the characters that were developed by the developers (Spidey, OBW, CMags etc) since this affects scaling
We are punished for spending hours and hours in the game winning. As if losing is supposed to be fun....

So according to Albert Reed in his article he specifically states: "As players played a lot, they spent more. That’s wonderful, but if you want to drive LTV (Lifetime value), you need to give the players something they value regardless of how many hours they spend playing."

How is scaling affecting us being able to play more? It's not. It's having the opposite effect. Where is the value?

Unless you actually are playing the game at a higher level, which I sincerely doubt you are, you just don't understand what effect you are having. I understand you guys live by your metrics and your ARPDAU reports, but there seems to be a disconnect with what you are doing and reaching your goals. Maybe try fixing your progression reward system since you have failed the last 3 or 4 events for attainable rewards. If you cannot figure that out, what makes you think you can figure out something a lot more complex as scaling? Making the system more complex and complicated isn't helping.

I have repeatedly asked over and over where is the public outcry that we aren't being challenged enough? Are you they just running out of ideas on how to make this game fun other than increasing the levels to an absurd point? Remember in Thick as Thieves when the enemies were mostly level 230 and they admitted that wasn't fun to slog through those fights? What do you think is happening now?

People play and improve their roster and spend money to become better, more powerful, to make their way a little easier, not the opposite. Why not focus on improving the higher level experience as to hold out that carrot for low and mid level players to WANT to be higher level. Make it attractive. If you have absolutely no idea how to do this, maybe the community could help you out with suggestions.

Community scaling is just bad game design. It doesn't work and the more time you spend trying to fix it, its simply causing people to NOT play. If this is your intent, you're doing great.

I would imagine most of your player base is lower to mid level. Are you getting major backlash that the game isn't already challenging enough?

Since consumables are not a super huge money maker for you, is this your attempt to get people to spend more? There is no other way to increase your income other than punishing your most loyal players?

I'll say it again, More carrot, less stick.....

I did propose an alternative if you simply must continue with scaling, its probably not perfect. A potential solution. However I am trying to be part of the solution. I am sure if you asked the community how to fix your current scaling situation and make the game fun and balanced, I am sure you would get many responses...

So maybe you could just come out and tell us your vision on how this game is supposed to be played and fun? Am I missing your point?

Clintman

All things being equal my favorite scaling that I saw was the Hulk event the first time. There were a few nodes that were max level, and they were max level for everyone. This handicapping for some but not others and the total inconsistency is the killer. If things sucked equally for everyone then I don't think people would have a problem. If the Ares node was level 395 for everyone, then people would strategize on how to beat it and talk tactics and have a grand old time. As it stands, some folks have a 395, others have a 185, while others have... I don't know. AS it is, what scaling creates is a feeling that you are competing against people who are almost playing a different game the playing field is so different.

For pete's sake, hard is not bad, but the way scaling works punishes people for developing their rosters, it's just ludicrous.

LordWill

Clintman wrote:

All things being equal my favorite scaling that I saw was the Hulk event the first time. There were a few nodes that were max level, and they were max level for everyone. This handicapping for some but not others and the total inconsistency is the killer. If things sucked equally for everyone then I don't think people would have a problem. If the Ares node was level 395 for everyone, then people would strategize on how to beat it and talk tactics and have a grand old time. As it stands, some folks have a 395, others have a 185, while others have... I don't know. AS it is, what scaling creates is a feeling that you are competing against people who are almost playing a different game the playing field is so different.

For pete's sake, hard is not bad, but the way scaling works punishes people for developing their rosters, it's just ludicrous.

I agree with this. The last fight in the prologue was super hard for me, so I started to google for a strategy to beat it and that led me here. People were discussing tactics on how to beat it. I seem to recall one of the ways to do it was to STUN *gasp* Rags with Black Widow ASAP. Which is why static encounters just work. If you didn't have a good enough roster, you could keep working on it until you could overcome it.

It was cool to see other people talking strategies and such. I know it helped pull me into the game a little more. Now, it just seems like one wrong move and I die, so there is no tactics. Well, I guess there is one....Don't Die.

PorkBelly

LordWill wrote:

I'll say it again, More carrot, less stick.....

Spoit

LordWill wrote:

Clintman wrote:

All things being equal my favorite scaling that I saw was the Hulk event the first time. There were a few nodes that were max level, and they were max level for everyone. This handicapping for some but not others and the total inconsistency is the killer. If things sucked equally for everyone then I don't think people would have a problem. If the Ares node was level 395 for everyone, then people would strategize on how to beat it and talk tactics and have a grand old time. As it stands, some folks have a 395, others have a 185, while others have... I don't know. AS it is, what scaling creates is a feeling that you are competing against people who are almost playing a different game the playing field is so different.

For pete's sake, hard is not bad, but the way scaling works punishes people for developing their rosters, it's just ludicrous.

I agree with this. The last fight in the prologue was super hard for me, so I started to google for a strategy to beat it and that led me here. People were discussing tactics on how to beat it. I seem to recall one of the ways to do it was to STUN *gasp* Rags with Black Widow ASAP. Which is why static encounters just work. If you didn't have a good enough roster, you could keep working on it until you could overcome it.

It was cool to see other people talking strategies and such. I know it helped pull me into the game a little more. Now, it just seems like one wrong move and I die, so there is no tactics. Well, I guess there is one....Don't Die.

And if not, they can make some $$$ now that the best boosts cost HP.