Do you like PvE slices

Starfury

For me (and anyone else with normal office hours in Central Europe), the PvE slices end up being

13:00 - during work
18:00 - just after getting home -> can't get final clears
23:00 - getting initial clears means playing till way after midnight
05:00 - middle of the night
08:00 - during work

Someone on the US East Coast gets equally bad options:

07:00
12:00
17:00
23:00
02:00

Essentially it means that based on my time zone, I'm excluded from competitive PvE (i.e. top 10, everything else isn't worth the effort)

Now I see three possible options to improve this situation:

Add three slices and space them 3 hours apart
3 hour windows should work for pretty much anyone with enough time to spare for PvE in the first place and still leave enough players per slice.

Add hourly slices and form brackets irrespective of which slice someone plays in
You can choose to play from 15:00 to 15:00 or 20:00 to 20:00 or whatever suits you. Other people in your bracket might be playing 10 hours earlier or 3 hours later.
This has the disadvantage that Scores are much harder to compare and you'd have to wait up to 23 hours until final ranking and rewards can be determined

Do away with slices and points recharging
All events have a set start time and end time (like boss events). All 6 clears are worth the same amount of points. The tiebreaking mechanism is the sum of all battle lengths.
This removes the need for slices because it doesn't matter if you play 6 clears at the beginning, the end or the middle or 1 clear every 4 hours.

Do away with slices and placement
Without placement awards, you don't need slices anymore.

Beer40

No, I'd prefer recharging points being removed

Starfury said:

Do away with slices and points recharging
All events have a set start time and end time (like boss events). All 6 clears are worth the same amount of points. The tiebreaking mechanism is the sum of all battle lengths.
This removes the need for slices because it doesn't matter if you play 6 clears at the beginning, the end or the middle or 1 clear every 4 hours.

I don't know if they could realistically make this happen but this is the best PVE idea I've seen on the Forum. I guess the starting time for each event would be when slice 1 starts and the end time would be when slice 5 ends? I don't think that would work without overlapping the events, but that's fine by me. 

Props to you, good sir or madame, for thinking about this and posting it. I think if they could do something like this with the test scaling they might have a near perfect version of PVE.

Spidurman27

No, I'd prefer non-competitive PvE

I'm one of those that no slice truly works for....I'm resigned to not getting 4* placement covers despite being a 4* player simply because of my work schedule.  

My dream system would be more challenging but purely progression based (equivalent rewards for 5x, but something else for 6-7x with a scaling ramp for those clears).  

Magic

Yes, they may not be ideal for me, but those ideas are even worse

I voted Yes. I don't think any of your ideas makes much sense or could be implemented (1 slice each hour? and you code all this how knowing how much they struggle already to keep the code's integrity). I am in Central Europe. I mainly play the third slice (23.00 flip) and I am usually done before midnight if I care to grind. Sometimes I go for slice 5 (there are days that I have to be up around 7 but not do much other than being around - great time to play). 

I think the game has bigger issues than slices in PvE. Plus the main reason to even play PvE is the ISO and CP, not the elusive cover for placement. If you care for the cover - snipe.

BlackWidower

I don't know how to vote on this.  It actually really irritates me that I can't just finish all six in one go.

I LIVE in EDT (GMT-4), but I work in BST (GMT+1), so I get off at noon my time.  So I start and end with that slice.  I do the four clears, then the next day on my lunch at 7 in the morning I do the other two clears.   Then on my break at about 10:30 I run all the points down to zero.  Obviously I am NEVER, EVER going to get top tier placement, but I normally get between 20-50, which is alright with me.  I honestly don't think I have the patience to sit there and keep playing over and over again for one point and set timers to the exact minute and then of course play the first round like my baby was about to die without going super fast.  I take my time, open my covers, update my spread sheet, eat, chat and do tons of other stuff.  The game is supposed to be fun.


so yeah, it kinda works for me

Your ideas are alright, wouldn't mind getting rid of timers, but then what do you have?  As it is (on the most part) I am past progression before the final sub even starts, this would make it worse and if you increase that, people are going to be angry.

If you get rid of placement the hardcore people will be angry too, so I dunno.


Some good ideas though and something to think about.

animaniactoo

No, I'd prefer more slices being added

I suspect that it in many ways, it's not an accident that there are areas of time that are hugely blocked off. My primary suspicion is that it removes what would be a prime target playing time, but would also be a prime target for hassle/dissatisfaction for landing in the middle of "family hour". I could be wrong about that, but if I'm right then I would really like to push the idea that there are many players who don't have lives that really need or suit the "family hour" being set aside and it's a disservice to them (and [cough cough] they probably have more discretionary money to spend ).

I think another piece of it is that the times are offset to allow those players who want to compete in both PVE and PVP to have time to do both, but I think those who do that regularly vs playing one primarily and dabbling in the other a very small subset of people who play the game and can figure out how to work around having smaller time slots to work with for hitting each.

Fundamentally what I'd like to see is one time slot added, let them range every 4 hours (instead of the current 5, 5, 5, 6, and 3), offset the PVP times by 2 hours from the PVE ending times.

I don't want to remove placement rewards - I want that minor amount of competition to remain, but at the same time, I don't like the setup suggested here of battle lengths being the tie-breaker. I don't want my placement to be screwed by getting bad board setups that mean I have to fight longer to get through them, but then having no option to be willing to play an extra round to fight for a few more points and better placement.

However, I would like the recharging times to change, particularly for those who are going to really need to heal characters because their buffeds or best characters for this event/week aren't good healers and have things like long buildup times before they can be really effective at doling out damage (think BSGW, Cap). Also because the ability to put in a half hour or 40 minutes here and another there is something I feel more people have than the ability to put in 2-3 hours at one time.

So what I'd like to see ideally would be something like the current increases in opponent scale as you go for the first 4 clears and steady for the last 2 - but 2 initial clears for full points and then an 8 hour recharge time, then 2 more clears to another 8 hour recharge time, and then the final 8 hours until the end of the sub. Schedule up for debate, but somehow splitting up the recharge times to allow people to be in for smaller blocks of time at once. That would also help alot with needing to do the next sub right on the back of the previous ending, particularly when you're in a 7-day event.

Starfury

No, I'd prefer recharging points being removed

animaniactoo said:

I don't want to remove placement rewards - I want that minor amount of competition to remain, but at the same time, I don't like the setup suggested here of battle lengths being the tie-breaker. I don't want my placement to be screwed by getting bad board setups that mean I have to fight longer to get through them, but then having no option to be willing to play an extra round to fight for a few more points and better placement.

Don't be fooled, that's exactly what's happening rightnow. The quicker you clear, the more your nodes recharge and the more points you'll get at the end.

The only difference is right that right now you also have the complicating factors of how close to the beginning of a slice you can start your 4 clears and how close to the end you can get the final clears in, as well as playing the nodes in the optimal order.

badsaj

No, I'd prefer non-competitive PvE

I've never understood why PVE needed placement awards. To me it seems like it should be:

PVP - compete against others

PVE - compete against a set series of challenges

The time slices actually work pretty well for me, on the west coast of the US. I play in the 8PM slice, which means I've got 2 hours after work to do the final clears and eat dinner, then do the first 4 of the next node before bed.

I'm almost sad that I learned how to play optimally, because I used to play a few nodes here and there throughout the day, but now I feel like I need to only play for that 3 or 4 hour stretch, and leave it alone for the rest of the day. I know, I don't actually have to play this way, but it's that enticement of the placement rewards that pulls me in. If that were gone, I think I'd enjoy the game more, like I did when I first started.

Starfury

No, I'd prefer recharging points being removed

Magic said:

I voted Yes. I don't think any of your ideas makes much sense or could be implemented (1 slice each hour? and you code all this how knowing how much they struggle already to keep the code's integrity). I am in Central Europe. I mainly play the third slice (23.00 flip) and I am usually done before midnight if I care to grind. Sometimes I go for slice 5 (there are days that I have to be up around 7 but not do much other than being around - great time to play). 

I think the game has bigger issues than slices in PvE. Plus the main reason to even play PvE is the ISO and CP, not the elusive cover for placement. If you care for the cover - snipe.

The slices would be purely cosmetic. You select an hour of the day and your events will start and end at that hour. Kind of like what already happens with your shield resupply. You get that at the time of day when you first joined the game. And someone in the background they bring all those individual "slices" together to pay out the Alliance ISO bonus.

Jarvind

No, I'd prefer more slices being added

I hate them. I'm on the US East Coast, which as you pointed out is mostly awful. Once in a while a slice ends at 11 PM, which is perfect, but the majority are either while I'm at work, while I'm commuting (subway - no wireless signal) or in the middle of the night.

animaniactoo

No, I'd prefer more slices being added

Starfury said:

animaniactoo said:

I don't want to remove placement rewards - I want that minor amount of competition to remain, but at the same time, I don't like the setup suggested here of battle lengths being the tie-breaker. I don't want my placement to be screwed by getting bad board setups that mean I have to fight longer to get through them, but then having no option to be willing to play an extra round to fight for a few more points and better placement.

Don't be fooled, that's exactly what's happening rightnow. The quicker you clear, the more your nodes recharge and the more points you'll get at the end.

The only difference is right that right now you also have the complicating factors of how close to the beginning of a slice you can start your 4 clears and how close to the end you can get the final clears in, as well as playing the nodes in the optimal order.

Yes, but your suggested setup removes the ability to do a 7th round of clears for more than the 3pt grind. If I'm close on placement to the next set of rewards up, I might be willing to do that (and generally do as I'm transitioning into 4* land where those last clears take less time and usually less damage) and I want the ability to fight for it, against some who aren't as invested or whose rosters can't handle doing that last round if they're going to be able to do the opening clears on the back of final rounds. I want the ability to be just that much more competitive of my own choice.

animaniactoo

No, I'd prefer more slices being added

Jarvind said:

I hate them. I'm on the US East Coast, which as you pointed out is mostly awful. Once in a while a slice ends at 11 PM, which is perfect, but the majority are either while I'm at work, while I'm commuting (subway - no wireless signal) or in the middle of the night.

fwiw, if you're in NYC, I can usually get enough signal while in station to start a node, and then take 1-2 stops to clear it and then be able to open the next node at the next station. It's a bit annoying having to wait out the "waiting to reconnect" screen, but it's the only way I manage to make the 5 pm slot work for me at all.

Jarvind

No, I'd prefer more slices being added

animaniactoo said:

Jarvind said:

I hate them. I'm on the US East Coast, which as you pointed out is mostly awful. Once in a while a slice ends at 11 PM, which is perfect, but the majority are either while I'm at work, while I'm commuting (subway - no wireless signal) or in the middle of the night.

fwiw, if you're in NYC, I can usually get enough signal while in station to start a node, and then take 1-2 stops to clear it and then be able to open the next node at the next station. It's a bit annoying having to wait out the "waiting to reconnect" screen, but it's the only way I manage to make the 5 pm slot work for me at all.

I've actually tried that - the only stops where I seem to get any signal at all are 34th and 42nd, one after the other - after that it's dead all the way back to Queens.

Beer40

No, I'd prefer recharging points being removed

Starfury said:

Magic said:

I voted Yes. I don't think any of your ideas makes much sense or could be implemented (1 slice each hour? and you code all this how knowing how much they struggle already to keep the code's integrity). I am in Central Europe. I mainly play the third slice (23.00 flip) and I am usually done before midnight if I care to grind. Sometimes I go for slice 5 (there are days that I have to be up around 7 but not do much other than being around - great time to play). 

I think the game has bigger issues than slices in PvE. Plus the main reason to even play PvE is the ISO and CP, not the elusive cover for placement. If you care for the cover - snipe.

The slices would be purely cosmetic. You select an hour of the day and your events will start and end at that hour. Kind of like what already happens with your shield resupply. You get that at the time of day when you first joined the game. And someone in the background they bring all those individual "slices" together to pay out the Alliance ISO bonus.

This is different than how I interpreted your option I voted for. I thought you meant an open PVE each day. Something like 6 am Monday-6 am Tuesday. Users can start in those 24 hours whenever they'd like. They can play at their leisure during those 24 hours. At the end, top scores receive top placement (alliances working the same) and all tiebreakers are sorted by individual win match time (combined). That means if you play the first node and beat it in 30 seconds, you can wait X amount of hours before you play it again. Then beat it a second time in 30 seconds. The game records your scores at time at 60 seconds...and so on. Obviously the people that play 6/6 each node would have the highest scores (more work = more reward) but then they'd also be sorted by the time it took them to get everything cleared, total, not optimal start + optimal refreshes + repeated extra clears for 3 points a pop. 

Starfury

No, I'd prefer recharging points being removed

Beer40 said:

Starfury said:

Magic said:

I voted Yes. I don't think any of your ideas makes much sense or could be implemented (1 slice each hour? and you code all this how knowing how much they struggle already to keep the code's integrity). I am in Central Europe. I mainly play the third slice (23.00 flip) and I am usually done before midnight if I care to grind. Sometimes I go for slice 5 (there are days that I have to be up around 7 but not do much other than being around - great time to play). 

I think the game has bigger issues than slices in PvE. Plus the main reason to even play PvE is the ISO and CP, not the elusive cover for placement. If you care for the cover - snipe.

The slices would be purely cosmetic. You select an hour of the day and your events will start and end at that hour. Kind of like what already happens with your shield resupply. You get that at the time of day when you first joined the game. And someone in the background they bring all those individual "slices" together to pay out the Alliance ISO bonus.

This is different than how I interpreted your option I voted for. I thought you meant an open PVE each day. Something like 6 am Monday-6 am Tuesday. Users can start in those 24 hours whenever they'd like. They can play at their leisure during those 24 hours. At the end, top scores receive top placement (alliances working the same) and all tiebreakers are sorted by individual win match time (combined). That means if you play the first node and beat it in 30 seconds, you can wait X amount of hours before you play it again. Then beat it a second time in 30 seconds. The game records your scores at time at 60 seconds...and so on. Obviously the people that play 6/6 each node would have the highest scores (more work = more reward) but then they'd also be sorted by the time it took them to get everything cleared, total, not optimal start + optimal refreshes + repeated extra clears for 3 points a pop. 

Yeah, that would be exactly what I meant with option 5 ("No, I'd prefer recharging points being removed")

Option 4 would be the same ability to select which 24 hours you play, but with the current system of recharging points. (Difference between 3 and 4 is that in option 4, brackets aren't restricted to 1 slice anymore, leading to a more complicated placement)

animaniactoo

No, I'd prefer more slices being added

Jarvind said:

animaniactoo said:

Jarvind said:

I hate them. I'm on the US East Coast, which as you pointed out is mostly awful. Once in a while a slice ends at 11 PM, which is perfect, but the majority are either while I'm at work, while I'm commuting (subway - no wireless signal) or in the middle of the night.

fwiw, if you're in NYC, I can usually get enough signal while in station to start a node, and then take 1-2 stops to clear it and then be able to open the next node at the next station. It's a bit annoying having to wait out the "waiting to reconnect" screen, but it's the only way I manage to make the 5 pm slot work for me at all.

I've actually tried that - the only stops where I seem to get any signal at all are 34th and 42nd, one after the other - after that it's dead all the way back to Queens.

I'm usually on the M line - I can get 34th, 42nd, 47th-50th, and then one of the 2 53rd (I don't remember which one), and Court Square-23rd used to be dead but has strong signal now. Then I can get Queens Plaza and all but one or two of the stations between there and Roosevelt. It seems to vary from day to day and even at various times of the day, but I would say it's been a lot better in the last 6 months or so since they announced that the whole system is officially wired.

However, I do also find it's better to use data than try to rely on the transitwirelesswifi. That thing sucks unless you're in station for a long time. And if you've ever connected to it, it will keep trying that forever unless you turn off your wifi or tell it to forget the network.

ETA: btw, it actually doesn't use very much data to do this. I am routinely under 300 mb/mth for usage even with doing this on a regular basis.

Borstock

Yes, they work for my schedule

I can pretty easily Top 50 every PvE with a 7/6 if I clear every node 4 times within 3 hours of the start time and 3 more times within 4 hours of the finish time. I have no problem finding a slice that works for me.

broll

No, I'd prefer non-competitive PvE

I HATE HATE HATE HATE the PvE slices. None of them work great for me and the **** my ability to progress at levels equal to others. There are many fixes to this problem and any of the ones listed are fine. An 8pm EST slice would be optimal for me if they were to add more.

The gap from 5pm to 11pm is a joke.  Almost all of my playtime is in that window.  I play the 5pm now but since I don't get home till 4:30 and usually have wife agro I do most of my 5th and 6th clears way earlier than optimal (usually most before noon). 

Calnexin

No, I'd prefer non-competitive PvE

The slices don't work for most people who work a regular job, unless their job provides enough down time to play at work.  My options are
8 am - can't do initial clears, because I have to leave the house before 8.
noon - at work
5 pm - can't do final clears at work, won't be able to start until an hour in
11 pm - only "viable" time, which requires some sleep sacrifice and most of my available free time.
3 am - large sacrifice in sleep that would have a negative impact on my work and home life.

I was between jobs for awhile and managed to get top 20 regularly by scheduling about 2.5 hours around the noon start.  Since going back to work, T100 is the best I can hope for.  You can't compete for top PvE placement if you have anything else going on in your life that's important and on a clock.  You might be able to get better numbers bracket sniping, but I'm guessing T5 is going to other bracket snipers with schedules closer to optimal.

If the rewards were further beefed up, I'd prefer no placement.  As it is, I'll take what I can get knowing that PvE placement will not be a significant source of resources.  It takes a lot of the pressure off and I enjoy it more when I can spread it out throughout an evening with a match here and there rather than racing through as quickly as possible as soon as the countdown flips over.

I will say that I like the idea of eliminating points recharging in concept, but making the tiebreaker dependent on battle length will exacerbate the rich get richer scenario if they change roster-based scaling.  5* rosters would dominate the t100 and the people who actually need the prizes to grow their roster won't even have a shot at them.  There would be no way to gain ground by playing extra or appeasing the clock, you just simply can't compete absent massive cascades in every match.

legeng

No, I'd prefer non-competitive PvE

I am usually top 50 or even top 10 on pve so slices do work for me. But I hate the concept.

More slices would be great or removing points refresh. But those still don't solve the problem that you have to play fast teams even if you like them or not if  you want to be competitive.

If I could just play several times during the day to complete PVE and get full rewards without having to play thanos for every low  health node it would be great.

Wumpushunter

Yes, they work for my schedule

In my CL I am top 3 many times and I would gladly give up placement rewards if they improved progression rewards accordingly. Playing at specific times, waiting for recharge, having to do four clears as soon as the event happens is stressful.  

Open the the entire event set a time when it ends, put the placement rewards at the back end  of the current progression rewards. Stress gone, problems gone, I am happy.