New Event Difficulty Settings are uneven and frustrating

RebeccaQuan

Hi! 

I posted about this once before, but as the leader of an alliance, I feel that I need to speak up about it again.  

I am pleased to see that when the difficulty by SHIELD Clearance Level was initiated, the difficulty levels were changed, but they are still making the game very unenjoyable.  Out of 20 people in our alliance, 7 members have said that they're very unhappy with the new difficulties and none have said they prefer them to the old difficulties. Two members have said they might consider leaving the game if the new difficulties remain the status quo because the game is now becoming too stressful.  My alliance members are not dramatic and none of them have ever suggested leaving because of other changes-- they are generally quite open to change and very positive about it. This is the first time I have seen so many of them so disappointed by a change in the game, and I tend to agree with them.  

I very much like the premise behind setting difficulty by SHIELD Clearance Level, but I don't understand why the difficulties were raised so much on the difficult matches, while the easy matches were left at a base level that doesn't increase.  

The problem right now is there are simply no "medium" difficulty matches to play.  The easy ones are very easy and a breeze to get through and never get any more difficult, and the difficult ones are much too difficult for people in the lower range of level access.  It's suddenly much more difficult to get rewards from progression in order to improve our rosters because the matches we need to play are so difficult.  

Please, please rethink the difficulties.  I'm frustrated and perplexed that the difficulties were changed so dramatically rather than simply opening up Level 9 and Level 10 for the users who are farther along in their SHIELD levels-- it's understood that there are people who have been playing for longer and have higher-level rosters and there *should* be more difficult levels for them to play, but for those of us who are at a more intermediate level, we've suddenly been hamstrung in our ability to progress further-- we either have to choose to play in a level that is much too difficult for us, or to play at a level that is not too difficult but where progression rewards don't give us anything we need to improve.  We should not have to be playing harder matches in order to be getting the same progression rewards we have always gotten, and it creates a big imbalance between players who have been playing longer and were able to progress with easier difficulties and players who now have a much bigger barrier to progressing to the same level.  I am currently at Level 62, and would like to be able to play matches with a difficulty of about 30 to about 250 at the absolute most difficult; that is a good range of challenges for someone at  my level.  And I would like to see them in a much wider variety-- some matches at difficulties of 60, 80, 100, and so on.  

Thank you.  

broll

This is a result of the devs screwing up and opening the SCLs at wayyyyy too low SHIELD ranks.  I have a side lowbie account and mine technically can access SCL6, but in all reality based on both rewards offered and the challenge level he should be topping out at no higher than SCL4.  

They also screwed up by making XP gains off of silly side things like opening tokens and instead of having it be a true benchmark of your roster, it's really not and it's sad.

I would suggest dropping down some if the battles are too difficult.  

Dormammu

First of all, this is the way to offer feedback. Very well done.

RebeccaQuan said:

 I am currently at Level 62, and would like to be able to play matches with a difficulty of about 30 to about 250 at the absolute most difficult; that is a good range of challenges for someone at  my level. 

This is roughly what SCL7 offers (where I currently play) and the rewards are almost the same as SCL 8.

RebeccaQuan said:

I'm frustrated and perplexed that the difficulties were changed so dramatically rather than simply opening up Level 9 and Level 10 for the users who are farther along in their SHIELD levels

This is the root of the problem right here. It mystifies me that we are still without this.

mpqr7

I think the challenge is great. If a level is too hard for you now, beef up your team until it gets easier. That's what I did back when I was a noob.

I also think they should open up Levels 9 and 10. That would be great! Hopefully those levels offer more CP, because that's what I really need! Hoarding takes forever, but it's the only way to pretty much guarantee that you get a usable (ie championed) 5*, instead of one floundering at lv 360 for example, good enough only to put you up against tough people in pvp but not good enough to beat them (since I already have three championed 5*s).

broll

Dormammu said:

This is roughly what SCL7 offers (where I currently play) and the rewards are almost the same as SCL 8.

Agreed, this is where I play as well (even though I'm SR 98).  On current sub highest enemies are L245.  

mpqr7 said:

I also think they should open up Levels 9 and 10. 

Agreed, but I wouldn't expect the difficulties of SCL1-8 to change when that happens.  SCL8 is clearly focused at low - midrange 4* champ rosters meaning SCL9 will most likely be high level 4* champ - low level 5* champs and SCL10 probably being don't come unless you have 3 550s.

Bowgentle

broll said:

mpqr7 said:

I also think they should open up Levels 9 and 10. 

Agreed, but I wouldn't expect the difficulties of SCL1-8 to change when that happens.  SCL8 is clearly focused at low - midrange 4* champ rosters meaning SCL9 will most likely be high level 4* champ - low level 5* champs and SCL10 probably being don't come unless you have 3 550s.

Nah.
I expect 9 to top out at 400 and 10 to top out at 450.

Otherwise nobody would play in those, unless they offer MASSIVE rewards, which I can't seem them doing.

The difficulty ramps up so absurdly past 400 that, given the choice we now have, nobody would go up against 450+ enemies.
We only did this because it was either this or don't play PVE at all - now that we can pick the difficulty I'm not going back to fighting 450+ Ares and Daken voluntarily unless I get a couple of hundred CPs and a few LTs in progression.

cheshyre

Amen.
SHIELD Rank 49, I mostly play PVE over PVP, and I hate the change to PVE mission difficulty.
I wish they'd go back to the previous scaling where the enemy levels gradually increased.

Right now, I can earn 220 points replaying a mission against level 35 enemies
OR I can earn 252 points against level 225 enemies.

Dax317

I completely understand the OP points. I agree with their and their alliance members premises; however, there are the players like me who had made mistakes as new players with roster management, didn't know the forums existed for help, didn't know the mechanics off the game,, and the old scaling was tremendously too difficult. So we were feeling the exact same way you are now. With the new system, we feel like we have a fighting chance. So what I am trying to say is that neither system is perfect. It is only good or bad from our own perspectives. I also give you major props for writing a very elegant post. Very well done!