Not enough for CL 9? How about update CL 8.

I think that would be great. The rewards for CL 8 are basically the same as CL 7. In fact, I would say many people who should be in CL 8 end up tanking in CL 6 or 7, in order to get better placement rewards, which defeats the whole purpose of having CL in the first place.

Truffleupagus said:

When SHIELD levels were introduced, I loowas level 24.  Now I'm 65 and I'm still playing CL 7.  Why?  Because I don't stand a chance of any placement in 8.  Despite my lvl 65-ness, everyone in 8 is playing with champed 4*s while I only have champed 3*s.  CL8 might as well be relabeled "CL MPQ Gods (and hopeless peons)".

I keep hoping CL9 will be introduced to get some of those people out of 8 but, alas...

Heck, maybe if they just reduced the number of players in Cl 8 brackets from 1000/500 to 800/400 it would make people feel like they have a chance.

I'm in the same boat, just about 10 ranks ahead of you. I tried playing CL8 for a PvE shortly after I qualified for it at Rank 52. I could barely qualify for T50 in each daily sub for the 100 HP. I still desperately needed HP at that point (not to mention placement rewards), so I went back to SCL 7 after that, and that's where I've been since.

I've got a few 4* champs now and have toyed with the idea of trying a PvE at CL8 again, but just can't seem to bring myself to do it. I think opening up at least 9 would help thin out 8. Then players like me might be more liable to actually play at that level, giving a benefit to those at Level 7 and below. 

MarkersMake said:

Most of the hyper-competitive players join looearly, Devo - so if you join your slice after the bracket has flipped a couple of times, you will have a much easier ride. 

I play in CL8, and t50 is easy to hit for subs, and I've hit t10 overall several times, despite my long clear times. 

Yeah, to be fair the one time I tried CL8 was before I fully understood how the bracket flipping system worked. So maybe it's time to try it again. I usually wait for at least one or two flips in CL7, and can get T10, T5 with some luck and work. 

Pwuz_ said:

MarkersMake said:

Most of the hyper-competitive players join early, Devo - so if you join your slice after the bracket has flipped a couple of times, you will have a much easier ride. 

I play in CL8, and t50 is easy to hit for subs, and I've hit t10 overall several times, despite my long clear times. 

Increasingly more of them have been waiting out a few clears.  That used to be my strategy, and I could hit top 100 and  sometimes as high as top 50 with just what was needed to get the CP rewards.

For the last few months (let's say X-mas), even hitting every node for 4 clears of maximum points will still have me falling short of top 100 for the sub.

I tried Starting late for the launch of Cloak & Dagger, ground every node to 1 point or less, and I still came up short of minimum placement.  It's those kind of crushing defetes that just suck the joy out of this game.

Well, that's less encouraging. Which slice do you play? I typically play slice 4 in CL7. I've gotten T5 the past two events waiting on bracket flips, and am on pace for another T5 finish in Prodigal Sun, as long as I get optimal clears on the final two subs. 

A simple little change I would make to SCL8 would be to replace any standard token rewards with elites.