Grinding is the meta

Destiny 2 is deliberately like this, everything changes every three months. It wears a person out.

I know I’ll be taking an extended break from vet content till it settles down. I’ll quest some then wander off for a prolonged period till I get the sense they’ve stopped mucking about in lurches. Only thing you can do to not become irritated at paying to be a tester.

You know, the time to have done this sort of tuning would have been the quarter before, not the month after an expansion it seems to me. But hey what do I know

FantasticFreddie wrote: »

A LOT of raiders quit after AWA went live, and hybridization killed off more. I can barely fill my raid teams anymore.
The top tier are quitting, and no one is taking their place. A vAS TRAINING core isn't even filling at the moment. Have SEVEN empty spots.

I was an end game raider and I stopped running with my team but AwA had nothing to do with it (actually make it more likely I'd wanna run) and not a single player on our teams has complained about it either. I also don't know of any of us that have had an issue with the hybridization. The reason I got tired of it is b/c the content design for end game dungeons and trials is just not good. Tanking (the role I did 75% of the time if not more) was tedious and annoying instead of fun and challenging, I felt like my ability to do my job was attacked every single patch since MW except maybe one patch. And I watch them talk about making DPS easier/more accessible while they make support roles like tanking more punishing than ever shows me the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. I guess having hardly any real tanks in queue for dungeons isn't clue-ing them in on anything. Even now when I've filled in as DPS I'm not seeing the trials as a fun experience.

Don't get me wrong, I know some players are definitely upset by the AwA thing, but I think those that are keep seeing it as "the" problem everywhere because they want to. I also know that some end gamers are just upset because there are less carries to sell b/c players don't need to earn titles on different characters anymore and not because of how it effects their own achievements. Not saying that's you, but I don't think AwA is what's hurting end game. I think it's bad design.

Twenty patches ago the game was not 'balanced'. The game will not be balanced twenty patches from now. The futile treadmill of nerf/buff seems to add nothing except frustration. Trying to balance PvP and PvE at the same time is a good indication that this mythical 'balance' is not a serious objective and will never be achieved. So dealing with it is the challenge.

My approach - that has saved me from rage quitting years ago over this - is to have my same character manifest as multiple classes and specs. She can decide to play as a magplar or stamward or magsorc etc as casually as she changes her hairstyle or costume. Some variants are in semiretirement at any given time pending the nerfbuff cycle. Additionally, I stick with tried and true solid gear - sets like Julianos, Seducers, Hunding's Rage, etc that seem to retain their relevance as reasonably effective. Also, I focus on content that I find fun. For me, this means questing, soloing normal non-dlc dungeons and alliance zone WBs, while boycotting dlc dungeons, anything vet and all trials. And lastly, I realize that as a multiplayer game, ESO is dynamic and just like the real world always changing - I try to embrace that or, as my Argonian friends would say, swim with the river than against it.

The more frequent and heavy handed the changes are the harder they are to swim with though.

It's an MMO thing - life goes on

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

light and heavy changes i could see

not a fan of the dot or some of the class skill changes though, although some others are good

personally i usually play a little off meta, so my builds dont change all that much between patches unless i feel like overhauling a character that, to me, is underperforming lol

several of my toons havent changed builds in years, i maybe change 1 build per year at best out of my 10 toons

Ironically multiple of my off-meta builds have been or will be completed gutted in the future.

I had a vampire tank that would use vampiric frenzy to get a bit more damage and be able to parse decently while still being a tank with 40k HP and heavy armor on. Because the skill would drain my HP so drastically the heal was very strong too. It's effectively been cut into a third now and the heal is potato since it doesn't stack now. RIP vamp tank.

Same goes for my cutting dive stamden. If the PTS notes go through, she will have to unslot the skill and rework her rotation entirely.

I'm leaving for Skyrim Together Reborn until ZOS figures out vast sweeping changes that help no one and hurt everyone aren't healthy for the game.

people in this game are all different we all play for different things ,, some solo some group.. so realy its not just about one person its about everyone..

I am one of the 80% who does not chase meta, I have generous but still limited game time. I wish to pursue things that i find are fun rather than grind because of another combat change. Sorry

Ragnork wrote: »

I am one of the 80% who does not chase meta, I have generous but still limited game time. I wish to pursue things that i find are fun rather than grind because of another combat change. Sorry

Same here i sorta see why people are annoyed but at the same time i just don't have time to do high level content, or anyone to do it with.

I meant ultimately it's just a game things will change regularly, and if it really affects the top 10% after all the changes are live out of the PTS i'm sure ZOS would be reviewing all that data from the back end and ultimately make those adjustments.

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

Twenty patches ago the game was not 'balanced'. The game will not be balanced twenty patches from now. The futile treadmill of nerf/buff seems to add nothing except frustration. Trying to balance PvP and PvE at the same time is a good indication that this mythical 'balance' is not a serious objective and will never be achieved. So dealing with it is the challenge.

My approach - that has saved me from rage quitting years ago over this - is to have my same character manifest as multiple classes and specs. She can decide to play as a magplar or stamward or magsorc etc as casually as she changes her hairstyle or costume. Some variants are in semiretirement at any given time pending the nerfbuff cycle. Additionally, I stick with tried and true solid gear - sets like Julianos, Seducers, Hunding's Rage, etc that seem to retain their relevance as reasonably effective. Also, I focus on content that I find fun. For me, this means questing, soloing normal non-dlc dungeons and alliance zone WBs, while boycotting dlc dungeons, anything vet and all trials. And lastly, I realize that as a multiplayer game, ESO is dynamic and just like the real world always changing - I try to embrace that or, as my Argonian friends would say, swim with the river than against it.

The more frequent and heavy handed the changes are the harder they are to swim with though.

This is about the best outlook and way to approach these changes (and I'm sure MORE in the future)

Especially as I'm starting to feel worn out with the constant switch-flipping the devs seem to love to do.
I haven't been playing as long as many vet players, but I've seen enough of this pattern consistently repeating and have zero expectations they are ever going to stop.

I'm not top-tier in DPS, not even close. A couple years later I'm still learning the game, there are ALWAYS new things to discover, little things to do better. I'm fine with that.
Whats getting exhausting is feeling like I have to RE-learn something I'm still in the process of learning. (Watching DoTs, bar-swapping, weaving)

So I don't chase numbers. I only care about DPS as much as it helps me to clear the content I do wish to play.
I love soloing dungeons and their related stories, I guess thats MY end-game content (that and housing and futilely trying to solo a dragon lol) So the more DPS I can push the easier it is for me to clear dungeons.
What is concerning to me from what I've read in the patch notes, is that even as a "casual" PVE player I'm going to really feel the changes in a bad way. But I'm trying to withhold angst or judgement until I actually get to try it for myself.

The last time I felt this uneasy about upcoming changes was when they overhauled the CP system to what it is now.
That sucked.
And yeah I worked through it, as I spose I'll work through whatever changes this next patch brings.

So I'll wait and see before getting too spun up in the drama around it.

It just sucks that there always seems to BE drama.

drsalvation wrote: »

Yeah, just stop farming gear and stuff.
story content is better when you nerf yourself to the ground.

The problem with ZoS is that they're making numbers accessible to players, but not gear, because they artificially retain players by mindless RNG.

ZoS logic: Reaching high DPS is inaccessible to casual players; Let's lower those numbers instead of making mindless RNG easier to access for casual players.

That said... just stop. Stop farming stuff, stop buying dlcs just for mythics, stop grinding. Play story content like you were playing skyrim with gear that doesn't belong to a set, make it challenging by nerfing yourself.

The less player engagement there is to all the mindless grinding for mythics there is, maybe ZoS will reconsider making a better way, more fun and engaging experience to farm for mythics that doesn't revolve around stupid RNG, make it more accessible to casual players (instead of nerfing the numbers in our stats).

Yeah, just stop farming gear and stuff.

I thought same thing. Developer had better concentrate more "good" game gimmick design
than just one ring solution like the orken-soul kind of "magic".

Please stop let the players farm better gear, or just keep searching better build.
Make the game environment more enjoyable thing than just farming or grinding discipline.

Basically say, this game is too much depend on character building aspect. But less content to enjoy
environment gimmick or level design. (But no unexpected stupid trap, OK?)

But the dps checks in vMoL were for when 35k was the top figure……

So it would be interesting to ask the trial devs just what they consider minimum dps for each vet trial & achievements

@ZOS_Kevin could you do that please?