BXR_Lonestar wrote: »

This is going to be an unpopular post probably, but I don't think most endgamers are going to leave. I'm sure some will, but there are just as many endgamers who are frustrated at the state of the game (and combat system) and are open to seeing changes in this department of the game, especially if it forces Zos to come back and rebalance some encounters that are so overtuned and ridiculous in the first place (Looking at you - wave 2 of Vet Black Rose Prison). This is basically a soft reset for power creep purposes and if the changes are steps towards a combat system that doesn't over-emphasize DPS, having high APM, etc. to have good damage output, then I think there are a lot more players who will be open to the change, even if it goes through some rough patches at first.

What I hear when I see a lot of endgame players say they're going to quit is "Vet trials may no longer be an exclusive club, so I quit." If a new combat system puts us all on a more even playing field, though, I'm all for it, and I think the game will be in a better position overall after weathering the changes than it is in right now (at least IMO).

It may be unpopular, but its not so because it removes the exclusivity from end game. This patch will make it more so than it already was.

Damage is high and there is a heavy emphasis on weaving and high APM. I think high APM should be rewarded, just not mandatory. You could make the argument that it either was or wasnt already, its a bit irrelevant really because this patch isnt addressing the issues that caused this.

For the most part the spike in damage comes from several places. Light attacks arent the sole reason. Sets are a larger contributor to high damage we are seeing, but its also not just damage sets. Group buffs are huge. Any given group that has the knowledge and ability to maximize these will perform much better than those who cannot, not to mention some of those sets are dependent on light attacks.

Group buffs from various sets were left largely intact. That will reinforce the exclusivity, not reduce it. Groups that could maximize them prior will still have access and groups that struggled with that will still struggle. The gap between those group will widen if anything. Having a group that can keep those uptimes will be more important now, or seem that way anyway. The best possible outcome is that it stays the same. Its hard to consider that a win.

Other sets like Relequen and Kinra doubled down on weaving light attacks. Not only did a high APM player get the extra damage from the actions themselves but also from additional bonus damage from the sets. The gap between two people wearing those sets is much larger when one can weave well and the other cannot. The net result in this patch so far is, the light attack damage itself was reduced, the dependency on light attacks to achieve substantially more damage was not. The emphasis on high APM and weaving remained. Everyone's damage went down and light attacks are just as important as they were. Im not sure thats a win either.

The first iteration of DOTs which was said to alleviate the need to have perfect uptime on DOTs, did the opposite. I understand that has changed now and I have not read the new change, just giving an idea that bridging the gap may not have been their intention as stated. In the original change a person could miss 25% up of the uptime on their DOTs and still be equal to the damage after the change. Thats on a static target, not a mobile boss. It seems a little strange to me that the change would be considered more forgiving where maintaining a perfect uptime is now even more critical.

Even if they did rebalance the content, the reasons for the gap are still there. I certainly cant speak for everyone, but if we had a soft reset for power creep I wouldnt mind. I like the content and I like the mechanics, especially vBRP, but thats not what this is.

jaws343 wrote: »

FantasticFreddie wrote: »

BXR_Lonestar wrote: »

This is going to be an unpopular post probably, but I don't think most endgamers are going to leave. I'm sure some will, but there are just as many endgamers who are frustrated at the state of the game (and combat system) and are open to seeing changes in this department of the game, especially if it forces Zos to come back and rebalance some encounters that are so overtuned and ridiculous in the first place (Looking at you - wave 2 of Vet Black Rose Prison). This is basically a soft reset for power creep purposes and if the changes are steps towards a combat system that doesn't over-emphasize DPS, having high APM, etc. to have good damage output, then I think there are a lot more players who will be open to the change, even if it goes through some rough patches at first.

What I hear when I see a lot of endgame players say they're going to quit is "Vet trials may no longer be an exclusive club, so I quit." If a new combat system puts us all on a more even playing field, though, I'm all for it, and I think the game will be in a better position overall after weathering the changes than it is in right now (at least IMO).

The problem with this whole idea is NO ONE has addressed this issue of rebalancing content. This was literally the first concern brought up before the PTS even went live, and not a single Zos person has even alluded to it on their leaky social media. Their track record with adjusting content difficulty once it hits live is almost non-existent.
Trial teams are disbanding left right and center. Damage requirements in trials are staying the same. Last boss in vKA hardmode has a quarter BILLION hit points. Do you really think people want to run that with less damage? Do you really, truly think access to that content will be less exclusive?

They addressed that in the Combat Preview:

After these adjustments are live, we are going to focus on any resulting balance issues for the next few updates

I imagine they will address content balance in the Q4 patch and next years Q1 patch, after they have a few months of Live server feedback.

It will be the q4 patch or not till q2 or q3 of next year. In q1 zos will be too preoccupied with the next chapter. And the same people that would be needed to fine tune dungeon and trial interactions will be needed to do the same for the new content.

Which means that it simply won't happen. Or if it does it will be by reverting some of these changes.