I wanted to start by telling you that this is not intended to be a “lets us all gather and complain about ANet” thread. These are simply some of the things that are going through my head and how I feel about the game in general.
Content: Dungeons to Fractals
As many of you know dungeons got the good ol’ fashion nerf. Though, the nerf had nothing to do with something being OP or providing an unbalanced outcome for a portion of the population. Rather this nerf was the result of support denial. This means that ANet simply does not want us to play dungeons, rather have us play the content they want us to play. Even though they have stated that dungeons will still be cool experiences and have unique rewards, the removal of “liquid” reward will result in one thing—less people playing this content. In the current state of the game this is exactly what we see.
The new focus on instanced content is now shifting to fractals. The new fractals system is cool and I am enjoying my progression to level 100 (I’m at 94 woot!). But the future does not look so great. FotM currently has five dailies ( one only accessible for those who own HoT). Two dailies are a specific level, one being in the 1-20 range and the other being the 21-50 range. The remaining three dailies simply ask you to complete any 3 levels in the ranges of 1-20, 21-50, and 50+. These dailies provide the main source of loot from FotM as of now. Devs have stated that rewards will change yet again come December. So we will have to see if they actually get a nice buff. But there is still a problem with this system and leads us to decay.
Content Decay
Content decay is a term I will use that means the original content still exists but is not rewarding enough to play beyond the first few times or at all. This is in contrast to a term I see a lot lately—Content Loss. I have heard and read that the release of HoT is actually a content loss for many who did not buy the game. I do not think that to be true. Rather, HoT does bring tons of content decay to the table. Content decay is inevitable in any game. It will always take place. Things like getting best in slot gear or hitting max level cause content decay. Now this means, like any form of chemical or biological decay, rate is an important factor. Here are my biggest concerns with HoT and content Decay.
- Fractals of the Mists: Once a player has reached level 100. The only reward will be from the dailies. This means that you will do two random levels in the 1-20 and 21-50 range and then a combination of Swampland/Molten Duos until the daily is achieved. This means that once someone has completed their achievements for fractals then that person will only enjoy 11% of fractal levels. (all molten duo and swampland levels minus level 90 and 99). This has a high decay rate
- Dungeons: This content is pretty much fully decayed for the majority of players. But it is some of the best, most diverse, and replayble content that ANet has put out and many wish for the return of its rewards.
- Raids: Now I know you are thinking “But Skittles, they aren’t out yet!” and you would be correct. But we know that you will only receive rewards on a weekly basis. This means that our daily content rewards will consist of molten duo and swampland farming. Instead of different instanced contest provided by dungeons. Now I can’t predict what raids will consist of. But I do know that if they do not grab me in a rewarding way my time in the game is dwindling.
I, as many, play this game for the rewards. But I also play this game with my friends. I do not like open world content the same way I like instanced content. Playing with a group of friends is far more enjoyable than running around with some rando that is knocking back every mob before you can hit it.
My Final Statement
By the time raids releases me and my friends will be at FotM level 100. Which means that we will be doing the same dailies over and over and then doing the first raid wing over and over. There will be very little variety compared to that given to us by dungeons. Though dungeons still exist there is virtually no reward for a group of dungeoneers except for those that are termed liquid. So ANet, plis plis gimme doongins back
Vial of Salt [VoS]