Guild Wars 2

I posted about this in another thread, but decided I’d like to put this out there as a formal suggestion.

Here’s a reasonable solution to the issue of HP challenges being either too easy or too difficult:

When a player activates a HP challenge, have a dialog box pop up that asks for their preferred difficulty level: “Veteran” or “Champion”. Completing the challenge on Veteran level would award hero points only. Completing it on Champ level would award points + a champ bag.

There could even be a third difficulty level, “Super Champion” or something like that, that’s even harder than champ level, for people who really want something gritty and challenging. And maybe, if you can complete all the HoT HP challenges on Super Champ level, you get a cool title or a skin or something. Just a thought…

Anyway, there is already precedence for a system like this — there’s a heart quest in Gendarran (IIRC) where you can choose the levels of the beasts you fight in the gladiator pit. The same system could be used for hero point challenges.

If ANet implemented a mechanism like this, then everyone who loves a challenge can get one. And people who are more laid back or who play solo can, too. It’s a win/win proposition. And no one gets hurt by this. If you don’t want scaled down content, and you want a more hardcore experience, you choose Champ level. If you’re a solo’er, ultra-casual, chill-out type gamer, and you’d rather not face that level, choose the easier path.

If the hero challenges were veterans instead of champions, the reward (10 hero points) would be rather disproportionate.

Further more, what is wrong with attempting challenges in groups in an MMO?

Dengar.1785:

…what is wrong with attempting challenges in groups in an MMO?

Nothing at all. That’s how I’ve been doing it, and it’s great. But the reality is that after some period of time (a week? a month? a year? who knows?) there won’t be anyone around to help, and players will be stuck, unable to progress their characters. I’ve seen this happen across several MMO’s. New content comes out, people zerg it and get their accomplishments out of the way, and move on. Even this early in the life of the expansion, I’ve already had people refuse to help with a challenge, because they’d already done it.

Plus, I think it would be supremely cool to have the opportunity to do them again, and choose a higher difficulty, just because.

I like this idea. I would do each level, learning and improving. I would do them in a group and again just solo. A simple change that gives options.

Spiral Architect.6540:

Dengar.1785:

…what is wrong with attempting challenges in groups in an MMO?

Nothing at all. That’s how I’ve been doing it, and it’s great. But the reality is that after some period of time (a week? a month? a year? who knows?) there won’t be anyone around to help, and players will be stuck, unable to progress their characters. I’ve seen this happen across several MMO’s. New content comes out, people zerg it and get their accomplishments out of the way, and move on. Even this early in the life of the expansion, I’ve already had people refuse to help with a challenge, because they’d already done it.

Plus, I think it would be supremely cool to have the opportunity to do them again, and choose a higher difficulty, just because.

I agree with this reasoning. While I appreciate that some people want group challenges, that stuff is better left to content that must be repeated, rather than one-and-done content like HC’s. We’re already seeing posts about people going to one and finding no one around. This content will be more barren in a month, and even more so in six.

There is nothing wrong with choice. The OP’s suggestion offers that. If Anet fears that people will choose the path of least resistance, then another option would be to tune these HC’s to offer challenge to solo players, then scale for groups if such are present.

Dengar.1785:

Further more, what is wrong with attempting challenges in groups in an MMO?

yeah, the mmo joker… i’m sick of reading this in every thread when people voice honest complains.

so you want a reason? good here you go: last time i went for hero challenges, i had to wait 10 min at some mushroom garbage queen and 25 min at the golem in the hot starting area for someone to make it to the point. i constantly told people how to get there and asked in chat for help.

25 minutes.

nothing more to say really. want to enjoy group content? go to the zones where people do champion trains on a regular basis.

not everything in an mmo has to require being social and cooperating with others.

veterans are sufficient. period.

Trayzer.7268:

Dengar.1785:

Further more, what is wrong with attempting challenges in groups in an MMO?

yeah, the mmo joker… i’m sick of reading this in every thread when people voice honest complains.

It’s a convenient meme to throw out, sort of like “All Your Base”, except more stale and less cogent. It could literally be replaced with a hash of random characters and be both more constructive and persuasive.

I’ve seen it used in every forum in every MMO I’ve played since 2003, and it has the dubious distinction of never changing a single person’s mind, ever. Yet, like a stubborn rash, it persists, to be received with just as much appreciation and acclaim.

ArenaNet could have structured hero challenges so groups would have an incentive to repeat them — which the nominal daily repeat credit currently in place (and which almost nobody knows about) utterly fails to do.

Instead, we have occasional but virulent profanity-laced abuse in map chat for players seeking to complete the hero challenges instead of assisting with meta events.

Absent a better implementation that actually encourages players to repeat group-only hero challenges, there is absolutely nothing wrong with scaling them appropriately, and everything wrong with leaving them the way they are.

I need to stop visiting these forums.. 90% of it is people crying cuzz “awww its to hard! Boo boo!” or " I can’t find enough people to help with this even tho I’m not asking in map chat! Boo boo"

My lord.. Tears tears tears. Ask in map chat u’ll get plenty of help, or just try it more than once? Ive yet to find a HP (yes even the harder ones) that can’t be done with 2-3 people. If u can’t find 1 other person to help u with harder content than there’s no hope for you at all. But… There is plains of Ashford

Hawken son of Z.1367:

I need to stop visiting these forums.. 90% of it is people crying cuzz “awww its to hard! Boo boo!” or " I can’t find enough people to help with this even tho I’m not asking in map chat! Boo boo"

My lord.. Tears tears tears. Ask in map chat u’ll get plenty of help, or just try it more than once? Ive yet to find a HP (yes even the harder ones) that can’t be done with 2-3 people. If u can’t find 1 other person to help u with harder content than there’s no hope for you at all. But… There is plains of Ashford

I’m glad you were able to find someone in a reasonable amount of time to help you out. Good for you! On the other hand, a lot of other players had to wait around for a long time to get one HP. I think this is a decent idea, especially as someone who doesn’t play at peak times.

Hawken son of Z.1367:

I need to stop visiting these forums..

You said it, not me.

Yes, but adjusting difficulties should also adjust rewards.

Easy – 4HP
Medium – 7HP
Hard – 10HP

And I’m being generous.

Easy HP Acquisition Strategy:

1. Level up once in the core game to get your mentor tag.

2. Wait until it’s not night-time or there isn’t another major meta-event going on.

3. Go to the HP and put up your mentor tag.

4. Ask in /map for help doing the HP on your tag and ping the nearest waypoint or landmark, giving your location with respect to the waypoint/landmark you pinged.

5. Wait up to 5 minutes for 2-5 people minimum to show up.

? ? ? ? ? (No mystery here)

6. Profit.

Hawken son of Z.1367:

Ask in map chat u’ll get plenty of help …

How long will that be true, if it even is now?

Ive already seen quite a few people asking for help at HP when no events where happening(Nightfall had end on verdant brinks with 7 minutes left) three people asked over and over for help with heropoints and so far as i know they never got it, before the map closed….