Difficulty setting, keeping everybody happy.

If you let me to say it like this, there are currently five grades of players.

1. Keyboard feed. They have time to spend, skill and deserve all they have got. They enjoy all the aspects of the game... more than four times others can.
2. Braggers. They use builds created and shared by number #1 and call #4 and #5 'loser whining noobs' they are just an annoying nuisance that loves trolling, flaming and blah, blah, blah...
3. Average. They do like and enjoy GW and play for fun and having a good time with friends. They do what they find funny and try new thing from time to time. (I would like to say that I'm here)
4. Schedule slaves. They could play better, but they do not have time to. They enjoy only some of the aspects of the game, e.g.: they have to choose between PvE and PvP.
5. Noobs. They are learning, or they try to learn. Please be gentle and help them.

Well...
#1s always complain the game is easy, they are around the 1% of the players.
#2s just wait until #1 say something and say the same, they are around 10% of the players.
#3s only comlain about some very frustating issues, and better Anet keeps track of what they say, they are around 60% of the players.
#4s complain mainly about time and slowness to get things done around 30% of the players, mainly about deep changes.
#5s do not complain, they whine, they are few and sooner or later they turn into #4, #3 or #2, so it is not really important what they say.

So here's the final solution to keep them all happy:
Difficulty selection slider in the options tag.

GUI:
A slider in the main options tag.

Rules:
- The difficulty would only available to be set in PvE towns and outpost by the leader of the party.
- If any other member hits F11 they'll se the difficulty the leader has set. (Additionally: With a button or a way to they agree with that setting.)
- Once in an explorable area, the setting is fixed and can't be changed.
- Some PvE aras won't allow or would ignore that setting.

Difficulties:

1. Harder. A.K.A.: "Mwa-haw-haw-haw! Wipe out!"
   • Al monsters are level 28, have all attributes at level 16..20, receive 100% less damage, deal 100% more damage, have 5 natural pips of regen, all conditions and hexes last half the time on them.
   • All enchantments last half on you, but hex and conditions last double.
   • All weapon drops would have perfect base and maximum req 9, and be at least purple.
   • Triple rate of keys, dyes, scrolls and stuff.
   • Triple experience rewards.
   • Monsters drop two items instead of one.
2. Hard. A.K.A.: "I know kung fu."
   • Al monsters are level 24, have all attributes at level 12..16, receive 50% less damage, deal 50% more damage and have 3 natural pips of regen.
   • All weapon drops would have near perfect base and maximum req 10, and be at least blue.
   • Doble rate for keys, dyes, scrolls and stuff.
   • Double experience rewards.
3. Normal. Current setting. No change.
4. Easy A.K.A.: "Let's have a break."
   • Non-boss monsters receive 50% more damage and deal 50% less damage.
   • All weapon drops would never have near perfect base and minimum req10. They'll never be gold or green.
   • 10% death penalty when dying instead of 15.
   • Half rate for keys, dyes, scrolls, rare materials and stuff.
   • Bosses stay the same.
   • Half exp rewards.
5. Easier. A.K.A.: "Me wants me mommy!"
   • Non-boss monsters receive 100% more damage and deal 100% less damage.
   • All weapon drops would have poor base and minimum req12. They'll never be gold, green or purple.
   • No keys, dyes, scrolls, rare materials or stuff like that would drop.
   • 5% death penalty when dying instead of 15.
   • Only quest-related bosses spawn. Others won't.
   • Signets of capture can't be used.
   • No exp rewards.

Well, the main idea is: "To hard for you? Can't do the qests? Tune down the things and go back there... but you won't get the nice stuff".
Well... this won't ake #4 happy... but at least will make some thing easier for them...

Numer are percentajes are a mere example, they'll have to be worked on.

Remember that my ideas are never 'as is', but just a base to start the thread. Tell me anything you find wrong about this and I'll work on it.
____
More ideas of mine:
http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/User:Mithran#Misc

I personally hate the idea, it would never ever get implemented ever ever......

This would work for an offline version, but certainly not for online, I've never seen an online MMO that let you change settings like that.

How could noobs learn if all of their targets were super easy to kill?

They won't.

But then, when they see people using great stuf, they'll want it, but they won't get it if they keep the easier setting.

People will start at the nomal setting, and try the other ones in some particular points where they get frustrated. They lose a lot by reducing the setting, so they'll try to avoid that as much as possible.

Even If you don't like the 'lower' settings, can we still keep something like the highers? Even with the sme drops like normal settings?

yeah so those of us good enough to survive all level 28 monsters will own the market through drop rate = to our skill level.

sounds like crap.


im proud to be category 2, with the exception that my builds are my own. peace, noobs.


(j./k)

lame.

/unsigned

I'm proudly in between #2 and #3. lol. I get through the game fast but I have a life and need to tend to it.

/unsigned

How would this work for PUGs of different difficulties? Besides, the starter areas are the equivalent of easy mode, it's just that they don't last forever and have poor drops relative to everywhere else. Hard modes would be the after-game bonus areas like FoW, UW, etc. which have, surprise, better drops. If someone has trouble with the game, then they should just stay where they can handle it until they get better.

Definite /unsigned.

This idea wouldn't work very well with Guild Wars. Like ArcaneApostle mentioned, how would that work for PUGs if everyone in it has different difficulty level?

No offence but this is a retarded idea.

Adding such a feature would cause multiple problems with people trying to join groups, with some people on the easiest setting and others on the hardest.

Also, anyone who needs this should be playing a different game. Part of the fun in GuildWars is the challenge. If you can't met the challenge, or you are one of those people who whine and bitch and simply not put the effort, you shouldn't be playing.

/unsigned

I'm sorry but I personally think that it is a rather strange (neither creative) idea, could possibly take a long time for ANet to code and ultimately doesn't provide any obvious benefits.

I can't say that I fully agree, but I can't say that it goes without deserving some merit. Obviously it's easy to see where a lot of these posters are falling into catagory-wise, and I'd have to say that they can go find a hole to fall in.

I think the idea is good, but what you've suggested isn't something that'd be so great. I have to agree that the monsters are too tough for the average player using henchmen and their own build. It's just not enough to stand against the killing abilities of stuff from around the Realm of Torment. Seems like all the fighting I do lately is around a res shrine at 60% DP. Not my idea of fun, I think things should be let up a bit.

/unsigned

person in "me wants me mommy" still could get gold from ebay and items from "mwa ha ha ha"

City of Heroes has an NPC you can talk to which sets a "title" as to how people know you, Heroic, Invincible etc. Depending on how you change these changes the difficulty of all your missions at that time.

You want a difficulty slider on a MMO? I don't have to read other peoples comments to know this is a waste of time. PvE would be much easier, one of the only few titles I respect, the cartographer title (only when they are 80% or higher though), would be put to shame, noobs would become braggers even more, farmers would find a way to farm with the 'Harder' setting, making sh*tloads of cash and throwing off the economy, etc.

And just to let you know, I'm not a #1 or #2. I'm between #3 and #4.

It is really good idea but as some of the players said - it is only suitable for off-line (understand lan or tcp one) version of the game :/
It will split too much the parties and will bring too much unrest among the whiners which will result in a pressure overall on the community.

Baldur's gate, NWN had that type of difficulty setting and got the stuff for hardcore players. (I still remember the lan party on BG2 using the Hardcore set -...it was a lot of pain per sec... )

you forgot one class of players.
Assimilators
These players spend most of their time analyzing skills, builds, and mechanics and determine which are the best ways to use them. They develop original strategies and enjoy making changes to whatever venue they play at. If one of them is named shard, he also cries a lot on the forums.

I look at the game a lot like I look at most games, especially Magic the Gathering. I don't really care about making a cutesy cat deck, nor do I want to make that Stasis deck that a monkey could win with. I want to make something that is either
1: Fun to play
2: New and interesting

Sure I like to win, but I won't go as far as making touch rangers and spear rits to do so. I think cheating your wins is boring. If you look at a lot of the top guilds a few seasons ago, most of them fall into this category. They look at skills that people don't use, and find a cool way to use them.

Anyway, about the main part of your post.
I strongly disagree with most of it. People should not be able to change the difficulty settings of an area. (By the way, boss monsters already have 20+ attributes. Why do you think dervish bosses land normal hits for 300 damage?) I know your intentions are good, but there are already many areas with varying difficulties. For example, normal missions/quests are easy, Sorrows Furnace is moderate, FoW/UW is challenging, and Domain of Anguish is impossible.

If i was an elite member that would so go into my signiature space.. made me fall out of my chair >_>.

Well, the main point is the everybody pays the game game, but many people calim the game as 'theirs' only around the 0.1% of the players could kill some mobs in the domain of angis as it is. And, as you can see, around the 70% of the posts about that place says its its more or like impossible, no one in my alliance wants to go there, no matter how I try.

Some aresas have 0 replayability and there are absolutely no reaosn to get there.

THis idea was meant to fix those and more issues:
Having lvl 24 charr in Ascalon.
Making impossible areas possible.

So, when I pvp, someone will turn me down to easy?

This is multiplayer game. If you don't play it in multiplayer mode (heroway), there's little say you have. None, to be precise.

There's plenty of great games out there with difficulty settings, one of the more innovative ones is Gods of War, if you enjoy the setting, play Diablo 2, and new titles are coming out.

Guild Wars has a difficulty setting. It's called pre-searing, mainlain and FoW/UW/Domain of Anguish. Play where you can handle it. If Domain of Anguish is too difficult, Vabbi might be not.

There's nothing more to be said really, since such proposal is absurd for a game like Guild Wars.

Change the alliance. Change the guild. Find different groups. Change the difficulty setting.

Your problem is not the game is too hard. The problem is you're grouping with people that play only on easy difficulty.

Being in such an alliance is like going into UW with level 5 henchies and complaining it's too hard. Of course it is.

The reason I don't like this idea is because GW is not about making everyone happy. In fact it is the exact opposite. GW is specifically tailored to individuals with very high expectations, and therefore wery skilled players. The harder parts of GW are ment to seperate the wheat from the chaff. That is why those who do not like GW don't play very long, the game kicks their arses:P.

Plus I hate the idea that you have to please everyone ARG!!!

Now I'm wondering what could be that 'Hard mode' mentioned in the Protector Titles...

Thanks Mithran...at least you are coming up with ideas to maybe fix the problems facing us...not just bitching about it, and putting down other peoples ideas without anything to back up why. You do have an interesting concept here.


And Morrin, sorry but the truth of the matter is that GW is a business and unless they please the majority of people they won't succeed. That's just how it is. Sure you wouldn't be saying you hate the idea of pleasing everyone if you were on the other side of the fence.

Happy Hunting.