Episode 17 Feedback

[Alyssa Goldenblade]

For those who have played Episode 17, please share your thoughts on the storyline, artwork, mechanics, difficulty and rewards for:

1) Flash Museum Burglary

2) Unholy Matrimony

3) Unholy Matrimony Elite (uhhh... you don't want to know the success rate of this one, but let's just say it's still new)

[Alexis Allura]

Everyone likes the bad news first so lets get it out of the way.

This DLC is horribly balanced for the CR entry point. I know why they did it but a 113 who bought this and didn't know can't really survive anything. Even at 130 which I wouldn't recommend anyone trying under you will have a tough time. It does seem kinda balanced to the Dev recommend of 134.

I think that is my only complaint.

The good news is the duo looks really good. Has some good length to it. I dislike Lashing Claw worship move though that could be out of wanting the move for myself.

I haven't beat the raid yet but the first two bosses require some good communication. Certain Titans(Superboy and Cyborg) and SoT(Jesse) should be dealt with ASAP. We didn't get Cyborg who I hear is the worst. But I quickly realized Superboy was a threat after our first wipe. Next time we focus on him and got him out of there.

The self sacrifice is a pretty interesting concept wonder how it will play until Elite where revives are limited. Raven's Banish is also something new for raids were you hurt a son just enough to weak him then bring him to her.

[Little Mermaid]

I've only ran the duo four times so far but I think it's pretty solid. Very beautiful environment and I love some of the neat stuff they added like the ninja assassins coming out of the train in last boss fight and that worship animation! One thing that is a little annoying is the spawn point. It's like stepping in the long snakes tile. Takes you back to start. There should have been a closer spawn point like after defeating the 2nd boss or something. I also agree with Alexis, this is tough at 113. Entry point should at least be 130+. I saw some neat base items from the museum itself but still kept getting bombshell posters. If I wanted these posters, I would run Corrupted Zamaron or Bombshells Paradox!
Other than that, a pretty solid duo.

I have not yet ran Unholy Matrimony so I have no feedback on that.

[Arwen Skywalker]

Alexis Allura wrote:

This DLC is horribly balanced for the CR entry point. I know why they did it but a 113 who bought this and didn't know can't really survive anything.

jusy fyi, the "minimum CR" thing has been around since BfE DLC. For example Prime requires a minimum of 70. It was pretty much suicide entering there at 70 during the time when it was the current content.

[timetracker2643]

I've been able to run both, and despite having extremely high level players both times, we got ourselves handed. Flash Museum should have a closer Regeneration point, after you get past the first mini boss, like the entrance where the Flash statue happens to be.

When it comes to Unholy, Oh man, we got all the way to the sin demon and that's where everything just fell apart right there, it's like nothing was taking him down at all, we took a couple of the titans down, but that demon was like fighting one of those fighting dummies, you're going to make a lot of hits, but in the end it's not going to matter in the least.

[Alyssa Goldenblade]

Good feedback all! The 113 entrypoint is a major complaint across the forums. From the livestreams Mepps has said that the lower end CRs will be carried. In the case of the duos at least, 2 players at minimum of any other tier had a reasonable chance. The devs have also stated that the 113 entry is a rough transition from the quarterly to monthly plan. It should be smoother with episode 18, which has a 130 entry point I think. It is a hurdle, but something that shouldn't be a problem in the future.

For base item drops, it feels like they're treating the episodes like a DLC cut into 3. So the Bombshell posters are spread out. I also think drops should match the content to help base builders narrow down what to farm.

[Alexis Allura]

Arwen Skywalker wrote:

Alexis Allura wrote: This DLC is horribly balanced for the CR entry point. I know why they did it but a 113 who bought this and didn't know can't really survive anything. jusy fyi, the "minimum CR" thing has been around since BfE DLC. For example Prime requires a minimum of 70. It was pretty much suicide entering there at 70 during the time when it was the current content.

Prime was definitely really hard at 70 but a person could do part of that DLC at the minimun in Gates. If a person bought this DLC and didn't have the other 2 dlc from this set. They have nothing they can really run in it.

[Pandarve]

Most of my issues have been commented on by others. My only real issue has been with the green drops of 113 gear in everything including raids that you generally want to be 134+ for. While I have read what the Devs have said as to why this is the case, it's still a bit crappy that I can run UM and get gear I don't need instead of actual upgrades. Sounds like this will be changing with Episode 18 so that's a plus.

[Alexis Allura]

Pandarve wrote:

Most of my issues have been commented on by others. My only real issue has been with the green drops of 113 gear in everything including raids that you generally want to be 134+ for. While I have read what the Devs have said as to why this is the case, it's still a bit crappy that I can run UM and get gear I don't need instead of actual upgrades. Sounds like this will be changing with Episode 18 so that's a plus.

There will be a new common green drop at the beginning of the 3 month set that will be cool the first month but probably will stick around 2 months after that as well.

NGN (and that other place) was pretty nice were it only dropped a rare or better.

[Pandarve]

It's the sticking around part I don't like Alexis, especially if I'm hoping for an upgrade and end up with nothing but downgrades.

[Alyssa Goldenblade]

Pandarve wrote:

It's the sticking around part I don't like Alexis, especially if I'm hoping for an upgrade and end up with nothing but downgrades.

The low level drops kind of stick out a little bit more now because they will last 3 monthly episodes. But think of it as a single quarterly maxi-episode that's cut into 3 smaller pieces. It's always been like this. The level 90 green as well as 102s lasted 3 months also. The greens are useful for the salvage feat, selling for a couple K or 1 prestige. The upgrades are really the blues and the marks for the vendor gear.

This is a common forum topic, so it's on the radar.

[Beta Babe]

Flash Duo:

Overall I like the look, art, and layout for the flash museum duo. I am getting kind of tired of the whole ninja thing in the game though.

It feels like they are being lazy and this is an easy fall back for adds. I was hoping to see something new and different – not recycled and redundant.

My greatest anger though comes from the drops (which are insulting) based on the level you must be to succeed in the duo.

Literally, they are dropping gear at or below the minimum you need to be there in the first place. So your drops are worthless.

They need to up the drops. No more greens – period. I hear this from all of my friends as well as the JG’s and the other Leagues I play in.

I understand the salvage argument and that this is 1/3 of the content whole (and) here is my counter. Yes, but it is not in line with the difficulty of the duo - period. We should not just be there to struggle for marks - the promise of gear needs to be a component. If they intend to maintain the difficulty - which I think they should - up the gear drops.

(OR) add another element - such as super cool base items limited to that duo only. Then there would be a reason to say its ok to keep the greens.

I love the flash helmet – but please make it tradeable within the account. Many feel this way.

Unholy Matrimony:

While I have not finished this raid yet (2nd Boss Only) – it seems ok mechanically. It is just about learning those mechanics and working together as a team.

Again, the drops are insulting here. We should NOT be seeing greens in this particular raid – I am sorry.

Unholy Matrimony Elite:

I cannot comment since I have not done this yet.

In General, I am getting concerned about the game:

Content is getting lazy, art is starting to suffer, and things feels rushed to push out content. Quality is starting to lower.

I also feel that the episodic approach is wrong and too much – too fast. (Reminds me of the Magic the Gathering Card Game) I know they are trying to keep players playing – but they are actually starting to turn some of the veterans away and frustrate the newbies.

I am amongst them. I play every day but I cannot keep up on my 3 mains as I could in the past – unless I chained myself there and forgot about the real world.

I have stayed for my friends – but even that has limits.

Finally, they have leaned too hard on raids as the means of skill points and hero advancement. They need to re-balance (like the older content) and stop pushing that – I should be able to earn more on my own and on alerts.

I really like DCUO – I want to keep liking it. I am concerned that I won’t be able to say this a year from now and I will have sadly left it behind.

I hope I am wrong.

[Alyssa Goldenblade]

Beta Babe wrote:

Flash Duo: ...

Thanks for the feedback! All good info.

I also don't like the episode approach, but I think we're in the minority here. With this release plan, people are expecting the full quarterly contents inside of one month and then getting disappointed when it's not. The old quarterly plan felt less rushed and we really got a chance to grow with that content for a good part of the year. I think it affects testing too because there's so much switching going on. By the time something gets released, the next thing is on test. Often there's overlap. We have the legendary release, followed a week later by the regular one. Then a week later, it's a preview of the next piece! My advice is to not get caught up in the hype and work at your own pace. Previously I always stayed behind 1 episode (now that translates to 3 episodes). It's a plan that works because I get used to routines and fitting in time with real life stuff. I also don't advance during seasonals because I'm playing that content with all alts instead of a few dailies on my level 30's. Falling behind isn't a problem in this league. We're large and active enough that there will always be people and alts in various tiers.

One thing I'm worried about with small content is the dailies. It's hard to tell if that's in their plans or not. Those were a big part in advancing fast from T3-T6. The duos in previous tiers were very good for fast marks. If we look back a couple of tiers... T5's 3 duos were more or less equal. T6's 3 duos were more or less equal. These could all be done at entry level. In T7 at the lower end, you have one that's soloable, one that's doable and 2 that are not doable at the entry level.

I think the Devs know in general that they are currently stressing raids. They are listening to suggestions and alternatives though. There are a lot of ideas floating around, so hopefully they go with one that works.

[Alyssa Goldenblade]

Mepps' announcement today addresses the drops you guys outlined...
https://forums.daybreakgames.com/dcuo/index.php?threads/just-announced-the-new-r-d-gear-system.262585/#post-3463574

Now everything you get will ultimately work towards the final rare armor set (the non-elite). Thanks again for your feedback.

[Pandarve]

Good idea in theory, the only real issue with systems like this new R&D is that they usually take time and a lot of materials to craft the really good stuff, and often by the time you have all those materials you have gotten lucky with drops and have the item you really wanted in the first place. I have in my experience found that this type of system does benefit the more casual player who isn't able to do the content as often, or at all, that everyone else is doing.

So while it is a great addition to the game, it won't likely change my feelings about green drops in 4 and 8 player content.