Take it easy on the Nerfing :/

[Ablongman]

Savage being released was an afterthought, and one that people did not care for in the end, as the argument of wanting to do something for a challenge falls short there.

This is important. People whine up a storm whenever content gets nerfed because "OMG THE CHALLENGE," but what they REALLY mean is that they want rewards gated behind inaccessible content so they can cement their superiority in numbers: not only can they claim to be more skilled, but they can BE numerically superior. Which in itself is telling, because I bet you these players don't divest all their i130's to do FCoB at the minimum ilvl for the challenge. That'd be inefficient for farming up all the loot, which is what they're actually there for: to get exclusive rewards and lord them over the peasants. All this challenge talk is code for wanting to keep the gap between them and those they view as their lessers as wide as possible.

If Savage was done RIGHT, it'd normalize item level, so that gear is not a factor and thus unnecessary as a reward. You succeed, or fail, by virtue of your skills, not your gear. You get rewards that show your success, but don't give power. But you just know, given what we've seen, that such a model would be a massive flop, because what these people want isn't challenge. It's the smug satisfaction of being demonstrably better than other players.

The flaw in the design (and this doesn't just apply to Savage) is that players have grown accustomed to being rewarded with the most power when they need it the least (once they've cleared the content). Sure, the hardcore players "earned" their loot, but do they NEED it? All they're doing once they've cleared a tier is farming it, and they've shown by virtue of clearing that they don't NEED the extra power, they just want it for efficiency. You know who NEEDS that power? The casual static still struggling at First or Second Turn, because maybe they're not as coordinated, or don't have as much time, and could clear with that little extra oomph. All you're doing by depriving them of power is widening the gap between them and the hardcore, and fostering a community of sociopaths, posers and social Darwinists, which describes the raiding population pretty accurately (and I speak as someone who was part of this crowd in college and knows better now).

You can't pander to these people, because what these people want requires excluding the majority of the playerbase from content that, at least in this game, is story-relevant. I don't expect Yoshi-P and crew to be particularly brave with this, but I do welcome incremental content nerfs and player buffs to at least allow players to get a clear that won't be entirely irrelevant for a few weeks.