Diadem and Savage - I can't deal with it anymore

[CGMidlander]

Bye Aikaal. Thanks for your contributions to the community.

[RickXRolled]

In my head 3.1 is a car crash. It hit a deer. The deers name was Alexander: Savage. The deer is dead. And now all the vultures are swooping in and getting nice and fat for doing no work at all.

This describes it way to perfectly, I'm amazed.

[Kosme]

You lost your fighting spirit because you are no longer a lalafell.

[Dyvid]

So spamming Diadem 6 times a day to get 210 that are better than raid content is not repetitive? No? Okay. You don't need that BiS if you don't raid anyways.

I'm sorry but I fail to understand your logic. If Diadem is the right way then there is no reason to raid anymore in this game and everybody that are looking for a game to raid will just look elsewhere.

The problem is you'te not talking about raiding but rather hardcore verse casual content and a line to divide them. Alex:N, Diadem, and Void ark are raids but for casual players. Alex:S and to lesser degree Primal EX is the only hardcore content. Maybe the best option is release a Normal and Savage version of the 3 raids when they launch with an ilvl dividing it. The gear should be designed similar to how PvP animal gear is with high tier tweaking the appearance slightly. I don't know, the best question is what do hardcore players actually want?

[Magis]

Maybe the best option is release a Normal and Savage version of the 3 raids when they launch with an ilvl dividing it.

This still falls into the problem of recycled content. People are going to do normal first either to see it or unlock Savage if SE does it. This strips a lot of the motivating factors, especially if gear is another copy/paste job with a glow slapped on.

[OmegaStrongtan]

When I found out Savage will be pretty much the same I said to myself: "meh won't even bother."

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

I don't know, the best question is what do hardcore players actually want?

I can summate this one well, with a bit of rhetoric if you'll humor me:

Say you're a raider and while your static isn't world-first level, you guys all really put in 100% effort and progress at a fairly decent rate. You've had good nights, bad nights, setbacks, had to cancel a raid night or two for RL reasons, but you FINALLY got all your gear/upgrades and are now a solid 210. . .

Then SE released Diadem the next day, and someone who farmed it all day is now 210 as well.

That's what we DON'T want. This isn't saying "casuals" (prefer not to use that term in a bad way) or non-raiders don't deserve to gear up, but they don't deserve to be able to gear to the same level with less or minimal effort. Yes, time and future content makes that possible anyways, but as there is no higher raid tier/item levels right now, I say too much too soon. And it's not the first time it's happened. Won't be the last either.

For raiders and "hardcores" it becomes, "Why bother climbing the mountain when they're going to just add a lift to the top soon?"

[Sullender]

For raiders and "hardcores" it becomes, "Why bother climbing the mountain when they're going to just add a lift to the top soon?"

I thought all catch-up patches are like that. The non-Raiders can also get 210 from the 24-man raid (once a week) and Hunts, just like 2.0. SE just added another method here in 3.0 (but obviously didn't intend the gear rate for 210 to be that high so they just patched Diadem). As an Alex raider myself, I tried Diadem a few times but could never get a piece to drop with exactly the maximized stat I wanted, so I'd rather just do my weekly Void Ark and continue Alex.

[ThirdChild_ZKI]

You're right, and I did note that. Time and future content will make what we go through for our gear obsolete (T9 and T13 are a joke now), but it does still sting just a little when someone obtains or exceeds what you have even by a little, if by lesser means. I'm painting an exteme picture to say it but think of it like spending a lifetime learning/mastering kung fu vs Matrix-style downloading it in seconds. Obviously, this is really stretching it, but the concept is similar. What does your lifetime of discipline mean when someone else obtains it in a fraction of the time? Why bother progressive raiding when we could all just wait til content nerfs or catch up patches? It might not matter to some, and even I seem a bit detached from it myself now, but it doesn't go unnoticed or felt.

As it stands, knowing the pattern now, I still raid, and still want to clear Alex Savage, but my dedication to doing so is nowhere near what I had with Coil. The rewards feel transient, and by the time I might obtain them, the skill requirement might be lifted/eased, or easier alternatives will be in place. Then there's the relic too. I WANT to beat Thordan Ex, I WANT those weapons, but there's still my Eso wep, and the coming relic, both more than likely to be of a higher item level/more useful. Thus motivation takes a huge hit.

[Sullender]

Why bother progressive raiding when we could all just wait til content nerfs or catch up patches? It might not matter to some, and even I seem a bit detached from it myself now, but it doesn't go unnoticed or felt.

I see what you mean, but I dunno....AS still has some of the best targeted gear for your class, an exclusive 215 weapon, and an exclusive Mount. Besides, completing A1S-A4S will almost certainly be required to progress in A5S-A8S, so the people completing stuff this time around will get an early advantage in 3.2. So the Raiders still get lots of benefit until 3.2. This is the nature of the game and catch-up patches, as you recognize. Raiders' hard work and exclusive gear only lasts a few months or so, as opposed to the "lifetime" of kung-fu.