Please consider changing the role of normal mode Alexander in future patches

[Colorful]

My suggestion is to make them share lockouts, and make it so gear from NM Alexander isn't required to beat Savage Alex along with whatever the next tomestone gear is. That way they can't complain about having to do Alex normal, and if they did it's just because they aren't skilled enough to beat it without the extra gear.

[Renault]

My suggestion is to make them share lockouts, and make it so gear from NM Alexander isn't required to beat Savage Alex along with whatever the next tomestone gear is. That way they can't complain about having to do Alex normal, and if they did it's just because they aren't skilled enough to beat it without the extra gear.

Gonna respectfully disagree with you on this one, and here's why:

What if a progression savage raider -wants- to do Alexander normal to gear their alt or help their friends? While I still stand by my opinion that normal mode, if it's going to be on the same level of difficulty as story mode content, should not drop gear, I don't think forcing players to do one or the other is a good solution.

[Ashkendor]

My suggestion is to make them share lockouts, and make it so gear from NM Alexander isn't required to beat Savage Alex along with whatever the next tomestone gear is. That way they can't complain about having to do Alex normal, and if they did it's just because they aren't skilled enough to beat it without the extra gear.

No thanks. I don't agree with this at all. Some of us like to play more than one class and shared lockouts really screw that over. I'm fine with the Esoterics gear as it is as long as I have alternatives to get reasonably good gear. Hive weapons, upgraded Law gear, and Alexander Normal gear fit the bill just fine for the time being.

Why not just add Savage first and then normal a few weeks later?

Only problem is SE would need to bring more new content to keep non-hardcore-raiders busy.

I honestly think that in part it could quite possibly be a PR move. Releasing the Savage version first (the one that many less people will be able to successfully clear) just isn't going to sit as well with the majority of people. They mayaswell be saying: hey, here's this great raid... but most of you suck too bad to clear it so here have this watered down version a couple of weeks later just so you guys will get out of our hair for awhile. Release Normal first (or even at the same time) and it changes things. I dunno, maybe it's just me. Either way, I'm fine with the way it is now. I still farm my Normal every week, as does the rest of my static and most of my other friends.

[CGMidlander]

I honestly think that in part it could quite possibly be a PR move. Releasing the Savage version first (the one that many less people will be able to successfully clear) just isn't going to sit as well with the majority of people. They mayaswell be saying: hey, here's this great raid... but most of you suck too bad to clear it so here have this watered down version a couple of weeks later just so you guys will get out of our hair for awhile.

SE doesn't have a problem with cutting difficulty
(Steps of Faith, T6-8, ever-increasing Echo...etc.)

[Ashkendor]

SE doesn't have a problem with cutting difficulty
(Steps of Faith, T6-8, ever-increasing Echo...etc.)

Everyone expects content to get nerfed as it ages and therefore becomes less pertinent, but not so much when it's newly released. I guess I just don't see what the point of it being released later and/or dropping the same item level gear as upgraded Law equipment would be. I think a lot of people just kind of forget that casuals form the vast majority of the playerbase, and when you get down to it a lot of them have the same fundamental wants as hardcore raiders. In short, they want to progress too. Sure, you don't need anything above Law gear to clear anything short of Savage but it's certainly a lot less of a pain in the ass. I know I cringe when I go into a dungeon or trial and see people barely scraping by on item level, because I know it's probably gonna be a bumpy ride.

TL;DR - everyone loves blowing stuff up faster so moar gears pliz.

[Renault]

Everyone expects content to get nerfed as it ages and therefore becomes less pertinent, but not so much when it's newly released. I guess I just don't see what the point of it being released later and/or dropping the same item level gear as upgraded Law equipment would be. I think a lot of people just kind of forget that casuals form the vast majority of the playerbase, and when you get down to it a lot of them have the same fundamental wants as hardcore raiders. In short, they want to progress too. Sure, you don't need anything above Law gear to clear anything short of Savage but it's certainly a lot less of a pain in the ass. I know I cringe when I go into a dungeon or trial and see people barely scraping by on item level, because I know it's probably gonna be a bumpy ride.

So you're a casual, as you put it, and that's fine. You're right, you guys make up the majority of the playerbase, pay your $15 a month and yadda yadda. So let me ask you: if you shouldn't be forced to do difficult raid content to see the story of the raid tier, why should I, as a "hardcore" player, have to farm content that was made specifically for casuals to be able to do my hardcore content? Not sure of your opinion on this second point I have here, but tons of people in my FC (which is all casual players except for myself) are not even doing Alexander normal passed their 1st clear because they will just get better loot from Eso gear anyway. So would it really change much for you guys if it was just i180, glamourable gear? I'd like to hear your opinion!

[Colorful]

So you're a casual, as you put it, and that's fine. You're right, you guys make up the majority of the playerbase, pay your $15 a month and yadda yadda. So let me ask you: if you shouldn't be forced to do difficult raid content to see the story of the raid tier, why should I, as a "hardcore" player, have to farm content that was made specifically for casuals to be able to do my hardcore content? Not sure of your opinion on this second point I have here, but tons of people in my FC (which is all casual players except for myself) are not even doing Alexander normal passed their 1st clear because they will just get better loot from Eso gear anyway. So would it really change much for you guys if it was just i180, glamourable gear? I'd like to hear your opinion!

You shouldn't be, hence why I stated in a post in another thread that Savage should be balanced around the best gear available at the time, and if Savage and NM were released at the same time that would be upgraded law... or at least the 1st, 2nd, and maybe 3rd floor.

Gonna respectfully disagree with you on this one, and here's why:

What if a progression savage raider -wants- to do Alexander normal to gear their alt or help their friends? While I still stand by my opinion that normal mode, if it's going to be on the same level of difficulty as story mode content, should not drop gear, I don't think forcing players to do one or the other is a good solution.

If you wanted to do it to help a friend friend, don't loot anything. That would keep your loot unrestricted for both modes should you choose to do one or the other. As for gearing your alts, does that not contradict your idea of them not dropping gear at all? I'd suggest the secondary tomes. As others have already addressed, wouldn't you still run Alexander normal mode to help you out with savage even if it weren't released until 2-4 weeks after Savage? Most groups won't have it cleared until a month, two, or three from this point. In a months time after Savage and Eso are out they'd have two pieces of Eso and maybe a few Savage pieces. They'd still be running normal mode for the loot to help out their savage progression.

[CosmicKirby]

snip

Sharing lockouts is an interesting idea, but I'd imagine that it would play out something like this:

Suppose a progression raiding static raids on tuesday thursday and sunday.
Tuesday they try to clear savage 1 and fail. Noone attempts the others turns or turn 1 because then they get locked out of loot.
The group clears turn 1, and later clears turn 2 late sunday.
The entire static now has to farm turns 3 and 4 on monday in order to get their weekly lockouts, as they weren't sure if they were going to complete those turns or not.

Progression raiding statics would find themselves farming heavily on their own time the turns that their group couldn't down. It's not a damning problem with the suggested system, but it's certainly an interesting one.

[Ashkendor]

So you're a casual, as you put it, and that's fine.

I am? That's news to me. My static's working on A2S right now.

Behind the frontrunners for sure, but definitely not casual. o.O

[VargasVermillion]

casual/hardcore depends on the amount of time you invest in a game really, you could do raid content and still be a casual.