Forked Tower: Blood Needs A Normal Mode

[Mawlzy]

There's a point where "We accidentally made it hardcore" stops being a mistake and becomes a problem with SOP/QA.

When it's repeated multiple times, it becomes increasingly difficult to believe it's an "accident" at all.

A raid simulator is cheaper to produce than a MMO.

[SkankyRoe]

When it's repeated multiple times, it becomes increasingly difficult to believe it's an "accident" at all.

Do we know if Mr. Ozma was in charge of FT? Because he was the one responsible for the previous two "accidents"(Criterion, CAR). Either way there's no excuse for it happening yet again assuming it's really the case; Yoshi P's comments at the expo kinda contradict some of the explanations he gave during the LL so I dunno what to believe.

[Mawlzy]

Do we know if Mr. Ozma was in charge of FT? Because he was the one responsible for the previous two "accidents"(Criterion, CAR). Either way there's no excuse for it happening yet again assuming it's really the case; Yoshi P's comments at the expo kinda contradict some of the explanations he gave during the LL so I dunno what to believe.

It's a sad conclusion to reach, but either the director doesn't know what's going on, or he is lying to us.

[Chasingstars]

Maybe its just because I play tabletop games like dungeons & dragons, but this repeat of "oops all savage" is giving me bad dungeon master vibes. In the sense the dungeon master (in this case battle designer), for whatever reason, is creating more elaborate and harder fights. Yet the players they have are not all at the same skill level or with characters capable of tackling the fight, some are able to yet the remainder are not.

The reasons can vary but they can be chalked up into 4 categories for how fights get designed:
1) The creator of the fight accidentally or purposefully creates "meat grinder" fights where there is a high rate of fatality.
2) The creator of the fight purposefully designs fights as some form of arms race with players who over perform while neglecting other players.
3) The creator of the fight just went with what they thought at the time would be cool for players to do but didn't realize what exactly they had created.
4) Any combination of the above.

As much like a fight designer for an mmorpg, a dungeon master has to design battle encounters for the players that they do have. But the key difference is the number of players. As with a game of D&D for example, you can have tables of 1 to 8 players, with 8 being on the high end.

[MicahZerrshia]

is giving me bad dungeon master vibes.

This is an excellent comparison. And just like a bad dm, if you question them at all, you are met with derision, indifference or a glaringly big ego. Along with that one player who thinks the dm is the best dm in the entire world and no other dm can compare so anyone who disagrees can just go play with a different dm

[Khryseis_Astra]

The reasons can vary but they can be chalked up into 4 categories for how fights get designed:
1) The creator of the fight accidentally or purposefully creates "meat grinder" fights where there is a high rate of fatality.
2) The creator of the fight purposefully designs fights as some form of arms race with players who over perform while neglecting other players.
3) The creator of the fight just went with what they thought at the time would be cool for players to do but didn't realize what exactly they had created.
4) Any combination of the above.

I’d like to think it was 3, but I definitely think there’s an element of 1 involved too… it’s just too punishing to have 20-some mechs where one person can wipe the raid. Plus it kills replayability for most of the player base, and also makes it less likely for anyone to risk taking along newbies. I’m sure there will always be a few discords around scheduling runs because they enjoy leading people through it. But a lot of the runs lately are reclear runs for the achievement. Which is an insane achievement for content with so many wipe mechs and a rez limit. What other content of this difficulty has a 100-run achievement?!

So it still needs a Normal mode added. I’d prefer they not nerf the one they have now, so people who like that kind of challenge and time-sink can have at it. But the rest of us want to explore the Tower too, with a difficulty along the lines of CLL/Dalriada/DRN. The zone feels incomplete without it.

[FuturePastNow]

I don't want to assume too much about their thinking, but I would assume the battle content team makes what they think is cool and what they want to play. And given certain past comments, I would also assume their skill level is well above the average player, to the point where they have difficulty "designing down" content like this.

[Uzephi]

I would also assume their skill level is well above the average player, to the point where they have difficulty "designing down" content like this.

That would be a skill issue on their end being a creator. If you can't make something easy and fun, how can we trust you to make something difficult fun?

[ServerCollaps]

That would be a skill issue on their end being a creator. If you can't make something easy and fun, how can we trust you to make something difficult fun?

I think they proved that they are cappable if designing difficult/fun content with the latest savage fights etc (unless its a different team)

[Jeeqbit]

I think they proved that they are cappable if designing difficult/fun content with the latest savage fights etc (unless its a different team)

As far as I know, they rotate people around to design different content. So someone who designed a dungeon might then design a raid. Rotating gives them rounded experience, avoids burnout from doing the same thing, and allows them to inject different ideas into it.