Adaptive EQ Rerun (pseudo Story Quest) Feedback

Two things before we dive into it. One a bit of a longer post from me and two, new forum layout makes edits hard and my thumbs on a mobile keyboard makes typos likely, apologies for anything that looks off in advance. I hope meaning comes through.

I’ll start with the good news as that’s a quick and easy item to address. This is a step in the right direction and it is better than what we were presented with at the beginning of the month. But that’s about it sadly… so why is that?

Well, simply the design follows a fundamental flaw that seems married to the current direction of the contest and that’s challenging players through roster restrictions. We see this in new defender kit design requiring hyper specific counters, we experience this in every crucible like quest design (be it WoF, crucible or Elder EQ, and with the reintroduction of class gates into Story EQ (yes in 9.3 they are more decorative than restrictive but they could have easily been bugged).

Now this isn’t always a bad thing as the story quest crucibles are enjoyable content but it can be overdone like it was in Wheel of Fate or in certain champion defensive kits. That said in crucible and WoF this design still works as it helps make the quest feel like a string of EoP fights where the nodes are grossly different between fights and it opens up your roster strength to address it. In EQ though these nodes are roughly the same between all 15 fights and the class restriction closes off 5/6s of our rosters just making it feel repetitive. EQ feels this design feels bad because it really shines a huge spotlight on just how recycled the nodes are. Longer paths with more fights and larger healthpools make these 3-4 year old node/defender combos dull and EQ just feels more like a chore than a game. I’m actually yawning and droning off mid fight… that’s not an engaging design.

Then the single champion approach strips out exploring synergies teams or ramp up champs as well removing other ways one might try and create fun in the EQ. End of the day, it’s created a redundancy that makes AQ feel more creative… take that as you will.

Lastly, there’s this bizarre knock effect on the value of story content. Both of these EQ devalued 9.3 for me. 9.3 was shorter, easier to do and less punitive with lower attack values than EQ. As a result I feel like I coasted through the chapter like it was an entry level quest…. The tuning between these modes is just all wrong. What’s the point of an enfolding story in a game where the content accompanying that story gets progressively easier with every chapter now… I’ve never played a game like this… and I’m starting to really not like it. Then think about how this reflects on EQ… as a player I can blitz through and explore the entire set of story quests but potentially not even be able to run EQ with my roster? What message does that send guys?

I really think the team needs to stop pushing exploratory ideas out and spend ALOT of time thinking about the role of EQ and Story Quests going forward. Both modes are hurting and hurting each other at the same time and then hurting the overall player experience as a result.

Comments

BigBlueOx

A stray thought to add… top 30 prestige also sets up newer players to fail too. Because a player can easily have 30 great champs but not the 15 useful champs in each class required to do Elder EQ.

WhoDaPoo

I agree 100% on the notes about story mode. We are in act 9 and it's been easier and easier with every story release. It's time to get back to challenging story modes.

One idea thatbkeeps floating around my alliance is if act 10 would take us back to story content we can't finish inan few days. Longer paths, more paths, and varying nodes along a path. That would require planning and not just min maxing 2-3 OP champs for an entire path. The other idea was what if multiple chapters came out together. Like 10.1 and 10.2 release together with one big boss and a new title after 10.2. kid of like when 6.2 champion came out. Gives a long chase and keeps us busy for quite a while.

More chasing story content, than eidols or misc everest content. Story mode is key to the game and that feeling. Should be brought back.

Herbal_Taxman

Another unintended (I would hope) effect is that these new structures limit your ability to use and enjoy new champs. I got my shiner new Karolina, for example, and if I want to use her seriously in a sustained way my options are…? AQ, incursions, go smack people in RoL for the millionth time. AW and BGs are poor places to test and learn.

The new approach trivializes champs, especially new ones that you’re trying to learn.

BigBlueOx

https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/comment/2878245#Comment_2878245

completely agree with this point, thanks for adding it. I found myself very much wondering the same things. I used to use Thronebreaker EQ after I completed the valiant gauntlet for this purpose prior to the change. It’s give me an idea of who I might like to invest in, now with classic event quest being a prerequisite with 0 value to revisit to unlock that mode I’m unlikely to want to burn energy this way now. WS is a poor testing ground too as that AI is bleh

Baconfacer

I also really liked using new, often unranked, champs in lower difficulty EQ content.

The game isn't exactly bursting with testing opportunities, and one of the best ways to get a feel for new champs is now gone.

Herbal_Taxman

my workaround lately is go into Incursions with new champs and pick generic hacks (energy resistance instead of fury, for example) — things that don’t distort the champ’s kit too strongly. But definitely a suboptimal solution.