@Kabam(Osaurus)Rex;
@KabamDork;
TLDR : Okay.. so, Elder EQ...are you done with the redesign?
Personally I don't mind the adaptive difficulty, or the Top 30 prestige changes but man its just not fun, and seems unfinished. We said we liked crucible when it arrived because it was a new concept of questing, planning and a new way of using our roster, but now the format is too often used and repetitively boring.
You could have reserved the crucible format for an occasional change of pace questing for content a couple times a year, but instead you replaced our traditional 5 champ, synergy team questing and force us to play crucible type quests monthly. A few months of this and now I sincerely loath doing it.
I understand you need players in the game, actively playing to drive engagement scores. Keeping players actually in the game, is more healthy than folks AFK, on auto fight. But, If the intent behind the curtain was to trade the old EQ design and the players ability to auto fight with a newly designed mode that requires more actively playing the game, just in order to intentionally force more engagement...this one is a HUGE miss for me. It feels again like more content I have to do, rather than content I want to do.
In the fall of 2025, before Banquet. We were on a good working trajectory towards getting a new, enjoyable and easily digestible updated version of monthly EQ. I thought the plan was to add more of the original type questing back in to the final version of elder at some point. It feels like we just stopped where we are and landed with an unfinished, unenjoyable, long and boring quest that we must now endure monthly as is. Even receiving the rewards is a lack luster text message. Where's my rewards fan fare and pop up's on completion?!!
I think there is some disconnect with design that when we find something enjoyable (like we did the crucible at the time it was introduced) it some how gets added into most new content until we cant stand it anymore. Classic overkill.
If you look around the contest, as an endgame valiant player, without replaying old content, there are now very few places i can put together a 5 champ synergy team of my choosing and just go have fun. In its place you find more single champ fights, or 3 man teams everywhere. Story mode content is slow to role out and often has specific champ nodes, tags or class requirements extremely hindering a players choices of what champs or teams we can use.
Currently Side Quests are on a new 'box of chocolates" trajectory because you never know what you will get each month.
Please consider continuing to work on monthly EQ and find a way to preserve/reinstate traditional 5 champ questing, and other places where exploring fun synergies can be done. Breezing through Classic mode with a 5 champ team once a month just does not do traditional questing justice! I often here your staff mention, MCOC is not intended as a casual game. I also hear designers mention intentional design to keep you logged in and engaged. Well caution that forced fun, often is no fun and usually feels forced. Forcing us to actively endure this Elderly EQ for hours each month simply for the rewards package (more take it or leave it content) is just soul sucking.
The more traditional and casual consumers of this game, quest, arena and roster build/collect for fun. The most skilled, most engaged players that play it like a job can have everything else. Sorry but you need the daily, casual type players just as much as you need FTP, whales and die hard, try hards.
AQ = 3 champs, tired, forgotten mode, need glory
AW = 3 champs, get you kicked from your alliance mode, need loyalty
Coliseum = fight one champ over and over until you puke, get rewards
Classic EQ = 5 champs = Winner, irrelevant rewards
Elder EQ = Crucible style, long paths, meh rewards
Side Quest = Rando take it or leave it stuff, but do it anyway if you want the meh rewards, mysterium
BGs = meta, skill, roster dependent = enjoyment is variable, rewards/store is not current to keep you engaged
Incursions = When you have to.
Arena = 3 v 3, might as well arena until you puke, units are the universal currency, better than radiance to get what you need.
Am I missing somewhere I can just go quest with 5 champs and synergies for fun?
