why variants shouldn't be endgame content
Erik_Killmonger1001
Member Posts: 427 ★★★
so on the forums I have noticed a small but growing group of players who are dissatisfied with the level of difficulty in the game, particularly around variants. Whilst it is not exactly the same people every time the point is cropping up enough that think it's worthy of an essay. Since the whole debate around endgame and progressing content is so large I have decided to split it up into smaller chunks the first one on why variants should not be endgame content, enjoy more parts coming soon!
One of the points increasingly touted by veterans to express dissatisfaction with the game experience is the dirth of endgame content. With the releases of 7.1 and the beta for 7.2 it is clear that act 7 is headed to be easier than act 6 ever was. Variants additionally starting around v4 and up to the latest variant (at time of writing) variant 7 are becoming increasingly both easy and cheesy. (for reference I would define cheesiness as how far outside an A-typical fight an interaction sits, for example arena being the most vanilla as no nodes are present and nodes such as power reserve and madness as very cheesy as they enable a player to avoid some of the typical actions in a fight such as evading or parrying. Nodes such as Icarus sitting in the middle of this as they create tremendous benefits when combined with champions existing abilities but they require no changes to style of game-play to exploit.
However I would argue that variants are not and should not be endgame content, why you ask, because the rewards for variants are rank up gems which have most value for progressing players. Currently in mcoc their is a power cap of 6 star r3, no summoner has yet achieved a r4 champion so the max power for all endgame players is roughly equivalent sitting at a team consisting of multiple 6 star r3s and a few 5/65s. However endgame players are still gaining rank up resources from monthly EQ and side quests even if they have finished every piece of permanent content so they invest these in broadening as supposed to heightening their rosters. Most progressing players rosters appear as a pyramid with a lot of 3 and 3 star champions, fewer 4 stars and even fewer 5 stars ascending as power level and rarity increases. However endgame players have squatter rosters with higher concentrations 5/65 champions, the r3 cap for 6 stars ensures that rosters are broadening as their is no higher level of power level to strive for. All current rank up gems located in variant rewards are for 5 star champions and are optimal for later midgame players such as high uncollected or just over the line for cavalier, but for endgame players the difficulty level of variants is lacking. It designed for midgame with good reason your 15th 5/65 has much less impact than your 1st. Whilst I am not arguing that endgame players shouldn't wish for variants to be harder I am asking they bear in mind that designing variants as endgame content in line with act 6 100% or similar would widen the disparity between the endgame and midgame. It is safe to say that a player beginning the game even a year ago would struggle to catch up to where endgame players are now, by making new variants more endgame oriented with higher power enemies and more specific fights this would lock RUGs behind difficulty those who need them cannot complete and make them available only to those endgame players for whom they have less impact, I full accept endgame players need sufficiently challenging content but varinats is not the place for it.
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So if we used to be challenged by variants and act, but now nothing, it feels a bit rough. Where are we supposed to look for challenge to build our roster for? AW? Everest content like abyss that comes out every few years?
I’m absolutely fine with variant content not being the place for hard content, it just needs to be somewhere.
I think AW is a great opportunity for endgame content as competition is a great way to get players to challenge each other and reduce reliance once a year content drops such as abyss, however it has been incredibly poorly implemented leading to a dirth of content for endgame players, the 4 star cav EQ challenge and room 20 incursion objective have gone some way to help this but I believe a large scale AW overhaul is the best route to get more endgame players on board month by month
I think the game is challenging the way it is.
Optimism.
Cheehoo!
Every 6 months, what’s “endgame” has evolved. We see that in July 4 and Black Friday offers, among other things. As more and more variants accumulate, it makes sense to have ranges of content for players at different points in their journeys. We don’t need 8 variants targeted at cavalier players trying to reach Thronebreaker.
If a relatively low cavalier player can bang out enough 25% t5cc for TB status, at some point it messes up progression.
What niches do the current variants fill?
Variant 1 - exists so we can repeatedly say we won’t 100% it.
Variant 2 - too many paths for a currently progressing player to bother to 100%
Variant 3 - got a sentinel and warlock? Ok. They’ve finally controlled the paths and quests (6 quests instead of 9, with fewer paths)
Variant 4 - low investment due to the star rankings and fairly easy.
Variant 5/6/7 - higher reward, especially for a first clear. Very manageable access to t5cc.
They need to replace the sig stones with other items of value...6-star shards? Daily events have devalued stones to the point that chapter rewards are disappointing.
By late 2021/early 2022, I hope they shift toward a 6-star focus in rewards and make some variants geared toward TB rosters. Maybe they decide every third variant is for people with different/better rosters. I know people will flip out, but star gates or nodes that boost 6-stars would be a way to do it.
As is mcoc.
End game is an illusion.
There is no end... as far as we know.
It will come. It always has.
Have Patience.
Complaining never solved anything.
For anyone.
Well.... almost everyone.....the only Exception is maybe the occasional Karen or two who demands to speak to a manager at walmart because she will not accept having to wait for someone with keys to come open the sliding glass door to purchase the glitter case for her old iphone.
But it might have the wrong color sparkle in the wrong section of the phone...
Or
It might not have the smoothness that she was hoping for.
and that might irritate her...
Causing her to get angry again.
And try and return the phone case
And then when she returns.
When people see her they may try and dip out and hide.
Because life too short to get roped into complaining and drama.
She may wake up one day and realize the error in her way... or go through life unhappy and miserable.
Either way life is life.
I made it all up but it's a True story.
Relax. Stir a gin and tonic and wait for the ceiling to be raised again like it always has... congratulations on being so great you beat everything.
Because there is no endgame in sight yet.
T6BC hasn't even came out yet...
I've never seen an end in mcoc..
Have you?