CTA idea: Old dungeon, new enemies

ladymythos · January 2014

When I first heard about CTA, I was intrigued. It did sound really cool, and new gear and stuff would be nice. Skip ahead to the release day, and I was really disappointed. It's just an old skirmish, but with no challenge at all. (as there are always two or three lvl 60 players ruining the fun for everyone.) We have a CTA going this week, but I got bored already after the first run. It's just an old skirmish all over again, and as with any other skirmishes, I was sick of it already before they turned it into a CTA.

So why not change things up a bit? For the next CTA, why not keep the old skirmish map, but change the enemies? We could for instance have the same map as we do now, but with different enemies and bosses? Imagine doing the CTA we do this weekend, but with a dragon at the end? Or a bone golem? Maybe take the gelatinous cube from the Clocktower and turn it into a CTA boss? Or a huge Beholder of some sort? There are tons of nice creatures and bosses in this game, so why not use them for all they're worth, and make skirmishes fun? Heck, you could even have a random set of enemies, or at least a random boss every time. That would make things interesting. Please don't just use an old skirmish I'm sick of already, and add some HAMSTER loot at the end. The intention is good, but the loot at the end of the next CTA will have to be really good for me to consider bothering doing the CTA even once, if it's just an old skirmish all over again.

pitshade · January 2014

I think the reasoning behind the CTA events was that a lot of people, myself included, missed out on skirmishes while leveling. Not being able to do them at level 60 was a common complaint on the forums back in Beta and early Live. Hopefully, there will be other events in the future that have some kind of instanced party content. "Challenge of the Gods" is something people have been talking about that was or is on the calendar but no information is available as far as I know.

I'd like to see permanent leveled skirmishes with new content, actually. Also, there are always going to be a lot of level 60s in the CTAs as they're probably the largest segment of the game population.

dardove · January 2014

No, there is no need to change CTAs. They are great. If they want to do another type of event that involves instances, that is fine, but keep CTAs revolving around existing skirmishes.

pitshade wrote: »

"Challenge of the Gods" is something people have been talking about that was or is on the calendar but no information is available as far as I know.

http://i.imgur.com/s28G1HX.png

Unknown · January 2014

This content has been removed.

charononus · January 2014

I like the CTA as is. It lets me run content that I haven't in a long time. As for 60's ruining it, I have no idea what you mean. Even speed running it on my 60 GWF on fri the lowbies that were sometimes there didn't die and we completed quickly.

imsmithy · January 2014

dardove wrote: »

http://i.imgur.com/s28G1HX.png

Challenge of the gods sounds good , especially the invocation gift , I wonder if they will be rare and if you can use them multiple times one after the other , if you can I guess we will be seeing a heck of a lot of angels running about lol

dardove · January 2014

imsmithy wrote: »

Challenge of the gods sounds good , especially the invocation gift , I wonder if they will be rare and if you can use them multiple times one after the other , if you can I guess we will be seeing a heck of a lot of angels running about lol

I am a little over a month away from an angel and now everyone will be catching up.

imsmithy · January 2014

dardove wrote: »

I am a little over a month away from an angel and now everyone will be catching up.

If the invocation gifts are regular drops that we can use as we get them it makes me wonder why they are making the Ardent coins so easy to get , maybe they are planning on changing the Ardent coin reward table in the near future , module 3 or whatever.

abell39 · January 2014

As long as the Challenge of the Gods is as simple as it sounds (i.e. the boxes drop fairly frequently and contain only the rewards stated in the description, without a vendor or any kind of item/currency exchange), then I'm intrigued and I'll be happy. If it's like Waukeen's event, though, then I'm not even going to bother playing for the days it goes on. I'm tired of RNG frustration with events like this.

ladymythos · January 2014

I'm a little confused here. What is this Challenge of the Gods anyway? To me, it seems it's just monsters withing 7 levels of you dropping some extra loot now and then?

Anyway, I really want skirmishes to change. Yes, I know some of you want to redo old skirmises you missed, but why does that mean we can't change skirmishes at all? We do get new dungeons and skirmishes from time to time, like in Sharandar and Dread Ring. So why can't we get epic versions of at least some skirmishes in Module 3? That way, we can all skip the skirmises on our way to 60, and still have a chance to do them. Or you could, you know, make an alt.

Another option is to create a third type of instance, like a Random Skirmish or whatever. This could simply be either a random map and random enemies, or old skirmishes with new enemies. Basically, it could mean that when we reach lvl 60, we could get a choice between four types of skirmishes: The usual ones ("Masster of the hunt" and the Dread Ring skirmish), an Epic Version of an old one (like "Storming the keep", just with lvl 60+ enemies), an old skirmish with new enemies ("Storming the keep" with a dragon at the end, for instance), or a random skirmish. (random map, random enemies.)

One small issue with this is that there will be tons of skirmishes to pick from, so it could get hard to find a queue for one. But that said, the dungeon finder usually works for skirmishes, and we could find a group first, then decide on a skirmish type. I'd rather have more options and less players on each, than tons of players on very few options.

married1of3 wrote: »

PS (Thank you ladymythos for your supportive comment in my previous post... it was very "Much Appreciated!")

Heh, you're welcome. Always glad to help out.

inthefade462 · January 2014

CTAs are not ruined by level 60 players.

All mobs are CTA mobs and do not have a set level. Their level is whatever level you are. That's how much damage they deal to you. Your damage is scaled up to level 60 damage, and that's how much damage they take before dying. it's very similar to lower level PVP brackets, everyone is scaled up to X9 level to play together on an even field. basically the simplest way of looking at it is everyone is level 60 inside a CTA.

the problem with storm the keep in particular is that it is a low level skirmish (around level 20) and thus its a simple straight forward skirmish, with very few adds or other boss mechanics that make the skirmish difficult. Scaling the mobs and players up to 60 so we can all player together doesn't scale the difficulty up at all or add any new dynamics/boss mechanics. We saw the same thing with Orc Assault skirmish (the level 15 skirmish from cloak tower).

personally i'm looking forward to the CTA version of garrundar the vile skirmish.

dardove · January 2014

More options for skirmishes at high levels is good as is more types of special events, but I really hope that Cryptic doesn't stop CTAs as they exist now.

diogene0 · January 2014

Funny. When i see a lvl 27 or so charcter i'm scared. It's either a DC and he won't do anything but running around the place, or a wizard with repel on tab and using ice storm. I like the current CTA events. I don't need something "new". I like the rewards, and that's the point. I just wish we could have better enchantments drop.

dreamhuntressx · January 2014

I like the CtAs cuz it mix new players with high lvl ones. It gives a glympse to the new players of how awesome their characters can become when they reach lvl 60, thus increasing interest in the game and the player base. Just my thought.

abell39 · January 2014

diogene0 wrote: »

Funny. When i see a lvl 27 or so charcter i'm scared. It's either a DC and he won't do anything but running around the place, or a wizard with repel on tab and using ice storm. I like the current CTA events. I don't need something "new". I like the rewards, and that's the point. I just wish we could have better enchantments drop.

I will admit that the only frustrating CTA runs I've had were the ones where I'm on my TR or GWF...and in a party with two CWs who can only seem to use Ice Storm / Repel / Shield Pulse. To be fair, though, the poor DCs don't have a lot in the way of healing, damage, or, well, anything, at level 27 IIRC, but it's been a while since I've respecced to recall how the points have to get allocated.

ladymythos · January 2014

inthefade462 wrote: »

CTAs are not ruined by level 60 players.

All mobs are CTA mobs and do not have a set level. Their level is whatever level you are.

It's not just about level. Low-level players are usually new players (why would you use an alt, instead of your high-level char anyway?), and many don't know well what to do or how to do it. Many take their time, check the situation and stuff like that. High-level players are far more experienced, and usually just want to get it over with. They usually bulldoze their way through the skirmish as quickly as possible. I'm not saying either way is "wrong" in any way, but I don't think they are too compatible.

And btw, as for wanting to experience the old skirmishes again, that's not entirely possible. The current CTA has less treasure chests and more mobs (especially at the end), so they are not 100% identical to the skirmishes. But that leaves the question why they have to be extremely similar, and not entirely different?

morsitans · January 2014

Yeah but everyone does the CTA skirm so many times that even if you've never done it before in your life and are on a level 15 toon, three hours later you're charging in with abandon like everyone else.

I second inthefade's idea for more interesting skirms, though. That could be some A-grade car-crash pugging. Battle for the bridge! *shudders*

pitshade · January 2014

The big problem that low level clerics have when running with higher level chars, is that their healing word doesn't scale at all. The damage they do to the mobs is effectively the same as an (low geared) level 60 cleric, but the heals they throw on their party members aren't boosted at all. For any other class, the big issue is what powers and feats are available. A CW at level 20 or so doesn't even have a decent fourth encounter power to put in their mastery slot. That's why you tend to see a lot of them with repel, that and shield are all they've got besides CS, COI and EF.

As for the Challenge of the Gods, the tooltip still doesn't explain what the challenge is, just how to start it and what rewards are given.

drakkenfel · January 2014

When you get to level 60, you have Epic 60 versions of all of the old skirmishes. Each has a suggested Gear Score which can be a challenge in itself. I like the epic skirmishes and the CTAs. Only complaint is that I play all weekend and seldom get a companion to drop. Yet others are selling a half dozen or more for months. How do the Professional vendors get so many to sell and players are force to pay huge AD amounts? My sons and I played the CTA all weekend to the exclusion of all other missions and none received a Swashbuckler...

dardove · January 2014

drakkenfel wrote: »

When you get to level 60, you have Epic 60 versions of all of the old skirmishes. Each has a suggested Gear Score which can be a challenge in itself. I like the epic skirmishes and the CTAs. Only complaint is that I play all weekend and seldom get a companion to drop. Yet others are selling a half dozen or more for months. How do the Professional vendors get so many to sell and players are force to pay huge AD amounts? My sons and I played the CTA all weekend to the exclusion of all other missions and none received a Swashbuckler...

There are not epic versions of the skirmishes at level 60. You are thinking of dungeons.

flayedawg · January 2014

morsitans wrote: »

Yeah but everyone does the CTA skirm so many times that even if you've never done it before in your life and are on a level 15 toon, three hours later you're charging in with abandon like everyone else

This. The first time I did the Storm The Keep CTA, my CW was level 12, & everyone else was level 60. I was like "OMG this isn't gonna work I'm sooo hosed here" & next I know ... I'm nuking away, Entangling mobs, occasionally hitting Ice Storm when necessary, & having a grand ol' time. After that I just threw caution to the wind & played.

I think the CTA ideas is one of the better MMO concepts I've ever encountered. Kudos to the devs.

drakkenfel · January 2014

I would like to see Neverwinter recreations of Balder's Gate, Pool of Radiance, and the Temple of Elemental Evil. I would like to see more enemy assaults on Neverwinter where all players have to fight for Protectors Enclave. This would also serve to periodically kill off many of the Gold Spam Bots. SWG used to have Community Manager driven events where we share a storyline for a public place and the Community Manager would call in the mobs or NPCs to interact with or fight the players. We would have visits by Luke, Leia, Han Solo, or even Darth Vader played by the Community Managers. These events would stir up interest and more folks would log in frequently to see if anything "creative" was going on. Weddings, espionage, and drama would occur and folks were disappointed if the missed the events. Some were unannounced and others had build-up for weeks on the forums. We could successfully build our community if we would pull this off. Our guild was famous for running Deathwatch Bunker training runs and folks would track us down. We knew many other players instead of just random pickup groups with complete strangers.

drakkenfel · January 2014

It would be really cool if the story NPCs like Lord Neverember, Sgt Knox, or others would be seen wandering around the city from time to time interacting with players.

ordensmarschall · February 2014

I like the CTA as they are now, particularly the ones I missed as I was leveling. Making Alt will not give me the achievement on my main character. I don't see the problem with running the CTAs with lower level characters, some of them do well, others not so well, just like the 60th level characters. As they are set up now seems to rather popular, as whenever I queued for a CTA, it would pop within 30 seconds at the most. Why mess with something that is working? Now as far as random monsters/events for some of the grind content, that is a good idea. Rather than with the CTAs, apply that to the Epic Dungeons, solo mini-dungeons and the campaign instances.

CTA idea: Old dungeon, new enemies

Comments