As someone new to the game, this thread is interesting. I've been looking for games with good longevity (the last MMO I played -- still do some -- I was at for 3+ years), while also being good fun for casual players. I work a real day job, have a kid, etc. I'm lucky to get an hour in to play; the queuing system is great for speeding up things, but the gateway is what is keeping me leveling right now between the professions and the SCA, I can get AD, XP, and keep my companions updated plus get some basic drops that I can use next time I do get on all without the boring grind. So, when I get on, I can get right to it.
That's my preface. Now some questions. The premise here is that end-game content is limited and some people can reach that limit in a month or so.
Is this just on one character? Or with one character of each class, race, and permutation of skills?
Are other challenges, such as filling up the collection pages, too easy, not worthwhile, or too expensive?
Back in the "old" days of gaming, the MUD I played had the notion of "true" unique items. That is, an item where only one instance could be in existence. Of course, on a MUD, you could loot the dead character, so they could be stolen. On a modern game, you'd have to introduce some sort of timer that would have to be refreshed -- and perhaps get harder with time -- to keep the item from going away and to make sure they can change hands.
Keep the unique items at a fixed amount based on the size of the player base -- e.g. so 1 in 10k players can have a unique item. A page showing who currently owns the unique item and the status with the grantor (presumably a unique item of power could be taken away by the granting diety).
The whole point would be to provide a competitive challenge for true end game content that is extremely difficult to earn and even more difficult to keep, but also worth the effort.
Are they any more modern examples of such things than my MUD example from the mid-90s?
We need new dungeons which are more complicated and have more tricks. Like traps, secrets and secret bosses with unique loot (not always with an effect on character's stats. I mean something like bluefire scrolls in SP). All of that would make dungeons more fun at least for more than a couple of runs.
Nah, I just want to wipe as much as I used to in epic DV :P
The first Tr has already finished Draco 1-men 7 months ago. Draco is in my opinion one of the most difficult bosses in this game. It shouldnt be possible to 1men a dungeon if you !NEED 5 PEOPLE! for it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivIYfxzNTrU - Tr Draco 1-men
maybe when built for high hp i guess, but definitely gonna take more than rank 5-6 radiants. still gonna get 1-shot by every single mob at 30k. 1 thing for sure is that 17 con is nowhere near sufficient for that standard.
Con is damage on a sw, why would you nerf yourself by only having 17?
Con is damage on a sw, why would you nerf yourself by only having 17?
that was my highest con roll possible on character creation without gimping my cha as well since criticals are more important for warlocks. i simply don't min/max to the extent that some people here do.
think the time for elite pve content ended like 10 years ago and there are good reasons for that! My answer despite offending you is an honest one, i doubt any company will work on content available for only 100 players so from my point of view this kind of elite pve content request is silly.
think the time for elite pve content ended like 10 years ago and there are good reasons for that! My answer despite offending you is an honest one, i doubt any company will work on content available for only 100 players so from my point of view this kind of elite pve content request is silly.
You realize that there aren't enough pvp'ers to even fill the queue up enough for matchmaking to work right? I think your perspective on things has completely left reality.
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chemboy613Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 1,521Arc User
edited September 2014
Ok, i just read this through:
People saying "casuals can't access everything" well, what do you know, you are CASUAL! You shouldn't be allowed to access everything!
There should be an incentive to work hard, min-max your gear, perfect your build, your skills, and gear up. That's a lot of work and effort and those people should have access to things people who only play a few days a week don't.
It's called stratification, and common in every economy and system. As you move up the quality of your play and gear, there should be more content and more rewards.
IF you are complaining that hardcore players are so good and have so much gear - most of them earned it and deserve it. It does not come overnight.
If you don't have the time and effort for a game, that's fine too! There are millions of dailies to do, and lots of gearing up to do, and you can take your time with it, that's fun!
I think part of the exasperation of casuals is they don't get the tutelage they desire. That's why i write guides to help these people out. Also they get excluded from groups in LFG because everyone wants 14k+ for like... idk, Pirate King? I think these high gear score asks in LFG are rediculous and insane! You don't need all that gear to play!
What these gamers want is not incredible gear, but decent skills. Don't overpull, don't loot in the fight, know how to play your class, etc. Basically, don't be a burden.
So how do you learn to do that? you think TEAM first and ME second. Always do things that HELP your teammates. If you think like this, you will learn quickly how to play your class. It's really not _that_ hard. Most classes have good builds and guides up on the forums, so all you have to do is read what good players did, ask them questions (I don't mind if you PM me btw), and be nice.
Another advocate for harder conent, just htis afternooon i did a Spellplague on my baby SW (no T2 set, no epic weapon, no soulforged, 11k + stone), and i think 11k was average for that party. It took us an hour, we wiped once, and it wasn't roflstomp easy like it normally is. I haven't been on the edge of my seat like that in ages! That was AWESOME! seriously!
Now if i come in on my main (CW) i think i could probably SOLO epic spellplague. If we got legendary versions (T3 and T4), i should go into Legendary Spellplague and be scared of wiping, instead of like now where I am scared of absolutely nothing, jump into mobs, spam encounters, everything is dead.
Can you imagine Legendary Mad Dragon? I love that place! but it's too easy and the loot is no good.
Anyway, PLEASE harder content, not only would it be fun for a lot of people, but it would keep people from leaving. (I had a guild full of people who quit because the game just got too **** easy).
You realize that there aren't enough pvp'ers to even fill the queue up enough for matchmaking to work right? I think your perspective on things has completely left reality.
i've learned to live in an alternate reality, where i can pvp just fine! Ain't me the elite content requester remember?! Plus it was a suggestion, dont get mad
Prove you are skilled and not just geared. Run dungeons with below the GS entry limits. If you can't, you're just geared, which anyone can be without skill. The more skilled you are, the further you can run the dungeon under the GS limit.
It's worthless to do that because it makes no difference.
The only thing that changes is that instead of killing the boss in 3min you'll take 15min. It doesn't become harder, you just have to repeat your rotation over and over again.
A while ago I ran CN with blue gear and R5s along with my friends (that aren't in the game anymore) and it felt like I was just wasting my time.
i've learned to live in an alternate reality, where i can pvp just fine! Ain't me the elite content requester remember?! Plus it was a suggestion, dont get mad
Really you mean the pvp where you most the time either get a party that gets roflstomped or you roflstomp the other party because there aren't enough people to make competitive matches that are in the queue? Yeah that's not pvp. It's a joke.
Really you mean the pvp where you most the time either get a party that gets roflstomped or you roflstomp the other party because there aren't enough people to make competitive matches that are in the queue? Yeah that's not pvp. It's a joke.
More of an "urban legend" than an actual reality. If you queue as a full geared premade chances to get a challenge are rly small, go solo queue and you;ll get a run for your money more often than not. Same goes for dungeons and truth is that most are using this kind of thing just to brag or for other psychological needs.
More of an "urban legend" than an actual reality. If you queue as a full geared premade chances to get a challenge are rly small, go solo queue and you;ll get a run for your money more often than not. Same goes for dungeons and truth is that most are using this kind of thing just to brag or for other psychological needs.
Every pvp match I've queued for at cap has been a complete blow out one side or the other since I started back in July. I only have solo queued. It's no myth. I have yet to see a decent match since July. Now I only do a couple matches a day if I have time (which I have less of due to the massive dailies they added for mod 4) but still. It's not mythical, it's not an urban legend.
More of an "urban legend" than an actual reality. If you queue as a full geared premade chances to get a challenge are rly small, go solo queue and you;ll get a run for your money more often than not. Same goes for dungeons and truth is that most are using this kind of thing just to brag or for other psychological needs.
Dude I solo queued Epic LoL. Everybody died at last boss. I soloed with my CW from 50% HP to 0 the allegedly "hardest" boss in the game. I am not even a PvE CW lol. There's a video of a real PvE CW SOLOING Draco. SOLO. Draco. TR soloed months ago.
I'm sorry, but I fail to see where is the challenge in the game.
You wanna know how things should look like with bosses and players?!?
- Player enters the boss area, fully potted, fully geared and full of confidence - "I can solo this ****!"
- Boss is like "No you cannot. Where your healer at? Where your tank and DPS?".
Boss one-shots player.
Game Over.
As for PvP... there is enough challenge there. But needs good matchmaking. Premade or 20K average GS team should never see 10K GS pugs other than PE.
I'm sorry, but I fail to see where is the challenge in the game.
Because you are too narrow-minded.
You played *that other MMO* for a long time, and now you expect every other MMO to be just a clone of that other MMO. Guess what, other MMOs do things differently. And not just 'differently' in the sense of having a different combat system or a different queueing system or a different game economy, but *fundamentally* different, in terms of design philosophy. Once you realize this, then maybe you will begin to understand the design philosophy behind this game, even if you still disagree with it, and how it is different than the design philosophy behind *that other game*.
I don't think you will ever be happy here because you will be constantly let down that this game is not just a clone of that other game.
You played *that other MMO* for a long time, and now you expect every other MMO to be just a clone of that other MMO. Guess what, other MMOs do things differently. And not just 'differently' in the sense of having a different combat system or a different queueing system or a different game economy, but *fundamentally* different, in terms of design philosophy. Once you realize this, then maybe you will begin to understand the design philosophy behind this game, even if you still disagree with it, and how it is different than the design philosophy behind *that other game*.
I don't think you will ever be happy here because you will be constantly let down that this game is not just a clone of that other game.
Challenging =/= Clone.
Raids are common to many MMOs.
Many MMOs have elite content dedicated to the hardcore players.
This one is not up to par in this department. I am trying to help improving it through suggestions and detailed feedback.
I just cant believe the stuff you read here. So Mr. bobherkamer, yeah the bad people that spend money and finance the game. They deserve to be let down by the developers who depend on them.
Selfish and greedy? Im sorry it is just obvious that you are super jealous my friend - of clever people selling and buying items at the right time or people that dont have that much time and pay real money (which is very legitimate in my view allthough i dont do it). If you dont like the system go to a game with monthly suscription.
This is pathetic. I get the feeling that there are lots of people writing here that arent playing for long. IF you dont have any Toons 14k+ or play longer than 5 month than stay out of this discussion. Yeah Elitist, the word comes to mind. But it is actually not that elitist. Nearly everybody is part of the "Elite" now. You notice that most T2 runs in Lfg require 14k+? The developers can very well see for themselves what the average Gearscore is and can decide if its worth creating new content for the high end population. There are people here playing here for over a year. What do you say to them? Leave to another game? And i bet none of you smart*peeep* run dungeons regulary with blues while you have a full T2 set at hand or better.
"Fact is 90% of the players are casual" So where did you get that "fact" from? Its just makebelieve. A discussion over the course of this whole thing is nescecarry. The people who are very active and carry this game are all above 14 - 15k. I think it is good to have a mixture of casual an non casual gamers. That 90% are casual gamers (pretending this is true) is not a reason against harder content it actually is in favour. Because than people might come back an create a more healthy balance in terms of playstyles.
I play for 1 year now (Didnt spend a single Euro) and have multiple toons. The highest toon is at 16,5k and 15k. I earned my AD through trading and using it wisely. I like challenges but even the challenge to catch up with the real money population can not fullfill me anymore.
As far as i understand you people against harder content, you would like to be able to reach the Endgame in reasonable time. Thats legitimate. BUT when you get there, will you dress in blues? Will you be satisfied? No no, you will miss something. The feeling of challenge that lies ahead.
Who spends the kind of money cryptic wants in a f2p game so they can be the best?
It's laughable.
Makes me think they could not hack in in the real mmos.
It might take you wallet warriors more then 1 week to accomplish something. OH NO.
You obviously do no know how to read properly so let me state.
Nowhere did I say spending the money is wrong.
Care to make another long winded post about pointless <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>?
People who spend the kind of money f2p games want just to have the best items are pathetic. PERIOD.
I would be okay with harder, tougher dungeons for the uber-geared crowd.
I would NOT be okay with uber T4/T5/whatever gear as a reward.
Because that would create a permanent two-tier playerbase, the uber-geared running around with 23k+ and the casuals at 15k or less.
Perhaps if the T1 dungeons were reworked for 'legendary' mode or something, and the boss loot could be anything in the epic loot table, just BOE. So it could be CN rings, BI bracers, AoW helm, a crappy 3k belt, whatever. So you could make some serious cash if BI bracers dropped for you, but you couldn't propel yourself into godmode gearwise.
I would also like to remind people that this game is intended to be played by a casual audience. If you are a hardcore player who plays this game 12 hours a day and find yourself bored, then the game is working as intended. It's not meant to be played like that. The game is like a buffet. You are supposed to enjoy different courses of a buffet slowly and gradually. If you consume everything at the buffet all at once, you'll get sick and have a bad time.
I think pointsman here has the right idea. My main's at 15.5k GS and, frankly, I don't like spending cash. higher difficulty of existing dungeons with good gear I can sell would be wonderful - I could finish getting rank 7 enchants, finish ranking my artifacts, and generally take care of any AD-related issues.
People saying "casuals can't access everything" well, what do you know, you are CASUAL! You shouldn't be allowed to access everything!
There should be an incentive to work hard, min-max your gear, perfect your build, your skills, and gear up. That's a lot of work and effort and those people should have access to things people who only play a few days a week don't.
It's called stratification, and common in every economy and system. As you move up the quality of your play and gear, there should be more content and more rewards.
Anyway, PLEASE harder content, not only would it be fun for a lot of people, but it would keep people from leaving. (I had a guild full of people who quit because the game just got too **** easy).
However, if the playerbase becomes so stratified that those in the lower strata see no opportunity and no means to move into the upper strata, why should THEY stick around the game? This is the dilemma that the devs face.
If the content is too easy - the hardcore min/maxers, seeing that there is no challenge remaining in the game, have no incentive to stay.
If the content is too hard - the casuals, seeing that they have no chance to progress further, have no incentive to stay.
Which is why I think what the devs did in, for example, Valindra's Tower, is so brilliant. In this dungeon, in the final phase, you can beat it two ways: by clicking on caskets, or not. EITHER WAY yields a possibility of success. The harder way is to click on the caskets. This is the way that the lower-geared folks will have to choose if they want to succeed. Because it's the harder way, the lower-geared crowd won't be able to finish this dungeon the same number of times that the higher-geared crowd can, and therefore to the extent that it is farmable, the higher-geared crowd will get more rewards (artifact, fragments, evoker, etc.) that the lower-geared crowd most likely won't be able to get simply due to their higher failure rate. So you still have the stratification, but it is much milder, and not nearly as overt as a giant KEEP OUT sign to the casual crowd at the super-hard dungeon.
So I really do hope that there is harder content out there, but I hope it is designed as smartly as something like VT, where it is *able* to be completed by those who aren't absolutely min/maxed, just via an alternate route which will more likely be more arduous.
However, if the playerbase becomes so stratified that those in the lower strata see no opportunity and no means to move into the upper strata, why should THEY stick around the game? This is the dilemma that the devs face.
To be fair, this has been and still is a fairly big problem for hardcore players in this game.
Tons and tons of hardcore players have left this game because of the lack of endgame. Dozens and dozens of once prominent (ie: hardcore and highend) guilds are now dead. Heck, even the PVP guilds which are the last bastion of the hardcore community are dying rapidly.
In your previous post, you stated what you think this game is all about: a buffet that doesn't really satisfy the hardcore players and it has suffered in some aspects because of that.
I don't know if Cryptic wants to correct that because they can just aim on inviting new casuals who might spend money and just have a revolving door of new players coming in and hardcores quitting the game due to a lack of endgame. This pattern might actually be what they intended it to be.
Based on the modules they've been releasing, it is clear they cater to a casual audience and will accept the benefits/consequences of focusing more on 1 group while ignoring the other.
Tons and tons of hardcore players have left this game because of the lack of endgame. Dozens and dozens of once prominent (ie: hardcore and highend) guilds are now dead. Heck, even the PVP guilds which are the last bastion of the hardcore community are dying rapidly.
Based on the modules they've been releasing, it is clear they cater to a casual audience and will accept the benefits/consequences of focusing more on 1 group while ignoring the other.
There is a principle like 80-20 distribution and a whole theory behind the choices. Mind that hardcore players= people with a lot of free time (i wonder how many of them can pay or do pay).
Comments
No, "high GS" means "well geared", by definition (it is a gear score).
Whether stats are properly allocated is a different question.
30K HP is extremely low in PvP these days for ANY class. I'd say the norm is 40K HP to 60K HP or so.
That's my preface. Now some questions. The premise here is that end-game content is limited and some people can reach that limit in a month or so.
Is this just on one character? Or with one character of each class, race, and permutation of skills?
Are other challenges, such as filling up the collection pages, too easy, not worthwhile, or too expensive?
Back in the "old" days of gaming, the MUD I played had the notion of "true" unique items. That is, an item where only one instance could be in existence. Of course, on a MUD, you could loot the dead character, so they could be stolen. On a modern game, you'd have to introduce some sort of timer that would have to be refreshed -- and perhaps get harder with time -- to keep the item from going away and to make sure they can change hands.
Keep the unique items at a fixed amount based on the size of the player base -- e.g. so 1 in 10k players can have a unique item. A page showing who currently owns the unique item and the status with the grantor (presumably a unique item of power could be taken away by the granting diety).
The whole point would be to provide a competitive challenge for true end game content that is extremely difficult to earn and even more difficult to keep, but also worth the effort.
Are they any more modern examples of such things than my MUD example from the mid-90s?
Nah, I just want to wipe as much as I used to in epic DV :P
WTB Class Reroll please
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivIYfxzNTrU - Tr Draco 1-men
even CWs can 1men Draco atm..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcRiqM-zwCc
We need urgently a higher difficult in this game! Atleast new dungeons
Con is damage on a sw, why would you nerf yourself by only having 17?
Is called pvp, try it
suggests pvp in a pve thread. /facepalm
that was my highest con roll possible on character creation without gimping my cha as well since criticals are more important for warlocks. i simply don't min/max to the extent that some people here do.
not even gonna attempt how that's even possible when i don't even understand how this game calculates bonus hp from stats/feats.
think the time for elite pve content ended like 10 years ago and there are good reasons for that! My answer despite offending you is an honest one, i doubt any company will work on content available for only 100 players so from my point of view this kind of elite pve content request is silly.
You realize that there aren't enough pvp'ers to even fill the queue up enough for matchmaking to work right? I think your perspective on things has completely left reality.
People saying "casuals can't access everything" well, what do you know, you are CASUAL! You shouldn't be allowed to access everything!
There should be an incentive to work hard, min-max your gear, perfect your build, your skills, and gear up. That's a lot of work and effort and those people should have access to things people who only play a few days a week don't.
It's called stratification, and common in every economy and system. As you move up the quality of your play and gear, there should be more content and more rewards.
IF you are complaining that hardcore players are so good and have so much gear - most of them earned it and deserve it. It does not come overnight.
If you don't have the time and effort for a game, that's fine too! There are millions of dailies to do, and lots of gearing up to do, and you can take your time with it, that's fun!
I think part of the exasperation of casuals is they don't get the tutelage they desire. That's why i write guides to help these people out. Also they get excluded from groups in LFG because everyone wants 14k+ for like... idk, Pirate King? I think these high gear score asks in LFG are rediculous and insane! You don't need all that gear to play!
What these gamers want is not incredible gear, but decent skills. Don't overpull, don't loot in the fight, know how to play your class, etc. Basically, don't be a burden.
So how do you learn to do that? you think TEAM first and ME second. Always do things that HELP your teammates. If you think like this, you will learn quickly how to play your class. It's really not _that_ hard. Most classes have good builds and guides up on the forums, so all you have to do is read what good players did, ask them questions (I don't mind if you PM me btw), and be nice.
Another advocate for harder conent, just htis afternooon i did a Spellplague on my baby SW (no T2 set, no epic weapon, no soulforged, 11k + stone), and i think 11k was average for that party. It took us an hour, we wiped once, and it wasn't roflstomp easy like it normally is. I haven't been on the edge of my seat like that in ages! That was AWESOME! seriously!
Now if i come in on my main (CW) i think i could probably SOLO epic spellplague. If we got legendary versions (T3 and T4), i should go into Legendary Spellplague and be scared of wiping, instead of like now where I am scared of absolutely nothing, jump into mobs, spam encounters, everything is dead.
Can you imagine Legendary Mad Dragon? I love that place! but it's too easy and the loot is no good.
Anyway, PLEASE harder content, not only would it be fun for a lot of people, but it would keep people from leaving. (I had a guild full of people who quit because the game just got too **** easy).
Everything you need to know about CW:
http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?780981-Chem-s-CW-Compendium-Everything-you-need-to-know
i've learned to live in an alternate reality, where i can pvp just fine!
It's worthless to do that because it makes no difference.
The only thing that changes is that instead of killing the boss in 3min you'll take 15min. It doesn't become harder, you just have to repeat your rotation over and over again.
A while ago I ran CN with blue gear and R5s along with my friends (that aren't in the game anymore) and it felt like I was just wasting my time.
Really you mean the pvp where you most the time either get a party that gets roflstomped or you roflstomp the other party because there aren't enough people to make competitive matches that are in the queue? Yeah that's not pvp. It's a joke.
Second Image = NWO.
Taking a break from Neverwinter indefinitely...
Yea, I don't play like a month ago, but anyway, hi!, thanks for the welcoming
More of an "urban legend" than an actual reality. If you queue as a full geared premade chances to get a challenge are rly small, go solo queue and you;ll get a run for your money more often than not. Same goes for dungeons and truth is that most are using this kind of thing just to brag or for other psychological needs.
Every pvp match I've queued for at cap has been a complete blow out one side or the other since I started back in July. I only have solo queued. It's no myth. I have yet to see a decent match since July. Now I only do a couple matches a day if I have time (which I have less of due to the massive dailies they added for mod 4) but still. It's not mythical, it's not an urban legend.
Dude I solo queued Epic LoL. Everybody died at last boss. I soloed with my CW from 50% HP to 0 the allegedly "hardest" boss in the game. I am not even a PvE CW lol. There's a video of a real PvE CW SOLOING Draco. SOLO. Draco. TR soloed months ago.
I'm sorry, but I fail to see where is the challenge in the game.
You wanna know how things should look like with bosses and players?!?
- Player enters the boss area, fully potted, fully geared and full of confidence - "I can solo this ****!"
- Boss is like "No you cannot. Where your healer at? Where your tank and DPS?".
Boss one-shots player.
Game Over.
As for PvP... there is enough challenge there. But needs good matchmaking. Premade or 20K average GS team should never see 10K GS pugs other than PE.
Because you are too narrow-minded.
You played *that other MMO* for a long time, and now you expect every other MMO to be just a clone of that other MMO. Guess what, other MMOs do things differently. And not just 'differently' in the sense of having a different combat system or a different queueing system or a different game economy, but *fundamentally* different, in terms of design philosophy. Once you realize this, then maybe you will begin to understand the design philosophy behind this game, even if you still disagree with it, and how it is different than the design philosophy behind *that other game*.
I don't think you will ever be happy here because you will be constantly let down that this game is not just a clone of that other game.
Challenging =/= Clone.
Raids are common to many MMOs.
Many MMOs have elite content dedicated to the hardcore players.
This one is not up to par in this department. I am trying to help improving it through suggestions and detailed feedback.
Who spends the kind of money cryptic wants in a f2p game so they can be the best?
It's laughable.
Makes me think they could not hack in in the real mmos.
It might take you wallet warriors more then 1 week to accomplish something. OH NO.
You obviously do no know how to read properly so let me state.
Nowhere did I say spending the money is wrong.
Care to make another long winded post about pointless <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font>?
People who spend the kind of money f2p games want just to have the best items are pathetic. PERIOD.
You can't justify it no matter what you say.
Truly pathetic.
I wouldn't call all of them pathetic. After all, they are funding you costing cryptic money by using their servers.
I think pointsman here has the right idea. My main's at 15.5k GS and, frankly, I don't like spending cash. higher difficulty of existing dungeons with good gear I can sell would be wonderful - I could finish getting rank 7 enchants, finish ranking my artifacts, and generally take care of any AD-related issues.
so, +1 to pointsman for the recommendation
Sharra Del'Armgo - SW Trapper Hybrid HR
Ogghra Bar'Ghuzumn - MI Scoundrel TR
Vænna Thrymskjöldr - IV Protector GF
However, if the playerbase becomes so stratified that those in the lower strata see no opportunity and no means to move into the upper strata, why should THEY stick around the game? This is the dilemma that the devs face.
If the content is too easy - the hardcore min/maxers, seeing that there is no challenge remaining in the game, have no incentive to stay.
If the content is too hard - the casuals, seeing that they have no chance to progress further, have no incentive to stay.
Which is why I think what the devs did in, for example, Valindra's Tower, is so brilliant. In this dungeon, in the final phase, you can beat it two ways: by clicking on caskets, or not. EITHER WAY yields a possibility of success. The harder way is to click on the caskets. This is the way that the lower-geared folks will have to choose if they want to succeed. Because it's the harder way, the lower-geared crowd won't be able to finish this dungeon the same number of times that the higher-geared crowd can, and therefore to the extent that it is farmable, the higher-geared crowd will get more rewards (artifact, fragments, evoker, etc.) that the lower-geared crowd most likely won't be able to get simply due to their higher failure rate. So you still have the stratification, but it is much milder, and not nearly as overt as a giant KEEP OUT sign to the casual crowd at the super-hard dungeon.
So I really do hope that there is harder content out there, but I hope it is designed as smartly as something like VT, where it is *able* to be completed by those who aren't absolutely min/maxed, just via an alternate route which will more likely be more arduous.
To be fair, this has been and still is a fairly big problem for hardcore players in this game.
Tons and tons of hardcore players have left this game because of the lack of endgame. Dozens and dozens of once prominent (ie: hardcore and highend) guilds are now dead. Heck, even the PVP guilds which are the last bastion of the hardcore community are dying rapidly.
In your previous post, you stated what you think this game is all about: a buffet that doesn't really satisfy the hardcore players and it has suffered in some aspects because of that.
I don't know if Cryptic wants to correct that because they can just aim on inviting new casuals who might spend money and just have a revolving door of new players coming in and hardcores quitting the game due to a lack of endgame. This pattern might actually be what they intended it to be.
Based on the modules they've been releasing, it is clear they cater to a casual audience and will accept the benefits/consequences of focusing more on 1 group while ignoring the other.
There is a principle like 80-20 distribution and a whole theory behind the choices. Mind that hardcore players= people with a lot of free time (i wonder how many of them can pay or do pay).