Difficulty Checks (Warning; wall of text)

Wanted to start a discussion about something I've been kicking around in my head for a bit. I've posted about it some in the TR class forum, but since it pertains to the entire game, I figured I'd put more detail here.

So, the premise: Skill checks versus difficulty checks for both Control and Stealth. This is a common D&D theme, so I hope I'm not too off-base with such a dramatic suggestion. I figure it's decent timing, considering the proposed mechanic changes to stealth; but one cannot be reasonably pursued without the other.

First, control. In my humble opinion, it seems there's not a lot of counter play options to control in this game. Both control bonus and control resist stats are underwhelming in their current application. What if we changed how they worked entirely? Put simply, a player attempting to control another player or NPC would have to check their control bonus versus the defendant's control resist. If the check fails, the damage still hits but the control itself does nothing. Obviously you'd have to tune the hell out of it, so that the average of each would not be game breaking, but for players who specialized in either control bonus or resist would perform noticeably better under appropriate circumstances.

With this comes the most important question (and the reason this should be brought up), what to do with powers that currently grant control immunity? ITC, Unstoppable, Block, etc. Short answer is; get rid of it. Instead, have each of these powers grant a boost to control resist, so that players specializing in control aren't made obsolete. Again, I imagine balancing these would be difficult. But this really allows each role designated by class, paragon and tree to truly satisfy their roles.

As an example, I imagine that Sentinel for GWF's, Protector for GF's, Combat for HR's would each get a boost to their base control resist. Whereas Oppressor CW's, Instigator GWF's, Scoundrel TR's, Tactician GF's, would get additional control bonus. This really helps define each of their roles, again in my opinion. Wanna be a CW that drops 13k Storm Spell Procs? Cool, but good luck controlling that Sentinel. But a well geared Oppressor might snatch him up by the throat, Unstoppable or not. May not hurt him a whole lot, but I can't see how you'll ever truly balance damage and utility, otherwise.

Certain other things could then be challenged. Bringing prone back to Takedown can be balanced by a player's control resist, while an Instigator can more often land it successfully. The CW can actually invest some points into Wisdom, or take the Oppressor tree. Etc...

This brings us to stealth. What if we were to add a stealth bonus (for TR's) to, say, Dexterity? And maybe a bit to certain gear like the Profound Saboteur or Master Assassin. Wherever. And then add a perception bonus (effectively stealth resist) to maybe Int or Wis (and probably Tenacity). So that each time a stealthed class reaches line of sight with another player he must make a successful stealth check against their perception check. If the stealth check fails, the player becomes visible to the person who won the check. Maybe for some limited amount of time, maybe until the TR restealths, whatever. The stats should be carefully balanced so that players with an average stealth bonus are relatively unlikely to lose their check to a player with an average perception bonus. In line with an average GF's control resist while blocking versus an average CW's control bonus. If one were to specialize in either stealth bonus or perception, the tables can turn quickly.

With this comes the kicker. While the average perception bonus is unlikely to reveal an average TR's stealth, the TR suffers a penalty to his stealth bonus whenever he attacks. Only to the player he's attacking. Not necessarily guaranteeing visibility, but making it much more likely without significant investment into his stealth bonus (or if the attacked person has significant investment into his perception bonus.) The balance would have to be very careful.

It's said that the difference between challenging and punishing (in video games) is giving a player the tools to counter a situation. This gives every player the tools to contest some of the more punishing aspects. While opening up what I consider to be very interesting counter play via build choices. Have a Saboteur TR holding your home node? Send a player with a high perception bonus to contest/ clear. Frustrated with being chain CC'ed? Build in more control resist.

All this being said, I'm not sure how this could be implemented. But there are plenty of people who frequent these forums who could really hone in on the appropriate numbers and contribute sincere feedback. I'd really rather if replies were limited to people who were interested in the idea, or felt there were better options. I hope that folks keep in mind that this is just my opinion, from a player who doesn't have a "main" class. I've kept interest in this game via analyzing mechanics and theory crafting. I've played all of them, and I've probably logged more hours on the preview server than the live, at the detriment to my live classes.

So, please... be gentle with me