Bored of the challenge!

deadeyebob

I appreciate that for the hard core gamers getting to 900+ stars is the highest priority of the challenges. For me, though, I do not have the time for the dedication required to achieve this goal. Instead I'm forced to sit through 54 missions before the challenge difficulty catches up with my survivor level. As a result I find the challenge boring and unchallenging. The solution is simple. Introduce a sliding bar that allows you to chose your starting difficulty when you first open the challenge. This will allow those who have the time to continue to get their 900+ stars and will also keep the more casual user engaged and interested.

gcheong85

Beware of the word 'unchallenging' as NG soon gonna nerf the survivors or buff the walkers to make it more challenging as it is already

deadeyebob

my survivors are level 20, and due to the limited time I have on this game I've only just hit level 20 on the challenge. Every challenge mission I've completed so far I've just walked forward and attacked. No thought involved. that's boring. And unchallenging. My point is I am level 20, I would like to start the challenge on level 20. I like to play games because they are challenging, not because I can score a million stars.

Metal

You start at 20 you will not get far at all and the whole point is to get some rewards along the way, and then you'll just be stuck there for 3 days cause you started so high. And to g85 I think there going to nerf the walkers and buff the heros so we can get farther and get more things done

hiplnsdrftr

from 0-320 stars its fairly mindless and by then I'm bored or out of time, so I kinda have to agree. The gear rewards are so pathetic I don't feel any incentive to try for more.

deadeyebob

Yes metal, that's why if they introduced a starting level select then you would start at the easiest setting and I would start at the hardest. Then everyone is happy

BttlOpener

@deadeyebob No where in the game is it stated that you HAVE to play challenges. If you do not like the grind, just scavenge or raid in the outpost. Ahhhhh, but you do like the rewards, correct?

xbamfx

I don't mind the challenge actually. I understand you have to start at lower rsl otherwise how much actual gameplay would you have? I don't get it? Some people state it's too easy, others state it's so hard to get pass the higher rsl. It's all on how you play, if you want to grind out more stars for an "opportunity" to get more gear or tokens then do so. For me it takes no time at all to get through the first 3-4 rsl. I would say this though I think the gas amount should drop 1 more per mission, this would allow people to do more of the lower levels at a faster rate and give more chances at the higher rsl. I think we can all agree the reward system is unbalanced. I should not get a similar reward at 1100 stars that I would get at 320, it should be a gradual increase or incentive for going higher. Many people just get to the base of when it gets harder or more grind and just stop as the rewards offer no benefit to the commitment.

Mabiki

I think allowing players to select their starting level would be an easy way to please a large player base that has conflicting desires. Some want to earn as many stars and/or rewards as possible, and others want to get to the action without investing a ton of time and gas.

Given the complexity of the game already, I can't imagine it would be that much of a challenge to code compared to the current system, though I'm admittedly ignorant on that subject.

Choosing your level has been suggested numerous times, and I don't think I've ever seen an NG rep comment specifically, on the idea, so I'm left to conclude they have decided it would be a bad business move for whatever reason.

It seems to me an option to choose your starting level would offer the best of both worlds... but I don't know what I don't know about NG's business model. And it's those unknown unknowns that'll get ya.

Captainslayer

Threads like this worry me that they're going to listen to the minority and change the challenge or buff walkers or nerf survivors more
@Metal lol I wish that was true nerf the walkers I think you got the devs mixed up with another game you play

deadeyebob

BttlOpener, I do like the rewards that's why I do it. You have missed my point though. I know I can successfully complete 4 - 5 levels above my survivor level on the challenge, but I just don't have the time to get there. In a normal working week I get to level 21 before I run out of time. And it's not fair in my guild if I chin it off completely

Metal

Hey all,

There will be further adjustments to the the stats of high-level entities in the game. Level 21 characters, level 24 weapons and armor, and level 20+ walkers will all be considered and may be adjusted as part of this change. We will be bringing the weapon and armor scaling up to where it should have been.

These changes are being prepared this week, and will require testing before they can be released. They will not be ready for the Challenge starting on the 10th of May, but will be released in time for the Challenge starting on the 24th of May, or sooner if possible.

It was never our intention to make player doubt the value of upgrading their survivors or equipment. There were, however, problems extending out the old formulae while maintaining the balance of classes and enemies where we wanted them to be. It is our intention to fix that. Players with full teams of level 21 survivors will hopefully see that they perform better than they have done against walkers of level 24-26 and up, and can therefore get further in the challenges than they could at level 20.

Our thanks for the community’s patience in this matter; it took the data from several weeks of challenges to confirm that the issues were what we suspected. We know everyone would prefer faster changes, but those increase the risk that we need to make further adjustments. Special shout outs to those who gathered data from many players and compiled the information to present. Although the data they presented does not reflect the “behind the scenes” math that we have implemented, it is very valuable to us that they were thorough, clear, and constructive in the way that they approached the issue and helped us find the best solution.

Thanks for playing,
The TWD: No Man's Land Team

Metal

This looks like a buff and heros can do better so it's not another game capt

Dodkong

@Metal

@Captainslayer was joking with his comment regarding the balancing of walkers. Indicating that it's very unlikely that NG would do something to help even things out in the players favor within the game.

#sarcasmexplained

Metal

Gotcha.....

SmittySpivey3

@deadeyebob sorry brother but this time I hit that disagree button. You say you are a casual user and I can appreciate that. But most of us regular players are not. We are used to the simple problem of "Instead I'm forced to sit through 54 missions before" in your post. If this you find irritating, stick around until you receive full training in NG forum. You will learn to keep it constructive as well as not to say what you love the most only to risk gnashing of teeth as it becomes more balanced. My best advice is save the uggh about stuff until you really start to melt down. But stick around, its worth it.
By the way beware or the misguided Resident Rodent. Teeceezy will not reimburse you for any rodent damage done to your posting by @capibara . Just trying to be preventative and helpful.

sbf

@deadeyebob I get where you're coming from. However, we've got to pick and choose our battles, and for me at least, I'd rather have them focus on other issues, such as taking away our 15 radios from the season 7 episode rewards, fixing the challenge token crates, fixing the outpost, creating new content, fixing the hero token issues, not screwing over dedicated players, among others to #MakeNoMansLandGreatAgain.

My suggestion, if you're dead set on being challenged, take some lower level survivors on the earlier missions. Recruit some lower level (but decent) survivors from the radio tent, and in the lower level missions, if you have gotten rid of your lower level gear, you'll get gear that those folks can use in those lower rsl missions. Or you can take different classes of survivors that won't be as easy as hunters and assaults to mix up the grind for you--bring a pair of bruisers with any other survivor, or warriors without wide arc, or other combos and you'll see an increase in difficulty. I've got to respectfully disagree with tinkering with the challenges, mostly because it's way too common for NG to do something that negatively affects players, especially end-level and f2p players, and especially after the end-level players' campaign winning an enormous battle in getting NG to rebalance lvl21 survivors and gear (which will be happening this week).

Captainslayer

@metal yes i was mostly with the sarcasm at the end of my post as for the survivor and gear buff they are adjusting the base lvl 21 gear upto to The same % increase as all other lvl gear upgrades have been since the start if the game which is only happening because of forum users and the guild council giving them undeniable proof that it's different and making it harder to get stars.
I'm glad ng listened to the players base on this issue and are going to adjust accordingly even though it probably will never effect myself as lvl 20 is my end game

SmittySpivey3

Captainslayer said:

@metal yes i was mostly with the sarcasm at the end of my post as for the survivor and gear buff they are adjusting the base lvl 21 gear upto to The same % increase as all other lvl gear upgrades have been since the start if the game which is only happening because of forum users and the guild council giving them undeniable proof that it's different and making it harder to get stars.
I'm glad ng listened to the players base on this issue and are going to adjust accordingly even though it probably will never effect myself as lvl 20 is my end game

Another player to post in the quit players for whatever reason thread?

Hopefully my friend you will stay the course and keep our community vibrant for the coming 20 years or 7 or whatever....

Captainslayer

@SmittySpivey3 I have no desire to quit just yet I plan on playing for a long time we'll at least as long as I enjoy the game (I used to love this game!! now I'm probably past just liking this game and I'm at, I enjoy the game atm)
but I have no desire to move my survivor past lvl 20 other than the fact I personally don't see any reason to move to lvl 21 survivors it would also take more fun from the game for myself if I did move to lvl 21 survivors.
Also if i did quit this game the reason would befor the original title of that thread.

Metal

That's cool Captain all good, take care have fun

SmittySpivey3

@Captainslayer don't quit. 21 level will be right really quick. Glad you're not called Picard slayer!

Captainslayer

@SmittySpivey3 lol
Even when they correct lvl 21 survivors and gear I still won't be upgrading to it anytime soon (I'm only lvl 56) or at all as my decision to have lvl 20's as my end game wasn't based off the fact they fracked up lvl 21

deadeyebob

Sbf, I fail to see how introducing a level select slider bar at the start of the challenge can be seen as a negative change to the challenge. Who would be upset? You hardcore gamers still get to spend hours slaying zombies and accumulating thousands of stars, whereas those of us who can only give 30-40 minutes a day are kept engaged. Surely it would be a relatively simple bit of coding to set it up.

BttlOpener

deadeyebob said:

BttlOpener, I do like the rewards that's why I do it. You have missed my point though. I know I can successfully complete 4 - 5 levels above my survivor level on the challenge, but I just don't have the time to get there. In a normal working week I get to level 21 before I run out of time. And it's not fair in my guild if I chin it off completely

Actually, I do get the point. I am fortunate enough, with being a single bartender, to adjust my play schedule. The vast majority of players in my guild do have outside obligations to fulfill. You just have to be forthright with your guild and say, I play until I feel I met the obligation of said guild. Our guild only has a 500 star requirement. I can achieve between 760 to 800+ stars , most times, by midday Saturday and I call it quits. I despise the healing time mechanic and will not spend too much gold to push for additional stars when I know my survivors can't handle it.

ADPaq

Here's how I think the entire challenge system could be improved.

- the starting RSL is based on your highest survivor
- once you complete all maps in the current set you move onto the next set of maps (currently these change each week)
- each map set could increase in difficulty by 1, but not necessarily as this might end up being unbeatable too quickly
- once you complete all map sets the difficulty increases by 1 and you start from set 1 again, similar to today. This could be in addition to the point above, or on it's own
- stars and rewards increase the higher you go above RSL e.g. RSL + 6 gives you 6 stars instead of 3 stars, better rewards and a greater chance of better pulls

The benefits of this system would be:

1. The starting level is reasonably challenging from the first map for everyone
2. There's much more variety as you're going through all the maps each challenge, thereby reducing repetition
3. Increasing the stars and rewards provides an incentive for everyone to keep playing
4. Given the improved rewards are tied to your RSL + x, everyone can participate, not just veterans

David_H79

I think it is hard to make an improvement that fits everyone.

You have the low level players. With Challenge 2.0 they can play challenges longer but hit their wall soon.

Similar are the mid level players. Here I compare to myself: Mostly I focused on my survivor and not much XP were left for gear. Without appropriate gear you can't beat the higher RSL too long.

And then you have different kinds of endlevel players. Some of them play casual and don't reach a point were the challenge becomes challenging.
Some play for their guild and stop playing after reaching the guild minimum.
And the competitive players who try to collect as many stars as possible.

And there are many more ways player play the challenge.

So for some of them the challenge should be longer that they can play longer challenges. So the starting RSL should be lowered or the repetitions of RSL come earlier.

For some players only the rewards count. They play to reach their final reward and then stop. So every adjustment lets get them less rewards or less playing time.

I for myself try to play locally competitive. So I try to collect ever star, till there is nothing more possible. That means I try to repeat the harder maps many times till I made it or give up.
That is very time consuming and I would appreciate less repetitions.
And I don't care about the rewards too much, because most of my challenge crates contain XP.

So the main problem is to find a solution that fits everyone.

Every adjustment NG makes, troubles one of the player groups.