New raid changes

I very much like this:

The exact list of affected debuffs and their associated impacts is still being worked on, but players will be able to more fully utilize their characters’ abilities to find success in Raids that feature this mechanic.

I'm tired of the approach to development where you work hard to unlock a character and are then told you're not allowed to use their abilities b/c those abilities are too powerful. This still doesn't allow you to fully use your abilities, but it's better than before.

This, however:

First, you’ll be heading to the native home planet of the Krayt Dragon, Tatooine.

is not something I'm excited about. This strongly suggests that they'll be bringing planetary modifiers to raids. Yeesh. Not interested in that. I mean we'll adapt and overcome as a community, but it's not what I want.

The Faction-specific bit is actually hopeful, though.

The reason I like is that just what I was saying earlier: they nerf all abilities because characters have become too powerful.

But of course part of it is just that the abilities have become too complicated even for CG. With near-infinite toon comps you never know what surprising synergies might work well together. SLKR + Wat + Hermit Yoda + Hux was the unexpected core group of the first squad to solo HSTR. By limiting the factions available it is my hope (yes, that may not pan out) that we will be allowed to use more of the abilities that make our toons great.

And of course whether they allow us to use our favourite abilities or not, fewer factions with fewer unexpected synergies means that after the inevitable scanty testing there will be fewer nerfs b/c we'll be much more likely to follow the path CG expects (not being given any others). Sure that's less creative, but it's also less frustrating then finding something that works and having it get taken away.

As for which squads specifically? My Hutts, Mandos and tuskens are fine, though they'll still get work around the corners and Tuskens will need those 2 new toons), but it's Jawas and OR that will get the most work from me and... I don't mind that at all, really. Both of those factions have been on the "it would be nice to upgrade them" list forever.

I'm excited based on what was actually written. YMMV

1 raid at a time, yes please! I haven't touched cPit save once or twice in the past year. HAAT and Rancor were on sim. HSR every 3.5 days became too much for me a few months ago. So I've been doing 0 at a time for the most part since last summer.

Participate in the raid at a time of your choosing, er muh gerd, YES! When I started this game, I had one 10-mo kiddo. Now I have a 1, 4, and 6 year old. It's SO hard to get in and do HSR during the small window I have. Knowing I can do my raid stuff on my own schedule will be such a huge QOL improvement for me.

Shift to cooperative rewards. YES!

Faction restrictions... if it means what they said about design space and they actually release a new raid every few months, sounds great to me. Besides, with what GAC is turning into and how little the new TB has inspired me to build squads, I'm looking forward to scratching that PvE roster development itch.

Hopefully CG gets the rewards right (the part in bold and red).

Separately:

First, we wanted to change the way Raids distribute rewards to a system that promotes cooperation and not interguild competition. A guild often needs to really pull together to complete the newest tier or event that they have reached and it feels contradictory to then ask them to compete against each other simultaneously.

I have been saying this ever since HAAT came out, maybe before: Raids are joint endeavours. Rewarding cooperation strengthens guilds and relationships and takes some of the weight off guild leaders' shoulders. Instead of yelling at someone to participate, the rewards themselves provide the incentive to participate. This allows GLs to function less like tyrants and more like cheerleaders, creating better, friendlier experiences for everyone.

Sounds slightly cheapened to me. If you can only do Pit, then does it matter what the others are? I am bummed about the simming rule; that should be the reward of being able to be done with that raid. And getting rid if CPit! My guild was just now able to complete it!

As for the points system, that has its benefit.....

Hopefully they can make the rewards kind of even out. I am somewhat hopeful that this will be a good change for the game.

I have friends who are convinced this will all be terrible, but when you talk to them it's pretty clear that their fears are based around a distrust that CG will get it right, not that the fundamental ideas are wrong.

Since they make mistakes at everything that they do, I'd rather have them try for something good and mess up than try for something worse and mess up anyway.

I am bummed about the simming rule; that should be the reward of being able to be done with that raid.

Now the rewards are that you get the gear without even having to sim it, just by increasing the rewards for the next raid to include all the rewards from the previous raids.

it's as good as simming without having to actually sim. (As long as CG implements this correctly.)

"Bigfish_Aus;c-2404634" wrote:
I’m bummed about the simming and one raid at a time but if the rewards are done right and accumulate as they go up then it will be just as good. Time will tell on this one. Anyone know when we can expect the changes?

If you suddenly lose the ability to Raid, expect the update drop.

Excited on the whole by the changes and welcome new raid formats and frequency.

I am however nervous about any reward changes. Guild currency is vital for picking up certain pieces of gear and shards. Accumulating it over several raid sims a week speeds up the lower gear crunch. Cpit didn't reward this, which is potentially telling for new reward systems.

Also sith raid IMO is some of the best rewards in the game, especially for gear 12+ pieces so will be sad to see that go. Equally as worrying is lack of R8 pieces and how they might be gated around harder events.

Defo not a moan though, really like the changes just hope these points have been considered!

Accumulating it over several raid sims a week speeds up the lower gear crunch.

Yeah, it will require a bit more thought to manage the guild tokens if they come in one lump/week rather than constant injections every day or two. I didn't bother planning ahead much for that currency. Now I guess I'll be planning ahead more. We'll see.

Hey, maybe we won't have to do our 600 daily anymore. That would be nice.

I guess our Aeromagnifier stash is going to start dropping unless you can complete Krayt.