First, some background information.
Why are they looking to implement this system?
According to the dev blog, it will “give more players easier access to Expeditions and their loot, along with keeping the progression disparity acceptable between players who can play dozens of hours per week and those who cannot.”
They again say that the “limit ensures a more equitable progression for players who do not have time to run more than 25 per week versus those that do”
- The good: We want new players, we don’t want to alienate new players, and we don’t want it to feel like they can’t possibly catch up.
- The bad: PVE players like myself run mutations, and specifically M10s, as our only end-game content. Limiting how much content we can play on a weekly basis is off-putting and doesn’t leave us much left to do.
If they are limiting mutations due to equitable progression, what’s to stop them from limiting other activities that give rewards such as the PVP track? 3v3s, arenas, invasions, how many wars you can participate in, etc.
Note: I keep seeing shard selling coming up as a reason. They did not state this is the reason. They have repeatedly said it is not against the ToS to exchange in-game goods and services for gold.
Why specifically 25 mutations per week?
Per the same dev blog: “On average, our data shows that less than 5% of players who run mutated Expeditions run more than 25 mutated Expeditions in a given week.”
They also state that they changed it from 20 to 25 “to better accommodate the 95% of players running mutated Expeditions each week”
- The good: In theory, this “covers 95% of players”
- The bad: This data is based on an already limited system. As they state earlier in the dev blog, “acquiring tuning orbs required players to utilize the game’s other activities, such as crafting, Faction Missions, and closing Corruption Breaches.” They state that they know this can be difficult and is limiting.
Why are they imposing another content limit based off another content limit? A content limit they admit was a mistake.
Issues with this limit:
These are assumptions of mine based on my experience playing, talking with others, and reading through forum posts. No, I can’t know exactly how everyone will react, but these are possibilities and likely my foreseeable future in the game if this change goes through.
- PVE Content Access: Mutations are the main PVE end game content. This limit reduces the amount of end game content PVE players have access to
- The reason for this limit could also be used for reasons to limit other activities that give rewards
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Losing a member of your group: If someone leaves or DCs from your run, you will have a harder time finding a replacement member. This is because people would have to use one of their 25 runs/week knowing they will get fewer shards and loot.
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People will be more selective: Due to the cap on runs, people will likely be picker about who they play with and who they allow in their groups. They won’t want to take the risk of a bad or failed run.
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M10s only: Due to the limit and people wanting the best rewards possible, those who can do M10s may only do M10s and no other mutations. This means higher level players will be less likely to help lower-level players get their codex up or teach them about mechanics.
- This creates a larger divide in the game and further ostracizes newer players from older players.
- Role imbalance: There are far more DPS than tanks and healers. Once the tanks and healers have run their 25 mutations for the week, there will be many DPS looking for groups.
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Yes, people could change into those roles. However, if they do that, will they have the umbral shards to upgrade that gear? Will the group struggle more because they are not experienced in that role?
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I do think long-term this could help the role disparity, but I think positive reinforcement and rewarding gameplay would be better than forcing players into it.
- Limiting shards may limit role diversity: One thing I love about this game is that you aren’t locked to a certain role or weapons. I like to have various sets upgraded for different mutation types (and they keep adding more, which is amazing). If players can’t access the amount of shards they need to upgrade sets, which is over 9k shards per item upgraded from 600-625, there’s the risk of being under-geared, simplified builds, and simplified gameplay.