I've been following the COB thread, though I haven't had much time to really go look into the zone myself (that and when I was there there were only NAMED mobs up anyway) but based on the numbers that people are posting in the thread it seems that City of Brass is going to be yet another 55 zone. We have a lot of things for max level characters to be doing, but we have very little for those between 50-54 to work on, especially when you take small groups into consideration. It's been pointed out a few times by various people that Vanguard's current shortfall is the experience *after* 50. The game comes stuttering to a halt and it turns into a vicious grind. For a while, the common thing to do was to sit over in KDQ while a Sorc kited silly amounts of mobs around with an XP pot running. I did this once and honestly after the initial "Holy crap that's cool!" moment faded away it became exceptionally dull. Magi Hold was an excellent step in the right direction, with things for all play-styles to do. And this worked very well! You could pick up a friend or two and do the quests and actually advance post 50. This is contrary to KDQ which unless you either know exactly what you're doing with the mob types, or have a good full group, you're going to end up spending more time recovering XP debt then you are advancing. Pantheon is much the same, only worse (with some portions requiring support outside of the group). Now, that's not to say these zones (Vi'Rak and Bridge of Destiny as well) are not fun. They are, when you have the time to invest with a full group to do them. But for a leveling small group (2-3 people) they're not really worth the frustration. So I'm saddened to see yet another zone that's designed around a full group of 55s. I hope we have some things for the small group playes. (If I'm mistaken about City of Brass then I'll of course happily retract this!)
agrees that the 50 - 55 crowd needs more fun and less grind, but also feels that enough of us have been 55 long enough without some actual group content added. Once COB gets into play perhaps some effort can be put towards some 50ish stuff that isnt mind numbing kill sequences of elementals. especially given that many will soon be hitting 50 and not wearing swamp or apw gear , let alone POTA gear yet.
it might be a bit premature to call cob content for a full group of 55s. the other day 4 of us went in with basically only cleric buffs and were able to clear out trash. i think some of the trash should be lowered in difficulty a bit, but i don't think cob should be that easy. cob should start out for t1 people and slowly scale up.
one problem we have in our COB testing is that the few people that actually test are usually very well geared people that are used to playing together. This may not represent the typical group looking to do this content. One of the issues I see in game today is a need for more content that can be executed by PUGS since many of us like to play at a variety of hours and not just during raid focused prime time. You don't see many people in /ooc looking for more to kill elementals in SS or even sod runs anymore, its just boring and a grind. I have started seeing more calls for virak groups. I guess what I am trying to say is that we need places like COB to be fun, rewarding, and not part of a tedious faction grind. There also need to be elements of it that people still working on their POTA gear can feel like they can accomplish if they have friends along to make a decent group. I feel for the OP that is looking for more for the 50 - 54 and agree with the need, but i do hope COB will be the new place for 55's to hang out just for fun.
More stuff like magi hold would be nice. T5-T6 mobs i can harvest would be great too (trees *ehem*)..
Ceythos wrote: Well, if this wasn't enough confirmation that this new content is yet another thing for end-game characters, what happened when I poked my nose into the zone with the trash mobs certainly was. Groups of three six dots starting at level 54. So I officially don't care about City of Brass anymore. Which is kind of sad really. It was one of the things that had brought me back, as I had originaly heard it was going to be 51+ as Ceythos indicated. What this means is that after level 52 there is nothing that can be done that doesn't involve a significant investment besides the Hillsbury Hound. If you want to progress anywhere, or experience any dungeons you have to have a good group, or a guild backing you. Magi Hold only gets you so far but what is there after that? All other 50+ content is heavy full group, and based on what I just experienced in City of Brass it's continuing this way. I know leavwiz mentioned being glad to have something new, but those of us who are more casual haven't had anything new since Magi Hold. There is no Small Group content after Magi. It is actually much better experience to mentor down and help out someone going through a smaller dungeon. While this in itself isn't bad, it takes away from being high level. Seeing as City of Brass is probably pretty close to completion, all I can do is hope that the next thing to come out is something that those Small Group/Duo (or heaven forbid solo) players can do.
Koralith wrote: Yeah, but you are stretching it by believing the only way to remedy the situation is a new 51+ zone. Obviously the best solution would be 5-6 brand new 51-55 dungeons, and 5-6 55+ dungeons... that's unrealistic atm. The 2nd best would make CoB diverse enough that it is 51 to 55+. I don't see why Sands of Sorrow as a whole can't be adapted to being a 51-54 leveling area. I don't think ANYONE ever levels at those portals, or kills the giants on the outside of the CoB portal. Simpler solutions... they can simply change the xp penalty/curve for 51-54 so you can keep killing in RI, ToT, Deadbog, etc. I think that's a better solution than making a generic 51-55 dungeon, leaving a very large 55+ playerbase bored for another year.
Dielle wrote: The first portion highlighted in red was what I had been hoping for when City of Brass had been announced. That we were going to be getting something to give a bit to all play styles. Of course, the deepest parts of the dungeon and the best loot would come from those six dot mobs requiring a full group, but at least there would be a few more quests and a few more mobs that the non-raid geared 51-53 players could manage. The green idea is an excellent one, and honestly I don't think I've heard of anyone using Sands of Sorrow either. Personally, I feel that an area that provides quests in the 52-53/54 range would be a very welcome boost and wouldn't require the large batch of places Dielle is pointing out. Magi Hold can take you from 50-52ish without a whole lot of repetition.
Dielle wrote: ^ this they never should have added in that penalty, especially since lots of players will be looking to finish up the RI helm quest in anticipation of CoB. adding more options would be nice but there is only so many resources to go around, enabling people to xp at old world spots until they grey out the content just gives more options and requires no resources spent. there really is no reason not to do so.
Nejibana@Telon wrote: I aggree with this.. I have Never understood the reasoning behind the massing curve at 51 regarding older area's remove the penalty, make it the same as every other level, period.
Dielle wrote: Either of the mentioned ideas would be very quick and easy to implement. And the game experience would increase by a great amount for 51+ folks. And both ideas have been suggested dozens of times in the past in some form. I don't see why our devs don't consider them already. As long as u can't come up with "real" 51-55xp areas, follow the advice of your playerbase and invest 5 minutes to remove a penalty flag or 30ish min to boost some unvisited pre50 area to 51+. Else your beloved newcomers will be gone sooner than u might think.
