As someone who absolutely loves the Criterion dungeons & their Savage variants, I was ecstatic to finally hear about us getting a new one in .4, even if it is many months away. I am however worried about the timing of it, specifically in relation to obtaining gear.
Going off of the previous Criterions:
7.4 Criterion - Will require 770 ilvl, with a 795 ilvl sync
7.4 Criterion (Savage) - 795 ilvl sync, designed to be cleared with 790 gear minimum
The 7.4 Savage Raids will likely be releasing 7-8 weeks before the Criterion, and due to the cap on acquiring Tomes & Savage gear, to have enough gear to play the 7.45 Criterion (Savage) you MUST have cleared at least M9-12S Week 1. Without this you will not have enough gear to clear the Criterion (Savage). This severely limits those who can access it.
This happens in multiple ways. While I agree hard content should have limitations, being locked out by a lack of loot, which could happen from bad luck on rolls, means even skilled players could be locked out of clearing it.
The other way this excludes people is by limiting job choices. With only 7-8 weeks, you are only going to have 1 job fully geared, with a 2nd partially started. Because Criterion (Savage) requires a Standard Light Party comp & a high level of gear, players can't change jobs to fill in where needed. This drastically reduces the possible parties that can form to actually enter the content.
Luckily there are many ways to resolve this. The most player beneficial ones would be opening up gearing paths earlier. For example, giving Criterion a path for 690 ilvl gear, either through new gear sets, or the augmenting items for tome gear. However, I understand that this may break CBU3's intent for a slower gearing system even if I personally disagree with how slow it is in a game where playing multiple classes is encouraged and advertised. It does however provide a solution to the reward problem that I know many believe plagued the previous Criterions.
An alternative route could also be to not design it for the newly introduced Item level cap, and instead limit it to the current cap of 765. This would make the current tier's gear valuable outside of itself, and encourage raiders to re-enter it. If this were to happen though, I would highly recommend advertising this long before the Criterion is implemented, likely in the 7.4 Letter from the Producer Live Part 1. That way players are aware early and can actually prepare for any job they would like in time, especially as the limitations on weekly loot will still be in place.
I really hope whatever happens, that as many people can enjoy the upcoming Criterion as possible, and that this feedback helps them do so. And to those that have not tried Criterions & their Savage counterparts yet, I highly recommend giving them a go as in my opinion they are some of the best content Endwalker introduced.
Continue reading...
Going off of the previous Criterions:
7.4 Criterion - Will require 770 ilvl, with a 795 ilvl sync
7.4 Criterion (Savage) - 795 ilvl sync, designed to be cleared with 790 gear minimum
The 7.4 Savage Raids will likely be releasing 7-8 weeks before the Criterion, and due to the cap on acquiring Tomes & Savage gear, to have enough gear to play the 7.45 Criterion (Savage) you MUST have cleared at least M9-12S Week 1. Without this you will not have enough gear to clear the Criterion (Savage). This severely limits those who can access it.
This happens in multiple ways. While I agree hard content should have limitations, being locked out by a lack of loot, which could happen from bad luck on rolls, means even skilled players could be locked out of clearing it.
The other way this excludes people is by limiting job choices. With only 7-8 weeks, you are only going to have 1 job fully geared, with a 2nd partially started. Because Criterion (Savage) requires a Standard Light Party comp & a high level of gear, players can't change jobs to fill in where needed. This drastically reduces the possible parties that can form to actually enter the content.
Luckily there are many ways to resolve this. The most player beneficial ones would be opening up gearing paths earlier. For example, giving Criterion a path for 690 ilvl gear, either through new gear sets, or the augmenting items for tome gear. However, I understand that this may break CBU3's intent for a slower gearing system even if I personally disagree with how slow it is in a game where playing multiple classes is encouraged and advertised. It does however provide a solution to the reward problem that I know many believe plagued the previous Criterions.
An alternative route could also be to not design it for the newly introduced Item level cap, and instead limit it to the current cap of 765. This would make the current tier's gear valuable outside of itself, and encourage raiders to re-enter it. If this were to happen though, I would highly recommend advertising this long before the Criterion is implemented, likely in the 7.4 Letter from the Producer Live Part 1. That way players are aware early and can actually prepare for any job they would like in time, especially as the limitations on weekly loot will still be in place.
I really hope whatever happens, that as many people can enjoy the upcoming Criterion as possible, and that this feedback helps them do so. And to those that have not tried Criterions & their Savage counterparts yet, I highly recommend giving them a go as in my opinion they are some of the best content Endwalker introduced.
Continue reading...