Gli ultimi cambiamenti per Torgast nell’alfa di Shadowlands hanno generato discussioni all’interno della community. L’aggiunta dei Torment (speciali debuff che aumentano la difficoltà della scalata) è stata percepita dai giocatori come un tentativo da parte del team di rendere la Torre dei Dannati un contenuto a tempo, in maniera simile alle Mitiche+.
Il Community Manager Kaivax è intervenuto sul forum ufficiale spiegando quale sia l’intento del team. L’esempio portato è stato quello di un gruppo di giocatori molto ben preparati, disposti a fare tutto il necessario per scalare la torre; ciò significa aspettare tutti i cooldown delle abilità a meno che non ci siano motivi validi per non farlo. Questa tipologia di approccio, per quanto ottimale per vincere, non risulta divertente.
I Torment hanno lo scopo di esercitare un determinato grado di pressione su coloro che affrontano Torgast. Sempre prendendo in esame il gruppo di prima, se con l’aggiunta dei Torment questo gruppo sarà ancora in grado di uccidere ogni singolo nemico ma sarà costretto a fare attenzione, utilizzando le abilità di controllo delle creature, gestendo il numero di mostri affrontanti in un singolo pull ed eventualmente aspettando un po’ di tempo per far terminare alcuni cooldown, allora il team ha raggiunto il suo scopo. Se invece i Torment costringono i giocatori a saltare grandi porzioni di piano perché gli stanno rendendo la vita impossibile, vuol dire che il sistema non funziona.
Kaivax infine fa un elenco di domande alle quali i giocatori devono dare risposta per fornire un feedback utile al miglioramento dell’esperienza di gioco. Inoltre viene specificato che le risposte emotive fornite a questo cambiamento fanno capire al team quanto stia piacendo Torgast ai giocatori ed il loro desiderio che questa modalità sia divertente. Quindi team e giocatori hanno lo stesso obiettivo.
We agree that one of the best things about Torghast is that you can play at your own pace, without feeling rushed. We certainly don’t want to make Torghast into a fast-paced, timed game mode. We have instead added Torments, which are designed to provide some additional texture for players at high levels, and to solve a problem that arises when extremely difficult content meets our often cooldown-based class design.Here’s what Torments should do.
Imagine a perfectly-efficient Torghast group. They are willing to do whatever it takes to climb the tower. At the highest difficulty they can manage, that means waiting for all cooldowns on every pull – unless there’s some reason not to do so. This is our problem: that’s not fun to play, but it’s the right way to play if you want to win.
Torments should apply just enough pressure that this group can still kill every single creature on the floor (which takes a while, since these enemies have lots of HP), while still being careful, using crowd control, taking a few seconds to rest or strategize between pulls, and even then, maybe sometimes waiting just a little longer for a cooldown before engaging. If that is the most efficient way to play Torghast, then we’ve hit our mark exactly. If that perfectly efficient group has to skip big portions of a floor because Torment debuffs are getting too out of hand, we have a problem.
Here’s what Torments shouldn’t do.
- Make Torghast into a fast-paced, time-constrained feature that feels too similar to existing timed features like Mythic Keystone Dugeons, Horrific Visions, or Island Expeditions.
- Prevent you from taking a break when you need one.
- Intimidate casual players from playing Torghast altogether.
How can testers help us tune it?
Playtest Torghast, and let us know how it feels. We appreciate all feedback, and the most valuable feedback for this feature will come from experience in Torghast, rather than discussions about time-based difficulty that aren’t informed by in-game experience.
If something feels bad, let us know why.
- Did you feel rushed when you didn’t want to? Was that pressure because of actual game difficulty, or was it simply the presence of the Torment itself?
- Were you unable to defeat a level because of Torments, even though you were playing at a normal pace?
- Did you want to take a break mid-run but felt like you couldn’t?
- Do you feel like Torments are appropriate, but should be introduced at a higher level than they currently are (12)?
- Alternately, did a particular Torment feel underwhelming? Do you still feel like you can wait 10 minutes between every single pull without threat of being overwhelmed?
There are several different Torments in the current Alpha. Some affect spawning and environment, and others affect your character directly. Some increase over time, and others remain at a fixed difficulty.
- How do they feel in comparison to one another?
- Does a particular Torment feel more punishing or unfun than the others?
We’ve seen some emotional response to this change, which we take to mean that you care about Torghast being fun. We do too.
Please keep up the productive discussions, and we’ll keep listening.
