An alternative for ascendency points.

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Xeledon2132 wrote:

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diablofdb wrote:

I think the lab and ascendency points should remain the same. You want that super power creep, need to work for it. You don't get that for free.

You need to "work" for every bit of power in this game, that's fine by me. It is fine because all the work is fun - it may be difficult at times, but difficult in a game I enjoy. The Lab is not a (mini) game I enjoy. Doing it is no more work than the rest of the game, nor does it require more effort. I just enjoy it way less.

To me that has noting to do with work - I have a day job I like. In PoE I have to put in work I like too.
In rl my job provides me enough money to live as I like. In PoE, the same.
Now PoE has introduced an additional job in the acid mines that one needs to do to gain access to special wares. Those wares aren't more expensive - the acid mines don't pay better. They pay special currency for the special wares.
If that happened in rl would I go to the acid mines for just a short time to get to the special wares? Naw, I wouldn't - no matter how awesome the special wares might be.

I'm fine with working. I'm not fine with hating it, hating the world, and hating myself for doing it.

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SisterBlister wrote:

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Xeledon2132 wrote:

I dislike the Lab more now than in the beginning, mainly because I'm a notorious reroller. I had completed the Lab 40-50 times before being fed up to the point of not wanting to do it ever again.

That said, with a few changes to the Lab itself I could be made to swallow that toad again. I'd still prefer a real alternative, but here goes (hopefully without harming that precious lore):

1. Waypoints. Please take the fake hardcore out of my softcore. One before each Izaro fight would be ideal for my taste. Of course when any zone in the Lab is entered via a waypoint that run would not be viable for the leaderboard and Izaro's health would reset - no death zerging.

2. Ascendancy Point redistribution. I really don't want to do Lab runs for two points a pop on every character. I propose to let The Lab in each difficulty give all points that could have been acquired until that difficulty. That is to say: you may still do it for two points a pop in ech difficulty to get those points as soon as possible - but you could also skip 1st Lab and then gain 4 points in 2nd. You could do Über alone to acquire all 8 Points. Once per char would make me feel like my time was less disrespected.

+1, those are exactly my thoughts as well.
Two small changes and the lab would be fine by me. As it is, I consider it a tedious chore. Worth doing, but more work than play.

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sfbistimg wrote:

I didn't say it was a guaranteed spawn, just said it would spawn only in 1 map.

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sfbistimg wrote:

That way you know where to look for it atleast. They can give it a low percentage (5 to 10%) to spawn.

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goetzjam wrote:

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Xeledon2132 wrote:

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1. Waypoints.
2. I propose to let The Lab in each difficulty give all points that could have been acquired until that difficulty.

1) Except it opens up the field to zerging situations. Get stuck in a trap area with no flask left, well just logout because you have a wp where you can get flask charges back and heal back up.

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goetzjam wrote:

2) I mean this isn't a terrible option, except IMO the games balance when leveling should be designed for players to have the AC points. For example act 4 was left more difficult because they believe you should have the AC points before doing at least the later half of that act. In 3.0 the game should be designed in such a way that you are handicapping yourself by not having the points while leveling.

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SisterBlister wrote:

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goetzjam wrote:

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Xeledon2132 wrote:

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1. Waypoints.
2. I propose to let The Lab in each difficulty give all points that could have been acquired until that difficulty.

1) Except it opens up the field to zerging situations. Get stuck in a trap area with no flask left, well just logout because you have a wp where you can get flask charges back and heal back up.

Agreed. The whole area should always reset when you use the waypoint. And waypoints are only in the empty room before Izaro. That would be good.

As to zerging in general: Well, that is the difference between HC and SC. If someone is really struggling on a boss but feels a powerful need to defeat him anyway, then in SC he can zerg and that is fine. In HC, he has to be good enough to manage in one go.

The suggestion above would be a mix: You cannot "brute-force" zerg Izaro like Malachai, by whittling him down bit by bit between deaths, but you can have many attempts to kill him from 100% without repeating content you dislike just to get to him. Sounds like a fair compromise.

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goetzjam wrote:

2) I mean this isn't a terrible option, except IMO the games balance when leveling should be designed for players to have the AC points. For example act 4 was left more difficult because they believe you should have the AC points before doing at least the later half of that act. In 3.0 the game should be designed in such a way that you are handicapping yourself by not having the points while leveling.

If someone really hates the lab, this gives him the choice to handicap himself by not having the AP until he is at such a lvel that he can do the lab in a higher difficulty. That's also fair. If you wait until you're way overlevelled now, you have the same effect, except you then have to run the first (few) lab at a crazy easy level. Which is not challenging, only a drag.

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goetzjam wrote:

If the whole area resets then you get additional monsters for flask charges and it gives you a re-try basically to tackle the challenge. The thing is, for me that isn't acceptable as hundreds, if not thousands of people complete the lab as is now, without such a crutch.

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Xeledon2132 wrote:

a good explanation

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diablofdb wrote:

well the lab is great I enjoy it and so does most POE player.