You forgot to announce the double loot weekend.  Right???

Do you need UW's or just last teir epic augs?

Again, you dont NEED UW....even if you're just running 6. But it helps a metric shit ton if you do, and if its current. But that involves more tedium than you can imagine.

Are the server admins tuning content with characters in max gear and expecting every single player to be in said max gear to overcome it or are they using chars in lesser gear to tune the content they create?

To go to the next tier you must have the maxed epic and armor from the previous tier....so yeah, they are.

When I say "max gear" I mean full UW's, full UC's, BiS jewelry items, max augs, along with proper armor.   Are all those required or are they just slapping on the full epics, armor, a few "good" pieces of jewelry and some mid-tier augs?  Are they tuning with 6 boxes or 12 or 18?  Are they tuning drops for a typical player of THIS server using 6, 12, or 18 chars?  And is that tuning resulting in the player retention they are seeking?  If not, what areas are they willing to compromise in order to increase player retention?  

And all this is just really the basics of content tuning without getting into the "hard core vs casual" tuning that most live MMO's are forced to deal with.  What we are talking about here is just your "core player" tuning.

And you are correct, very few MMO's give you options when it comes to progression options.  Most MMO's have very strict raid number and group composition requirements that are sometimes rigidly enforced.  This server obviously does not adhere to that, but then those options also make it more difficult to challenge the various different play styles on this server.  As I said, the person who brings 18 to an encounter designed for 12 can't complain that it's too easy.  Likewise, the person who brings 6 shouldn't be complaining that it's too hard either. 

Edit Typo:  Should be BiS instead of BiC.

VT being tier 10.

No. See above as to why. Think EoFS 5 is bad? Try 6 or 7. I've worked all three. Bottom line is that UW is not now and never was intended to be easy to get. In fact there could be a solid argument made that its too easy to get NOW. And with that we're getting way too close to yet another Tball Trophy Argument.

You dont need a UW. It helps, sure....but its been proven that you can run a team to T9 and be successful without a UW. The UW is a rather powerful reward for people who want The Big Carrot....and dont mindsurviving the Big Giant Stick Upside Their Head to get it. UW is fine as it is.....or perhaps even TOO easy to get. It most definitely should not be made easier....and IMO it should definitely be level limited at the very least.

I know I just started on the server a couple weeks ago, so I cannot speak intelligently on how needed certain items are to progress or how difficult content is with or without certain items.  However, I can speak to the broader idea of content tuning. 

If, as you say, UW is really not needed to progress, then sure, make UW's as difficult as you like.  Hell make them unique to one person on the server if you want to.  That won't make people stop playing.  What makes people stop playing is when required items for progression are more tedious (not necessarily more difficult) than they are willing to invest time to get.  Tedium and difficulty are two very separate things that I think almost every single person in this thread recognizes.  However, there seems to be some disagreement on what exactly is required to progress and what is not.  Do you need a 6 box to get to T9 or do you need 12?  Do you need UW's or just last teir epic augs?  Are the server admins tuning content with characters in max gear and expecting every single player to be in said max gear to overcome it or are they using chars in lesser gear to tune the content they create? 

And that last question really is the MOST important question.  What is the content tuned for?  What are the expectations the admins of every single player that plays on this server?  I know the thread is designed as a way for the admins to get ideas from the players as to what they want to see.  And there is extremely high value in that.  However, if the admins are then going to take those ideas and create new content, they have to balance what a person 18-boxing with UW's on every char thinks is a challenge versus what a 6 box in epic augs thinks is an acceptable level of challenge.  I guarantee the two will be wildly different.

Obligatory cat pic.

Hate just told me that the server will be down till next weekend. He want that you all take a break to do something nice with your family or friends an so on

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