Breach As a Core Game Mechanic

I'm enjoying the breach league a great deal, but I really think that folding it into the game mode outside of Zana is a mistake. The permanence of breaches further adds to the pool of "stuff" that can happen to a player in any given zone in the game. As this pool of stuff has grown, each piece of it has seemed less and less meaningful. Additionally, the nature of breaches don't lend themselves very well to a large array of builds. This isn't a bad thing in a league setting, when some will be naturally more suited to handle the content than others, but has significant long-term repercussion where some skills will cease to be viable.

Let's consider the first point, that there is a large amount of "stuff" that a player can run into in any given zone. Right now, during breach league, a single map can have the following:

Prophecy proc
Master mission
Strongbox
Rogue Exile
Breach
Essence
Nemesis mobs
Bloodlines mobs
Zana mod
Map mod spawns (beyond as an example)
Sextants

Typically most of these take the form of just another monster or thing. Some required you to go out of your way such as master missions or play differently such as beyond. In my case, as I get into the groove of mapping, I find myself wholly ignoring the bits and pieces that matter the least. I'll pop a white strongbox without bothering to put currency into it unless it is a diviner's or a cartographer's. I'll just walk right past an essence that doesn't drop things I use or can sell (which is most btw). Rogue exiles are a hard joke for most any build, and beyond mobs only really get my attention when they spawn a boss. I'm rarely, if ever, trying to spawn those bosses these days because I have little reason to do so.

Breach stands out at the moment for 2 reasons. First, it's new and you're incentivized well to do them (increased rarity). Second, they represent potentially massive increases in mob count and danger. Folding breach into the core game won't change these pieces, but they'll become yet another obstacle in the long list of obstacles that will appear every so often. At what point do these types of things become excessive and overwhelming? I skipped essence league and cannot for the life of me figure out why people thought this was something they wanted permanently. Keeping track of and using these things is a shitshow, even with the premium tab. The compound effect of all these mechanics isn't keeping things interesting for me, it's making all of them less so.

To my second point, have you tried to play an arc character in breach league? If you're not strong enough to completely overwhelm and obliterate/shatter the mobs in a breach (which has significantly more hp than the mobs in any map), you'll get swarmed with no way out. That big rare mob in the back is hurling shit at you? Too bad, he's surrounded by mobs and there's not a damned thing you can do about it. If you're not absolutely decimating the power curve of the map that you're in, then a skill like arc is almost categorically inadequate to make a build around.

Arc isn't alone in this by the way. There are a lot of skills that are suboptimal for breach because they can't penetrate, or have a hard time directing their focus. The disproportionate nature of the breach's balance means that you SHOULD create and play with builds that are good at handling it. If they can handle a breach, they can handle anything in a map. If they can't handle a breach, why are you wasting your time?

Breaches being put into the full game do not become optional. Sure, you can walk past them, but players won't. They'll still be incentivized to do it and it will narrow the scope of "viable" skills for generic mapping in a way that doesn't get fixed without dramatic buffs to player power or dramatic nerfs to the breach itself. Both of which water down the experience to one similar to the point above, where it's just another thing you push through with as little effort as is possible.

Put breach in as a map mod or a zana mod. Allow players to opt into seeing them and then incentivize them to pursue it, just like challenges have done for perandus this league. Don't just have the hands pop up sometimes in a map and think that will capture the enjoyment that players are experiencing right now.

TLDR: Breach as a zana mod or map affix is fine. But adding more bloat to general traversal of the game and putting a permanence to a mechanic that cockblocks numerous skills in its design is a mistake.
Not being transparent? We all know they just look @ reddit forums, or hell MAYBE even the top builds for these forums and just say ok: Guys were gonna nerf this and this because its popular and is actually doing end game.




GGG Balance Team 101.







Because you know, making the other skills in the game actually viable past level 10 would be just crazy.
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MaddDoctor wrote:
Perandus > Breach
Period


+1


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Please, ONLY have Breach as a sextant or Zana mod!!
"Wealth in a game is measured by the amount of fun, joy and entertainment you can get out of it".
-Mythabril
damn, really don't like the breaches, I had hoped GGG would make it a map mod rather than add it to the game
I really think that there already are more than enough "ghosts of leagues past" random encounters in the game. If Breach is added, something else should be rotated out. Shrines maybe or Tormented Spirits. Spirits really could use a bit of a break to take another look at their AI, anyway.
Last edited by Alysma on Feb 12, 2017, 5:43:21 PM
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Dr1MaR wrote:
Glad to see ES+VP being reworked. It doesn't necessarily nerf it to the ground, but makes the mechanic more engaging than just holding 1 button. At least I hope so.

You must be on drugs... They need to boast other skills and life base not take the quick fix like D3.. This is why most peeps play POE for the trade and they were just sick and tried of NERFS... For better diveristy you DONT nerf you rework other skills to bring them into line. Playing a game is about reward not punishment. Currently there is very few life base toons able to high end and hence why peeps play ES.. So the issue IS NOT ES its life base has been left behind. So hence now we will have Both (ES/Life0 left behind with about 80% community enable to play the game in rewarding way. As the options to survive HIGH tier will be very limited is this fun ya only if you are in the 20% that can afford the change. Why not make it more REWARDING for ALL. And put the stick away and use the carrot.
hope they will buff life to give us alternative, not just nerf ES.
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EKTELESTES wrote:
"
MaddDoctor wrote:
Perandus > Breach
Period


+1
Casual milenial players lol

Prophecy is the greatest league idea GGG ever came up with

Perandus and breach have been popular just because its handing free loot for little to no effort, the perfect scenario in the eye of the current generation

Prophecy on the other hand required work to reach an end, sure GGG used it like shit by exploiting only a fraction of its potential and neglecting it afterward, but its still the best league mechanic
ZiggyD is the Labyrinth of streamers, some like it, some dont, but GGG will make sure to push it down ur throat to make you like it
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Waycoolozs wrote:
"
Dr1MaR wrote:
Glad to see ES+VP being reworked. It doesn't necessarily nerf it to the ground, but makes the mechanic more engaging than just holding 1 button. At least I hope so.

You must be on drugs... They need to boast other skills and life base not take the quick fix like D3.. This is why most peeps play POE for the trade and they were just sick and tried of NERFS... For better diveristy you DONT nerf you rework other skills to bring them into line. Playing a game is about reward not punishment. Currently there is very few life base toons able to high end and hence why peeps play ES.. So the issue IS NOT ES its life base has been left behind. So hence now we will have Both (ES/Life0 left behind with about 80% community enable to play the game in rewarding way. As the options to survive HIGH tier will be very limited is this fun ya only if you are in the 20% that can afford the change. Why not make it more REWARDING for ALL. And put the stick away and use the carrot.

totally agreed
Breach is a fun concept, but the amount of mobs, visual clutter, FPS drops... makes it a flawed experience. Consider balancing for less "clearspeed meta", please, because it is ruining the game.
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