Idea for a Paid Cutthroat League

I would gladly fork over some dollars to be able to copy a character from, say default, to a special cut throat league made specifically for copies.

Yea, meh, or nah?

The only issue I see with this is characters from custom leagues revert back to the default league after that custom league ends.

I like the idea though! People are starting to ask for higher level cut-throat, and I can certainly see why.

I think timed, level-bracketed cut-throat leagues would be really fun. Instead of XP, scoring should be on kills.

Why is reverting back to default a problem? You might gain or lose some gear or XP depending on what other players copy over but it's not that different from an afternoon of grinding. People won't bring amazing 6-link gear or uniques over to a cut-throat league.

Well they could possibly set it up so that the copy you make 'dies' with the custom league. That I could fully get behind.

But in essence, there's nothing to gain. Sure, you get to beat the crap out of some people (and your own high level char) in a sort of 'alternate dimension', which is cool and I think I'd really enjoy that, but you can't bring anything back from it.

This is why your idea of removing experience and making it a kill count for prizes would be okay.

But taking a level 30 character from default, copying him to this custom cut-throat league, and then having him return from that league to the parent default league is problematic simply because he never actually left it in the first place. You're talking about a copy, not the real thing.

So the question is, what happens to the copy?

Maybe they could delete that copy, as I suggested above, but have the stash from that custom league become read-only in the default league upon the custom league's expiry.

What about instead of making a copy of a character you were allowed to make one at the given level.

Say it's a level 30 cutthroat. Upon joining you choose your class and start at level 30 with applicable passive points to distribute at the start of the league. This character would only be for that league and would be deleted upon league completion.

Players could be given a restricted area of their stash that would revert to default league for those "OMG that's amazing!" items they get off other player. Maybe 1-2 items for a 3 hour league and 5-6 for a 2 week league.

And I fully agree scoring should be based on kills instead of XP. You're testing yourself against the other players, not the monsters.

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Charan wrote:

The only issue I see with this is characters from custom leagues revert back to the default league after that custom league ends.

I like the idea though! People are starting to ask for higher level cut-throat, and I can certainly see why.

I totally agree with this. I really wish the devs would reconsider this aspect of the game.

What I am about to say relies upon the idea that "gaming is a form of entertainment, not investment".

Why not let people make (paid) unique leagues with way more customization and flexibility at the expense their characters are only valid for that league? In other words, why not let people pay to have fun their way? This is not a "pay 2 win model" as much as just giving people the opportunity to pay for the type of gameplay they really want to enjoy.

I see it as a great revenue stream for GGG, if done correctly. There are some financial issues in terms of cost/profit ratios with this though. Is the cost of hardware and service to support such leagues below the expected income for providing the league. I have no idea myself, but it's something that could prove a road block if things aren't carefully managed.

For example, let's say I want to make a new league with 10x exp rates and 10x drop rates. The fun had in being able to play through the game at those rates isn't the same type of long filled fun had when playing a regular league where you invested a lot of time and effort.

After all, my character is only valid for that league. The level of attachment you have to a character in that scenario, isn't the same level of attachment in a regular league. This of course begs the question, why would I play the normal game at 1x rates when I could be playing at 10x rates? Because the game itself at 1x rates is free and "permanent", while the paid league is premium and limited.

Likewise with the previously mentioned idea about starting the league higher up in level. Why not? Your character is more of a "throw away" then and there is no need to "save" it.

If you look at any mmorpg out there that had an emulator written for it, there will be one thing in common you see across the board. People want to play the game faster and enjoy different aspects of it at typically higher rates then the original game. Whether it be just for fun, or to test out new builds and interesting ideas, there is a measurable demand for this.

As a software developer myself, I wonder why no games have figured this out yet. The only exception I would consider is Guild Wars. The way they setup PvP to allow people to be instant capped and have the skills they unlocked, is somewhat in line of what I am talking about.

Nowadays, more gamers are looking for instant gratification. You can achieve catering to those types as well as the ones that aren't by allowing separate leagues to exist independently from each other. I just think it makes total sense to find some way to allow this to further expand the interest in the game and really do more things no other game is.

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Charan wrote:

Well they could possibly set it up so that the copy you make 'dies' with the custom league. That I could fully get behind.

But in essence, there's nothing to gain. Sure, you get to beat the crap out of some people (and your own high level char) in a sort of 'alternate dimension', which is cool and I think I'd really enjoy that, but you can't bring anything back from it.

This is why your idea of removing experience and making it a kill count for prizes would be okay.

But taking a level 30 character from default, copying him to this custom cut-throat league, and then having him return from that league to the parent default league is problematic simply because he never actually left it in the first place. You're talking about a copy, not the real thing.

So the question is, what happens to the copy?

Maybe they could delete that copy, as I suggested above, but have the stash from that custom league become read-only in the default league upon the custom league's expiry.

Oh, I was thinking something different.

I'd like to see your character MOVED to a temporary cut-throat league. Sort of an arena/gladiator feel. It would last a couple hours, maybe a day or two on occasion. You go with your equipment and inventory and you can only move a given character once so if you lose the gear you brought across you'll have to figure something out.

You'd spawn in an appropriate difficulty with all waypoints open and quests turned off. The world is basically an open arena, but with the monsters to make things interesting. You could either gain/lose XP according to cut-throat rules or compete for kill count with XP off. Not sure which would be more fair and fun. At the end of the league your character goes back to its original league with all your spoils (or nekked if you got unlucky) and anything in the stash goes into "remove only" tabs.

Leagues would be created in level brackets to be fair. It would give interesting choices. What do you risk losing? What do you put in your inventory in case you die early?

Surprisingly blood-thirsty for someone gaining a slight reputation for wanting the game 'easier', Morrigan! :)

It's a great idea except that, to my knowledge, there's no way to move a character 'out' of default league. It's the place we all end up at, sooner or later.

I'm sure GGG will figure out a way to make high level cut-throat possible. I personally enjoy the low level dueling -- I loved it on D2 as well. Never had more fun on Diablo 2 than during the stress test, when we were ALL barbarians and scrambling for gem shrines to get some nice topazes into our swords.

So much fun.

But I think the best way to test higher level chars in a pvp capacity will be the forthcoming Arena PvP feature.