Recently, I had been running GR100 with public players, and it took our party to cleared it around 5:30 minutes on average and I can clear GR100 on my own at 4:30 minutes on average.
If it is not because of 30% EXP bonus for the group, I don’t even know why am I even bother to play public GR100 with others. Your suggestion will outright made me ignore the public GR100 for good because this will be the most efficient way to level.
You need to understand that not everyone has a dedicated team/friends that actually communicate on skype/voice chat when it comes to running GR.
And there’s the rub, those dedicated groups are capable of getting 80-120% more XP (total, after including the higher levels of GRs and bonus XP) for the same amount of time playing that solo players get (and groups of non meta players).
How do you balance it so that those dedicated group players do not end the season with double the XP that other players get with the same amount of time spent playing?
you remove “Strength in numbers” and equalize XP for solo and group rifts. This is a common, over-arching theme on the forums, but Blizzard is surprisingly reluctant on doing the simple thing of removing Strength in Numbers.
Group play is already more rewarding. You may do a lot harder content with more rewards. Unfortunately, Strength and numbers then double-dips on this by further increasing the XP.
If you’re point is you can do it solo faster than a group, I’m sorry, that’s not much of a argument. It sounds like you had a bad GR group. A group should easily clear GR 100 in less than four minutes, sometimes in less than two (!) minutes.
My point is if there is no group bonus, there is literally no reason why should I play public GR when I can clear GR100 faster and more efficiently on my own. Group XP is the reason why people or I even bothered to play public GR with randoms.
The reason to play in groups is one of the following: #1 You enjoy playing in a group. #2 You can accomplish more as a group than you can as an individual.
Groups that are accomplishing less as a group rather than as individuals, quite simply, should NOT be rewarded for it!
I’m not really sure why you want to encourage people to play Public Rifts, they are horrible, what with all the being kicked for not having enough paragon, or playing the right meta class or spending 20+ minutes figuring out who is going to play what class/role, etc. finally starting to run rifts and then someone has to go… They are a complete waste of time. Just play in groups with friends. If your goal is to encourage Public Rifts, then remove the 30% group XP bonus and add a 30% Public Rift XP bonus, but even that is not worth the hassle.
But really, when people are talking about the XP difference for Solo vs Group play we are not talking about people playing Public Rifts, they are talking about people that grind out 3000-5000 paragon in a season. These people grind efficiently and the Group Players are getting almost double the XP of Solo players in a season with the same number of hours spent. There is nor REAL reason for this, it is an arbitrary decision and an artificial bonus. They could easily decided to shrink this bonus or remove it entirely and even the playing field. Many of the changes needed to alter this balance are super simple requiring very little dev time, like changing the XP bonus, changing the increased HP for the monsters per player in the game, etc.
And those groups that is speed running is not doing public GR. Know the difference.
In case you don’t realize it, group XP is the reason why public GR is even a thing. Without group XP, the whole thing will became something like either you play alone or you get a dedicated party to play.
And that is why most of the D3 players at the D3 Classic doesn’t even bothered with public play because partying was not rewarding unless 4 of the players were optimized and at peak, which is difficult for majority to pull off in D3 Classic.
Yet Public GR is still the most played mode in D3 whether you like it or not. Public GR is for those who don’t have dedicated party or friends to play together. It is not that hard to see why public game exist and why Blizzard (NOT ME) is pushing it hard.
Working as intended because group is clearing higher GR level than solo player did.
Even without the 30% group EXP, group that clearing GR110 will still stomping out solo who clearing GR110.
Here is the chart of GR100 and GR110:
Do you see the EXP difference between GR100 and GR110? It is huge, and I assume that difference between GR110 and GR120 will be even bigger and even bigger in GR130 and so on.
Sorry, but at this point, the only way for solo to beat group is delete group play entirely. That is the only solution. Even if Blizzard capped GR at 100, competent group play will still beat solo player in the same GR run easily just as the poster below illustrated:
If the solo player need 4 minutes to clear GR100, it means that the solo player can maximize the 15 GR100 run in one hour. (15 runs x 4 minutes = 60 minutes) which will yield him 571,592,540,160 EXP for closing the GR100.
and if the competent group play can clear GR100 at 2 minutes, it mean their maximum GR100 run will be 30 runs (2 minutes x 30 runs = 60 minutes) in one hour which easily resulting 1,143,185,080,320 for closing GR100.
and I haven’t included the monsters that they slayed in the GR100, and the group XP.
Let’s see how many people can consistently clear GR 150s solo, versus GR 150s in groups.
You’ve admitted doing GR 100s are twice as much XP, and that’s just a lowly GR 100. People speed 120s. Which is probably ~ 2x-3x more XP per run (?) If a group can do 120s twice as fast as you can solo, they will receive at least ~4x your experience. It may be even higher, in addition to being easier.
Your arguments are, frankly, getting more and more desperate and ridiculous. Either way, I’m over it. Play the way you want too. Just be aware there is a HUGE xp gap between solo and group play.
What does it have to do with my point that group XP is the reason why people playing public GR?
I always acknowledge that group easily surpassing solo when it comes to leveling, with or without group XP. Since when I said otherwise?
How is my argument is desperate and ridiculous again? All I am saying that group XP is the reason why people still playing public GR despite inefficiency and unoptimized party. If you removed group XP, then everyone will either be playing solo or get a dedicated party to play.
As far as I know, no one is asking for solo players to be better than group players, that doesn’t even make sense!
The topic that is being debated is how much group play should be rewarded. Is the current ~100% XP bonus that groups currently enjoy the right number? Many people are arguing that it is too much. (Personally, I would like to see this dropped down to about 30%.)
Blizzard already recognizes that group play is more efficient than solo and purposely increased the health of monsters in multiplayer games to nerf them so that they are not too far ahead of solo players. Given the power creep since then and the fact that 4 man squads are easily clearing 150s, perhaps it’s time for another boost to monster health in multiplayer games? (This would effectively reduce the XP gap between solo players and group players.)
And I simply tell you even if the group is contesting with a solo player in the same GR level, the solo will still lose. It will be boiled down to how many GR can solo and group per hour in the end. Group play can easily double the solo in terms of earning EXP.
You can remove the 30% group bonus, and solo still won’t or can’t beat group play just as my previous example showed to you.
Are you sure? The group will just be farming at the GR level where they can kill things faster and at the same time, it gives decent exp.
GR100 = 38,106,169,344
GR90 = 23,393,882,112
So if they can’t clear GR100 within 2 minutes due to monster health increment as you proposed, they will just pick GR90 for an example, which has 170% lesser HP if I not mistaken than GR100, and able to clear it in 1:30 minute per run, they will still able to earn 935,755,284,480 exp within an hour (40 runs x 1.5 per minute) which easily surpasses solo player who cleared GR100 at 4 minute for 571,592,540,160 EXP aka 30 runs.
So what’s next? Keep increasing monster HP further to the point that group play is no longer efficient? At that point, might as well suggesting that the monster gain a 500% damage bonus in the group play, because why not?
Yeah, making monster HP effectively higher in 4man than solo, would help a lot.
Monsters having 5-600% more HP in 4man than solo would likely be quite reasonable. Groups would still be ahead.
Of course, rather than increasing monster HP in 4man groups, an easier solution (some people would whine less) likely would be to lower monster HP solo (and in 2man, 3man groups).
Monsters currently have 400% more HP in 4man than solo. Lower monster HP in solo by 33%, and this would be accomplished. Blizzard already did it once before.
That really wouldn’t accomplish very much, I don’t think. Unless Unity was divided four ways instead of two. You might be able to sneak in something like Oculus on Enchantress, Justice Lantern on Templar, respectively. and maybe even sneak in a wyrmward or something.
Getting all 3 followers is just filling the screen up with more clutter.
Instead, buff the followers with new items, so they benefit you more. More items like Oculus. And let all the follower item legendaries make the followers immortal.
