I believe this is a fair and expected limitation to the system. I don’t believe another shard would be required, it would still be a better optional experience than currently available.
I honestly believe it would be more widely used than that, but even so, since it is using an existing mechanic, I believe the level of effort is much below any reasonable expectation of interest.
They currently already scale for multiple people. If I am 30 and my friend 15, we can fight the same mob scaled for each other. My suggestion is only that I can tell the system that I am 30+X. Others would be unaffected. Perhaps another angle to this is that a party leader could set this for the group, optionally.
They could give people the option of a debuff like a bell you could ring that makes you take more damage and gives the mobs more hp I guess as an option.
I hereby call this bell the Heroic Adventurer bell.
An interesting idea, one that I could potentially accept, however I think the option of increasing your perceived level (scaling sees you as your current level plus Y extra levels) gives you a greater amount of flexibility for a similar level of effort on Blizzards part.
To better illustrate my point - the debuff would be static, let’s say take 2x more damage and enemies have 2x more health. This might be right for some but not others. Whereas the scaling version allows me to add plus 2 levels and you to add plus 5 levels, giving us both a more tailored difficulty.
I mean being about 3 to 5 levels below if scaling were adjusted like that might make it much harder as I think the game still has a greater chance to crit you, and perhaps for you to miss them.
Or you could ALSO eat the rice of great pains and be crit more and miss more often on top of the debuff. Perhaps even the tea of a thousand misfits would even add a few affixes you had to dodge while leveling also.
Splitting would not be necessary. Scaling is already done by WoW. If I’m level 30 and you are level 15, we can fight the same mob scaled to both of us. I’m asking for the ability for it to consider me 30 + X levels, this would not effect your experience fighting that mob.
Perhaps a compromise could be “Easy (+0), Medium (+1), Hard (+2), Custom (+X)”
What you can’t do, though, is reduce your class level and more specifically, the class level imbalance between a high level 70 and an open world 35.
L35 mobs are simply no threat to a high level character. They can’t hit you, their spells miss. You can just stand there naked as they madly swing at you.
Meanwhile, when you reach out to them, not only will you hit them, you’ll crit them. Plus you simply get a “bonus” power by being higher level. An open fist at 70 hits REALLY HARD on an L35.
The reason that they don’t do this is they know as well as anyone that there’s exploits lurking in that system somewhere. They don’t know where, but they exists, and people will find them. It’ll just be a mess.
The best thing that can be done is simply level a toon to an appropriate level, and freeze their XP. Even then that’s very difficult to do right because of scaling.
Better would be to run over to Classic, where all of those mechanics still exist.
And I don’t say that flippantly, that’s what Classic is for. For that kind of experience vs what retail has to offer. Where you’re beating up mobs in Tirisfal Glades at L10 and go “whats over here” and wander into WPL to get clobbered by level 40-45 mobs that aggro from across the zone. (DAMHIK)
Only way I can endorse this is if it is like Outriders/D4 where you can turn up or down the world tier difficulty. I hate scaling normally and like to actually feel like I am stronger than my enemies on the rare occasion it happens.
Good. We had 2 years fighting them when they were current. If people want to go back and pick up whatever transmogs / toys / mounts / etc. they missed, they want to do it as quickly as possible.
I know what you’re asking for is optional, but the fact of the matter is that every time Blizzard has attempted to make the open world more “dangerous,” people get really annoyed. The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of players want nothing to do with any kind of content that is even remotely challenging in any capacity.
So why would they waste development resources on allowing you to make the world more individually challenging when practically no one would use it.
I believe the following are key to why this is worth doing:
Minimal effort, scaling system already exists. Just need a manual lever for a system that already works.
No negative effects to anyone who doesn’t want to use it.
No potential for abuse/exploitation.
Make or break for a possibly small, but not insignificant number of players. Actual number of players is hard to say due to the idea of a loud minority.
But it would do yours. Tell me you wouldn’t be annoyed every single time some bloke on easy comes and globals down your target that’s meant to be a challenge to you.
As I’m adventuring through various story threads I haven’t seen throughout old content, this would likely be relatively rare. Regardless of rarity though, I would still at the very least sometimes have interesting fights. The alternative is 100% of my fights being too easy.
Nowhere in the OP suggestion was implied that choosing hard would reward more.
Sure in old content, like I said the zones are already empty, no chance in seeing another soul in stonetalon mountains. But challenge isn’t meant to stay in old content. You would definitely have that issue in the most recent patch.