If your redirect is: 'We are building challenge rifts for ultra competitive people, we aren't focused on improving the top 50 situation right now'; what kind of signaling was the original blog post meant to be?
I think that's where the confusion comes in for me. I understand there are lots of different groups of players in the game now and this might not be targeted to me, but I actively do great rifts and I have to exit at least three of ten when I am trying to improve my gem levels or finish season goals due to random elements. From your title and the content matter, I would think this would be targeted to me.
From reading the blog post, I agree with a lot of the points, but it's all information I knew. If anything, reading it without reading the surrounding comments would frustrate me because the only real take away is just confirmation that challenge rifts are going to involve a complete fixed build and situation.
After reading your response here and more of the comments, I understand a minority of your players (those who want and are able to get top 50 spots on the ladder) would be mad about the current state of grifts. How much of that is because they are pushing the system beyond it's design constraints and how much is because there has to be some sort of barrier to make it hard to hit top 50?
I'm personally annoyed I don't have a cancel button in the grift so if I run into a really bad one I can't punch out and remake and get back to the fun without a wait. Also frustrating is that you did improve the level density and a few other things this patch, but then I just have to punch out of random grifts when I run into teleporter juggernaut arcane physical damage enemies that I can't get away from in certain classes (hammerdin) or a whole level with 5+ juggernaut attaches.
I understand this community has unrealistic expectations. It makes me crazy to read and watch some of the fan produced content because it seems like every time either side tries to engage the other it just degrades quickly mostly due to that exact issue.
That said, I think that it would make me personally happier with the situation if you talked more about what groups you were addressing more in communication to the playerbase. I don't think there's any big sin in saying "This is not for everyone". If you look at signaling out of other similar companies like the magic division of wizards of the coast, they aren't afraid to say it when they need to say it.
As a player, understanding that a change was made to address the needs of another player group might still frustrate me, but it frustrates me less than a change made with no clear communication about why a change is being made.
I understand that there is a lot of information that can't be shared and that controlling how players experience changes and information is vital to your continuing operations. I am just saying that from a player perspective putting this stuff into context and understanding the groups involved helps me to understand what is happening and have a better conversation and experience.
I worry that if we were to put the context of "this isn't for everyone" whenever we communicate, that would be a template necessity for literally everything we say. We have a huge variety of players when it comes to interest, activities, and level of involvement in the game. Simply put, everything is always not going to be for everyone.
That said, I think some of the frustration lies from separate problems that, at a glance, look to be from the same cause. Rift Fishing isn't the whole cause of a problem. For example, one of your grievances is how Juggernaut currently makes it feel as though you, as a Hammersader, have to skip the rift. Hammersaders aren't the only ones who run into this frustration, which points more to a concern with Juggernaut and its interaction with on-CC mechanics than to an underlying problem with Greater Rifts.
We're looking at certain on-CC effects, and those changes haven't hit PTR yet. But that's a different communication I've already expressed over on the PTR Feedback forum. :)
This reads like the last page of a poorly written seminar paper by a student who started several hours before handin.
No new information is shared
The actual situation is not reflected correctly (~1k keys for a serious Top3 push placing).
Why are players fishing at all?
What do we (the devs) define as fishing? Where is the line?
Where do we (the devs) draw the line between good fishing and bad fishing ?
What are the actions we (the devs) have discussed so far but haven't brought to the PTR yet?
Why did we (the devs) NOT follow through with any generic community-idea action yet or tested it?
...
In total: This a post for the sake of generating content. There is no discussion held nor is rift fishing properly reflected and explained.
This post gives me "no insight". On the contrary: After reading this I believe the writer has no awareness for the state of fishing in the game .
The term "fishing" sort of has two meanings, or really, can come from two different sources.
Immediately leaving a rift because it's not possible to complete
Immediately leaving a rift because it's not the most efficient option for your build
The former is the one we are most concerned with fixing. If you enter a rift and you immediately know there's no point in continuing, that's not a good experience. Regardless of your level of investment of the game, it's a crummy situation.
The latter is one that, at a certain, very high tier of play, is unavoidable. Greater Rifts were designed from the beginning to offer variance in play, from the monsters you encounter, to what tile sets you explore, to what buffs you might get via Pylons. In an ideal world (and in the large majority of player experiences), those elements create an experience where skill and adaptability are an important component to successfully completing the rift.
We do want to make sure that we smooth out the experience overall, but for the most invested players who are trying to eke out every small advantage, this is an inevitability. I know we've brought it up before, but that's why we're also working on developing Challenge Rifts - for the folks who want a different experience: a completely level playing field where they can compete without changing factors and everyone has the same tools to solve the same puzzle.
Nevalistis
I worry that if we were to put the context of "this isn't for everyone" whenever we communicate, that would be a template necessity for literally everything we say. We have a huge variety of players when it comes to interest, activities, and level of involvement in the game. Simply put, everything is always not going to be for everyone.
That said, I think some of the frustration lies from separate problems that, at a glance, look to be from the same cause. Rift Fishing isn't the whole cause of a problem. For example, one of your grievances is how Juggernaut currently makes it feel as though you, as a Hammersader, have to skip the rift. Hammersaders aren't the only ones who run into this frustration, which points more to a concern with Juggernaut and its interaction with on-CC mechanics than to an underlying problem with Greater Rifts.
We're looking at certain on-CC effects, and those changes haven't hit PTR yet. But that's a different communication I've already expressed over on the PTR Feedback forum. :)
Nevalistis
The term "fishing" sort of has two meanings, or really, can come from two different sources.
The former is the one we are most concerned with fixing. If you enter a rift and you immediately know there's no point in continuing, that's not a good experience. Regardless of your level of investment of the game, it's a crummy situation.
The latter is one that, at a certain, very high tier of play, is unavoidable. Greater Rifts were designed from the beginning to offer variance in play, from the monsters you encounter, to what tile sets you explore, to what buffs you might get via Pylons. In an ideal world (and in the large majority of player experiences), those elements create an experience where skill and adaptability are an important component to successfully completing the rift.
We do want to make sure that we smooth out the experience overall, but for the most invested players who are trying to eke out every small advantage, this is an inevitability. I know we've brought it up before, but that's why we're also working on developing Challenge Rifts - for the folks who want a different experience: a completely level playing field where they can compete without changing factors and everyone has the same tools to solve the same puzzle.