If there were checkpoints in PoE, I'd be 100% with you. But between people dropping out, network issues causing people to leave, etc... there are too many things stacked against a super difficult encounter that takes place 1-2 hours in to a mission for me to want to risk it.

Again, I'm fine with super-difficult. It's just that PoE doesn't present these challenges in a way that respects the players time, as of yet.

I read a suggestion somewhere, maybe here, that the PoE rounds should work like the Trials rewards, in the each round should ramp them up until they are great by the end. This way, you can allow checkpoints but still incentivize people to play the whole thing.

That would be cool. I imagined something similar to how the Raids work; drops after each major encounter (or each Round, in PoE terms) with the best possible drops coming at the end.

At the end? The best possible drop comes at the Templar on hard mode :-p

Well yes, but there was a time when the Mythoclast might have had it beat... plus the chance at other exotics :)

If there were checkpoints in PoE, I'd be 100% with you. But between people dropping out, network issues causing people to leave, etc... there are too many things stacked against a super difficult encounter that takes place 1-2 hours in to a mission for me to want to risk it.

Again, I'm fine with super-difficult. It's just that PoE doesn't present these challenges in a way that respects the players time, as of yet.

I read a suggestion somewhere, maybe here, that the PoE rounds should work like the Trials rewards, in the each round should ramp them up until they are great by the end. This way, you can allow checkpoints but still incentivize people to play the whole thing.

That would be cool. I imagined something similar to how the Raids work; drops after each major encounter (or each Round, in PoE terms) with the best possible drops coming at the end.

At the end? The best possible drop comes at the Templar on hard mode :-p

If there were checkpoints in PoE, I'd be 100% with you. But between people dropping out, network issues causing people to leave, etc... there are too many things stacked against a super difficult encounter that takes place 1-2 hours in to a mission for me to want to risk it.

Again, I'm fine with super-difficult. It's just that PoE doesn't present these challenges in a way that respects the players time, as of yet.

I read a suggestion somewhere, maybe here, that the PoE rounds should work like the Trials rewards, in the each round should ramp them up until they are great by the end. This way, you can allow checkpoints but still incentivize people to play the whole thing.

I bet the reason Bungie abstained from adding checkpoints to PoE is to prevent people from sharing a checkpoint for the final encounter in order to bypass the fun for the loot.

I wonder why they didn't just require passing all stages in order to get the final loot. If giving the player feedback on if they've passed all stages is a problem then a solution could be something like a Trials Passage ticket, only without the losses.

EDIT: (formatting) I should clarify, in my proposal you would only be able to open the chests at the end if you have passed all stages, not have ramping up rewards like the ToO.

I was LFG with a 33 and 34 and we were always one containment away from wiping during the entire battle. It was very intense, and once we got momentum and got the boss to 1/2 health, 1/3, 1/4, almost, the pressure kept building to stay alive. I'm really glad I got to experience that way the first time through, I'd compare it to the first time beating a Raid boss in terms of challenge and satisfaction.

Maybe I could find that level of difficulty "fun" as a 34, where at least the damage is level, but as a 33 it was the absolute definition of POINTLESS FRUSTRATION. I'm glad Bungle adjusted the fight to be a bit more fair. This is a game, games should be fun, not headache-sources.

Our 33 was a trooper. He was dying constantly, but we designated him and I to damage the boss while the other 34 focused on getting the buff. He definitely would have had a better time at 34, but did pull weight and was Last Guardian Standing a couple times, saving us with the revive.

If there were checkpoints in PoE, I'd be 100% with you. But between people dropping out, network issues causing people to leave, etc... there are too many things stacked against a super difficult encounter that takes place 1-2 hours in to a mission for me to want to risk it.

Again, I'm fine with super-difficult. It's just that PoE doesn't present these challenges in a way that respects the players time, as of yet.

I read a suggestion somewhere, maybe here, that the PoE rounds should work like the Trials rewards, in the each round should ramp them up until they are great by the end. This way, you can allow checkpoints but still incentivize people to play the whole thing.

That would be cool. I imagined something similar to how the Raids work; drops after each major encounter (or each Round, in PoE terms) with the best possible drops coming at the end.

Both times I tried to do Quodron on 34, my fireteam ended up short handed because of people giving up and quitting. With no checkpoints or any way to come back and pick up where we left off, it becomes a wasted run. I stopped trying not because I don't like a challenge, but because I was tired of taking the time to get that far, only to have my time wasted.

People dropping, only getting loot at end, no checkpoints... I'm with you that all of that sucks.

But cmon... the boss has only been out for a week! It should be hard! Once everyone learns the fight it would have been fine. Now it's going to be easy-breezy in a few weeks.

If there were checkpoints in PoE, I'd be 100% with you. But between people dropping out, network issues causing people to leave, etc... there are too many things stacked against a super difficult encounter that takes place 1-2 hours in to a mission for me to want to risk it.

Again, I'm fine with super-difficult. It's just that PoE doesn't present these challenges in a way that respects the players time, as of yet.

I read a suggestion somewhere, maybe here, that the PoE rounds should work like the Trials rewards, in the each round should ramp them up until they are great by the end. This way, you can allow checkpoints but still incentivize people to play the whole thing.

Both times I tried to do Quodron on 34, my fireteam ended up short handed because of people giving up and quitting. With no checkpoints or any way to come back and pick up where we left off, it becomes a wasted run. I stopped trying not because I don't like a challenge, but because I was tired of taking the time to get that far, only to have my time wasted.

People dropping, only getting loot at end, no checkpoints... I'm with you that all of that sucks.

But cmon... the boss has only been out for a week! It should be hard! Once everyone learns the fight it would have been fine. Now it's going to be easy-breezy in a few weeks.

If there were checkpoints in PoE, I'd be 100% with you. But between people dropping out, network issues causing people to leave, etc... there are too many things stacked against a super difficult encounter that takes place 1-2 hours in to a mission for me to want to risk it.

Again, I'm fine with super-difficult. It's just that PoE doesn't present these challenges in a way that respects the players time, as of yet.

Having done it both ways, I have to say the new version is better. We wiped so many times last week due to the Eye getting lost, hiding with Quodron on the stage, taking damage prior to being detained and dying before the jailbreak, etc. It was very inconsistent.

This week was better, even though I was 34 in a 32, in that the Eye was easier to find and get to without the hordes of hobgoblins getting you, and if you took a shot or two before being detained it wasn't a wipe.

It is one thing for a contest to test your skill, it is another to require the random movement of mobs to be perfect in addition to your own flawless play.

I disagree with just about everything you said.
- The eye didn't get lost; you didn't find it.
- Taking damage before getting detained is your problem.
- Random movement of mobs is predictable if your team is grouped together.

These are the mechanics of the fight. Kill mobs, kill eye, kill boss. That's the priority order (the eye should probably be first for one of you). Stay close-ish together so that the eye only gets pulled in one direction -- towards your team. Once you know this, it's fun.

Both times I tried to do Quodron on 34, my fireteam ended up short handed because of people giving up and quitting. With no checkpoints or any way to come back and pick up where we left off, it becomes a wasted run. I stopped trying not because I don't like a challenge, but because I was tired of taking the time to get that far, only to have my time wasted.

People dropping, only getting loot at end, no checkpoints... I'm with you that all of that sucks.

But cmon... the boss has only been out for a week! It should be hard! Once everyone learns the fight it would have been fine. Now it's going to be easy-breezy in a few weeks.

I was LFG with a 33 and 34 and we were always one containment away from wiping during the entire battle. It was very intense, and once we got momentum and got the boss to 1/2 health, 1/3, 1/4, almost, the pressure kept building to stay alive. I'm really glad I got to experience that way the first time through, I'd compare it to the first time beating a Raid boss in terms of challenge and satisfaction.

Maybe I could find that level of difficulty "fun" as a 34, where at least the damage is level, but as a 33 it was the absolute definition of POINTLESS FRUSTRATION. I'm glad Bungle adjusted the fight to be a bit more fair. This is a game, games should be fun, not headache-sources.

Overall- Super fun encounter!

Qodron was a real challenge last week at 34 pre-patch. This week we could break out of the detainment fields without even killing the eye. Swordbreakers and icebreakers did the trick.

I know it was frustrating last week, but after my team got the strategy down we handled him fairly easily. It was very satisfying to finally beat him. I agree that the teamwork required still makes it a great boss fight, but the lack of challenge makes it less rewarding to kill him.

I'd like to see what the Qodron fight is like at level 34 after the patch. On paper, it looks like they've found a nice balance.

I can certainly see why some liked the harder challenges though. :)

I know it was frustrating last week, but after my team got the strategy down we handled him fairly easily. It was very satisfying to finally beat him. I agree that the teamwork required still makes it a great boss fight, but the lack of challenge makes it less rewarding to kill him.

This week was better, even though I was 34 in a 32, in that the Eye was easier to find and get to without the hordes of hobgoblins getting you, and if you took a shot or two before being detained it wasn't a wipe.

It is one thing for a contest to test your skill, it is another to require the random movement of mobs to be perfect in addition to your own flawless play.

Does all PvE in this game have to be easy???

I think it should feel in-line with the rest of the challenge before it; slightly harder, not orders of magnitude.

Both times I tried to do Quodron on 34, my fireteam ended up short handed because of people giving up and quitting. With no checkpoints or any way to come back and pick up where we left off, it becomes a wasted run. I stopped trying not because I don't like a challenge, but because I was tired of taking the time to get that far, only to have my time wasted.