Challenge Rifts: Timed GR run where everyone has the same hero, same build, same dungeon layout, same monsters, same pylons Will be updated frequently. Content comes from Rifts run by regular players. You can use them to have a look at builds you don't know yet. Competing will require you to learn both, the build and the layout. There will be Leaderboards for them. You'll be rewarded if you beat the original player's time on the Rift, most likely with Bounty Bags for your own character. When entering in multiplayer, all the players will be using the exact same character.
PS: the activity of fishing for Pylons has ended, because pylons are dynamically introduced into the Greater Rift maps as you progress through them, and now every type of pylon spawns in every greater rift at roughly equal intervals, where the only real randomization is what type it's going to be when it spawns. But almost always there will be a Conduit or Power, sometimes Channeling at the Rift Guardian, and after he spawns, no further Pylons will. You could spend the rest of your time in the Rift searching it, and you won't find another one.
Well I think the ladder could still benefit from showing it next to the rift completing time so players that go the extra mile for a challenge can show it off.
I also added something else I thought about a while ago:
PS: Small and cool change: Add the type and amount of pylons used in a grift to the leaderboards UI you people that enjoy an extra challenge or want to be extra competitive can compete in grifts without using pylons and can proof it. This is of course independent from my challenge mode idea.
Wow I never really thought I get any response in here. Glad that you guys took the time to read it! I posted it on the PTR forums over here http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/18300625307#1 maybe someone likes it.
So the whole goal of bringing Greater Rifts to Diablo 3 was to offer a higher difficulty for those that are steamrolling through T6 and want a bigger challenge AND offer some sort competitive gameplay including leaderboards.
What we got was just more RNG on top of RNG on top of RNG and frustration.
If you watch popular streamers do greater rifts, all you see if them trying to get a) good mobs a good Rift c) good pylons d) a good guardian. How is this competitive if everything about is just random luck instead of rewarding perfect execution?
I propose a new mode for Diablo 3: Challenge Modes
Challenge modes are a fixed set of maps, that are 100% identical, nothing about them is randomly generated and every group that runs them gets the exact same mobs, pylons and guardians.
Let’s make up a Challenge Mode map so I can better explain how and why this is better than Greater Rifts for Leaderboards.
Hellfire Citadel (yeah I’m creative, I know)
You and your friends are storming a castle
All Mobs are themed the same way, in this case it’s Act-4 styled mobs (yuk, I know!)
Even the affixes of the groups are not random generated and can be made to fit the current theme of the floor, think something like a arcane laser labyrinth floor.
Each floor can (but does not have to) have some sort of mini event that gives you an advantage when you complete it in time. Like reaching the warden’s cell before he closes the gates let’s you skip the longer way you’d have to take if you fail to reach the goal. (Thought-curve: Having 2 Demon Hunters here could give you an advantage to beat the DPS requirement, but does it give you a better time overall if you have more “squishy” classes in a later floor?)
You get a pylon each time you reach a certain floor of the castle, it is always the same order and always the same place. Let’s say at the start (cellar, whatever) you get a speed pylon, then at the third floor a Power Pylon and so on.
At the pinnacle of the castle you have to face the final boss, let’s say it’s Diablo here.
After the defeating the boss your team gets rated and a place on the scoreboard, there are ratings for speed and execution (least deaths, number of used pylons?).
Loot is given at the end from a chest you unlock by beating the last boss (or drops from the boss itself; can be different in each map etc).
Loot amount (shards, legendaries etc) is generated based on how you do (speed, execution again).
What this gives us is a way to rank players in a way that does revolve around player skill and group play only.
There will always be a class that is better than another at dungeon-X, floor-Y but you can’t build your whole group around just that. So clever gameplay will be rewarded more than playing the flavour of the month/season class. Challenges inside of the dungeons can be build around that fact, like not being CC able in some cases so not every group with an zDPS CC Witch Doctor has an easy life throughout the whole thing but maybe on floor-X where it sure helps them out but gives them a disadvantage on the other floors because CC does not work there.
This could of course be expanded on with a lot of different ways on how to build those dungeons. For example some could be separated into wings and completing a wing already gives you loot and saves your progress there so you can continue here. You of course want to avoid a situation where people can just farm Hellfire Citadel - Part 2 (the kitchen!) all the time because it is the easiest and gives fast loot.
This could also be seen as finally having some sort of proper PvP in the form of PvPvE in Diablo 3. Would also make quite a good stream/Blizzcon show, watching teams compete in Challenge Modes. Learning how to beat certain stages/groups the best and so on.
Seasons are also the best possible way to introduce new Challenge Modes and iterate on the old ones, fixing bugs and exploits along the way to make them better and fun to re-play.
You could also introduce cosmetical rewards from beating certain dungeons, like a banner when you beat Hellfire Citadel, or a pet when you reach a certain progression stage on a different one.
As you can see, this has endless possibilities and I’d really love to hear what other people think about it.
0
Kinda happy that this is happening now, but maybe too late?
0
Source: http://www.diablofans.com/news/48841-blizzcon-2016-day-2-live-updates
Yay?!
1
The patch is on the CDN, ready to be datamined, so I'd say tomorrow is a safe bet.
0
Okay so, in 2.4 we get Set Dungeons, I like!
0
Still looking for more feedback!
0
Well I think the ladder could still benefit from showing it next to the rift completing time so players that go the extra mile for a challenge can show it off.
0
I also added something else I thought about a while ago:
PS: Small and cool change: Add the type and amount of pylons used in a grift to the leaderboards UI you people that enjoy an extra challenge or want to be extra competitive can compete in grifts without using pylons and can proof it. This is of course independent from my challenge mode idea.
0
Wow I never really thought I get any response in here. Glad that you guys took the time to read it! I posted it on the PTR forums over here http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/18300625307#1 maybe someone likes it.
0
bump
10
So the whole goal of bringing Greater Rifts to Diablo 3 was to offer a higher difficulty for those that are steamrolling through T6 and want a bigger challenge AND offer some sort competitive gameplay including leaderboards.
What we got was just more RNG on top of RNG on top of RNG and frustration.
If you watch popular streamers do greater rifts, all you see if them trying to get a) good mobs
a good Rift c) good pylons d) a good guardian. How is this competitive if everything about is just random luck instead of rewarding perfect execution?
I propose a new mode for Diablo 3: Challenge Modes
Challenge modes are a fixed set of maps, that are 100% identical, nothing about them is randomly generated and every group that runs them gets the exact same mobs, pylons and guardians.
Let’s make up a Challenge Mode map so I can better explain how and why this is better than Greater Rifts for Leaderboards.
Hellfire Citadel (yeah I’m creative, I know)
What this gives us is a way to rank players in a way that does revolve around player skill and group play only.
There will always be a class that is better than another at dungeon-X, floor-Y but you can’t build your whole group around just that. So clever gameplay will be rewarded more than playing the flavour of the month/season class. Challenges inside of the dungeons can be build around that fact, like not being CC able in some cases so not every group with an zDPS CC Witch Doctor has an easy life throughout the whole thing but maybe on floor-X where it sure helps them out but gives them a disadvantage on the other floors because CC does not work there.
This could of course be expanded on with a lot of different ways on how to build those dungeons. For example some could be separated into wings and completing a wing already gives you loot and saves your progress there so you can continue here. You of course want to avoid a situation where people can just farm Hellfire Citadel - Part 2 (the kitchen!) all the time because it is the easiest and gives fast loot.
This could also be seen as finally having some sort of proper PvP in the form of PvPvE in Diablo 3. Would also make quite a good stream/Blizzcon show, watching teams compete in Challenge Modes. Learning how to beat certain stages/groups the best and so on.
Seasons are also the best possible way to introduce new Challenge Modes and iterate on the old ones, fixing bugs and exploits along the way to make them better and fun to re-play.
You could also introduce cosmetical rewards from beating certain dungeons, like a banner when you beat Hellfire Citadel, or a pet when you reach a certain progression stage on a different one.
As you can see, this has endless possibilities and I’d really love to hear what other people think about it.
best regards
Stanzilla