#1 - Feb. 1, 2017, 12:59 p.m.
This is simply stat boosting / power creep, but not in a way that creatively changes, enhances, or benefits game-play. This current design philosophy seems to be stagnating the growth of the game by ultimately keeping game-play the same. It needs to be changed.
Primal Ancients only extend the same game-play temporarily (as Ancients did). Instead of slowly leveling past Greater Rift X, you will now slowly level past Greater Rift XX dependent on your ability to acquire Primal Ancients.
You aren't doing anything new. You aren't given any new options in which to build your character. It's just bigger stats. Bigger numbers.
The greater issue is with the design choice to have infinite scaling for characters (Paragon) and content (Greater Rifts). Eventually, the Greater Rifts will again be statistically tedious and unrealistic to overcome. The solution is NOT to introduce a new tier of stat increases -- that's only a temporary address.
The idea is not to increase the time it takes to reach the soft cap of statistics, but to better the experience of getting to and playing within the soft cap.
A moderate compromise would be to introduce items that infinitely scale to some degree. Which, in and of itself, is a slippery slope that can lead to negating the quality and importance of all other items -- ultimately leading us back to the same problem with stat boosting. Augmenting using Legendary Gems does this to some extent, but the idea of leveling the gem first enhances game-play.
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To me, the obvious solution would be to introduce loot that affects game-play outside of statistics. The new tier wouldn't necessarily have to be "better" than the Legendary / Ancient tier of items. Just equivalent in some way or to some degree.
For example;
- What if Primals were items with 2 main stats and 4 secondary stats with their own unique Legendary powers? Now you have an entire item tier that changes how players approach creating characters around secondary effects if they want to utilize new powers.
- What if Primals were items that enhanced Passive abilities, like how Legendary items enhance Skills?
- What if Primals exclusively gave characters skills/passives they wouldn't have normally? Like giving a Demon Hunter Sweeping Wind or Juggernaut.
- What if Primals had their own exclusive and unique Main and Secondary affixes and stats?
- What if Primals gave you powerful unique bonuses; but gave enemies around you a unique or special buff?
All of these would change how players approach character building while providing better changes than simple stat boosting.
Another way to look at it is this. Assume the "cap" is Greater Rift 100. How do you introduce changes to itemization and new content that allow players to have fun and a different experience within that cap? Changing the numbers under the hood is not an answer.
tldr: stat boosting =/= new content or new game-play. please introduce new content or new game-play. Please address current design philosophy.