Make bosses unable to be skipped in Flashpoints

[LurtzOfIsengard]

It sucks to be new to level 50 and que up for a Hard Mode Flashpoint and to ALWAYS be with a group trying to get the Flashpoint don't as fast as they can. Half, and in some case, more than half the boss fights can be skipped in most of the Flashpoints, making it really difficult to get gear out of them.

[Trollokdamus]

I support this. Due to a poor flashpoint design, which allows players to skip certain bosses, many have no other choice but to partially skip the content they wanted to do.

[Kynesis]

Creating so many encounters that we can bypass by simply walking past (let-alone stealthing or cc'ing) is a really strange design.

I can see how it challenges less proficient players, it certainly creates a dynamic that requires some skill and fairly reasonably penalises clumsiness but it's also rather unfulfilling.

 

Without knowing exactly why BW has chosen this route though it's difficult to propose a viable alternative, anything we suggest might just walk straight into the problem they're trying to avoid.

 

With that in mind...

Given that we can skip so much though, I'd like to see encounters loosened up - allow them to move around the area (instance or open world) more naturally (organically), place static NPC's in places where it makes sense for them to be static (eg people manning consoles and offices).

To the best of my knowledge, regular packs & mobs aren't set to move around because of the extra requirements and potential problems of pathing (and overly-carefully balanced challenge) but it really does make for sterile environments.

 

Where boss fights are concerned, we really need to explore the purpose of the encounter to figure out whether or not it should be mandatory to advance. Where they're optional, I'd suggest is a golden opportunity to work into "choices have consequences" scenarios.

On the surface this obviously means more work but there's an awful lot of 'empty' or filler dialogue in TOR whose value as a choice is incredibly minimal (the kind of stuff that even the most dedicated people eventually end up desperately wanting to spacebar past); just randomise and automate those 'low value' conversations or better yet, don't force players to cut-scenes unless there's real value in it. There are other (non-invasive) ways of adding character and dialogue (including voiceover) that doesn't break the flow of the game. Breaking the flow of a game is what people most object to about cut scenes (of all kinds).

Whether you appreciate the fact or not, these dialogues are encounters as well and need to be treated in the same way that you fashion other encounters (i.e. with the same stages that a story must progress through).

 

Encounters should add to the narrative, boss encounters are either tipping points, reveals, 2nd act twists or finale.

Likewise, challenges need to have context (ultimately, every encounter is a challenge of one kind or another).

 

Purely optional bosses are generally purposed for being extra challenging (with appropriate item rewards). I'd like to see extra challenging encounters used as an optional way of completing a Flashpoint in fewer steps.

 

Sometimes purely optional, technical fights are absolutely fine to plug in for the sake of being an optional, technical encounter. A significant portion of MMO's & RPG's is a fascination with technical details - boss fights in Operations (and Raids) are all about the technical side of things; which incidentally is why we need technical feedback during Operations.

 

(Having said that, it would be nice if Flashpoints, world story arcs and quests had a clearer relation to Operations).

 

... of course, there's a lot of 'should' in all that which is offset by the real world where I appreciate that stuff just needs to ship, asap; if not sooner.

[SithLordaeron]

I wrote a post addressing this exact issue here Nightmare Flashpoints and Reward System which in a nutshell suggests awarding commendations for downing bosses rather than getting to the end as quickly as possible. I also suggest randomizing loot tables and a third tier of flashpoints. I suggest a bonus commendation available each day for downing a "bonus" boss which is content that many players have completely missed out on. Read that post to see if you think such a system would work or need to be tweaked.