City Of Heroes: Positron on the Test Server Mission Difficulty Slider

Ok, a lot of people have asked this question, so I think it's fair of me to answer it.

The PRIMARY reason this doesn't exist is content. We simply don't have enough yet.

You see, if you make your missions easier, then you would get less XP for them... less XP for defeating villains and less XP for mission completion. This means that you would run out of missions even earlier than you do now in some levels.

Our goal is for you never to run out of missions or things to do... "street hunting" should be an absolute last resort... not just something you have to do from 34 to get new missions at 35. We know what areas we are lacking in, and are constantly making more content for those levels so that enough "stuff" exists so you don't have to resort to street sweeping, or dare I say it... powerlevelling... to get over a hump.

The Hollows was an attempt to make levels 5 to 14 have "too much" stuff to do. Striga Isle tries to make 20 to 29 overflow with content. Every Expansion we look at our content "holes" and try to fill them where the majority of our playerbase seems to be.

The other, lesser, reason is that CoH has been balanced to play a specific way for the majority of our players. We want them to have a challenge every time they go out, have to think and plan sometimes to finish a difficult mission. Some builds, obviously, see even these difficult missions to be a cake walk... which is why we give them the ability to make things harder for themselves. If we gave everyone of the players the ability to make the game easier, then that will become the default mode of play for the majority of our players. A lot will not even realize that this is why 'the game is too easy' for them or that it is the reason that they are forced to street-sweep for 3 levels just to get to the next set of missions.

Now I will answer another query the forums have had... why isn't it a slider as you choose your mission?

Statesman and I try very hard to incorporate "technical" things right into the storylines of City of Heroes. Everything from the Contacts instead of Mission Terminals, Origin-flavored Enhancements, Origin-typed stroes (and the high level ones which have their own backgrounds and missions), Icon tailor (with its costume slot opening mission), and future Epic Archetypes (unlocked upon Task Force completion, not just reaching a specific level).

You see, we try to incorporate things into the greater story that is CoH. Why is it Hero Corp and not Freedom Corp that adjusts your difficulty? Well, lets just say that there is actually a reason for that. We want to make it feel like you are actually exisiting in this world, as opposed to sliding a bar to the right or left when you choose a mission.

Click here for the thread itself.