TOPIC: First time virtual, feedback

First I just want to say that I did have fun. But some things that would help for the next time...

I really really feel like difficulty should be a per character thing. Either that or games should not allow groups of varying level/gear to mix.

Me and 4 friends got grouped with a random guy who seemed to know every DM by name and had every item possible. He offered to share but we are too new to figure all that out on the spot. Cool guy, did his best to not spoil things for us, etc. Helped with items, helped with clues for the puzzles.

But because he was there we did way too hard a difficulty for our party. He could have soloed the difficulty we should have been playing on. As the Rogue, I hit once the entire dungeon. For 2 damage. And that was only after the DM dropped the DC to hit for us a little when he realized this.

It doesn't help that I'm frustrated because I hit like 2 times the entire first game I played at Pax West (Dwarven hurled insult was my only weapon) as well. Never once have I hit a sneak attack in either game, the entire combat focus of my class.

If the baddies need more HP to balance it, fine. But to hit DC's are too high if you are not playing with all the items in the world. Missing every single attack is extremely frustrating, much better to hit most of the time and just not get through it's HP and lose that way. This is why a lot of video games have all but discarded the idea of misses altogether. In my D&D campaign I DM, I take this approach of more hits, but also more HP to offset. Nobody likes missing.

Puzzles were surprisingly good though, some difficult, some not, but still fun though, especially the elements one. Thought it would be more of a pain dealing with the restrictions of the golem.

What difficulty were you playing on?

You could have asked for normal difficulty and that should have been made clear at the start. No one is required to play a difficulty harder than they'd like to play. I will assume the well-geared player convinced you to play hardcore or nightmare? That should not have happened and I hope you consider playing again in the future.

balthasar wrote: You could have asked for normal difficulty and that should have been made clear at the start. No one is required to play a difficulty harder than they'd like to play. I will assume the well-geared player convinced you to play hardcore or nightmare? That should not have happened and I hope you consider playing again in the future.

In addition, we as more seasoned players have a responsibility to nerf our characters to the level we join. We sometimes forget what it is like to be a new player.

Christopher A Coppin wrote: First I just want to say that I did have fun. But some things that would help for the next time...

I really really feel like difficulty should be a per character thing. Either that or games should not allow groups of varying level/gear to mix.

Me and 4 friends got grouped with a random guy who seemed to know every DM by name and had every item possible. He offered to share but we are too new to figure all that out on the spot. Cool guy, did his best to not spoil things for us, etc. Helped with items, helped with clues for the puzzles.

But because he was there we did way too hard a difficulty for our party. He could have soloed the difficulty we should have been playing on. As the Rogue, I hit once the entire dungeon. For 2 damage. And that was only after the DM dropped the DC to hit for us a little when he realized this.

It doesn't help that I'm frustrated because I hit like 2 times the entire first game I played at Pax West (Dwarven hurled insult was my only weapon) as well. Never once have I hit a sneak attack in either game, the entire combat focus of my class.

If the baddies need more HP to balance it, fine. But to hit DC's are too high if you are not playing with all the items in the world. Missing every single attack is extremely frustrating, much better to hit most of the time and just not get through it's HP and lose that way. This is why a lot of video games have all but discarded the idea of misses altogether. In my D&D campaign I DM, I take this approach of more hits, but also more HP to offset. Nobody likes missing.

Puzzles were surprisingly good though, some difficult, some not, but still fun though, especially the elements one. Thought it would be more of a pain dealing with the restrictions of the golem.

Hello Christopher,

Not being able to hit is very frustrating! I'm sorry you got pushed into a difficulty level that was not fun for you or your friends.

If you and your friends will continue playing, consider visiting my token giveaway page:

truedungeon.com/forum?view=topic&defaultmenu=141&catid=5&id=251876&start=0#384720

Steve wrote:

balthasar wrote: You could have asked for normal difficulty and that should have been made clear at the start. No one is required to play a difficulty harder than they'd like to play. I will assume the well-geared player convinced you to play hardcore or nightmare? That should not have happened and I hope you consider playing again in the future.

In addition, we as more seasoned players have a responsibility to nerf our characters to the level we join. We sometimes forget what it is like to be a new player.

Absolutely this. If someone is playing with less powerful players then they should nerf. It's not hard. Drop your to hit, drop your damage bonus. You don't even have to change equipment, 0 DMs will have a problem with you trying to keep the game fun for everyone by handwaving a power drop. It's like reverse cheating.

reverse cheating? hmmmmm

i like the sound of that.

Oh yeah, I've definitely halved (or more) my damage when running on lower difficulties with newer groups, never had a DM have an issue with it

And, if you don't say what you are doing, no one will know the difference.

Hi. Another player by the moniker of "D" expressed some similar concerns. Not sure if you guys are part of the same group or not, but I wanted to share my thoughts with you here as well:

Arnold wrote: I'm going to echo what's been said above - it's totally wrong that you guys got pressured into running a higher difficulty level. That should not have happened.

It's also totally understandable if you guys felt your voices were being drowned out by a vet who is buddy-buddy with the staff. It can be hard to speak up in a situation like that. Hopefully the (super friendly, btw) staff can review procedures on how to make sure that all 10 players' concerns are addressed.

Maybe the AC could be asked for earlier in this process to assure an appropriate difficulty level is settled upon. That has flaws obviously, but anything that helps should at least be considered.

Hopefully you guys find the right time to try again, whether that be in-person or another VTD. If you return for VTD, maybe the private messaging option could be helpful in getting your concerns across without having to feel pressured by anyone else in the Zoom session.

Coordinating on the forums in the weeks ahead of the run could also be helpful. Hopefully you guys would feel comfortable enough (whether it be a run at a Con or VTD) to seek out the thread for your run on the forums and set the difficulty level ahead of time. As others have stated, it's supposed to be normal difficulty unless all 10 agree to run something higher.

And definitely check out Matthew Heyward's wishing well! Not sure how geared up you guys are, but free tokens are always great.

Please forgive the copy-paste, but there is another thread with the same general concerns/feedback and I wanted to reply to both.

Going to add my echo to the others here: I'm so sorry to hear that you ended up in a situation like that.

I hope that this bad experience doesn't turn you away from the VTD experience completely, and I would encourage you to give the January game a chance. For VTD 7 it's a brand new game, as opposed to this weekend where it was the third time this particular adventure had been run, so I think it drew in a lot more long term players over newer ones. That isnt an excuse, of course. You and your party should never have had one person force your into a difficulty not suited for you, and things shouldn't have gone the way they did regardless. I just think you may have more luck avoiding those issues in January.

I know you've gotten some offers already, but my husband and I both would love to run with you and your group if you decide to try VTD again. Our group is very casual and we usually nerf our builds down to match theirs (and usually they prefer to go puzzle routes, which if my husband and I have already played we mute ourselves and step back).

A bad experience can really ruin what should be a fun time, and you will run in to people like unfortunately, but there are far more kind and considerate people in this community in my experience. Coordinating in advance, best you can, here on the forums should help you find events and people who are more aligned with your play style.

I'm sorry you had to deal with this rude player. This is definitely the exception. I hope you'll join us back in the dungeon for the pirate themed adventures next year!