How can we enhance the appeal of High Roller

How can we enhance the appeal of High Roller? This post aims to initiate a discussion focused on strategies to make High Roller a more attractive option. It is not intended for discussing adjustments to normal lobbies, nor is it a platform for venting about highly skilled or well-equipped players in regular lobbies. The primary objective of this post is to facilitate a conversation regarding the reasons why High Roller isn't seeing more participation and to propose potential solutions, with the hope that the player community's feedback can inform Iron Mace's decisions.

1. Notable Observations Regarding High Roller:

- High Roller lobbies are often underpopulated, indicating that the demand for this format may not align with the developer's expectations.

- The current entry fees for High Roller are 75 gold for Goblin Caves and 100 dark and darker gold for Howling Crypts.

- During the free-access period, High Roller attracted more participants, but many of them were equipped with starter gear.

- High Roller, even when the entry fees were higher, failed to deter players in starter gear, especially rogues and skilled teams.

- Loot in High Roller, from both monsters and chests, can still include low-tier gear commonly found in Normal dungeons. While the loot potential for the best gear exists, player perception suggests that the difference isn't substantial, especially if they don't venture into HR Inferno.

- Barrels and pots in High Roller tend to yield higher rarity treasures, partially offsetting the initial entry cost but not enough to make the overall experience more profitable than Normal dungeons.

- Highly skilled players prefer Normal dungeons due to reduced risk and don't believe that the rewards justify the added risk and cost of High Roller.

- Well-equipped players favor Normal dungeons for a variety of reasons, including safe farming, dominating other players, and playing a more familiar PvE experience.

- High Roller isn't sufficiently incentivized to attract all players at level 15+ regardless of gear or skill level, nor is it encouraged to the point where all medium to high-geared players choose it over Normal dungeons.

2. Objectives and Non-Objectives for High Roller:

- Objectives: High Roller aims to serve as an "end-game" for highly skilled players, offering more challenging PvE and PvP experiences.

- Objectives: It provides an advanced stage for well-equipped players to test their mettle and acquire superior gear compared to what they find in dungeons.

- Objectives: High Roller should deliver the highest risk and reward through entry costs and challenging content.

- Objectives: It acts as a "gate" to high-end content, requiring the use of top-tier gear for successful completion.

- Non-Objectives: High Roller does not intend to prevent skilled players from entering Normal lobbies, as skill disparities are expected and skill mastery is encouraged.

- Non-Objectives: High Roller does not aim to bar well-equipped players from Normal dungeons, as a diverse range of gear disparities is desired, and balanced PvP gameplay is not the primary goal.

- Non-Objectives: High Roller is not meant to be the exclusive domain of all level 15+ players, as Iron Mace wants a portion of well-geared players to participate in Normal dungeons as well.

3. Evaluation of High Roller's Success:

- High Roller excels as the most challenging PvE experience within the game.

- It falls short of serving as the most challenging PvP experience, with the most intense battles often occurring between players in starter gear facing highly geared opponents in Normal lobbies.

- High Roller successfully offers the highest risk experience due to its demanding PvE content.

- While High Roller provides the opportunity for the best loot, some players argue that this isn't frequent or dense enough to make it reliably more profitable than Normals, given its entry cost.

- High Roller does offer more treasure than any other dungeon but not at a frequency or density that consistently outperforms Normals, taking into account the entry fee.

- Successful escape from High Roller typically requires high-end gear, except in unique cases such as starter-geared rogues or exceptionally skilled teams.

- Despite its advantages, High Roller has not been sufficiently incentivized to attract all well-geared and level 15+ players away from Normal dungeons.

In light of the goals and levers we've identified, what changes or incentives would you like to see to make High Roller more appealing? If you have additional insights or observations to share, please feel free to contribute to the discussion.