So it made me thinking; I read a post about running things on casual and how that might be perceived as ‘wrong’ and that the author made a note out of avoiding anyone who created a group to run on casual and how casual should be restricted to solo or duo play only.
Not to attack the authors view point; I think running things on casual is just fine.
The elitist in me would like to run everything on Elite and Epic. That’s some kind of badge to hang on the wall. Practically it only means 2 things; more XP and higher end loot. In some cases it leads to a better chance to pull a named or specific items, but for most parts it doesn’t (I think the eye of the titan is an exception where the eardweller only drops on hard and elite with twice the chance on elite) but in all other cases normal through elite have the same drop chance while casual might not.
That would be mats for making GS items and the stone (Vale quests) and even runes in Reavers (I got skunked running Enter Kobold on casual but got both runes running the monastery).
I have run with a k!ck@ss guy many times that created a guild around running TOR on casual. He have checked and he statistically pull the scales as many if not more times on casual than on normal.
To me running casual usually servers one purpose; accomplishing a goal. I don’t do it because I’m bad at the game – I do it if I know it will yield a similar result as running it on anything else. While running something on Elite is a prestige thing, if I can get away accomplishing my goal (let’s say get a scale) taking less time and damage to my equipment I will gladly give up the prestige. I don’t feel at all that bad about running something on a lower difficulty if I have to grind for stuff anyways. If I knew for a fact that I had triple the chance to get a scale or named item by running it on elite I would. That means less grinding and me going onto bigger and better things.
I’ve run with groups that argued running shroud on elite. Because you can get better random drops – not that you have a greater chance at material. No thanks. I don’t run shroud for the anarchic burst long bow. I run it for the devil scales and such. I run it so I can get a stone of cleansing and get tier 3 on all my items. I don’t run it because it’s a love thing; I run it because every 3 days I’ll have another chance to get another completion done. I run mostly GH Reavers on Elite and partly because reavers on anything else is so simple. So it wouldn’t necessarily be that quicker by running it on casual.
I’ve always felt that the difficulty scale of things always divide people into a not good enough mentality to best of the best. Yet I walk around with some pretty darn good equipment and it does what I and others need it to do and that has more to do with my ability to play the role I take on, rather than my above the rubes attitude.
I think casual is a good thing; it allows people to waste less time doing something over a steep curve towards elitedoom. Elite is still there and now Epic. Plenty of room for elite players to get their A game on and there’s absolutely no need to restrict casual to 2 or less players since there’s a very slim chance that anyone that plays elite only will ever play casual anyways.
It’s kind of like a sand flavored ice-cream; it’s not for everyone but if it’s financially viable I think someone should go ahead and invent it. Despite the vanilla or chocolate ice-cream fanatics. They will never appreciate the texture (ask any 1 year old and they’ll agree with it – ask my dog about crayons – and she’ll get statistically fanatic about it).
Tactalicious & Craftalicious 
After you commented on my post I had to check you out and I noticed you put in your own post regarding the casual flag. With respect to that I’m flattered that I could get you to think. I did notice a few things and I’ll point them out hopefully without causing any ill will because that is not my intention.
First, thankfully we are on different servers. I also noticed that you have only 2 characters with one at cap. You’re new as per your own statement whereas I am not. Now maybe myDDO isn’t showing me the whole picture but if it is you bought your FvS, your veteran status, and your 32 point builds. I did not. I’ve played since August 06 and have earned by status. Elitest attitude maybe but it does say volumes with respect to how you got to where you are in this game and how I got to where I am.
Second, many of your assumptions about the chances of pulling named loot being equal on casual to the other difficulties (or even just compaired to normal) is incorrect. As per my reply in my post…the devs have stated that the drop rates are lower. There are exceptions as there will be with anything.
Third, I never said casual is a bad thing. It does have its place in the game as indicated in my post. I just don’t feel it should be used as a means to an end and definitely not for full groups.
I’ll apologize now if any of my comment to your post seems mean, elitest, or brought you any type of non-happy feelings as you read it. I’m not trying to start an issue I’m just pointing out a few things and trying to clarify my opinions and why I feel casual difficulty should be restricted.
In the end its all a game and we each play it the way we want. We never have to agree but I hope we both love playing this game and for me that is enough.
Thank you for your response. I take no offense. Having an opinion as long as it’s not an ad hominem attack is just that; a personal observation or belief.
I know that running something on casual gives you less of a chance to pull a named item, higher end random gear and certain things you get for sure on normal. That would be something like mats and stones in vale quests.
And there’s at least one quest where you have to run it on hard or elite to have a chance to pull a certain item.
I would personally run all quests on elite if it guaranteed me a much higher chance to pull a named item or mat, but as of now for most part you have the same chance to pull most named items and mats no matter if you run n/h/e.
I think that’s a mistake; it makes running things on elite somewhat pointless, especially if you’re level 20.
That’s my own personal view – it doesn’t bother me if someone runs things on casual. They’re only shooting themselves in the foot if they’re looking at getting somewhere. Like a group I ran with the other day (running with devils) they said they ran coal chamber on causal earlier and didn’t even pull the stones. I would never run that torturous quest on anything less then normal since the whole point is the stone and mat. That’s like blowing over an hour of game time for a dissapointing end.
And I would run shroud on elite every single time if it guaranteed me mats in every single chest.
That’s not so much me wanting to prove I can, it’s me being practical about what I want to accomplish.
Reblogged this on DDOCentral.
I scoff at “casual”… *scoff* (hehehe)
😉
I am a member of a two person guild and my guild mate is a altoholic with a TR’ing problem. He runs the quests that get him the most exp in the quickest fashion. He is a bit of a machine. I on the other hand like to run all quests and if I’m coming through on a life and I can’t find a group for something, reavers end quest comes to mind, I’ll run casual to ensure a completion. Sometimes normal, sometimes casual. It depends on if I’m familiar with it. On my 9th life now so many times it will be on hard level. In my opinion if you need a completion, or you are trying to learn a quest then casual is a viable option.