Where's the T5?

[cins]

Preface: I don't like raiding. I'd prefer it if every existing raid was remade as a 6 player dungeon and there's never ever any raiding in this game again.

That said, why is Funcom so adamant on not adding any raids above Jade Citadel? I might not be one of them and I might think they're silly for chasing carrots on grindmills, but telling the hardcore raiders (one of the most diehard fan groups left in AoC) that "progression has ended two years ago" is just insane. Now they have nothing at all to look forward to. Once he gets the T4 stuff, the carrot chaser can't even hope that there'll be something else to get one day because he's been told that T4 is the end.

I cannot conceive why FC does that. Is it the PvP balance? Are they afraid that pve vets will be crushing pvp newbs over and over thanks to their über T9 shinies if they don't stop at Jade Citadel? Because there's an incredibly easy solution to that: just slap -1000000 pvp hit rating on raid items and a lv5 toon out of tutorial will beat a T4clad raider (I might be exaggerating here but you get the point).

Or is it the trivializing of old pve content thanks to overpowering players with items (hey there Atzel!)? I thought that's the point with PvE progression: letting you go back and pwn the bosses who used to give you such hard time if you feel like it. Admittedly I'd be pretty unhappy if a group in T9s or something could roll into Ardashir and casually kill the rhino rider before he can even do one charge, but that sort of thing seems like a very distant possibility. And even then, problem of difficulty can be solved by adding some expert/challenge/whatever modes to buff up old pve content.

If it's not because of these two reasons, then why? Why is FC refusing the carrot chasers to even have a hope? Even if FC has zero intention of ever making a T5, I don't understand the reasoning behind flatout saying "this is where PvE ends". What's up with that, could we possibly get an official answer to it?

[SelfRez]

Ill give 6 months and the HC raiding guilds start to close doors because there is nothing to go for ... Who wants to be world first in redone 6 man dungeon ?? lol

[Mellaus]

Might be for the best, the very concept of HC raiding guild is so twisted.

It's like, mmh, i'm gonna play with those people not because i enjoy it, but because i can get uber stuff thanks to it.
What kind of community spirit can you hope to create like that ?
Only a sick one evolving around greed i'm afraid.

[Lostworld]

If we want to see one day a T5 raid should move to the buttocks and say a funcom stop PALACE OF CETRISS NEW T3.5 RAID, everyone feel crazy.
GO petition, stop instance that has no meaning and go work on a T5.

[cins]

Well, if cleansing their game of HC raiding mentality is their reason for stopping at T4, then I'll love FC long time. But I doubt it.

[Texan615]

If the new raid is not T5, I'm probably done and many others I know are done as well. I'll see the zone cleared just to do it, but after that, I'm out of here.

[MagnusLL]

The power of T4 items (especially weapons) is already at the absolute upper limit you can reach without completely breaking down the whole game, be it either pvp or pve. In fact, it's arguable that for pvp T4 DOES break down the game, giving players access to excessive levels of burst damage.
They cannot put in T5 stuff without a massive revamp for which they don't have resources.

Also, how many people are farming T4 even now, years after its release. Being dedicated is good, but being lots and lots is better.

[FirepowahQQ]

Why would they waste their resources for minority, only small partition of players do t4

[SelfRez]

The power of T4 items (especially weapons) is already at the absolute upper limit you can reach without completely breaking down the whole game, be it either pvp or pve. In fact, it's arguable that for pvp T4 DOES break down the game, giving players access to excessive levels of burst damage.
They cannot put in T5 stuff without a massive revamp for which they don't have resources.

Also, how many people are farming T4 even now, years after its release. Being dedicated is good, but being lots and lots is better.

Making a T5 dungeon set dont mean nessessarily that the items need to be boosted over the T4 . This can be done for example so that T5 items are more or less the same as T4 items but they just have some special stats that are valid only in T5 raids just like PVP now have just some stats that work in PVP only. This with added side rewards like nice rare mount or possibily to very rare "legendary" item would be more than enough to keep people happy for longer time.
Current style of revamping or doing small dungeons and fill them with meaningless mostly blue items without any feel of progression is just plain stupid. People are waiting these for months even a year and then went it finally is out. After a month or two they are already deserted alongside with a disappointment.

[SelfRez]

Why would they waste their resources for minority, only small partition of players do t4

I think because a game always needs something that has not been achieved yet by someone.