Proposal to change the race objective for descent races

Over the past seasons there had been several changes to the length of descent/descent champions races. That was probably due to the fact that descent races only have a finite length. Whereas typical races give the top racers the possibility to level until the race time is over, there is a risk that those people simply run out of game content if the race is too long. While shortening the race duration might seem like a proper solution, this leaves the great bulk of mediocre racers like me with the unsatisfying situation that only a part of the race content is reachable.

I think a better way to handle things would be to change the format and make the objective of d/dc the time required to kill the last boss just like the brutus/merveil/etc kill races.
This would also fit the finit length of d/dc much better. If you have a (potential) infinite race track it makes sense to start a race saying “run as far as you can within an hour; the one that runs the farthest (levels the most) wins.” But if your track is just 400 meters that kinda makes no sense. Here the first one that crosses the line wins. (And please no formula 1 objection here. That would be endless ledge.)

That way the top racers get their demis without the blue pack rng/risk of running out of mobs while the rest stiil has the opportunity to play through the whole race content. I mean why develop all those descent levels if only a small portion of players ever get to see them?

Personally I think that the 40min format for DC is quite good duration wise and I also like that you have to take a slightly different approach to your normal races where it becomes important to effieciently clear and balance your farming time instead of just rushing to the final zone/boss.

Edit: You can get screwed over really hard if your density in the last zones is shit, so that actually might be an argument in favour of your proposal.

I like these changes as currently in DC once you get to the inner halls your basically just killing time farming until the last possible minute when you have to go in and kill Grav. It really messes with the tempo of the race and I dont think people should be penalized if they are are skilled/lucky enough to be able to kill the final boss under leveled.

Good idea. Unfortunately i don't think GGG cares enough about racing to ever implement this simple change.

Another solution would be to just loop the content. That way they could make different duration versions, and even 24hr ones. As in, when you kill Grav, you start at the beginning again, except the zone levels continue from the previous, so level 30 or so first zone.

I like this idea; the boss kills are the only events that actually feel like "races" because they have finish lines, as you said. They could at least try it as a variant to the normal Descents.