We need a more difficult mode

[Hamsterino]

while typing out my answer I realized that the main problem will always be the players. no matter what I thought of, the answer would always be ''that'd be frustrating'' or ''nobody would enjoy that''. creating a new, harder mode would certainly be fun and I'd play it regardless of what things drop, but would the majority of the players?

people play for loot, not challenge.

we're already too fixed on seeing NI as a lottery where you only play for loot. getting to and beating w15 isn't even a question anymore, it's just a matter of how much and what items you loot.
my thought process:
1. would I enjoy a harder mode where it's about finishing the run, not about looting? most definitely.
2. if it was so hard that I couldn't solo it, would people join? maybe. would they keep playing after a week? unlikely. would they keep playing after getting every available collectible? probably not.
3. once people got all the collectibles, would they just go back to farming rag for more loot? certainly.
4. is there any way to solve this issue, even though it's a matter of how most people see the game and want to play it? maybe.

then again, if most people are content with just mindlessly grinding for loot and the devs don't seem to care enough to do something many players would be unhappy with, who are we to discuss something like that?

as a conclusion, even though I'm not happy with it, I think it's best to keep such challenges to special events like the upcoming one. this mod might be unsaveable, so we should probably just try to have fun with what is left to have fun with.