Well i don’t know how to put this, because i kinda feel someone will feel “offended” over this, especially due i’ll compare it too a certain Game, but from my perspective SR face a fundamental issue.
You folks need to keep in mind, why this Mode exist, and that’s because a lot of people mourned about having not a more randomized Experience for Endgame(similiar to rifts in D3, Endless Dungeon in Torchlight or Mapworks in Torchlight 2), and need to running the same bosses / places over and over again, or doing the same Arena’s over and over again, and that’s because Maps nowdays tend to be fully handcrafted. Surely, compared to the good ol’ days the Maps of SR aren’t randomized, but atleast the order / mobspawn are. Atleast if i talk for myself, i’d wanted something like Shattered Realm to add another “layer” to the Endgame which feels more random, and with this more fresh.
The only Issue which i see, though i’d argue they level of how huge / low the issue is pretty personal and arguable, but i’d say that even for this kind of stuff, there a different type of Gamers. Rifts worked out so well, because they offered two different kinds. One which is more for the laidback people(like me) which want to take their time, explore the maps, kill monster and loot them. (Rifts) and a more challenging and core-oriented Mode, where you need to rush through etc with the G-Rifts. And i get the feeling if it comes down to Shattered Realms, i don’t know if it intentionally or not, crate / big z tried to please both sides in one Mode. And that’s why it’s one hand challenging, have even after a certain shard the challenging-core-idea where you not even get any loot anymore, and set a bit of a (fast) pace so people do something for their loot, but at the other hand don’t overdo it, don’t punish the Peoples too much, so it’s not another mere “crucible”, but a more consistent experience in sense of how smooth you can progress. Timer seems fair enough, but if you take to long, well your bad, but the rewards(from what i’ve seen so far) not too much to feel left out if you don’t make it a time. And if you think about it, that not every build is top-notch for the common player, and not this diehard builders and such like the folks in here, if you as a average player stuck at a boss-shard, you are already punished enough because you won’t get any loot as well and need to start over. And that’s the thing.
Crate have in my Eyes done an Amazing Job with SR(even though i haven’t yet spent that much time in it,)even if it isn’t exactly what i atleast hoped for, however they can’t please everyone, and if they give bigger penality’s it will piss off another crowed, if they change the pace of it, it might hurt another part of people who play the Mode. There is no real Solution, because different people have different desires / wishes and that’s why it’s hard to please everyone, even more if you have to fit everything into one mode and don’t forget, it’s not like SR is they only way to go. You can do alot of stuff in GD and that’s why it bothers me, when people complain(not saying the OP did it in this topic) about the RNG aspect of it, because from my perspective, for everyone which don’t like the RNG, you have a huge set of other things you can do. One Major another thing is Crucible, doing farming Routes in the Campaign. Nemesis and (Super/Secret)Bosses, Roguelike Dungeons…