Techbot Alpha

Originally Posted by CaffeineAddict

Ruh roh.

I was just on youtube looking for player made CoH fan videos.
Someone has uploaded something that *looks* like it came from a super secret family-and-friends closed beta...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KANI2dpXLw

Speaking of which, let the speculation over when the general closed beta will commence, commence!

Originally Posted by Eisenzahn

It's always seemed to me that a compromise is what's necessary here. Redside needs more options, but Blueside needs better options. Given that Blueside is now and will probably always be more popular than Redside, even when you can hit up either on the same character, I really doubt we'll ever see a regular issue that's more focused on Redside content than Blueside. So I'd suggest the following: For every item of New Content contributed Redside, Blueside gets two or three comparable units of existing content revamped.

Redside finally gets Strike Forces to cover all level ranges? Blueside gets the Freedom Phalanx 6 updated to not suck. Redside finally gets some Trials (other than Respecs)? Blueside gets the Abandoned Sewers and Cavern of Transcendence fixed up so that people actually want to play them (Eden is popular enough on its own right now, although that may still be the relatively easy merit reward... it's been several years since I went on one, so I can't recall). Redside gets a second starting zone (possibly with content covering a level range comparable to Mercy Island and Port Oakes combined)? Blueside gets revamps of Boomtown and Dark Astoria. And of course, the ever popular Redesign the Shadow Shard as a Coop/Competative region satisfies both conditions.

Originally Posted by Smash_Zone

My version of blueside...

"Hey, hero. Go hunt some hellions will ya? Oh and after that, go run to the hollows to hunt some outcasts. And when you're done, go hunt some lost too. Oh, have you met the Field analyst? Yeah, go do that. Oh, and go introduce yourself to the PvP informant. Now, go and deliver this thing to mr so-and-so, then he'll send you to hunt some vahzilok in Perez Park solo. Hey, you writing this down?"

For me, redside is much more straight forward. Sure, there are less contacts, but at least they don't send you to run a billion errands before giving you actual missions. I'm a super-hero, not your messenger boy for crying out loud! Send me to kick super-evil-dudes butt instead of making me deliver this stupid package!

Oh, and getting their cell number is a lot easier than blueside.

Originally Posted by EU_Damz

Wasnt able to join in unfortunately since i can only play 1 - 2 hours per day atm before work.

However if there was at least 24 hours notice, then i more than likely could have logged on to join in with the fun. Just something along the lines of "rikti message intercepted, invasion coming, ETA 19:00 hours". Something simple like that

Though from players responses to those who did join in, it did sound like it was a blast and full of carnage [which is what i love ]

Originally Posted by ShoeTattoo

You're conflating "balance" and "predictability."

Check out Diablo 2 random boss spawns in hell difficulty, hardcore. Sometimes you faced extra strong, fanaticism, cursed physical immune Blood Lords, conviction, fire enchanted, cold enchanted Burning Souls, or fire enchanted, cursed, extra fast Dolls. Sometimes you would even have overlapping spawns with the might aura in one and the fanaticism aura on another, mixed in with a ranged boss spawn that had the cursed mod. At other times you faced boss spawns consisting of Playful Kittens Lightly Batting Balls of Twine with Extreme Poofiness. Most of the time you faced something in between.

The randomness of boss spawns in Diablo 2 gave the game far, far more replay value than it would otherwise have had. And, when playing hardcore those random boss spawn mods mattered, as your character could end up wearing grey robes in a heartbeat if you weren't careful.

Contrast that with COX. There's very little risk in any encounter and almost no random elements in spawns; everything about mobs you face is predictable, especially after you've gotten to know mob characteristics and have run the arcs a couple of times.

COX needs more random elements in missions to increase its replay value, not less.

Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill

Redside:
"Oh, yay, kalinda/burke, mongoose/creed, radio, heck, bocor, vendetti, radio, again... zzzzz..." *shelve character*

Blueside I can take multiple different paths. Atlas - Hollows - Faultline - Striga - Croatoa - Bricks/RWZ/PI/Cim. Next, Galaxy - Kings - Skyway - IP - Founders, next Galaxy - Hollows - Steel - Talos (etc.) and have a very hard time repeating content. There are contacts I've flat out forgotten about from having so much other stuff to do. I can't say that redside. (And don't get me started on the VEAT "arcs" of 1-2 missions.) i'd hoped unlockables would have helped that, but ... nope.

Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill

Then approach them differently and you won't *have* a "30+ strong cloud" to deal with. Yes, even on a full team. You only get that if everybody rushes in like it's a group of Skulls. And they aren't particularly "rapid fire," either.

Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill

Fix't.

Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill

Excuse me? Perhaps you've only seen them played by a PL'd 10 year old with ADD. Because, Sam, to be exceptionally blunt, this (and pretty much everything I snipped after) is a load of BS.

Khelds are NOT team-dependent, and only the absolutely incompetent or cowardly have to be "babied" or "run yelling Eeek! Voids!" ESPECIALLY after the heavy nerfing the voids unfortunately received.

Oh, no, there's something in the game (cysts) that a team can't just run blindly up to, screaming and drooling, to beat on like almost every other mob in the game. Something that requires a modicum of thought or planning. Obviously it needs to be ripped from the game. We should heavily nerf Ghost Widow and Nosferatu, too, so all they do is fire spitballs and yell "Not the face!"

Christ.

Any of the people insisting these are such horrid, insta-team-wipe, awful unfair challenges bother running a "Master of..." task or strike force? I don't mean with (or without) a Kheld, I mean at all. Or do you avoid them like the plague? How about setting up the challenge settings in Ouro? No? Do you just drop the heroside "Stop 30 fir Bolg from escaping?" Do you not bother with the Efficiency Expert because all the timed missions are "unfair" or "too hard?"

If you avoid any or all the above, then yes, avoid ever having anything to do with a Kheld and go roll another scrapper. Leave my Cysts (see also "Eclipse-and-Mire-bait") alone.

Originally Posted by Power_NA

Atlas Park + Galaxy City = level 1-5
King rows = 5-10
Hollows = 5-16

Boomtown = 10-16 - No contacts, no missions except ones you get sent to in here.
Perez Park = 7-16 - See above.
Terra Volta = 24-26 - See above.
Dark Astoria = 21-28 - See above.


Faultline = 15-21
Steel Canyon + Skyway City = 16-19
Talos Island + Independance Port = 20-25

Croatoa = 25-30
Brickstown= 30-35

Crey's Folly = 30-40 - No contacts, no missions except ones you get sent to in here.

Rikti Warzone = 35-50 - Co-op zone
Cimerora = 35-50 - Co-op zone

Eden = 35-40 - No contacts, no missions except ones you get sent to in here, and one buggy Trial.

Founders Falls = 40-45
Peregrin Island = 40-50
Shadow Shard = 40-50

Hive = 45-50 - No missions, no nothing except Hamidon

Originally Posted by Niviene

Watching Orion_Star_EU drop like a sack of potatoes was pretty priceless

Glad everyone had so much fun!
Something tells me the Rikti are not done yet... just sayin

Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow

You sound like someone who isn't sick of Sharkhead Island. How can you not be sick of Sharkhead Island and spending five levels in there every God damn time you start a new character? Please, that could save me so many brain cells next time

Honestly, what doesn't need more zones is blue-side, but I firmly believe red-side can use at least a couple of new zones. Particularly zones that aren't designed like a Lego town that's comprised of oversized, disproportionate single buildings crammed next to each other, and specifically particularly zones that aren't a run-down, crime-ridden, depressing, evil-oozing slum controlled by Skeletor's drunken mother-in-law. The place is smaller than it needs to be and it's too much Arachnos-themed. It's less City of Villains and more City of Arachnos. And Longbow. More space to distance myself from both and avoid god damn Sharkhead for a change would do the zone so much good.

As far as on topic goes, I'll join the others and agree that theme-specific zones would be very welcome as long as they were opened to everybody and available at some point before level 50.

Originally Posted by Necrotech_Master

im on villains almost all the time, when GR comes out im gonna move all my toons to have villain affiliation. villains does lack the content and zone count heroside does. the zones in redside are better because they arent all super massive like heroes and hero contacts and tfs are such a drag because of the travel.

the only thing i would like to possibly see is villains getting more zones and access to the shadow shard. even just more contacts would be fine

Originally Posted by Equation

Hey!

I'm 6'6" and sitting down, thank you very much.

Originally Posted by Slax

I completely disagree, new shinees and content are way better than microwaved leftovers.

As for today's "news" I am mixed; screenshot looks cool, tunnels seem cool, backstory is lolzworthy, but I'm not playing for the lore.

Originally Posted by Golden Girl

This isn't a criticism or anything, but I think that things like this:






Kinda makes it really, really important to revamp things like this:









I think that with GR, some of the oldest models in the game have become way too obviously older models.

They were shown up a lot by things like this:







But the step up the game's taking in GR really does make the older models seem like they're not even from the same game now.

I'm hoping that the pormise of more content post GR will include updates of some of the oldest faction models - like the way the Rikti were given awesome new models for the RWZ revamp.

Originally Posted by Revanchist

I was under the impression that the number of nicti that spawn was dependent on the proxmity of teammates and you send in one to deal with the cyst to limit the number of nicti that appear. Am I wrong in this line of thought?

Originally Posted by IanTheM1

If there was going to be an "epic level" Magic-based zone, I'd totally want it to be the full city of Oranbega.

Originally Posted by Equation

All I have to say is this...