Amish_Justice

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Um...swapping carrots, and offering an alternate carrot are the same thing.

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No. No they are not. Not even close.

If I was to tell you that I was swapping your current car with a beat up old jalopy, is that the same as giving you the jalopy, in addition to your current car? No, it's not. In one, I'm taking your current car, and in the other, I'm not.

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Well, I am, in fact, NOT taking your carrot. I'm merely suggesting we replace it. If the developers initiated this, they'd be the one taking your carrot.

But, to continue your analogy, I'm suggesting that players be given the opportunity to put their cars into a museum, where they'll be revered and accessible to anyone, but where they'll be unable to be driven again.

I'm not giving forcing anyone to do this, but I am attempting to figure out what sort of compensation would be enough to encourage you to do this.

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The point of the game is to advance through the content. However, if you remove the end goal, then to a lot of people, you remove the incentive to advance through the content, since at the end is nothing.

The content is good, put if there's no carrot, or even perceived carrot, at the end of the stick, then you do remove a lot of motivation for trying to get the character there.

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I'm proposing an alternate carrot, because I feel that having a level 50 is a pretty lousy carrot to begin with.

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No, you are not. You are swapping carrots. And in my opinion, replacing the current one with a really, really bad carrot.

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Um...swapping carrots, and offering an alternate carrot are the same thing.

Is there really no reward which would be enough for you to part with your level 50 toon? Free months of membership? Access to additional content? Access to Beta-testing for new releases?

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Take, for example, the new TF coming in I15. It's level 45-50 content. I can only play a few hours a week. If my level 50s were deleted, it would take me months before I was able to run this new content, because I'd have to get a character in range. And then if more content comes out in the future, it would take me months again.

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Actually, my original post suggests that TFs still be accessible for level 50 characters.

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The point of the game is to advance through the content. However, if you remove the end goal, then to a lot of people, you remove the incentive to advance through the content, since at the end is nothing.

The content is good, put if there's no carrot, or even perceived carrot, at the end of the stick, then you do remove a lot of motivation for trying to get the character there.

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I'm proposing an alternate carrot, because I feel that having a level 50 is a pretty lousy carrot to begin with.

Again, it would be an optional choice -- personally I delete all my level 50 toons anyway. I'm a 51 month vet myself, and I feel that once a character attains level 50, there's no point in running additional missions.

If you wanted to roll around the city, exemplaring down to help others, street sweep, you could do that. The only thing you'd be unable to do is to run farms.

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If you get rid of the level 50 characters, then there's no incentive to get to level 50, sure. But that basically takes away the point of the game.

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Well, this shows a pretty limited view of the game. If the "point of the game" were merely to get to level 50, then how come there's so little to do with level 50 toons. That isn't the "point of the game." It never was. It's merely the end of the game.
The point of the game is to have fun, explore the content of the world, and to interact with other players.

I believe that the current trends in farming are diametrically in opposition to the "point of the game". Level 50 characters destroy the market system by providing means for limitless influence, reduce gameplay to fast no-risk leveling for other characters, and throw the game balance off.

So, this is a serious suggestion, and one you're not likely to support, but hear me out. It's based on a couple of assumptions.

1. Power leveling is, overall, a negative aspect of the game, allowing players to attain level 50, without exploring virtually any actual game content.

2. Farming is, overall, a negative aspect of the game, leading to redundancy of missions, and general malaise among the player base.

3. Once at level 50, character options are limited. There aren't enough things for level 50 character to do.

There is a dramatic, but simple, solution to these three problems.
The removal of all level 50 Heroes/Villains.

What if, upon reaching level 50, heroes we're given one final mission -- call it an Epic Mission Type, if you want to be consistent. This mission would prevent the player from entering or selecting any other new missions. Characters who level in-mission (or TF) would obviously be allowed to finish their current tasks. Additionally, people who can't bear to part with their level 50 could still work the streets, attack each other in PvP zones, participate in Hamidon raids, and exemplar down to participate in Task Forces.

This final mission would be a challenging, rewarding, mission which, upon successful completion, would force a character to ascend (based on their origin perhaps) to another level of superheroism/supervillainry. That character would then be unplayable. They would have essentially moved on from Paragon City, having grown in power so much, they become a planetary guardian.

The details of this final mission would be up for discussion, of course, as would possible rewards. Perhaps the reward for completion would be a free Month of CoX? Costume options for new characters?

A Hall of Heroes could be designed, where characters could visit hero pages with detailed biographies, perhaps even screenshots of characters who have ascended. Perhaps players could elect one of their many leve 50 heroes as their representative.
Then a voting system, similar to that found in AE could be implemented for characters, players voting on which characters have the best backstories, costumes, and overall designs. Those with the highest ratings (and Dev approval) could show up occasionally on the streets of the city as NPC's, assisting other heroes/villains. They'll live on in infamy.

The effects on the game would be threefold.

1. It would essentially remove most of the motivation for attaining a level 50 character, reducing players urge to farm.

2. It would also remove most of the farms, which are run by level 50 characters, encouraging players to team with others around their level, and to explore more of the game's extensive content.

3. Finally, it would give players an opportunity to finalize their high level characters, and give them a place to show them off -- immortalizing them forever in game.

I realize that this idea may be unpopular, and I fully expect many of the board regulars to get their knickers in a twist of the idea, but it does seem like it would be a solution for some of the games current woes.

I'm new to mission creation, so I'm still trying to get a handle on mission design, and just what the editor is capable of.
For example, I wanted to create a mission where a new group of subterranean enemies attack the Pumacites. I figured the heroes could enter the mission, and save a Pumacite at the door, who tells them that there's more hostages below, and asks you to free them. Then I wanted to include a number of pumacite hostages. Unfortunately, doing so restricts my mission to their level (caps at 15), and the limit of the enemy group as well.
Is there any way around this?

Another idea I had involved making a fight at the beginning of one of the missions where you enter and in front of you is a whole host of those lower level Pumacites getting massacred by this new race.

The idea was to lend some sort of humanity to a race that is otherwise forgotten.

Suggestions?

Wow, thanks for testing that for me....even if it didn't yield any solutions.
It used to be so easy for a player to use different voices for their characters. Why'd they have to go change it?

Yeah, I'm looking to make a bind which changes my costume, and makes anything written from then on to have a different color.

Even using Hexidecimal color codes, I could still only end up with black.
Any other thoughts or input?

Is there any way to change the default color sliders for text bubbles using a command that could be bound, or put in a macro?

Well, what I'm looking to do isn't to get invited to teams, but rather to find a method to get people who are already on farms, off of them, and onto content that's more to their tastes.

I know that there's no way that CoX is gonna stop farming. It's prevalent in every XP based MMORPG around, and farmers will always find a way.

Unfortunately, the extent to which the farmers are prominent thanks to AE means that their teams are the easiest to find, and offer the easy (if amazingly boring) opportunity to level.
Fortunately, there are plenty of people on COX that don't really enjoy farming. Sure, they'll join a team to gain a level, or for a mission or two, but they consider farming dull and repetitive. The problem is that it's often difficult for these people to find one another. Often if feels like Farming is the only game in town.

What I'd like to suggest is a way for non-farmers to identify themselves. Ideally, a filterable way method of searching.
If you actively dislike running those same missions over and over, then you'll be more likely to find other like minded people. Farmers will also know that people they invite that are so-tagged won't be likely to run more than a single mission with them.

I hear the forum clamoring for control, and I agree that for pure efficiency, you can't beat a controller. I've got a couple favorite toons that are controllers. Earth/Storm is sick on crowd control. And I am curious about the prospects of stacking Choking cloud and hot feet, though that's a late game combo.

However, you have to admit that there's something satisfying about a battlefield that's more mobile. I like when tactics are more complex and movement in battle involves more variables. For me, the standard 3 point battle plan of the farmer is kinda dull.
1. Gather enemies
2. Keep them there
3. Kill them

I like chasing down fleeing enemies. I like leaping to the blaster's aid when he draws too much agg. I enjoy tagging a runner with my Nemesis staff as he gets to the corner, and watching him die in the target window because his body is out of sight. I like when I hit somewhere square with a Crane kick and knock him clear over the nearest railing.

Ultimately, I think that a controller's effectiveness can often make a battle feel boring. Don't get me wrong. It's fun for the controller to look at a battlefield and know that no one is gonna get out alive. That he's gotten so many options for lockdown, he could Easily hold off an unexpected ambush for minutes by himself. I'm just a little tired of enemies all standing around, held in place by spammed immobilizes, trying in vain to determine who to shoot next, and waiting for their turn to die.

The most fun I've had in this game are when my team is damage heavy and defense light. It makes combat feel that much more visceral. That's why we opted for Kinetics rather than a more defensive oriented Defender set. Unless there were a controller set that was really focused on melee, with more PBAoE effects, then I just feel like something with more burst damage is gonna be more fun, for the whole team.

See, I'm leaning away from the controller option. I like the flow of the team so far, and I'm thinking that additional damage is gonna be a greater boon than control.

I'm curious about the Kheldian option, but my experience playing a peacebringer is that it's a lot of knockback. Are Warshades a little less chaotic?

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Only heal you have currently relies on a to-hit check and will center around the enemy target. Great for the melee toons. Not great for the blaster who will be more likely to be out of range of that heal. Also might want to consider a rez power.

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Actually, the blaster is set up to essentially follow "blapping" tactics. He's got Electric/Electric, a very melee focused set. The whole design of things is to be in the middle of combat, with the shields working together to protect everyone and the kinetic's AoE effects hitting everyone. With proper agg management we don't think we'll need healing. Transfusion offer everything we'll need in the way of healing. I don't mind more defense, but something less reactive would be interesting.

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Plant/Therm Controller

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I had been considering a controller. Containment seems like our biggest issue. Otherwise it's taunt alone keeping mobs grouped. And though I like the idea of plant control, it offers little in the way of damage or grouping effects.
As for thermal as a secondary, it unfortunately leads to the character-concept destruction of fire shielding. Love the effects, hate the graphics.
I suppose that without the Sheilds, the set is still formidable, mostly healing which is so mundane. Otherwise, you're just doing it for forge. Sonic seems a more interesting alternative.

The team so far is:

Tanker - Shield/Ice - Experienced defensively minded player
Scrapper - MA/Shield - Expienced Defender, happy to embrace a damage dealing role for once
Blaster - Elec/Elec - New player, but quickly learning where he deals the most damage
Defender - Kinetic/Rad - An older player, who's just returned to game. Good fundementals, but lacking knowledge of newer sets/enemies

We've gotten to level 10 or so, and our solid early damage, and agg management has been very successful; we've run into few problems so far. Now we're adding a 5th player. He's a very experienced player, with talent for almost any role (a little too defense light for tanking).

I was considering suggesting
Fire/Shield Scrapper - A good addition to AoE offense, and a defensive boon to this melee based team.

I'd love to hear your suggestions.

Is there any way the search functions for teamfinding could be made to include teams specific to the Architect missions?

Does anyone have any suggestions?

If a mission achieves Hall of Fame Status and/or Dev's Choice status, is there any possibility that it will move out of the MA building, and into the real game world?

"Real" Game world....now there's an oxymoron!

I haven't read all these posts....I mean...jesus.

But I thought I'd add in my own opinion.
Personally, I think you should only be able to achieve one of the accolades. I mean, if you're a police chief and a super hero, you hardly have time to become a physician, no matter how little you actually fight crime.

In fact, I think it'd be great if, when you were limited to only two different day jobs, allowing for only one accolade, essentially removing the element of badges from this part of the game entirely. That would squelch the whole notion that Badge hunters would need to obtain each badge, since they'd never be able to have more than 2, 3 if you include the accolade.

Of course, they could, at any time, give up their job, and choose another, just like in real life. But no one has the time to be a hero, and a professor, and a doctor, and an intern, and a cop, and a shop keeper, etc.

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That's a pretty good explanation of demo editing. It sometimes takes a little futzing to get it right, but if you start off with a simple shot, you can pretty easily figure out where to place characters and the camera.

Here are a couple tests I did with some of my and my friends' villains standing in Atlas Park.

Villain line-up

Same line-up, with Heavies added and camera moved back.

Then I took my hero Minotaurus and his evil doppelganger Minotaur X and let them groove together.

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Oh my lordy! This is exactly what I'm looking for! Genius!
I'll start looking into right away! Well, tomorrow, it's late Huzzah!

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Hey, I just realized that I teamed with you a while back: I was Kid Hawk.

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I love that screen shot! Man, we gotta bring those three characters back into action. We just need a couple blasters and we're ready to roll
Feels a little weird looking at that image, and not being able to determine whether either of those Multiple Men was me. I might be off camera somewhere

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The best thing to do is make demorecords of all your characters, then line them up somewhere nice and set the time of day to just after noon.

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Pardon my confusion. What's a demorecord?