anachrodragon

I think it's unfortunate that the MA has such a limited search feature, and really no browse/category feature at all. Part of the problem is the amount of visibility arcs on the first few pages have, compared to the lack of visibility all other arcs have. Its not a stretch to say that those arcs on the first couple pages are the targets for all sorts of behaviors, whether it's griefing, or whatever...

I know the devs are revamping search with I15 (not soon enough), but honestly I think they need to rework what the front page of the MA looks like. Rather than just show a handful of arcs, based on rating, they could have links to categories that players can browse through (authors would choose categories themselves). It would be even better if players could custom configure the interface to highlight the kinds of arcs they want to see.

For example, if I like humorous arcs designed for characters level 1-20, I'd want to see those first upon opening MA.

This is not my arc. It was made by a guy in my SG, and we had a lot of fun running it last night:

Bricked Electronics - Arc ID: 2180

IIRC it's Goldbrickers, Clockwork, Council and some custom mobs thrown in--nothing over the top though. My husband and I ran it on our level 5 duo. The Goldbricker missions autolevel you to 8, but that didn't pose a problem for us. It's very thorough with a lot of attention to detail, and a nicely written story. Probably one of the best lowbie arcs I've played so far.

I wanted to say that I very much enjoyed "A Tangle in Time." My husband and I played it together, and we both felt it really captured exactly what we want from the MA: quirky stories unlike the stuff the devs have given us.

You got two five star ratings from us.

I just posted this on my SG's internal forum where we are having a discussion about merits, and what could be done to improve the system.

Here's what I think might improve the merit system and the availability of recipes in general:

1) The devs need to take a serious look at IOs/sets that are under-used and buff those sets by changing the IOs themselves and/or the set bonuses. Specifically they should give us a reason to want to use things like snipe sets, and some of the lower level IO sets.

2) They should divide Pool C into several smaller pools and give people more choices. Just as an example, maybe give people a choice of one of three types of random rolls: attack, buff, debuff/control sets. Now this might not be the best grouping because the "big three" would all be under "buff," but there should still be some kind of grouping to aid people in getting closer to what they want.

3) They need to add a merit reward screen that appears at the end of a task force or story arc. It should have the merits you earned for the task, your total merits, and a button you can press to use some of your merits for a random roll *right here and now*. I think part of the problem, as others have said, is the lack of visibility for random rolls in general and the fact that you have to go to a merit vendor, whereas in the past you could just click a button at the end of a TF.

I'm sure I'm like many of us in that I have tons of alts. The difficult thing about merits is that it encourages using only one character to accumulate them. In addition to that, the lack of pool C recipes on the auction houses makes it even more discouraging to try to get your alts outfitted with IOs.

So I see merits as:

- A bit grindy (do content over and over again to get them)
- Favoring the single "main" over numerous alts (the "best" rewards will go to the single character who saves up for them)
- Decreasing the supply of Pool C recipes and thereby making IOs more out of reach for more people than they were pre-merits

Personally I've decided to play as I would normally play (lots of alts, occasional TFs) and mostly ignore merits. If I happen to accumulate enough on one character for a random roll or two, then I'll do that. Unfortunately since I'm not actively "grinding" merits it means that a lot of my characters will be stuck with common IOs when they might have had sets purchased from the market before.

I would absolutely love it if the devs would add some variety to the holiday event missions, so we're not just doing the same old Snaptooth stuff over and over again.

They have said themselves that they don't like farming for the sake of farming, and yet that is what they're asking us to do for these missions. I mean does anyone actually have fun defeating Snaptooth for the fifth time or rescuing Baby New Year for the 10th time? Really people are doing it *just for the rewards* not out of any sense of enjoyment.

Don't get me wrong, I love the game, it's just that the recent emphasis on grindy rewards (candy canes, merits, etc..) have left me somewhat disenchanted. We really need to move back to an emphasis on new content and story lines.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I started a "Make a flat rate for each pool, end arbitrary pricing" thread on the Closed Beta forums. There was no response. I don't understand what the heck they are trying to accomplish.

I don't think they do either. They sorta just said "yeah, what the heck, let's just go with that."

[/ QUOTE ]

Completely agree with the flat rate for each pool. Value can be very subjective, and they're going to waste their time and drive themselves crazy trying to chase down and compensate for values of these things.

Also, I wonder if anyone will even use the random roll feature. It seems like people will probably just horde their merits to spend on big ticket items.

[/ QUOTE ]

....

lol, just lol.

Some of the pricing on this stuff is making people (me included) scratch their heads.

Precisely why (combined with your first paragraph) I said when we had discussions on this pre-beta and in the market forum, that devs shouldn't be setting prices in this way.

Also could have sworn the system was first pitched by Posi as an ADDITIONAL way to earn POOL Cs. Though he has clarified why this philosophy was changed, its disappointing to say the least.

[/ QUOTE ]

Exactly. Merits were initially touted as an alternative to getting Pool Cs but weren't supposed to be better on average than actually running TFs and taking the random drop.

Now they are everything but purples and Hami-Os and special salvages.

[/ QUOTE ]

There's one other thing that frustrates me about merits. It seems like a lot of my flexibility is gone. As things are now, I can do a TF on my scrapper or something, and then if the recipe is appropriate for my defender, get someone's help to hand it off to him. I forsee merits discouraging my alt-itis to some extent.

I will probably only run high level TFs on my defender going forward, because why have five 50s with a handful of merits each, when you'd be better off hording them on one? So it cuts into my character-playing decisions in a way I'm not used to in CoX.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
To Ironblade: Eden gets completed in 10-15 minutes on average, no typo.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I don't believe this. I've done with this with different people, different SG's, etc and have never done it that fast. Not even close. I don't believe that many people are 'speed running' it when I know so many people who consider it the best TF/trial in the game and take their time.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've participated in a couple speed Eden runs with a group I know who runs it regularly. I have sort of mixed feelings about it, because I love running Eden "for real" and hate to trivialize the best content in the game. So I made up for it later by running Eden the longer (and more enjoyable IMHO) way with a group from my SG.

Eden can indeed be run in 10-15 minutes, by ignoring the quarries, hitting the two walls, and rushing the crystal titan. As long as you have a group full of buffs, debuffs, and ranged damage that can survive the titan it's pretty simple.

Personally I'd like to see the devs improve Eden to make it more challenging, and less shortcut-prone. And while they're at it, they can increase the merit reward.

[ QUOTE ]
I started a "Make a flat rate for each pool, end arbitrary pricing" thread on the Closed Beta forums. There was no response. I don't understand what the heck they are trying to accomplish.

I don't think they do either. They sorta just said "yeah, what the heck, let's just go with that."

[/ QUOTE ]

Completely agree with the flat rate for each pool. Value can be very subjective, and they're going to waste their time and drive themselves crazy trying to chase down and compensate for values of these things.

Also, I wonder if anyone will even use the random roll feature. It seems like people will probably just horde their merits to spend on big ticket items.

Doh! I just bought a friend of mine a full copy of Windows Vista to install on his new Mac so he could play CoX. It was a wedding present, and it's what he wanted, so I'm not worried about the money spent... but still the timing of this announcement is amusing.

I think it's great that you guys are releasing a Mac version. Also I will gladly pay for the new costume set and extra mission teleport power. Keep up the good work guys!

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
At the risk of sounding ungrateful...

Is there really nothing that can be done about the spirit spawn rate before the end of the event? It will be a full year before we've got the chance to get the badge associated with them again, so being told that it won't be fixed in time to apply to this event is more than just a little disheartening for badge collectors.

Don't get me wrong, I love this event! I just love badges too, and having a "collect them all" mindset being confronted with not being realistically able to is disappointing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hi JChaos,

We completely agree that it would be great to fix the issue with the Spirits. A number of people here are upset as well about the badge for their own characters (yes, we play too!). However, getting such a fix out there would impact the schedule for Issue 13. We'd totally do that for an exploit fix, but for this issue we felt, that while painful for those interested in it, is something we'll have to leave as is.

Thanks in advance for your understanding.

[/ QUOTE ]

Lighthouse,

Would it be possible to extend the event another week beyond its scheduled end date to help compensate for the low spirit spawn rate?

Almost forgot to enter this. I happen to have two pirate themed characters:

Jackie Tar
Rimewraith

[ QUOTE ]
I actually was NOT complaining about PAX crowding - I was complaining about the design of the NCSoft area. There was almost no room for people to try the game, let alone for other people to watch people try the game. The design fairly forced the NCSoft people to hang around outside the row, for one thing.

Next: Why would you not make a big show of the costume bonus? No signs, etc?

Last: Honestly, as much as I love this game, I was disappointed. I'm just being a crybaby, I know that. I just expected better. I would not call it the worst booth in the show, but it was fairly close.

[/ QUOTE ]

First, the booth was about four times the size of the NCSoft booth at ComicCon, so while access to the computers might have been a bit tight (and really *everything* at PAX is tight), it was actually pretty spacious compared to what they had in San Diego.

Also, I saw BAB and Hero1 and Ex spending a ton of time hanging out near the CoH game computers. Londer and I were at the NCSoft booth for probably a couple hours each day, and there was a representative of the game close by all the time. They got very busy at times, with all the people to talk to, promo stuff to hand out, plus I think they were helping out the representatives of the other NCSoft games a little too... So yeah they were very busy, but not once did I see anyone look "uninterested."

Also regarding the in-game bonus, it's my understanding that they were trying to make sure they go to current players, not eBay scalpers. Thus the reason there was no big sign, and also the reason for the questions about whether or not you play the game.

I think they all worked hard, and though all cons are pretty chaotic they put together a nice presentation... and I was glad that Londer and I could be there to help out with showing off the game.

[ QUOTE ]
A quick correction to the Appetizer list:

Hot Appetizers:

Lump Crab Cakes
Shrimp & Chicken Pot stickers
Southwest Egg Rolls

Due to the number of Vegetarian, Pescetarian, non-beef, etc. dietary requests from the folks signing up the lump crab cakes replaced the chicken wings on the appetizer list.

The Lump Crab Cakes are pan-fried with Asian Slaw and Cajun Remoulade.


- B.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yum. Good choice!

Honestly though all the food looks good. Thanks for putting this together guys!

[ QUOTE ]
I'd also be paying a social cost as I'd have to ditch my wife on our vacation for a bit - but I can work that part out.


[/ QUOTE ]

Aww she can't be persuaded to come to PAX for an afternoon? There'll be lots of different kinds of games represented there, not just "serious business" types of computer and console games, but a lot of casual stuff too. Plus you could take her to out to the Cheescake Factory across the street from the convention center

[ QUOTE ]
If there's still some question about venue, then maybe it's appropriate to ask "What activities happen at an informal Meet and Greet?"

If it's something beyond chatting (like, you know, getting Ex Libris and Lighthouse drunk and goading them into a table-top dance-off) then some venues might be more appropriate than others.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ideally, decent food, decent drink, and a place that's conducive to medium-to-large groups of folks who want to chat with each other. So uh no loud music, and no little sequestered corners where we can't talk to more than 2-3 other people at a time.

The Rock Bottom in Bellevue was great a couple years ago, because they let us move tables into kind of a big horseshoe shape, which made for easy chatting with a bunch of other folks.

[ QUOTE ]
I've never been to a game related convention, but I live near seattle. Is the PAX worthwhile?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes.

As someone who practically grew up at the San Diego Comic Con, PAX is quite a bit smaller... but then everything is quite a bit smaller. PAX is big enough to have some really cool stuff and still small enough to be somewhat down to earth. Plus they have beanbag chairs, a lot of them, so there's always a place to chill if you need to escape the exhibit hall crazyness.

Last year we picked up a ton of game trials, got a bunch of beta invites for various MMOs, got a crapload of other swag, sat in on some interesting panels, and spent a long time chatting with Positron and Lighthouse. It was a ton of fun.

Very cool.

Red Robin could probably work too, as long as they have a bunch of tables and they don't mind us moving them around, so people can chat easily, etc..

Rock Bottom has the microbrews though, and if there's one thing you should do while you're visiting the Northwest it's sample the local beer.

Let me know if Londer and I can do anything to help.

Thank you Ex! I'm looking forward to meeting up with you and other folks at PAX.

Did things work out with Rock Bottom? Or are we looking at a different location at this point?

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
IGNORING THE SILLY DRAMA OF THE THREAD...

I will be at whatever Meet and Greet there is unless something happens and Seattle like... blows up or something.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was planning on being there - until I realized just how little the Dev's care about the Meet and Greet. Last year Posi blew it off to speak on a panel. This year, they can't even make the effort to find a venue.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that might be a little unfair. I don't know about Posi's situation, but having been on a constaff before, I know that your panel guests are selected ahead of time. If one of the panel guests doesn't show up, that really sucks for all the people who signed up to hear that person speak. If the M&G is scheduled at the same time that one of the devs is supposed to be at a panel, they can't do much about that. Also, one of the rednames did mention that they were having a hard time finding a venue, but that didn't mean they'd given up. You probably wouldn't have had much luck either. Another thing I've had the (mis)fortune to experience is trying to plan meetings/dinners and so on (for corporate board meetings in this case) and restaurants want a specific headcount before they'll reserve anything for you.

[/ QUOTE ]

Posi's situation was that Jack was supposed to be there, but couldn't make it because his wife was having a baby, and Posi had to go do the panel instead.

Understandable circumstances methinks.

Edit: Also he showed up after the panel was over.

[ QUOTE ]
<QR>

Just would like to point out that most if not all of the people that don't have a problem with the in-game freebie that NC is giving away to people that attend PAX are also people that are going or think they may go to PAX.

I just wanted to point that out.

[/ QUOTE ]

The promise of an exclusive has no bearing on my enjoyment of PAX. I paid for my three day pass for PAX months ago, completely unaware that there would be any such CoH goodies involved. What I'm really looking forward to is getting together and socializing with other CoX players. The reason we're being positive in this thread isn't because we're looking forward to lording shiny exclusives over the rest of the players who couldn't make it. Far from it. We're really just interested in enjoying our event.

Also for the record, I'm sure there will be exclusives at the October Bay Area event too. I'm not going to that one, will not get the exclusives, and I'm 100% ok with that too. I wish the people who are going a good time, and am not going to get petty or complain about little stuff.

[ QUOTE ]
<-- will be at PAX, may attend the M&G depending on other plans that evening

Kam

[/ QUOTE ]

Happy Birthday!

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
IGNORING THE SILLY DRAMA OF THE THREAD...

I will be at whatever Meet and Greet there is unless something happens and Seattle like... blows up or something.

-Da Big Bug

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry Bug, I think the silly drama ignored you! I guess being able to turn into a PPD hardsuit permanently is enough to forget what this thread is really about; PAX and hanging out with fellow CoX'rs.

[/ QUOTE ]

When a redname opens up an official "Talk about the PPD hardsuit issue here" thread, I will move the discussion there. Until then, you have no authority to dictate the direction of this thread, since the PPD hardsuit issue is obviously related to the event in question.

[/ QUOTE ]

Um no one is trying to dictate authority over you. Some of us who are going to PAX would just like to enjoy this convention, and find it unfortunate that the thread is full of controversy over in-game exclusives now.

I really think the mods should have made a separate thread, and I did actually PM Ex requesting that. But in the meantime, there is really no need to be hostile here. I'm sorry if folks are bent-out-of-shape over exclusives, but that's no reason to take it out on those of us who just want to enjoy a fun event, regardless of what digital trinket we may or may not get for attending.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ohh, so you're saying that they was no implication that we should stop talking about the PPD hardsuit issue? I misunderstood the intent of those replies, then.

[/ QUOTE ]

"Implication" is a whole lot different from "dictate authority."

I'm trying to make an implication that I wish people would try to be respectful and not take a crap on an event that some folks here would like to enjoy. In no way am I dictating any authority however. I have no authority to dictate. It's just my humble opinion that the place would smell better if we could somehow have the controversy moved to a more appropriate location.

Like I said, I did PM Ex about it... Maybe she'll be able to start up a new thread.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
IGNORING THE SILLY DRAMA OF THE THREAD...

I will be at whatever Meet and Greet there is unless something happens and Seattle like... blows up or something.

-Da Big Bug

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry Bug, I think the silly drama ignored you! I guess being able to turn into a PPD hardsuit permanently is enough to forget what this thread is really about; PAX and hanging out with fellow CoX'rs.

[/ QUOTE ]

When a redname opens up an official "Talk about the PPD hardsuit issue here" thread, I will move the discussion there. Until then, you have no authority to dictate the direction of this thread, since the PPD hardsuit issue is obviously related to the event in question.

[/ QUOTE ]

Um no one is trying to dictate authority over you. Some of us who are going to PAX would just like to enjoy this convention, and find it unfortunate that the thread is full of controversy over in-game exclusives now.

I really think the mods should have made a separate thread, and I did actually PM Ex requesting that. But in the meantime, there is really no need to be hostile here. I'm sorry if folks are bent-out-of-shape over exclusives, but that's no reason to take it out on those of us who just want to enjoy a fun event, regardless of what digital trinket we may or may not get for attending.

[ QUOTE ]
I'll be there. Unfortunately I'll be WORKING I'll be locked into the Wizards of the Coast booth answering questions about Dungeons and Dragons or Magic The Gathering.

Feel pity for me guys! Save a costume for me! I have a Policewoman Hero (Tetra Volt) on Liberty who would LOVE this costume!!

[/ QUOTE ]

You know, it occurs to me that I don't have any cop or detective type heroes. Maybe I need one just for this costume. Runs off to create new alt...