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Posts
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Quote:This times a million. I fell in love with City of Heroes for the same reasons. It was simple. It wsa fun. I could play it for a mere 10 minutes and still enjoy it. I didn't have to loot what I defeated and I could be pretty much whatever I wanted. No other MMO I've tried since has been like that.Just imagine an MMO without loot, raids, crafting or PvP. Madness? Madness? This. Is. City of Heroes! That's pretty much what it was back in 2004, and that's what I bought the game for. And they just don't make 'em like that. No, the game has to be bigger, it has to have raids and PvP and crafring and forced teaming and loot grind and time sinks and pointless minigames and backtracking and money sinks and all the crap that sets an MMO apart from an actual game.
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Quote:I agree with this. In fact, the change in focus a while ago to repetitive end game mega raids with tons of people spamming my screen, "incarnate content" as they called it, killed my intereset in the game to the point that when they announced they will be shutting it down it wasn't nearly the blow to me that it would have been three or four years ago.I have a big long post elsewhere, the gist of which is that I've always been very ambivalent about many commonly accepted aspects of MMOs, and have enjoyed City of Heroes and a few others in large part because they do not follow that template. The continued dominance of the fantasy genre and focus on endgame and raiding is particularly discouraging.
So, yeah. I love this game, and a few others. I do not like, uncritically, as a category, "MMOs." -
Switching to the confusing "free to play" model is what killed the game. That and taking focus off of what initially made the game great, encouraging lower level team play. They turned everybody into tankmages and put way too much emphasis on the incarnate stuff. My interest waned more than once due to this. Now the game is going down and I am partly to blame, as I let my subscription lapse, which was easy to do with the "free to play" system.
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Quote:^This! Very well said! Let us specialize in team play on some of our characters. By demanding every powerset be useful solo, due to balance you are often calling for a nerf to the team play. And one reason you don't see many high level empaths is that it is hard to find a team and be useful as a high level empath, because nobody really needs what you do for them like they did at lower levels.I really like having the option to make a character whose power depends on being in a team. I'm currently playing two such characters, and enjoy the fact that I'm pushed into forming teams, rather than just defaulting to solo. (So are my seven teammates, I hope)
I'm glad that there are support sets that solo well too, and I play them.
"Only useable on others" is a legitimate disadvantage to give a power.
Just like "7 foot range" is. It would be nice to be able to use those powers on myself, just like it would be nice if all my Scrappers attacks had their range extended to 80ft so I wouldn't have to run around as much.
Or maybe I should play a Blaster instead?
Empaths would indeed benefit from self targetting. Fortitude itself is close to the entire Super Reflexes set. Adrenalin Boost makes it crazy, and turns the Empath into a Super Reflexes/Regen Scrapper with ranged attacks. I've played in an empath duo, I know the numbers bear out in real play here.
So rather than mahsing all support sets into one model, lets keep them diverse. If you want a self-targetting empath, play Time Manipulation. You can boost your own defence, recovery and regen (sort of) that way as awell as your team. You won't be able to buff a single ally as well as an Empath, but that's balance.
The Incarnate stuff completely killed the high level game for me, turning everybody into tank mages, and I have sworn off it, and now only play characters under level 40. As soon as I get final level 38 secondary power, I'll play around a level or two and then retire the character and start a fun new one (which is easy with all the new powersets coming out) -
Quote:Altitis cured this perfectly for me. I made some characters for teaming and some for solo play. I never expected my defenders or controllers to play off of teams. If I wanted to play off of teams I'd play my scrappers or blasters (if I wanted to live dangerously).If classes with a support primary or secondary focused on buffing others could use their buffs on themselves, to a limited degree... might that not encourage more people to play them as their powers would be usable even if there was no team, rather than people thinking "I might not get a team, so I'll not roll x or y"?
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Quote:I dearly miss that vision of the game. It was what initially drew me to City of Heroes and away from other games. I actually loved it when controllers had almost no offence and blasters were true glass cannons. It did make for a fun team dynamic where everybody had a role to play.Funny enough, this decision was made long before even I worked on City of Heroes.
I was told that this was done this way so that powers that targeted allies/other players could easily exclude yourself as a potential target. This was done to promote more "team play" as many of the original designers had a distaste for tankmages and/or 3rd Ed D&D Clerics (can buff/heal/do everything by themselves).
I started to lose a bit of interest in the game when the devs got in in their heads that every AT should be able to solo well, took away multiple controler pets and gave controllers containment, etc.
I think I may have been entirely on my own in that sentiment though, and more recently I have come to enjoy soloing controllers and defenders and no longer team much but enjoy it. -
This causes me concern. If I am VIP and have access to all of this but people I pick up for a pick up team do not, they can't do the content with me? That right there sucks, especially when they don't give you a warning of such when you go to the zones (or did I miss one?)
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I completely agree. When they took the emphasis away from the four member team and put it on making every AT and powerset combo solo well, and then put it on massive raid content, I started to lose interest in the game. I really miss the early days of COH when each player on a four player team had a specific niche to fill. If blasters can all heal themselves and are self sufficient, what need is there for a defender specializing in keeping the team going? If controllers can pump out as much damage as blasters, then my blaster I bring won't be the king of damage he should be. Everything becomes way too much the same and everything loses what made it special. And on a giant team where my contribution could just as well be ignored and the screen is awash in so much effects I have no clue what is going on, what is the point of playing the game?
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I am hoping for 3 thrings. I would settle for one, to bring me back to playing the game for a while.
1. New Powerset concepts: Concepts and dynamics that are new, not just graphics for stuff I've tried a million times already. They have been creative with a few of the powersets and I want more of that.
2. New Game dynamics or better used ones: Why is it that oil slick arrow is the only power that can be part of a 1 -2 combo (with any fire power)? We need better use of stuff like this in the core of the game (the combat engine). Let me try new concepts. How about powers that pull things forwards instead of knocks them back? How about the ability to merge all my mastermind robots into one giant robot or something cool like that?
3. Less focus on Incarnates and massive teaming: Ever since they introduced incarnates I started to lose interest in the game. It is what led me to stop playing after years of doing so. I don't want to engage in massive groups mashing buttons. I don't want to be on a team of two dozen people. Solo or small teams is what I enjoy and I want more content catering to that, and important content too. It bothers me a little that I will never see much of how Praetoria ends because of this. -
Gravity Armor.
But what we really need is new power CONCEPTS not new animations for basically the same things we've been doing for years. -
Perhaps they could make the melee/buff AT idea that has been floating around these forums a reality? I'd stick around for quite a while for that, playing new combos. But still, they need something brand new, as groundbreakingly new as the villian archetypes were. That'd keep me in the game until the servers shut down years from now
Oh actually one other new concept I forgot to mention: Trick Arrow's Oil slick and how it can be ignited. That was an awesome new concept, and they seem to have done nothing with it since. Why have we not seen more combination powers like that? -
Quote:Mechanically.Are we talking about new concepts thematically, or new concepts mechanically?
I remember when I first joined this game way back in issue 1. I absolutely LOVED how different archetypes played so different. Playing a blaster was an entirely different experience from playing a controller. I loved when they introduced the peacebringer and warshade, morphing, new concept there! I loved when City of Villains came out and we got Stalkers, Brutes, Masterminds, all of which played completely different from anything I'd done before.
We haven't had much in the way of new mechanics since. It has been a looooong time. They did put Dual Blades in, which changed things up nicely. But other than that..... it has been mostly repeats of already existing powers with new graphics. -
Coming back from that... other game set in galaxy far far away ... I see again why I was locked into City of Heroes for so long. The Time Sink is far less insulting and the game play mechanic is far superior in City of Heroes. It feels like I've come home. But unfortunately home still needs some new furniture
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I have yet to experience Staff Fighting or Beast Control (It won't let me on the beta server even though I went back to VIP status). What is the new concept for Demon Summoning? Never played it out to 50. I don't see any other new concepts in the ones you listed. Dual Blades was a new concept as noted above. Prior to that I think it goes back to the introduction of the villain archetypes (especially masterminds - brand new concept there).
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I came back after a few months away to check out Darkness Control and so far I'm underwhelmed. I'm getting a been there done that feeling while playing it. We need new concepts for new powers, and not just reskinned powers that already exist.
Also checked out Titan Weapons and thought they looked pretty cool. It is neat running around swinging a railway sign lol -
A million times yes to rescuing the lore. I say the same about the zones. New issues don't always need new zones. Content can just as easily be put in existing zones. This has been done to Talos a few times. Do it more.
And the idea that new writers should have totally new characters makes little sense to me. Batman, Superman, Spiderman, the X-Men have all had dozens of different authors writing their stories. -
Awsome. You guys have mentioned some things that have changed the game for me too and I didn't even realize it
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I remember the first time I saw ragdoll physics. It changed the game for me.
I remember the first time I saw a sewer map transition into an office map. That changed the game for me.
I remember the first time I saw Oil Slick arrow get lighted by a fire power. That changed the game for me.
I remember when they introduced respecs. That changed the game for me.
I remember when mayhem missions came out. That changed the game for me.
What changed the game for you?
I wish they'd focus more on game changing things that alter the very core of the game instead of just reskinning powers and making costumes and adding more incarnate garbage.
How about powers that absorb certain types of enemy damage and actually make it heal you or something? How about enemies who can only be killed with heal powers? How about powers that reflect control powers back at the caster?
How about powers that pull enemies forward, towards you, instead of knocking them down or back, away from you.
How about more of the Oil Slick idea, with other combinations of powers.
I keep coming back to this game and seeing the same "new" stuff in different wrappers. -
I don't think they'll ever bring back old defiance. It was too niche for a lot of players (see the first reply to my OP). But I think if it was brought back in a blaster secondary that'd give people the option to play this white knuckle edge of your seat style.
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It would make for a good power pool set. Do we have the technology to make it so if you have the grow toggle up you can't have the shrink toggle up but can have other toggles up? I think we do. Is this how dark armor used to work?
Sometimes I feel like being a shrink/grow guy and simulate it by having the exact same costume on 2 costume slots with one maxed out size and one smallest possible size (via the science pack). Switching the costumes can look pretty cool and has turned a few heads. -
Some revisions after I've thought this through a bit more
1 - toggle, can't heal hp, more damage the lower the hp
2 - sacrifice just under 1/3 max hp for big short damage buff (hit thrice and drop to 1 hp)
3 - location based slow movement patch
4 - single target sleep, minimal damage (sleeps minions and lts only, good for solo)
5 - single target placate, quick recharge, very short duration (good for when teaming)
6 - targetted aoe placate, longer recharge, very short duration (good for teaming)
7 - toggle, use more end, do more damage
8 - toggle, intangibility, more end required the longer you keep it up (like the power pool)
9 - targeted aoe sleep, no damage (can sleep bosses if stacked with single target sleep)
The sleeps should be good solo but not so useful when teaming and the placates will be such short duration (hardly a second) to be useless solo but useful on teams (they will choose another target other than you).
The concept is seat of your pants, zero margin for error play. High risk and high reward. A fire/this blaster would do the most damage in the game but be team dependent and easily killed. Other primaries would also be very risky. What would you suggest the theme and name be?
Some ideas:
Self Sacrifice
Overcharge
Risk Taker -
It would neuter nothing if you pumped up the damage accordingly. It would just make for very risky play solo and make a lot of use of allies who buff/debuff and control.
How would you improve it? Or are you just dead set against the concept of a glass cannon?
I put the self damaging power at 1/2 your health so that you could have the option of playing at half health (doing considerably more damage than other blasters) or nearly zero health (doing ridiculously high damage). Perhaps instead make it 1/3, so you can use the buff 3 times and giving you the option of playing at 2/3 health for a moderate damage buff? In my view the problem with original defiance wasn't that it gave you more damage as you lost hp, but that it gave you no way to lose hp other than getting hit, and it gave you no way to guage how much hp you'd lose (and not faceplant) and gave you no way not to heal back that damage.
It may have been a mistake to force or encourage all blasters into this mold (as defiance 1.0 may have done), but why not have it as an optional secondary set, with a few control powers thrown in for making it soloabe.
Or, alternatively, how about doing this with a Dominator attack set? Make it so you better control well because you have no margin of error, but have a ton of damage (but not as much as the blaster above, because this will be far less of a challenge). -
I like this but I think you'd have to make it a Controller/Dom set and not a mastermind pet set, simply because the latter would require too many new animations (showing your pets being hit by enemy powers etc). I could definitely see a controller set where the animals are all just graphics though, like the mako shark powers. Add in the devouring earth bees and maybe a monkey as actual tangible pets and you're good to go.
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I miss the original defiance blasters had, and that inspired this idea for a new blaster secondary. Glass cannon takes blasters to the extreme, sacrificing everything for tons and tons of damage. This powerset is capable of working alone but will truly shine when on a team with good support and control.
1 - toggle, can't heal hp, more damage the lower the hp
2 - sacrifice just under 1/2 max hp for big short damage buff (hit twice and drop to 1hp)
3 - location based slow movement patch
4 - single target sleep, minimal damage (sleeps minions and lts)
5 - pbaoe placate (without making you invis - like the ninjitsu power)
6 - toggle, use more end, do more damage
7 - toggle, intangibility, more end required the longer you keep it up (like the power pool)
8 - click, longer recharge, do more damage
9 - targeted aoe sleep, no damage (can sleep bosses if stacked with single target sleep)
I'd really like to play a character like this. When I play a blaster I want to truly be a glass cannon, running around with 1hp and uber damage.
The set adds no melee attacks, so it truly is cannon and not blapper oriented. It makes all your standard blasts better instead of adding any melee.
I was considering a targetted aoe placate but that felt overpowered. The pbaoe one will only really be useful when fighting enemies with no splash damage or just after firing off a nuke. -
I have been pondering animal control for a long time. Animal mastermind may not work because it would require too much animation, skeleton actually in the world, needing held animations, knocked back animations, etc etc, but Animal Control could just have all the animals be graphics effects, like Mako's patron pool with sharks.