Adron

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I might have chosen the storyline (which I do happen to enjoy) if what we did in the game made more of a difference with non-contact NPCs. (I chose costumes.)

If we were remembered by the various mobs for whom we have worked, for example, it would feel more integrated.

It would be more immersive if we could earn or lose "faction points" when doing missions for the various mobs that affected the way they greeted us when we run into their members elsewhere.

If we were "in" with that particular mob, members of that mob would be friendly (or not attack on sight) and maybe even help out if we were in a jam with a rival mob.

Conversely, if we have been interfering with that mob's business (by doing missions that are targetted at them or by just killing lots of them), then we would lose faction points. Based on how negative we are with them, they'd be aggressive and go out of their way to make life difficult. Attack and then maybe follow us more doggedly if we try to run away.

This might also help engage us in the storyline(s). Someone in this thread said it's possible to get to level 50 without really knowing them; if our choices mattered more in gameplay with NPCs it might make that less of an issue.

Sorry for the inelegant sentence structure; still drinking my first cup of coffee.

Tempestina Teapot

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Quoted for hallejulah-style amen-flavored truth.

I earned a badge for beating up Hellions. That should at least gain me an extra helping of their aggro.

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They're short bus challenges, since they don't really involve skill, proper use of powers, tactics, or anything at all beyond dumb luck. But, hey, they're still challenges, so let's be honest about it!

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I remember when "Doooooom" was a wry parody rather than an emerging realization.

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Archery has the highest Accuracy in the game. All powers have an accuracy of 1.16. Ranged shot, the sniper attack, has an accuracy of 1.39.

So that like getting 1 free ACC DO in all Archery powers. Against a target with no defense, thats a 87% chance ToHit.


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And when you put 1 Acc SO in your Archery attacks, any benefit gained from that "free DO" vanishes.

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Reasons #24,376 and #24,377 why City of Heroes is the finest game available:

Accountability and Action.


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Well, those are two of my three aforementioned reasons.

I have recently come to realize that, for at least three reasons that come to mind, Positron is why I'm still playing City of Heroes.

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Understood; we're still working on this.

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Now that's the kind of response that makes me love these guys.

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As some players have pointed out, Defense builds (Super Reflexes, Ice Armor, Stone Armor to a degree) have an inherent weakness in that there are a plethora of powers that debuff Defense in PvE and PvP.

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With all due respect, this was not the sets' primary weakness. Defense Debuffs only aggravated the problem; they didn't create it.

We have declared that our pie was served too cold, and in compensation you have given us hot silverware.

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Ya know, being a blaster = being in perpetual debt.

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Uh, no.

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I'm really wondering just exactly what whichever dev told you this was thinking when they told it to you. Resistance debuffs have the same effectiveness regardless of actual resistance, except for defenders in the arena - as far as I've seen. This means lowering resistance debuffs to balance lowered resistance buffs makes no real mathematical sense as such.

Of course, saying a power change makes no mathematical sense seems to have about the same effect as saying a power change isn't sufficiently yellow, it seems. I'm actually amazed, seriously amazed, that the devs would look at resistance and resistance debuffs, defense and defensive debuffs, and apply the fix the defensive situation needed to the resistance situation, and then leave the defensive situation alone.

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I will perpetually blame Geko until proven otherwise.

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Okay, so let me get this straight: I'm a superhero who wants to build a SUPERHERO base. To do so, I have to put down $50 for a game I don't even have an interest to play (City of Villians), just so I can be a SUPERHERO with a SUPERHERO base.

Then, the Devs are going to add insult to injury by telling me that the Influence I have been saving up for my SG base will not be able to be used for purchasing said base. But instead, I'll have to run around in my SG mode (a mode that no one wants to use because it ruins the individual look of their hero, either by costume color or emblem), just so I can earn this new form of currency called Prestige so I can finally get my SUPERHERO base.

What????!!!??

That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. This game is suppose to be fun - making the players do something they do not want to do is NOT FUN FOR THEM.

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Quoted for emphasis and in comparison to Jack's vision.

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A BADGE IS NOT AN INCENTIVE TO DO SOMETHING! YOU SHOULD NEVER DO SOMETHING THAT ISN'T FUN JUST TO GET A BADGE!

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Yeah, I enjoyed the hell out of killing ten thousand monkeys.

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Geko and I were both surprised to find out that the powers system already DID this

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I realize that CoH's direction has gotten me touchy and paranoid these last few months, but....

Anyone else bothered by that phrase?

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I'm more bothered by what immediately followed...

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If it involved engineering, we would have found a different solution.

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Could that account for why they decided to nerf powers (mostly consisting of decreasing a stat's base value in a database) instead of improving mob AI (actual coding/work involved) in order to bring "challenge" to the game?

It does make one wonder...

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Beat me to it. I can only hope that this is just poor phrasing, because it does strongly imply that the preferred Dev solution to a problem is the easiest solution, not the best solution. Sometimes those two are the same, but it's rare.

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Perhaps they're more in the mood for "quick and dirty" due to CoV's current stage of development. They have to be short on manpower right now.

I'm not saying that's a justification; just a possible explanation.

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You mean more so than them not noticing that they were 2-shotting +7 mobs in their test environment and being confident enough about it to post a video of it?

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Ahhh, two-shotting +7's. Man, those were the days.

.... The days of insanity.

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You know I'm really surprised there isn't a more simple solution to datamining. Why don't they just make it so that when a player finishes a TF, there is a field in their player profile that goes from False to True - a simply Boolean change.

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It's my belief that such a field simply didn't exist previously because they weren't going to track every TF.

Me, I'm an information glutton. When I design databases I track too much stuff and add in (currently) unnecessary bloat.

Sure, later I look like a miracle worker when someone asks "is there any way to find out..." but until then I look like a dork for having such a glacial DB with all of this "useless" stuff floating around. And yep, some of it really does never get used.

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Geko and I were both surprised to find out that the powers system already DID this

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Anyone else bothered by that phrase?

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Quite, actually. They're kind of in charge, so they really should know what's going on in the code...

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Well, I don't expect them to know everything about the code. It's a team project and (as far as I know) Positron and Geko are still human.

Could have been just suspect phrasing. Maybe he meant "we were relieved that the existing code was easily tweaked into doing this."

I like Positron -- if anything for being a straight shooter -- so I'm probably just overreacting there.

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Geko and I were both surprised to find out that the powers system already DID this

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I realize that CoH's direction has gotten me touchy and paranoid these last few months, but....

Anyone else bothered by that phrase?

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it could be something as clean as donating Influence to our SG's "bank account," which converts (based on our level) into Prestige which the SG Architect uses to buy the base.

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As was pointed out to me, that wouldn't work. The level 50s would just give all their Inf to level 10s to convert into Prestige at the highest rate of exchange.

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Sure, agreed. It was merely an example, not a suggestion nor even a theory.

Our assumption, based on Recluse's comments, is: "We must accomplish unknown tasks while in SG mode to earn Prestige, which is the only currency used to buy, upgrade, and maintain bases."

In other words, "We must change our 'Chest Detail' to our SG's symbol and accomplish yet unknown tasks -- presumably with our other SG members -- to afford bases."

The problems are:

* Some of us consider our chest emblems to be keystone elements of our costumes. For instance, my rifleman looks cool with a bandolier; he looks silly with a big heart iron-on. My big tattooed Norseman is shirtless; suddenly his tattoos have changed and the straps holding on his shoulderpads have vanished?

* We don't know what "things" Recluse suggests we need to do; it could be something as clean as donating Influence to our SG's "bank account," which converts (based on our level) into Prestige which the SG Architect uses to buy the base. It might be as nasty as repeatedly completing a new special and lengthy trial while wearing your SG emblem.

* It might be a matter of earning Prestige enough to qualify for the right to build a base, and then the base is funded entirely by Influence.

We just don't know. They're not going to tell us for a while yet, either, because they're still in the development phase. Nothing is set in stone yet, and judging by our (including my) overwhelmingly disgusted reactions, they might even be re-evaluating their plans. To some degree, anyway; they seem to have a bad habit of patronizing us lately.

In an interview, Statesman has said that CoV raises the bar for gaming by introducing a base construction system as wonderful as CoH's costume design. I know some people who are going to buy CoV not to play as villains, but just so their heroes can have really cool clubhouses.

I'll tell you straight up that no matter how cool they can look, if superbases turn out to be just another huge PITA, a lot of business will be lost. It'll be even more disenfranchised subscribers than I5 has generated, I fear.

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Just because you're in SG mode doesn't mean you automatically get Prestige. You still have to do things.

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I'm all for doing things. Fun things, anyway.

Not things like regretting the way we set up our five Origin-based supergroups under the assumption that they'd want their HQs thematically decorated.

We figured the Magic guys would want stone construction with torches on the walls while the Tech guys would want smooth lines and blinking lights.

We figured that if there were Enhancement storage bins in the bases, Science folks would like to go into their Science base and open their Science storage to get their Science Enhancements.

We figured that it'd be okay if our Natural group was the smallest SG, because its leader was the richest character and she'd bankroll a snazzy headquarters for her elite team.

We figured that since we had so many Mutants, their base might be the grandest of all. If anything, cash flow to fund the place would be the most consistent.

Now? Now I look at the Natural roster and wonder how I'm going to organize a balanced team out of all those riflemen and scrappers. I guess the Peacebringer better start slotting his Dwarf form. It's either that or to heck with the mansion idea.

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Honestly, if we're looking at a secondary form of currency (Prestige) that's earned only when in SG mode, it's a poor system. You're basically telling people that they will ALWAYS have their SG emblem on their chest (bbye to those straps or bandoliers that completed your outfits) because why would they do anything OUT of SG mode now?

You're not even enforcing (yes, I said enforcing) us to use our SG colors, because we can ignore that entire part of the SG mode. So what's the point?

Sure, flavor-wise, I can understand encouraging people to team up with their SG mates so as to glorify their supergroup's teamwork. I'm cool with that. But this is not the way to do it.

I always play with SG members. Pick-up groups are extremely rare outside of trials or TFs, and even then we try to make it SG-only. Now you're telling me that I'm still not doing enough with my SG?

Bad, bad, bad idea. Impractical, unrealistic, and I dare say insulting. You just negated all of the influence that our highbies had looked forward to turning into five really cool bases.

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Ugh, I'm getting SO tired of having to say that about Heroes: "I agree with your intention, but your execution is horrible." Please tell me that there's some misunderstanding here, or that there are unrevealed-yet-vital bits of data on the subject that will make it all non-disgusting.

Seriously, guys, I used to adore this game. I was the dude who'd recruit friends into the game in an embarrassingly giddy fashion. Now you've reduced me to a perpetual eyeroll-and-sneer. I don't like that.

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Defense-based sets have more vulnerabilities. Defense in PvP is a joke because player accuracy buffs are so incredibly strong. And defense is the only set of powers in the game affected by the streakbreaker, a deus ex machina that swoops down on you every once in a while and declares you naked and helpless by divine fiat.

Defense sucks compared to resistance, in practice. But the devs don't see that -- they look at spreadsheets that tell them 20% defense is equivalent to 40% resistance (with base 50% chance for a minion to hit, 20% defense in theory means you're taking 30% of the minion's damage. To get the same value in theory for resistance, you need 40% resistance.) And with those numbers in hand, they make defense worse by far than any other damage mitigation strategy in the game. In reality, to balance the game, they'd have to make defense much, much stronger than their spreadsheets tell them to, because it has so many vulnerabilities. But they don't see that, and won't do it.

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I have come to learn that Geko is the man in charge of these numbers.

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I just wanted to post this in case anyone though I might have said anything to garner the 45s limitation. As you can see, some of what I said was taken to heart, and some of what I said its questionable if anything got acted upon.

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It seems like there's a disconnect between how Ice works and how Statesman thinks it should work. It's like there's some kind of weird idea that it's actually effective lodged in the devs' heads.

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Ice & SR, I'd say. Pretty much any time DEF enters into it, using Invincibility as further example that the mechanics of defense are (pun intended) eluding the devs.

Hrm, States had a meeting with Geko about Ice armor. Maybe Geko should be our true target of the Inquisition.

Elsewhere on the forums, someone suggested a QoL feature consisting of a little bar graph for each power, showing the relative effectiveness of each before and after slotting. There'd also be indicators to show if you've reached or exceeded a cap.

"Whoa, I won't be slotting Wet Ice for DEF. I didn't realize how little it gave me. I'd better use these for Icicles since it shows that power eats up endurance like crazy."

"Switching to SOs meant I exceeded the DEF cap. I'll move some of these +DEF enhancements out of my toggles and put in endurance reducers."

"My Fly speed doesn't need to be 5-slotted, I've already hit the speed limit! I'll use that slot elsewhere."

Of course, you'd need to be able to undo whatever you've just done once you found out that you slotted poorly. This means some sort of mechanic in place that doesn't involve you leveling on the Test Center first each time.

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It'd be even better if, by merit of each power's construction, there were no "wrong" ways to slot things. Too much ACC in your attacks? Use the surplus as +PERCEPTION or a(n increased) chance to critical. Fly movement maxes with about 4 speed SOs? Slow Flight down to where 6 SOs hits the cap, or raise the cap to let 6 mean something.

Man, it's like we have to think of everything around here.

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Also remember that the Freakshow will work for anyone who provides sandwiches and a keg.

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I didn't think they actually ate. I thought they got their energy from their drug and batteries or whatever... HOW do they deal with their bodily functions? Are those claws and hammers removable? o_O

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According to in game descriptions, they have "care takers".

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I'm sure they're all still living in their grandparents' basements and the "caretaking" consists of horrific laundry detail and underappreciated cooking.

"GRAN'MAAAAA, you weren't snooping around my room, were you??"

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I'm not so sure I like trading Chilling Embrace's -recharge for some -damage. It sounds like a bit of a wash.

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It is in fact a wash from a "Damage mitigation per second" standpoint, provided the magnitude of the powers are identical. Either they're swinging at you X% less or you're taking X% less damage per hit.

However, it's ideal for a +DEF powerset because -DAM (Foe) is a lot like +RES (Self). Since Ice tankers have no Resistance defenses (i.e.: we take 100% of the damage that hits us), this means we can suddenly take more melee hits. That's one of the things we desperately needed to be able to do.

Also, the cool thing (pun intended) is that if you're debuffing a foe's damage capacity, it helps your whole team rather than just you. That's great from a Tanker role standpoint.

So, I for one welcome this lefthanded RES and think it's a wise shift.

My suggestions. I may faint if they are implemented, must less dev-read, in any form.

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Concealment/Stealth: Self -SPEED, +DEF; Foes -DETECTION. Shuts off after user attacks or clicks a flashy/door. Recharge: Long. (Toggle)

<Purpose: Let a hero creep around slowly but in relative safety.>

Concealment/Invis Other: Ranged Ally +DEF; Foes -DETECTION. Shuts off after ally attacks. Recharge: Short. (Click)

<Purpose: Grant a non-stealthy ally the ability to get somewhere quietly.>

Concealment/Invisibility: Self Special (User cannot attack); Foe Special (Cannot detect nor target user). Recharge: Medium. (Toggle)

<Purpose: Allow a hero to freely move around outside of combat.>

Concealment/Phase Shift: Self Special (Cannot affect nor be affected by non-Phase Shifted targets, including flashies/doors. Does not clip with flashies, doors, NPCs, or other non-terrain objects.) Recharge: Medium. (Toggle)

<Purpose: As Invisibility, but in total exclusion from the "real world." Cannot open doors, but can pass through them. Cannot click flashies. Can interact with other phased targets.>

Devices/Cloaking Device: as Concealment/Invisibility but with +DEF (Toggle)

<Purpose: Allow a hero to freely move around outside of combat with increased safety.>

Devices/Smoke Grenade: Targeted AoE. Foe -DETECTION, +CONFUSE while in its area. Recharge: Medium. (Click)

<Purpose: To keep foes in a particular area off balance and unable to easily target the hero. A hero can choose to spend extra time blanketing a larger area with multiple smoke grenades.>

Fire Manipulation/Smoke: Ranged AoE. Foe -ACC, -DETECTION, +CONFUSE. Recharge: Medium. (Click)

<Purpose: Decrease a hostile group's ability to successfully attack friendlies.>

Illusion/Group Invisibility: as Invis Other, but PBAoE (Click)

<Purpose: As Invis Other, used on a group of allies rather than just one.>

Illusion/Superior Invisibility: Self +DEF, Foe -DETECTION. Does not shut off due to interactions with objects or targets. Recharge: Short. (Toggle)

<Purpose: A defensive power.>