Aidalyn

I realize every MMO has bug problems, but compared to my experiences with other MMOs, CoX is the worst in this regard in that:

1. They released Issue 12 with many of these major bugs known and uncorrected. The release was motivated more by a marketing deadline than having a quality product.

2. After the release, we have waited for three weeks with no fixes to major issues of client crashes and teammate buff displays (among others). I am used to other MMOs having bugs of this severity fixed within 3 days, not 3 weeks. For almost an entire month of paid subscription, this product has not been performing to my expectations.

Yes, I realize an MMO is an enormously complex project prone to various bugs and other problems. But that doesn't excuse what I see as poor decision-making in regards to product quality and a substandard ability to respond to and correct these problems. This isn't a case of "Oops, we overlooked that -- we'll get it fixed 'Soon.'" This is a case of "An internal decision was made regarding the release date for which we're unable to offer anymore details. You'll have to live with it for now, and we'll try to find time to fix the bugs later while we continue work as usual with new hover animations, veteran pets' AI tweaks, etc." There are issues here beyond simple programming oversights that I believe need to be evaluated and addressed.

Lighthouse, despite my personal feelings towards how my gaming experience has been affected, I still want to thank you for the hard work you put into here as a community manager. You do a wonderful job as a liason between the players and the devs, and you do it very professionally. In this arena, my experience in these forums is actually better than any other MMO I've ever played, and you and your team deserve a bit of applause.

/clap /clap /clap

While I appreciate the reservation to implement a bugged patch into the live servers, I really wish this discernment had been present for the deployment of Issue 12 in the first place. I'm already upset that many of these bugs have been in place for three weeks without fixes. In learning that this new update is faulty, I am losing faith in your ability to properly support your own game.

At least you were able to identify the problem, and I hope this patch will be corrected so these bug fixes can be implemented ASAP.

I have the GvE version (with jump pack, Pocket D VIP badge, justice, and sinister costume sets) and I do not have the Disco or Hacker bottom options.

According to ParagonWiki, these bottoms really do come with the Belly Shirts in the 9-month reward.

I feel the need to reaffirm: PLEASE fix the buff icon bugs!!!

I have been unable to enjoy my favorite villain (Bots/FF MM) for 10 days now because of this issue. It has been my single biggest concern since Issue 12 was released, and I would have seriously preferred to have the release date pushed back until this was fixed. Also, I am gravely concerned this bug will not receive the attention and priority it deserves. After all, the Parry icon on my broadsword scrapper has not been displaying double-stacked buffs for months now. And instead of being fixed in this issue, the situation has actually grown worse.

So please fix this bug ASAP and help renew my faith in you.

--Aidalyn

Anyone know if the team buff icon bug has been fixed? My main /FF Mastermind has been pretty much unplayable since I12.

I like the idea of a free Reactivation Weekend, but I have to strongly disagree with the timing. I have a RL friend this would apply to, and if I convinced him to give it a shot, he'd be subjected to a weekend of lag, bugs, and chaos. I can't possibly believe he would finish the weekend with a positive impression of the game, and the experience would only reaffirm his previous decision to quit.

As much as I want him to play this game alongside me, I will not be informing him of this special weekend. Fix the obvious bugs, let the dust settle for a week or two, and THEN consider a Reactivation Weekend.

Please.

It's been five days. If the mods had wanted to sticky it, they probably would have done so by now. But I don't think they will, and even if they did, I would PM them to reconsider for the reasons I've mentioned earlier: the original post is simply too condescending.

And as the attempts for shameless bumping keep occurring (also mentioned in the rules), my guess is this topic is more likely to be locked than stickied.

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you attract more flies with honey than with vinegar.

[/ QUOTE ]nuh-uh!

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Touche. After additional research, I stand corrected.

But then again, it poses the question, "Did we really want to attract flies in the first place?" After all, we are talking about disease-carrying insects that would happily feast on horse dung. I suppose the metaphorical equivalent here could be forum trolls looking for a flame war.

So in that case, "You repel more trolls with honey?" Mmm... no, still doesn't sound right.

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That's so devastating clever that my mind struggles in its attempt to form a sentence that adequately describes it.
. . .
Humor me for but a moment. Let's take a look at the rules:

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4. Know the search function. Use the search function.

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...
Now that, my friend, is a nice piece of advice. I know your idea is so original, but... it wouldn't hurt to check to see if someone beat you to the punch.
...
"But Ostrakon, that's too hard! Clearly, its difficulty absolves me from having to follow the rules, allowing me to post the fourth thread about power customization today!"

Yeah, you would say that. Well, kiddo, I'm not letting you off the hook. But it's okay, I learned the Navajo so you won't have to.
...
Yeah, that's right. You can use Google to search the CoX boards. You know how to use Google, right?
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Wanna take your chances and submit without searching? I wouldn't. The new mods, Koschej and Niviene, have actually been enforcing rules lately. Constantly regurgitated idea threads will likely be next.
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Let's put it this way. Take a d20. (That's a twenty-sided die, in case you didn't know.) Roll it. Did it spontaneously combust in a blaze of white fire?

I'm guessing not. The odds that your idea is actually original are roughly the same as rolling a d20 and having it come up "deific flames." Which is pretty low, to say the least.

Know the search function.

Use the search function.

'Cause you don't have an excuse anymore.

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This post, while encouraging of an important posting practice, has quite a negative, condescending tone to it. In its current form, it's simply too offending to actually be persuasive to the reader, let alone be worth a sticky. Remember, you attract more flies with honey than with vinegar.

I like just about everything I've read on this update. With any luck, I can try to bring one of my friends back into trying the game and spend some quality time in this zone.

Looking forward to seeing this released. Thanks for all your hard work, War Witch!

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...rowcontact.jpg

So in a bout of insomnia I took a new alt through level 5 on Justice.
As you can see by the image above, it's not orange as I thought, but they do tell you that you do not have to do Wincott's missions.

But it is kind of vague, so maybe you miss it. They thought of that, as seen here.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ottwarning.jpg

Wincott himself makes it very clear that you can go back to King's Row anytime you want.

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Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I'll own up to that one -- no excuse on my part for missing those statements.

I really did have the feeling that was where we were supposed to be, though. First, another contact specifically referred us to him as a mission instead of being simply introduced like any other ordinary contact. Secondly, this is the first point in the game where you can actually receive missions from more than a single contact, so that part wasn't blatantly obvious to me quite yet. At that point, I just figured we were being guided there for a reason. My initial guess was simply, "The Hollows must be the best place for leveling after level 5." We found out soon that wasn't the case, and eventually gave up after realizing we could go back to King's Row.

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Also, I don't think it was NECESSARY for you to ask for help, but when faced with a tough decision (Do I fight these guys who can kill me easily? Do I run past them? Do I need to gain more levels?) I find it silly to arbitrarily make one of those decisions with no outside information and then complain about your decision as if it's inherently the game's fault.

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No, I really do think the game could be a little more intuitive here. The decision I was faced with seemed blatantly simple: Do I fight these guys who can kill me easily, or do I need to gain more levels? Running past them wasn't even a consideration -- I'm a hero, I don't ignore injustice, right? So I made my decision, not arbitrarily as you imply, but by going with what seemed the obvious thing to do. Leveling off of street mobs wasn't really that difficult (if a little boring after a bit), but finally fighting my way to the mission door only to discover it's filled with mobs now 2-3 levels below me -- that was a surprise.

Granted, had I asked a question like "Am I supposed to level up on the streets before continuing my next mission?" on Broadcast, I probably would have been set in the proper direction. But it didn't seem like a question that needed to be asked. Call me silly, but I thought the concept of sprinting past a mob of purse-snatchers I can't defeat yet to take on an entire hideout of said gang of purse-snatchers seemed even sillier. Who knew?

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I hope that despite the rough start you enjoy and stay with us for a very long time.

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Thank you. I hope to stay awhile, too. But probably the single thing that would improve this game for me would be if I actually had another RL friend playing alongside me. Unfortunately, none of them are interested, and my one friend is still bitter from his "City of Hospital" experience. So I miss being able to chat about game stuff with them like we did when we all played WoW. If I ever quit CoH, it will be because I choose to invest more time into my RL friends, whatever they're playing.

Maybe the upcoming issue 12 will have some sort of enticing hook I can snare them with. We shall see!

Edit: Okay, that was spooky. I just saw the new info up on issue 12 after submitting this post. I'm excited to see how the Hollows turns out, and the new Contact organization is nice too. Way to go!

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It's been awhile since I've actually used a level 5-10 contact, even on my new alts, but don't they make it very clear in bright orange letters that you don't have to do Wincott's missions and can return to that contact and do other missions?

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No, I didn't recall seeing that. However, I just recently got a hero high enough to be asked to go into Dark Astoria. From the police chief that wanted to send me into a mission there, I was handed a pamphlet of information about the zone. Reading this pamphlet through the "Clues" menu, I saw in bright orange letters something to the effect of, "You will want a team of other players." I suspect something similar might have been done for being introduced to Wincott, but it was a long time before I ever learned what that "Clues" menu was really for.

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Don't they also send you straight to the police guy in KR, and explain, in detail, how you use the radio and what it's for?

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Yes, absolutely. But the explanation still made me a little nervous. I didn't know if these radio missions were soloable, or what kind of events were involved with the promised Safeguard mission. Rather than diving into a new system of missions, we decided to stick with our other contact while we continued figuring out the game.

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Also OP, did you ever ASK other players for advice or help? I assume you knew what an MMO was when you bought into it (although back in 2004 when I started I didn't.) It helps a lot to be able to say in Broadcast or Request "Hey my mission door is really far away and there are some enemies I can't beat blocking it, what shoulfd I do?"

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1. That wasn't an obvious question to ask. In no other MMORPG that I've ever played has it ever been necessary to ask for help at level 2. My analysis was: I'm supposed to work my way towards the mission by stopping purse-snatchers on the streets -- that's what they're there for.
2. I was also still getting used to the basic controls for movement, powers, targetting, etc. Mastering the chat functions wasn't one of my high priorities at the time -- I would deal with that later.

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Seems like a lot of your complaints OP are not so much about how the game is set up, but how your own inexperience and/or unwillingness to try to get help impacted your gameplay.

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I was an experienced MMO player still trying to get accustomed to the game on my own so I could be a better contribution to a team when I finally joined one. I'm more than willing to be a team player, but I just think level 2 was a little early for that extra help to be necessary.

Okay, I've added my first half of ideas to the suggestions forum here: Revamping CoH Early-Game to Attract New Players

I will write up a suggestion for a Veteran Rewards compromise earlier. I know it's a commonly suggested topic, but I'm hoping to channel some of the constructive energy I've found here into some useful, positive feedback.

Once again, I want to say a big "thank you" to everyone who's contributed ideas and experiences to this discussion.

Yes, the point ChaseArcanum makes is huge. Being able to choose from a pool like this would be huge relief for me, personally. It would still allow the Veteran Rewards program to exist and grow, keeping an incentive for existing players. And in turn, newer players have options to make the most out of their gaming/character experience, and it makes the current "4-year gap" (which will only continue to grow) far less intimidating.

Would having an option like this be such a bad thing?

Okay, a lot to address, but I'll try to address them all.

Teaming: Yes, we probably would have benefited from teaming with more people. Why didn't we do that at first? Because in most other MMORPGs I've played, we usually start by soloing the first 10 levels or so. The idea is that we want to get an understanding of the UI, the battle system, and the other various systems and concepts that make up the gameplay experience, so that in the end, when we finally do join a team, we can do our part to contribute properly when other people are depending on us. Plus, in the other MMOs I've played, your class/AT abilities don't start to bloom in a party setting until you've mastered those first several levels and unlocked some crucial abilities, so beginner soloing is pretty much a standard operating procedure in my book, and still is. Begging for a team to help us figure out the game seemed counter-intuitive at the time, not to mention a damper on our pride. Also, not once in-game do I remember reading that the Hollows zone (and all other hazard zones) were meant for entire teams. Only in the Frostfire mission were we told to bring teammates, but obviously they would have been useful long before then. Perhaps this piece of advice could be added to the message for the contact that first sends you to Wincott?

Asking for Help On Broadcast: I don't know if you've seen the Broadcast chat in Atlas Park on Virtue, but it's not always pretty. Between advertisements for MRP SGs, mundane conversations about TV shows that hold no interest to me, requests for Old Man Bob to put on some clothes, and repeated references to "sewer groups" (YOU know what they are, but I sure didn't), it doesn't inspire much confidence. In my first impression, 5 minutes of Broadcast was all I could stand before I thought, "This must be the random spam channel," and I turned it off in my chat tabs. Regardless, maybe this is exactly what Broadcast was meant to do, and so perhaps instead it would be more useful to implement a default-available, moderated Help channel where experienced users can be available to answer questions without additional spam from Broadcast.

City of Villains: It took me some time to find a villain I liked, but when I finally stuck to one, I had a lot more fun. And oddly enough, I didn't even realize that the specific improvements InfamousBrad noted were helping my gameplay experience -- everything just seemed so fluid that I was letting the game draw me in. So yes, CoV's early game is significantly better, and it would work wonders to improve CoH to mirror this achievement. If I have any complaints, it's that the abundance of cave missions are difficult to navigate because they're so dark. After playing CoV for awhile, my confidence and knowledge of the game afforded me new opportunities to enjoy CoH once again, and that's why I'm still here today.

Mentioning negative aspects to friends: I really wasn't kidding when I said I didn't realize how stupid these things sounded until I said them out loud. I was initially excited about these things, until my mouth gave my brain a chance to process it some more. For instance, when I heard there was a new expansion out, I thought: "Great! Maybe this can convince my friend to consider returning to the game."

Me: "Hey, guess what? There's a new expansion coming out."
Friend: "Really? What's in it?"
Me: "Umm... hold on, let me finish looking it up. Umm... it features... a wedding dress costume, a tux costume, and some party emotes."
Friend: "Oooookay. And?"
Me: "Eh.. I think that's it. Oh, wait, a couple new versions of costume parts for females."
Friend: ". . ."
Me: "Hmmm..."
Friend: "That is the <politically incorrect expression> thing I have ever heard."

Similar conversation for discovering vet rewards.

Me: "Hey, you can get wings!"
Friend: "Really? How?"
. . .

Differences In First-Impression Experiences: I wanted to say thank you to the people that valued my perspective as a new player to City of Heroes. I realize things were probably different when most of you vets first started, and there were handicaps you faced that I now take for granted (the Jump Pack has spoiled me for sure, I know). On the other hand, I'm guessing it was a larger community effort involved, and that you all faced those challenges together, trading information and ideas across the forums that now you take for granted and I knew nothing about when first starting. I'm hoping my experience (along with that of my friend) can be useful in suggesting tweaks that can make the early game of CoH more intuitive and enjoyable for new players. I hope to start writing a topic for the Suggestions forum tomorrow.

And now, onto the touchy subject.

Vet Rewards Successful in Other MMOs: The only other MMOs I've played are World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI, and Phantasy Star Online. I do not remember any type of "veteran rewards" program in any of these games. From my experience, this idea was completely new to me.

Vet Rewards Are Only Cosmetic: First, many of the rewards are not cosmetic, but practical. Base teleport and Vetspecs, in particular. As a new player who is unfamiliar with many of the game's powers, builds, challenges, and gameplay, I would kill for at least one free respec available at early levels. Unfortunately, the only options available to me at the moment are to live with my poor power choice until at least the mid-20s, or reroll the character. Sadly, I have exercised the latter option more often that I would have liked to.

Secondly, one of the biggest draws of City of Heroes/Villains to me is simply put: character customization. Cosmetics are the reason I play this game. I like how I can choose different costumes for my character and I don't have to worry about altering their appearance based on whatever practical armor/weapons I need equipped at any given point in time. In that I am denied access to existing costume pieces that would be the perfect match for a character I have imagined, it really does diminish my enjoyment of this game. Knowing that I won't have access to these costume pieces for years? I really can't express enough how heartbreaking this is for me.

Veteran Rewards In General: I like that there's an incentive to keep players coming back, I really do. It's the large, unbridgeable gap of waiting for new players that disturbs me. Those of you playing from Day 1 did not have to wait four years for your pet with team buffs. Yes, you played the game for four years, but it was not spent waiting for something you never knew existed. I, on the other hand, have to wait until the next leap year to have the fairy I'm sure I'll see everywhere else in-game until then. Now to be honest, I don't care much about the 48-month pets -- they don't go with any of my character concepts so far. But what if the 51-month reward is revealed to be helmets with long hair for females? I would probably cry.

Do I like the idea of an incentive to keep players sticking with this game? Yes, I really do. I just wish they applied to me as equally. Please realize these incentives are more effective for you long-time veterans than they are for us newbies. For you, each reward every 3-months is fresh and new, and the wait is insubstantial because you don't even know what you're missing until you almost have it. For me, I have years to mull over what I can't have, and by the time it's finally available, I'll have become so desensitized to the reward that its worth is diminished. A four-year wait is not an incentive for me; it's an indication that this game might be wasting my time.

So what to do about Veteran Rewards? Am I advocating the abolishment of the Veteran Rewards program? No, not specifically. Could it be changed or rewritten to alleviate some of the risk of alienating new players? I think that's worth looking into. I am open to ideas of a compromise that continually rewards the business of faithful subscribers while giving a window of opportunity for new players to feel like they're actually "fitting in." Granted, this is closer to becoming a Suggestions topic, which I'll probably start tomorrow, but I'll throw out a couple ideas anyway, just to help express the kind of ideas I'm looking for.

<ul type="square">[*]Player's Choice: Has everyone else gotten the impression that most of these rewards are picked somewhat at random, and the order in which they're received is more an indication of what the developers had available at the time instead of an established hierarchy in which later rewards are more valuable than earlier rewards? If that's the case, why not let the player choose a single reward every three months from the list of currently available options? This way, the veteran players still have more benefits available, but the newer players actually have an accelerated option to obtain the rewards they feel would most benefit their current gaming experience. Sure, I still have a tough choice for my first reward between a vetspec, a base teleporter, or a desired costume piece, but at least this decision would now be in my hands and I could delay the less important rewards until a later time. And if those helmets with long hair came out as the 51-month reward, I could pick it up right away instead of having to wait four years. Sure, as a rookie, I would have access to the latest new thing. But then again, you would still have your fairy, your Nemesis Staff, your teleporter, your vetspecs, your shoulder capes, your trenchcoat, your badges, etc.
[*]Accelerated Accumulation: Perhaps all players below the maximum possible total of paid subscription months could accumulate 1.5 months towards their rewards total each month instead of 1 month as usual. This would mean players below that threshold would earn a new Vet Reward every two months instead of every 3 months until they caught up to the people who started on Day 1. This method would eventually broaden the top tier, which I'm sure would get mixed reactions, but it would probably be far more inclusive and enticing to the low-middle tier subscribers. And it's still a rather slow game of catch-up. At this rate, it would still take me 2.7 years to reach the 48 month mark, and it would take me almost 8 years to catch up to Day 1 people entirely. All in all, I don't think I even like this idea, especially since it's rather numerically confusing, but it's an example of potential ideas that could be evaluated.[/list]
And finally, to address one last topic of concern...

Quit whining, you need to change your attitude about this: I believe this statement could be plausible for both sides. Please, for a moment, consider if you are just as defensive about this issue as I am sensitive of it. Because despite several comments that the rewards aren't worth that much and they aren't frequently flaunted in front of other players, there seems to be a remarkable amount of resistance to the idea of making any of these even slightly more accessible to newer players. I have to conclude that, whether you think you flaunt it or not, a lot of you really see these rewards as a status symbol and are diligently concerned with maintaining the status quo. Unfortunately, these feelings help create a barrier between you and me, and because of the linear nature of the current system, it is one that will exist perpetually. I am not asking for instant gratification with everything made equal across the board. I am asking for a compromise and a hope that, one day, with enough time and investment into this community, I could become one of you.

Thank you,

Aidalyn

Edited for spelling and formatting

I agree that none of the vet rewards are "game-breaking." That does not mean that are not "desirable." While I don't feel the need to have every single reward available instantaneously (I could care less about the boxing set, for example, and even the new pets look too freaky for me to want to use them), I would certainly enjoy having the base teleporter, at least one vetspec, the mech armor and belly shirt costume pieces, and maybe even the wings. These are all things that would enhance my game experience by fine-tuning the design of my character, resolving a mistake in power selection, and keeping up with my SG mates when running missions. But it's not even an option for me, and there's nothing I can do about it except wait. I'm learning to live with that for now, but that doesn't mean it's not rather disappointing.

Also, there is a big difference between the top tier subscribers and the newer players as far as these rewards are received, thanks to that anticipation factor. You may not get the 60 month reward for 14 more months, but it doesn't bother you because you don't know what you're missing and no one else has it yet. The top tier subscribers will usually receive the newest reward almost immediately after it is announced and released, and when they do, it is probably refreshingly new and fun to try and use. For newer subscribers, each announcement is a taunt of something they can't have and yet will see from other players over and over again so that by the time they get it, the value of the reward will be severely diminished.

Your mileage may vary, but I don't want to be taunted with a display of something I can't have for four years..... every three months. So I have to imagine this is a business model that will only get worse exponentially as it progresses until either new sign-ups disappear completely and the game perpetuates solely on currently existing customers until they all quit or die out...... or the system changes. It's not just about me -- it's the new customer base I'm concerned about.

Thank you for all the kind comments about the way I tried to compose this write-up. And I did take a MA/SR to 17, and I have a DM/Firey Brute at 24, but I just like the broadsword better for some reason.

Hello, everyone. I recently joined the world of City of Heroes just before Christmas, and I have been playing for a couple months now. A friend and co-worker of mine had just started a free trial, and without trying he had accidentally talked me into playing as well. After playing for a couple weeks together, our gaming paths split: he quit the game and I stayed. Ever since, I have not been able to convince him or anyone else I know to play the game. I'm curious to see if others have had experiences similar to mine, and so listed below are the reasons my friends refuse to play:


1. The gameplay is challenging, awkward, and frustrating for new players

The first level tutorial was easy enough for me to work my way through, and it made for a decent first impression. After that, my impression of the game took an immediate nosedive. When I got my first mission in Atlas Park, I was pointed to a mission door in a far corner of the map, tucked behind a web of level 5-6 lieutenant spawns showing a nerve-wracking display of purple colored names. I thought to myself, "There's no way I can fight these guys yet, so that must not be an area I'm supposed to enter right now." Instead, I spent a couple hours searching the streets for even con mobs to fight so I could level up to a more appropriate level for getting to my mission. When I finally soloed my way to the mission door, all the enemies inside were extremely weak, giving little XP at all. In the end, it actually took me several days to realize:

A. I can Sprint past the harder mobs to get to the door. Even still, this is counter-intuitive and makes me feel less like a hero and more like a coward.

B. Door missions spawn mobs relative to the level you had when you accepted the mission, making it a reliable option for finding appropriate level challenges.

Eventually, I finally made it to level 5. My contact told me to see someone in King's Row, who then told me to see -- you guessed it! -- Lt. David Wincott in the Hollows. His first mission for me: defeat 10 Outcasts. The problem: Outcasts near the area range from levels 6-9 in groups of 7-10 members, often including several lieutenants and bosses. My scrapper-based strategy consisted of taking on a group, trying to kill one or two before dying, and running from the hospital in Atlas Park back to the zone to rinse and repeat. Second mission: defeat 10 Trolls. /facepalm

Even after completing the Trolls mission with my friend, we still died several times just trying to make our way through the mob-heavy, obstruction-infested zone to the next few door missions. And during this time, it never occurred to us that we could go back to the contact in King's Row for different missions. We just thought we were where we were supposed to be.

With as much difficulty as we were having with regular missions, radio missions weren't even a consideration. I was simply too intimidated to even want to try these "safeguard missions," which sounded far more complicated. If I had known I could get a free temporary travel power out of it, I might have put more effort into trying it. But instead, I spent a lot of time running back and forth between zones for different missions, hoping I could eventually get to level 14 and get my travel power.

Unfortunately, my friend never made it that far. At level 11, he found his 3 mission slots filled with the Frostfire mission (which he tried but could not beat), a "Beat X number of Type mobs," most of which were too high a level for him or hard to find in the zone, and a door mission which spawned Lt's one level higher than him that he could not defeat. He died frequently within a short timeframe attempting any of these missions, and with the gloomy prospect of a growing debt bar, he finally gave up. He called that day his "worst MMORPG experience ever," and he never logged in again. He now refers to the game as "City of Hospital," and I can't even share with him the new adventures I've had in the game because he's no longer interested in it.


2. Veteran Rewards and optional expansions alienate new players

A few times now, I've tried to tell my friends and co-workers something new I've discovered about this game only to realize how dumb it actually sounds after I've said it out loud.

"Hey, guess what? City of Heroes has a new expansion pack out. It's only $10! It looks like it features.... a wedding dress. And a tux. And a couple redesigns of pre-existing costumes. Umm... and an emote to throw rice at people?"

"Oh, it looks like City of Heroes just released a new pet that buffs you. To get it.... you have to keep playing the game for four years."

Quite frankly, I did not win anyone over to the game explaining these features. In fact, I think I lost a little credibility. They laughed at the idea of the Wedding Expansion Pack, and subsequently asked, "You mean I would have to pay the monthly subscription AND pay extra for every little extra thing?" We all agreed such a set of features should really either be included with the monthly subscription or added into a bigger expansion that offered more options.

And the concept of veteran rewards is just absolutely heartbreaking for a new player, myself included, for two reasons:

A. No amount of effort on my part will unlock these any faster, and the time to wait for particular items of interest is substantial! This leaves us in a perpetual state of unhealthy "reward envy," and knowing a particular reward is so far out of our reach and beyond our control makes the game less appealing to play.

B. The rewards keep accumulating at the top end, meaning a new player will never be able to catch up to older players. This provokes feelings of being left out and unwanted, and it makes me feel as if I am substantially less valuable to the developers simply because I wasn't playing since the first day of release. Since I can never catch up to the ranks of the more valuable subscribers of this game, it's natural that I would probably be more likely to give up and join on another game's release instead, especially if my friends do as well.

I really do respect the idea that people who have been faithful subscribers to this game for four years are given something special for their continued business. But I have to imagine this business model rewards its existing players at the expense of prospective new ones. Plus, veterans in the top subscription tier do not have to suffer the anxiety of anticipation of a particular reward. Each new reward is revealed just before it is released to them, whereas newer players suffer through the news thinking, "Well, that's another thing I won't have for four more years. Whoop-di-doo." Essentially, each new reward is punishing players again for not being a subscriber on Day 1. From this end of being four years behind the leaders, if something really enticing comes out as a new reward, I am probably more likely to quit the game out of spite than to be motivated to maintain my subscription indefinitely. In essence, I'm actually hoping each new vet reward is worthless so I am free to enjoy the rest of the game.


In Conclusion:

I really do like this game. I've had a lot of fun making new characters, and I've found an awesome group with the Angry/Jaded Angels on Virtue (you guys rock!). I've enjoyed being a hero and a villain, and my new broadsword/willpower scrapper is really fun to play! I've also learned a lot about the game since then (although I am far from an expert), I have led a few radio mission teams, and I just recently soloed my first Invincible! However, my biggest regret is that I cannot convince other real life friends to join because of the reasons mentioned above, and I worry that their reactions are similar to other new player experiences around the world. For the sake of this game and the hard work of the developers behind it, I want it to continue growing.

Thank you for reading this far, and I apologize for the length of this post. Ultimately, I would like to make this perspective useful in posting ideas to the suggestions forum, but I'm interested first in knowing how many others have had similar experiences.