And I would vote No. (Even knowing Statesman's vote.)
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SuperVillains are sometimes faced down by more than 1 hero, if they were 100% equal and using no powers above their own level, it would make a dull fast fight for a group of Heros.
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When's the last time you went into a mission and found a 1-to-1 ratio between players and minions, lieutenants and bosses? Better yet, when's the last time you went into a mission and found an 8-to-1 ratio in favor of the players? Arch-Villains and Monsters are the exceptions, and even an 8-to-1 ratio (once we've managed to kill off all the others around it) still leaves groups with casualties.
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Since the Supervillains are controlled by the computer, letting them have powers above what their level is allowed, somewhat makes up for the fact that they can not think on their feet so to speak as well as a hero controlled by a thinking person, they need some form of an extra edge.
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This is kind of a cop-out. Essentially, we're over-powering mobs/NPCs to compensate for lack of AI handling.
As an example, in EverQuest, there used to be a problem with mobs not being able to reach players because of pathing issues. Rather than adjusting the general pathing routine, or allowing the mobs to jump over certain areas, the solution became simply allowing these mobs to "re-appear" on top of the player. True, a player could exploit pathing problems, but couldn't another solution have been to have the AI simply move out of range so it couldn't be hit unless the player changed positions to some place the mob could reach?
Don't get me wrong, though. I consider the AI in CoH excellent. Actually, better than any of the MMOs I've played, and even many single player games. Giving them powers almost 25 levels above them seems silly, though. I can understand a few levels--four to six levels above, but seeing a level 8 or 9 Shocker or Scorcher pull up a Lightning Storm or Fire Imps diminishes the "Hero" factor for me. Yes, their powers are scaled down by comparison, but really... why not just give them more hit points, more endurance, or more minions and lieutenants for us to deal with?
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Many villains in comicbooks always seem to be more powerful than the heros that they fight. This makes it much more 'heroic' for the Heros when they do triumph over whatever villain they are fighting by using their head or a better strategy.
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I do agree that more strategy should be required to complete these missions. But this can still be achieved without overpowering low level mobs.
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There is nothing very heroic about beating up some villain with 5 SuperHeros that any 1 of them could have done alone, this is one of the reasons I like AVs and Monsters in my missions
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Still in agreement, but as mentioned above, we're talking about bosses--not AVs and Monsters.
Akai Ryu
40something Radiation Defender
Justice
