Amarsir

I don't know if it's "went wrong" so much as "missed opportunity". But given how much of the playtime came from replay on alts, I always wanted CoH to embrace that. (Or other MMOs for that matter.)

For a simple example, that 30 second logoff time. It seems like a small deal. But over years of play and dozens of characters, I probably spent hours just on that timer. And then hours more when I was on a team, someone volunteered to switch ATs, and we all waited his timeout. (Plus login, load, zone, etc.) It just screamed "wasted time" to me, and for those of us who have trouble carving out gaming time already it's just an insult.

Also I think MMOs should all make collections (like badges) be account-wide. Make them harder if need be, to give badgers more challenge. But especially when little rewards are attached, why take what's already (usually) a grind and make it repetitive? I think it would actually be more encouraging for alts if I knew they'd get instant access to a costume piece or small Accolade I'd earned. Instead I dreaded having to do some of those grinds again, let alone know who needed what. Which leads me to:

Keeping track of alts was probably what burned me out of the game, and why I stopped being a subscriber after several years. When the Incarnate system came in - which wasn't a bad idea - I now found that on top of managing builds I also had to track who had completed which tiers in which order to get which rewards for which content. And this was around the same time we've also got morality missions and alignment merits, and I just got so tired of keeping track.

So in summation, I think one of CoH's great strengths - the variation you get by playing different ATs and powersets - became a weakness when more vertical content multiplied my horizontal choices and turned play into too much spreadsheet work. I think realizing the benefit of alts and designing for it would have been a major asset for the game.

Since the poll's all informal, here's my informal barely-aware-the-game-HAS-art opinion.

It really bothered me in the past when changes were made to the costumes that forced me to reselect. Faces were a notable instance. My character looked a certain way, and I'd go into the tailor for some minor unrelated thing and the face was back to Normal 001 or whatever, and I had to try to eyeball which of the new options matched my memory of the old selection or else be stuck with 4 costumes with an Old Lady face and one with Young Zombie or whatever the hell it was. I made the selection once and really didn't enjoy being forced to do it again.

Old version or new version I don't care, just please don't saddle me with any chores. I mean the other departments there don't seem to mind doing that ("Have fun turning off pop-ups on 30 characters!"), but here's hoping the art department won't go doing me the favor of any resets.

Is it odd that you didn't say what time?

It feels odd. Might be odd.

Well that's something! Make sure you promote the Cathedral of Pain feature right on the packaging. I can't possibly see that backfiring.

Hey, Mission Architect improvements? Good to see you guys trying something new.

Patching exploits is entirely necessary and all the time spent to do so is also unassailably wise. Can you imagine if the Summoned Husks from Death Shamans were actually to give xp in a direct ratio to the way they actually deal and absorb damage? The game would self-destruct from the horrible imbalance of that equality.

It's too horrible to even contemplate. I'm just glad I don't have to live in a world with untimed warwolf missions.

Protector Watch has about 50% more members, though which has the better "current user" total might be more debatable.

Honestly, we'd all be well-served if efforts were made to consolidate Protector Watch, Protector Vigilance, and Protector TFs into a single agreed-upon channel. Splitting the population or requiring people to join 3 does nobody any good.

I only have room for 1, and picked Watch a while back because it felt the least quiet. Since then when I promote a channel on Protector, Watch is the one. But I have no allegiance to it, I just want to go where the best chance of recruiting and joining TFs is.

(There's also Jello Shooters, but that tends to be more chat and less business, so I'm content to let it be separate.)

Three concerns when pairing the Empathy set:
1) You really want to take just about all the powers. OK, you can make cases for skipping Absorb Pain and maybe Regeneration Aura. But really, at least 7 of the powers are things every teammate will expect Empaths to have. As a result, I would want to pair it with a set where I can skip, or at least delay, a lot of the powers.

2) Empaths lean toward being very busy during combat. (Well, assuming they're needed of course.) Contrast this with a set like Sonic, where the buffs and toggles get activated before combat starts. So I would pair it with a set that's effective without being busy.

3) Empathy uses buffs and heals. If you are a pet controller and ever find yourself soloing, it would be nice if your pet could benefit from those buffs.

Going through the controller sets then:
Earth seems like a great combo. You can skip both Immobs and use Quicksand, and also skip Salt Crystals. You put down Quicksand and Earthquake or Volcanic Gasses at the beginning of combat and you're free to heal/buff during. And Stoney with a little defense from Fort and some healing backup can easily handle tanking alpha strikes, assuming you can talk him into going.

Fire is OK, you can skip Ring, Smoke, and Bonfire easily. Hot Feet encourages you to be in combat, good for convenient Aura healing. But I don't love it, the control comes more from targeted effects than placed ones. (Which means more reliance on touchup via Char.) Also, Adrenaline Boost or Fort on an Imp is only about 1/3 as effective as it would be on a single pet. (Fort you can cover all 3 with recharge at least.)

Gravity I don't think is a good combination. Yeah you can skip some of it, specifically Dimension Shift, one of the Immobs, and one of the 2 attacks. But It's very single-target. And you can't heal Sing.

Ice, well you said you don't want Ice. But Ice is pretty good with Empathy. Ice Slick and stand around with Arctic Air while you do the Empath thing. Jack's a good target for buffs. Flash Freeze and an Immob are skippable.

Illusion is OK. Skip GI or SI. Either PA or Spectral Terror are good placed effects. My concern is that Spectral Wounds, Blind, and Deceive are all single target, which again means busy combat. And Phantasm can get buffed and healed but Fortitude doesn't do anything for Phantom Army. That's a reason I'd pair Illusion with a debuff set, because that way PA's damage is getting increased.

Mind is a weak but workable combo to me. It uses targeted AOEs not placed effects or toggles, but has enough to cover that single-target patches won't be all that necessary. Of course that means you probably don't skip much. There's no pet to benefit from your buffs when you're soloing though. It does seem a good character concept match with Empathy, I'll give it that.

Plant seems good. You can skip Spirit Tree, Spore Burst, and one of the immobs. Seets of Confusion is always a great opener, and Carrion Creepers or Vines are alternately good too. Fly Trap loves your buffs as much as any pet will.

So optimal choice IMHO for controller pairing is Earth/Empathy. Here's how it plays: typical pickup team, where everyone stands around looking at each other between groups like they don't want to be first to attack. You stand behind a box or corner just within range of the next spawn. Put down Quicksand and Earthquake, controlling the group without ever risking line of sight to get shot. Then your teammates see the fighting started and go attack. You step out from behind cover and are free to heal them up, reapply Fortitude/Clear Mind, or throw a Fossilize at a troublemaker.

Plant, Ice, Fire, and Illusion would be my next picks, in that order.

If you want to go with a defender, maybe pick something without weapon draw thus to keep power activation as fast as possible and thus be ready to heal on a moment's notice. I'd probably take one that's more single-target focused than AOE heavy, just because an Empathy defender doesn't want too much aggro on themselves.

For what it's worth I have a 50 Empath/Psi defender and a 42 Ice/Empath controller, and I've always been pretty happy with both.

My gut tells me you'd do better picking a time and then asking for signups than asking for signups and hoping to agree on a time. I know if I could write it on my calendar right now I'd likely offer my name but since I can't...

If AUTAUMNFYRE will forgive me for jumping in, I think this is a good thread and I wanted to toss out my own build as well for comparison or to get advice. Aside from I think the Obliteration sets I don't think it's all that expensive, and it meets my goal of much added defense. But hopefully I didn't sacrifice too much actual function to get there.

My regret as it currently stands is that I'd like a couple slots to make Gravity Well better, should I need to hold someone or fight in human form briefly. But I don't know where I can afford to take them from. I also don't know if that 66% recharge is enough on the Nova and Dwarf attacks. Set bonuses are good but I don't want to be standing there with no attacks ready.

Anyway, hope I'm not intruding and thanks for any advice.

first time on a Mids export, hope I do it right

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.621
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Forgetful One: Level 50 Science Warshade
Primary Power Set: Umbral Blast
Secondary Power Set: Umbral Aura
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Medicine

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Shadow Bolt -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Absorption -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 2: Ebon Eye -- Acc-I(A)
Level 4: Gravity Shield -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 6: Dark Nova -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(21), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(23), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(43), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(43), GSFC-Build%(43)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(25), RechRdx-I(25)
Level 10: Starless Step -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 12: Sunless Mire -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(27), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(29), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Oblit-%Dam(42)
Level 14: Super Speed -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 16: Aid Other -- Heal-I(A)
Level 18: Gravity Well -- HO:Endo(A)
Level 20: Black Dwarf -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(27), ResDam-I(42)
Level 22: Stygian Circle -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 24: Nebulous Form -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 26: Unchain Essence -- Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(48), Dmg-I(48)
Level 28: Aid Self -- Heal-I(A)
Level 30: Resuscitate -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 32: Dark Extraction -- C'Arms-Acc/Rchg(A), C'Arms-Acc/Dmg(42), C'Arms-Dmg/EndRdx(45), C'Arms-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), C'Arms-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(45), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 35: Quasar -- Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), Dmg-I(46)
Level 38: Eclipse -- Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(A), P'Shift-Acc/Rchg(48), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(50), TtmC'tng-ResDam/Rchg(50), ResDam-I(50)
Level 41: Shadow Cloak -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 44: Penumbral Shield -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 47: Twilight Shield -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Stygian Return -- RechRdx-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Dark Sustenance
Level 2: Ninja Run -- Empty(A)
Level 10: Shadow Recall -- IntRdx-I(A)
------------
Level 6: Dark Nova Bolt -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(11), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(19), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19)
Level 6: Dark Nova Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(11), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21)
Level 6: Dark Nova Emanation -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(7), Posi-Dmg/Rng(9), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), RechRdx-I(17)
Level 6: Dark Nova Detonation -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(7), Posi-Dmg/Rng(9), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), RechRdx-I(23)
Level 20: Black Dwarf Strike -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(33), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(36), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Mako-Dam%(37)
Level 20: Black Dwarf Smite -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(34), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(36), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Mako-Dam%(39)
Level 20: Black Dwarf Mire -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(34), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Oblit-%Dam(40)
Level 20: Black Dwarf Drain -- Nictus-Heal(A), Nictus-Acc/Heal(33), Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Heal/HP/Regen(34), Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(36), Nictus-Heal/HP/Regen/Rchg(39), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 20: Black Dwarf Step -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 20: Black Dwarf Antagonize -- Acc-I(A)

More Architect stuff, huh?

Not to make a big complaint but I'd like to remind you that some of us never really cared about an Architect addition in the first place. But hey, an issue that's not really something I care about, I can overlook that.

For i14. But man, 15 16 and now 17 all have chunks of developer time dedicated to Architect as well? Is it blasphemy for me to suggest that you stop adding bells and whistles to the Mad Libs and try something different?

Again I know some people like it and I don't disparage that, but I'd like to suggest that "more changes to Architect" goes right up there with "power rebalancing" on the list of phrases the marketing department shouldn't be leaning on.

It strikes me as a nice gesture but also stands are a sad reminder that after all this time I still can't invite my own alts into my SG.

First of all, no offense intended. I think you got that I didn't mean it that way. And I had edited my post to say "patience and..." so as to avoid the cliche, but I guess you were reading me before I'd changed that. But I meant what I said, you were willing to push past bad experiences until you got those good fights which I happen to think everyone deserves every time.
[ QUOTE ]
I had to actually pick my targets, and not just 'boss first' or 'sappers first' bs that's passed off as strategy far too often! I had to watch who was attacking what, both ways. I couldn't just focus on killing as quickly as I could, I had to spread my attacks out over multiple targets to hold onto as much aggro as I could. But I also had to watch what attacks my team mates were using to keep them from gaining too much aggro. I also had to watch out for ambushes walking in on us. And at the same time, I had to make sure I didn't get slaughtered, because a lowbie Shield brute can only take so much before dying. It was a challenge, and it didn't merely rely on giving the enemies more HP and more damage. Everyone on the team was doing a great job playing their characters, it was a good team, and the missions were well designed, some how built just right to challenge us just the right amount without simply overwhelming us without mercy.

[/ QUOTE ]Up to AE coming in, I'd say almost every single play experience I had was like that. (OK maybe not with the unknown ambushes.) But I like pick-up teams. I play many varied characters with different strengths and weaknesses, and love assessing the situation to see how I can apply what power to solve the given problems. I would quit teams that were too routine because I wanted (and knew I could find) a more unique and challenging experience. If I wanted to play with other good players we would otherwise challenge ourselves (all defender STF for example) but most of the time I could form a pickup team from whoever's around and as we all imperfectly try our best that's enough variation and challenge.

But I can't find that experience anymore. Good to know it still exists, but I don't have the patience to push through bad sessions and then ignore them to be all shiny about an eventual good part. What I'm saying to you is that I probably would have quit after the first team, and never gotten to the second one. Or I'd have started to enjoy myself again and then been crushed that the mission was bugged. I'm glad you found a good team. I think you deserve that every time.

But when you get right down to it, you can't guarantee me that you can log on tonight and repeat that experience. You can run the same mission and try to form a similar team, but doing that precisely removes the element of discovery which you enjoyed in the first place.

If you try to form a team you will find teammates who only want to farm, or have an aversion to entering the AE, or got to level X with no idea how to play their character because all they know was PLing enemies that don't fight back. As you look for a mission you'll find ones with inappropriate difficulty, bad level spreads, broken objectives, and routine objectives long before you find another great one.

And if you're willing to push through all that, then more power to you. But I am not, and more power to you. AE makes good things possible, I don't deny that. But they're so hard to find. By Contrast - I can log on right now, and be on an 8-person team inside a mito farm in under 2 minutes. If I don't actively seek a farm I'll end up on one in 5 minutes. If I join an AE team that doesn't use the word "hami" or "farm" at all, there's a 90% chance that's still what they're going to do. And the fact that people are successful at playing the game "wrong" (so to speak) while it's so hard to find your good experience is [u]backwards[u].

That is my point. Any system where people have to trudge through bad experiences in blind hope of a good one is a [u]bad system[u]. It's bad because many people won't stick that long, and it's bad because the people who do deserve better.

[ QUOTE ]
If you go into the detailed info, it says the level ranges for each mission in the arc. Also, LFMA is a player-tag used to denote lowbie friendly mission arcs.

[/ QUOTE ] I know about posted ranges, but I click through page after page seeing 1-54 or 50-54. I did not know about the tag, that may help so thank you. I think a recent patch (they're all recent to me) allows searching by level, but it was no help that day.

[ QUOTE ]
we quite quickly found out that a group of lowbies is no match for an alien army, especially when the Comm Officers opened their portals, doubling the number of Rikti in the first group (to add insult to injury, a Guardian bubbled them all... my poor accuracy!).

After wiping a few times ...

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
not only were we scattered over about 26 levels, no one would be getting any experience.

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
unfortunately the mission was bugged and the Wyvern Commander wasn't on the map .

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
That team was the most fun I've had playing this game since I had first started.

[/ QUOTE ]

God bless people with patience and low standards. I'm glad you enjoyed the experience. I envy the feeling. But what if you had a similar problem with that 3rd mission, the one you'd picked? What if you kept picking missions and they wouldn't start, but wouldn't say why? How much would you have been willing to wade through in search of a couple minutes of the game playing the way it should?

A couple weeks back (aka within the last 2 hours of my net playtime) I gathered up a real team and we ran around Steel doing real missions. It was fine, but with not many people around the level spread was a little awkward - workable, but that perfect spread where SKing just doesn't quite cut it. Plus you know, I've done all those missions to death. I was leading and optimistically suggested we try something different in the AE. The other members were - surprisingly - rather unexperienced with the AE. So we gathered up all full of hope.

I kept trying for the life of me to find missions that weren't "Extra Long" and should accomodate our range. 4, 5, 6 in a row just wouldn't do anything. We'd go into another and it would be way too difficult for a few teen-levels. Back out, reform, and click another 5-6 not starting. They're waiting patiently for me this whole time, as I'm looking for something non-existant in the 1-20 range.

(I btw made a short story of my own when AE first came out. After some patch it stopped working, and damned if I want to dissect to figure out why. So my own work was out.)

Anyway, we finally find one that seems workable, with enemies scaled down to our level. Only to eventualy find out it relies on a destructible object which was +18 to us.

Terrible, terrible experience. And we were a casual team, not farming, not PLing, not specifically built for power. Just a pick-up group of casual players and a former fan (me). We played OK together when there were enemies to fight. Isn't that the type of group that should have been benefitting from this huge 3-expansion-worth system? Instead I ended up apologizing to everyone for leading them into the AE building where fun goes to die.

Seriously, if you can withstand overpowered enemies, no experience, and mission-stopping bugs, and still call it "the most fun", then either you are a wonderful person who sees sunshine in everything, or you really deserve to experience some actual fun sometime.

If they wanted to put the effort in, they could overlay a lot more spam-specific restriction. When I log in and see those 75 messages, most are from "empty". I presume that means the character was deleted, but tell me why I'm manually going through messages from an account that they know for a fact doesn't exist anymore?

If you wanted to get aggressive with it, why not text ban the names of the RMT sites? Spam's not very useful if they can't tell you where to go.

I can brainstorm a half-dozen ways to fight this annoyance. I'm sure others could come up with more. They just don't care enough to try. They're busy creating a new option to let you sort AE missions by the second word in the title.

But no I don't agree with the OP on removing it. People use it and if they're able to, more power to them.

[ QUOTE ]
AE buildings out of Atlas, Galaxy and King's Row, yesterday.

[/ QUOTE ]
The AE should be a separate zone, like Pocket D. Make it accessible from anywhere you like, but by not having the broadcasts and the 50s actually in Atlas, you push a lot of that out of the new player's radius.

That's the minimal adjustmet required for a weak save. I might go so far as to turn off AE on certain days of the week. They'll more likely settle for nerfing everything into oblivion until the AE building resembles the Arena. Sadly, I'm not even sure that's a bad thing.

[ QUOTE ]
No. There is no way to customize a map, or make custom maps, at this time. Part of the stated problem is spawn points.

The devs have already been having enough issues with their own maps and spawn points. Map construction doesn't seem to be at the point where a system could be created be allowed players to make custom maps with non-exploitable spawn point placement - not yet at least.

[/ QUOTE ]
So if I read this correctly, we can't actually position anyone. We can't put a Nemesis sniper on a balcony, or a Sky Raider engineer by the computer bank, or a Crey Researcher by the lab equipment? I can't put an ally inside one of the jail cells?

And we can't take a warehouse map and dress it up Freak-style, or even change the lighting in a council base? I can't ensure that an objective will be the first thing seen, only that it's kinda-sorta near the front?

Because if that's a "no", then I have to say this pretty much fails on what I consider the basic definition of "creating a mission."

What about this I don't think I've seen discussed: Can I make triggers involving doors? Make a back door locked with the key in a front objective. Or spawn an ambush triggered on a door being opened? Ideally I would like to trigger off stepping to a certain position, but I'd settle for using existing doors.

On the Enemy Creator (which is logically a different thing from a mission creator) I saw that I could import player powersets. Can we import NPC powersets? For example, there's no player power I'm aware of that looks and works like a Malta sapper. Is it possible to import that power (even bundled with all the sapper's powers)? Because I know we can't just reskin him, but I hope the power isn't forever limited to that one guy.