Well here it is, my christianing Post. I originally was going to find a place to give Kudos to the Devs for their work and brilliance on Issue 2, but my attention was drawn to here. I read all through his post (ughnh!) to see where it was going and what to say for my 2 cents. So here it is (with my Kudos near the end):
I already love this game, but issue 2 just astounded me and cranked up my enjoyment a lot!--
especially in the Hollows. I don't think that Kaz's insistence that the game have a uniform level of difficilty based on what level of character you are running should hold though. Being that especially since the Hollows seems to be an optional hazard zone to go into in the first place. It exponentially spices up the game for those vets out there and for even new players I would bet too. I don't think people buying games want no challenges for their buck--I mean people drop games because they are too easy and boring too you know. So I disagree with Kaz's assertation that this is fact (somewhere around page 9 I think). Nothing personal Kaz, you've just been the most outspoken and frequent "pro-dummy-down" poster here. I don't want to come across as harsh, I just disagree with many of your vital arguments.
I play this game at home and in at least 2-3 various LANs in my area, and I have ran into a lot of veteran MMO players, several of which were on the beta and dropped the game soon after. Almost unanimously these disgruntled / disinterested veteran MMO playes told me that the game was too boring and repetetive. That was the number one reason in my own experiance that people have left or weren't interested in the game after trying it. I have never heard anyone complain that it was too hard. So what I am getting at is that when I went into the Hollows the first time not only was I delighted, but a former beta player next to me(who had dropped the game out of boredom etc.) perked up and said he was now thinking of reactivating his account! His interest only peaked more as I related many of the neato things going on since Version 2. But it was my playing in the Hollows that really got his attention.
Does there need to be some tweaking? perhaps. But only by a hair if you ask me. A good lot of the previous posters are able to go into the specifics, and I was fairly most resposive to the peope who mentioned the Boss Powers and the spawn levels of the indoor missions (is there rally a slider coming? neato!). However I wouldn't mind if it stayed exactly the way it is now myself, and yes I've died there a lot (early on, learning curve), but then I've had glorious victories there too, all the more glorious because of the challenge.
For example, my last team experience there is a good illustration. Taking the leadership of what I percieved to be a mostly green group of players (who were undaunted from having gotten licked a few times before I got there), I gave pointers and analysis and direction according to whoever we had in the group at the time and we only had 2 "defeats" over the course of 3 indoor missions after that (Outcast missions in the Hollows). People made comments as to the difference it made having teamwork--the difference in effectivenes and fun they were having, all to the positive.
None of this would have been possible if we were just "grinding" through a bunch of Hellions in Perez Park I argue! So imho, having a "tougher," and "optional," hazard zone from level 5-12 is not only a good thing but a great boon to the game, a HUGE one.
Someone earlier made suggestions as to how to make it more visible to players that this zone and it's contact (primary contact?) Wilcott was totally optional. I like this idea, though I might suggest that it be made more visible to players of level 5-12 or something, through their interactions that the zone get a "reputation." Oh sure other players might offer their opinions of the Zone, but i think that if the contacts who introduced Wilcott somehow alluded to the difficulty in the Hollows, all would be fair. You do read what your contacts are saying don't you folks? I bet that the really brand new players are!
So in conclusion, I would say to Statesman: Please don't hurt my Outcasts too much!
and: Holy cow what a great game! Incredible! It's my first MMO (tho I've seen a ton of them and know tons of other players who play them--I was never even remotely interested in them till CoH).
Thanks for the great game and thanks for Issue 2 and thanks for the Hollows!
PS: to Kaz, you mentioned that people could go to higher conned mobs for more challenge, but one of themost brillliant thing I admired about version 2 was that the color of themobs (cons) more matched the idea of basic difficulty. Also, in perusing the forums it's been my experience that when people are bragging about what their character could do they only ever mentioned the "conning" of what they were facing with their builds. So that told me that to many of these players it didn't matter what type of villain they were facing, or where they were, it was all the same thing (basically faceless villains, and "who-cares-where" in the game). . . I would think seeing dialogue refined and respectful of the villains and areas in the game to indicate that there is variety in the challenges faced, instead of just one big homogenized grind for levels. I think this thread in all it's glory is a testament that the former is no longer the case. At least that is how I view it. And thank you for your constant attention to it
