Cobra_Man

[ QUOTE ]
Technically, eveything in the MA is cannon, as it all happens inside a virtual reality machine...



[/ QUOTE ]


I would disagree.

Nothing in MA is game canon - except inside the writers head.

The fact that is set within a virtual reality environment surely precludes anything in MA from being game canon?

I am open to a counter argument on this though. One way that I think may work is if the devs took a player arc and placed it inside the CoX reality - thus making it part of the game and canon.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Emphasis on the word 'official' - usually it means they take small things like story canon into account.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh please. That's a lame excuse.

"The stories might not be canon! MY ENJOYMENT IS CRIPPLED."

You're actively looking for stuff to complain about now.

[/ QUOTE ]


What an odd response

There's no 'might' about it. MA arcs/missions are not game canon. If you're not sure what that means, go and look it up.

What I'm looking for is new arcs/missions, contacts, zones and mobs that form part of the game canon - as does ML.

I'm not that interested in wading through a heap of rubbish to find a few decent MA arcs to play, and I'm also not interested in writing my own.

I'm currently playing a few MA arcs written by some SG friends. Now I know that they have spent a lot of time in developing those arcs and making them balanced. The same can't be said for most of the other MA arcs I've tried.

Personally I think that it would have made much more sense to release an issue that contained new official CoX developed arcs/missions/mobs/zones etc before MA was given to us.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


What really annoys me is that the devs put an enormous amount of effort into this, when that effort should have been put to better use.

The resources could have been used to create new contacts, missions, mob types, zones etc that are part of the CoX canon.


[/ QUOTE ]
Youve got to be kidding me.

Personally I appreciate the effort put in by devs to create something out-of-the-ordinary, but I havent tested the architect long enough to have an opinion yet.

[/ QUOTE ]


Long term players have been asking for new zones, mobs etc for a long time now. All the devs have done is to allow players to do the work themselves, and to have these arcs/missions be playable in a virtual setting within the game.

With the best will in the world all of these player generated arcs/missions do not form any part of the CoX Universe. They are not part of the game canon and can never be treated as such.

When the novelty value of MA wears off, all we'll be left with is a lot of MA farming arcs and a multitude of arcs of varying competence.

I would have rather had the devs put their resources into new zones, arcs/ missions, mobs etc that are actually part of the game. The graphics and power customisation are an issue as well. The game needs an upgrade and very soon.

Now, it may be that they have been and that MA simply came first. If so then that's good. If not, it's a problem for this game. It faces stiff competition with the impending release of Champions Online.

I know that plenty of people in my SG are going to have a go at CO. A look at the CO forums quite clearly shows that there are a sizeable number of current CoX players who are waiting to play CO.

As it stands the i14 content is nowhere near enough. Here's hoping that i15 is a lot stronger.

So .. If you are asking am I Kidding you?

Not really.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm pleased that you like like MA, and the same goes for other players that do.

It's really just a personal thing.

I've been playing a few MA arcs made by some friends of mine. In just a few days of using the system I've played missions that were innovative and fun.

So what's the problem?

These innovative and fun missions/arcs should have already been in the game - as part of the CoX Universe. If players can do this with just a few days of practice, why do we not already have new missions, new mobs, new zones, new arcs, new missions in the game?

If it's so easy to do .. why hasn't it already happened?

Yes .. MA may be fun, but it is simply not part of the CoX Universe as it stands right now.

As an example, I levelled my Elec/Elec Brute from 23 to 27 tonight. I didn't leave the AE building, except to level and get new enhancements. If I 'died' in a mission, I simply went to the AE hospital, loaded up with inspirations from the handy Insp vendor by the hospital door and jumped right back into the virtual mission a few steps away.

As far as game immersion goes, it's game breaking - pure and simple.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's just like your opinion man.

[/ QUOTE ]

Of course it is.

That's what people do on forums sometimes. Convey their respective opinions in writing, so that other can know said opinions.

Unless you know different?

I'm pleased that you like like MA, and the same goes for other players that do.

It's really just a personal thing.

I've been playing a few MA arcs made by some friends of mine. In just a few days of using the system I've played missions that were innovative and fun.

So what's the problem?

These innovative and fun missions/arcs should have already been in the game - as part of the CoX Universe. If players can do this with just a few days of practice, why do we not already have new missions, new mobs, new zones, new arcs, new missions in the game?

If it's so easy to do .. why hasn't it already happened?

Yes .. MA may be fun, but it is simply not part of the CoX Universe as it stands right now.

As an example, I levelled my Elec/Elec Brute from 23 to 27 tonight. I didn't leave the AE building, except to level and get new enhancements. If I 'died' in a mission, I simply went to the AE hospital, loaded up with inspirations from the handy Insp vendor by the hospital door and jumped right back into the virtual mission a few steps away.

As far as game immersion goes, it's game breaking - pure and simple.

[ QUOTE ]
MA is just another stupid mistake like radio/paper misssions. Why travel and see the world when you can just sit on your fat [censored] and watch it from telly?

"Waste of an issue" describes i14 quite well.

[/ QUOTE ]

/signed

MA is a mistake of epic proportions.

What really annoys me is that the devs put an enormous amount of effort into this, when that effort should have been put to better use.

The resources could have been used to create new contacts, missions, mob types, zones etc that are part of the CoX canon.

What we have now is a Virtual Reality CoX where players are getting xp, inf and badges for someting that isn't real - and by that I mean it isn't set in the CoX Universe.

It's an odd situation but basically it's a virtual world within a virtual world and any amount of game immersion can't be maintained due to this.

MA will end up appealing only to farmers. That's basically it. Farmers by their very nature simply grind and don't get involved in story or character/game immersion.

I really hope that I'm wrong but I believe that in the times to come many people will look back and cite i14 as the point where the game failed.

This is all opinion only obviously....

I have to say that I expected more to be honest.

I don't think there's enough there to make me want to buy it. This would have been far better as part of i14 to offset the disappointment of those who aren't into MA.

Just an observation.

[ QUOTE ]
The issue may have issues with the issue?

[/ QUOTE ]

That could be the issue

Maybe the servers are rejecting the load, because they think a whole issue can't just contain one thing only

Worst. Ever. Version.

The Final Countdown

[ QUOTE ]
With the recent increase in superhero likeable ratings I found it amazing that there wasn't some magazine ads for CoX.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is IMO the most glaring omission.

The super hero genre is massive right now, in a mainstream context.

Dark Knight Returns, Iron Man (with IM2 on the way), The Hulk, Wolverine, Watchmen etc etc etc

Plus there are more on the way. Captain America, Thor, Avengers, Green Lantern and more.

Plus ... There is Heroes, a very popular show on TV about ... super heroes.

If there was ever a time to advertise CoH, as a game where you can be a super hero, this is it.

Magazine adverts, run an advert in cinemas - before the blockbuster superhero movie main show starts. Hell, even put free trial CoH CD's in cinema's when these movies are released.

Would this cost money? Of course but it may well generate a lot of interest and bring in fresh players too.

[ QUOTE ]
Wait whats that in the sky

is it a bird?

is it a plane?





no it's the original thread topic making a bid for freedom

[/ QUOTE ]

Sadly this is the only relevant post in this thread for quite some time.....

Is the original topic deceased or just sleeping?

It isn't just you Prof.

The game was almost unplayable tonight at times

[ QUOTE ]
Well hope you all had fun moaning away on here.

I had a really fun night with excellent teams and thoroughly enjoyed myself, and that was purely valentines stuff, and judging by how busy PD was, so did a lot of others

[/ QUOTE ]

I went into (Defiant) PD just to see what was going on, around Midnight and it was fairly busy. I quickly got myself in a decent team and had a fun time doing the Event missions.

There was a lot of broadcast chat, both with players looking for a team and teams offering places. I recognised some old faces and some players were clearly new to the game.

Could it be that the lack of new features isn't as much an issue for the general player population as it is for some people on this forum?

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

I'm not really meaning to rant, I just genuinely want new people to feel welcome and not have to worry about advanced game systems simply because someone with attitude thinks they should be using them.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thing is. CoX is THE most new player friendly MMO on the market, without exception. Try being a newbie in EVE or WoW and see what kind of experience you get.

Personally, I think you're seriously overstating this perceived "problem" of elitism.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would have to agree with the OP FFM.

I don't - and have never played - WoW or EVE but elitism certainly does exist in this game and on these forums.

Personally speaking, the worst possible place I can think of to send a brand new player to would be here.

[ QUOTE ]
i know the load times arent exactly long but Id love to see a sort of in transit room for teams using green line or other vehicles to get to missions and areas, just so the teams can talk while it loads and to make the load times less obvious, kind of just a basic room thing say with a few seats or something, but it could work well to get teams being more social

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds to me like you need a few upgrades on your PC.

Even on my old PC it wouldn't have been practical to have a transit room to socialise and with my new PC zone time between stations is around 10 seconds.

I'd like to see police radio contacts sell insps, perhaps only after you have done 1 or 2 Safeguard missions though, to prove your 'commitment'.

Use the hotfix for Vista.

It solved my Vista problem.

I'm fixed.

The problem appeared to be that the Microsoft unzipper wouldn't unzip, in the automated download process.

Once I saved the hotfix patch to my PC and used Winrar it was useable.

I'm now crash free, with Vista and an Nvidia 9600GT gfx card. The game also appears to be running a whole lot smoother now as well.

Happy days

Yes, but not just on Ice Mistral.

I have the Vista/NVIDIA bug, since I got a new PC before Christmas.

[ QUOTE ]
Try redownloading it, might have a bad download.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll give it a try FFM. Thanks.

[ QUOTE ]


Ive been reflecting when I started playing the game (prioor to ED). Did I experience face plants? Sure, a lot.

But they all had one phrase in common

"Mega xp"

i.e. people racked up difficulty to far, or had uneven team profiles. In other words, the bulk of the team where fighting +3/+4s pre Single Origins.

If that team had just had a sensible difficulty and reasonable team split, we would allhave done fine. Not auto pilot, we would have had to have worked and there would be deaths, but it would have been a totally acceptable difficulty.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed ... Pre SO teams on +4 mobs would be counter productive.

However ...


Mr Questionmark had a very good idea to make the rep increase something that would only be able to be gained at level 40.

That would work IMO.

I can't get either hotfix to extract to my PC.

I get a message saying 'error code 40'

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Long term experienced players will have a fresh challange for all of their characters if they want and less experienced players will strive to work at their game until they can go toe to toe with a mob spawn that would put the Fear of God into casual player teams.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree there. Since coming back I've not been on much but when leveling my current character I was in a few PUGs who just couldn't hack it. They did find the game difficult. Where as I know a few teams/players who usually rocket through those levels. That's where the balance needs to be struck.

[/ QUOTE ]

That was my thinking as well Mr M.

I normally team with with my SG. We are all highly experienced with multiple 50's of almost every AT.

About the only thing that remotely slows us down is the end of STF.

A rep increase would be very welcome.

[ QUOTE ]
A few clarifications:

Firsly, Im not arguing against buffs. Just as you cant buff contantly (it feedbacks into ever increasing power), you cant nerf contantly (this error is actually more problematic in consequence). Im arguing for BOTH.

Secondly, I appreciate the problem of difficulty and the solution of raising it. I dont really want to get sidetracked by making this a difficulty thread (perhaps someone should start a seperate one for that)

Two things spring to mind:

Raising difficulty works in the short term, but it just delays the ineveitable as endless buff cycle will mean another difficulty raise later on. It may have virtue as a "Sticking plaster" measure of course.

Im an altaholic. Whist I frankenslot with IOs, I dont farm or uberslot my alts (maybe 1 in 5 has a purple set, normally a cheapo like sleep or confuse). OK, so Im experienced. But even so, the game cant set the difficulty high enough for SOME of my alts in SOME teams (how often is irrelevant) this is a problem. HOwever, NOTHING is to difficut for a toon on Heroic, with the exception of a few specifically built toons like empaths with one attack power (its actually doable,but dull as ditchwater).

Anyway, please not lets get sidetracked into a "Raise difficulty". Its just participating in an arms war (and will again, speed up levelling, as a side effect).

And please, Im not arguing for nerfing toons in isolation. I would like the AVERAGE power of toons to stay the same. Im arguing for NERFING in conjuction with BUFFS, As opposed to the road to hell that is endless BUFF cycle.

[/ QUOTE ]


I would disagree there (about nerfs) and I don't view this as a sidetrack ... more of an alternative option, as I do agree with you that the game can be too easy.

A lot of players like characters that buff - indeed some that I know play buffers almost exclusively.

Nerf buffs and you'll wreck those players characters enjoyment of the game.

The answer to your dilemma does indeed seem to be a rep increase by 1 or 2 levels, so that instead of having +2/+3 on Invincible, mobs could be made +3/+4 or +4/+5.

Yes it will make levelling quicker but it will only be the players with experience and possibly characters that are built 'corerectly' that will be able to manage a massive mob spawn of +4/+5 with multiple Bosses/Elite Bosses and perhaps the odd AV thrown in here and there at random

Personally I would take that scenario over a buff nerf every time.

It has a lot going for it, if you think about it.

Long term experienced players will have a fresh challange for all of their characters if they want and less experienced players will strive to work at their game until they can go toe to toe with a mob spawn that would put the Fear of God into casual player teams.