Comicsluvr

Yeah, I know, ANOTHER thread about this. The idea will get lost in the other thread and I wanted to hear from the forumites if this would work or not.

Firstly, from Those Who Code: How difficult would it be to code the drop rate so that it changed...like as in daily?

For all of us who like to rant, rave and speculate on the Market: Would the 'disparity' be fixed by a flexible drop rate based on supply and demand? Before grabbing the torches read it through please.


Devs won't merge the Markets because of a 'disparity' between them. Check

Merging the Markets would pretty much be irreversible. Check

Part of the problem is the lack of 'critical mass' numbers of players redside. Check

Another problem is the lack of weighted drop rates resulting in fewer of the desired sets and a glut of Snipes, Sleeps and others. Check

Another problem is the drop rates of salvage as the recent 'Lucky Charmers' thread suggests. Check


Ok, so would ALL of this not improve if the drop rates for EVERYTHING were not adjusted by the current supply and demand?

Think about it...the Market would work just like the RL Market in that things that are in high demand would be produced more and things that are not in demand are produced less.

How many people buy bread in RL? Pretty much everyone. So...how many companies make bread? Lots of them...in copious supplies too. How many people eat that one obscure flavor of Raisin/Oat Bran/No Crust/Split-Top Wheat bread? Not very many. So how many of them are produced daily? Not very many.

So...here it is folks the fix to ALL of our Market woes on BOTH sides: A flexible drop rate based on supplies on the Market and outstanding bids. If an item is sitting there unsold for weeks next to hundreds more then the drop rate FOR THAT ITEM goes way down. If the outstanding bids are higher than the current supply by a wide enough margin (there has to be a margin...) then the drop rate FOR THAT ITEM goes up.

There...fixed. The lower population for redside matters not one whit. Higher population matter not either (grammer...?). If there are ten players redside looking for a single item with outstanding bids and no supply the game engine sees it, allows for it and the next day the rate changes to make that item more likely to drop.

Over time the existing Snipe recipes would all be sold and until they were the drop rate would fall, making them less likely to appear and glut an already-glutted Market. However the items most sought-after, the things everyone wants like Melee recipes and Luck Charms and Alc Silver would fall like rain if the demand stayed high.

Here's the best part: The various Pool drops would change but the requirements for them (SF/TFs and other Trials) would not. So you'd STILL have to do the Trials just to access the best Pools but the desired items would drop more often so doing the Trials would be more likely to be worth something! No more crawling through Positron's TF for a chance at a Snipe recipe or whatever. IMHO this would make MORE players actually DO the Trials which is what the Devs wanted anyway.

Ok, the caffine jag is crashing so I need to quit. I'm sure there are about a million things wrong with this but ai just can't see them right now. I leave the topic open for discussion...

(sorry, no shiney links...)

My vote is for Elemental Control first. I'll try to be brief (for me...yeah right...).

Firstly I want to try and break the 3-2-1 mold for MMs. They must have Pets but I don't see a need to rigidly adhere to the current structure. Yes, it's more coding to change it but once that coding was done it opens the doors for future MM Primaries.

Secondly I think we need more arcane-style MMs. We have lots of guns already but only Necromancy (lots of arcane) and Ninjas (with the Oni) do we have true magic stuff. We need more magic stuff...


Fire Blast: Basic tier 1 attack, something like Flares but with the Fire Blast animation.

Summon Elemental: Tier 1 Pet, starting with a Water Elemental at lvl 1 and adding the Air Elemental at lvl 6, Earth at lvl 16 and Fire at lvl 24. Yes, four tier 1 Pets. Together they should add up to roughly the same utility as the 5 tier 1s and tier 2s from the other sets because this set has no tier 2s.

The Water and Air pets would be a mixture of melee and ranged attacks. The Earth pet would be like a Stone Tank, drawing aggro, taking hits but not dealing as much damage. The Fire pet would have a few ST attacks and mostly AoEs

Earth Grasp: Minor damage attack with a short Immob component so as to not be the equal of the ST Immobs in the MM Secondaries. Basically doing less Immob and more damage.

Enhance Elements: First enhancement level.

Elemental Blast: A mixed-bag attack which would add Smashing damage, Fire damage, Cold damage, a minor Slow component and a small Fire-based DoT.

Elemental Link: Since this Primary has no tier 2 pets I needed something to fill that spot on the Powers list. Elemental Link is like a lesser form of Leadership except that the buffs are smaller but the pets get all three (Def, Acc and damage) at the same time. No hard numbers yet but I'm sure this can be balanced out.

Elemental Focus: When cast on a single pet this spell increases the pet's Def, Resistance, Healing and Recovery rates. Like Forge but as a toggle so only one pet every can be affected.

Meld Elements: This Power summons the tier 3 pet, an amalgam of all four basic elements. It would be quite a beast, with Stone melee attacks, Fire ranged attacks and a single Water or Air based Hold or Immob.

Elemental Mastery: The final pet upgrade.

I like the idea of breaking the 3-2-1 mold for MMs just to provide variety. If this idea were shot down then the tier 1s would be Earth, Air and Water and the Tier 2s could be Fire and Spirit, a mental-based pet (scarey thought though...).

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So they didn't give /kin to MM's, is the reason that they couldn't get the pet's AI to say "SB plz" every minute and a half?

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can u imagine
theyd prolly accidently gimp the ninja and necro pets to run up in yer face and jump up n down, spamming u with SB PLS in tells and local the moment sb wore off on them
hehehe

but.. team port, ninjas on crack, fulcrum

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I read most of this thread (yeah, I had that much free time yesterday) and of everything I read this is the one thing that made me shudder.

I played a Ninja/FF MM with a /Kin once...never saw ANYTHING short of a SS character move that fast...

I don't PvP.

I don't play Stalkers much (still need fixing IMO).

I have close to 100 toons split 60/40 villains/heroes so most of this sounds juicy to me.

MMs are my fave AT evah so anything for them is a good thing.

My second-highest toon is a Blaster and Mental Manip sound too good to be true.

The devs have said that this is the first round of proliferation so I expect more.

I AM a tad dissappointed that they didn't take some sort of poll, even an informal one, to get an idea of what the players wanted most. I understand that things take time and perhaps these were the sets most easily ported over.

The only things that bothers me with CoX in general is that the devs seem to like taking the easy road too much. They also seem to be great at giving us what they think is cool but not what we want.

I would gladly push back the new zone 3 months for a better Team Finder function. The new adjustible Power Trays...how long did we ask far an improvement there? More slots per server...asked for since before Villains went live I'll bet? Fixes to bugs (*cough Placate cough*). Improvements to Bases. The list is long and familier.

I LOVE new content. The recent changes/additions to Powers is great. But many of these are things that not something every player will see. Better UI...better Team Finder...server slots...Power trays...THESE things affect nearly every player in the game. IMHO these things need to be addressed.

Not saying stop everything but I would be happier with the new shinies if the old ones were less tarnished.

Wow. Just...just...wow.

Anybody see anything in there that HASEN'T been asked for for years?

I mean with Inventions the devs took stuff players wanted (new ways to tweak characters and make stuff) and decided Inventions was the best way to get the most shiney to the most players. Nobody asked for Inventions specifically...just something.

But THIS...they took specific things that players asked...nay BEGGED for...and just DID IT!

Wow. Just...just...wow.

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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?

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?

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?"

I bet a nice high level character would have cleared them for you, or at least someone would have told you that you could run right past them.

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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As of 2 months ago (my last hero alt) no they did not. You run missions in AP (assuming you didn't get a sewer team and as a starter why would you?) and at some point you get Winncot (I think his name is) as a contact and are TOLD to go there. King's Row is never mentioned until and unless you get the contacts there or go there yourself. Then the Police contact to give you the scanner missions pops up IIRC.

I strongly believe that the game tutorial needs an overhaul. A lot of experienced MMO players can probably figure things out as they go along with a little bit of help text and a bunch of hands-on experience. But relatively new players might feel a bit overwhelmed or confused. The wall of text you get relating to Enhancements and Inventions, for example, is very intimidating IMHO. You just started a new game...who wants to sit and read War and Peace halfway through the Tutorial?

It's like going to the movies and watching the opening credits. Sometimes they're spaced in between actual scenes or background text in the film. You don't notice them as much because you're focussing on whatever else is going on. But the films where it's just a blank screen and white text? Yeah, kinda like a commercial. Sorry but I see enough of those now.

Some players are not terribly out-going. They're fine with friends but meeting new players and making new friends in-game is tough for some. It was for me and I can meet people standing in line at the checkout at the store.

The game (both sides but CoH in particular) needs a new Tutorial and a new way to ease players into the world IMHO. I don't like the idea that a prospective player might leave just because they had a tough time the first 10 hours of the game.

Welcome and believe me when I tell you that I feel your pain.

My first toon was a Blaster back before Defiance was the sparkling gem that I see it as now (ok, it's hoky but i really like Defiance 2 vs the old way). I joined because someone had two copies of the game and gave me one. I started out on villains so my adjustment to heroes was slow and painful.

I play at odd hours and on low pop servers so teaming was tough. Soloing as a beginner on a Blaster in the Hollows can be too painful for words and more than once I swore off heroes.

My only advice is to come to the dark side...we have cookies lol. Seriously the devs took what they did wrong with Hero-side low content and fixed much of it Villain-side. Mercy Island can get you to lvl 7-8 with no additional zoning, two trainers for your convenience and no Hazard Zone to mess with. Then you hop over to Port Oakes, three Newspaper missions and you get the Mayhem...easier than a Safeguard IMHO because you can rack up 20 minutes in bonus time breaking stuff. The little side missions after robbing the bank can be fun too.

I have a SG on Triumph and would be glad to have you there. We do an all-Mastermind thing every Monday night and as long as you can hit level 6 or better (to be able to get into the zones) we can SK you with us (villains call it Lackeying). The server is not the most crowded but there always seems to be someone to team with during prime-time (after dinner before midnight and weekends).

Also, the Villainous ATs are designed more around independence and being self-sufficient than the heroes IMHO. Stalkers have some growing pains right now but the others ATs are a blast to play.

Come join us and see for yourself. If you really like it talk to your friends about the chance to be a villain for a change. Might draw them in as well.

Send me a PM if you want to chat. Good luck either way.

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and wear is our cake!

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Teh Cake is a lie!

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....especially when you're using it as a garment?

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Yes.

Which reminds me, is anyone going to be jumping out of the cake-lie?

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I will be lying about jumping out of the cake-lie!

I am lying to you now...

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I am a defender. I will not heal you.

Tankers, I will take to the Defense Cap.

Scrappers, I will line up your targets, so you can knock them down.

Blasters, I will guard, knocking melee attackers away.

Controllers, I will protect with my life, my lightning pulling agro away.

I am a Defender. I will not heal you. I will protect you in battle, aid you in your travels, and watch over you.

I am a Defender. I will not heal you. You will not need to be healed.

****

My own take on the credo of a defender, after about a week of reading stuff in the forums about how to be an effective defender. Thanks for the advice PhiloticKnight. =)

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Yeah...this works for me...

I've only played for 14 months and I thought the latter half of '07 was great. Now I see some of the plans for '08 and I grab my checkbook and begin penciling in another year's subscription.

Thanks Devs...

Well now I feel better. At least now I feel as though the AT...or the description...or the powersets...or SOMETHING is wrong besides my method of thinking.

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they are supposed to be kings of ranged damage

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Kings (and Queens where applicable) of damage. Period. As for the whole issue of primaries and secondaries... unlike the other ATs, there is no clear demarcation of roles for the primary and secondary Blaster powersets. There are support, ranged, melee and melee-ranged attacks spread throughout the both.

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“The Blaster is an offensive juggernaut. This hero can deal a ton of damage from a distance. But the Blaster must be careful because he’s somewhat fragile compared to other heroes. The Blaster can’t stand toe to toe with most opponents in Melee for long. His best defense is a great offense.”

I will continue to quote this every time someone says otherwise. This is not from any manual...this is not from some post dated 3 years ago. This is the description that is on the Character Creator RIGHT NOW. I created my first character...a Blaster...because of what this said. Now I want the Devs to live up to their promise.

I consider this a form of written contract. THEY said 'ton of damage from a distance'...not me. This is what THEY decided that EVERY player would read as they were considering what type of character to make up. Considering the changes over the past few years EVERY player who made up a Blaster thinking they were going to do 'tons of ranged damage' has been lied to. Flat...out...lied...to.

I consider this a breach of contract. Our agreement was that my Blaster...not 'some Blaster sets'...not 'ok at range but more damage and thus safer in Melee'...MY Blaster would do 'tons of damage at range' and 'can’t stand toe to toe with most opponents in Melee for long'. They haven't lived up to their end of the bargain IMHO.

I call shenanigans on the Devs for all of those Blaster players who have been lied to since this statement became less than true.

You're preaching to the choir here. Not long ago I began a thread on this very board wherin I quoted verbatim the text in the Character Creator for Blasters. The bold text is my idea just for clarity but it reads

“The Blaster is an offensive juggernaut. This hero can deal a ton of damage from a distance. But the Blaster must be careful because he’s somewhat fragile compared to other heroes. The Blaster can’t stand toe to toe with most opponents in Melee for long. His best defense is a great offense.”

The problem is that the design of the At is NOT following this mantra. The recent video elsewhere on this board shows a Blaster using 3 ranged attacks and a slew of melee attacks including Air Sup to destroy a lvl 50 mish set on Invincible with no Insps and (IIRC) she took no damage. This was solo...no outside help in the least... I was and still am stunned by this feat.

However even if Blasters did follow this line of thinking Issues ago they can't now and that's one thing I'm griping about. Enemy ranges were increased. Some enemies without ranged attacks were given such attacks...in some cases with KB effects (double whammy there). The end game is filled with mezzing enemies that we never had to face before the level cap was raised from 40 to 50. The list goes on and on.

Blasters have been rethought, or rather NOT rethought for the past several issues. So many changes were made for whatever reason with little or no regard for what the end result would be to the Blaster AT. I firmly believe that this is in part due to the fact that the Devs don't play Blasters very much. If they did then these issues would have arisen MUCH sooner IMHO.

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then they would out-damage the Scrapper even more if they use their Secondary.


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blasters secondary is NOT based on melee !!! it's support !!!

don't count on secondaries if you want to compare damage between scrappers and blasters

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When your Secondary has SIX attacks in it (Elec has Charged Brawl, Havoc Punch, Light. Clap, T-Strike, Shocking Grasp and Lightning Field) then there is NO sane way you can call that 'support'.

Elec Fence, BU and Power Sink alone in a Secondary with SIX attacks does NOT constitute suport IMHO.

That's what I mean...it shouldn't be their turf. Forget the personal timer...or make it shorter. Then running from door to door would net you results (good or bad) more likely than not with only occasional 'cannot enter'.

I just wonder if the devs forsaw groups of players camping in one spot hour after hour for this or whether they wanted us to be moving about. The former seems pathetically dull to me and (since I've never seen anyone defeated who wasn't being griefed) a way to give away free exps.

If they wanted to do that just give them to me at the end of every mish and let me play instead of standing in a corner of the city staring at a door.

I've seen several threads re door-camping and all of the problems that it seems to bring. IMHO the devs meant for players to actually travel about for this even yes? Make it like real life ToT where you're hitting each door once and then moving on? Otherwise it seems like almost free exps and goodies to me.

All this being the case, why not make the timer on each door 30 minutes instead of 30 seconds? Eliminates door-camping and makes it feel more like RL ToT.

Just my 2 Inf...still a good event and the costumes ARE a big tease (the PPD Hardsuit looks SOOOOOOOOO good on my powered-armor characters!).

A very nice presentation overall. Great visuals on the Blades, a pretty good idea (and verbal backup) of how Willpower won't be as flashy as some Defensive sets and a VERY clear and useful description of how Combo attacks works.

So looking forward to this I can taste it...

Other than the copious list of general wishes (decorations, NPC, Teleporters with more than 2 locations, etc) I have two ideas for bases that would really jazz them up for me and my SGs.

Disclaimer: I have no idea how much coding these would involve...likely a lot. However personally I think that the MOST effort should go into the game features that have received the LEAST attention for a while. Just my opinion but there it is...

1) Training Room (Danger Room is likely copyrighted...): A place where I can go to test out my Powers, Enhancements, IOs and such BEFORE I buy them! Weekly we all see cries for more respecs...especially now with Inventions on-line and people trying out new IOs.

Then they find out they don't work. Or they find out they don't like the aura they make. Or they find out they don't shave off as much End as the last one or whatever.

And before everyone shouts 'test server' let me remind you that A) The test server is sometimes down for a month or more doing closed Beta and B) Not everyone has the comp space to load up 2 versions of the game.

I don't want a full-blown version of the game in my Base. What I would like is a room where I can artificially advance my level, pick new powers and slots, slot them with enhancements or IOs as I choose, then shoot at/use the Power against a single spawn of critters.

This might quell the requests of players who 'want to see the numbers' as well. It won't provide numbers (unless they sit there with a stopwatch...sheesh) but what it WILL do is enable players to make informed decisions about their Powers and slotting before they commit.

IMHO anything that is so difficult to change that it requires a respec should be something that I can try out before I buy it.

2) This may even be more involved than the Training Room but...The SG Monitor Station: Thie piece of equipment (bought or invented? Unsure...) would reside in the base and when a SG member clicked on it they would get the Monitor Window. They would then be able to use the Monitor functions such as a special Team Finder Window, Scanner/Newspaper Mission Selector and Team Chat.

In essense they can gather a team using their Team Finder, then find a Mission keyed to whatever level and Diff setting they choose and then chat with the team. Once the team is gathered they would then have the options of giving a small gift to the Monitor for his trouble and booting him or running the mish with him along on the radio as a sort of 9th team member.

This might also do away with team padding tels (more and more frequent for me at least) since the Monitor might be able to (advanced function?) artificially up the Diff to higher than the team leader might be able to do otherwise.

As the equipment was upgraded (or as a character gained more Monitor Badges for time spent maybe?) the Monitor would gain more abilities like being able to peek a bit at the map that the team can't see, call for backup (Longbow or Arachnos spawn...takes 1 minute to arrive, lasts for 2-3 minutes fighting baddies), mess with the lights/alarms (very small Acc debuff for the enemies and/or Defense Buff for the team) or perhaps even unlock locked doors (like when the keyholder gets stuck in the wall...?). When the mish end the Monitor gets a small bonus for his time (like the mish end bonus only?).

One of the joys of this is the fact that ANY level or size of team can use it...even solo. Think of all the Stalkers out there with a guy on the radio feeding him intel as he sneaks around and you get the idea. The RPers benefit too since this can be a huge RP opportunity ("Jacob, turn left at the corner. The building schematic shows a shortcut to the generator." "Sorry Professor but I'm in charge and I say we're going in the front door.").

Sorry if the post is overlong but detailed ideas need detailed explanations...

Great work to all and sundry who are working to make this game greater...players and Devs alike.

Yet another unsung reason why Red-Side is better then Blue-Side lol!

Great guide!

Maybe. Needs work tho. Now? Not so much.

A few comments:

1) This got stickied! Means the Devs are looking at it...

2) I LOVE the idea of the Invasion code being used on SFs/TFs because it can often happen that the lowest member of the team is SK'd to the highest member. If the Mentor dies the Sidekick is in serious trouble. This would also enable a team to have a more variable range of characters...no more worrying about having enough Mentors.

3) The big red flashing Time warning is a good idea IMHO. I would put all minimums at an hour with estimates at 2 hours or better.

4) The number of missions of some (Posi's and others...24 missions? UGH!) or at least the content/mission type. Getting several kill-alls in a row is just plain boring. Mix the missions up a bit.

5) Alter the team minimums so that either you can solo the TF without a 'straw team' or you need more than one to finish it. This is going to draw flack but I don't think that it's fair that a player with 50 TFs under his belt with all of the missions memorized can make a specially-tuned character to solo a TF if the mission parameters state that you need 3-4 to start. Such a player can just solo all of then TFs for good loot to twink his other characters.

Either you should be able to start a TF/SF solo without a workaround to get past the minimums or you should require at least 2 live characters at the end.

6) I like the souvenirs but I'd rather they be something personal and not Base related. If my character runs every TF and then my SG folds I lose everything that way. I'd rather have costume pieces or something. If you could have BOTH then that would be cool though...

7) LOVE the idea of the choice of recipes at the end! I don't get to run as many TFs as most so when I do I don't want to get Speed of the Turtle on my non-Ice Blaster. One damage, one Movement and one Defense/Resistance to choose from would be great!

8) I like any idea that lets the star pass to the next-highest level character if the team leader folds. IMHO this should also happen automatically if the leader is AFK for more than 5 minutes because sometimes there are RL emergencies. Of course this would be nice all the time...

9) Expand the number of SFs/TFs that give Respecs at the end. Many players are clamoring for more chances to do respecs anyway. They don't want free ones...just more chances to respec a character for whatever reason. Heck many players re-run the Respec trial for the reward at the end after they've used the Respec so why not do it the other way around? I've run Synapse once and gotten the reward at the end so the next time I run it one of the reward choices is a Respec.

10) How about a better team search function to make it easier to find people who WANT to do a TF? I mean the Devs WANT us to team or else they wouldn't make Trials non-soloable at the start right? Well if they want us to team then they should give us tools to find a willing team more easily!

Luck to us all!

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heres something id like to see added to police band missions...

# how about s police band mission that takes u into the donut shop in faultline... say all the police in there are held hostage and its beinbg attacked by (insert villan here)

# how about some grocery stores getting held up? ( banks and pawn shops are not the only ones that get raided)

# how about (if u have an sg) your base is getting assulted randomly by some bad guys ( this would give more of a valid reason to use the base and to have a SG )

# how about the Tram is filled with bad guys and u have to stop it ( a timed) before it hits the station (ala speed theme with bombs on board!)

there is a LOT of more types of missions that can pop up... heck hire me and ill give you THOUSANDS of ideas that will keep content flowing!!!! besides i got to put my evil powers to some good use (did i say that out loud???)

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What he said. I'm a published author with hundreds of ideas for different scenarios. However my total lack of programming skills prevents me from doing the heavy lifting in such things.

If you need ideas just ask us players!

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Still don't understand what the big deal is. I think people need to relax and just put it out of their mind.

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Bob: Hey Alt
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
Bob: Alt, you there?
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
Alt: I'm here.
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
Ringo: EVERYONE HIT UKON GRAY!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
Ringo: ]censored[ IT! HIT HIM! ]censored[
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
John: Hit who? Someone heal me!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
Bob: Holy crap! Wipeout!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
ADMIN: WARNING RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI RIKTI!!!!!!
Ringo: ]censored[]censored[]censored[]censored[]censored[]censored[

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This is the kind of stuff most people are griping about because the ADMIN channel spams every open chat window. No legible conversations in Team, Supergroup, Etcetera...

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A very good illustration IMHO. So, the devs ran out of channels huh? Bad design on their part but we gotta shoulder the burden?

They want us to team...want us to team so badly that a whole lot of QoL things can't be done without another person...but then they make talking to other players a pain during an Invasion? Bad design on their part.

I'm in Atlas on my shiny new lvl 2 whatever (remember the alts that they say we should make?) and an invasion frakking red-side (NO bearing on my heroic toons WHATSOEVER!) is interfering with my efforts to gather a team? Bad design.

When Invasions was first announced a bunch of people said that they didn't like it and didn't want to participate. The devs said that getting under cover or indoors avoided the attacks. However trying to carry on a conversation while waiting out the attack is impossible unles your chat window is 3/4 the height of your screen. Yeah, sometimes I don't want to participate but I don't have a choice.

To put it in perspective try talking to your friends sitting near you while someone periodically blasts an air horn at all of you. Yeah...that gets annoying quick doesn't it?

The dank darkness of the sewer closed in about him as he stepped slowly, carefully along the tunnel. He was massive, nearly eight feet tall, and wearing either metal armor or robotic parts over his entire body.

"Don't know how I drew this duty," Scrap-Yard grumbled to himself inside his helmet. "I'm about as sneaky as a Mac truck hitting a glass wall."

"You're there because you can see in the dark Scrap-Yard," he heard from his helmet comm. "And because you know your opponent."

"And because there was nobody else in the neighborhood," Scrap-Yard replied in a low tone. He was hardly Paragon City's most experienced hero. He had barely cleared Security Level 20 recently and now he was pulling a solo mission against a terrible and hated foe.

A sound came to him from the darkness, a scrape of metal on metal. The dripping of the water, the low groaning of the shifting earth around the tunnel, even the occasional hiss of steam releasing could all be filtered out. He froze, dialing up the gain on his sensors to the maximum. There, in the distance, he saw it. The faint red glow of a cybernetic eye. A quick sweep confirmed that his opponent was alone. So it was to be a duel then...a fight to the finish. Well at least he knew who he was fighting.

"I hear you Scrap-Yard," a mechanical voice echoed through the tunnel. The red eye shifted and fixed upon him. There was a glint of metal, sparks as steel rubbed against metal pipes, and then he was there.

"Chop-Shop!" Scrap-Yard hissed through his speech filter as he hefted his heavy mace. "I see you came alone...again."

"Always do as you recall," the other cyborg almost chuckled in reply. He hefted a large battle axe easily in his hands. "No point in bringing friends along...our fight is a personal one...always has been."

"I think I'm up on you by two...brother," Scrap-Yard said as the two of them stepped towards each other. They met at an intersection of two tunnels...cramped but with just enough space to swing their weapons.

"I don't count the last one...brother," Chop-Shop said as they slowly circled each other. "Longbow brought me down that time...not you."

"Very well, one then. Let's see if you can even the score of if we finish this once and for all!"

To be continued...

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The simple truth is that today's players are not simple at all. We are intelligent, intuitive, experienced, and informed. Many of us have grown up with video games of all types, and been part of the evolution of PvP since the days of Pong(for chrissake!). And ignoring the vocalization of that experience in relatively calm and intellgent threads such as this is akin to not accepting a twenty dollar bill because it came crumpled and worn from being in your friend's pocket instead of in the form of a printed paycheck with your company's logo stamped all over it!

Dismissing player feedback from forums because "it doesn't represent the majority of the player base" is pure idiocy. If anything, the players posting on the forums are the ones your should be listening to because they're the ones that actually care enough, and are (computer)-literate enough, to post in the first place!

The biggest mistake of conventional MMO developers is assuming that they know what players want more than the players themselves. That mode of thinking will not last much longer in today's competative gaming enviornment.

Talk to us. We're NOT stupid, we WILL understand when you say no if you bother to explain it to us.

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QFT!