Cuppa_Lux

Cross-posted from the Bug forum:

Tonight, I decided I would take advantage of my fifth costume slot on one of my 50s to cook up a cute holiday costume for her. Now, this is a toon who earned and wore the special holiday costume piece last season, so I assumed that it would still be there when I looked for it tonight.

Alas, no dice. The cute, fluffy holiday hat is nowhere to be seen in her list of available costume options.

I /bugged it in-game, but is it possible that the hat got pulled and I'm simply not remembering this?

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In this Order

Costumes
Powers
PVE Combat

The Suit Makes the Man as they say.(or freakishly tall fireant)
The powers combined with a good costumes make you stick around..FOR THE COMBAT!. I have to say the combat for the PVE aspect of this game is the some of the best fun I've had in ANY game.

So You have a great costume, awesome powers that fit that costumes, And you just so happen to look 50 times cooler in said costume bashing a giant robot in the shins with your 900 pound Battlehammer made of stone!

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/QFT

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Yet a Super Group costume isn’t your creation, either. And yet people wear them.

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I've been playing on Liberty for 2+ years and I can only think of 3 well-known SGs that made a serious point of enforcing the use of SG costumes: the now-defunct Hamidon Death Squad, and the more-or-less-defunct Sixth Column and Paragon Taxi Service.

Is it different on the other servers, perhaps?

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I didn't reread the transcript, though I do remember the interview distinctly...but here's my take on bases:

They give players their own property...not exactly new ground for MMP's...however, they do offer an unprecedented level of customization.

Clearly, that customization, as well as the several gameplay benefits that the base provides hasn't been perceived to be worth the cost (i.e. Prestige/time played)...hence, Posi and several others (including myself) have taken a spin at making bases more accessible at an earlier stage.

It isn't the popularity of bases so much as the fact that our programming & art team did a phenomenal job of allowing players to generate their own lairs. Maybe not enough players have experienced this content to comment on it, though hopefully Posi's changes will help.

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The programming and art team did do an excellent job. No question there. And once you get used to the benefits of having a base, you don't like to give them up, also true. The very high cost was / is the issue. Even in a large active SG (and the one I belong to is in the top 10 hero-side on Liberty) it takes a LOT of grinding to earn the prestige to build and maintain a big base with all the trimmings.

One other issue is that by and large, SGs only have one, maybe 2, people in the SG that are actually allowed to do the base creation and editing. So if you are in a larger SG, you're more likely than not in a position where you are generating Prestige but not getting to actually play with the base tools. That can be a bit of a turnoff over time.

Human nature being what it is, I don't see an easy way around that particular problem, but the recent changes are helping. Now that a smaller SG can more easily run up the prestige for a functional base, it opens up the ability to play with the base creation tools to more people, which hopefully will increase the enthusiasm level.

*sigh*

*sad*

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Well, from my experience, everyone I started the game with has bailed on it due to the incessant catering of the Devs to PvP issues. They felt it was a big bait-and-switch done by the Devs to suck in a reasonable subscriber base before "balancing" things that would have really never ever mattered in a pure PvE game but do have an impact in a PvP game. In fact. I would hazard a guess that had CoH opened up with PvP it wouldn't have made it to year two due to lack of the publics interest. Further more I will also issue the opinion that had all the resources that had and have and will be devoted to PvP would be far better spent from NCSofts and Cryptics on only the development of new and interesting PvE content. The continued emphasis on PvP is only going to lead to fewer and fewer folks playing IMHO.

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If what's been said about the Asian market is true, then the COH Korea launch will significantly, and permanantly, alter the balance of power in PVP's favor.

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Multiple empowerment stations will stack the buffs that are offered (by design). If we made the buffs as good as players "expect" right out the gate, they'd be WAY too good when stacked.

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So make them better, but un-stackable. End of problem.

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But yeah, you DO get a feel of urgency due to the constant ambushes. IMHO, that's not a bad thing - after all, you ARE wholly and utterly in enemy territory. I find the rush of adrenaline that brings gets me in character far better than any foray into Warburg.

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It's a good thing, I agree, but it's not really an atmosphere which lends itself to pulling up your Clues tab and scrolling through it to try to find a new clue (you might have other Clues or story arcs in there too).

There ought to be a better implementation of side missions than that.

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Whirlwind has always done knock up, now it is doing knockback. I did not see any patch notes on this change. I do recall some discussion about the changes being made to the way knockdown works because of ragdoll physics but understand it was suppose to be reversed. Is this an unnoted patch change or a bug?

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Yes, the change was done purposefully. No, a patch note was not generated -- my fault, sorry! I simply forgot to note the change down.


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You guys seriously need to harden the policies on your CVS or whatever other tool you're using for version management. This happens way too often.

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500? That would be ridiculous. Getting those 200 was like a running a tf, on invincible, with 8-man spawns, by yourself, with the Vahz wasting disease and the Verizon guy following you around saying "Can you hear me now?", and there was a screaming kid behind you on the tram, and you forgot your keys when you left to fight crime, your kid 'borrowed' the cash from your wallet, and McDonalds won't let you fly through the drive through.

Ok, slight exaggeration, but that was one heck of a pain in the rear. So, uh, when's the next badge coming?

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My head hurts just thinking about it.

I got the Toy Collector badge on my most serious badge-hound toon but didn't even consider picking it up for anyone else. Next year, maybe cut the number down to 100 or 150? Or maybe add a bar so we can see how close we are to getting the badge? it was definitely no fun going for this badge.

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TPing a foe into a tower and killing them, IMO is not griefing. It is using terrain to your advantage.

TPing a foe into a tower and just leaving them there with no way out is griefing, IMO.

Sadly, since the 2nd option exists, the first must be considered invalid as well, because even if you intend to kill your target, somthing could happen where you get DCd and then the other toon is stuck.

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Aren't you overlooking the possibility that the TP-ed person might actually kill you instead of the other way around? Then you'd be in the hospital and s/he would still be stuck there. A tactic which assumes that one party can only leave an area by dying or the intervention of a third party is broken.

This is all pretty pointless though, since Cuppa has ruled the tactic to be officially griefing. Do it if you want, but don't come crying here if you get suspended or banned.

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Actually the deal is this:

We removed Recharge Enhancements from all Henchmen powers because it WOULD affect the recharge rate of the summoning power itself, and NOT the recharge rate of the Henchmen's powers.

This is inconsistent to ALL other Enhancements that are slottable for Henchmen... the Enhancements ALWAYS affect the powers of the Henchmen, and not the summoning power itself.

To avoid confusion, we just removed the option.

And I believe it was a good call, seeing as how many people would be confused as to how it would work if we left it alone.

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Is that true for other AT's pets as well? I'd read that recharge enhancements were affecting my singularity's powers, and not just how often I was able to summon it, but I haven't timed it or anything. I'd be nice to know for sure.

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I tried to be specific by mentioning "Henchmen" instead of "Pets".

The above statement by me applies ONLY to Mastermind Henchmen powers, i.e. the summoned pets that can be controlled via the command icons. Pets that are summoned "uncontrolled" (even those summoned by Masterminds) behave as they always have in regards to Enhancements (i.e. the Enhancement affects the power, not the pet).

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Poz -- maybe I am misunderstanding you here, but Illusion's Phantom Army is an "uncontrolled" pet yet slotting damage & accuracy enhancements does increase the Army's ability to hit & do damage. Is it only Recharge enhancements that are different?

I agree that that AMoAs are way overpowered. My lvl 50 has a pretty good selection of Gladiators to choose from; yet I was pwned consistantly by an SGmate who had AMoAs no matter what I brought to the table.

It also might be nice to bump up the number of Minions one can purchase. Locking Bosses at 3 is fine, but maybe bump it to 4 for Lieutenants and 5 for minions?

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Yeah but the people making those posts aren't going to be satisfied until they can run amok down the streets killing pedestrians left and right and we KNOW that's not going to happen.

Can't please everyone.

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You've got a point, but I have to say that so do they.

A not-insignificant percentage of missions you run once you get out of Mercy are very much like COH missions. A little window dressing has changed, but beating up on Family or Council in a warehouse in COV is virtually identical to the same mission in COH. What's so villainous about that?

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*wonders if they ever play the game*

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I am absolutely convinced that they don't. Not the same game we do anyway.

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They don't.

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What can we as players actually do though to rectify the situation? Honestly, if the devs want us to be nerfed what does it take to change their minds? I look at the amount of work done and I am simply flabbergasted that this is still a persisting issue that the devs have not taken care of.

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I've thought about it a lot and I have decided that ultimately, we can't do anything. We can test, post, data crunch, argue, use logic, and be as passionate as we want, and the devs are just going to do whatever it is they want to do anyway.

I have better things to do with my time than be their datamine source. Screw the Test server, screw collecting data, screw trying to be helpful to them. It's not worth it.

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It's never fun to admit a mistake but I spoke in error.

There are a lot of things going on here and I made an assumption based on information I thought was correct. That's not the case. I'm sorry for adding to the confusion. My PM should be disregarded in this case.

Again, sorry for the wrong info.

Zeb

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*sigh*

Ok, so back to my original question. Who thought that gender-specific helmets was a good idea for the pre-order bonus? And why?

I PM'ed Lord Recluse on this issue & this was his response:

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The helmets should work for all body types.

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So maybe this isn't so bad after all.

Alexa -- as someone who prefers to make female characters, I'm pretty annoyed by the fact that there are three male-only helmets and only one female helmet.

To make matters worse, there are no GameStops in my immedate area, so if I want the only female helmet I have to mail order and then wait around at home for the delivery; I can't go into my local CompUSA, Best Buy, or EB Games to pick COV up at my convenience. That's even more annoying.

Why do you have to put gender specific items in special offers like this? Really, who thought it was a good idea? I'd very much like to know.

Jack - Godspeed to your brother; may he have an uneventful tour and come home safely.

That said -- As a marketing professional who spent 7+ years in the tech industry, I'd note that your views about "polish" are very common among technically-inclined people. Like it or not, though, you're not just another developer anymore, and you need to hold yourself to a higher standard.

I'd like to submit to you that there's a middle ground between just firing off your unfiltered thoughts and having someone edit everything you say. Looking over what you say before you hit the Submit button and thinking about how people might take it is not "sales talk". It's being a good communicator.

Also, consider how much time it costs you (and the rest of the staff) in reading and responding to extra PMs and posts when you make a comment people take the wrong way. The extra minute or two it will cost you before you make a post is a small fraction of the time you have to waste in dealing with the fallout of some poorly chosen words.

I tested the new Burn today against COT and Nemesis. Tank was lvl 40, foes were range of -2 to +2.

Better than 80% of the COT ran out of the patch and did not come back into melee range. This was the same whether I laid down Burn first or whether I used BA, Whirling Hands, and/or Taunt before laying down Burn. A small number of COT would yo-yo in and out of the patch. The Nems (who are reputed to be resistant to fear) only ran about 50% of the time. The rest yo-yoed in and out. A second application of Burn, though, caused them all to take off and not come back.

One application of Burn took a non-running +2 minion to about 25% health. That's a noticable damage reduction but not intolerable. The Fear changes, though, make this power a real problem. I suspect I'll drop Burn after I5 hits. *sigh*

I had been waiting for the other shoe to drop on Fire tanks after I5 hit and it seemed that we managed to dodge the worst of the bullets therein. I guess after seeing lvl 50 Sonics on the Test server the devs decided their anti-herding actions weren't enough, hence the new Burn nerf. As a tank who does not herd up 8-person missions or PL, I'm kind of annoyed that I'm getting punished for other people's actions.

I'm also annoyed that the devs (specifically Statesman) can't be honest enough to come right out and say "We think you're overpowered, so we're nerfing you" instead of halfassed excuses like "well, wouldn't YOU run away if you were burning?" As with the issue with Controller pets (where Statesman later had to apologize and backpedal from his original 'not working as intended' statement) this shows a distinct lack of respect for player intelligence.

I think Statesman ought to read "The Cluetrain Manifesto" and take a few of its lessons to heart.

AND stop nerfing Burn.

Short and sweet: I like the powerset; I'll quite likely roll one on Live. But I hate the sound FX.

PLEASE stick with something gender-neutral for the sounds.

Edit: The sound for Shriek is fine though.

I finally got my lvl 28 Ice controller over to the new zone today. I was quickly invited to join a team that was trying to complete a "Stop 30 Fir Bolgs From Escaping" wave mission.

We failed miserably several times in a row. The team size ranged from 4-6 over the course of the 4 attempts I took part in; the mission owner said he's been trying for about 2 hours to complete it. The core of the team was a scrapper, a Warshade, and two controllers; a blaster, another scrapper, a tank, and another controller all cycled through.

The first time we tried and failed, it was kind of fun. It got progressively more frustrating at the failures mounted up, though.

We tried all staying near the defense point but could not beat down the massed waves that came at us. We tried splitting the team; keeping some near the gate and others on roving patrol to try to kill waves before they got to the door. We discussed bumping up to an 8-person team to add firepower but were concerned that the waves would get even bigger than they already were & we'd just fail faster.

I did my best to keep a perma-Ice Slick by the door to try to stop anyone who got through our defenses but I couldn't keep it there all the time (apparently even with Hasten you need at least three SO recharges in Ice Slick now). More "run away" powers by the door might have helped - if we'd had an Illusion controller with Spectral Terror, a Storm defender, or even a fire tank with the newly-feared Burn perhaps we could have done better - but none were available at that point in time.

Early after the TV Respec Trial came out, there was a sense that the trial was best completed with only a very specific set of ATs -- which has changed; either the players as a whole have gotten better at the trial or the trial itself was made easier; I'm not sure. The same is probably true here.

One good thing was that the mission was nice XP -- possibly too nice; the potential for farming this mission is quite high. Who need to herd when huge waves come running right at you? Kill what you can, fail the mission, restart it. Repeat until you're sick of it.

I have posted a new version of my So You Want To Be An Illusion Controller guide to reflect Issue 4 changes to the AT.

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Some of the players with the most passionate responses are also the ones who care the most about the game.

Being respectful to anyone is important, Devs included. I must say though, that over the past year it has seemed (I say 'seemed' not 'is') that the same level of respect is not always returned. And I don't mean that Devs are directly rude, but that they sometimes take what appears to be a condescending approach of You don't see the big picture, so you do not realize that what you are doing is not actually fun.

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There has also been much disillusionment over the Test server.

Folks spend hours and hours testing changes, give extensive feedback, and find widespread support of their findings, and then the changes go through to live as is. (Only to have the Devs find on Live the same issues that were reported by players on Test.)

There is much that goes into peoples behavior, and I think that the fluctuations in respect go both ways. It is just less subtle from the players side.

If we cared less about the game being great, we would just quit, not criticize.



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Really, really good points that need to be underlined a few times for emphasis.