El_Condor
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:I approach ratings from a different angle, although I understand where you're coming from. As a professional educator, I see how grade inflation has shrunk the grading system, taken critical analysis out of it, and ascribed emotional impressions to grades that are intended to be somewhat empirical. This has shrunk the band of grades that are typically used, and made them less meaningful. I've seen this model be smoothly overlaid onto the AE star system, and don't like that. For example: the devs have created a one-star and no-star rating for a reason. These are not meant to humiliate anyone, but there must be a way to explicitly denote that an arc is poor or not worth playing at all. It is unfortunate and surely disappointing to the architect if an average of players decide that an arc is bad, but it is more important that prospective players can have a specific way to discriminate arcs that are worth their time, and that architects know that an arc of theirs needs serious reworking. This is a favor to both architects and players. I would never condone sarcastic or derisive comments, even for the poorest works. Conversely, I think it's important for players to be able to pick out arcs that are considered reliably excellent or of the most exquisite quality. To accomplish all this, I really need to be able to consider the full range of ratings available, and look at each one as a measure of quality and not an emotional marker. With this in mind, here's how I rate, more or less:Originally Posted by ArrowRose
Officially I have seen the following:
2 stars: Mediocre
3 stars: Good
4 stars: Excellent
My current personal view is this:
Any one who obviously spent time and effort on an arc deserves at least 3 stars. It doesn't matter if I personally enjoy it or if it is too hard or too easy.
An arc that really grabs me in some way from me gets a 5 star rating. It can be really funny or have a great or unique story. It is an arc I loved playing.
For me 4 star arcs are ones that are really well done, but lack that special something to make it 5. It could be that I am really bored by the arc or that it is SO hard on the easiest setting that I can't appreciate the story because I am so busy fending off death.
I reserve 2 stars for one arc missions with almost no effort.
I have never given a 1 star rating.
Zero stars: Worthless. Not an honest attempt at providing a meaningful experience to any player.
One star: Poor. Perhaps an honest attempt, but not an entertaining experience. Elements of good storytelling and gameplay are largely absent.
Two stars: Below average. An honest attempt with one or few good qualities, but a preponderance of flaws prevents the arc from being very enjoyable.
Three stars: Average. The architect clearly exerted effort to create a quality work. Entertaining elements and flaws are in balance, resulting in a work that is enjoyable with some obvious shortcomings.
Four stars: Excellent. The architect put in significant time and effort with the focus of providing a quality play experience to others. Many elements of good gameplay and storytelling are evident and clearly deliberate, and outweigh any flaws.
Five stars: Superior. The architect demonstrates exceptional talent and skill, and has obviously worked very hard to create a top-shelf work. Storytelling, themes, character-development, knowledge of the game, humor, pathos, and mechanics are all masterfully deployed to create an exquisite work that nearly everyone should enjoy.
I believe that such an approach taken by most critics (meaning anyone who plays AE) would result in average star-ratings that would be of the greatest meaning and help to both players and architects. That being said, it's all just IMHO, heh heh.
EC -
Thanks, gents! I'm all about challenging fights, but have no interest in putting folks through a pointless grind. IH is out, but I added in some powers to the Geek-Freak minions, who are in on that final battle, to increase their interest factor. Haven't decided on AV status for Ub3r-d0rk, but I may yet go that way.
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Quote:Boy, I had my flame-retards all strapped on after reading your title and intro, bud. As it turned out, I really enjoyed your imaginative re-tell; it was like reading the Harvard Lampoon send-up of my arc, and your criticism was very constructive.Originally Posted by FredrikSvanberg
I was all like "Five stars? Who are you and what have you done with Venture?"
I particularly appreciated your feedback because you touched upon a couple of major issues that I constantly wrestled with while designing "Freaks and Geeks", issues that I imagine other architects must be struggling with, also.
Quote:I didn't think the Uber-Dork needed all that Regen. I didn't quite understand why he had psychic powers either but that didn't bother me. With Instant Healing or whatever the power is called he is basically invulnerable for 3 minutes or so. If I had been on a squishy that would have been boring. Exactly how tough should the end-game Big Bad in a story be? I don't yet know the answer to this, though I've received a lot of feedback and tinkered with the difficulty levels of both of my EBs a zillion times. T3h Ub3r-d0rk is the final boss of an arc, so I had to go with my instinct that he must be THE tough battle of the story. He is psychic blast/regen (psychic because, well, he's a nerd and is more likely to flex mind than muscle), and went through just about every permutation of diff levels over his brief lifespan. Not having messed with him since i15, I went in last night (probably before you played it) and added Instant Healing. Absent that, he might have presented to you as the push-over that Venture encountered. Would that have been good or bad? Likewise with the Orderly (who is a straight-up inv/ss), I added Unyielding. Are the two EBs too much now after adding one power each? Are they disappointing patsies if I take those powers back out? That's a different answer for each player, I suppose, but they are EBs and are supposed to be more work than the rest of the mobs.Quote:The Orderly had similar problems with being slow to die but I don't think he used Regen. Willpower probably. He was just annoying because he kept running away instead of fighting. That's not your fault of course, unless you set him to prefer Range and gave him Melee powers...
Does assuming canon knowledge make an arc too confusing for most players?. Again - dunno. The most important Keyword I clicked in the MA description is "Canon Related", 'cause I used a few specific (but not totally obscure) lore facts about the Freaks and Crey to build my story. Crey having been shrouded in shady business and caught using creepy biotech on dead bodies gave me license (IMHO) to create a splinter faction that uses creepy biotech and dead bodies for shady business. T3h Ub3r-d0rk is a straight-up reference to Dreck's back-story: he was one of the wannabe leaders that Dreck smacked down to become the Freak boss, and now he vows revenge with an army of fellow Geek-Freaks. All this is described within the mission text, although I know that character info is often hard to keep up with during gameplay.Quote:The custom Crey and Freakshow mobs were rather pointless. The Crey weren't explained very well. Some of them were apparently undead? Reanimated dead tissue? I didn't have time to read all their info before they died so I never quite got what they were about. Point taken, and you echo a criticism that Police Woman offered in her review. To me, custom mobs are effective not if they're used a lot, but if they fit the story logic. The whole premise of Ub3r-dOrk's final plan is that he can't produce enough Geek-Freaks quickly and needs the machine to do that. The small number of them that you encounter is deliberate, and meant to be a last minute twist on the typical Freaks you've been battling. T3h-Ub3rd0rk is ugly-lookin' because he's a GEEK! You noticed the sneakers and awful pants? That was no accident!!Quote:And the custom Freaks only showed up as part of the boss spawn and maybe an ambush - a waste of custom mobs if you ask me. The entire last mission could have used those custom Freaks with perhaps a few normal Freaks scattered around instead. To be honest I prefer the real Freaks, but I didn't get a good look at the custom ones (except Uber-Dork, and he wasn't pretty), so if I had been fighting them for a whole mission I might have liked them better. 
I thank you for your feedback, Fredrik, and am sorry you didn't enjoy it as much as some have.
Keep the comments comin', muchachos!
EC -
It's a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma! The critics DON'T agree on my arc #55715, "Freaks and Geeks":
Police Woman: "...I ended up rating this story 3 stars. (I almost rated it 4 stars based on the first mission, but felt the later two missions weren't quite as good as the first one.)"
Baryonic Cell: "My Rating: 4 Stars. Well written throughout, some funny dialogue that fit the characters well. Good map choices as well, thematic and well varied."
Venture: "5 Stars... This is a fun arc, recommended."
Fire it up and decide for yourself! I say you'll have a blast! I must give big props to Baryonic Cell and Police Woman for giving me constructive, early feedback to help tune up the story. Any comments on my arc are most welcome, amigos.
EC
Read the full reviews:
Venture--->http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...=139872&page=8
Baryonic Cell--->http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...666#post960666
Police Woman--->http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...128310&page=11 -
Gah! Umm, thanks Venture - I do appreciate the strong review! *stops to gather me-self*
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Throw mine on the pile - I'd love to see your take!
EC -
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Okay, this makes some sense. To get this across, you might consider having a pre-op Geek as a hostage in this mission (I suggest re-using one of the student geeks from mission 1), guarded by some post-op Geeky Freaks who have dialog telling the pre-op Geek how much better s/he'll feel after the G33k 2 Fr32k transformation. Maybe also have a prototype transformer as something to destroy also.
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That's a wicked-cool idea. I'll look into what I can do to make something like this happen. An LOL re: pulling this miracle off: fixing the typo "understimate" which you noted to "underestimate" put me over the 100% file limit!
EC -
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...my personal opinion is that it would be more effective if you decided whether you'd rather your story to be primarily lighthearted or primarily serious and dark, and then made all the story elements support that narrative.
Anyway, I do hope this helps.
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Your opinion is extremely helpful to me, and I agree that there's much to be said for the effectiveness of an unambiguous tone in a story, particularly when one is trying to have fun playing a computer game. It's not like we're trying to make "Fargo" here, after all.
EC -
You are always fair, PW - no need to worry about that!
I'll address a few of your observations, then comment generally:
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when I got back to it, I re-started it on a 12 ss/will brute.
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On a 12? Really? Wow....
I'm glad you liked the beginning tone of the 1st mish, if not the ending of it so much. More on that later.
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Mission 2
The briefing says Freakshow kidnapped the scientists, but I find this mission is inexplicably full of Crey.
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...and that surprise is deliberate, with the hope that the actions and clues in mish 2 lead the player towards understanding the plot turn. Did that happen for you? I was unsure about that. You give me a helpful suggestion for this later in regards to Dr. Galakawiecz.
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"The Orderly" speaks in broken English, I'm assuming this is intentional.
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Yes; I worked to provide each character/group with its/their own "voice" (i.e. the nerdy kids, the Crey grunts grumbling about working conditions, etc.). The Orderly, for lack of better terms, is "big & dumb". Hence, the lousy speech.
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I really think that you should get a clue from freeing one of the doctors; maybe a brief story of what happened to them, or at the very least explaining the condition the doctors are in, if they can't themselves talk about it. Especially Dr. Hu, who is clearly acting oddly.
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Perfect! Dr. G will get the clue, explaining the Freak kidnappers delivering them to the rogue Crey for mysterious purposes. This will further clarify the confusion you feel at mission start.
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Mission 3
I'm a little puzzled as to why the Freaks want to transform nerds into Freaks in particular, but hopefully this will become apparent later.
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Again, an intentional puzzle at the start, meant to be cleared up by the player's progress through the story (both the clue given by the crate and t3h Ub3rd0rk's info describe the reasoning). I hope this worked!
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Also, how is it that any of the geeks have been turned into Freaks so far, when the Geek-Freak Transformer is still in pieces and not yet assembled? Seems like a possible logic error.
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The procedure is already operational: failed attempts with both Luther and Dr. G and a successful one on Dr. Hu. As the clues describe, t3h Uberd0rk is pursuing a machine to mass-produce the Geek Freaks. The ambush wants to imply that a handful of Geek Freaks have been created, but the army is yet to come. I understand that I may not have given the player enough info to reasonably conclude this on her own.
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I could see from Ub3r-dork's background info that he is going through this elaborate plot because he's angry at Dreck kicking sand in his face or something, but most players will not catch that -- you may want to give clues to the player that reveal this earlier on.
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Does t3h Ub3rd0rk's clue left on the crate not help with this also? Perhaps I need to add earlier clues as well.
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Debriefing: The contact calls me "sweet prince" despite my character being female.
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The contact is addressing the departed Luther at this point. It's a quote from the ending dialog of "Hamlet", though I don't expect the player to get that. The confusion comes from not shifting to 3rd person with this final sentence. I'll ponder a fix to this for clarity's sake.
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Overall
I really like the first mission, where the younger geeks have pretty good dialog as they are threatened by Freaks and rescued by the player. The second and third missions did not seem quite as charming, though, as the adult geeks and the geeky Freaks didn't really talk or act very geeky... Finally, I think you should consider not killing off Luther in the first mission. This is, of course, totally up to you -- but in my opinion, your story arc is trying to be more lighthearted and fun. The death of one of the characters is a sharp departure in tone from the lighthearted and fun aspects... With all that said, I ended up rating this story 3 stars. (I almost rated it 4 stars based on the first mission, but felt the later two missions weren't quite as good as the first one.)
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Here is where you've hit on the crux of the dilemma with a certain style of writing (which happens to be mine) and MA: I never set out to write a "humorous" or "serious" story - I just imagine a story and try to portray it. This arc was not actually meant to be funny and lighthearted in tone; it was meant to use humor and tragedy to tell the story of a disgraced and obsessed Freak-Geek's plan for revenge. Where the "fail" may be for many players is in the disappointed anticipation of a "humorous" arc, which I undoubtedly create through my choice of topic (geeks) and what happens in most of the first mish. The loss suffered at the end of mish#1 impacted you the way I meant it to, being fully intended to signal a shift in tone towards the more serious through the remainder of the story and hoping that the player will go with me. But that will instead be a letdown for many players, and I get that.
Perhaps this style is better left to fan fiction or some such thing. I know most players just want to jump into a fun arc and have a clear pathway towards a great time. Anyways, your review has given me tremendous food for thought in reflecting on this and future arcs. Muchas gracias, PW!
EC -
Dude, you're mistaking a forum board for a newspaper. It's a lot more wild-wild-west on a board. If you're planning on creating a thread meant to instruct posters on proper behavior, then you'll really need to put on the flame-retardant suit!
Just sayin'.....
EC -
Just played it; didn't find it to be any kind of violation at all. Alt, did you actually play the arc? It's an hommage, to be sure, but certainly it's own story set squarely within the CoH world.
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Current opinion poll: Should I add a lost NPC in a wetsuit in here, or is that too much?
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Yes, add the NPC and No, it's not too much! It would actually address something that's currently missing: since most of the mobs are non-verbal and just grunt and groan, some other way of injecting in-mish dialogue would be a great boost. You've already set the table for it with the hilarious contact speech along with the story about the first, failed mission. I think a hapless NPC with some funny lines would be a terrific addition and further extend the humor from the contact into the mish itself.
EC -
I really enjoy your review style, Talen, and would your honest and unfiltered (yikes! can't believe I'm asking for that) critique of my arc:
Arc ID# 55715
"Freaks and Geeks"
by: @El Condor
Morality: Heroic
Length: 3 Missions
Level Recommended: 30-54
Enemy Groups: Freakshow, Crey, custom (Crey GenEx)
"Paragon Citys active geek community has done much to contribute to its status as a cutting-edge, techno-infused metropolis. Now its time to pay it back and save the geeks in their greatest hour of need!"
I published it a few weeks ago, and have been obsessively pecking away at it ever since. I'm always up for more outside perspective - hope you enjoy.
EC -
Libra: You're in the zone today! You keep coming up with brilliant ideas! Unfortunately, your social awkwardness seems to have increased as well. No worries; playing Arc #55715: "Freaks and Geeks" will have you feeling nerdy and heroic all at once!
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Thanks, BC, for the review of "Freaks and Geeks"! You mentioned so many things that I spent time working on - I appreciate you commenting on them.
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Well written throughout, some funny dialogue that fit the characters well. Good map choices as well, thematic and well varied.
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In a nutshell, this is what I was going for. The story and how the player is immersed in it is the most important thing to me.
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I have to hand out some points for not making every rescue in this arc an escort, it's nice when they say "Thanks!" and get their own butt out.
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ROFL! Extra "busy-ness" is always something that I find a drag and a spell-breaker. Getting to the main objective fluidly was a key to this mish.
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She is aggro and will start most of the fights herself. At some point a large ambush ran in and killed her tho.
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The AI thing is problematic. MA offers "Aggressive" and "Fight Defensive" as your choices for a fighting ally. The ally in this mish has always been set on the latter, and yet has always had "happy feet" and started many of the battles for me; I'd hate to see what "Aggressive" looks like! :P
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Overall I enjoyed this arc, the dialogue is good, maps are good. The enemies are well designed, but like many custom mobs, can be a bit too powerful at times.
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Again, you obviously put real effort into attending to my arc - I appreciate that! I'm satisfied and proud of the writing and overall storytelling. I've gone back and forth with the difficulty of the custom mobs and EBs, and probably will again. I know that balance point between fun challenge and "impossible - I quit!!" is a tough one to get right, and varies based upon the likes of the player(s). Your comments are exceptionally helpful, though, and will make a difference - muchas gracias, BC!
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Hola PW,
Just played your arc "Celebrety Kidnapping and found it a blast! Like the movie references, in particular.
Please tell me what you think of my arc, if you have room in your queue:
Arc ID# 55715
"Freaks and Geeks"
by: @El Condor
Morality: Heroic
Length: 3 Missions
Level Recommended: 30+
Enemy Groups: Freakshow, Crey, custom (Crey GenEx)
"Paragon Citys active geek community has done much to contribute to its status as a cutting-edge, techno-infused metropolis. Now its time to pay it back and save the geeks in their greatest hour of need!"
I attended more to story and script than anything else, so please read any and all text you care to.
EC -
For your review, gentlefolk, heres my first arc:
Arc ID# 55715
"Freaks and Geeks"
by: @El Condor
Morality: Heroic
Length: 3 Missions
Level Recommended: 30+
Enemy Groups: Freakshow, Crey, custom (Crey GenEx)
"Paragon Citys active geek community has done much to contribute to its status as a cutting-edge, techno-infused metropolis. Now its time to pay it back and save the geeks in their greatest hour of need!"
I purposely refrained from submitting here for a couple of weeks in order to gather a decent helping of feedback, make tweaks, and acquire some street cred in general. Call it my working-it-out-in-Boston-before-bringing-it-to-New York phase.
Its very much a first arc, and I really focused more on keeping the story cohesive and the writing interesting rather than trying to get too big. I appreciate all honest review you generous peeps are able to give. Have at it!
EC -
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Farms all over the place. Even AP is full of farmers. Outside of AE it is deserted. No teams to join.
If this problem is not addressed then there will be no reason to play this anymore.
Without social interaction its just a business, not a MMO. There is no fun left.
Maybe this is the only way they can continue to stay solvent.
But, after 4yrs of subscriptions I may need to retire my spandex.
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Just start up your own team! There are plenty of folks out there who want to play like you do; you may just have to go out and find them now. What I do is call up the search lists, send invitation tells to folks who fit levels/ATs I'm seeking, and before long I have a team that plays the content I'm choosing. I usually send a broadcast after a couple have joined that sounds something like, "Level x team running AE/scanner/patron/etc mishes lfm. Not farming!" I then often get comments from teammates to the tune of "Thanks! It's nice to get on a non-farming team for a change." The players you want to team with are out there, amigo. Go git 'em!
I don't have a problem with farmers, BTW. I just don't like doing it myself. But I think there ought to be access in-game to as many different play-styles as possible, and I love what MA provides in that regard.
EC -
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I was referring to purposely designing a mission arc to have significantly higher difficulty in the final missions as opposed to the earlier ones.
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There's absolutely nothing wrong with this, so long as you take the care necessary to make the final mission challenging but not insurmountable. As you mentioned originally, noone enjoys an "impossible" fight, because that is simply frustrating. There is a world of difference, however, between "impossible" and a battle that is wild, difficult, and leaves you and your teammates panting with silly grins at the end.
This last one is the one you're asking about, and it's hard to get just right. Much easier to just throw in a zillion ambushes set to "hard" and have AVs all on extreme. The perfect balance comes with lots of tinkering with the variables (mob power selection? difficulty settings? ambushes? spawn placement? trigger points?) and testing until it's hard-but-not-too-hard. It's worth it, though, IMHO.
EC -
I ran into a similar problem and learned that it has a lot to do with the predetermined map settings. For example, if you've already used up all the available spawn points in the "front" section of the map you've selected, then the boss will be forced to some point in the middle or back. You can figure this out by looking at the design screen where that map is selected. Above the diagram of the map you will see how many spawn points are permitted for allies, enemies, and objects for each map section (front, middle, back). Check your objectives against the list and, if you've left no spots for the boss to spawn, adjust them to create room for that to happen. Even if you are able to do this, there's no guarantee that the boss will appear right next to the objective.
In some cases (unique maps in particular), some sections will contain no spawn points at all for the thing you want (in your case, the map might only have spots in the middle and back for enemies to pop up). In those instances, sadly, there's nothing you can do to make that boss show up near the desired place.
EC -
Yeah, even allowing destructible objects in that room would permit a back-door way of putting mobs in there. Oh well, we'll just have to wait until the devs (hopefully) open up those unique maps a little more.
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Category: Warehouse
Map: Freak-lympics
Description: Mission Map Details
- 1 allowed any detail type. (1 Middle)
- 8 allowed ambush, boss, patrol or destroy object details. (5 Front, 3 Middle)
- 3 allowed rescue, escort. ally, or defend object details. (3 Front)
- 29 allowed wall collection items. (10 Front, 6 Middle, 13 Back)
- 35 allowed floor collection items. (14 Front, 6 Middle, 15 Back)
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Wow, this makes me soooo sad! How could they give us that big, beautiful final room with no spawn points for enemies? Oh well, I'll try the tips out anyway, and then maybe a different map. Thanks, Corsair. -
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Sounds like you are desperate though lol.
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You got that right! I can't tell you how much time I've sunk into fixing this one thing, to no avail.
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Check the details on maps carefully: Freak-lympics doesn't have a back position for a boss spawn. Only 5 front and 3 middle.
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Where are these kinds of details listed, Corsair? I'm not at my home comp, so I can't call it up at the moment.
Thanks, everyone, I will definitely try these fixes out. I am ever amazed at how quick and helpful y'all are!
EC -
My first arc has been very successful, but I'm struggling with one aspect of the final mish. It's something you'd think would be very easy: I want to get the final EB to spawn in the last room (or even anywhere near the back of the map) and it just won't do it!!
I've done a search here on the boards, but none of the tips I found put the boss at the back, so I turn to you, beloved community, with hat in hand.
It's the Freaklympics unique map (based on the standard long warehouse map), and here are the objectives (in the same order as on the design page):
1) Ally at the front - single, and critical that she spawn there
2) Enemy patrol - back, triggered by destruction of object #2
3) Destructible object #1 - middle
4) Destructible object #2 - middle
5) Destructible object #3 - middle
6) Ambush - front, triggered by destruction of object #3
7) Boss - back, triggered by destruction of object #1
The parameter for the whole mish is set to "flat". Despite the settings, the EB always spawns in the middle/front, which makes the last battle anticlimactic (and often, in fact, not the last battle!). And that big, final room with the cool pedestal and lighting never spawns a thing - it always goes completely unused, which gives the mission an awkward feeling in the end.
I've tried everything I can think of, even setting the boss to middle and front, rearranging the order of events on the mission design screen, and changing which objectives trigger which spawns. I've also swapped for the "Dance Rave" map (a great alternative) and the problems persist. .
I've received many strong, positive comments from both SG buddies and strangers about the story, script, and first 2.5 missions, and the remarks frequently boil down to "love the arc, but why don't you have the big boss battle at the end of the map?" I'm so close to "just right" that it's driving me c-c-crazy!
If you have any tips that might help I'd greatly appreciate it.
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I think, however, that you may have overdone the spawn quantities a little bit.
There are so many small spawn groups (ie skulls sitting on the walls/ledges/etc) around that it's no longer really possible to run a "weave in and out" pattern to cross zone areas without aggroing anyone.
Now, that could have just been due to the sheer quantity of folks in the zone causing a bump up of spawn groups (does that happen?), but it was definately a lot harder to avoid aggroing groups as I travelled around.
Admittedly, with the groups being mostly smaller, it wasn't fatal (like a bad aggro in the hollows used to be), but it was annoying.
Also, less than 100 feet from Wincott, I bumped into a group of lost that included 2 boss-level Rectors!! Not fun running into spammed sleeps and holds at level 5
Again, this may have been just due to sheer quantity though.
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The Hollows is a Hazard Zone, so the increased difficulty is deliberate. To those who perceive this as an annoyance rather than a challenge, staying in the city zones is better fit. The changes have certainly made the zone more survivable than it used to be, so "mission accomplished" in that regard.
EC -
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Having not read the entire thread, does anyone else wonder if Powerset Proliferation is being done in lieu of sideswitching?
I've got several villains who were made in the hopes that Sideswitching would be done some day in the future.
And while some ATs are similar in nature, others just wouldn't work at all. My Ninjablade Stalker is a stalker, not a scrapper, and my Ninja MM wouldn't be the same if she had to become a TA/A Defender and lost the ninja who protect her.
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I'm pretty sure the Dev have said there won't be side switching, and that's WHY we're getting Power Proliferation. So, I beleive it's a yes, but I don't have a quote to support this.
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Yes, the devs have stated before that side-switching is simply not going to happen. So, sorry, you're most likely never going to see that.
However, I don't think Power Proliferation is in lieu, per se, of side-switching. Rather, it looks to me as though the devs have really come to understand that access to greater varieties of power options is what turns on the player base the most. The introduction of dual blades/willpower and plans for other new powersets is a part of this understanding, and I believe that Power Proliferation is another branch of this direction the game is going in.
EC