End Sinister
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Posts
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Joined
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The cool down is at 30 minutes. I'm looking at the description right now.
Edit: Here, just look. Not sure if I'd want to buy. While it might look cool, I don't think it's worth the current price in the market. That's what travel powers are for.
The Team Transport power summons a vehicle that teleports the caster and nearby teammates to the active mission's entrance. Teammates within the transport radius receive a prompt asking if they would like to be teleported to the active mission. Heroic alignments summon a Longbow Chaser and Villainous alignments summon an Arachnos Flyer. It can be used once every 30-minutes. -
It seems that with Night Ward being only levels 30 to 35 that they are leaving room open for at least another zone. Has it occurred to anyone out there that Praetoria may very well be the first place to get hit by The Battalion that we know of? Maybe there will be a coordinated attack between dimensions or Praetoria just eats it first and Primal Earth learns how to defeat them because of the mistakes made in trying to save Praetoria.
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Spartan, I didn't know that could have been a reason for her disappearance. I miss her too, you know. It's good to see you're still around even though I can sign on only a few hours a week.
That being said, I miss all the old time Atlanteans. -
This is going to be a huge seller!
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I'd have to agree with Maestro and all the rest, Zwil. This is a wonderful game, the new unique maps, the new play mechanics, nearly everything in this game has been spiced up to a point I never thought possible given how the game play was originally conceived. However, there have been way more typos since Freedom's launch than I have seen cumulatively in all the prior issues before City Of Heroes: Freedom.
One would imagine that at least in the S.S.A.'s that there would be a little more care in the text. I think much of the writing was rushed in the last few arcs and even some of the terminology (Rula-Wade being used as Vanguard's official codename for the merging Darrin Wade) for instance was a bit unpolished to say the least. Some lines of dialogue made little sense too, such as when Wade was saying he "just wanted to be free" when all throughout the story arc he obviously had more sinister intentions.
I said it before in my previous post in this thread that we should be allowed to create a thread where all the typos can be placed that players know of to make it easier on the dev.'s to correct them in game.
I don't think players are trying to knock on the developers. I know many of you must be overworked and forced to shell out even more content than before without having the benefit of many new extra hires, but again, maybe you can devote one person for one eight hour shift once a month to fix these spelling and wording errors. If I were a new player trying out this new content, I would think that some of the content was sloppily put together and I would think twice about continuing to play. -
Xzero, I'm not saying they're going to go out of business anytime soon, but long term, it will be interesting to see where this game is by its ten year mark. I have my doubts about this game's viability past that point. I think they know this and marketing's trying to get what they can now before that time. The dev.'s keep alluding to having a business plan of up to two years (up to and around it's 9 year mark). I bet downsizing will be in order after those purported plans are up. A ten year old M.M.O. can still make some money (such as E.Q.), but NC Soft is notorious for axing games that don't turn as much of a profit as they like. We'll just have to wait and see.
And Darth, I find it sad that people seem to embrace the capitalistic idea of a consumer. I may be a typical consumer in Paragon's eyes, but as with anything I buy, I try to see the real value for what I'm buying. I find it disturbing that some posters in this forum are willing to pay as much they do on virtual items with no real world worth. -
Quote:Not exactly. What you're omitting is the fact that there was a bona fide you-know-what storm when that email was leaked to the public and within a month, revenue for that game plummeted by 20%. Paragon Studios, if it continues its current trend, could very likely see a player backlash of the same sort.Originally Posted by Darth_Khasei
...One thing I learned while playing a no holds barred space game is people say one thing and do something completely opposite of what they say when it comes to buying these micro/marco transaction items....Surprise! LOL!
Paragon is apparently not listening to what people say here and are rather listening to the cha ching a ling of their cash register lighting up whenever they put these items on the market.
WINNING!
I am not one of those players described by that company head, by the way, and I suspect that a good proportion of the player base doesn't "say one thing and do another" either, otherwise there would be no need for the super packs and an R.N.G. gambling system (in other words, a money sink).
I've been hanging around to see where this game has been going, but the pricing schemes and lack of substantial content is making it really hard to stay invested in City Of Heroes. This is a great game, but I fear it's been leaving an overall bad taste in my mouth these past months. Dark Astoria's great, but gating that behind a V.I.P. subscription was a very dubious move indeed.
Insofar, we've been seeing price hikes on certain items, notably vanity pets, and now we're seeing a buff pet being sold on the market at an exorbitant price. Again, I do not like where this trend has been going these past few months. Do any of you even remember what $10 used to get us before Freedom? We used to get a hell of a whole lot more stuff for that money, not just a travel power or a vanity pet. Marketing really is squeezing every last dime out of the dwindling player base to cash in before these servers go dark. This is an 8 year old game well past its heyday, how much longer do any of you think content can be churned out at its current rate before the game goes into maintenance mode? -
What I find hard to believe is that the dev.'s can easily compile a list of spelling errors with the help of the online community. How hard would it be to have one person on staff once a month, for one shift, simply pull out that list and set to work correcting spelling errors? I bet a pretty significant percentage of the spelling errors could be fixed in even one shift. It shouldn't be that hard.
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Thanks again, Hopeling, for the extra pointers. I'll make the changes you suggested. I'm only using the knock back proc. so I can get the set bonuses of Steadfast Protection; I do see your point though. I'll be arranging the order of the powers a bit too, so I have more attacks earlier on.
I wasn't aware that the rule of five applied to combined set bonuses. I thought that it only applied to I.O.'s themselves. Thanks for the heads up and for helping me get my head around Willpower. As an aside, I find it kind of strange how Willpower takes snippets of certain defensive power sets and makes use of them. It's a very interesting amalgamation of several defensive power sets in the game.
Take care, Hopeling! -
Hey guys, I took your advice on things and you were both extremely helpful! Although, I disagree with keeping Combat Jumping down to one or two slots. I've been able to make some pretty solid builds before and I tend to use Combat Jumping as an I.O. mule.
I may substitute Smashing Haymakers for Kinetic Combats because the latter is somewhat cost prohibitive. Also, the L.O.T.G. defense I.O.'s should probably have been switched to defense/endurance because of the little impact on defense a full defense I.O. would provide and for cost as well.
Upon further revision, Follow Through needs to be taken much sooner in case anyone is going to use this build. Otherwise those using this build will only have two attacks until level 16! Enjoy!
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.953
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Aegaeus Interitus: Level 50 Magic Brute
Primary Power Set: Titan Weapons
Secondary Power Set: Willpower
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Defensive Sweep- (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage
- (3) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (3) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (5) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (A) Numina's Convalescence - Heal
- (5) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance
- (7) Miracle - Heal
- (7) Miracle - Heal/Endurance
- (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/Endurance
- (9) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
- (9) Steadfast Protection - Knockback Protection
- (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage
- (11) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (11) Eradication - Damage
- (13) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (13) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (15) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (15) Serendipity - Defense
- (17) Serendipity - Defense/Endurance
- (17) Winter's Gift - Slow Resistance (20%)
- (A) Numina's Convalescence - Heal
- (19) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance
- (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff
- (19) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
- (21) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance
- (21) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance
- (23) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance
- (23) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (25) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (A) Unbounded Leap - +Stealth
- (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
- (25) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
- (27) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
- (27) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Numina's Convalescence - Heal
- (29) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance
- (A) Mocking Beratement - Taunt
- (33) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Recharge
- (34) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Recharge/Range
- (34) Mocking Beratement - Taunt/Range
- (A) Disorient Duration
- (A) Performance Shifter - EndMod
- (29) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge
- (33) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy
- (36) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
- (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
- (36) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
- (36) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
- (37) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (37) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (37) Serendipity - Defense
- (39) Serendipity - Defense/Endurance
- (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance
- (39) Reactive Armor - Resistance
- (39) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
- (40) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge
- (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage
- (40) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Endurance
- (42) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge
- (42) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (45) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Recharge
- (45) Scirocco's Dervish - Chance of Damage(Lethal)
- (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage
- (40) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Endurance
- (42) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge
- (43) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Recharge
- (43) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (43) Scirocco's Dervish - Chance of Damage(Lethal)
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (45) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (A) Resist Damage
- (A) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Recharge
- (46) Enfeebled Operation - Endurance/Immobilize
- (46) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Endurance
- (46) Enfeebled Operation - Immobilize/Range
- (48) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Immobilize/Recharge
- (48) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Immobilize
- (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
- (48) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
- (50) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
- (50) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range
- (50) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (A) Recharge Reduction
Level 2: Swift- (A) Run Speed
- (A) Miracle - +Recovery
- (31) Numina's Convalescence - Heal
- (31) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
- (A) Jumping
- (A) Performance Shifter - EndMod
- (31) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge
- (33) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy
- (34) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
Level 1: Brawl- (A) Damage Increase
Level 1: Sprint- (A) Run Speed
- (A) Recharge Reduction
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Thanks for the help. I see your point of Spring Attack, as well as Tough and Weave. I think I'll be taking some of your suggestions. Funny thing is I have made some awesome builds for myself before, but Willpower has always given me trouble. Thanks again!
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I have absolutely no idea how to go about slotting my TW/WP brute and I'm running out of slots fast. No purples and no ATIO's please, otherwise I have the inf. to make mostly any other build. Please help! Slotting Willpower has always eluded me because it has such a mixed bag of powers and gimmicks. I want to keep all of the powers I chose unless it wouldn't make a very sturdy brute. I'm getting sick of using Tough and Weave on so many builds too and I'm trying to avoid using the two. If using those two powers is absolutely necessary then put them in there somehow. Thanks!
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.953
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Aegaeus Interitus: Level 49 Magic Brute
Primary Power Set: Titan Weapons
Secondary Power Set: Willpower
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Defensive Sweep- (A) Kismet - Accuracy +6%
- (3) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (3) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (5) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
- (5) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (34) Eradication - Chance for Energy Damage
- (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
- (7) Reactive Armor - Resistance
- (7) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance
- (9) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge
- (9) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
- (11) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
- (11) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (13) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
- (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance
- (13) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance
- (15) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge
- (15) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (17) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (17) Serendipity - Defense
- (19) Serendipity - Defense/Endurance
- (A) Obliteration - Damage
- (21) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
- (21) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
- (23) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (23) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (25) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
- (A) Numina's Convalescence - Heal
- (27) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance
- (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff
- (29) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
- (29) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance
- (31) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance
- (31) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance
- (31) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (33) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (33) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (33) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge
- (A) Winter's Gift - Slow Resistance (20%)
- (19) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
- (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
- (34) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
- (34) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
- (36) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (A) Dark Watcher's Despair - Chance for Recharge Slow
- (36) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff
- (36) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge
- (37) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge/Endurance
- (37) Dark Watcher's Despair - Recharge/Endurance
- (37) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Endurance
- (A) Taunt Duration
- (A) Obliteration - Damage
- (39) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
- (39) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
- (39) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (40) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (40) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
- (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
- (40) Performance Shifter - EndMod
- (42) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge
- (42) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy
- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
Level 2: Swift- (A) Run Speed
- (A) Miracle - +Recovery
- (25) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
- (27) Numina's Convalescence - Heal
- (A) Jumping
- (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
- (42) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy
- (43) Performance Shifter - EndMod
- (45) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge
- (A) Damage Increase
Level 1: Sprint- (A) Run Speed
- (A) Recharge Reduction
Level 1: Momentum
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Allow me to clarify that I never once brought the legality of these packs into question. They are perfectly legal. I had said they were unethical. The main draw of these packs is primarily the new costume set and the archetype I.O.'s (which you may get one of per pack). The new items are becoming blatantly over priced for what is offered. Why on earth would Paragon Studios package a costume set that would normally go for the equivalent of five dollars into a randomly generated item pack? The only logical conclusion to come to is that they did it to get more money for the same content. It begs the question, "Why isn't what I've been paying up until now good enough anymore?"
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Reppu, it is gambling, plain and simple. Albeit, it's worse than traditional gambling because you're not gambling for potentially more money and possibly recouping the money you put in, but you are gambling for a chance to win a virtual item with no potential to regain your lost money. I can't tell you how to spend your money, it's yours and yours alone. I only wish that those without much disposable income would be a bit wiser in spending their money. It only hurts those who could otherwise use their money in a more meaningful way such as for food, rent, or utilities. It's the very attitude of, "It's not gambling," that will get some people into financial trouble. On the corporate end, Paragon is reaping even more of a profit now than with traditional costume packs and that equals less value for more money.
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Puppy, at least you're honest about the system. A previous poster kept bringing up gambling with baseball cards. Well, baseball cards and virtual items are not the same. While you may not get the player you like in a pack of cards, one or many of those supposed no names may one day become a big star and their respective baseball cards should see some increase in value. Besides potential profit, you have a physical object in the real world that has real value. Virtual clothing items, as Puppycrusader said, will have absolutely no value once City Of Heroes is shut down. I am well aware of what I pay for this service and I refuse to pay more than its subscription cost, fifteen dollars a month, for either points or V.I.P. access.
I mean, for God's sake, if one is to gamble, gamble those dollars for real online. At least there's a chance of winning something useful. -
Puppy, I addressed the issue with the developers in one of my previous posts, and I do agree with you that what we are seeing is the machinations of a marketing division having more influence on how we play City Of Heroes. As far as what I said about modern day corporations, I think their actions speak for themselves. I can use the incident where the creators of Eve: Online sent emails around the office that showed they had a very poor attitude toward their customers and viewed them as petulant children saying one thing and doing another. It isn't until people act with their money are these arrogant people checked. I'm only trying to persuade other people into not buying these products Paragon is offering because the product bundles are getting worse and worse. I can't understand how many people that play this game seemingly have no problem throwing their money away, at least the ones posting in this forum, that is.
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Astra, people will continue to argue with you and say that you don't have to buy anything; no new power sets, no new costumes, etc., which is true, but their arguments are very flawed. What many people are choosing to ignore is the fact that most of us play this game with the knowledge and implication that there will be new content added to the game at regular intervals. Most current players would not continue to play the game if that system suddenly ceased and they were forever left with the game as is.
There is currently a system in place where if one wants to access most of the new content, one has to pay much more than in the past just to keep the gaming experience fresh (through new costumes, content, power sets, etc.). There are too few costumes being released for free and many more are seeing an ever increasing sale price.
The degradation of costume packs alone comes to mind. First, we had Super Boosters which included a costume set, emotes, auras, and a temporary power. Then it was watered down to half the price for all the costume pieces, but many of the former emotes, auras, and temporary powers, became more expensive cumulatively than that missing five dollars, such as Super Tailor access. Now, we have a gambling system where people are paying more than what a current costume bundle alone costs. It is striking how people refuse to face facts. We are getting less and less for our money, it's as simple as that. -
Quote:Yes, spending is the American way, but if the world's countless sovereign debt crises tell us anything, spending the way we have is unsustainable and has wrought nothing but financial ruin to the world. That aside, gone is the time where businesses actually cared about what people really thought about a certain product. There is mostly nothing but hubris abound when it comes to modern day corporations. It is interesting to see when that will really cost them.Originally Posted by Barabeast
This is one of those topics that will go and go, so while it's here ... here's my 2 cent's.
As player's we believe that all that happens should happen for us and us only. What many of us tend to forget is, this is also a business and should be run as such. Are they aware of the other free2play games that are no longer out there? Of course they are! Have they done their research to find out if they will make more money? Again, business. Many of us have talk about the economic issue's we all face and how we can't afford this, we can't afford that and yet here we are, still buying. That my friends is the American way, it's what we do. Your dollars make this game last as long as it has. The more player base, the more time and effort it takes for this to continue ... which cost.
I may not post much, but I am a lurker on the forums in the truest sense. Golden Girl, I know you are a proponent of all things Paragon Studios, but please consider what I have to say. I hope it registers with you. I think Paragon has been testing the waters for some time with what we will tolerate payment wise and I feel they're beginning to misstep. Introducing a gambling system where there is the illusion of not actually spending one's money by using a dollar to point conversion system is unethical. The Paragon Market does not use dollars as its currency because if players saw how much things are in real dollars they would think twice before spending as much. I like this game as much as the next player, but many of the new transaction models are sheerly in favor of N.C. Soft. -
Ephemeris and Astra, I share the same sentiment. I'm currently alternating between fifteen dollars in Paragon Points and V.I.P. time every month. I haven't exactly been the most positive of players voicing my opinions in this forum, but I only complain when I feel it is absolutely justified (for instance: the switch to the free to play model, price gauging, further exclusivity of items, and now gambling).
I had never thought that this game would be reduced to what it currently is now, but I have had the sinking suspicion for a long time that Paragon Studios is not calling the shots; N.C. Soft is showing its hand here. Sadly, what I feel will happen long term is the alienation of City Of Heroes' core player base. However, I don't think N.C. Soft is much concerned with that at this point. This game is well past its sell-by date and has only hung on because of its extremely devoted players. The game is still profitable by an ever increasingly small margin. Notice how the developers have quickened their pace in wrapping up the Praetorian story line and bringing on The Coming Storm. They must be bringing the game's lore to a head because they don't know how long the servers will be on.
All of these factors contribute to such a gambling system's implementation. They're trying to get every buck they can while the going's still somewhat good.
Astra, I may be following suit. I've said I'd quit before and I came back, but ever since Freedom came about I've spent far less time playing this game as a result of the changes that came with it. City Of Heroes is now an aberration of what it once was and there is no going back. I'll wait and see how things pan out a little longer, but I fear my cynicism is justified in this matter and things will only get worse from here on out.
Goodbye to you and may you find another interest that might be more constructive than a video game! I know once I'm done with City Of Heroes that it is it when it comes to gaming.
One last thing; dev,'s, if you are reading this, City Of Heroes was a great game and still is in many regards, but the way marketing and your parent company are handling its current affairs leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth. The costumes and content are better than at any other time before, but the micro-transactions and now gambling are testing your core players.
Despite my current account's creation date, I am a five year veteran of this game and its the only game that I've played in eight years. I've had a great time playing with such a wonderful, friendly, and helpful gaming community, but I don't know if I can stomach much more myself. There will be more people like Astra and me; you are testing your customers' limits with your increasingly one sided payment models. For all intents and purposes, we are in a depression, people won't have as much disposable income that they are (unwisely) spending now. I'd be interested to see how the players buying these item packs (as well as their spouses and parents) will feel when they get their credit card statements next month and if they'd harbor any resentment for being had. Please reconsider your transaction models, if not the current ones, then the future ones, which I'm sure are being cooked up as we speak. -
These costume sets should be made as purchasable costume packs on the Paragon Market and not gated through a gambling system or rewards program. Paragon Studios' marketing strategy is exactly why I unsubscribed and I will continue to play for free until they bring some equity to the player base with what is available in the market and the cost of these items as well.
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What I fail to understand is the lack of acknowledgment of a fundamental issue with the game's difficulty in general. Back when even I started playing in 2007, levels actually meant something. There would be no way in hell that a level 17 would have been able to play level 50 content like it can today. I think the game broke when Super Sidekicking came into play. Incarnate powers are only icing on the cake. Since then the developers have been devising ways to backpedal out of the monster of easy experience that they have created by devising new systems and mission mechanics that are simply outside the scope of the original game. They opened up a whole other can of worms when they decided to release game-breaking abilities to players.
I think the overall quality of this game has seen a steady decline. The storytelling, the new systems; the implementation of these things, for instance, misses the target. It's almost as if there's a lack of true vision or leadership when it comes to this game. Many aspects of the game seem disorganized. City Of Heroes has always seemed like an incomplete game to me. The developers have left in so many loose ends it just makes the entire game seem a bit sloppy at this point.
If you ask me, the developers have to sit back, take a deep breath, and really take a look at possibly tying up any and all loose ends in any area, whether it be discontinued story lines, zones, or the now clusterpancake of the Incarnate System and its multitude of superfluous currencies and its game breaking powers.
I used to consider myself a pretty hardcore player, but now I seldom log in and play anymore. This, mind you, from a guy who has tried to quit time and time again. Either I'm growing out of video games completely at this point (only game I've played in 7 years) or this game has become quite stale with no real reward for playing.
One last item before I go. There has to be an end to the story line of the game. Period. It's taken 7 years to tell the story of the Rikti, Rularuu, Nemesis, and Arachnos. All of the stories have to come to an end at this point in order to start afresh. Another game seemed to do it with their expansions so I see no reason why the developers don't take the opportunity to finally wrap up every fricking story line in the game. I have a feeling The Coming Storm will address some of this, but that storm should have came and went so long ago. Right now it seems so far off in the horizon. End the legacy content and end the Praetorian arc. Praetoria in particular is played out. I'm tire of Praetoria and I think many other players are on the same page with me.
If you're reading this, developers, you can start completely anew if you do so. City Of Heroes is very stale. Seven years and still no resolution to the old content. It needs to end. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Dr_MechanoEU
*also hugs Second Measure*
Well that puts a stop to one of the major gripes I had with the latest issue, especially since it was basically nonsensical, I could see the reason behind the BAF and Lambda change (even if I didn't agree with it) but the 15 emp merit unlock was just puzzling.
Positron has confirmed that the BAF and Lambda are keeping their Emp merit rewards but also said that 'if enough people don't play the new content, we're going to have to look into other ways of making the playerbase do it' (I am paraphrasing here but that is the gist of it). Which has raised a few eyebrows amongst some of my fellow players that I chat to.
This is a very valid point. I think what people are forgetting here is that the Incarnate system is Positron's brainchild. Any failure of his own system will reflect very poorly on his position at the workplace. Forcing players to play the newer content will make the Incarnate system less so a failure and show his bosses that the newer trials are being played and therefore his system is a success. My opinion is that the Incarnate system is a resounding failure finally taking shape. The Alpha slot is the only slot I will actually pursue for my characters at this point outside of my tank.
The system is F.U.B.A.R.'ed as far as I'm concerned: too many currencies and too much time needed to invest to get any type of reward. There's very little incentive for me to play the end game at all anymore. I've been happily chugging along in First Ward for the past month. The new zone, the new stories, and the new power sets are what keeps me playing this game. The game has seen vast improvements across all areas with the exception of Incarnate content. This coming from a once skeptic of the change to the Freedom model.
Positron, people want difficulty and want game play that doesn't mindlessly involve mashing their keyboards. The problem is a fundamental one; this game was never designed to utilize a player's reflexes. If true "battle" tactics were meant to be used, this would have been more of a hack 'n slash or F.P.S. based game, which it is not.
There is no way around the monotonous game play outside of offering new ways to experience it, such as through new story content or new power sets. This game was never meant to have systems that circumvent the very play style it was originally designed for. Adding exotic damage to the end game system with such a penalty (after many players have spent hundreds of hours kitting out their level 50's, mind you) as used in the Keyes Island Reactor trial is a counterproductive approach to spicing up the game play mechanics. So too is the idea that you will then even consider penalizing players for wanting to avoid such a tedious task.
I'm with the people who have voiced their opinions in these forums that say they play this game to have fun. I'm willing to wager there aren't as many power gamers as Positron may think who have the time and the commitment needed to be able to unlock all the new end game content. I myself think I play way too much at times and that is nowhere near enough time to unlock most of the Incarnate system on more than one character. -
Quote:LOL, Samuel, that was supposed to be a playful "screw you guys". It really was only a joke and I was saying that rather playfully. I'm sorry it doesn't come across that way in text. My apologies to you.Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
You come to a thread specifically asking for things we don't like - as an opinion - and proceed to open a paragraph with "screw you?" Next time you want to state an opinion, do it without insulting people who hold a differing one.
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Oh, boy, my choices for least favorite archetype are going to be very unpopular. I just had to post because all I keep seeing is hating on tankers and blasters. I love tankers and blasters because I seem to migrate toward archetypes that rely on only a single gimmick. I'm not too fond of the under the hood mechanics of the other archetypes.
My least favorite A.T.'s in order of dislike are:
1. Scrappers: These guys think they're the bee's knees. As far as I'm concerned they are just a pain in my butt. Just because they can dole out blaster like damage and have a tiny bit of survivability does not make this the end all be all of archetypes. I constantly have to watch out on my tanker for scrappers who just like to run into a fight thinking they can survive taking on a jacked up (in difficulty) crowd of enemies. I don't think they realize that as the tanker I'm keeping their butts alive and keeping the aggro off of them. I really dislike the play style of this archetype because it's so mindless to me and even a little too straight forward for my taste.
2. Controllers: I have never been able to get one past level 10. The damage is much too low and while I know they can be awesome if I.O.'ed out at level 50, I just don't see the allure of having to play an archetype that does next to no damage and cannot solo for a very, very long time. They're cool when they're hopped up on invention juice, but they're just not for me as the play style is much too passive for much too long before they finally begin to shine.
3. Dominators: I know that dominators can be awesome, eventually, but the way they play is just very odd to me and I could never really get into playing one for more than a few levels. Cool in concept and an A.T. I'll give a real shot somewhere down the line, but while the damage can be good and the controls okay, there's just something odd about this archetype that keeps me from playing it.
Those are my top three most disliked A.T.'s. I want to take a moment to list my top three underdog classes since there's so much hate on them:
1. Tankers: This is my most played archetype. There's something very fun about being a Super Man like character and taking hardly a scratch in a fight. A team is usually dependent on a tanker for survivability and before the fire tank craze, we were a rarer breed and were sometimes difficult to get onto a team. Tankers are the backbone of any team and I feel they deserve much more love than they get. Brutes are a nice balance between damage and survivability, but the survivability of a brute will never quite match up to that of a bona fide tanker.
2. Stalkers: This is the most underrated archetype in the game. I know that the current game we play is making these guys rather obsolete, but there still is a place on them on any team. This A.T. can take down any hard target and if played correctly, are a boon in sticky situations. What they lack in a group fight they more than make up for in stealth and burst damage. I love you stalkers out there and hopefully there will be some rebalancing of your class in the near future!
3. Blasters: You all know that early on in playing this game you all went for the most iconic of all comic book power types. Blasters may have low defense and hit points, but they annihilate anything in their paths. If you die a ton it's because you don't know how to properly play these guys. Yes, you generally can't take an alpha strike, but I have been on hundreds of teams where I consistently led said teams as a tank would because of my play style. There have been so many instances where I would lead off with a snipe only to then have my team run into a group of enemies for the kill. A single blaster on a team can make a boat load of difference and can easily turn the tide in a losing fight. Hate all you want on this archetype, but they sure do have a solid place in City Of Heroes despite all of your complaints and protestations! -
I got to get my hands on the Beam Rifle power set and it's awesome! I must say though that the prices on some of the items are a bit steep. 400 points for beast or ninja run? Uh-uh... the super booster used to be $10 in of itself...