Evangel

me likes.

beacon: I would restrict this to in-zone only. once you leave the zone your beacon power resets.

+1 on the toggle idea too, as long as being stunned etc doesnt accidentally knock off the toggle and zap you back And as long as being defeated doesnt count as the toggle being tripped. How would that work with rez? would the beacon still be there? Would the power still be toggled on? Is the beacon only cleared when you go to a hospital?

Sj: Ground Pound. not sure about this. Fly (or hover) up, switch to SJ (or CJ) and hit ground pound. You can drop a toon to 1HP from a high enough point. thats a *lot* of damage to multiply by 5 and apply as an AoE.

Graphics for crater could use the Ground stomp spiderweb effect ?

I'd also like to see alternate animations for the skates etc so multiple origins could benefit from them and stay "in character". A magic baseed toon on rocket skates would be funny but not very consistent imho

Kiosks : I put up a suggestion before to use these to find teams or as an ingame event noticeboard/signup sheet. Its a pity they arent more useful.

Original Enhancements: these need some love. IOs outstrip them by the mid 20s and IOs dont lose effectiveness when you level. I would have thought that an enhancement specifically attuned to your origin would give more benefit than an enhancement thats generic. How to make an improvement without overpowerign them is another issue altogether.

Shadow Shard: I love the shadow shards... i hate SSTF1 but the shards themselves were just such a cool leap of imagination for the game. definitely needs some attention and developement. maybe make it co-op and open a praetorian base there and make it the actual main assault route with the current incursions just being decoys?

Sewer and Eden trials: I still play these with my SG. Very rare I see a call to join one otherwise though.

SGs and Bases: SGs themselves dont need much more work imho beyond some cosmetic options. bases need some developement. Some new tilesets perhaps.

MA: I used to like it, now I'm "meh". there are some great arcs and some very very talented mission designers out there. I, personally, would love to see a mapping utility that allowed you to build a map like you currently build a base (but with more tilesets, which could be given to the SG bases as mentioned above ) and a basic scripting engine for placing triggers and events much like neverwinter Nights did in its adventure editor.

Hazard zones: I agree, need more use. they are a rgeat idea but they are underused, possibly for being too specific in their purpose/story? its easy just to let them sit there and forget about them. there was a suggestion before (either by me or in a thread I posted years ago on zone events) about having the DA mists invade a zone and have the players forced to defend the area from the incursion. Wont happen but somethign along those lines would make the zones more or an immediate threat to the players and encourage visits .. or could just waste dev time when no-one visits anyway

PvP zones: fun at the start, got old quickly. if not for the PvP players I would be happy if they dropped them tbh. There is a suggestion for a PvP server, perhaps they could port them over there and have open PvP but as already brought up in that thread, they'd have to fix PvP first before making it open world or it'd be too annoying.

Regular missions? are these neglected/orphaned?

Contacts: I dotn really have an opinion on them no ideas here.

origins: need to be more of an intrigal part of a toon beyond just starting concept. I'd like to see animations change for powers depending on your origin or perhaps an optional branch off the original powerset that you can follow. However , anything that happens now would have to be optional or already existing toons could find themselves unfairly unbalanced or broken and forced to change from the character they've already built.

PB/WS stuff: tried em, didnt take. more content for them might be the answer but is there enough interest to merit more content?

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Additions: Arenas : are these still used? honest question. its been ages since I've been invited to join an arena quick league.

zone events: fires in Steel canyon, rave in skyway. we need more of these that players can opt in to playing. personally I'd like it if they had a consequence for not tackling them (like the clockwork activity leading to Paladin if left alone).

A nice and simple idea indeed I like anything that adds options to the game without causing imbalance. as you point out not all players want to team or prefer to play in Duos and option which is not given much care and attention in the current trials system.

An addition to standard tip missions you could include mayhem and safeguard type missions (under the same contraints as the tip mission timers) with objectives that better suit a small team or solo character focussing on stealth than an army steamrolling everything in its path. (sabotage the portal generator and destroy any cloning vats you come across along the way. each vat destroyed raises the alert level, once alert is triggered you have to avoid detection and make it to the exit; safeguard a primal earth target from a minor praetorian incursion).

This could easily be expanded to allow more praetorian side content as well. Tip missions to help or hinder the invasion. mayhem/safeguard missions to destroy a primal object or defend a praetorian location.

They would also have the bonus of being both solo and standard size team friendly and utilise an eisting mechanic to do so.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...hlight=airport

there ye go. airport zone suggestion from Lord mayhem.

me likes. I've always been a fan of zone events that arent too disruptive for players that dont want to take part. the yellow reticled idea is a good one and I definitely like the idea of the targets being different.

I would also either have the event triggered by a player action (perhaps 3 successful Lambdas sparks an counter incursion?) or have it on a random timer to add to the chaos

whatever happened the city vault? at least I think thats what it was called, where you could access your toons without actually playing CoH. an android app to allow players to use the auction house, use invention crafting, access bank and SG stores would be nice (well, maybe not SG stores). No mad graphics, just basic interfaces.

wastelands outside praetoria perhaps? with new-more evolved Devouring Earth, mutated animals and a tribe or two of degenerate humans, maybe with a "sanctuary" style location, seperate from Cole and his minions where they are trying to rebuild but without the aid of supers so far.

you could have dinosaurs there (hows that for bribery)

and ponies. with fluffy tails that poop gumdrops.

there was a suggestion before for an airport zone outside of paragon city and the Rogue isles that could be a co-op zone for missions around the globe. IIRC that was met with quite a bit of approval from the forum users (was it EU_DAMZ that posted it? I'll give my search-fu a run out later and post back if I find it).

hmmm, apart from the hostile tone I can see your points. However I think you've misinterpreted what I posted.

1. its not "lewt", you dont loot corpses. You dont have to do anything beyond the badge system that is already in the game.

2. it doesnt make the game "item based". a toon can have a maxium of 4 items at any one time and these items are lower powered than powerset powers. the ONLY benefit is versatility.

3. the costume parts would be customisable to give the player as much choice as possible while still having the costume part have an effect in game that doesnt break the atmosphere (naked person pulling out an assault rifle from thin air when they are natural origin?)

4. how would this give rise to "bring me X number of Y" missions? you already get badges for defeats and accomplishments, this doesnt require anything more than is currently in the game. badge + salvage, which is already dropped by enemies of all types. The only, and I do mean only, change is that your costume piece is tied into the power which is also based on its origin (faction/badge). You already get costume pieces, you already get temporary powers, you already choose powers at those levels. the toon doesnt actually get ANYTHING other than the option of slightly more versatility than the power pools.

@MondoCool : calm down ffs. I didnt threaten your family or religious beliefs, I suggested something for an online game.

Righty, I havent thought this through completely but thought I'd post up my thoughts so far and see if there are any opinions to make it workable/useful.

Items:

You've defeated Doctor Destruction and literal beat the nanites out of him but these nanites are dangerous so you've enlisted the aid of Portal corp to create a container (and collector) for the nanites. Now, they're sitting on your Supergroup shelf and they look pretty. Suddenly Bob the barbaric Beast from Beyond the bed and Bath turns up and he's learned a new trick since your last encounter. He's completely immune to bullets and his insulating armour has made him immune to your energy punches. if only there were a way to fight him with some other tool at your disposal. hmmm, what if you injected yourself with the nanites, then you'd have the Doctor's power and you could knock seven shades out of Bob, then put the nanites back before anyone knows they're gone.

Thats pretty much it. taking an item from a defeated enemy, or enemy group, and putting it to use to add a bit of variance to your toon. Blaster a bit light on defense? How about hotwiring the forcefield generator from the Sky Raiders into your tech-based power pack and have it generate a lower powered more localised field just around you?

Some rules for items:

at levels 12 , 26, 35 and 50 you get the option to forego a power selection and instead invest in an item slot. You can only ever have a maximum of 4 item slots.

Items can only be used if they are of the same origin as the user (a bit like enhancements)

Items are costume pieces. eg: if you equip the headband of mystical nastiness that you got from the circle of thorns, then your toon has the headband added to their costume. Only the bravest will wear the red undies of externality and imperviousness...

Items are crafted (bought) using salvage but do not require a recipe. (1 rare, 1 uncommon + 2 common, preferably from the ones that dont have much current market value like spirit thorn)

Items have powers but are less powerful than their powerset equivalents. Healing aura from the bio-sympathetic spoo slime stored in a bottle is not as effective as healing from Harry Healz, Medical Master extraordinaire.

Items are slottable but only with SOs of the same origin or generic IOs (accuracy, etc) and only to a maximum level of effectiveness (I was think max lvl 30 SO/IO but others may think otherwise). Once an item is removed from its item slot and put back on the shelf any enhancements are lost (consumed by the item?).

Item "bays" are slottable, up to a maximum of 6 the same as regular powers.

A player must have storage for items not in use. Items take up 5 Salvage slots and cannot be stored in the auction house. SG storage can be used (the vault perhaps? gives access to either the SG vault or the toon vault, select on click)

Items have limited uses, each time an item is attached/detached a counter is incremented. once it hits X number the item breaks apart.

Items cannot be sold in AH (stops storage there). But can be traded if they are not currently activated. The number of charges left before uselessness would be described as a condition (new, used, worn, damaged) and an actual number (randomly generated with variance around a core figure) would never be shown to a player.

An item can be created based on a list of options available to a toon based on the accomplishment/achievement/defeats/gladiator badges held by that toon.

so, using the rules above.

Joe the Tank (Tech origin, Super strength / Invul ) hits level 12 and instead of selecting a power opts to reserve a space for an item slot.

However, Joe has only playe din Architect Entertainment up to now and those defeats dont count toward badges (well, the items arent real so you cant really have an item based on a hologram...ok, you can, but for now lets assume not) so joe decides to take the loading screen's advice and heads off to go hunt. kill skuls. which he does to great effect in perez park earning himself the Bonecrusher badge. Delighted, Joe rushes back to get to a city info terminal to see what he needs to make an item. Unfortunately, the Skulls are a magic based group so the tech based offerings are quite meagre (a baseball bat with a neon stripe to - unconvincingly -make it look like its hovering) . Better look for a tech based enemy group... like those clockwork across the road... off he goes smashing and pulverising, joining a team that happens to be doing a clockwork arc and prefers clockwork based newspaper missions.

At 15th level, the gearsmasher badge is awarded! Time to check the info terminal.

clockwork are mechanical so mechanical powers would be suitable. gearsmasher involves clockwork gears so perhaps the following could be a possibility:

Gears: by suspending the gear components in a magnetic field their allegiance can be overwritten and the gears themselves stored until required. once activated 1 clockwork gear for every 10 levels of the user will be summoned. gears will be 3 levels lower than the user. Once summoned the gears will attack any enemies nearby using melee attacks only.

Energy Transfer: Clockwork are known for their ability to drain endurance from a toon. This power will allow the user to drain endurance from an enemy and transfer some of that drained energy to himself.

Joe decides he likes the thought of Energy Transfer so he selects that power. next is the choice of what form the item is to take.

option 2: Function

Ranged or Melee or Field or build up

Field would be an aura like lightning field that drains end but has an end cost to maintain (Toggle)

Build up would be like the Electric armour buildup but without the +to hit or + damage. It would instead add a End Drain compponent to all other attacks for a period of time (Click)

all options drain the same amount of endurance per hit but there is a difference in the efficiency of conversion (ranged drains 20 end and gives 10 to the user , melee drains 20 and gives the user 13 field returns 6 and build up returns 5)

Joe opts for Melee:

option 3: Form:

Gloves: the ED component is built into a pair of gloves.
Shoulder pads
Boots

Joe opts for Gloves and equips the item. He immediately gets a new power, an open palm punch that touches the enemy with the ED crystal in the palm of the hand. However, the blue glow doesnt suit Joe's costume so he heads to the tailor and , for a small fee, has the item changed to glow red instead.

Joe slots the item slot with 4 empty slots and then puts in 2 x lvl 17 accuracy and 2x endurance modification.

These can be replaced and swapped as Joe sees fit but they never outlevel or fade.

Later, Joe has slotted his Stamina power enough that he no longer needs an End drain attack so he decides to replace the item with another. The 2xend mod and 2x accuracy Enhancements are lost. the glove costume piece is taken away and the item is placed into his inventory taking up 5 salvage slots. Joe can delete the item (gone for good), join a SG and place it in storage, place it in his bank (5 slots) or trade it to another player (the category would be "used" even though it was only removed once).

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some notes:

should the customising be done at a tailor or at time of creation? Should the toon have to pay to customise per costume slot?

The "life" of an item should be limited. just how limited though, I dont know. I would think an average of 10 points +/- 4 before an item is deemed unusable. or perhaps that is too generous and it should be 5 points + (1-4) or (5 +/- 2)

Should items be tradable? if not, will SGs just become a dumping ground? of course, personal storage areas or personal bases (apartments) would help with this.

What restrictions, if any, should be placed on what abilities are available through an item?

Should all items be given a "long" recharge time to make them inherently worse than "inherent" powers?

Should item slots be counted across "builds" or should each build have to slot its own items?

During a respec, I would prefer if it counts as "unequipping" an item with the loss of enhancements that it entails. Should the counter be incremented as well?

the main idea behind items is to
a: give flexibility but not replace powerset options
b: allow a toon to dabble in something that would otherwise be off limits to them (a tank taking a ranged attack) that helps soloing and group play but doesnt replace the benefit of teaming up.
c: a use for salvage for players that dont want to take part in the Invention system (ok, its still close but at elast its more grounded in the toon's experience and character).
d: Give toons a bit more visible individuality and the form vs function argument. yes the boots that give the bonus defense is a better fit but the gold blast visor that increases accuracy just looks so cool!

I havent had a chance to look at all of the enemy groups but briefly (to get a taste):

Skulls: Magic based group.
items would give: Dark powers

Hellions: Magic
items would give: Fire based powers

Clockwork: Tech
items would give: Endurance drain / boost powers, summoning (Gears)

alternatively, the powers coul dbe based on the badges:

Gearsmasher gives a tech based clockwork item or summon gears.
Clockstopper gives access to a summon sprocket power or a melee power (like babbage, perhaps a weapon based power involving a clockwork arm as a club?)
Knight Errant gives the option of a piece of armour to increase defense or a self heal?

Should badges give power options for all origins (differing for each origin with more powerful options being given to toons with an origin matching the faction?) eg: gearsmasher End Drain for tech > End Drain for Science > End Drain for Magic

perhaps something along the lines of:
............................Technology
...............Science.......................Natur al
.........................Magic........Mutant

Each space removed from the faction origin = -1 step in power:

eg: a science toon picking up a tech faction item => power level = -1
a magic toon picking up the same item ==> power level = -2
a Mutation toon picking up a CoT item ==> -1

This would give more options and while making some badges more attractive would not remove all benefits of other origin faction badges.

Anyway, as I said, its not a fully baked idea but hopefully some thoughts and opinions could help flesh it ou ta bit. ideas for faction rewards in both form and function would be welcome too