Evangel

yes , but to go from your personal quarters to your base.

to go from anywhere else to your personal quarters I think you should have to either:

run to the entrance and enter that way

tp from your base (possibly)

have a tp facility built and maintained and then activate a tp power that drains a charge.

how about a compromise solution ?

you can set rooms in your base to be publicly accessible (to set any area other than the TP room as public, you have to have a path available to the main base entrance or TP room so players dont get trapped).

any corridors or rooms bordering the public area suddenly grow doors that only allow SG members to pass (public can look in as a sg member goes through but they cant pass the threshold).

this way, the base is shown to the general public, can be a useful transit/hospital point and the Sg still has areas for SG use only!

absolute yes to personal quarters. great for those heroes that dont want to/cant join a SG or just want somewhere of their own away from the SG.

/signed to being able to select an entrance (my villain brute Skumm lives in the sewers so being able to select a manhole as his lair entrance would suit perfectly.

/signed to being able to decorate it as you see fit (finally a use for those souveniers we've been collecting at the end of arcs!) possibly an option of having a screenshot turned into an in game picture to decorate a wall ?

/not signed for the account wide storage. sorry. each alt is seperate. if you allow account wide storage you are just going to unbalance the lower level alts as newbies fall behind those long term players. Its bad enough for a newbie to see their level equivalent friends pull out 3 or 4 bonus attacks without having to watch them shine with the best of everythign inf can buy as they are funded by big brother, while the prices in WWs shoots up to meet what alts are willing to pay. I know this happens already but thats circumventign the mechanics, actually make it part of the game mechanics and it will go out of control. If i was a newbie I wouldnt be too impressed with starting so far behind everyone in terms of resources that its really not ever goign to be worth the bother (I remember being given 500,000 inf by a lvl 50 when my mind troller was only lvl 8 for inviting him onto the spelunker mission. I was RICH! if this happens every new alt, then 500K is no longer rich, its common and the level will continue to rise until it reaches stupid propotions).

In addition: why should all my alts have access to the same stuff? and why account wide? Skumm would be hunted down and shot by evangel, not given salvage.... Skinjob would butcher and eat AlwaySultra, even though both are heroic... And melvin? he'd clean out all my alts and do a legger for Union asap!

the rest though, I like.

Also, player base should be anchored to the entrance you choose. thats how you go in and out. no base teleporter (its not a base, its a personal living space! , if you ahve a teleporter built in it, then make it a charged power that has to be maintained and a power that works the same as the base teleporter but single target only).

anyway, my opinions only. please feel free to ignore fi you dont like them

farming = more disposable inf = 100 mill lvl 10 IO recipies

only way to afford it is to ... farm...

they need an inf cap. Perhaps if you complete a mission you've already completed you start to earn inf on a sliding downward scale (Yay Heroguy beat nemesis! cool. heroguy beat nemesis again! guess what, heroguy beat nemesis yet again. oh, shock, there goes nemesis, yeah yeah heroguy is wonderful blah blah blah. You know what, maybe nemesis isnt all that bad and heroguy is just a bully....)

1. this would encourage players to try new content and not just repeat the same arcs ad nauseum

2. it would reduce the inf flood and let market prices drop without necessarily cutting off the supply of goods to the market - farmers could still make inf selling to the market but at a lower rate as the buyers might not be out there

3. cut inf reward for MA missions completely and in conjunction with this you'll get a lot more PUGs willing to actually play arcs belonging to the team members - arc holder benefits by advancing his/her story experience , farmer benefits by playing a new arc and earning more inf.

Maybe the main ingredient of Hamidon Gloo ?

no way I can make it home from work in time pity its not tomorrow (saturday).

well redside the local order is generally imposed by Arachnos (initial missions are for arachnos against the snakes and infected)

the areas are not necessarily areas of quiet and niceness but instead areas where arachnos is dominating the opposition (the mob, the snakes, longbow etc).

On Nerva: the longbow fortress could be perma black
On cap: the walled area could be perma white (it being an arachnos stronghold)

etc.

Ok, its not perfect but a bit of work could see it right redside would always be more difficult because not only do the players have the locals to contend with but every arachnos soldier you bump into also wants to introduce you to the business end of his shotgun! imho: if you are an ally of arachnos you should at least have some arachnos mobs that dont want you dead....

I do agree with your point but I think this is more indicative of the lack of definition for villain players. as things stand, they are pretty much heroes of a slightly redish hue rather than truly evil people.

@ razor : the colour grades I used were arbitrary. it would be the ranking that would matter. the only reason I used those colours was to give a better mental image of how Atlas park for example would look.

in addition to the arrest rate, the level could be affected by the number and level of heroes logged out (and so "on patrol" ) in that area.

that would help keep things under control and not instantly turn to mire.

possibly worded it wrong. I never intended that you bump inot EBs or AVs as you wander around for a mission. they would be door missions where you are sent to stop the boss of a faction, maybe after a cleanup arc in the area. The EB / AV would be randomly generated (but still fitting in with the faction) and given a semi-random name to add to its uniqueness (and to the characters sense of achievement in defeating it)

Additionally, the defeat of the leader could add massively to the ratign of the zone , making it less likely that another EB or Av mission would be there until the area reverted (if it reverts) thus adding even more to the achievement.

Amount of arrests etc, as I said, I just used arbitrary numbers but I do take your point about not having enough heroes to cover it. that is certainly a possibility but then, that server woul dbe considered harder than another server that has everything under control. players looking for a challenge would start to play on the "harder" server and over time (a long period)the player activity would shift, levelling out the cover.. it may even overbalance and cause the whole process to start again just in reverse

as for not being able to shop: well, they are heroes. their primary focus should be on stopping crime because it is happening and not avoiding it so they can get to the shop. If a shop closes (and it has to be pretty bad for that to happen) they should feel motivated to clean up the area until the shop re-opens or, alternatively, go to a shop somewhere else!

current colours: I also see your point on this however I dont think the change would be as large as you might think.

white: no point in street hunting. quite scarce and if they are there they are low level minor criminals

Blue: hunting is a past time but it is a hunt. there isnt a villain on every street corner.

Green: hunting is good. a good few villains around. level is the zone average. (AP hellions 1-3)

Yellow: hunting can be quite dangerous. villains are middle of the average zone range (AP hellions 3-5)

Red: hunting is dangerous. dont count on much support and be prepared for the possibility of being overrun. (Ap hellions 4-7)

Black: hunting would be very much appreciated as this place is almost a lost cause. villains are quite high level (AP hellions 6-10 ) and very aggressive....

If anyhtign I think it would make street hunting easier to perform as not only are teh mobs more frequent in the lawless zones but also they are of higher levels which gives a better return though does involve more risk.

as a moderator on another forum I have to say I completely agree with language filters. We tried turning it off for a while and the quality of discussion took a nosedive. every second word was a swear word, personal insults were much more frequent and lets face it, not everyoen likes to read expletives.

A swear word on a forum doesnt just slip out. it has to be typed, that means it has to be pre-meditated. If you cant censor your own posts then the filter will do it for you. It would be nice if internet and forum users in general were mature enough to onyl swear when absolutely justified but unfortunately that isnt the case and a forum has to be accessible and confortable for as many people as possible. this means catering for the most innocent of dispositions.

same as in-game. I do think that the in game filter is a tad too stringent but then again, if it werent, kiddies would be swearing all over the place "cos it teh kewl".

its simple: dont swear. Use your words instead to express your dis-satisfaction or amazement. if you cant, well then write it in such a way that the asterisks will be self explanatory to those that are already familiar with the masked swear word.

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While I appreciate the creative talents some are displaying here, I'd also appreciate if you could use different words than the ones requiring you to circumvent the filter!

I use expletives such as "Sugar!" everyday, and while my team hates it, I know I am being courteous and polite (and a good girl, yes I am!).

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its weird but the only word I can think of to rhyme with Sugar is a (mild) curse word.....

Dragging the thread back on topic:

my take on having a sense of acomplishment.

To have a sense of actually doing something and having an effect you should, through your actions, prevent a negative change or enact a positive change.
then, you can look at the area and feel a sense of "I was involved in that"...

How does this translate to CoX (I'll concentrate on CoH but that doesnt mean it cant be transferred to CoV)?

1. The safety of the citizens.
Atlas Park is full of citizens going about their business. Why? they feel safe (ok a lot are getting mugged but I'll get to that). Also, there are a lot of heroes around. coincidence? possibly, but what if its not, what if the presence of heroes actually has an effect on the numbers of citizens wandering about? More hero activity = more citizens = more contacts (I'll get to this) = more businesses (I'll get to this too)

in game terms:

the more street sweeping / radio missions / state-based door missions (will get to these) performed in an area, the more likely citizens are to appear and go about their normal business. Obviously this would not work as well for areas like Boomtown which are a kip anyway and dont really have a place for civvies (but you could have construction worker details that appear in an area to start clearing rubble) - if you keep reading, I'll get to scenery a little later.

mechanics:
a ticker based system. for example: if there have been more than 2000 arrests in the last 24 hours (arbitrary numbers, not to be taken as a set idea) then the safety rating of the zone goes up by one. At different safety ratings events get triggered:

sample safety rating scale:

0 - the place is a hole. only hardcore heroes should go here. (all mobs are +2 levels over their normal zone average)
1 - chaos rules the streets , citizens stay indoors or leave completely. Shops close down. wentworths closes. (villains +1 level)
2 - open fighting: villains walk the streets unopposed. inter-faction fighting damages the area around, new leaders start to emerge, police stop patrolling. PPD hardsuits defend banks and businesses.
3 - there's crime, but there's also police patrolling. (this is the current state) - shops are open for business
4 - Very few villains are seen on the streets and of those its only really petty crime. Street vendors can trade safely
5 - utopia has been achieved! no crime. its safe to walk around. More street vendors. Only missions are door missions

Now, I'm not necessarily talking about the whole area. I would think more about the sub zones we have currently. Atlas park has green , yellow and red zones. Add in new colours: white (5) , blue, green, yellow , red, black (0) and have them correspond to the scale. That way, AP starts with a section that is already quite overrun (the industrial area) and in danger of tipping into the realm of chaotic.

Here's the fun bit:
Zones spread. if a black zone (0) neighbours a green zone (3) , then the ticks built up from heroic actions degrade at a faster rate and actually go into the minuses. eventually, if not countered, the green zone will drop down to yellow classification, then red, then black. Similarly, "good" zones will decrease the degradation rate and can positively influence the zones bordering them.

safe zones: Strong Hero presences could create safe zones. the centre of AP for example could be set to never drop below green (3)


some more detail:

Shops: these are the businesses that we have already. the Tech shop , the Magic box shops etc. If the zone gets too bad, these close down and stop trading (at level 1 - red)

street vendors: these are more like a cross between contacts and wenties. they only sell what has been sold to them so their stock is pretty random. They buy for a fixed rate and sell for the buying price + random % giving a variation in price and the possibility of a real deal. They would stock, Insps, Enhancements, salvage (not IOs though but they could stock basic IO recipies that have a fixed purchase price)

Citizens:
Black (0) - no citizens at all
red (1) - only the odd citizen and these are victims/hostages
yellow (2) - a few citizens, usually running away , light traffic
green (3) - citizens go about their business. medium traffic
blue (4) - citizens stroll and have fun, some backalleys have muggings and loitering gangs
White (5) - no crime.


Missions (counts toward the level of the zone):
5- missions involve travelling to a neighbouring area and helping out
4 - minor hunt missions (back alleys) nothing too taxing
3 - normal hunt missions, the odd door mission to break up a rising gang leader (a lieutenant),
2 - hunt missions , door missions to stop an established gang leader (boss), stop a robbery, travel to a neighbouring better zone to stop a robbery, stop incursion from a worse zone
1- same as 2 but boss is up to EB level
0 - fewer contacts, hunt missions, mini arc to take on gangs, local big bad leaders are random AV level bad guys, door missions that can have ambushes, roving bands of hunting mobs (patrols)


The Cityscape: (possibly not viable with the current engine)
As a zones security rating improves, so workmen move in and start repairing. PPD start patrolling etc. If a zone stays in its current level for a period of time, the area starts to look better. rubble is cleared from an area and building starts (scaffolding goes up ) eventually a building is erected and has a chance to become a shop or some other utility.


This way, its not just the Devs that revamp/overhaul an area, its the players. the Devs just enable it.

players are encouraged to expand their areas of activity, not just through mission arcs but through an overall goal to improve an area and make it more player friendly.

There would be variety between servers. Ap might be completely white on Union but only have a single green island of safety in the middle of a black nightmare on Defiant (just an example, not saying anything about the players on the respective servers). Boomtown could be anarchy on Union but have a thriving and built up community on Defiant etc.

There wouldnt be a wentworths or AE building in every zone (or a university for that matter). It would depend on the state of the zone it is situated in. spend all your time in an AE building and the zone might deteriorate so badly that the place gets shut down because you've been neglecting the real world around you!

Supergroups could be set up as "the Atlas Park protectors" that specialise in raising the security rating of Atlas Park

The RWZ could actually be a shifting battleground and not as static as it is now. it would evolve with the Mothership as a permanent black zone and the Base as a permanent Blue, each spreading their influence but if left alone, the black zones would dominate.

New mission types: Street missions given by random people
escort citizen Betty to the nearest green zone
Find Citizen Fred's son who went wandering into the red zone
Rescue Dolly, the police chief's daughter who has been kidnapped by some faction in the yellow zoen and is being ransomed (door mission)
clue found after defeating some hellions leading to their bosses hideout (door mission)
Rescue PPD squad under siege (timed outdoor mission given when you help a PPD unit against some wandering mobs)


anyway. my .02 euro. I dont think any of it is likely or even possible but no harm in saying it

Infernal Justice (magic based toons, demon based blueside themed SG) are currently getting ready to roll out our "juniors".

Tuesday nights are IJ game nights with Fridays being optional re-runs for those that missed tuesday or just have another toon they want to play.

Keep an eye out for @Sargatanas or @Evangel in game.

Bulletin board over here as well:

http://infernal.faelkeep.com/PHPBB3

if you are signing up to the board, try to PM me on these forums as well. sometimes I miss activatign an account because of all the spam accoutns that keep requesting registration.

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ah but thats why I said "make it optional".

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If you make it optional, who would opt in? There's no benifit to opting in, so why would you? Either make it so you got no choice or make some pretty big incentive for opting in.

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second sentence of the post:

" make an opt-in system where players suffer worse penalties for defeats and as is only fair, also gain better reward for the risk. "

by better reward I would imagine one or more of:

increase in % of getting a drop from a defeated mob

increase in inf award for successful mission completion

+1 or 2 merits earned per arc completed

badgey goodness. For example: level marker badges could be different depending on the level of options you have selected.

-------------

In essence it would be like playing the game with the challenges option for TFs always on.

these are only suggestions and I'm not sure if anything other than personal gratification would encourage players to opt in to the system without it being too unbalancing. but, well, the forum section is called suggestions

ah but thats why I said "make it optional".

yes, make xp debt worse for everyone but also make an opt-in system where players suffer worse penalties for defeats and as is only fair, also gain better reward for the risk.

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What about limiting access to MA arcs the same way any TF / SF is shaped...

When minimum level for an arc is lvl 45, like a 45-54 arc, access to it should not be possible for any toon under the 45. Even as sk/lck. This will still make MA interesting but nerve the farmin a huge amound.

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agree completely (actually I think i said something similar in another thread).

the mechanic is already there. Remove the auto SK. if you're too low to play a mission, then you're too low, tough. go level up faster... eh I mean, go play somewhere else and come back.

oh, and remove Inf awards. its a simulation. You're not doing anything to earn prestige/fear.

make more content unlockable. Less free stuff! seriously. if you want to create missions, you will create them. if you want to create a farm, well you'll have to play missions to unlock the features you need to create the farm. remove salvage from the MA ticket rewards.

Now, if you want to earn inf, you can earn a little by trading in tickets for stuff in MA or you can go and play actual missions outside of MA and join the community and learn how to actually enjoy the game and learn how your ALT actually works.

If you want to play MA arcs, you still get xp, you still go up levels and you stil learn MA tickets that can get you common IOs, Training/DO/SO enhancements, Insps and unlockable content for your own missions. (perhaps give temporary MA only powers like jet packs, or actual toon powers like a sonic blast from the blaster powerset with limited usage and non-enhancable....). it is a simulation after all!

Give all players warning that MA tickets are to be changed from green tickets to Blue ones and tha tthe green ones will no longer be valid. this warning shoul me given a month beforehand.

Then. Wipe all arcs from the MA system. yes. all of them. call it belated spring cleaning.


Players who actually want to publish arcs will do so. The current Dev choices will be republished automatically to ensure that there is content there to play and also that the content is actuall yof good quality. hopefully to inspire players to new creative heights of their own. Playing will earn them blue MA tickets which they can spend on unlocking content to create their arcs. already written arcs can have a number saying how many tickets it will cost to re-publish.

Aaaaand finally. An optional player pool to be created.
Each month 500 active MA players are selected to be the review pool. Newly published arcs are assigned to X number of the pool to test. If they play the arc they get double tickets. On completion they mark the Arc as acceptable or not (not beign an obvious farm). if a quota of testers say it is acceptable, then the arc gets published and is made available to the public. If not, the author is notified and the coments passed along. The author can make the changes necessary and re-submit the arc.

ps. happy cakeday Liz.

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better yet, if you die in a mission a random enhancement gets dropped by 1 level. any enhancement that hits 0 is gone for good.

now lets see what fully purpled toon is willing to rush in regardless of the odds

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Purples are fixed at one level so wouldnt affect us in any way whatsoever

Anyway im all for bringing back the good old debt!

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curses! foiled again! I would have gotten away with it if it werent for those meddling toons.....

but yes, debt is not something to be feared anymore. I miss the fear. Its still there to a certain degree as my squishy blaster runs ina panic to escape the heavy melee mobs that regularly crush him but then he drops and the debt is paid off in less than one encounter....

Older MMOs had looting. you had to get back to your corpse before someone else looted it. That was a great incentive not to die (or at the least have a few mates you trusted laong with you). I think there should be a "hardcore" option in CoX where being defeated has more of an effect on you:

loss of inf (hey, you gain it for winning, shouldnt you
lose it for failing?),

loss of inf for failing missions,

deletion of random salvage piece,

deletion of random recipe

reduction in effectiveness of random enhancement.


The player signs up to what effects they are willing to suffer. in return they gain more inf / gain slightly better rewards etc. (shiney badges anyone? Hardcore Hero or Victorious Villain.... )

make it optional so it doesnt take away from the fun of those that dont want it. But in any case, I do agree that, at the least the punishing debt rules should be brought back. make survival something to be happy about and not just a bragging right.

better yet, if you die in a mission a random enhancement gets dropped by 1 level. any enhancement that hits 0 is gone for good.

now lets see what fully purpled toon is willing to rush in regardless of the odds

why not request to be made a mod of defiant events?

splitting the source for organisation/communication os not really a good idea. it just forces people to check in two locations and to advertise their event in two locations for fear of not reaching everyone that could be interested....

personally, i think we need an in-game bulletin board for TF/Event organisation and sign ups. channels are fine but too transitory. You find out whats happening when you are online.. not whats happening two days from now when you can actually allocate time to attend and aprticipate.

completely forgot about this sorry!

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Although I applaud the thoughts, it all sounds a bit like a certain set of powers from Final Fantasy: Tactics...

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never played any of the FF games so no idea what the similarities are... and you know what they say about great minds and fools !

to those of you who liked the powers I suggested, thank you , i'll be here all week.

to those that dont: someone suggested a math powerset which , though it sounds almost silly, I think in a world clad in spandex , almost anything could be made into a pwoerset if given the proper treatment... trainspotting huh? hmmm.... ok, i did say "almost anything"

Ones I can remember (altitus is an affliction!)

Evangel lvl 50 AR/Elec blaster
AlwaySultra lvl 27 emp/archery defender
Diluvial lvl 18 fire/fire tank
Skinjob (Infernal justice) lvl 38 scrapper BS/SD
Daark lvl 16 BS/WP scrapper
Hellswrath (infernal Justice) lvl 16 fire/storm controller
Cobalt 90 lvl 21 NRG/NRG Blaster
--------
Melvin lvl 47 Bots/FF Mastermind
Skumm lvl 8 ss/sd brute

perhaps something more along the lines of a buff secondary based on mathematical calculation would be more fitting ?

1: Probability: +self def (lethal smashing) +self to-hit
your keen insight into variables and porbability allwo you to predict not only where your enemy will strike but also how where best to target your enemy to maximise you chance to hit (toggle: self minor slow while calculating odds)

2: Possibility: +Special (self, recharge long)
Your ability to calculate formulae allows you to change the possibilities in the world around you. Once activated, this power lasts 30 seconds. During this time any random effects affecting you will always return the more favourable outcome (eg: any roll to hit you makes two rolls and the higher roll is chosen, any roll you make to hit rolls twice and the lower roll is chosen)

3. Analysis: Ally + to hit , ally + damage
Your analysis of a situation improves your ally's ability to hit and cause damage to an opponent (target single ally, recharge medium)

4. Calculations: Ally +secondary effects
By calculating the odds and observing your allies powers you give an insight into how to optimise their secondary effects. any secondary effects of a power gain a 20% increase in effectiveness (target ally, recharge long)

5. Euclyds Posit: PBAoE , Ally +move + range + damage Foe - speed -acc, - def (all except psi)
Through your insights into the laws of Eudlidean geometry you can manipulate the physical environment around you, changing the rules of angles and distance. This effect allows all allies in range to move at a greater speed as you open routes shorter than a straight line. Any foes in the area of effect grow confused as it takes longer for them to move from point a to point b, their accuracy suffers as they try to adapt to the new rules of geometry around them.

6. Fermats Revelation: Self +recharge
By using the theories underlying Fermats famous little theorem, you can decrease the calculation time for other functions.

7. Geomterical Shift: Target :Ally +special Target: Foe -Special
By changing your ally's perception of geometry from the accepted euclidean to eliptical geometry you increase the range of his powers and the size of any AoE effects. If targetted on an enemy, you switch his mindset to Hyperbolic geomtery and thus decrease range and reduce the size of AoE effects

8. String reality: Target AoE: by targeting an area you impose the rules of string realities on all creatures within the area causing the normal concept of three dimensions to have to deal with the string theory expanded 11-dimensional model. All within the AoE that are affected are stunned while their brain adapts to the new rules of physics. Once the stun wears off, those affected have the physical properties of their powers changed randomly (smashing damage becomes lethal or energy or poison or psi , smashing defense protects against PSI or poison instead). - note: even allies within the AoE are affected.
(as an alternative: Bosonic reality: all damage types are changed to an equal mix of smashing and energy no matter what their original source was. all defenses remain the same) Once the affect wears off those affected are once again stunned as they re-adjust (alternative: anyone entering or leaving the area of effect must adjust and so gets stunned).

9: Ultimate prime: Interrupt time: ? Self: +DEF, +Rech, +ACC, +DAM
The ultimate prime number. Possibly the most powerful mathematical force there is. upon realisation of the number your entire SELF becomes whole. mind becomes body and body becomes mind. reality reacts to you and you react to reality as if you are one entity. During this time you become virtually untouchable, unaffected by mez effected, incredibly accurate and your attacks extremely damaging. All secondary effects of your powers are doubled (+100%). However, such knowledge cannot be grasped for long before burning out the user. Once the prime slips from your memory you are left broken and drained of strength both physically and metally (50% health , 5% end , stunned)

anyway, more than likely completely unbalanced.... just off the top of my head.

hehe... QUAD DAMAGE....

what happens if you click build up and then the Proc fires ? Do they stack ?