Ice_Hot

For the most part I am enjoying I14, but probably because I am still enjoying old content I havent gotten too without some people slowing down the markets so slow that I cant walk passed them without lag delays that I used to experience with each new release.

Anyway, Who cares about all the PLing? Its been going on since Issue 4.
Who cares about the economy? You dont need any of that enhancement stuff anyway.

I appreciate the enhancements but really are you crying that your Level-5 cant get a complete set of Uber-Tech-Gyro-Do-Hickeys?

Furthermore, I have yet to see the game be challenging for any Tanker with a half way decent build that sticks to the script. Turn on your defenses and mash away. You dont need a 5-set enhancement special for that, really you dont.

So I could careless whether someone else is PLing. They dont need me or MA to do that. I just worry about my own fun-quotient.

Personally, I enjoy taking my time going through missions. Mostly solo or in small group with friends. I find most PUGs just rush through missions and you miss the content anyway so all those complaints are laughable.

Heck I still dont have a Lvl 50 and I have been playing since Beta. I still enjoy moving slowly through the old Content. (Probably toooo many Alts).

Anyway my recommendation for the next release is SG Missions

Basically a series of missions that can only be accessed by an SG.
Furthermore a subset of the missions are ran in parallel. Basically the SG breaks up into small teams and each member can only run 1 or 2 of the missions.
Then once all the mini-missions are checked off then the next level of content opens up so the whole SG can team-up to take it on.

Kind of like the old Superfriends Cartoon where

Superman saves a train
Aquaman saves a ship
Batman foils a robbery
and Wonder Woman saves some people from a burning building

Then they all team up to stop the master villain and foil his plot as a team.

Wacky Races were some good stuff as was the original Tony Curtis, Jack Lemon, Peter Falk, and Larry Storch and the Great Race

I always wondered do you have to have a special Video Card to download PhysX are is just software that works with most Video cards?

The Combo Cotnrol Power Unit in Bases appears to not be able to generate enough Power to turn its self on. It may have to do with the Data associated with the Op Center Room designed for small bases.

Hard to tell, but this seems to be thsource for the Advanced Workshop being unclickable/unusable/unselctable outside of edit mode.

As for the lock ups they seem reminiscient of load problems. I am sure they are simply caused by 5-bagillion people all cramming on the server at the same time an conglomerating into small areas such as Faultline and taxing the graphics with Wings. Really no need to post these thread comments any more, they will go away on their own in a few weeks and they really detract from the other bugs.

From My Big Eclectic Music List:
1. Captain Jack - Billy Joel
2. The La La Song - Zebra (10 points to anyone else that has this song)
3. Try A Little Tenderness - Commitments (Soundtrack)
4. Only The Lonely - Roy Orbison
5. Time and Tide - Basia
6. Even Better Then the Real Thing - U2
7. Elegantly Wasted - INXS
8. Viva Las Vegas - ZZ Top
9. Daredevil Theme - DD Movie (Cool CoH music)
10. Con Te Partiro - Andre Bocelli

top that for ecclectic

[ QUOTE ]
AND now...we're changing the way Archvillains spawn. A ton of forum goers disliked adding so many AV's into missions a while back...so we've come up with a solution. If the team size and mission difficulty are ABOVE a certain level, an Archvillain spawns. Below that, players will face only an Elite Boss. If the mission is set on the first two levels of difficulty, it takes 4 heroes or more to spawn an Arch Villain. On the third level, 3 heroes or more. On the fourth level, 2 heroes. On the highest (Invincible), a solo hero will spawn an AV. Note this works in BOTH City of Heroes and Villains.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can add a BIG BIG Request:
Can you make a QoL thing so that when you except a mission you can clearly see that AV is possible with a large enough team. Just simply adding color text to the AVs name would be sweet.

In general I solo some of my easy mission (unless invited to a team - I like teaming, but I also like staying in character) and then when I get to an AV I like to call out my SG buddies and we can get together to take him down.

If you just make a change without any notification I will never no when I miss an AV that I could be teaming up with my buddies for.

Right now its real easy. I run a mission and if I see an AV I put him on hold till my SG buddies and I can get together.

Also we really need some QoL on contacts so we know what Lvl missions they hand out. Nothing worse then OverLVLing some plot points waiting for your SG buddies to play, when you could just as easily play your backup toon.

My personal opinion is that a SG cap at 75 is ridiculous. I have heard of such a thing in any comic book. 75 that not a group that a small business.

If SG's were designed around 12 members and capped at 30 a SG of 5 or 6 would not find themselves so far behind.

Heres a confirmed list of Orange Names that appeared last night:

Feel Free to put a Red Name with the Orange one:

Confirmed List
---------------------
Statesman
Positron
War Witch
Ravenstorm
Sister Psyche
Manticore
Back Alley Brawler
Synapse
Ms. Liberty

TrueLock
Lord Atticus
Agent Abbot
Agent Darwin
Dark Waltz
Heat Wave
T'Knor
Robo Queen
Poison Vinux
Larkspur.
Agent Bucher
Green Irony
Thorn Dominator
Abomi
Ambrosia Oak
Shocking

Mr. Carn Evil
Grievous


Unconfirmed (I sware I saw)
-----------------------------------
Lord Aticus


I sware I

OK who were behind these masks:

Lord Aticus = ?
TrueLock = ?
Agent ?WhatsHisName? = ?

and there were some others as well I will have to check my Screen Caps at home as well.

Was a lot of fun.

TrueLock was pretty impressive she held off about 70 Villains for a good while until her endurance ran out and that was pretty much endgame for her.

Furthermore, I think it is only fair to put Cov::I1 in context with CoH::I1 comparing CoV - I1 to CoH-I5 really is not a fair comparison.

By the I1 standard I think it will be fine. For those who have not yet experienced it I think you will enjoy breaking from the Zig and going through the early missions.

I have experienced early CoH content a number of times I have 15 characters at lvl 14+ and I still found the CoV early game to be very fun and excitingly different.

The way to keep it fun is not to pigeon hole the new ATs. Just remember there is NO Tanker, there is NO Defender, there is NO Controller. Each AT is a brand new thing and if you enjoy the exploration of new roles you will like it a lot. If you try to fit an Octagon shaped object into the triangularly shaped hole you will not be as satisfied as you could be.

My other thoughts on CoV:
- Bases rock - but they are not fairly balanced yet. This will appear a nerf to some in CoV-I2+, but I think they will need to collect some I1 data mining to make it more fair to smaller groups.
- PvP not for everyone, but they did a real good job at making it as appetizing as they can for PvEers (like myself). Even if you are not fond of tomatoes on sandwiches or tomato juice, you still might want to try the tomatoe soup. As a play tester I can vouch that we hashed out a lot of our opinoins and they listened to us.
- Xp curve - I felt that it was MUCH, MUCH easier to run the Xp curve with my CoV characters then it was for my CoH Archer. I imagine this will come accross as a nerf adjustment later on in CoV-I2+
- Newspaper missions Awesome (and mission sharing awesome) there were some exploits there and some bugs hopefully they got those adjusted. Somebody got there Stalker to lvl 24 in 20 hours of heavy lag playing. But thats why we were testing.
- Content flow (mission arcs are very cool and feel different then CoH). However, sometimes there were huge gaps in where to go next. Hopefully as testers we found all of them. Of course I expect more Content flow as we go to CoV-I2 and beyond.
- NPCs and Scenery rock. War Witch and crew did a rockin job in CoV. There is a lot of flavor on the streets and I am still exploring.

As a tester though I was hoping to get more time testing how it will integrate with CoH. I think there might be some rough fits at the end of October. Hopefully we can be patient with the team and all the work they have to do to make this deadline.

Having worked extremly succesfully over the last 20 years in a software company that takes great pride in the work it produces, I can tell you some times you have to release software with some minor known issues in order to produce the best software you can in version 2.

My stepfather used to say, "First make some simple sidewalks and when you see where the grass wont grow you will know where to put the real sidewalks."

To Jade:
--------------------------
Jade why is it unfair to compare a controller to a scrapper yet it is fair to compare a Resist Tanker to an Dodge Tanker. If a scrapper should be more soloable then a controller, then it seems its just as fair to say that a Resisttanker should be more solable against a def-debuffer then an Dodge Tanker.

To Pirate
-------------------------------
On that shard thing. One day we will have to do that. I am just not there yet. I have 15 toons that I play all different ATs and different power concepts. I try to keep many of them close in lvl so I can get an even sense of comparison. My best and favorite by the way is the Mace/Stone tanker and I have avoided most of the Stone powers just because I cant stand half the animations. Yes, I am susceptable to mez, but I love the challenge and I refuse to take taunt (just aint heroy enuf for me). And, I am debt free (at the moment), but its probably because I am lucky.

------------------------------------------
I Just want to point out I dont mind them making Dodgey guys better. I just would not want mine to be more resitant when they just need to be more dodgey. The whole idea of a dodgey hero is that he is awesome until he gets hit.

Thats why DDs arch-enemy is bullseye. Perhaps they need to raise the Defense bar of all the powers so that when he is def-debuffed it merly brings him down to normal defense levels. Thats what I would expect at least.

When my Blaster starts getting hit I either finish my opponent or bust a B for Boogie.
When my Tanker loses all his resistances I either bash it out or bust a find a rock to hide under to clear my head and reassert my defenses.
When my dodgy guy starts getting clipped, ("wow, how did that hit me. Perhaps I underestimated him") Its time to back off and come back in with a much more cautious approach.

Its that "until" that is evermost important. I kind of disagree with the whole blurring the until line just because they call you a Tanker.

[ QUOTE ]
Having played /SR to 50, and Ice/ to 48, alongside other equal level scrappers and tankers respectively, trust me when I say this is needed.

[/ QUOTE ]

With all due respect pirate, I think this shows itself not to be true. You made it to lvl 50 and probably could do so soloing easily. I doubt that easy soloing part can be said about a controller that specializes in defense debuffing or healing.

Sometimes it is difficult without help and easier with it.
1) When a Hold Controller faces a High Mez Resist Villain it would be nice to have some damge dealing help.

2) When a squishy Blaster gets hit into defiance range by a heavy damage dealing Villain he wishes he had a tanker to draw agro

3) When an empathy controller gets overrun by a mass of mobs in a solo mission does he wish he was just the one sitting back and healing and letting a scrapper or tanker do the dirty work.

I see you made it to level 50. Why, because you found a way to do it. Well, I think its only fair that I get a chance to do it as well with the same obstacles you had to overcome.

Not every power needs to be balanced in PvE just because it is unsuitable for PvP. If so we better start massively pumping the SLOW aspect of Howling Twighlight. What will the Devs do to fix Resurection perhaps it needs a damage component, the power is useless in PvP.

How my build who has Vengence, thats just plain useless in one-on-one PvP? Ahhhh and there we have it. Remeber even PvP balance is not supposed to be a function of One-On-One matches. You have to either be extremly crafty and extremly lucky to beat the odds or you just need some help.

It seems even Superman can use Batmans help from time to time (hint: Check out some old Brave & the Bold issues)

This is not just a bad idea its a horrible idea. And so that you know I am unbiased, my main is a Stone Armor that would be getting a 68% resistance.

Why, this is a bad idea:
-----------------------------------
What you in essence are doing is taking all meaniing away from a character who specializes in defense debuffing. What is the point of defense debuffing if it is not to make an unhittable character hittable? Is the point to make some one that can already be hit be hit easier? Gosh, I hope not that does not sound like much of a power to me.

Why is there such a problem with a set of powers having a weakness to another set of powers?:
--------------------------------------------------
Superman has Kryptonite and Magic
Green Lantern has Yellow or Wood (depending on which one)
Batman and bullets dont go well if he actually gets hit
The Flash has sonics to slow him down


The greatness of a hero is defined when he defeats that which is most dangerous to him. Thats what makes them a hero, when they find another solution to defeatng their nemesis.

After all does not your datamining show that Peacebringers can survive in a world of challenge that have quantums interspersed?

Please, stop trying to make it so I can defeat every challenge without thinking.

Congratulations on some great story work. You have played a major part in CoHs success for sure. Thats a lot of missions. Also congrats on making some HeroClix. They looked real true to the characters. I am a WK envoy (not employeed by them).

Four (and a half) quick questions:
1) Was it easy to work with WizKids?
2) When designing villains have you ever had to hold back because a certain villain power you wanted to do was not available in game mechanics? Is there one power you really wish you could do for a mission?
3) Did you help create some of the temp powers like Sands of Mu and the Werewolf (which rocks by the way)? and which was your favorite?

(I got to say the Striga Coffin mission was a blast, loved the Ernesto Hess TF, I still laugh when the Kerner talks about the Graphic Designer, just too much content to love)

4) When designing missions and Villains do you plan for epic battles at all? In my first days of CoH some epic battles between my Hero and the Villain Boss came down to who would recover there endurance first. These days its more rare to have a battle with such excitement and tension. Some AVs provide this game tension, how much of it do you plan?

I know this is more a quality of life issue, but I thought mission contacts were going to make things more clear.

I was really hoping for an Iconic sort of scheme. Like when using the team finder you get some icons.

I was hoping there will be icons for the following things:

1) A clock icon for timed missions - missed this a number of times and was almost in some trouble

2) Team Icon when teammates are required - simultaneous bomb diffuse. Its not clear on every mission.

3) Indoor/Outdoor Icons - What type of instancing can I expect.

4) Hunt icon - I really dont care for the hunt missions as much but some people do

5) Storyline - Is the mission required for a story arc. I really dont want to miss those since I cant do all the missions

6) Mission levels - Outlevelling a mission means missing content. When you play on a team its very easy to outlevel your own missions. This sometimes makes teaming a negative play experience. I believe this is not the goal. Thats why I think listing mission levels would help make teamming more of a planned activity that more people are willing to partake in during different parts of their career as heroes.

7) New Mission Type Icons - escorts, artifact guarding etc.

Believe it or not I do read the missions and they are my favorite part of the game. However, I also play 14 alts so I do not always read the whole missions on my 7th try through it.

Love, the game and feel free to move this post if its in the wrong thread. Looking forward to I5.

I think out side observation is critical. Bear in mind for a lot of people this will be important information to consider before ever choosing to participate in PvP.

Most people want to know how it is going to work before they risk it in CoV. Thats why outside observation is critical.

Second in CoV full observation will always exist in the streets which theroetically could conatin PvP and PvE players. Working out the technical kinks in mass viewing PvP will be helpful down the road.

Also, just an outside the box thought: If chat intel is a concern at least consider delayed feed observation. A lot of the value of observing others in PvP could be gained by watching a post match video so to speak. It does not need to be live to be enjoyed. Besides who would know?

Also after the match I would not mind reviewing the video tape to see how I could improve my skill set.

Remember for PvP to be good the loser is going to have to enjoy it as well as the winner. Otherwise, eventually all the losers will just quit PvP. If its not fun why play?

I would like some SG Content - not just SG exploitive features

For example A multi Task mission (multiple simultaneous tasks) where each individual task is assigned out to members of the super group. The reward would not be given until each member completes his task. Also would be neat if the reward was in the form of a super group reward. For example, what if you had a special set of inspirations are powers (acquired through Super Group mission) that were available to all super group members operating in super group mode. Could be neat particularly if the powers were limited use or only a small flavor impact.

Some of the inspirations could match with the enhancements for instance: Range increase, Damage resistance, hold Increase, Imob Increase, Disorient Chance, Knock Back or Knock Down chance, Fear, confuse, etc.

From a technical data design view. The SG Arc would be - One to Many - with SG Missions. Ad the SG Missions One to Many - with SG Tasks.

The SG Arc would be one-one with the SG and the SG Mission would also be one to one with the SG not the character. The SG task could then be assigned One to One with a character or Many (characters) to one with the task.

Example:
SG Arc: Family Business
SG Mission 1: Distract and Infiltrate - launch a campaign on the streets against the family to distract family long enough for a team member to penetrate the Familys Tax Files.
Task 1-1: Defeat 15 Family IN IP
Assigned To: Golden Guardian
Task 1-2: Defeat 15 Family IN Talos
Assigned To: Articus
Task 1-3: Search Base on Striga Isle and find clues
Assigned To: Rameus

SG Mission 2: Bring in Big Al
Task 2-1: Capture Big Al - Boss Indoor Mission
Assigned To: Golden Guardian and Articus
Task 2-2: Liberate Susie Q - Rescue Susie Q and get her out of the Indoor Base (must be escorted out before they take her down)
Assigned To: Rameus

SG Mission 3: State Witness - Trial.
Task 3-1: Need to get some more Evidence Indoor Mission.
Assigned To: Golden Guardian
Task 3-2: Guard the Prison Cell - 20 family Mobsters or in the Prison trying to break out Big Al. You must stop them before they get Al out.
Assigned To: Articus
Task 3-3: Protect Susie Q as she is going Stateside Witness - Susie Q follows like a pet, but groups of 1 to 3 family members try to periodically knock her off until Task 3-1 and 3-2 are completed.
Assigned To: Rameus


SG Mission 4A (If all task completed): The Trial - Show up to the trial and enjoy a nice cut scene. A group of family member tries to bust him out. An Indoor Court House Mission follows for the whole group.

SG Mission 4B (If Task 3-3 failed): Rescue Susie Q - A mission to break her out and save her from the Pendulum that slowly but surely cuts at the rope that is hanging her by her feet over a pool of acid.


Something like that.