JonScott

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I believe the number of players on the red side has nothing to do with developer attention or inattention; that's just the average number of players who prefer a villain-themed experience, and adding more neon lights to the Ferris wheel of evil isn't going to get any more people to climb on.

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I think you believe wrong. Because I have 36 characters, only 10 of them are villains, and it is very specifically because there just isn't as much to do redside as blue. I would love to have more to do redside, and I would play there more often if there were more content.

Now, that said, I also think you're at least partially right. There probably are just more people who want to play blue than red. So while a significant boost in redside content would increase the number of people playing villains, the question is, by how much? Obviously, the devs don't think enough to justify a major outlay of resources for villain-only content, particularly at the expense of CoH. They might be wrong, but it's their prerogative to make that decision. It is, in turn, our prerogative, if dissatisfied with the results of their decisions, to go play another game, no harm, no foul.

Just wanted to say thank you to War Witch for the work she put into this revamp.

I imagine there was the mandatory banging of head against desk (and possibly random co-workers) involved in any such project, but it also sounds like she had fun with it, which is great. When a creator's having fun, it shows in the details.

Some of the things that tickle my little fancy:

<ul type="square">[*]"I added some fresh blood (er...meat?) to The Hollows. There were piles and piles of Outcasts and Trolls and Trolls and Outcasts ... I wanted to add some flavor and some variety! So I added Skulls, Hellions, and Lost to the mix."

Nice. I like never being completely sure what I'm going to run into around the next corner. Also, just a little attention to detail to add depth and spice.
[*]"Also, you may run into Paragon Police or Longbow, but since they're allies, they'll help you out ... gone are the canned animations of the Paragon Police."

I never really minded the canned animations, but it will be much cooler having police who actually participate. I know some people are concerned about EvE kill-stealing, and justly so. I, personally, just don't care. I'm willing to sacrifice a few xp for some added depth and interaction in the setting.
[*]"Vahzilok have moved into the neighborhood, but usually only at night and in a very specific location."

I just love little bits like this. Something about a specific type of mob spawning in one specific location at a specific time ... I guess it just adds personality to an area for me.

So, first thing to do when I get into the news Hollows: find the Vahzilok.

And I now feel the burning desire to come up with a dirty joke involving someone playing, "Hide the Vahzilok." I think I shall let this desire pass.
[*]"The Legacy Chain have a presence there too, a heroic group of mystical heroes who are there to help, not hurt the heroes of Paragon City. They want to get to the bottom of the Circle of Thorns threat as we do. There might another reason, too, but they won't even give that up to Longbow."

Oooo! Inherent conflict and mystery. Conflict + mystery = story. Plus, more variety and spice.
[*]"I added a new contact to the zone, an undercover operative named Meg Mason, who has the skinny on all the gangs in the area."

More stuff to do is good. Another NPC personality is good. Plus, Meg's hot.[/list]
So, thank you again, War Witch. Can't wait to go mess around in the new Hollows.

Wow. Thank you, BAB. I really appreciate the time and effort you took to explain this in such detail.