Krieter

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We'll need to give the more "oomph" to keep up!

Oh - and on the XP - if we up mob HP, then we definitely need to up XP rewards! If the battle is more challenging for a player, then he should definitely get more reward.

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You should put that XP bump quote in your signature.

People around here have the reading retention of a Fig Newton.

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What ?

Kruschev,

I've read several of your posts, and I have to say I pretty much agree with all of them.

The game was fun, more so in the past than it is now in my opinion. It's still fun, but everything is in the process of getting equalized a bit too much for my taste, from the powers and various arch-types to what level foes we can effectively fight. Personally, I think there are too many changes for this point in the game cycle, but that seems to be an MMO thing.
I would prefer that some of this be done in the "next" great game, but hey, I'm just a subscriber CoH doesn't feel wild and free anymore, and the highest suspense now is more "how effective will my 75 hours worth of character development be today" or "will 33rd lvl mobs suddenly kill my 30th today"
I think in the past, what one person might call a "minor exploit" we might have called exciting new fun. But others maybe see it as a way they are "getting behind", and I know someone that wasn't really happy about that either. I won't say what they did about it, because that's supposedly trolling. People don't like to get behind, and they don't like to see people that are more powerful than they are, and there's not much that anyone can do about it. I guess what it comes down to is it's a tough balancing act the Dev's have to perform.

There ARE a lot of people that enjoy building more powerful characters, learning the world and it's systems, and making a fourth toon that is more effective and fun than your first three. Why would a model of reality like this be that much different from reality? People enjoy being successful, it's a fact of life.

It seems like a lot of the people that have invested time in high level characters don't like having their hard-won powers reduced, but there are a lot of *new* characters out there in MMOs that don't like the fact that some of the old hands know the system better than they do and are more effective.

I think the problem is that people like us get outnumbered as part of naturally MMO progression, and the more the Devs change the game, the more we will get outnumbered as a certain percentage of our high-level SGs clear out.

Rest assured, there are others out there like you that liked the old game.

Unfortuntely, I do not think the Devs are willing to set up a "classic" server for us high-levels, so we will just have to keep playing as long as the fun outweighs the changes designed to equalize/bland us all.

To all things there is a cycle. So far, mine still involves CoH. It has not gotten to be a grind yet. Of course, my controller is not an "optimum" character, so that helps. I think she has only been nerfed twice, as far as I know at least. Actually, I think she's due for an Empathy buf in Issue 2, which will help. I have to admit I don't mind being on the receiving end of a buf. However, I would personally rather do without any buffs and just enjoy the game the way it was a month ago. I like a steady universe, because I am a power/saga/consistency type player. Having hero powers go up and down through no action of their own seems a little distasteful/dishonest to me. To each their own.

Like someone out here said, the fun is what really matters. We'll see what Issue 2 brings. If my two main characters here are still fun, then I'll stick around. If I have to start from scratch, or it gets to be a drag, then it's been a good run
Perhaps part of the cycle is letting new blood create a new balance, so that the experienced people don't get too much of an advantage. Does anyone know off hand the stats on the average level and average stay time of the toons/players?

I've read enough of these boards and the dev responses at this point to know we aren't going to stop it, and nerfs are still going to be of "significant" proportions, probably all the way until the product is retired.

Since we are five months in now, and I have a hard time believing a lot of these items "just" became unbalanced, we have to accept that people will "always" be finding new ways to get more effective uses of existing powers, and they will always get shot down when other people see it. That seems to be an immutable MMO thing. Stick with it as long as you are having fun, and play an old "boxed" game like I do if the universe gets a bit too "mutable" for you to believe in

When you say things get easier, are you accounting for what you have to do to progress your toon?

Some of us like to get new powers once in a while, even if they will get changed later on. If you find the right level mobs to progress, it doesn't seem easier to me.

My heroes still die about once a day on the average, even my controller. And trust me, I'm not the only one

If you fight "same level" mobs, then I agree it will be much easier. But how often will you gain a level?

It's not uncommon to gain 7 levels in your first day as a new character. If you do this with a 30th level, then you are a better player than I.

Futhermore, past 30, you tend to get a power every three levels instead of every two. Combine this with slow advancement at high levels. If they tweak high level mobs to the point where you are basically encouraged to fight at "your level", that could backfire.

I realize you have to limit the XP because there's not a lot to do after you are 50th, but I don't think it will be to anyone's advantage to slow the advancement of 30th levels TOO much.

Wouldn't we be better off letting 30+ lvl's feel powerful, and be able to get better XP from higher monsters, and then hope that maybe they bring a 2nd char up to 50 if the first one tends to advance fast.
I guess the questions I would ask about the mods are:
1. would high level types still feel as powerful? I think they should be.
2. would this change slow down the level advancement for high-level chars? Will this result in people getting bored, and feeling like they are running in place?

If there are answers to these questions, then that would help.

That's why I generally think game changes are a mistake if the game is fun. There are too many chances to mess up a good thing, and if you change the high level experience too much, then the people that obviously liked that experience (since they apparently stuck around) are the ones that might not like the change. The more you change it, the more it seems that risk will be.