Lexx76

Excellent!

Thanks for the help and the good advice.

Thanks to both of you for the replies.

How complete is that list on the wiki? It seems like it's probably missing a lot of arcs. Or is there just less than I think there is?

The issue page also seems like a solid idea.

Thanks again!

Hello,

I've been running the new DA stuff and love it. But I need more threads.

I've heard that running SSAs will allow me to select threads as a reward but that I can only do so once a week.

So, does that mean that if I run 3 SSAs on Sunday I can get 30 threads? Or do I have to run an arc on Sunday, then another on Monday, etc in order to get 10 threads each time?

Hello!

I played a bunch of CoH for the first two years. Since then I've come back for short periods when major updates occurred.

Obviously tons of stuff has been added.

Problem is, I don't how to get to the new stuff, or even what new stuff exists.

I've been looking for a list of all the story arcs and how to get them, what they entail, but I haven't found much.

I would appreciate it if Someone could point me to such a resource if it exists.

Thanks!

Ok,

I think we're starting to repeat ourselves here. I think the OP get's the message. Besides a few posters in here who've been around long enough to know better than to suggest cutting XP in AE, we're mostly just agreeing with each other.

Yes the AE does need XP. Everything is fine. Let's move on.

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I don't have to travel all over the server searching for doors in warehouses anymore.

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Filling the zones themselves with content would be better than ignoring the zones...

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You have an excellent point.

I think it would be great if the Devs were to do just that in future issues. I won't be surprised if they do. To be fair, I should point out that I think COX has done a lot right. The SK system for example. Super hero combat too. Fantastic.

And I think it's continuing to improve.

But in the meantime, the AE is a great solution for me.

Two things about this thread.

1. Is this still going on? this isn't relevant to this sub forum, and there are like 80 of these posts on all the boards. Can't we lock this and maybe make an "AE is teh sux00rz" thread? Much like the farming thread? You know, a place to ignore the vocal minority?

2. I am encouraged because there are a lot of well reasoned posts here that seem to be on the side of "AE is fine. L2P" or even, "AE is not perfect, Devs will tweak it some more."

Let's all go play COX!

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You guys can keep arguing back and forth.

They can nerf all they want, it doesn't really affect me. I will still farm. I will still PL. I will still get my rewards at a more efficiently fast manner.

I play how I want to. I'm a PLer. I'm a Farmer. I find it fun.

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More power to you sir!

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Sorry, I hadn't noticed these glaring design flaws.


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Fair enough. I accept that there are different playstyles, and the things that bothered me may not have bothered you.

Here's what I saw as the serious design flaws at the time.

Too much travel. COX has these large open zones, with nothing to do other than go from contact to mission door and back again. Other MMO's have large open zones, but they automate travel through them so you only have to travel them on foot once with each character. I can't tell you how many times I had to travel from SC south to SC north. It feels like a waste of time. AE fixes this.

Contacts spread randomly about the zones. Most MMO's use a quest hub system. It makes it convenient to get quests. The current contact system (which has been mitigated somewhat by newspapers and cell phones) is inconvenient. Why can't I just have your cell phone number right away please? More time wasted traveling for an arbitrary reason. AE fixes this. It's a quest hub.

Street sweeping was made largely useless. Mind you, this was done in response to missions being largely useless. It used to be that missions were more dangerous than street sweeping, so it was a better use of time to street sweep than to do missions. The devs fixed that by increasing mission XP, but unfortunately, street sweeping is now a waste of time. So once again, we have these large zones occupied by mobs that are a waste of time to kill. AE mitigates this. I don't have to use the streets at all anymore.

Pacing is way too slow. It used to take a very long time to make level progress. It seems they've sped that up a little since I've been gone, and I appreciate the change so far. AE mitigates this by killing the travel time I spoke of before. At least I don't have to spend a couple hours a week just in travel.

No end game. This is still a problem right? Sure you can get to 50 and slot yourself out some more, but why do you need to slot yourself out more? So you can run more AV missions and gain more influence? Why do we need influence at 50? It's for passing on to our lower alts right? so that they can pay for their enhancements?

Getting DO's and SO's is a hassle. So I have to go to different stores for different characters. I have to buy all my DO's and SO's, because due to the random drops there's very little chance I'm going to have gathered useful gear by the time I'm at the right level to use it. Other MMO's design the game so that you have the gear you need by the time you get to the level to use it. Again, convenient. AE fixes this.

too much money for DO's and SO's because the influence ramp is too low. All my characters adopted the same strategy. buy no enhancements until level 12. Sell everything you gather until that point. Have enough money at 12 to buy most of your DO's. AE fixes this.

Missions in large level ranges are generally exactly the same. Like the hellions and outcasts? well you'll be playing against them for awhile. Mind you, there are trolls in the hollows, but from a gameplay experience, it's much like fighting the hellions and outcasts. AE fixes this. as a level 1 I can fight all sorts of enemies, including custom enemies. I have to do some thinking about which higher level mobs I can take without my slots and powers, but it adds some much needed variety.

No real reason to play anything other than the fastest way to get from 1-50. Missions were largely the same in terms of reward. Why fight CoT? do they drop better loot than 5th column? Then let's go fight 5th column, those CoT tend to kill me more often.

Weak balance between risk and reward. Doesn't matter if one villian group is stronger than the other, your rewards are basically the same, random rolls on a huge loot table, most of which my character doesn't need. Even after the enhancment DR nerf, I still need almost exclusively Acc, Dam, and End Red. AE mitigates this by letting me get exactly the rewards I need.

Again, they weren't so bad when COX launched. But they're still there. The AE just removes the necessity to interact with them. Has it currently swept the rest of the game under the rug? Apparently, but here's the thing. WoW makes significant progress on it's base gameplay and convenience multiple times a year. It seems like CoX has been struggling with these same core issues since launch.

AE fixes this. Eventually, if I want that cool knockback staff, I'll figure out which quest gives it and see if there's a good way to jump to that content. If not, if I have to go through a bunch of contacts before I can open that mission, I'm not going to bother.

I'm sorry if you were fine with those design choices and AE has ruined the game for you. The low subscriber base to this game (which I interpret to be the case from the fact that there are only 10 servers and they mostly have low population) indicates that many other players also saw those design flaws.

I was hear for two years straight, and in that time there was no improvement on any of those issues. Time was spent instead on nerfing power sets that Jack didn't like, nerfing Wolf levels, nerfing street sweeping, and nerfing anything that let players play the game in the way they enjoyed as opposed to the way the devs intended for them to play.

So I left. I came back for CoV, was very impressed with the newspaper and mayhem missions. I was extremely grateful for temp travel powers at low levels. But the other problems remained.

Now I'm back for AE, and I find it's fixed most of the things I saw as problems. Yes people are farming it, but they've always been farming something.

I left before because of ham handed nerfs getting dev attention instead of improvements to the core experience.

I'll leave again if that continues to be the case. And that's fine. I'm not bent out of shape about it.

But the AE is a giant step in the right direction. CoX has to update itself, or else it won't compete with CO. The caveat being that CO won't be any competition if they didn't learn from their mistakes with CoX.

We'll see.

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Well, they could always remove XP as a requirement for levelling....

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10/10

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Just remove all the AE's except in the higher level zones. Experienced players will be able to navigate their way there just fine, while level 1's won't be suckered into grinding the same three stupid farm missions over and over.


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But then I'd have to level my characters in the hollows and kings row again. No thank you. Those areas are boring, and the time it takes to travel those zones, dodging mobs on the street is irritating and slow.

AE fixes that, by making the game convenient. It fits my schedule nicely. I can come home from work, jump on for an hour or so and play some quality content without having to figure out where to meet up with my friends, or spend half of that time traveling carefully around zones until I get my travel power or complete a safeguard mission.

Those are some of the reasons I left. The basic design of this game is archaic. It was fine in the beginning, but games like WoW have continued to evolve and shore up of their failings.

COX has just now gotten around to that in a serious way (although NP mishes and safeguards also went a long way.).

Hi Devs,

Thought maybe you could use a pick me up after reading these boards.

I was a member during beta, and the 3 day headstart. I played for about 23 months. I left, I came back for CoV, I left again, I came back for AE.

AE is incredible. You've done a really nice job with it and both me and my friends are enjoying it greatly. We like making missions, especially our own custom groups and backstories.

I like the ease of forming a group, and I especially like the ability to log in, and be playing a full arc almost right away. I don't have to travel all over the server searching for doors in warehouses anymore. Honestly, that was one of the biggest reasons for my interest in this game flagging. All the travel. It really made for some boring gameplay while I was waiting to get to the next mission.

But now with AE, I have instant access to new game content. You've brought MMO's to the next step in their evolution, user generated content.

I'm very impressed with the entire system and the way it's been implemented. Please rest assured that I am enjoying the AE and apparently so are a lot of other players. It has only improved my gameplay experience.

Thanks.

P.S. Players who are planning on responding to this thread in vehement disagreement are welcome to go to the official farming thread and scream their hatred into the abyss.

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This will of course leave non-farm AE missions granting somwhere around 1/4 of standard mission xp (perhaps less), and I'm fine with that.


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And then everyone will stop playing the AE. Victory!

Stop trying to nerf the AE. the AE is the new COX. It's like the old one, except without all the serious design flaws that weren't so bad 5 years ago, but are kind of glaring now.

AE is the new COX. I'm having a great time, and I don't even farm.

Let's all go play COX.

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I perfectly understand your point. Different playstyles I guess... and still, I love PuGing too !

I could test the "future super-hero MMO options", and for me it was like : What, no mission architect there ? Just doing generic "WoW-like" quests all the time ? Well back to CoX, this game is definitely not for me

The MA is one of the reasons I play this game now, and probably the reason I dont plan to leave it any soon.

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Ehina, you are great.

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Ever sence AE has come out, no one does regular missions, or TFs/SFs anymore, can't even get a team to do the new TF/SF that came out today!! The devs need to make a way that AE doesn't become the end of the rest of the game, because that is what is happening on victory atleast... everyone just sits on there butts in AE all day... granted I do missions in AE sometimes, but not ALL DAY!

Who here agrees with me?!

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Obvious Troll, plus a duplicate of about 80 other threads right now. Could we just lock this one too?

Devs, maybe we could have a designated "I'm sad that AE is so awesome and everyone's having a wonderful time but me" thread?

We have one for farming, and that gets linked a lot.

If we're still seeing stuff like this a month from now I'll bring it up again.

Just something to think about.

[Edited to use less harsh language. I acted rashly. Sorry.]

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Give newbies limited access to AE, like they can access ranked missions like devs choice and high ranks like that, and allow them to create their own story and test it, but if they wanna publish it and play it for xp and access the rest of the features and stories in AE, they need at least one vet badge, this will prevent newbies from farming AE and getting to 50 and not knowing how to play for real, and vets who don't want to take the time to level normally will have the option of farming AE if they want. That way it is a win-win situation, so newbies are forced to learn the game, and vets who are bored with leveling normally can farm AE. I am open to suggestions on how to make this idea even better. I know the newbies will gripe if this is implemented, but it is better than taking away levels from everyone who farms AE, even the vets. The problem is with newbie 50s not the vets. This idea should get rid of newbie 50s

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Sigh.

You're trying to solve an imaginary problem. The AE works the way it's supposed to. If the devs nerf it, they'll start losing all those re-ups they got when the put the AE in.

I doubt they'll do that. They've put a lot of time and effort into this system.

You may not have noticed, but there were some serious designs flaws in the original COX. The AE fixes many of those problems, brings old players back, hides the problems from new players by providing them with a better play experience and just generally makes this game revolutionary all of a sudden.

Leave it alone. Go play some COX. It's fun. You'll like it.

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I love the AE the way it is now :

It's really perfect to my opinion. Leveling my toons running story content in the AE, discovering new arcs everyday (and there are plenty of great stories that are not dev choice !)... it's just the way I want it to be.

Nerf the xp or reduce it to 50%... and make this new main feature, the devs have been working on for maybe a year (?), almost useless. Wouldnt be a clever move :/

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QFT.

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I think the very best way to improve this aspect of the AE is for people to stop caring how other players are playing the game and just start focusing on enjoying themselves.

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QFT.

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Only Devs choice and Hall of Fame missions should give full XP. The rest should give 50% XP and 50% Inf.

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Respectfully, why change it at all?

If they nerf mission rewards in the AE, even just non dev choice/HOF content(ok so almost all of it.), then it isn't an "alternate way to level to 50" so much as a "slower, dumber way to level to 50. Now with less running around."

People are looking at this backwards. AE is not the problem, AE is the solution.

Dear Norsedoggie and supporters,

Yes. Yes the AE does need XP. The stated intended purpose for the AE was to provide an alternate way to level to 50.

There is no problem with AE. People are playing it. They are enjoying it. They are paying $15/month to do so. I and many others came back to COX because of the AE.

I see some posts that say "The way to fix AE..."

AE is not broken. Working as intended. Not a bug. By design.

Any and all of the proposed "fixes" I have seen, would actually break the AE.

Don't bother with your anecdotal arguments about what your "real gamer" friends like or don't like about the AE. There are many different types of gamers. A large number of those gamer types like the AE just the way it is. You can tell, because that's what almost everyone is doing now.

The game has changed. It's better now.

It's time to let go.

And remember, there are still a few people who want to play the old game. They're the ones posting about how broken the AE is.

Maybe you guys should all form an SG and run TF's and other dev content. No one is going to stop you. No one is going to put any serious effort into "fixing" the part of the game you're enjoying.

Everything is fine.

This is all time you could be spending playing COX.

Crystal,

Well put.

Seriously everybody, that's a victory for COX right?

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I have to agree with the OP on this one. AE has definitely changed the game for the worse. Its a GREAT idea with poor implementation... I have seen some of the worst teaming and horrific builds that I have seen in the 5 years I have been playing this game... I am seeing people that are level 50 in Atlas that dont know where Galaxy City or Steel Canyon is..

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I don't understand why that's a problem. If a player levels to 50 in the AE, that player has never needed to know how to get to those places.

It's not terribly difficult to learn where those places are. If a player has a reason to go there, that player will learn how.

I think there are lots of reasons to play outside the AE. Cool temp powers, interesting content, merits, badges, TF's, etc.

I think players will still want to do those things once the shine wears off the AE. It's an excellent alternative leveling method, but there are a lot of things it doesn't do. See above.

Players who want to navigate both sides will figure out how to do so. Those who don't, shouldn't be expected to have knowledge of the parts of the game they're not playing.

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Zones are largely empty except Atlas... Level 50 in PI AE building.. EMPTY.. not a soul.. in fact I was the ONLY person even in PI.

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I strongly suspect this will revert back to regular levels soon. Perhaps the 50's are psyched to have so much new content to play, instead of running the same AV missions over and over again.

I agree with you that the game has changed. I think that it is for the better. The MA will have a significant effect on MMO development. It is perhaps, the wave of the future.

Simply put, it is one of the coolest things ever and people are playing the crap out of it.

If I were a COX Dev, I would be psyched about this.

The answer is not to change the AE.

As opposed to limiting or discouraging use of the AE as has been suggested, I suspect the Devs have a better plan in mind. Perhaps they'll continue to add content and rewards to the world outside AE. Expanding options and therefore encouraging exploration.

The idea is to build it up, not tear it down.

Dear Forcewrath,

I'm sorry you're having such a poor experience. To a degree I understand your problem. But changing the way the AE works isn't going to fix it.

There's a lot of anecdotal evidence on the boards that states "No one will play with me, people only want to farm."

I don't have these problems (I don't farm, not for "moral" reasons, but rather because I find it boring.)

But I rarely have trouble finding a group.

Why? Because I have friends and I belong to a supergroup.

Your RL friends may have left for their own reasons, but there are still lots of players here. There are still lots of players that will team with you and play story missions in the AE or even the regular dev content.

We have an entire forum just for supergroup recruitment.

Maybe you should jump in there and see if you can find any SG's with philosophies similar to yours.

I assure you that there are people who will play this game with you the way you want to play it.

It'll just take a little effort to find them.

But once you do, won't that be nice?

The AE farm groups will die down in a little bit. They'll always be there, but as those players get bored and move on, the rest of us will still be here, ready and willing to group with you.

Take a look at the SG forum, you'll find something. If you don't, maybe ask yourself why that is.

Peace.

Best. Thread. Evar.

Srsly.

P.S. seriously though this is great. So much better than farming discussions. you guys have made my night.

I'll check out Wonderland and Bunnygirls tomorrow after work.

Thanks for the constant updates States.

Edited because when I reread the original post I realized the answer to my question was in there already