Masked_Malard

Hello Sunstorm!

It's great to know that Bases are being looked at again, and some changes are being made. The only thing I am iffy on is that you are charging rent on items, instead of plot size. I play on a lot of semi-dormant SG/VG's. Ones with only one or two occasional players. The current system allows for these type of SG's to stick to a small plot and get up a functional base without worrying about rent. Once the base is built (and this takes a while), then you not worry about prestige and focus back on influnce and getting those IO sets. The new system will make these small inactive bases have to worry about rent again.

While we are on the topic, there are two suggestions I would like to make.

1. Introduce recipe storage.
This will allow sg mates to help each other out, and facilitate ease of muling between characters.

2. Make CoV chest emblems available as SG/VG emblems.
I know that CoH/CoV's were different games to start with, and it would have been impossible to intergrate them originally. However, now that the games have been merged, and the content is available to everyone, there is no reason why they should be seperate any more. The only possible hitch I can think of, is the base items that display them, and making sure they fit right. Otherwise it should be a very easy fix.

I agree with a lot of the suggestions. In order of pereference, I would love to see some of the following Oroboros missions.

1. An Atlas arc. Have it start with you meeting and getting to know Atlas, perhaps helping him fight his arch nemisis the Teal Serpent. In fact, it may be cool to have the Teal Serpent be a time traveller himself (explains why he disapeared). The arc leads up to the events of Atla's death, and then the Hero's have to stop the time traveling Teal Serpent in the present or near future.

2. A Reichman Arc. One thing that I always wondered about... Why didn't the 5th Column try to spring the Reichman when it looked like they were losing the battle with the Council? Perhaps a faction within the 5th, who became dis-illusioned with Requiem's leadership, wanted a new more powerful leader. Perhaps they did try, and it was the hero's or villians who stopped them.

3. A WW2 European arc. Help States and company take down the Storm Korpz.

4. A Faultline arc. Go back in time to the events that surrounded the creation of Faultline, and witness the events (meeting Jim Tremblor as a boy while you are at it).

I read through just the first 37 pages, so if some of this has been covered already, please forgive me.

New Wishlist for CoX under NC.

1. Please, pretty please, now that CoH and CoV are now effectivley merged, can we add the CoV emblems to the Super Group emblem menu?

2. Now that bases are open to everyone, can we please spend some time, and make some more SG missions on the mission computer? Throw in some extra prestige bonuses for completion, and the SG's will eat them up.

3. I am all for a paid expansion. Particularly one that focuses on upper level content, and introduces some new venues. Like space stations, egyptian deserts, jungles, and maybe some landmarks, like the white house or the great wall of china. A paid expansion would justify the time and resources spent on such a product, and so long as it came out polished and reletively bug free, I would be all for it.

4. Once the merger is complete, please issue a fairly detailed statement regarding the status of the game, and plans for the future.

5. Give the Villians a little more parity with heros, before the next paid expansion. First, give them their evil squid Epic Arch Type. It's been promised, and in theory shouldn't be that tough. Let them get their nictus and peace bringer renegades.
Second, Introduce a few non-arachnos patrons and patron power sets. This way those who wish to RP their independance can get epic powers too. Besides, the villian powers are some what limited right now. If I want a dark and creepy feel I got Ghost Widow, if I want a tech feel I got Black Scorpion, if I want electricity I got Sirrocco. Mako is the odd ball one. We need a few more to add to the flavor. Perhaps some patrons that deal with the elements (wind, Fire, Ice, Earth), and one that is more nature oriented. Right now the Heros have far more variety, and more rp flexability.

Don't the 5th column have their own symbol? You know, the red and black one with the skull? I highly doubt that this is the herald of the return of the 5th, as they simply have used the old symbol for us old timers.

Wild speculation on my part, but the thing looks some what norse, or perhaps even celtic.... and that got me thinking.

Wasn't there a Wyrm eating it's own tail in Arthurian legend? Didn't Merlin make some sort of prediction regarding a wyrm eating it's own tail? Not the one about the red and white Dragons, but another one?

That got me thinking, King Arthur. His last name is Pendragon, and has been called "the once and future king" or some times the "forever king". Forever... Infinity. It's already been established in game that Miss Liberty actually carries excaliber in her possesion, and that Hero One used to weild it. There were some fey/fairie things out of the blue on the last issue of the CoH comic.

My guess is that with issue 11, Arthur returns to reclaim his sword. Either making a return from ansalon, or by being reborn. Some how this correlates with the new willpower set and dual blades.

And for those crying blood of the black stream, remember that they were supposed to have an egyptian feel to them, and were hinted at in Mr. Bocors missions.

I also hate the new change to the alert systems. I specificlly logged on to a particular alt to work on the badge, and pretty much missed them. They need to be a different color at least, and not read either. That would blend with the combat messages to easily. And not yellow, green, or blue. It should be unique. Maybe purple?

At least I'll know what to look for sunday.

[ QUOTE ]

To a previous poster... you only got 2 bombs each raid? You need to team up more, my friend.

[/ QUOTE ]

The character I was using was a lvl 50 Inv/SS tank. Once the invasion began, I would normally be in a mission solo passing the time between raids. I would click the base teleporter/Pocket D power, and by the time I zoned in to the base, I would generally have a message on where the 2nd raid zone is, that would be the one I would go to. By the time I zone in, the raid is well under way. I can comfortably find and solo 2 bombs before the rikti start tp'ing in. When they do, I high tail it towards a trainer, and bunch up with everyone to trigger the war suits. At this point I might get a team invite.

Then the group will disband, and if I am lucky, another invasion will be just starting up, and I will make it. Given the 3 hour cycles, I can usually only participate in one a night. Hence it took me 5 days to get the accolade on one toon.

As I said, it would be great if the triggered raids would be three to four zones, each side. And have them staggered out enough for people to be able to get there and participate in more than one. Time enough for the TF who did it to get to the right zone, and for others to cobble together a group.

Bummer.... My dsl went down for a week, and between work and life, I haven't had much time to play. Considering that tomorrows my Birthday, I probably won't be on much either. Oh, well. At least I managed to get the accolade on one toon.

However if Posi is reading this, please consider bumping it up from one random zone, to a standard raid (I.E. 3 zones on each side). Otherwise, it will be very difficult for the badge hunters to get this accolade.

As it is, with load time and such, once the warning is given, by the time I actually get to the zone, it is toward the end of a bombing cycle. This is due to having to exit a mish, travel to the zone, and enduring some long load times in the process, especially the zone that is being raided.

I can usually solo 2 bombs per raid on average. This means I am going to have to go to 10 raids at least. Then there is the war suit badge. I am going to have to find at least 6 other people to actually see one. Considering that this will be completley random, it may be a lot harder to pull off. Even worse, it could be that the raids pop on the villian side instead (or vice versa for villians).

As the novelty of the TF fades, it will be completed less and less. At least give the insentive for an SG to run it a few times to get the badges. With it occuring in multiple zones, it also gives people time to get there.

At least consider it.

[ QUOTE ]

You know, if you guys are determined to MAKE UP things to complain about, you can do a lot better than this.

How about "Whenever I9 Hamidon kills you, the game automatically formats your hard drive"? I mean, that packs in WAYYYY more doom than "I haven't fought I9 Hamidon or talked to anyone who has, but it's impossible with 50 people".

[/ QUOTE ]

No ones saying it's impossible. However people are coming to some easily drawn conclusions, and noticing that these changes could cause some serious problems. Now is the time to voice these concerns, while it is still in the development phase. It could be that the Dev's have solutions to these concerns already in place, but until it is open to test, or more details are given, we have some valid concerns.

Now some people are complaining that not all AT's have a real roll on a Hami raid. I for one have no problem with the fact that some AT's are more usefull than others on this encounter. Right now, all thats required is one team with 2 tanks and at least 4 healers (preferably empaths), one team with group fly and Illusion controllers, as many controllers as possible, and as many Rad defenders/controllers that you can find. Anyone else can help clear mitos and help on the final attack. True, a Stone/energy tank with teleport, and no ranged attacks is only going to be able to contribute to the final attack, and will be sitting on the rock most of the raid (unless he is on the aggro team).

Guess what? I have no problem with that. Already there is a great requirement for various AT's in this raid. Controllers for holding, and phantom drops, Defenders for healing and buffs, Controllers and dark defenders for pets to target off, and blasters for mito killing. Tanks are only needed for the Aggro team (but this is arguably the most important role). That leaves scrappers without a niche (kheldons can moonlight as other AT's). To me that is an accomplishment, that requires a large diversity of players. For my part, I keep my lvl 50 MC/emp troller parked in the hive, and log her on whenever I want to do a hami raid. Of all my toons, that one is the most generally usefull for the raid (though my tank has been on the aggro team a few times). I have no problem with my dark/dark defender not being as usefull in this scenario. He shines in other areas, like debuffing an AV's accuracy to the floor. If I wanted to bring him he could still contribute, but generally for raid purposes my controller is the better choice.

I am not sure if the changes they are making will help things that much. Now with 50 players tops, a new optimal configuration will emerge. We will learn that we should have x blasters for Mito A, y number of scrappers for Mito B, etc.. We won't be solving the problem, only changing the mix. You will still get people who are one tank to many, and now spots may be reserved for a particular AT or even power set. "Sorry, can you leave? We are saving the 50th slot for some one with phantom army and group fly, thanks".

I tend to agree with some of the others. New hami level encounters would be a better solution. Ones with different challenges and abilities. Perhaps an encounter with something that is mobile, ground based, and with lots of cover, making melee more important? Perhaps a Master Mind type of encounter, making controllers and blasters shine, by wiping out the swarms of underlings ( Lord Recluse could be a fine choice). I can go on and on. You will never please everyone, every encounter. So design enough encounters so that everyone can find something they like, and finally bring some more high level content to the game.

I think the number cap per zone may be a mistake. I could see all kinds of problems with it. As was previously mentioned, connection issues, possibly SG/VG griefing by filling up the zones, etc... I know that it may be a small programming issue, but I think making it an instance trial, like the Hydra is the way to go. So the choice is to either make it do-able by a full group, or program in some sort of raid feature like EQ has.

My two influence on the topic.

My problem with bases was that I basicly play with one other player. The two of us are altaholics, spanning 5 servers. Before the over sight rooms were introduced, it would take us months just to get the million or so prestige it took to get a functioning base. It's gotten better now, and we can make some progress if we focus on one server. However, if we play casually, jumping from server to server, our bases become quickly non-functional as we fall behind in rent.

The 4 prestige that some mobs give means that we are going to have to take down 6250 of them just to pay 25k in rent. For the sake of arguement, lets say it takes 30 seconds a mob (including the travel involved). That takes about 52 hours, and assuming that we play 3 hours a day, thats 18 days rounded up. Since there are two of us, we can divide that by half and it will take 9 out of the 14 days of the rent cycle to pay off the rent. Granted thats not a 100% accurate, but it is close enough to get the point across. So the remaining 5 days left, we would earn 14,400 prestige to spare. At that rate it takes us about 5 month to afford a single tp room, not including a single telepad, beacon, or the power and control needed to run it.

Now that example is a little exagerated, as some mobs give more prestige than that, and there are mission bonuses and such. But it is not so out of whack that it doesn't give a clear picture. One person, won't be able to cover the bases rent, and 2 people can make some very slow progress.

For us the functionality of the base falls to 3 things. Rez rings, Telepads, and enhancement bins. Since there is just two of us, we cannot raid the shard, or do the Silver Mantis SF. None of our sg's/VG's have yet to get the healing badge, but two are close. Then maybe we will finally be able to get inspirations there.

There should be SG missions, just like police band missions, but have them on a related arc, and instead of them culminating in a safe guard mission, perhaps you have to protect something, or some one in your base. Make sure there is a very small minumum, like perhaps 2 players. Have the rewards be an extra prestige bonus. Then I gaurantee that bases will be used more.

I wasn't in Beta, but I was on the first week the game went live.

I remember the thrill of rolling my first toon and finding my friends who left EQ at the same time.

I remember hunting Hydras in perez park.

I remember doing my first tf, and being almost unstoppable with my Inv tank, thanks to having slotted my energy resistance.

I remember dinging 14, and learning to fly the first time.

I remember dinging 18, and truly learning what it is to feel like a tank.

I remember the insane chain death that ensued during my sg's first respec trial. I got my cape and 2nd costume just before it.

I remember getting to 35 without unyielding Stance, because I wanted to be mobile, and then they changed the power. That was a good day.

I remember most of my friends leaving for WoW.

Ok, so the crafting system will be how we advance after lvl 50. It could be great, but it will have to be implemented well.

However, there is the flip side to that. Once we have a way to improve ourselves, we need challenging encounters that go along with it. And these encounters need to have a decent reward in and of themselves to make them worth while (like high end salvage drops). So far, all we have been told about is a Statesman TF. There needs to be a lot more than that.

My vote would be to revamp the Rikti Crash site. It is usually a dead zone anyways. I would add some contacts, implement a trial, and ramp up the difficulty of the zone. Perhaps from there, have a tf into the rikti home world that is insanely hard.

Add a few sg raid mishes as well while your at it.

Thanks for the update Posi, but a bit more info would be great. Here are my areas of interest.

1. While a lvl 50 TF is a nice start, what other plans are there for 50+content?

2. Any information on the Legends system would be greatly appreciated. I am up to 41 alts, and have 4 lvl 50's. I expect to have another lvl 50 before I8 comes out. I would love to be able to continue to progress my favorite characters. Hopefully it will be a non-level based system of progression.

3. What and when will the next retail expansion be? I know you shelved the one you had planed and made most of it free.

4. On the invention system, you mentioned that it will allow for enhancments and costume options. I assume that means jet pack graphics for starters. Which is great for Science, natural, and tech origins. However, will there be options for Mutant and Magic themed types? Perhaps a Magic Carpet or bug wings. Also, what about the enhancments? Will they allow custom enhancments like Hami O's, or will they be new enhancments that add different things? Like perhaps an enhancment that adds a little fire damage to an attack. Or a Acid or psychic resist enhancment.

More info would be great!

Ok, I had some how missed the PM post, or didn't realize it was from Posi. If that is the case then Kudo's to you guys. Now if the enhancement bins are reasonable, then we will really have something.

Thank you Posi for posting the numbers, but I think the 130,000 you quoted is light. Assuming these items are craftable, it would require a working Work table. In order to get a work table, the minimum cost is 750,000

Control rom: 100,000
Energy Room: 150,000
Workshop: 100,000
Basic Generator: 225,000
Mainframe: 150,000
Basic Work Table: 25,000
Total: 750,000

So unless all of the new items are 100% bought, not craftable, and require no power or control, the costs would be 780,000. That figure is still prohibitive for a small sg.

What I hate about defiance, is that it rewards bad and reckless play. In a group, a blaster is supposed to learn to gauge his agro, and if the group is any good, defiance won't be an issue. Solo, a Blaster is about calculated risks, and running around in the red a big risk for as small as the reward is in the latter levels.

I think they need to take out the health component and make it soley on damage taken. Kinda like fury. That way you can be healed, and not instantly lose the bonus, and your own regen rate won't chip away at it.

Upgraded Auto Doc/Tree of Wonder (Inspiration dispensers)
Originally suggested by: Masked Malard (and probably others)
Category: Crafted
Customizable? Y
Type: Unlocked, crafted on expert tables
Description: Upgrades to the current Inspiration dispensers, that will open up new inspirations, and higher grade ones. One of the greatest benifits is that it provides a great way to stalk up on those awakens and such on those TF's gone bad.

Gladiators/mercenaries/guards
Originally suggested by: Many
Category: Defense
Customizable? y
Type: Unlocked, crafted on expert tables
Description: Through an expensive Control item, the SG/VG can have npcs that will patrol and defend the base. There should be several choices to chose from and a couple upgrades (sorta like MM pets). Mercenaries, Robots, Demons, ghosts, Ninja, Zombies, Thugs, Security guards, and Scientists should be options. Also each one should have the SG/VG emblem and colors if possible.

A better system would be that rent be based off of plot size and maybe power used.

This way, Casual sg's can have minimal rent, get ahead on prestige, buy decorative items, and then make a descision on wether they want to go for the functional items.

Hard core SG's can pay rent on the funtional items, and afford them as they are not being assesed on the prestige they are amassing just to pay the rent.

Ill throw in my two Influence.

First off I want to say that I am not requesting nerfs of any sort. That being said, Tanks have come full circle. It used to be that tanks were seen as a drag to an average xp team. This was before sliders, AoE taunt, and the damage increase. We basically required less support, so a defender could buff and heal the squishies, while we used provoke, and auras to taunt minions and LT's, unable to do much damage, while the team did the actual arresting. The only time we really had a big roll was for AV's, unless you were Ice, and then you could be 1-2 shotted (sadly that is even more the case today).

Tanks were unhappy, and positive changes were made. Tanks had their damage upped so that they were more comparable to the scrapper damage/our defense- our defense/scrapper damage ratio. We were no longer required to take power pools to fullfil out our precieved role as taunt was now awsome. Life was good, and tanks were happy.

Yes Power leveling was a problem. Yes, tanks were guilty of it. However tanks were not the only ones who could herd. In fact, inspite of the nerfs, Dreck herd PL's still go on. Just in slightly smaller groups of mobs thanks to the aggro cap.

Thanks to I5 and I6 Tanks are right back to where we were I2. I now play a MC/Emp controller, and many times I have seen tanks leave and a scrapper come in to replace him. Most often, the group does better with the scrapper. Fights are shorter, meaning less heals, less endurance drain, less down time, and safer. Aggro Managment? Scrappers often have auras, and multiple AoE attacks. As long as the rest of the team knows how to manage their aggro, that works just as well as punchvoke or taunt. The only time a Tank becomes slightly better is on certain AV's. Even then, a controller can take care of that to a certain extent. Granted, this is an either or type situation. Of course the best option is having both AT's in the group. But if having to make the choice right now between a scrapper or a tank, it's not even a choice. The scrapper can tank and aggro about as well with my buffs, and add hugely greater dps.

States had issues with defenders feeling not needed in groups. This wasn't quite true. Non-Empathy were not needed for the most part, with occasional exceptions being Kinetics and Rad. I also have a high lvl 3D and I remember well the "RU A HEALER?" tells. He succeeded in his goal of making buffers/debuffers more wanted, needed in fact in large teams. It used to be that if you couldn't find a defender you would grab a good tank, as he didn't need the extra support. Now the tank needs defender suport most of all.

I think the solution is to either give us back our taunt, or increase our defenses/resists to get us back to being an alternative to having defender support. Specificly, bring our taunt up to 10 mobs, so that we are far and away better aggro control. You may say we are now, but really it isn't that noticible. A scrapper with his AoE's and auras is about as effective in a good team. Since we need support anyways, and as we are comparatively slow to kill stuff and have gelded defenses/resists, the added aggro won't go back to the old PL'ing days as we would need an active group to keep us alive and actually kill everything.

Or alternativley, keep our nerfed taunt, and up our defenses and resists so that we are once again we are an alternative to a team heavey buff/heal support. Maybe not quite I4 levels, but significant enough that an unbuffed tank can survive the alpha of a 10 +2 con mob group, and last several seconds as the balance of the team takes them out. He may need to use dull pain, and or a green inpiration. He may even be close to the red at the end. Thats not an unreasonable expectation, but a huge improvement over where we are today. A good benchmark to try for would be to have a buffed scrapper (non-stacking buffs) be equal defense and resist wise to a non-buffed tanker. That way the tanker can fill in for a lack of support.

I do not want nerfs, nor do I want more damage. What I want for my tanks is to not be marginalized.

Here are my two cents.

We the players, and tankers in particular, have a lot to be upset about.

Statesman has told us a blatent lie.

Even it's name, Enhancement Diversification, is misleading and probably some PR guys "brilliant" solution to what is in fact a global enhancement nerf. How can you create diversity by taking options away? Oh thats right, you can still 6 slot things, it just doesn't give you any significant benefit. And again, how does this encourage us to use the enhancements that weren't worth slotting for to begin with? Oh, thats right, it doesn't. Bottom line, these changes were made because of CoV. More specifically, the powers gained by brutes, dominators, etc.. that raise the damage they can do. Without this global nerf, they would have been out of line, and for whatever reason it was easier to nerf globaly, than to adjust their effectiveness.

If you had been upfront and honest and said, "Due to CoV and upcoming PvP changes, we will be making severe changes to the effeciveness of enhancements. We realize that this will effect many powers and AT's differently, and we will be watching close and making adjustments as necassary" it would have stung a lot less than this ED crap. Your customers are not stupid. Lieing to us pisses us off more than the nerfs. Piss us off enough, and we WILL take our business else where.

Throw us a bone states. Our Primary powers are now less effective 6 slotted than they were unenhanced in I4 (Inv anyways). There is something very wrong with this. We were the only AT that did not get compensated for the nerfs in I5. Scrappers defenses were hit too, but they got boosted damage to compensate. What did Tanks get? Nothing and different sets got further nerfed.

Boost our base defenses/resists more, or raise our HP some. Make it soe we can no longer be two shotted by certain types. Maybe give us a new power, where the lower our hp goes, the higher defenses and resists go. Something!

You hit us hard because of herding. You kinda fixed it with the aggro cap, but it still happens. Only now it's scrappers who do it well, not tanks. It's time to re-[censored] tanks and make some adjustments back closer to where we were.