Memphis_Bill
-
Posts
10557 -
Joined
-
Quote:You don't have to build up to containment. One hold (which is exactly half of what Illusion has) or immobilize (which it's missing) and you have containment.Originally Posted by Leo_G
Illusion doesn't work with Overpower or Containment either, so what's your point?
Illusion has:
Three pets, one of which tends to make people want to deal with making "perma" since you're pretty underpowered until it is.
One AOE fear in one of the pets (which does nothing for domination OR containment.)
Two invisibilities.
One direct damage power.
One really lousy AOE hold.
One confuse.
One direct hold.
You would pretty much *have* to stay only on near-full teams to ever see Domination more than once a mission there - and when you DO finally pop domination, there's almost nothing there to take advantage of it. A dominator that can't dominate is just an "or." Like "I could take this set, or take one that actually works with the AT."
-
Quote:You're asking this as we have another group that runs around attacking small-time thugs with flamethrowers and automatic weapons? Y'know, Longbow? "You! Stop mugging that woman!" *break out rifles, flamethrowers, and chainguns*Originally Posted by falloutsurvivor
we know that with going rogue we will be able to change faction.
but a thug mastermind HEROES?
really?
thug are criminal how will it fit with the lore ?
Not to mention almost every "hero" in the game is essentially a vigilante, a bunch of superpowered Bernie Goetz types.
You want someone to spell out a bio for you? OK.
<Character> watched as his father lost his job, lost his self respect, and eventually lost the will to live as Kings Row fell into ruin. He saw his neighborhood fall into disrepair, gangs moving in to make it their territory. It seemed to him - and many of his friends - that the only way to survive was to join up. The Skulls were the family he had lost... but as he rose through the ranks, he felt less and less at ease with himself, with what he saw in his new "family."
Finally, he had enough. He chose to reform, to take back his neighborhood and, with a few like minded (now former) gang members, decided to fight fire with fire. Hopefully he'll win more to his cause, reclaiming his neighborhood... and the city it's a part of.
There. You now have a heroic "thugs mastermind," with built in reason for his "gang" getting larger as he levels. It's not that difficult if you use the tiniest bit of imagination.
Edit: And I see GG referenced the same idea. -
Quote:You may not be able to sneak up on anyone, but on the other hand, they can't grab you either.Originally Posted by CapnGeist
Stalker: You can't sneak up on people if you are on fire. It kind of draws attention. Even if it's just your hands.
-
Quote:APPs are designed to fill holes and fill out an AT.Originally Posted by Eternal Mydnyt
Why do Arachnos Agents get Patron powers but Kheldians cant get Ancillary? Im sure they would be willing to do a mish arc for them... something about the kheldian achieving some sort of deeper bond with its host.
For instance. Scrappers tend to get a ranged attack. Controllers get protection and damage. Blasters get protection and some (additional) control, and so on.
Kheldians already *have* all of this - there isn't, barring not taking some power or other, something already covering the various areas. They have defense (well, resistance) in their inherent, in the first secondary power, in shields, in light form (PB) or Eclipse, in self-buffs and in Dwarf, if they take it. Range? They have it. Melee? They have it. Control? They have it. Buffs? Got 'em. Debuffs? Part of every attack.
There's basically nothing to go *in* an APP.
SOA's are somewhat odd in there, yes, but they tend to be given the brute (style) PPPs, with more of a "add range" focus. Which works fine for Widows and Banes. Crabs and Forts already have a good bit of that - but I think they were looking at the defense and buffs and saying it'd be too much (pure conjecture there.) Either that or they decided it was the only way to get you finishing the "Destiny" arcs. (That is, doing that as opposed to trying to write something new. VEAT content feels horribly slipshod and rushed to me past 15 or so.) I think the second is more likely, barring a dev statement otherwise. -
Quote:IIRC that "third in the works" is the same one that's supposed to be a unique IP, and has been nothing since concept art since.... well, at least since I started playing (around the same time as the reg date.) That one is strictly in the "I'll believe it when I see it" category (see also "Duke Nukem Forever.")Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood
Their business model appears to involve cranking out MMOs as fast as they possibly can (CO, STO, and they've said there's a third in the works).
-
Quote:I wouldn't actually put Hellgate: London in this race. Yes, it failed, but not necessarily because of lifetime subs. It failed because they tried too much at once, and didn't really define what they were or what they were trying to do. Really simplifying it, feature creep and dev wishlists started it on the road to failure when they couldn't control themselves. The rather fractured community and who received what content didn't help either (nor did the way some of the development and "community" staff treated the playerbase - such as the "Who the **** plays LAN anyway?" blowoff... by the same person, IIRC, who got hauled over to cryptic and did their non-apology apology for trying to farm the forums for subs.)Originally Posted by je_saist
mostly because it's a horrible idea that's dragged out because Champions Online and HellGate London did it. Nobody stops and thinks for a second about what happened / is happening to those games.
They. Failed.
If they'd decided specifically to be an FPS, they wouldn't have had "elite" vs "non elite" vs "single player/LAN" content, and could have come out on a regular expansion cycle. If they'd decided to be an MMO, they could, again, have worked out an expansion cycle and dropped the single player/LAN stuff (and not had two models, necessarily.) Of course, had they removed *bugs* and worked on *performance,* it would have been nice (I could, back when I had it loaded - no, never subbed - go into a station and be there for several minutes before the NPCs graphics ever showed up. And I could not *stand* the dialog or voice acting, for one.)
They had no clue what they wanted to be, and that doomed them. -
Quote:Of course, even then, I don't think just the *hero* ATs would have been balanced by the time COV came out with its own ATs. Even with ED in place early, I think we'd have been chasing "balance" all over the place.Originally Posted by Reiraku
In a way, yes. They went through what was essentially 4 issues of PvE oriented changes and balancing before PvP was brought in. Had it been there from the start, it's not hard to imagine how things would have been different. ED and GDN might have been an issue 2 system instead of 5/6.
As much as I like it, I'm thinking "balance" in any form needs to be mostly ignored in this game, with a simple "Team for PVP" declaration. Aion, for instance, is simple - both sides have the same 8 classes to choose from, with mostly the same powers - and it STILL gets tweaked. We have 12 ATs which internally can vary wildly in effectiveness, strengths and weaknesses - and even having the same powerset on a different AT can lead to somewhat different results. -
Quote:Bocor is the only one I ever get a voice for.... and an urge to get a drink. I've heard that voice for him from the first time I saw him.Originally Posted by Spectreblade
For me, I always imagine Mr. Bocor having a cajun accent.
Edit: Looks like D_R mentioned him as well... -
Quote:With flowing, moving hair.Originally Posted by Golden Girl
Statesman should stay exactly the same - it's distinctive
>.> -
Quote:Eh, I don't know about that. There are plenty of alternate ideas for a "netherworld," though personally... I'd expect quite a bit of atmospherics, somewhere between Dark Astoria and the 'fogs' in some Cimerora missions. But darker. Generally harder to see and navigate... It might be an interesting setting.Originally Posted by CapnGeist
The Netherworld is Hell, simply put.
Also, Fleeting:
Think land, not group. Enough magic floating around, who knows where some of it's from, leads, or opens up to... "The Mu" as a group don't, I agree.Quote:Also, the Mu don't have anything to do with the netherworld. -
Quote:The above says march, and we've heard the "And you'll be able to play with your dual pistols" bit with the double XP weekend. Take what you will from that.Originally Posted by bzald
thx Memphis_Bill that helps somewhat
questions
1. when is the COH:GR Expansion available to pre-order? i keep hearing march but if march 4 is dbl weekend is that when it becomes available?
My understanding:Quote:2. what is No prePURCHASE (retail can do preorders.) i've never heard of a game where you can prepurchase it preorder and put down whatever money you want on it sure
Prepurchase - pay in full up front ($29.99,) get it immediately on release. Especially digitally, it's added to your account and ready to go as soon as they flip the switch on the server.
Preorder - Retail. You can put, say, $5 and reserve a copy, but you still have to go pay for the rest of it (if you haven't beforehand,) pick it up and install it/add it to your account.
Basically, prepurchase = digital, preorder = retail.
We don't know yet.Quote:3. what is this COH:GR Complete Collection Item Pack i do i want it
The expansion (NOT issue 17! GR!) is going to have new zones, the ability to start in praetoria with all the storylines there, switching sides, and whatever else they haven't released information on.Quote:4. im still waiting to see what will be in the box powersets, new zones, new storylines etc i know will be on box, still looking to see new end game on box. in regards to Digital the site where i order from i figure will have info.
As far as ordering digitally, NCSoft Store is a given. I'd be surprised not to see it on Steam. Anywhere else is a guess. -
So the rundown:
COH:GR Expansion
Cost - $29.99 (€19.99 / £17.99)
Prepurchase available: March
Requires COH/COV
No extra game time
Only option for early access to Dual Pistols and Demon Summoning
Digital ONLY.
COH:GR Complete Collection
Cost - $39.99 (€29.99 / £26.99)
Does not require an existing account (new players want this pack)
Includes game time
Available Digitally and Retail
No "goodies" for retail preorder (like prestige sprints or arachnos helmets.)
No prePURCHASE (retail can do preorders.)
Available July
COH:GR Complete Collection Item Pack
No cost announced
No game time
Upgrade for COH:GR expansion
Available launch day July. -
You'll get some build advice there, as well. Don't look at it and think you have to redo everything or relevel - When you're ready to tweak your build for PVP, go to a trainer and start working on your second build. You can switch between them every 15 minutes.
For instance, mentioning nin/nin, I think that combo's only available as a stalker. For PVP, you're going to be advised to take the Stealth pool - Hide is good enough for 95% of PVE enemies, but an experienced PVPer is going to have far more perception (at least with a PVP build) - and some sets can see through your basic Hide to begin with (Ice armor, Super Reflexes, any VEAT, for starters.) So you'll want higher stealth - thus the stealth pool.
Also, the "rules" on how powers behave in PVP are far different than how they work in PVE. (Example: In PVE, you have mez resistance. You don't notice stuff trying to hold you unless they finally stack enough holds to break through. In PVP, it's resistance - every hold that lands WILL affect you (simplified explanation,) it's just a question of how long.) You'll have to learn to deal with travel suppression (don't take teleport,) diminishing returns and more. You'll also likely be looking into IOs (a stealth IO to begin with, to stack with hide and whatever other form of stealth you pick up.)
Expect to have a lot to learn. Don't get frustrated.
Oh, you'll probably want to specify if you're looking at arena or zone PVP, too - for the first, find a good PVPing SG and train, train, train. -
Since quite a bit was covered, a few things you may want to know:
1. "Emphasis on science" - Origin doesn't really do a lot in the game. Other than what you're seeing right now
(choosing the starting group, and that's only heroside) and, later, what dual or single origin enhancements you can use (all origins have the same ones, they just have 'origins' of their own) it's mostly a flavor thing, and a holdover from very, very early in development.
So, if you're looking for a group, discussing your build or the like, concentrate more on "I'm a (primary/secondary) (archetype) at (level,)" more than "I'm x origin." (For instance, my first 50 was an Electric/Electric Blaster. Doesn't matter she was magic origin.)
2. You mention it's your first mission. Want to make things easier? Street sweep on the way - it doesn't take all that many enemies to make the next level - which will, of course, make what you're fighting easier to deal with. Just don't fight things that are red or purple (names) - indicating difficulty. They're higher level and, at low level (sometimes at high) will hurt.
3. Vahz are a pain.
4. Earlier someone said "slot for accuracy." I'd agree - but also slot for endurance reduction in your attacks. It'll help you keep from running out of steam early on. -
<nitpicking the nitpicking of the nitpick>
Quote:And I'd say it's more like "NCSoft was really irritated that staffing was cut down that much, slowing development in general, and decided to fix that when they bought the IP."Originally Posted by Lothic
<nitpicking the nitpick>
I contend part of the reason they were able to justify ramping up their staffing was that they knew they had definite player "wish list" content like Power Customization they could accomplish that would make their game more desirable to play thus providing more profit to the company. Players constantly asking for things like that motivated them to get the manpower they needed to do it.
Which doesn't necessarily contradict you, mind, as seeing a wish list of "technically possible, manpower-ly not" items probably got to NCSoft as well.
Plus I had to nitpick back.
-
Quote:Like so?Originally Posted by Shadowclone
I got an idea! You know how emotes can cause objects to appear? IE: alakazamreact, drums, floatbooks ect. Why not make an emote where you go into a sitting position and a chair appears? You could have different emotes for different chairs even. This would be a rather simple, I believe, solution w/o reworking the games system.
-
There are bits of AI I'd like to see change - heck, it wouldn't really need to be "AI" as such.
For instance, patrols that actually alert others in the area (not "spawn an ambush") when attacked or when they see you. I think I posted about this before - I'm thinking of (several) mobs in Aion that either call out "Enemies spotted!" (and gather everyone in an area to them as they attack you,) or that aggro other enemies to you as they run away wounded.
It's just odd, here, to (say) fire at a Crey Security guy, have them run right into another mob as they get finished off... and have that other mob just sit there like nothing happened. Hello, one of your own security guys died right in front of you and bled on your $800 Italian leather shoes! -
OK, get your head out of "I want" land and look at it from the developer and publisher perspective.
WHEN does a lifetime sub make sense? Not as a promotion several years down the road - offering "6+1" or "12+2" months does, and this game does that.
A new MMO needs money right from the get-go. The time when a developer has just sunk a bunch of money into development, and - if they don't self-publish and maintain on their own - has to get their investors paid off ASAP so they can work on *profit* instead of digging out of the red.
Of course, to make that enticing, there has to be good reason to *have* lifetime subs - reasons you follow up on, other than just "don't pay for the rest of your time here." As I recall, Hellgate, while it didn't deliver, had one example (items and the like - which, of course, divided the playerbase further.) CO... gave STO subs. (Which I still think showed an utter lack of faith in their own game.)
Now, does COH need a massive cash infusion? No. Their initial investment, and that of NCSoft, was paid off LONG ago. It has been a successful MMO - successful enough that NCSoft bought it from Cryptic, brought over all but one of the developers, and gave them ANOTHER cash infusion (as well as a new building, staffing increases and the like.) They would not have done so again had they not been already profitable.
If you want to see what NCSoft does to games that are not profitable, I can give you four words - "Tabula Rasa," "Auto Assault." Tabula Rasa, quite frankly, didn't stand a chance in hell without getting and maintaining a huge playerbase after some of the Garriot cash infusions. It would have gone down, most likely, even WITH lifetime subs (and how do you think those theoretical TR lifetimers would have felt?)
A lifetime sub offer, *now,* does nothing to help NCSoft or Paragon Studios. Yes, you may get a spike of income - a few may even be new players - but how much of your MONTHLY income do you lose as diehards convert to the lifetime model? What does it do to your budget projections? The money you would be getting from those subs stops right at the lifetime purchase.
We're playing a six year old game. A game that has a track record, a reasonably stable population, and a history of being profitable (even without origin packs and the like.) Why would they suddenly want to cut profits they can otherwise pretty solidly count on?
It would be bad business, and bad for the game. (This is also the reason it's mentioned it would be a red flag to the rest of the industry - a game that's been steady and profitable suddenly throwing up a short term "we need cash!" is going to raise questions - namely "Why" and "What's going wrong?") -
Quote:Yep.Originally Posted by Ad Astra
Wasn't Hasten 6-slotted with Recharge Redux considered to be one of the "problems" addressed by ED? Or Fast Healing for /Regen 6-slotted with Healing?
/unsigned. -
Most games, you'll see a bunch of people around because they're having to run around outside where all the mobs are, gathering fig leaves, waiting for a world boss to respawn, etc. Here, everyone's in instances. If you're calling it "dead" because you don't see many people on the street, well, nobody has to *be* on the street. (Mission teleporters, base teleporters and the like make it even faster to get places - and completely skip some of the travel involved.)
As far as "time of day," well, when ARE you playing? Some servers do end up with (say) much of the Oceanic crowd. No, you don't have to "set your alarm clock" or "plan around a game" - if you're playing now, when you're posting, you've got people (aside from the dual pistols beta) at work, in school and the like.
Hell, I'm eastern time, and at work now. My schedule means I don't get to play except very late at night or in the mornings - hardly prime time - and I don't have issues getting a team, regardless of server. (And no, it's not name recognition - I keep my global private, and have quite a few characters. Besides, not much of the population is on the board.)
Besides - if you think this game is content light, I don't know what to tell you. (Plus, Cryptic doesn't own or run the game, hasn't for years.) -
Quote:Actually, there's quite a bit to sit on outdoors (which might be seen as a negative for this) - ledges, rocks and the like as well as chairs/benches.Originally Posted by Slope
I think good starting points would be Pocket D and bases because those are both the majority of Rping sets. For most parts of the city there are just benches, not many chairs or couches outside.
Also what about sitting on counters? It's even more useless than sitting in chairs but it kind of represents laid backness and calmness, which is useful in a lot of RP stories. -
Quote:<nitpick>Originally Posted by Lothic
I seem to remember when this was suggested years ago that the Devs basically told us it'd be pretty hard for them to do. Of course they said the same thing about Power Customization as well.
The reason we finally got Power Customization was that there was a large and vocal group of people constantly asking for it over the years. Unfortunately I don't think there are nearly the same number of people harping on them for this kind of QoL improvement so the chances it'll ever happen here are greatly reduced. *shrugs*
Reason for one is not the same as the reason for everything being "hard to do." We were told not to expect power customization because of the exceptional amount of work it would take to bring it to fruition (as in "years") - but the dev team, at that point, was the 15 person skeleton crew. When they got more people, it became possible. THAT is the reason we got power customization - not just because of people asking. -
As mentioned, they were put in the zones where lacking vertical travel makes things more difficult. They were not put there as a convenience for level 1s.
Besides, you can zip through to level 5 in no time, get your newspaper, and have a jet pack free for doing your safeguard/mayhem. Villainside, you can even get a second one via Marshall Brass. -
Quote:I'd like some new ones as well (with better stories behind them than the VEATs, tyvm.) I don't think the devs want to tie epics to a side any more, though. (Plus, Nictus = villains. They want to feed off of and/or eradicate the Kheldians as well as take their hosts by force, so I don't see that being a good heroic reward. *cough*)Originally Posted by BrandX
Or better yet! Make new Epic ATsthat have to be unlocked using those same TFs.
Moonfire = Nictus
Renault = Coralax
YAY! Always wanted some new epic ATs!
However, I'd love to see Coralax - with "separate but equal" content (unlock it either side unlocks for both sides, with differing arcs - think Rikti traditionalists vs restructuralists.)
All that said, after considering it a bit - a TF as an option to unlock, sure. Mandatory... no, that I can't get behind. The idea of a story arc, though, to unlock them - that, I like. -
I wouldn't mind seeing it - kind of an "auto homing butt" when you use the current sit emotes.
Don't know that it'd be feasible, as it'd probably mean adding more points to the character models (something that hasn't been done for belts and tails being separated, or arm/thigh details, etc.) but if they revamped the characters to add that sort of thing... sure. (I'd rather it work with the existing emotes as opposed to a right click, as we do have some variety in the emotes already.)
And yes, TBA, I also wish those base items would be fixed. The SG tables make everyone look like little kids at the 'grown up table' at thanksgiving.