Nethergoat
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Posts
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Joined
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my 8th anniversary "reward" from CoH is that it's still here & I can play it.
Blew all my points on Street Justice & the Valkyrie bundle, which I somehow never got around to buying as part of the 'mac pack'. -
Quote:I don't see this having any relevance to my comment.Originally Posted by Tetsuko_NA
Clearly, there was a new mechanic being tested - the delivery of random rewards for bought packs. I don't think it's difficult to know that players want new costume pieces, etc. There was (and still is) substantial controversy over players wanting a random rewards system in the Store. By offering the costume elements both ways, the Dev team could have gauged one against the other, which might have given them a better idea of how well random rewards would go over in general.
There's nothing new about anything they've done with the market- it's all based on standardized, tried and true methods they know work great.
It's like when they added inventions and the in-game market. It may have been new to CoH, but the model was as old as the genre and a proven winner.
They can say whatever, but when I look at the history of the game I see gated costume bits eventually becoming more generally available.Quote:Well, at least one redname was directly asked this during beta, and replied that there were no plans to release to EO set through any other mechanisms. Until or unless I hear otherwise, I'm going to go with what the redname said.
Maybe this time it'll be different, I guess.
It's neither new nor unique.Quote:There was a totally new, completely unique (I have no idea where 'utopian' came from) mechanic in offering random rewards in the Store.
It is a novelty in this game, but that's all.
You write in a very confused, confusing way.Quote:Either the Super Packs would have sold well without the exclusive items - in which case, why make them exclusive? - or they wouldn't have - which would suggest that people didn't like the way they were structured, and further Super Pack-exclusive content will continue to be unpopular.
Last comment, it isn't an either/or situation.
My guess is they'd have sold well minus the costume bits, or with something else substituted for the costume bits, but the devs anticipated that they'd sell much better WITH them.
You don't like costumes being part of the packs- fine.
They are part of the packs, and a tremendously successful one.
The end. -
Quote:I've found the super packs to be fairly reliable in their payoffs- i mean I guess they're technically random, but weighting is in effect and the more packs you pop the more clearly you can see its influence.Originally Posted by Lothic
Sure the ATOs/Reward Merits you'll get from the Super Packs may be random. But I can't really think of any other better "first step" towards turning Paragon Points into something you can eventually convert into INF.
Basically what the others have said on this thread are the kinds of things you want to do.
I burned 10 packs on my stalker last night and made 100m selling the ATOs I got, plus banking at least 200 merits & picking up a few more bits of the Elemental costume set.
Super Packs have so far been reliably money printeries for me... -
welcome aboard!
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I'm totally getting that team TP thing even though I'm only very rarely able to play on a team...I just want my own airplane!
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Quote:This statement is totally nonsensical.Originally Posted by Tetsuko_NA
Not cheating but that they cost themselves both:
A) the chance to see of the playerbase would be interested in the Super Packs on their own merit (I suspect they would, but I dunno) as opposed to being interesting primarily due to content that cannot be accessed in any other manner - and that they specifically said (at the time) there were no plans to release in any other way (they may have reversed this position since then... which, of course, has the potential to open up a different can of worms).
Their "own merit" is THE STUFF IN THE PACKS.
It's as simple as
Stuff People Want In Packs = Winning
Stuff People Hate In Packs = Losing
Constructing the most super-terrific delivery mechanism ever invented would be a complete waste of time and resources unless they seeded the system with a bunch of super cool stuff players really wanted.
Given the history of the game with regard to costume pieces, I'd say you'll be able to buy the Super Pack sets ala carte......eventually.Quote:B) the chance to sell the EO costume pieces seperately to players that wanted them without the other items in the Super Pack.
Probably the same place you got the notion that it wasn't fair of them to put good stuff in Super Packs so that people would buy them.Quote:I'm not sure where you got some notion of 'cheating' from, though.
Again, there is no Utopian "mechanic" here.Quote:Um, okay... I was just speculating that it's possible that whomever in the Dev team that was advocating the Super Packs (which might have been all of them, I have no idea), came up with the exclusive content as a way to help ensure that the Packs might sell even if the playerbase didn't like the actual mechanic.
The entire point of the exercise is to encourage players to buy packs by including "exclusive content" as you put it.
I'm not sure why you insist on putting the cart before the horse. -
Quote:Well, taking a big picture view the answer is because you want the game to stay in business so you can keep playing it.Originally Posted by rian_frostdrake
No, they are "cheating" by taking a specific thing that previously have been purchaseable at a set price and gating it behind a mechanism that forces them to pay several times more for the thing they want by randomly awarding other things that may or may not have value to the purchaser. For a not insubstantial number of players like myself, we want costume sets, and we have paid the price the market dictated several times now without complain..ok, its the internet, so there was tons of complaint and irrational hyperbole and threatened canceled accounts by people who have been "canceling their accounts" for years now, but still we paid for the goods. we now see goods that may be of use to us, but its locked behind a mechanism that is several times more costly. and that strikes us as arbitrarily punitive. I dont want atios, nor catylists, nor merits, nor a vanity pet, i just want the damn costume, why am i spending upwards of 30 bucks for it?
This is why, back in the day, I'd buy whatever booster packs they cooked up, even if they were lame (looking at YOU, Party Pack!)
The little picture view is because CAPITALISM. -
Quote:Which are totally valid on an individual level.Originally Posted by American_Valor
And that is the reason mostly;
Purely thematic or RP reasons.
I liked playing Dominators back in the days when they "sucked", just because I liked them. They certainly weren't 'good' in any objective sense, but I had one I really enjoyed and played the heck out of while most everyone else was boycotting them and screaming for buffs.
I'm not trying to talk anyone out of not liking and playing Defenders here, but there is a substantial popularity gap which speaks to some sort of power imbalance, perceived or actual.
It breaks down here for me, as the new tutorial lets you decide by your actions if your character is a hero or villain independent of AT. I don't see anything inherently 'good' in a defender or inherently 'evil' in a corrupter. Character is defined by actions, not labels.Quote:So when the game was created City of Heroes was created with that thought process, when City of Villains was introduced it followed along that line.
But to each their own- we all like what we like and the goal is to have fun. As long as you're having fun, that's what matters. -
Quote:I attribute my approach to the relative trouble I have earning merits (pre-Super Pack, anyway- I now find myself sitting on something of a stockpile!) vs the relative ease I have earning effectively infinite Inf.Originally Posted by UberGuy
I do buy with Merits things I can't buy any other way, but I also buy things that Merits are the most per-unit efficient way to buy, and use the inf saved (or earned if I sell the item) to buy cheaper things.
I guess I could boil it down to buy stuff with the most common currency you can efficiently earn... -
Quote:So wait, you think they're cheating by adding stuff people want to a system that depends entirely on randomly awarding stuff people want?Originally Posted by Tetsuko_NA
Well, actually my argument was that the Super Packs should be allowed to succeed or fail based on player reception of the mechanic, rather than using the crutch of much-desired exclusive costume pieces.
An interesting proposition!
Would that the devs were brave enough to play fair! =P
Yes, this is clearly the work of the Illuminati.Quote:Unless, of course, it was decided ahead of time that Super Packs Would Not Fail! -
Quote:the writing for this game is mostly pretty bad. It's improved over the past couple of years, but still isn't anything to write home about. I can count the story arcs that genuinely impressed me on one hand- the Wretch arc villain side & the Twinshot arc hero side.Originally Posted by LeoninProtector
To this I must vehemently disagree. The lore is the basis of ANY game. It gives the pixels and numbers and animations PURPOSE. I can create the most amazing and awe-inspiring story for my character, but if what I come up with clashes with what the writers have written, then I need to change my story. Point blank.
I'm not going to lower my creative bar to the level of the game.
I mean obviously the game needs a storyline of its own, but players aren't obligated to pay it any heed, and to that end the less obtrusive it is the better.
An analogous situation would be the pen and paper Champions game- back in the day it had by far the best set of rules for superheros. But their 'lore' was just a weak tea ripoff of silver age Marvel, almost beat for beat. Everyone I knew completely ignored their 'universe' and ran their own stories- that was the strength of the game.
Setting and lore are great if they're brilliant- I can't imagine playing Deadlands for instance and subbing in my own alternate Western universe because the one it provides is perfectly realized. That's a world I *want* to explore and immerse myself in.
But this game?
Give me the rules as unencumbered with laborious backstory as possible so I can do what I like with them.
A generic city to fight generic crime in with my super fun character- that's all I want or need. -
Quote:Oh well.Originally Posted by New Dawn
I don't think that's a solid statement to make.
I could actually boil it down to /dev is old, outmoded and anything else would be better, but that's a bit too /jranger'ish for me. -
Quote:Yah....none of the 'repeatables' look like a good use of tokens to me.Originally Posted by SwellGuy
None of mine. I save the Reward Tokens for things I cannot get any other way.
My rule 'don't waste merits on stuff you can buy with inf' applies here too- don't waste tokens on stuff you can buy with anything else. -
if these were around a few years ago, I'd have been all over them like a starving rottweiler on a pork chop.
Now?
I don't see the point.
I mean, if they have a 2XP weekend I won't kick about it- it's always fun to get a couple of quick levels, or give a boost to a character you like but who isn't exactly a model of efficient soloing.
But most of my motivations for PL'ing have been addressed over the years-
no travel power til 14?
Now we have things like Ninja Run and Power Pool liberalization.
life without stamina sucks?
Voila! Inherent stamina.
horrible stretches where you completely run out of content?
Not any more.
long periods in the higher levels where it feels like you're treading water?
Hello, XP smoothing!
Long story short, playing a low level character these days is close enough to playing a high level one that I no longer feel compelled to hit the Fast Forward button and skip the whole tedious experience. -
for all the info on ar/dev synergy you'll ever need, check out my old ar/dev retrofit thread.
lots of players savvier than me hash out the intricacies of getting an ar/dev to the ranged soft-cap. -
Quote:I have no doubt they're out there.Originally Posted by Test_Rat
Wrong.
My traps/DP defender is standard soft capped to all typed and positional damage, and incarnated soft capped to range, while having perma hasten, and
Perma soul drain.
Please show me a /trap corruptor with similar defensive and offensive capability?
Having said that, it hardly matters what a max level, super kitted out character's capabilities are when the bulk of players only impression of various ATs is lower level play with less aggressively slotted characters.
Which is why people play corruptors in droves while defenders languish.
Players like ATs that can be solo'ed smoothly, which defenders (comparatively) do not.Quote:Solo defenders are much tougher than corruptors. There is no question of that.
Due to the better pool and in set defensive numbers defenders can be built for more offensive bonuses than corruptors could hope to match without further falling behind defensively.
I think there is balance there.
And players who like defenders shouldn't have to leverage the invention system so they can reach par with Corrupters. -
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Okay, that's more like it- molten hollows gulch full of lava!
Very cinematic.
Hop on over to the obelisk, which is even more cinematic- excellent!
There's Lumpy- figure I'll give him the usual and see what happens, although all this jazz about 'absorbing Synapse's powers' doesn't give me a lot of hope.
Well, got him down to about 1/2 health before he face-planted me...so much for the easy way!
Headed to the 88's base, which even in its unfinished state is a wonder to behold, then out to Skyway & /ah myself a handful of inspirations before returning to battle.
Ok, a slightly more cautious approach yields better results.
Build up, one shot his little igneous friend, placate him, run away.
Surf the net for a bit while everything recharges, then down a big purple and a big red and try again. Got him most of the way down, placate again, run offf and wait for build up. One more blast and he's down- AND I GRATZ on the exp, whoohoo! Doesn't get much more cinematic than that.
I get the mission complete, but Synapse is still just lying there so I go see if I should click him or something, and find *another* igneous around the other side of the obelisk- I grease him out of a sense of completeness, and UH WHAT there's a whole 'nother chunk of mission coming my way!
Get some dialog from a ghost that goes by a little bit too fast to follow, a problem I've noticed in other missions with those colored [dialog] boxes, and all of a sudden that annoying spiney Echidine is all up in my grill with a couple of ghosty friends. Take them out after a bit of a battle, have a little chat with Synapse, then whoah CUT SCENE! Haven't seen one of these in a loooong time.
Very nice!
Much improved over the CoV ones- I like the shadowy figure plotting my demise.
I do have one question though- what if I'd exited after the mission complete?
Hopefully it wouldn't have let me- I'd hate to miss the actual finale of the mini-arc.
So, a little bumpy, could have used a few tweaks here and there, but overall pretty darn fun. Visually striking, some unusual gameplay that caught me off guard, enjoyed the story, and looking forward to part 2. -
Second mish, SUPER annoying.
I think it's just me, being programmed by 8 years of play to mostly ignore the text in the mission window.
Anyway, I pop into the tunnel, jog around a bit, see some caption text, kill an orange Lieutenant just because, then all of a sudden it's raining pumicites!
Being a veteran CoH player, my first instinct is to KILL THE AMBUSHES!
Because there's only three waves, right?
And though ambushes are my MOST HATED ASPECT of playing a stalker, I figure I can take down three- I've got a full tray of insps.
And I'd have done it too, except THEY JUST KEPT COMING.
After being buried alive, I finally read the mission text.
Oh....uh, sift some rocks?
Mmmk.
Hit the Return to Battle power and zip around sifting rocks. Get the three piles, find the boss guy, swallow a giant red hit build up and put him down.
Hopefully I've learned my lesson about paying attention to the mission text.
We'll find out in part three! -
Okay, logged in my stalker Mope, who currently resides hero-side after making the alignment journey so he could hang out with the Crazy 88's on Virtue.
And, first mission of the SSA is in the books!
Overall, liked it. Fairly basic, but I really appreciated the graphic update to the standard miserable Oranbega map. Bit of a letdown at the end with the cave in- I didn't notice the appearance of the timer and was sort of wandering around the room for a bit. Spotted it finally, and had just enough time to make the front door...which was blocked. Ran around pointlessly a bit before the timer ran out.....and poof, I'm magically outside, completely unscathed. Hoofed over and talked to my contact, who could at least have had the common decency to mention my miraculous survival, being pulled from the wreckage by PPD hardsuits, but who instead carried on as if I'd been grandly and entirely successful.
I can see where anyone finding the alternate exit in time would feel like it was a hairsbreadth escape, but when there's no consequence for failure what's that worth, really?
I'd have liked at least some fluff text chiding me for not beating the timer.
Anyway, on to the second mish.... -
Popped in to check on my zombie (and only surviving*) mastermind Mr. Cadaver tonight. He was pretty close to leveling so I rand a mission, leveled and hit the market in Port Oakes. New vendor standing there, so I clicked on him...and WTH, you can just *buy* those AT enhancements from him? Did not know that- kinda lame.
Cashed in a Super Pack, got a scrapper IO which, armed with my new knowledge, I listed for 1 and insta-sold for twenty two million- there's his bankroll!
Also got two more bits of the Elemental costume set, which I like.
My lowbie trick of buying stacks of huge enhancements cheap, turning them into big Defenses and selling them for a fortune still works....not that he needs it with 22m in the kitty.
But while converting blues into purples I noticed something I don't remember from before- a 'move to market' option in the context menu! Very very nice.
All this inspired me to check Mr's enhancements- a piebald shambles of red trainings and empty slots. He just hit 12, so time to kit him out with level 15 generics....may log him out and save that project for later. Looks like I have a bit of time tonight, and I should get in some actual gameplay for a change!
*strike that, forgot about my demon mastermind...one of two, then. -
reading through this thread again, I think the title and focus should shift along the lines of making Defenders worth playing in a game with universally available corrupters.
defensively they're very similar- in practice if not mathematically.
offensively, corrupters completely destroy defenders.
Other than purely thematic or RP reasons, where's the reason to play defenders? -
Quote:LAWL!Originally Posted by RadDidIt
Considering ESP is not real, and neither is covering yourself in noxious radiation armor, this thread delivers.
in a better world than ours, that would be /thread. -
Quote:I think you're right.Originally Posted by Feather_Of_Sun
Basically, the defender archetype was rendered obsolete by Corruptor.
I have maybe ten corrupters- I'd never in a million years think of re-rolling any of them as defenders.
I have maybe 5 defenders, only one of them at a meaningful level. The other four I would re-roll as heroic corrupters in a hot minute...and now that the idea's occurred to me, that's probably how I'll spend my playtime this evening. -
Quote:small sample, but none of mine were.Originally Posted by Draeth Darkstar
I'm curious what percentage of superpacks bought was through the Paragon Reward Tokens repeatable. I have personally spent quite a bit of money on Paragon Points, but I didn't buy any of my superpacks through the Market.
My pattern seems to be buy chunk of points for something, use leftover points on super packs.
Being VIP again and having a monthly chunk of points arriving in the mail might change things- we'll see.