REPORT:
Mayhem missions, two Level 18 players:
Sensei Wasabi, Ninja/Poison Mastermind
Akuji1, Zombie/Dark Mastermind
MISSIONS:
Both bank robbery, Skyway City, standard difficulty
BROKERS:
Boris the Russian and Desdemona Glint respectively
BUGS/ISSUES:
-Pathing of minions was erratic at times attacking partular objects.
Specifically:
Attacking large metal crates and trucks caused erratic pathing. This would typically occur if minions were directed to attack the specific targets rather than engaging them due to proximity. They would eventually home in on the target after some time of erratic pathing.
- The mission broker stated we would have 20 minutes to complete the mission, but we had 15 minutes upon entry.
This was true for both brokers.
- After being ejected from the first mission (a loss) and before entering the next mission, the mission description text affiliated with the map marker appeared to be a default text like MAYHEM_MISSION_XYZ_WHATEVER.
- Upon losing the mission (we lost one and won one), Sensei Wasabi's contact, Boris the Russian, seemed to treat it as a victory, did not reoffer the mission, and did offer Sensei Wasabi a new contact when he returned to Boris.
- Minions tended to not prioritize attacking objects vs. attacking threats. In an area rich with both types of targets, we had to control our minions carefully to make sure they killed threats first.
-Sometimes citizens would remain in one place and would not flee when attacked or approached.
-Minions would attack citizens, which were level 1, but apparently had infinite hit points and would never take damage.
-There was no apparent time bonus for scaring a sufficient number of citizens off the streets.
NOTATIONS ON FUNCTIONALITY:
-There seemed to be a "time bonus" for destroying a set number of any particular single type of destructible object - cars, parking meters, mailboxes, cans, boxes, trucks - from one to five, usually - but only one time bonus was awarded for each type of object. For every couple SWAT officers we killed, however, we would receive a 'Resisting Arrest' 30 second time bonus, and that was a repeating bonus. There was never a bonus for killing a group of Longbows, however.
- Very large time bonuses were awarded for completing "side missions" picked up by killing Hellion bosses that were in the zone. In each mission we did, we found two Hellion bosses.
However, during these side missions, groups of Longbow would sometimes enter the building and attack us as they do on the street.
-Once one understands the rules, there is generally more than ample time to complete the mission and the side-missions, by destroying enough objects and killing enough police.
-Visiting the Jail, we did not see anything in there of value other than more SWAT to kill and very large, slow-to-destroy doors. Any deaths we took in the mission were revived, so we do not know if one winds up in jail if one chooses "Go to Hospital".
IMPRESSIONS:
-These missions were something we haven't seen before in City of Heroes/Villains. They were a unique experience that was genuinely fun and entertaining, and a welcome addition to City of Villains.
-The challenge level is roughly equal to other missions of its type, and the time limit is a significant but not oppressive constraint on the mission.
-The mission appears to have advantages for Masterminds, whose minions can go on a rampage against destructible objects and rapidly accrue time bonuses. However, this bonus may be offset by Masterminds' need to closely control their minions in combat to ensure that they don't go off and destroy objects rather than enemies.
-Testers encourage PlayNC to hurry up and fix the (minor) bugs in these missions and send them to the live servers, because they are awesomely fun.
