Rubberlad

[ QUOTE ]
Neither are in I7 (fyi)...BUT Geko and I have talked a little about Shields. We're thinking that Shields would be a Primary AND a Secondary Power Set for Tankers - and a Primary Set for Scrappers...but this thinking might change. I'd imagine the set is mostly about Defense, but again, nothing has been designed yet.

[/ QUOTE ]

Tankers - oh god PUHLEASEE tankers!!! Defenders already got compensated with sonics and archery. Don't give them another powerset when Tankers need some fresh blood desperately!!!!

[ QUOTE ]
Brutes are more than fine as they are.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's Son of Statesman!

[ QUOTE ]
I don't yet have a theory on why the Circle is male-only, unless it's a fraternity type of thing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hang about, how can you tell they're even male under those draping robes? All we can see are glowing eyes!

Remember Zoltar from Battle of the Planets. He may look male, talk male, even *seem* male, but if there's any sign of frosty pink lip gloss, he's a she.

1) You Are the Music - David Guetta
2) Travelin' Soldier - Dixie Chicks
3) Doctor Who: Thicker Than Water (Track 4) - Big Finish Productions
4) Water Drop - Ryuichi Sakamoto
5) Livin' For Your Lover - Chris Isaak
6) Iris - Live
7) Q's Trick - Diamonds Are Forever Soundtrack
8) Van Den Budenmayer (Funeral Music) - Zbignier Preisner
9) Freelove - Depeche Mode
10) Speak Low - Billie Holiday


Hmmm... unusual shuffle to say the least.

[ QUOTE ]
That was teh priceless. Chocolate Espresso Beans for you!

[/ QUOTE ]

TOTALLY!!!!



[ QUOTE ]
Now that's something that should show up in game somehow. Nicely done, indeed.

[/ QUOTE ]
Agreed - can y'all cover over a bill-board temporarily? It really is good.

[ QUOTE ]
Calm down guys. Castle has it wrong.
Here is what I got from Pohsyb a few weeks ago:
[ QUOTE ]

The streakbreaker will force a hit if there has been a long series of misses (only for heroes)

ACC / Length of miss streak before we force a hit
>90 / 1
80-90 / 2
60-80 / 3
30-50 / 4
20-30 / 6
10-20 / 8
1-10 / 100

The random number is calculated simply by the C stdlib rand().

[/ QUOTE ]

Now there are a few things that are unclear, such as is streakbreaker stored for each attack, when is a streak considered broken (any attacks hits, or just when that attack hits etc.)

[/ QUOTE ]

If that's true, you should forward that PM to _Castle_ so he can follow up accordingly.

Heh, if a tree falls in the COH forest does it make a sound or miss the ground completely?

[ QUOTE ]
The question is whether those streaks occur with a greater frequency or with greater length than could be explained by random chance alone, or whether they occur with such frequency/length that the statistical likelihood that it's "just bad luck" is near zero.

[/ QUOTE ]


In other words, what's the likehood of "cycles" of the same consecutive missing streak also occuring consecutively?

[ QUOTE ]
As for 'Streaks' any true random number generator exhibits streaks. A good write up with some helpful visual info can be found at http://bcs.whfreeman.com/ips4e/suppl...cel/04_IPS.pdf

[/ QUOTE ]

Fun reading (really!) but now an entirely new and dumb question (forgive, forgive):

Is a streak in COH/COV terms defined as an instance of "X consecutive misses" or "X consecutive cycle of misses?" And are we talking in the case of one isolated power repeatedly clicked or any randomly selected power working through a sequence of the same probability scale regardless?

In other words, if X = a random variable (assume it makes no difference whether its the same power repeatedly clicked or several powers clicked in the course of a "streak") then:

X Misses = 1 Streak

_OR_

X consecutive cycles (X misses + 1 hit) = 1 Streak


I guess it stands out more now because I've never experienced a constant stream of misses alternated by 1 hit just on one power alone. The hit/miss ratio seems relatively even in COH (it's very rare I have a -9/+1 ratio of miss to hits in one cycle let alone repeated cycles with the same results).

It's not impossible for one person to experience this but for multiples of folks to get nearly the same results on nearly the same powers for the same AT all simultaneously? Trying not to generalize but there is an odd "community" pattern going on here.

[ QUOTE ]
It has always seemed to me that NRG mellee has really bad acc.

Let's put it this way..
I slot my NRG melee tank the same as I've always slotted my attacks, and he definetley misses way more often.

When I made an nrg brute it was the same story.

[/ QUOTE ]

Gotta agree with this. Tonight, took my lvl 18 dark melee brute out for a spin and Shadow Maul consistenly had 7-9 misses before it'd land a punch then start missing again. This happened repeatedly - miss to the 7th power then a hit, wash, rinse, repeat. This particular power is slotted with one lvl 20 ACC DO (mutant/magic I think) so it should be doing ok.

Either way, I'm fine if the 75% base acc is working but I'm getting bored REALLY fast having to sit through 7-9 misses/recharge before I can get a hit which makes me absolutely useless in a fight. I'm tempted to erase this toon and start again (and avoid brutes altogether as I don't seem to be having the same repetitive pattern for misses with other COV AT's).

Seriously, can you take one more look at acc on melee classes? Please????

[ QUOTE ]
It's "Weed Whacker". I am checking right now that this badge is attainable for the appropriate level characters so they can do Tarixus' content.

[/ QUOTE ]

One of my COV villains is named "Weed Whacker" (both in Beta and now live). Characters don't risk getting wiped because they share a name with a badge, do they?

I'm 99.9% sure the answer is no but thought I'd better ask.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Many of these in the next Update!?!

[/ QUOTE ]

Um - I think Geko meant "in the coming updates." I'm not sure whether any of these will make it into I6 or not - so let's not set up any expectations!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes and no - what he said was "There is a fairly good chance you will see many of these in the next Update," which isn't a definitive commitment about I6 material at all (and we should all know better than to assume otherwise as we wait with baited breath for the Skillset system, and vehicles, and... ) but I think it's safe to note his optimism that these powersets WILL occur *someday* - just not today.

So no, he definitely wasn't setting up false expectations but yes, he was definitely giving us more reasons to be excited about COH and COV's future - nothing wrong with that.

[ QUOTE ]
We're sorry, and apologize to players who feel they have to re-do content that they don't want to, just to earn a reward they feel they should already have.

[/ QUOTE ]

Huge respect for making both the apology and the acknowledgment, in addition to the frank explanations - all of which goes a long way.

Thank you.

Great feature but a "Mission Objectives" window that updates sudden changes would be very helpful. Maybe a message that flashes up like an Enhancement Gift? Otherwise we won't see it on the compass in the heat of battle.

[ QUOTE ]
Obviously the devs feel as you do: the content alone (despite the fact that they call it "great content") is not enough to keep people engaged in the game.

[/ QUOTE ]

*chuckle* ... the devs and I hardly see eye to eye on this, and to be honest I'm in full agreement that the game has become a grindfest.

That said, I don't agree with powerleveling as a way to side-step the monotony. I want to see this game work as it should - fun in every regard whether it's PvE, PvP, or PvS(elf) in terms of a skillset system.

[ QUOTE ]
So levelling is the carrot and nerfing is the stick and all the devs care about is how much money they can milk from the cattle that pay to play this "nerfed-up" mess.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes and no.

First off, just because I've tried to objectively identify the business sense involved behind the game mechanics (and this is a business investment meant to return profit revenue regardless of the best of intentions - which means its unfair to attribute the fiscal focus on the devs alone as I'm sure it comes from a higher CEO directive), that doesn't mean I hold the same official viewpoint as the devs (assuming there is one view). See my post elsewhere to Statesman demanding an explanation for the now-indefinitely delayed skillset system (which was quietly announced in the buried pages of a thread), and his response in kind. Talk about poor follow-up that required pulling teeth to get the full story. That said he ultimately did respond in full, and I ate crow - but happily and appreciatively in light of getting an informed response.

This game model would work best with maintained stability built into 3 *critical* gameplay structures inherently important to keeping any rpg'er (casual or PL'er) happy:

Player Versus Environment (Streetsweeping and Missions)
Player Versus Player (The Arenas)
Player Versus Self (Skillset System)

To be honest, I think the dev team is spending/wasting way too much time on balancing out the XP reward when they should be working to balance out the game's basic 3-tier shell structure, thereby laying better groundwork for future layers of content.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I do question the priorities being set forth here (look at the Shadow Shard, great idea but a slew of bugs which has managed to alienate the very playerbase it was meant to entertain - and no one's done a thing to balance it out because they're too busy working on how many feet players need to be within in each other to earn xp on a defeat so no one can PL (which makes absolutely no sense when there's no real end-game reward to PL towards) and other useless nerfs.

I'm not sure whether this is do in part to higher directives ordering the pacing of "buyable" game-time be slowed down, work-time constraints, money, lacking qualifications/availability of the hired help, or just sheer laziness to take the easy way/fix out but the plethora of unresolved bugs with each succeeding issue is disturbing. The troubles of the Shadow Shard symbolizes the overall fault of the game - great idea, flawed execution and *lousy* follow-through.

[ QUOTE ]
As to the rest of your post, I won't even dignify it with a response. I'm posting from the second of two accounts that have either expired or will shortly, and don't plan on renewing unless the devs put the fun back in the game.

[/ QUOTE ]

So in other words, you used two accounts to powerlevel yourself to the higher levels. Congratulations. I've only had the one account and took the long road up. Sure it's been a pain in certain places but I'm proud of the fact that I didn't have to "cheat the system" as it were just to feel on top of my game. I'm sorry, but I just don't have as much sympathy for you than I do the other "newbs" like me who have been playing since Day 1 with just the one account (and that's not to say one can't PL w/ one account cause they can).

[ QUOTE ]
Maybe they'll replace me with another sucker, maybe not. But I'm not going to pay to play a "grind-fest" anymore, and that's precisely what this "game" with the release of I4 has become.

[/ QUOTE ]

PT Barnum said it best: there's a sucker born every minute. That said, even Barnum initially had the best of intentions with regard to presenting fine entertainment but the man never forgot he had to make a living at the end of the day to put food on the table and clothes on his back. I think Statesman and devs have the *best* of intentions when initially conceiving and implementing this game (they're as much fans of the genre as we are, after all) but sometimes background corporate initiatives, legalities, etc take prevalence over the best laid plans and honest intentions. As much as I disagree with the Devs, I am impressed by how responsive they are. That goes a long way in customer appreciation - but getting those bugs fixed would go a lot further.

Quite franky, I don't blame anyone for skipping out on the grindfest, but I'd rather the devs spend time on fixing the overall game mechanics and cleaning up the open-ended bugs popping up here or there than trying to nerf or improve anyone's chances to powerlevel in a game as highly bugged as this.

[ QUOTE ]
Totally agree. I may not stay if I5 sucks like I4 did.
ie need more outfits, less clipping, and body tats that you can specify different locations of tat on body. And yet, still NO TRENCH COATS ????

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah! But the newest costume options weren't designed in mind of the average American/European COH player. They were designed to attract the Korean investor/player base. Take another look at the COV trailer and ask yourself who *is* that Asian hero over Statesman's shoulder that we've never seen before yet features so prominently here.

A more cautious observer might venture a guess that NCSoft/COH is setting up for Korean investors to buy out the franchise. Others might attribute the sudden "Asian" fever sweeping the game's PR and avatar model options to attract a larger Korean playbase (thereby floating more money into COH revenue directly rather than NCSoft generally).

Stateman has made a point of saying that there won't be any new costume options for COH for the forseeable future - so how else would you justify a slew of anime costume options nobody asked for? There were plently of other costume genres to go by but most of those went to the NPC's rather than the players (which honestly doesn't say much). There might be some neato costume options in CoV but we won't know until beta testing who fares better - the NPC's or the players?

[ QUOTE ]
It is nerfing the fun for SOME... PLing is hurting NONE!

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually it's theoretically hurting sales/service fee revenue for the game. The sooner you finish, the less likely you are to come back or keep logging in until new content hits the servers.

And sure, a lot of accounts went offline after I4 (not necessarily cancelled, but definitely neglected) since there was very little new content for the non PvP player, but just as many accounts are coming back online in anticipation of CoV. Keep in mind, CoH is only a year old. EQ has had 7 years to build up it's in-game content to a diverse metric that'll keep everybody entertained (which now includes 2-3 regular off/on-the-shelf expansion packs a year as customer-interest maintenance). Give CoH a chance to get up on it's feet - or isn't it possible that we've become too spoiled by other games to give this one a chance?

PvP isn't about PL'ing, which is probably why I4 didn't do so hot (never mind the numerous bugs). If PL'ing is your career thrill, you got your kicks now ride it out on Route 66 (Star Wars: Galaxies, EQ, etc have a plethora of PL'ing opportunities for you).

What else can anybody tell you?

[ QUOTE ]
Why not simply make all the powersets and power pools available at the character design screen, and let people outfit their toons there (including all the slots you would get for a lvl 50)? Damage and powers would be still be scaled to level, and missions would reward with enhancements, TF's with respecs for people to tweak their builds as they learn what works and what doesn't.

[/ QUOTE ]

But then it's no longer a game. What's the reward to playing if you can have everything up front?

[ QUOTE ]
PL'ing exists to get powers and enhancements.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, PL'ing exists partly as way of "Ha! I beat the system!" and partly because people *are* impatient to get to the higher level content (which can include powers) especially on their 2nd, 3rd and 4th time around the game (unless it's your 1st time around, in which case you want to hurry and unlock the Kheldian origin archtypes w/o stopping to smell the roses of the other powersets), and partly because some people are just plain old obsessive-compulsive about finishing a game.

[ QUOTE ]
Let people have them all up front, and you eliminate the need to PL, and the missions become worth doing again, just to get the enhancements you need to fill slots.

[/ QUOTE ]

No you don't - all you eliminate is the demand for the game itself. If I could log in as a first-time player and instantly set myself up for lvl 50 content why would I even bother playing?

[ QUOTE ]
At that point, SK'ing becomes more fun, too, because you have the powers to go with any advanced level you might play.

[/ QUOTE ]

Huh? I can't even make heads nor tails of this statement. SK is about playing with friends at higher/lower levels. In your scenario, SK'ing is completely eliminated. If I can create a lvl 50 toon, why do I need to SK? Why do I need to exemplar?

[ QUOTE ]
Furthermore, creating alts and trying new builds becomes more fun, too.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's already fun. Are you sure we're playing the same game?

[ QUOTE ]
I've always thought the notion that you had to work through levels to earn powers is a stupid way to get them, and leads to a lot of the problems all these other workarounds are trying to solve.

[/ QUOTE ]

Have you seen EQ? Depending on your class, you "level up" to attain fighting abilities and spells, but you can also work sideways with their skillcraft system (which is a leveling system on a different scale with a different aim).

[ QUOTE ]
Simply remove the incentive to level at all, and you make the content - not levelling - the reason for playing the game.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do that and you eliminate all incentive to even play the game - it'll become more of an interactive comic book movie rather than a game (and who's going to pay a monthly fee to watch pay-per-view on their PC?).

[ QUOTE ]
If the devs are as confident of their content as they claim to be, then make it the reason to play. At that point, we'd really see whether the content alone is really worth paying for to play.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bollocks. It has nothing to do with the devs confidence, and all to do with the consumers. The minute consumers lose interest in this game, there won't be a dev team - end of story. The content is worth playing/paying for - otherwise why would you be here posting comments on this board?

[ QUOTE ]
Doing this, however, would require the devs to put up or shut up about content, and I'm not sure these people are up to that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Turn it around - are we ready to put up or shut up about gameplay? The difference will speeak volumes to the Devs about gameplay moreso than this post. I know I would if I wasn't at the office right now - I'd rather be playing the game than reading this. But as it's a slow day, and your post made me laugh....

That said, could the game move along a little faster with a better XP bump here and there? Sure. But it's pretty clear that the devs can't keep up with players' levelling momentum in order to develop and institute fab new content so there's gotta be a happy medium somewhere.

I think the Devs are closer than ever to finding that delicate balance, but your post in response just doesn't even come close to helping them achieve it.

Best of intentions though, I'm sure.

Ok, so does this mean we can *play* killer mimes, or there'll be NPC's (including the mimes) that will either ally and/or attack heroes and villains alike?