SilverAgeFan

Honestly, all I'd like is an early present of another teaser of some sort. Been pretty dead around here as of late. Hoping someone at Paragon reveals something that shakes the snow globe.

GR AT expectations?

Was in on that back-to-back session on Triumph that Catwhoorg mentions and a couple failed attempts elsewhere including a single redside team attempt on Protector as that was all we could muster.

A few bits of feedback on the event:

• Map Icon for The Winter Lord Present/Portal - a lot of folks had trouble differentiating this from neighborhood markers, especially on crowded maps. Lead to team confusion for latecomers in team chat trying to sort out how to get in, where on the map it was, etc. while the rest of the team is experiencing event driven chat lag and are otherwise distracted by combat. Simple solution that may actually be easy to implement: Make the present marker a snowflake about the size of mission markers. Maybe even make it cycle colors the same way that the troll rave and Steel Canyon arson markers do. Assuming that is just a simple couple hour bit of production and asset swap, I'd imagine that problem could be fixed before the event goes fully live for real.
  
• Completability - wow. as Catwhoorg above points out, with 3+ concentrated teams (probably most folks front line characters considering this was the first night), Lord Winter and his Guardians fell in about 1/3 to 1/2 the clock timer. But then I jump over to Protector, a notoriously low population server, especially redside (sorry drunk server, love you, and you are my second home--but you are often more empty than other places ). Considering the enthusiasm and response on Triumph and what /gfriends were saying about their home servers, I was shocked that THIS was the sneak peek on Protector. It feels like without some sort of regen scalability based on how many folks are in zone, so it is AT LEAST completable by smaller groups (though still harder than 3 teams), the devs are setting us up for some bad self sustaining feedback loops with the dynamics of these events. I imagine it is too late to do anything about it this year, but definitely something y'all should consider for future events and next year's take on this (and the Deadly Apocalypse).
  
• Map - I understand the need to recycle assets and maybe I'm missing something about the mythos of this event, but why are there delapidated shacks all around Lord Winter's realm? I honestly was hoping for a stark arctic pink sky and all of us to be facing Lord Winter on some sort of mile high glacier of almost blinding snowpack with hints of glacial blue shining through here and there. This just felt like... I dunno... Croatoa remixed. Again, I realize, FAR too late to do much about this one. But the aesthetics of the zone really could use some attention. At least crank up the light so it feels like a stark cold winter morning, not foggy dusk.

Otherwise, fun event. Not sure if the snowflake emote is new or not, but first time I saw it. Appreciate that addition. Also in all my present opening, didn't get a single lump of coal. Kudos if those things have finally been removed from game. They kind of were a waste. And I dig getting candy cane salvage from the winter horde now. Fitting means of getting more of those. (Again not sure what of that stuff is new for this year vs. last, but all appreciated changes.)

An anecdote for the pro-PvPers (including the OP) reading to consider (Note that this in by far NOT the only time I've encountered something like this. just keeping it to one for brevity's sake (HA!) ):

A few months ago, I gathered up three of my mostly RP PvE friends to take some of our characters into the Pocket D arena. At the time, we all were PvP novices. When it was just the four of us, going at it cluelessly, using the buff period in matches to broadcast in character quips, we had a blast.

About 30 minutes later, a PvP vet asked us if he could join our fun. Via tells, I made it VERY clear we were all newbs, were playing somewhat in character and were just messing around for fun. The response was something along the lines of "that's cool. I can live with that." Soon after, before the first match even starts, this person then says in team chat, "Hey a good friend of mine just logged on! Mind if he joins? More the merrier!" Being good natured RPing PvErs, we all say sure.

After one quick five minute free for all, the two quickly say "Hey how about we try you four against us two?" They then proceeded to farm us for kills for about 10-15 minutes. At several junctures, we suggested reformation of teams, 3 v 3 separating those two. No avail. Soon after, we all quit in frustration. After that I was hit with about a dozen tells from both the PvP vets with advice on how to pick apart and rebuild my character to be a GOOD PvP build. When I replied saying I wasn't interested I was then told I can either stay clueless or I can learn to PvP the right way if I wanted to have fun.

Since then, NONE of these other folks have shown ANY interest in PvP, even in our closed session between friends.

So what is the takeaway here?

If the PvP community TRULY wants to enroll more of the player base in PvP they REALLY need to learn a serious degree of sportsmanship. What does this mean?

• Show some restraint. No matter how tempting it is for recipe rolls, NEVER repeatedly trounce newbs. When you play checkers with your five year old niece/nephew, you don't beat them 8 times over and then lecture them that you are doing this for their own good so they will someday learn the lifesaving mad skillz of competitive checkering. Same goes for PvP. It's just not THAT important to most of us and insisting that it be so only makes hardcore PvPers look out of touch as they suck the fun out of the situation.
• Keep the smugness and smack talk in check. Just look at all the posts already in this thread that say that the "broadcast PvP" is one of the main reasons people avoid PvP. In many sports, if you say anything near what is commonly said in broadcast, you get a warning, quickly followed by penalties, and in most pro- and recreational situations--suspensions. WHY should PvP be any different? Just because SOME people say they have skin thick enough for that sort of verbal abuse should ANYONE who is mildly interested in the activity have to tolerate it? Until any in game PvP community learns to police it's own, this will remain a huge hurdle to wider appeal.
• Split up the stars. So two vets could trounce four newbs. So what? Why were they so resistant to being split up? Because they KNOW each other's strategies so well? Because they are afraid of losing? Because they were in the same room or on vent together? Because being vets they knew that their Dom and Scrapper were a good combo for an uber PvP duo? I dunno really. But this was NOT the first time I've encountered such resistance from PvP vets being split up from their Uberness. In other PvP situations--sports again--folks are readily willing to split up and even out teams to keep everyone involved at the local ball court. Tell me why are veteran PvPers so afraid of leveling playing fields?
• Which brings me to the next thing: Cool the competitiveness. Losing ALL THE TIME isn't cool. Winning ALL THE TIME isn't cool. Not everyone plays to win. In PvP and in many other arenas in life. If you aren't in a hardcore session with hardcore players, recognize that others may simply be there for the "fun factor" and that doesn't always mean fighting the toughest nail biting battles.
• Please keep in mind many of us will not go and rebuild our characters simply so they PvP better. With that in mind, be willing to hold back, play on a non PvP build, etc etc. And be a bit more reserved with the unsolicited advice that may make you feel like an expert regarding builds and strategies. Ever been in an athletic situation, from ballroom dance to ultimate frisbee to touch football, where one person just HAS TO coach everyone else that isn't as good as them? When you guys lecture people via tells, you come off as one of those jerks. Those lessons tend to just embarrass and alienate newcomers. So unless there is a request for advice or a structured lesson, show some reserve on the tips. It's one thing if you are on the same team and showing leadership--but singling out via tells advising rebuilds, enhancements, etc. is a bit much.

Frankly, from the PvP I've experienced in this game, I don't think a majority of PvPers are really interested in PvPing casually with a wider group of people. I get the impression (wrong or right) that those that remain are very hardcore about PvP and have a hard time fathoming what someone else might get out of PvP other than their hardcore perspective on the aspect of the game. If members of the PvP community truly wanted to schedule and structure something akin to casual "rec league PvP" and could keep it casual, you may find a small at first but potentially growing audience. Who knows, maybe a few folks from such a league would find they do have a taste for hardcore and make the transition to the higher competition that regular PvPers enjoy. BUT if you start such a rec league, you should NEVER expect to move the entire league to the pros. Again, just like in sports, for many people, their interests will never extend beyond the casual engagement of the activity. It's not just because most people can't. It's because they are not interested in dedicating that much of their life to the activity. And to treat them as though they should will only further turn people off. Sportswise, it means they take their ball and play elsewhere. PvPwise it means moving on to another game or simply going back to PvE as my friends all did after that night.

Anyways, to the OP good luck with your efforts. And commendations braving the not-so PvP friendly waters of the general forum.

Dr. Alvin Nautilus

An homage to two different submersibles, one very real and in regular use for scientific exploration, and the latter I hope needs no introduction.

This could of course be his name in his bio perhaps, if you come across a more fitting hero moniker for him.

A few other ideas off the top of my head:

Captain Coral
The Sargasso Champion
Deep Six Seeker
Dry Suit Dan

on triumph, my Mer-hero got the name Pelagic Patriot. Slightly different concept. But I do appreciate a good aquatic character when I see one.

Back Items: quivers, backpacks, animated colorable and emblem-able (think how shields work) chemical tanks, stegosaurus plates, plant growth, permanent and customizable AND travel animated jet packs, glider wings and mini-coptor backpacks,

Many More Movement Animations: ninja run instantly became a Pandora's Box of want for me... sorry devs!

Bubble Helmets.

Traditional Native American inspired items for his hers and huge.

The shaggy monstrous shoulders from CoV beta screenies.

Frog feet. Frog head. I don't have any frog characters. Don't know if I'd even make one. But I'd like to team with a frog... at least on Virtue every now and then.

More animated and particle effect driven parts like steam vents, animated tails IF ever possible, and flowing clothing be it loin cloths, full dresses or what not. (I know we've been repeatedly told many of these will NEVER happen, but this is a hypothetical thread and since when has the word "NEVER" stopped the devs in the past?)

Hmm... no real flames from me.

Minor derail:

We have one friend who is gluten intolerant, so no wheat for her.
Another friend is allergic to tomatoes and all tomato products, even cooked.
And yet one more friend who is vegan (actually several vegans we know).

Between the three of them, the best they could do would be a plain pizza, hold the cheese, sauce and crust. I guess they could still make a meal of dried herbs, powdered garlic and red pepper flakes. But that's not much like role play at all, is it?

I enjoyed the event. I wish there was some sort of regen scaling code though worked into the banners so that a team of 8 may actually succeed while it would still remain a reasonable challenge when three or four full teams were present.

I did like that ToT mobs now dropped costume salvage. That was good. Once others figured this out, it reduced the risks of stray ToT mobs (at least on the servers I played on).

BUT I was pretty disappointed with the scaling code of ToT mobs when on a team. First, the costume salvage rates were phenomenally better running solo (some of us like to bank salvage for our SGs or privately for upcoming alts and with GR coming, myself and others seemed to be anticipating a big alt year ahead of us). Second, at low to even mid levels, fighting 2 and 3 +4 bosses (depending upon where in the SSK leveling system you ended up on your team) was a bit too much. It crossed the threshold into the territory of "un-fun" for me. So I opted for soloing. Lastly, if you were going for the costume badges, the ratio of costume treats to trick mobs seemed balanced for solo or duo door knocking. I found myself saying "yeesh, well if I'm going to need to keep knocking solo to get those badges, might as well keep it that way all the way through with the benefit of MUCH more costume salvage at the other end. All this adds up to an experience quite different from my memories of prior years ToTing. In the past it was much more casual. Much more social. In fact, several in game friendships that lasted years (till people left the game) and lead to many teamups actually began during prior Halloween events.

Overall, this would be my biggest criticism regarding this years holiday event dynamics: other than GM teams trying to get Jack to spawn, this year lacked that casual social nature that brings people together. The banner events tended to be high octane (mostly in terms of recruiting and getting enough heroes or villains in zone). And ToT (for me) just encouraged soloing.

That being said, if rumblings from hero con are true, that the Deadly Apocalypse represents the first of many more complicated zone events (hopefully not just seasonal), I'm a bit excited. That event DID leave me feeling like there was a reason this was an MMO not just a single player game with a steady flow of downloadable content.

Okay--I retract some of my buggery about being disappointed. I've now seen Ninja Run on characters with shields and weapons out at the same time. That is VERY nice.

And after spending more time with the new half helms and details, I see where I can merge those with existing tech details to come up with some nice Flash Gordon-esque looks.

Edit: But I still would really like to use that Warrior belt without robes... I could put it to good use...