SilverAgeFan

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Issue 10 is a ways out, but it will bring us an update to an old familiar villain group. This group will have their power center altered

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Right, let's list all the villains that have a power centre.

1) The Council
2) ...
3) Er
4) That's it.

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Um, I don't think he means a power plant. I think the power center is game design jargon for what powersets the villain group is built around.

If so, this means any familiar villain group is possible.

So to begin conjecture:

DE and hamidon might get oodles more plant powers.

Artemis might be introduced at lower levels with all sorts of new throwing knife blaster and bullwhip scrapper powers.

Hydra might be woven into the story more with poison powers galore.

Skulls might be getting some MM thug or undead powers.

CoT might get more consistent Mu related powers.

etc. etc. etc.

NPC's For Base Decoration and SG Communication
- in short these items can supplement or replace using external SG websites to communicate SG policies, schedule events, etc.

- Combined with updated MotD's that say stuff like "SG TF! Please check with Jeeves for details, time and date. Officers please leave comments if you will or won't be able to make it!" (Jeeves of course being a copyright infringing renamed Internal Affairs Liason dressed as a butler), these NPC's could really help keep a diverse SG in the land of altaholics running smoothly

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Base Technician
Originally suggested by: SilverAgeFan
Category: any room, other/new
Customizable? Y (can be costumed using a version of the costume creator, text fields can be customized, NPC name can be customized)
Type: purchased/hired
Description: This NPC stands still, works like the bouncers at Pocket D displaying a limited single bubble of NPC text when approached. Good for communicating base policies. Put one in a lab coat near your medbay to inform all SG members that you are working towards that healing badge to improve med facilities, put one near your salvage storage to outline salvage policies for the SG, if you have a lot of SG newbies--use these NPC's to provide explanation about functional SG items, or simply use them anywhere to add a bit of atmosphere and RP flair to your base
Limitations: this NPC's text bubble can only be modified by those with edit base permissions
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Public Relations Coordinator
Originally suggested by: SilverAgeFan
Category: any room, other/new
Customizable? Y (can be costumed using a version of the costume creator, text fields can be customized, NPC name can be customized)
Type: purchased/hired
Description: This NPC stands still, works like a city representative or contact. When clicked by any coalition member brings up a text window with custom text. Who can edit this sort of text is defined by a new SG permission item. Great for coordinating events, coalition schedules, general policies, or use simply for RP and atmosphere
Limitations: as stated, these fields could be edited to any SG member of ranks permitted to edit NPC fields. Not edited via base mode. Perhaps only a limited number of these NPC's per base? Can't imagine needing more than 3 - 5?
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Internal Affairs Liason
Originally suggested by: SilverAgeFan
Category: any room, other/new
Customizable? Y (can be costumed using a version of the costume creator, text fields can be customized, NPC name can be customized)
Type: purchased/hired
Description: This NPC stands still, works like a city representative or contact. When clicked by any supergroup member brings up a text window with custom text. Who can edit this sort of text is defined by a new SG permission item. Great for coordinating events, supergroup schedules, general policies, private SG info, or use simply for RP and atmosphere
Limitations: as stated, these fields could be edited to any SG member of ranks permitted to edit NPC fields. Not edited via base mode. Perhaps only a limited number of these NPC's per base? Can't imagine needing more than 3 - 5?
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I don't know if someone else has already pointed this out or if I'm wrong, but it seems like the radius for triggering exploration badges has been almost doubled.

If so, I give this a huge thumbs up! I'm one of those few silly players who has not downloaded and printed out any sort of badge guide. I like discovering badges or learning about them via community lore (like seeing a specific title and asking "hey what zone did you find that badge in" and then going and hunting for it). I've even completed several history badges now, just through naturally stumbling across plaques.

On test, my characters have discovered at least four exploration badges in old zones that were new to me. If the goal was to make these more likely to be accidentally discovered, you have succeeded. Thanks for keeping a variety of playstyles in mind!

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For those who complain that the Archetypes who have the fewest sets were overlooked... the next planned powersets are melee based.

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Not to continue derailing this thread but does this mean we might see:

* pistols
* street fighting
* whips
* devices defense (body armor, etc. for the au natural)
and * shields soon enough?

I also have hopes that the devs have something really clever up their sleeve that breaks the mold along the lines of:

* plant/vegetation melee (no not just spines!)
* plant defenses (nope, not regen--and some of these powers to those black roses and other fairly staid DE)
* temporal shift/multiplicity defenses (or illusion defenses for that matter)
* size changing defenses (growth and shrinkage states with supplementary innates for your big or small form!)

In short, please feed my altitis.

I'm excited about the several new mission types adding variety, depth and immersion to my CoH experience.

I know the devs have worked hard to integrate mechanics with story and want us to be suprised sometimes. But at risk of spoiling said suprises, I would appreciate a simple set of icons that appears with each mission indicating the general type such as timed, wave, protection, escort, defeat all, hunt, or locate glowies. As it is, I sometimes have to decipher what the mission type will be based on the narrative text and then judge how much uninterrupted time in a play session I am guaranteed. I am not always correct. I've sometimes popped on for a "quick solo mission" before bed only to realize it is a stealth "defeat all." Ick.

I hope the Dev's remember that some of us out here families, jobs, and social lives. It would be nice as a player be able to make clearly informed choices as to what sort of both time and attention commitment we are making when chosing a mission. For example, in a defeat all mission, I can easily find a corner or cleared area of the map if I am interrupted during a play session and need to leave the keyboard for an indefinite amount of time. But with the waves of villians missions and some timed missions, that is not possible.

Don't nerf the variety or the new mission types. Just make it very clear as to what we are getting into when we speak to our contacts. Icons indicating the mission conditions would do this nicely. Yes I know this might interrupt immersion to a degree, but some of us really need to balance playtime with real-life responsibilities. This is the curse experienced by many casual gamers.

Other than that, great work on adding variety. I haven't seen all of the new missions yet obviously, but if there aren't already, I would love to see a few missions incorporate the same mechanics as the fire extinguishing event. I like how that event works like a soft "protect the target from a wave of villians" allowing a tug of war back and forth as the hellions rekindle flames. That might be a fun dynamic in a private door mission.

Can we get a direct link to the Dev Digest from the main message board menu?

I used to just click through directly to the Dev Digest from the "last post" feature on the main menu, but that won't be possible anymore as this section will no doubt have some very active threads.

Just a thought.

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No, you don't understand pvp. It's not just some dueling contest. It's being able to deal with being sneak attacked. It's doing the sneak attacking. It's being attacked by characters who expose your weaknesses, and vice versa. It's not, "my character is designed to attack tanks and so I'll only accept duels with tanks. Aren't I a great pvp player!!" What a pathetic joke.

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Whoa... easy there. I don't see where EightyGee's last post necessarily excludes sneak attacks or battles between characters that can expose each other's weaknesses. The third possibility she outlined was zone based PvP.

In fact in the second scenario, she's outlined what will happen if there is the possibility for common insta-kill sneak attacks. If it's SG consensual--like a "guild war" of sorts--she predicts that lower level characters will simply leave those supergroups after getting ganked repeatedly.

I don't know how you approach PvP or gaming in general, but for a number of us, we have limited liesure time. Logging in to play the part of a punching bag is very few people's idea of a good time, especially if their lifestyle affords only 10 or 15 hours a week to relax. I can enjoy a good game of chess, cribbage, softball, or bowling, even if I lose. Because the game is good and enjoyable. It becomes easy to say, "Winning isn't everything."

But when you create a stat-driven sense of entitlement (which is neither a ROLEPLAYINGgame nor a roleplayingGAME, but a nerdy and boring roleplayinggame stat crunch) you engender, in my opinion, a player culture where winning becomes everything. For myself, this sense of entitlement that a level 50 should always win hands down is like trying to play Monopoly with a 7 year old that says "Okay, but the Top Hat never has to pay rent and gets an extra $500 each turn. Okay?" Because it's my niece and it's cute, I'll grin and bear it. But will I seek that sort of gameplay out time and again? No way.

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Pure consensual pvp with scaling is about as stupid an idea as I have seen. I can't imagine the developers being so stupid as to do this.

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Well from what we've been told about their design philosophy, the "pure consentual" part is already a definite feature. I think those of us posting ideas to this thread are concerned that in a purely consentual PvP environment, battles that are essentially predetermined by player level are not battles that are fun or worth playing. And if one side or the other consistently runs from PvP, the same way you run from any mob that cons six levels above you, the PvP community might end up barren, with the majority of players opting for PvE play only.

But I'm sensing a distinct difference in gameplay preferences in this thread. There are some of us, myself included, who have no interest in PvP play if there isn't at least a chance that we could win any conflict we agree to. Meanwhile, there are others who sound like they have little interest in PvP play if there is any chance that they might lose. I feel that the higher level character already has a ton of advantages over the lower level one, without needing to make them as squishy as a hellion to a level 40 hero. And think about how much fun it really is to try and fight something that cons 7 or more levels above you: "Miss, miss, miss, miss, hit for six damage, miss, miss, miss..."

As far as the narrative elements of PVP go? This is not Chuck Norris vs. Dojo Jimmy Junior. This is superhero vs. supervillian. At level 4, you are still a superhero(villian). I see the level restrictions on content as a design device that permits the developers to pace how PvE content is revealed more than an end all be all measure of power in the narrative of the Paragon Universe.

Personally, I would hate to see PvP in this game replicate the adolescent thug culture of PK gankers vs zealous PK hunters, while the casual gamers get stuck on the sidelines with their brown bag lunches again. Most weeks, I have about ten to fifteen hours maximum for my playtime. I'd like to be able to participate in PvP as well. I'd like a PvP system that leaves me saying, even when I get beaten, "wow, that was a fun battle!" But if I find myself pulling my hair out, cursing the game mechanics, and feeling the majority of PvP opportunities have predetermined outcomes, I most likely won't want to play against other players.

I know the devs most likely can't please all corners of their player base with every feature. But I just hope they continue to be as inclusive of us casual players as they have been up until now. (And no, my feelings aren't hurt that I'm still a ways off from getting to play a Kheldian.)

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Is that fair?

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At the end of the day, the question I hope Lord Recluse, Statesman, and all the other devs ask of what ever PvP design they implement:

"Is that fun?" (and follow that up with, "for how long?")

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Lets say two level 4s decide to fight a level 40, well lets say they are A gravity contorller, and a lightning blaster.
THe controller manages to get gravity distortion off. Now sense he has been scaled up, that level 40 is hating life, becuase lets say he didnt have any of those special inspirations to break holds.

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It could happen, but I bet that level 40, with 20 inspiration slots has a break-hold inspiration just in case, unless he or she just got off a task force and was plum out. If that is the case, why would the player agree to a consentual PvP match? Only two scenarios I can think of: it was either a friendly match between players that knew eachother, or a brazen "I'll beat you with one paw tied behind my back" approach on the part of the level 40.

Also, as an aside to this scenario, what's to stop a fellow villian or hero from running by and helping that level 40 clear his mind?

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The problem with scaling damage up or down based on target level is that you're basically denying the higher level player the just reward he's earned for leveling his character. If a level 10 shooting at a level 40 does 40th level damage, what's the point? They should not be on a equal footing.

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I think the "equal con" idea is excellent. With all due respect, I disagree with your assumption that an equal "conning" (ala the new "monster code") would put that level 10 on the same level as that level 40.

Consider the number of powers, the range of power function, and the number of enhancements available to that level 40 character compared to that of the level 10. The level 40 has a travel power for quick getaway if in trouble, could have the full fitness pool, has potentially over three times the inspirations (of most likely a more powerful order), and has power after power that they could lay upon their level 10 foe. Meanwhile that foolhardy level 10 foe has at most 8 barely-slotted powers (including brawl) with training enhancements (unless there is a way to get DO's or SO's at ten) they can target at their opponent and is at the mercy of recharge time. I'd say that level 40, even with an equal con, has all the advantage in the world.

And the way the PvE game scales, for most archetypes, if we drift two or three levels from another player, the battle will be decided before it begins. This is fine for a progressive PvE game. But I'd like to see PvP be fun with longstanding grudge matches and rumbles between myself and my playmates, regardless of how much PvE time we've put in to any particular character. You guys are providing tons of great PvE content, but the best PvP content is going to come in the form of a player controlled archnemesis complete with hammy RP. This relationship can't be maintained if my nemesis gets online three more times a week then I do for a couple weeks and gets two levels on me.

Short of it: For me, predetermined PvP (ala SWG) = no fun. I'd love to see three level 10's with their combined tactics give a level 40 a run for their influence. I'd be thrilled to be on either side of that card game.

One supergroup to consider: the Scions of Justice.

We're a group of about a dozen older (20's through late 30's years of age) players. Most of the group is up for casual roleplay. This takes the form of in-character banter in the SuperGroup channel, the occasional "tied-in" origin, and 'toons based on characters rather than builds.

Since most of us tend to play casually (maybe three or four times a week), there really aren't any hardcore roleplay plots or threads. The roleplay is rather light and often a bit ham-fisted. (A perfect match, IMHO, for the writing often found in comic books!)

Currently, each member is permitted to join up their entire roster, but if we reach the 75 max, we'll likely cap the alts to four per member. We use the supergroup as a tool to stay in touch with players with a similar play style.

Also, since we tend to play a bit more casually, our level spread ranges from about 10 to 35. But between sidekicking, exemplars, and Alts, you can often find a few folks to team up with in the group. On any given evening, there seems to be at least three of us on, and on weekends and the occaisional harmonic conversion you can find ten or more of us around.

So if you're on Triumph and this sounds like a good home for your heroes, look us up!