Statesman_NA

1. DA, Ice Armor, Stone Armor - the f/x are going throug a redo and the powers will be made stackable. I'll tell you when as soon as the schedule is solid.

2. The changes to Fear are being worked on now.

3. Tankers have top priority post Update 3 to get their increased mob control abilities. I'd love to tie this to some twinks to Controllers - so that both have a good role in mob management - but I can't make any promises about that in particular.

4. Many upper level villain groups will have the # of minions w/ a stun power decreased dramatically. More specifically: Carnival of Shadows, Malta. Sappers will one to a spawn, rather than a current maximum of two.

5. The massive AOE Alpha Strikes will be addressed shortly after Tankers get their due.

6. I do know that Unyielding Stance and its immobility is an issue. I'm going to be thinking about that a lot in the coming week.

Here's an Update on other things....

1. We're not changing anything imminently on Electricity Blast. But we know that many Blasters find that it's sub par.

2. After analysis, Scrappers CAN NOT reach the same levels of resistance as a Tank. Regeneration, though, is a small concern.

3. +1 level mobs are now appearing in the numbers that we had wanted in missions.

If you've got anything else you want an update on, feel free to post and I'll TRY to answer questions. Please don't ask things about future features...I'll be happy to communicate the status of the "big" questions that appear to come up over and over again.

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ive been hearing that on the next update that is due on december 28th???? that max level will be extended to 75. but i can not find anything about it. i would have dismissed it but i've heard it from 3 other people. on 2 different servers..????


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[censored]? What are the devs smoking? Are they cr8zy?

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No one wants to go to shadow shard or the crash site and I cant say I blame them.


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And that's why those zones will get some attention...

Shameless *bump*

Because I gave away SO much at the talk...I want everyone to enjoy the info!

Both Archetypes have brand NEW power sets.

In fact, there's 16 Primary Powers and 16 Secondary Powers.

Yep. Not 9. 16.

And there's Shapeshifting. Of a sort....

I'll say just two things.

Peacebringers.

Warshades.

LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN!

We're going to be dipping into missions of ALL levels and improving the art, AI, etc. with every Expansion. There's a bunch in Expansion 3.

Just to give you a stat side...

The success rate on the respec is a tad over 75%.

Actually, Expansion 3 has two Epic Archetypes AND many, many Epic Power Pools.

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Content is details like Lou's Garage, one small example. Frostfire's mission is another. Still these are only minor graphics and model changes, something I myself can do to this game in less than ten minutes with Adobe Photoshop.

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LOL.

Yep - we've been going back and customizing a bunch of early level stuff. One of the big assets to City of Heroes is that players LOVE to roll up and play tons of characters. As a result, I want to make sure that the old content gets freshened up.

To sum up: on every expansion, we'll be customizing art & software for many pre-existing missions. So sometimes, you'll see something new in something you've done before.

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The devs didn't think ahead, everybody exploited and it will probably be fixed next year.

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Um - actually, this is exactly how we planned it. We had fun with it. And people seem to be having fun with it (hence the several threads). So, um, no, this isn't exploiting, IMHO.

Positron all the way on the rock.

Brilliant. Just brilliant.

Thank our producer & Positron for the "trick or treat"...

Thank Manticore for the cool mythology....

And the Coven are NOT Carnival of Shadows guys...they're something else altogether. Hmmmmm.

To all those who helped test the "Trick or Treat" portion of our Halloween event.

And don't worry - it'll be available in ALL City Zones and ALL levels.

BTW, we've got another "trick" up our sleeve for Halloween. MMMMWWWAAAHHAAAAHHAAAA.

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If this was a prelude to Issue 3, then it would have to drag out for a very long time, which would make the final release of the issue somewhat anticlamactic.


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I'll let you in on a little secret: this is story is just the tip of the Issue 3 story. Folks, this is the start of A Council of War.

1. Skills won't be required for mission completion.

2. Skills won't create temp powers; these are skills like "History", "Forensics", etc.

3. Skills do not impinge on the combat mechanics at all.

4. Skills are NOT required. You don't need to play with them at all; but they do give rewards...

5. Psychology is in there. Never fear.

Skills most certainly will NOT be limited by origin.

It's skills. Yep folks, a brief description is in the Dec. issue of Computer Gaming World...

The system ended up being a lot more involved than initially thought. And I didn't want to rush Skills out the door and jeopardize it's quality. So I pushed it off to a future expansion.

However, everything in the CGW article is 100% accurate. It's a nice overview of the system. And, as always, we'll be posting more info on it as we get closer to its release. We have a general policy of posting weekly updates that discuss an upcoming Expansion (see Wednesday's Fifth Column article on the front page, for instance).

Feel free to post questions/concerns on this thread. I'll check back and see what I can answer.

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#1 End drain only works if they're fully drained, partial, it's a no go.


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Ooops. That's not true. Some AV powers require an amount of Endurance - so that if the AV doesn't have it - he can't use it. So bringing one down to 0 isn't exactly necessary to have an impact.

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States, I hate to be rude, but if you seriously think that an electric blaster's drain can be helpful againest an AV, you obviously have never played one.


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Let's not put words in my mouth here...a SINGLE electric blaster DOES drain endurance from an AV. BUT definitely not enough to make an impact. All secondary effects against AV's are resisted...it takes several electric blasters to make an appreciable dent in an AV (just like it takes many heroes to bring one down).

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I have only two outstanding complaints about the Hollows, and one is that mobs are spawning literally on top of players. (

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Now that IS definitely an issue. Looking into it.

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Also noted are the large number of mobs still spawning together in Hollows...also mind numbing number of Lt's per minion in said groups.


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That's not a bug. The Hollows is a Hazard Zone - just like Perez Park. It's spawns are designed for small groups of heroes. If you're a solo player, you should be able to avoid the spawns, if you're careful. If you're hunting, then find a friend.

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Fact: Outcasts and trolls are far more powerful than they ever used to be in relation to their level, and are FAR more powerful than any other mob at thier level. At level 5, you are fighting things with ballbats, shotguns, sledgehammers, electric zaps, and zombie barf at worst.

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This was a serious error in design. We've already toned them down once - and we're going to be equipping them with weapons similar to those used by Hellions and Skulls at that level.

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Fact: Despite the fact that yes, the initial Hollows run is a mission, and you can indeed ignore it after clicking on the contact, at no point is that made obvious. Like most newbies, they will click on the contact to complete the misson, see "Ask about available missions" (which is displayed at the bottom just like any other contact, but UNLIKE any other contact that is part of a "go talk to X" mission, even if you have that contact yourself already. Even if you have that contact yourself, you must close the window and click again to access contact functions), and go from there.

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You're right. We're fixing the text to make this clear.

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Fact: The missions you did before the Hollows were far easier than the missions as they stand after Update #2, with consistant +1 spawns (an admitted, but still unfixed, bug), mobs packing far more firepower, patrols, and all at a lower level for encountering them.


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Patrols have been cut in size by half. The mission difficulty fix is being tested on the Training Room server.

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I think the DEV team made the mistake of actually listening to the relatively small number (those who post) who said this game was too easy.


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Nope. The real reason is that we got rid of front loaded missions and this caused a bug.