Statesman_NA

Yes.

[ QUOTE ]
Its been announced teen and animal body types are going to be available.

[/ QUOTE ]

It has? Hmmm. Not to my knowledge. Maybe a "yes, that's on the plate." But definitely not a "yeah it's in the next update."

But, aside from an Epic Archetype, I haven't alluded to anything in specific coming out this update (oh - and the SSOCS, but that might be delayed). So maybe we will have teens and shapeshifting in.

Or maybe not.

Never fear - the time has come to begin revealing what Expansion 3: A Council of War is all about. Stay tuned. And be careful out there.

How about a title...

Expansion 3: A Council of War

I know what's in Update 3....

The increased aggro is something that's close to implementation....The increased damage has proven a tad problematic, but we're wrestling with some ways around it. I'm afraid I can't give anything definite there.

Yes, AOE damage is an issue. We're still looking at ways to solve this. So no changes are imminent.

[ QUOTE ]
Making mobs tougher and making our AOE weaker

[/ QUOTE ]

Never said exactly this. My hope is that making mobs tougher ALONE would bring AOE damage into line. But, I'm still researching different methods to solving this problem.

We'll also be tuning down Trolls and Outcasts even more - to make them like Skulls and Hellions (fewer powers, etc.).

[ QUOTE ]
Fine, Statesman, but how about the mission I had today (1 hour timed) to take out Sidokan and His Coven with my L18 Energy/Energy Blaster. The overall mission not too bad in spite of a number of +1 Astral Followers until I got to the Boss (+1 RED) who cast stuns and holds in chains so that the toon could not move, run, attack or anything until dead. He died twice trying to take the boss out and finally gave up and let the mission time out. I have done this mission before Update #2 with other alts and never had this kind of experience. Bug? I have petitioned it.


[/ QUOTE ]

It is a bug. Petition away - though we're working on a fix.

Oh - forgot another change - shrunk the size of wandering patrols.

These are most certainly reactions; had we seen this better on the Training Room server we would have changed each and every one.

[ QUOTE ]
I don't know if what Statesman said was truly the intentions or not. I DO know that this rollout went against MANY things he has said previous to this issue. I'll believe the actions for now, thank you.


[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmm. So the fact that we've....

1) rolled back stun attacks on Trolls and Outcasts
2) removed stun from Nemesis minions
3) made the Terra Volta trial easier several times
4) fixed the bug where Rikti Greater Swords were doing double their damage
5) Shrunk the level range at the entrance of the Hollows
6) Moved Contacts in the Hollows into safer locations

Does those actions perhaps support my "intentions..." about the lower levels?

I cannot stress enough - the +1 mobs everywhere are a BUG. We did NOT notice them on the Training Room server. It happens. I made a mistake. We're fixing it (though it isn't live yet).

Oh - we did make Nemesis and Rikti more difficult by giving them more powers - at the higher levels.

[ QUOTE ]
If the +1 MOB patch is being tested, it is not on the Training Room server.

[/ QUOTE ]

I didn't say it was on the Training Server. It's being tested internally.

As for Update 2 being for "power gamers", I can honestly say that there was absolutely NO attempt to increase the game's difficulty. The conglomeration of bugs/mistakes have created this impression (beginning with the +1 mobs everywhere).

[ QUOTE ]
So in other words, you're saying we definitely won't see the difficulty slider BEFORE issue 3?

[/ QUOTE ]

Heh. No matter how much I stess that I don't know a definite timeline, I'll always get quoted on a specific date.

I most certainly did NOT say that. I would love it before...but that doesn't mean that it'll happen. There's so many factors that go into any feature...It'd be foolish of me to promise anything more definitive than "soon."

I believe the fix to the number of +1 mobs is in a patch being tested. I do not know when that'll go live; it depends upon what we find in it.

Mission difficulty slider - I won't make any promises until I'm sure of a date, but I have stated I want this as soon as the schedule allows. Issue 3? I'd love it; but there's a TON of things to consider and I don't want to roll something out that isn't satisfactory.

Dropping missions is a good idea. We'll get around to it. Much like a Mission Difficulty slider, it's a "sooner rather than later" feature.

We're going to be tweaking with 22+ mobs soon...they'll be tougher, and give more XP....

Plus, we'll put in a difficulty slider (can't promise a time yet or else my producer will kill me).

Straight up punching - like a street fighting set - definitely, it'll happen, but not soon.

We ARE going to do something to the 22+ mobs...

And I'm definitely going to get to work on that darn mission difficulty slider (since the higher level people love the increased mob levels...)

[ QUOTE ]
So then what is Peregrine supposed to be???? There are groups of 8+ Rikti on the beaches. Same goes for Nemesis and Possessed scientists.


[/ QUOTE ]

Peregrine was an experiment of a "mixed" zone. A hazard/city zone. We're changing it into a more typical city zone now.

[ QUOTE ]
I am comparing a hazard zone (perez et al.) vs what you have called a hazard zone (faultline). There is no difference between a hazard zone and a trial zone other then symantics.


[/ QUOTE ]

My bad entirely - you're right - so go to Perez Park. Count the spawns. Go to Faultline. Count the spawns. Compare. Faultline will have 1) larger spawns and/or 2) tougher spawns (i.e. more bosses and lts.)

[ QUOTE ]
It is that you never become porportionately more powerful than your enemies. When this is the case, you lose the sense that you're becoming more powerful as you level up.

That's the complaint. I don't care if I'm taking on Hellion grunts or Rikti grunts.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah - therein lies the issue. Personally, I see the level 40 minion in a whole class than a level 5 minion. They're from other dimensions. They're equipped to the teeth with experimental weaponry. They're giant robots bristling with missiles.

When you say "they're not different", it's straw man because I never said that the rank (i.e. minion) changes meaning over levels. To me, the difference is, and should be the level.

[ QUOTE ]
You can call them what you like, but they are no different then what we have agreed is a hazard zone. The spawn sizes are no different for a single person then for an 8 person team. I checked that today just to be sure I hadn't missed anything.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope. Go to Atlas Park. Count the number of foes in a spawn. Go to Faultline. Count the number of spawns. Atlas Park - city zone. Faultline - Trial Zone.

On the post about the purple patch - yes, if groups could street sweep higher level critters at a wider range, then sure, the issue would be resolved. Missions, however, would continue to be simple - and therefore worthless for XP.

On the "group penalty" myth - there is a NO penalty for groups. There is an XP bonus for every member you add to a group. BUT, the problem is that the more members you have in your group, the fewer areas there are that have a challenge big enough for you. So you can street sweep more effectively with 4 or less - because you can go into areas now that were designed for groups of 6 to 8, but aren't hard enough now. That larger group is left in limbo.

[ QUOTE ]
They really ARE the very same minions. They are just dressed up in different clothing and have a few different powers. You might see them as very very different. But, many of us see them as just the same minion.


[/ QUOTE ]

True - you could put it that way (which of course, pretty much nullifies the diversity in every other MMP, but I digress), but then one could equally say, "they're the same - just more of them!"

Also - think of the technical ramifications. Let's say that 10 minions equal a hero at level 40. That means that we'd need to stock 80 minions in a single room on a mission when there's 8 heroes. 80 minions. Every room. The performance issues boggle the mind.

[ QUOTE ]
L36-40: 1 Hero = 20 minions
L41-45: 1 Hero = 25 minons
L46-50: 1 Hero = 30 minons


[/ QUOTE ]

Under this scenario, a team of 8 heroes would be facing 240 minions in a single mission room. I don't need to point out that 1) the rooms aren't big enough for this and 2) most video cards aren't good enough for this. You'd end up with exactly what we have now - small groups hunting massive spawns, while the larger groups are penalized because there's nothing challenging enough for them.

I, for one, want one. Realistically, it would happen during the summer - so next year is a better target.