Tally
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Posts
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yes......I know...
insert tongue wag emote -
Snow Globe brings up some great points; and it is very nice to see constructive improvements offered to make the Underground Trial more fun to play.
The discussion about being forced to take unknown or undesirable players however is really a bit distressing to me. I know this topic is not a core part of the original posting, but it just struck a nerve with me.
I am finding I despise the incarnate trials for this very reason not because I am forced to play with the great unworthy and unwashed masses but because I AM one of them.
The incarnate trials have become so complex, so time consuming, and SOOOO rewards fixated; that only the worthy are allowed to play this game content. Trial leaders have become the new content gate keepers, the high priests of the incarnate religion; they will form a trial ONLY with known acolytes. Acolytes must have the proper computer equipment, characters that are built to conforming standards, and players that know and perform their assigned role in this religious function. Trials are not about great maps, interesting game mechanics, awesome new NPC opponents and above all trials are NOT about story. The gate keeper priests are looking only for those worth of grinding for gear.
So here I am a seven year veteran, with an average computer, and a more casual story oriented play style. On occasion I may pop on my one and only badger character who is also one of my two incarnates. I have read about the various trials, and would love to see this new game content, not to grind for Emp. Merits or whatever reward; but to see the new stories and art and have a little fun.
So I drop myself into the LFG tab and pick a trial Id like to see. If I am really motivated to get into a trial I might run around to Pocket D/the Vanguard base in RWZ/The Midnighters council room and see if people are forming up. If I ever do see groups forming, which is very rare now days; I quickly realize I will never be picked by a gate keeper priest anyway. I am clearly one of the undesirables and I am shunned. Incarnate trials a wonderful new aspect of City of Heros for those deemed worthy.
My constructive suggestion is to make the incarnate trials more PUG friendly by simplifying them and making access happen via the LFG tab only. Take away the ability of the gate keepers to strangle access to the trials. Find ways to build fun and challenging trials for the majority of the player base; not just for the very few desirables. I am not looking for a CoH easy button, I dont want to get all the powers and costumes and whatever new shinies the incarnate stuff provides for no effort, I dont feel entitled to all the stuff for free I just want a chance to participate! -
Any contact that wants to teach me something I already know.....or send me to a place I have been too hundreds of times....needs to go BYE BYE....I'm looking at you Mr. How to Craft contact!
Any contact that thinks my super works for UPS or FedEx.....GONE!
Amanda Loomis....at the FAR FAR end of Indy Port.....lady......just go away....please!
But the worst......the worst by far.....the I HATE her arc contact.......Janet Kellum! Here...please fight these 400 Crey power tanks.........now......fight these 400 Crey power tanks......very good.......now there are these 400 OTHER Crey power tanks you have to fight......you are determined.......how about THESE 400 Crey power tanks.......and ON AND ON AND ON! You don't need to grind Incarnate trials to get your obsessive complusive fix....just go see Janet! -
I have tried...and tried...and TRIED PB's. I dislike the look of the forms, and who wants to be half hearted blaster (squid) or half hearted tank (lobster)...so there goes half the concept of PBs right there. I have tried human form only PB's...multiple times....multiple builds...multiple respecs; but I NEVER get past the lack of Status protection. Why in the world have all those shields...and yet a fricking MINION can walk up....bonk me with a PUNY hit....and stun me. PB's would be my favorite AT, easily, because of their versatility... heals/blasts/melee/shields...but the lack of status protection utterly RUINS the AT. There are almost no PB's running around the game...there is a reason.
Now that we have the Going Rogue options and I can make villain ATs, I have stopped making most hero ATs. Brutes are a far better balance of survivability and damage output than either a Tank or Scrapper. Corruptors do more damage than a Defender, making them more fun to play. Dominators are more fun for me than Blasters, lots of damage, but lots of crowd management tools to; only Ice Blasters are close to Dominators for fun to play.
I dislike Stalkers or MM's......just....hmmm.....not my thing. I won't even team with most MM's, especially the Demon Sumon types...I'm sure they work great and all...but the CONSTANT belching is SOOOOO annoying.
As for powersets; I really only avoid powers that cover up costumes. The Stone Tanks for example just look dumb to me.....not at all superhero-y-ish. The same thing goes for Ice Tanks...and for that matter teaming with an Ice buffer...dang those stupid looking ice buffs...I refuse to team with Ice buffers. -
A lot of the fun of the game for me is trying new things.....new costumes.....new powers......seeing how a new hero works with a new partner.....etc.
There will never be enough content in CoH......people burn through new content in a matter of days.........you have to go out and find things for yourself to keep the game fresh and interesting.....for me fresh is trying the same old thing.....with a new hero.
If I was limited to only two......I would move on to another game. -
I have done this TF twice.
The first attempt ended in failure at the Durays...a team of 4 with two gravity controllers on board.....and after an hour of frustration and failure......we gave up.
The the second attempt was a success....again a team of 4....I think just one Fire/Kin controller.....again the last section was well over an hour of frustration, failure.....and SCREAMING at my monitor as I went the the hospital ....AGAIN.....and....AGAIN.......and.....AGAIN.... ...you get the picture....but we did FINALLY defeat the Durays.
This is a pretty interesting and fun TF......up until that last double EB battle. The last battle is purely frustration......there is no other way for me to see it......I absolutely detest it....nothing fun about it.
This is a potentially awesome TF.....that I have sworn NEVER.....NEVER.....EVER.....to do again......entirely because of the disgusting Durays. Great content lost....very sad. -
Quote:So the call "BAF forming..send tell to XWZ".....repeatedly......over and over......again.......still...."we are gonna do at least 5 runs tonight peeps!"....those calls are valid and valuable?Originally Posted by MaestroMavius
You don't have to look further back than the weeks right after AE hit to understand what 'gamers' will do for rewards when allowed.
Even those opposed to PLing found themselves caught up in the feeding frenzy.
If they Dev's were to make all content reward Incarnate shinies I'm sorry to say it would be AE 2.0.
I can hear the broadcasts now. "Frostfire +4x8 incarnate farm forming now! 4 back to back runs for 10 million!!!"
"Incarnate Sewer team forming, when we reach the end we'll turn around!!"
So yeah, while on the outside it would seem like a good idea to let us decide what we want to play and still get rewarded. In reality it would fall to pieces very quickly.
I personally would expect a solo option to be half as fast as trials. Would take maybe 2 extra months solo as opposed to teaming. That way nobody would be running solo unless it was the only way they could/ what they wanted to do yet the soloers would still be able to make progress.
Who knows, a few of the holdouts might get a taste of the power and give in to the darksi... give in to the trials.
The rewards are different, you are progressing a level 50 toon; but the game experience is the same...blaaa blaaa blaaa farm forming-send tell.
The only unique challenge in doing your 30'th or 50'th or 100'th BAF, is the ability of a brain shut out the bordom and repetition and just grind it again.
I LIKE the trials, I have done them, I have repeated them, I know there are more trials coming....but the incarnate system...the content you have to REPEAT........to get the available rewards....is a boring system.
I am not asking for anyone to level mah toon, I am not screaming that trials broke the game DOOOOOM, I am not looking for the path of least resistance.
I am just suggesting greater variety, options, player choice in what WE find challenging, while still progressing our level 50 toons, would be a good thing.
So far the Dev's disagree with my point of view on the incarnate system. They have purpose built a grind fest as the only method to progress a level 50 toon. They get paid the moderate bucks to make these design decisions....so be it.......grind away.
I am a paying subscriber and have been for a long time, I am paying small bucks for the fun of CoH; and it is my right to say...as for me...the incarnate system is boring and lacks variety. -
Quote:I am suggesting people pick what is fun and challenging for themselves. I am suggesting variety. I am suggesting repeating the same trials over and over and over and over....is neither challenging nor fun.Originally Posted by docbuzzard
What a truly bizarre distortion of my point.
My point was that people would be smart, and pick the easiest path. Doing extra work is not smart. Doing more difficult or tedious tasks when then is an alternative is not smart.
If you want to make attaining something an actual accomplishment, you can't make the easiest path just as efficient as a harder one. This isn't exactly rocket science, though I suspect managing to convince you of it may require such.
Yes, and you are suggesting making it so that people can tunnel themselves into their comfortable paths no matter how trivial and easy they may be and still get every shiny without seeing the whole breadth and depth of the game.
It is not a crime against gaming to make different paths have different rewards. If I want to collect purple IOs, my best path is to solo missions set at x8. If I want to collect merits, my best bet is speed runs of TFs or Oro arcs. Hami Os obviously call for Hami raids, STFs or LRSFs. If I want shards, I will do TFs on big teams. These activities all have their independent rewards. There is nothing wrong with that.
If the goal is to make something a challenge, that the notion of becoming incarnate is something more difficult than falling off a log, there has to be specific content for it. It should be hard content, not the trivially easy content that fills the rest of the game. The content which, as you add incarnate powers, becomes laughable easy.
I have no objection to there being solo incarnate content, or incarnate TFs (Tin Mage and Apex should give more incarnate rewards IMO). However something as stupidly easy as an ITF should not give out top tier rewards. That incarnate content will have to be specifically hard, and allow for a measured pace of acquiring the powers.
Your entitlement mentality does appeal to plenty of people, but that's just a sad state of affairs.
The only challenge in a BAF or a Lambda trial.....is waiting for the league to form...the actual events are fast, easy, and BORING after the first few times. Personally, I find the current two trials some of the least challenging events in the game, and your definition of challenge a farce.
To suggest that players being given a choice of how to progress their characters is an entitlement mentality is another of your irrelevant strawmen, and not suprisingly again misses the point. -
Quote:Originally Posted by docbuzzard
In spite of you evidently not realizing it, it does. You explicitly state you want incarnate rewards handed out for all content at a reasonable pace. If the players get to pick the content, they will pick the easiest content and blaze through it. Whether or not you in particular will do that is irrelevant. It is how the majority will behave.
Nope. You just don't understand the dynamics of how people play MMOs and the inherent implications of your suggestions.
You are actually suggesting player/subscribers are inherently too stupid and lazy to pick the RIGHT content....and the Dev's are obligated to steer the stupid masses to the proper path.
I completely disagree.
I believe the Dev's responsibility is to encourage players to experience to full breadth and depth of the game of CoH, to encourage the players to pick what is fun for THEM from many options, to create and grow a game with many branches of character progression to allow for the vastly different playstyles and circumstances that each individual player/subscriber brings to the game.
If some players have more fun progressing their incarnate running solo missions, and others love TFs, and still others want to be in something huge and epic like a trial; who are you to say they are wrong?
Your narrow vision of what is worthy content will only appeal to an equally narrow percentage of the player/subscriber base. -
Quote:Nothing in my post mentions difficulty.Originally Posted by docbuzzard
Sure, let's make incarnate advancement available through the easiest possible means, without even a modicum of difficulty.
Heck, why don't we just hand out the powers to anyone who logs in?
Since we're on that note, we should have everyone auto advance to 50 when they make a new alt as well. Why waste their time with all that 'work' of leveling up?
I suggested players get rewarded to play......as THEY like......not grind a tiny portion of CoH content deemed by the Devs as the sacred playstyle.
By the by; since you seem to have a false impression of my playstyle...I have played since Dec 2004....I have dozens of toons at every level.......multiple 50s......two 50s that are using the incarnate system as it is built....I very rarely TF for the usual reasons...participate in the current two trials enough to equip the two incarnates as far as I want (strongly disliking the repetition to get as far as I have)....and I have never NEVER power leveled a toon.
I am seeking to play the full gamut of CoH content, when and how I choose, and be rewarded in a way that allows progression of a level 50 toon. I am not seeking exploits, easy leveling, someone else to do the effort of progressing a toon. I am definately NOT asking to eliminate the trials, I think they are fun enough to do a few times, and some people love to farm them...if that is your playstyle...have a happy. I just want the rest of CoH to count too. The old game of CoH is being ignored for the sake of grinding a very small amount of new content...I find that to be a sad state of affairs.
Your post is a strawman that misses the point. -
I appreciate the concept, but this suggestion does not solve the flaw of the incarnate system.
The incarnate system is a developer INTENDED grind....do this trial........now this one.......now repeat......do it again........and again.......and repeat........again.......over.....over......
The way the system of progressing a level 50 hero/villain is constructed you have to repeat a very small set of content, you have to repeat it, you have to GRIND it, you have to do it over and over, and then repeat it more!
Granted, you don't HAVE to participate in the grind, but you can't progress your beloved level 50 any other way either.
Issue 20.5 will add one more small piece of grindable content....whoopie!
Your idea while laudable, again adds a tiny, although thankfully solable, piece of content.
It would only result in a solo grind verses a team grind....but still a grind.
How about Incarnate rewards, beyond the hopelessly inadequate shard drops, are built into ALL CoH content and are available to any qualifying level 50 toon? Why not let the individual player/subscriber decide what is fun to play, and reward their efforts whether teamed or solo at a reasonable and challenging pace!
This whole....repeat......repeat......again........agai n......repeat.......again........design path being aggressively pursued by the current Dev team is a MAJOR bummer! A solo grind is not much of an upgrade I'm afraid. -
Quote:Bikinis...they're not just for.........wait....nm.Originally Posted by Eva Destruction
How about we have Levantera wearing what she's wearing in the RWZ to do the briefing. A briefing is kinda pointless when half the people you're talking to are paying attention to something else.
Pants. They're not just for guys anymore. -
You know, I actually hate the BAF cutscene more for the point of view, then for the poor quality and repetitiveness of it.
The BAF cutscene treats everyone like they are in a movie theater watching the bad guys have a chat; we are treated like the audience.
I for one do not appreciate it! We the players are super heros/villains, entering the BAF in a desperate bid to stop Emperor Cole from gaining the power to attack our world. We the players are THE action!
This cutscene should take place in a Vanguard briefing room and should involve Dark Watcher or someone equivalent, telling us what our mission is and why it is so important...immmerse us in the story.......let us participate.....WE are the story!
If you have to have a woman with large..erm.....if you have to have a woman.....then have Levantera in a bikini do the briefing! -
1: Allow management of active contacts. Let me move all the crap tutorial contacts to the inactive tab if I want to.
2: Eliminate all the Fedex missions....this probably doesn't belong in a QoL list.......but geez those are nothing but annoying....and make CoH life worse not better.
3: Re-invent the invention system! Why oh WHY do we have GET the stuff in one location, and then have to hoof it to a different location to MAKE the stuff??? Put invention tables in every Wentworth/Black Market.
3b: Install Wentworth/Black Market purchasing/selling systems into the bases!
3c: Make all the Wentworth/Black Markets into their Praetorian equivalent with a high quality interior environment with power supression......GOD I hate having a Master Mind standing next to me with their Demons belching........or some VixenFoxHammerBabe Dark Defender spewing her hot PINK darkness aura all over the place!
3d: Does anyone use the Arenas??? Chuck all but one of the Arenas...maybe leave one in Galaxy City for heros since nobody goes there....and put a Wentworths/Black Market into every non-hazard zone!
4. Allow Midnighter members to teleport directly from Ouroboros to Cimerora.
5. Fix the lighting at every Facemaker/Icon location......so I can actually SEE what my suit looks like! The Pocket D and Vanguard locations are particularly BAD...but none of them are good.
5a. Put the Praetoria costume editor into a building! Costume editing.......outside.....in the dark.....during zombie attacks......and Winter Lord attacks........really.....REALLY?!?! -
Quote:Originally Posted by Quasadu
My expectation is that there will be a new tier of salvage and components like Shards or Threads that will be used to craft the next wave of Incarnate powers. Whether these will be introduced with the next wave of trials depends on whether those trials are related to the new powers or the ones we have now.
The reason I say there will be a new salvage for the new powers is the same reason we got threads instead of just using Shards again - the Devs will not want everyone to be able to stockpile enough components to just have everything on day one of the new powers going live. They will want you to do the content.
They want you to do the .....CONTENT???
Two trials...repeated dozens of times......is content??
lol content Issue 20. -
Nice ship....that would be an Arleigh Burke class destroyer for those interested.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arleigh...lass_destroyer -
ok
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Begin to re-write some of the old CoH contact stories...Janet Kellum (absolutely VILE arc) would be a good place to start...many of the legacy story arcs are really poor.
Give me the option to remove unwanted contacts from my active contact list. I am NEVER going to use most of the for new player contacts/tutorial contacts...i.e. the AE contact, the crafting contact....etc....yet they sit forever on my active list.
Now that Dev Castle is gone (sadly)...can we re-attack the human form only PB/WS getting some status protection debate?
One idea would be to make Stimulant an area effect/team/ including self power...instead of a targetted to a teammate only power.
Another possiblity would be creating an IO set that could go into Resist Damage or Defense powers...that had various status/mezz protection effects.
It has always bothered me that human form PBs have shields to make them somewhat durable.....yet can be EASILY chain stunned/slept/ etc etc ETC.....to death....by virtually any minion with status effects. Even with Kheldians unlocked at level 20....I very rarely see them around...likely because they are the most gimped AT in the game.
Some base love....any base love.
Scaleable TFs that can be done by 2 people. I very rarely team beyond a duo...so the Groups Grinding for Gear (GGG) design direction this game is wandering into, with all the constant TF emphasis, is leaving me out. -
The ability to control what is in the power slots at all times...I can re-arrange the order of current enhancements...remove placed enhancements to sell when I put in an upgrade...etc. Why do I have to burn a respec to control what goes in slots???
The game appears to be heading more and more to a TF centric focus...which SUCKS for solo-ers or people with limited opportunity to participate. Make TF's scale to team size...and if you absolutely MUST team with someone to do a TF (or the CoH universe will implode)...how about a minimum of two for every TF. I have a lot better shot at doing TF's if all I need is one other person that has as wacky a schedule as I do. Why the CoH universe will implode if TF's can scale down to solo-able content I don't know...but you are closing off more and more new content for me!
Since it appears the incarnate slot end game is being tailored for TF grinders...how about us solo/duo only players get a level 50 upgrade path too. I would suggest allowing a method to add additional enhancement slots after a set amount of XP is earned. It could be a similar mechanic to leveling...get a set amount of XP...earn three more slots....go to a trainer and place your slots....you always remain at level 50....you just get to eventually six slot every power if you earn enough XP. Let the Min/Max I gotta have a reward NOW crowd do their TFs and fiddle with the intricate incarnate path...and let us simpletons get more slots. -
The Gravity set power Propel......love how it looks......but it misses 50% of the time...regardless of how many ACC IOs/global ACC buffs/popping a yellow....it matters not.....Propel misses 50% of the time...... it is a game law.
Contacts that start a story arc whether I take the first mission from them or not.... Amanda Loumis I'm looking at you.
Contacts that are annoyingly time consuming to get too.....Amanda!
Contacts that are annoyingly hard to get too.....giving you a story arc hunt in another zone for a first mission...then requiring you to get all the way back to that contact prior to handing out a phone number..... AMANDA!
New contacts that give you a mission to see a new contact......instead of giving you a mission.
Janet Kellum's story arc....go to a laboratory...defeat 400 Crey tanks in a massive map....then.... go to a laboratory.. defeat 400 Crey tanks in a massive map....then......go to a laboratory and defeat 400 Crey tanks in a massive map......then.... repeat that 40 more times!!! AAAAARRRGHHHH!
Contacts that give you a new contact who will instruct you in how to get to these awesome new PvP zones....you know.....Bloody Bay..... Siren's Call...... those NEW zones I have never been too and would never have known about.
FedEx missions....."Superman...... I need this pizza deliveried to my son's sixth grade graduation party..... ASAP...can you do it?" Really.....REALLY?!?! -
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Malta sappers...nastiest minions in the game.
Two Tsoo sorcerers working together...most frustrating to finish off.
CoT Spectral Demon Lord whatsits....the ones with the ToHit debuff causing repeated 10 plus attack WHIFF streaks.....most likely to get me to SCREAM profanities at my monitor! -
My oldest kid is off flying helicoptors in Afghanistan...so at least he lets me play!
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Quote:The split between Praetoria and CoH...... the new game verses the legacy game...is exactly my problem with the GR expansion.Originally Posted by Neogumbercules
It's great. It's so great that... it just totally blows Paragon and the Rogue Isles out of the water. It's better in pretty much every conceivable way. They might as well just stop making expansions for CoH and make Going Rogue it's own thing, like City of Heroes 2 or something, and just focus on expanding that. It's that good. It's good enough to be it's own sequel and just cut the old content out of existence.
Anyway, Preatoria is awesome, and makes the old content look that much more outdated and... bad. Relatively speaking.
Praetoria does not expanded either Paragon City or the Rogue Isles, it is an alternative to the legacy game. All that wonderfully done development time that makes Praetoria so impressive was done at the expense of very little improvements to the core of CoH. Yes there are combined markets, tips and side switching; some nice improvements to the OLD game....but what could have been done to update and expanded CoH?
Praetoria is eating Paragon City's development budget; and I resent it since my CoH game home is in Paragon. If that is to be the future, the old game and reality is forgotten and Praetoria is expanded to be the entirety of CoH (as suggested by the OP), then this 66 month vet will find other entertainment. -
Deleted an unused 50 toon and an unused 6 toon.....plus had two open previously purchased slots...and none are available.
Not a good bug to start Issue18/GR with.