Tripp Hazzard

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Ahh, sorry……I re-read Tripp_Hazzard's reply again and realized I misinterpreted it.

[/ QUOTE ]I also could have put an explanation of Co-op, for those who are new enough to the game to not know what that meant.

(If anyone that new is reading this, "Co-op" means Zones and Missions that allow Heroes and Villains to interact and team up. Pocket D, Cimerora, and the Rikti War Zone are all co-op zones. Welcome to the game!)

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Is the March 24th date a solid confirm? I'm putting this on my calendar. If so, what was the source?

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March 24th is just conjecture. However, they're apparently shooting for a March release, according to the information released by all the gaming news sites. Anything earlier than March 24th seems unlikely, given that Issue 14's not in Open Beta yet. Unless something goes wrong between now and then, I think it's safe to assume that Issue 14 will be released either around the 24th but not later than Tuesday the 31st.

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That's my exact thinking: it feels like we're getting real close to Open Beta. A week of Open Beta, even if it starts today, takes us into the week of the 16th. I added a week for safety, figured that they usually release early in the week, skipped Monday for novelty, and came up with the 24th.

And simply started stating it as fact so that if I'm right, I can point and say "HA!"



(And besides, it really did go live Mar. 24th, 2009.)

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Time spent. If you're in a mission for at least, say, 30 minutes you get to rate it, even if you don't complete it. You can still rate a completed mission that was done in less than 30 minutes. Missions that are abandoned prior to the 30 minute mark cannot be rated.

Of course, 30 minutes is just an arbitrary time frame. Testing and datamining could probably arrive at a much more elegant number that would serve the purposes of both preventing rating griefing as well as allowing horrible missions to get properly trashed.

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You know there will be missions that you can tell in the first couple of minutes are unrefined, unfiltered raw sewage. Make up whatever example you want -- I've been using "Rescue the 25 Fusionette Clones" for that; make up your own if that doesn't work for you -- it doesn't matter what example it takes for you to be comfortable with it. You KNOW there will be ones like that.

If I can't quit as soon as I can smell what it is, and give it an appropriate rating, that is Not a Good Thing.

If the whole thing turns out to be way better than it started out, then the more persistent people will balance that out.

But if the author doesn't want the quick-deciders to bail at the first whiff of effluent, then they just need to give us clues that we should persist., or clean up the beginning enough to keep us going.

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Your more persistent people argument doesn't work, as your score will keep people away from playing it. Why would anyone play an arc that got rated one star when there will be ones scoring much higher?

And that to me is the problem. Someone can walk in, walk out, rate it basically due to first impressions and kill the arc. That to me is more of a bad thing than the idea that someone has to actually play some of the arc before rating it, since one involves people putting effort into game content.

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Yet, first impressions are the most important. MA arcs are not like regular game content. We have more of a choice about whether we do them. Game content we have to do, if we want what follows. I can't count how many times I've rescued Fusionette in the Faultline arc, because that arc is a good way to get the Ouroboros badge before you're high enough to just go to Ouroboros. If we could START with the actual time travel mission, I'm sure a lot of people would.

But we don't have that option.

In MA we do. If we don't like the mission, we can bail and do something else. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm actually a fairly tolerant person. In my example above, I probably wouldn't skip Fusionette because I don't think she's as bad as most people seem to. I think that mission is a nice little challenge to complete successfully. I think the same about Lady Grey.

So when I talk about bailing when I smell effluent, I'm talking about a ripe, reeking, STENCH of effluent. I'm talking about a mission that is OBVIOUSLY a 55 gallon drum of sewage, not just a little bit poorly done. And once I'm sure of that, I should not have to waste my time struggling through any more of it before I can give it the rating I consider appropriate.

If the creator of that barrel of sewage wants people to persevere, then they have to give it a better first impression. It's called good writing.

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Time spent. If you're in a mission for at least, say, 30 minutes you get to rate it, even if you don't complete it. You can still rate a completed mission that was done in less than 30 minutes. Missions that are abandoned prior to the 30 minute mark cannot be rated.

Of course, 30 minutes is just an arbitrary time frame. Testing and datamining could probably arrive at a much more elegant number that would serve the purposes of both preventing rating griefing as well as allowing horrible missions to get properly trashed.

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You know there will be missions that you can tell in the first couple of minutes are unrefined, unfiltered raw sewage. Make up whatever example you want -- I've been using "Rescue the 25 Fusionette Clones" for that; make up your own if that doesn't work for you -- it doesn't matter what example it takes for you to be comfortable with it. You KNOW there will be ones like that.

If I can't quit as soon as I can smell what it is, and give it an appropriate rating, that is Not a Good Thing.

If the whole thing turns out to be way better than it started out, then the more persistent people will balance that out.

But if the author doesn't want the quick-deciders to bail at the first whiff of effluent, then they just need to give us clues that we should persist., or clean up the beginning enough to keep us going.

Hmmm...can't find it in my notes right now for the quotes, but both co-op and cross-faction play have been confirmed. "Cross-Faction" meaning Heroes can play Villain arcs and vice versa without having to team with the opposite faction.

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MA goes live Tuesday, March 14.

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O.o

Which year is that?

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Sporch. I meant Tuesday, March 24th.

MA goes live Tuesday, March 14.

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Alrighty, one more question for the pile...

Will we have to "Pick Allignment" for the missions we create, or will all missions be playable by anyone? Like, if I have a mission where you have to fight through a Longbow base to fight Positron (probably visiting to help upgrade their defenses or something), would a hero be able to play that?

[/ QUOTE ]we can play coop and cross-faction

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More specifically, could I make it optional? Like, regardless of who the opponents are, could I flag a mission as only being playable by heroes, only playable by villains, or "neutral" so that anyone can play?

[/ QUOTE ]Not certain whether we'll be able to restrict it or not.

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Please tell me that were are getting an MA function for Bases as well.

[/ QUOTE ]"Not initially." --Pohsyb

Paramecium Attacks Rotifer After Getting Own Nuke.

AAAAAS

Bostonians Against Cat Killers

All Little Luddites Enjoy Yoohoo

Bears Running After Wallabies Look Eerily Recursive

(You left out the word breaks. )

SPINTH

Teenage Angsty Unknown Nuclear Turtles

CREDIF

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My guess is a release date of April 7th.

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I hope so! That's my birthday!

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Barring unforeseen bugs, I'm guessing earlier. March 30th.

[/ QUOTE ]Tuesday the 24th.

I15 early in June.

Lost Okapi Get Onions Now

PARDUE

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I didn't. Time to reread all 75 pages with an all new spin on things!

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There are some who say that Arcanaville is in each Beta before the devs. Some even say Arcanaville never actually leaves the test server, even when it is supposedly off-line...

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Who do you thinks puts it off line?

The test server going down is just Arcanaville wanting to solo. Not solo a mission, solo a server.

[/ QUOTE ]So he shuts off the aggro cap and herds the entire server?


Are you sure we're talking about Arcanaville, and not that boxer guy, what's his name, Chuck something?

Voice Activated Giant Automated Badger Online Network Detector

SEFADUE

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Rikti portals were originally designed to give exp when they were defeated. On review the devs decided the exp should come from defeating the Rikti who summons the portal, and not the portal itself primarily so you don't lose exp by doing what any sensible person would do -- drop that particular Rikti before he has a chance to open the portal. I don't remember exactly, but I think the total amount of experience awarded for the portal and summoner combined decreased, since the increase in the exp for the Rikti wasn't as much as had been awarded previously for the portal. I don't remember this being described as an exploit when they changed it, but I'm not particularly sensitive to the word, either, so I may have forgotten. I do remember a number of people posting that they liked it the way it was, and equally many saying the new approach made better sense.

[/ QUOTE ]Wasn't there also some kind of tactic about destroy the portal for the xp, let the Rikti summon another, destroy it, and so on, ad infinitum? And that was considered an exploit, and part of why it was changed?

(It was all before my time, so I'm going on what I've heard around here.)

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I know the details are not in place yet for exactly what can be bought with tickets. However, I think it would help a lot if you could just name one recipe that will be purchasable/attainable with tickets.

[/ QUOTE ]I think the tickets can only purchase things in the MA, such as the ability to create a mission with Statesman in it (hypothetical example, I'm not in Beta).

[/ QUOTE ]Nope, you can get regular drop stuff too:

From Ex Libris original post, on page 1:
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We’re also giving players tickets in place of random drops. They can take these tickets to an Architect ticket vendor and redeem them for various in game rewards, such as enhancements, recipes and salvage. We’re also allowing players to purchase unlockable content with their tickets. They’ll be able to get maps, costume pieces and different characters.

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and

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We’ve replaced the random drop system with a ticketing system. Players collect tickets as they go through content. Once they’ve collected enough tickets they can go to a ticket vendor and purchase exactly what they want as far as rewards go.

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And info from redname posts throughout this thread:

Your account will collect tickets when others play your arcs. Those tickets go into a pool you can then claim on any of your characters.

Your characters will also collect tickets when they play other people's arcs.

Both kinds of tickets are the same, and can be used both to unlock special MA stuff, and to purchase all the normal drops that the tickets replace in MA missions. It's still uncertain if "purchase exactly what they want" means you can specify, for example, the exact Large Inspiration, or if it means you can roll specifically for a random Large Inspiration.

MA won't be awarding Merits.

But that's the only part of your post I'd modify. The rest I'm neutral on.

Wild Yellow Gnus In Wet Yellow Galoshes Attract Insanely Neurotic Gambian Wildebeest

NADIR

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1) Can you set the mission level when you create it, or is it chosen automatically based on what you put in?

2) If I want to make a mission geared towards Level 15, is there a maximum level of enemy that I can include? Or will the inclusion of a 30th level boss automatically raise the mission level? Or the experience given?

3) What about NPC allies like Fusionette? How high a level can an ally be? Or will freeing a 30th level NPC automatically lower the rewards for the 15th-level players?

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Pohsyb:
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How will level scaling work? Will every mission automatically scale to your current level (+ difficulty, team size, etc.) or will it be predetermined by the "architect"?

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This is complicated. Every critter has a level range where they are valid. When you make a mission, all of the level ranges must overlap at some point. If you are outside this level range when you go to play the mission you will be brought up or down to the level range of the mission.


Example, I use critters A (1-54), B (34-45) and C (40-48). The level range of the mission is (40-45).


If I am level 5, I will play mission at level 40.
If I am level 50, I will play mission at level 45.
If I am level 42 I will play at level 42.
If I am level 5, but have set my difficulty to max, I will play at level 38.



Note: I said mission here, not arc, each mission has an independent level range.

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I got nothing about ally levels, though.

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Pohsyb just confirmed for me that yes, we will earn prestige in MA missions. (Assuming we're in SG mode, of course.)

[/ QUOTE ]Did you visit him in his box, or was he able to smuggle a note out to you?

[/ QUOTE ]Called him up on the Hazzard-Phone, of course!

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Will running MA missions grant prestige? If so, will it be just for defeating enemies, or will there also be the prestige grant at mission completion?

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Pohsyb just confirmed for me that yes, we will earn prestige in MA missions. (Assuming we're in SG mode, of course.)

I forgot to ask about an end-of-mission drop, but Pohsyb also said early in the thread:

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Do you earn an end of mission and end of story arc bonus (exp and inf) like you do with normal story arc? Or do you only earn tickets?

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Using the mission architect its possible to make missions that complete or can be completed almost instantly so having rewards for mission complete becomes an automatic exploit. However, there is a ticket-only bonus at the end of mission which is proportional to the amount of tickets earned during the mission. If you don't earn any tickets, you don't get a bonus.

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So there won't be any XP or Inf. end-of-mission bonuses, thus no end-of-mission prestige bonuses, either.

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Me thinks yall dont know what casual actually is. Casual gamer wont have time to do a tf/sf/trial. You looking at 30 to 45 minutes at best for their time played a few days a week, now spread the play sessions across multiple alts. Now you see how this can end up taking months or years for IOs?

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Sorry, but you've got that wrong. Casual vs. Hardcore is not about how much time you play. It's about your attitude to the game.

You can play multiple hours per week, but if your primary motivation is to just play, and the only work you put into your characters is to make them effective enough that you'll enjoy your play time, you are a Casual Player.

You might only play 2 hours a week, once a week. But if you spend your time, both in game and out, concentrating on maximizing your character, on doing only the content that supports that goal, and getting everything "perfect", you are a Hardcore player.

I play multiple hours per week. I have been on many TFs and Trials. I have multiple characters, and I IO my characters starting at about level 12 (so I don't have to keep replacing expired enhancements -- that the IOs are usually more powerful than regular enhancements is just a bonus).

I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a Hardcore player, but I spend more time in game than some self-avowed Hardcores.

It's a matter of attitude, not how much time you play.

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We’re granting full experience (XP) and influence rewards for defeating enemies in player made content. We’re also giving players tickets in place of random drops. They can take these tickets to an Architect ticket vendor and redeem them for various in game rewards, such as enhancements, recipes and salvage.

[/ QUOTE ] This just seems like an easier way to PL/Farm influence...Making a map how ever big they want. Making certain foes being as easy as they want. Can anyone say new Family Farm? This way someone does not have to do those annoying arcs too, could just start off with a farm, or if someone needs a badge they could simpley just put that foe in their and just farm it over and over again.

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Positron:
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Badges, and why they don't count

This Mission Architect primary purpose is for telling stories. We do not want people to spend days making a great story only to find it shuffled into a list of missions with titles like "Get your Rikti Monkey badge here", "10 badges in 5 minutes", "Down on the AV Farm", etc. etc.

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And that, I realize, is one area where the MA will NOT be the same as leveling the "normal" way.

As far as farming goes, well, in a way, the entire MA system is all one big Inf./XP/Drops farm. That you can customize.

There are limits on map sizes and choices. There are limits on levels of the enemies (their normal level ranges, apparently). There is a limit to how many enemies total you can put in a mission. While none of these prevent you from still building a pretty "farmish" mission, you cannot build an unlimited one. So you'll have to run your own farms over and over, too. At least you won't have to worry about "farm smashers".

My impression, from many different posts and comments, is that the devs' biggest objection to farming is that it can contribute to a distorted view of the game, and accelerate burnout. They've "added a TON more datamining hooks exclusively for Mission Architect as well, so we can easily see spikes in aberrant behavior", so I guess we'll see whether they consider farming "aberrant" or not.

I personally don't have any strong feelings about farms and farmers themselves either way, but if it reduces the noise level in PI, a lot of people are going to consider that A Good Thing.