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If something is designed that is easily exploitable, yet the devs have the aim of minimising exploits, how isn't it their fault when the system is exploited by players? You might be able to argue that players are morally bound to not exploit something, despite the possibility to exploit it exists, but I'd prefer the devs had not designed such a system in the first place.

MA is directly the result of CoH/V devs not understanding players. In a game where major reward systems are XP and inf, a system that allows players to maximise XP and inf for a set period of time is going to see a lot of use. It was a failure of design, at least in time-reward terms.

Totally separate. EQII was set in a different era to EQ.

However, let's point out that the flop was as much due to the execution of EQII at launch as anything else. Existing EQ players didn't feel it was EQ-enough for them to play; non-EQ players were enjoying WoW. Plus EQII was buggy as hell.

So there you have it. Paragon Studios is working on a new MMO. Given that they want (well, prefer) this lead character artist to be familiar with CoH/V, there is some evidence that it is a sequel or follow-on.

I too would like to see a screenshot. Or even know the position that was advertised that mentioned it.

Info that like really would have set the forums ablaze (... although I suppose that we've been ignoring the Q4 2009 financials for a while, so perhaps it wouldn't).

Except that it isn't, especially from a farmer who has in the past complained that the 2 billion inf cap on characters isn't high enough.

Powerleveling is a big problem when it promotes player churn - "hey, I got to lvl 50 in three days of MA missions and there is nothing to do, this game sucks, I'm leaving" - and because powerleveling and in-game exploits tend to have a passing relationship. Powerlevelers can also distort in-game information about a title from internal and external observers ("I soloed the Hamidon, he's easy!") - since they generally use power builds, they can make other players on a team feel irrelevant and help drive (sometimes very needed) nerfs towards particular powers. And no-one likes nerfs, especially nerfs that hit powers in unexpected ways. Except this guy. He looks very happy with nerfs.

Farming creates problems with the amount of resources flowing into a game and the associated problem of mudflation. Most MMOs - and CoH/V is included - are lousy at getting rid of all the resources that are created out of thin air, which causes a constant rate of inflation / devaluing of the in-game currency. Before CoH/V had a market, that didn't matter, since the vast majority of in-game prices were fixed, but since the markets (WW / BM) have been implemented this has become a problem. Farmers can afford to drop millions on the things they want, freezing out non-farming players from being able to afford them. (And this, ironically, creates a condition that RMTers can exploit - by selling to non-farmers the inf they need to get what they want.)

Here's the thing: at the micro- / individual level, PP is right - it doesn't really matter provided it isn't against the EULA / TOS. At the macro / whole-of-game level however, it matters a lot.

Other MMOs saw a player hit when WoW launched. I'm not disagreeing that WoW didn't bring new players into the MMO market - it did - as did CoH/V. But Blizzard did have the advantage of an existing reputation and Battle.net to draw on and was also aided by very strong reviews and word-of-mouth. CoH/V did also receive good reviews and word-of-mouth, but anything it did was eclipsed by the WoW juggernaut.

However, all this discussion about launch is a long way from where we are now.

TV spots aren't cheap on a national level. For a Ma & Pa store who are selling homebake ads on the local TV station, it is a lot cheaper, but they are getting a very limited / targeted reach.

EvE has a lot stronger WoM than CoH/V has or ever had. It is offering a very unique product to the market as well and one that has benefited from a lot of banner advertising. It probably helped that CCP were independent while CoH/V is a small part of a much larger NCsoft product pie.

They are intending to grow the player base. First step is prettier graphics to wash away that "Eww, 2006-era graphics!" attitude. With better graphics in place, the focus becomes the GR box. CoH/V's biggest growth points have been the release of CoH (obviously!), the release of CoV and there was a spike when the Good vs Evil box came out.

At this point, the PS marketing team don't have to worry if us existing players are champing at the bit for more GR info (in fact, they probably take that as a good sign). They have to focus on getting everything lined up so that GR brings in 100k+ new players, maybe more. Growth is foremost on their mind.

(Sideline: I think at least some of that new team, and some of the old team, are working on PS' second title, which is another reason behind the expansion.)

CoH/V would certainly have benefited from more exposure, but this isn't necessarily the fault of Paragon Studios (or even forum punching bag Cryptic). CoH/V has often been overlooked by NCsoft as other titles have gotten more attention e.g. Guild Wars, Tabula Rasa, Aion. CoH/V could certainly ask for more ad exposure, but if TR was booked in for the month at Gamespot (or wherever) they won't be in luck.

EVE uses an economist to measure and model their economy, but the devs see it as a vital part of their game.

That's the key issue. To make an in-game economy 'work', you need to spend a lot of time monitoring it, planing for it and then adjusting it. It has to be a vital part of your game to make such an investment worthwhile.

It's probably not worth trying to fix CoH/V's economy at this time. The fact that the supply of inf in CoH/V is constantly inflating doesn't help, but any changes made to the inf / economy system would provoke huge screams from the player base.

Fallen Earth has an in-game gambling system active right now iirc. So either they are breaking the law or they've found a loophole / exemption.

I've already pm'ed WW with my 100k word treatise on how badly everything is done in CoH/V now and how they really need to fix everything. Fortunately, I also provide a solution to every problem in a precise 357 bullet point list.

I did think of sending her the extended version that runs into a snappy 500k words and has hand-drawn illustrations, but it's only early days.

They can, but in MMOs they have a lot of things working against them. Like other players. On your own team.

Puzzles in MMOs suffer from having to deal with teams of players. Either one person does the puzzle and everyone else stands around waiting for it to be unlocked or more than one person does it / is required to do it and potentially stuff it up for the rest of their team.

If the solution is known and only one person can do the puzzle, then the rest of the team will be screaming it out for the puzzle maker to just finish the damn thing by cutting the green wire, then blue wire, then red wire.

If the solution is known and everyone / anyone can do the puzzle, then the more experienced in the team will run through it as quickly as possible. Someone else mentioned DDO - the dungeons there often held the "puzzle" of secret doors and pathways. I remember watching other players screaming through those puzzles like they were the first in line at a Black Friday sale.

If the solution varies and only one person can do the puzzle, the team is left waiting for that sole player to complete it.

If the solution varies and everyone has to complete the puzzle, there will be fits over getting it right. The CoT trial requires 8 players just simply to all click on a glowie at the same time - and we can talk to each other, so it is hardly a guessing game as to when - but that was one of the most frustrating sessions of my CoH/V life. I can only imagine the joy of trying to get 8 players to solve some sort of pattern-recognition game in order to progress in the mission.

I'm all for a non-combat system - currently playing through a trial of Vanguard and the diplomacy and crafting systems aren't too shabby at all - but let's recognise that such things work much better solo than they do in a group. Given the importance of teaming in CoH/V any puzzle / non-combat system needs to work in both solo and multi-player situations.