jfp2004

I also vote no. It's a reward token perk. It shouldn't have a penalty if it's a perk, period.

For the most part, I enjoyed SSA #1.

On the plus side, it had some really amazing maps throughout the story. The Hollows filled with lava was really nice to see (and I think it should actually BE a part of the Hollows. It made the zone look a lot more interesting/menacing.) The map with the floating destroyers was really impressive, and of course, who can forget about the space map? Going into Psyche's mind was also really interesting as far as maps go.

The story was also interesting to follow. I might be in the minority, but I liked watching the numerous cutscenes and watching characters banter back and forth, like Ms. Liberty and Manticore and all the others that occurred. I don't mind those moments of downtime or missions that are mostly talking, because I like story and character moments.

Statesman's death, though, was kind of a letdown. Not only did everyone know it was coming beforehand thanks to the announcement, but it was handled really poorly. He went down without a fight and walked straight into an obvious trap. It just seemed like a waste. We should have had the opportunity to at least INTERACT with Statesman ONCE in the SSA before he died. Where was our opportunity to connect with the guy for one last time, to get his viewpoint on everything that's going on, to argue with him or agree with him or try to console him, etc? He just kinda showed up in SSA #5 and kicked the bucket. Heck, I even would have liked to have seen him at the funeral, getting angry at Ms. Liberty or whatever and talking to him then. It just seemed like a waste. His death was handled poorly.

I also don't like the fact that Sister Psyche died. I don't feel like we ever really got to know her that well in the game, or that she got a lot of moments to make her mark. It felt like she died just to be a shocking death. At the very least, I would have preferred for her to fall into a coma or lose her powers or something. Not dying. Let's say she lost her powers, she could have been around to act as an adviser for Penny.

Other than that, though, I thought the SSA's were rather enjoyable. If the first part of SSA 2 on beta is any indication, I think it's going to be much more enjoyable.

If anyone's ever talked to me in the game for more than five minutes, it's probably no surprise that I love Praetoria. It's what brought me back to the game after losing interest over the years I've played it. The apparent aftermath of the Magisterium Trial is incredibly disappointing to me, and I hope not all is as it seems.

That being said, I'd like to take on the Praetorian Hami someday, but I also hope it's not right away either. Considering it's been built up more than Emperor Cole at this point, it should stay in the background for a bit longer. It should be a considerable threat.

But yeah, I think we definitely have to fight it at some point. To just ignore it at this point would be doing all the build up a huge disservice.

Hmmm....

Well, on the one hand, I'd love to have an alternate starting choice again in the form of Kings Row.

But on the other hand, I'd also like to have new content AFTER the already-new content we got courtesy of Atlas Park. (Yes, the lack of variety in Atlas Park is annoying, and I don't even really read the mission text anymore, but I do think it was a nice upgrade.)

It would be a nice flow, from the clean/new environment of Atlas Park to the gritty, darker tone of Kings Row. I agree that the police headquarters should be made into a more central hub of the zone. Perhaps model it after the Gotham City Police Department.

Bumping the level up to 10-15 would be really nice, because I do like Kings Row and it would be nice to have new content after Atlas Park. Once you hit 15, then you have the option of doing the Steel Canyon arcs or going to Faultline and doing those - or both, since you'd probably have the time.

By having Kings Row and new content be present in 10-15, it'd help fill a gap. Then you'd have fairly new content present all the way to 30.

20-30, however, is getting massively crowded with new content, so in the future, after Kings Row, I really hope the devs focus on content beyond 30. Night Ward is a nice start, but I want more blue/red stuff too.

I think a lot of the abandoned hazard zones could be made into co-op zones, but that's getting off topic, so I'll end it here.

-Shirt options for males, like females have. The tights option shirt looks too 'thin' most of the time compared to newer models
-Textured superhero masks
-I second the request for a bomber jacket in the game
-More trench coat options (not so much a different look, I just want different textures)
-More headgear options, like headphones, or a bluetooth looking device on the ear, or a headset of some kind. There's sort of a few options for some of those already, but they look really odd and don't work most of the time.
-Tights of some kind that have glow lines highlighting it, like some of the new armors have. It has the potential to look cool

-And this is just a personal request, but I'd like to see the Pocket D costume pack return to the market. It didn't really have much to do with Valentines Day, and I wasn't able to afford it at the time. I came back to the game as a VIP about a week ago and I'm still mad that I missed my chance for the hair and shirt options.

Edited To Add: Also, I'd love some more underwater themed options. Like a seashell top, a scale looking shirt, scale boots/legs. In a perfect world, I'd ask for a tail, but I know that'd be impossible.
And a cape like the one in the magic pack, but without the collar.

I'd love Praetorian EAT's, but I'd also like them to wait to have more content gold-side before something like this was implemented.

Oh yeah, I love the costume creator in this game. A lot of my costumes end up having similar themes, but none of them are exactly alike. And being able to buy more sets over the years has been lovely. I'm angry I missed out on a few of them (Pocket D set, nooooo! One day, you will be mine!)

But yeah. I didn't realize how much I loved the character creation until I tried a few other games. I absolutely HATE it in other online games when your appearance is dictated by your gear. It just seems lazy to me, and leads to a lot of people looking exactly the same, whereas in CoHY, I can make my character look exactly how I want at level 1. In TOR, I had to sometimes wait 20 levels just to get all the moddable gear I wanted, and that was an expensive process.

After playing another MMO for a few months, one of the things I miss after coming back to CoH is having an NPC following me around and helping out when needed.

Obviously it'd need a lot of work to apply to CoH's mechanics, but I think it would be really rewarding.

Besides, a huge staple of superheroes is having a sidekick. Finally having a feature where you could make that a reality in the game would be aces.

Yeah, I was really disappointed when I came back to the game to find that this option was gone. I saw the hair options when I was still a VIP subscriber on beta, but didn't realize it was going to be part of a time limited set. I had to cancel my sub for a few months after I was let go, so I couldn't really afford to buy anything. When I came back and tried to load up the costume I'd made, it wouldn't let me, and it wasn't in the market.

Hopefully it makes a reappearance soon. It's one of the options I was really looking forward to! I want to spend money, Paragon, you just won't let me! :P

Oh man.

I've been playing the latest MMO that came out over the past few weeks, and occasionally I log on to City of Heroes, because I just need that fix.

There's so many things in CoH that I take for granted that only became apparent when I've been playing this new MMO.

The sidekicking system is definitely one of THE best features of City of Heroes. Being able to team up with anyone, regardless of their level, is fantastic, and a sorely missed feature in this other game. I can't always play at the same time as my friends, and if one of us gets ahead, it's a pain to get caught up/wait for them to get caught up.

Being able to design your character and KEEP that design if you want is also fantastic. Having your appearance changed because of the gear you're wearing is one thing I've always hated about gear-based games. I REALLY hate being forced into certain types of appearance in the new game.

And man....travel powers.....I miss those SO much. Walking everywhere until you can buy (BUY?!) faster travel is SO annoying. It's SO slow. And like a friend of mine pointed out - when you see a cool building or a cool mountain or whatever in this new game, you can't GET to it. It's just there. But in CoH, you have a bunch of different methods to get to wherever you want, and that's fantastic. And travel in CoH just feels SO FAST now compared to this other game. I'll never complain about the speed of flight again.

And just the general game play is fantastic! You actually FEEL powerful in this game. If I want, I can get on my tank, do a radio mission at x8 +4 and survive without breaking a sweat. You FEEL like a superhero. In this new game, I can be two levels above a mob, and they can wipe me out like I'm made of tissue paper - and that's playing the TANK class.

City of Heroes has totally spoiled me. Once i22 hits, I'll be becoming a VIP again without a doubt.

What side do you pick more than others?
Gold side to start with, and then almost always blue side after that. Most toons start in gold, and end up with blue, transferring to villain side to experience flashback missions or badge stuff.

What play style do you prefer?
Usually melee is the class I'm best at, although I've found ranged to be pretty fun with corruptors.

What power set(s) do you favor?
Single target is usually the easiest for me to wrap my head around, but I've been expanding that a little bit over time. Foot stomp is still my favorite power in the game just for the sheer fun of running around and stomping things to death.

What zones do you like the most?
All of the Praetorian zones. The new Atlas Park. Peregrine Island. Cimeroa.

Do you usually play as a male or female (word of hatred) ''toon''?
Many, but not all, of my toons are female. It used to be the opposite of this. Somewhere along the line, that changed.

Views on Role Playing?
Sounds like fun, but I've never really done it. No one I've played with has done it, so I usually don't either. Most of the time, I just role play in the form of coming up with elaborate back stories for my characters and then trying to play them accordingly. I try to get into the minds of my characters, though there's always a point in the game where story and game play clash against each other and I'll do something for the xp/loot/inf/fun of it versus doing it for something that fits a character's story.

Servers?
Pinnacle!

Well, I can't speak for anyone but myself on any of this.

As far as my opinions go:

Praetoria:
I absolutely love the story of Praetoria through 1-20, and to some degree, 20-29 or however it longs to take to finish First Ward. There's just something so fascinating about the zone. I love how clean the city appears, even though everything is so corrupt, from the Seers to the PPD and the power hungry Powers Division. I love that you can play a heroic Loyalist if you want, or a villainous Resistance, and vice versa.

I just love the whole overwhelming sense of foreboding, masked in a shiny exterior. I know a lot of people don't like it because it doesn't feel like a traditional comic book story, but I don't really mind it one bit. In fact, I prefer it - to me, Praetoria has some of the best story telling I've seen in an MMO. I love playing through it on the various sides, even to this day. There's just something different about making a toon in Praetoria. Yeah, I miss out on badge missions that are early on, and I don't get benefits from the sewer trial, but I honestly don't care. Yeah, there's not many other people running around, so there's not much teaming to be done until you get to Primal Earth - I still don't care. I love it that much.

What I don't love is how the story just kind of stops once you leave it. From that point on, the game pretty much ignores the fact that you're a Praetorian. Yeah, there's a handful of missions that deal with the Praetorian plot line, like a line of dialogue or two, but that's it. The Sutter TF is always going to be the same, regardless of where you started. All of the depth that Praetoria had goes straight out the window, and you become just another hero or villain in the eyes of everyone.

I think the worst offender here is the Praetorian storyline that you get from Maria Jenkins in Peregrine Island. While I appreciate the fact that they updated the arc, the fact that it treats you the same if you're a Primal or Praetorian just seems like a wasted opportunity. I would have loved if there had been two sets of missions, one for Primals, and one for Praetorians. It just seems like a wasted opportunity. It's like no one remembers you in Praetoria once you leave it.

I even tried to explain it away using in game lore once on one of my mains, by saying that 'Mother' wiped her existence from everyone's minds when they left Praetoria, but that doesn't really work for everything since some people are guarded from her influence. Not much I can do about that. It's even worse when you return to Praetoria and most contacts don't remember you either.

And don't even get me started on the trials. The game mechanics are fun, but the story telling in them is just horrible. They COMPLETELY lack the depth of the content, Praetorian or otherwise. Trials are just a bad place to have any kind of story content in, really. There's too much going on, too much focus on the mechanics and combat, to appreciate anything else. Dialogue is easy to miss, the story is pretty inconsequential, and when major things do happen, it feels weird or poorly written. The conclusion of the Underground Trial in particular just felt really off and rushed.

I just hope more single player Praetorian content is added. If it was possible to level 1-50 in Preatoria without ever having to leave - and being able to access red-side or blue-side like a Rogue or Vigilante - I'd be extremely happy. I'd chuck that shiny new MMO in the trash and never look back.

The Well:
The only problem I have with the Well storyline is that it seems to have a mind of it's own. I think I preferred how it was portrayed in the novel, where it was just this source of power, neither good nor evil. The fact that it's selecting champions just seems really weird and unnecessary. The well shouldn't ever act of it's own accord for ANYTHING if you ask me - maybe some should just be more attuned to it's power because they have a better grasp of power or have a better grasp of how to access it through some special method - not because the Well selected them.

Explaining away a mystical entity and making it self aware takes away some of what made it special and mysterious in the first place.

Incarnates:
Playing as an Incarnate is fun, but lore-wise, things are a little weird. The NPC Incarnates are basically god-like, whereas we're just generally more powerful. There's a huge disconnect between game mechanics and story. I think they exaggerated the Incarnate potential too much, and made the NPCs a little too powerful in comparison to our own abilities. There's nothing really wrong with it as it is now, aside from how it's presented in the lore.

Sorry for rambling!

I'd LOVE to have 30-50 content for Praetoria. I also wish that if that happened, Praetorians could leave to Primal Earth without converting to hero or villain first.

I don't expect either to happen anytime soon, if ever. But it'd be nice.

I just made a dual pistols corruptor recently. I suppose I'd be lying if I didn't say that one of the biggest draws for me was the animation of dual pistols, which is a lot of fun to watch.

As far as low damage goes, yeah, it's not as high as some other sets, but it doesn't bother me that much. On the other hand, because I heard the same thing, I paired it with kinetics, which seems to be a popular pairing from what I've come across. Siphon power and fulcrum shift are really good at boosting the damage of the set, and generally, I've had a lot of fun.

It's not the easiest toon to solo at times, at least for me. But as far as the set goes, it's fun, and paired with kinetics, pretty effective.

He just wants to respec.

Man, where do I start...

One of my favorite arcs is the entire storyline centered around the revamped Faultline. The story there, I thought, was really rich. Having the four contacts that take you through the zone little by little was a nice touch, and setting up the mystery around what happened to the zone was fun to go through. I liked all of the characters introduced - yes, even Fusionette. It was a cool display of somewhat new tech and introduced some memorable characters and villains. The fact that they all end up fighting each other in one of the ending missions was a nice touch.

Which leads to the Rikti War Zone arcs. It's another favorite of mine, though not so much as the Faultline zone. There's a lot of good stuff here. The one map that involves a meeting taking place in the compound was very well done, and was fun. I love taking screenshots in the area where everyone's just standing around talking. Mostly, I love the final arc, from Dark Watcher, "The Horror of War." The final mission is one of my favorites in the game. And I love how you sort of come full circle, with being able to team up with Fusionette and Faultline again.

A lot of the newer content has just hit me in a way that I never expected possible from a game like City of Heroes. It was mostly just a fun diversion, but there wasn't really a lot there in terms of story that really engaged me. I enjoyed the novels, but the same kind of storytelling wasn't always present in the game, although there were moments.

But then the issue hit that brought the doppleganger arc to blue side. The first time I ran that, I was floored. Not only by the mechanic of having a doppleganger, which I thought was awesome, but the story that was in place.

"Twisted Reflections" was a great set-up, and I loved how you got chances to argue your case with various contacts, and the whole concept of having an "ear-piece" that lets you get updates. It kept the story moving at a brisk pace, and set up a nice mystery, leading up to the next arc, "Looking Through The Glass." The ONLY thing disappointing about this arc was that I didn't get the chance to play side by side with the doppleganger, which, while it would probably be unbalanced, would be tons of fun, running next to yourself and taking on mobs. I still loved having the mirror's objective displayed above though. It created a new level of immersion. And like Dark Respite said in her original post, the moment after you defeat Protean had me staring at the screen with a expression on my face. The arc is one of my absolute favorites, with fun groups to fight, an excellent story, and great mechanics. I loved it so much, I even recorded the end of it in Fraps on my main character.

And then Going Rogue came out. By that point, my interest in the game was wavering. My subscription had been inactive for awhile.

I played through Praetoria.

And I was amazed. Absolutely amazed. I never expected a story that would have that kind of depth from a game like this. The story and characters, for all of the arcs, just felt so rich and had so much ripe potential. I went through each of the arcs in each zone on one character, just so I could experience it all, even if that meant that some events conflicted with each other.

The Loyalist Power arcs were some of the most fun in Praetoria. The whole fighting to become Top Dog was a lot of fun...being the leader of a sort of Supergroup in Imperial City was a blast...and being able to rob a bank with Bobcat was hilarious.

My favorite arc in all of Praetoria, and the game itself, however, is easily the Resistance Warden chain. Out of everything in the game, this is the storyline that resonates with me the most. It has some wonderful characters, from Robert Flores, Tunnel Rat, Jessica Flores, Katie Douglass, Aaron Walker...wonderful story moments that let you try and make a difference in a positive way, and show that even if you're trying to work against the powers that be, you can do it in a way that isn't crazy violent (which is why I have trouble with the Crusader arc.) Things like being able to work against the other members of the Resistance to prevent a needless bombing, or helping a reporter get her story out, were nice touches that fleshed out the atmosphere of Praetoria, and brought a little light into the darkness. Helping Aaron Walker find and eventually recruit James Noble was bittersweet, considering what his fate is, and generally, the arc leaves you feeling positive about your role in events.

Out of the Warden missions, my favorite character was Katie. Although the writing was kind of over-the-top sappy, it worked. It hit me and made me feel for her character. I actually got MAD at Mother Mayhem for the fact that this was the result of the Seer program. It made me see the other Seers in a new light, and really shows just how dark and twisted the world of Praetoria can be. Even to see how it plays out, I could never actually bring myself to choose the Loyalist outcome in that arc. It'd just make me feel too guilty. Katie's a character that I feel...protective of, if that makes sense. Like she's someone I want to genuinely help. And like Dark Respite said, another wonderful moment is when you go to rescue Aaron Walker. It actually made me sad for the fate of the character, and it was a sort of bitter laugh that I had when I read the text of the robots he'd programmed to defend you at the end. His whole character was fun to work with, as he rambles on and on and acts arrogant, but still tries to do the right thing and leave a positive impact on the world.

It's just nice to have something that feels optimistic, particularly in a world where there's not much to be optimistic about.

Being able to meet all the characters you'd helped at the end was another wonderful touch as well. Seeing Katie and her freed Seers made me feel like I'd actually accomplished something positive, as well as talking with Noble Savage and Tunnel Rat and the other characters that had shown up to see me off. It was like I was actually saying goodbye to friends, which made the fact that the storyline just sort of stopped entirely at level 20 rather depressing - especially the fact that, at the time of it coming out, there was no way to go back to Praetoria (and even when you could, the fact that contacts don't remember you was equally depressing.)

And now, with the introduction of First Ward, the story continues to hit me in ways I didn't expect. The storyline there is just so incredibly rich and dark, with varied dialogue and scenery, and just a sense of impending doom that, no matter what you do, is going to strike. Being able to meet up with characters that you'd met previously was also nice, but man, I felt absolutely awful about hooking Katie back up to the Seer network again. It was almost enough to make me quit the storyarc entirely, and the fact that an event in a MMO can make me feel like that is amazing. Or the mission where you see what leads to the creation of one of the Abominations was heartbreaking - once again, I found myself actually get MAD at Mother Mayhem for the stuff she had pulled. Sure, Cole seems evil depending on the arc you play, but he doesn't really have a sense of being EVIL. Mother Mayhem, on the other hand, just seems completely...low. Evil in a way that goes beyond wanting to rule the world. The Seer program, the way she just destroys minds around her...it's awful. Based on some of the information we have about Cole's actions and motivations for those actions, I can sort of understand him and why he might have done what he did. It's not right, but I can understand it. Mayhem, on the other hand, is so far beyond redemption and reason...I wouldn't be surprised if she was set up to be the real evil in Praetoria, considering all the horrible evidence we've seen of her actions.

Like I said, it's this kind of storytelling that completely renewed my interest in the game. It made me excited for what's to come for the first time in a long while, and it's what keeps me around.

ETA: Oh, and I forgot to add - I also love the new Twinshot arc. Aside from the sometimes cringe-wrothy tutorial moments (but it is a tutorial mission, so I don't really care), the story was surprisingly well crafted. The characters are all likeable and quirky in a way that isn't annoying, and the storyline had some surprising depth to it. I want to know more about what happens to Twinshot and the rest of the gang in the future. It's nice to have NPC's in games that you can consider 'friends' of your characters - which is how I feel about a lot of the Praetorian contacts as well. The emphasis that's being put on story-telling, even in the Atlas missions and the tutorial arcs...I love it. It's a trend that I hope continues in the future!

A lot of the older contacts with their various storylines, mostly on blue side, could use revamping. I've been leveling up some new characters recently, taking them through the newer content. There's a huge wealth of newer stuff available from 1-29, and a lot of good stuff past that. I've used the flashbacks feature a lot. But on a whim, I decided to try and do some of the older contacts that were in the original game, to see how it compared and how effective it would be, and it drove me mad. Timed missions, things that require 3 teammates to do (which isn't annoying, unless you're on a late hour and not many people are available.)

One of the contacts that stood out to me is Steve Sheridan, aka Dr. Science. Considering that he appears in Praetoria, it would be nice if he had a revamp and a mission arc to reflect that fact.

I could go through a huge list of older blue side contacts that are in serious need of updates, graphically and story alike, but that would waste time.

A newer mission arc that I think needs to be updated even more is the Praetorian arc from Maria Jenkins. Mostly, it would be nice to have some form of acknowledgment if you run the toon as someone who came from Praetoria. Even if it's only slight dialogue tweaks. Generally, though, a lot of the Peregrine Island contacts need revision, because most of the arcs are either too long and unfocused, or just seem outdated compared to newer content.

Oh! And pretty much all of the blue-side task forces outside of Positron's. That's probably been said to death though. But for me, I have hardly any idea of what they were about, or why they're important enough to be task forces. To this day, I still don't know why Countess Crey isn't the villain of a task force centering around her minions. It seems like it would make more sense.

Another arc that could use some revising are the arcs of the Hollows. They just feel outdated compared to the newer content. Frostfire is still an enjoyable mission, but the missions leading up to it are bland, and most of what happens after that in the zone is bland as well. It's just not really memorable - I've done it recently on a few new characters, mostly out of nostalgia for when the zone used to be a lot more popular, and it just didn't have the same appeal anymore.