konshu
-
Posts
539 -
Joined
-
/e sigh
Okay, tyvm for the confirmations. That map would have worked well for an arc I'm attempting to make. I can't find anything else like it, so the story will have to change to make use of a different map.
-
I'm glad the devs are using the new art assets in a revamped cape mission, and extra glad that it will apparently let other players unlock capes. That's very nice!
However, in terms of general design philosophy, while I like the idea of unlocking stuff, I think the cape unlocking idea isn't all that strongly supported by the game or the arc story. It seems wrong-footed.
My preference would be to see the game take a new direction in design, which would be "content that unlocks content." For example, this low level arc could be used to unlock the higher level Hero 1 content.
Having said that, I confess I don't really like doing Buck Salinger's arc to unlock Katie. I prefer to join a team where someone else has done the unlocking. But if you are playing for story, I think having lower level stories that unlock higher level stories makes a lot of sense.
On the topic of revisiting old content, I think it is definitely needed. Not just because the old content is old, but because it never was very good. I'd come to this conclusion within my first month of playing the game, back in 2005, and I still can hardly believe the devs don't see that the poor quality of the old content is a deterrent to new players. With some difficulty I found a way to make my play in the game enjoyable, but on several occasions I nearly quit, asking myself "why am I spending so much time on something that clearly the designers don't care about?" Players who actually read some of the developers' comments about the game might see things said like "we want to spend our time creating new things" - which is debatable - while those who don't read developer comments almost always just see the situation as neglect.
One big gripe I have about the old content is that the game actually has some story going on, but the old content doesn't reveal it. Instead the old content makes a mishmash of the storytelling and players come through it with very little idea of what's going on. So if the older content is to be replaced, it must be replaced with a higher quality content that actually tells the stories.
For example, when do we get an appearance by Igneous, the Magma Master? If I was revamping The Hollows, he'd be in there, and Grendel, too.
Sometimes while playing I quiz my teammates on what's going on, story-wise. Usually no one has a clue. They'd like to know, but the game's storytelling mechanics are too often at odds with actual game flow.
There are methods for storytelling that run with the flow of the game, which exist in the game, yet they are underutilized. There are also some things that could be tweaked to perform better.
As much as I'd like to see new content, I'd like to see someone on the dev team address the basic storytelling issues before putting out the new stuff. -
I like the challenge of the various groups in the game. At low levels the foes I mark for special attention include:
Ruin Mages
Bone Daddies
Damned
Eidolons with the stun aura
Tesla Knights and Madness Mages get honorable mention, but if I'm on a team (which is typical) then I use the down time to recover end, and thus take the lemons to make lemonade.
The minions I have the most difficulty with at low level include: CoT ghosts and Abominations. It seems I often encounter both of these in overwhelming numbers.
Also, Hellions in AE have fire bombs which raise their level of difficulty by quite a bit. -
I'm looking for the map we use when we do the "Defeat all Infected in Warehouse / Sewer" mission for Kalinda. The action takes place in a warehouse on the west side of Mercy, near the contaminated pools.
It features a large square warehouse room with an elevator at the back. The elevator leads to a water treatment / sewer / water leak area. It's a small map, with basically 2-3 rooms.
I'm pretty sure I'd seen this at some point on the MA map list. Perhaps this map was once in the mix but got pulled due to a wonky vator? If so, I'm aware of at least one other map that uses this same type of vator and it is working and available, so perhaps this bug has been fixed but the map hasn't been reloaded to the list?
Or maybe I'm just overlooking it, or it is filed oddly.
Anyway, if someone can locate this and tell me where it is I'd appreciate it.
-
Quote:One additional tutorial feature I'd like to see is a guided tour of Atlas. When a player first arrives in Atlas they should have the option for either a guided tour or their first mission. If they pick the tour, the concept is they would be given an electronic docent that sends them to various points of interest and gives a brief explanation. A small amount of xp would be awarded for each travel point in the tutorial. Points of interest would include: store, City Rep, SG registrar, analyst, WW, Eastgate security area (hazard zone), AE, Vanguard, Sewers, roadway entrance to Skyway, Ms Lib, a plaque, an explore badge, and the Yellow Line.Originally Posted by Arcanaville
As to what I would like to see in 2010, relative to the kinds of things being discussed in this thread I'd like to see a complete revamp of the tutorial. I have this mind's eye version of the tutorial where the tutorial is divided into sections, each section being optional. There would be the initial tutorial something like what we have now that introduces the basics of movement and attacks. There would be a section that talks about training and respecification. There would be a section where you could earn a temporary travel power that was perhaps a weaker version of the main travel types: flight, run, jump, port - with ways to try each one out to see which one you liked. There'd be a section on enhancements and inventions. And there'd be a section on teaming. I picture them like a pie chart where we start in the center, pick which slices we want to run, and ignore the rest. New players could run them all, the vets could just run what they want (veteran or not they might want to leave the tutorial with a minor travel power). The concept is expandable to whatever we want to include in the tutorial: it could even have a "mini zone event" that demonstrates what those are, exclusive to the tutorial zone (maybe something like the Steel Canyon fires). The sky is the limit on this kind of thing.
It might also be a good idea to recast the Flower Knight scenario so that you either invite Flower Knight to your team, and/or you are invited by Flower Knight, so the player sees how those mechanisms work.
It would also be nice if Flower Knight, as a teammate, could be used to guide players on how to use Chat (e.g., what the "T", "L", and "B" buttons are for). -
In general, I agree. You shift from trying to take out one foe at a time at lower levels to trying to take out whole rooms at a time at higher levels. NPCs don't maintain the same ratio of power throughout the game; players do seem to become more powerful by comparison. Player character attacks typically affect more foes and are more devastating later in the game.
I've heard some people say this shift in ratios makes them feel "more epic" at higher levels.
/e shrug
My preference so far has been to play alts up to about 35 and then abandon them. I like the stripped-down, bareknuckled feel of the lower level game. But if the game revamped the upper level content, the experience might be more attractive at higher levels, and I might play more past 35.
Just my perspective; others will see it differently, I suppose.
-
Quote:Well, as I pointed out, VEATs get Wide Area Web Grenade. Yeah, it's at tier 4, but Web Grenade as it exists for blasters is inadequate while WAWG works great. So I think we need to make Web Grenade more like WAWG.Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood
While I would love to have Wide Area Web Grenade for my Blaster I really don't see it happening. Basically you're proposing adding an AoE control as the Tier 1 power in a Blaster secondary and I just don't see the devs doing that, considering that Controllers and Dominators don't get an AoE Immob until Tier 3 in thier Primary. While there are Blaster AoE controls they all come much later in powersets, except for AoEs with a chance to Knockback and those are all in Primaries not secondaries.
I don't particularly want damage on Web Grenade either, but an AoE immobolize, even with the wimpy radius WAWG has seems a bit to good for a Blaster secondaries Tier 1.
I'd say if WAWG is too powerful for a tier 1 blaster power, then reduce some of its effects, such as immob duration, slow, -recharge, range, area of effect, or whatever till it fits. Just keep the ability to immob and -recharge multiple close foes.
My impression is that WAWG already has a small enough radius of effect that it doesn't really compare to Controller or Dominator mass immobs (which have a huge area of effect), and the web also does no damage (whereas Controller or Dominator immobs do). So I see less of a comparison to the Controller and Dominator powers, but mainly the need to reduce WAWG for blaster tier 1 so that SoA players don't complain about blasters getting their tier 4 power at tier 1.
Naturally, if you boost Web Grenade for Devices, you need to look at changing it for Traps and also changing Entangling Arrow. However, I see this as a good thing because the single-target no-damage immob has always been for me an unfavored power. If it can briefly trap 3-4 closely packed foes, and reduce their recharge so I get an edge on attacking them, that's ever so much more useful, and it starts to give the power synergies with other powers (essentially anything with area effects, such as Caltrops, Flame Thrower, etc.).
Basically, as I see it blasters should either have a single-target immob that does decent damage in addition to immob (as with fire, ice, electricity), or it should do no damage and buff up the immob effect in a useful way. And I think the most useful way to buff the immob is to make it *possible* for it to capture more than one target if they are closely packed. -
Quote:To an extent I disagree with this strategy and game mechanic.Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood
I don't know about you but I do not consider a 7% (with slotting) To Hit debuff useless unless you are already soft capped on defense (or teamed with a Dark/Dark defender). Not to mention it can be used to get glowies that are surrounded by enemies. Stealth effects are suppressed when you click a glowie, but if you debuff the enemies perception instead you can get glowies that you wouldn't be able to with stealth alone.
A confuse would be an interesting effect though.
I've always found it inconsistent that some -to hit attacks do not draw aggro. I think Flash Arrow, Smoke, and Smoke Bomb should all draw aggro, but they should have additional effects in addition to the temporary -to hit and -per.
Effects that could be added might include minor amounts of fear, confusion, slow, and -recharge. Fear, in that you've been attacked by something you can't see. Confusion in that you may not be able to tell friend from foe. Slow in that you're being cautious, and the same for -recharge. In a way these powers could resemble a temporary remote-cast Arctic Air, but with no ability to buff fear, confuse, slow, or -recharge via enhancements (except as may be provided by -to hit procs).
While individually these additional effects might not amount to much, they could stack through either application of additional Flash / Smoke attacks or other attacks that provide fear, confuse, etc., or control / containment.
As for the aggro, to avoid having the whole mob target the debuffing player with a withering alpha, you could have each of them do something like an extra perception and accuracy roll (after applying the the -per / -to hit debuffs) to see if they actually perceive the player and perceive well enough to target. (This should in particular be managed in a way that does not penalize the lower level player who has fewer slots / enhancements in their power.)
Furthermore, I think that if the player is running a concealment power when they use Flash / Smoke, they should benefit by having dramatically lower return aggro. This creates a useful synergy for Cloaking Device and Smoke Bomb, as well as other power combinations.
Essentially, I believe these -per / -to hit debuffing attacks should kindle aggro, but the response should be moderated so the result is not immediate massed aggro upon the debuffer. -
I think I would be inclined to replace Gun Drone with Throw Rock.
Really.
My impression of Gun Drone is that it is supposed to be modeled after Voltaic Sentinel and such powers. How this actually gets used, I think, is that for a defender it provides needed extra damage, and for a blaster it gets used as a decoy to take a mob's alpha.
The idea behind Throw Rock is from the well-known scene in movies where the soldier / gunslinger throws a rock to misdirect the foes. So in this case, the rock would have brief taunt abilities, yet act as a concealed target, and thus could be used as a decoy. A player could Throw Rock to pull a mob from an area, allowing the player to pass unmolested. Or as an offensive move, a player could Throw Rock to draw foes to a corner where they could be subjected to an aoe attack.
Throw Rock could also be used within the Device set to draw foes to planted Trip Mines and Time Bomb.
On a team, Throw Rock could be used to some degree in place of a herding tank, though obviously after the initial taunt aggro would not be held by the rock.
As it is not an attack, Throw Rock would not break concealment, so it could be used in conjunction with Cloaking Device.
Throw Rock would have a low taunt value, so it would not compete with active taunting or visible threats. It could also have a side-effect of temporary taunt resistance, so that foes previously taunted by Throw Rock will be less likely to be taunted by further rocks. With low taunt value and taunt resistance in place, it becomes possible to reduce the recharge time on the power so it is practically always available.
Of course, a key problem with this suggestion is that people would say "Throw Rock is a tier 9? lmao". So further jiggering and re-jiggering of Devices would probably have to occur to enable this power.
-
Quote:I don't like the idea of giving Web Grenade damage. What I'd do instead is magnify the -recharge effect on it by making the web have an AoE effect like SoA VEATs have. (Basically, the downfalls of the Device set are corrected in the Traps and SoA sets.)Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood
Damage would be nice on Web Grenades (I recommend Smashing) but I think there's a balance issue from the devs end. Technically the lack of damage is supposed to be balanced by the recharge reduction. The problem is that recharge reduction is a poor form of damage mitigation unless you have A LOT of it.
For both Web and Smoke Grenades it should be pretty easy to give them an alternate animation for firing them from an Assault Rifle. For Archery/Devices BABs might be able to make an alternate animation where he throws the grenade with his off hand while holding the bow in his left (similar to some brawl animations). The problem is I suspect that it would require giving all Devices users an Assault Rifle and Bow costume pieces in the tailors regardless of whether they use the alternate animations or not which might cause some issues (can a powerset have two weapons associated with it?). Of course I'm sure that the devs could find a way around these issues if they wanted to.
As for the annoying redraw on grenade powers, I humbly suggest that the animation be changed to allow single-handed grenade throws. Yes, I know the classic grenade throw involves pulling a pin, but surely by now our heroes have advanced technology that allows a single-handed activation and throw.
Alternatively, SoA toons fire Wide Area Web Grenades from their guns. If adopting this method is the better solution, I'm fine with that. -
Quote:I like this idea, though I suppose the damage element should be dropped for parity with other controller sets.Originally Posted by Airhammer
Power Idea based off someone elses post...
Gravity gets a new power..
Black Hole Slam..
Works Like Omega Manuever.. draws folks in then BOOM Smashing Damage to all in range (no knockback) maybe disorients minions...
I'd call it Gravity Sphere.
I could see this power being useful for grouping foes. The player gestures and a gravity sphere appears at a targeted area, drawing all foes within the area of effect to a common point. It could require an accuracy roll per foe and draw endurance for each foe moved. The gravity sphere effect would be maintained till the player cancels the power or runs out of end. Foes in the gravity sphere's influence would be immobilized and slowed, so the effects of Gravity Sphere would stack with other controls.
The gravity sphere itself would also be treated as a pet which can take damage, so a player caught in a gravity sphere would have the option of attacking the casting player (if ranged AT) or the pet (if melee AT).
BTW ... I didn't see anyone mention this, but if the dark def power Black Hole is essentially the same as Dimension Shift, it could be changed in the same manner as Dimension Shift. -
Umm ... Flipper?
Maybe something incorporating the names "Jules Verne" or "Nemo," like "Dr. Nemo." -
-
Quote:Originally Posted by GibberingLunatic
Mission: Create a Distraction
Contact: Crimson Revenant
Location: Nerva Archipelago
Patrol Text has a typo:
[NPC] Longbow Flamethrower: Looking forward to meeting the Brawler?
[NPC] Longbow Minigun: You betcha. I just hope he tinks well of our operation here.
I think this may be a case of colorful writing. Yesterday I saw some zone dialog where a Family NPC said "wifout" instead of "without". -
Though modern, super-techy pistols would be great for spies and agents, I would have to say my most desired pistol types would feature cowboy and pirate themes. So they'd look something like an old Colt or flintlock, but they'd be capable (by means of advanced tech or magic) of firing multiple rounds.
[[As a side note, I'd also like to eventually be able to equip MA NPCs with functional early firearms, including early pistols (Slug), shotguns (Buckshot), Civil War era rifle (Slug, Bayonet), etc.
If there is some sort of cognitive collapse based on the idea that ancient firearms couldn't really throw out the kind of barrage that the dual pistol set does, keep in mind two things: 1) a hero or villain will have a costume motif that they follow, and it will extend to the appearance of their weaponry, and 2) in movies and TV shows we regularly see a fusillade of bullets coming from guns that are never reloaded or which can't hold that many rounds. We don't reload in our game either.
The only thing we have access to right now, in terms of antique looking firearms, are the Nemesis rifles, but other enemy factions (BP, Hellions, etc.) have additional art.]]
"I know what you're thinking. Was that 6 shots, or 666 shots? Are you feeling lucky, punk?"
I like the triple-rotating-barrel flintlock featured here:
http://www.iloveswords.com/PirGun_106.html
-
Consider me /signed to virtually every suggestion made so far.
The thing that has bugged me the most over the years is the decision by the devs to not revisit the old content. Even in my first month of the game I was disappointed by the original content.
If they are ever willing to let someone revamp the first 20 levels on blue side, sign me up! I'd be happy to do it. -
I think the plan is to leave you in the street begging passers-by for a wakie.
-
I should point out, by the way, that while I made it sound very simple, depending on the way scenes are rendered in the game it might still turn out to be very complicated or even impossible.
-
I like the idea. Basically, the game would write a record in your user space of all actions by all characters. This info is already being sent over the internet, so it should be readily available to store off. Essentially, you could set aside a buffer (with adjustable size under Options) that the engine could write all actions to for later replay. The length of the recording would vary according to the number of actions that occur and the size of the recording buffer.
When something interesting happens and you want to save the recording, just hit a button and that will switch the recording stream to a new buffer and close off the old one, saving it to disk. The system will also need to save off costume data for all players and NPCs in the scene.
Once you have the list of actions and appearances saved off, you can reconstruct the play with a viewpoint from any angle.
From what I can see, there should be no real lag coming from recording, as all the information is being passed to your computer anyway. There may be a pause when you press the save button, however, as the actions file and the appearances will need to be saved to disk.
Naturally, players with slower CPUs or tighter memory could elect to keep the recording option turned off. -
Gratz to @fearghas for making the leap! I think he'll do some good things.
As for the file size increase ... it's excellent news! I don't know why Venture always fears we'll be inundated with EVEN MORE bad stories in AE ... especially when he also takes issue with so many of the canon stories. I'm inclined to agree with him on the lack of quality storytelling throughout the game - Sturgeon's Law holds true, I think - but we shouldn't overlook the fact that giving players better tools can help them produce better arcs.
I wonder if any of the guest authors complained about file size limits, and if that helped move this decision along ...?
-
Quote:If we can get a dance with the natural booster, I vote for an Irish jig.Originally Posted by craggy
/em robotdance was a very very good part of the cyborg pack. I've made great use of the costume parts and would have bought it for them, but the dance definitely sold it for me. I do a lot of other stuff in game, but if a situation calls for dancing, The Ro-bot is pretty high up the list of choices.
Then we can line up in Atlas and do a "Riverdance."
-
I picked up the Valkyrie and the Magic packs, but I passed on the cyborg and science packs because I thought their offerings and bonus powers weren't useful enough. There is so much more that could have been done with science, in particular. Focusing it on mad scientists was an error, in my view. I would have preferred to see a greater emphasis upon sci-fi elements.
Similarly, while I'm happy to see more martial arts / ninja stuff coming available, I'd also like to see more costume support for other types of natural toons, like soldiers, cowboys, pirates, and barbaric / native toons.
Yes, we already have certain things available, but there are always some good things that are missing. Like a 5th Column (Nazi-style) helmet. Or a spiked Kaiser type helmet (or at least the option to add a spike to an existing helmet). And there's conquistador and gladiator helmets, etc.
As for barbaric / native styles, we don't have much (aside from the African-ish shield and some horns/helmets), and could benefit from looting the BP artwork. A few choices for loin cloth would be good, for example. Maybe a wolf's head helmet? More bracelet / bracer / arm cuff options would be good. Earrings could be added to ear models. A couple different models of fur cape would be nice (pelt, fur trim, different fur type textures, etc.). Maybe a fur vest. Some pieces of modern or retro Native American wear would also be great, like adding fringe to leather pants and jackets, leather moccasins, etc. (If fringe can be added to anything other than capes.) Some sort of backpack, quiver, scabbard, etc. could be good as well.
I don't think we have a shotgun model for AR yet, or other antique guns (cowboy pistol, flintlock pistol, arquebus, WW1 rifle, etc.), which - if nothing else - would be nice to be able to plug into MA for NPC use.
As for the ninja "stand-still stealth" power some have mentioned as being part of the booster ... it's hard for me to see a use for it. In PvE we're almost always advancing on stationary foes, so you can't use it there. And outside of a wandering patrol, moving foes will normally be aggroed and see you, or hit you with aoes and expose you. And even if you used stealth to stand near a moving patrol and their perception failed to detect you ... what advantage does this power give aside from being able to let them pass by?
So if we do get the "stand-still stealth," I have to assume it is just intended as an emote, basically a variation on the alakazamreact. -
I think we may have various releases of things, but no official "issue."
We've got the Xmas and Valentine's events coming, plus probably a double xp weekend in there somewhere. New dev's choice arcs plus guest author arcs.
I could see the graphics update coming out as part of a holiday event, and the new electrical power set coming the same way. Ditto with the character switching ability. -
While it is probably a heating issue, you might also run a memory test to ensure the quality of your memory.
When I first started playing this game years ago I had some bad upper memory but never realized it till I played this game and kept crashing out. -
I know the devs like to do these outdoor events, but my preference is for a new arc for each holiday (with the possibility of also doing the arcs from previous years).
For example, last year it would have been nice to have an arc explaining the Zombie invasion event.
Oh, and ... no Snaptooth, please.