rainmaker
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:Let's not be myopic.Originally Posted by FredrikSvanberg
I believe that the lack of AE players can be blamed largely on the devs for the way they handled the rampant exploits and AE rewards in general. Most people I've talked to still seem to think that AE missions don't give any rewards at all because of the "nerfs".
There are many reasons that the AE buildings are a ghost town right now other than the farmers.
Some of those things the devs can own. Heavy handed response to exploits is one of them. So is lack of new features to help players create anything more than the type of content we used to see up until i12. Changes that broke arcs, leading to a general sense of frustration among authors is another.
But some of those things the community can own. Like overvaluing content with false ratings, or refusal to make more new content because arc slots are full.
Let's also not ignore the fact that the AE lost it's shiny factor a while ago and that the devs have done a decent job making players want to run tfs for incarnate stuff.
While this is true, I feel that there is an untapped market out there. I know a few people who love the stories in CoH, but who won't touch AE content because their experience is that what's there is poor and unbalanced. I know others who won't touch the AE because they feel it's nothing but a place for farmers.Quote:Originally Posted by FredrikSvanberg
Sadly a vast majority of players don't seem to be interested in stories, whether they are made by other players or the devs. All too often I hear people say that they never read anything and don't care what the missions are about.
There are lots of people who want new content, and new stories but won't touch the AE for other reasons. It's easy to say "players don't want stories". It's true of the majority of the population. But I think there are probably enough people out there to justify continued production of stories, if they could be lured back.
If I recall correctly it was something like "Ok everyone we're not going to rate this arc...."Quote:Originally Posted by FredrikSvanberg
That's too bad. Was I there? Which arc was it? Did you take what I suppose was a suggestion to leave the arc unrated due to its unfinished status as an attempt to order you around, or as merely a suggestion? Because I doubt anyone think they have that kind of power that they can order anyone to not rate an arc. At least I hope nobody thinks that.
Were you there? I don't recall, it was about a year ago. Anything else on this topic should probably be done in private so as not to fan the flames of drama.
Finally I've got my thinking hat on about all these issues.
Eva started the thread to reflect a general sense of enui that I beleive is shared among many Achitects. I'm not sure much new has been said in the thread, but it's been an open and frank discussion. We know there's a lack of passion in this community given the state of affairs.
Maybe a new thread needs to be started on how the users can overcome these issues. Maybe if we could light the candle that was there at one point we could come up with ideas that would get new exciting content being pumped out once again.
And maybe if there were fresh innovative content that were being promoted as heavily as the latest fire-resist farm in Atlas on Freedom we could see a smallish group of dedicated players come back.
Maybe I should just shut the eff up, put my money where my mouth is, and go make something.
-rain -
A few random comments on the responses to my post:
1. I Get the perception that the whole ratings system is borked. I really do. I understand the desire to get people to play the arcs. I understand that when someone pours themselves into a project like an AE arc, they naturally want it out there to enjoy some form of success. When I put up my first arc and no one played it, I was a little put off. But really the arc wasn't that good. Five starring this arc would have done me no favors. It would have given me a false sense of success.
Has anyone considered the part of the lack of players in AE (non-farm) might be backlash from the "5 star culture"?
I mean if the content were interesting and compelling wouldnt there at least be pockets of players looking for it?
I think we can bet that a number of potential users of the AE over the past year have been turned off simply by playing "5 star arcs" that were undeserving of the rating. The perception would be that even the best in the AE was substandard.
And yes, I beleive that the overwhelming bulk of AE 5 Starred content is substandard. I've played alot of it.
Getting your arc played is important I agree. But as with any product, if you inflate it's worth, the consumer will know the moment they try it, as respond accordingly in the future.
2. My "Story first" comment was not aimed at Venture (despite the attempted redirect). I never held any conversation with him and generally enjoyed his reviews greatly. Story is important, of course. It's AS important as the action. The two must be balanced.
3. I am sorry if my post came off as an indictment of the community as a whole. I tried to make it clear with my language that this wasn't everyone. As a couple of people pointed out, there was(is?) a dedicated base of those who honestly and earnestly were there to help answer questions.
I remember one morning the MA Superteam being told not to rate the arc that we had just played because it was so flawed. The rationale being that rating it would tank the arc, which by all accounts, was salvagable. I understand the motivation, and at it's core it was positive in spirit.
That said, wasn't the actual way to help author to two star it, as it deserved, and encourage the author to change and republish based on objective feedback?
I dunno,I rated it.
...and then I never went back to rwz on Triumph.
4.Reading these responses has given me food for thought and I appreciate the time everyone's spent putting thier opinions down. Thanks.
-rain -
You know a few things demotivated me on the AE but among the main factors that made me unpublish all my stories (other than a bunch I did specifically for my SG) is:
The MA community.
While this does not apply to many or even most (and may not apply now), I recall a culture in the MA channels about a year ago that basically enforced the following:
"If you play someone's arc you must give it 5 stars"
It's funny. I would wake up early (for me) on saturday mornings, and play with the "MA Superteam". Lots of great people to team with and we had a hoot playing through both the good and the bad in the AE. We would laugh a bit and then rate the arcs as we saw fit. We played LOTS of really bad content. Occasionally we found a gem.
Later in the day however, you could count on two or three people nerdraging in the chats about how their arc had been 4 starred, or even 3 starred, and how this constituted "griefing" their arc.
Some authors contended that a single non-5 star rating kept a newly published arc from ever getting to the front pages of the search result. I'm not hyperbolizing when I say that there were those people who would whine in open chat whenever thier arcs received anything but 5 stars about how they had been screwed over.
I played most every arc that got spammed in the architect channels. And truthfully I think I ever played maybe a half dozen that I thought were 5 star worthy.
What made this issue even worse in my mind was that these very same people would go off at points on how voting cartels were ruining the rating system, while systematically promoting a culture where their arcs were supposed to be 5 starred regardless of quality.
The other part of the culture of the MA community that left me with a bad taste in my mouth was the "story first" contingent.
There was a sizable contingent of people in the MA community that would 5 star a story NO MATTER HOW BAD IT PLAYED. A certain vocal part of the community would basically say that as long as the arc had the requisite number of "in-jokes" or correct pop culture references, then the story was good and the arc was amazing.
I think I debated with three seperate people at one time or another that the gameplay, in terms of enemy balance and fun factor was at least as important as a good story. I contend to this day that since we are creating content for a video game, that the balance and fun factor, the rewards gained ect must all be as vital to an arc as the story.
That said as long as your story was cribbing elements from the right places, your arc was met with acclaim from "the community". No matter how derisive the story was or how blandly it played.
Look, I've paid for all the available mission architech slots I can have. At a few points all those slots have been full. I paid for those slots mostly to show my support for the tool. I voted with my wallet to tell the Devs that "I like this product". I beleive in the tool. But sitting there day after day, watching a culture that enforced block voting (but only for certain people)and espoused a general attitude that said the gameplay was secondary, all for the glory of getting devs attention, left me with such a bad taste in my mouth that I simply cancelled my sub for several months and went to make stuff for another persistant online world.
I reupped my sub because of the incarnate content. I'm happy to have something to do with the 50's I've levelled across the years I have been subbed to this game. Every once in a while I eye the MA building with a sparkle in my eye going "what if....".
*shrugs*
Maybe I'll make something again, but it sure won't be for the reasons others are. For now the community surrounding this tool is not something I really want to be part of. -
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@Tubbius Hammer and Sickle of Paragon City #351727
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@Lazarus Breaking the Barrier (and Putting it Back Together Again) #347029 -
Quote:I find this laughable.Originally Posted by Fury Flechette
Of course what's never mentioned is the fact that almost all of us have given away our methods on how to become rich; that many of us have given away millions (billions) to other players just because we can;
I've bought my share of overpriced salvage due to the "Marketeer's minigame" and people like you have never given me a cent.
I'm not here to say don't do it. But certainly don't pretend to be altruistic. It's hypocritical. Don't try and act like some kind of Robin Hood. You're a businessman exploiting people's desires plain and simple.
But the good guy you're not.
You're certainly entitled to your market game and I'm not here to say it's wrong. But don't expect the rest of us to support your self serving assertion that you put it back into other people's hands.
And yes... your game affects the casual player alot. -
Quote:Since getting to level 10 takes so little time I would say no to developer's resources being spent on this.Originally Posted by Yogi_Bare
I ask that players be allowed the option to change either one of their powersets prior to hitting level 9 (or 13). [The option being lost once the tonn hits lvl 10 (or 14)]
It gives them a bit of time to give their choice a whirl and there's little chance of IO set commitment at that point.
I know some would say 'just reroll' but there's probably quite a few who'd rather not completely trash a toon whose only 'meh' may be a powerset selection.
I will just say trash the toon and reroll. -
Hey everyone,
looking for feedback on my entry for Dr. Aeon's challenge.
The Mittelrhein Sanction
Arc ID:347518
Travel Back in time to assassinate a key historical Figure
Levels:40-54
Difficulty Level: hard
Number of EB/AVS 4
Story Type Drama
Villain Groups 5th Column, 2Custom groups, Axis America
Mission Count: 4
Estimated Time to Play: About an hour
Each mission contains an EB/AV but on -1,0 I soloed this on a blaster and controller.
Thanks in advance for your time! -
Quote:I agree.... some kind of offical style guide from the devs would be awesome and help us add a lot of much needed polish.Originally Posted by Vardra
Something I'd like to see is a simple guide to getting colored text in the mission descriptions - what the html codes are, and what colors are used by the default game for things like "This is an objective", or "Warning, this mission may be a bit difficult."
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Quote:I try to give feedback alot... particularly if you can tell the author has taken alot of time to craft a story that may not work for one reason or another because of a game mechanic or power choice. I try to always leave a line or two with at least one thing I liked and one thing I didn't.Originally Posted by Xyzyx
How often do you leave feedback for arc authors? Do you provide feedback only for arcs you enjoy, arcs you hate, or both? How detailed is your feedback?
How often do you receive feedback on your own arcs?
I generally try to provide detailed feedback on arcs I play - how I played it ("soloed with a L18 scrapper"), whether I found it easy or challenging, any errors that I noticed, what I particularly enjoyed or particularly disliked, etc. I've received feedback on my own arcs 10-15% of the time, most of it short and detail free ("Very good", "This was fun"). My hypothesis is that the small percentage of players that go into detail are fellow arc authors who understand the challenges of using the MA to its fullest potential.
What do you think?
Something like "loved your story and your customs but I thought the 20 glowies and kill all on the last map were tedious" or "Nice work on the ambushes, but I thought the use of Mastermind minions was annoying"
I also leave a few choice ones for the makers of farm maps when I stumble onto them.
I've had a couple decent conversations with people I've left feedback for.It's been a positive experience.
I've played alot of really fun stuff that gets spoiled by one fixable thing or another. I think it's important to help each other become better. -
Quote:Owned this game about 5 years. CoV came out and I lost the time for it in my life... I've been a very sporadic subscriber since then.Originally Posted by MEdelen
In my own opinion, AE was the worst thing that could have been done.... Noone seems to want to do anything else but play AE missions. I can't get a TF or a regular mission team for anything. And now with issue 16 allowing people to solo missions (including AE missions) set for a full 8 man team...there will be people not wanting to even form a team.. Before AE, there was mission team, farm teams, TF teams, etc.... The farms was good only b/c of the drops. AE doesn't even give you that.... and b/c noone is playing a regular non-AE mission anymore, drops are scarce and the price of them are outragious. So it even affects the market.
AE brought me back. Big time. My accounts been active six months solid.
I like to think my presence is good for the game.
My 15 bucks a month helps.
I love comming home from work and tweaking my arcs. No one may play them but I dont care. I live the possibilities of story telling. I team, I do TFs and I solo people's content in MA.
My enthusiasm is good for the game. I've brought two new players with me.
That starts with MA. -
Quote:I actually Bugged this the other nightOriginally Posted by Siergen
I use a COT map in one of my arcs that sometimes has randomly placed glowing crystals. They never seemed to cause a problem before, but in every test run since Issue 15 went live, the escort ally stops following if she passes through the area of effect of one of the buff crystals.
Is this new behavior, or did I just miss it before? Also, is there any known workaround, such as a particular AI setting that ignores the crystal? I really like the map I'm using, and would like avoid going through all the COT maps trying to find one that never has crystals (assuming such a map even exists)... -
[ QUOTE ]
To the person that said that PLers just take up space ...
PLers make the mobs larger in your missions and then add to your XP. Because of this they are contributing, even if indirectly. Everyone is benefiting from this if they take part of a PLing mission.
[/ QUOTE ]
No.
One team made up of 4 stooges taking a PL and 4 people actively fighting earns XP slower than a team of 8 fighting. You want good xp everyone contributes.
A level 6 sked to a level 40 does not fight as well or as fast as another level 40.
If you really want to be efficient and level quickly, the people on your mission who increase the spawn size should be able to contribute well.
Justifying someone's place on the team as being there for the spawn size is bunk. Even the hard core leeches know this. Stooges slow the game down.
-rain -
[ QUOTE ]
Dude, in the 40+ game, blasters NEED defenses.
And unless they are the level of Scrapper defenses, they will not break anything, except maybe the jaws of the villians.
[/ QUOTE ]
I got my blaster to 50.
He had no defense other than his team
He didn't even have hasten.
The word "NEED" makes your statement untrue.
-rain -
Use the rest power