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Posts
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Quote:The @ distinction is awkward to me, and feels more like resistance to change given verbage. That doesn't mean it's not a legitimate concern, just feels like it's trying to redirect where the issue of contention is. But that could well just be my different perspective and dismissing the view. I'd much rather see a Shadowstorm@Hector42 than Shad0wst0rm. Sidenote, the villain 50 paper missions with 0mega really annoy meI think that the privacy issue is tied with the fact that many people have stated that they think "M I Abrahms@M I Abrahms" looks really stupid, and is more of an immersion breaker than seeing someone with -M I Abrahms.
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The lllusions also kinda come to mind here. One on hand, they're really not that breaking, but they can cause a bit of frustration when attempting to communicate.
I will say, personally, it's not a system that's really worth implementing mid-stream.
As a fun comical sidenote, one of my friends actually has a character name that's now blocked because they added a Signature Hero to the game with the same name. -
Quote:And that is a fair statement. However, I believe the contention is that people using kreatyve methods of using the same name anyway.Personally, I think of heroes/villains as unique characters and having multiple "Amazing Man"s on one server just doesn't jive with me.
I still see Amazing Man, Amaz'n Man, Amazing Mann, and Amazzing Man as still really being the same name, even though they aren't literally [obviously]. -
Quote:By having an account-based unique identifier that can be post-pended to the display name in appropriate venues as necessary. But that's a big mine-field I see with this game specifically, since there was already a big privacy outcry over Global Handles.Question for you Johnny: Without something to make the names unique, how will teh system tell which player the /tell, invite, or e-mail is supposed to go to? It doesn't matter if there are two Hero Guys or two thousand, how is the system supposed to know who you're talking two when you type: /t Hero Guy, <message>?
In general, I think the tech cost to develop combined with the 'political' cost of changing from the status quo wouldn't really be worth it.
One thing I will comment to Nethergoat however. There won't be a need even with server consolidation. At worst, the only need will be 'old' server name prefixed being applied. Or just follow the method that Global Handles were assigned initially. It won't be pleasant, but y'know, it's not really that much bigger of a deal than the current situation with names. -
Quote:Now let's be honest there, that's about the same as :*Glances at the names while passing through Atlas Park to the RWZ*
"Oh, look i see Lord of Darkness next to Lord of Darkness, and next to them Captain Deathblade talking to Lord of Darkness about Good Samaritan who is trying to ignore them while chatting with Good Samaritan while Lord of Darkness is hovering over Lord of Darkness. Yup, same old, same old. It's like nothing changed with the J_B naming system. Awesome."
*announces a respec in broadcast*
"Hmmm, looks like Lord of Darkness wants to join, but Lord of Darkness isn't interested, and someone just shouted that you shouldn't invite Lord of darkness because he doesn't pay attention and causes frequent teamwipes. Guess i'll invite Lord of Darkness, but not Lord of Darkness."
"Hey, look, it's L0rd 0f D@rkn355, and Lord 0f Darkness, hey hmm maybe we should invite 7056 of Darkness".
Of course, instead, the distinction is just Lord of Darkness@Random Hero 00 324 12 etc if you change to non-unique display names.
But, most likely, as a tech change, it's not one that's worth the return.
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I personally like the idea of Display Name@Unique Global like that other game.
Of course, there will be another privacy outcry [justifiably so] with the global name needing to become public knowledge. But I think it'd work out better.
Naming really sucks now. Sure, I can come up with decent sounding names that aren't taken, but then, they're taken. And I also have to do the mess of hoping they actually fit the character anyway. And Emperor Cole forbid if you actually want a one-word name.
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Quote:Don't worry too much, look at the other fun long treaded topic in this thread and you can find a fairly good power pool replacement for FitnessSo basically........ I'm getting 3 new power for ALL my builds, which is cool, but in essence zero slots to put in them... since i'll still need to slot the inherent fitness line... (which, is normally only a small hand full of slots anyways.)
so all my builds will need massive reworking and prolly reslotting ALL my powers to try and find some slots to make use of some of these new powers i'll have...
It's an OK change I guess. I personally dislike "throw a way" powers, but with no slots to slot into my 3 new powers... 3 powers i might add i'll need to figure out what to take... that matches my concepts... all 40 of them... yeah, this looks more like WORK for *me* then a bonus.
But i am happy for everyone else who really wanted this.. Leadership, since Vengeance is effective with 1 power-slot, it can be nice to use.
Although really, best idea is to wait till it happens and run the numbers then.
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Quote:By controlling the definition. It's all in terms of a place-able enhancement slot/power ratio. Not total # of place-able enhancement slots.Since you seem to think that you have a point here, show me the math.
Show me how spending 4 slots on Fitness Pool powers now leaves you with a different amount of available slots than spending 4 slots on the some powers once they become inherent powers.
Personally, I dislike that usage. It feels counter-intuitive to me on both sides of the ratio. -
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Quote:Somewhat, not really thoughFunny, that perfectly describes every single rez power in the game.
*smirk*
Kinda puts a hole in your argument there, doesn't it?.
Rezzing is healz0ring. It's a different 'playstyle', it's a very effective tool [and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to see the healz0r types combining veng into their rez cycles]. However, notice that there isn't a similar discussion in this thread about how everyone will be picking up Resuscitate with their new found power selections. Yes, it's been mentioned [and it too is a very useful 1slot power], but it's hardly expected that Awakens will become as worthless as Essence of the Earth in Ouroborus.
Self-rezing is, perhaps, a better comparison. Since those are usually not on healz0rs [Hai guys! I'm FIRE LORD, I will be your MEDIC today! FLAMING BANDAGES OF LIFE AWAY!], but instead on traditional primary damage roles [or tanking roles]. Those, however, have the added benefit of fitting the primary or secondary powerset concept far easier. But they're still a utility power. -
Quote:Well really, it's only tighter on slots in that you're defining slot 'tightenness' as a straight slots/powers ratio, which means be definition those two states are going to move in opposite directions. Oddly enough that also makes for the scenario where if they just added two free Anywhere slots, that would result in power diversity, relative to powers/slot would decrease. Probably why the slots/power isn't a good measure to look at in this regard. At least it is for me.It's both. Tighter on slots and looser on power picks. It is a good thing though for the most part. I mean the respec process is pretty bad, so there is that headache that will affect different people in varying amounts.
I'd like to lend my support to the idea of a dynamic mode respec. Also I'd like a quick respec mode where it opens your hold build as it is and you can work backwords where if you take away a slot it sticks the enhancement down into the storage tray. So it is more like when you open up mids and tweak with an already complete build. -
Quote:Same issue at play as the old Defender Vigilance I think.
Vengeance is a fabulous power hardly anyone takes.
Giving them more chances to take it won't improve its market penetration by a meaningful amount.
Folks don't like powers that reward you when you 'fail'.
I personally don't take it on my MM even though I have the requisite power selections for leadership anyway, for that reason. -
Quote:CoV's signed beta phase must have been the very initial steps [I'd suggest the Friends & Family-esque type stage]. The digital sign from the download link and the community forums may be what they meant, but that's difficult to say.We actually went over this in a thread where people were posting wating to get into loyalty beta. PS has never "made us sign an NDA" not even a digital one. All they've done in every beta previous is ASK NICELY that people respect a list of terms we've all come to call "the NDA" if you broke it, and they found out, you were removed from Beta, and barred from future betas at their discretion.
For "Real" Betas. (Microsoft Products, the Japanese PS2-based Beta of FFXI I was in, many game-launch betas especially by SOE). You either electronically sign a legal document, or in the case of the "Japanese PS2-Beta" I had a physical document of serveral pages mailed to me in a fed ex mailer, I read through it, signed and dated it, then mailed it back to Sony, it also delt with how I would return the hardware at the end of the period, etc. etc.
When you sign a true "signed NDA" of those natures, either physically or electronically, you can actually be sued by the company for breach of contract and things of that nature. Doesn't mean they WILL, but they CAN. So no, we've never "signed" an NDA since i9, the first "Closed Beta".
I've heard/been told that the original CoV Beta had a signed NDA in some form, as did, probably the original CoH Beta. Personally I'm surprised we didn't sign one for the GR Beta, but given the nature of the loyalty rewards program and all that confusion, I suspect it was "more trouble than it was worth". So either stuff in i20 is SO big they want extra security, or they've just tired of the leaks and things they've had in the past, and have decided to move to a "real" beta model, and require signed NDAs from then on. One or the other.
Short answer: Yeah, it's very different, and no, we've never signed one before.
Personally I hope my pessimistic view of what I20 could be to require Serious Bzns NDA is wrong. But that's going to be my assumption until stated elsewise.
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Quote:Ah, see, that's a difference of perceptionMy initial post in this thread was to Castle, asking for the reasoning behind this change (instead of what I saw as another option, or doing nothing). With fitness becoming inherent, there's no change to offset the global buff every toon is getting (either immediately, or on a respec). We're getting power creep, and I am wondering why.
As I pointed out earlier, current power numbers would have to be re-examined if the base rates were changed, and that is a lot of work. And you're right, it would be a nerf to high end builds unless set bonuses were looked at as well. It's probably not a viable alternative at all, really.
The assumption in the majority of this thread seems to be that low level endurance recovery is really the issue being addressed here. But then there's an even simpler solution: just give Beginner's Luck an scaling endurance recovery buff, similar to it's accuracy buff.. That is part of it, but I think the primary issue is the omni-presence of that power selection. Which is why it doesn't really impact the endurance economy for the mid-range to the high-range. It will impact it on the low-range (the builds that don't really use stamina, and of course, the lower-level range before stamina).
Now it also grants 3 additional power selections [and one power pool] for the mid-range and high-range. For the low-range, it doesn't really do that [since they weren't taking stamina anyway].
It is a buff, but I think the perception of it for balance isn't necessarily as a buff to endurance, but a buff in available powers. Given that it's not really going to increase the # of slots, it's not going to change the # of active powers that are useful. It's more so increasing utility powers, which isn't so much a direct increase in combat power. Although it may well increase the endurance consumption on the highly optimized builds [well at least, make the consumption levels more tight] because of 3 additional powers into the mix.
Now, time will tell of course, but my view on it isn't that this is trying to solve the low-level end problem. That's just a side-benefit. It's trying to solve the issue that the vast majority takes that power pool.
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Quote:Hmm, hard to say. On one hand, it would still carry the nerf of no longer being able to 6 slot Stamina, but it would have freed up 3 power selections at that time. I think it would have certainly been a better time to do it [hindsight and all that].Can you imagine what the response to ED would have been like if Fitness was made inherit in the same patch?
Probably could have even gotten away with removing it as a power then too. Which, while I do like the idea of being to customize what's left with slotting, I think would have been a good idea all the same. -
Quote:I want to say it was about the same time that Hasten got nerfed, since I remember the lines about 'required' powers then tooYears ago (around i1 or i2) I had this same discussion with Statesman, when I felt that stamina should have become an inherent. It feels weird to be using his argument against it.
. Since that was well expected to also bring a Stamina nerf with it, since Hasten was nerfed for the same reason in play. Although, interestingly enough, the solution with Hasten wasn't to raise everyone's inherent cast time
. It was to make perma Hasten impossible [or near Impossible] at that time.
I also remember it coming up during the beta for CoV when Positron broke the news about ED.
I think those discussions did provide an interesting insight as to why an additive solution wouldn't really be viable, since that type of statistic is one that the player base will never be satisfied with until it's completely trivialized. Again, see the usage pre-ED. -
Quote:I understand the confusion, please read the edit for clarification that I added. I believe you quoted it as well. I actually agree with your pointIncorrect. Brawl. Sprint. Rest. Kheldian Travels and the form powers. The whole fitness set, now.
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By making modifications to the values themselves [Recovery, Regeneration, and Movement Speed, as mentioned earlier in the reply/thread I was responding to] instead of moving the powers in question to an inherent power pool, you would no longer be able to slot them, since there is no power. It's simply a change to the intrinsic values.
Quote:And if you wanted the option to slot it, you could take the power, which would still be in a pool. What would be a much simpler solution is a global movement/regeneration/recovery rate buff, along with a nerf to fitness.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against more inherent movement/regen/recovery. My question is why was this approach chosen.
EDIT:
So, fewer spreadsheet changes. Makes sense. It's still causing power creep, and power creep leads to nerfs.
This method lets them maintain the same endurance economy at the top end [and the 'general' end], at the expense of increasing it at the low end. -
Quote:Exactly, by making it inherent, you no longer have the option to slot enhancements in it.We've been told over and over again that the game isn't balanced around IOs.
Also, build form versatility which is "added" by *removing* a power pool instead of reducing it's necessity and/or effectiveness, making it less desirable to take? That's akin to saying "I gain more options by removing one."
[ edit for clarity ]
By making the modifications to the values themselves, you remove the options of slotting it, and placing more slots in the power. -
Quote:Versatility in build forms, the other mentioned IO-slot abilities.Castle, any chance you can shed some light on why this choice was made as opposed to simply raising the base values for recovery/regeneration/movement?
And to keep from changing the economy of it with potential double-dipping [which admittedly can be handled another way]. -
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Quote:I'd suggest medicine between those two honestly. Leadership is both slot and end-heavy in my experience. Although I'd definitely suggest picking up WeaveI know on my fire scrapper i will be better
At the mo, power pools i have are:
Fitness - swift/health/stamina
Speed - hasten
Leaping - combat jumping/super jump
Fightning - kick/tough
Now though i'll be able to add another and thus increasing my strength, hmm possibly leadership or medicine.. But I don't know scrappers that good and certainly not your build/experience.
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Quote:I believe AO actually used randomly assembled maps. Largely, I suspect your view is correct, the map layouts all use the same components, but they are largely fixed. This is more so to prevent 'bad' things from happening or getting linked together.Hmmmm, randomly generated maps... When I first started playing CoH, and new to everything, I actually thought that maybe the maps were randomly generated on the fly, like when you zoned in. I mean some of the rooms are the same, maybe slightly different, but each and every map of the same type uses the same room elements. Like office buildings always have the same x number of rooms used over and over.
That said, it still doesn't result in a reduction of it being the same. It just results in more randomness.
Art resources can be a useful method to create the illusion of variety, however, it's fairly short lived [and decidedly artificial]. The Freakshow warehouse maps come to mind here. And I suspect it also has the highest art cost short of new map-tiles themselves. And at the low-end, no one really notices [Crey Labs versus Portal Corp Lab for instance].
There's really more to it being 'different' than turning left instead of right [over-simplification mind you]. I suspect it mostly boils down to seeing the same backdrop [a common complaint right now with a certain over popular fantasy based mmo as well]. -
Quote:It is a bit dissatisfying, that said, it comes up once every 2 days, so not too big of a deal. Just a bit of a let down.Please tell me you mean that each character only has to do one morality mission per alignment that gets randomly picked from a pool.
Are you saying there are only FOUR morality missions per level range in total? That's all? If true, that's ridiculous, IMO.
So this means all level 50 Heroes who farm them for the Hero alignment points are truly doing the same exact mission over and over and over? Yes, I understand that the character also does more tip missions than morality missions, but come on. It sounds like a disturbing omission to me. We already have enough "reviewers" claiming all the missions in CoX are the same as it is...
The Villain one is personally getting really tired for me now.
Here's hoping the tools are such that they can churn out more content, but *shrug*. -
Quote:Similarly so, you don't know if that character's back story facilitates them having privileged knowledge.That's sort of my point: unless the character has been told where the other character in question is from, IC, they have no realistic way of knowing another toon's affiliation and AT.
Also, the registration document isn't a badge that characters wear, so IC information held on it shouldn't be used unless you go to City Hall and RP reading up on it.
At the same point, there are a number of folks who want to play 'out of the system' as it were, perhaps just for that reason. However, that goes back to the before mentioned issue of players wanting to ignore elements of the in-game construct for their lore.
However, I personally tie the construct to the nature of the game. I don't personally think it would be a 'fun exercise' in RP, to have the party grind to a halt and have to break the fourth wall to do a proper RP interaction with a doppelganger.
Use it as opportunity to interact, don't use it as an excuse not to interact.
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Quote:Well, perhaps the same way that another character is expected to know that stalker in question isn't from the Rogue Isles.The only problem I have with someone "distrusting Stalkers in general" is How does the character know they're a stalker in the first place? People don't walk around with little symbols floating above their heads to tell you what Archetype they are. My main is a Blaster who has Stealth, and Superspeed with a Stealth Proc in it, yet no one has ever accused him of being a villain when they first met him.
In short, unless Moo actually said, IC, "I'm a stalker", the other character had no realistic way of knowing it, which makes IC dealing with it a waste of time, since the other player has gone OOC when reacting to his character.
Although, to be fair, the H4-R does include Archetype. -
Quote:Personally, I'd question the point of doing a sub-20 revamp (blue-side in general) if you're not going to be able to do it entirely in a pass. Currently, Praetoria is so much better of an experience that it really won't see much use, I feel. The reason I suggest blue-side specifically, if that the walls should come down, but they really can't come down with the neighbors being updated as well. Also, doing so, you'll see a repeat of a lot of the criticism about GR being too focused on the lower levels.While I think that the OP is a troll, I also think this is a fair criticism, presented in a thoughtful, non-trollish manner. Gotta respect that.
The one thing I was a bit disappointed in with Going Rogue is that the old zones didn't get the "ultra mode" treatment. I would absolutely love it if, over the next year or so, they spend at least one or even two issues focusing on revamping existing art and content instead of adding new stuff. I'd love to see Boomtown starting to be rebuilt, Faultline progressing even further (maybe even a big push to officially rename the zone back to "Overbrook"), new ultra mode textures rolled out to at least the starting hero and villain zones, etc.
And well, I also feel that what you suggest is a bit ambitious of a goal for an issue. Not saying I wouldn't appreciate it, just saying the effort could probably be better spent elsewhere (say, Talos or FF instead--maybe RWZ even, or expanded level region for Praetoria).
Personally, I'd really prefer to the Incarnate system come to fruition and give a bit more validity for end-game characters. Time will tell though.