uviathon

The Jetpack booster - nah.

But the Cyborg booster? Awesome, awesome, awesome. The costume pieces are outstanding. The Self-Destruct power is great. The robot dance is classic. The combat auras are awesome. Please, please, PLEASE keep adding more choices to combat auras - such a superb idea. I bought both the Good vs. Evil add-on and the Wedding pack, and I thought they were both worth the money. The Cyborg booster blows them both away. You guys nailed it. Perfect value for the money. Please keep it coming.

I love that the helmets will finally be available, as I pre-ordered before I knew they were store-specific.

The power choice isn't very appealing. To be honest, it doesn't seem to me to be anything more than "We didn't have time to work on the 54 month reward, so here's a bone." I feel you guys have set a high standard with the work you've put into the powers of the game thus far, and most of the glaring lackies have since been modified into awesomeness. This "pick again" reward doesn't strike me as much of a reward at all. Whether for concept or for damage reasons, I picked the power I picked the first time because it had appeal. I chose it instead of the other one. So unless their abilities are gonna change this time around, why would I want to pick the one I didn't want in the first place?

If you were strapped for time for whatever reason, at least give us something we couldn't get before. Vets having permanent access to a power others can only get temporarily is a suitable reward, and there are lots of temps to choose from. Maybe give us a bunch of Vanguard mertis so we can buy like 3 Vanguard items straight away. Give us some veteran weapons for our customizables. How about some veteran-specific auras? I have yet to actually use any of the base items that came previously, and I'd still say those are better ideas than these re-picks.

Anyway, I honestly feel 54 is a far cry from what you guys have proven you're capable of delivering.

I must confess, I was totally fished in until I read the very last line on the page. Gratz to all those who cooked this up.

Thanx again, B. I have to agree with your stated priorities. And, as I mentioned before, I'm sure you will all keep me plenty busy with the new stuff. Thanx for all the hard work you guys continually put in.

I just want to thank you bigtime, Brawler, for the explanation. I'm web developer-lite myself, and so I was always interested in hearing some sort of technical explanation why. You guys throw in enough great stuff all the time to keep this game great. I'll still hope you all find a clever way to get it in without burying yourselves.

I would also love to hear a similarly detailed explanation about why we cant customize henchmen, when you get the time. If nothing else, it would be nice to have male/female versions (robots being a possible exception, since there's nothing inherently "male" about the existing bots).

Could you please also maybe throw in why we cant emote our veteran reward pets?

This update looks absolutely killer! Thanks be to the devs for all your hard work.

Might we see some sliders for the weapons some time in a future update? Some of us would really love to control the size of blades, make ridiculously large pistols, or a rifle with a VERY long barrel.

Primaries:
O Street Fighting - I would be all for this if it means a scrapper who knows how to use his/her hands AND feet. Always seemed a little odd that there was this like divide between using hands (Super Strength Tanker) and using feet (Martial Arts Scrapper).
O Electric Hammer - I vote this one down. Electric Melee already exists, and I'm not a big Thor fan.
O Energy Blade - If this is an energy blade that like extends from the arm/arms, ala Psylocke or the Protoss Zealots from Starcraft, sign me up.
O Psionic Weaponry - As long as the weapons are diverse and cool looking, I'm in. Of course, there are already a few other psi sets in the game, so would rather have something we havent seen before.
O Dual Blades - Bah. This would be better realized as just a graphic option for claws when (?) you guys implement custom powers.
O Ball and Chain * - I envision this as something more like what Gogo used in Kill Bill Vol. 1, not a medieval morning star. There are already three medieval-ish weapons in the game. No need for more yet.
O Shield Fighting * - This has "possibility" written all over it. Whether it's just wacking people with shield, a scrapper/tanker set with lots of defensive moves or counters, being able to deflect an attackers own attacks back at him, etc.

Secondaries:
O Density Control - Definitely need more info.
O Force Field - We already have a plethora of FF. Unless you are gonna do some different things with it.
O Willpower - Again, need more inf.
O Vibration - Still being too.....i dunno.....Cryptic.... Need more info.
O Growth * - As stated by others, the growing/shrinking possibilities sound cool.
O Shield Defense * - The thing about this is that it seems like if you implement Shield Fighting, Shield Defense almost becomes a no-brainer. But then you need to make it good enough on its own to where people who decouple one from the other are still going to enjoy it and be able to exploit its potential.

You should probably conduct the polls again, with at least some rough ideas of what powers we could expect, unless you are trying to solicit specific power descriptions from us. Otherwise, things like Vibration and ForceField just sound to me like it's going to be Energy Armor or Dark Armor or something like that but with different graphics and flipped abilities (ie. Where DA offers resistance, Vibration offers defense, etc). I think that's why things like Growth and Shield sound so much more appealing.

I have pretty much loved this game since day 1, and I10 only make me love it more. I was surprised at how quickly it followed I9, and then I thought it made sense, since it didnt seem as complex as adding the whole Invention system or something like that. That said, I guess my expectations were somewhat more modest than other updates. I am pleasantly shocked at how much I love the update. It's awesome! The new custome sets are awesome. The new missions are awesome. That peace treaty mission was very atpyical - very fun and a welcome change of pace. And I love how the Rikti boards have like those little shafts that connect the main corridors. The new Rikti graphics are awesome. The changes to the Warzone itself are awesome. Making it a co-op zone was an awesome idea. Since it has come out, I've spent the majority of my time there, and when I think about playing, my thoughts revolve around which character to try in the RWZ next, or what the next mission is for the one who is furthest along there.

My RL WoW friends wonder why I havent strayed to another MMO since CoH debuted. The main reason I would switch to WoW is to play with my RL friends, but, aside from the also having friends I've made on City, I have a blast playing the game, and it has only gotten better.

As far as lag goes, it was bad at first, until the alternate RWZ zones opened, and then I just went to one of those and all was well. First time I can remember seeing something like "Rikti War Zone: Full."

I10 is a solid hit. Thanks to everyone over there for this incredible update.

PS. Still busting my butt to get Tech Wings....to no avail.

Certain emotes will change slightly if you do them more than one time consecutively. For instance, ;ledgesit, first time you type it, will usually have you sit with legs dangling down, arms at your sides, palms flat. Second time, your arms will be across your legs with your hands in your lap, head hanging slightly.

First ;surrender will usually be arms up, standing. Second will be hands up, kneeling.

;walllean done multiple times will change from legs out straight, hands in pockets to legs crossed, arms crossed over chest

;protest done multiple times will change the sign you hold. It seems that you have to move or jump to take yourself out of the emote and then do it again for the change to take effect.

Anyway, there might be more of them that change with multiple executions, but these are the ones I know of off the top of my head.

I have a 50 AR/DEV blaster with cloaking device (6 SO +def). I always thought of stealth as working kind of like the Predator (from the first movie). As long as he didnt attack, he could shadow Arnold and his gang. As soon as he attacked, they were aware of the threat, and he got banged up, but it was still hard to hit him, because of the stealth.

Anyway, that's how I saw it, conceptually. In actual play, sometimes I am as powerful and untouchable as the Predator, and many other times, I am using every trick I have just to stay alive. I pretty much agree that the Stealth changes dont seem to make a whole lot of sense:

* Defense, in general, only applies when someone is actually attacking you. It doesnt affect anything when you arent in a fight.
* To be attacked, you have to be seen.
* Once enemies see you, they will try to hit you.
* Once you are hit, your defense bonus from stealth is halved
* If you attack them first, your defense bonus is halved

So, a power that only applies during combat is always less effective during combat.

I thought there was plenty of balance between all the stealth powers before. For someone like my AR/DEV blaster, there was a unique form of alpha strike in that I could "cloak and smoke," and then trip mine (or timebomb, only I didnt take that). I still got a defense bonus after the fight started, which always seemed logical to me, since I had thrown smoke at them and was still invisible (and I feel that I earned the defense bonus I get, as I 6-slotted both of those powers for for -def/+def, respectively). Stealth from Concealment could be taken much earlier, but had a lower def buff. Invis and Phase Shift from Concealment has serious stealth, but you couldnt attack, good for stealthing or as part of the "oh crap" routine). Superior Invis was the best of both worlds, and a nice, unique thing that Ill controllers could brag about.

Now it seems that all stealth powers are basically good for one thing - stealthing. I remember one of the nice things about FF defenders being that first bubble that makes it so you can run carefree to missions in Perez between 7-10, while everyone else is trying to squeeze between the bounderies of mob sight. It sounds to me like the stealth powers are now going to be good for little more than this, only not nearly as effective....especially if you do happen to be seen and hit once.

I know defense and offense arent apples:apples, but I cannot imagine an attack power, which is only ever useful for attacking, that does half damage whenever you hit someone with it. I'd wonder if I was having an off day, or if my rifle was jammed. If I bought a cloaking device that shut off every time I attacked, I'd want to take it back for a working one.

I can understand putting limitations on pool powers so they dont throw balance on primaries/secondaries out of wack, but it sounds like Cloaking Device and Superior Invis got lumped in with the pool powers simply because one isnt a secondary, and one isnt part of a "defensive" secondary set. Totally not fair.

Please, please, States.... roll this one around alot more, AND give us a very detailed reply as to what the goal with these changes was in the first place, especially for Cloaking Device.


PS. Please tell me you arent doing the same thing with Smoke Grenade....

Um...I wasnt singling out 'Valkyrian' when I mentioned the thing about debt. I was simply making a general statement, as I have read numerous posts from people who have 20k debt and are whining to high heaven. I would have been one of them, too, had I not first made an attempt to see just how bad it was. I was at debt cap, but I just teamed with my buds, got used to playing under these new conditions, and I worked my debt off rather quickly.

My experiences with my blaster just seem to disagree with yours. True, SG didnt always make me totally immune - I died a number of times - but, from the moment I simply took the power, I was able to solo large red con mobs with purple con bosses recklessly. If I died, it was usually because I didnt take out the boss fast enough, or I just did something dumb. I could solo most anything I had the damage output to kill in a reasonable amount of time. The thing is that before, even though I had tripmine, I didnt really need to use it. It was just a way to mix up attacks. I could mindlessly run up to a mob, SG, caltrop, flamethrow, buckshot, cleanup, move on. Now, placing mines before the fight is more essential to success. I never had to use combat jumping before. Now, it's a regular toggle. The only time I had to use insps was if I ran out of end in a tough battle, or if I just felt like getting rid of the old to see what they would give me new. Now, yet another part of the game that was more window dressing before becomes essential to gameplay.

I suppose I agree with your fictional scenario of Buildup - that would suck. But I really dont think these changes are on par with that. I think a more accurate scenario would be like if there was some attack that was doing the equivalent of 6 SO damage the minute you get it, and they fixed it. It could still be as effective, but you would actually have to slot it. I think that saying DEV defenses are now "gone" is a tad extreme. The third SO I just put in SG is helping alot for me to take out +2 minion mobs now. If I did the math properly, 6 SO'd SG will give about 39% debuff. Not 50%, but pretty close. The def is still there, just now you have to actually work for it.

I'd submit to you that, if you were aced by a blue con mob, either you need some adjustments to your build, or there's another element not being addressed (bosses, snipers, etc). I've been killed a few times since the update, thinking it was some magic shot or perhaps the nerf, only to check the damage messages to see I was tagged by a sniper I didnt see before engaging a mob. Are all your attacks and defs SO'd?

Took me some time and debt to get used to the new change, but now I whole-heartedly appreciate them. I am an AR/DEV blaster, and I just hit 33. I now have SG 3 SO'd, up from 2. I took cloaking device for the purpose of trip mining, and in anticipation of them fixing SG. I think "fixing" is the proper term. Now, I have to use Cloaking Device, Combat Jumping and SG, but it does what I need it to do - mitigate some of the initial aggro I draw from my initial attack. I still get hit, often hard, but I feel fairly stable, or at least like I am actually present in the same plane of existence as the mobs. I can take +2 mobs, but I have to stay on my toes, use tactics, use insps (they used to stay in my tray forever). The game isnt just "harder" now, it's more challenging, and immensely more satisfying. I hope I am seeing the devs initial vision for what playing with a blaster was supposed to be. Before I could solo red con minions with purple con bosses. Not now, and that's fine. Balance has been restored.

I think the biggest specific complaints stem from two issues:

1. SG, obviously - I think the update just made it so you have to slot it to make it more like it was before. Before the update, you could just use the 1 slot it came with, and you were nearly untouchable. It's still incredibly useful, it just doesnt grant godhood for simply selecting it.

2. Debt - I think too many people just turn off the game and slam the forums when they rack up 20k debt. After the patch, I hit my cap (129k) between the aura missions and the respec trial. Took me two sittings of like 4 hours to work it off. I dont think people should complain about debt unless they hit the cap and then spend the requisite amount of time, and still cant get out. If you play to have fun, get on a team and go hunting. The debt will go away without you even realizing. I was having a blast with my friends, and suddenly I could see the light at the end.

At least as far as my AR/DEV blaster goes, I am loving the changes.