The SSOCS is out of the bag....
By
Aang_Protector,
Posted on: 2004-10-14 11:13 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
You da man
I like the concept alot, and look forward to it!
However:
1) Can you go into any more detail about exactly how "studying" will be handled as a gameplay feature?
2) Anything more you can say about the nature of the areas of study, some of the in game effects, would be terrific!
So what does it say then?
here is the quote from CGW
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Skills are City of Heroes' answer to the ubiquitous MMO crafting system - except they're totally different. Characters will be able to specialize in one of four different skill trees: Detective, Science, Communication, and Scholarship. They can further specialize in various areas of expertise, such as Forensics or Security for the Detective tree. Skills are level-independent and wholly optional; your character will be able to interact with myriad objects during the game, at which point he, (Ed. note: or she ), can attempt a series of skill checks. Success brings new objectives or perhaps some extra experiance. For example, succeeding at a Security check in a bomb infested building might reveal the explosives on the mission map.
Skills are learned and improved by studying at universities throughout Paragon City. You'll earn temporary, expendable skill boosts during missions; these are somewhat similar to inspirations but can also be converted into wisdom, which is used to add permanent skill boosts at the aformentioned universities. As with enhancements, you'll find generic skill improvements as well as stronger, more focused upgrades alon the lines of dual- and single- origin enhancements. The only skill you'll need now, though, is the patience to hold out for all this good stuff.
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ehh i dont have this mag delivered 
just pc gamer
anyone mind reading it and explaining it here
Thanks Bankshot!!!
Thanks for the info, States.
I've heard some speculation that the skills will be related to, or limited by, character origin. I'm sure it's all rumor at this point, but would you care to comment on that?
Tell your team to keep up the great work!
What about the ability to have the badges show on your map once you get them?
Sweeet I want to be a detective.
I have a few questions, if States would be gracious enough to answer them:
How are these skills developed? Will there be an in-game utility to keep improving these skills?
We got an example of what the security skill can do - can we get some examples of what the forensics or communication skills (for example) might do?
Thanks!
Ooooo... this new addition looks like it will, indeed, kick many a hinder. I've seen it stated that it won't be in Issue 3. Are we looking forward to it in Issue 4? Or is it likely going to go live in a later release?
Sounds like a cool idea, I just hope I can master everything. 
Skills most certainly will NOT be limited by origin.
I'd like to know if these skills will be essential in some missions (i.e. you can't continue unless you have a Forensic scientist with you), or whether they'll just add boosts (like extra experience or more clues/missions/whatever).
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How are these skills developed? Will there be an in-game utility to keep improving these skills?
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The article said that you'll be able to improve them with enhancement like items as well as inspiration like items. You can also improve them at various universities around Paragon City.
My question is will there be new badges tied to the skill system or will the existing badges affect any of the skills? (locating exploration badges giving points towards detective, history plaques/badges towards scholarship, etc.)
Also any chance of getting a more complete list of skills to have an idea what to expect, noticed they only talked about a couple of detective subgroups but many of my heroes would be more likely to go after communication or scholarship.
Do any of these skills craft temp powers?
Thanks States.
What, no psychology? How are we supposed to deal with this split personality thing if Paragon City will not acknowledge that just because a hero has voices in their head they are not crazy? Guess we will study the books, maybe a clue to Crey Industries' dirty secrets and Mom's location in some of their old records.
i don't think it will be something that you have to have in order to finish a mission. the dev team seams to be very against having must haves in a team in order to complete something. But I think if you have it, it will make finding something easier. Like that last bomb or person that always is so difficult to find in your missions. sound great though.
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I'd like to know if these skills will be essential in some missions (i.e. you can't continue unless you have a Forensic scientist with you), or whether they'll just add boosts (like extra experience or more clues/missions/whatever).
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It wouldn't surprise me to find out that some missions would require certain skills, but I would also expect that the mission description would explictly say so. I would also expect that such missions wouldn't jeopardize story arcs.
I wouldn't be surprised to find larger supergroups encouraging members at each level to be specialists in each skill.
Ferrium - Inv/SS Tanker
Hyperforce - SS/Regen Brute
Member of V for Vengance (Exalted)
Much appreciated, Statesman! This system looks fantastic.
The concise version of my question is this: How much will a level 50 character be able to take advantage of this system?
The rambling, more detailed version: My main is a character I always envisioned as an investigative type, who favors subtlety over combat. However, it's the character I really care about and am invested in, so I play him constantly and will be hitting level 50 soon. I realize I'll be missing a lot of opportunities to use these skills in lower level missions, and I'm okay with that. However, I'd like to know how easy it will be to build these skills at level 50 (given that one way of imrpoving these skills is apparently through 'wisdom' and enhancements gained in missions)? Can one spend enough time in the library/university to reach an equivalent skill level as one who had done a mix of research and missions?
Also, is there an "endgame" application of the SSOCS? The investigative equivalent of a Hamidon raid? 
Thanks!
Oh yeah ! This absolutely *rocks*!!!!
Now that my crashing is resolved with CoH, the game just keeps on getting better and better This is one $18.00 a month (Canadian) that's well worth every penny
*Squeee!* this sounds very cool.
although, i kind of wish i didn't know about it, since now I have to wait five months for it to come out....
What if my hero is a moron?
Nice. Now that I have a general idea what it is, I'm not surprised it was pushed back considering how complex it sounds to put all together and hope there are no bugs.
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It's skills. Yep folks, a brief description is in the Dec. issue of Computer Gaming World...
The system ended up being a lot more involved than initially thought. And I didn't want to rush Skills out the door and jeopardize it's quality. So I pushed it off to a future expansion.
However, everything in the CGW article is 100% accurate. It's a nice overview of the system. And, as always, we'll be posting more info on it as we get closer to its release. We have a general policy of posting weekly updates that discuss an upcoming Expansion (see Wednesday's Fifth Column article on the front page, for instance).
Feel free to post questions/concerns on this thread. I'll check back and see what I can answer.