awsome. thanks.
[ QUOTE ]
For instance, well put a teleporter in Peregrine Island to allow people instant access to the Crash Site.
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Please, no teleporters. Its evil Rikti tech afterall 
Could it instead be possible to give us a flying shuttlecraft route that mimics the functionality of the trams?
Great minds must think alike! I posted the level 40+ Teleport idea just a few days ago that is mentioned in question #9!
Still here, even after all this time!
For Question 5, Statesman's response seems to only address the Mission Slider and not the increase to Bosses. He specifically mentions minions and LTs, but omits Bosses when he talks about things getting more difficult at higher levels.
Since the Boss change in addition to the slider is a hot topic (as implementing them together seems to be overkill), any chance of having the Boss issue addressed specifically? Thanks!
"10. Can you give us a sneak peek at what we can look forward to from Issue #4?
The Arena! PvP will make its first appearance in City of Heroes. Player will be able to match wits & abilities against other players. "
yay
Am I the only one thinking #5 wasn't answered very well?
I've already forgotten about most of you
The idea to make the Crash Site and Shadow Shards more reachably is great, and needs to incorporate the story ex: Teleporters for Rikti are fine, but for the Shards an Dimensional hole needs to form, could setup like one of the portals At Portal Corp is damaged and explodes creating such thing maybe.
Now for a question:
When can we look forward to the introduction of more AT? We see the sonic attacks and the bow, will there be more then that?
My Altaholism demands more 
.
Close the world, txen eht nepO
All on Justice
Abysmal Flame Fire/Fire Tanker
Shadow Vampyre DM/SR Scrapper
Phantom Savant Ill/Kin Controller
Emerald Dragon Claws/Reg Scrapper
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9. When can we expect more high end raid type content like Hamidon?
Ive planned for some raid like content to be added to the Shadow Shard and Rikti Crash Site in one of our upcoming Issues (I hate to give an exact date only to see it change). In conjunction with this, well be making both sites for more accessible and easy to navigate. For instance, well put a teleporter in Peregrine Island to allow people instant access to the Crash Site.
[/ QUOTE ]
I remember when CoH first released and Statesman said "this is not EQ in tights". So much for that statement. I guess the great RPG what was CoH is finally done and uberized like every other EQ clone out there now. While it can be said "don't do it" as far as the content is concerned, I pay for that content every month. I also believe that content in games affects the community and the way it develops. Take a look at EQ, even DAoC for that matter, or any of the other games that has that sort of content.
Devs may agree to disagree, but one of the reasons that I loved CoH from the get go was because it was different, and not an EQ clone, which is what its changing into slowly but surely. I know that this is pretty much the killing stroke for me. I miss the days when RP'ing was promoted and vaunted in CoH.
CuppaJo,
I feel that Statesman mis-understood question 5 and would like to have him re-answer it. The question wasn't asking why there was a mission slider now. The mission slider is a great idea and his question would answer "why is there a mission slider" just fine.
The question is, why did they make a mission slider AND increase BASE boss difficulty level (at level 25+)? For those of us who dont want to increase the slider, we are still forced into a greater difficulty in missions because of the bosses are much harder even at the default difficulty.
Therefore, since I want to control when I do or don't face a boss, and don't want to be put off halfway through a mission, I will instead be LESS likely to do missions and more likely to street sweep, because on the streets I can avoid these harder bosses or take them on only when my tray is full of inspiration.
So, why BOTH? Why increase bosses for everyone, even builds who were having problems with them already? Was the mission slider not enough? The Boss Upgrade undermines the level slider. Could we get a -1 level on the slider that just scales the Bosses to the old way? Then I'd do missions again.
I think that was the point of question 5.
Could he re-answer this question with that in mind?
Thanks,
Lewis
Random AT Generation!
"I remember... the Alamo." -- Pee-wee Herman
"Oh don't worry. I always leave things to the last moment." -- The Doctor
"Telescopes are time machines." -- Carl Sagan
Exactly. It seemed the real question was danced around, IMO.
I think the question should have been:
'Why was the boss damage / health increase implemented when the mission difficulty slider was already in the works? Those players who wanted a tougher challenge could raise the slider while those players who were already having a tough time could leave it at default. Increasing the base damage and health does nothing to change the difficulty other than to turn most missions into exercises into futility for other than uber built characters.'
Or something along those lines.
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CuppaJo,
I feel that Statesman mis-understood question 5 and would like to have him re-answer it. The question wasn't asking why there was a mission slider now. The mission slider is a great idea and his question would answer "why is there a mission slider" just fine.
The question is, why did they make a mission slider AND increase BASE boss difficulty level (at level 25+)? For those of us who dont want to increase the slider, we are still forced into a greater difficulty in missions because of the bosses are much harder even at the default difficulty.
Therefore, since I want to control when I do or don't face a boss, and don't want to be put off halfway through a mission, I will instead be LESS likely to do missions and more likely to street sweep, because on the streets I can avoid these harder bosses or take them on only when my tray is full of inspiration.
So, why BOTH? Why increase bosses for everyone, even builds who were having problems with them already? Was the mission slider not enough? The Boss Upgrade undermines the level slider. Could we get a -1 level on the slider that just scales the Bosses to the old way? Then I'd do missions again.
I think that was the point of question 5.
Could he re-answer this question with that in mind?
Thanks,
Lewis
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Couldnt have asked it better . 5 Stars for you Lewis .
I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Voltaire
Yes, please an answer to the BOSS part of question #5. Mission slider was always pretty well understood, it is the combination of both that most of us would like to at least hear the answer for.
[ QUOTE ]
2. What is the Vision for CoH?
5. Why did you incorporate a mission slider to make some missions more difficult and increase the boss difficulty level when bosses make up such a large percentage of missions?
[/ QUOTE ]
I don't want to sound like the rest of the malcontents, but I think it looks like he intentionally dodged these questions, considering their intent.
And I think it's something that demmands answers too.
ALL of the content that's been added since Issue#1 has been Group Content yet at the same time grouping became less and less popular. And now people are feeling like grouping is being forced on them. Maybe They're even jumping the gun because I've noticed a BUNCH of the missions I just did this week didn't have any bosses in them, and that was in a Duo. 5 missions in a row infact we get to the end and it was always just a named Lt. ...I was pretty dang let down because boss fights are the only thing that get me excited anymore but that's a topic for another thread.
The Issue I'm pointing at here, is major Ambiguity. What is the Vision aplied to US? Like when we're soloing? I think what they were asking for is what changes can we expect to make that other "Vision" enforced. Everyone was kinda blindsided by the Boss Changes since NO ONE was complaining about Boss Difficulty, only the Minion and LTs difficulty(or lack there of)....Infact some of us were even looking forward to the "1 hero = 3 minions" deal that was supposed to be coming because it gave us single target attackers an EXP edge over the AoE'ers. But now in order to make the minion/lt's interesting in their missions' difficulty setting they have to take the Boss with it, spend 5-10 minutes just to beat the boss, and get the same EXP they woulda gotten from 2 Lt's. If Bosses are meant to be for Teams of players, then why are they Statistically more like an impediment instead of a rewarding fight?
For example, yesterday in a Duo, I beat down 2 Lt's in about 30 seconds and got well over 520+ EXP off of both of them. And then a Boss takes 2-3 minutes, can 2-shot me or my sidekick, and actualy give LESS Exp than the 2 Lt's combined, or roughly 1024 EXP. ...And this was RIKTI.... you know, the ones that are supposed to be giving EXTRA EXP along with the DE.
So I think these are the questions that people are looking for answers to about the "Vision":
--Has solo-able content been added? (most bosses replaced with LT's in missions?)
--If not, then when will new Solo content be added?
--Why are Bosses such a PITA and giving such low EXP?
--Why does the mission difficulty menu effect Bosses if bosses are now designed to be an impediment?
--Didn't this "Vision" also include Damage output increases for Defenders and Controllers at all levels?
Actually, I would like him to answer one more small question.
Level Cap increase! Are there plans to go beyone level 50 (like level 75 or level 100) and content for the upper levels?
I would love the chance to have more powers to play with and more slotting to use on some powers. Plus, when ya just loooove your character, you dont want to shelf him at level 50, you want to keep playing him as long as possible.
Can we gather from this thread the the PCC meeting idea has been scrapped, seeing as how it's been more than a month since the last 'real' PCC?(ie not just a way to get people to test new events and such)
I, for one, like that Statesman has taken time to answer some questions, but why bother answering the same old questions.(what's your vision, favorite I3 accomplishment, etc.) Why not answer the burning, non-power change, questions people have been asking since shortly after launch?
What is your current vision of the Hamidon encounter? Given that vision, do you feel that the technical limitations of the graphics engine, with specific attention paid to draw distance, make the Hamidon functionally unbeatable?
If you do not believe the Hamidon to be functionaly unbeatable, could you tell us the number of internal testers that were required to beat said encounter?
If you have not yet tested the encounter internally, can I suggest that you do so?
comment relocate to the question thread.....
PCC is to do stuff on the test server. The Q&A did not work very well and most people just wanted to ask Statesman questions. We thought Q&A with Statesman would be more productive. It's just really hard to run a Q&A in-game.
PCC will mostly focus on testing new content and events so PCCs will happen when we have stuff to test instead of on a regular schedule.
As far as the questions are concerned - You guys asked them, I just compiled them. I think questions about the boss/mission slider, Invul changes, and high-end content were the burning questions from the majority of the board. Half of the questions came from Euorpe - since they are in Beta and just starting to play, their questions are more focused on upcoming features and European issues.
If you have a 'burning' question - submit it to the question thread.
[ QUOTE ]
Exactly. It seemed the real question was danced around, IMO.
I think the question should have been:
'Why was the boss damage / health increase implemented when the mission difficulty slider was already in the works? Those players who wanted a tougher challenge could raise the slider while those players who were already having a tough time could leave it at default. Increasing the base damage and health does nothing to change the difficulty other than to turn most missions into exercises into futility for other than uber built characters.'
Or something along those lines.
[/ QUOTE ]
Danced around? It was downright evaded! I was looking forward to this Ask Statesman thing because I just knew, as many players that were asking about this Boss issue, that it'd be one of the questions he'd answer...and then to get an answer like that. ::sigh::
2. What is the Vision for CoH?
Our vision for City of Heroes is to deliver an enjoyable game experience to players regardless of their MMP experience. A person should be able to log into City of Heroes, play an hour, have fun and accomplish something. A player should be able to find something to do solo, while team ups should be enjoyable & rewarding. City of Heroes is meant to emulate the world of comic book heroes as much as possible within the constraints of a MMP.
5. Why did you incorporate a mission slider to make some missions more difficult and increase the boss difficulty level when bosses make up such a large percentage of missions?
Weve found that as players go up in level, minions and lts. become much easier to defeat to the point where its boring. Players instead resort to street sweeping in order to find something tough enough thats both fun and rewarding. Missions, however, are a great part of the game! So we wanted to give players an ability to raise the level of the spawns within a mission so that they could make missions as fun & rewarding as their skill dictated.
Well the first question is answer much the same way it was when I first found this game. He even says we should be able to find some thing to do solo. I like the missions because of the story. I really don't street hunt that often unless I am just taking a break from the normal game for some fun. So this seems like a good statement. Now take a look at the second question. Ask's about the mission slider and the bosses. Ok good question lots of people have been wondering about it. Now the answer has nothing to do with bosses. All he says is we added the mission slider because people like to fight harder minions and lieutenants. What about the second part Jack? I under stand the minions being to easy and even some of the lieutenants, and for that reason I like the mission slider. The bosses on the other hand were a challenge especial because they had minions and lieutenants with them. You see a group with a boss and he has underlings. Now you can take the underlings out first or you can take out the boss first. If you go with the underlings then you have to worry about the boss kicking the crap out of you. I have found that the bosses are best fought and taken out early that way you arent one hit killed. That was fun and a challenge pre I3. Now we have these uber bosses with underlings and they regularly one or two shot any one. Scrappers, Tankers, Defenders, Blasters, Controllers doesn't matter who you are the uber bosses kick the crap out of a lot of them. I like a tough fight but an impossible one is no fun. Now I do more street hunting because its easer to kill groups out side than it is in my own missions. Skipping content just the opposite of what you wanted. So please address the real issue of the bosses and don't ignore it like you did. Thank you.
Since people want more explanation on the Boss changes, I'll post something in a new thread in the Dev Corner...hopefully today. Otherwise sometime this week.
[ QUOTE ]
PCC is to do stuff on the test server. The Q&A did not work very well and most people just wanted to ask Statesman questions. We thought Q&A with Statesman would be more productive. It's just really hard to run a Q&A in-game.
PCC will mostly focus on testing new content and events so PCCs will happen when we have stuff to test instead of on a regular schedule.
As far as the questions are concerned - You guys asked them, I just compiled them. I think questions about the boss/mission slider, Invul changes, and high-end content were the burning questions from the majority of the board. Half of the questions came from Euorpe - since they are in Beta and just starting to play, their questions are more focused on upcoming features and European issues.
If you have a 'burning' question - submit it to the question thread.
[/ QUOTE ]
Fair enough. But I still don't expect them to be answered. The reason they have stopped being asked(and no doubt why they aren't 'Frequently Asked') is because people have no doubt lost interest in asking questions that are always avoided.
when will we get our free respec
[ QUOTE ]
Am I the only one thinking #5 wasn't answered very well?
[/ QUOTE ]
I agree. He completely missed half the question in #5. The question was basically "why did you add a diffuculty slider AND increase the base difficulty of bosses INSTEAD OF just letting the slider handle it?"
It'd be nice if he'd revisit this question.
You asked, he answered! A new feature arriving to the CoH boards is "Ask Statesman" - where Jack "Statesman" Emmert responds to the most frequently asked questions on the CoH US and European Message Boards.
Questions are gathered by Bridger and CuppaJo every two weeks - 5 from each board. You can submit questions via this thread linked here, but questions will also be taken from all over the boards.
And now, the first episode of "Ask Statesman!"
1. Will you and the other devs be reading and posting to the European message boards?
Yes. I was just reading the UK boards yesterday My French and German is too rusty to post responses, but I do skim posts.
2. What is the Vision for CoH?
Our vision for City of Heroes is to deliver an enjoyable game experience to players regardless of their MMP experience. A person should be able to log into City of Heroes, play an hour, have fun and accomplish something. A player should be able to find something to do solo, while team ups should be enjoyable & rewarding. City of Heroes is meant to emulate the world of comic book heroes as much as possible within the constraints of a MMP.
3.What are you most pleased about in Issue #3?
Striga Isle. Weve really gotten down whats needed to create a great zone. I think weve outdone ourselves with Striga.
4. Why did you decide to keep the Invulnerability changes? (You can see the changes in the patch notes at http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/updates.html)
Because the changes solved the problems we were having. Naturally, some players didnt like the nerf because their Tankers couldnt operate exactly the same. Many, after experimentation, found that they needed to adjust their gameplay and overcome. A lot of the feedback was focused on rolling back the changes to the point where Invulnerability would still be unbalanced. On the other hand, players did point out a very good issue: sometimes villains dont ever use melee attacks and instead use their ranged weaponry exclusively. Without ranged defense, Invincibility suffered. Were rectifying that by adding some ranged defense back; this is due to players feedback.
5. Why did you incorporate a mission slider to make some missions more difficult and increase the boss difficulty level when bosses make up such a large percentage of missions?
Weve found that as players go up in level, minions and lts. become much easier to defeat to the point where its boring. Players instead resort to street sweeping in order to find something tough enough thats both fun and rewarding. Missions, however, are a great part of the game! So we wanted to give players an ability to raise the level of the spawns within a mission so that they could make missions as fun & rewarding as their skill dictated.
6. Even now there are Arenas under construction around Paragon City, and City of Villains is in development. What can we expect from PvP in City of Heroes?
Fun (I hope)! The same sort of exciting battles that players already experience in PvE.
7. Will powers have two modes when PvP is introduced (A PvP more and a PvE mode) or will the powers work the same in both situations?
As a goal, were avoiding this as much as possible. In other words, powers will work exactly the same in both PvP and PvE. Were sticking to this principle because to do otherwise would be counter-intuitive to the player (Why does my power do this against a mob but something else to a player?). However, we recognize that sometimes power changes are inevitable for the sake of balance. I just dont want that to be our first resort.
8. Will there ever be player housing in City of Heroes? Will we be able to customise it?
Definitely. This is a major feature in City of Villains. Supergroups will be able to build their own HQs from the ground up.
9. When can we expect more high end raid type content like Hamidon?
Ive planned for some raid like content to be added to the Shadow Shard and Rikti Crash Site in one of our upcoming Issues (I hate to give an exact date only to see it change). In conjunction with this, well be making both sites for more accessible and easy to navigate. For instance, well put a teleporter in Peregrine Island to allow people instant access to the Crash Site.
10. Can you give us a sneak peek at what we can look forward to from Issue #4?
The Arena! PvP will make its first appearance in City of Heroes. Player will be able to match wits & abilities against other players.
Thanks to Statesman for taking the time out to answer!
And now, without fanfare or flourish, Ask Statesman Issue #2!!
1. Are we going to see any European-situated zones?
After City of Villains, I want to focus on expanding our game universe across the world. Heroes and villains alike will be traveling across the planet
2. Can you give us more details about player housing? Will there be special zones where it is possible to place bases, or can you place them wherever you like? Or do you need to move into an existing house which will become a base?
Player Housing will first come into play with City of Villains. Essentially, Super Groups will need to pool their resources in order to rent space. The more public the location, the more expensive the rent! The system has both the flexibility of build where you want and you must build here.
3. Will there be extended grouping features for raids? An alliance system for supergroups to coordinate with other groups, with a combined chat for all?
Were still fine tuning the raid system. Its unlikely, however, that multiple super groups can ally during a raid. Theres simply too many performance issues once 200 some players are on screen with f/x.
4. I love City of Heroes and I'd really like to see spin-off products - action figures, a tabletop roleplaying system, trading cards or a collectable card game, maybe books or graphic novels... Is anything like this being planned? How about a movie?
We already have announced a book trilogy with CDS and I think youll be happy with some other announcements in the near future.
5. Do you play the game yourself? If so what do you play as and what do you enjoy most?
I play in fits and starts. Usually, theres a period of a couple of weeks when I play everyday, but then work sort of demands my attention for a while. Then I pick it up again.
My favorite part of the game is teaming up with people. City of Heroes really shines when heroes join together to fight evil. Even better, I get to make new friends from all over
6. What is balance, can you please explain what you mean by balance and what you hope to achieve "balance-wise" when you make changes to the game? Does balance mean, damage balance? Or does balance involve ATs usage? A comprehensive explanation of what balance is and why it is necessary would be greatly appreciated.
There are two levels of balance that I consider. First is Archetype balance is any single Archetype more favored than another in a group? If I play a Defender, do teams say that Defenders are useless and theyd rather have all Tankers? Thats the sign of a huge Archetype issue. This touches on something about the Archetypes, namely that each Archetype must have a well defined role in a group setting.
The second level is Power Set balance. Are any power sets within an Archetype demonstrably better than others? Im not talking about a couple of levels of disparity; sometimes certain sets get access to useful powers at an earlier stage then other power sets. The key, however, is to analyze whether the temporarily gimped power set gets something cool that then tips the scales in their favor at a later point. In other words, when all the powers within a set are observed, is each power set relatively as useful as others?
7. When will we be seeing more Epic Archetypes? What about non-epic ATs? Will some be added? Or maybe new power sets?
Epic Archetypes to come: Avilans, Incarnates, Blood of the Black Stream and the Coralax.
Weve got new power sets coming in Issue 5 for sure, and more to come afterwards!
Im still toying with a new non-epic AT right now, but Im not ready to talk about it yet.
8. Timeframe for flashback? The current temp solution is unfeasible for many due to the "kick exemplar/buddy if crash" in TFs.
Id like to get this out sometime before City of Villains.
9. Can we get any elaboration on the whole 5th/Council war, storyline wise? Where's the story arc explaining everything? I saw a one page "article" on the website, but there was no in-game explanation.
The information is scattered throughout the Striga Isle & Kheldian story arcs..but here it is in a nutshell [SPOILERS]
Decades ago Arachnos planted Requiem and other agents within the 5th Column. Requiem used his outside ties and the power he gained from the Nictus to cultivate many followers within the Column. When SPIDER recently reared its head, the Center (former member of Aracnos and founder of the Council), decided it was time to complete the takeover of the 5th Column. After sending a signal to Requiem the Council was able to subdue all resistance virtually overnight. Any 5th Column troops not willing to convert were killed or driven away. The 5th Column is no more, now there is only the Council.
Youll be learning A LOT more about Arachnos and Lord Recluse in the forthcoming novel from CDS Books Web of Arachnos, written by the indefatigable Robert Weinberg.
10. Why were non-power-10 DOs suddenly removed from L10-14 contact stores?
Thats a bug sorry! Weve fixed it and that should be going live shortly.
Issue #3
Here are the latest questions and answers from Jack 'Statesman' Emmert, Cryptic Studios Creative Director and Lead Designer of both City of Heroes and City of Villains. Remember that we collect questions from the US and European boards every two weeks, and you can submit yours in this thread. (Please note that it's worth checking the boards and website - particularly the Dev Digest - before posting a question to see if the information is already available.)
In the days of Issue 2, you mentioned that the Dev team was working on/testing "something very comic booky" for Tankers. Is that still in the works? Has it been scrapped as unviable? Was it already released, and we simply haven't recognized what it is?
We have no imminent changes planned for Tankers. To a degree, the increased damage was to get the Tanker somewhat more 'comic booky'. The goal was to make him feel more powerful.
Statesman, Are you going to be at E3, and what will you be showing off there?
Yes. Youll just need to wait and see (though I think City of Villains would be a good guess)
Is anything being done to address the issue of delinquent SG leaders/members? IE - Will we ever be able to remove leaders/members who leave the game without warning?
Yes. Were working on a whole bunch of Super Group additions many of which were gathered from Forum suggestions.
What is the rationale behind the Power 10 architecture for enhancements? Why is it alright to buy hold DO enhancements at level 12 from a shop, but not slow DO enhancements? Is there a game balance issue I'm not seeing?
We wanted to make the most commonly needed Enhancements readily available; the power 10 were chosen for their almost universal appeal. That hasnt really worked out so well, to be honest. Basically, receiving an Enhancement isnt special at all. People get all the Enhancements they need at the store and sell the rest.
My question involves housing. Will it be possible for an individual hero to get a home base or 'lair' at some point? I don't mean the supergroup base, I mean one that is either strictly their own or just for their own account.
We have some plans for individual housing options, but were not ready to talk about it.
Will it be possible to change sides with my 'good' CoH character when CoV comes out? Will there be a mission or something to become a bad guy for existing chars?
Eventually, yes. We currently dont think that will be with release, but this feature will soon follow.
Will there be changes in the graphics with City of Villains? More character details and/or world details? Special f/x? Do I need to upgrade my PC?
You wont need to upgrade your PC, but we are adding some new tech to take advantage of the new video cards out there.
Will there be any changes to Flight to make it look a bit flashier, ie barrel rolls when flying forward and strafing, or letting us fly in loops?
This is on the back burner.
Is there any chance of introducing new items of clothing at higher levels for our characters to wear? Maybe a crown, or jewel encrusted hat of some kind. More seriously, are there more models of cape coming anytime soon, perhaps something very large and brooding?
Wed like to add costume pieces as rewards for particular missions or task forces. For example, if you do a mission for the Freedom Phalanx, youd unlock the ability to purchase a special Freedom Phalanx cape at Icon.
As for capes in general, were looking at ways to improve them and increase their variety.
Can you confirm that there will be a 'spectator' mode for PvP in Issue #4? How will it work? Can you also explain more about what 'rewards' we'll get for winning PvP fights?
Yes, theres a spectator mode. Anyone can enter a match in the form of a floating camera. Because theres a chance that some people might be a spectator to spy for their friends in the match, players in the match can target and destroy the cameras.
In the Arena, there is a Chess style ranking system. Players win points for victories and lose points for losses. The greater the points another character has accumulated, the more you would get for defeating him. The fewer the points another character has, the less you would get for defeating him.
Additionally, players can earn badges for officially sanctioned tournaments and they can bet Influence on their bouts.
Issue 4
With Hamidon being defeated on a regular basis now, is the dev team planning on doing anything about the issue of Hamidon reward distribution? As it is now, it is easy to exploit the mechanics of the encounter resulting in many enhancements being collected by a very small number of players who may or may not have been involved in the actual defeat of Hamidon. This has resulted in many fights amongst players and GM petitions, not to mention flame wars on the message boards. Is there any way to instance this mission, or adjust the enhancement reward system so that it is more equitable to the heroes actually fighting Hamidon?
We are adding a new reward system to the Hamidon encounter to prevent griefing
What is the intended role of trial and Hamidon enhancements in PvP?
The same as other Enhancements boost aspects of a power.
Will we ever be able to toggle power effects (graphic and sound) on/off?
This is already an option in the game simply go to Options and click on the Graphics and Audio tab. You can turn down f/x with sliders.
Will there ever be an option to auto-decline team invites? If so, is this something that is easy to do and we should expect soon or hard to do and thus should expect later?
We have it on our quality of life list, but I wouldnt expect it before City of Villains.
Any plans to address some of the more general Blaster issues such as increasing the range from which blasters can deal damage or reducing the amount of aggro that a blaster pulls? These two issues are causing Blasters to be less useful in the higher levels (abv 35) in both solo (range less than that of foes) and team play (pulls villains off tankers).
Were looking into this issue.
A while ago there was some discussion on the US boards about heroes having a personal nemesis or arch enemy. Has there been any progress on this? Is it still a planned feature? If so, any hints how it might work?
This is a wish-list item and there are no immediate plans to put it in. Currently, the design allows players to gather information about a mysterious foe say, that he has ice powers or has a skull mask. When a player collects the right amount of info, the arch nemesis appears and begins to vex the hero! This info is tradeable so that a player could customize his very own foe.
Are there any plans to implement a secret identity system in City of Heroes? Could this be tied into personalised missions, where you have to rescue your girlfriend/grandma/pet cat from the villains, for example?
There are no plans, primarily because there really isnt all that much thats interesting in secret identities. After all, we all lead those lives every day!
Supergroup HQs are due to be added when City of Villains is released. Will I and everyone in my Supergroup have to buy City of Villains in order to build an HQ for our heroes?
Were still working out the details on that.
Could you give a complete overview of how experience is awarded when in a team? How does the level of the team members affect the xp earned and how it is split between players? What effect does Sidekicking or Exemplaring have? Is there a group bonus, and does it change based on the size of the group? (Apparently much of this has been explained in dev posts on the US boards, but as these are no longer available, new European players like me would really appreciate the info.)
On the top level, XP is divided by damage done. If two heroes both attack and defeat a single mob, each hero is given XP proportionate to the amount of damage received by the mob.
Within a team-up, XP is divided equally among each member, but levels are taken into account. So if a 35th level Blaster teams up with a 32nd level Tanker, the 35th level Blaster would receive proportionately more XP (on the assumption that the higher level character contributed more to the conflict).
When two or more different groups of heroes attack the same mob, the damage of each group is added up and used to divide the mobs XP.
For every person in a team up, there is an XP boost. The experience points of each mob are multiplied by a value before being divided among the team members. Currently, the XP boost values are this:
Team Size XP multiplier
2 1.25
3 1.5
4 1.8
5 2
6 2.1
7 2.2
8 2.5
Sidekicking allows players to play at a level higher than their actual Security Level. While Sidekicked, a hero is considered to be at this higher level for XP division. But the hero receives XP depending upon the relatively levels of the mobs he faces. Example: my 15th level Scrapper is sidekicked to a 28th level Controller. For purposes of combat, my Scrapper is now 27th level. If I went out and fought 29th level minions, their XP would be calculated as if they were 17th level minions.
One thing to keep in mind is that as a sidekick, a hero is counted as a full high-level hero when doling out rewards even though he doesnt have as many powers as a natural hero would. So the risk for the mentor (and teammates) is slightly higher but they get the same reward. If you are within 3-5 levels of your buddy you might want to think about being a regular teammate and not a sidekick: the rewards might be better. This will depend on the villains you are fighting, your aversion to risk, and the composition of your team.
While Exemplaring, a hero receives XP in a similar way. The heros actual level is brought down to that of the Aspirant. The Exemplar takes XP from mobs depending the relation of the Exemplar level and the mob level. Example: A 45th level Defender is Exemplarred down to 29th level. He fights a 30th level Minion. The Defender earns XP as though it were a 46th level minion. However, an Exemplar does not gain XP; anything earned is applied exclusively to XP debt.
When is the next Epic Archetype going to be added to the game, and which one will it be?
Im afraid I have no exact answers for either question. The planned epics are: Incarnates, Coralax, Blood of the Black Stream and Avilans. But even that may change.
Issue 5
I love most of the graphics out there, and don't want to have to turn my graphics off entirely in order to enjoy using, say, Hasten - but the Glowing Fists of Recharge are utterly unsuited for a shadow wielder like my dark/dark defender. Will we ever be able to turn off specific effects while leaving the rest unaffected?
Eventually? Yes. We know that this has been requested by many people. It is not, however, on the immediate schedule.
Similarly, I find most of the sound effects pleasant and/or useful, and I don't particularly want to play in silence. But some of the looping sound effects are annoying on my system. Will we ever get the ability to disable only the looping sounds?
See above.
We know that the Avilians are something to do with wings, the Coralax is something to do with water and the Incarnate is the Archetype of Lord Recluse and Statesman, but can you tell us a little more about the Blood of the Black Stream?
Youll need to wait and see.
What is the design intent of the Hamidon encounter and do you feel that it is now (after recent changes) working as the devs intended, or can we expect more changes to Hamidon such as a reduction in spawn times or further changes to the rewards system for the encounter?
Im sure well always be changing Hamidon! We want it to be a fun challenge for a large group of high level characters. Thats the goal.
Once the body slider/face slider changes go live with issue 4, will we be able to change our body/face at Icon or will our current characters be 'locked in' to our existing body?
Youll be able to change your avatars at Icon.
Are there any special plans for the 1st anniversary of CoH going live? A second round of the Rikti Invasion, perhaps? It seems like an awful waste to have the code for massive, floating Rikti motherships going unused, when so many new players have never experienced the glory of the beta invasion...
None planned.
Are there any major storylines upcoming that all the heroes can participate in? I don't just mean like a winter event, I'm thinking more along the lines of a world affecting crisis where the successful completion of missions help to uncover a story that the entire game world can see developing, perhaps maybe a souvenir could be specially written detailing the players who took part and given to all those involved.
This is something that we definitely want to do moving forward. Wed like players to have a real, lasting effect in the game.
Besides the already mentioned arena ones, will there be added more badges to ensure that there'll still be some to gain even after you reach the high levels? I'm thinking along the lines of more 'recieve an insanely high amount of damage'-badges and 'heal a massillion HP' ones.
Well be adding new badges with every Issue; and high level gameplay is going to be something of a focus moving forward.
Are there any plans to have Arena matches against monsters like the Paladin, Admastor and others? Kind of like gladiator bouts?
Currently, the Arena is all about PvP, but your idea is a good one!
Will we be seeing any more monsters like the Paladin in Kings Row and the Octopus in Independance Port? If so, any hints what they might be?
My goal is to put a special event in nearly every zone. In every issue, well try to add to pre-existing zones.
What do you think are the most important lessons you've learned from City of Heroes, and how are you applying them to City of Villains?
First, make every zone dynamic. In other words, make them come alive. We accomplished this quite well with Striga; that zone provides a new standard for us. Secondly, communicate the story better. Well have some new technology in City of Villains that will allow players to see the plotlines in a cool new way. Thirdly, give players what they want. We have a much better understanding of what makes Archetypes and powers cool. Lastly, make missions feel unique. One of the earliest criticisms was that our missions were repetitive. Now we've got over a years worth of new tech and art to use as we write the City of Villains missions from scratch.