Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in... 
This is why I love this dev team. Occassionally they do make mistakes, but they're the most open and reasonable dev team in any MMO I've played where they're willing to compromise in situations like this.
/applauds
Emerald Sky
@Emerald Sky
@Lava Dome
@Power Chip
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Arch Villains, Elite Bosses and Giant Monsters will remain as they are; but, for the early and mid-levels, players will not need to defeat these foes to complete the mission.
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Doesn't that kinda kill the spirit of the thing? Who lets the bad guy go? 
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Which you could have EASILY accomlished by allowed just that: dropping a mish if you don't like it or it's too hard and you don't have time. Rolling back the Boss changes is exactly caving into whiners.
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You will be able to "roll back" boss roll-back by selecting a higher mission difficulty level for your characters.
EASILY accomplished. 
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In the short term:
We will roll back the Boss changes.
Team up XP bonuses will be increased.
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This, and the improvements to Invulnerability, have gone a loooong way towards restoring my faith in y'all devs.
Lets not start pointing fingers the whiners had their way or the games too easy, make it harder because I think the Boss changes violated a basic principle. Namely: never let a person make an uninformed decision. And right now, people arent clear when a mission requires a team up and when it doesnt. Plus, they have no ability to drop a mission if they dont feel like doing it. Besides, weve introduced our Mission Difficulty Slider to satisfy the demands of those who want something more challenging in the future.
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In the mid-term:
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Sounds perfect.
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Task Forces and Trials will continue to contain Elite Bosses, ArchVillains and Giant Monsters. There will be no changes here.
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This, I have a question about. Does this mean that all bosses in missions will be Elite bosses, or just that they will appear? If the former, then there's still a problem, especially on respec trials. If the latter, then that's perfect as well, since there were named bosses in several TF's that were just normal boss-strength, but who had names. Based on your first "short-term" changes, I would guess that you mean the latter.
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In the long term:
The Mission UI will be improved to designate various elements of mission: timed missions, team up required, etc.
A system will allow players to drop unwanted missions or do old missions that have been passed over (the infamous flashback).
Only until players can drop missions will we look at the Boss difficulty again.
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I believe the first two changes will be a very good idea. I don't know that looking at Boss difficulty is the way to make the change more challenging for the higher levels. Certainly not an across-the-board change as was made in I3. I've seen many good suggestions that propose looking at archetypes, team size, etc to determine how powerful bosses should be. I don't know how difficult those would be to implement, but a global change to bosses isn't the way to handle the issue. I think we've proven that pretty conclusively.
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Whats our goal? Simply put: if a player wants to do something solo, it should be CHOICE. Teaming shouldnt be required, but rather encouraged. If a player gets a mission with an Arch Villain, hell be able to drop it and get another.
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And that's what I believe the vast majority of folks who took the time to post in the Boss Changes thread were asking for - Choice. The choice to solo or team for most of their contact missions. Getting the carrot instead of the stick where grouping was involved.
I think what you've done, and what you plan to do, is excellent. Thank you so very much for listening to us.
I do have one question: Did you notice a drop in the participation and completion rates in TF's and Trials post-I3? Actually, I would expect participation rates would have gone way up in the first couple days, til word spread of the boss difficulty change. I would expect the completion rates would have dropped significantly.
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Task Forces and Trials will continue to contain Elite Bosses, ArchVillains and Giant Monsters. There will be no changes here.
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Several of us have said by far the biggest problem with the new bosses was when a TF hits more bosses in a small room than there are members on the team. A team of 4 heroes walking trying to get to the reactor are going to have to overcome rooms of 5 or 6 Tank Swipers.
But instead of fixing that you are going to leave it as is and screw with the parts that the majority of players were already adapting to.
Decidedly bleah.
Excellent Post! I can't say enough...
I've read this and here's my take on it. Take it as just an
opinion:
"In the short term:
We will roll back the Boss changes. "
Yes I agree. When a 41 tank has to make a concerted effort
to take out a 33 boss, something isn't right.
" Team up XP bonuses will be increased."
Also a good idea.
"... Mission difficulty slider."
I haven't used this but I think it is a good way to give player
what they want without changing the fundementals for
everyone.
"In the mid-term:
There are... We will be making it so that a Boss will NEVER
show up on the mission for a solo player at the lowest
Reputation level (Hard-Boiled, though were changing that to
Hero). Instead, any named villain will be a Lieutenant. That
Lieutenant will have the same name, powers and costume as
the Boss; his villain rank will simply be lessened. In this way,
solo players wont miss out on the flavor of the missions
story. If a team or a player with a Reputation at Tenacious or
higher enters that mission, the Lieutenant will become a
Boss."
This I disagree with. Before the 'Boss change' when I soloed
a mission and saw a Boss I knew this was the fight I was
looking for. It would be tough and I might not win but that's
the risk I took when I put on my leather jacket and
sunglasses and became a hero. Also I felt challenged in
trying to find a way to get that victory over a 'superior'
opponent. Now while this could be addressed with the MDS
(Mission Difficulty Slider) that means everything will be
tougher and with some groups, its tough enough as is without
upward adjustment. For solo players, you could consider boss
placement so that he doesn't aggro when you take the
minions out around him, limit bosses to missions you don't
have to fight him to complete, or make him the max on
equal or one level lower than the solo hero he's up against.
depending on the importance of the mission. Note that this
doesn't apply to badge missions which should always be
tough, even if you solo it.
" Contacts give out another series of missions story
arcs...."
The problem I see with this solution is that I usually mix
story arc missions between soloing and teams. I start by
soloing then when it starts getting tougher I call in a few
friends and SG teammates then go from there. With this
I'd have to go from square one either one way or another.
My suggestion would be to leave it as is but be clearer which
missions need a team and which don't. Also you might want
to consider adding story arcs that don't requite team to do or
even adding a whole set of contacts dedicated to 'solo'
heroes.
"Arch Villains, Elite Bosses and Giant Monsters will remain as
they are; but, for the early and mid-levels, players will not
need to defeat these foes to complete the mission. In the high
levels, this is not the case."
I see the logic behind this but I don't really like it. To me,
having my back against the wall with the only way out
being through the AV is the way a story arc should end.
Giving an 'easy out' is too tempting. However, you could
assign the lesser goal to accomplish and have it be worth
a lesser xp bonus then give them a choice as to whether to
go ahead after the AV and get a bigger bonus or quit with
what you have. Once the choice is set though you have to
go through with it. You quit and the missions completely
resets.
"In the long term:
A system will allow players to drop unwanted missions or
do old missions that have been passed over (the
infamous flashback)."
This would be awesome! With picking your own missions you
could even choose to only do certain groups alltogether and
create a 'vendetta' type feud against said group.
Well good luck with the changes and I hope this helped some.
Fido1
Pinnacle =S.Thug: 41 tank invul/ss
" Another envoy mission? *whimper*.
S.thug ((level 50 Invul/ss tank Pinnacle))
Wild Childs ((Level 50 Nin/SR Stalker. Virtue))
Quote="Not Racist. Not violent. Just choosing to no longer be silent."
I cant say anymore than has already been said, just want to add my awesome to this, thanks Statesman.
I had my bags all packed, and was playing around rolling funny named alts for the last 10 days of my subscription, and you had to pull this!?!
I told my wife I was quitting, and she gave me a bunch of things to do around the house that were being neglected during my CoH obsession.
Now I have to break the news to her that I am staying. If I'm still alive, hope to see ya in game!
The changes sound great, but there's a couple of points I wasn't sure of:
1) If we're soloing when we ask for the mission, will the contact not give us any multi-person missions (double clickies) any more?
2) Is there a progression path for soloers that allows us to not face AVs in our story arcs but still complete them?
Thanks for listening!!!!
Thanks for the upcoming changes! Since the new boss boosts, I've gotten more debt that I've ever carried in all the time I've played, and it's makes the higher levels seem like way too much of a grind. After multiple defeats this morning, and looking at the amount of debt I'm now sporting, I logged off, as I wasn't having fun anymore, and if it's not fun, there's no reason to play. I've gotten stuck in all the current missions I'm carrying, and a Winter-Lord one-shotted me. 
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Whats our goal? Simply put: if a player wants to do something solo, it should be CHOICE. Teaming shouldnt be required, but rather encouraged.
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Just having States say the above totally made me come come back to the game (no joke just reactivated and am downloading issue3... takes too long tho... i'm on DSL and its pulling at 1.2kb/s >_<
Ive never really agreed with the 3 minions = 1 hero equation. It just doesnt "feel" heroic to me. I also dont think our relatively small system of ranking for enemies is doing its job. So, in the spirit of discussion, im going to post my opinion on the matter.
Minions - To me a minion is so low on the totem pole that they're barely worth my time. These guys are the small fish, and only worth the time to neutralize because they're in my way. I dont think minions should pose a threat except in large numbers.
Lieutenant - Ive never really looked at Lieuts as the rank they hold. For the longest time the lieutenant role just seems to be "Leader of minions" to me. These guys are only worth the time because they're with the minions that are in my way. A lieutenant should be worth 2 or 3 minions.
Boss - For the most part a boss, to me at least, is just the guy the real villian leaves behind to oversee the operation after its started. Not that far a step above a lieutenant. A boss should be worth 5 or 6 minions.
Elite Boss - Heres where we deviate. This is the rank that I think should be utilized a whole lot more. To me the Elite Boss represents the common "villian". Just strong enough to give problems for heroes, but not powerful enough to require groups to take down. The Mysterio's, Lizardman, and Shocker's of the world. At one time I remember the idea of personal nemesis's being thrown around. This is the rank id see them as being, and its also the rank that would need the most fleshing out AI wise, it couldnt just be the trading of blows like it is now. The Elite boss to me is where the stakes are raised, you arent just dealing with random thugs anymore, you're playing with the big boys. Elite Bosses should be used more often, and should be more than equal to 1 hero whos playing all their cards. A battle between an Elite Boss and a Hero should be that back and forth epic battle that defines most of the comic book genre.
Archvillian - The big fish, the head honcho's, El Capitan. The masterminds behind every scheme, and the most interesting of characters at times. Archvillians are not just powerful but cunning as well. I believe the rank "Archvillian" is overused in CoH. Very few of the enemies ive came against have truly come across as "Archvillianous" to me. Tyrant is an Archvillian, whereas the other Praetorian AV's just dont do it for me. If it was up to me (Thankfully it isnt) all of them would be Elite Bosses. These are the people that have risen above petty crimes and who have stepped back and taken a look at a far grander picture. These are the villians that not only want the world, but have the ability to take it. Tyrant personifies this rank purely because of what he has done. He has subjugated not only his world, but also his competition. All of the Praetorian AV's are under him in some form or another, some are plotting against him, and influencing him; but when all is said and done Tyrant reigns supreme. Thats the sort of character I look for in an Archvillian, the guy that you cant even get to without a rag tag group of heroes bent on saving the world. All he needs is another story arc where hes built a giant laser beam on the moon and he'll have cemented his role perfectly. Most of our current Archvillians just dont feel Archvilliany to me. Their motivations and goals just dont have the kind of scope that "Arch" in front of their rank seems to suggest. Archvillians should be worth a small group of heroes, and should have even more AI options and playthings than Elite Bosses.
Monsters - Godzilla's. Beasts that have only one purpose and thought . "Destroy". Monsters are about right on their prevalence in my opinion, except for the DE monsters. Which are just a dime a donze. Monsters are about right in their power, and there just needs to be more spawned or triggered monsters like the giant octopus in IP. I would love to see some missions that ended with some sort of giant creature attacking Atlas Park. With the new "Giant Monster" code in the game, this could even work out really well for flavor as all the lower level players can help take out the monster while the higher levels enjoy it too.
Anyways, the above is all just my opinion on the matter of the basic building blocks of the Solo VS Team thing. Super Heroes should be facing heroic odds, and 3 minions doesnt feel all that heroic to me. I understand that there would be technical matters to deal with if you start spawning greater numbers of enemies to get the "feel" right, and I understand that not all AT's are built the same. What my scrapper can do, I know a defender might never even think of attempting; but in general I think the balance of the game needs to shift from lessening people and more to strengthening others.
To me, its all a matter of feeling.
"Do I feel heroic?"
"Do I feel like im progressing?"
"Do I feel like im contributing to a team?"
"Do I feel as Epic as my AT would suggest?"
Im not looking for absolutes, im just looking for a nice balance between the numbers, and what makes me feel like im enjoying your game. Which, for the most part, I am...
Thank you, Statesman. I got nailed for debt today when I encountered a named Council vampire boss (no mention in briefing notes) who morphed into a werewolf. I spotted him the first time, so prepared for a single 1-on-1 fight with plenty of inspirations. When he morphed into a wolf, however... ouch.
I was out of inspirations, out of endurance, and out of luck (literally). 
Rolling back the boss toughness will help a lot. Again, thanks!
Well I haven't read the 10 or so pages of posts (it'll probably be up to 12 by the time I post this) but I wanted to chime in here and say, I think these changes are good. The idea of the player knowing ahead of team if a mission is solo or "team only" is a very good thing (tm).
I don't think many of us have ever had a problem with there existing certain missions that can ONLY be done with teams. The problem's always been that you don't know it until you are 20 minutes into the mission. The proposed changes will fix that and I'm up for it.
The one thing I would suggest is to make it be much harder at the +3 and +4 mission difficulty settings. For soloists those might be OK but we've done some of these with teams of 3 and 4 and they are cake-walks. A +4 mission should not be a cake-walk, even for teams. But this has NOTHING to do with missions on the default setting or with soloing, and is really a post-level-30 issue... so you should look into it some day but it's not an immediate issue.
F
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Which you could have EASILY accomlished by allowed just that: dropping a mish if you don't like it or it's too hard and you don't have time. Rolling back the Boss changes is exactly caving into whiners.
[/ QUOTE ]
You will be able to "roll back" boss roll-back by selecting a higher mission difficulty level for your characters.
EASILY accomplished.
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Bingo.
By the way, Statesman, your changes should satisfy both the solo artists and the gropers.
Wait a minute, did I spell that right?
First, again, thanks. Not only for listening to us, but discussing what's in planning. It's obviously a lot easier to make changes while things are under design than when coding.
Here's my suggestion for levels:
Hero: When soloing, all villains in missions below 15 will be at your level (or below), and no bosses at any level. Named bosses become elite lieutenants. Same HP/Damage/XP as a lieutenant, but might have extra powers.
Hard Boiled: The current hard boiled, villains at normal level and with bosses. If you are in a team, Hero and Hard Boiled are the same.
Tenacious and above: As they exist now. But one thought--how hard would it be to make the bad guys harder without actually raising the level? If I'm sidekicked to someone fighting as invincible in a 5 person group, the villains are 4 or 5 levels above the sidekick. In addition to the greater damage and the greater hit points, the reduced purple patch starts kicking in. Just a thought.
Another thought...what's the implication of these to Malta and Nemesis? There are many missions with Zeuses hanging around, even a mission about a titan named Joe, not sure reducing them to Hercs will have the same effect. Reducing a Fake Nemesis or Warhulk (particularly the "worn warhulks") to a lieutenant will be a problem. For myself, I have no problem with making those bosses even on Hero.
Combining missions is good as an option, and if combined, should run at the highest level of the person who has it. It could encourage some very persistant teams, friends who always play together and treat story arcs as task forces.
My arcs are constantly shifting, just search for GadgetDon for the latest.
The world beware! I've started a blog
GadgetMania Under Attack: The Digg Lockout
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Hard-Boiled, though were changing that to Hero).
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I hope Positron isn't taking that too hard...
Actually I think it looks like a good plan (the non-renaming ones I mean). I am a bit concerned on the Story Arc = non-soloable part with the "team-up required" UI coming later. Will story arcs be distinctly labeled as such so there is no mistaking it there (some already are, I know, with the "this may be the start of something bigger" tag)?
I love the post, but have one comment.
Story-arc mission don't seem to happen once you level up the Contact. They seem to start after you do a couple of missions for them and when you level them up full, then that's usually the end of the arc and you get your enhancement.
Also, after I leveled up a contact and got the enhancement, she moved onto giving me other missions. After a few I wasn't sure if another story-arc was going to come from her, so I dumped her for a new contact. I was afraid of continuing and then possibly being to powerful (if I did this to all 3 of my contacts) for my new contact's mission.
Oh, and one other thing,. The Clues menu needs cleaning. I have passed-over missions I leveled to far past via hunting, and it's annoying to figure out which clue was from my current story arc.
I suggest that when you are starting, and during, a story-arc mission it should be obvious. Possibly colored text or an icon?
And in the Clues menu, possibly title things better. I like each clue having a "Chapter" title, but maybe organize it by a Story Arc Name as well. Like...
"Trouble In The Hollows - Burned Book"
Or have the clue start with the current contacts name. Like...
"Burned Book"
-Lt. Mike Myers sent you to blah blah, where you found blah blah blah.
Or something like that. A little organization.
If you still have clues, they are from a past story arc that is still active. (The hollows acts as one big story arc). Only way to clear a story arc is to finish it, so you need to go back to those contacts. Even if you've way outlevelled their missions, they will give you the missions to finish the story arc.
My arcs are constantly shifting, just search for GadgetDon for the latest.
The world beware! I've started a blog
GadgetMania Under Attack: The Digg Lockout
This list of changes is quite possibly the most intelligent set of changes I've ever seen from the development team of an MMORPG. As an avid tanker player, I like things just the way they are, but since I have 2 characters for each original archtype, these changes make the perfect balance for any player at any skill level. I've wanted to work for Cryptic Studios ever since I heard about CoH for the first time, and this broadcast of intelligent thinking and planning is refreshing to read. I am a die-hard fan of CoH as well as Cryptic Studios and I plan to be along for the ride as this game, and any that follow, show up among the greatest games in history. Thank you for listening to the fan base and the players and thank you for making my favorite game.
Thank you Statesman!
Once again awesome response time to player issues! I was a little disappointed in the change as it really was making it more difficult to accomplish some missions solo. As a player with sometimes limited playtimes I enjoy being able to log in, run a solo mission and be on my way. The proposed solution is great! Now I can continue to solo when time is limited and take on the tougher things when friends are available to team up
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Course, now that that's hammered out... *nudges him towards Kheldians*
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Done! Just playtested today!
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Ok States.....spill the beans. What exactly was playtested? The khelds with your new proposed changes from the Observations thread? Or the khelds in their current form? Or something totaly new? 
This is all excellent, Statesman -- very sensible. Thanks for listening.
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We will be making it so that a Boss will NEVER show up on the mission for a solo player at the lowest Reputation level (Hard-Boiled, though were changing that to Hero). Instead, any named villain will be a Lieutenant. That Lieutenant will have the same name, powers and costume as the Boss; his villain rank will simply be lessened. In this way, solo players wont miss out on the flavor of the missions story. If a team or a player with a Reputation at Tenacious or higher enters that mission, the Lieutenant will become a Boss.
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What will you do about the generic bosses that currently appear in missions with great frequency? Will these also disappear for those who are Hard-Boiled? It seems like people have not complained nearly as much about the named bosses, which everyone expects to be hard, and have warning dialogue as you approach them; it's the generic bosses that are the surprise death.
My suggestion would be that one more rank on the difficulty slider, after Hard-Boiled, be added for "minions and LTs the same, but I also want generic bosses, and a named boss if there is one".
well i'll be hmmm i take back all the silent complaining i was doing you are fair and for that kudo's