[ QUOTE ]
Solo missions are trivial for a number of reasons. They aren't very hard. The player, for the most part does not receive much beyond xp and influence. Not much strategy or thought is required in order to complete your regular contact missions. From the moment your character is created, they have the ability to run solo missions. Running solo missions is a fun and easy way to level up your character and experience some of what the game has to offer. - Hence "Trivial"
[/ QUOTE ]
Your assertion that solo missions are hard and require no strategy is a subjective truth at best and is outright false at worst. Also, your response did not answer the question of how a series of solo missions is more trivial than the current trial.
[ QUOTE ]
Now respec. While yes it does appear to be nothing more than a "simple game mechanic", it is in fact, extremely valuable to the player. Again, I point out how desperately you're wanting to be able to just talk to a contact, run a few missions ( in 30 minutes or less ) and then have the option to completely change the way your character operates . Being able to do just that would definitely "trivialize" the awesome feature that is Respec.
[/ QUOTE ]
A simple game mechanic can also be valuable to each player. I wish to distinguish the simple game mechanic from the team content to which it is married. I am not suggesting that you earn the respec after a small series of missions. If you read my post, I suggested a similar or larger investment of time and effort to achieve the respec. I am not looking for a way to "trivialize" the respec ability. I am looking for a way to make the respec acceessible to solo players. This is a huge distinction and something you never got out of my previous posts.
[ QUOTE ]
Now, lets look at the Statesman quote you posted, as supporting your argument.
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.
You are indeed correct that the respec trial does in fact require the player to team in order to gain access to the respec feature.
However, what I think you missed in Statesman's quote is "If a player gets a mission with an AV, he'll be able to drop it and get another." Meaning, the player chooses to not kill the AV, not complete the mission, not receive the rewards, and....wait for it..... not experience the content created by fighting an Arch-Villain . To further clarify - the player makes the choice to forego game content because he/she is solo.
Following your logic, lets say respec was made soloable. It would have to be a really, really easy set of missions, because ANY archetye must be able to complete it. Now you have a powerful and valuable game feature within access to anyone who has 30 minutes to blow. What about the rest of the trials and TF's? Here we have a series of team oriented missions that dont give out half the reward that a solo player can receive from the respec trial. OK, lets make them soloable too.
Little Johnny videogameplayer says "Gee Statesman, you said I should be able to choose to do whatever I want in your game. How come I cant solo Hammidon? Why is Hammidon being held hostage by a level requirement and a team requirement? You said I should be able to solo anything!!"
Sounds silly doesn't it?
I really dont think Statesman meant to say a solo player should be able to do anything he/she wants. I think what he meant was a solo player should be able to do what he/she wants until they encounter something that requires a team. At that point, the solo player can choose to skip that content and move on to something else.
As a solo player, playing a "Team Encouraged, Solo Friendly" game, you are going to run into situations where you simply will not be able to experience what is offered unless you have a team. It is the nature of the game. I myself, love to solo. But I know there are things that I want to do that require a team, and some time. It's how this game is played.
[/ QUOTE ]
Once again, you completely failed to seperate the ability to respec from the content to which it is currently married.
I am not suggesting that soloers be able to solo team content. I am not suggesting that anything be made easier. I am not asking to be able to experience "team-oriented content". If Hammidon had a crucial game mechanic as a "reward" then I would be equally for a solo-capable alternative.
[ QUOTE ]
At that point, the solo player can choose to skip that content and move on to something else.
[/ QUOTE ]
I agree with this point entirely. However, we are talking about a game mechanic and not content.
If the Dev's current position on solo v. team play revolves around the thought that Team play should not be required for access to CONTENT...it logically follows that Team play should not be required for access to GAME MECHANICS. The thought is that a solo player can just move on and access other CONTENT. However, the solo player cannot move on and access any other form of GAME MECHANIC that relates to respec.
It is my belief that giving access to a game mechanic as a reward for team-only play was a mistake and should be corrected by allowing a solo alternative.
[ QUOTE ]
Your assertion that solo missions are hard and require no strategy is a subjective truth at best and is outright false at worst. Also, your response did not answer the question of how a series of solo missions is more trivial than the current trial.
[/ QUOTE ]
Solo missions have to be trivial because they need to cater to the lowest common denominator. Unless you plan on having "solo spines/regen missions" and "solo empathy/psy missions". Team-based content can be ramped up quite a bit because teams can be assumed to cover for each others weaknesses, and are often much more effective than all of the team members working separately.
[ QUOTE ]
Once again, you completely failed to seperate the ability to respec from the content to which it is currently married.
I am not suggesting that soloers be able to solo team content. I am not suggesting that anything be made easier. I am not asking to be able to experience "team-oriented content". If Hammidon had a crucial game mechanic as a "reward" then I would be equally for a solo-capable alternative.
[/ QUOTE ]
First, respec is not a crucial game mechanic.
Second, respec is not married to team-only content. You can respec having never teamed, ever.
Third, a solo "respec trial" would, necessarily, have to be either trivial for some ATs or impossibly difficult for others.
Fourth, the current respec trial has no AVs or do-multiple-things-at-once in it, and is theoretically winnable by a solo player who made a team to start the TF and then booted the other 3 players.
[ QUOTE ]
If the Dev's current position on solo v. team play revolves around the thought that Team play should not be required for access to CONTENT...it logically follows that Team play should not be required for access to GAME MECHANICS. The thought is that a solo player can just move on and access other CONTENT. However, the solo player cannot move on and access any other form of GAME MECHANIC that relates to respec.
[/ QUOTE ]
The way I read Statesman's post is that a player who is soloing should not get to a point where he can't continue playing solo. It does not logically follow that players who solo only should have access to all game mechanics, but should have access to enough to be able to continue playing. But that point is moot in this case because, as I mentioned before, respec does not require team play.
[ QUOTE ]
Solo missions are trivial for a number of reasons. They aren't very hard. The player, for the most part does not receive much beyond xp and influence. Not much strategy or thought is required in order to complete your regular contact missions. From the moment your character is created, they have the ability to run solo missions. Running solo missions is a fun and easy way to level up your character and experience some of what the game has to offer. - Hence "Trivial"
[/ QUOTE ]
Your assertion that solo missions are hard and require no strategy is a subjective truth at best and is outright false at worst. Also, your response did not answer the question of how a series of solo missions is more trivial than the current trial.
[ QUOTE ]
Now respec. While yes it does appear to be nothing more than a "simple game mechanic", it is in fact, extremely valuable to the player. Again, I point out how desperately you're wanting to be able to just talk to a contact, run a few missions ( in 30 minutes or less ) and then have the option to completely change the way your character operates . Being able to do just that would definitely "trivialize" the awesome feature that is Respec.
[/ QUOTE ]
A simple game mechanic can also be valuable to each player. I wish to distinguish the simple game mechanic from the team content to which it is married. I am not suggesting that you earn the respec after a small series of missions. If you read my post, I suggested a similar or larger investment of time and effort to achieve the respec. I am not looking for a way to "trivialize" the respec ability. I am looking for a way to make the respec acceessible to solo players. This is a huge distinction and something you never got out of my previous posts.
[ QUOTE ]
Now, lets look at the Statesman quote you posted, as supporting your argument.
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.
You are indeed correct that the respec trial does in fact require the player to team in order to gain access to the respec feature.
However, what I think you missed in Statesman's quote is "If a player gets a mission with an AV, he'll be able to drop it and get another." Meaning, the player chooses to not kill the AV, not complete the mission, not receive the rewards, and....wait for it..... not experience the content created by fighting an Arch-Villain . To further clarify - the player makes the choice to forego game content because he/she is solo.
Following your logic, lets say respec was made soloable. It would have to be a really, really easy set of missions, because ANY archetye must be able to complete it. Now you have a powerful and valuable game feature within access to anyone who has 30 minutes to blow. What about the rest of the trials and TF's? Here we have a series of team oriented missions that dont give out half the reward that a solo player can receive from the respec trial. OK, lets make them soloable too.
Little Johnny videogameplayer says "Gee Statesman, you said I should be able to choose to do whatever I want in your game. How come I cant solo Hammidon? Why is Hammidon being held hostage by a level requirement and a team requirement? You said I should be able to solo anything!!"
Sounds silly doesn't it?
I really dont think Statesman meant to say a solo player should be able to do anything he/she wants. I think what he meant was a solo player should be able to do what he/she wants until they encounter something that requires a team. At that point, the solo player can choose to skip that content and move on to something else.
As a solo player, playing a "Team Encouraged, Solo Friendly" game, you are going to run into situations where you simply will not be able to experience what is offered unless you have a team. It is the nature of the game. I myself, love to solo. But I know there are things that I want to do that require a team, and some time. It's how this game is played.
[/ QUOTE ]
Once again, you completely failed to seperate the ability to respec from the content to which it is currently married.
I am not suggesting that soloers be able to solo team content. I am not suggesting that anything be made easier. I am not asking to be able to experience "team-oriented content". If Hammidon had a crucial game mechanic as a "reward" then I would be equally for a solo-capable alternative.
[ QUOTE ]
At that point, the solo player can choose to skip that content and move on to something else.
[/ QUOTE ]
I agree with this point entirely. However, we are talking about a game mechanic and not content.
If the Dev's current position on solo v. team play revolves around the thought that Team play should not be required for access to CONTENT...it logically follows that Team play should not be required for access to GAME MECHANICS. The thought is that a solo player can just move on and access other CONTENT. However, the solo player cannot move on and access any other form of GAME MECHANIC that relates to respec.
It is my belief that giving access to a game mechanic as a reward for team-only play was a mistake and should be corrected by allowing a solo alternative.
[/ QUOTE ]
LOL, I finally figured it out. You have no earthly idea what content means. Content, in a very broad and general sense, can be defined as anything and everything your character is able to do, or intereact with in the game. From the city streets to the mission maps to the powers your character is able to use - all content. Guess what my friend - the ability to alter how your character functions within the game world, otherwise known as respec - CONTENT . It is an activity that occurs only while you are logged in and interacting with your character. Call it a simple game mechanic, call it a reward for participating in the Hitleresque regime of forced teaming, whatever - it's all content. And as such, because you choose to be a be solo player, you in turn also choose to forfeit any benefits, rewards, goodies, and yes even that simplest game mechanic of all - respec.
Now, lets look at some of the rewards the player recieves from participating in team oriented content.
The Positron TF ( lvls 10-16 ) - Player is awarded a Dual Origin Enhancement useable by them, and a badge.
The Synapse TF ( lvl 15-21 ) Player is awarded a Single Origin Enhancement, and a badge.
Sister Psyche TF ( 20 - 26 ) Player is awarded a Single Origin Enhancement, and a badge.
1st Respec Trial ( lvls 24-33 ) Player is awarded a choice of Single Origin Enhancement or the ability to alter their characters choice of powers, and a badge.
The various Accolades ( lvls 34- 50 ) Player is rewarded with a badge, and with either bonuses to their health/endurance, or unique powers. ( useable every 15 - 25 minutes )
The Sewer Trial ( lvls 38-40? not sure on this one ) Player is rewarded with a unique Dual Purpose Enhancement, and a badge.
The Hammidon Encounter ( lvls 45 - 50 ) Player is rewarded with a Unique Dual Purpose Enhancement, Massive Debt, and I dont think you even get a stinkin' badge. 
Now, by a show of hands, who here thinks the ability to change your characters powers is by far the coolest, most valuable reward? *raises hand*
Enhancements are content. You can buy them from all the cool little shops scattered around Paragon City. You can buy them from your contacts after you make nice with em. Bad guys cough em up when you bust em. They make a really nifty sound with you get them too, *cha-ching!*. They are also, simple game mechanics. The game utilizes the enhancements equipped on your character in order to determine the strength/effectiveness ( or lack thereof ) of your powers when you use them.
Game Mechanics = Content.
Lets consider for a moment, the "simple game mechanic" as you so love to call it, that is respec.
The player is presented with several screens through which they can select powers and then arrange enhancement slots, much the way they normally would as they progress through the levels, only the respec occurs in 1 streamlined session. The end result being that the character is considered to be "better" than before, or just different than before.
No other trial, task force, or mission series awards the player with such a valuable and powerful feature.
Personally, I think the dev team and testers who designed and implemented the respec feature, would like to take a stick to you for having the audacity to demean the result of their time and effort, by insisting on calling it "a simple game mechanic".
At the very least, the respec is many, many, many game mechanics working in concert to create.....*gasp*...... CONTENT
Lets get back to your argument.
"I am not sggesting anything be made easier"
Huh? When you suggest that the respec be given as a reward to a solo player, that is exactly what you are suggesting. You want to do, by yourself, what now requires a team to accomplish. I dunno bout you, but I tink you want it to be be easier to get a respec....
"If Hammidon had a crucial game mechanic as a "reward" then I would be equally for a solo-capable alternative"
You yourself acknowledge that the reward given out from the Hammidon Encounter is not nearly as valuable or " crucial " as the respec. So, why then should a solo player be able to obtain a reward that is better than what a group of players can obtain?
Your argument is founded on a misunderstanding of the correlation between game mechanics and content, and therefore flawed. At worst, it would be a step in the entirely wrong direction, as it would in fact, trivialize an important facet of the game.
The respec is content, plain and simple. And as such, is justly awarded to those players who choose to work together with other players to accomplish a goal. It is, I believe, as the dev team intended. Accept it, and move on.
If it aint fun, why bother playing?
[ QUOTE ]
First, respec is not a crucial game mechanic.
[/ QUOTE ]
If it is not a crucial game mechanic then there is no need to prevent a trivial way of obtaining it. If it is unimportant or mundane then provide an unimportant or mundane way of achieving it.
[ QUOTE ]
Second, respec is not married to team-only content. You can respec having never teamed, ever.
[/ QUOTE ]
How?
[ QUOTE ]
Third, a solo "respec trial" would, necessarily, have to be either trivial for some ATs or impossibly difficult for others.
[/ QUOTE ]
Is this not true of teams. A well built team can "sail" through the respec trial in 90 minutes or so I am told in a previous post. A poorly built team will fail or so I am told. Furthermore, there is more than one way to prevent triviality than to ramp up difficulty of the mission. If you haven't thought that one through I would be happy to elaborate.
[ QUOTE ]
Fourth, the current respec trial has no AVs or do-multiple-things-at-once in it, and is theoretically winnable by a solo player who made a team to start the TF and then booted the other 3 players.
[/ QUOTE ]
I am look for ethical ways to live my life. I'll pass on this idea on smell factor alone.
[ QUOTE ]
The way I read Statesman's post is that a player who is soloing should not get to a point where he can't continue playing solo. It does not logically follow that players who solo only should have access to all game mechanics, but should have access to enough to be able to continue playing. But that point is moot in this case because, as I mentioned before, respec does not require team play.
[/ QUOTE ]
If your character is broken because powers do not work as described or powers are changed by the Devs in a way that makes the character unplayable or undesirable...then this satisfies even your stringent definitions
I would like you to juxtapose and reconcile these two thoughts. 1) Respec is not a crucial game mechanic. and 2) Respec is too crucial to allow for trivial means of acquisition.
Thanks. Bushpig.
[ QUOTE ]
LOL, I finally figured it out. You have no earthly idea what content means. Content, in a very broad and general sense, can be defined as anything and everything your character is able to do, or intereact with in the game. From the city streets to the mission maps to the powers your character is able to use - all content. Guess what my friend - the ability to alter how your character functions within the game world, otherwise known as respec - CONTENT . It is an activity that occurs only while you are logged in and interacting with your character. Call it a simple game mechanic, call it a reward for participating in the Hitleresque regime of forced teaming, whatever - it's all content. And as such, because you choose to be a be solo player, you in turn also choose to forfeit any benefits, rewards, goodies, and yes even that simplest game mechanic of all - respec.
[/ QUOTE ]
One of my characters existed before the Issue three changes went live. When I logged in I had a free respec waiting for me. I received it without doing anything and without interacting with anything in the game world. I think this argues strongly that the respec is only a game mechanic and is not content as you define it. How you use the respec will affect the way you experience the game and in that regard may be considered part of content as you define it.
Next, this is not about choosing to be a solo only player. This is about access. If I could make the time investment to find a team and stay long enough to complete the trial then I would certainly do that. I cannot. Others like me cannot. The point of this entire "Solo and Team Play" thread is an acknowledgement by the Devs that there needs to be equal access to quality content (even if we are talking about seperate content). Currently, there is no access to the respec ability (content as you define it) for the solo player.
[ QUOTE ]
"I am not suggesting anything be made easier"
Huh? When you suggest that the respec be given as a reward to a solo player, that is exactly what you are suggesting. You want to do, by yourself, what now requires a team to accomplish. I dunno bout you, but I tink you want it to be be easier to get a respec....
[/ QUOTE ]
I say what I mean. I mean what I say. Don't translate.
[ QUOTE ]
The respec is content, plain and simple. And as such, is justly awarded to those players who choose to work together with other players to accomplish a goal. It is, I believe, as the dev team intended. Accept it, and move on.
[/ QUOTE ]
I respectfully disagree with your sets of definitions. That being said, respecs were awarded to everyone indiscriminantly at the beginning of Issue three. Every character got one whether they "merited" one after many power changes. Level 1 characters parked in the Tutorial mission got one. The world did not spin off it's axis as a result. The respec reward is justly rewarded to the team that works together to complete a goal. The fact that a whole player population doesn't have access to that respec is an injustice if you believe in seperate but equal content. I believe the respec trial is working as intended. I believe the Devs should consider a new intent....to provide seperate but equal access to this important game mechanic (Content if you like).
Bushpig
I thought all the comments were well thought out and well stated. I, on the other hand, did not see something addressed that is currently ruing my gaming experience on COH. 
Just made lvl 38, my contacts are finished with me, and I am informed by more "experienced" players that I will not recieve any additional contacts until I hit lvl 40, over 2 million xp away. So basically I am forced to team up, or go do the sewer trial, or lumina tf, the former being one I can attempt to do on my own, but have no chance in hell of completing, the latter one where I have to team up. I would really love to see the "contact void" filled. Unless you feel like dropping the xp climb to something resembling other games on the market, where it doesn't take 700 hours to reach lvl 50. 446 hours logged with this lvl 38 hero, doing missions, along with tf's, not sitting around having contests or dancing in clubs. Alot of work that now seems like wasted effort.
[ QUOTE ]
I thought all the comments were well thought out and well stated. I, on the other hand, did not see something addressed that is currently ruing my gaming experience on COH. Just made lvl 38, my contacts are finished with me, and I am informed by more "experienced" players that I will not recieve any additional contacts until I hit lvl 40, over 2 million xp away. So basically I am forced to team up, or go do the sewer trial, or lumina tf, the former being one I can attempt to do on my own, but have no chance in hell of completing, the latter one where I have to team up. I would really love to see the "contact void" filled. Unless you feel like dropping the xp climb to something resembling other games on the market, where it doesn't take 700 hours to reach lvl 50. 446 hours logged with this lvl 38 hero, doing missions, along with tf's, not sitting around having contests or dancing in clubs. Alot of work that now seems like wasted effort.
[/ QUOTE ]
How much of 35-38 did you spend under the new difficulty slider, and what was it set on?
There are people looking for teams to do all sorts of things, though, from trials down to basic missions, because it gets interesting when a lot of people face down a lot of villains. (I pulled together a pickup task force for RULADAK THE FRIGGIN' STRONG over the weekend with nary a drop over the 8 hours it took us. Crazy good fun.)
My tank has had to ninja her way through entire storyarcs in vain attempts to get contacts dry before she outleveled them utterly. This has happened at 35, 40, and 45, and the only reason it's not going to happen at 50 is because you can't get beyond 50.
Seriously, put seek team on, ask what's getting done when somebody invites you, or throw your own team together and look at what people have to offer. You'll be out of No Mission Hell before you know it.
--GF
Up with the overworld! Up with exploration! | Want a review of your arc?
My arcs: Dream Paper (ID: 1874) | Bricked Electronics (ID: 2180) | The Bravuran Jobs (ID: 5073) | Backwards Day (ID: 329000) | Operation Fair Trade (ID: 391172)
[ QUOTE ]
I thought all the comments were well thought out and well stated. I, on the other hand, did not see something addressed that is currently ruing my gaming experience on COH. Just made lvl 38, my contacts are finished with me, and I am informed by more "experienced" players that I will not recieve any additional contacts until I hit lvl 40, over 2 million xp away. So basically I am forced to team up, or go do the sewer trial, or lumina tf, the former being one I can attempt to do on my own, but have no chance in hell of completing, the latter one where I have to team up. I would really love to see the "contact void" filled. Unless you feel like dropping the xp climb to something resembling other games on the market, where it doesn't take 700 hours to reach lvl 50. 446 hours logged with this lvl 38 hero, doing missions, along with tf's, not sitting around having contests or dancing in clubs. Alot of work that now seems like wasted effort.
[/ QUOTE ]
The Hollows and Stirga Island solved part of that problem for characters up to lvl 30. I have one character that tried to do every mission from every contact so far, and has yet to clear all the mission from every contact from any single tier after lvl 10. Plus with the different TF's along the way, I have gone from 1-28 so far doing almost nothing but missions.
Hopefully they will add a danger zone contact group for the level 33-40 soon. My lvl 36 blaster has almost completed all the badge and story arc missions from her current tier and I really don't want to do trials and TF's over and over and over. Crey's Folly would be a good place for that.
Hello all---
I wanted to thank everyone for their thoughtful replies to the subset of posts regarding respec. Thanks for letting me air my concerns. Thanks for all of the constructive conversation.
Bushpig.
Statesman,
I spent Saturday soloing in Striga Isle. Soloed 3 bosses -- 1 orange, 1 red, and 1 Elite red, and though I had to down some insps for them, I came through fine each time. So, in my opinion (and I'm assuming the rollback has already taken place), the bosses are fine for solo play just as they are. The only time it gets tough to solo them is if they are not alone -- that is, they are surrounded by minions and lts. Then you need friends, like in the Frostfire and Atta missions.
So, my opinion is that if you want to keep bosses as they are in hard-boiled mode and leave the "new boss style" for the ramped-up levels, that's fine by me.
NewScrapper
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
However, what I think you missed in Statesman's quote is "If a player gets a mission with an AV, he'll be able to drop it and get another." Meaning, the player chooses to not kill the AV, not complete the mission, not receive the rewards, and....wait for it..... not experience the content created by fighting an Arch-Villain . To further clarify - the player makes the choice to forego game content because he/she is solo.
...
I really dont think Statesman meant to say a solo player should be able to do anything he/she wants. I think what he meant was a solo player should be able to do what he/she wants until they encounter something that requires a team. At that point, the solo player can choose to skip that content and move on to something else.
[/ QUOTE ]
Very nicely put.
[/ QUOTE ]
and, frankly, that capability, in and of itself, will make the game far, far more solo-friendly.
Infinity:
Ellen, 50 MA/Inv Scr
February Night, 14 Ice/Ice Blstr
Guardian:
SilverSwordmaid, 29 Kat/Rgn Scr
Vicious Killer, 33 Emp/Enrgy Def
Electromagness, 40 Rad/Rad Def
Sense of Humor, 50 Fire/En Tank
Virtue:
Kickfest, 50 MA/SR Scr
Freedom:
Glorious Ending, 29 EM/DA Bru
I think you are missing my point.........I do NOT want to team up, expecially for 2.5 million xp'w worth. I can hardly stand my own company for long, let alone someone else. And with all the people recently power leveled thanx to our wonderful winter lord event...I saw a lvl 50 who was bragging about lvling her whole group to lvl 32 in half a day...no thankyou.
Striga I can't do, too high a lvl...........as for the difficulty slider, I am not quite sure what that has to do with my current situation. If I was lvl 10 or 20, even 30, I'd have no problem with this, but at this lvl, its ridiculous. I guess the answer is there is no answer, and since I seem to be the only person who plays COH that thinks its totally screwed,obviously it won't be changed. Had I known this before I bought the game, I never would have bought it.
[ QUOTE ]
Soloed 3 bosses -- 1 orange, 1 red, and 1 Elite red, and though I had to down some insps for them, I came through fine each time. So, in my opinion (and I'm assuming the rollback has already taken place), the bosses are fine for solo play just as they are.
So, my opinion is that if you want to keep bosses as they are in hard-boiled mode and leave the "new boss style" for the ramped-up levels, that's fine by me.
NewScrapper
[/ QUOTE ]
And fortunately for us, EVERBODY plays scrappers.
Umm... no, the 20K in debt my defender racked up on Saturday says otherwise. I can't kill orange bosses solo anymore while it was a pretty good fight before Issue 3 arrived. And now I'm at a level where almost all my missions have an orange boss - net effect, I'm screwed.
States, why won't you tell us when the boss rollback is going to happen? There's really no sense in my playing anymore, but sadly I've still got a month to go on my sub.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
First, respec is not a crucial game mechanic.
[/ QUOTE ]
If it is not a crucial game mechanic then there is no need to prevent a trivial way of obtaining it. If it is unimportant or mundane then provide an unimportant or mundane way of achieving it.
[/ QUOTE ]
It is perfectly possible to play the entire game without access to a respect, just ask one of the many people who went all the way to 50 before there even was a respect. Respec is a reward, not a game mechanic, and if you give all the rewards are structured to favor solo play this game is dead.
DR,
Okay, okay, point taken. Scrappers do have it easier soloing (which is how it's supposed to be). Keep in mind that I thought the boss rollback had already occurred. I have no objection to the boss rollback or, ultimately, to Statesman's mid-term "hard boiled = lts only" solution. My feeling was simply that if the boss rollback returned everybody to normal, then THAT could be "hard boiled" without any need for a "lts only" version of "hard boiled". Fair enough?
NewScrapper
I don't think the boss roll-back has occured yet. I owe a GIANT amount of debt to some of the new bosses. Soloing as a blaster is a nightmare in the 30 - 35 range.
I have been one-hit slain so many times in recent weeks I'm plain flat sick of it. The DE mobs being the worst offenders. No amount of inspirations makes a lesser devoured (much less a devoured) boss soloable. I snipe, it immediately fires back with a 300 point hit that chases me around corners and NEVER misses. If I run and try to take another shot, it will shoot me again. Woe to me if I even dare to stand still long enough to use something short range... the next attack is a 500+ point melee strike that sends me straight to the hospital. Yes, I can keep running. If I zone out and come back I can heal up... but by that time the boss has run back and is has now regen'd to full health. I got killed 5 times trying everything I could think of to kill one, loading up all 25 slots with heals, defense, and rage. Four stacked defenses and the bugger missed like one time out of 4 tries. I'm sucking down heals like crazy and trying to keep out of melee range... I couldn't even get an even level boss to half before I was squished. I had a sidekick with me in the incident I'm thinking of, and with both of us sniping and him doing a suicide sacrifice... I --STILL-- couldn't kill it. I had to call in someone 5 levels higher to come kill it to finish the dang mission and limp home with 75k debt. I appreciate a challenge but that's not a challenge and not fun. This is set to normal ordinary difficulty by the way.
I went in a freakshow mission with ONE companion (a sidekicked one) and the mission had NO LESS THAN 15 or 20 bosses in it. Every group of enemies with a count over 4 had a boss grouped with it. Un-freaken-believable. No amount of clever play will make a mission like this doable. Especially when its only a matter of time before a tank grenade stuns you long enough for the evil bugger to run up and either A) cut you in half or B) Drive you into the floor like rusty nail. Either possibility in this case costs me 15k of debt.
The mission creator should REALLY REALLY consider a character's true level when calculating enemies. A level 20 blaster sidekicked up to level 32... is NOT equal to a true level 32 character. Enemies SHOULD NOT be generated by the normal formula for him/her when the mission is instanced. This is a especially true when you have like 3 true level 30+ toons sidekicking 3 20-somethings. Right now some of the missions I've been in are totally ape-stuff... real debt-o-ramas.
Tee hee. That would be perfect. 
That's one of the things I really don't understand about this whole mess. They gave us the difficulty slider AND buffed the bosses. Huh? Oh no, don't tell me (like I'm gonna touch it...) the slider only increases the quantity and not the quality of the mobs???
All I ask is that the game be playable again for we casual players. If it's too easy for you (not *you* personally... I'm trying to be nice) good for you, crank that slider up and let the rest of us wallow in our suckiness.
But why no bosses? We need the bosses in the end missions of the arcs, otherwise the fiction is totally broken. They just don't need to be the uber-one-hit monsters they are now, unless you choose them to be with the slider of course.
DR,
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We need the bosses in the end missions of the arcs, otherwise the fiction is totally broken. They just don't need to be the uber-one-hit monsters they are now, unless you choose them to be with the slider of course.
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My thoughts exactly. I think that if you have your character's slider set to "hard boiled", then you should be fighting pre-Issue 3 bosses just like before (and not just lts).
Personally, I don't understand what prompted the boss changes in the first place. Bosses were challenging enough before they got powered-up, in my opinion.
NewScrapper
I agree, bosses were fine before, when I saw one, I was like, oh man here we go. Now I am like, crap, more debt. The slider should have been more than enough, after all, it increased the overall difficulty of the mission if you wished, so why even pump the bosses up at all? Oh yeah, I forgot, it was too easy for the power leveled 50's.
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I agree, bosses were fine before, when I saw one, I was like, oh man here we go. Now I am like, crap, more debt. The slider should have been more than enough, after all, it increased the overall difficulty of the mission if you wished, so why even pump the bosses up at all? Oh yeah, I forgot, it was too easy for the power leveled 50's.
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I'm fairly certain something was wrong with the old bosses. Why? Because the dev team took the time to make them harder. However, the way in which this was implemented adversely affected the player base, and so, thats being changed.
The new bosses aren't being removed the game. They're just being removed from the lowest difficulty setting. They're being replaced by Lt's that look like bosses. Only these guys are easy, and hopefully even you will be able to defeat them.
" Oh yeah, I forgot, it was too easy for the power leveled 50's "
What kinda nimrod statement is that? As I understand it, power levelers would go out of their way to avoid killing bosses, due the time/reward ratio. It's easier and faster to kill a bunch of minions than 1 boss. Also, it's been stated time and again, power levelers for the most part, have no idea how to play their characters. So, it could be safely assumed they would also lack the skill to kill a boss.
Most people when they hit 50, dont go around killing bosses. They might collect badges they missed, or help their friends hit 50. Most of the time, they play alts.
Like you, I'm agree with the upcoming changes to boss encounters. They're going to be better for the game overall. Throwing out an asinine statement like that, just makes you look foolish.
If it aint fun, why bother playing?
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The new bosses aren't being removed the game. They're just being removed from the lowest difficulty setting. They're being replaced by Lt's that look like bosses. Only these guys are easy, and hopefully even you will be able to defeat them.
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The new bosses are being removed from the game (see "short term goals" in Statesman's post that starts this thread). In addition to that, missions will be changed to not include unnamed bosses for solo missions at the lowest difficulty setting (see "middle term goals"). Boss changes will be looked again down the line once these other changes have been implemented and debugged ("long term goals").
Greetings All.
I am following up on my previous post regarding the game being more difficult in grouped missions.
My husband and I and a good friend have playing City of Heroes since May 2004. We all started at the same time and have grouped the same 3 characters together: a blaster, a defender, and a controller.
We have found the missions feasible from the beginning until we all hit level 23 and tried to do the missions (and we tried several) that we had taken at level 23. No one in the group was exemplared or sidekicked. I am speaking of door missions and not street missions. We were level 22 before the last expansion and became 23 after the expansion.
We are all set on Hard-Boiled. We don't need anything more difficult.
We found that we could not make any progress in any of our missions. We would keep repeatedly dying and unable to complete the missions.
The problem is that we were doing what we had been doing for 22 levels and all of a sudden, it wasn't possible anymore. We assumed it had to be something that changed in the expansion.
We don't know what, if anything, we are doing wrong. We are using carefully laid out strategies in the missions on our pulling. We don't just run in and shoot everything that moves.
I am even more perplexed after reading the post by the person who thinks the missions are too easy. We really enjoy playing with just the 3 of us. We find that smaller children and teenagers just don't have the patience to be good group members with us old farts. And as our playing time is limited, we also don't need to spend 2 hours trying to put a group together. This is a lof of why we quit Everquest.
We are also frustrated because we were lead to believe by game marketing and game reviews that a person could solo in City of Heroes and while we found it possible at the lower levels, we find it impossible now that we have reached the 20's.
My husband and I have both experienced the earthquakes when zoning through tunnels since the last expansion. We are each running our own computer with Windows XP as the operating system using recent GEForce 256 memory videocards and 1 gig of regular memory.
We are sorry the bug the cause players to zone out of missions and instantly have full health has been fixed. This is a great time saver in missions.
Our concerns are still present regarding the length of time a person must stay online to completely a taskforce. Our RL friend and I are both physically disabled. We cannot sit for hours and hours straight online. We are frustrated that the taskforce badges will not be possible for us to complete given the current construction of the game.
Heidi Ho (level 26 controller Infinity server) and others
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I think you are missing my point.........I do NOT want to team up, expecially for 2.5 million xp'w worth. I can hardly stand my own company for long, let alone someone else. And with all the people recently power leveled thanx to our wonderful winter lord event...I saw a lvl 50 who was bragging about lvling her whole group to lvl 32 in half a day...no thankyou.
Striga I can't do, too high a lvl...........as for the difficulty slider, I am not quite sure what that has to do with my current situation. If I was lvl 10 or 20, even 30, I'd have no problem with this, but at this lvl, its ridiculous. I guess the answer is there is no answer, and since I seem to be the only person who plays COH that thinks its totally screwed,obviously it won't be changed. Had I known this before I bought the game, I never would have bought it.
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I should point out that while xp to level goes up, so does the xp for even level foes. From 40-50, there is absolutely no difference in the number of villains you need to defeat or missions you need to do to level. In fact, that starts at level 39, so if you are 38 now, the same effort it takes to get to 39, will be the same to get to 40, to 41, to 42, etc. Assuming that the foes you encounter are similar in difficulty to you relative to what you have been facing up to now.
When people talk about X million xp to level, I remind them its ten bars, just like its always been
If you thought 30 would have been fine, the relative number of villains to defeat to get from 39-40 is about twice the number from 29-30. More, but not massively more.
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Our concerns are still present regarding the length of time a person must stay online to completely a taskforce. Our RL friend and I are both physically disabled. We cannot sit for hours and hours straight online. We are frustrated that the taskforce badges will not be possible for us to complete given the current construction of the game.
Heidi Ho (level 26 controller Infinity server) and others
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If you can put together a team for a TF that doesn't include any RSK'd characters, you can start the TF one day, and finish it the next. The key is to let the other people (those who are not you, your husband and your friend) know, up front, that this is your plan, and get their agreement. It will certainly add to the time it takes to put together a group, I know. It helps a great deal if you're part of an active Super Group, as you can try to recruit from there to fill out your team. Believe me, there are some good ones out there, with a lot of people who are in similar situations as you - disabled, limited playing time, etc. You're hardly unique. If anything, you're probably closer to being the "average" CoH player.
The key is that if you log off during a TF, WITHOUT QUITTING THE TF, you will still be in the TF when you log back on, provided the TF hasn't been completed in your absence. The drawback for those other people you recruit is that they will be unable to do anything except street hunt, or work on TF missions if the log on while the TF is still acitve.
As TF missions scale to current team size, they could, conceivably, finish the TF without you being there, though that's difficult with the later ones, due to the Archvillains present. That's the chance you take, and a chance which is minimized if you recruit people you already know...like from your SG.
So, bottom line, doing TF's is not at all impossible, even if you can only play an hour a day. Yes, it can be very difficult to put together a team for a TF with those conditions, but it's not impossible. And your chances go up significantly if you're in a decent SG.
I think having Winter Lords in places like Atlas Park is just awesome. It does a few things to enhance gameplay. It offers up a massive amount of XP if you're running a new toon to get them to a decent level.(I levelled up a new toon to 10 in about an hour just by fighting Winter Lords) It also helps new players experience a taste of team play, because when you're pretty much forced to fight alongside fellow heroes to take down a huge enemy, it definitely serves to indirectly promote team play and I think that's great.
I think more people will be inclined to team in the instance of fighting giant monsters and I hope they have more types of giant monsters popping up from time to time. It definitely breaks up the grind of street sweeping -1 and +1 scum.
Good work, devs!!