Good grief Pilcrow, can your avatar get any better? 
Wait, I have an idea....
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Oh and um.... mission customization, that's whatever you are talking about for you.
I guess I should put a serious part in here somewhere since this is an official thread and all. I've only seen the new NPC hero/helper AI once in the tutorial. The AI certainly seemed adequate enough to have her follow me and shoot other villains that I faced. (It certainly did better than my Wumpus World hero that constantly fell in pits and was killed over and over by the wumpus monster.)
I really enjoyed to see this aspect come alive for NPC's and would love to see more of it. (cops in the street, etc) I certainly hope this is the case for the heroes that we rescue in the Eden Trial, although I'm certain it will be.
The Dark Blade
"I've felt your mouse on me before, you perv...." - Troy Hickman
Paragon Wiki
My god, Snorii, I can't stop watching your avatar.
As for mission customization, hopefully the kinks will be worked out of the 30 Pumpkinhead mission that has everyone thrown for a loop.
I agree with Snorii, too: FlowerKnight's AI seemed pretty accuracte. Sadly, she wasn't of very much used to me after I saved her, though. I'm waiting until issue 5 hits to rescue Statesman and finally proclaim, "I'm on a rampage!" for the last time with my warshade before sonic defnder time, though.
Current Badge Hunter: Plot Device (Rad/Thermal/Dark) - 1,268 Xbox Live: Friggin Taser
King of Electricity, Lead Inmate running the Carl and Sons asylum, the "Man" behind the Establishment, Given Honor in Hat Form By Paragon City (Favorite Forum Poster 2006!), Master of Ceremonies of the Fair Use Law podcast
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Good grief Pilcrow, can your avatar get any better? Wait, I have an idea....
<------
Oh and um.... mission customization, that's whatever you are talking about for you.
I guess I should put a serious part in here somewhere since this is an official thread and all. I've only seen the new NPC hero/helper AI once in the tutorial. The AI certainly seemed adequate enough to have her follow me and shoot other villains that I faced. (It certainly did better than my Wumpus World hero that constantly fell in pits and was killed over and over by the wumpus monster.)
I really enjoyed to see this aspect come alive for NPC's and would love to see more of it. (cops in the street, etc) I certainly hope this is the case for the heroes that we rescue in the Eden Trial, although I'm certain it will be.
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Heroes in the Eden Trial already help you, you just gotta drag the monster over to them in order for them to help out =\.. they die pretty fast without assistance.. except the spines guy.. dudes pretty tough.
I occurs to me that with hostage escorts and friendly heroes, Team Teleport will finally be usefully. Team fly might, if the missions were out doors.
Thanks for your feedback. As you know, we've already sped up the NPC's in Escort missions, which seems to be the number one request!
I've also noted that you'd like allies to fight sooner, more control over allies/NPC's, NPC's appearing on the map and better notification when protecting the artifact is over...I'm not sure how much of this we'll get done for I5, but if we don't, I'll put this into the quality of life fixes and try to get them done at some time in the near future.
thx states!
States - Can you assure us that we won't have escort missions in Orenbega or other huge instance missions?? I'm scared of taking them now because I don't want to have to plod back through them unsticking 20 different hostages from all the strange architecture within them.
Also, is there going to be any reward for the extra work of taking hostages to safety. . . Killing a few extra mob groups while having to walk through a mostly empty map is not fun in my opinion. . . and it's also dreadfully slow xp.
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I've also noted that you'd like allies to fight sooner, more control over allies/NPC's, NPC's appearing on the map and better notification when protecting the artifact is over...I'm not sure how much of this we'll get done for I5, but if we don't, I'll put this into the quality of life fixes and try to get them done at some time in the near future.
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The thing I want most for these is some way to know how far along I am in a "Protect the thingy against enemy waves" mission.
My suggestion is to make it like a backwards timed mission; if the condition at the top of the screen is met (ie "30 fir bolg have passed through the gate") you lose, but if the timer runs out, you win.
Thank you, States, quality of life changes are always wonderful and welcome!
All escort so far have been limited to four-five people on moderate size maps. Anytime I have to save more then five people they run out on their own and don't have a hp meter making them like street npcs.
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Thanks for your feedback. As you know, we've already sped up the NPC's in Escort missions, which seems to be the number one request!
I've also noted that you'd like allies to fight sooner, more control over allies/NPC's, NPC's appearing on the map and better notification when protecting the artifact is over...I'm not sure how much of this we'll get done for I5, but if we don't, I'll put this into the quality of life fixes and try to get them done at some time in the near future.
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How about an I5 with new villian AI, boobytraps in missions, brand new arcs, and especially something more than punch these bad guys, click those blinkies?
The problems with CoH are evidenced here:
http://snarkbait.com/dave/saysitall.jpg
It says it all.
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The problems with CoH are evidenced here:
http://snarkbait.com/dave/saysitall.jpg
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Ugh! your power tray, combined with your open inspiration tray is an affront to my senses! "So many colors"
On topic, How about enemies that randomly spawn near you and track you as in an ambush. Put this on a random game timer (ala monster spawns), and give the player a choice to customize their opponents (AT{s}, Origin, Powersets..etc.) and you have your own personalized villain group that chases you throughout your career.
As an aside...^^ "Greatest American Hero" was the best..
MY FAREWELL GIFT
It is never truly gone, as long as there is someone left to remember.
ugh, 'quality of life'
isnt that statesman speak for never gonna happen?
like no TO enhancement drops after a certain lvl, being able to turn off certain powers graphics or sounds, customising power graphics etc...
all of which have been on the 'quality of life' list since the game started 15 months ago
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ugh, 'quality of life'
isnt that statesman speak for never gonna happen?
like no TO enhancement drops after a certain lvl, being able to turn off certain powers graphics or sounds, customising power graphics etc...
all of which have been on the 'quality of life' list since the game started 15 months ago
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And a 3rd Power Tray, Timed Mission Timer in the Compass, Seeing Enhancements without going into the Place Enhancement Screen, Stores on the Zone Maps, etc.
Some things are easier to do or have higher priority.
As to the changes ... looks cool. 
NCIS: Best gorram show in the 'verse.
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The Flower Knight Outbreak mission is a fun way to introduce the new NPC AI, but for practical purposes, it only works half the time: In the "spiral office" map, ** won't be rescued until the foes have already been defeated.
I'm sure others have already commented on Flower Knight's lack of perception.
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In general, hostages are irritating in that as I'm fighting their captors, they're cheerleaders; only after I've defeated their captors, then they offer to help fight. At the very least, use a different animation so captives appear to be doing something during the fight; or bind them in ropes to rationalize why they refuse to help.
It'd be a nice touch to have some hostages (such as scientists) use Control or De/Buff powers instead of Blasts or Melee.
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For the most part, I love the "ambush missions", where an event triggers mobs to spawn. It makes missions so much more exciting when you attack the mission boss's gang only to see reinforcements pouring in around the corner and sandwiching you between the two groups.
But this can also be quirky when someone is standing near the spawn spot and villains suddenly materialize out of thin air. It's frustrating to instantly die through no fault of yours because 8 villains suddenly spawned on top of you.
The two [actual] examples above were the same mission/ambush under different circumstances; the first example is fun/exciting/challenging, the latter example is not.
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I like the escort missions when used in conjunction with ambushes. I haven't had a mission where I escorted a hostage without being attacked, but if it those exist, that would be really boring.
I enjoy the "help the hostage find the blinky" escorts too. In general, missions feel more heroic with these NPC interactions.
Sounds good.
CoH Codex : Demo Models/FX/MOVs : Demo Info
Arc 111022: "Doctor Geist and the Scientific Method"
I know this is more a quality of life issue, but I thought mission contacts were going to make things more clear.
I was really hoping for an Iconic sort of scheme. Like when using the team finder you get some icons.
I was hoping there will be icons for the following things:
1) A clock icon for timed missions - missed this a number of times and was almost in some trouble
2) Team Icon when teammates are required - simultaneous bomb diffuse. Its not clear on every mission.
3) Indoor/Outdoor Icons - What type of instancing can I expect.
4) Hunt icon - I really dont care for the hunt missions as much but some people do
5) Storyline - Is the mission required for a story arc. I really dont want to miss those since I cant do all the missions
6) Mission levels - Outlevelling a mission means missing content. When you play on a team its very easy to outlevel your own missions. This sometimes makes teaming a negative play experience. I believe this is not the goal. Thats why I think listing mission levels would help make teamming more of a planned activity that more people are willing to partake in during different parts of their career as heroes.
7) New Mission Type Icons - escorts, artifact guarding etc.
Believe it or not I do read the missions and they are my favorite part of the game. However, I also play 14 alts so I do not always read the whole missions on my 7th try through it.
Love, the game and feel free to move this post if its in the wrong thread. Looking forward to I5.
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Thanks for your feedback. As you know, we've already sped up the NPC's in Escort missions, which seems to be the number one request!
I've also noted that you'd like allies to fight sooner, more control over allies/NPC's, NPC's appearing on the map and better notification when protecting the artifact is over...I'm not sure how much of this we'll get done for I5, but if we don't, I'll put this into the quality of life fixes and try to get them done at some time in the near future.
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Thanks for the changes to NPCs.
You mention "better" notification when protecting an artifact is over - what is the current method of notification? The only sign I can see is you wait a long time and nothing seems to come. Is there something more visibile/audible that I've missed?
If not, please, don't let "better notification when protecting the artifact is over" slip to the QOL list. If it doesn't make I5, please put it on the I6 list. I can live without gthe ability to control my allies, without them on my map, even with them not fighting until late in the mission - these can make a mission harder, but at least I know what to do.
But an unclear objective is very hard to cope with.
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I've also noted that you'd like allies to fight sooner, more control over allies/NPC's
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Hey States,
If you develop some control over allies, could you please rework this into pets as well?
I know this is quite the wrong thread to be asking this, but I just wanted to respond to your statement about controlling allies/npcs.
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like no TO enhancement drops after a certain lvl
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They'd have to make it around level 40 or so, otherwise I'd be filthy rich and have to throw more of my sexy parties.
*scene depicting Demobot chasing around lingerie clad women while an Austin Powers-esque tune plays in the background*
@Demobot
Also on Steam
For difficult missions, it would be helpful to add NPC heroes who fight on your side.
For example:
Please add 3 NPC Fire / Fire blaster heroes to the Croatoa mission of "Stop 30 Fir Bolg from entering Door". Otherwise, the mission is too hard for majority of heroes.
By adding 3 NPC Fire / Fire blaster heroes to the mission, it makes the mission more interesting, and it also makes good use of NPC heroes where they are most needed.
I am suggesting 3 NPC Fire / Fire blaster heroes because Fire / Fire has fast animation times with powers that do good damage, and 3 NPCs correspond to the 3 different entryways in the stone arch / door.
Thanks. -- Lloyd
I dont know if this falls under mission customization, but it would be nice if there was an option to abandon a story arch. I have had this happen with numerous chars, and I will switch contacts as I go up in levels only to realize later that I never finished a story arch and I cannot get any new ones until I have completed an old one. this is usually after I am 5+ lvls above the villians in the missons. It would be nice to be able to just abandon the old one to get a new one, instead of having to run through x missions for 0 experience to just complete the arch..
Oh and I couldnt find a place to put this, how about increasing the amount of influence that can be transfered.
I've only seen the one in the tutorial, and even though the rescued NPC agreed to fight by my side, it was kinda pointless since the mission ended when I rescued her. If the wave attack missions are as hard as people are describing, it sounds unfun and nothing more than a debt gaining struggle. Without an option to abandon or fail missions of this type, it sounds like I'll have a number of toons that get those stuck in their mission list.
How about adding an option something like "I give up, I can't do this mission" when you return to the contact? If it is too difficult to add that to every contact NPC, how about a single contact in Atlas Park or Galaxy City. As heroes, we all register there when we start our careers as heroes. We should be able to talk to someone there and tell them our contact has given us something we can't handle and have the option to "opt out" of a particular mission. That contact could then allow you to flag a given mission as completed (you could even have the contact state "another hero will be sent in to clean up what you can't handle"). You could even add a fee to this service - similar to the fee you have to changing mission difficulty.
Alternately, set a mission counter flag. If a mission is started 5 times and never completed, it is marked as failed and you have to return to your contact for a new mission. This would also have the added benefit of preventing any mission from turning into a powerleveling mission.
Thanks for your feedback. I'll post an update on some of the changes we're making based on your suggestions.