Agreed with many other posters:
1) The new portals go against the concept of Mole Points.
2) The graphic for the exit of the portals makes no sense. It's the same graphic that's used to mark off the entrances of the Chantry (and presumably the Storm Palace).
3) All of the zones desperately need content. I especially enjoy the idea above about helping the forces clear out caves for Mole Points.
4) This isn't the absolutely proper place to put this, but seeing as there are those 4 uber-long super TFs: PLEASE GIVE US BACK TF SOUVENIRS. In the Shadow Shard they're even more important than usual, as they provide the key backstories to the Shard, something that never comes up in normal missions!!
ETA: Suggestion - have the Gravity Guysers temporarily suppress ALL travel powers (including Swift, Sprint, etc) in order to improve their accuracy.
Never surrender! Never give up!
Help keep Paragon City alive with the unofficial City of Heroes Tabletop Role Playing Game!
Have the store contacts be new mission contacts. I can see possiblities in their bios already. This goes for the guy in the rikti crash site as well. And can the porter be moved to portal corp to an empty island and put military emplacements there including a chinook or other military transport aircraft instead of a portal? Would give more of a story line feel to the place.
The shard needs something else. Two things:
* Rularuu are hard. Lots of aoe, lots of status effects, some are hard to hit. Probably on the level of devouring earth before the emanator change in how I rank them in the villain groups. More influence/xp would be appropriate.
* The missions are boring. I built a whole character thinking of the shard, and when I got there and started to do missions, I got fairly discouraged after the millions "rescue space marines from rularuu" and "kill X rularuu at point Y" missions. The general lack of story is a bit painful. It has these huge, wide open spaces and trick terrain. How about some "take X from point A to point B, avoiding many ambushes along the way", or "intercept a rularuu caravan heading from Point Sierra to Point Tango", or such.
They're gorgeous areas, and the sheer 3-dimensional feel is awesome. I remember navigating all the way to the Storm Palace with nothing but superspeed and superleap - it was fun exploration, and visually amazing. I just wish there was more to it. If you've ever read Zelazny's Amber books, the Shadow Shard reminds me a lot of the Courts of Chaos; maybe not as ever-shifting but certainly as bizarre. I hope you keep working on it.
It would be nice if group fly were sped up to match fly, and had its -def changed to suppression as well, to help faciliate group travel.
Edit: I also have to agree with some people that the shortcuts deep into the shard feel "cheatish". I'd be much happier with improved group fly/group TP. The epicness of the shard is cool, and the teleporters DO reduce that. Instead, make it worth going to; people aren't going there just because the teleporters are there. They want some good content. Here's a thought: modify the task forces to be 2-3 hours in length when properly done. They have a reputation as being 12-hour-long monstrosities, and that's not real appealing.
Okay, like others, my maps weren't updated. But the geysers seem even more sensitive than before -- with absolutely everything turned off, I can't get beyond Point Alpha in FBZ; all the other geysers just shoot me off into space. I like the concept, but the implementation just doesn't work. Could these please be completely computer-controlled jumps, landing us in the same spot every time? I really don't feel like I can visit the Shard unless I respec in flight, which goes against PF's concept completely.
Yes, any fixes to this wonderful looking but otherwise ignored zone are truly welcome.
H: Blaster 50, Defender 50, Tank 50, Scrapper 50, Controller 50, PB 50, WS 50
V: Brute 50, Corruptor 50, MM 50, Dominator 50, Stalker 50, AW 50, AS 50
Top 4: Controller, Brute, Scrapper, Corruptor
Bottom 4: (Peacebringer) way below everything else, Mastermind, Dominator, Blaster
CoH in WQHD
The venders in the Shadow Shard don't sell. I think the programmers might have inadvertantly set these up as contacts instead of venders. They all have a backstory (which venders don't.) I'm hoping this wasn't a mistake, and the missions for these guys just weren't added.
Personally, any changes to the Shadow Shard I see as a good thing. This is one of the most amazing places I've seen in any MMOG to date, and it's sad that it's so ignored. It makes it so level 40+ lacks diversity since RCS is the only "connected" Hazard Zone (ie You never have to go to the SS if you don't want to.)
However, I'm hoping you guys aren't assuming that the only reason people don't go to these zones is because it's hard to get around and there aren't enough venders. A big reason is because there is little point to play there. You go through 40 levels of doing missions with storylines to end up with having four zones with nothing aside from task forces? It makes the end game feel a little pointless and sloppy. It almost feels as if you guys ran out of time with doing the zone and implemented it anyways. For example, the Reflections serve no purpose whatsoever. You don't encounter them in any of the missions (maybe in the TFs, not sure.) Considering the fact you guys have previously said that you don't like to implement anything until it's perfect, it's sad to see it's taken three issues to get anything done with it. Hopefully we won't have to wait another three for more changes.
Please, please add story arcs and normal missions to these zones. I implore you. These have the potential to be some of the best zones any MMOG has had.
Oh, and add my vote for more mole points and not portals.
Lastly, please, please, please datamine the badges. Quatermain's TF is one of the (if not the) longest and most boring TF in the game. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I really don't want to redo it.
[*] I fully support the increased ease of mobility within the Shard (teleporters).
[*] However, I feel that the effort put into the aesthetics of these teleporters was not a top priority and, while I understand other items take precedence, I would like to see more attention paid to the appearance of the teleporters.
[*]Please provide more content within the Shard, and please datamine to make the new Shard TF badges retroactive. I really would prefer not to do all the TF's again.
Great work with the Shard, guys.[list][list]
Admittedly, I haven't had time to test these changes, but they look great on paper.
Please try my custom mission arcs!
Legacy of a Rogue (ID 459586, Entry for Dr. Aeon's Third Challenge)
Death for Dollars! (ID 1050)
Dr. Duplicate's Dastardly Dare (ID 1218)
Win the Past, Own the Future (ID 1429)
I love the maps and look of the shards. To make the map more accesible how about adding and option to buy a flight pack, ala the arena, that can only be used in the shard for say, 2 hours. That would make it much easier for the non-flying, tping, toons to get around.
ZS
A flight pack would be exactly the wrong way to go. Just make the geysers better. Perhaps add some 'easy' geysers to the current system that are a different color. They will get you where you want to go but not as fast as the harder-to-use geysers. Also, make the slot on the geyser rocks thinner and a different color - some folks just run at those geysers from any old angle then wonder why they got shot off into space.
Teleporters - good idea, bad execution. You got this whole molepoint story started now you're undermining it with these portals right out in the open. Take the teleporters away, dig out some mole points, and add some missions so we can earn mole point access. I know it isn't easy (probably have to wait for I6) but, if you don't, you mess up the story out there.
Speaking of story - as somebody else posted earlier, now that we don't get to save the stories from the Shadow Shard TF's it's going to be real hard to trace the story. We really NEED badges that have long stories behind them out there with no story arcs to save!
I'm going to be very interested in seeing those maps with geyser lines all over them. Especially the Cascades, which is a very verticle zone.
TURN OFF travel powers in the Storm Palace zone. Or at least put some bad guys out in mid-air so the fliers don't fall asleep heading for the Palace itself.
1. The contacts won't buy stuff from me.
2. I love, absolutely love, the teleporters. Great idea, and I hope more people visit the zone because of it now.
3. The Nameless Mystic is Rularuu the Ravager. 
Good, good, all across the board. Things still missing that would make the Shard just about perfect:
Badges. Explorer badges, hunting badges. Take out 100 Wisp bosses; 100 Elemental bosses, and so forth. A Shard Accolade--a tough one. To many, the Shard is the pinnacle of the game--it's the toughest, meanest, nastiest piece of real estate out there, where the Real Heroes go. Make it something fun but attainable (not like the insane grind of the Monkey Hunts on PI). Accolade badge hunting makes people giddy and ambitious, and the 'hunts' for them would get teams working in the Shard for once.
Even better, heck, make the Kill X Mobs for badges there double--200. Its such a great zone, especially with the travel changes, that it would instantly populate the place.
If possible, can the Storm Palace be set to naturally spawn higher in places than 50? That is, if the Resistance and Defense reductions on heroes are rolled back. If not... the deep end of the Shard would be the toughest hunting in the game, most likely.
Good job all round so far, though, just need more actual story arcs/missions there.
Any chance to lower the time it takes to complete these task forces? That and let you start them with just 4 people. In fact, all TF's should let you begin with just 4.
Great idea! Shadow shard really needed some way of getting around as it's so large.
Loved the zone before, love it even more now.
It's about damned time.
Sailor eX
"Not in the face!"
<sigh> Viv says its no longer "all me".
http://wendy-mags.mybrute.com/
[ QUOTE ]
Any chance to lower the time it takes to complete these task forces? That and let you start them with just 4 people. In fact, all TF's should let you begin with just 4.
[/ QUOTE ]
Amen. All TFs should require no more than four to start.
Shard navigation baby steps are good I guess, but not really enough. I've spent time in the Shard. My flying/recalling bubbler used to ferry scraps and tanks to the Storm Palace. I've done a couple of the TFs, and skipped the others on account of bad reviews from other participants. The Shard is still dead since kora missions were (mercifully) broken.
There are too many Shard zones, and even with jump routes (which many of us have had for a while) navigation is still a royal pain. I think I understand the motivation in making a zone where some folks need flying/porting teammates; I really do ... but it's still a failed experiment. I've taken my speeder around some of the Shard zones with jump-paths marked, and while FBZ isn't too difficult to get around, the others are still miserable. Many of the jumps are tricky (yes, with all movement-enhancing toggles off), and you'll miss, and it will still be pointlessly frustrating. Frustration trumps motivation.
There should be no more than two Shard zones. Collapse Cascade and Chantry into FBZ (eliminating the need for the transporters), and keep the Storm Palace because it's just a very freaking cool zone. Re-route the Mole Point to the SP instead of Cascade. Leave the first three TFs collapsed into FBZ, and add some more mission content so that the Shard is competitive for 40-50 or at least 40-45. Finally, fix the whole "gravity geyser" concept for navigation. It was a cool idea ... it really was, but it just doesn't work in practice. Sort-of like the Shard itself.
My first character to break 40 spent time in the Shard running missions and a rare TF. A later character went there to participate in the kora madness until I got sick of it. One character since then went back to do a TF. That's all the time I've ever spent in the Shard, sadly. It's a beautiful zone.
-FCM
Please try MA arc ID 351455, "Shard Stories: Scavenger's Hunt." Originally created for the Dr. Aeon contest, it explores the wild potential of one of the City's most concept-rich but content-poor settings: the Shadow Shard.
[ QUOTE ]
Very nice, but makes the Mole Point irrelevant. Would have fit in better if the portals to the Chanty and the Storm Palace were in the Mole Point.
[/ QUOTE ]
Agreed. Make them in the mole point and in need of being unlocked by traveling to those zones and doing something. No new graphics would be needed iif you treated it like a train...click on the mole point portal and select which zone you'd like to go to. While I think its great that you're making it travel friendly, it'd be nice if you made it such that people had to earn this so that they'd appreciate it. Also, if you could put the exit in the other zones at a location not next to the entrance portal, and make it more visible (I had a helluva time trying to see that little tiny thing that I was supposed to click on), I think that would further improve matters.
Also, I as well didn't see the jump points on my map...luckily I've got most of them memorized by now sadly enough.
It was great to see the mole point graphics in FBZ fixed finally. Thank you!
It'd be nice if some content was added to the missions as opposed to having them be an endless supply of missions with no change or point from mission to mission. i.e. throw a story arc in there in addition to the endless missions.
Also, I had a very difficult time finding the new contacts.
The Shard is hands-down my favourite zone in the game -- bar none...
That said, I'll add -- I *really* like the changes made there, especially
the improved teleporting capability...
As someone else noted, I too could NOT see jump points or their 'routes'
on my maps either... Perhaps a different color (purple maybe) could be
used to make them stand out from the earth tones used on those maps
(assuming they are in fact marked, and not a bug)
Apart from that issue, very nice, and much appreciated - Thanks!
Regards,
4
I've been rich, and I've been poor. Rich is definitely better.
Light is faster than sound - that's why some people look smart until they speak.
For every seller who leaves the market dirty stinkin' rich,
there's a buyer who leaves the market dirty stinkin' IOed. - Obitus.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Very nice, but makes the Mole Point irrelevant. Would have fit in better if the portals to the Chanty and the Storm Palace were in the Mole Point.
[/ QUOTE ]
Agreed. Make them in the mole point and in need of being unlocked by traveling to those zones and doing something.
It was great to see the mole point graphics in FBZ fixed finally. Thank you!
[/ QUOTE ]
Agreed - change the portals into mole points.
[ QUOTE ]
* Shadow Shard Maps show the location of each Jump Pad. A dotted line connects the Jump Pad with its end point.
[/ QUOTE ]
Useful for the non-flyer or teleporter. A good addition for the players.
[ QUOTE ]
* A teleporter on Firebase Zulu takes players to any of the other three zones in the Shadow Shard (works both ways).
[/ QUOTE ]
In theory a great addtion. The implementation of it is rather unimpressive though. The teleporters should be in Mole Points to maintain the theme of the portals. Why oh why are there portal gates out of FBZ but only floating balls of light on the other side of the gate? The whole thing feels like a band-aid rather than a fully fleshed out solution to zone movement.
[ QUOTE ]
* Dr. Scott Wachhorst, a prominent xenobiologist and Portal Corp. leader, willingly purchases Enhancements from players in Firebase Zulu.
[/ QUOTE ]
Why did you add a second purchasing agent in FBZ? What is needed is a second location to purchase inspirations, not another place to sell.
[ QUOTE ]
* A renegade Brute, Kallarn, purchases Enhancements with the hope that he might gain enough power to overthrow Ruladak. It can be found in the Cascades.
[/ QUOTE ]
Ok, so this is a needed improvement.
[ QUOTE ]
* Slarrah, a Wisp who has been converted by Faathim the Kind relieves players of excess Enhancements in the Chantry.
[/ QUOTE ]
This is a needed improvement for the zone.
[ QUOTE ]
* Nameless Mystic. An interdimensional mystic feeds off the energy kicked off by the dreaded Lanaru. He happily accepts Enhancements. Found lurking near the Storm Palace.
[/ QUOTE ]
This is a needed addition to the zone.
Crey Threat Assessment: Bayne
Virtueverse: Bayne
The Defenders of Paragon
I like the changes, you have now provided a nice foundation to build future contect which I know is coming. (I want to fight Rularuu the Ravager!!!) But I agree with some of the other poster. I think the new new zone portals sort of destroy the story line/feel you started with the Mole points. I think it would be much better if new Mole Points to be opened up. The requirement to actually travel to the end Mole Point before being able to use it is a good introductions to the zones. Once the Mole Points are opened up, a player can travel to any they have travel to before with a pop-up menu like the trams stations.
Ohh that's right, shadow shard will save you from bankrupcy.
/end sarcasm
Its a significant quality of life enhancement to a zone that sorely needed it. Good Job!
My only point of note is that I though the mole points were suppose to be the jump off for quicker access to each zone. The existance of the original mole point makes one of the new portals redundant, and it could be taken out. Keep the mole points, especially now that the graphics are present, the mole points look cool.
Extra kudos to the developer who found the mission mole point graphics by the way.
The shard needs storyu archs.
And a GIANT(maybe 3x the size of the blimp in atals or bigger) skywhale monster
Skywhale!
Jay Doherty: Yes, there was this one night that I was ready to go home but had to drop the browns off at the super bowl before I left for home. While on the throne it hit me. I stayed for a few more hours and that why we have the pain pads in the game.