When I 1st downloaded the patch, I sat there with a blank stare, thinking they hit burn. At first I was mad, after downloading the patch, I didnt even log in into training room. Loaded up LIVE and played there writing stuff down to compare. AFter doing that copyed my toon over and played a bit. Have to say I was very frustrated, thinking back how many hours I had put into that tank. So I logged off to cool down and take a time out. Then went back to LIVE servers to report back my findings. As I sat in Peregrine Island, all I could see were the lvl so and so Defender, or lvl ## blaster lft, and thats went it hit me ; I was once one of those people who stood there 30 mins - hours looking for for teams. Never actually getting and invite. I remeber never getting a team invite on my emp defender for hours, and if I did it would be for trials/TFs. I remeber being stuck in a certain level for 3 months, because at the time healers werent really needed. That is one of the reason I build my tank so I didn't have to really on teams to lvl, and it worked out great. I didn't realy need any help as I went up on levels. I had some weaknessed such as Psi damage and toxic, but I got around it easilly by not fighting those certain enemies or avoiding certain zones. So decided to go back to training room and to really test out burn. After many endless hours of testing it I do believe its balanced. The recharge and damage settings I can deal with but the fear is an issue. I was on a Infernal mission, which a nigthmare now BTW, and did what I usually do, let others deal with the portal and Minions whlie I kep tthe AV at bay. Lay down burn and every enemy scattered after losing like 20-30%% health, they ran to out to do long range attacks, but then lost interest in me and went after my teamates, kiling everyone around me. Now I don't expect enemies to sit there while I burn them to death, but maybe add some hate into it, so when they run, there still are focus on me.
Sigh... 
My main is a Fire/Ice Tank. I really enjoy playing him. I saw that note on burn and knew the end had come. I could no longer do missions for fun. I could no longer team with random people. I could no longer pop over to Atlas to burn hellions for laughs.
I have become that which i hate the most. The Power Leveler. I am now that guy in PI goin "Hey dude... runnin PL team maybe?". I am that guy in Creys Folly running around the same [censored] building for 6 hours straight burning down Freakshow. I am that guy who normally loves teams but has to ignore all incoming requests because Im faster alone.
If this guy was lower I would just delete him but Ive put alot of time into him and really wanted him to get to 50 on his own and with no rush. It just really depresses me.
my .02..
13 1/2 sucktastic levels to go...
*edited* to add the work sucktastic
Take a dash of Illuminati, add a sprinkle of Mafia and just a touch of Omnipresnce and a healthy helping of mob violence...
Pinnacle @Valmith
MOVE.... ALONG....
Ok, so the game is becoming more balanced... like when I balanced my checkbook today and realized the cost of my City of Heroes account was overpowered.
So, using the devs' example I nerfed it and canceled billing, My current billing cycle will end august 28. I will not be renewing as long as the developers continue as they are now. These changes are forcing everyone to play cookie cutters to survive.
And I mentioned in a previous post the trend of introducing massive game-breaking nerfs, then after the intial onslaught of complaints, giving something back so players feel relieved and grateful. I've seen the pattern far too many times from Cryptic. It's like taking the toy train away from a child, and after he stops crying, give him back the caboose. Perhaps it works for small children, but it seems like an insult for the devs to treat us that way.
I used to enjoy this game, the devs seemed to have the players' interest at heart. I seriously thought they were doing a great job.Issue 3 was released, it was good in my opinion.... then suddenly the change in direction from the dev team was like driving off a cliff. I can't even believe these were the same developers. Even before issue 4 was released, they started what I call the "Pre-PVP nerfs."
Changing Quantum flight and other phasing powers was the start and it's been downhill ever since.
Anyone got any news on when Marvel and DC are gonna have their super hero games out? Until they do, I guess I'll occupy my time with World of Warcraft. My characters are on Argent Dawn server if anyone would like to join me there.
Funny thing is, I play a warlock in WoW... they were underpowered before. The devs boosted them twice since I started playing. Now if Cyptic was running that game, they would have nerfed every other class to be at the Warlock's level. I'm thankful for that.
I know it's been said over and over, but I might as well say it again. This triple play change to burn really needs to be looked at. I do indeed play a fire tanker, and I will agree that burn needed to be looked at.
Last issue we got the fear portion of burn worked on. Ok, so now all the badies 'yo-yo'. I can live with it.
This time around we first change that same portion so that when I log on to test, spot the first group of badies I find (I"m level 24, they were level 21) and test out they run, and I don't mean some of them, I mean every single one. Ok, I figure I can work on better placement, using the environment, not great, but I guess I can live with it.
Then we reduce damage (what most likely should have been done to start) and also increase the recharge. Now I'm sitting in my chair thinking [censored]?
Burn went from overpowered (I know people get mad about hearing this, but hey unless they make more power in other sets come up to this level it is/was -- although what a concept, increase other power instead of reducing....just an ideas there dev). Now I know that with burn the way it is, I'll be respecing it out (and thats completely my choice), however that makes two pretty much completely worthless powers in this set (temp protection and burn).
Now let's look at some facts. Fire tankers don't get the super resistance like invulns, we don't get the 'dodge' (sorry couldn't think of a better way to put it) damage like stone and, ok, we are better than ice (completely different issue and I'm with you ice tanker -- beef them up). Now we used to deal massive damage, now we don't. I still have to take a power pool - leaping to get the resistance to different effects...
Ok, now that I've stated facts (to the best of my knowledge) here's my plan. Leave the burn damage where it's at, remove the fear portion, and teak the timing (reduce slightly). Now, I would also add a bunch of status effects in temperature protection - fear, stun, knockback, sleep, hold, the usual suspects. Now you won't have to see every fire tanker leaping around, you might actually see a teleporter or flier.
What this does is puts some needs elements in the primary of the fire tanker (oh wait, that's where it should be) and helps to fix the burn problem.
With all that said, I want to thank the devs (all of them) for making CoH. It's a great, unique game - the main reason I'm still here. I've played WoW, EQ, EQ2, SWG, and a bunch of others. And while they all had something I liked, most of them all felt the same. Then I saw CoH on sale for like $29, and said why not...I loved it. I loved it so much I got my spouse playing it. And they never played on MMORPG before. Now my spouse loves it.
Let's focus on the good stuff devs, let's make this game fun, not change the way a certain AT plays. If something is too powerful bring others powers up to that level, making that the new baseline. You'll see fewer compliants I can tell you that much.
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Good thing I bought World of Warcraft last night. You guys have seriously screwed up a once enjoyable game. I can tell you that I know handfuls of people that are making a mass exodus to other MMOs because of your nerfs and careless afterthoughts.
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My entire playgroup of ten players, some fourteen accounts (a few of us have two each), have all but stopped playing CoH since the bag-full-of-crap that is Issue 5 hit Test and are playing WoW now, waiting to see what ends up being pushed to Live.
I used to bag on WoW, since the fantasy genre wasn't my first love, but now that I've played it, I'm sorry I didn't start earlier. All but one class in the game, from what I've seen, can solo pretty damn effectively. Only the Druid seems to lack in that area. That amazed me, coming from CoH where soloing all but a few ATs was *painful*. We're all having so much fun, if i5 is even moderately changed from i4 we'll probably all be gone for good. Beyond the ten mentioned above, three of our guys quit completely already.
I loved my fire tanker. She wasn't as tough as other tanks. She couldn't really herd like other tanks. But, she could open up of a can of whoop a** on anything within +2 of her. Now, she's just another toon I'm putting on the shelf because of the poor efforts by CoH programmers to "improve" the game. The fear components installed in Issue 4 pretty much ruined Burn anyway. (I'm sorry, but using reality issues as a basis for making changes in a fantasy game? Can you say cop out?)
Now, you're going to take what was the premier power in the set and make it totally useless. Way to go Dev's. GOOD JOB.
If your not going to reduce the fear effect of burn. Then lets use a little REALITY. Lets take the "real life" power that controllers use, Fire Cages. Change burn to where everying thing around you gets caged in a circle of fire and sustains damage. At least then it wouldn't be totally worthless.
By the by folks, the book you get with CoH is totally useless now. The status protection effects were shifted out of burn and into plasma shield in an earlier issue.
My wife can't wait till Issue 5 comes out. She's been after me to dump this game anyway.
Well now, I have to thank the devs on now making my fire/warmace tank unplayable. Burn was the trade off that most of us took when we made a fire tank. Less defense for more offense, and now with the lower dam and longer recharge...ok i can deal with that. But now with the fear changes also this power go the way of temp protection USELESS. I like playing my fire tank not to herd up whole maps or PL people. Yes i have the a dreck mish, but you can ask my SG i use it to kill off the debt for my friends and even then they didnt stand there and let me go all the work. Some of the other lvl 50s in my sg would sk them up to help.
If you wish to kill the game your doing it very well, by nerfing everything. Please i ask take a step back and realize that your only hurting yourself with this new and improved "City of Zeros" that your making
I dont like the changes, but i must accept them. I suppose we all should have seen this comming albeit a YEAR into the game. This "balance" should have been done in issue 2 if it was "so needed"
See u all on my emp def.
.:Brmstone's BLOG:.
For the most part I am okay with most of the I5 changes in general. I believe and understand that with CoV coming major balancing is needed to make the entire package fun. I truly believe that is the dev's goal here, to make the CoH and CoV package fun to play together. Nobody is out to get anyone, nobody 'hates us', etc. That's why these major changes to Burn confuse me.
I logged into test with my level 42 Fire/Energy Melee tank to test Burn. I can live with the reduced damage and increased recharge time. While that's a big hit to the core of a Fire tank, it's liveable and I can adapt. What is my major concern is what appears to be an increase in the fear levels. Within a couple of seconds the small, even con mobs I was fighting would disengage from melee, walk back 10 feet and open up on me with ranged attacks. Even when I start with a taunt and blazing aura running (2 taunt SO's) they still run away. This is not how it is on live. Combine this with the new added recharge and inability to reapply the patch and Burn is gutted.
Now if I'm even close to being correct in my first paragraph that a lot of these changes are CoV centric, then the Burn changes confound me. A human controlled player is not going to stand in someone's Burn patch if he can help it. So Burn is mostly a PvE power, so why nerf it to such a degree?
A fire tank has less defense and resistance than other tanks, our niche was faster killing to offset weaker defenses. Okay, I admit we were overpowered, but such a drastic nerf goes to far in the other direction. Reduce the damage and speed, but please, please remove the fear affect as it is on test. If this is absolutly not a possiblity, how about throwing us a bone and including knockback protection in one of our shields. That way we can at least get another offensive power to offset this.
[ QUOTE ]
I dont like the changes, but i must accept them...
[/ QUOTE ]
No you don't - and neither does anyone else paying to play a game that is being re-defined after a year for PvP and cry-baby PLing/herding concerns.
I hope you are happy playing your emp. defender. The game definately needs you after this abomination that is I5 goes live. Is it any wonder you and the rest of the forced-grouping, yes-men around here act like you're in the catbird seat?
Devs: The changes to Burn go too far in your Holy quest to curb activity restricted to the high level crowd. If you are changing Burn AGAIN, change it to be a PBAOE DoT with comparable I4 damage and recharge time, please. If mobs start fleeing in fear from this power in I5, they'd better start fleeing from every other AE power if you hope to remain credible.
My patience wears thin after what you plan to do to defense, taunt, and the "number of targets (AE nerf)". If you neuter Fire tanks further with the changes to Burn, I'll probably not even respec. Your game is turning into EQ with capes. Sorry, but the only tangible difference between CoH after I5 and the other MMOs will be your travel powers. The rest of your content will remain as lifeless and impotent as the HO's you haphazardly destroyed a month ago.
Here's hoping you do the right thing.
I get wanting to reduce the depence on burn many fire/ tanks have. I have always felt weird not taking any attacks until level 30 and still soloing at a good clip. However the need to take cj-sj-acrobatics for full status protection does leave one a little light on power choices.
Also while not directly about burn why drop FE also. If you want fire tanks not to use burn as a weapon why take their other attack powers away? Seems like getting hit from both sides to me.
SheBoom is right. We don't have to roll over and accept the table scraps that are thrown at us as if we were dogs.
Also, there is ONE more difference SheBoom forgot...appearance...we have CoH fashion game. The costume contests are probably going to be the most exhilirating thing to do in this game. Other than that and travel, it is exactly like every other freaking MMO out there except one...and I am enjoying that one. This game SO needs a new development team it is palpable.
My point of view is that current/past Fire Tanks are overpowered but that Fear is a poor solution for dealing with it.
I think the Fear aspect of Burn is still the problem given that Tanks don't have ranged attacks having the mobs run from them makes it hard for them to do their job in teams unless they leave their burn patch and what is the point of Burn if they just abandon it?
Refresh and damage is how Burn should be controlled rather than fear. Tanks need to control mobs, giving them a signature power that sends the mobs after the rest of the team is a mistake. Likewise giving them a power that does more AoE damage than anyone else's power is equally a mistake.
By making Burn's refresh so that it can't even come close to stacking you "effectively" reduce the damage because players must now either slot more refreshes (instead of damage) or use the power less. If you can't use the power constantly it becomes less of a solo tool and Fire Tanks lose their PL ability and need teammates again.
Burn should be a mini-nova for Tanks, less damage but usable more often. I don't think it was ever meant to be the same as Blazing Aura, up all the time.
Now if we accept that Burn can't be used constantly (which is reasonable since other Tanks solo with only their secondaries). Then you can look at increasing Fire Tanks tank skills to bring them more in line with other Tanks (at least give them some status protection somewhere).
Personally I would say the second biggest problem with Fire Tanks beyond Burn Damage is the rigid build problem, lowering damage and making them better tanks will help with that. There are ultimately very few choices if you want to build a "good" Fire Tank. There are lots of ways to build a bad one however. I think this hurts the game a lot more than people think.
Those who don't check the boards or know the numbers, may never figure out who to make a Toon who is workable a high levels because the system has gotten way to complicated to figure out any other way. Example: a Fire Tank in live without Tough/Weave (preferably fully slotted) will have a lot of trouble surviving at high levels even it they DO take and slot all their "good" AT defences (which not all do). But there is no way for anyone to guess this looking at the game, so there is no guarentee that even with a respec that they will figure out the "right" build.
Unfortunately the DEVs are using I5 to build the game around Power Players (I hate to admit that this is what I have become but after over a year of play you can't help but become this I guess) who know the perfect builds and this is just one example. I am concerned that new players may never be able to figure out how to make a workable character on their own again.
----------------------------
You can't please everyone, so lets concentrate on me.
So, you are now massively modifying Burn, the Fire/* defining power. That means either you really messed up the set early on, or you are messing it up now, or both.....
This goes with significantly modifying IH for */Regen Scrappers, the defininig power for that set. Again, screwed up the set early on, or now......?
Controller pets......?
How can you possible mess so enormously with key powers without doing at least some redefinition of the whole set, and why won't you tell us what is going on?
I really would like to know your thought process here, Mr Developers 'cause I am having a problem seeing where this all leads. I have TEN registered accounts, and I soon won't be having any fun.
Fun, which is why I play the game.
Dear Devs,
My 2 inf.
From another of my posts on this subject, Burn as it now plays on Test has the following characteristics:
The Good:
BI of around 9
End of around 7
Immobilization Protection
AoE
The Bad:
Unenhanceable accuracy
Unenhanceable damage beyond SO's
Immobile Pet
Recharge of around 30 seconds or so
DoT
The Ugly:
Massive Fear that trumps all taunt effects
Analysis:
Given all of the above, I think some might say it is fairly balanced. The BI on Burn is massive considering its AoE and its end cost is so low (look at FSC - BI of 4.5ish and an end cost of 27ish!!). It even offers a status protection.
But I believe that a power has to be considered within the AT and the Powerset.
With its Fear effect, Burn does not syngergize well with other tanker powers. Specifically, Burn forces mobs into range, which pushes them out of melee range. Most of the tanker's attacks are melee based and are rendered significantly less effective when used in conjunction with Burn. Its not fun to chase down mobs after you have fled them with melee attacks!
Now, one counter-point to this is that Burn is now intended to be an anti-melee power, not intended to be an offensive weapon primarily for damage. Ok, fine, I can live with that. However, it still doesn't synergize well with other melee attacks - even if they are attacking at range for less damage, they are at range and Tanks are a melee AT, so our offense is reduced which in turn reduces our defence.
My Suggestions:
Again, I think you have to look at the whole powerset...
1.) If you keep burn as is (a primarily last-ditch defensive power), and keeping in mind the trend to make lvl 32 powers have more utility, I would recommend changing Rise of the Pheonix from a rez power to something useful such as an anti-unstoppable (i.e. trading defense for damage) or something like that.
2.) Reduce the fear effect such that it works as it does on live but keep the new damage and recharge. This will keep Burn an AOE offensive power. You will probably have to up its endurance cost to something that matches its BI (keeping in mind its other limitations).
3.) Scrap burn for some of the suggested powers in this thread - a damage-back shield, an aura that reduces defense when its turned on but does good damage, etc.
Thanks for listening!
Pardon my tone, but has the development staff ever heard of "controlled experimentation"? The concept is fairly simple.
To conduct a test, you change one variable in the experiment and observe the results. In this way, you can see the effect changing that one variable had on the experiment.
The current state of Burn on test is a prime example of how NOT to conduct a controlled experiment. You gave Burn a dramatic Fear effect; ok, I can buy that, it makes sense conceptually. This doesn't really impact Fire/Ice tankers, but I won't start crying nerf on them. For almost any other Fire tank, this alone is a pain to deal with.
Now Burn is getting tweaked yet again, with not just a damage nerf, but also a recharge nerf. Folks who swear by Hasten won't feel this nearly as much as the rest of us. I will be the first to agree that the damage needed to be toned down a bit, but this combination of nerfs further proves the remark floating around that "if the devs come up with a number of solutions, any of which will work, they will implement all of them".
In summation, this string of nerfs to Burn has an unbalanced affect on Fire tankers. The fear affect renders it all but useless to every Fire tank build, save for Fire/Ice. If the damage is the issue, directly address it. Beating around the bush isn't helping the issue one bit.
[ QUOTE ]
SheBoom is right. We don't have to roll over and accept the table scraps that are thrown at us as if we were dogs.
Also, there is ONE more difference SheBoom forgot...appearance...we have CoH fashion game. The costume contests are probably going to be the most exhilirating thing to do in this game. Other than that and travel, it is exactly like every other freaking MMO out there except one...and I am enjoying that one. This game SO needs a new development team it is palpable.
[/ QUOTE ]
You are entitled to your opinion, I'm entitled to think it's stupid. If you're so unhappy that you're going to spend the one single post you get in this thread to bash the game and its developers, go play that other game and good riddance.
Name one other powerset in the game that can effectively use one single power to replace an entire secondary set.
My friend made a fire/ice after he heard about them...he's 27 now and has been on auto pilot since he picked up ice slick and burn. The game has no challenge to him, there is nothing he cannot defeat, even outlandish things like +10 enemies are possible because burn is autohit, although ice slick does require accuracy to knock them down.
Now is this the correct solution to this problem? Probably not by itself. However since we have not heard any response from the devs on 1) if the fear effect will be reduced or 2) if this is all they plan to do, it is hard to judge at this time.
A better solution might be to simply make burn no longer auto hit. If all enemies in the burn patch were not automatically dealt so much damage there would be no need for such a strong fear effect or such a long recharge time.
Perhaps:
PBAoE High Damage Burst + Moderate Damage DoT
Gives the user protection from immobilize and knockback/down
Moderate Recharge (with Hasten max recharge of 20 seconds)
Fear effect only to those effected by the DoT and only until the DoT ends.
power would accept accuracy, damage, recharge redux, end redux and dmg resist
Makes sense to me.
But then what do I know, I'm thinking of this logically and not flying off the handle like a 5 year old who's told he can't have a new toy.
If your gonna nerf burn to oblivion why not give us a new power? and make it a defense buff? So I can at least use my fire tanker and tank well.
Just a thought.
I've always viewed the offensive ablities of burn and the fire primary to be it's defense- kill them before they kill you. I thought that was acceptable because of the lower than average tank defense and resistence.
The current burn nerfs have taken part of that offensive ablitlity away and turned it into a power that either causes the enemy to run away or does too little damage to be useful. Neither fit the profile of a tank or the play style of a fire tanker.
In light of these changes, I don't see any reason for a tank to select a power that makes the enemy run away or take an offensive power that doesn't do effective damage.
I would hate to see any power set have a power not worth taking.
Ok, I finally decided to test my Fire/EM Tanker on Test to see the changes for myself. Here's the basics (I'm not going into hard numbers, just my slotting and impressions) :
Nova Red L32 Fire/EM Tanker
Defenses :
Fire Shield 6 Slotted w/L35 Dam Res SO's
Plasma Shield 4 Slotted w/L35 Dam Res SO's
Combat Jumping 1 Slot w/L35 Def Buff SO
Acrobatics 1 Slot w/L35 End Redux SO
Tough 1 Slot w/L35 Dam Res SO
Attacks :
Burn 6 Slotted w/L35 Dam SO's
Barrage 4 Slotted w/L35 SO's (1 ACC, 3 DAM)
Energy Punch 4 Slotted w/L35 SO's (1 ACC, 3 DAM)
Bone Smasher 1 Slotted w/L35 SO (1 ACC)
Punch (Fighting Line) 1 Slotted w/L35 SO (1 ACC)
Other factors :
Stamina 6 Slotted w/L35 End Recovery SO's
Build Up 3 Slotted w/L35 Recharges
Healing Flames 5 Slotted w/L35 SO's (3 Heal, 2 Recharge)
Consume 3 Slotted w/L35 SO's (1 ACC, 1 Recharge, 1 End Rec)
So, what I realized while fighting Levels 30-34 in Croatoa is that I had to rely on Consume much more than before. Running the same 5 toggles I have been just doesn't cut it even with Stamina 6 slotted with +++ SO's.
An interesting thing to note was that I was never in any real danger until the size of the mobs at +2 (L34) increased beyond a few minions and a LT or two.
Even Con Bosses take a long time to kill, even using Burn to get some ticks. Just for fun I jumped into a fight with 6 even Con (L32) Boss Witches. Never had a chance but I bailed before I went down. Man do they drain the END quick!
So, Bosses kinda feel like they did in I3 but they don't hurt as much as they did when the initial changes were implemented then subsequently rolled back.
Finally, Burn ....
Well, what can I say. It sucks for sure but the power isn't completely useless. I will say that my planned Respec does include Hasten which I have previously not needed in my build. The Recharge time increase really does hurt in conjunction with super fear effect. One interesting thing to note though, while Taunt does not overcome the fear, foes who were primarily Melee would re-enter the Burn patch and leave again repeatedly over the course of a fight.
Damage seemed to be the same to me. Perhaps the mobs I fought were vulnerable to Fire? Or maybe the L35 SO's which are brand new to a L32 Tanker make the difference.
Either way, Even Con were taking 10-11 points per tick and I was getting anywhere from 5-10 of those based on the mob.
Fighting Cabal sucks as a Fire Tanker though. Unless you use terrain to bring them out of the sky, they will fight from up there until you take them out individually.
So, all in all, while it does suck somewhat, I'm still on the fence about respecing out of Burn. I sure could use those slots elsewhere for End Reduction/6 Slotting my Secondary attacks but the added boost in damage, although situational, does help still.
One last [censored] about my test session :
Half the fun of being an EM Tanker is the Stun/Disorient effects that the attacks reproduce. What I don't think is realistic is the rate of movement, especially flying, that occurs to a Stunned/Disoriented mob. It just isn't right that they can fly away effectively after I've smacked them good. When I get stunned, I can't do anything but walk slowly away.
I'd love to see a change to the Mob AI in this regard.
Well, that's all I've got. Sorry it isn't as scathing or scientific as most of the other posts in this thread. 
Sign It : http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
"You can't let someone gain enjoyment for a year by playing a character and then take that enjoyment away without reprisal." --earlier post
This is my only issue 5 dev post, so understand my comments below cover my view of the issue 5 changes in total (be it burn, scrappers, regen, invuln, etc.), from a 50,000 foot level.
To summarize, the game just doesn't feel "fun" anymore.
I have actively read these boards daily for the past year, was all over the changes for each issue, loved planning out my characters in advance, etc. When Issue 5 hit test, I could see plainly the nerfs coming from left and right, and about 3 weeks ago just stopped playing the game. Told others I was taking a break 'til issue 5 comes out. It wasn't a matter of simply getting bored with the game, it was the outlook for the future of "how much fun will this game provide me".
I play solo mostly, am a casual "power" gamer, play almost every night after the wife and daughter are asleep, am a financial exec with a large bank so analytical in nature, love planning out my characters, etc.. The game needs to feel fun, and in spite of the levelling curve (not for sake of levelling, but for sake of gaining new powers to play with!) the "fun" factor was being able to play different styles of characters and pull off some amazingly "fun" and HEROIC stuff. Sometimes this was solo, other times with a team.
What I see with the multitude of changes coming with issue 5 is a need for almost exclusive team play, as (almost) everyone has been neutered in a way that requires it. And worse yet, for those of us who have been along for the ride over the past year, with no sighting of core game improvement in sight (i.e. something to do other than kill xx thousand before the next shiny toy), there isn't really much to keep us around. I understand the changes to all powers are in line with Statesman's "balance vision", but realize you are removing pieces of "fun" associated with this game. Burn was powerful, instant healing was powerful, the defense of invulnerability tankers is powerful....at the same time they were fun, and the more pieces of "fun" we have in game the better we all are.
It is apparent you are trying to make this game into a large-scale mmo by levelling the playing field from a group dynamic. From a strategic planning standpoint, CoH will never rival an EQ2 or WOW for playbase. It is a niche player with gameplay that is sought after by a specific market demographic. It's not a crafting/camping/playing 12 hours a day type of crowd. It's a playerbase that likes to feel heroic, face challenges and have fun. All three of these items are in concert with eachother, and that means we play POWERFUL characters that can do truly amazing things.
Two months ago if you told me I would be writing this post, I would have laughed at you, as CoH was "it" for me. As of right now, I'm ready to hang up the tights when the final hammer drops and these changes are pushed to live. Not a threat or anything like that, just a realization that the core game is changing in a fashion to be more of a "traditional" mmo type game, sounding like EQ, and that just doesn't sound very fun to me.
MY SUGGESTION:
This is a super-hero game, not a "we may be a hero at certain times" game. My suggestions are as follows:
1) Take the time to keep the super-hero "feel" and "fun" to the game, buff other ATs/powers instead of nerfing existing ones.
2) At the same time, make the enemies more challenging to compensate, be that through higher hit points, higher accuracy, better AI reaction (like the tsoo sorcs).
3) Speed up the levelling curve, not necessarily by increasing the xp as you have in issue 5, but by reducing the amount required between "shiny new powers". At the very least, change the speed at which we can try new powers.
4) Turn PI into a lvl 40+ hazard zone to reduce the PL spam.
I mentioned "POWERFUL" above in the post, everyone wants to feel this way when they play a game, and that includes defenders/controllers/blasters. Change the direction to buff others up to where you see Issue 4 fire tankers, regen scrappers and invuln tankers are. Keep the game fun. Leave us powerful and heroic. There are others out there that would feel the same way, and if there are truly a small portion of the playerbase that actually views this stuff on the forums, I would expect to see a pretty big exodus when this hits, as it will smack them upside their heads, asking "where did this come from?", and "wow, it used to be "fun" playing this character".
Thanks for the fun over the past year, and good luck with the game and this community going forward.
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I'll check in when CoV comes out, but promise me this - take the changes you're making with issue 5 and bake that "style" into CoV at the start, so there are no ATs we will fall in love with and find them utterly gutted 6-12 months into the game. Nothing worse than falling in love with something in game (i.e. it is "fun") and having it disappear down the road. I'd much rather wake up one day and find that something better than the day before vs. worse.
Look, I don't like Fire Tanks being nerfed this much, but if that's the way it's gonna be you've GOT TO up their defenses and give them Immobilization and Knockback defense. If they are not going to outdamage other Tanks they have to be able to actually Tank WITH THEIR OWN POWERS like other Tanks.
Do we really only get one post?
I would agree with those that say that Fire Tanks are "overpowered" relative to some other AT's. With that said, the changes to Fire Tanks on test are overcompensating for this imbalance. Reduced damage, increased recharge, and the new fear effect is quite a big pill to swallow, any chance that we can meet in the middle somewhere?
It is VERY discouraging to spend countless hours building up an AT only to see it reduced to a ghost of its former self. Not to mention that I now have a greatly reduced incentive to create and build any new AT's, who's to say you won't nerf my next AT after I've logged 100 hours working on it?
If I had known that this was coming I can honestly say that I probably would not have invested the time and effort that I have spent on my Fire Tank.
Please reconsider the severe changes that you are planning for Burn in I5.
Regards,
Loyal revenue stream.
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