Thanks for the update. 
Oh, and don't let any of these forum goers get to you guys. You do the best you can.
New badge for a Hollows Task Force? I'm just going to assume this refers to something else entirely, because the Cavern Trial has a badge already and I don't know of any TF there.
In any event, hoping for sooner rather than later. As you said, they are the biggest pain in the butt. Hopefully the new TFs will be engaging enough so that people will -WANT- to do them again.
Let's Dance!
Sorry. No new Hollows badge. My bad.
New badges are for Moonfire, Dr. Quaterfield, Sara Moore, and Faathim the Kind.
Positron
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Thanks Positron. As much as we [censored] and moan about the badge issue (including myself) this is very nice to hear, especially the part about reworking the Shadow Shard TF's. This is excellent news to those who don't want to redo them.
In the meantime, I will try and figure out a way to shorten them as much as possible using the powers that are available to us.
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Sorry. No new Hollows badge. My bad.
New badges are for Moonfire, Dr. Quaterfield, Sara Moore, and Faathim the Kind.
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So not one for Justin Augustine?
You still aren't addressing the Souvenir concerns.
1) A Souvenir that was awarded for a SS TF represents an easily identifiable marker that can be used to award the subsequent Badge. Is there a reason that a script cannot be written to auto award the SS TF based on the presence of of the requisite Souvenir?
2) Are the TF Souvenir's being removed from the game with I5? Many of us that like the Souvenir's do so for the storyline content that is fluid and as such will change over time. Much like the Calvin Scott TF that advanced part of the storyline along, the Soul Orb Souvenir is the only recorded in game marker of that turn of events. If these Souvenir's are being removed, a Badge needs to be created to replace it. A Badge that contains the storyline text in some sort of drop down menu that the Souvenir's do would be ideal.
3) Are we now saying that having an in game record of the storyline changes and events ( a la Souvenirs) was not intended to exist? Are there no concerns about there being no history of the storyline as it evolves aside from what can be found on the website and Gil's articles?
Please, Please, Please preserve the Storyline changes in some format. This is our link to storyline immersion and without it, the game loses more than a bit of it's lustre.
Thanks.
Sign It : http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
Well the third and fourth shard tfs are very fast. The big problem for most people is they don't get any sense of the story beause they don't read the clues or mission info or it flashes by them too fast. If we had something the badge expanded into that had all the mission briefings, clues, npc dialog and mission ending then a lot of people will know what they did.
As for not getting souverniers only the issue 3 tfs such as moonfire, ernesto hess and calvin scott didn't give the souverniers. As for other complaints no one has been able to provide any evidence whatsoever the other tfs didn't give souverniers if you were in the last mission.
Again, I REALLY want to thank you for the open, honest, and logical explanation of why things are this way. I don't think you realize how happy it makes me that we are finally getting a reasonable, honest answer about something like this.
If you guys did this more often, I bet you'd only get half the flak you do now for all the "nerfs" and whatnot. So really, I sincerily thank you for the honesty.
TY Posi. For the Explanation. Keep up the good fight.
Thanks for the info Positron, it's greatly appreciated. I am especially happy to hear that you plan on making the TFs more interesting.
I totally understand the data mining issue.
I do have one question: why were only the Freedom Phalanx Task Forces given badges in Issue 2, and not the new Task Forces that had been added? This is just a question, not some kind of slam. If it was because you didn't think badges would be so well received, that's understandable. If it's because of the difficulty of adding a badge to a Task Force, I'm hoping you might explain that difficulty so that more of us might understand.
I also want to publicly apologize for blowing up earlier about the math related to your statement of Invincibility and Unyielding providing a net bonus of 20% resistance. I may not be happy with the current state of Invulnerability being more about Defense from 2 powers than Resistance from the 6 that don't kill you, but it was my math that was wrong, not yours.
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)
Please look into reworking Citadel's TF as well.
Also: Posi, your TF could do with a large encounter... perhaps Dr. V again.
Thanks.
Thanks for eight fun years, Paragon.
Thanks for the update and all the hard work that you guys have been doing on this issue! For me, the auto-exemplaring solution solves my problems with task forces. And actually lets me team up with my lvl 50 buddies to do the task forces that we skipped over on the way up.
BM3 - 50 Claws/Regenation Scrapper
Base Medic - 50 Gravity/Empathy Controller
Numerous others...
- The Earthguard -
Thanks, Posi, for sharing this information with us.
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Now the biggest pain in the butt Task Forces are most resoundedly the Shadow Shard ones. I talked with Manticore this morning about this and he agreed to rework these into shorter, more engaging, Task Forces in an upcoming issue (possibly 7 or 8, maybe sooner though). The badges for these "new" Task Forces will be the same as the old ones, so characters that get the Shadow Shard TF badges between now and when the new SSTFs come out won't have to re-do them again.
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I think this will be greatly appreciated. I look forward to hearing about the new Shard TFs.
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We're sorry, and apologize to players who feel they have to re-do content that they don't want to, just to earn a reward they feel they should already have.
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Huge respect for making both the apology and the acknowledgment, in addition to the frank explanations - all of which goes a long way.
Thank you.
1) A Souvenir that was awarded for a SS TF represents an easily identifiable marker that can be used to award the subsequent Badge. Is there a reason that a script cannot be written to auto award the SS TF based on the presence of of the requisite Souvenir?
They still have to actually find the souvenir which is basically about what the datamine would have to do in the first place. So no this isn't actually a solution that is feasible
2) Are the TF Souvenir's being removed from the game with I5?
I believe CuppaJo said that any souvenirs you had would not be touched. If they aren't willing to look for them to give you something based on them why would they want to dig through everything to remove them?
I'll tell ya, even throwing an AV at the end of the first one, would be a gigantic improvement to it. Maybe a monster of an AV........
That would at least give you something to look forward to while you're wasting endless hours doing the same mission cycle over and over.
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As for not getting souverniers only the issue 3 tfs such as moonfire, ernesto hess and calvin scott didn't give the souverniers.
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Yes they did, as did the shadow shard task forces. The only problem was that you often had to petition to get them. I have the Calvin Scott and Ernesto Hess souvenirs on one of my characters.
Thank you Positron,
As a semi-casual player (some weeks, i am hardcore player, some weeks i hardly play). i never know if I can involve into a 12-hour TF, finding people to do such TF (either in one time or committing to do it in 2-3 days) already takes hours. I'm glad they ll be changed. I hope the story won't be too altered.
@Asymptot :
- Asymptot : 50 Invul/SS Tanker
- Extremum : 25 SS/Nrg Brute
- Many alts
http://heroesunited.free.fr
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I do have one question: why were only the Freedom Phalanx Task Forces given badges in Issue 2, and not the new Task Forces that had been added? This is just a question, not some kind of slam. If it was because you didn't think badges would be so well received, that's understandable. If it's because of the difficulty of adding a badge to a Task Force, I'm hoping you might explain that difficulty so that more of us might understand.
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Ok, here's some insight into the design process.
When badges were created for Issue 2, an Accolade was ordered that required several pieces outside of Design in order to happen. That Accolade was called the Task Force Commander badge. It was to grant you a costume piece as it's "special thing", much like the Croatoa Witches' Hat.
The requirements for this Accolade were to be the Freedom Phalanx Task Force Badges. Other Task Forces would not be required, even though they were being released parallel to the badge system. So as not to confuse the players, the other TF's were intentionally not given badges.
So we got the Freedom Phalanx Task Force badges, but the Accolade needed Tech (rewarding costume piece) and 3D Art (the new costume piece itself). It didn't get either so the Accolade never happened.
Time moves forward. We eventually get the abilit to reward costume pieces, but when it came time to revisit the badge it just seemed like a bad idea in retrospect (especially with all the badge-giving TF's now), so the 3D art was never ordered.
Hope that clears that up.
Positron
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I don't mind the long TFs so much now that exemplars can do them over multiple sessions. What I'm worried about is the loss of content that shortening these TFs might require. I personally don't mind a long TF if the story is engaging and the missions aren't repetitive. Cut out 90% of the mind numbing hunt x mission in Shard #3(IIRC) add a REAL AV to the end and that TF is fine. Shard #2 and #4 are great as is(though some of the missions ARE repetitive and DO need a bit more explanation onf their objectives). Shard #1 is the ultimate brain freeze and probably needs the most work. Unfortunately I have no suggestions.
I just hope that DJ can make it through these TFs now that Regen isn't the same. 
I just had an odd thought to circumvent the datamining process*. Could an NPC be set up to check these things on an individual basis? For example, returning to the original TF contact to get one's badge? It occurs to me, I'm not even sure if those NPCs acknowledge I've completed a TF or not. Can one redo a TF as often as one wishes?
Anyway, I was just thinking that since the datamining of the entire player base would take so long, perhaps letting those players who desire it, come "pick it up at the office", as it were, could make the process feasible. Obviously, only so many people could tax the system at any one time.
Your helpful Hero14
*I know, we're all doing it. I hope it's not overwhelming, and even possibly useful.
Hero14
SS/INV Tanker on Virtue
Superman Returns (INV/SS Guide for I8)
Personally I think it would be cool if you guys did ressurect the Task Force Commander badge. It would be an extra incentive to do all those TFs and you could even perhaps do a similar accolade for the Shard TFs. I hope you guys give the idea some consideration. Even if it's just a special costume piece, it's still an extra 'bennie' for doing those TF series and an incentive to do so.
It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Therefore, there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely the products of a deranged imagination.
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I do have one question: why were only the Freedom Phalanx Task Forces given badges in Issue 2, and not the new Task Forces that had been added? This is just a question, not some kind of slam. If it was because you didn't think badges would be so well received, that's understandable. If it's because of the difficulty of adding a badge to a Task Force, I'm hoping you might explain that difficulty so that more of us might understand.
[/ QUOTE ]
Ok, here's some insight into the design process.
When badges were created for Issue 2, an Accolade was ordered that required several pieces outside of Design in order to happen. That Accolade was called the Task Force Commander badge. It was to grant you a costume piece as it's "special thing", much like the Croatoa Witches' Hat.
The requirements for this Accolade were to be the Freedom Phalanx Task Force Badges. Other Task Forces would not be required, even though they were being released parallel to the badge system. So as not to confuse the players, the other TF's were intentionally not given badges.
So we got the Freedom Phalanx Task Force badges, but the Accolade needed Tech (rewarding costume piece) and 3D Art (the new costume piece itself). It didn't get either so the Accolade never happened.
Time moves forward. We eventually get the abilit to reward costume pieces, but when it came time to revisit the badge it just seemed like a bad idea in retrospect (especially with all the badge-giving TF's now), so the 3D art was never ordered.
Hope that clears that up.
[/ QUOTE ]
You guys should still do it! For some reason, I do all of the TFs on my Heroes, without really knowing why... The badges aren't that great anymore, and that has got to be 6 of the most time consuming Badges in the game. If that Accolade was added, and I've done them all SO MANY TIMES, then I would look like the Genius, and those who mocked me the fool! Wahhahahahaha! 
Thanks for eight fun years, Paragon.
Since you bring up Auto-exemplaring, is there any news on the bug being fixed? As is if you arrive at the maximum level of the TF you auto-exemp. This means you don't get the SO enhancement reward or any more xp. Add to this the fact that the Main TFs are all having the max level reduced and it makes the TFs unappealing, especially the Positron TF. As is, if I start Positron at just barely level 14 (doing it before then is undesirable due to the lack of a travel power), I have to die a few times at the end on purpose so that I don't reach level 16 and am denied my SO. I think trying to finish the Positron TF before hitting level 15 is impossible unless you start at level 11 or 12 and stay side-kicked the entire time.
Back in the day, we had Souvenir clues being issued when you completed certain Task Forces in City of Heroes. These caused a lot of problems, mostly because the way the game worked, these could not be awarded reliably to people who actually completed the Task Force.
We did, however, have a type of reward that could be given reliably: Badges. Everyone who did the Task Force could be given a Badge upon completion. Unfortunately Task Forces before Issue 4 didn't have any badge associated with them. With Issue 5, we have remedied that situation, and now have badges for the Task Forces that lacked them before.
When the badges came in issue 2, three months after launch, we datamined players so we could retroactively give them their Freedom Phalanx Task Force badges that they earned. What seemed like a simple query actually turned into a huge process that took months to complete, and still not everyone who was due a badge was given one. This was our only option, however, because we had no way for players to "go back" and do Task Forces that they levelled past.
We find ourselves in a similar situation today. We have new badges for Task Forces that didn't have them before (Hollows, Striga, Shadow Shard), but the possiblity of datamining presents the same challenges today as it did over a year ago. We now have 1 year, plus, of data to sift through, and we just don't have the resources available to do a datamine on that scale. The datamine would take 1 year, at least, to complete. Faced with this we fast tracked something the players have asked for: Auto-exemplaring on Task Forces.
We never gave up on a datamine solution, even though we were allowing ALL players, regardless of level, to easily go back and join Task Forces to repeat the content. In the end, however, there just was no way for us to do the datamine of that size. This is why we were silent for so long. We wanted to find a solution that made everyone happy. Unfortunately that solution doesn't exist.
We are going forward with the situation as it is. If you would like one of the new Task Force badges, you will need to re-do the content. We made it as easy as possible for you to re-do the content with the Auto-exemplar feature. We're sorry, and apologize to players who feel they have to re-do content that they don't want to, just to earn a reward they feel they should already have.
Customer Service is NOT able to grant you these badges for any reason. Petitioning to get the new badges will not get you the new badges, only a polite reply that it is not possible to do so.
Now the biggest pain in the butt Task Forces are most resoundedly the Shadow Shard ones. I talked with Manticore this morning about this and he agreed to rework these into shorter, more engaging, Task Forces in an upcoming issue (possibly 7 or 8, maybe sooner though). The badges for these "new" Task Forces will be the same as the old ones, so characters that get the Shadow Shard TF badges between now and when the new SSTFs come out won't have to re-do them again.
Positron
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