City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

Anyone remember the skill system? Cryptic? Do You?

anachrodragon

By anachrodragon,
Posted on: 2006-03-02 14:52 in CoH and CoV General Discussions

 

Posted

o.o don't know where he'll be, but us cats will be in the litterbox thread.

o.O sides I have tons more where those came from.

I am Sleepy! Hear me Yawn!!
Veni, Vidi, Dormivi!
-Alpha Kitty of the Guardian chapter of the Legion of Catgirls
Never forget--Sleepy could conquer the world, if she could just stay awake long enough. =) -Llanwe

 

Posted

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I pretend Enhancements don't exist in a gameworld sense.

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Same.. For all of my characters enhancements don't really exist.

My RP switch goes OFF the moment I have to do anything with enhancements. Buy.. sell.. organize. At the very least I ignore the names and reasons behind most of the enhancements. My tech characters can make fine adjustments.. sure.. but some of that crap doesn't fly.

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Dang it Miss Kitty! Are you tryign to tell me that your Mutation orgin characters aren't all wearing 5 visors, 15 gauntlets, and 3 shoulder peices?

Yeah... alot of the enhancements make no sense RP wise, but you hove to admit its pretty funny that that the TO Focusing Device that increases taunt effectiveness are "Glasses"!

 

Posted

I have a little something I have been tossing around involving some sort of "skill" system.

The first one is Origin based, and deals with enhancements:
There are three tiers for each origin hereto fore labelled by number.
1. Increased chance on enhancement combinations. A flat % bonus added when enhancements are combined. You're knowledge and consistant usage of enhancements provides you a greather chance to combine enhancements.

2. Enhancement strength boost. A flat bonus % added to the base value of the enhancement. You're increased skill with enhancements allows you to augment an enhancement to greater heights.

3. Adding multiple effects to enhancements. Rather like the HOs, a player can "craft" an enhancement to have multiple effects such as an ACC / Damage SO. You have now gained intimate knowledge of enhancements and can now create enhancements for multiple purposes.

For each tier you must spend a certain amount of influence as your "tuiition". Then effectively use each tier ability multiple times (example tier 1 = 100 successful enhancement combinations) The enhancements are only purchessable at the school. Once the correct requirement has been met for the tier being worked on, the character receives a badge with the appropriate label. This badge opens the door to go to the next tier skill.

Tech: Tinknering (1) Gadgetry (2) Inventing (3)

Science: Experimentation (1) Genetic Alteration (2) Gene Splicing (3)

Magic: Practitioner (1) Spell twister (2) Spell Craft (3)

Natural: Physical Training (1) Physical Improvement (2) Pharmacology (3)

Mutant: DNA Boosing (1) DNA Resequencing (2) DNA Mutation (3)

If "inventions" are being worked on and will be made available for sale, then all tier 2 and 3 crafted enhancements could be sold as well. If not, then the same could apply and only the crafter may use the modified enhancements.

Also, following a similar line one for costumes:

Tailoring:

Dyes (1) You gain knowledge about color dyes applicable to superhero clothing. You can now change color slots for a worn costume.

Designing (2) You learn about the nuances of fashion and are able to coordinate costumes. You can now change slot options for each costume slot.

Visual Enhancer (3) You have gained knowledge in how to operate the special equipment that releases the auras of those with special abilities. You know can apply the any of the auras.

With the Tailor skill tree, another requirement may be to spend prestige on proper equipment to have in a base, and influence on the costume dies. The number / badge requirement can be applied to each one as well.

 

Posted

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I treat enhancements as they really are. A poorly thought out game mechanic that is in the place of something that would be less damn annoying.

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I have an old post in the Suggestions forum to this effect:
The hassle of enhancements, and how to improve it

bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonner-
ronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenth ur-
nuk!

 

Posted

Statesman says:

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Skills are shelved.

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then castle says:

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It's still something we are working on, though.

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wow. which is it?

 

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_Castle_, is it understood with the Devs that a lot of people wanted a Skills system for some Out-Of-Combat entertainment? From the sounds of it, Invention uses salvage, which is earned slowly with combat. Has this been considered? Is there any non-combat plans in the works?

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Yes.

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I counted 3 questions in that post, on what did _castle_ say yes?

You all think he said yes to the "positive" one...

 

Posted

Maybe "shelved' just means 'back burnered'? Just a guess.

and...

Hiiiii sleeeeepyyyy <o.O> <waves> err... >.>

 

Posted

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_Castle_, is it understood with the Devs that a lot of people wanted a Skills system for some Out-Of-Combat entertainment? From the sounds of it, Invention uses salvage, which is earned slowly with combat. Has this been considered? Is there any non-combat plans in the works?

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Yes.

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I counted 3 questions in that post, on what did _castle_ say yes?

You all think he said yes to the "positive" one...

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No, it's so rare that a redname confirms something, like earlier in the thread where _Castle_ posted more than one word, the excitement is just too much for some of us.

 

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Yes, it has been considered. It's one of the main problems, in fact.

 

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Yes, it has been considered. It's one of the main problems, in fact.

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Yaaaay!

 

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non-combat

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what is this "non-combat" you speak of?

 

Posted

"out of combat" entertainment. isnt that what you would call what goes on at the feet of the atlas statue?

 

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"out of combat" entertainment. isnt that what you would call what goes on at the feet of the atlas statue?

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Umm... ok... we need decent "out of combat" entertainment then.

 

Posted

I'd just like something to do besides punch bad guys once in awhile... I mean; Pocket D is nice and all; but not all of us want to dance and hang out.

In particular hmm... and I know this is a LONG way (ie: years; if ever) away, but example:

I'd love to see vehicles. Not just any vehicles though.

I want vehicles we can customize; just like we can our character. Build parts in your base with Salvage, then attatch them to various hardpoints; depending on the vehicles chasis.

I even have ideas for *magic* origin vehicles! <o.@> I mean, just because it uses the same system doesn't mean you can't say... summon a pegasis, and 'mount' a lance on it. It's the same system as for building a tank with a 120mm canon; but different in just about every other way.

Of course, *if* they ever do vehicles it'll be large; complex, and *someone* is going to complain. (People are already complaining about Inventions; and all we know is a very vague possibility of what they are.)

But thats what I'd like to do in my out-of-combat time; construct things.

Obviously; only one or two members of an SG will get to mess with base building which is imho the only out of combat activity. (Stuff like chatting with friends under atlas isn't really something exclusive to CoH ya know? "talking with friends" isn't game content as much as just something you do; whereas the base builder is an actual part of the game).

So thats just my idea. Inventions will help as well; and I'm really hoping we get more stuff to do. I know Apartments whenever those come around will be nice. Having more Costume slots would be wonderful too; since mucking with a costume is a ton of fun imho.

Power Customization would; believe it or not; be a fun out of combat activity at least for some of us. Especially Tech people; but even mutants and magic characters.

(Example: If your body naturally produces electricity; who says you've always got to throw electric punches? Electrikick! Or; just because you always summon red fire imps... whos says you can't try to learn a spell to summon blue ones?)

Just some variety.

I dunno ^^ Ideas

 

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Ahh, it seems only like Issue Three when all the good little Heroes gathered around their web browsers chatting about what might be. Now, as we gear up for Issue Seven, I wonder what has become of the off-again, on-again Skill system. Is it still on the 'Short List' of game improvements? Will it be something that Heroes and Villains both get? Or has it been completely scrapped due to lack of gaming ideas?

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Yes, we remember it. Getting it 'right' has proven difficult, though, which is why you folks haven't seen it. It's still something we are working on, though.

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You do realize that you have a huge playerbase from which you can pull ideas from to expand and possibly fill in the holes you guys keep running into...

Why not start up a thread where you can detail what game/content problems you are having with skills (with as much detail as you can legally give) and then let us tear it apart and fix it for you? We already do this very thing with the various AT forums.

Even for those of us who don't see eye to eye with you guys still love the game or else we'd not be here giving you grief over it

Virtue: multiple characters.

CoH/V: Woot! Maybe Fun is to be had once again.

Ack! RUN! Regen is glowing mean & green!

If it reduces you, it's a nerf.
If it buffs the mobs, it's challenge.
They are not the same.

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I pretend Enhancements don't exist in a gameworld sense.

[/ QUOTE ]

Same.. For all of my characters enhancements don't really exist.

My RP switch goes OFF the moment I have to do anything with enhancements. Buy.. sell.. organize. At the very least I ignore the names and reasons behind most of the enhancements. My tech characters can make fine adjustments.. sure.. but some of that crap doesn't fly.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dang it Miss Kitty! Are you tryign to tell me that your Mutation orgin characters aren't all wearing 5 visors, 15 gauntlets, and 3 shoulder peices?

[/ QUOTE ]

I am suddenly reminded of my time back in EQ waaaay back when.. before Luclin.

I don't know how it works now or in the new EQ, but you had eight inventory slots. You could stick a container in those slots. Eight backpacks for all that loot was popular. Well then.. can you just imagine an adventurer running around with EIGHT backpacks?! Where do they hang them all?!

Just have to wonder sometimes.. where are heroes hanging all that neat equipment?

 

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As long as we are able to "invent" a device that will help us track down that last stupid hiding mob in a Defeat All, like people with detective skills were supposed to be able to do in an example given in a dev interview about the skill system way back when, I will not feel too ripped off.

 

Posted

o.o hii Yumii!

<.< and yes, we really do need something better to do when not fighting ^^

I am Sleepy! Hear me Yawn!!
Veni, Vidi, Dormivi!
-Alpha Kitty of the Guardian chapter of the Legion of Catgirls
Never forget--Sleepy could conquer the world, if she could just stay awake long enough. =) -Llanwe

 

Posted

The last thing the game needs is a "SUPER"market. There are plenty of MMOs with crafting systems and they fit them. CoX doesn't need or fit crafting. There is no reason to force crafting on it.

Every game doesn't have to be the same and have the same elements. In fact that is a very bad thing. CoX has avoided the "loot" mentality until now and that is part of what makes it different from most every other MMO. Different is good. WoW clones continue to go broke for a reason.

Making temp powers for yourself is one thing (and fairly unique) but the day the game starts having "rare" drops and elite equipment it will stop being CoH/CoV and be just another EQ/WoW clone.

----------------------------
You can't please everyone, so lets concentrate on me.

 

Posted

I just want to use all my rikti salvage to build a 1 use temp power to summon a rikti drone minion. then it can tank for my scrappers and brutes, its impossible to hit those things whithout focused accuracy, tactics, 3 acc SOs, and rad debuffs!

 

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Yes, it has been considered. It's one of the main problems, in fact.

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Here's the Solution then: Expand the Custom-Mission tools and scripts to focus on dozens of different ways to win scenarios. ...And make the rewards for those custom missions Salvage-Based rather than EXP based.

See it's not all "fighting" in general I think people get sick of and call a Grind, it's the combination of needing very specific ratios of Damage, Damage, and more Damage with just enough Defense and Healing sprinkled in to get by.

Expanding the Objectives of missions and combat further could really open the daily-grind up to new ways for people to build their Heroes/Villains on Concept and play them successfully on Concept instead of on EXP/Hour reality. And that starts with tailoring a WIDE variety of shorter missions to every AT's specialty and unique traits with special Scenario scripting and Plot-based conflict. Sure it could result in Exploits or "Farmable" Content but that's why you reward Salvage instead of XP. ..And hell, if that Works, then apply it to some of these TaskForces that everyone hates to do currently *cough*Positrons*cough*


OR, Here's another idea: Allow players to "plant" common Salvage anywhere they want in any Zone they want... and over time it will grow into better slavage depending on how Crime-Free they manage to keep the Area surrounding that spot. Other players might be able to sweep in and snake it, but even that will encourage zone re-exploration and that's also a big time-sink. Keeping a zone cleared of certain mobs could also spawn urban renewal or repopulation by citizens who reward the Player with Salvage.

 

Posted

Not to monopolize your time(or any dev...) but as a lifelong gamer and over-analyst I gotta at least try to ask while a dev seems to be watching...

So was the skill system oriented into boosting combat abilities or was it strictly QoL stuff like being able to make missions go faster.

I'm not sure what you guys had in mind but from my gaming experience with table-top skills helped character make doing the primary portion of a mission easier (or in many cases do-able). Maybe it should at least be considered to just add a skill system that is a part of mission dialogs and story.

An example would be "Investigation" many heroes/anti-heroes are good, top-notch investigators. Batman for example. How this skill could be reflected in game would be making glowy's easier to find, and on occassion missions would be shortened or maybe skipped since the player has said skill.

Other QoL skills would be Invention...lets see what else is possible MMO-wise....character knowledge and specializations seem to be viable. Also possible to be tied into origins. For example if someone has a magic origin and they are doing a CoT arc and have a skill called arcane lore. The missions are easier w/ less glowies or shortened or maybe a few are skipped as part of an Arc.

Another implementation of this would be getting a small bonus against enemies of similiar origin, maybe a small dmg/mez/acc types.

Lastly what ideas were you kicking around for gaining skills?

I find a mix of use/learn and auto-gain with leveling is ussually the most popular.

So for example a character wanting investigation skill, has to take missions involving an investigation and complete a number of them to get a bonus to the skill (as well as levling). Having seperate skill grinding (ala SWG for those that did it), is frankily boring and not really all the that fun.

Invention does sound like a winner, hopefully they have a wide gamut taking into account origin and twists on the idea of "invention". For example cooking is a form of inventing, as is casting a spell (magic origin), or creating a training regime (natural origin)....

Overall though I would like to hear what ideas in detail you were condsidering and what you liked and didnt like.

Im sure there are tons of us that want to know what you guys are thinking and many of us fans/customers/gamers maybe can point you in the right direction or at least give you enough positive feedback about one variation of a system you would implement.