Official Thread for Grandville: New Villain Zone
By
Anijo,
Posted on: 2006-05-01 24:12 in Developers' Corner
As for the newspaper missions in grandville? I'd suggest increasing the potential missions to five, and allow more groups into it, even if they need to have level caps removed, such as banished pantheon, legacy chain, the croatan witches, Tsoo, and so forth. This coming as my would be thuggee necromancer doesnt mind sending the CoT back into the wheel constantly, but a little variety would be nice
Freakshow Raver: I love your knives. You know, you can use them on me later if ya want.
Knives of Artemis Raver: Right
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Not even Fascism really. He is very much a proponent of the power of the individual over the faceless masses. If I recall, the basis of fascism was to promote the rights and power of the group over that of the individual.
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I'm referring to the novel, not the 60-70 years later version of his philosophy. In the novel, he clearly finds both fascism and technocracy to be, if not the best solutions for society's ills, at least good ideas to work from. By the time of the novel's close, he's already moving on toward his own political theories, but the book remains the primary source for information on his philosophical beliefs so far.
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Instead he promotes a form of anarchy that is tailor suited to compete with other forms of society. The political machine he has set up is tailor suited to give people a choice, strive to rise as far as you can and live, or become part of the faceless masses to be used by the strong, not to maximize the power of society by subjecting the masses into the most efficient groups possible.
On the surface it seems like fascism as both work to shove down people down below something greater, but in this case, the greater are individuals who fought against the system rather than accepting it
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Oh, no argument that it's not fascism... but it's a lot closer to fascism than it is to anarchy. The closest parallel I can find are probably the intended one: Big Brother, from Orwell's 1984, had a similar strategy of an absolute power ruling in no small part through co-opting the opposition, too. Recluse is, after all, the absolute leader of the Rogue Isles. His rule is, if not uncontested, feared and entrenched. If anything, the system in place is an exceptionally skewed and twisted form of meritocracy. The Rogue Isles aren't lawless, and they have a definite authority, which means it's not an anarchy, and Recluse isn't the Archvillain of Anarchy.
Making different newspaper gangs and mission types is too much work. Enjoy your 45 brainless paper trash missions vs. Council in Nerva, St. Martial, and Grandville.
Dont know if anyone else has this problem. Went into Grandville for the first time last night and I was not able to see the floor or wall tiles. I could move around and jump around but not matter what they would never show up and people would almost look like they were walking around in the sky. New Sony Vaio CPU with a current drivers and updates with a ATI Radeon X600 or 800 PCI Express.
Has anyone else encountered this?
I think I may have found some of the problem in Grandville's Hospital bug. It seems to be asking my computer to activate the save current file to ZIP file function... that is, if it were a user in a normal situation, right-clicking the icon on desktop and selecting save to zip.
I only mention this because lately I get the save dialog box after or during the Crash feedback screen.
"Oh, I'm sorry, was my immersive collaborative fictional improv stepping on your gold-farming? Did my six paragraphs of evocative prose lag your dual-box setup? In the words of one of my favorite teen-years cultural icons.... WELL, EXCUUUUUUUSEEE MEEEE!!!" -- Cuppa_Soul
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If they were to add new patrons, I'm sure they will give everyone a chance to change. They never said the PPPs will always be permanent. Most likely new PPPs would mean new patrons, who probably aren't loyal to Arachnos. They probably wouldn't care if you betrayed Arachnos to join them.
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Actually, yes, they did say that Patrons would be permanent, you cannot respec out of them. And they also said that they would laver be adding another patron that's non-arachnos in origin.
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However, they never said that you wouldn't be able to ever have more than one Patron. What if, for example, you could have one of the four we know of, and then one of four other people?
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If they were to add new patrons, I'm sure they will give everyone a chance to change. They never said the PPPs will always be permanent. Most likely new PPPs would mean new patrons, who probably aren't loyal to Arachnos. They probably wouldn't care if you betrayed Arachnos to join them.
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Actually, yes, they did say that Patrons would be permanent, you cannot respec out of them. And they also said that they would laver be adding another patron that's non-arachnos in origin.
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However, they never said that you wouldn't be able to ever have more than one Patron. What if, for example, you could have one of the four we know of, and then one of four other people?
[/ QUOTE ] There aren't enough power slots for that.
Besides it is said that you can only have 4 normal Pool power sets and 1 epic set. That means 1 Patron set, you'll never get another.
Again if they're going to make Patron powers perma do the same to the Heroes Epics. Heroes shouldn't be able to respec out of their powers if we can't.
(Putting 40-50 CoV mission feedback here since there's no better thread for it.)
The last mission to unlock Mako's patron powers is full of Knives of Artemis. I fought these plenty as a hero but this was my first encounter as a villain. Let me share with you the experience. 
I was playing a 40 Merc/FF MM.
KoA boss, whom I can't see even with Tactics on, decides to attack me while I'm flying around. She throws 1 stun grenade and BAM!, I am disoriented even through my Dispersion Bubble. This shocks me because Dispersion offers a good Mag resist on stuns and holds, and I've never been 1 shot mezzed by anything in PVE or PVP before. I drop to the ground.
The next 5 minutes were spent with me mezzed. The readout alternated between Disoriented, Sleeping, and Held as she threw various grenades and darts at me. Sometimes it said all three, whee! Without a Break Free, and thanks to Bodyguard, I literally stood around for 5 minutes as my health slooowly ticked down from the rare shuriken she would throw. This fight took so long my pets actually killed her and I got killed by her caltrops 15 seconds later, still mezzed. 
I never once the entire time got out of mez to pop insps or take any action.
Complaint 1: KoA boss stun grenade should not be that high Mag!
Complaint 2: KoA bosses should not be able to perma mez like that!
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Complaint 2: KoA bosses should not be able to perma mez like that!
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Perma-mezzing is only unfun in the PvP game, where it would lead to a swift and comparatively painless death. In PvE, where it leads to slow, drawn-out demises flush with debt, it's quite fun.
Can't believe I forgot this! The "subliminal" message in Grandville has Lord Recluse call himself Lord Arachnos! That's an error and a half!
"Oh, I'm sorry, was my immersive collaborative fictional improv stepping on your gold-farming? Did my six paragraphs of evocative prose lag your dual-box setup? In the words of one of my favorite teen-years cultural icons.... WELL, EXCUUUUUUUSEEE MEEEE!!!" -- Cuppa_Soul
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Can't believe I forgot this! The "subliminal" message in Grandville has Lord Recluse call himself Lord Arachnos! That's an error and a half!
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Are you referring to some background sound file other than the main one of his speech that's playing in the main section of the city? Because in the main one he doesn't refer to himself that way. I provided a transcript of his speech earlier in the thread.
I'd like to know if there is another speech somewhere else in the zone that I missed, because I'd like to get that one too. I know that there is another background file playing when you are away from the main building (that I assume is simply supposed to be the main speech playing at a distance) but I haven't actually tried to see if there are intelligible words in that one. Is that what you're referring to?
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1 shot mezzed by anything in PVE or PVP before. I drop to the ground.
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You must be avoiding Ghost Widow like the plague then in RV. One shot mez/death through Unyielding AND Unstoppable. 
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Can't believe I forgot this! The "subliminal" message in Grandville has Lord Recluse call himself Lord Arachnos! That's an error and a half!
[/ QUOTE ] If you're refering to the speach in the main area that you hear getting off the boat he does say "I Lord Recluse" and I think there may be a part where he calls him self the lord OF arachnos. Unless there's another speech I don't know about he doesn't call himself Lord Arachnos.
Regarding Grandville monsters, I think arachnoids are a bit too strong. Minions deals heavy lethal/toxic dmg and have 2-3 melee attacks. A pack of 3 minions can easily give trouble to a solo player especially if you factor that their ranged attack has a -recharge component.
Super arachnoids are just unkillable for lower dps AT and it seems that their single target melee hold got changed to a ranged hold recently (I could hover blast for 10mins above Biff one day and the next I got held doing the same thing). Combined with their high regen, this can make bosses unkillable solo. For the Biff elite boss, even at the lowest diff (+0 eb) I still can't outdamage his regen with my rad/kin corr and that's with having transfusion on auto.
I also feel that mobs with AS are a bit too strong for squishies, their AS is quick to setup and we don't have time to interrupt it (can it even be interrupted?). Also these guys tend to hit with a clobber (disorient) right after their AS, so a squishy is stuck losing over 50% of his health and having to quickly pop a breakfree or get killed.
I'm still curious if anyone has seen the Arachnos Flier yet because since I7 has been placed on test, I haven't seen it once.
Mission Feedback
Last mission of Mako's second arc
"Enact Ritual on Leviathan etc."
This mission is whack in several ways.
- The whirlwind things all over the map are fun and all, throwing people around despite Acrobatics, but there are just too many of them in the big rooms. As a Master Mind, I think I added maybe 10 damage during the entire fight with Calystix thanks to the whirlwinds perma-juggling my pets.
- BUG--Players can't target whirlwinds, and they can't be damaged, but my henchman pets shot at them every chance they got.
- The psychic Fonts do too much damage.
- The location of the "clickie" where you enact the ritual is not real clear. It took us forever to realize it was on the side of the giant tooth.
- Mako and his ambush... well, let's just say Mako was a TOTAL WUSS!!! With the exact same team composure, AV Mako was far easier than AV Calystix, and he was even easier than the EB Fonts! He literally did no damage to our Brute and went down in about 30 seconds. Extremely anticlimactic. 
Buff Mako!!!
Not sure if this is a bug or intended, but the base portal in Grandeville has no easily found route up to it for those without fly, hover, superjump or teleport.
Ran around the place looking for an elevator or ramp and couldnt find one, just cables that are tricky to navigate or steel webs going to adjacent building ledges that also had no elevator I could find.
Freakshow Raver: I love your knives. You know, you can use them on me later if ya want.
Knives of Artemis Raver: Right
There's an elevator that goes right up to it around back. I was confused as well for a bit but I just went up there and followed the platform around. It's near those two contacts (Abyss and Mage-Killer).
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Not sure if this is a bug or intended, but the base portal in Grandeville has no easily found route up to it for those without fly, hover, superjump or teleport.
Ran around the place looking for an elevator or ramp and couldnt find one, just cables that are tricky to navigate or steel webs going to adjacent building ledges that also had no elevator I could find.
[/ QUOTE ] Given as how none of the maps are really too frindly if you have Sprint or Super Speed I don't see why anyone wouldn't have Fly, Super Jump, or Teliport.
Even on CoH there are maps where Super Speed alone is completly useless.
I like to use the combo Super Speed and Super Jump. They seem to be the fastest and lest END consuming. I can't use SS alone because of how useless it is on alot of maps and I can't use SJ alone because I just don't like to hold the space bar down all the time. :P Allthough I do use SJ alone in the lower levels while I'm killing time to grab SS.
I have been unable to attach either the arcane or the tech version of the Grandville teleport beacons in my base. I can purchase them and mount them on the wall next to the applicable teloport pad, but they look damaged and show a status of unattached. The Port Oakes beacons I bougth and mounted look and work fine though.
I couldn't find any mention of this on the message boards or the patch notes - is this just happening to me? /bugged in game...
Count me as another person who's suffered from unrecoverable CTDs on two iterations of my high-level Brute - one from trying to go through the door behind the Rikti ambassador, and one from trying to go to the hospital.
So much for trying to explore (or even test) the new content before it goes live.
My characters at Virtueverse
Faces of the City
The Grandville teleport beacons are working with the latest patch, but the items still look damaged when mounted on the wall (both tech and magic versions).
Also, the tech and magic versions seem to drop you to opposite corners of the main entrance hall in Grandville. Not sure if that's intentional or not, though it may reduce congestion when I7 goes live and many SGs add the beacons to their bases.
I will post mission feedback here as well.
My dom cannot solo these story missions even on villainous. There are too many EBs (AVs) that are simply too strong. Well, truthfully I *can*, but only if I go to Bloody Bay every few missions and restock on Shivans.
Silver Mantis in the Scirocco arc. The first time I fought her she two-shot me within 5 seconds. The next attempt I used a Shivan. She was able to kill off her mobs (whom I had confused), my pet (flytrap is too squishy), my shivan (just .. wow), and almost took out me and my resummoned pet before I finally managed to kill her off. I used a full tray (at level 40) of insps also.
I have had similar problems with Foreshadow, his sidekick, Ice Minstrel several times, Scirocco himself, etc (though Silver Mantis is the worst offender). I have only been able to pass these missions by using Shivans. That is not cool.
The main problem is that I simply cannot put out enough damage to stop them by myself, and with the triangles still in place my holds are mostly worthless against EBs (plant holds have no useful secondary effects at all). I have most of my attacks (all are 3-slotted with damage) too.
The thing I hated most about CoH was the 40-50 content relying on all AVs. I appreciate the AV-to-EB downgrade for villainous difficulty, but it still isn't enough for dominators. While I like having the paper missions as options, and enjoy the new mayhem missions, I'm not going to continue playing if I cannot solo any more story content because EBs are still overpowering and have triangles, even in the non-patron content.
I'm less then happy with the large number of MOBs that kill you in 2-3 shots while trying to GET to a mission.
My Shadowfall is apparently useless - half the time their first hit is looooog duration stun - given that I need a tray full of blues and greens to handle the stuff in my mission (Dark/Dark Corruptor here - DPS R NOT US) that means I'm dead.
I've spent at least half my time working off debt from outdoor deaths (I rarely die in the mission itself).
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Almost forgot one...
The description of Lord Recluse refers to him as the "Archvillain of Anarchy". Lord Recluse, by the novel, finds technocracy and fascism to be inspiring philosophical ideals. He's as much an anarchist as he is a pacifist.
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Not even Fascism really. He is very much a proponent of the power of the individual over the faceless masses. If I recall, the basis of fascism was to promote the rights and power of the group over that of the individual. Instead he promotes a form of anarchy that is tailor suited to compete with other forms of society. The political machine he has set up is tailor suited to give people a choice, strive to rise as far as you can and live, or become part of the faceless masses to be used by the strong, not to maximize the power of society by subjecting the masses into the most efficient groups possible.
On the surface it seems like fascism as both work to shove down people down below something greater, but in this case, the greater are individuals who fought against the system rather than accepting it
Freakshow Raver: I love your knives. You know, you can use them on me later if ya want.
Knives of Artemis Raver: Right