Official Thread: Police Band Missions
By
Alissara,
Posted on: 2006-11-14 21:12 in Developers' Corner
[ QUOTE ]
I guess this must be just me, but the Police Band missions are regularly generating mobs at +1-2 instead of +0-1 for me on heroic. Happened all three times last night, and in the SG mish the vilain was Orange (although still a lt) instead of yellow.
Is this by design? I don't remember Newspaper/Mayhem missions working like this, although it's been a while since I did lowbie newsies (the PB mishes were on my lvl 5 PeaceBringer).
[/ QUOTE ]
Personally, I think there is a bug there. I believe that bug was introduced with the lieutenant change, not with issue 8; I have noticed the same thing villain-side with my low-level characters. I posted about it here.
Oddly, by around level 16 or so the problem seems to clear up.
- Protea
And for a while things were cold,
They were scared down in their holes
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines
Police Scanner missions in PI for all PI level ranges (40-50) are occasionally spawning on one of the Monster Islands up north.
I have /bugged this in game.
That door is a damn near guaranteed death sentence to anyone without a form of concealment. I had almost my entire team wipe out upon exiting. Those that died were killed before they could even move their character.
Please block this door as a possible mission entrance or else fix the Monster spawns so that they are nowhere near it.
"A good Defender is the battle hardened Corpsman who will kill a Nazi with a tongue depressor while putting a splint on your leg, then hand you a fresh clip of ammo." ~Jock_Thompson
Repeat Offenders, TNT Profile, My little hero
[ QUOTE ]
Ya, I'm getting the 'No Malta in Radio Missions' as well. I've went through 3 Safeguards now, with no mention of Malta in the list of possible Radio missions.
[/ QUOTE ]
Just a bit more. I'm now up to 5 Safeguards, with a couple zoning/resets, and a couple completed PBs. Still not a single Malta mission.
While I know there's randomness to it, this is getting to be a bit much.
I'm sure people have noticed by now, we can't be the only ones who've figured it out... BUT...
My best friend and I were playing the other night and started seeing a great patter of 'tribute' among the PPD detectives! We just wanted to tip our caps to the Devs for such an ingenious and fun nod to classic cops!
If you don't know what we're talking about now, go walk around some of the PPD stations.
Kings Row Detectuves Freitag & Becktrees
(Friday & Streebeck from Dragnet)
Steel Canyon Detectives Rogers & Martins
(Riggs & Mertaugh from Lethal Weapon)
Skyway Detective Westbrush
(Dirty Harry Callahan -- tricky West-Brush = East-Wood)
Faultline Detectives Fraser & Kowaccio
(Fraser & Vecchio from Due South -- yay Canada!)
Indep. Port Detectives Davids & Hutchins
(Starskey & Hutch)
Talos Detectives Croquette & Basinns
(Crockett & Tubbs from Miami Vice)
Brickstown Detectives Miller & Fish
(Barney Miller and Phil Fish from Barney Miller)
Founders Detectives Murwell & Junkers
(Murphy from Robocop)
Peragrine Island Detective Seinum
(Magnum PI)
-- Great work Devs! We appreciated it!
~ @Cade Tolen & @GODD's Keeper
Ok so first I took my 28 controller into the Safeguard missions in IP and Talos and the main villain group was the Council with the Family vandalising and commiting the side mission crimes. Then later I took my 23 controller into a mission in Faultine. There the the main group was the Tsoo with Arachnos vandalising and the Family committing the side mission crimes. Is it always the Family in the side missions or is the 20 to 30 range always the Family?
Edit: On a side note I was suprised to see 3 villain groups in the Faultine mission (which was set in Steel Canyon) versus the Talos mission's 2 villain groups.
What I do like about the police band missions: They give me something else to do other than the ungodly number of street sweeping missions the regular contacts hand out like candy, or the mini arcs that have more missions in them than the main story arc.
What I dont like about them: Two things.
First, the first time I enter a main zone, I get a new detective on my contact list, even for zones that Ive already out-leveled. This is especially acute because all the new contacts queue up at the top of the list, pushing my current contacts off the first page. While this isnt really the fault of the PB missions, it does highlight the need for better organizing the contact list (like being able to hide completed / out-leveled contacts).
Second, in CoV, I usually do the newspaper missions alongside the missions my current contact is giving me. Both missions are usually in the same zone and when I finish up with my current contact I have, the mayhem mission ready to queue up to get my next contact. In CoH, I dont have that luxury. For example, all of my level 41 dark/dark/dark defenders regular contacts are in Founders Falls, but I can only get PB missions in Peregrine Island. I end up having to chose to either do my main contact missions or the PB missions (If I try to do both, I end up bouncing back and forth between zones even more that before I8.) The same issue holds true for people who are doing the special zones (Hollows, Striga and Croatoa.) since theres no detective in those zones.
[ QUOTE ]
I tried two police band missions today. The first was on my level 15 tank in Faultline. As I got close to the mission, I realized it was outside of the western wall of the zone and there was no way I could get to it. The mission was "Rescue Audrey Farber".
[/ QUOTE ]One of the police band doors is located in the (maybe) not-so secret underground Arachnos base. There are two ways in, one on the Faultline side of the wall, and one on the other side of the dam. I'm currently blanking as to where the entrance to the base is on the Faultline side. But, the Dam side entrance is kind of obvious, as there's a big Arachnos structure sitting right on top of it.
I ran into this during test. It's a bit of a pain in the kiester as most of the mobs in the tunnels are level 20ish Arachnos mobs.
sorry if any of the following has been posted but it's late and i don't have time to read all the post, so again appologies:
PBR mish in FF defeat arachnos in bank, save 2 tellers and beat boss:
1) bank entrance is a cave?!?!
2) when entering mish u get stuck in the elevator shaft and fall to the point where almost all hp is gone when u hit bottom.
3) when using /stuck to get out of elevator shaft u get out in middle of mob
4) if u can make it to mish entrance, door will not let u out when u click on it.
i have /petitioned and /bugged this but still no response 3 hours after the fact, so posting it here as an fyi.
Can't we have some female detectives please?
A no attack "Group-Friendly" Defender is like a "Team Friendly" basketball player who won't dribble, run, or shoot, under any circumstances. "I'm a PASSER."
Hey there.
Love the police band missions - just have a question about the frequency of the types of missions. I've got a high level hero doing these missions in PI and I'm getting tired of Council and CoT. Can you throw in a few more Maltas? Make it a little easier on us to get those Zeus'?
Thanks!
Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.
*sigh* I may be considered the kid complaining about not getting quizzes...
But, Rescue missions without ambushes kinda seem pointless. All the standard missions you get from contacts there is usually an ambush that comes charging for you within a fair amount of time of you rescuing the hostage. However, I have not had one ambush within the Rescue mission in all the time it's been on live servers.
Sure, there's a fair amount of ambushes pre-mission, but none inside the Rescue missions themselves once the rescue portion is underway.
It is my opinion that more missions should be offered from detectives as a result of missions accomplished over the radio. Furthermore, opponents fought and crimes halted during these radio missions should be considered preferential opponents and focal crimes that the player would want to see their character fight.
As a result, final mission generation should be an accumulation of these factors. I among others am growing weary of the same missions over and over again.
I've noticed what *might* and what *should* be included in police radio missions. However, as to something that is doable, why not collect data on preferred enemy types and preferred mission types and put together mission stories (I've noticed Cryptic is kinda slow with mission story development though) based on the preferences.
This would work if there were a sort of personality test spread to the missions offered, so that eventually they achieve a mission as a reward that seems worthwhile to them, based on their decisions.
Another thing I see that would be useful is permitting players to design their own missions to go on through speaking with various people in the police department, something similar to what David Cook suggested with characters assembling arch-enemies.through pieces that were available depending on owned souvenirs. Except that it would just be assembling mission types through choices made in police department conversation.
Not liking the zone-specific-to-your-level thing. As a 50 I'm getting bored with Peregrine Island and PI-only scanner mission mobs. What's wrong with scanner missions in ANY zone? Level 50+ Hellions just might be what we need. Or Skulls, or Freakshow. Why punish us for being higher-level? Doesn't seem like much of a reward to me.
- Captain Amazing
Scanner Missions are just a way for ppl to lvl up fast between or past contact missions.
If you are lv 50, you will get very bored with them very fast due to the lack of storyline.
At 45+, more Freaks and Rikiti please. Please?
[ QUOTE ]
Not liking the zone-specific-to-your-level thing. As a 50 I'm getting bored with Peregrine Island and PI-only scanner mission mobs. What's wrong with scanner missions in ANY zone? Level 50+ Hellions just might be what we need. Or Skulls, or Freakshow. Why punish us for being higher-level? Doesn't seem like much of a reward to me.
- Captain Amazing
[/ QUOTE ]
Many many moons ago, the devs went on record as stating that they can't generate arbitrarily leveled versions of mobs in game.
IIRC, mobs are table driven, and if a given villain group only has a table that runs from (say) level 1 to level 25, they can't generate level 26 versions of that group. Period.
That said, there are a few obvious oversights. I may be unlucky, but I don't remember ever encountering Nemesis in a L50 PB mission. Additionally Freaks are available at high level, since there's a mission north of 40 in an alternate dimension that involves Freaks. Ditto Council, etc.
Scrappers are just like chainsaws. Somewhat hard to handle, EXTREMELY dangerous, and by far the most fun when wielded by the slightly insane.
@Alissara - an Angry Angel
The Angry Angels. When it absolutely positively has to be spanked today.
Isn't that why the shivan temp power was changed to an EB? It used to summon a boss-level shivan, but he was stuck at 25...
As to the PI scanners, they should have rikti, malta, freakshow, DE, nemesis, as well as some of the alternate-dimesion groups, (who would turn down an Axis America scanner mish?). There are also high level family, as seen in a CoV mission for TV. You coudl also have the odd Rularuu scanner mish, shadow-shard reflection mish, etc...
[ QUOTE ]
*sigh* I may be considered the kid complaining about not getting quizzes...
But, Rescue missions without ambushes kinda seem pointless. All the standard missions you get from contacts there is usually an ambush that comes charging for you within a fair amount of time of you rescuing the hostage. However, I have not had one ambush within the Rescue mission in all the time it's been on live servers.
Sure, there's a fair amount of ambushes pre-mission, but none inside the Rescue missions themselves once the rescue portion is underway.
[/ QUOTE ]
Actually that is a fault of this kind of mission for both Heroes and Villains. I would really love to have a couple of groups spawn on my way out that I have to deal with before I can get out with the person I am rescuing.
But I love the police band missions (and Newspaper missions villain side). It's one thing that keeps me playing the game 
two things:
1) safeguards seem rather easy to complete compared to mayhems..
2) LOVE the obscure references in some of these.. as an old fan of Firesign Theater I about fell out of my chair when Audrey Farber said "Call me Nancy, everyone does" I mean what maybe 2% of your players are gonna get that? Great stuff..
Now if you pardon me I have to knock the cornstarch off my mucklucks and set them down by the celophane..
[ QUOTE ]
1) safeguards seem rather easy to complete compared to mayhems..
[/ QUOTE ]
qft
Primarily because of the Longbow Ambushes for each "resisting Arrest" time bonus. No one actually comes after you in Safeguards since they are in Paragon. We need Rogue Isles safeguards with Arachnos ambushes.
Safeguards are easier, but really, shouldn't preventing a bank robbery be easier then entering enemy terrritory, evading their forces, and stealing their well guarded resources ?
Centinull
[ QUOTE ]
Safeguards are easier, but really, shouldn't preventing a bank robbery be easier then entering enemy terrritory, evading their forces, and stealing their well guarded resources ?
[/ QUOTE ]
I think the problem is that there is no penalty to NOT protecting Paragon, in safeguards. What if failing to prevent vandals cost you a min or 2? What if the outside spawns for side missions were only there for a certain period of time, then they'd actually do the arson? When you're doing a mayhem, YOU initiate the action and the AI LB react to it. When you do a safeguard, you both trigger the event & react to it. That arson isn't going to even begin until you defeat the outside spawn, yet in a mayhem the ambushes start coming just by you approaching the bank. The ambushes shouldn't start coming until AFTER you actually attack the vault...
Yeah I'd much rather prefer GTA style Mayhems where the POLICE AREN'T ALREADY IN PLACE. You get seen, ppl call the police, you enter the bank, guards defend it, call the cops, if the cops can't handle it Longbow gets called in and then a Hero.
OK I havent seen one of these yet - Do Toxic Tarantulas spawn as end bosses in the high level PB missions.
Would be grteat to add them as end of mission bosses if they dont.
I guess I could just be being unlucky
@Catwhoorg "Rule of Three - Finale" Arc# 1984
@Mr Falkland Islands"A Nation Goes Rogue" Arc# 2369 "Toasters and Pop Tarts" Arc#116617