Warcry "Ask a Dev" Series Discussion
By
Archimedes,
Posted on: 2007-01-08 24:42 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Thankie!
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.
Hey Matt,
Got a quick question for you. In that pic of yours, is that a 20,24 or 30 inch Dell Monitor that you are using there. Just curious what settings do you view this game at?
Makes a note to ask Jay about the Invention system and Castle about why the Witch's Hat has no hair.
Agua Man lvl 48 Water/Electric Blaster
"To die hating NCSoft for shutting down City of Heroes, that was Freedom."
Wow, having a Jay interview would be pretty cool. Does this mean you're Rednaming him? 
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This means that, if we wanted to, we could have an Invention that gave out XP.
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Wow. Please don't do that.
- 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
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idk.... lil bit skeptical about getting answers to some of the big questions that are bound to get asked, such as are nerfs over with?
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That question is inherently unanswerable. Assuming the dev in question even agrees with the inherent characterization of "nerf", there's no way they could possibly know if they're going to discover this time next year a power needs to be changed for reasons that don't even exist yet.
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Is the (insert powerset here) powerset ever going to be fixed?
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You're going to get one of two answers, period; either the dev doesn't agree with you that it's broken, or the answer will be "yes" guaranteed, every single time.
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This means that, if we wanted to, we could have an Invention that gave out XP.
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Wow. Please don't do that.
- Protea
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Why not? As it stands now, I can get a little bit of XP for running past the right spot in-game, or I can click on an enemy and push some buttons for five seconds and get a little bit of XP (Greens are no risk to many characters and still give small ammounts of XP) In some missions I can get a bit of XP (and sometimes an inspiration!) for clicking on something and standing still.
Risk v. reward is not the entire paradigm for experience earning, you know. Effort is a factor as well, and if somebody wants to spend some ammount of time crafting rather then doing combat, why should rewarding them with XP be such an inherently bad thing that you would dismiss it out of hand? And from a roleplaying perspective, do people not gain experience from performing tasks other then beating each other up? Some of the best RPG's out there reward players for certain non-combat related behaviors.
Note, this doesn't nessecarily mean that the invention at hand would just churl out loads of XP for clicking a button. I'm sure that any inventions that grant XP will be balanced according to the effort that goes into developing that invention. Posi's post is just a commentary on the versatility that the system gives them, as developers, to have a variety of ways to reward the players for the time they spend getting involved in this new "toy" they're giving us.
Or to put it another way,
un-DOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Jason Heavensrun
Swift : Freedom Server
http://www.bladeandepsilon.com/CheckmateStudios
Check out my first Architect Arc, "Bring Up the Sun", arc #339507, and let me know what you think!
I disagree, i think the invention system SHOULD churl out loads of XP at the push of a button. But just for me. And Cheese-Puffs. Or Cheese-Puffs. At least Cheese-Puffs.
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This means that, if we wanted to, we could have an Invention that gave out XP.
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Wow. Please don't do that.
- Protea
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I don't think they will, merely that the system is capable of anything but that not everything will be used.
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This means that, if we wanted to, we could have an Invention that gave out XP.
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Wow. Please don't do that.
- Protea
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I don't think they will, merely that the system is capable of anything but that not everything will be used.
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Yup yup. The way i read it the system is more than cappable of creating ANY reward, but that does not mean it WILL. Capability =/= what it does do. A high end sports car is capable of going hundreds of miles an hour, but you don't actually drive it that speed unless under the most special cercumstances, like being on a closed race track. I hope that made sense.
>.>
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This means that, if we wanted to, we could have an Invention that gave out XP.
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Wow. Please don't do that.
- Protea
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No, I'd shoot for that badge invention instead
Casual hero since 2004
Citizen of Protector
----------------------------
@Zork Nemesis
'Inventing XP' would be insane and possibly illegal in some states: but knowing you could is awesome.
P.S. Jay would need to be consulted as to whether red was actually the sexiest possible color.
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Just to clarify:
Anything that is a reward "can" be made with the invention system.
This does not mean everything rewarded in the game is Inventable.
This means that, if we wanted to, we could have an Invention that gave out XP. Or Prestige. Or a Costume Piece. Or Infamy. Or a Badge. Or an Enhancement (we do a lot of Enhancements with the initial implementation of the system).
The invention system will not have all of this to start, but I am very excited with the sheer power of the system, as is Jack, which is why he touted it so positively in the earlier interview.
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But naturally the Vet Rewards will be off limits to that. Can't have somebody inventing the 33 month VR when they only have 6 months under their belt 
Then again it would be nice to not have to wait 2 or 3 years for something that lots of people already have...
I'm just hoping we'll see some "meat" information this time around. It seems every time they do a dev chat, they pick out questions that have already been answered, or that are pretty easy ("Oh you guys are going to love I9, it will kick [censored]!" responses). In other words, some nice announcements of stuff we didn't know.
Yes, we know about inventions. Yes, we know there's a Statesman TF in the works. But what about epic arch types for villains? What about new power sets? What about side switching or what ever?
Those would be the *real* headliners as opposed to "Yes, I9 will be cool!"
The truth is the solution from an equation of lies. ~Maileah Kirel
I can't seem to be able to register an account with WarCry. Something on their website keeps screwing up when I submit my registration info and then I'm not getting the email sent to me with the validation code. It looks like I'm not going to be able to ask any questions.
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This means that, if we wanted to, we could have an Invention that gave out XP.
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Wow. Please don't do that.
- Protea
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No... do... but once it's built - it will only work if you sit next to it alone and untouched while it works... and it only generates 1 pt every 35 minutes. Go ahead - TRY and abuse it.
Oooh - OOOH - even better!! You get a 15 extra XP per mission - but only if you team with a full team and run back to back missions.
Actually the invention I really want - is the one that lets me log on and no matter what server I'm on - there's enough people to team with at my level... oh - wait that's called the "SEARCH" button... now if we can just get more people playing to make it work.
I hope this means we can invent snowballs, rocks, vomit, and jingle jets!
I actually like the idea of having an invention give you XP. Each invention you make should give enough XP to actually make an "inventor" be a viable character type and level through just inventing if you wanted. In fact, could it be possible to make an epic archetype whose powers are geared toward making inventions?
An Inventor for Heroes and a Mad Scientist for Villains could have a primary that has powers that do things like increase the XP gained by creating inventions, increase the lifetime of inventions (if they are temporary), increase the potency of inventions, increase the chance of salvage drops, and increase the probability of success of inventions (If there is a chance of failure when inventing). As a secondary, the archetype could have a tiered set of temporary powers. Maybe every couple of levels or so, the power would be "Create Tier 1 Power", "Create Tier 2 Power", etc. Each tier would open up a set of powers that only this archetype could create for him or herself or for others. The beauty in this would be extreme customization for a character. Want to make a Tanker? Invent a bunch of defensive powers. Want to make a blaster? Make a bunch of ranged attacks. Want a Mastermind? Build some robots. Each tier could give you one power at that slot that could be respec'ed whenever you have enough salvage to change the power to the appropriate one you want.
It fits in the comic book world quite nicely, (Dr. Magnus, Hank Pym, The Terrible Tinkerer, Dr. Sivana), and would be quite appreciated on a Supergroup or Villain Group. The guys are out gathering salvage on missions while the inventor or scientist is back at the base crafting temporary powers that help the supergroup out (I think invented powers and enhancements for others should be temporary because the usefulness of an inventor would otherwise diminish over time). When the inventor gets bored, he can take his toys out for a spin.
Oh, and last secondary power should be a mech ;-)
Do you think an inventor/mad scientist archetype could be viable?
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Start submitting your questions for me here.
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But but but ... We have a bunch of forums right here, which are PACKED with questions already ...
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Stick a Dev with Sodium Penathol and Then Ask Questions" thread
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Question:
When is I9 coming out?
Answer:
When it is ready.
Question:
What is the % of the Inventions?
Answer:
Not sure yet, still working on that...
Question:
Are the Nerfs done?
Answer:
What nerfs?
and so on.... 
Seryphim : Virtue : Empath/Archery Defender
Fueur-Engel : Virtue : Fire/Thermal Corrupter
you know, given that even the player community does not uniformly regard the power changes as nerfs, it would be an act of defeatism for the devs to call them nerfs. some people will complain about everything, others have realistic expectations of how online gmaes work and dont get worked up in a bunch, perspective really.
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I actually like the idea of having an invention give you XP. Each invention you make should give enough XP to actually make an "inventor" be a viable character type and level through just inventing if you wanted. In fact, could it be possible to make an epic archetype whose powers are geared toward making inventions?
An Inventor for Heroes and a Mad Scientist for Villains could have a primary that has powers that do things like increase the XP gained by creating inventions, increase the lifetime of inventions (if they are temporary), increase the potency of inventions, increase the chance of salvage drops, and increase the probability of success of inventions (If there is a chance of failure when inventing). As a secondary, the archetype could have a tiered set of temporary powers. Maybe every couple of levels or so, the power would be "Create Tier 1 Power", "Create Tier 2 Power", etc. Each tier would open up a set of powers that only this archetype could create for him or herself or for others. The beauty in this would be extreme customization for a character. Want to make a Tanker? Invent a bunch of defensive powers. Want to make a blaster? Make a bunch of ranged attacks. Want a Mastermind? Build some robots. Each tier could give you one power at that slot that could be respec'ed whenever you have enough salvage to change the power to the appropriate one you want.
It fits in the comic book world quite nicely, (Dr. Magnus, Hank Pym, The Terrible Tinkerer, Dr. Sivana), and would be quite appreciated on a Supergroup or Villain Group. The guys are out gathering salvage on missions while the inventor or scientist is back at the base crafting temporary powers that help the supergroup out (I think invented powers and enhancements for others should be temporary because the usefulness of an inventor would otherwise diminish over time). When the inventor gets bored, he can take his toys out for a spin.
Oh, and last secondary power should be a mech ;-)
Do you think an inventor/mad scientist archetype could be viable?
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Awesome Idea, I will second this thought on a new AT, the Mad Scientist.
side note, Not a fan of having to go to some other companies website to hear the same old info I've found out myself.
cool you want to help spread the word about CoH/CoV but why can't we have a thread on these forums as well?
A lot of the links in the guide sections of the forums have also been cut, Do i smell a rat? In that the forums are being cut back and spread out to other companies. how long before all the forum is moved over to this new site?
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A lot of the links in the guide sections of the forums have also been cut, Do i smell a rat? In that the forums are being cut back and spread out to other companies. how long before all the forum is moved over to this new site?
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Define 'cut'. I ask because if the guide was posted and linked on the hero version of the forums, you'll get page can not be displayed or somesuch if you're using the villain skin and vice versa.
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Matt Miller: The Invention system is the single biggest system we have added post-launch to the game. It really changes the face of the game for the hardcore players, by giving them a huge chance to make their awe-inspiring characters even better with the special crafted Enhancements they can make. The best part is anything that is a reward can be made using the Invention system, that means the sky is pretty much the limit on what players can obtain, including costume pieces.
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Hmmm...does this mean that all Veterens rewards will be able to be created by the invention system? Does this also mean, that rewards like the Jump Pack from Good Vs. Evil or the costume pieces gained from the other DVD sets will be able to be invented?
Edit: I just recalled Positron stating before that the wings from the Veterans Rewards were a preview of what's to come from the inventions system. I'm not thinking that all we're getting from being a veteran is stuff from the Inventions system without having to invent them. 
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With Matt's quote I have been thinking is it possible that inventions will not be affected by ED. Could one of the reasons for ED was to make inventions possible? Could it be that what bothered players and the devs was not how powerful we could be but there were cookie cutter builds, with only a few ways to properly slot your toon? Today cookie cutter builds exists but are different.
Will the enhancement we invent give us true power customizateion? With the new system will it be possible for all types of builds to become almost equal in power to each other, with the only difference being how the hero gets the job done.
Ebony Fists: Level 50 DM/Regen Scrapper, Gloom Piston Robotics/Dark mastermind level 34, QueenFireMare: Level 34 Fire blaster (pure fire),
Thanks for the clarification, Posi. That makes a bit more sense now.