QFD
(Quoted for Doom!)
>.>
<.<
Duel me.
I will work on my sig pic more when I have time.
This guide should come in the box with the game.
And should be required forum reading.
My opinion is in no way influenced by the fact that one of my characters is indeed a springer spaniel with an uzi. Or, at least, some kind of dog with some kind of gun.
"Bombarding the CoH/V fora with verbosity since January, 2006"
Djinniman, level 50 inv/fire tanker, on Victory
-and 40 others on various servers
A CoH Comic: Kid Eros in "One Light"
Earth Wyrms Guide to DOOOOOM!
Version 1.0
If youve spent any time on the forums, youve probably acquainted yourself with the notion of DOOOOOOM! This is the over-arching fear, generally unwarranted, that City of Heroes/Villains is about to implode, that the sky is going to fall, and that the CoX universe as we know it is about to be sucked into a black hole from whence it shall never return. It is important to note that DOOOOOM!, as commonly conceived, is distinct from the notion of doom, which is simply things that are really, really, bad, and potentially real-world life-threatening. Such things are off-topic and have no place on the forums.
DOOOOOOM!, however, is very much a part of our existence. Moreover, its genre-appropriate. What would superheroes be, after all, if not for the threat of impending chaos and the end of life as we know it? Were it not for the DOOOOOOOM!-cryers, we might forget that were playing in a game world of heroes and villains and begin to take ourselves far too seriously. As such, its important for all of us to understand DOOOOOM!, in its many incarnations, to interpret the actions that bring about DOOOOOOM!, and to be able to react appropriately when DOOOOOOM! seems all but certain to win the day.
To help us all understand DOOOOOOOM! a bit more completely, I asked for volunteers from Mrs. Schultzs third-grade class at Paragon Elementary. After a careful screening process, one young lad stood out based on his insights into what it means to be a superhero in Paragon City. His name is Timmy, and today he and I are going to talk about DOOOOOM!
Gosh, Wyrm, this seems like an important topic. What can you tell me about DOOOOOM!?
Im glad you asked, Timmy. You see, DOOOOOOM! is a natural reaction to any change in the order of things. Its part of what we call, The human condition, which is a deep topic only of interest to philosophers, theologians, and HR managers. Because of the limited scope of interest in the so-called human condition, a lot of people dont realize that a certain amount of DOOOOOM! is healthy. Its our way of expressing that something is changing in a world that we had gotten comfortable in, and that were scared at how things are going to turn out.
Oh. So, what does this have to do with being a superhero or a supervillain?
Another good question! One of the things about being super whether you call yourself a hero or a villain is that you have super powers. Its what makes superheroes what they are, after all. When something happens that threatens how our powers work, it makes us worry that well be less super. That now, when we fly around the city or leap from building to building or teleport ourselves across huge bodies of water, we may be less impressive.
But most of the people in Paragon City cant do any of that. They just stand around getting mugged and waiting for someone to help them. How come supers feel less impressive when theres always normal people to save?
We forget that these normal people are always going to look up to us. We only compare ourselves to other heroes, and when we think were going to be less impressive than other heroes because of something thats happened, we may cry DOOOOOOM! Because we forget how much good were still able to do helping people without super powers.
Can you help the lady who stands in front of the statue of Atlas getting mugged by nobody?
No, Timmy. Shes a mime. No one can help her.
DOOOOOOOM!
No, not exactly well, all right.
So DOOOOOOM! comes from being less powerful, and from mimes?
Thats part of it, but not all. Let me lay out some of the basics of DOOOOOOM! Becoming less powerful is sometimes called nerfing. You can trace the roots of the usage through Google if you like, but its a term used to indicate that someone who used to be really, really, super, is now only really super. Sometimes your attacks do less damage, or your heals heal for less, or your powers recharge more slowly there are lots of ways to get nerfed. Most of these changes are made in the name of something called game balance.
That sounds scary. Is it kind of like the human condition?
A little bit. Its an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, and penetrates us, and
*Cough*
Oh. My bad. Youre very correct, Timmy, we dont want to violate anyones intellectual property. Especially his.
The idea of game balance is complicated, since it has to do with a large number of design factors you, as a player, never have access to. There may be things a year or more away that are being factored into game balance decisions, and because everything is subject to change at any point in time, the reasons for such decisions will often be lost on us. There may be a particularly Evil Design that people Especially Despise, and that creates Exiting Droves, but that is necessary to allow the game designers to invent something new and fun for the players.
Exiting Droves? Thats kinda awkward. Dont you think people would have gotten it after the first two ED references?
Such a bright boy. As I was saying, a lot of things we see as nerfs are done to keep the game playable and interesting. The game wouldnt be any fun if everybody played it exactly the same way, or if there were a strategy that let you run through everything in a couple of days. A lot of people would be tempted to use the best way to play the game, and they would get bored quickly, and the game would die. So you see, nerfs are just a way of keeping the game alive. Theyre for our own good.
You really like being nerfed, Wyrm?
Like it? Goodness no! Nobody likes being nerfed. And people always look back and say, You know, I used to be so much more powerful. I used to be able to herd everything in the Hollows into one dumpster behind Flux, then footstomp them all into oblivion! But really, does that sound like fun?
Yeah!
Huh. You know, it does. But thats kind of the point. If you couldnt look back on the good old days, it wouldnt feel very much like a comic book, would it?
I guess. So DOOOOOOM! is all about nerfs and mimes?
Again, Timmy, thats close but not quite. There are other things that can create DOOOOOM!, with mimes and nerfs being two of the most prominent. Other things are just general changes in how the world works. For instance, for a long time the heroes of Paragon have struggled against the Hamidon.
Hamidon? Ooh, Ive heard of him hes the jelly monster!
Precisely! The Hamidon is a huge glob of jelly that lives in a valley on the fringes of Paragon City, where he creates monsters that want to wipe every human being off the planet.
DOOOOOOM! Nerf Hamidon!
Settle down, Timmy. As it turns out, theres a big change coming for Hamidon. Hes going to become a problem for villains as well, and the way the monsters and mitochondria around him work is probably going to change. But there are a lot of heroes who have gotten comfortable with how Hamidon works now.
Hows he work?
Well, a lot of heroes get together. They attack and kill everything around him, then spend a half-hour or so hitting Hamidon himself. Well, first they make sure hes held and not able to attack them, then, depending on the shard of reality in which the heroes exist, they either attack him or they just hug him to death.
Is being hugged to death kinda liked being nerfed?
If you ask the developers, maybe. In this case, not really. The point, however, is that Hamidon now is very easy to take down. Assuming you have somewhere between 60 and 200 heroes, a top-end computer, a lot of people with holds, and no one who decides to spawn a Kronos Titan to grief the raid. People can get the special rewards for being up Hamidon without doing much at all. They can show up late, punch him once, then go hide behind a rock and get a really spiffy reward.
So wheres the DOOOOOOOM!?
Right now? There isnt any. But soon, Hamidon is going to change, and the nice, easy way of getting Hamidon-Origin enhancements is not going to be nice or easy any more. At least for the first three days its out, that is. But right now, were not supposed to know anything about how the new Hamidon will work, which makes people nervous.
Not supposed to? Does that mean we do?
Im afraid I cant answer that, Timmy. You lack the proper security clearance.
Oh. Okay. So what youre saying is that people dont know how something is going to work, and they think its going to be really bad, so they start getting all DOOOOOOM!-y?
Youve got it! Bright lad. Theres one more topic I want to cover, though, before we wrap up.
Really? Id have thought people could get more than enough DOOOOOOM! out of nerfs, changes, and mimes.
Youd think. And to some extent, they do. But you can talk about changes from a different perspective as well. You see, the Hamidon change is based on something players are familiar with. You fought Hamidon before, and youll fight him after the change is made. Fighting is fighting is fighting.
Until it gets nerfed.
No, then its still fighting. It just takes longer, and you have to rest when youre done.
So whats the other kind of change?
The other kind of change, Timmy, is what I call a meta-change. Its a change not just in what you do, but in what its possible to do in the game as a whole. Do you know what PvP is, Timmy?
DOOOOOOOM!?
Ah, my young friend, you make me chuckle. No, PvP is not DOOOOOOM!, contrary to what some forum posters may tell you.
Is it LOL?
Only sometimes.
But if its not DOOOOOOOM!, and its not LOL, what is it?
PvP is short for player vs. player. Its when two players fight each other, instead of mobs controlled by an AI that often emulates a springer spaniel with an uzi. When City of Heroes was launched, it had no PvP. Oh, there was the possibility for it, but it wasnt much of a focus. After all, why would heroes want to run around beating up other heroes? Then they made arenas and then came City of Villains, and it made an awful lot of sense for heroes to want to fight villains, and vice versa. When PvP was introduced, though, there was a lot of DOOOOOM! floating around. People were worried it would ruin the game.
Did it?
Not at all. To ruin the game, it would have to be relevant. No, all the DOOOOOOM! over PvP turned out to be not well-founded. Now weve got another round of DOOOOOOM!-crying, over the introduction of Wentworths and the Black Market, where heroes and villains can buy and sell things to improve their characters.
Havent people always been able to buy and sell stuff?
They have. Not like this, though. Its going to create what people call an economy.
Is that kind of like game balance, Wyrm?
No. Much like the human condition, an economy is completely irrelevant to game balance, being an artificial set of values imposed on a functionally infinite supply of wealth and goods that can be traded across reality shards. The developers have even said that the economy which is going to exist because theyre introducing inventions will not affect how the game plays at all. Its simply another thing to do with your characters, but the villains you fight or the heroes, if youre a villain to start with arent going to become more or less difficult because of what you can invent and buy.
What about inventions? Are they DOOOOOOOM!?
I dont believe they are, Timmy.
But theyre new, right? And different than what people could already do? Something being new and different makes it all DOOOOOOOM!-y, doesnt it?
In theory, yes. And there are certainly those who would agree with you. I think this has brought us to the point where we need to talk about what really is, and what really isnt, DOOOOOOM!-worthy.
It seems real complicated, Wyrm. How can you tell? I mean, theres a lot of stuff that goes on, right?
Indeed there is. Im going to do my best to sum up, but I have to tell you that there are folks who disagree with me, or who will disagree with me. That doesnt mean that Im wrong, of course. Just wanted to be clear about that. But people disagree. So when I talk about whats DOOOOOM!-worthy, well, someone else may have a different perspective on that.
Should I listen to them?
Of course not. Er, that is, you should always think for yourself, Timmy.
So whats DOOOOOOOM!-worthy, Wyrm?
Serious DOOOOOM! should only happen if something happens that indicates that Paragon City is in a state of decline. For instance, subscription numbers dropping below 100,000 might be DOOOOOM!-worthy. Consolidation of servers because its no longer cost-effective to keep reality shards like Victory or Pinnacle open would almost certainly be DOOOOOM!-worthy. Functionally, anything that shows that the time we have left with our super-alter-egoes should absolutely be expected to elicit cries of DOOOOOOOOM!
Thats it? People shouldnt cry DOOOOOM! over anything else?
Thats not quite what I meant to say. Generally, though, DOOOOOOM!-crying over anything that doesnt legitimately threaten to end the game is either an over-reaction, or intended to be funny. There are other times that its been very legitimate, though, even though the reason people were crying DOOOOOOOM! turned out to not have anywhere near the DOOOOOOM!-y consequences that were anticipated. Take, for example, enhancement diversification.
That ED thing you didnt want to name?
I changed my mind. Remember that with enhancement diversification, the way people slotted powers changed pretty fundamentally. It no longer did any good to slot six of the same enhancement in a power. After three, you got diminishing returns. The idea was to make slotting more diverse than one accuracy, five damage.
Did it work?
Sure. Now, instead of everyone slotting one accuracy and five damage, they slot one or two accuracy, three damage, and maybe an endurance or recharge reducer.
How is that DOOOOOOM!-y?
By itself, its not. But there were people who really didnt like it and who quit playing. DOOOOOM! came from predictions that so many people would leave the game that there wouldnt be anyone left, and that no one would like an underpowered superhero game.
But Paragons still here.
Yup. The thing some players didnt realize at the time was that even if people left the game, the game was still growing. New players who came in and there are new players all the time would never know that they were underpowered. In fact, thats kind of what folks running huge shared-world games count on. If they lose a few players because of a game balance decision, they still have a solid core group of players who enjoyed the game regardless, and theyre going to get new players who will appreciate the game for what it is rather than what it was. Its small-scale DOOOOOOM!, because its never good to lose players, but if youre losing few enough players that youll still be able to grow, the game will survive. Its only when the number of people you lose over a decision out-strips the likely number of new players youre going to get as the game continues that you really have to worry about DOOOOOOM!
Uh, that was a lot of big words. Whats it all mean?
Sometimes, people get unhappy and quit the game. As long as everybody doesnt quit, were fine.
Wow, Wyrm. Thats a whole lot of information about DOOOOOOM! I think my brains about full. I already forgot every word thats supposed to be on tomorrows spelling test.
Youll do fine, Timmy. Anyway, spelling is over-rated in a world with spellcheckers.
I know youre a hero, Wyrm, but you kind of look like you want to monologue. Do you?
You are a remarkably perceptive lad, Timmy. In fact, I do.
Heres the thing about DOOOOOOOM! Its not a bad thing. It really isnt. When you hear people talking about DOOOOOOOM!, its not because they think the world is going to end. Not yet, at least. Its their way of saying how much they enjoy Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. Its their way of saying that things are a lot of fun the way they are, and they dont want it to change, and they dont want it to end. People who hate the City dont cry DOOOOOOM! only the people who love it. And there are a lot of us. We came here for a variety of reasons, but we stayed here because its like a second home. It wont last forever, but for as long as it does, were going to enjoy it.
Wait you mean that DOOOOOOOM! is a good thing?
It is, Timmy. Its a very good thing.
What about mimes?
Look for them to be nerfed in Issue 11.
DOOOOOOOOM! FTW!
Atta boy, Timmy. Atta boy.
My postings to this forum are not to be used as data in any research study without my express written consent.