Discussion: Positron Q&A on the XP Smoothing
By
2Negative,
Posted on: 2008-02-07 10:53 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
Thanks for explaining that.
Shadowy Presence - Absolutely, positively worse than playing a Kheldian... --Myrmydon
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That said, I have no problem doing this if you guys don't. Just let me know what missions you want on Ouroboros and I will do my best to get them there.
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Safeguards and Mayhem missions please kind sir. 
And while I'm here I want to say; "Thanks for the XP smoothing out easier leveling thingy. Ok, I'm not sure what to call it but thanks."
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I am one of those people that don't care about xp but do care about content.
Do we have any idea when/if missions that aren't story arcs will make it to flashback? A lots of the cool and unusual missions are offered to you after you complete a story arc.
I am glad about the xp smoothing, not glad about the xp boost.
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Anything can be made Flashback, but the "completed" star checks for A) Souvenir clue or B) the Badge. If we did missions that were not Story Arcs and not Badged, then they would never show complete.
That said, I have no problem doing this if you guys don't. Just let me know what missions you want on Ouroboros and I will do my best to get them there.
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What if you changed the drop down menu for Ouroboros slightly to accomodate this. Say it has two drop down menus:
>Story Arcs and Badge Missions
>>Level 1-15
>>Level 15-20
>>And so on
>Additional Content
>>Level 1-15
>>Level 15-20
>>And so on.
So it still kinda stays the same, and just creates an additional folder for all these other side missions. That way we'll all know which story arcs we have completed without going back and figuring out which are story arcs and which are just cool missions we would like to do.
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I am one of those people that don't care about xp but do care about content.
Do we have any idea when/if missions that aren't story arcs will make it to flashback? A lots of the cool and unusual missions are offered to you after you complete a story arc.
I am glad about the xp smoothing, not glad about the xp boost.
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Anything can be made Flashback, but the "completed" star checks for A) Souvenir clue or B) the Badge. If we did missions that were not Story Arcs and not Badged, then they would never show complete.
That said, I have no problem doing this if you guys don't. Just let me know what missions you want on Ouroboros and I will do my best to get them there.
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Maybe have those missions have a unique symbol in the star coloum - say, ∞ - for the OCD. The symbol would always be there, of course - since as you say there is no way to mark completed for those kinds of missions.
Orc&Pie No.53230 There is an orc, and somehow, he got a pie. And you are hungry.
www.repeat-offenders.net
Negaduck: I see you found the crumb. I knew you'd never notice the huge flag.
i'd say put them all in. Even the non-story arcs often have neat little tidbits of information about background info of enemy groups/storylines. and that's honestly one of my favorite things to learn. When I learned about Rikti-pocks and their secret I was in awe and had to share it with SGmates.
Liberty
My 50s:
Hero: Armor Assassin (scrapper), Cross Dresser (scrapper), Surly Seaman (blaster), Defensive End (Tank), Rad Rhino (Cont)
Villain: Beast Infection (Corr), Sweet Zombie Jesus (MM), Milk Weasel (Stalker), Orgullo (MM), Agent Eris (Crab)
I personally don't understand the mentality of "I must experience everything on every character." I'm thrilled that there is so much content that I can't experience it all. That just gives me incentive to do more alts. This is the only game I know where people complain that there is to much content.
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That said, I have no problem doing this if you guys don't. Just let me know what missions you want on Ouroboros and I will do my best to get them there.
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There are a good few missions which either provide temporary powers, advance important parts of the local stories, or are otherwise just damned entertaining or showed that a relatively large amount of work was placed into the particular mission. Some ones that come particularly to mind :
Rescue party goers from Trolls, Science 15-19 timed mission, is probably noteworthy since it includes a (lackluster, but useful) Self-Heal power, and helps show the conflict between Trolls and Outcasts, which is rather lackluster elsewhere.
From the same level range, the Mutant Rescue the auction house workers is *very* important for helping explain where the Outcasts are getting work. Other, less visible but still noteworthy, Natural $TsooName's tattoo parlour, Scroll of the Horned Dragon, Tech Recover Manny's trophy, and Rescue Bribed Police Officer are all pretty worthwhile.
Anything Crimson or Indigo sent you to do that isn't a street sweeper is probably worth putting into the Flashback system, either as single missions or as some sort of mission arc. Those things are very well-written, and they feel surprisingly heroic.
There are lots of really excellent missions out there, between all the street-sweeping, but it's rather difficult to experience a lot of it, even with multiple alts. I've only seen the "Rescue the Auction House Workers" one once out of fifteen-odd characters to make it past that level.
I don't mind having so much content that it's unlikely for one character to get it all normally. But it'd be nice to have the option of experiencing a lot of this stuff on different characters without analyzing the crud out of your contacts or making ridiculous numbers of alts.
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That said, I have no problem doing this if you guys don't. Just let me know what missions you want on Ouroboros and I will do my best to get them there.
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Well, I'll throw one out. There's a short sequence of missions in the 30-35 range, featuring the Circle of Thorns, given by Peter Stemitz or Allison King. The Circle plans to sever the souls from the bodies of everyone in Founders' Falls!
Mission:
Defeat all villains in area
-> Defeat lead mystic and his coven
-> Stop Circle's soul severing rite
I'd like to see that mission sequence in Ouroboros.
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I personally don't understand the mentality of "I must experience everything on every character." I'm thrilled that there is so much content that I can't experience it all. That just gives me incentive to do more alts. This is the only game I know where people complain that there is to much content.
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Right there with you. This is probably the first game I've ever seen people complain so much about having to "see everything" on one character.
This doesn't even realistically make *sense*. Because what it would mean is that you expect them to add *only* level 50 content (since you can't technically outlevel that) - which is just silly.
Wouldn't you rather see a different game when you play a new alt, not just the same thing over and over again (which it would be - because you obviously have to see *everything* on *every* character!)?
This game is highly supportive of alts, and I love it for that. I love being able to take different paths to 20 on different characters. One of the reasons I focused so heavily on villain side for a while was that I was SICK TO DEATH of the hero-side content - I always saw the same stuff. I could barely bring myself to play new alts (especially since street sweeping wasn't as beneficial as it used to be).
Now, with all the new hero side stuff, I can run just the new zones, run just papers, street sweep in perez, run the old contacts, tfs, or any kind of mix in between. We could still need more options in the 30-40 range (more low level RWZ contacts would help a lot here), but other than that we are doing pretty good.
I look forward to finally getting back to some OLD stuck-in-the-mud alts and maybe even getting some more 50s.
That being said, I think that adding everything to the flashback system (under the alternate menu suggested by another poster) is a great idea.
Guides: Dark Armor and IOs | SS/DA | Crabbing | Fortunata
I would love to be able to do the other villain patron missions. Don't need to switch patrons or anything, just want to do the missions.
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Anything can be made Flashback, but the "completed" star checks for A) Souvenir clue or B) the Badge. If we did missions that were not Story Arcs and not Badged, then they would never show complete.
That said, I have no problem doing this if you guys don't. Just let me know what missions you want on Ouroboros and I will do my best to get them there.
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For those other missions, have you considered adding a clue that you get if you complete a mission on an Flashback Mission? It could be tied to the Ouroboros meta-plot. You get some special clue about who is opposing the menders, or maybe related to those mysterious notes in the first mission.
The basic clue could be the same for all missions, no special text. Just a marker with Flashback Taskforce and the mission name. If the devs have extra time, they can go back and add some fun text to certain clues. This could even be done incrementally over a series of Issues.
Just my 2 Inf. A series of missions with no star after them would be fine too.
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I would love to be able to do the other villain patron missions. Don't need to switch patrons or anything, just want to do the missions.
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THAT would pwn.
I like this suggestion VERY much.
Blazara Aura LVL 50 Fire/Psi Dom (with 125% recharge)
Flameboxer Aura LVL 50 SS/Fire Brute
Ice 'Em Aura LVL 50 Ice Tank
Darq Widow Fortune LVL 50 Fortunata (200% rech/Night Widow 192.5% rech)--thanks issue 19!
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That said, I have no problem doing this if you guys don't. Just let me know what missions you want on Ouroboros and I will do my best to get them there.
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Safeguards and Mayhem missions please kind sir.
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Yes, please.
As for the xp smoothing, I think this is really gonna help me keep interest in some of my less solo-friendly characters, such as my defenders and corruptors, and anything that helps me keep interest is a good thing in my book.
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I am one of those people that don't care about xp but do care about content.
Do we have any idea when/if missions that aren't story arcs will make it to flashback? A lots of the cool and unusual missions are offered to you after you complete a story arc.
I am glad about the xp smoothing, not glad about the xp boost.
[/ QUOTE ]
Anything can be made Flashback, but the "completed" star checks for A) Souvenir clue or B) the Badge. If we did missions that were not Story Arcs and not Badged, then they would never show complete.
That said, I have no problem doing this if you guys don't. Just let me know what missions you want on Ouroboros and I will do my best to get them there.
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How about everything?
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That said, I have no problem doing this if you guys don't. Just let me know what missions you want on Ouroboros and I will do my best to get them there.
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Safeguards and Mayhem missions please kind sir.
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As an idea, key each star to the exploration badge in that specific Safeguard or Mayhem mission? That way it will appear as completed when you complete a Safeguard or Mayhem.
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I would love to be able to do the other villain patron missions. Don't need to switch patrons or anything, just want to do the missions.
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If this idea is possible I love it.
I often take one patron mission just to get a power that works with the concept of my character but enjoy the story arcs from other patrons
*cough* Scirocco*cough*.
If the patron badge or whatever allows us to pick the patron powers is a problem would it be possible to have a special version of the story arc without the reward put in?
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Anything can be made Flashback, but the "completed" star checks for A) Souvenir clue or B) the Badge. If we did missions that were not Story Arcs and not Badged, then they would never show complete.
That said, I have no problem doing this if you guys don't. Just let me know what missions you want on Ouroboros and I will do my best to get them there.
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As a rule of thumb, I would like to be able flashback to any mission with custom map graphics, EB or AV encounters, or temporary power rewards.
Partially because these are usually some of the cooler missions in game, partially because they are more theme appropriate for certain characters or supergroup team-up events, and partially because with a faster leveling curve a few of these gems will now be easier to miss!
I'd like to enjoy the new accelerated curve without stressing about ever missing anything cool like this and also with the full knowledge if the dev team ever does any future mission customization passes, I'll be able to go back with whatever character to see the cool new details and get screenshots of my 'toons in these fun, unique environments.
Thanks! 
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Just let me know what missions you want on Ouroboros and I will do my best to get them there.
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I'd say any mission that offers a unique map, like Angus' Portal mission, or the first mission with Carnies from Madeline Casey (due to the Carnie tents). Also, many contacts offer multiple-part missions that aren't in arcs, which frequently have interesting backstory, and would be good for Flashbacks.
Basically, every mission, other than street hunts that aren't linked to door missions, from every contact would be good to have in Flashback, at some point. We already get all the missions from Hollows/Striga/Faultline/Croatoa/War Zone, but only because those guys start the "mini-arc" as soon as you talk to them. <_<
And I'll also toss in Safeguards and Mayhems. Maybe use the Broker/Detective for that Safeguard/Mayhem as your "contact", make the player do 3-5 paper/scanner missions, to get your Safeguard/Mayhem. >_> Heck, if you allow players to skip the Safeguard/Mayhem, and do papers/scanner indefinitely at a particular exemped level range (i.e. no xp, but inf/prestige, plus salvage/recipe drops), that would be great too.
Dungeoncleaners! (ID#125715): Slay the Adventurers! Rescue the Monsters! Return the Treasure!
Peppermint Cat-- Lv50 Mewtant Ice/Eng Bls
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I am one of those people that don't care about xp but do care about content.
Do we have any idea when/if missions that aren't story arcs will make it to flashback? A lots of the cool and unusual missions are offered to you after you complete a story arc.
I am glad about the xp smoothing, not glad about the xp boost.
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Anything can be made Flashback, but the "completed" star checks for A) Souvenir clue or B) the Badge. If we did missions that were not Story Arcs and not Badged, then they would never show complete.
That said, I have no problem doing this if you guys don't. Just let me know what missions you want on Ouroboros and I will do my best to get them there.
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Anything that is not a street hunt.
Also, the complete thing, it may be tedious but what about just adding invisible badges to all of them?
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That said, I have no problem doing this if you guys don't. Just let me know what missions you want on Ouroboros and I will do my best to get them there.
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Could we get all of the stand-alone Praetorian missions from Maria Jenkins? It'd be nice some times to just automatically jump to fighting Siege or Diabolique without having to work your way through the arc.
It'd be especially cool of the Gold Star for completing each mission was keyed off of whether you already had that AV's kill for Dimensional Warder, but that might be pushing it.
I'd like to see Mayhem and Safeguards added.
I'd suggest non-arc missions with Praetorians, for the Dimensional Warder badge, but since those are all 45-50, there's not much point.
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I am one of those people that don't care about xp but do care about content.
Do we have any idea when/if missions that aren't story arcs will make it to flashback? A lots of the cool and unusual missions are offered to you after you complete a story arc.
I am glad about the xp smoothing, not glad about the xp boost.
[/ QUOTE ]
Anything can be made Flashback, but the "completed" star checks for A) Souvenir clue or B) the Badge. If we did missions that were not Story Arcs and not Badged, then they would never show complete.
That said, I have no problem doing this if you guys don't. Just let me know what missions you want on Ouroboros and I will do my best to get them there.
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The how come one of my characters has the badge for a few missions but no star in the Ouroboros tf/mission list? One of the missions he got the badge for was completed using the Ouroboros system.
Global Chat: @Prime Knight
Liberty
{Heroes}
Panthera Knight - Claws/SR/BM scrapper 50!!
Prime Knight - Mind/Kin/Psi controller 50!!
Pshun Keru - Triform peacebringer 50!!
Pius Knight - BS/DA scrapper +20
{Villains}
Kaiser Presul - Rob/FF mastermind +30
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Positron wrote:
Anything can be made Flashback, but the "completed" star checks for A) Souvenir clue or B) the Badge. If we did missions that were not Story Arcs and not Badged, then they would never show complete.
That said, I have no problem doing this if you guys don't. Just let me know what missions you want on Ouroboros and I will do my best to get them there.
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Before you invest more time into Ouro, could you maybe figure out a way to stop exemplaring people?
You absolutely demolished what COULD HAVE BEEN some great level 50 content with the auto-exemplar stuff.
People should be able to do fun things with their level 50s. By fun I mean more than farming or running their 978th STF.
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Anything can be made Flashback, but the "completed" star checks for A) Souvenir clue or B) the Badge. If we did missions that were not Story Arcs and not Badged, then they would never show complete.
That said, I have no problem doing this if you guys don't. Just let me know what missions you want on Ouroboros and I will do my best to get them there.
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Well, the Safeguard/Mayhem missions for one. I am not one for group much with my main. I am so used to soloing with him, that I don't function well in groups with that toon. He was around lvl 40 when Safeguard missions hit, so I miss the badges from the majority of them.
Those are my main wish for more Ouroboros content.
Main Hero: Flame Blade (Scrapper lvl 50; Katana/Regeneration)
Main Villain: Elenor Seahawk (Mastermind lvl 44; Necromancy/Poison)
My Arcs: #337278: Learning Curve
Fight my Brute: SMASH
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I am one of those people that don't care about xp but do care about content.
Do we have any idea when/if missions that aren't story arcs will make it to flashback? A lots of the cool and unusual missions are offered to you after you complete a story arc.
I am glad about the xp smoothing, not glad about the xp boost.
[/ QUOTE ]
Anything can be made Flashback, but the "completed" star checks for A) Souvenir clue or B) the Badge. If we did missions that were not Story Arcs and not Badged, then they would never show complete.
That said, I have no problem doing this if you guys don't. Just let me know what missions you want on Ouroboros and I will do my best to get them there.
Positron
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