Discussion - Dev Diary: Designing Day Jobs Feature

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My only gripe against the badge collector arguement (which has kind of died out over the last page) is that the current system is already borked for newer people to become badge collectors.

Thanks to my not starting on day one, and that I had to take a break for college, I'll never be able to "catch up" on vet reward badges*. Because of that I've been turned off from badge collecting entirely.

The nice thing about these badges is that they are actually obtainable after a period of time. Sure, a long period of time, but they can be achieved while working on the other long term badges (while you're sleeping, etc).

*Note: if in the chance that one day I do catch up in Vet Badges thanks to no more coming out, then I'd be worried about the game still being available more than collecting badges.

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@Mojo-
Proud Member of Fusion Force.

Another thing.... just keep all your toons logged off for 3 days... call your contact or whatever, drop your missoin and get double xp! lol

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I'm really excited to see this! I am really looking forward to working toward these. I need some clarification, so the amount of time you spend logged off in this area is added up each time you log off?

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Virtue: @Santorican

Dark/Shield Build Thread

That's pretty cool to know that you guys are flexible. How would you determine what would be a good time period other than people saying it should be X amount?

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Virtue: @Santorican

Dark/Shield Build Thread

Wow...imagine if the devs had decided to add NO new badges at all. This thread would be almost completely empty. Folks would be complaining elsewhere about the new powersets, instead. Or the fact that the MA is delayed.

While I see some problems with the Day Jobs (cookie-cutterism; who the Hades needs /more/ worthless Tech salvage drops; expect the Midnighters' Club to be mobbed full-time by farmers), it's an interesting idea, if not 'all that'. And I have no problem at all that I can't spam for a farm team, or DL a map and just stroll over and pick up that shiny I just HAVE to have NAO!

As open Beta approaches, expect whining about how the devs didn't list where EVERY logout location is, so we actually have to LOOK for them, instead of starting to glom all the new stuff on our test chars NAO!

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Things to remember:
-Common sense ain't;
-Overkill is the only kill;
-If someone asks if you're a god, run away.

elvnsword09, you've managed to misinterpret much.

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30 days?! Why would I want to put one of my heroes or villians on the bench for a whole month of payed play time.

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You don't have to bench characters. You don't have to be logged out 30 consecutive days. You can play normally, logging out in the same location every time, and accumulate the 30 days. As long as you remember to log off in the same location every time, the benefits will show up one day.

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The costumes are unlockable... again?!

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The article makes no mention of unlockable costume items, and Positron confirmed that the new day job costumes are available at start, and are NOT unlockable items.


I think 30 days is an appropriate length of time, considering we're gaining power benefits as well as badges. 60 days for an accolade also seems reasonable to me, and will prevent us from snatching them up quickly. I'd like my characters to concentrate on one or two specialties, rather than bouncing from one random job to the next in rapid succession.

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I wonder if it is possible to set the badges up like a cross between x times the victor and the patron badges.

After, say, 5 or 10 days offline you get the badge with the wording "You've earned the right to be called (job title). Continue with this day job and you will earn a new skill."

After 30 days offline that badge has its artwork replaced with the current artwork. This would technically be the same badge and only the user would know the difference.

This will allow the badgers to get the shiney, allow RPers to get the title and let the accolades remain at a decent level without getting too overpowered.

Edit to give my opinion on the feature itself.

I kinda like getting a nifty little gift for the time I spend sleeping and at work. I'm glad the accolades and benifits are not mutually exclusive, would kinda suck to be stuck with a power or boost that I thought I would like/need but after getting it something else looks better.

On the double XP thing, I'm not sure how to feel. After the xp smoothing plus the bump I'm not sure the game really needs this. However, making it easier to get to the mid and high levels allows the devs to spend more time on end game content without putting it completly out of reach for the weekend/casual/altaholic player.

Of course, I'll make use of the double XP if they want to give it to me.

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i remember seeing some where that the day job badges were linked to costumes

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Day job badges are NOT linked to costumes.

The day job related costumes are free, unlocked at the start, content in Issue 13.

And the 30 days is what we are initially going with. The values may change in beta.

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I sure hope it does. No offense, but it's kind of absurd. That means for the badges you have LISTED, I have to log my main, my badge hunter, my favorite character out... for AT LEAST A YEAR.

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Maybe this is where devs made a mistake. Maybe they should have reduced the time required to get TWO of those badge for accolade but then prevented players to get any further badges from the collection.

It would have been like the Patron badges. Players would have to make a choice and live with it. So youd pick and work toward the bonus you want to have and stick with it. That way, players wouldnt have complained about needing 1 YEAR to get the badges.

Just make job badges exclusive after you earn two of them. So players only get 1 accolade in the end but theyll get it faster than 60 days.

From a RP point of view, it would also make some sense that a character cant have every jobs in the game...

And for those who say that such a system ( like Patron badges ) is screwing badgers, you should know by now that there already badges that are impossible to get ( like Celebrant, Elusive ) as of now. There are players that will never even have a chance to get every badges in game. So my point is maybe it never was intended for someone to get them all.


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This is EXACTLY what I proposed earlier (well, with a slight modification to permit continual accolade acquirement, but be able to "replace" the Day Job badge from Title A to Title B - still having just one at a time). It satisfies the thematic intent of the badge, as one hero CANNOT have fifty frickin' day jobs; satisfies the badger community to give them something to work on that is far less stressful than Epic badge requirements; and greatly ameliorates a system which actively encourages you to NOT play a toon to reward them.

I'm gonna make my proposal a link in my .sig so people catch on, but yes, Fury, I agree with that premise nearly 100%.

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This isn't as big of deal for altaholics. You can't play everything and you'll focus on Accolades/day jobs that help them in the few months you don't play them.

This will actually be a great way to log in and check up on a lot of toons you've forgotten about.

The issue is people and their mains, especially badgers. Again... badging isn't requried to play the game but it matters to many.

This is us whining. I admit it. However, 1000 pillboxes, 1 billion healed, damage taken, 2 billion in money earned and now day jobs.

With each hurdle the list of the hardcore badgers dwindles lol.

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Thank you, City of Heroes, for giving me a superhero social network combined with amazingly smooth game play. Petitions signed with realistic expectations.

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I wonder if it is possible to set the badges up like a cross between x times the victor and the patron badges.

After, say, 5 or 10 days offline you get the badge with the wording "You've earned the right to be called (job title). Continue with this day job and you will earn a new skill."

After 30 days offline that badge has its artwork replaced with the current artwork. This would technically be the same badge and only the user would know the difference.

This will allow the badgers to get the shiney, allow RPers to get the title and let the accolades remain at a decent level without getting too overpowered.

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Again: Exactly what I proposed (although I used the Patron badge example, but it's the same as the MacComber scenario). IMO, this is THE best solution to people's complaints on the thematic/collecting conflict this new Day Job system introduces.

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I AM curious to see how it handles logging off in your SG/VG base. Does it count you as 'on patrol', since you log back in in the street? Or is there a location flag for the bases, as well? hmmmmm....

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Things to remember:
-Common sense ain't;
-Overkill is the only kill;
-If someone asks if you're a god, run away.

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Again: Exactly what I proposed (although I used the Patron badge example, but it's the same as the MacComber scenario). IMO, this is THE best solution to people's complaints on the thematic/collecting conflict this new Day Job system introduces.

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I actually got the idea from you. The big difference between what I propose and you do is that you can have more than one badge at a time.

Say using your system I set my character up to get the doctor badge. I spend my time, get my badge and my boost. Now, I really want to get extra inf on mission completion. I log my character out at city hall and my doctor badge goes away. I can either have the boost I want or the badge I want but not both at the same time.

With multiple badges you can seperate the RP aspect from the game mechanic aspect.

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you know to me the time that it takes to get to badges for a comb badge makes since a person does not become Security Chief over night so to me it sounds perfect but hey thatsjust me

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A lot of people seem to be saying, "60 days is fair to earn an Accolade because you get a power at the end of it."

You may have failed to read that you can only use the power a set number of times, and then you have to log out at one of the two job locations that led to that Accolade for 8 days to fully recharge it. It's not like "Elusive Mind" and "Geas of the Kind Ones" where you just wait 15 minutes and they come back. They probably don't have a 15 minute timer between uses, either, but when they're gone, they're gone until you actively choose to spend 8 days not playing that character.

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My only gripe against the badge collector arguement (which has kind of died out over the last page) is that the current system is already borked for newer people to become badge collectors.

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Excuse me for requiring four hours of sleep before work.

Everyone's all, "I have no sympathy for badgers because of X," or "I don't care because I can't get all the badges either, so no one should care." Everybody had a chance to get every badge. It's not the game's fault if you hadn't heard of it prior to two months ago (there was plenty of advertising when it came out). Nor is it the game's fault if your computer couldn't run it (I used to play at 800x600 resolution with all the graphics turned down to near minimum). You could have started playing at the beginning, but for some reason or another you (or a parent or guardian, if you're a minor) chose to not start playing until a reward was no longer available.

See? I can make accusatory arguments too.

I don't mean any of that. Obviously, you could have medical reasons for not being able to play sooner, or maybe you lived in another country that never got the ad campaigns, or you didn't have time for video games due to work or family even though you were interested in CoH.

Yes, the current badge system is a little bit broken. Most of the epic badges are ridiculous, and a person playing 10 years wouldn't be able to get some of them without resorting to farming. Even the anniversary badges are a bit of a cruel touch--if I got in a car accident in late April and was in a coma until early June, I would miss that year's badge. That's kind of ridiculous. (I'd make the anniversary badges global anyway--if your account was active during the anniversary, every character you have and every character you'd ever make would automatically get the badge.)

The point is, if the system is already broken a little bit, why try and push it off the cliff by saying we'll only give you these badges if you don't play our game?

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Main Hero: Chad Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1396 Badges
Main Villain: Evil Gulzow-Man (Victory) 50, 1193 Badges
Mission Architect arcs: Doctor Brainstorm's An Experiment Gone Awry, Arc ID 2093

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A lot of people seem to be saying, "60 days is fair to earn an Accolade because you get a power at the end of it."

You may have failed to read that you can only use the power a set number of times, and then you have to log out at one of the two job locations that led to that Accolade for 8 days to fully recharge it.

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No, I read that part. That system works for me. Except for maybe one or two characters, I won't be interested in going for more than two day jobs for any given character. The exception(s) won't be concerned about the temp powers.

Although I do like to pick up badges, I generally don't go much out of my way to get them. I might go a bit out of my way to pick up a badge that's very appropriate for a character, but I don't feel any particular need to pick up badges that aren't appropriate for my characters.

And there are a lot of badges that I won't go after even if they're appropriate. When certain badges take me too far away from doing my missions, I give up on them.

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I haven't read through all of the other comments but I really upset about the 2xp... I like that my characters takea long time to level... I'm not a fan of power leveling... at least Ouroboros allows me to get through the arcs w/o having to solo mishes or slow down my lvling by dying... looks like I'm going to spend more time in Ouroboros since I've been playing for nearly 3 years only have 3 lvl 50's and have not touched even half of the game content... As difficult as it is to find people to full team TF's and simple mishes in lieu of being in the RWZ or Ob or Cimerora... now certain toons are not even going to be logged on... oh! That must have been the brainstorm into the shared experience feature... my head is whirling now... at least it looks like I will never get bored with this game... Soooooo freaking much to do.

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- Mechgato

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A lot of people seem to be saying, "60 days is fair to earn an Accolade because you get a power at the end of it."

You may have failed to read that you can only use the power a set number of times, and then you have to log out at one of the two job locations that led to that Accolade for 8 days to fully recharge it. It's not like "Elusive Mind" and "Geas of the Kind Ones" where you just wait 15 minutes and they come back. They probably don't have a 15 minute timer between uses, either, but when they're gone, they're gone until you actively choose to spend 8 days not playing that character.

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But I would think that part of it would appeal to the RPers.

Forex, I have an alt who is a medical student. Say he gets the healing accolade to fit that. Heck, from an RP standpoint it fits him better than the medicine pool, since he 'studied' to get it. Part of the time I can set him to work towards other badges, and part of the time I can put him to recharge his accolade power. From what has been posted, it doesn't seem to be an all or nothing thing. Just choose what you want to work on that time.

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"Home is where, when you have to go there, they have to let you in."

Wait a second...if someone is doing a leveling pact and the other is logged out gaining "rested" xp bonus. Does this eat away at the logged off character's "rested" bonus while the other plays?

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Hmmm

Whether or not 30 days is too long depends entirely on the player's gametime I suppose.

If you can only play for an hour or less a day, that's 23 hours logged out and rewards accruing faster. If, on the other hand, you're ingame a lot, this will take longer to achieve.

The Devs, I think, intend this to simulate a workplace. You don't (usually) get the top job within a day or two of arriving, do you?


Even though my eyes popped out when I saw the Villain Accolade powers (Web Grenades? Wow) none of this seems game-breaking, except perhaps the Salvage drops, given we are told that rewards "increase with time".

One day Temporal Analyzer, one day Chronal Skip?

The XP progression is something I have seen in other games and I welcome it here, especially with some of my characters mired in the mid-30s.

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It's one thing to say, "I'm going to grandma's for a week, so I'll park Super Buffalo Man in the hospital to get some Medical Specialist credit." It's another entirely to say, "I'd rather play Super Buffalo Man, but he's gotta work on that badge (or whatever reward you're going for), so to maximize his earnings, I'll play a different character that I'm really not as much in the mood to play."


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Anyone who does this needs serious help.

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i remember seeing some where that the day job badges were linked to costumes

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Day job badges are NOT linked to costumes.

The day job related costumes are free, unlocked at the start, content in Issue 13.

And the 30 days is what we are initially going with. The values may change in beta.

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Positron the thirty days is cumulative and not consecutive right?

Poison Pill

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Positron the thirty days is cumulative and not consecutive right?

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The answer is stated right in the article.

"When characters are logged out from a designated location (consecutively or non-consecutively) for a total of 30 days they will earn a badge associated with the corresponding Day Job. This will result in additional benefits. Once a badge is earned, the rate at which characters accumulate benefits, and even the potency of them increase!"

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I've said it once in another similar thread and I'll say it again here.

This is (as I see it) a gift from "above". A way of saying thank you for being great patrons. Most forget, Badging was never meant to be easy, so why make this process easier for "you"! Thanks to Badgehunter and other sources it has become more than what it was meant to be, cake-walk. 30 days seem extremely reasonalble to me. It is my belief that the 8 hour a day 7 days a week player is just not the majority of the community... maybe the forums but not CoX in general. Even still, just because your a hardcore gamer doesn't mean they should make changes to satisfy your greedy desire to be the one with "everthing." Sit back enjoy the ride. Take a moment for a change and watch the sunset. 30 days is not that long.

If you think of the actual concept of what a day job is, statistically speaking the average person stays on a job 3 years max and moves on. 30 days seems about right to me!

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If its broke, don't fix it... I like the chaos!

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Did you guys ever hear of the game called "Eath and Beyond" probably not, and that's exactly my point! They had an "offline reward system" they lasted less then a year (i think) maybe less then two for sure!


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Ever hear of the game "World of Warcraft"? They have an offline reward system, and seem to be doing fine

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I think the execution of day jobs is just fine as is. I know some folks have complained about the 30 days for badge thing but look at it like this there is no way to play all your alts at the same time so therefore they can earn the badges at the sametime. Even on your main toon you would still earn the badges pretty quickly. Unless you have like no life what so ever you are going to get at least 8 hours towards your main every day. My only complaint is the double xp thing. I have a hard enough time as it is to do all the content while I am in that level range as it is. I dont want to flashback if I can help it because it butcheres your enhancements when you exemplar below 32.

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