Expand the MA based on Rewards/Tickets/Dollars
By
Infatum,
Posted on: 2009-05-06 15:52 in Mission Architect
I really enjoy how this forum doesn't like to discuss much.
Hey, I'll bite. I like discussing far more than I like hammering out endless flawed analogies and yelling at people, which seems to be the pastime of choice 'round these parts. 
The problem is that tickets are not really that difficult to get. I crank 9000 tickets with ease, certainly easier than 9 bucks. And as we've seen, people can and will always find and exploit the fastest ticket generators imaginable.
The end result would be people buying slots with tickets 95% of the time, which means lots of space being taken up but no new investment in the hardware to store it all. The whole idea behind microtransaction slot buys is that the money goes back into the system to compensate for the extra load that extra slots put on it.
Still, I do like the idea of increased file size being part of the packages. I'd love to see that as an option when the buy-slots go up -- although there may be a technical limit to how much data the mapserver can run at once for a player, so we'll see.
Global @Twoflower / MA Creator & Pro Indie Game Developer.
Mission Architect Works: DIY Laser Moonbase (Dev Choice!), An Internship in the Fine Art of Revenge (2009 MA Award Winner!) and many more! Plus Brand New Arcs for Issue 21!
This would have to be a monetary thing honestly. I couldn't see it done with tickets or influence because each "increase" costs them money (however little) just like additional character slots for instance.
I can definitely see them releasing an architect booster pack though, they'd actually be pretty silly not to.
Infatum on Virtueverse
I've returned to City of Heroes to enjoy the new Mission Architect system, and I must say I'm really enjoying it. When I first began toying with it, I found that the systems was very flexible and had some pretty decent wiggle room to create many things. Since this new feature is still early in its release, there is certainly more room for its growth - and whether or not there have been plans to expand upon it in the future - I'd still like to provide some of my feedback and ideas.
I've been using it for several weeks, and it's obvious to me that the public really desires to play very interesting missions. Sadly, the present AE system can only go so far. One of the great limits I've enountered is the 100KB and 3 Arc Submission limit. I've heard rumors that this will be expanded later by allowing players to 'pay' for expanded content creation space, but perhaps there is a better way?
Because I really want to please the public and make some very fun and interesting missions, the complex web of active details I end up creating for a mission takes up a great deal of space. Compound that with heavy story writing and lots of dialog, character descriptions, and custom character designs - the 100KB limit quickly shrinks to uncomfortable limits.
My Arcs have been in production for quite a while, and I've had some failures. But each time I come back and make it better, and continue to improve. Already my long story arc has two, very solid and near complete missions, but those 2 missions take up 91% of the 100KBs.
This is because I've created a complex network of details to make the missions fresh, interesting, challanging, and most of all - fun to play. I yearn for more space to continue to let this arc grow and develop into the master piece I really want it to be.
The story is very long, and I'm breaking it up into multiple arc chapters, like Episodes or Issues in a Comic. I've gained many badges, 50+ AE related Badges, including "Bard" for having more than 250 people play my arcs and also several grades of Builder Badges.
<ul type="square">The Pitch[*]I feel that AE driven players who gain badges making Arcs should be able to have access to more AE content. Such as being able to use Tickets or Influence to buy more memory space for Missions. [*]100Kb/3 Published AEs - Basic Package. [Default][*]150Kb/4 Published AEs - Advanced Package. 5000 AE Tickets ($4.99 NC Store)[*]200Kb/5 Published AEs - Epic Package. 7000 AE Tickets ($6.99 NC Store)[*]250kb/6 Published AEs - Longwinded Package. 9000 AE Tickets ($8.99 NC Store)[/list]
Perhaps also limit the ability to purchase them bases on current AE Badges, this way people who really want to create quality AE Mission arcs can do so, and devote time into doing just that rather than just letting anyone and everyone have access to 250kb sized Arcs. I think 250kb is plenty, as that would allow me 50kb Per Mission, Per Arc.
Also, I'd like to be able to buy rights to publish more Arcs! 3 Isn't enough, as I often need to play test many missions broken up from the Arcs so I can ensure they are functioning properly. And I need to Publish them, as I require testers to play them Solo without me being there for maximized results.