Our base is the same way in that we have the largest plot and people get turned around easily.
We have it setup so that all of the needed items are near the front (telepads, med bay, oroborous crystals and containers). The whole back of the base is our individual rooms for our SG members, this allowed each to be creative in their own space. Of course doing a mission in there would be impossible because many of our members have setup little mazes to hide away some of their secret spaces in their rooms, or they close off the room when they are doing new updates to it.
Arc 52555: Tower of Darkness
Arc 139668: Bob's Crazy Car Dealership
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What I'm trying to say is . . . Don't you want MORE?
Seems like this was a really great idea but was never expanded on.
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I'd love more. I use my base a lot. Yes, it's for convenience, but I get a lot of use out of it. So I do disagree that there's no point to them. But I think they could be so much more, but the devs just don't want to spend too much time with them. They've been languishing for far too long now and need work.
-----------Things I like----------------
Empowerment Stations: these only exist within supergroup bases. For a small piece of salvage or two, you can give yourself a very useful buff. Recharge, Recovery, Stealth, Knockback Protection, Resistances.... they're very nice.
Inspiration collector: Very nice to have one in the med bay because when you faceplant and rez in the base, chances are you've used up some inspirations already and need more, so I keep ours well-stocked so you can always grab some for free.
There's not much more (if anything) you can get in a SG base beyond those couple things and the teleporters themselves, that you can't get elsewhere in the world. It is handy, however, having all of them in one central location. It's also handy being able to park yourself indefinitely in one without being automatically logged off. But I'd love if there were additional useful items. Things like....
Bulletin Board: I'd love it if there was a bulletin board you can post announcements and everyone could leave messages. Planning a task force on a particular day or a powerleveling session on some other day, have notices for them. Have a recipe you'll sell cheaply to SG members before putting it on the market, post it there. I think this would be incredibly useful.
Teleporter to mission entrance: I think this would be great.
Arc ID#30821, A Clean Break
The only problem with defeating the Tsoo is that an hour later, you want to defeat them again!
"Life is just better boosted!" -- LadyMage
"I'm a big believer in Personal Force Field on a blaster. ... It's your happy place." -- Fulmens
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Bulletin Board: I'd love it if there was a bulletin board you can post announcements and everyone could leave messages. Planning a task force on a particular day or a powerleveling session on some other day, have notices for them. Have a recipe you'll sell cheaply to SG members before putting it on the market, post it there. I think this would be incredibly useful.
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You have part of that already. Add in TF announcements to your SG's MotD. Every member sees it when they log in. Failing that, set up a Global channel for your SG and set the MotD for that as well. As for the rest of it, you're better off just setting up a site for your SG. For example, Guild Portal offers free hosting, complete with message boards. That's where most of the planning and trading communications were handled for most of the SGs I've been in.
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Teleporter to mission entrance: I think this would be great.
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This exists on an account-wide basis as part of the Mac Edition of the game. The power has a one hour recharge, if I recall. Because its available for sale for RL money, I doubt we'll see it available as a free feature anytime soon.
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Daemonchilde: ((fluffy thinks he's a tank)) Demon . Hunter: (( I think mine is >.> Daemonchilde: ((Yours is no longer fluffy, it is Obliteron, destroyer of worlds)) |
I've never seen nor been part of a base raid in my 5 years playing this game.
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I've never seen nor been part of a base raid in my 5 years playing this game.
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This.
Nor do I want to be part of such raiding.
Altoholic - but a Blaster at Heart!
Originally Posted by SpyralPegacyon
"You gave us a world where we could fly. I can't thank you enough for that."
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I've never seen nor been part of a base raid in my 5 years playing this game.
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This.
Nor do I want to be part of such raiding.
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Yeah same here.
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Daemonchilde: ((fluffy thinks he's a tank)) Demon . Hunter: (( I think mine is >.> Daemonchilde: ((Yours is no longer fluffy, it is Obliteron, destroyer of worlds)) |
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I've never seen nor been part of a base raid in my 5 years playing this game.
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I'm not a big PVP'er, but I really had alot of fun on the Base Raids I've been on in the past. And am looking forward to running them again hopefully. 
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Aren't most bases a bit small for the whole mission map bit? I'd love to show my base off more.. but trying to run a mission there would be a little.. crowded.. 0.o
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Interesting point ... but the top 200 SGs do have enough prestiege to have the biggest plot availble, and I still have SG members getting lost in my base...
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Everyone gets lost in my base Including me.
Ignoring anyone is a mistake. You might miss something viral to your cause.
When I was working on the two big bases a few months back, which were on the two biggest plot sizes, it was pretty common for people to lose track of where they were, especially if headed for the offices or dorms or lecture hall or meeting rooms.... anything that was on the far reaches of the bases really.
Quote:
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Daemonchilde: ((fluffy thinks he's a tank)) Demon . Hunter: (( I think mine is >.> Daemonchilde: ((Yours is no longer fluffy, it is Obliteron, destroyer of worlds)) |
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If it were only that simple..
They talked about doing some more work on bases, once semi-recently prior to I13 and back before that, "way back in the day".
I had to dig through some really old and dusty bookmarks to find this because its been so long.
Ok, It was semi-recently mentioned in a Massively.com article: "CoX Issue 13: All your base are belong to us?" by Adrian Bott, Jun 5th 2008 at 1:30PM
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"The former Lord Recluse, Serdar Copur, first mentioned that 'both Supergroups and Bases will be getting some much needed love over the next few updates' [u]as long ago as April '07.[u]"
[/ QUOTE ] That last underlined part was a link to this article: CoH Community Quiz: Serdar Copur Q&A by Dana Massey, 9 Apr 2007 12:42 pm
These 2 articles talk about most of the the major problems & proposed additions or changes regarding Bases, in practice it's been a serious example of "Be careful what you wish for!"
IMO, The best thing they've done so far as Bases - was turning of the idiotic "pathing", and we don't really know if that's gonna be permanent.
The revamped base raiding stuff they had originally worked up for I13 - according to some reports of the internal testing... Well it turned out to be a fat sack o' suck (I am paraphrasing of course) 
We do know there would likely be 'mass riots' (in the Base Building Community) if they were to bring back "raid pathing" without some option to leave it OFF for those that don't have any interest in having there Bases raided, EVER.
The Devs/Testers seemed to realize just how badly the destruction of Base Items was gonna suck - for most players and especially - the idea of losing Prestige due to damage, and/or just how the "Repair Items" would actually work, and that ever presuming there was no (or very little) loss of Prestige when items are "destroyed" - having to go back into the Editor and replace stuff would SUCK - even if they somehow managed to leave the raid pathing mostly off = So that "stacking" would still work for those into decorating their bases...
And the idea of how generic and boring PvP raid bases would probably end up being - assuming they'd be built almost entirely for function. They'd probably be an eyesore, and players would quite likely come up with the "Ideal PvP Base Builds" - with min-maxed FotM "Raiding Bases" - where players wouldn't want to use storage/workshops (or store anything valuable there.
I say that because, What happens if someone destroys a Salvage Bin? Or even worse, what happens if someone destroys an Enhancement Table? That could very easily be an "I feel a disturbance in the Force" moment... That could get really ugly, really quick.
People could (in theory) lose an insane amount of time/effort/inf if an Enhancement Table was "destroyed" - and if they made Enhancement Tables & Salvage Bins "indestructible" people would try and take advantage of this using them for "Cover" and/or to protect other Base Items.
Which leads us right back into the "Abusive Bases" problems mentioned in the Massively article link above.
IDK what they're gonna do about it - the original design for Bases was flawed, they've fixed some of the biggest problems - like Rent (not just the most recent change to lower the Rent costs), I'm referring to the setup (prior to when Rent was just based on Plot Size/Type), where you had to pay Rent that was a percentage of your SG's "Net Worth"!
The are a bunch of problematic things that would have to be addressed - and some group of players would/will be unhappy no matter what they might/may come up with to solve the inherent problems - AND people would complain due to whatever part/areas/functions of Bases they choose to work on or expand on next...
And back to my original concern you have to be very careful when you ask for some "Love for Bases" example, this last time:
Pros: = They turned off raid pathing (or most of it) and the bounding boxes or whatever they're called (it's late - and I'm a bit tired).
Cons: = They took away our Base Salvage - And gave us a B.S. explanation for it.
I suspect that they intended to have us rebuild/recraft 'Destroyed' Base Items with more Invention Salvage each time, Because:
1. The PvP'ers they wanted to please, might balk at needing to play in SG Mode to get Base Salvage. AND
2. I'm pretty sure that while they were doing the internal testing - they were almost certainly burning through Base Salvage - while repairing/rebuilding WAY faster than they were getting it! That could become a real "bottleneck" & it seems like somebody figured switching to Invention Salvage would solve the problem - and would make a good Inf Sink...
I have almost no doubt they were gonna throw in some sort of Prestige or Inf Sink in there. I say that because they reduced the "Base Rent/Upkeep" to a fairly trivial amount, & I don't see them doing that for no reason, without tacking another "cost" in there somewhere. I also really suspect "Upkeep" was going to be a much bigger thing than it is now.
Suffice it to say I'm more than a little bit hesitant about asking for any sort of "love" around here. I'm concerned it might be the kind of "love" that you Do Not Want, like the sort of "love" a person might end up getting in prison or something. Did I go to far just then? well... Maybe a just a tad, *shrug* - I'm just trying to make a point.
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I agree. At this point if they bring back raid pathing to bases, I will be leaving the game completely...and I suspect I would not be the only one.
As for the original poster, I also agree with you. Several immediate responders missed the fact that you were not saying "get rid of bases", but rather "improve the bases".
I get it.
If I could do a complete overhaul to the bases, I would do the following:
1) Add a building tools tab to the items list
2) Add more styles
3) Add the abiliy to add a second floor
4) allow for side-by-side doors (double/tripple wide for exampe)
5) allow for placement of items inside doorways on the floor and walls (such as trophies)
6) Introduce a "Supergroup Mission" interface (using the computer) that generates spawned missions much like radio missions, except the missions forus on the SG Name instead of the Character name...and the misisons are against opposing groups (such as "The Injustice League has taken over Atlas City Hall"). These missions can require 3 or more SG Members maybe.
7) Introduce better looking Tech Telepads...maybe with a scf-fi theme
8) Introduce Labels and Signs
9) Introduce an SG War concept instead of bringing back Base Raids. I don't want to sacrifice design in order to fight other SGs.
10) Introduce "Email all SG Members" Option.
More but gotta run.
I'm with the op (been there a long time). More base functionality please... and not just... decorative or editing items. I would choose, as a start, incorporating all in game functional aspects (market, tailor, vendors, trainer, etc) into bases over say...more styles. That would seem to me to be a relatively safe course to undertake. I would also lean towards anything that has greater utility to the rank and file sg member (not just the base designer).
I read Cardiff_Giant's post a couple of times with great interest. It covers a lot of ground. The idea of being careful of asking for "base love" because you may have no idea of the form that "love" might take is something I had not heard before...but if past is prolouge, it certainly holds true.
I too would like to see base raids (sg base related battles) return in some form. Given, C_G's comments (which I fully agree with), I speculate it would have to be even more compartimentalized to a specific area or room(s) than the opt in/ opt out option the dev's have stated would be the case. That is... if raids return ever at all.
One man's terrorist is another man's freedom (or freem?) fighter; just as one man's exploit is another man's feature.
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I would also lean towards anything that has greater utility to the rank and file sg member (not just the base designer).
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What do you mean by that?
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When I was working on the two big bases a few months back, which were on the two biggest plot sizes, it was pretty common for people to lose track of where they were, especially if headed for the offices or dorms or lecture hall or meeting rooms.... anything that was on the far reaches of the bases really.
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what I am dealing with is on a completly different scale.
Ignoring anyone is a mistake. You might miss something viral to your cause.
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I would also lean towards anything that has greater utility to the rank and file sg member (not just the base designer).
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What do you mean by that?
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I mean that...when it comes to my personal desires for bases (yours may be different) and there is a need to prioritize efforts I would choose things that impact everyone that uses a base first over new decorative and editing items for a base designer.
Granting all in game functionality (market, tailor, etc.) to bases would be, as I mentioned, a good start and would have the desired effect (good for everyone) . But I'd like to see the effort go much further. For example, I would choose a relook/ modification of base IO/event salvage and recipe storage (global benefit) over say the ability to make a second floor easier. Or, I would give everyone in an sg the ability to make their own apartment in a base (w/o granting base wide editing access) using existing tools over giving one person (base designer) new tools.
The op does not appear to find more decorating capability a pressing need and I agree. And yet some parts of this thread seem to have morphed into a call for that.
One man's terrorist is another man's freedom (or freem?) fighter; just as one man's exploit is another man's feature.
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If it were only that simple.. I say that because, What happens if someone destroys a Salvage Bin? Or even worse, what happens if someone destroys an Enhancement Table? That could very easily be an "I feel a disturbance in the Force" moment... That could get really ugly, really quick.
People could (in theory) lose an insane amount of time/effort/inf if an Enhancement Table was "destroyed" - and if they made Enhancement Tables & Salvage Bins "indestructible" people would try and take advantage of this using them for "Cover" and/or to protect other Base Items.
Which leads us right back into the "Abusive Bases" problems mentioned in the Massively article link above.
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There is a middle ground -- temporary destruction of the item during the raid. Then it reappears afterwards, still stocked. This would allow the items to be used as blockers AND also be destroyed, without fear of actually losing a bunch of rare enhancements.
Apply this to all items, decorative or special purpose, that don't otherwise have raid rules attached to them. They are their normal, infinitely hard and immovable selves, but one shot or punch and they go down like a cardboard box in a bank mission. Or 2-3 hits. Or a bunch like a swat vehicle, say, for enhancement tables. Whatever.
But they can be busted through so that's no longer a problem. And it all reappears after the raid.
Pick up the pace, and let people raid for fun a lot more, with just the "desired" raid items being at risk rather than everything either being perma-destroyed, or perma-indestructible-because-we-don't-want-it-perma-destroyed.
No. Middle ground. Temporary destruction.
"Hey! You knocked generic cola all over your precious D20 books!"
ED: Now I know how Nancy Kerrigan felt: "Why...?!? Why...?!?"
the last dev that wanted more doesnt work here anymore..
shhhhhhh dont ask..maybe next year after they rebalance again :P
no. ask.
better yet, gather peeps and demand.
Ignoring anyone is a mistake. You might miss something viral to your cause.
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Aren't most bases a bit small for the whole mission map bit? I'd love to show my base off more.. but trying to run a mission there would be a little.. crowded.. 0.o
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Interesting point ... but the top 200 SGs do have enough prestiege to have the biggest plot availble, and I still have SG members getting lost in my base...
ArchRex Dojhrom x ?
* Sidus Loricatus: B-NRG2, S-BS/Reg, T-Fire/Ice, MM-Bots/FF, St-NRG2, Dom-Psi/NRG, Cor-Son/Traps, Cor-Ice/Kin, Ctrl-Fire/Kin, PB-LB/LA
* Arachnos Loricatus: Soldier, Widow
* Praetoria Loricatus: B-DP/Dev, Cor-Elec/Elec