CoH/CoV First Impressions NEED a facelift.

Karonax · 06-15-2009 09:32 PM

Hello, I've been playing since roughly about the time Issue 3 rolled around. Long time stealth forum reader, haven't been much of a poster. However some things have been on my mind and I feel that with CoH/V now facing some competition in the Comic Hero MMO genre with the incoming Champions Online and DC Universe, that these things should be looked into. Now is a great time to make the general appeal of the game much more grander and impressive, as the upcoming City of Rogues expansion is going to draw a new player-base into the game, and put this game in the spotlight.

Now the basic gist of what I'm going to go into detail on regards the things that new players and newcomers are going to see first. The things that they see and give them a general first impression of the game. So I'm going to point out somethings that I feel could do with some minor facelifts, or a general change that would greatly increase CoH/V's general appeal.

Opening/Login Screen -
You know the one I'm talking about, the screen with Statesman, Miss Liberty, and Sister Psyche followed by a group of heroes, Or alternatively Lord Recluse and his lieutenants and minons. Now these graphics are seriously outdated in comparison to login screens of most other MMOs. Having played many other online games, and noting that this is one of the last to still use a static graphic image as the login. CoH would really be able to impress newcomers and returning players alike if the opening login screen had a 3D graphic of Statesman overlooking Atlas Park, or Lord Recluse peering down over the Rogue Isles from his massive tower in Grandville, or any sort of 3D moving scene with some sound effects thrown in. The old graphic image has been used for 5 years and is in poor quality. Please Devs, give us a new login look.

First Zones -
Now we have all seen our share of Mercy Island and Atlas Park/Galaxy City through all of our toon creating fun. But these zones could really be spruced up a bit to appeal to new subscribers and veterans alike. This is the zone where a player will see what the game has to offer and if they want to continue playing the game or not. Imagine a first time player walking into Atlas Park or Mercy Island and to see a massive GM picking up a car or smashing a building, and seeing groups of fellow heroes/villains coordinating to take down the threat. I understand the ideals of these first zones being safe havens. But a GM could be programmed to ignore players unless it is attacked first, could impress newcomers and maintain a relatively safe atmosphere in the zone. Just an idea, but these first zones really need to have something to WOW the first time player, and keep them impressed with the game.

Weather/Days -
This is something that would GREATLY increase the natural feel of CoH/CoV. I understand the fact that Paragon City always being sunny and the Rogue Isles always cloudy, creates a sort of hero/villain feel, but having every single day that rolls by have the EXACT same weather, really makes the game world feel static. Now I have seen the sky transitions during the Zombie Attacks and Rikti Invasions, and I think that the game would feel much more real if Paragon City saw an occasional cloudy day or Rogue Isles seeing the sun once in awhile. Also something that would greatly enhance the atmosphere would be rain. Just a simple odd rainy period or so would be a major difference to the somewhat static atmosphere of the sky. This could even be used to have snow fall during the annual winter events.
The time of day should also be synchronized to a real world clock, and server clock times introduced. The period of one day in-game should take 24 hours, this would make those events that only occur at night or day much more manageable as well as giving the world a much more realistic feel. This could be used to plan events, Task Forces, or Raids, without a clock that everyone can see, planning things in-game is difficult and sloppy. Not only would it enhance the feel of time in the game, it would allow in-game things to have a clock and time, imagine Arachnos Fliers making hourly patrols on the dot of every hour, or other such ideas could be adopted. Paragon City and the Rogue Isles exist in the real world, and weather/clocked time would go a long way to make this world seem much more genuine.

Civilians/Cars/Contacts -
The graphics on these units are seriously outdated, and one will be able to recognize this immediately. With such beautiful and stunning costumes and clothing available to choose from, the bland neutral colored civilians of Paragon City and the Rogue Islands should really be updated in order to fit in better with the world/players. Vehicles that drive around the streets should also be updated. Using more modern vehicles and trucks would better reflect the modern time setting and advanced technology available in the game world of CoH/V. Having the denizens of the game world match the world itself and the players who interact with them, would go a long way in having the game feel natural and smooth.

Giant Monsters -
Giant monsters really are the high point of every super hero's career. Nothing is more public and iconic in comic heroism then the hero taking down a monstrosity that is several times his own size and strength. One thing I have noted as a Badge Hunter is how static the giant monsters seem to be. Lusca should be wrapping her tentacles around a large tanker, or the Kraken smashing buildings or grabbing a helpless civilians. These monsters are threats to Paragon City/Rogue Isles and should be interacting with their respective city causing havoc, instead of sitting in one location until a bored/badge team come along and put the idle threat down. GMs should be serious threats to Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. CoV has done a somewhat better job with the GMs having them appear as a result of certain activities or events. But after appearing, Deathsurge should rampage through the city smashing things and consuming electrical energy from whatever source it can find. Giant Monsters need to a serious threat and not rare spawn badge enemies.

These are just a few 'First Impression' type things that I feel are somewhat dated and leave lackluster impressions on new players, and potential enthusiasts. With Champions Online, and DC Universe Online close approaching, City of Heroes/Villains is going to need to step up and improve its appeal in order to maintain its status.

I have only listed a few of my ideas of what could improve the appeal of my favorite MMO to new players and the general public. I would love to hear and discuss the ideas that you have concerning first impression improvements.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, and please give some serious thought to these ideas, CoH/V is an amazing game, and I have been an enthusiastic player since release. I want to see CoH/V succeed, and exist as a fun and enjoyable game for many years to come.

Karonax - Level 50 Stone/Stone Brute
Zasz - level 50 Fire/Fire Blaster
Melkazar - Level 50 Illusion/Radiation Controller
Rodasha - Level 22 Peacebringer
Mayra - Level 32 Energy/Electric Brute
Dr. Alexander - Level 50 Empathy/Psionic Defender
Akrinos - Level 50 Bane Spider

Zekiran_Immortal · 06-15-2009 10:16 PM

Well, couple things:

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The time of day should also be synchronized to a real world clock, and server clock times introduced. The period of one day in-game should take 24 hours, this would make those events that only occur at night or day much more manageable

[/ QUOTE ]

What about when you have to hunt Circle of Thorns in Kings Row - when they come out pretty much at night? Or the Banished Pantheon for badge accolades?

The day/night schedule is just fine, I play to get away from the real world outside. Plus: whose midnight in what time zone?

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Lusca should be wrapping her tentacles around a large tanker, or the Kraken smashing buildings or grabbing a helpless civilians.

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This isn't possible with the cylinder restrictions. It would only be an animation, not a real citizen or object. Nothing touches anything in this game, because of the engine limitations. While I don't disagree, I think it'd be cool, I don't think it's actually possible in the game engine.

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Imagine a first time player walking into Atlas Park or Mercy Island and to see a massive GM

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Imagine the Rikti Invasions. We've got the lag, already. A lot of newcomers are turned off by such things, because it isn't an impression of how the zone *normally is*. Plus, giant monsters + level 1's + no vetran status + massive lag = too overwhelming to continue for a while. Some folks DO think it's fun - but there are others who won't know what to do, while trying to figure out their powers, leveling up, etc. So, no gm's in Atlas or Galaxy or Mercy please. It's just fine the way it is with extremely rare moments of invasion.

So you know, the login screen can be changed using Leandro's program - search on the wiki for it.

Champions and DC online still, to me, don't even compare visually to the richness of this game. They're too bright and bloom-y, cartoony in a way that a lot of players here dislike. Just because they're coming out does not mean it's time to dramatically alter anything in this game. Plus, this game is still playable by lower-end machines, but with a great flexibility for upper level rigs to enjoy.

Anyway, some good ideas, but also you might want to search and read up in the paragonwiki about things.

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Ninus · 06-15-2009 11:09 PM

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I feel that with CoH/V now facing some competition in the Comic Hero MMO genre with the incoming Champions Online and DC Universe, that these things should be looked into.

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First off, CO and DCUO will take some people away from the game for a time no matter what the Devs do. MMO players bounce a lot. I personally dont, and I dont intend to audit either game because I am not much of an MMO player (FPS player forced into an MMO... long story). I like this one and it's the only one I play, and will play. I'm boring like that.

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Now is a great time to make the general appeal of the game much more grander and impressive, as the upcoming City of Rogues expansion is going to draw a new player-base into the game, and put this game in the spotlight.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. Some will stay, some wont, so what. Refer to my first blurb as explanation. Going Rogue will be yet another innovation to the MMO genre to hold players' attention, but Rule 1 still applies. For the new player (unlike you and I as jaded vets) the game will have its "new shiny appeal"... "if you havent seen it; it's new to you".

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Opening/Login Screen

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Meh. As Zek said; you can change it if you wish. Who hangs around the login screen, anywho? Non sequitur.

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First Zones - spruce up -yadayada- GMs -yadayada- programmed not to aggro -yakkitysmakkity-

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Standard Code Rant Applies! Whether you are a programmer or not; the programming a GM not to aggro bit is not your call. As far as I have always seen; that aint necessarily so. Possible? Ask BAB or Posi; I dunno. Either way, a n00b with a Fire Aura is gonna screw up and face plant. Might be good, might be bad. Real iffy conclusion there.

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Weather/Days -
This is something that would GREATLY increase the natural feel of CoH/CoV.

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I am not a programmer, but i do know computers, and gaming, and networks, and... ARE YOU NUTZ? I am also the Anti-Lag! Dont cross me with weather. NO!!! Weather with this game's pretty slick graphics engine? Dude, just burn your CPU and graphics card with a torch right now; it'll save time. Or crank the detail down so that this "weather" looks like crud, and whats the use. Not worth the time and effort.

Now, about "real time": so those of us who can only play the game at certain times can NEVER see the changing of the day? No night times for some. No day times for others. Yeah, I would just LOOOOOVE to play the game then. (whups forgot to emote sarcasm... my bad) If you've been ingame this long and cant wrap your head around the time ingame... meh; lost cause. The rapid pass of time allows for people to see more, not less. and scheduling events is usually done with Real World time hacks. RWZ Ship Raids (hosted by Dream Team) are at 6pm Pacific on Guardian, and I am there on time, no problem for me, and I dont wear a watch. Now, if the Devs wanted to implement an onscreen time piece showing the 'ingame clock' running at the speed that time runs ingame... sure, but I wouldnt use it to schedule an event. So... /jpowerranger and no to most of this section. Changes in general cloudcover; not a problem. Rain is lag.

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Civilians/Cars/Contacts

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Meh. Not so much against cars and civvies being updated, but I really dont waste time studying civvies. BTW if you ever do; they are a diverse bunch of people, but it's not downtown LA so I dont know how much change really is necessary. And have you ever looked at the average people cruising the streets in a large US city? I do everyday... people are generally bland. And the trucks. Dude, trucks are trucks. I know this absolutely. They are correct and accurate. Cars; not as much, but the cars in LA; well, we have a lot of older cars (beaters) cruising the streets. No big deal.

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Giant Monsters -
Giant monsters really are the high point of every super hero's career. Nothing is more public and iconic in comic heroism then the hero taking down a monstrosity that is several times his own size and strength. One thing I have noted as a Badge Hunter is how static the giant monsters seem to be. Lusca should be wrapping her tentacles around a large tanker, or the Kraken smashing buildings or grabbing a helpless civilians. These monsters are threats to Paragon City/Rogue Isles and should be interacting with their respective city causing havoc, instead of sitting in one location until a bored/badge team come along and put the idle threat down. GMs should be serious threats to Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. CoV has done a somewhat better job with the GMs having them appear as a result of certain activities or events. But after appearing, Deathsurge should rampage through the city smashing things and consuming electrical energy from whatever source it can find. Giant Monsters need to a serious threat and not rare spawn badge enemies.

[/ QUOTE ]

HAHAHAHA! I play CoV primarily. GM's, even dynamically spawned GMs are usually ignored. Making them cruise the city rampaging; still meh. They will continue to be ignored for the most part unless someone wants the badge. Why waste Dev time?

What else have you got? Jaded vet players may be bored. New players havent been around long enough to be bored. Just a point to remember.

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Fleeting Whisper · 06-15-2009 11:39 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Well, couple things:

[ QUOTE ]

The time of day should also be synchronized to a real world clock, and server clock times introduced. The period of one day in-game should take 24 hours, this would make those events that only occur at night or day much more manageable

[/ QUOTE ]

What about when you have to hunt Circle of Thorns in Kings Row - when they come out pretty much at night? Or the Banished Pantheon for badge accolades?

The day/night schedule is just fine, I play to get away from the real world outside. Plus: whose midnight in what time zone?

[/ QUOTE ]Case in point: Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum has day/night cycles tied to the DS internal clock. If you only play your DS at night, it's nearly impossible to get daytime-only Pokemon, and vice versa. (Worse, I think Pokemon has morning and evening times in addition to day and night)

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt

LISAR · 06-15-2009 11:53 PM

I think anytime an idea ends up being compared to pokemon we can move away from it safely.

Fleeting Whisper · 06-16-2009 12:03 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I think anytime an idea ends up being compared to pokemon we can move away from it safely.

[/ QUOTE ]Guys treat girls like Pokemon: they gotta catch 'em all?

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt

Karonax · 06-16-2009 09:39 AM

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Yeah, I would just LOOOOOVE to play the game then. (whups forgot to emote sarcasm... my bad) If you've been ingame this long and cant wrap your head around the time ingame... meh; lost cause.

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This is why I don't like posting my ideas. I love CoH/V, my ideas don't reflect things I want changed because I don't like them, I just want to help contribute positive ideas to the game I've loved for 5 years. I ask for discussion ideas or something constructive. I can understand if something isn't possible, I play the game, not design it, but I get responses that only seek to disprove and deem my ideas bad/unnecessary. Every other MMO has rain, and none of them obliterate your computer, I just wish for some more positive responses, instead of variations of "Can't be done, bad idea, what are you thinking?!" *sigh*

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Zasz - level 50 Fire/Fire Blaster
Melkazar - Level 50 Illusion/Radiation Controller
Rodasha - Level 22 Peacebringer
Mayra - Level 32 Energy/Electric Brute
Dr. Alexander - Level 50 Empathy/Psionic Defender
Akrinos - Level 50 Bane Spider

Aett_Thorn · 06-16-2009 09:50 AM

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This is why I don't like posting my ideas. I love CoH/V, my ideas don't reflect things I want changed because I don't like them, I just want to help contribute positive ideas to the game I've loved for 5 years.

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Then be prepared to defend your ideas. This is not a place to just get positive feedback. It's a testing ground for ideas. If the idea can't hold water (read: handle some criticism), then it might be a bad idea. If the idea can be defended, then it might be a good idea (not that this is always so, though). People will point of flaws in your ideas. If you think that your idea is still good after seeing the holes, either redesign your idea to mitigate the hole, or work around it somehow.

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Every other MMO has rain, and none of them obliterate your computer

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The weather idea is one of the few in your OP that the Devs have commented on directly. Basically, they want to do it 'right.' In order to do it right, with the game engine they have, it would be graphics-intensive. If it's graphics intensive, it could cause a lot of lag on lower-end machines. If it causes a lot of lag, they need to create a way to turn it off. If lag is bad, and a lot of people turn off the weather in order to play the game, then the Devs have just spent a lot of time on something that only a few people can see.

Now, this was a couple of years ago. Maybe the Devs have figured out a way around this, and maybe they haven't. Maybe we should be designing new features assuming that people have upgraded their computers since the game came out. But, there are a decent amount of people who still might have an older computer. So you've got to design ways for them to not be shut out of playing.

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GM idea

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As for this, there have been several times when GMs have attacked AP. These tend to be put out of the way, so as not to crush low-level players. I have seen entire swarms of level 1-5 characters try to take down a GM, to no avail. Why? Because they lack the quantity of powers needed to take down an enemy with that many HP and regen rates.

Now, I'm not totally against it, but considering that you can go to a zone at level 5 with a GM in it, so you're in GM-less zones for even less than 1% of your career fighting bad guys playing through the game.

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~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I was just the one with the most unsolicited sombrero." - Traegus

Basilisk · 06-16-2009 09:51 AM

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Yeah, I would just LOOOOOVE to play the game then. (whups forgot to emote sarcasm... my bad) If you've been ingame this long and cant wrap your head around the time ingame... meh; lost cause.

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This is why I don't like posting my ideas. I love CoH/V, my ideas don't reflect things I want changed because I don't like them, I just want to help contribute positive ideas to the game I've loved for 5 years. I ask for discussion ideas or something constructive. I can understand if something isn't possible, I play the game, not design it, but I get responses that only seek to disprove and deem my ideas bad/unnecessary. Every other MMO has rain, and none of them obliterate your computer, I just wish for some more positive responses, instead of variations of "Can't be done, bad idea, what are you thinking?!" *sigh*

[/ QUOTE ]

The problem is that after 5 years, many of these suggestions have been discussed, re-discussed, had discussions on the first discussion, re-re-discussed... People see the same suggestions pop up that have already been vetoed by the devs. Some people seem to expect newcomers to have an instinctive knowledge of what's been already talked to death about.

That said, it's always a good idea, before posting a new suggestion, to use the search tool to see what's been said before on the subject in order try and avoid repeating a discussion that's already been had.

With specific bearing on the weather effects, it has been brought up in the past. I don't remember specifically which dev did say it, but basically if they were to go through the effort of coding in a new system to bring about weather, they would want it to have something to it that makes it more than just eye candy. The problem is, they also don't want to make something that either buffs or penalizes people to the point where they feel they need to be fighting in a certain weather pattern to get their full potential. So far, they haven't found a way to reconcile the two.

As for life time day-night scale, I have to agree that I would rather not have to wait until RL evening to be able to run my King's Row CoT hunts or what have you. It feels to me like this is a change for the sake of a change, and it's probably something that the devs don't want to risk annoying half of the player base for something that's neither highly demanded, nor a significant gameplay improvement.

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Karonax · 06-16-2009 09:55 AM

Thank you for that response, It was much more of what I was looking for, not a simple dismissal but a good summary of why something isn't possible/is possible, hasn't been done yet.
You have a good point of things being discussed, re-discussed, re-re-discussed, I will keep that in mind, when it comes to future posts.

Karonax - Level 50 Stone/Stone Brute
Zasz - level 50 Fire/Fire Blaster
Melkazar - Level 50 Illusion/Radiation Controller
Rodasha - Level 22 Peacebringer
Mayra - Level 32 Energy/Electric Brute
Dr. Alexander - Level 50 Empathy/Psionic Defender
Akrinos - Level 50 Bane Spider

mousedroid · 06-16-2009 10:05 AM

Regarding Atlas Park, I still get a chill when I bring a new character in from the tutorial and I hear that heroic music playing and all the colorful costumes all around. Just my opinion, and I've never played any other MMOs, but I think that gives a better, "Wow, I'm a super-hero!" feel to a first-time player than would a Giant Monster that you can't really fight yet.

(Sometimes, I wish there could be a Dev thumbs up button for quality posts, because you pretty much nailed it.) -- Ghost Falcon

Malkyre · 06-16-2009 10:45 AM

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Regarding Atlas Park, I still get a chill when I bring a new character in from the tutorial and I hear that heroic music playing and all the colorful costumes all around. Just my opinion, and I've never played any other MMOs, but I think that gives a better, "Wow, I'm a super-hero!" feel to a first-time player than would a Giant Monster that you can't really fight yet.

[/ QUOTE ]
QFT

My time trialing that other not to be named game, every starter zone I came to was like "Ok, that central building is kind of groovy. And... there's some trees. Great." They dump you unceremoniously into the world.

EVE starts you off in the bowels of a space station.

Compared to those; starting out at the steps of Atlas, with heroic swelling music, a giant statue above you, and hundreds of multi-colored heroes flitting about... I think the newb experience there is just fine. Getting stepped on by a Giant Hellion would just confuse the hell out of them (The broadcast spam is confusing enough).

Random other points:
- If they could do weather and not melt my GPU, I'd be forever grateful.
- The civvies are very, very diverse, you just don't notice any more. We all get blind to the background after being vets.
- You can get the in game time from civvies. Civvies are a wealth of information. They all have something to say, based on the first letter of their name. I would hate hate hate the game reflecting real time, because then "kill CoT in KR, which only come out at night" would require me to wait HOURS to do so.

It's always good to voice ideas. But like Aett said, don't be surprised if people shoot holes in them. Especially when some of them have already been answered elsewhere.

Forbin_Project · 06-16-2009 12:30 PM

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I think anytime an idea ends up being compared to pokemon we can move away from it safely.

[/ QUOTE ]Guys treat girls like Pokemon: they gotta catch 'em all?

[/ QUOTE ]

The world would be so much nicer if girls were more like pokemon . . .

They wouldn't get mad if you had more than one of them . . .

When you're done playing with them you can store them in their pokeballs . . .

BadStorm I choose YOU!

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Zekiran_Immortal · 06-16-2009 01:00 PM

O____O

I didn't even know I trained that attack up...

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Repurposed

Forbin_Project · 06-16-2009 01:49 PM

You have no idea what kind of power PokeZekiran has inside. There may even be ancient arcane spells to summon her in the Pokenomicon.

Zekiran_Immortal · 06-16-2009 01:57 PM

Well, THAT I know. It was a mistake, I thought I was signing someone's yearbook.

Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed

Ninus · 06-16-2009 02:51 PM

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Yeah, I would just LOOOOOVE to play the game then. (whups forgot to emote sarcasm... my bad) If you've been ingame this long and cant wrap your head around the time ingame... meh; lost cause.

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This is why I don't like posting my ideas. I love CoH/V, my ideas don't reflect things I want changed because I don't like them, I just want to help contribute positive ideas to the game I've loved for 5 years. I ask for discussion ideas or something constructive. I can understand if something isn't possible, I play the game, not design it, but I get responses that only seek to disprove and deem my ideas bad/unnecessary. Every other MMO has rain, and none of them obliterate your computer, I just wish for some more positive responses, instead of variations of "Can't be done, bad idea, what are you thinking?!" *sigh*

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I apologize if my snark was a smidge too blatant, but you said you had lurked the Forums for a long time, and I took you at your word.

I didn't snark all of your ideas, but gave my 'quick' opinions of them. I didn't see anything that IMHO would be the whiz bang for newbies that you said they would be. No harm.

All suggestions and ideas are from the Poster's opinion, and generally that's all. But take a step back. Just because you don't get the thrill when you first create a toon; that really is just that you've been here a long time. Personally, I do still get the thrill. And I don't know why someone new to the game wouldn't just from fledging a new Hero or Villain.

In my own opinion, you are the inconsiderate one. Because you didn't consider other players on two issues of pretty heavy importance. And I will explain it better now. No malice; just for understanding's sake.

Ingame vs Real Time:

CoX is Casual Player Friendly. That and it being a super hero themed MMO are its biggest draw and reason for subscriber retention. If you only have 15 minutes to play, you can actually do something worthwhile unlike most other MMOs. And for that reason, syncing the ingame clock to say the Central US Time Zone is inconsiderate to players who can only play from say 8pm to 9pm Pacific Time (which would be 10pm to 11pm CT). As has been stated by others, they would miss out on the sunny day skies you also touted in your OP. Can't you see that would be a bad thing. We already get people kvetching and moaning during the Halloween Event when the game is perma-night for a month. Not a good thing.

Also remember that we have people playing all over the world. When I used to work evenings, I could only play from midnight to 4am, and I met a number of Aussies, and Israelis playing. Would you banish them to the dark forever? So the dynamic ingame clock is a good thing for all, and I am sorry if it doesn't work for you, but the good of the many...

Weather and Lag:

Lag is the game killer. It is never a good thing because it leads to frustration, and frustration leads to unsubscribing.

CoX has a pretty darn robust engine for a game its age. The graphics are pretty WOW on a higher end machine. When I hear people say the graphics are not 'all that'; I know that they either don't have a machine that can handle all the eyecandy or they have the Graphics options set low. Few other MMOs can match it IMO (WoW isn't even close).
But glitz comes at a price: lag.

Not everyone can afford a high end box; even I don't see all the bells and whistles, but my wife does. I just built her a PC with an nVidia card with the PhysX hardware built in. Yeah, I'm jealous. Adding weather would cause lag on most people's PCs for that reason, and because it all needs to be rendered, and I shudder to think what the game's PhysX engine could do rendering rain.

Thankfully, the Devs are considerate, and the game can be played well on lower end machines by using the graphics controls. And that also goes hand in hand with the Devs not putting anything in game that they don't really like the look of. I appreciate that, but it has put a lot of things on hold until they can make them both 'look good enough' and 'be playable' (ie; minimal lag). Again weather effects would cause too much lag at this point. I am Anti-Lag because I want people to be able to enjoy the game as much as I do. I have to consider that when I see a suggestion asking for opinions as I am sure the Devs do.

Sorry, but that's the way I see it from what I know and have heard and guess at. I apologize for being a bit snarky, but like you, I have strong feelings and opinions.

The game cannot and will not be ideal for everyone, but a suggestion to improve the game should take into consideration the possible negative effects on majority of players. Don't you think so?

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Samuel_Tow · 06-16-2009 03:42 PM

I'm going to have to make a sort of destructive response here, because I feel compelled to challenge your ideas of what a new player would expect to see and should be exposed to.

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Imagine a first time player walking into Atlas Park or Mercy Island and to see a massive GM picking up a car or smashing a building, and seeing groups of fellow heroes/villains coordinating to take down the threat. I understand the ideals of these first zones being safe havens. But a GM could be programmed to ignore players unless it is attacked first, could impress newcomers and maintain a relatively safe atmosphere in the zone. Just an idea, but these first zones really need to have something to WOW the first time player, and keep them impressed with the game.

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If I walked into a new game I knew little about and was just starting playing and walked into a gigantic mess with a bunch of people fighting a big giant monster, my instinct would be to walk away very fast. Away from the encounter at first, and if it persisted in showing up in my way, away from the game in general. I like the fell of the starter zones as it is - they're quiet, safe, uneventful places that provide a training ground for our abilities and a grasp of the game's mechanics without the worry of undue complication. I REALLY do not want that balance upset by encounters designed with the sole intent to be flashy and eyegrabbing.

Maybe I'm not the audience you're targeting with this, but what I want out of a game is that I be able to play it with confidence first and foremost, and only THEN take on the really interesting stuff. The Tutorial is badly insufficient for this. Essentially, 1-5, and even 1-10 is the game's real tutorial. That's not the right time to be fighting giant monsters, that's the time to be figuring out which button to press to jump and how to get to King's Row.

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The time of day should also be synchronized to a real world clock, and server clock times introduced. The period of one day in-game should take 24 hours, this would make those events that only occur at night or day much more manageable as well as giving the world a much more realistic feel.

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I REALLY dislike any suggestion to tie in-game time to the time in some place half-way around the world from me. Do this, and you're essentially putting everyone who's not in the US in the twilight zone. Even besides that, some people's schedule is such that they always play at the same time, which can lock them into eternal night. And if that time just happens to be in the middle of the day with the sun glaring into the monitor, yet it locks you into a permanent night in CoV, it means you will never be able to see anything ever.

If I were a new player and joined a game that put me in eternal night because I was governed by time 10 timezones away from me (typically how things go), I would be sorely disappointed. You're already seeing Australians like Excession and Cambious complaining about how maintenance hits during Australian prime time and it happens at 4 PM here. That's a system technical requirement, so I can live with it, but having the actual game governed by this is unacceptable to me on a very high level.

That's the sort of thing that would tell me, as a new player: "Turn around. You are not welcome here. This game was not made for you."

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Giant monsters really are the high point of every super hero's career. Nothing is more public and iconic in comic heroism then the hero taking down a monstrosity that is several times his own size and strength. One thing I have noted as a Badge Hunter is how static the giant monsters seem to be. Lusca should be wrapping her tentacles around a large tanker, or the Kraken smashing buildings or grabbing a helpless civilians. These monsters are threats to Paragon City/Rogue Isles and should be interacting with their respective city causing havoc, instead of sitting in one location until a bored/badge team come along and put the idle threat down. GMs should be serious threats to Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. CoV has done a somewhat better job with the GMs having them appear as a result of certain activities or events. But after appearing, Deathsurge should rampage through the city smashing things and consuming electrical energy from whatever source it can find. Giant Monsters need to a serious threat and not rare spawn badge enemies.

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That depends what you mean by "a serious threat." If you're looking for graphical updates that make Giant Monsters do something more than roam around, then SURE! But if you mean an actual threat to the players such that it would force them to fight or flee, then I am squarely against this. Nothing speaks worse about a game than logging on and being flatly unable to play because a monster is blocking what you're trying to get to, or has a chance to run through a location you need to be in to trade and prepare. The Ghost of Scrapyard going straight through the Sharkhead Black Market, making shoppers have to always look over their shoulder, is a pristine example of how NOT to make monsters meaningful. A nuisance that's denying you the ability to play, which you are not interested in fighting at the time, is not a good first impression. In fact, as a fist impression, it's in the same vein as things that would make me go "Forget it. That's not worth it."

I actually almost gave up on the original Diablo because the random spawn generator spawned me a whole big square room with pillars PACKED TO THE GILLS with zombies and skeletons that I had no chance in hell of even thinking about fighting. I saved, I quit and didn't intend to play it ever again until a friend of mine bugged me to. Upon reloading the second level, I found it a LOT easier and managed to turn the game into one of my all-time favourites.

Rule number one of first impressions - never kill your player unfairly with the belief that he'll like the challenge and the carnage.

Anything I haven't mentioned I have no problem with and would support as a change to the game.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville

Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

Bubbawheat · 06-16-2009 04:00 PM

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Opening/Login Screen -

First Zones -

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Quite possibly addressed in the upcoming "Going Rogue" expansion. I would imagine it will definately have a new opening screen. Possibly animated, but you never know. And I hope there will be a new - neutral or praetorian - starting zone choice.

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Weather/Days -

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I wouldn't mind it, but I don't miss it, and I would rather see development time go to other things.

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Civilians/Cars/Contacts -

Giant Monsters -

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Agreed.