Devs: Please consider making respecs friendly
By
Anaxagoras,
Posted on: 2009-06-16 11:33 in Suggestions and Ideas
I heartily agree. I don't respec much but my god I've messed up builds doing it several times.
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Repurposed
I agree that respecs could (conceptually) be made much easier and more intuitive. If I could just go in and change a power out for a different one, or juggle slots around it would make the process much simpler and easier.
That being said there are some few things to consider. First is Mid's, which while not official and can't be an oficial fix for the issue does help smooth things out. Mid's has an in-game respec helper that stays on top of your window to show you how you leveled up that build. But again, not a great solution, but it is a nice work around.
Second, I'm not sure how easy it would be mechanically to design a system such as that. Right now it seems like they basically just hit the reset button on your character and let you go at it. It's not as simple as that, obviously, since you don't alternate power and slots. I don't think that the current system is bad enough to require a lot of time be spent on an overhaul when careful planning can get around most of the difficulties. I would dearly love a revamp, believe me, but not more than I want other things.
50s: Anaxagoras - En/En/For Blaster, Vicious Kittie - Claws/SR Scrapper, Rad. Therapy - Emp/Rad/For Defender, Anaximander - En/En/Mu Brute, Marble Vanguard - Stone/EM Tanker
Current: Vitriolic - 42 Bots/Poison MM, Aseity - 38 DB/WP Scrapper, Tai Shar - 42 Earth/Storm
I personally think they should make respecs a whole lot more rude! They're way too nice now!
No
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/signed.
I respec'd Nightshade a month or two ago to switch a couple of powers around. After an hour I'd almost finished reslotting my enhancements when I noticed a taunt enhancement and I had nowhere to put it, because I'd forgotten to pick up Provoke, although that wasn't a power I'd been planning to drop.
/me facepalm
So all the way back to the beginning again... 
I always write down my powers and slotting before doing a respec and I mark what I want to drop and what I want to pick up and where i want to move slots and remove others.
I agree it could be easier, but with a little bit of planning and organization it really isn't necessary.
/signed anyway for those who are too lazy and disorganized to bother making plans for their respecs.
I don't plan in advance for what I'm going to do with a toon ahead of time so much. Some would argue that I should, but the min/max/numbercrunch aspect takes some of the fun out. Every now and then I figure out that a power I selected doesn't work like I thought it did. Making the respec more user friendly would be more useful for just about everyone.
Bringing the enhancement screen up with the most recent leveling changes and introducing a 'Previous Level' back button would make more sense. I don't know how feasible it is with the current engine, but it is noteworthy I believe.
As it stands now, do what I do: use your cell phone to take a picture of your enhancement screen 
While people have said it's not necessary (and it isn't really necessary. Actually, respecs themselves aren't necessary.), they do point out that they use third party tools or carefully write down what they want to do and plan it out, and that's why I very strongly support it. Frankly, there isn't a single thing in the current respect system that aids the user in any way. I said once that respecs are as difficult as they could be without intentionally making them more difficult, and I stand by it. You're not spared a single action that you've ever performed.
While not necessary, think about it people..... imagine being able to type "/respec", click on a slot to remove it, and click on another power to drop the slot there. 40 seconds later, you're done. Or just click on a power and hit a "remove" button, then click on the power you want in its place. A minute later, you're back in the game again!
I think that would be incredibly awesome. I have a bunch of characters I want to make some changes to, but I simply live with them the way they are because I don't want to spend all that time respeccing and chance making a mistake that's even worse than what I'm living with.
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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As it stands now, do what I do: use your cell phone to take a picture of your enhancement screen
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I've done that. Except that with IOs now, you can have partial sets spread across several powers for frankenslotting, and there's no telling them apart unless you hover over each one. Apocolypse: Damage looks identical to Apocolypse: Accuracy/Damage.
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
I think a "secondary respec" which would allow you to move only power slots would be very welcome. I absolutely despise having to respec just to move around one or two slots, to the point where I don't even bother.
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The pain that is the current respec system, is why I try to avoid using respecs at all.
In a given issue I'll maybe use one or two of the freebies. On a 50 its a huge pain, and yes I agree we should have a better more intuitive system
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I think a "secondary respec" which would allow you to move only power slots would be very welcome. I absolutely despise having to respec just to move around one or two slots, to the point where I don't even bother.
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I would love if something like that existed. Slotting issues have been the only reasons why I've respeced in the two+ years I've been playing.
One thing that I've always hated about respecs is that there's no easy way to tell what level you're choosing powers for. I've done respecs on my 50s that have been just fine at level 50, but when I exemped down for TFs/teaming, I'll discover that I didn't take Stamina until level 28 or something just as stupid. Even by remembering the order you took your powers, it only tells you the "how" of your original choices, not the "when," which is where I -always- mess up.
Maybe this wouldn't be such an issue, except I don't have access to Mids and refuse to download special programs just to use it.
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I agree that the current respec system is incredibly cumbersome. That aside, I'm a bit surprised to hear the more experienced forum-ites not using Mids' Hero/Villain Designer and specifically the Repec Helper. It makes respecs a breeze.
Window > In Game Respec Helper > History Short or History Long
For those that don't know about it, Mids' will pop-up a window that shows the level that powers and slots are taken (History Short), and if additionally desired even the specific enhancements used (History Long). Also, there is no need to Alt-Tab because the respec helper window stays on top.
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My biggest gripe about respec'ing is when I have to backtrack when I find I've made a mistake. It really sucks when I'm halfway finished reslotting my enhancements when I notice I misplaced a slot.... Then I have to go back to the slotting screen and backtrack (in clumps of 2, 3 and 6 slot increments), make the changes, redo the remaining slots, and start once again from scratch at the enhancement screen. To me this is the number one thing that makes respec'ing take forever. I plan my builds, but we're still human and something as little as that one mistake can easily lop off another 10 minutes of play time.
/signed to make respec'ing similar to Mids design: to be able to go directly to a misplaced slot or power and change it without losing everything you've worked on past that point.
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I agree that the current respec system is incredibly cumbersome. That aside, I'm a bit surprised to hear the more experienced forum-ites not using Mids' Hero/Villain Designer and specifically the Repec Helper. It makes respecs a breeze.
Window > In Game Respec Helper > History Short or History Long
For those that don't know about it, Mids' will pop-up a window that shows the level that powers and slots are taken (History Short), and if additionally desired even the specific enhancements used (History Long). Also, there is no need to Alt-Tab because the respec helper window stays on top.
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Unfortunately, even Mids requires that you totally spec out your character, including duplicating your current IOs into their respective powers. While it may save you work and help prevent errors inside the character respecification, you still have to put just as much effort into Mids beforehand. You're really not saving any time or effort, just lessening your chances of making a mistake.
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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At the very least, could we get rid of the random power tray shuffle that happens after respecs? Even having all empty trays like you get when you switch to an alt build for the first time would be nicer than having your powers placed randomly in a sea of temp powers.
In addition to the stuff listed above, I'd also like a 'respec from level X' feature. Particularly a 'respec previous level' one. I don't think I can count how many times I've had to respec from scratch because I accidentally put a slot into the wrong power while levelling at 3 AM.
Having Vengeance and Fallout slotted for recharge means never having to say you're sorry.
When respecs were first introduced, they were a wonderful feature. Even as good as they were, it wasn't expected that players would respec very often. Only three respec trials were created. Eventually, respecs were given out with new issues so that players could compensate for changes in powers. And then they were given out as vet rewards. And now there's recipes offering respecs. In other words.... players respec a LOT.
Please consider making a respec system that actually is friendly to the players. If you examine our current system, there really isn't a single mechanism in place to offer any ease of use at all. None! Whether you want to totally pick out different powers, or just move a single enhancement slot, you have to carry out every single action you've ever carried out when leveling up. All over again!
When you're level 10, it's no big deal. A level 50 who realizes they don't use their snipe but once in a blue moon must go through every single leveling and slotting action they've ever done throughout their career. Even the most minor of changes can tie up a player for hours. Sure, people say "Plan it out using Mids" first. But really, should an internal mechanism like respeccing practically require that you use a third-party program? Either you spend time in Mids, or you spend time writing down every power you have and every enhancement in those powers. For players that do it a lot, it can go relatively quickly (compared to other players). And they may say "It's no big deal, I can do it in 10 minutes". But what they forget is that they can only do it that quickly because they've spent what is most likely dozens of hours doing it before. I would estimate that the average player, to properly drop a single power and take on another, must spend between a half an hour to an hour to write down everything they have, write down which IOs are in which powers, carefully go through the entire leveling up procedure, and then place all those IOs back into all those powers (which aren't being changed anyway).
Please please please please please consider giving us this quality of life feature. Let us just move slots, drop powers, and pick up other powers without having to go through the entire ordeal all over again.
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