Leveling is much faster now, especially with patrol XP and a number of other features. If you stick to Freedom or Virtue, or if you get involved with an active SG and/or global channel you'll have no problem finding teammates.
There's no comparison between the game at release and the game now. Consider it a new game.
...I forgot what experience means.
First off, welcome back.
The game is very different now. There have been a lot of changes since you played. I would strongly suggest that you check out ParagonWiki, which has an article that lists all of the changes by issue. If you played at release, that was issue 0. We are now in issue 14, with issue 15 about to drop soon. There was a lot of changes in that timeframe, many more than could be conceivably be listed here in a short time frame.
As for what you can do at max level: don't think of it like that. This game is not about getting to 50 and then the game begins. There is content at all levels here. However, once you get to level 50, there are high-level task forces, PvP, raids, and the ability to go back and do any content that you missed.
As for the major selling points for me: the character creator (yay for lots of customization not linked to 'gear'!), the fun people, the ability to play as a super hero, the ability to make any team whatsoever, and still be able to go through content, and the ability to create lots of alts. But that's just me.
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I was just the one with the most unsolicited sombrero." - Traegus
Extremely different game, lots of fun, so try it out again 
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed
The game today is something completely different from what it was at launch.
Major selling points (to me), in no particular order:
- Fast travel time
- Auto-scaling missions
- Sidekick/Exemplar
- Separation of form and function (costume doesn't determine powers)
- Fast combat, against many opponents
At 50, there's still many things you can do:
- Collect badges
- Write/Play Architect missions (with i15, we'll be able to buy up to 5 extra story slots, too)
- Hamidon Raid
- Rikti Mothership Raid
- Many high level Task Forces
- Explore the Shadow Shard
- PvP
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt
Thanks a bunch everyone, sounds like it definitly worth at least another spin.
There is challenge, there is reward, there are fun and helpful people. I can't add much more to what has been already said, except that I've been here for 4.5 years, and have no plans to go elsewhere.
Soooo much has been added and improved since you left.
Watch for reactivation weekends, or start up a trial account.
If you remember your original account name and passwords, and have $20 to spare, you can fire up your old account (everything will still be there, except you may have rename someone)
Let us know what server and time you're planning to be on. Perhaps some folks would be willing to give you a bit of a tour.
www.paragonwiki.com is a great source of information for this game.
New or returning to the game? Want advice from experienced players who want to help YOU?
The Mentor Project: Part of the New Player Council.
What was the highest level you got to? It's easy to pick up a temporary flight power now, at level 5-6. Easily lasts into the 20s.
www.paragonwiki.com is a great source of information for this game.
New or returning to the game? Want advice from experienced players who want to help YOU?
The Mentor Project: Part of the New Player Council.
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Also, to aperture:
Don't get sucked into the MA-farm black hole. It may be easier to find teams there, but you miss out on a lot of the story and content of the game. The MA can be fun, and I suggest going there on occasion, just don't spend your entire time there...you miss out on a lot if you do.
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I was just the one with the most unsolicited sombrero." - Traegus
I've been playing since mid-2004. The game is very different today. There's hero and villain sides to the game, which adds a lot of variety.
There's crafting and a market - I don't like the market, as such, but the invention system allows you to really customize your character's abilities in amazing ways.
A lot of content has been added. There's a lot of new baddies to fight and interesting encounters to do. There are plenty of new game mechanics as well.
We can create and share player-generated content now - people can make their own missions with custom scripting and even unique enemies.
As other people have said here, it's pretty easy to find teams these days and levelling is faster. But CoH/CoV is not a game where you're supposed to rush to max level. Other MMOs have the 'real game' at max level. This game is not like that. Most of the content is on the way up.
However, in CoH/CoV you can go back and do whatever you missed later on. That's pretty huge. Also, there is a fair bit of stuff that can only be done in the later levels. The developers have added a lot of late-game TFs, story arcs, raids and so on - there is some 'traditional MMO' endgame content.
Why do I keep playing this game? The community is awesome. I've played lots of other MMOs, including a certain big one I won't name. The forums were hostile and a lot of the players on the servers weren't very nice. This game has a different feel, somehow.
I also love the fact this game lets me make all sorts of characters. I'm a very visual sort of player, and I like designing costumes and picking flashy power combinations. Finally, for the tiny bit of me that is a number-crunching designer, the invention system lets you do some really killer builds these days.
@Acyl
VIRTUE
Blue: Realpolitik, Leading Lady, Glass Lass, Superball, Alec Kazam
Red: Battery Acid, Obsolete, Bugfix
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Also, to aperture:
Don't get sucked into the MA-farm black hole. It may be easier to find teams there, but you miss out on a lot of the story and content of the game. The MA can be fun, and I suggest going there on occasion, just don't spend your entire time there...you miss out on a lot if you do.
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Underscoring this. Some of the AE teams just want members to pad-out their enemy count, and then expect little from teammates. Playing that way will have you pick up a lot of bad habits that trip you up in any kind of serious situation while advancing quickly.
Someone already said Paragon Wiki so here are some links:
Paragon Wiki
And here's a link directly to a list of all the Issues(updates)
thanks again everyone you all have been very helpful, it speaks volumes about the player base relative to some of the other games
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thanks again everyone you all have been very helpful, it speaks volumes about the player base relative to some of the other games
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And THAT, in a nutshell, is why I'm still here.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
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thanks again everyone you all have been very helpful, it speaks volumes about the player base relative to some of the other games
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And THAT, in a nutshell, is why I'm still here.
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this.
and a raging case of altitis.
most recent 50 - psy/mm blaster
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thanks again everyone you all have been very helpful, it speaks volumes about the player base relative to some of the other games
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And THAT, in a nutshell, is why I'm still here.
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Ditto.
I just re-sub'd for a year. Plus, I've back-tracked all the previous releases and purchased them along with all of the Boosters.
Be wary of the CoV DVD Collector's Edition, there is a very slim difference between the US and EU version. The EU version does not contain the City of Heroes collectible card game preview pack. So if you find one for sell, contact the seller about what is actually written on the box.
Welcome back ! To put a number on something someone said earlier:
My first character got to level 50 in something like 563 hours. These days a "normal" time is around 150 hours, if you've done it before. First time through, you will probably do stuff like fly under Victory Bridge in IP, or spend a couple hours in the shadow shard going "Whoa." So that boosts your hours-to-level-50, but on the other hand those are hours you spend having fun.
I'm going to give the IO mini-speech:
There are two systems of enhancements now. Regular (SO's, DO's, TO's, like you had in 2004) and Invention Enhancements. Invention Enhancements can give you a boost to power - for relatively cheap, you can get around 30% better performance, for crazy moon prices you can get upward of 50% better. However, THEY DID NOT MAKE THE GAME TOUGHER to "compensate". Playing with store-bought enhancements still works fine for normal play, and you still get a lot more from playing with buffing teammates than any amount of money can buy. So if you're feeling like you have the game down and you want to buff yourself up, there are inventions. If you're still working out "Why did that guy hit me so hard? Where is the mission door? What is Stamina?" you can stick with single-origins and do just fine.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
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At 50, there's still many things you can do:
- Collect badges
- Write/Play Architect missions (with i15, we'll be able to buy up to 5 extra story slots, too)
- Hamidon Raid
- Rikti Mothership Raid
- Many high level Task Forces
- Explore the Shadow Shard
- PvP
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I'd add "going nuts on enhancements" to that list.
One thing I used to do was immediately stop playing a character that hit 50. Since there were no new powers or slots to look forward to, it just felt pointless. And it wasn't hard to get enough dough to fund enhancing a new character.
Now with inventions, you can build characters that are just amazingly powerful through something called "set bonuses". But the best set bonuses come from recipes that cost a bunch on the market--the high cost is directly due to how great they are. Purple enhancements are ultra-rare, have the best bonuses, and are ultra pricey.
What I've found is that this makes it fun to continue to play my 50s. They can either be working towards kitting themselves out with pricey IOs, or building up funds for my next character. This also indirectly opened up another fun venue: the market. I dabble in the market as a way to build my wealth, and it's not hard yet quite satisfying.
Freedom: Blazing Larb, Fiery Fulcrum, Sardan Reborn, Arctic-Frenzy, Wasabi Sam, Mr Smashtastic.
I had the same experience as you when starting this game. I played for the first few months, and just really wasn't drawn in, so I unsubbed. I had fun with my tank, but just didn't 'get it'. I later got CoV for Christmas when it first launched, and figured I'd give it another go. I have been playing ever since, minus a couple months in another game.
What keeps me playing is the ridiculous things you can do with teams. Say you make a blaster. He shoots Fire, and tosses around some Mental mind tricks. You run around getting bad guys, it's pretty fun. You kill yellows without stressing too much, but it can get old quick. Now take your blaster, get on a competent team with a tank to gather the mobs, a defender that keeps you buffed, and a controller to lock them all in place for your aoe's. Then you giggle like a little girl the first time you race through a map, dissolving large purple spawns in seconds.
They made the game fairly friendly to newcomers. You don't NEED IO's. You don't NEED to know that Kinetics can multiply the output of your team. You don't NEED to know that an Earth troller can lock down anything you come across. BUT, when you do stumble across things like this, they bring a smile to your face at just how insane the odds can be stacked against you, yet you still conquer.
Starting on Freedom or Virtue isn't a bad idea, as teams are plentiful. As much as I love my home server, Protector, when my Global list is empty, finding a team can be annoying. But, like Protector, I'm sure all servers have established crews who would seem 'closed' at first, but with little persistence, would go out of their way to show you around and get you started.
And heed the advice given above about AE missions. It's easy to find teams there, but you will possibly be teaming with the worst of the worst. I'll swing by, and jump into a team forming at AE just because it's easy to find. Then when I see someone with no vet badges, level 44, godawful build, aoe heal on auto, whining because the last mish they did gave 3960 xp per mob as opposed to the pitiful 3456 they're getting now, I realize how badly AE farms are raising our youngins.
"Before there was Rock, you only had God."
Playing on Protector
Heroes - BurlyTorch, Johnny Tectonic, BurlyFrost, Maridon, Soul Doubt, ProtoTorch
Villians - Matt Daemon, IceLuge, Incendere, Mugwort, Vedova Mortale
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thanks again everyone you all have been very helpful, it speaks volumes about the player base relative to some of the other games
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And THAT, in a nutshell, is why I'm still here.
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Well, that, and the fact that you're a nut.
Orc&Pie No.53230 There is an orc, and somehow, he got a pie. And you are hungry.
www.repeat-offenders.net
Negaduck: I see you found the crumb. I knew you'd never notice the huge flag.
I played for a month at release and it didn't seem like leveling was getting me anywhere and there weren't that many people to team with.
How diffrent is the game now and what are the major selling points to you as the player, what keeps you playing and what can you do once your at the max level?