Leveling sucks.


Ad Astra

 

Posted

Seriously.

Right now I'm on the forums instead of playing because my severe altitis and desire to play high level toons is conflicting. I really appreciate the variety of content we have for the journey from 1-50, but it's sucking the fun out of the game for me that in order to get a new toon to the point where it's as fun to play as my high level toons I have to invest 2-20 hours of gameplay. It really sucks.

I really enjoy being able to spend time with a character learning the ins and outs of powers and their interactions. However, linear level progression only feels like it's adding time to the process without much benefit. Every character I play at 50 eventually develops into an entirely different being than it was at 49. Intuitively it'd seem that adding powers one by one would teach me to use them effectively, but once I finally have the full tool box it's like starting the learning process all over.

I can't really explain it right now (trust me, I tried but none of the anecdotes I typed got the point across), but the point I want to make is that when you're missing tools from your tool box it's hard to improve as a player. Leveling just feels like a tutorial that introduces you to your powers slowly and it sucks.


 

Posted

Yeah, I've never really cared for life before level 25 or so in this game. It's especially bad whenever I make a Speedster character and then have to slog through several levels without superspeed. And I've often lamented that the first 20 levels of this game feel like a gratuitously lengthy and tedious tutorial.


Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
that in order to get a new toon to the point where it's as fun to play as my high level toons I have to invest 2-20 hours of gameplay. It really sucks.


[/ QUOTE ]

This more than anything still amazes me (not that I'm saying it's untrue - post i14, it's very true...). I'm not trying to make yet another anti-farm post - I simply find it fascinating that the game has got to a point where the amount of hours it takes from 1 to 50 is 1 to 20 hours instead of the MUCH greater number it (still) is outside of a farm...


 

Posted

However, to get back to the point of the OP, it is tedius after the first few characters. Still, I find it does teach me about the powerset combo - I just ignore the content (that I've done to death).


 

Posted

No, I kind of think I understand. Out the box most heroes in comics have all their powers, they just refine them over time. Cyclops hasn't changed much along with all the other X-Men excluding Ice Man, Psylock and Angel (who reverted)

Superman is a case of CoX type power. When first introduced he couldn't fly. I don't believe he had super breath and possibly a few others like heat vision and x Ray vision but I can't recall.

Basically you wish you can have all your powers from go, then refine them with tricks as you level? Sort of like Hulk always having super strength but as he progresses he might learn to clap his hands together and create that knockback effect he does.

If that's what you mean, I'm with you but then I don't think it's feasible for video game play. I mean starting out with all 24 powers would be cool, but then where is the grind that all games require? What their to look forward to other then a possible trick, and how many could you come up with for a set of powers that wouldn't just mirror what we got now only you begin with more.

The way I see it, and don't get me wrong I don't like it but I deal, is that were not true and proper heroes or villains until we hit 50. Before 50 is our sidekick slash backstory days, where we first get our powers and do minor things. Think Batman Year One, Smallvilles Superman etc. I know it's a bad perception but again it's just one of the things you have to accept with story to game translations


 

Posted

I'm right with you on this one m3lon. I don't really enjoy the game before level 22 where I can get SOs and have stamina slotted up. I do occasionally like to go do the hollows or faultline, but more and more frequently anymore, I'll just run my characters up to level 22 or so in AE farms so I can get past those levels as fast as I can.

It's not that I really enjoy farming a lot either (at least not AE farming, I am kinda fond of old-school lib farms). I actually find the AE farms fairly boring. It's just that I find ALL the pre-22 content and gameplay to be pretty boring, and at least if I play it in AE farms, it's over much quicker.


 

Posted

no matter what game you play, you'll never escape it.


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
no matter what game you play, you'll never escape it.

[/ QUOTE ]

But I've played games where the first 20 levels weren't soul-sucking tedium. Of course, in those games the game tended to get tedious after those levels. Surely someone, somewhere will get it right and make a game that's generally fun from level 1 to whatever the maximum level is. Or at least not an exercise in soul-sucking tedium along the way.


Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound

 

Posted

<QR>
I dont have an issue with the low level game.
Once you get to about level 4 and have 3 real attacks on a damage dealer, its golden.

To the OP directly, the levelling progression is distinctly non-linear, both in terms of how long it takes, and the effectiveness gained. The most obvious step changes being at 12 (DO), 22 (SO) and 31 (where you start getting 3 slots/level)

If its repetition of content that bothers you, there are a decent number (not as many as I would like) of LFMA arcs in the MA, which I have used both redside and blueside for some variety.

If its purely SO+Stamina, that you 'need' to have fun, there is little that can be done.



@Catwhoorg "Rule of Three - Finale" Arc# 1984
@Mr Falkland Islands"A Nation Goes Rogue" Arc# 2369 "Toasters and Pop Tarts" Arc#116617

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
I dont' start new characters anymore because I'm sick of the 1-22 grind.

[/ QUOTE ]


I can make new characters, but I can't actually play them.
I wanna play Villains >.> But, I can not. I try. I log in - sometimes -.
But, no matter which character I am on. I just can not even get to a mission. I have seen and done everything there is to do. >.< I hate CoV zones. There are so few that once you have done them all (OVER 20 Times) Its neer impossible for me to even look at them.

I am stuck >.< even trying to play CoH right now too thoe. Its not just CoV.

But ya - The whole beginning of the game at this point is like - sticking your hand into your garbage disposal and then making the Conscious decision to flip the switch.


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
that in order to get a new toon to the point where it's as fun to play as my high level toons I have to invest 2-20 hours of gameplay. It really sucks.


[/ QUOTE ]

This more than anything still amazes me (not that I'm saying it's untrue - post i14, it's very true...). I'm not trying to make yet another anti-farm post - I simply find it fascinating that the game has got to a point where the amount of hours it takes from 1 to 50 is 1 to 20 hours instead of the MUCH greater number it (still) is outside of a farm...

[/ QUOTE ]

1 Hour? I'd like to see that, fastest I've heard was 4 hours and those people got their PL'd toons taken away.


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I dont' start new characters anymore because I'm sick of the 1-22 grind.

[/ QUOTE ]


I can make new characters, but I can't actually play them.
I wanna play Villains >.> But, I can not. I try. I log in - sometimes -.
But, no matter which character I am on. I just can not even get to a mission. I have seen and done everything there is to do. >.< I hate CoV zones. There are so few that once you have done them all (OVER 20 Times) Its neer impossible for me to even look at them.

I am stuck >.< even trying to play CoH right now too thoe. Its not just CoV.

But ya - The whole beginning of the game at this point is like - sticking your hand into your garbage disposal and then making the Conscious decision to flip the switch.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yup, that's how I feel.

Starting a new character, for me, is like an investment. New characters are NEVER fun to play, so I have to grind through a whole lot of boredom to get to the fun part... assumign the character IS fun to play which sometimes they aren't. So starting a new character is a gamble for me. I have to invest a whole lot of time getting them to the point where they're fun to play, in the hopes that said fun materializes. Often it doesn't and I'm left feeling like I wasted my time and I never play that character again.

I wish they'd let veterans just skip some levels...


Brother of Markus

The Lord of Fire and Pain

The Legendary Living Hellfire

Fight my brute!

 

Posted

Meh, I'm a 36 month veteran and the low levels are some of the most exciting IMO. The leveling pace is so much fun and can easily hit level 10 in a couple hours just running sewers and police radio missions. I love selecting new powers and trying them out on the next mob.

I also really like respec-ing my characters and spend hours messing with Mid's. Once I get into the mid-high 40s I tend to get bored of a character since their progression is all but over. I've usually completed most slotting and I know the toon is about complete.

That's when I make a new one.


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Meh, I'm a 36 month veteran

[/ QUOTE ]

It woudln't be mandatory, just an option for folks like me who wants to use it.

I think it'd be nice to let the five year vets skip a few early levels...

[/ QUOTE ]

Why just 5 year vets???
GRRRR...


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Meh, I'm a 36 month veteran

[/ QUOTE ]

It woudln't be mandatory, just an option for folks like me who wants to use it.

I think it'd be nice to let the five year vets skip a few early levels...

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm already miffed you guys get to pick a travel power at level 6! >

JK, I hear what you are saying. I'm not sure if skipping some lower levels would be a problem, but skipping 20 is too much. I wouldn't bat an eyelash at 1-10 though.


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Meh, I'm a 36 month veteran

[/ QUOTE ]

It woudln't be mandatory, just an option for folks like me who wants to use it.

I think it'd be nice to let the five year vets skip a few early levels...

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm already miffed you guys get to pick a travel power at level 6! >

JK, I hear what you are saying. I'm not sure if skipping some lower levels would be a problem, but skipping 20 is too much. I wouldn't bat an eyelash at 1-10 though.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think its stupid to have travel power be a vet reward.

They should have just said. Welp. Waiting til 14 for travel sucks. Here... Now everyone can have travel at lvl 1.


 

Posted

Kinda, but now they can also take Health without Swift/Hurdle, etc. That's pretty cool in my book since I'm always tight on power picks.


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Meh, I'm a 36 month veteran

[/ QUOTE ]

It woudln't be mandatory, just an option for folks like me who wants to use it.

I think it'd be nice to let the five year vets skip a few early levels...

[/ QUOTE ]

Why just 5 year vets???
GRRRR...

[/ QUOTE ]

Alright, five year vets and Perfect_Pain.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ahhh, see that right there is delightful
DEAL!
No Take Backs


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Meh, I'm a 36 month veteran

[/ QUOTE ]

It woudln't be mandatory, just an option for folks like me who wants to use it.

I think it'd be nice to let the five year vets skip a few early levels...

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm already miffed you guys get to pick a travel power at level 6! >

JK, I hear what you are saying. I'm not sure if skipping some lower levels would be a problem, but skipping 20 is too much. I wouldn't bat an eyelash at 1-10 though.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think its stupid to have travel power be a vet reward.

They should have just said. Welp. Waiting til 14 for travel sucks. Here... Now everyone can have travel at lvl 1.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's the way it should be. I'm sick of making "speedsters" without speed.


Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's the memory
And there you'll always be
-- The Fox and the Hound

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Kinda, but now they can also take Health without Swift/Hurdle, etc. That's pretty cool in my book since I'm always tight on power picks.

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought it was just travel pools, not all the pools. Am I wrong about that?


If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
----------------------------------------------------------

The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Seriously.

Right now I'm on the forums instead of playing because my severe altitis and desire to play high level toons is conflicting. I really appreciate the variety of content we have for the journey from 1-50, but it's sucking the fun out of the game for me that in order to get a new toon to the point where it's as fun to play as my high level toons I have to invest 2-20 hours of gameplay. It really sucks.

I really enjoy being able to spend time with a character learning the ins and outs of powers and their interactions. However, linear level progression only feels like it's adding time to the process without much benefit. Every character I play at 50 eventually develops into an entirely different being than it was at 49. Intuitively it'd seem that adding powers one by one would teach me to use them effectively, but once I finally have the full tool box it's like starting the learning process all over.

I can't really explain it right now (trust me, I tried but none of the anecdotes I typed got the point across), but the point I want to make is that when you're missing tools from your tool box it's hard to improve as a player. Leveling just feels like a tutorial that introduces you to your powers slowly and it sucks.

[/ QUOTE ]

I feel ya.
I haven't leveled an alt for over 6 months.
I've been dabbling with my dominator on freedom some, but she's really poor, and getting level 20 IOs has been really difficult. So I play my dom once a week after building up some patrol xp. I go to bloody bay and hunt, the patrol bonus on top of the pvp NPC bonus means bosses are very lucrative, I've been getting about 3/4 bar per boss.

While on the other hand, my heroes are FAT with cash. All my main alts on the non-freedom servers have 10 million plus each, and I haven't even started doing their IOs yets.

I don't do AE boss farms, I find root canals more fun. But I find leveling the 'normal' way to be very tedious and slow.
I have 7 50's or so, so I'm not in a big hurry to get to 50 any longer.
I really want to get my level 40 nrg/dev blaster to 50, but it has been difficult to get onto a non-AE boss farm team.
I don't have a lot of patience to wait around for a team invite and I'm not much for making teams either...maybe I'll go try to get onto some ITFs.


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Kinda, but now they can also take Health without Swift/Hurdle, etc. That's pretty cool in my book since I'm always tight on power picks.

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought it was just travel pools, not all the pools. Am I wrong about that?

[/ QUOTE ]You're right, it's just travel powers. Stamina still requires Swift or Hurdle to be chosen first. Even if Stamina were included, the tier 4 power would still require 2 earlier choices.