It's one thing to have someone who is newer to the game, it's entirely another to have to explain to a lvl 40+ character how to get to zones that are listed in the train system. I and my SG/VG mates are fine with answering questions, explaining the game, etc. to the best of our ability....but the experiences some of these people on this thread are explaining is ridiculous.
I'll be the first to say it took me a long time to learn some of the aspects of the game. This was my first MMO, and honestly, sometimes I still have questions. That makes me even more reasonable with people who don't know some things. But if I invited someone to a higher level team and they didn't know how to find a mission door by waypoint....that's kinda sad.
"If all the world's a stage, I want to operate the trap door." --Paul Beatty
Altaholic since '05, 0 months sober
QR
Instead of 3 months, make it one character, 3 levels. First character to hit level 4 unlocks AE for the entire account. After that, they can even take a brand new character into AE, if they want.
That way they've talked to a contact, done at least one door mission, and had experience with both choosing powers and placing slots.
Make it retroactive to EVERY existing account at the time they implement it. Sure, a few who haven't "qualified" yet will slip past, but that's better than a new player suddenly losing AE access that they had.
It doesn't restrict farming or powerleveling, all it does is give a brand new account a taste of the rest of the game.
And since we're sharing some horror stories here, two from last night:
1) I get on a team there, as I'm trying to do some story-oriented AE stuff to no avail on my Defender. Team consists of two Blasters, a Scrapper, two Controllers, a Tanker, and myself, a Dark/Psy Defender. The two Controllers are a Kin and an Empath.
Team leader: we need a healer
Me: We've got myself and two controllers, I think we'll be okay.
Team leader: well, you're not a real healer, and the two controllers won't help that much
Me: We've got three people with heals. That won't be enough?
Team leader: I doubt it
Me: What are we going to be fighting?
Team leader: We're doing the Hami farm
Me: ...
Me: I think we'll be okay
At this point, while I would normally leave, I want to see how this train wreck will go. I convince the leader that we'll be okay, and we enter the mission. I summon Fluffy, and we start fighting.
Team leader: Wow, great heals! I guess I was wrong about you guys. My health bar barely even moves!
Me: None of us are healing you. Fluffy is, because he's an idiot and can't help it. You're not taking any damage.
Team leader: Really?
Me: Yes, these guys don't shoot you. You're at 100% health the entire time. Heals do nothing for you here.
Team leader: Just because they don't shoot you doesn't mean that you're not taking damage.
Me: ... <quit>
2) After that team, I go back out into the AE area, and broadcast that I'm looking for a team doing stuff where enemies shoot back. I get invite to the following team, with none of them over level 12, except for one blaster, who is level 34.
Me: So, what are we doing?
Leader: PP farm
Me (to self): fine, at least this takes some skill
Me: Okay. We may need a Tanker for this one (the one we have is level 9 and won't survive long).
Leader: He should be okay
Me: Are you sure? These guys hurt, and the Tanker isn't exactly sturdy at level 9.
Leader: He'll auto-sk and be alright.
We enter the mission, and before everyone is even in, the Tanker goes crashing into the first spawn, and promptly dies. The rest of us enter the fray, and I rez the Tanker. We fight off the first spawn alright.
Me: I don't think that the Tanker should take point here.
Leader: No, now that everyone is in, he'll be okay.
Me (to self): sigh
We go to the second spawn, and the Tanker goes in first, and dies, quickly.
Tanker: WTH? Why do I die so fast?
Leader: I'm not sure. You guys healing him?
Me: He's level 9! We can only heal him if he doesn't die before we get to him.
Me: Mind if I take point on a spawn? We can herd and it might be a little bit easier?
Leader: I guess so.
Me: Okay, I'm going to herd to here. Just wait for the enemies to come to us, and then we can fight them. Everyone got that?
Everyone: okay!
So, I lay down a tar patch, summon Fluffy, target a Mob, and hit him with Darkest Night, then retreat around the corner. As the enemies are coming to us, I see the entire team go careening around the corner charging at the enemy, at which point they all die one after another.
Me: Why didn't you guys let them come to us?
Team: What?
Me: I was herding them to us, why didn't you wait?
Team: Want to go fight Hamis? They don't hurt at all.
Me: sigh...<logs for dinner>
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
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Most of these posts are kind of hypocritical.
It's hypocritical because the real reason your upset is because you want to make the game easier by inviting players on your task force team that know what they're doing instead of just teaching someone how to play and informing them.
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Yeah, when I ask someone to join me on a Task Force, I expect them to know what they are doing. I am not their friggin' teacher, nor did I ask to be their teacher. I am all about giving someone a hand when they ask, pick up TFs are not the place for me to instruct you how to play your toon. If a player steps up to the plate, they better be able to take care of their end of things.
I figure that I am going to start asking people a bit of trivia about the game or their powers before I actually invite them to my team. Just to see if they ever left AP or not.
Proud member of the Hard Liquor party
Unofficial leader of PAAS (Paragon Association for the Advancement of Stoners)
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QR
Instead of 3 months, make it one character, 3 levels. First character to hit level 4 unlocks AE for the entire account. After that, they can even take a brand new character into AE, if they want.
That way they've talked to a contact, done at least one door mission, and had experience with both choosing powers and placing slots.
Make it retroactive to EVERY existing account at the time they implement it. Sure, a few who haven't "qualified" yet will slip past, but that's better than a new player suddenly losing AE access that they had.
It doesn't restrict farming or powerleveling, all it does is give a brand new account a taste of the rest of the game.
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Well that may not be the case all the time.
I can remember when I made my first character...the game was so fun just running around killing atlas killing because i was in awe of my powers (electrical blast) that by the time i went to do something else i was level 6.
Level 10 might be a better setpoint...because then you also...well should at least have used the train.
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Most of these posts are kind of hypocritical.
Your mostly upset that players are now making the game easy on themselves by leveling up quickly in AE.
It's hypocritical because the real reason your upset is because you want to make the game easier by inviting players on your task force team that know what they're doing instead of just teaching someone how to play and informing them.
[/ QUOTE ]
Wait. What? We want to make the game easier because we expect a level 30+ character to know how to get around or find a mission? You know, like the basic stuff you learn in the tutorial?
Yes, heaven forbid we expect people to learn to play the game. Shame on us for wanting that.
We will teach them if we need to. The point was that there are a lot of people who aren't even bothering to teach themselves anything about the game. THAT is a bit of a problem.
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
[ QUOTE ]
QR
Instead of 3 months, make it one character, 3 levels. First character to hit level 4 unlocks AE for the entire account. After that, they can even take a brand new character into AE, if they want.
That way they've talked to a contact, done at least one door mission, and had experience with both choosing powers and placing slots.
Make it retroactive to EVERY existing account at the time they implement it. Sure, a few who haven't "qualified" yet will slip past, but that's better than a new player suddenly losing AE access that they had.
It doesn't restrict farming or powerleveling, all it does is give a brand new account a taste of the rest of the game.
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That is a very elegant idea. Just enough stick to make players get a taste of the rest of the game. And asbolutely no impact afterwards.
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It's hypocritical because the real reason your upset is because you want to make the game easier by inviting players on your task force team that know what they're doing instead of just teaching someone how to play and informing them.
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I play the game to have fun. Repeated team wipes because some people aren't carrying their weight is not fun for me. Waiting while an epic AT finds King's Row is not fun for me. Teaching a level 40 what enhancements do is not fun for me.
I'm sorry if you feel that me wanting to have fun while playing a game is hypocritical.
Hami...farm....? Haven't run across those, but, then, I don't team that often. So, lemme get this straight: There are mobs that can be put into AE missions that don't fight back but give xp? And the devs haven't squashed that yet?
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Avatar art by Daggerpoint
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Wait. What? We want to make the game easier because we expect a level 30+ character to know how to get around or find a mission? You know, like the basic stuff you learn in the tutorial?
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There you go...AE is not the problem.
They should make it so that every person that buys the game has to do the tutorial once.
Hmmm, if these people never left Atlas, then that means they are lvl 50s with only one costume.
lol, wow
Learn modesty, if you desire knowledge. A highland would never be irrigated by river." (Kanz ol-Haghayegh)
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It's hypocritical because the real reason your upset is because you want to make the game easier by inviting players on your task force team that know what they're doing instead of just teaching someone how to play and informing them.
[/ QUOTE ]
I play the game to have fun. Repeated team wipes because some people aren't carrying their weight is not fun for me. Waiting while an epic AT finds King's Row is not fun for me. Teaching a level 40 what enhancements do is not fun for me.
I'm sorry if you feel that me wanting to have fun while playing a game is hypocritical.
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Then you don't team with those people.
Don't deliberately make the game non-fun for yourself.
Do what you need to do to have fun in this game and let others do what they need to do to have fun.
Smells like troll here to me.
Proud member of the Hard Liquor party
Unofficial leader of PAAS (Paragon Association for the Advancement of Stoners)
Tyger42: Appalling "new" exploit. New to me, that is.
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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Most of these posts are kind of hypocritical.
Your mostly upset that players are now making the game easy on themselves by leveling up quickly in AE.
It's hypocritical because the real reason your upset is because you want to make the game easier by inviting players on your task force team that know what they're doing instead of just teaching someone how to play and informing them.
[/ QUOTE ]
No, I for one am not. I've taken new players and trial players under my wing and walked them through things. Even players who didn't know things that had a few levels under their belt. I've taught masterminds about bodyguard mode and such, including creating a macro to go into it. Over the last four years and change I've taught my share of players "how to" do things.
When they can go 1-50 en masse without having a clue about basic mechanics, the world they're in, how to find contacts, how to zone (and I don't mean standing by the door sleeping) there's a problem. Yes, it happened *on occasion* before - but at least those people had to find Peregrine Island or Grandville. Having it turn into a standard state of affairs... no.
It's not good for those players, and it's not good for the game for people to think it's limited to one building, to know nothing of how the game progresses, nothing about the storylines of the world itself, nothing about enhancements, to see nothing outside the AE building's mission lobby.
They have all of New York (the state, not city) to play in and explore, and they're staying in a phone booth in the Bronx and saying that's the be-all, end-all of the world.
I make it a point to go into Atlas and recruit for TF teams if I can't get enough players from global channels. It's a good way to expose some of the AE folks to other parts of the game. Sure, they might need a little help along the way, but I don't really mind doing that.
I'll give you just a slice of the broadcast chat last night while I was in Cap on Freedom. I was doing some house keeping in my base of buying/selling recipes and whatnot and for [censored] and giggles had Broadcast up (which I normally don't). All the people that were talking were between the levels of 40-50.
Villain #1: I want to start the Croatoa SF where do I go for that?
Villain #2: I can't figure out why I can't control my Gang War with my pet binds.
Villain #3: Someone told me if I want to unlock a new Katana that looks like a lightsaber I should go to the RWZ. What's that and how do I get there?
Villain #4: How come Domination drops like every minute or so? I mean it's my inherent so shouldn't be on always?
Villain #5: I did a SF last night that dropped a purple recipe as the reward for completing it but can't remember the name. Does anyone know what SF I'm looking for?
Trust me there were also other posts far far FAR more stupid and idiotic but that gives you just a small idea of the caliber of players flooding into the game. God help us 
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The shining world of the seven systems. On the continent of Wild Endeavour. In the mountains of Solace and Solitude there stood the Citadel of the Time Lords. The oldest and most mightiest race in the Universe. Sworn never to interfere. Only watch...[/SIZE][/B]
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QR
Instead of 3 months, make it one character, 3 levels. First character to hit level 4 unlocks AE for the entire account. After that, they can even take a brand new character into AE, if they want.
That way they've talked to a contact, done at least one door mission, and had experience with both choosing powers and placing slots.
[/ QUOTE ]
Not really.
Sewers - 15 minutes, tops. Level 10 works better, IMHO.
[ QUOTE ]
Most of these posts are kind of hypocritical.
Your mostly upset that players are now making the game easy on themselves by leveling up quickly in AE.
It's hypocritical because the real reason your upset is because you want to make the game easier by inviting players on your task force team that know what they're doing instead of just teaching someone how to play and informing them.
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Normally, I don't care how people spend their time playing the game I love, provided what they're doing isn't detrimental to the game itself. I don't know what percent of players use the AE for all or most of their leveling, but if it's over 50%, then I don't see that as healthy for the game.
This isn't a cry of 'Doooooom'. I'm generally optimistic about CoH's future. Nevertheless, I don't see most players staying in one zone for their entire career being good for the game. It's likely I'm wrong (and I hope so), but it's like watching a good friend of yours smoke too much - you worry a bit...
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Then you don't team with those people.
Don't deliberately make the game non-fun for yourself.
Do what you need to do to have fun in this game and let others do what they need to do to have fun.
[/ QUOTE ]
Ah, yes, because everyone who goes 1-50 in AE has a glowing icon next to their name that says "AE Baby." How silly of us all to miss that!
Oh, wait, there's not?
So, pray tell, short of being psychic....
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Hmmm, if these people never left Atlas, then that means they are lvl 50s with only one costume.
lol, wow
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Wait!.... My characters only have what they were created with. Except for the winged ones, they get a non-winged version for missions. I must be doing it wrong....
BC 
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Wait. What? We want to make the game easier because we expect a level 30+ character to know how to get around or find a mission? You know, like the basic stuff you learn in the tutorial?
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There you go...AE is not the problem.
They should make it so that every person that buys the game has to do the tutorial once.
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No, AE is the problem. This is stuff people wouldn't be able to help but learn if they play the game normally.
Virtue Server
Avatar art by Daggerpoint
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Then you don't team with those people.
Don't deliberately make the game non-fun for yourself.
Do what you need to do to have fun in this game and let others do what they need to do to have fun.
[/ QUOTE ]
Ah, yes, because everyone who goes 1-50 in AE has a glowing icon next to their name that says "AE Baby." How silly of us all to miss that!
Oh, wait, there's not?
So, pray tell, short of being psychic....
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You can usually tell by the badges they have.
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I'll give you just a slice of the broadcast chat last night while I was in Cap on Freedom. I was doing some house keeping in my base of buying/selling recipes and whatnot and for [censored] and giggles had Broadcast up (which I normally don't). All the people that were talking were between the levels of 40-50.
Villain #1: I want to start the Croatoa SF where do I go for that?
Villain #2: I can't figure out why I can't control my Gang War with my pet binds.
Villain #3: Someone told me if I want to unlock a new Katana that looks like a lightsaber I should go to the RWZ. What's that and how do I get there?
Villain #4: How come Domination drops like every minute or so? I mean it's my inherent so shouldn't be on always?
Villain #5: I did a SF last night that dropped a purple recipe as the reward for completing it but can't remember the name. Does anyone know what SF I'm looking for?
Trust me there were also other posts far far FAR more stupid and idiotic but that gives you just a small idea of the caliber of players flooding into the game. God help us
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3 and 5 I can understand completely. RWZ is kinda out of the way and the nature of recipe drops isn't exactly well explained in-game.
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Avatar art by Daggerpoint
[ QUOTE ]
Most of these posts are kind of hypocritical.
Your mostly upset that players are now making the game easy on themselves by leveling up quickly in AE.
It's hypocritical because the real reason your upset is because you want to make the game easier by inviting players on your task force team that know what they're doing instead of just teaching someone how to play and informing them.
[/ QUOTE ]
Now that's some pretty warped logic right there...
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