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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.
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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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Well, for me most of them do now. When I am not teaming or doing Tf's and just hanging around... I will join the team take a look at badges, builds and playstyle.
I might do up to one mission with them but no more. Add note to who I need to, rate one star put in comment MA noob.
So they are rated one star and I don't have to do TF's or SF's with them.
Triumph
Gavalin Kingsbury LVL 50 INV/SS Tank and 26 other LVL 50 heroes and villians (all Triumph)
Heroes of Justice and Liberty/Loved or Loathed
"NCSOFT doesn't fork for anyone but they might spoon you if they like you"
Again Vitality, forcing a player to get a level 50 to unlock AE would be unfair to vet players, who have no interest in getting a EAT and therefore no motivation to change their alt ways, from trying out AE. If the goal is to simply encourage new players to learn the games normal contact/mission/travel/reward systems, you are punishing those who already know how to play.
This isn't about PLing, at least for me. It's about exposing new players to the normal game mechanics first before they get into the habit of shutting themselves inside AE for their character's entire game "life". Maxing a character in under 50 hours doesn't keep new players from staying around and paying the subscription. After five plus years I think there is an uptick in churn from the old timers so for the game to see another five years we are going to need new blood that stay and play.
If new players think the game is about standing in a room and play virtual missions till their level 50, then they will get the wrong impression about this game.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
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Having only recently come back to the game after a break I haven't really been exposed to "Generation AE." Just curious..has it impacted the way character builds are put together? Travel powers come to mind. I understand that there can be any number of reasons to take a travel power, not the least of which are that they're cool and fun, but it occurs to me that if you never have to leave Atlas nor the standard selection of mission maps, they could be easily skipped in lieu of other primary/secondary/pool powers.
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To an extent. But then, since the addition of the safeguards/mayhems, you can go quite far into the game relying almost entirely on the temp travel powers granted in the first few.
Amusing (in a sad way) build find: A lvl 29 DB/SR scrapper, with only three powers from his secondary (Focused Fighting, Agile, and Quickness). And no less than three pool powers, and took the attack prerequisite from each as well as the travel (Flurry, Jumpkick, and Air superiority)... And then complained that SR wasn't very good, because he kept faceplanting. Meanwhile my Claws/SR was Aggro-cap deep in freak LTs, surviving quite well (and at the time, not much higher in level).
"My inner mind has become a reality-cracking overgod. He torments me! Help!"
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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.
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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....
[/ QUOTE ]
Well, for me most of them do now. When I am not teaming or doing Tf's and just hanging around... I will join the team take a look at badges, builds and playstyle.
I might do up to one mission with them but no more. Add note to who I need to, rate one star put in comment MA noob.
So they are rated one star and I don't have to do TF's or SF's with them.
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Pretty much; but as time moves forward (as it tends to do, despite my best efforts), they will start getting their first veteran reward. And then it will be more difficult to separate them from the crowd based on badges alone. Although there's still the time tested method of playing with them first, and waiting for them do do/say something so monumentally stupid that you wish to ad notes/stars to them.
Personally every single player that I've marked as "2 stars; suspected/Likely/definite AE baby" I also add the date. After a few weeks I'm usually willing to team with them in a casual (non TF) manner, and change their note/rating as necessary. There is a (slim) chance that they've since improved.
Side note; Sitting a popular AE building on Freedom (with broadcast and "Not Accepting Invites" enabled) can be fairly useful for filling out player notes before they ever bother to disrupt your gameplay elsewhere. Might want to take some aspirin beforehand if rampant stupidity makes your head hurt. 
"My inner mind has become a reality-cracking overgod. He torments me! Help!"
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[ QUOTE ]
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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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Look at the info on a toon and then look at their badges. If they're all AE with absolutely no vet badges, then it's a pretty sure bet these toons will suck.
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Not always true I have a new account that has very few badges so far, but my main account has several years of badges on it(not badge hunting just whatever I happen to get)
Triceth LVL 50 Ice/Storm Controller
Ghost Scrapper LVL 50 MA/reflexes Scrapper
Gespin LVL 44 Spine/Regen Scrapper
Treal LVL 41 Emp Defender
Radill LVL 41 Ill/Rad Troller
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I honestly don't care if some people never do anything but MA stories, but I really do think they should cut down on the number of AE buildings, and take them out of the lower level areas...that way new players will at least need to know how to travel to another zone and dodge the random perils of the streets...or whine until someone teleports them.
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This. Was it really necessary to cut and paste that building into every zone they possibly could? I'm so grateful to those who lobbied for it's removal from Croatoa.
Imo, the earliest zone you should have access to it is Steel Canyon on hero side... At that point you've been introduced to Radios, the Invention Tutorial, and have two zones under your belt.
Sure, you could take the train to Steel and just do AE, but at least you'd know where the train freaking WAS.
(I wish that was a joke... sigh)
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I honestly don't care if some people never do anything but MA stories, but I really do think they should cut down on the number of AE buildings, and take them out of the lower level areas...that way new players will at least need to know how to travel to another zone and dodge the random perils of the streets...or whine until someone teleports them.
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This. Was it really necessary to cut and paste that building into every zone they possibly could? I'm so grateful to those who lobbied for it's removal from Croatoa.
Imo, the earliest zone you should have access to it is Steel Canyon on hero side... At that point you've been introduced to Radios, the Invention Tutorial, and have two zones under your belt.
Sure, you could take the train to Steel and just do AE, but at least you'd know where the train freaking WAS.
(I wish that was a joke... sigh)
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This.
A thousand times. This.
You learn about inventions at level 10 in Steel Canyon.
Change the Architect Engineer popup to when you zone into Steel Canyon, provided you are at least level 10.
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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So the elitists run rampant again.
Far be it for others to play your precious little game in a manner different than what you perceive to be the right way.
The 'wonderful community' of this game that has blown it's own trumpet for years about how friendly they are to new players seems to have turned into something completely different.
So what if someone fills their account with 50's that never leave Atlas. SO WHAT. If they enjoy that, that is their fun time.
The lack of acceptance for new players, simply based upon how they have chosen to play the game, is appalling to me.
But, by all means, carry on with your gamer-geek rage. You have every right to dislike them and post here about it.
And it's a very interesting train wreck to watch. A great example of cognitive dissonance actually. Very educational.
"The side that is unhappy is not the side that the game was intended to make happy, or promised to make happy, or focused on making happy. The side that is unhappy is the side that is unhappy. That's all." - Arcanaville
"Surprised your guys' arteries haven't clogged with all that hatred yet." - Xzero45
The problem, MajorPrankster, is not people who spend all their time in AE because they choose to. The problem is those who do because they do not know all their options. If AE is in Steel Canyon, newcomers to the game will encounter many aspects of the game before running into AE. After they do, they can certainly spend all their time from that point on in the AE. But it will be an informed decision, rather than an uninformed one. That is the key difference.
I team with the Repeat Offenders.
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The problem, MajorPrankster, is not people who spend all their time in AE because they choose to. The problem is those who do because they do not know all their options. If AE is in Steel Canyon, newcomers to the game will encounter many aspects of the game before running into AE. After they do, they can certainly spend all their time from that point on in the AE. But it will be an informed decision, rather than an uninformed one. That is the key difference.
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All you did there was nicely say "I want these players to look at the other parts of the game."
The meaning is the same, "play the game the way I do."
Someone that chooses to remain un-informed of the games other areas and potential will do so with or without the AE. I have a friend that has for years now.
Some folks view the game in a completely different light than those of us that play heavily. They do not care, at all, about optimization, TF/SF perfection, seeing all the zones, getting badges or joining an SG. They just want to mash buttons, watch things blow up and giggle.
And that is OK.
If someone wants to learn all there is to learn about the game or not, they will, with or without the existence of the AE.
What I see in this thread and so many others, from the rants about farming, PLing and now the AE, are people determined to control others. Nothing more.
Some of the players of this game just cannot stand that there are others players that play differently than they do.
It's not about making any sort of informed decision. It's simply a matter of what they want out of the game.
"The side that is unhappy is not the side that the game was intended to make happy, or promised to make happy, or focused on making happy. The side that is unhappy is the side that is unhappy. That's all." - Arcanaville
"Surprised your guys' arteries haven't clogged with all that hatred yet." - Xzero45
It seems you are being obtuse to what others are saying. They aren't telling them to play as they do, but rather "take some time and level outside AE to check out all the wonders this game has to offer."
If you can't see the difference then you are being subjective and aren't looking for a discussion.
Bah. Players leaving AE and joining TFs at level 50 with questions like "what are enhancements" and "how do I get to the train" are not a symptom of informed players choosing an alternate style. They are a symptom of uninformed players whose expectations about the rest of the game have been poorly established by their experiences in the AE. Mind you, those players have not done anything wrong. The developers screwed up by presenting a path that left players ignorant of how most of the game's content worked.
I team with the Repeat Offenders.
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So the elitists run rampant again.
Far be it for others to play your precious little game in a manner different than what you perceive to be the right way.
The 'wonderful community' of this game that has blown it's own trumpet for years about how friendly they are to new players seems to have turned into something completely different.
So what if someone fills their account with 50's that never leave Atlas. SO WHAT. If they enjoy that, that is their fun time.
The lack of acceptance for new players, simply based upon how they have chosen to play the game, is appalling to me.
But, by all means, carry on with your gamer-geek rage. You have every right to dislike them and post here about it.
And it's a very interesting train wreck to watch. A great example of cognitive dissonance actually. Very educational.
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YEAH! 
You guys are a bunch of jerks for wanting to show new players there's more to the game than one zone that they'll get bored of after a month and cancel their subs. 
Where do you elitist snobs get off trying to entice new players into trying the content that fascinated you for 5 years.
Only complete anti-social jacktards would want to make long term friends with new players and game regularly with them.
You are all a bunch of intolerant gamer-geeks! 
They're coming for you.
And that's why I think that AE should give something like Patrol XP instead of regular XP.
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Bah. Players leaving AE and joining TFs at level 50 with questions like "what are enhancements" and "how do I get to the train" are not a symptom of informed players choosing an alternate style. They are a symptom of uninformed players whose expectations about the rest of the game have been poorly established by their experiences in the AE. Mind you, those players have not done anything wrong. The developers screwed up by presenting a path that left players ignorant of how most of the game's content worked.
[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
<QR>
So the elitists run rampant again.
Far be it for others to play your precious little game in a manner different than what you perceive to be the right way.
The 'wonderful community' of this game that has blown it's own trumpet for years about how friendly they are to new players seems to have turned into something completely different.
So what if someone fills their account with 50's that never leave Atlas. SO WHAT. If they enjoy that, that is their fun time.
The lack of acceptance for new players, simply based upon how they have chosen to play the game, is appalling to me.
But, by all means, carry on with your gamer-geek rage. You have every right to dislike them and post here about it.
And it's a very interesting train wreck to watch. A great example of cognitive dissonance actually. Very educational.
[/ QUOTE ]
We (in general) aren't trying to shoo then away from their precious AE if that is what they truly wish to do. Personally, if they wish to kill mob "X" over and over, until the game ends, that's their prerogative. I don't care.
The issue we are discussing is that, with the AE buildings being where they are, and available when they are; new players aren't given much of a choice. They enter the game, and their chat is almost immediately inundated with call to join in on the farming.
-Some never escape; with these our concern is that we aren't going to be retaining these players long, as they don't know that the game world is so much larger than the one building; but they've already "beat" the game by getting to 50, there isn't much keeping them around.
-Some do try to broaden their horizons; nothing wrong with this - but generally the existing population of the game has some expectations of them that could leave both sides frustrated, and the newer, less established players may quit as a result. If a lvl1-10 character of a new player is having difficulty finding something on his/her map (or with any other "obvious" aspect of the game), I'm usually quite patient and helpful. We were all new once, and some of the stuff that's second nature to many of us by now just isn't that obvious if you don't already know.
But a lvl 50 (and in extreme cases, lvl 50 EATs) are expected to have, well, experience. But far too frequently (as demonstrated by someone else's anecdote) they don't even know the role enhancements play in our game. I'm not talking about the difference between origin types, as I can see that confusing someone who didn't know, but that they have any practical use at all.
Thus, the immediate and obvious solution is to get that building the heck out of Atlas and Mercy. If nothing else new players will have learned of the existence of other zones along the way.
Another is to force the tutorial on new accounts. While we can't force them to read any of the text there-in (hands up; who here chucks game manuals asside, and dives in head first into newly bought games? *raises own hand*), It still provide good practical experience talking to contacts and finding the mission door.
The last one is to level limit the AE to 10. It's not that hard to reach this level within a day, and gives practical experience on the basics of the game along the way. Although doing this would make moving AE out of the lowbie zones unnecessary; it's still probably a good idea.
"My inner mind has become a reality-cracking overgod. He torments me! Help!"
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The whole premise was wacked from the beginning...
AE Buildings should never have been about 'Entertainment'. Rather, they should have been seen as some sort of global mission control.
AE Missions should never have been thought of as simulations and that Teleport column should never have existed (except perhaps as a zoning tool, similiar to Ouro). The contacts for AE missions should actually be in zones, and you have to travel to them to start the mission. And you should enter the instances via doors, etc, in zones corresponding to the level of the missions.
This would have resolved *everything* while leaving what's good about MA (the creating of custom missions) intact.
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I agree with this a lot. I think that the main problem isn't that the AE is in Atlas, it's that you can just stay there forever and never have to leave.
When the system was first announced, I thought that it was going to be something where you could make or use contacts out in the world, and people could visit those contacts to get the AE missions. Not just stand in one place and do the same missions over and over again with no need to leave the building.
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Despite how tired I am of seeing thread like this, I have to agree. That is what I originally thought AE was going to be like. I saw this coming when they announced that it would be missions in one building.
Perhaps now that the AE/MA is out and seems to be pretty stable, they can work on allowing writers to place missions in zones? I personally wouldn't care if farmers had to go to a level appropriate zone to get to their farms. I have a suspicion that many farmers wouldn't care either.
Blazara Aura LVL 50 Fire/Psi Dom (with 125% recharge)
Flameboxer Aura LVL 50 SS/Fire Brute
Ice 'Em Aura LVL 50 Ice Tank
Darq Widow Fortune LVL 50 Fortunata (200% rech/Night Widow 192.5% rech)--thanks issue 19!
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Alright...this might sound crazy but it could work...potentially.
Make AE require a level 50.
The same way EATs and VEATs are aquired.
After you reach level 50 with a character you can now make missions and you can do AE missions with any level character.
Therefore the only people doing the AE missions are people that have went through the game the original way 1-50.
This makes sense to me because I always thought of AE missions to be missions you do because you have done all the original content over and over.
Also, as a side perc...you can potentially level faster now since you have already leveled a character to 50.
I see no problem with that...I mean you have to level to 35 to get into RWZ.
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I actually agree with the idea that the MA -should- have been limited to people who had level 50s already, despite the general whining and bickering that would have caused.
But I think the idea of forcing that kind of restriction on the thing -now- would be amazingly unlikely.
The backlash at this point would be apocalyptic... 
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This. If there were going to do this, they should NOT be selling a BOX at RETAIL called Architect Edition
Blazara Aura LVL 50 Fire/Psi Dom (with 125% recharge)
Flameboxer Aura LVL 50 SS/Fire Brute
Ice 'Em Aura LVL 50 Ice Tank
Darq Widow Fortune LVL 50 Fortunata (200% rech/Night Widow 192.5% rech)--thanks issue 19!
[ QUOTE ]
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Alright...this might sound crazy but it could work...potentially.
Make AE require a level 50.
The same way EATs and VEATs are aquired.
After you reach level 50 with a character you can now make missions and you can do AE missions with any level character.
Therefore the only people doing the AE missions are people that have went through the game the original way 1-50.
This makes sense to me because I always thought of AE missions to be missions you do because you have done all the original content over and over.
Also, as a side perc...you can potentially level faster now since you have already leveled a character to 50.
I see no problem with that...I mean you have to level to 35 to get into RWZ.
[/ QUOTE ]
I actually agree with the idea that the MA -should- have been limited to people who had level 50s already, despite the general whining and bickering that would have caused.
But I think the idea of forcing that kind of restriction on the thing -now- would be amazingly unlikely.
The backlash at this point would be apocalyptic...
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This. If there were going to do this, they should NOT be selling a BOX at RETAIL called Architect Edition
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Agreed. The cat's out of the bag on this one, and it can't be put back in. There is no way to limit it like that now (unless it's a very low level requirement, like level 10) without a lot of uproar and bad press.
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
This might fly like a brick, but what if the AE buildings were moved to the hazard zones? Those have level restrictions. PP or the hollows would be the first anyone could get to. It would require them to level up a bit.
Just a thought.
BC 
Story-wise: most of those zones don't have power, or are considered too dangerous to even set up a hospital. Why would an entertainment venue move in there?
Business-wise: I don't know.
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
Restricting AE access in any way goes against what the devs promised AE could be used for. It was designed as an alternative to levelling using dev content so locking it in any way would be changing one of its intended purposes.
Locking it to people with a level 50 would have left it dead. There'd be nowhere near the community online than there is now. A TF/SF to access it would be the same.
Now, restricting it to level 10 and up or similar would have been a good idea but too late now. Locking the AE in any way now will cause a lot of players to quit.
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Alright...this might sound crazy but it could work...potentially.
Make AE require a level 50.
The same way EATs and VEATs are aquired.
After you reach level 50 with a character you can now make missions and you can do AE missions with any level character.
Therefore the only people doing the AE missions are people that have went through the game the original way 1-50.
This makes sense to me because I always thought of AE missions to be missions you do because you have done all the original content over and over.
Also, as a side perc...you can potentially level faster now since you have already leveled a character to 50.
I see no problem with that...I mean you have to level to 35 to get into RWZ.
[/ QUOTE ]
I actually agree with the idea that the MA -should- have been limited to people who had level 50s already, despite the general whining and bickering that would have caused.
But I think the idea of forcing that kind of restriction on the thing -now- would be amazingly unlikely.
The backlash at this point would be apocalyptic...
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This. If there were going to do this, they should NOT be selling a BOX at RETAIL called Architect Edition
[/ QUOTE ]
Agreed. The cat's out of the bag on this one, and it can't be put back in. There is no way to limit it like that now (unless it's a very low level requirement, like level 10) without a lot of uproar and bad press.
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Even a low level limit would be bad.
Look at all the bad press they got from CoP and Base raids, even though it's a system listed on the retail box of COV though both have NEVER worked right.
You can't put something on a box and not allow the player to use it from lvl 1. You can't call it architect edition and then when they get in game say "oh btw you can't use the main feature listed on the box till 10". The "bait and switch" uproar would be astronomical. Also they would now have to go back and LIST THAT on the NEW boxes they are printing going forward. That just . . . wouldn't smell right in the press.
The best suggestion is to allow authors to put missions in level appropriate zones. I would go so far as to say FORCE authors to put them in level appropriate zones.
perhaps:
low level (1-35) missions have to have their random spawn doors/mission entrances appear in zones from atlas to bricks.
high level (35-50) missions from founders falls to PI.
specifically a lvl 1-10 mission could only spawn in the zones of the exact range. So a lvl 10 mission could not spawn in bricks, but only in the lower level zones.
You could still use the AE exactly as you do now but you would actually have to zone and see what the other zones are.
As a safegaurd: let all AE missions virtual missh doors only allow to be spawned in the safe parts of the zone. (Would be necessary for COV, as most zones are combined regular/hazard zones over on that side).
Now the big issue is, with the devs working on Power Cust, GR, and issues 16, 17, and 18, how much coding time could actually be devoted to allow this?
Blazara Aura LVL 50 Fire/Psi Dom (with 125% recharge)
Flameboxer Aura LVL 50 SS/Fire Brute
Ice 'Em Aura LVL 50 Ice Tank
Darq Widow Fortune LVL 50 Fortunata (200% rech/Night Widow 192.5% rech)--thanks issue 19!
If people quit because they now have to level up to 10 without AE, then let them leave. It takes 2-3 hours to hit level 10 doing sewers and/or missions. On CoV, I think it's even easier with the bank farm given from Mongoose.
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And that's why I think that AE should give something like Patrol XP instead of regular XP.
[ QUOTE ]
Bah. Players leaving AE and joining TFs at level 50 with questions like "what are enhancements" and "how do I get to the train" are not a symptom of informed players choosing an alternate style. They are a symptom of uninformed players whose expectations about the rest of the game have been poorly established by their experiences in the AE. Mind you, those players have not done anything wrong. The developers screwed up by presenting a path that left players ignorant of how most of the game's content worked.
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Quoting this idea because it was similar to the one I had a few pages ago. AE XP gets stored, then gets converted to real XP when you play outside of AE. Maybe at a 50/50 clip; earn half XP while in AE, get the other half later.
Pros:
* it encourages players to do things outside of AE (to get the rest of the XP)
* it still gives some XP for AE missions
* you can still level completely in AE - just at half the pace
Cons:
* for vets, it might mean that you have to spend more time out of AE than you might like
Looking at this from a canon standpoint...why would the city award the "Hero of the City" badge to someone who hasn't actually done anything for the city? Explain the half and half XP thing as getting practice in the AE which isn't *quite* like the real thing, but does train you to be more effective when you do fight in the "real" world (the banked AE XP bonus).
Suggestions:
Super Packs Done Right
Influence Sink: IO Level Mod/Recrafting
Random Merit Rolls: Scale cost by Toon Level
Having only recently come back to the game after a break I haven't really been exposed to "Generation AE." Just curious..has it impacted the way character builds are put together? Travel powers come to mind. I understand that there can be any number of reasons to take a travel power, not the least of which are that they're cool and fun, but it occurs to me that if you never have to leave Atlas nor the standard selection of mission maps, they could be easily skipped in lieu of other primary/secondary/pool powers.
I've always enjoyed the travel powers but quite honestly my primary reason for hustling to the lvl 14 "travel power promised land" was so that I could finally get to my destinations quickly and hassle-free. Any bonuses or benefits beyond the transportation aspect were/are secondary at best.
Again, as newly returned I'm curious if AE has impacted builds.