Uber Low Level Co-Op Zone

Ok I'm typing this on the fly after a (semi) spontaneous tribute to a couple of well respected guys who we've grown to regard very highly within the European CoX family.

I'm not intending to rake over that again.

However in prepping for that event it became very apparent that there is nowhere for Heroes and Villains to meet at low level other than Pocket D, and that, frankly doesn't cut it any longer because of traffic, arena and the godawful same bloody tune that Zero keeps spamming ad infinitum

In short, there is nowhere for heroes and villains to meet early on, to forge alliances for the future, to plot, scheme, find your arch-nemesis (small "n", no plot here pls) and generally interact with your mate who's playing his new toon on the other side of you... maybe even a mission or two just to see where you're at at the very start.

I am NOT talking PVP here... leave that to the Arena and the level 5 stuff... I'm talking easy access low level meet and greet RP, Bravado, Shape of things to come type stuff.

the:

"Think you can have me bub?"

"No sweat, see you in 20 levels"

has its place but also as the CoX world meets increasingly global threats there's more and more justifcation for it. The Rikti are invading whenever they get the chance, the Circle will bring ruination on the world for the demon kings, Nemesis is a maverick of the highest water who'll probably blow the planet up just to prove CERN wrong, and Dr Vazhilok... well that's just yukky.

I would love to see a coop zone maybe very narrowly defined, say lvls 3-7 with an auto-exemp down for the high levels, WITH a proper meeting place with red and blue droids guarding it. Maybe a revamp of Boomtown lowered to that level with access points and some areas "off piste" so to speak for those who are prepared to chance their arm

Somewhere for the Galaxy Girl crew (and the rest of us) to meet.

Let's face it the only place Villains have comparable is Aeon City and that's way too tough to get to for lowbies in the most instnace so how about it people?

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Playpen™ ftw.

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@Rooks

"You should come inside the box... Then you'll know what I mean."

It kinda grates against the whole Heroes 'VS' Villains idea...
I do still find it wierd that they get on at all. The RWZ is supposed to force cooperation out of them, as does Cimerora. ( No one wants squid-wannabe Requiem ruining the party :P )
But....yeah, the PVP zones really lack that 'comic-book' feeling that makes CoX so fun most of the time. No fledglling rivalries, no silly gags at your nemesis' expense....just some hardcore PVP fan pulping you flat as soon as you step outta the zone.

I think its certainly worth thinking about. PVP at the mo tends to throw you in at the deep end, at the mercy of the stalkers and blasters...and im pretty sure im not the only one to curse the other side more than once :P

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I do still find it wierd that they get on at all.

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A lot of the big hero vs villain nemesis type deals start out with the two sides being friends and then things go bad somehow. Look at Prof X and Magneto. Or Statesman and Lord Recluse. It's certainly a classic for the Batmanesque hero to discover that his best friend from school has become your worst enemy.

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Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.

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I do still find it wierd that they get on at all.

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A lot of the big hero vs villain nemesis type deals start out with the two sides being friends and then things go bad somehow. Look at Prof X and Magneto. Or Statesman and Lord Recluse. It's certainly a classic for the Batmanesque hero to discover that his best friend from school has become your worst enemy.

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Spiderman rings more of a bell.
But thats the point, really. Become good/evil. Hate each others guts. Duke it out, until united to defeat a common foe, then back to nuking each other again.
Im not saying its a bad idea, far from it. Its jsut sometimes I find it odd, especially in Pocket D, how fine the line seems at times. =P

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how fine the line seems at times.

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CoH is rather Golden/Silver Age influenced, and under that sort of setting, you're right. In a more modern setting, there can quite often be rather a fine line between heroes and villains.

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Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.

True. True.
And you still get the odd cry of 'Die, evil scum!' even now :P heh

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And so you should.

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Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.

You forget about heroes aren't that good, and villains aren't that bad. There are several examples of being in the middle instead of clearly good/evil. In an ideal comic good/evil setup, we could meet and fight anytime and anywhere. But since most people think about Pvp as a swearword at best (not me), it is natural we want to play with our mates regardless of sides. We are all human behind the pc after all. And, playing in mixed groups gives new experiences, and is fun definately. So _any_ new co-op zone would be a good news indeed.

(and I won't start an arguement about what would be best in my opinion...I would love to be attacked by a villain player in Steel while putting out fires, or get to the Rogues for some baddie hunt... won't ever happen tho)

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Shouldn't that be 'Surrender, evil scum!' instead Alpha? These are heroes, after all.

A low level co-op starting zone has been suggested before, and was very popular then and still is.

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Shouldn't that be 'Surrender, evil scum!' instead Alpha? These are heroes, after all.

A low level co-op starting zone has been suggested before, and was very popular then and still is.

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One of the finest suggestion posts ever made IMO (which I really, really want, along with a RWZ style revamp of Dark Astoria for 20-35s with an epic storyline along the lines of the RWZ or Faultline one with BP, CoT and Tsoo).

*Edit : Re-reading it I just realised Valk also suggests the Dark Astoria co-op thing. That makes it offically the bestest suggestion ever made in terms of new content

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*Edit : Re-reading it I just realised Valk also suggests the Dark Astoria co-op thing. That makes it offically the bestest suggestion ever made in terms of new content

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QFT

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*Edit : Re-reading it I just realised Valk also suggests the Dark Astoria co-op thing. That makes it offically the bestest suggestion ever made in terms of new content

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QFT

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Re-re-reading the thread I even had a conversation with Valk about the DA co-op zone.

Damn short term memory loss.

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you can call a child of four who is dressed as superman a hero, but that doesn't mean it is a hero.
also, the police and firefighters are seen as heroes, but they don't weir a spandex cat suit.
i think it's a wonderful idea, finally something for the low levels.
maybe lvl 5-10, so you have at least what you need in power.

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Shouldn't that be 'Surrender, evil scum!' instead Alpha? These are heroes, after all.

A low level co-op starting zone has been suggested before, and was very popular then and still is.

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My point exactly...I've been in D's with the cross-over-cultists for too long X3
I mean, some people seem really REALLY confused about which side they're on. I have no problem with slightly gritty heroes, ah la Punisher and suchnot. Anti-Heroes, iirc, are basically what we make our villains. Or should, in some cases.
Yeah, Villains should have a few redeeming features. All the old school ones did (Dr Doom, Magneto, etc) aside from the classic 'Arch-Villains' like Apocalypse, who are pure evil. Similar to the Rikti Liniage of War, for example...

Anyway, back to the Topic...
/SIGNED More content is good, more good content is priceless

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Shouldn't that be 'Surrender, evil scum!' instead Alpha? These are heroes, after all.

A low level co-op starting zone has been suggested before, and was very popular then and still is.

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One of the finest suggestion posts ever made IMO (which I really, really want, along with a RWZ style revamp of Dark Astoria for 20-35s with an epic storyline along the lines of the RWZ or Faultline one with BP, CoT and Tsoo).

*Edit : Re-reading it I just realised Valk also suggests the Dark Astoria co-op thing. That makes it offically the bestest suggestion ever made in terms of new content

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Thanks

Another idea I had at that time (but didn't dare mention as everyone would pester me to develop it) was revamping Boomtown as a L1-15 co-op newbie zone - probably focusing on the 5th Column, Clockwork and Vahzilok - with a low-level 3-mission TF that would have Paladin, Dr Vahz, and a weakened Reichsman in it (the TF's final mission ending with the discovery of Reichsman's stasis chamber under the old Freedom Phalanx base in Boomtown, accidentally releasing him, then having to try and defeat him before he fully awakens and regains his strength - this could also lead to the zone having a L35-50 co-op TF as well, where you could face Reichsman at full strength).

Boomtown would work pretty well for this as heroes could exit it into Steel Canyon safely at any point from L10-15, and villains could catch a black heli out of there to Cap au Diable at same levels.

Just don't expect me to develop that idea now - my new job barely gives me time to play CoH/V or read these forums, let alone spare any time to develop ideas just for the heck of it. So if any of you want to develop that idea and make a post about it, go for it

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Thats quite a neat idea actually. I know that I go to boomtown as often as a really warm british summer...e.g. rarely :P
Throwing in a few more of the head Villains of Heroes would be a nice touch, I have to say. Not a bad idea at all =]
/signed

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I likethe idea, sometimes villains has a very empty and lonely feeling =P
/signed frome me ^_^

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Yeah, I would agree to a L1-15 zone instead of a L1-5 or L5-10. Since leveling from 1 to 10 takes about a couple of hours only (without even PLing), that might mean noone would ever go to Atlas, Galaxy, a good sewer hunt or to the Hollows.

Oh, btw...what if Hollows would be that coop zone?

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Oh, btw...what if Hollows would be that coop zone?

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While it's the logical choice, it's also had more revamps than Britney Spears, and would need a massive change of design for it to be a logical co-op zone.

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Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.

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Oh, btw...what if Hollows would be that coop zone?

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While it's the logical choice, it's also had more revamps than Britney Spears, and would need a massive change of design for it to be a logical co-op zone.

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Besides, Hollows got its own Storyarc, its own TF/SF as well. Compare that to places like Perez, Boomtown, Dark Astoria, Crey's Folly and even Eden. Each and every one of those zones lack contacts, storyarcs and except for Eden a TF. Those are the zones that could use a refurbishing.

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Compare that to places like Perez, Boomtown, Dark Astoria, Crey's Folly and even Eden.

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Perez is a no-no. It's in the middle of the city, the authorities would go bonkers if villains started invading.

Eden has its own Trial, but is otherwise a waste.

Crey's Folly, I'd imagine, is going to end up having something done to it, and could go co-op seeing as it used to be the main entrance to what is now the RWZ. OTOH, I doubt the authorities would like it much having a fat villain pipeline right through to the front door of the Zig.

I wish they'd do something with DA, but not turn it into a low level co-op zone.

Boomtown... they can do anything they like with Boomtown. Wonder if it could be the site for a 5th Column spearhead operation which could (maybe) bring about some form of co-op activity..? It is jammed full of Council troops doing drill at the moment.

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Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.

well, with the idea of a moral compass that lets you go from good to bad and vice versa I think all characters should start off Neutral with an origin and a set of common pool low level powers. as they level they get to evolve into heroes or villains and choose their AT upon full fledged good/badness.

Stop a bank robbery => hero
Rob a bank => villain
Get caught robbing a bank => jail + outbreak = villain
Fail to stop bank job => hospital + recovery tutorial = hero

etc.

or:

each act you do moves your nice/naughty metre closer to either end of the spectrum. dead centre = 0 xp , as you move closer to the edges you get closer to full xp. only Grey characters can select from the grey pool of powers - none of which are tied to any particular AT - common to all. once you hit the hero/villain stage you get the option to choose your AT and move to paragon or Rogue Isles and start earning proper powers starting from those available at your current level.

IMHO, make the Destined an option. I know its nice but I've spent soooo long beating up Arachnos with my MM I really dont want to work for Recluse nor do I care what he's up to as long as I can throw myself at him and make him feel all sad n stuff for beating the snot out of me if we ever cross paths! thats right. I'll hurt him. I'll hurt his feelings gooooood!

cap missions and contacts in the grey area to lvl 10. leave the current sub 10 missions that are in the game for those that dont want to start Grey (choice is always good).

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Perhaps, but if the 'moral compass' ever comes to pass, I rather suspect there will be one or more neutral ATs that can swing either way, and they'll keep the existing 'start as hero'/'start as villain' ATs as they are.

I would agree that a different tutorial concept would be nice for villains, but then I'd kind of like an alternative tutorial for heroes too, and you can always just skip it.

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Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.

Im not sure about the Moral Compass idea since reading the interview with Brian Clayton suggests they are at least considering the whole 'switching sides' idea:

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Massively: So one last question for Brian: we know there was a marketing survey that went out to players not too long ago, and there were a number of different questions, but one that we think players really attached to was the idea of players being able to switch sides. We wanted to know if this is something that's been taken up and noticed by the folks at NC Norcal, and whether or not you think that's something from your perspective that you guys might be able to address some time down the line?

Brian Clayton: We're going to be doing more and more in-depth focus groups and research, and things like that, going forward, so eventually I think this is going to become more noise for the community than it is groundbreaking news! But what I can say is that having players go from hero to villain, and villain to hero, would nicely tie together what we've already done to date with City of Heroes and City of Villains. We certainly like the concept and the idea, but we're just not ready to talk about the details yet.

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