City of Heroes Issue 16: Hands-on Preview
By
AlienOne,
Posted on: 2009-08-24 14:31 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Sounds good to me. *Thumbs up*
Nice read. Most of it were things I already knew, but I found this bit interesting:
Quote:
I hope that what that means is that scrappers wont be the only AT with a new epic pool. Cold Mastery for defenders (as well as dark mastery for tankers etc) would be nice.
| Issue 16 will also improve on the Epic Power Pools. Each archetype is getting an additional power set in their epic power pool, and each power set is getting an additional power so that there will be five powers from which to choose. |
Duke Mournblade is a doofus for taking on that many Malta.
Quote:
Even better than I thought it would be!| Just as before, players will be able to choose the level difference of critters they face (up to +4 character level), but with this issue they can choose whether or not to fight bosses in missions. Furthermore, they can choose whether the server assigns missions to the character as if they a single character or more, up to treating the character as a team of eight. All of these sliders are independent of each other. A player can choose to have missions of up to the +4 difficulty, yet they will not give bosses. Conversely they can choose critters of lower levels but face bosses within the mission. There is also a choice of whether to treat Archvillains like Elite Bosses. |
Can't wait to spawn my zombie farm for 8 with no bosses.
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
Quote:
Don't get too excited. Until otherwise clarified, it was most likely a flub by the writer of the article, since the previous article by Castle only mentioned Pyre Mastery for Scrappers.
|
Originally Posted by Arctic Man
I hope that what that means is that scrappers wont be the only AT with a new epic pool. Cold Mastery for defenders (as well as dark mastery for tankers etc) would be nice.
|
Never surrender! Never give up!
Help keep Paragon City alive with the unofficial City of Heroes Tabletop Role Playing Game!
Quote:
You and me both! I'm all aflutter just thinking about it.
|
Originally Posted by Nethergoat
Even better than I thought it would be!
Can't wait to spawn my zombie farm for 8 with no bosses. |
Queen of the Amazons, WP/DB
Sound Judgement Son/Son
Cobra Lily Plant/Kin
Celestia, FF/Psy
Nefertiri, Storm/Elec
Pixie, Ill/Rad
Guardian Server
"City of Heroes remains the champion of character and player customization" eh?
Subtle 
The Purple Party Pagan of Paragon
Globals: @Morgana Fiolett / @Genevieve Moore
Altoholic with too many characters to count now I have all these shiny servers...
While I'm still excited for most of these features... there's been no mention of story content in this issue. Is there any? New contacts? New arcs? Any progress at all on the Coming Storm storyline that's been left dangling since Issue 12?
@Eisenzahn
GW2 - Melchior.2135
AIM - Euroclydon23
Email - scorpany@yahoo.com or <sameasmyAIM>@aol.com (for the sheer novelty of an almost 20 year old email address that hasn't been overwhelmed by spambots yet)
Its in the scrapper forums too but yeah better off posting it here 
Looking forward to this issue.
@Damz Find me on the global channel Union Chat. One of the best "chat channels" ingame!
Quote:
And here, ladies and gentlemen, is once more proof that some people simply cannot be pleased.|
Originally Posted by Eisenzahn
While I'm still excited for most of these features... there's been no mention of story content in this issue. Is there any? New contacts? New arcs? Any progress at all on the Coming Storm storyline that's been left dangling since Issue 12?
|
I understand the desire for more story content, but when I think about the enormous amount of work represented by these additions, I say cut the Devs some slack.
Quote:
Some people honestly don't care about power customization. Quite a few, actually. So for those who don't care about power customization, this issue doesn't give alot.|
Originally Posted by Steel_Shaman
And here, ladies and gentlemen, is once more proof that some people simply cannot be pleased.
I understand the desire for more story content, but when I think about the enormous amount of work represented by these additions, I say cut the Devs some slack. |
Not to mention I15 was story light (two badly written TF's), and I14 had basically no story at all (make your own).
I'm excited for power customization but I can understand that others would like some actual story content.
Wow, there's a lot to cover here.
Scissor Man can't wait to go chewing through 8 player size Cimeroran Squads with no Perfect Castrators or whatever the Cimeroran bosses are called. Also, Longbow minus the Wardens! Suck it!
There is no way every archetype is getting a fifth epic pool. How would you add a fifth pool to villains? It would take something special, and I think we would have heard about that by now.
I'm having a hard time imagining what "color tintable" effects would look like. I cant wait to find out though!
Man I cant wait for this issue!
Paragon Unleashed, Unleash Yourself!
Quote:
Or play one of the excellent stories realized by your fellow players.|
Originally Posted by Toony
....and I14 had basically no story at all (make your own).
|
Even ignoring everything but Dev's Choice I14 delivered quite a few fresh gameplay experiences.
The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.
My City Was Gone
Quote:
Those people will get their turn. And the rest of us will be there complaining that we're not getting new powers or epics when they do. And so the worm turns...
|
Originally Posted by Toony
Some people honestly don't care about power customization. Quite a few, actually. So for those who don't care about power customization, this issue doesn't give alot.
Not to mention I15 was story light (two badly written TF's), and I14 had basically no story at all (make your own). I'm excited for power customization but I can understand that others would like some actual story content. |
Paragon Unleashed, Unleash Yourself!
Quote:
I see your point. However we know the Dev's are also working on a new expansion while releasing Issues. I can forgive some story light Issues given that in a few months we are getting what should be a rather large chunk of content all at once. Content that will (hopefully) keep us all rather happily busy for quite some time. |
Originally Posted by Toony
Some people honestly don't care about power customization. Quite a few, actually. So for those who don't care about power customization, this issue doesn't give alot.
Not to mention I15 was story light (two badly written TF's), and I14 had basically no story at all (make your own). I'm excited for power customization but I can understand that others would like some actual story content. |
Quote:
But this is just fanfiction. It does not matter in the game, it does not move any storylines forward (like the coming storm), and it is heavily limited in what it can do.|
Originally Posted by Nethergoat
Or play one of the excellent stories realized by your fellow players.
Even ignoring everything but Dev's Choice I14 delivered quite a few fresh gameplay experiences. |
As for devs choice....in my experience it is just that. The devs choice. A dev liked it, doesn't mean I will. Just because George Lucas likes someones movie doesn't mean I will.
Quote:
Yes, but perhaps the rest wasn't finished yet then and/or they want to save some surprises for articles such as this one and open beta. I'm still cautiously optimistic.
|
Originally Posted by IanTheM1
Don't get too excited. Until otherwise clarified, it was most likely a flub by the writer of the article, since the previous article by Castle only mentioned Pyre Mastery for Scrappers.
|
Quote:
You may not be aware of this, but the Developers in charge of Animations and Powers, the ones who have been most heavily involved in all of the new stuff, are entirely different people from the Writers, from whom we've seen very little in a long time. Just because this issue is heavy on new gameplay features does not excuse it from being, so far as we've been informed, free of new story content. It's entirely possible for the issue to meet or exceed desires on the one front, and wholly fail to satisfy on the other.
|
Originally Posted by Steel_Shaman
And here, ladies and gentlemen, is once more proof that some people simply cannot be pleased.
I understand the desire for more story content, but when I think about the enormous amount of work represented by these additions, I say cut the Devs some slack. |
@Eisenzahn
GW2 - Melchior.2135
AIM - Euroclydon23
Email - scorpany@yahoo.com or <sameasmyAIM>@aol.com (for the sheer novelty of an almost 20 year old email address that hasn't been overwhelmed by spambots yet)
Quote:
However, those same people still have some crossover duties. If the animation/art/etc. people are told to give power customization priority, and the story folks need art and zone work done (say, for a Faultline treatment - and of course, they're working on GR, so there's a good bit of art to deal with,) they may be in a holding pattern there. |
Originally Posted by Eisenzahn
You may not be aware of this, but the Developers in charge of Animations and Powers, the ones who have been most heavily involved in all of the new stuff, are entirely different people from the Writers, from whom we've seen very little in a long time. Just because this issue is heavy on new gameplay features does not excuse it from being, so far as we've been informed, free of new story content. It's entirely possible for the issue to meet or exceed desires on the one front, and wholly fail to satisfy on the other.
|
I'm assuming the story folks have been told to focus on GR, myself, thus their scarcity elsewhere.
Quote:
Don't read into something that's not there.|
Originally Posted by MorganaFiolett
"City of Heroes remains the champion of character and player customization" eh?
Subtle |
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Eisenzahn
You may not be aware of this, but the Developers in charge of Animations and Powers, the ones who have been most heavily involved in all of the new stuff, are entirely different people from the Writers, from whom we've seen very little in a long time. Just because this issue is heavy on new gameplay features does not excuse it from being, so far as we've been informed, free of new story content. It's entirely possible for the issue to meet or exceed desires on the one front, and wholly fail to satisfy on the other.
|
Quote:
Seriously. Every time I start to believe people shouting how the devs hate farmers, they turn around and do something like this. Being able to choose 'no bosses'? That is SERIOUSLY pro-farm.
|
Originally Posted by Nethergoat
Even better than I thought it would be!
Can't wait to spawn my zombie farm for 8 with no bosses. |
Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
Quote:
So... you expect me to be excited by the fact that something that was a consistent part of Free Updates since Issue 1 has now been slashed in priority for issues 14, 15 and now apparently 16, because they're planning on selling it to me instead? I didn't start playing until after CoV... was there a similar slowdown before it was released? Looking at the list of features in earlier issues certainly doesn't suggest it.|
Originally Posted by GuyPerfect
Are you guys for real? Honestly? I'd have thought by now it'd be obvious that the story team is working on Going Rogue. Those who want story *raises hand* will have to wait for then.
|
I'll be happy to buy Going Rogue, but I'd be happier if it felt like they were adding to the game in addition to the free issues, rather than just reshuffling developer time to the expansion at the expense of the free issues. Or else if they'd switch over fully to a Paid New Content model, and expand the development team even further to back it up, like most other MMOs. Either plan is fine, but this hybrid system has left me starving for content for quite a while. I'd anticipated something like this, and hoped AE would help cover the gap, but it's proving insufficient, when I spend far more time sifting out worthwhile content from the torrent of farms and semi-literate garbage than I do actually playing most missions.
@Eisenzahn
GW2 - Melchior.2135
AIM - Euroclydon23
Email - scorpany@yahoo.com or <sameasmyAIM>@aol.com (for the sheer novelty of an almost 20 year old email address that hasn't been overwhelmed by spambots yet)
Quote:
How they would reconcile Patron Pools is what prevents me from believing it's a possibility.|
Originally Posted by Arctic Man
Yes, but perhaps the rest wasn't finished yet then and/or they want to save some surprises for articles such as this one and open beta. I'm still cautiously optimistic.
|
Also, Re: No Bosses option - I read that to mean "Bosses spawn as Lieutenants" similar to the option to spawn AVs as EBs, but I could very well be wrong. I also wouldn't at all be surprised if it was nullified by the team size slider.
Never surrender! Never give up!
Help keep Paragon City alive with the unofficial City of Heroes Tabletop Role Playing Game!
Quote:
You hit the nail on the head, as it were. The person primarily responsible for for storylines (Hero 1, I believe it is) was also a large contributor to Architect Entertainment, and as you can guess... He's had his hands full for a little while... |
Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill
However, those same people still have some crossover duties. If the animation/art/etc. people are told to give power customization priority, and the story folks need art and zone work done (say, for a Faultline treatment - and of course, they're working on GR, so there's a good bit of art to deal with,) they may be in a holding pattern there.
I'm assuming the story folks have been told to focus on GR, myself, thus their scarcity elsewhere. |
"The One"
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Infernus_Hades
The way you play changes your IO slotting..
|
76 characters and Twenty-four 50s later, I still love this game.
AlienOne's Human-Form Warshade Guide (Old guide+New guide = 12,000+ views!)
Well, this hadn't been posted yet so I thought I'd point you all to it...
MMORPG.com Preview
Enjoy...