Power Renaming
By
Bookkeeper_Jay,
Posted on: 2009-08-29 08:07 in Archetypes and Powers General Discussion
The issues I see with this suggestion:
-Player confusion (either yourself or others trying to see what powers you have)
-Lack of impact (wow, so you can change the name in combat log...but who sits there reading that?)
My suggestion:
Combat Text!
Like how Dominators have the "Dominate" text over stuff after using Domination or "Overpowered" or "Critical" or "Assassination". So when you activate a power, it has a chance (see very small chance) to activate the name of the power you just used. There would be measures in-game to preserve the novelty of this feature:
1. Ever player would have a new option:
--Disable Combat text: No text or numbers popping over your head or enemies for a realistic view
--Number Combat text: Only shows the numbers of damage dealt/recieved/healed
--Simple Combat text: Only shows the game combat text such as that from Inherent powers along with numbers
--Full Combat text: Enables the new option of this suggestion
2. You can choose which powers have this feature. If you don't want your tier1/2 powers to pop text up then customize those power's option in the power customization window.
3. You have a base chance of 30% for this feat to 'kick in' which is divided and distributed among all your powers proportionately with respect to recharge. The lower the recharge, the lower the chance.
4. Once the effect 'kicks in' there is a suppression time (like 30sec to 1min) afterwards that it can't 'kick in'.
If you think about it, dividing a 30% chance among all your powers (that includes passives like Swift and Stamina) if you have lots of toggles, I'd give them a high chance to occur upon activation.
As for confusion when checking someone's powers: They have tabs for a reason. The 1st tab would have the character bio, 2nd is the powers and IO bonuses they have, 3rd is their customized name, 4th is of course badges. I'd also keep it simple and limit the names of your powers to only show in your combat log and not in everyone else's. People can still read the names of your powers or have the name shoved in their face every now and then if they *REAALLY* want to see them.
Such an option can introduce more options for the names, like font and color. So occasionally seeing Karaoke Krash! pop up over your head (and your head only, not the enemies) when you use Sonic blast's nuke can give the game flavor....anime flavor but I like anime so ha.
Didn't read the thread, so I don't know if this has been covered or not.
It would make looking at other people's builds a pain to decipher. Trying to figure out if the tank you're teamed with has Taunt? Good luck, since none of his power names are even remotely recognizable.
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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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Of course they do and it's absurd to suggest that forcing everyone into random names would be a remotely viable option. And your comment about costumes reinforces what I said: Names and costumes are a requirement (to varying degrees). Power names are not. Even this thread has shown pretty lackluster support for the notion. Given the potential scope for abuse with 20+ powers per character and the lack of necessity for it, it's just not worth doing. Saying that "Well, they let us name characters" is an argument that just doesn't wash.
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Originally Posted by CocoCabana
First, no, they don't have to allow you to select your own name.
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The TTP factor is still relevant.
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I think that the point being made is that the game CANNOT let you have the same name as everyone else. Everyone's name must be unique. Otherwise, you'd have no way to single out the target of a /tell or /invite.|
Originally Posted by CocoCabana
First, no, they don't have to allow you to select your own name.
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Where I see this becoming complicated is in the use of macros. If you can set the name of your powers, then when you go to refer to it as "powexec_name <name>" you would obviously specify the name you gave it. So if you ever changed the name of that power, you would break all your macros, and have to go in and change them all manually.
OTOH, this is similar to henchmen, and your ability to name them and then specify them by name in their macros. This can actually be used for some interesting results. (such as singling out part of a Tier, or combining two Tiers in a single command)
And this actually gets back to the original point. While you could theoretically name your powers, you would have to make sure you don't name them the same thing. If all your powers are named "Punch", how do you specify which to activate?
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I think you missed my point Jophiel. Are you saying that it's technically impossible for them to force users to use automated names and costumes? Because if they wanted to, they certainly could have designed the game that way.|
Originally Posted by Jophiel
Of course they do and it's absurd to suggest that forcing everyone into random names would be a remotely viable option. And your comment about costumes reinforces what I said: Names and costumes are a requirement (to varying degrees). Power names are not. Even this thread has shown pretty lackluster support for the notion. Given the potential scope for abuse with 20+ powers per character and the lack of necessity for it, it's just not worth doing. Saying that "Well, they let us name characters" is an argument that just doesn't wash.
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Though as you correctly pointed out, it's not a "remotely viable option" for business reasons, principally that if people couldn't choose their own character names and costumes, most of them wouldn't want to play. A cornerstone of good business is customer satisfaction, after all.
And because it satisfies players to customize their characters, we have an enhancement system that allows us to configure the effects of our powers, we keep getting more and more costume options, and shortly we'll be allowed to change the look and animations of our powers. By your argument, the Power Spectrum update also suffers from a "lack of necessity". Would you call it a poor business decision?
It's for business reasons that I think this is a worthwhile avenue to pursue. With Champions Online spreading its wings, CoX needs every competitive differentiator it can get its hands on. Being the only superhero MMO to offer FULL customization of powers, down to the name, would be a good one.
As for the "potential scope for abuse", well, there's been several suggestions on how that might be handled or even completely avoided. Honestly though, I think the weight of that argument rests on a worst case scenario where everyone who plays decides to create offensive names for their powers.
How many players do you see running around with offensive names, and how long do they last? How many serious long-term players, those level 50s with the 20+ power slots you mentioned, do you estimate would engage in that kind of behavior?
- CocoCabana
Personally, I think this level of customization is a bit silly. Has renaming the actual power ever been done? Or even wanted? This is, honestly, the first time I've ever even heard of this request.
Perhaps we should also be able to rename costume pieces? I do not like how my favorite mask mesh is titled "Demise." I'd prefer it to be called "Awesome."
It's probably a bit easier to do on a personal basis: i.e., follow the anime route and call out your powers. Make a macro/bind and voila. Done.
Head of TRICK, the all Trick Arrow and Traps SG
Part of the Repeat Offenders
Still waiting for his Official BackAlleyBrawler No-Prize
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Okay, for this I need to figure out how to add rep... Reference filled me with nostalgia.
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Originally Posted by Kitsune9tails
I'd support a 'client side only' rename option.
However, I can see where that could cause some minor problems with reorientation ...and some hilarity... "Don't worry, if he breaks aggro, I'll use Gekigangar Punch!" "...what?" |
All that is planned fails. All that is born dies.
All that is built crumbles. This will always be true.
But memories remain, And that is beautiful.
I think I figured out a way to help deter potential abuse of a power rename feature - make the initial rename free, but future renames have to be earned or purchased like respecs.
So when you get a new power, you can change it or keep the default name. If a player uses a single offensive or potentially copyright-infringing name ("Captain America's Shield Bash", "Harry Potter's Wand of Fizzlesticks", etc.) for a power, once caught a GM resets ALL of their powers to their default names. If that player wants another opportunity to rename their powers, they have to run a TF or drop money for a recipe.
- CocoCabana