Adventures in Pointless Time-Sinks
By
Afterimage,
Posted on: 2010-02-08 18:07 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
If it's easy to fix, it'd be nice if it was sorted, then.
The Architect Manager is a prime example of a talkie done right. He's not necessary to the rest of the game. You can go through the game without even touching AE if you dont want to. So he pops up, and thats that. You can leave him untalked to forever and a day if you dont want to see him. The other talkies are put into place as actual missions, which take up a slot and, sometimes, cant be avoided. I've had instances of getting a talky, dropping it, then getting ANOTHER god damned talky straight after! That, in my opinion, is sloppy, leftover design. And I for one dont think its unreasonable to ask for it to be fixed. |
Well the fix is largely in your hands. Get a Jet Pack and go do what needs to be done. I've had talkies one after the other too and sure, it's a bit of a pain but it's so minor I don't let it bother me
Thelonious Monk
We still have people complaining about these two minute runs/flights/jumps/teleports?
Super secret pro-tip for avoiding being annoyed: Don't be annoyed. It's a couple of minutes. Believe it or not, the only person making you feel annoyed by this is you.
Devs, please continue working on new stuff. Thanks.
The City of Heroes Community is a special one and I will always look fondly on my times arguing, discussing and playing with you all. Thanks and thanks to the developers for a special experience.
Reminds me of somthing that I've done once.
Went to Shiny New Contact in kings row (forget his actual name, he's on a roof with a big metal ramp leading to him) with my New Awsome Blaster.
SNC: "Go see David Wincott in the Hollows"
NAB: "Huh. I just got sent to you for work, but ok. What the heck"
Off I go to see David. I decide to head back to SNC.
SNC: "Good job, now go and talk to the Perez Park Security Officer"
NAB: "You sending me off to sombody else again? Ok, fine"
Once more I trot off, this time I have to "arrest" some hellions in a zone thats designed for group play... with a squishy Blaster...
Joy.
A much scuffed and irritated NAB: "Ok, I'm back from your pointless run about mission. How about some real work?"
SNC: "Sure, but first I want you to go and talk to the Bloody Bay-"
NAB: "No! Enough! I've had it with you! I'm going to find a new contact! One with actual work!"
I tune into my police scanner, do that hero thing and get a New Contact in Kings.
NAB: "Hey there buddy ol' pal. got work for me?"
NCB: "Yeah, I need you to talk to the Bloody Bay representative"
NAB: "Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff-"
Face Palm Combo
I just cancel the go-see mission immediatly and move on to the next one. If I have cancelled another mission in the last three days, I leave the toon at the contact, play an alt for 1-3 days and then come back and cancel the mission.
I never do the go-see missions. Serious waste of time.
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While I agree that these missions are annoying, you would seriously leave your shiny new character unplayed for nine days (Three days x three "talk to" missions in a row at a certain level) rather than run around for five to ten minutes? Wow.|
Originally Posted by Drugfree Boy
I just cancel the go-see mission immediatly and move on to the next one. If I have cancelled another mission in the last three days, I leave the toon at the contact, play an alt for 1-3 days and then come back and cancel the mission.
I never do the go-see missions. Serious waste of time. |
That said, turning them all into MA guy/Ashley McKnight/Montague Castanella/Percy Winkley style contacts would be a vast improvement.
While we're at it, add the tailor contacts and the cape/aura contacts, since they're briefly mentioned by the trainer one time only, and I've seen a LOT of newbies that missed that message and never knew they'd missed out.
@Roderick
So on one hand, people are complaining that it would be bad if Praetoria would only be lvl. 1-20 because you outlevel that so fast and on the other hand people want the devs to spend valuable time to mess with some old lvl. 1-20 contacts so they can save 5 minutes of running around.
Seriously, if you're a new player those missions are a good way to teach you about the pvp zones, the difficulty settings etc. And if you're an experienced player who has already done them you probably know how to get your jet pack early and what the shortest way between zones and contacts are so it won't take you more than a couple of minutes.
Videos
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Contacts in King's Row are levels 5-9. You can't avoid the David Wincott mission, except by visiting David Wincott first. The Perez Park Security Officer mission, on the other hand, you do not need to accept. If the only mission he offers is the Perez Park Security Officer mission, then you have either done all his other content, or outleveled his other missions. If you have outleveled all his other missions, the mission to defeat 10 Circle of Thorns in Perez Park should be easy. (Its CoT, not Hellions. Hellions would be much easier.)|
Originally Posted by Imoba Strife
Reminds me of somthing that I've done once.
Went to Shiny New Contact in kings row (forget his actual name, he's on a roof with a big metal ramp leading to him) with my New Awsome Blaster. SNC: "Go see David Wincott in the Hollows" NAB: "Huh. I just got sent to you for work, but ok. What the heck" Off I go to see David. I decide to head back to SNC. SNC: "Good job, now go and talk to the Perez Park Security Officer" NAB: "You sending me off to sombody else again? Ok, fine" Once more I trot off, this time I have to "arrest" some hellions in a zone thats designed for group play... with a squishy Blaster... Joy. A much scuffed and irritated NAB: "Ok, I'm back from your pointless run about mission. How about some real work?" SNC: "Sure, but first I want you to go and talk to the Bloody Bay-" NAB: "No! Enough! I've had it with you! I'm going to find a new contact! One with actual work!" I tune into my police scanner, do that hero thing and get a New Contact in Kings. NAB: "Hey there buddy ol' pal. got work for me?" NCB: "Yeah, I need you to talk to the Bloody Bay representative" NAB: "Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff-" Face Palm Combo |
Bloody Bay is a level 15 mission. If you were 15, the Circle of Thorns in Perez Park should have been no problem. If you were 15 why were you talking to contacts in Kings Row?
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Not true at all. Just today I had Paula Dempsey refuse to give me anything but that mission at level 7, after doing just one mission for her ( which wasn't even her badge mission ).|
Originally Posted by Afterimage
The Perez Park Security Officer mission, on the other hand, you do not need to accept. If the only mission he offers is the Perez Park Security Officer mission, then you have either done all his other content, or outleveled his other missions.
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Originally Posted by Afterimage
If you have outleveled all his other missions, the mission to defeat 10 Circle of Thorns in Perez Park should be easy.
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Arc #40529 : The Furies of the Earth
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I agree with all your points. I have over 400+ toons (yes, horrible altitis, I admit it) so switching to another is pretty easy to do. I do switch a lot.|
Originally Posted by Roderick
While I agree that these missions are annoying, you would seriously leave your shiny new character unplayed for nine days (Three days x three "talk to" missions in a row at a certain level) rather than run around for five to ten minutes? Wow.
That said, turning them all into MA guy/Ashley McKnight/Montague Castanella/Percy Winkley style contacts would be a vast improvement. While we're at it, add the tailor contacts and the cape/aura contacts, since they're briefly mentioned by the trainer one time only, and I've seen a LOT of newbies that missed that message and never knew they'd missed out. |
The biggest change I am waiting for in the software is to get rid of the 30 second delay when logging out, that would save me so much time (!)
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My simple suggestion to this problem is to reorder the missions so that they're never offered to you until *after* you've gotten the contact's cell number. It would eliminate 99% of the problem.|
Originally Posted by Cryo
So on one hand, people are complaining that it would be bad if Praetoria would only be lvl. 1-20 because you outlevel that so fast and on the other hand people want the devs to spend valuable time to mess with some old lvl. 1-20 contacts so they can save 5 minutes of running around.
Seriously, if you're a new player those missions are a good way to teach you about the pvp zones, the difficulty settings etc. And if you're an experienced player who has already done them you probably know how to get your jet pack early and what the shortest way between zones and contacts are so it won't take you more than a couple of minutes. |
I don't think the missions should be eliminated. They do serve a valuable purpose to a first-time player. I just think they could be reordered to eliminate pointless time sinks.
Forcing a player to travel across one or more zones twice is nothing more than a pointless time sink. It serves no purpose. Talking to the contact, on the other hand, serves a purpose. Reorder the missions to preserve the mission goal, and eliminate the pointless time sink.
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Must be my dodgy memory acting up there. *bonks head*|
Originally Posted by Afterimage
If you have outleveled all his other missions, the mission to defeat 10 Circle of Thorns in Perez Park should be easy. (Its CoT, not Hellions. Hellions would be much easier.)
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The event that passed somthing like what I described took place a looong time ago, not too long after CoV was released and I tend to not bother with Kings missions these days.
Can't you use the drop mission feature to auto-complete the first FedEx? Wouldn't that avoid the chained "go see" contacts, and let you get to the real missions?
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I guess I either got lucky or my memory has betrayed me again. I don't recall ever getting another mission from a contact after doing that one. Mind you, I quit doing that one a long time ago, so its probably bad memory. Level so fast these days I can't do all the missions from level 5-9 anymore. Especially because of three radio missions+safeguard to get a raptor pack.|
Originally Posted by Obscure Blade
Not true at all. Just today I had Paula Dempsey refuse to give me anything but that mission at level 7, after doing just one mission for her ( which wasn't even her badge mission ).
Not really, especially if you lack mezz protection; there's usually 1-2 Madness Mage bosses in each group. If I can't avoid the mission, usually I'll spend a mission skip on it; it's not worth the aggravation fighting hazard zone sized CoT spawns on most of my characters at that level. Generally I end up having to run all the way from the Atlas hospital multiple times if I do it the hard way. |
Madness Mage mezzes are easily beaten by break free inspirations. The bigger problem is the large spawn sizes, combined with a mix of bosses, lieutenants, and minions. However if he was around level 14-15, that wouldn't have been a problem, unless he actually found a large group of 14s.
Sort of getting sidetracked though. I do agree that it would be nice if someone would modernize these missions a bit to reduce the annoyance factor. I'm just quibbling over details, as there has been a bit of exaggeration about how bad they are.
I'd be VERY happy if the next issue addressed this. I've only been playing a few weeks, and I'm already sick of running everywhere just to say hi.
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I must recant. I had a low level scrapper hanging around Kings Row. After running the safeguard mission, and visiting my neglected initial contact, I picked up Juan Jimenez and Paula Dempsey as contacts. After dropping the Visit David Wincott mission, both of them offered me the Perez Park Security Chief mission alongside other missions as well.
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Originally Posted by Afterimage
I guess I either got lucky or my memory has betrayed me again. I don't recall ever getting another mission from a contact after doing that one. Mind you, I quit doing that one a long time ago, so its probably bad memory. Level so fast these days I can't do all the missions from level 5-9 anymore. Especially because of three radio missions+safeguard to get a raptor pack.
Madness Mage mezzes are easily beaten by break free inspirations. The bigger problem is the large spawn sizes, combined with a mix of bosses, lieutenants, and minions. However if he was around level 14-15, that wouldn't have been a problem, unless he actually found a large group of 14s. Sort of getting sidetracked though. I do agree that it would be nice if someone would modernize these missions a bit to reduce the annoyance factor. I'm just quibbling over details, as there has been a bit of exaggeration about how bad they are. |
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Well, if it bothers you I recommend you try playing a villain, they have fewer missions of this sort. Fewer zones for that matter, only 7, as opposed to more than 20 hero side. It does get better with a good travel power.|
Originally Posted by dbuter
I'd be VERY happy if the next issue addressed this. I've only been playing a few weeks, and I'm already sick of running everywhere just to say hi.
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You can also do AE missions to fifty. You can avoid traveling, except to visit the trainer. You have to sort through lots of bad missions to find a few gems though.
But since you are new to the game, you might enjoy the unique atmosphere that each of the city zones possess, as run back and forth saying 'hi'. Its us old-timers who've seen it all a hundred times and more that should be jaded.
For the first time in my life, I'm going to respond to a thread without reading all the posts in it.
Apologies if anything I say has already been covered.
I've been playing WoW for the last three weeks.
I now don't consider anything in CoH to be in any way an onerous time-sink.
God I love CoH.
Eco.
MArcs:
The Echo, Arc ID 1688 (5mish, easy, drama)
The Audition, Arc ID 221240 (6 mish, complex mech, comedy)
Storming Citadel, Arc ID 379488 (lowbie, 1mish, 10-min timed)
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
[The Incarnate System is] Jack Emmert all over again, only this time it's not "1 hero = 3 white minions" it's "1 hero = 3 white rocks."
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I've been wanting them to do a pass on old content like this for some time. I can't imagine it'd be horribly difficult to remove the "go talk to the Security Chief" missions from the database. It would be a major step in streamlining some of the content and make the lower levels on the hero side a lot less painful.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Yeah, this is easily some of the worst choices the game has to offer. I've redone the following tale several times now:
I'll get out of the Hollows at level 16, talk to a contact and I'll have to: *Speak with the Bloody Bay representative in Skyway City *Speak with Jim Temblor in Faultline *Speak with the Hero Corps Field Analyst in Kings Row *Speak with the Skyway City Security Chief Before I can take any REAL missions. This needs to stop. It's stupid, inane design that has no reason to exist in the first place. |
Arc# 92382 -- "The S.P.I.D.E.R. and the Tyrant" -- Ninjas! Robots! Praetorians! It's totally epic! Play it now!
Arc # 316340 -- "Husk" -- Azuria loses something, a young woman harbors a dark secret, and the fate of the world is in your hands.
Sure as heck delete the Security Chief 'mission'.
He does NOTHING! One Hunt mission? Thats a Jack throw-back if ever I saw it...
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
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Why should he care? All that content is gray to him.|
Originally Posted by BigFish
Old content is old
and the former Lead Designer, Positron, would rather make new shinies as opposed to looking at anything done more than 5 minutes before |
--NT
They all laughed at me when I said I wanted to be a comedian.
But I showed them, and nobody's laughing at me now!
If I became a red name, I would be all "and what would you mere mortals like to entertain me with today, mu hu ha ha ha!" ~Arcanaville
I think the talkies are important, especially for a new player who doesn't necessarily know what's available. Only a relatively small percentage of the player base reads the forum or the various wikis... and as we've seen from many threads here a lot of people like to solo - so the other parts of the game need to be made available and the talkies are a pretty good way of doing that.
No, they aren't perfect but it's not like it's a massive chore to grin and bear it, and with travel powers being so easily accessible now, it's just simple to do what needs be done and move on.
The Architect Manager is a prime example of a talkie done right. He's not necessary to the rest of the game. You can go through the game without even touching AE if you dont want to. So he pops up, and thats that. You can leave him untalked to forever and a day if you dont want to see him.
The other talkies are put into place as actual missions, which take up a slot and, sometimes, cant be avoided.
I've had instances of getting a talky, dropping it, then getting ANOTHER god damned talky straight after!
That, in my opinion, is sloppy, leftover design. And I for one dont think its unreasonable to ask for it to be fixed.