Issue 17 Overview

Woot!

I like the ( wild ) speculation someone mentioned in another thread; that the "Dark Mirror" enemy will be the Blood of the Black Stream in game at last. Black/Oil=Dark, shapechanging = Mirror.

I'm so glad they decided to revamp the Positron TF. As the intro to TFs for CoH, it really shouldn't be as horrifying as the old version. It's also nice to have the worst stop on the way to the Taskforce Commander badge be replaced with something more fun.

Everything else looks great, too. I'm not into anthropomorphs with tails (I have a chicken, a werewolf, and a bug), so I probably won't get anything out of that, but I'm glad to see it as an option.

I can't wait to try out the QoL improvements. I'll also give the AE a second go, as the amount of unique maps, lack of experience for custom enemies (I'm not trying to affect balance, I just want certain powers without being forced into Build Up or Rage, which no official mob has, and for good reason), and "lead to place" option for escorts are things I wanted.

In regards to complaints about lack of content: sadly, the insistence from many players on side-specific content has a lot to do with this. Issue 5 gave us five 5-mission arcs (I'm not counting "defeat 10 whatsits") with mostly simple tech aside from two missions, and the shortest TF in the game. This issue, we're getting four 4-mission arcs, and (yes this is part speculation) the equivalent of 2 new TFs to replace the old Positron TF. I think that's very close, content-wise, but it looks small because in Issue 5, everyone got all of the arcs and the TF. With split content, each character only gets half the arcs from this issue, and only the heroes get the TFs.

I wish there was less resistance to cooperative content. The two villains in this game that make the most sense for cooperative content, more than Romulus or even the Rikti, are Hamidon and Rularuu. I say this because neither can be bargained with and both will destroy the world, the perfect setup for villains and heroes to team up, yet neither is cooperative. I think an Issue 10 style revamp of the Shadow Shard in issue 18, 19, or 20 with revamped, cooperative TFs and some GR style "shades of grey" arcs to appeal to both heroes and villains would be great.

Sorry for the tangent. Please don't take it as a comment on Issue 17. I think it looks fantastic.

I wonder if the revamped Positron TF is part of a plan to revamp all the lower level content?
They said at Hero Con that they wanted to create a new entry level experience with GR, but it'd make sense for them to update the 1-20 CoH and CoV content too - maybe in I19/I20?

I might've missed it but I didn't see one "OMGDUMBINGDOWNCOX" comment regarding Positron's redesign or Silver Mantis not needing the computer.

/boggles but is happily boggled

Strangely enough, although I don't expect to ever use it, I think the Positron TF revamp is the most important part of I17. Letting that blight of a TF sit unchanged for years was one of the dumbest moves the devs ever made, in my opinion. (I blame the producer. That kind of thing is always the producer's fault.) It's the first TF for the heroes, and first impressions count for a lot. It's a great thing to change for new players... although it's worthless for me.

Ultra Mode - I have no real interest in this. I'll probably turn those features off, because I value performance over improved shadows and reflections.

Animated Tails - I have a character who could really use one of those.

New Badges: Wow, exploration badge glut. I thought my list was huge enough already. You don't seriously think I'm going to waste my time running around for those, do you? Because of course I will.

In-Game E-Mail: I used to require all my characters to be self sufficient, but dual builds have left some of my characters gasping for inf. Yes, I will use this feature.

Increased Mission Count: I could really have used this five years ago. Nowadays I usually only have one or two missions in my list, thanks to the mission dropping feature. Still, I might find a use for it.

Overall, it's looking like a great issue. No big feature (like a new zone), but Lots of new stuff to play with.

one good thing that could come from ultra mode for CoV, that it might brighten the place up abit for the people think it way tooo dark looking and might jump the war wall and play the good side.. the villain side

i bet some of you know a friend or two that said CoV is too dark for my liking or something of that type

Content everyone wants it no one agrees what it is.

My definition: any cannon missions.

people tend to forget that while people have the right to state an opinion, other people also can state their opinion on said opinion.

also can someone tell me where the ignore button is, they seemed to have hidden it when they switched forums