Taking It To The Streets!

Hello,

In the last little while I have posted in a few threads talking about how it was in the old days. While I realize the old days are well and truly over (Bye States! See you never!), there where some things I miss alot. One of them is street sweeping.

COX is my first, and only MMO. I dont have the words to convey my amazement upon logging in for the first time. There were heroes everywhere, flying, jumping, speeding about, showing off their new powers. Joining a pick up group in Perez Park, and fighting our way to Everett lake. It was great. It is something I fear new players coming to the game don't get to experience.

The reason I am posting this is because I think new players should experience it. To a degree at least. Sure, you won't have 50 players in a zone all saying "Look at this!" ever again. I get that. However, It would be nice if new players can see how many people are actually playing the game. Too many posts have been made by players wondering where everyone else is. Too many players first impressions are that this game has only a few people on even in the busiest of times.

Now of course, they are cordially guided in how the team search works, and it is explained that most players are in instances and what not... and that is good. I can't help but imagine they would have a better impression of the game if they didn't have to visit the boards first.

Back in the day, everyone street swept. It was designed so that teams would street sweep on the way to the next mission, task, etc. Unfortunately, the dev's didn't realise that people grind to fifty the same way water gets anywhere. The path of least resistance. So they got kinda bummed that people forwent the instanced missions. The stories they worked so hard on and wanted to tell were ignored just so people could gain xp and lvl quicker. This is my shocked face. The solution? Mission bonus xp.

Almost instantly, the streets were bereft of heroes. Hooligans were on every corner stealing purses, and casing places, and no heroes to stop them. This hasn't changed. Guess what? People were ignoring developed content again, only this time, whole zones went ignored. Unless a team is badging, you are hard pressed to find one in a hazard zone. Hell, Skyway was never as popular as Steel Canyon, but there were always at least 5 teams street sweeping it... All they did was exchange one side of ignored content, for another side. Felt kinda like Australia introducing the cane toad to control the cane beetle population, and at the same time decimating other native populations. Not to mention the bad taste it left in my mouth being "guided" to play a certain way.

I digress... The point of all this is to get people back out into the zones. Hell, They don't even have to street sweep. I do think it would make a better experience for new players though.

The zone events are a great start. Until everyone has the badges they need. Then they are promply ignored again.

I think that there needs to be a better reward for street sweeping. Something to make it worthwhile for a team to hit the streets again. I hate to say give people more xp, because lets face it, it is already terribly easy to gain xp in this game. I would say, that perhaps Patrol XP should only be rewarded if you are out on PATROL. Of course, you can't take something away that has already been given. Not without doom crying. I don't really have a fix for this, but I figure this is the best place for this. Even if I don't have idea's, perhaps some of you do.

Or maybe people dont care. Maybe it has no merit. That is for you to decide.

If you have read this far, thank you. Hope it wasn't too painfull.

SD

Well, actually, it's for the devs to decide. And it has been mentioned here and there that at least part of the incipient endgame system will involve new zone events, so there's some good news for you.

I have mixed feelings about street-sweeping. I've done it from time to time - there are certain builds that are particularly apt at it, and certain locales that make it particularly rewarding - but part of what made it enjoyable for me was the distinct lack of competition for street spawns. If I had to try to avoid accidentally killstealing in a zone with a few dozen other players, it might become less pleasant for me. That's purely my own selfishness talking, though; if I want to streetsweep without interruption, I can set to x8 and run To Save A Thousand Worlds. :P

XP on outdoor mobs was explicitly reduced quite some time ago (along with halved debt inside missions) in order to encourage instanced content.

So don't hold your breath, is what I'm saying.

Depending on the build, I still street sweep pretty regularly.

Last night my new Katana/Willpower scrapper spent an hour boss hunting on the streets on Steel. Divine Avalanche makes jumping in the middle of a large mob possible. I had just hit level 14 when I zoned in, happened to see a Lead Brick on my way to the trainer.
Then another, and another.
It was great!
By the time I made it to Icon I'd hit 15!

Every new toon I make street sweeps solo until level 4.
Which generally takes about 10 minutes of running around the buildings near the sewer entrance. This naturally gets old fast and the sewer run is so efficient...


That said, it's a little more tricky on my blasters.

Don't think I've ever been on a team that sweeped. Unless you count taking out the surrounding mobs while waiting by the door as sweeping.

I normally do a round of the city hall carpark at Atlas Park before going to see the first contact. Gets me in the mood and levels me to 3 or 4, depending on how many rounds I decide to do or what AT I've made.

Redside, Breakout, Snakehunt till L4 then Kalenda.

I've never done a streetsweep in a team though (is somewhat still new to the game) but it sounds fun.