missions with short timers are either meant to be done with more then 1 person or you are suppossed to fail it because it is part of the story. i haven't gotten into the whole preatoria missions yet, but i'm sure they will change if datamining proves it needs it.
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In Praetoria there are a couple of timed missions where the goal isn't to kill everything but get to the objective as fast as possible before the timer runs out. Timers of 1-2 minutes. I've yet to fail any of them.
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Originally Posted by Sharker_Quint
missions with short timers are either meant to be done with more then 1 person or you are suppossed to fail it because it is part of the story. i haven't gotten into the whole preatoria missions yet, but i'm sure they will change if datamining proves it needs it.
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The ones I recall doing it isn't even about failing just that in X time PPD will arrive and in another you have X time to free as many prisoners as you can.|
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
In Praetoria there are a couple of timed missions where the goal isn't to kill everything but get to the objective as fast as possible before the timer runs out. Timers of 1-2 minutes. I've yet to fail any of them.
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It was kind of a bummer knowing that I would free many fewer with one AT versus another. That other one with a stalker would have been more annoying but no less so than other weaker soloers and at least my stalkers could have gotten to the objective quicker.
total kick to the gut
This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.
For the OP, I think the issue of powersets makes this difficult to balance.
My ice/cold corr solo'd things that my dark/therm corr couldn't. IME, my DS/dark MM is not as powerful as my bots/storm MM. And so forth like my emp def vs. my D3 def.
Some sets are good right out of the box whereas others are late bloomers. At what level do the devs pick to start balancing?
Also, what would balance the diversity of builds? For example, I have the vet badge so that I can pick a travel power at level 6 if I want. How is that fair for balance reasons to newer players that have to wait until 14? What about things like Nem Staff/BW/Sands of Mu? I have those too on any new toon I make but some players do not yet. These things make missions and early levels easier, but not so much later (IME).
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The one that got me, there's a two-minute timer to reach a particular glowie and activate it before you get hordes of destroyers. You can't activate it before the timer starts. The glowie is about five groups of hostiles in... to the SECOND floor. It's possible to reach it that quickly if you've reset the map a few times to find it.|
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
In Praetoria there are a couple of timed missions where the goal isn't to kill everything but get to the objective as fast as possible before the timer runs out. Timers of 1-2 minutes. I've yet to fail any of them.
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And of course, the "hordes of destroyers", when they come in, are 100% immune to the stalker hide mechanic, and can zero in on you no matter where you are or where you go.
I do not understand this obsession with escorts who can't see the player and ambushes that can. I think, at a bare minimum, if ambushes can automatically see the player, *ALL* escorts should have 100% perception of the player ignoring stealth or invisibility. Or if escorts have to work for it, then *ALL* ambushes should be subject to hide/invis mechanics. Otherwise, it feels like the devs are being actively hostile to the player -- penalizing us for having or using any kind of stealth, while denying us any benefit from it.
It's bad enough spending most of your time as essentially an unusually-squishy scrapper. Making it so mission mechanics enforce this, and completely negate any benefit you could get from stealth, is just adding insult to injury.
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That's actually a good point. I guess the alternative would be to set time limits on things like this so that it's at least basically plausible to imagine someone doing them -- and I've never seen anyone who could search a whole level full of hostiles, then search half of another level, in two minutes.
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Originally Posted by PennyPA
For the OP, I think the issue of powersets makes this difficult to balance.
My ice/cold corr solo'd things that my dark/therm corr couldn't. IME, my DS/dark MM is not as powerful as my bots/storm MM. And so forth like my emp def vs. my D3 def. Some sets are good right out of the box whereas others are late bloomers. At what level do the devs pick to start balancing? Also, what would balance the diversity of builds? For example, I have the vet badge so that I can pick a travel power at level 6 if I want. How is that fair for balance reasons to newer players that have to wait until 14? What about things like Nem Staff/BW/Sands of Mu? I have those too on any new toon I make but some players do not yet. These things make missions and early levels easier, but not so much later (IME). |
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Originally Posted by seebs
The one that got me, there's a two-minute timer to reach a particular glowie and activate it before you get hordes of destroyers. You can't activate it before the timer starts. The glowie is about five groups of hostiles in... to the SECOND floor. It's possible to reach it that quickly if you've reset the map a few times to find it.
And of course, the "hordes of destroyers", when they come in, are 100% immune to the stalker hide mechanic, and can zero in on you no matter where you are or where you go. I do not understand this obsession with escorts who can't see the player and ambushes that can. I think, at a bare minimum, if ambushes can automatically see the player, *ALL* escorts should have 100% perception of the player ignoring stealth or invisibility. Or if escorts have to work for it, then *ALL* ambushes should be subject to hide/invis mechanics. Otherwise, it feels like the devs are being actively hostile to the player -- penalizing us for having or using any kind of stealth, while denying us any benefit from it. It's bad enough spending most of your time as essentially an unusually-squishy scrapper. Making it so mission mechanics enforce this, and completely negate any benefit you could get from stealth, is just adding insult to injury. |
There is one particular mission against the ghouls where it tells you in the mission description that you are carrying a ghoul beacon that attracts them to you. Basically it's a giant "HERE I AM! HERE I AM!" sign, but I understand what you mean about the other missions.
What if timed missions could be adjusted based upon difficulty level? Granted we would need a difficulty slider in Praetoria first but if any setting above the base +0/x1 kept the current time limits, add some percentage of time if +0/x1 and more time if -1/x1.
total kick to the gut
This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.
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I'd find that pretty annoying on a stalker, but I haven't seen it yet. But I can grant that it certainly makes sense. I have no clue what I'll do if I get that one -- I'm trying very hard to solo the content for RP reasons. Ah, well. Many things can be handled by getting level 20 IOs at 17 and outlevelling the content a little. |
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
There is one particular mission against the ghouls where it tells you in the mission description that you are carrying a ghoul beacon that attracts them to you. Basically it's a giant "HERE I AM! HERE I AM!" sign, but I understand what you mean about the other missions.
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Ya just have to take your lumps to get thru it. I prefer to solo it because the ambushes are smaller but it's a nightmare on certain AT's. It certainly helps when you get it to put it off if you can and get a level or two under your belt. I've forgotten the name of the contact who gives it, maybe someone else here will remember and post it.
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Originally Posted by seebs
I'd find that pretty annoying on a stalker, but I haven't seen it yet. But I can grant that it certainly makes sense. I have no clue what I'll do if I get that one -- I'm trying very hard to solo the content for RP reasons. Ah, well. Many things can be handled by getting level 20 IOs at 17 and outlevelling the content a little.
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Or perhaps even just add a Timer Slider at the Fateweaver/etc in addition to and independant of the existing settings.|
Originally Posted by SwellGuy
What if timed missions could be adjusted based upon difficulty level? Granted we would need a difficulty slider in Praetoria first but if any setting above the base +0/x1 kept the current time limits, add some percentage of time if +0/x1 and more time if -1/x1.
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"I think I'm faster then the average Hero/Villain" "I'm think I'm MUCH faster than the average Hero/Villain" "I think I'm slower than the average Hero/Villain", etc.
Reward adjustment? Succeed on a shorter-than-normal timer, get a higher bonus at the end. Succeed on a longer-than-normal timer, get a smaller bonus.
No effect on non-timed missions.
No, my stalker cannot clear a map with allies who always see me and thus suicide on the various mobs in under two minutes.
I might be able to solo it if I could just not bring the allies. I might be able to solo it if the time limit were adjusted to reflect the fact that not everyone is a brute who benefits from chaining encounters as fast as possible.
It seems to me that timers are meaningless on some characters (I finish the mission with 70% of the timer left) and excruciating on others. The timer mechanic should perhaps scale with archetype, or just be dropped. It's never yet been fun; it's either been irrelevant or annoying.