Nearly 7 Years Later... What Would You Have Done Differently?

I think there is a great deal of satisfaction from the people currently playing, but the thread's purpose kind of asks for the scabs to be picked at and so the inflammation is churning.

Paid the workers still toiling on the launch sites for the Moonbase zone. At the very least, offered them voluntary redundancy so they could return to their families in peace.

Not launched Issue 7 with ridiculous AVs and an LRSF that only 6 teams could complete.

Not pulled the CoP and left it dead for years. It would have made more sense just to make the IoPs trivial cosmetic items but left the fun of the Trial in. There was a time around Issue 6/7 when a LOT of supergroups and players were working and playing with the CoP and IoPs as *THE* purpose of the entire game. Imagine if Issue 19 launched with the Incarnate system, then that system was pulled out of the game after 3 days and we were left with no real explanation or return for two years.

Added level 52 Hami-Os as legitimate items, awarded for completing an LRSF or STF within the "gold" time limit.

Woven a story into the game from the beginning, with quicker development or smaller and faster free issues.

Either not let BaB leave, or at least replace him with someone else who would be crazy enough to post on the forums randomly at 2am

Launched without classes, but with origins.

Each power (and subsequent slot on that power) has a point cost (i.e. the higher up the powerset it would have come under the class system the more expensive it would be), each time you level you get extra points to spend.

Split the powers, loosely, between the origins (plus a general subsection for travel and origin nuetral powers) then when you buy a power within your origin it costs you a little less, when you buy a power directly opposite the origin (i.e. a Natural buying a Magic power) it costs a little more.

Balancing would be a pain hence could probably only be done at launch.

Would also mean that cap level could be infinite, plus it would be easier to add a new power than a new powerset. Also you could add new origins later on ... such as aliens et al.

End result greater flexability for character creation at the cost of greater player imagination and intellect.

I really got the impression that after Statesman left, the code in the game was poorly maintained. I think there were even posts from BAB that they had to "figure out" some of the code. So, the first thing I would have done was make the game code well-documented and understandable.

Next, the code should have been easily extensible. Even in 2004 it was clear that MMOs were a viable game form and would be around. Unlike console games, though, with MMOs you have to be able to update your game without issuing a completely new game every so often (e.g. Halo series).

I think it would have been interesting if they had been able to design a system so that you could pick some powers from across your class, such as a Scrapper being able to pick a Dark Melee power and a Martial Arts power. Would be tough to prevent the character from being overpowered, but interesting nonetheless.

Completely redesign Blaster Secondaries, with a coherent plan to benefit the AT this time, instead of the "Hey let's stick them with the Tanker stuff! It'll be great!" approach.

Redesign powers that don't fit in the AT, like Confront for Scrappers or the Intangibility powers, until they work. Here's a hint: if your player base is writing guides and everyone says "Skip this power" or "This power is situational at best" or "If you pick this power I will kick you from the team, come to your house and hurt you", maybe you need to rethink that power.

Dump the Cottage Rule. It's too confining. Find a way to change powers without nerfing them.

And this game has lost touch with its casual base. In retrospect I would have a group of designers that are the Casual Player advocates.

Let me start with what I think they got right:

- The class system. I think the "pick a primary and secondary, then later pick a cross-class tertiary if you want it" was genius. It creates swimlanes of freedom but sets up rules and limitations that make creating a variety of characters viable and interesting.

- The sidekick system. Especially Super Side-Kicking.

- The costume creator in this game is stunning.

- The AE is an incredible thing (but read below).


What I think they should have done differently:

- Defense mechanics, no questions asked. I'm positive the developers agree.

- Archvillains and Giant Monsters. IMO this is the #1 mechanics issue that should receive a visit in a future issue. Fighting big bosses in this game is anticlimactic, not particularly balanced, and IMO an area where the competition really blows CoH away.

- PVP designed from the ground up as part of the game.

- Animation time for attacks should be tied better to Recharge time for powers.

- In addition to the HP and Energy meters I would add a "Balance" meter. The Balance meter controls whether you get knocked down or back from an attack, not a "chance of knockback."

- Distinguish between "Holds" and being physically "Encased." This is more flavor than anything.

- More focus on actual heroics. The game Freedom Force did this brilliantly I think. AoEs should be powerful, but using them indiscriminately should be discouraged, because of all the damage to the people you're trying to save. Powers like Group Fly also make a lot more sense if the people you're "saving" aren't invulnerable and can't jump off a cliff with impunity!

- Features implemented in the AE should also appear in the "normal" game! I can't stress this enough. Why so much time spent creating a way to build custom creatures, recolor them, give them custom powers, and have NONE of it appear in the main game? It is absolutely bizzare. I was hoping Going Rogue would address this weirdness, but no dice.

It'd also be impossible to balance. Which is why they went with ATs, instead of sticking with the "origins determine your powers" system.

Let me add one other thing: if designing a power like Hasten that is supposed to give players the ability to get good Recharge in bursts, it absolutely should not benefit from its own Recharge bonus! This should have been fixed the moment the words "perma Hasten" were first coined, in beta test.

Things I would have done differently?

Travel power suppression.It should have never been included in PVE.I understand the reasoning of it for PVP(For the 4% of this games population that actually does PVP),but it should have been removed from PVE a long time ago.

Now for the oddball one.I really wish someone would fix that corner streamer in Pocket D.I am talking about the ones that sit on the corners of the square that the speaker/dance floor sits on,they light up from the floor to the ceiling.It has been broken since they opened the place.I realize it is not a gamebreaker, but after all these years, and upgrades to Pocket D, I thought someone would have gotten around to it.

Obviously the maintenance/custodial staff in the D need a refresher course in how to change a lightbulb.

ED / GDN right from the beginning instead of added in years after game release.

PvP not added until CoV was released, and more variety of PvP instead of the current mess we have now.

Origins being more meaningful instead of just being a flavor.

Many more different leveling paths, geared towards your origin. (For example, say you're a Magic hero. When you leave the tutorial, you would be offered a choice to join the Midnight Circle, join Longbow, or remain a "free agent." A Tech villain? Choose between joining Nemesis, Arachnos, or free agent. And so forth.)

Branching paths in story arcs (save the damsel or go after the villain?) right from the beginning (which would've had the bonus of later making it easier to co-opt side-switching in the regular missions instead of creating a set of special "tip" missions.)

Fewer zones in CoH. (Get rid of the underused zones such as Boomtown, Dark Astoria, Terra Volta, and Crey's Folly, or incorporate them into the origin-specific storylines.)

More zones in CoV.

More parity between CoH and CoV. (Especially regarding Task/Strike Forces and story arcs.)

A completely different system for finding and rating AE missions. The current system is a complete and utter joke.

An arch-nemesis system.

Not split the game into US and EU.

That was a far bigger mistake than ED and still hurts a lot of the community.

"You got to dig it to dig it, you dig?"
Thelonious Monk

Humm, I love this game, and this is something I have day dreamed about a lot. These are in no particular order. Some of this I get were tech issues, but some if it I have gathered from dev statements was just bad design from the start. I am sure there is even more than I have listed here, and I just can't remember.

Left IH a toggle (this will always be the worst change in the history of this game).

Given Willpower the Dull Pain power instead of Fast Healing. Fits better thematically I think.

Added particle effects to the custom weapons selection. Flaming sword please.

Running on water, instead of super swimming.

Multiple animations for powers from the start.

Weapon customization from the start.

Power Color Customization from the start.

Weather Effects, I really hate that there is always a clear sky in Paragon city.

Under Water areas

Mobs in the water

More colors on the color pallet

Had statues appear of player characters (even if only their account can see them)

In game advertising (sorry guys, I thought it was a good idea)

NOT cut my primary game's staff to 15 people.

Used an increasing end usage mechanism for t9 powers instead of a crash mechanism. The old QF for PBs worked like that.

More costume items. I would have put two or three in every issue.

Offline costume creator

More costume slots

Signature power or costume option at lvl 50. Hitting 50 is very anti climatic.

More realistic sized environment. Praetoria solved this.

Destructible environment, everywhere.

I'm going to bring up the thing that I think would have made the most difference...

Non-binary mez effects.

Immobilize effects would slow the target until its magntuide finally reached 100% and you could no longer move. Stun effects would increase recharge until its mag reached 100% and you could no longer use powers. Hold effects would do both.

Mez Protection would function like damage resistance... reducing the intensity of the effect while Mez Resistance would function as it does now.

For example, a stun attack might have a 33.33% magnitude for 10 seconds (increasing the victim's recharge times by a third for 10 seconds). A scrapper's mez protection power might provide 50% protection and resistance... dropping the effectiveness of that attack against them to a one-sixth increase in recharge time for 5 seconds.

Thus, mez effects debilitate and slow everyone to various degrees, but it would still take several effects to completely lock down a squishy, yet even the melee types would be slightly effected by the mezzing without being completely overwhelmed.

I think that such a change would have made a HUGE difference in the perception of the various AT's and kept Mez effects from being the "I win" buttons they're generally seen as.

I think I would put in more fluffy things:

-Player Housing
-NPC Romance Subplots including hostage story arcs.
-Even more body sliders
-More zone events
-More Malta (I only say this because I hate Malta, but I also find them fascinating and terribly effective. I even root for Arachnos vs Malta. I would like to see a Malta Island so we can go infiltrate them for a change.)
-Antagonistic Longbow: I don't like Longbow, I think they're one Malta psy op away from becoming a force against metahumans who they did not control or create.

Edit: Oh yeah as someone said upthread, WEATHER. I want rain, fog, ice, sleet and snow.

1. Required that every issue had at least 5 costume sets and at least 2 emotes.

2. Freeform power selection. Magetanks be damned.

3. Wentworths and Io's from the start.

4. Truly giant monsters to fight.

5. Customized powers and animations from the start.

6. Pvp as a on/off switch allowing super powered fights in the streets of Paragon City.

7. Choice of hero/villain at start of the game allowing you to only do content of your choice. There would be no need for the Rogue Isles and those zones could have come in as new expansions.

8. Costume bits such as pouches, leg holsters, scabbards and jet packs would have been implemented by now.

If I was lead designer and could go back to CoH's development, post-introduction of ATs, I'd do 3 things differently:

First, I'd either fully commit to PvP as an integral part of the game, or fully commit to not having it at all. If I committed to having it, I would have had the powers system designed and balanced with it in mind. This means that a good bit of flexibility in character builds would likely be lost, but at least everything would operate under the same rules and hopefully be more or less balanced.

Second, I wouldn't pull all but 14 developers from my existing moderately successful MMO because I'd been approached by Marvel to begin preliminary work on an MMO for them. Essentially putting one of your creations into maintenance mode when a big name comes knocking with ideas, promises, a publisher with a past of flaking out on MMOs, and little else is a bit of a dick move and not very well thought out. Sadly, it's become Cryptic's MO. I could be totally wrong, but I'm of the belief that had CoH continued to have a decent-sized team and resources post-CoV/Marvel, we'd be a good bit ahead of where we are now. We might be in a totally different place thanks to alternate ideas that would have been produced, but we'd still be ahead overall.

Finally, the last change would require knowledge of future events. ED to be specific. I would absolutely have implemented some sort of diminishing returns when it came to enhancers. I honestly don't know how anyone thought that most players wouldn't maximize their damage output in a game where combat was really the only thing to do at first. The mechanics would be somewhat different so as not to hit an artificial brick wall at 3 SO enhancers.