January 2011 Producer's Letter to the Community
By
Adept,
Posted on: 2011-01-10 11:29 in Developers' Corner
Quote:
In both I18 and I19 beta, some requests were made to increase the shard drop rate while also increasing the shards required. Giving the same statistical rate of advancement, but making it less subject to random grouping.|
Originally Posted by Pebblebrook
Already at that difficulty setting. Personally, if such a vast disparity between our experiences exists, i don't think it's the players that need adjusting. But eh.
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I still think this would be helpful, but the Powers That Be seem to disagree.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Softcapping an Invuln is fantastic. Softcapping a Willpower is amazing. Softcapping SR is kissing your sister.
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Never mind hitting the BAF or Mother Mayhem's hospital or whatnot...
I think the next Praetorian Trial should be an all-out, guns-blazing, that-sucker-is-coming-DOWN raid on Cole's Tower in Nova Praetoria. Do it like the CoP - one team comes in from the roof (here comes Wardog and a bunch of Resistance as backup), one from the sewers (with Hatchet and Marty leading ghouls for backup), one through the front door (Ricochet and some friends), like the ultimate Mayhem Mission.
Desks and cubicles and computers exploding. Doors blowing off their hinges. Fire spreading like rumors on the forums. Battling your way through Powers Division, the PPD, the Seers, the Praetors, until you're face to face with the man himself.
"IT'LL BE ANARCHY!"
And the badge: "Look On My Works, Ye Mighty".
Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite
Dark_Respite's Farewell Video: "One Last Day"
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE CONTINUES!
Book I: A Tale of Nerd Flirting! ~*~ Book II: Courtship and Crime Fighting - Chap Nine live!
MA Arcs - 3430: Hell Hath No Fury / 3515: Positron Gets Some / 6600: Dyne of the Times / 351572: For All the Wrong Reasons
378944: Too Clever by Half / 459581: Kill or Cure / 551680: Clerical Errors (NEW!)
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE CONTINUES!
Book I: A Tale of Nerd Flirting! ~*~ Book II: Courtship and Crime Fighting - Chap Nine live!
MA Arcs - 3430: Hell Hath No Fury / 3515: Positron Gets Some / 6600: Dyne of the Times / 351572: For All the Wrong Reasons
378944: Too Clever by Half / 459581: Kill or Cure / 551680: Clerical Errors (NEW!)
Quote:
Sort of like this?|
Originally Posted by Dark_Respite
Never mind hitting the BAF or Mother Mayhem's hospital or whatnot...
I think the next Praetorian Trial should be an all-out, guns-blazing, that-sucker-is-coming-DOWN raid on Cole's Tower in Nova Praetoria. Do it like the CoP - one team comes in from the roof (here comes Wardog and a bunch of Resistance as backup), one from the sewers (with Hatchet and Marty leading ghouls for backup), one through the front door (Ricochet and some friends), like the ultimate Mayhem Mission. Desks and cubicles and computers exploding. Doors blowing off their hinges. Fire spreading like rumors on the forums. Battling your way through Powers Division, the PPD, the Seers, the Praetors, until you're face to face with the man himself. "IT'LL BE ANARCHY!" And the badge: "Look On My Works, Ye Mighty". |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pTGXUig6lY
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Dark_Respite
Never mind hitting the BAF or Mother Mayhem's hospital or whatnot...
I think the next Praetorian Trial should be an all-out, guns-blazing, that-sucker-is-coming-DOWN raid on Cole's Tower in Nova Praetoria. Do it like the CoP - one team comes in from the roof (here comes Wardog and a bunch of Resistance as backup), one from the sewers (with Hatchet and Marty leading ghouls for backup), one through the front door (Ricochet and some friends), like the ultimate Mayhem Mission. Desks and cubicles and computers exploding. Doors blowing off their hinges. Fire spreading like rumors on the forums. Battling your way through Powers Division, the PPD, the Seers, the Praetors, until you're face to face with the man himself. "IT'LL BE ANARCHY!" And the badge: "Look On My Works, Ye Mighty". Michelle aka Samuraiko/Dark_Respite |
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Golden Girl
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Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite
Dark_Respite's Farewell Video: "One Last Day"
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE CONTINUES!
Book I: A Tale of Nerd Flirting! ~*~ Book II: Courtship and Crime Fighting - Chap Nine live!
MA Arcs - 3430: Hell Hath No Fury / 3515: Positron Gets Some / 6600: Dyne of the Times / 351572: For All the Wrong Reasons
378944: Too Clever by Half / 459581: Kill or Cure / 551680: Clerical Errors (NEW!)
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE CONTINUES!
Book I: A Tale of Nerd Flirting! ~*~ Book II: Courtship and Crime Fighting - Chap Nine live!
MA Arcs - 3430: Hell Hath No Fury / 3515: Positron Gets Some / 6600: Dyne of the Times / 351572: For All the Wrong Reasons
378944: Too Clever by Half / 459581: Kill or Cure / 551680: Clerical Errors (NEW!)
Quote:
I was thinking this as well. I really enjoyed those threads.
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Originally Posted by Cauda
While I certainly appreciated any community interaction from the Devs, I have to ask: will this wind up like Manticore's Ask A Lore Question thread?
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@True Metal
Co-leader of Callous Crew SG. Based on Union server.
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This x2. I'm far from a power gamer, I solo a lot, but mostly I duo or trio with my brothers. And once or twice a week(end) I start or join a TF. |
Originally Posted by TheWeaver
This. There is apparently a militant wing of the casual community with which I'm unfamiliar. Seems pretty clear to me that the dev team understands COH's somewhat unique position in the market as an MMO you can treat as an occasional recreation and not a second job. If the forthcoming Incarnate stuff follows the same basic pattern as what they've already released then I don't see that changing.
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Everything about CoH is casual, from its loot system to the endgame. I wasn't actually all that thrilled when they introduced inventions at first. But because of its casual nature, it has really grown on me. (I'm still not thrilled about purples, as far as I'm concerned they only exist to finance my builds whenever one drops
) I see the end game stuff going the same way. Nothing about the Alpha slot is extremely hard to achieve in a minimal amount of time for the average player.
@True Metal
Co-leader of Callous Crew SG. Based on Union server.
Quote:
As a fan of CCPs communication and marketing model (more as of their actual game |
Originally Posted by Void_Huntress
Thinking on the monthly letter idea.. I haven't been able to go through the entire thread (though I've read most of it, in scattered sections), so it's possible this might have been touched on by someone else..
I think what would help cement these as actual communication for a lot of people is if we regularly get actual information from them. Vague hints to the future are enough to stir up some excitement for a fair number of people, but similarly, a lot of folks need to feel they're being told something they couldn't have known for sure some other way. The developers over at CCP working on That Space Game are a good example of this. They tell us bits about things they've done in development.. What worked, what didn't, and then they share with us why. Often by sharing datamining results. It'd be interesting if the CoX team could let us know hard facts about things like how the introduction of the Alpha Slot REALLY changed TF activity. We can SEE that it changed, we can speculate on how it changed based on the bits we see, but having the god's eye view on it would do a lot for our ability to usefully discuss it. They also regularly share random interesting trivia about the world on occasion. I'd find it fascinating to know, for instance, what the most common teaming AT in January was, or which corruptor secondary was the most common for solo players in February. At the producer level, some of this information may already be available for you in reports, some of it you may be able to get yourself.. Some of it you may have to ask a developer to spend some hours on, but in my experience.. While some developers need to keep in their groove, some folks actually work better when given an occasional chance to mix things up, look at things from a new perspective. You could get fun things to share with us as a community, help build rapport with us as players, AND increase productivity of employees. Doesn't this sound like a win? |
) I fully support this suggestion.
@True Metal
Co-leader of Callous Crew SG. Based on Union server.
Quote:
Dark Respite for Lead Designer! You got my vote. |
Originally Posted by Dark_Respite
Never mind hitting the BAF or Mother Mayhem's hospital or whatnot...
I think the next Praetorian Trial should be an all-out, guns-blazing, that-sucker-is-coming-DOWN raid on Cole's Tower in Nova Praetoria. Do it like the CoP - one team comes in from the roof (here comes Wardog and a bunch of Resistance as backup), one from the sewers (with Hatchet and Marty leading ghouls for backup), one through the front door (Ricochet and some friends), like the ultimate Mayhem Mission. Desks and cubicles and computers exploding. Doors blowing off their hinges. Fire spreading like rumors on the forums. Battling your way through Powers Division, the PPD, the Seers, the Praetors, until you're face to face with the man himself. "IT'LL BE ANARCHY!" And the badge: "Look On My Works, Ye Mighty". Michelle aka Samuraiko/Dark_Respite |
Seriously, a mission with 3 entry points like that would be awesome.
@True Metal
Co-leader of Callous Crew SG. Based on Union server.
Not even a mention of PvP? That's cool, I guess.
@macskull, @Not Mac | XBL: macskull | Steam: macskull | Skype: macskull
"One day we all may see each other elsewhere. In Tyria, in Azeroth. We may pass each other and never know it. And that's sad. But if nothing else, we'll still have Rhode Island."
"One day we all may see each other elsewhere. In Tyria, in Azeroth. We may pass each other and never know it. And that's sad. But if nothing else, we'll still have Rhode Island."
Welcome new red names! Ill keep it simple. PvP?
Wait, so they start off by saying something like "we're going to communicate moar!", then go directly into "there is some cool stuff coming up, but I can't talk about it".
That...makes sense, I guess? Right?
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I'm just joining this thread, but I've read all of it (ow). I have a few comments (I'm just using the quote above as a starting point, this isn't an attack on anyone):|
Originally Posted by Mylia
Trying to catch up on this thread. I saw this quickly. I call this complete bs. I am extremely introverted in the real world. In game I can easily casual team with people.
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1) Let's not get too hung up on "Introvert/Extrovert", as I'm sure people's social interactions are more complex that a single dimension. I myself am pretty outgoing but I hate teaming - it's a commitment that locks me into fear of letting the group down, it means I can't go to the bathroom or answer the phone or help my wife get something from a tall shelf. I avoid teams. Others love them. Let's acknowledge both and move on.
2) Eiko-chan illustrates some preferences and concerns that I find acceptable: She(?) wants Incarnate content that is reachable by solo players, not just TFs. Now granted, this has been expressed with lots of DOOM, assumptions, and pessimism, but I think the majority of us can accept that _desire_ as reasonable, so long as team-oriented content is also present for the more team-using players. The key note here is that this press release gives very little illumination as to whether the majority of new content will be Task Forces or not.
3) Along those lines, this press release is very short on details. We do learn:
* Hints on new boosters, which had been hinted elsewhere, with reception ranging from beloved to "meh". Doesn't sound bad, but boosters aren't issues.
* Double XP weekend. Great to have it, great that it's announced, gentle nudge to give more notice next time in order to create the most bang for the virtual buck (I know I spread the news to my ex-COX friends and have gotten it from others when I'm unsubbed)
* New slots opened in a few weeks. Note that's not part of an issue. Very interesting.
* NCSoft Launcher. Much dread from those with experiences, mostly a "wait and see before I complain" from most.
* Commitment to new content. I adore the Tips missions, and feel like they are up on interesting and down on grind. Keep this up with more stuff and I'm happy - I can certainly envision even more interesting "choices" kinds of missions.
* Commitment to communication. Given that the above doesn't really give any hints about the content of new issues, this is a "yet to be fulfilled" item. Hope to see it, can't really say yet. Formally addressing (again) long-standing concerns like bases, PvP, etc would be great for communication (regardless of whether anything is changed).
As someone that has returned to the game recently, I found the markets merged (a huge deal since I am primarily red-side), alignments, merits, bots that zone, improved market interface, newbie tips, combined ferry/trains, and a few other QOL issues that give me reason to "wait and see" without dread. Others may have more reason to expect dread.
Mostly people are just reacting to things that HAVEN'T been said and several are expressing those concerns of theirs that they had hoped to see addressed. Having read all the comments, I think not much of value is being debated anymore - you actually largely agree, and where you disagree we have to wait to see what the Devs are actually doing, because the details of the next Issue ARE NOT GIVEN HERE. Panic and or celebration will simply have to wait.
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I'm also reminding Nate why he took so long to get a red name. As a producer, every time he says hi, people are going to ask "what do you mean by that?" and then launch into a fifty page thread about why NCSoft wants him to tell us hi, wondering it that's a hint we're getting more hand wave emotes, arguing about whether we're going to have to pay for them in a perk pack, debating the nature of free to play MMOs, deducing that the next issue must be late as a result, grumbling about the fact that the time spent making hand wave emotes could be used to fix PvP, wondering where Positron is and whether NCSoft fired him yet, and something something about the markets. And then I'm going to post something about derivatives or something.|
Originally Posted by Void_Huntress
Aw man. On the one hand, that's a great lesson. On the other.. Linguistics says the standard usage is not wrong.
It's such a struggle, when simple critical mass can make two plus two not equal four. |
And Nate's going to stare at his keyboard, and cry.
Oh, and since no one has said it yet, I'm guessing "Second Measure" is a reference to the carpenter's rule: Measure Twice, Cut Once. Am I right?
[Guide to Defense] [Scrapper Secondaries Comparison] [Archetype Popularity Analysis]
In one little corner of the universe, there's nothing more irritating than a misfile...
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Quote:
That or he's the Second Measure attempt to deal with the crazy forum community, after the First Measure failed. Second only to the Third Measure, which is "nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Oh, and since no one has said it yet, I'm guessing "Second Measure" is a reference to the carpenter's rule: Measure Twice, Cut Once. Am I right? |
"Superman died fighting Doomsday because he allowed his toggles to drop, and didn't beat Doomsday before Unstoppable wore off, sad really..."
Welcome aboard.
I have to say with the new Incarnate system I would rather have a double experience/double shard rate drop weekend. If you are running a 50 (or 4 or 5) double experience doesn't exactly get you excited at the moment.
Promise us shards though. . . and we are like Ghost Falcon who? Castle. . no no that doesn't ring a bell.
----------------------------
You can't please everyone, so lets concentrate on me.
Welcome, Glad to see new faces.
Now to the nuts and bolts
Not to sound like a broken record, but I would love a Moon Zone, and a space station.
both are in CoH lore. lets flesh them out.
Also The Hollows is way too easy now. before it was fun. a challenge to get to a few missions. Now more than half the time I'm traveling to a new contact or a new mission my new character is several levels higher than all the MOB's around me. now its a cakewalk. don't like it at all. increase the levels around Julius back to what they used to be.
[color=gold][b][size=5]♪ Sometimes you feel like a Tank, Sometimes you don't! ♪[/size][/color][/b]
[url=http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=114726][color=black][b][size=5]Moon [color=red]Hazard [color=black]Zone![/size][/color][/color][/color][/b][/url]
Quote:
Be patient |
Originally Posted by Golden_Ace
Not to sound like a broken record, but I would love a Moon Zone, and a space station.
both are in CoH lore. lets flesh them out. |
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
In order to refocus the thread on "Second Measure"'s letter, the discussion that was taking place around the soloability of the game and end-game has been segregated into this thread.
Please be so kind as to use this thread for questions you may have for "Second Measure" 
Thank you!
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Second Measure, I can get a 2 topping pizza delivered for 12.95, but I can't decide what toppings to get. I love pepperoni but I'm afraid I'll pick the wrong topping with my second choice. What 2nd topping do you recommend I get?
Second Measure, are you able to tell us if any work has been done yet on bringing the zones of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles up to the higher graphical standard seen in Praetoria?
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
My question to second measure is this:
As a Brit who plays mainly on a low population US server out of US peak, is there going to be a way for me to sensibly access the later incarnate content without doing massive team raid type stuff ? as accumulating 24 people on a weekday at anything other than 1am is going to be a nightmare (and I play mainly during the week).
Anecdote: CoP:
I've done one, which is one more than most of my SG, I did it at 0930 my time in Aussie peak. We barely scraped up 24 people (pretty much everybody with a 50 on the server at the time), and had a very unsuitable mix of ATs with far too little buff/debuff. We couldn't dent the purple AV. Most people said they were never going to do this again, most of the problem was the lack of inspiration drops and the feeling that if you fail, you get absolutely nothing for an hour's completely wasted time killing some of the hardest mobs in the game.
On my server, I've never seen a CoP being formed before 1am my time in any of the 4 badge channels I frequent.
It's true. This game is NOT rocket surgery. - BillZBubba
Welcome aboard Second Measure and Good Luck.... we're all counting on you.
Best Regards,
OMEGA-001
I really hope we didn't scare Second Measure off.
*waves a donut and whistles*
Here, dev, dev, dev... it's okay... you can come back out...
Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite
Dark_Respite's Farewell Video: "One Last Day"
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE CONTINUES!
Book I: A Tale of Nerd Flirting! ~*~ Book II: Courtship and Crime Fighting - Chap Nine live!
MA Arcs - 3430: Hell Hath No Fury / 3515: Positron Gets Some / 6600: Dyne of the Times / 351572: For All the Wrong Reasons
378944: Too Clever by Half / 459581: Kill or Cure / 551680: Clerical Errors (NEW!)
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE CONTINUES!
Book I: A Tale of Nerd Flirting! ~*~ Book II: Courtship and Crime Fighting - Chap Nine live!
MA Arcs - 3430: Hell Hath No Fury / 3515: Positron Gets Some / 6600: Dyne of the Times / 351572: For All the Wrong Reasons
378944: Too Clever by Half / 459581: Kill or Cure / 551680: Clerical Errors (NEW!)
I hope he hasn't been fired already
Maybe that's something you could adjust? Just trying to help.