January 2011 Producer's Letter to the Community
By
Adept,
Posted on: 2011-01-10 11:29 in Developers' Corner
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By all means, continue with your opinion--though I see no need for the insults. They make you look bad. I've been a part of this community since February of '04, and I'm sure our perspectives differ.
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Originally Posted by Capt_Power
You know.....Doom is spelled with only four letters, not all that jibber-jabber you just typed.
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There are no words for what this community, and the friends I have made here mean to me. Please know that I care for all of you, yes, even you. If you Twitter, I'm MrThan. If you're Unleashed, I'm dumps. I'll try and get registered on the Titan Forums as well. Peace, and thanks for the best nine years anyone could ever ask for.
I have to say that after over 6 years playing, the new content (IE incarnate system) has really got me inspired again. It feels good to take some of my older lv 50 toons out of mothballs for more than to just help someone else accomplish an objective.
While I do not play as much as I did when I started (due to life issues not lack of game content), I am an altaholic and do enjoy new contect across the board. That being said, I would rather they just focus on the Incarnate materials and get them out quicker so they can return focus to the game as a whole.
The upcoming double XP weekend is always welcome news
. It is a shame they do not incorporate a higher incarnate shard drop rate as well. Oh well, guess I will have to park the 50's for the weekend and bring a few more up to that rank.
Sounds like great news and congrats on the promotions guys. Only thing I'm worried about is this new launcher thing from what I'm reading about it. How bout backing up the new talkative and open thing, and discussing that with us a bit?
I really don't understand why so many folks are wielding the "If it's not content I or my friends like, you shouldn't spend time working on it" kludge. There is no content that will make everyone happy. If they work on giving us a thousand costume items, the people that just throw something together real fast just to get into the game and start playing won't be happy. If they devote an entire Issue to PvP (which they pretty much already did, adding in Arenas), those that don't care for it will complain. If they add more low or middle level content, those that want end game will complain. What makes their complaints about not getting what they want any less valid than your complaints? Why are the needs of you and your kind more important than the needs of the majority?
The Dev team is making decisions about what to focus on, which is entirely within their right to do. If you don't like the Incarnate content, for example, don't pass off that dislike for it as it being something inherently broken, or some "change in the direction of the game." Just don't participate in it, and wait for something new that you do like. If it's been a while since PvP was addressed, it doesn't mean it never will, though with what they did to it the last pass, it's kind of ironic people are wanting more attention for it (*invokes the "Be careful what you wish for" mantra).
It's perfectly fine if you don't like 100% of the content. No one, even the Devs, expect you or anyone else to. If there were a way to make everyone love their game 100%, they'd be printing their own money and sitting on golden toilets.
Living a cynical life is no way to go, folks. I used to think that way, and it's gotten me nowhere. Enjoy the small things. If you expect bad things, that's all you'll see, despite the evidence to the contrary.
Loose --> not tight.
Lose --> Did not win, misplace, cannot find, subtract.
One extra 'o' makes a big difference.
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And as I replied over on FB:|
Originally Posted by daveyj3
im just postin what some guy on fb said, cuz i like his comment:
"Not all of the servers are dead, this is true. However, it's also true that this game is in fact dying...blah blah blah |
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| Your "facts" aren't anything of the sort, just your assumptions based on incomplete info. As for releasing slower than other MMO's, I can't attest to that because I don't play a single other MMO. I've played COH for 5 years, ...and I beta tested Champions and found it to be dull, dull, dull. What I can tell you is that CoH is smaller than several of the big MMO's, and pretty much always has been. For a MMO of its size, it regularly releases great new content, and has greatly improved its release schedule and developer feedback since NCsoft took over. So, feel free to refrain from the cries of "DOOOOOM" anytime you like. |
And White_Hot_Flash, I agree wholeheartedly. Superb post.
Welcome to the forumns! After reading your post all i can think is I want more info!!!! Thank for what you gave us and I eagerly await next month!
I would like to state my disapproval of the ncsoft launcher being used. I have tried using it multiple times over the past year and have found it both frustrating and barely functional. Please do not make this a madatory change. However i do understand that is the parent company says jump you have to jump. So far though, I have not seen one post praising this change. We all have different opionions on how the game should be, but the the dislike of the NCSoft launcher seems to to fall under the, "No we do not want this," banner.
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Animal costume parts and an underwater zone. You heard it here first! |
Originally Posted by Second Measure
early this year, were going to be giving you a pretty wild new look, and later this year well turn up the pressure.
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Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
Pressure? How about a vaccum. Moon Base 2011!!!
"Pressure?" Bowie/Queen booster pack confirmed for 2011!
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I should've bet on almost exactly this post...I might've made like $5.00...
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Originally Posted by DumpleBerry
It really bothers me seeing, I feel, the focus of Paragon Studios moving drastically farther and farther away from the community. I don't think I'm the only one that feels that Paragon Studios has little to no interest in a community that has existed since before the game even launched.
I am guardedly and cautiously optimistic about new communication and new red names, even though it seems to boil down to (thus far) a new advertising press release to read once a month. Please prove me wrong. |
"Superman died fighting Doomsday because he allowed his toggles to drop, and didn't beat Doomsday before Unstoppable wore off, sad really..."
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You don't honestly expect this to change do you? Many of us (read: not the PvP community (what's left of it) are perfectly happy with it the way it is, and yet this stuff continues. I don't see PS changing anything (again) anytime soon, if ever. This doesn't distress me, though I'm sure it does some.
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Originally Posted by Mrwrk
This.
I was optimistic when they announced the changes to PvP...in divorcing the PvE from PvP, I thought they were on the right trail. I figured with two separate ways powers worked, they could fix stuff in PvP without worrying about how it was going to break PvE. It should be -easier- to make changes when things weren't working well, right. I admit it....I was so utterly wrong. Oh, so wrong. |
"Superman died fighting Doomsday because he allowed his toggles to drop, and didn't beat Doomsday before Unstoppable wore off, sad really..."
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Be very careful what you wish for. Castle may be gone, but they'll never admit i13 was a complete #%$^ up.
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Originally Posted by Neuronia
Are PvP and powers (activations, damage, range, animation times) in PvP going to be examined at any time in the near future, or is status quo what we should expect?
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Infinity and Victory mostly
dUmb, etc.
lolz PvP anymore, Market PvP for fun and profit
Welcome to the forums Second Measure, be prepared to be reviled by everyone at one time or another depending on what you are talking about.
By accepting what is and making the best use of every situation, life can be fulfilled without a constant demand for more.
--Wen Tzu
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Now, I've not used the NC launcher. But it's also worth noting the current launcher is kind of a piece of crap. it eats CPU and bandwidth resources (even on a near top of the line quad core) whenever it's patching anything, can't be left open to patch when patches go up, takes far more resources than it needs to take....yeah, it sucks. So hopefully this will be an improvement. I've always wondered why CoH, an NCSoft game, never used the NCSoft system, especially after they got BOUGHT by NCSoft.
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Originally Posted by Void_Huntress
.... dammit, don't make me agree with je_saist.
Still, regardless of whoever else is saying it, I have to emphasize: DO. NOT. WANT. I _LIKE_ the minimalistic launcher we have now. Please, please, PLEASE don't force a larger application on us. |
"Superman died fighting Doomsday because he allowed his toggles to drop, and didn't beat Doomsday before Unstoppable wore off, sad really..."
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Just finished reading this "update" and I wanted to reiterate DB's post because it summed up my feelings pretty well. The devs have gone mostly silent and in return we get a monthly marketing spiel to make up for it? |
Originally Posted by DumpleBerry
It really bothers me seeing, I feel, the focus of Paragon Studios moving drastically farther and farther away from the community. I don't think I'm the only one that feels that Paragon Studios has little to no interest in a community that has existed since before the game even launched.
I am guardedly and cautiously optimistic about new communication and new red names, even though it seems to boil down to (thus far) a new advertising press release to read once a month. Please prove me wrong. |
I'm sorry, but...no thanks.
P.S. - Thanks for all the posts David, if it weren't for you the connection between the players and devs would be non-existant.
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Hear it, no. Said it, yes.
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Originally Posted by Dark_Respite
Does anyone else all of a sudden hear "YOU ARE ALL... WEIRDOS!" in the voice of Sam the Eagle?
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Infinity and Victory mostly
dUmb, etc.
lolz PvP anymore, Market PvP for fun and profit
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Nope, that's been normal for DB for the last year or so now..I should've expected it, honestly...
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Originally Posted by Ice_Wall
This is your response to what is essentially a love letter from the producer to the players, talking about how much they want to keep the player base the focus, give us what we ask for and giving us hints and previews of things to come?
Am I missing a joke or sarcasm here? The letter just said they were going to focus more on communication, more on being on the forums, more on giving us previews of what's coming and you're saying they are taking the focus away from the community? |
"Superman died fighting Doomsday because he allowed his toggles to drop, and didn't beat Doomsday before Unstoppable wore off, sad really..."
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I love it. people ask for "end game content" (which yes, implies you must be "End game level" i.e. Incarnate) it's given to them, and they complain about it. It's absolutely amazing to me...I should've gone into sociology...
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Originally Posted by Toony
I'll probably get flamed for this but it sounds like I20 is going to be Incarnate only stuff...again?
I know it's a neat system and all but I would like some content that my characters that I haven't maxed to 50 5 years ago and then grinded out a bunch of shards and purpled out can do. I really see the incarnate system as little more than the COH version of gear gating content, just not AS bad. This bothers me because I want to see the story of the game thats unfolding. However I'm getting worried I'm going to miss massive exciting chunks that are "Incarnate only! You must be this overpowered to ride". Personally I'd prefer adding more to Praetoria but thats me. |
"Superman died fighting Doomsday because he allowed his toggles to drop, and didn't beat Doomsday before Unstoppable wore off, sad really..."
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Right. I choose not to participate in the current Incarnate Task Forces, which clearly represent the majority of the content that was added in Issue 19. And are apparently the major focus of Issue 20 and 21. So, while I'm not participating in content I don't like and have no use for, what else is being added that *will* interest me? New Tips missions? Don't care, I don't like how they're written and the massive assumptions they make about what my characters will do and for what reasons. They may as well be Newspaper missions. (I do them, but only because they are the only way to earn purple merits or to change sides. At this point, I only pay enough attention to the mission briefing to be sure what the mechanical goals are that will complete the mission.) If you're not going to do the two new TFs, Issue 19 added almost nothing outside of Inherent fitness. (I found the two new story arcs utterly forgettable, and now that I've done them once I probably won't do them again.)|
Originally Posted by White Hot Flash
I really don't understand why so many folks are wielding the "If it's not content I or my friends like, you shouldn't spend time working on it" kludge. There is no content that will make everyone happy. If they work on giving us a thousand costume items, the people that just throw something together real fast just to get into the game and start playing won't be happy. If they devote an entire Issue to PvP (which they pretty much already did, adding in Arenas), those that don't care for it will complain. If they add more low or middle level content, those that want end game will complain. What makes their complaints about not getting what they want any less valid than your complaints? Why are the needs of you and your kind more important than the needs of the majority?
The Dev team is making decisions about what to focus on, which is entirely within their right to do. If you don't like the Incarnate content, for example, don't pass off that dislike for it as it being something inherently broken, or some "change in the direction of the game." Just don't participate in it, and wait for something new that you do like. If it's been a while since PvP was addressed, it doesn't mean it never will, though with what they did to it the last pass, it's kind of ironic people are wanting more attention for it (*invokes the "Be careful what you wish for" mantra). |
I'm not demanding that they change the game to what *I* want or else. I'm simply stating that, in my opinion, Issue 19 and what I know of Issue 20 contain almost nothing that I find interesting or valuable. No, the rest of the game didn't suddenly go away. But tell me: if you were looking at spending time in a game where, for all intents and purposes, nothing was going to be added for at least a year that you haven't already been doing for at least two years already, how happy would you be?
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Short answer: Incarnate. Optional. Don't participate then.
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Originally Posted by Eiko-chan
I can appreciate the desire to deliver some of the "challenge" so oft clamoured for by others, but I'm not going to sacrifice my enjoyment of the only MMO I've ever loved for their sake, and I hope you decide you won't either.
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"Superman died fighting Doomsday because he allowed his toggles to drop, and didn't beat Doomsday before Unstoppable wore off, sad really..."
so we get 2xp weekend AND winter event at the same time? WoW
Fluffy Bunny 1 Person SG
Rabid Bunny 1 Person VG
Both on Pinnacle
Hobbit's Hole 1 Person SG
Spider's Web 1 Person VG
Both on Freedom
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CoH, IMO has little to worry about from DCUO. Has a lot of potential..but falls flat in the end, even with excellent voicework and budget. Lack of a proper "Superman" style Powerset when it's the brick-and-morter (note..brick) of the DCU is..unsettling. We'll see how it does. After long deliberation I dropped my preorder after a couple months in beta. CO on the other hand has a lot to worry about from it, but those aren't germaine topics for this thread though. Just expressing my support for CoH.
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Originally Posted by Severe
Idk I find this quite a coindence with dcuo starting tommorrow that now they wanna tell us things
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"Superman died fighting Doomsday because he allowed his toggles to drop, and didn't beat Doomsday before Unstoppable wore off, sad really..."
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Originally Posted by Toony
Because those were obviously about the main story of the world. So we can expect TF's for Incarnates and two arcs for everyone else that has nothing really to do with the world and are fillers?
Yay. |
Because an arc about the mediporter tech in Paragon, and how it applies to everyday citizens has "nothing to do with the world" and an arc about the monster sleeping under Sharkhead Isle, and Villains vying to control it has "nothing to do with the world." Right. yes. That. Of course. Move along.
"Superman died fighting Doomsday because he allowed his toggles to drop, and didn't beat Doomsday before Unstoppable wore off, sad really..."
If you aren't going to run the new TFs, Issue 19 contained essentially nothing of great interest, other than a handful of QoL changes that they could just as easily have slipped into any other patch.