powerset freeform - would it ruin or enhance the game?

The idea taken after an post stating following GR that COH has maybe 2.5 yrs left got me thinking of what if they introduced freeform powersets; picking what powers you want in a archtype instead a set as it currently is. Could this destroy a game or enhance it?

I don't know how long an mmo has for lifeblood but with guildwars not being out as long as coh, it at least is coming out with a "2" hopefully at the end of the year.

I really don't think that the devs would spend so much time on incarnate stuff if they felt the game only had 2.5 yrs left. Could you provide a link to the post though so that we may read it.

I get the feeling that 'freeform' AT's would have to end up just being 'hidden' archetypes, with pre-formed AT mods, caps, stats and inherent powers assigned for certain combination. Pick buff/debuff primary, blast secondary? You get vigilance, and defender stats. Melee primary/armor secondary? You choose an inherent between stealth kills, fury, or critical hits. It could be fun, but would inevitable produce HUGE amounts of work on the powers team.

This gives balance issues that have not come up- from the more obvious buff & debuff/melee combo, or the oft-suggested blast/armor-- to the far trickier buff & debuff /armor or pet/control.

I would love to see a sort of live-beta-test of this idea perhaps within the Kheldians. The amount of people requesting some Kheldian attention is steadily growing (especially among Peacebringers). Since they are already archetypes that are suited for multiple roles, why not add another facet in there? Say you get to choose where you want your powers to excel (damage, defense, secondary effects, ranged vs. melee, etc.). So someone could choose, at the character creation, to have a more blaster-esque Kheldian, with a higher ranged damage output, but smaller numbers from their defensive shields. Also, an increase in ranged damage would also increase the damage output of their Nova form (so as not to make the form insignificant). Obviously, that's just one example, and this is just an idea that popped into my head. It is far from well-thought-out, and I'm sure would be quite the nightmare for the programming team.

As for the rest of the game... I'm not so sure it would be a good thing, unless there were proper balances put in. Of course, there would be the 15-20% of the player base that would make their toons the way they wanted, even if it meant that they were "gimping" themselves in the process (in relation to the overall population). But the rest of the player base would go for the most effective power type combo, with few variations. Some would do it out of their want to be the strongest and have the best stuff, others would do it just to keep up with former. Whatever the reason, character diversity would decrease significantly, and I think that is a big draw of this game: You cannot do it all with one character. If that were the case, people would get bored faster, and the game would probably have collapsed by now. But when all the servers are in the yellow on a Saturday night, you know you are doing something right. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Again, I am not totally against the idea, but I would have to see a really good system be put in place before I could get behind it.

The problems with free-form character creation are two-fold.

As a general thing, this is hard to balance, as the difference between the least optimal and the best optimal builds can be many orders of magnitude, making it impossible to balance content for everybody. This is, in fact, the reason that the free-form build system was dropped out of pre-alpha.

Additionally, it's very difficult to institute such a system in a game not designed to handle it. It's been said many times before, including by the developers, that powers are not balanced against each other. Entire powersets are. Therefore, it is very much the norm that one power in one powerset is significantly better than a comparable power in another powerset, but the two powersets still remain balanced because other powers either make up the difference or because other powers bring the sets in different direction.

Powersets are balanced such that they have a mix of powers of different potencies that doesn't always match the mould of all other powersets. Removing powerset restrictions could easily allow a player to cherry-pick the best powers of all types among all the available powersets and create one super-powerset which can then become the only viable build, as happened in Champions Online.

You also run the risk of achieving the exact thing that ATs were meant to prevent - tank-mages. AT balance means that each character comes with strengths and weaknesses, many of which are defined by what powers are available or unavailable to said character. Removing those limitations removes does not grant more options. If anything, it reduces options because there are really only a very small selection of right functionality combinations. ATs seek to avoid the most overpowered ones an thus give players a wider range of COMPARABLE choices.

And, even everything else notwithstanding, it's just a damn complicated system that I have no desire to mess with.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

Well, let's see what I can come up with if Free Form characters were possible.

Primary:

Charged Brawl
Storm Kick
Cremate
Build Up
Siphon Life
Confront
Fire Sword Circle
Soul Drain
Lightning Rod

Secondary

Deflection
Reconstruction
Healing Flames
Dull Pain
Integration
Quick Reflexes
Invincibility
Shield Charge
Strength of Will

No, that wouldn't be grossly overpowered at all. And that was taking each power at the level it is available in the set it originates in. Freeform power choosing would quickly lead to every character in the entire game being just as overpowered as my example here. It would be even worse if you are allowed to choose powers from any AT you like.

Re: OP - it would ruin the game.

Alot of cons verses the pros which is understandable. Don't you think alot has changed since pre-Alpha. It would be nice to consider free-form, maybe test it for giggles. You can have restrictions to free-form. Limit the choices to classes, aka tank powersets stay with tank powersets. Make an individual pick two powers out of a set before dancing to another one. Or you can frankenslot. These archtypes can only be used for certain trials or pvp zones. Granted its a risk and there's a 50/50 chance they'd even make a dime out of it.

As for CO, it was doomed right after M$ pulled the plug on it going console. Plus the game was a confusing mess for beginners due to the complexity involved in the vast array of choices you could make. Recently a few consumers have put together decent guides that the general casual gamer can read and figure out what the devs of that game could've done from the start. Same thing for DCUO, both wannabe hero games.