Feature Request - Sticky Prestige

Again, that you have had an unhappy experience does not prove that the problem was anything to do with the listing of prestige and not (as is far more likely) down to a particular individual being an idiot.

When someone makes an exaggerated statement and ends it with an expression they can't type I think I am justified in declaring that statement to be a Rant.

Ah, now I understand where the "tracking multiple SGs" comes from. I prefer to keep feature requests simple in concept, and let the developers work out the details because they know what's feasible (and will likely do something more creative). To this end, I had considered tracking multiple SGs to not be worth the effort because if people are flitting between SGs, then the Prestige accumulation was something they were willing to do without, whereas for someone that is sticking with a specific SG, then accumulating Prestige is somewhat like accumulating badges (i.e., a fun shiny).

-Johnny

Quite the contrary Jagged. These were not limited to an individual player being an idiot. Over the years I and many others have encountered numerous SG's that were dedicated prestige farms which fostered elitism and snobbery over the amount of prestige an individual earned. Quite often those SG's had high turnover rates as new members quit in disgust or were booted because they didn't earn the amount of prestige the SG demanded, In some SG's I actually saw weekly quotas required.


If I may ask what exactly do you think was exaggerated?

But I still put it to you that that is down to the idiots involved and is not a problem of prestige. For most SGs it works just fine.



The comments before the <bleep> The idea is nether useless, nor was the request to keep track of every SG total, only the last.

That's our point. The problem is that there are a number of players that are of the mind that prestige has an importance that it doesn't have, and it's not isolated to a few players. We simply think it's more beneficial to get rid of the listings than keep them.


Okay but as you have seen since that post the OP and I have come to an understanding on our perspectives and how they influenced our comments.

... you assume.

On the other hand, the majority of my characters stick with one SG (they may try 2-3 to begin with, but once they find a "home," it takes quite a bit to get them to want to leave.) And I don't care about prestige in the slightest - TBH, I care more about badges, specifically because they open things up for the SG (which is the only reason I'll go after them.)

I will say there's one way I wouldn't argue with a total being "kept." And that's specifically in a case like yours (and closer to your above description, it sounds like) where you were kicked for inactivity. AS LONG AS you don't join another SG, if you rejoin, the total comes back. If you get kicked or leave and found a new SG, or join a new one, the total's reset to 0.

I'm STILL of the opinion it's better to just hide the total all together, both personal and SG, as it's a false measurement of worth.

See my Guides and Tutorials

Then your problem is with Prestige and not with this suggestion, so its unfair to rail against a request for a more accurate number when you don't want a number at all.

No. I don't have any problems with prestige. Prestige is the currency used to build bases. Nothing more, nothing less. Prestige is working exactly as intended.

The problem is with the features that are reporting how much prestige has been earned by an SG/player. Some players are under the misunderstanding that prestige is an indication of how good an SG/player is.

You don't need to see how much prestige a player has earned to know if he is in SG mode. That can be solved with a simple ON/OFF instead.

You don't need to know how much prestige an SG has earned anymore because the communities in game have long since evolved beyond SG membership and currently use Global channels instead.

Furthermore since prestige totals can be easily increased by the simple influence conversion at the SG Registrar they have long since stopped being an indicator of an active SG/player.

If your suggestion was enacted and prestige totals were removed those players would still be idiots and would still find a reason why they thought you weren't leet enough for their super group BUT everyone else that behaves normally would have lost a sensible piece of information.

The only players that need to know anything about prestige in an SG is the base architect, and the person that pays rent. And the only info they need to know is the total amount their own SG has so they can see if they have enough to pay the rent and buy stuff to expand the base.

1. Base sizes are limited by plotsize as well as the number if items that can be safely placed. (12,000-14,000 I think) There is only so much a base can build.

2. Rents are so ridiculously low, (less than 4,000 per month) A single character can earn enough prestige from 2-3 missions to pay the rent.

So there is no ingame mechanic that requires that knowledge.

The prestige of another SG is none of their business, and as far as SG members are concerned all anyone needs to see is if they are in SG mode or not and as I have said before that can be accomplished with a simple ON/OFF.

All perfectly valid points, and trying to argue otherwise is an effort in futility.

However, it can also be argued that the number of badges a player has serves no purpose, and there is no need for others to see how many a person has.

I agree. There is no reason for players to see how many badges another person has. Nor is there any reason why another player should be able to see what powers you have.

The only badge that should be displayed is the one that you choose as one of your titles, and your power selections are no ones ******* business but your own.

"Sensible piece of information?" I believe the word you were looking for is "Useless," actually.

Seriously. The "Top 100 Supergroup" list? What about having X amount of Prestige makes it a "Top" supergroup? It tells me nothing. The SG registrar interface needs an overhault - someone looking for a SG should have:
- SG name
- SG interests (PVP focused, RP friendly, raids regularly, maybe creation/last active date(s) )
- MAYBE SG membership levels
- Recruiting or not (yes, no, after probation, etc.)
- SG description, like we have now
- A way to contact the leadership of that SG.

Those are the sorts of things that would be useful to know. Not "Has X Prestige they've gotten in some fashion, we don't know how, when or why."

Similarly, as argued previously - "Joe Blaster has created 89374265 Prestige" tells me nothing of any use. It doesn't mean they're a good player, it doesn't mean they lead teams, it doesn't mean they're helpful or knowledgeable in the least - they could have just been sitting at the door on farms and can't find their way out of Atlas Park.

That, I have to disagree with.

"Why isn't Raddity Andy using their debuffs?" *checks power list* "... oh. A Rad/Rad 'healor' that didn't bother telling anyone." (And yes, of all the powersets that's just painful to see that on, I have run across that.)

See my Guides and Tutorials

I disagree with both of these. Badges aren't critical but they do give some useful information (for example I look for the 42 month vet badge to see if they have ATT). Similarly checking a character's powers is useful partly to find out what powersets a character has and other things like what utility powers they have. For example, in the case of Radiation Emission it's a generally valid assumption that they will have Lingering Radiation (assuming they are high enough level) but they may or may not have Mutation, that sort of information is nice to know so when I faceplant I know if they are going to rez me or not.

While we've all run into guys in Bill's example, I think players that deliberately gimp their builds and mooch off of others are exceptions to the norm.

It's my opinion that seeing powerset selections just gives the build nazi's something to act elitist about.

And on the flip side, it allows people like me to actually be able to help when asked. Or, if I see a problem (like the mid-20s tanker who kept getting stunned) to mention something like "You may want to look into your status protection power next so you don't keep getting stunned."

Most of the "elitists" (and I use that term VERY loosely with these people, as it's mostly their own perception) are the ones who won't invite X AT/powerset because it doesn't "meet a metric."

See my Guides and Tutorials

Wrong.

This game has such a thing as the Top 100 Super Groups and its done based upon Prestige totals. Those SGs are quite proud of their listing and they do it for fun.

I am sorry you don't like that. I don't like the Auction House but I realise some people enjoy that kind of thing. You need to realise that there are some people that enjoy competing based upon SG Prestige and this game provides and promotes the mechanisms for doing so. No doubt within those "Top" SGs the person who has generated the most, is also proud of the fact. You should read the SG descriptions, the one currently at the top on Freedom talks about it all being a bit of fun. So much for elitist snobbery!

I get that you don't like things that seem elitist but prestige isn't that. And you don't want people to be able to see other peoples badges? 0.0 You really want to stamp on other peoples fun! In CoX badge hunting is a game in and of itself.

Wrong.

The individual players prestige levels do not matter in the least for the Top 100 SG list. Only the final total matters.

Ah, but what about the people in the middle? I like to look at other player's power selections simply so I know what powers are floating around on the team.

Wrong. That list means absolutely nothing, and should be removed from the game as Memphis Bill already suggested. All it does is foster elitist snobbery and stupid arguments about how unfair it is that some SG's can get to the top of the list by converting inf to prestige.

All I can say is that to the best of my knowledge I've encountered/watched far more build nazi's who insist on harassing people by inflicting their unasked for opinions about their builds than I have the guys in the middle.


Of course I'm wiling to admit it's possible that the guys in the middle have far more common sense than the build nazi's and simply keep their opinions to themselves unless asked and that's may be why they remain unnoticed.

And that list is useless for finding an actual, good supergroup. (See prior comments.)

There's still no *game mechanic* that requires that.

And there's even *less* reason for it in the SG list.
You're right, prestige itself isn't. It's a number. However, the attitudes it engenders in others certainly tend to lean that way. Removing the listing is a good way for people to actually *investigate* a SG and see if it fits instead of just finding a "top 100 SG" and making assumptions - or having the people inside assume it makes them better than someone else.

See my Guides and Tutorials

You know the more you argue that it means nothing the less I believe you. The top SG on Freedom last night are obviously a bunch of marketeers who are converting their ebil gains into prestige just to be at the top. Their SG message sounds like they are having fun and are anything but elitist. I'm sad you want to remove this game mechanic from them, but glad it won't happen.

What you believe isn't relevant.

Reading comprehension you should try it. No one in this thread accused any SG's that convert prestige to inf as being elitist. I merely pointed out the fact that there are players in SG's that act elitist and snobbish towards SG's that convert Inf to Prestige in order to increase their ranking.

Here is the world's smallest violin,



and it's playing just for you.

And we're glad that the devs will continue to erase the amount of prestige earned whenever someone quits an SG.