News from PAX

Maybe, but correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the Incarnate system Positron's project and they have other devs working on other things?

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the work that was put into the system thus far but IMO good content is good content and players will run it. Now I in no way think solo rewards should be on par with team based rewards, but even if they were close, if the team content is fun and engaging I believe players will choose that over the solo content.

As far as rewards for solo Incarnate content, I'm just glad we're getting solo content. Now my scrappers can get some Incarnate love.

Well, something has to happen to convince the Well to stop supporting him

Super duper happy but lame ending for Praetoria (that would probably make even you wretch) is that Cole loses support of the Well and all his incarnatedom and Praet Hami goes down and Cole is suddenly saner and apologetic for his actions as a tyrant. "My god, what have I done?" speech optional.

Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow City of Heroes is a game about freedom of expression and variety of experiences far more so than it is about representing any one theme, topic or genre.

I'm not sure what this has to do with my statement, but I will say this of yours, there are some builds that can't even complete the Incarnate Alpha slot arc while solo, they chose to go the team route. Same rewards, less effort.

With that being said, it's just a fact that some builds or even some players just aren't good in these trials, not to mention there are some anti-social types (yes even in a MMORGP). In light of that I think it's always important to have options other than the trials. And like I said before I'm just glad it's on it's way.

That would be acceptable - but he'd need to stand down too

Whew, good thing your opinion isn't the deciding one.

/this

There is a serious case of group think going on at Paragon lately.

We'll just have to wait and see

And if they do an I21.5, we might not have to wait too long for the next stage of the war against the loyalists - with the death of Vanessa DeVore on the Undergorund Trial, the Resistance have lost their psychic protection from the Seer network, which could mean this is a good moment to finally smash the loyalist thought poilice once and for all, and free Mother Mayhem's slaves - an asylum Trial would be very cool

Cole: I am redeemed! /em ARRESTED! Oh, yeah... You know, in all the excitement, I had totally forgotten about my crimes against humanity.

Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow City of Heroes is a game about freedom of expression and variety of experiences far more so than it is about representing any one theme, topic or genre.

He could try and redeem himself by killing himself along with the Hamidon

The Producers are in charge. Design Developers form into strike teams to work on various projects. Each team has a lead who is able to speak with authority on the work of their group... but that doesn't make them the boss. Their group's work got input from the whole design teams and the green light and supervision of Production.

So, if you want to talk to the person who decides whether there is a focus on new systems or more arcs or more zones... it's not one of the design developers. It is Second Measure and crew.



I guessing being able to form Leagues will make all the difference.



The Devs are on record that the RCS --> RWZ was almost as much work as creating a new zone from scratch and repurposing the old zone didn't save them significant amount of time and work. Same with Faultline.

Revamping a zone is tantamount to recreating it from scratch. Atlas got that treatment because of its age (in both looks and content) and its importance in presenting a fresh face to expected freebie newbies. Galaxy City was likewise scratched because it was just another AP and contained copies of the aged content.

Over my cold, dead, redcapped body!

After all these years, you could actually...
-nuke the ship in RWZ.
-spray Eden with pesticides.
-flood the sewers with acid.
-burn down Perez Park.
-rebuild Boomtown, Faultline, Creys Folly and the Hollows.
-fill Oranbega with concrete.
-move the Zig to another dimension.
...

Well, Orion Beltway got the updated graphics treatment, at least. Check out the front of the Hotel Geneva (uh, try to ignore the big cracks running through it, heh).

He's back as the lead designer now, as he only stepped aside to work on the Incarnate system - and now that it's been successfully launched and integrated into the game, he's back as lead designer.

That's totally the case with the new Atlas Park - it really is like new zone - there's almost nothing left of the old one.

If the trials were fun and the LFG system worked I'd do them even if there were a viable solo option. Heck, if the LFG system just worked reliably I'd do them occasionally now despite not caring for the iTrials I've done.

In related news, when I21 hits live I'll probably occasionally queue up for the sewer trial even on mid-high level characters. And who knows, I might even get in every few hours of that average 4 minute wait.

As opposed to when the devs happen to agree with us, because group think is wrong, unless the group includes me.

Actually, there's quite a few of the old buildings still around, and this actually works to a degree.
I kind of wish they didn't try to make City Hall into a two story buildings, but I guess they wanted people to stop assuming the Mayor of Paragon's office wasn't hidden in the globe of Atlas like some kind of Super Villain Mayor, twirling their moustache and laughing at all the pitiful heroes, unaware they only serve him to secure his power.
And then, he's onto his next appointments for the day, another budget cut to the city bus lines and schools, a hair cut, then his six o' clock charity dinner.

Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow City of Heroes is a game about freedom of expression and variety of experiences far more so than it is about representing any one theme, topic or genre.

If so, their tools and/or processes are bad and need to be redone.

Loses all his support as in, "Cole's now at Reichsman, Imperius, Stateman or Lord Recluse level of support (or even Stheno or Trapdoor levels)?"

or as in, "Cole's back down to the level he was when he fought Hamidon to a standstill"; loss of support?

I mean back to the level he was before he even drank from the Well. This would also be an interesting path to take with Statesman who would then have to change from invul/SS to shield/Street Justice or Martial/Arts.
While most people on the internet enjoy corrupting pure and innocent things, I enjoy watching gods be knocked off pedestals and be forced to walk among those they once considered "lowly".

Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow City of Heroes is a game about freedom of expression and variety of experiences far more so than it is about representing any one theme, topic or genre.

Yes, true. And Paragon has been hacking away at the Cryptic code for years. But, what would be the benefit of recoding the very base of the environment engine to give a dev the freedom to easily revamp a zone?

That would take a lot of resources and have the danger of introducing tons of new bugs. It would also have to account for integrating new assets (like UM textures) with old assets. All for being able to make a zone revamp take less time than re-doing it from scratch?

They'd be better off creating tools to make building new zones from scratch go more easily. This way new zones can be built easier and quicker and old zones can be rebuilt *from scratch* easier and quicker.

Nobody makes design tools whose sole purpose is to do what they used to do, but a little faster. The devs have, supposedly, improved their design tools but that improvement goes less into replicating the past quicker, and more into making better things in the same amount of time.

And either way, the new tools and design processes are precisely what makes the old work of limited usefulness in newer designs.