Discussion: City of Heroes Freedom VIP Head Start and Level Pact Changes
By
Alien51,
Posted on: 2011-08-30 24:05 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
Okay?
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I was re-he-he-heally hoping to see the actual start date... boo. But "soon" is better than nothing!
Though I doubt I'll be starting any new level pacts between now and the global launch of Freedom, consider it noted :P
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My guess: no one thought to write code to disable level pacting someone from VIP to Free and power leveling them with pacting or something similar, and launch is too close to commit code to change it. That's why we get pacts in head start then they go away after launch: they are fine with VIPs having them, but not so much with Premium and Free players being beneficiaries of them for some reason.|
Originally Posted by DumpleBerry
Okay?
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This suggests VIPs will get pacting back eventually, and launch is less than 30 days away.
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Translation:
1. VIP head start was originally scheduled to start today a long time ago. That's why Free Trials and the old Boosters on the NCSoft Store are no more. But showstoppers on the Beta server has pushed back the date to 'soon.'
2. There's some way a RMTer can exploit level pacts, and so, they've got to code a fix before letting it loose on freebie accounts. F2P will launch with Pacts disabled until they can fix it.
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I wonder what would the "head start" be?
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Wouldn't the problem as I understand it still be present? Your newly Beam Rifle/Time Manipulation Corruptor gets into a level pact with my Robotics/Sonic Mastermind during the headstart. Shortly after the headstart has ended, I stop my sub, going from VIP to Premium, and I'm not high enough in Paragon Rewards to unlock Mastermind without buying them. Do the Mastermind still get the XPs even if I can't play it? The level Pact goes kaboom?
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
My guess: no one thought to write code to disable level pacting someone from VIP to Free and power leveling them with pacting or something similar, and launch is too close to commit code to change it. That's why we get pacts in head start then they go away after launch: they are fine with VIPs having them, but not so much with Premium and Free players being beneficiaries of them for some reason.
This suggests VIPs will get pacting back eventually, and launch is less than 30 days away. |
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All the of the updates for i21/Freedom, without the activation of free/premium accounts.
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Originally Posted by Dal
I wonder what would the "head start" be?
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"Trust me, it worked in the Simpsons." - Calash
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It'll be I21 on the live servers, with access only for subs.
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Originally Posted by Dal
I wonder what would the "head start" be?
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@Golden Girl
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Headstart is only VIP players can login, and no Premium and Free players. It just means people with a monthly subscription will be able to play for a while, before the floodgates are opened to new players, and old players who haven't re-subbed yet.
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Originally Posted by Dal
I wonder what would the "head start" be?
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Arc ID 104041 Attack of the Mini Phalanx Solo Friendly; Custom Characters; Comedy.
Arc ID 292449 The Shadow of Eihbon Solo Friendly; Canon Related; Magic.
Oh, thanks a bunch. I suppose that will be before the "official launch" then?
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Yes - that way, they can use the head start to catch any last minute bugs before the game is opened up to the new free players.
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Originally Posted by Dal
Oh, thanks a bunch. I suppose that will be before the "official launch" then?
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@Golden Girl
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Probably a reasonable compromise, especially because its likely the devs are not anticipating a huge conversion rate and if its RMT-related as Zombie Man suggests they can still ban you, and the ban stick works on your downgraded to Premium account much better than a newly created F2P account.|
Originally Posted by Photonstorm
Wouldn't the problem as I understand it still be present? Your newly Beam Rifle/Time Manipulation Corruptor gets into a level pact with my Robotics/Sonic Mastermind during the headstart. Shortly after the headstart has ended, I stop my sub, going from VIP to Premium, and I'm not high enough in Paragon Rewards to unlock Mastermind without buying them. Do the Mastermind still get the XPs even if I can't play it? The level Pact goes kaboom?
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Its usually not easy to logic ourselves into the motivation for these changes, because often the changes involve forestalling something that may or may not happen, and only to a degree. That means the cause is often not logically deducible from the act to prevent it.
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Is this anything like Base Raids being disabled until they could be fixed?
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Base Raids are fixed; you haven't seen any little base raids running around, have you?
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Originally Posted by Reiraku
Is this anything like Base Raids being disabled until they could be fixed?
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"Trust me, it worked in the Simpsons." - Calash
So picture this. Two VIPs get a level pact and one goes to premium. Assume there is a rule that the premium player doesn't get level pact experience until he goes back to VIP. The premium player is level 8 and the VIP player advances to level 38. Then the primium player goes back to VIP. The level 38 player has to wait until the level 8 player catches up before getting any xp. He will be stuck at that level for a long time. He could of course simply break the level pack at that point.
By the way any chance when you change the Level Pact code you could allow one to be formed at higher levels and with more people?
Edit: spelling fixes.
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I'm giving 2 to 1 odds it ain't ever coming back. Supersidekicking killed it except for a few niche users. So the Producers are asking themselves: Is the time spent to re-code this worth pleasing a few users when there is little hope of monetizing it when it gets fixed?|
Originally Posted by Alien51
By the way any chance when you change the Level Pact code you could allow one to be formed at higher levels and with more people?
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Remember, this appears to be an unforeseen issue. This means that fixing it will not get onto any programmer's to-do list for at least several months, if it even gets that high a priority considering the presumed general lack of large numbers of players begging for it to come back.
And even if large numbers hound the Producers for it... they might remember the Calvin Scott TF they brought back because of the hounding for it... and almost no one plays it.
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Super sidekicking can't get lower level players into the many forms of level restricted content in the game. They said in the announcement that many of us are useing it. I know I still use it.|
Originally Posted by Zombie Man
I'm giving 2 to 1 odds it ain't ever coming back. Supersidekicking killed it except for a few niche users. So the Producers are asking themselves: Is the time spent to re-code this worth pleasing a few users when there is little hope of monetizing it when it gets fixed?
Remember, this appears to be an unforeseen issue. This means that fixing it will not get onto any programmer's to-do list for at least several months, if it even gets that high a priority considering the presumed general lack of large numbers of players begging for it to come back. And even if large numbers hound the Producers for it... they might remember the Calvin Scott TF they brought back because of the hounding for it... and almost no one plays it. |
I wonder if they are considering giving premium players a temporary level pact license that they can purchase.
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Average Bob - Rifle/Devices/Munitions Blaster
Fusion Avatar - Triform Warshade
Grumpy - Nec/Poison/Mu Mastermind
Metallic Guy - Kat/Inv/Weapons Scrapper
Quote:
My guess... the other way around.|
Originally Posted by Arcanaville
That's why we get pacts in head start then they go away after launch: they are fine with VIPs having them, but not so much with Premium and Free players being beneficiaries of them for some reason.
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They don't want some VIP paying a RMT'er to create a free account and power-level their character up to 50 without them even having to be logged on to play.
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I doubt that there is a good demand for such a license, so I wouldn't expect it to happen.
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Originally Posted by Alien51
Super sidekicking can't get lower level players into the many forms of level restricted content in the game. They said in the announcement that many of us are useing it. I know I still use it.
I wonder if they are considering giving premium players a temporary level pact license that they can purchase. |
Disappointing announcement is disappointing.
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Originally Posted by Reiraku
Is this anything like Base Raids being disabled until they could be fixed?
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Originally Posted by Jasra
Base Raids are fixed; you haven't seen any little base raids running around, have you?
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Thanks for the update, Avatea. I am relieved that existing Level Pacts will be maintained.
Well that is a bit of a downer about the level pacts, but it's understandable. At least i'll get my pals level pacted in the head start =D.
And I anxiously await the launch date !
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Huzzah! City of Heroes: Freedom is almost here!
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City of Villains New User Guide and Helpful Tips
We are pleased to announce that, before City of Heroes Freedom officially launches, our VIP subscribers will be given a head start so they can take the time to rediscover their favorite super-powered MMO and the host of changes that will be made available through Issue 21: Convergence! We will be able to confirm the start date and duration of the VIP Head Start soon so stay tuned!
But there is another piece of news that we wanted to share with you all today.
As part of the City of Heroes Freedom build, Level Pacts will undergo a necessary change in order to have them work within the constraints of the upcoming systems.
During the VIP Head Start, amongst other things accessible to our VIP players, Level Pacts will be available in order to take advantage of the brand new Power Sets that will be released then. However, after the head start has ended, Level Pacts will need to be disabled and new Level Pacts won't be available to anybody until we have been able to revisit the system at a later point.
An innovative system that allows level synchronization for both participating characters (whether they play at the same time or not!), Level Pacts have been widely used across the City of Heroes universe since we made them available to all budding heroes and villains when Issue 13 launched back in December 2008. We understand that it is a feature that many of you love and we can assure you that we will be doing our best to investigate ways to make it work with City of Heroes Freedom!
In short, after City of Heroes Freedom has launched, existing Level Pacts created during or before the head start, will continue to work but new Level Pacts will NOT be available.
We appreciate your understanding and patience in this matter and will provide an update as soon as we are able to!
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