Please stop the Detectives hijacking the waypoint

It made sense when radios were first introduced but really it is a bit over the top to continually do it. Worse it appears that new players don't realize this is what happens and lose the trail of missions they are following the moment they go to Kings Row. Yes they need to get a radio from a detective, but not at the expense of trapping them in only radio missions.

100% agree. It was pointed out in I21 Beta, and goes from annoying to bad design in Freedom with the new players.

And all that developer time revamping low-level content gets bypassed by new players going through repetitive radio missions.

I also agree with this proposal. Detectives can pop up on the Content Finder and be seen on maps; no need for the map waypoint to get hijacked the minute a new player enters Kings Row (or any other zone with a detective for that matter).

/signed.

This is not the way you want to introduced everyone to the game.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hyperstrike English does not borrow from other languages. English follows other languages down dark alleys, hits them over the head, and rifles through their pockets for loose grammar.

Absolutely, wholeheartedly, 100% agree.

This insanity doesn't stop at Kings Row. It continues for every zone you enter for the first time after you've already acquired your radio. It's stupid, pointless, and frequently misdirects you from your mission directive.

On a timed mission, it can mean the difference between success and failure. (3 minute timed mission, anyone?)

I agree completely. One possible other way to handle this is to work an extra mission into the new starting arcs that actually sends a new player into KR to get a police band radio. As long as it happens before Twinshot's "Go talk to the trainers" mission, it won't interrupt the new players.

/JohnHancock

Agreed! This has always bugged me. When I enter a zone with a mission, I'd rather not have to switch my waypoint back to my mission, thank you! And it is only worse now, in regards to new players under Freedom.

Now, I honestly believe that getting the radio is important and should be clearly presented to the new player.
I love using the radio/newspaper. That's just my preference and enjoyment (not to use it exclusively, but I do love generic content as I explore my own character's story outside of greater story arcs... again, just my brand of fun). There are bound to be other new players that will feel the same way... So, keeping a way to properly introduce the radio/newspaper is important!

And, here we have a great additional suggestion/solution:

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Originally Posted by SailorET I agree completely. One possible other way to handle this is to work an extra mission into the new starting arcs that actually sends a new player into KR to get a police band radio. As long as it happens before Twinshot's "Go talk to the trainers" mission, it won't interrupt the new players.

I love it.
Devs... can you make this happen?

Detectives Gone Rogue!!!

I agree that having the detective highlighted is annoying. Problem is, the radio missions are the only way to get new contacts once the low level missions are finished. If the detective doesn't automatically show up then players are more likely to get stumped.

Of these two evils, I think the current way is better. When players get sidetracked to the detective they won't magically become unaware that they had another mission. They might get thrown off because they'll think they're going to the mission but will end up with the detective. They will then likely search for the mission. The alternative is that the players will finish the low level missions, then look for something to do, and it will be hard for them to find it (since they will be in Atlas Park, finding the detective won't be obvious at all). I think that will be more of a killer.

Perhaps the best solution would be to add the detective to the Twinshot story arc. Have the player visit the detective and get the radio. Explain that the radio provides missions specific to the zone, leads to a special mission after three missions, after which you get to choose another contact. That's really important information to learn. If this becomes part of the introductory missions there will be no need to direct players to the detective via the map, and have them stumble over this concept.


Edit: Missed SailorET's making the same suggestion. That'd teach me to read the thread. So consider SailorET's suggestion signed. (But won't sign the OP's suggestion without it, for the reason posted.)

Thanks, Aggelakis, I missed that and made the same suggestion. Though why did you call that a complaint?

Now that I've read it, my thought is that it could replace the second part of the trainers mission, as it will fulfill the role of teaching about the train and going to another zone.

On second thought I think it would be best to disable the detective highlight (as the OP suggested) and add the mission at the very end of the first Twinshot arc. Twinshot says there that the new base is in Kings Row, and could naturally seg into meeting the detective there. That's likely the best time for it, since the player is expected to continue with radio missions anyway, to open up the next contact.

The funny thing is that this was done specifically to avoid people missing their Brokers, villain-side. Plenty, plenty, PLENTY of people would come to the forums and complain that Moongoose told them to go to Cap Au Diable, but once they got there, they had no missions to do. "What, are we supposed to street-hunt to 50? Seriously?" Somewhere along the line, Drea the Hook and Mikey the Ear were made to auto-select themselves as soon as you entered the zone so that people could never miss out on the Newspaper contact and thereby miss out on the entire zone.

As far as I'm concerned, the Kings Row detective should show up in your contact list as a pop-up self introduction, and THAT should be the only one that gives a police band radio. That way, people's missions won't be hijacked but they'll still be introduced to the detective in an overt way.

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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.

The popup contact is a good idea, too. I still think an introduction to the detective could be a natural part of the first Twinshot arc, but just having a pop-up introduction would serve well.