So, why do teammates phase out in Atlas?

I didn't mess with the new "phasing" tech when it was in beta. When it went live, I mostly played my new lowbie characters solo, so any phasing I or others did when around one another went unnoticed, which is sort of the point.

Recently, I've gone back to playing Tip Missions, which for my heroes I normally do in Atlas. I've noticed that when moving around the zone, my teammates gray out. I'm told this is what happens when a teammate phases.

This is annoying when it happens. If I want to follow someone, I lose them. I can't tell where they are any more. I discovered this when trying to get to a Halloween GM the other day - I zoned in and couldn't locate my teammates in the same zone with me.

Why is this even possible? When we're on a team, we're told that the world we see is that set by the actions of the character with the active task. Why in the world should phasing not obey that? Is it not supposed to and what I am seeing is a bug?

In my experience it removes them from the minimap as well, which makes it really hard to figure out where they are.

Yeah, I'm not fond of it either, and hope they can fix it.

Agreed, that's completely obnoxious. Why would people ON YOUR TEAM phase out?

Yeah I hate this so much.

My friends and I stopped running tips in Atlas because its a pain. Which is too bad because its fun otherwise in Atlas these days with all the free players. I would love to check out costumes and chat in local but that stupid grey team bug (or feature?) is awful. We went back to PI.

Lewis

I thought this didn't happen if you set the mission.

Umm... what is phasing?

Phasing is some new tech that debuted (as we're referring to it) with I21/Freedom. It refers to contacts and even critters that only a particular player (and their teammates) can for sure see. It allows, for example, for contacts who can be arrested or killed, based on choices the mission holder makes. Different people can make different choices and all still see the outcome that makes sense for what they did.

When people on the same team get "out of phase", the teammates disappear from the mini map, and can't be targeted. It's almost like they're in a different zone, except that their entry in the team list becomes sort of a grey version of the normal "in-same-zone" version. You can see their health and end bar, unlike if they are really in a different zone.

If its a feature and not a bug, than what's the purpose behind any character "phasing out"? Are they literally on a different zone? Do they not see every other character that you see? Can a phased out player see you?

Interesting. I haven't run into someone phasing out that nearby yet.

We found the exact spot where it happens. Look at this: He takes one step backwards and starts to phase out:



One step:

The way I know how phasing works is kind of like this:

Atlas Park is now an extreme version of the way that zones are often in different time periods to one another, which is referenced by the level brackets (5-9, 10-14, 15-19...etc). This extreme version of time barrier divides certain areas of Atlas park to the version the team-leader is at the present time. If they hadn't defeated all the hellions yet, there will be hellions (to pay), but if they did, it's now covered by PPD.

So why do people phase out?

If you are standing in phase zone A and your partner runs into phase zone B, you're technically in two different periods of time, even if that's not the case, if you want to understand you'll have to take my word for it now. In the pictures you showed before, the first picture was you right at the edge of a time barrier, when you cross the barrier without your partner, whoosh. You're in a different time now.

Looks like the ChronoPsychoMetron is back, screwing with peoples' heads.

Another way to think about is that it's not really different periods of time but different parallel universes with identical architecture. Except one has hellions running amuck and another, the PPD have a secure presence. The difference is whether a hero such as yourself ever bothered to clear out those hellions or not.



It's times like these that I'm glad I understand the complexities of time and space.

In my experience, right clicking and adding a waypoint to the teammate on your team list (even while they are phased) works.

This is most likely due to the phasing that occurs within the Arc/missions where you have to take out the Arachnos that are planning take out Atlas, or parts of Atlas.

If you do the arc, you'll see a phased area of Arachnos pylons and soldiers around the warehouses, but before accepting the arc/after that arc is complete, that area phases back to normal with the usual Hellions/Vahz hanging about.

Phasing is heavily used for the last 2 expansions in.... another MMO I play, and I agree, it can be annoying when teaming. I hate having to say 'Sorry, wish I could help you with that quest, but I did it already so I'm phased and cannot even see you in the area anymore.'

The Devs need to seriously consider reworking the COX phasing system to add a 'Join your teammates current Phase?' system to avoid this problem.