Unfortunately, the push since the launch of Freedom seems to be for more content rather than better content (not that two are mutually exclusive).
I can understand the temptation when you've had all these things you've been wanting to do for ages and suddenly you can, but I can't help but feel that they might be better served by putting a bit more dev time into bug fixing and a little less into new shinies.
Yes, you want to provide a constant stream of content to attract and keep the new players, but if you allow the old content to stagnate and leave issues unfixed then it doesn't help with the medium-long term image of the game for those new players.
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Wah wah wah. /release pets, spend 10 seconds rebuffing. Yes, it's an annoying bug! But no, spouting crap off like "ZOMG ALL THEY ADDED WAS PAY 2 WIN I AM SO WITTY AND UNIQUE SNOWFLAKE!" just makes you look like a jerk.
Please apply for a job at Paragon and fix the coding for them.
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It's not my job to fix their bugs, it's theirs. It's why I've been paying 15 USD a month on two accounts for years.|
Originally Posted by Reppu
Wah wah wah. /release pets, spend 10 seconds rebuffing. Yes, it's an annoying bug! But no, spouting crap off like "ZOMG ALL THEY ADDED WAS PAY 2 WIN I AM SO WITTY AND UNIQUE SNOWFLAKE!" just makes you look like a jerk.
Please apply for a job at Paragon and fix the coding for them. |
If it makes you feel better, I'd even go through the code and find the problem for them (since you seem to think they're incapable), just to have my VIP accounts for free, they wouldn't even have to pay me.
To be honest the stuck pets bug doesn't even annoy me that much. Now the ranged pets running into melee which has been the case since CoV beta....
MA Arc:
Overload (Arc ID #405822) | Status: Final | Last Edited: 5th Nov 2010 for text fixes.
You notice how people who whine about the store also boast about how much they pay?
His tone and attitude notwithstanding, the bug HAS been around for a long time and it is annoying. At least an 'it's on our radar' from the devs would be in order.
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Great constructive post there Bro. I think you are confused as to who looks like the jerk (I'll give you a hint, try a mirror). Clearly you don't even PLAY an MM, or you would know that dismissing the pets does not fix the bug. It removes them from your pet window, but not the game. Even logging off and back on does not always fix it. |
Originally Posted by Reppu
Wah wah wah. /release pets, spend 10 seconds rebuffing. Yes, it's an annoying bug! But no, spouting crap off like "ZOMG ALL THEY ADDED WAS PAY 2 WIN I AM SO WITTY AND UNIQUE SNOWFLAKE!" just makes you look like a jerk.
Please apply for a job at Paragon and fix the coding for them. |
To fix it certainly I have found you HAVE TO DIE. How it that just 'an annoying' bug?
I agree Spad and is why I have started many MM's only to end up deleting them. Yes, it's that annoying for me.
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Try /releasepets.
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Originally Posted by MisterD
Great constructive post there Bro. I think you are confused as to who looks like the jerk (I'll give you a hint, try a mirror). Clearly you don't even PLAY an MM, or you would know that dismissing the pets does not fix the bug. It removes them from your pet window, but not the game. Even logging off and back on does not always fix it.
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"You don't lose levels. You don't have equipment to wear out, repair, or lose, or that anyone can steal from you. About the only thing lighter than debt they could do is have an NPC walk by, point and laugh before you can go to the hospital or base." -Memphis_Bill
We will honor the past, and fight to the last, it will be a good way to die...
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That's true, that should be a high priority. The problem is, if the pets get stuck when you need them, they're doing nothing- you have to die or /releasepets, a huge problem if you just summoned them. At least the melee bug, they're still doing something.|
Originally Posted by Peppercat
To be honest the stuck pets bug doesn't even annoy me that much. Now the ranged pets running into melee which has been the case since CoV beta....
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Originally Posted by Talen Lee
You notice how people who whine about the store also boast about how much they pay?
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I think fixing a bug that bothers a fraction of a fraction of a percent of people a fraction of the time by inconveniencing them for a fraction of a minute is low enough priority that its persistence should not be considered resource mismanagement.
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Great constructive post there, bro. As noted before, I did list the solution (/releasepets).|
Originally Posted by MisterD
Great constructive post there Bro. I think you are confused as to who looks like the jerk (I'll give you a hint, try a mirror). Clearly you don't even PLAY an MM, or you would know that dismissing the pets does not fix the bug. It removes them from your pet window, but not the game. Even logging off and back on does not always fix it.
To fix it certainly I have found you HAVE TO DIE. How it that just 'an annoying' bug? |
Release is not the same as Dismiss. Ahem, "Clearly you don't even PLAY an MM, or you would know that dismissing-" and releasing are two different mechanics.
I partially quoted you, hope you don't mind?
This bug? Is hardly a big deal. Oh no, you lost 10 seconds of your time. Well, more for you since you never bothered to discover the 'quick fix' for it, generally speaking.
/releasepets
Resummon.
10 Seconds lost.
Dismiss doesn't work. They're gone from your display but are still around and stuck and you can't summon new ones.
/releasepets does work. If you dismissed them first with the above problem, /releasepets will still release them.
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And by the time you get to hundreds or thousands of different "bug that bothers a fraction of a fraction of a percent of people a fraction of the time" you start giving people a bad impression of the game.|
Originally Posted by Talen Lee
I think fixing a bug that bothers a fraction of a fraction of a percent of people a fraction of the time by inconveniencing them for a fraction of a minute is low enough priority that its persistence should not be considered resource mismanagement.
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Bug management and resolution is a tedious, boring, resource-hungry necessity with any program.
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completely agree. And with all this new content being added we are seeing even more bugs that are bothering more fractions of a percent of people
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Originally Posted by The_Spad_EU
And by the time you get to hundreds or thousands of different "bug that bothers a fraction of a fraction of a percent of people a fraction of the time" you start giving people a bad impression of the game.
Bug management and resolution is a tedious, boring, resource-hungry necessity with any program. |
http://www.scene-and-heard.com/cov/covsig.jpg
Yes it's an annoying bug, it does make me laugh when I run a Lambda and pets bug, by the time I resummon and buff, the league is already half way round the camp clearing the clockwork, that's pretty much a quarter of the trial if it's a speed run.
So when it comes to Lambda, I take a different AT just for that reason.
Too many 50's to list here's a few you may know.
Slazenger, Area51, Area53, Area54, Erruption, Mind Plague, Thresher, Sheath, Broadside, Debt
I came back from a haitus recently myself, and while I haven't had this old annoyance pop up yet (thankfully,) I can't help but notice that pet AI is still incredibly broken to the point of rendering certain combos virtually unplayable.
I feel your frustration. I've lost count of all the little bugs and annoyances I've noticed since coming back that have been there for years.
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I'm not sure how they can even fix the pet AI to be honest with you.
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Originally Posted by Kenji_Naginata
I came back from a haitus recently myself, and while I haven't had this old annoyance pop up yet (thankfully,) I can't help but notice that pet AI is still incredibly broken to the point of rendering certain combos virtually unplayable.
I feel your frustration. I've lost count of all the little bugs and annoyances I've noticed since coming back that have been there for years. |
@Rorn ---- Blue Baron ---- Guardian
I've never had my pets bug out.
As for the AI being "broken" - it's annoying but it isn't broken. The ranged pets seem to have a cycle of attacks they use, the lowest priority being the lone melee attack. When all other attacks have cycled the pets will resort to the melee attack. This can be dangerous for them if you need them huddled in your force field or something.
The way to combat this is to get a feel for the rhythm of their cycle and click the "gather to me and ignore enemies" option when it's time for the melee attack, or when one starts running forward and then tap "Attack the selected target" option followed immediately by the "Defend" option.
If you get the timing right the F1... F2 F3 move will essentially allow them to reset their attack chain and start at the beginning of their ranged attack cycle again. Each pet type has a different delay between F1 and F2 to let the first ranged attack recharge.
Moonlighter
50s include MA/SD, MA/SR, DP/Elec, Claw/Inv, Kat/Dark, Kat/Fire, Spine/Regen, Dark/SD
First Arc: Tequila Sunrise, #168563
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The pets don't really have any AI to speak of, which is part of the problem; they just cycle their attacks as they're available which inevitably means at some point they only have melee attacks available and as ranged attacks don't have a minimum range they never back out again unless instructed to.|
Originally Posted by Vauluur
I'm not sure how they can even fix the pet AI to be honest with you.
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That and the regular NPC scripting sometimes causes them to run into melee for no apparent reason, but mobs do the same thing.
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i havent had the pets being stuck bug for a long time either
i do agree though that the pets running into melee is very annoying for me
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It's bizarre to me how wildly differently this bug seems to effect certain people. A couple have mentioned not seeing it often at all or ever, and others get it frequently. Personally, I encounter this bug at least once every time I play my Bot/Force.|
Originally Posted by Necrotech_Master
i havent had the pets being stuck bug for a long time either
i do agree though that the pets running into melee is very annoying for me |
And I would kill for the robots and other ranged pets to just outright lose their melee attacks so that they don't feel compelled to go get themselves obliterated by trample/foot stomp/nova fist/etc. whenever I fight anything remotely difficult.
@Draeth Darkstar
Virtue [Heroes, Roleplay], Freedom [Villains], Exalted [All Sides, Roleplay]
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I24 Proc Chance = (Enhanced Recharge + Activation Time) * (Current PPM * 1.25) / 60*(1 + .75*(.15*Radius - 0.011*Radius*(360-Arc)/30)) Single Target Radius = 0. AoE Non-Cone Arc = 360.
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This isn't my first time to the rodeo either, and I've been playing Mastermind (with custom keybinds) since COV launch. Passive > Goto > Bodyguard/Attack spam works most of the time, but it's a band-aid fix on a much larger underlying problem. As The_Spad_EU pointed out, Pet AI is virtually non-existant. They simply rotate their attacks and stand wherever they feel like standing to accomplish this.|
As for the AI being "broken" - it's annoying but it isn't broken. The ranged pets seem to have a cycle of attacks they use, the lowest priority being the lone melee attack. When all other attacks have cycled the pets will resort to the melee attack. This can be dangerous for them if you need them huddled in your force field or something. The way to combat this is to get a feel for the rhythm of their cycle and click the "gather to me and ignore enemies" option when it's time for the melee attack, or when one starts running forward and then tap "Attack the selected target" option followed immediately by the "Defend" option. If you get the timing right the F1... F2 F3 move will essentially allow them to reset their attack chain and start at the beginning of their ranged attack cycle again. Each pet type has a different delay between F1 and F2 to let the first ranged attack recharge. |
Pet AI routines are essentialy a series of scripted conditions. "If attack A is available, use attack A. Else, use Attack B" or "If standing in a fire patch, flail around in random directions and run six rooms away to aggro everything on the map." I don't feel it would be difficult or unreasonable to change the pet AI script to behave depending on 'ranged' or 'melee' preference (they're already supposed to do this to a degree, and the behaviour can be clearly seen in enemy AI.)
Melee preference would simply act as it currently does now: fire off whatever ranged attack they have and then close the gap to cycle their melee attacks. Fix the "randomly switch targets from the specifically designated enemy to a different one six rooms away" problem and this is already pretty workable.
The fix for ranged pets is, on paper, as simple as changing the condition to: "If attack A is available use attack A. Else, if enemy is in melee range, use Attack B. Else, wait 1 second until attack A is available."
This is obviously an overly simplified example, but it would fix ranged AI to the point of being usable with sets that incorporate knockback (like Bots/FF, or god forbid, storm summoning or teaming.) As it stands now, they end up losing more DPS from constantly running around putting themselves in danger than from simply ignoring their melee attack to begin with.
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Exactly why I wish they just didn't have melee attacks to try to use. For all I care they don't even have to replace them, they could just stand there waiting for attacks to cycle and I'd be happy.
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Originally Posted by Kenji_Naginata
...As it stands now, they end up losing more DPS from constantly running around putting themselves in danger than from simply ignoring their melee attack to begin with.
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@Draeth Darkstar
Virtue [Heroes, Roleplay], Freedom [Villains], Exalted [All Sides, Roleplay]
Code:
I24 Proc Chance = (Enhanced Recharge + Activation Time) * (Current PPM * 1.25) / 60*(1 + .75*(.15*Radius - 0.011*Radius*(360-Arc)/30)) Single Target Radius = 0. AoE Non-Cone Arc = 360.
I took a break for a few months. Today I came back. Logged in my MM. Summoned my pets. Zoned... And they were stuck.
How old is this bug now?
How is this possibly still broken? Have they done ANYTHING to fix this game besides add Pay2Win?
Damn.