Unofficial Boomtown Revamp Suggestions

It's the weekend! Collect them here!

I'd like to see the Fifth Column Secret Base battling the Longbow Sky Carrier or something. Like a mobile, friendly Giant Monster (think Seed of Hamidon) that periodically wanders over to the Fifth Column base and they exchange weapons fire.

Level 30-50.

5th Column.

Not co-op. Parallel content for heroes and villains.

Level 30-50.

That is all.

Another Raid like the MSR, this Time on a Base. I would like it.

5th Column base that you have to put the pressure on it until a few giant 5th Column Mek Men are deployed to try to protect the base. Reichsman himself could come out after the raid force destroys his giant robots. They could use the Barracuda SF version of him which I seem to remember he was a stupid 45 minute long slugfest that was so painfully boring I vowed to never run that SF again--but with multiple groups slamming him instead of 8 he should go down fast enough.

No point in making it low level. It's one of the reasons why Praetoria was so fail. Level 30+ or 35+ like RWZ and Cimerora.

The renegade Council lobbing guerrilla assaults against the rebuilt Column's base, the Sky Raiders hiring their services out for engagements and an Arbiter of Arachnos playing all sides attempting to procure an Arachnos foothold. Some rebuilding effort visible near the Hazard Gate, but the villain arcs showed how villains have been sabotaging reconstruction projects since eons ago. It would sacrifice old factions like the Trolls/Outcasts/Lost that live in the ruins and the Vahzilok that prey on them for body parts since all those factions are too low level, but if it's too low level it would just sit there unused again.

how about it being turned from a hazard zone back to a 'normal' city section? We seem to be seeing a lot of the revamps either making zones scarier or making zones worse, how bout one that makes it 'better', that is the zone gets cleaned up, albeit with some seedy under-element.

My concept for a revamped Boomtown. I wanted to pitch some new ideas when it comes to how missions are obtained and how storylines are played out. I'm also building on and being inspired by some ideas already floating around in this thread.


Following Galaxy City's destruction, several groups have found the need to relocate their facilities, and the mostly forgotten area of Baumton seemed perfect. Once again the neighborhood has become a boom town as various factions look to lay claim to it and expand their operations.

-The Clockwork King has begun construction of his his 'Kingdom' in the North West. This area of bizarre scrap metal spires is like a twisted fantasy land done in shades of rust. Indeed, the King's legions of Clockwork have cleared the much of the debris from Boomtown to build his structures, inadvertently aiding in the City's reconstruction efforts. However, the King does not appreciate what he sees as an intrusion.

-In the south, Longbow and Freedom Corps have established a compound to house their new headquarters after the Freedom Corps building in Galaxy was lost. The Freedom Phalanx's new headquarters is also found here. This area is secure and only Heroes and Vigilantes can enter, with a door to Steel Canyon.

-In the South West, the area formerly known as Primer, construction has established new suburban residential housing. Gone are the destroyed sky scrapers. This quiet area of cul-de-sacs is home to many families of Longbow personnel. It is well policed, but being in the shadow of the nearby military base can lead to some tension. Street crime is not prevalent, but in suburbia, there are secrets behind those picket fences. There have been crazy rumors of cults, terrorist cells posing is typical families and strange creatures (even strange for Paragon City) roaming the streets in the dark nights.

-As we go further North East from the suburbs, things get a little more 'other side of the tracks'. Trailer parks, strip malls, junk yards, used car lots. An illegal garbage dump site. This area is less policed and has attracted Trolls and Lost. These cheap buildings were put up fast with little planning and mingle with the rubble and crumbling edifices that used to dominate the zone. Many Galaxy City survivors relocated here with the promise of cheap housing and construction jobs. The area's nickname of Powderkeg still applies; there's anger here as displaced professionals had to 'trade down' to get by after losing everything and the demand for labor jobs wasn't as high as initially thought, leaving many unemployed and trapped in this run down area.

-In the North East neighborhood of Cannonade, Reichsman and the the 5th Column are working to establish a massive fortress to work as their new base of operations. The Column are using the angry people of Powderkeg to swell their ranks. At the same time, Reichsman is taking in the now directionless Outcasts, training them, chemically enhancing their mutant powers and making them into his elite special forces that wield the very elements to spread his evil.

-In a pocket to the East, Arachnos has set up a small outpost under the guise of a legitimate import/export facility. This is how they are smuggling in their operatives and how Villains and Rogues gain entry to the zone from the Isles and only redsiders can gain entry.


The idea for the zone is that it becomes a "competitive co-op" zone. Red and Blue side have missions there, but they do not team up (nor do they directly fight or PvP). By completing repeatable missions and faction-specific zone events, one side can effect and 'hamper the efforts of' the other.

For example, Heroes can run a 'black ops' mission to disable the Arachnos base air defenses so Longbow's "Flying Juggernaut" can bombard it, thus triggering a zone event where Villains can defeat it.

Conversely, Villains, being the sneaky jerks they are, can run a mission that instigates an attack on the Longbow base by the Clockwork King's giant monstrosity that the heroes then defeat.


The missions themselves would be a little different than standard CoH fare of having a contact plot you out a course, which you run until they hand you off to the next contact. I've been playing Saints Row the Third and I've come to appreciate the freedom its design gives you in progressing while being able to have a storyline.


First, there would be a set of "Power Struggle" missions in a spirit of undermining the other faction's attempts at a stronger foothold in the zone. These are 100% optional. They would be repeatable and would figure into the 'hamper the other side' concept. If possible using the phasing tech or similar to what was done in Recluse's Victory, factions could gain control of areas by completing instanced missions there. If one side needs to collect some Zone Glowies, it's made harder if the area is controlled by the other faction and it's spawning extra enemies. The goal isn't to make the other factions Power Struggle missions *much harder*, just to show visually that Longbow "owns" that area right now. Also, your faction controlling areas helps you in some tangible way like bonus drops, so there's incentive to want to control areas but it's not a big loss if you don't.


Besides the Power Struggle missions, there are also proper story arcs.
Villain arcs would revolve around efforts to scavenge valuables from the ruins and play off the NPC groups against each other while the Heroes' efforts are to defeat the machinations of the NPC enemy factions in the zones and protect the people there.

These missions would not be given by standard contacts, however.

Building on the mechanic used for Mortimer Kal, arcs in the zone would be "found" via tips by heroes "going on patrol" and villains shaking down people for leads. A tip for an arc or one-off mission has a small chance of dropping from *any enemy* in the zone you defeat, but defeating a random Clockwork has a greater chance of dropping a Clockwork tip.

Also, finding and defeating a SPECIFIC named mob or clicking on a suspicious glowie in the zone would have a 100% chance of dropping the related Tip. Also paying attention to NPC dialogue is key, as a passerby or random conversation may be dropping a clue to the location of a tip glowie/mob.

So, patrolling and exploration is rewarded, but not required.

So, If your hero wants to target Reichsman's operation, he can and he'll get 5th Column one-off missions and arcs.

If your villain is after riches, snooping around the destroyed bank may yield a clue to a lost safety deposit box.

Thus Villains aren't just puppets dancing for Arachnos, they've got something at stake for themselves and can actively go out looking for opportunities and heroes get to be heroic without always doing what someone else is telling them.



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