Obsolescence with latest issue

As much as I enjoy most of the changes that came with Issue 20/Freedom, I have a couple of problems.

1) The Hollows and the radio missions have become neglected as characters level past them after a few runs through the sewer trials. I have managed to hit level 16 in a matter of a couple of hours with about half a dozen runs through the trial. On the surface, this is great, but there was a lot of good content in the lower levels. Maybe we need to find a use for all those initial, origin-based contacts. As it now stands, origin is meaningless, beyond role-playing "color."

2) Making a Villain ("red-side") character is now pointless, causing all of that content to now be neglected. I have yet, even during peak periods, to see anywhere near the volume of traffic in the Rogue Isles that I once saw before Issue 21/Freedom. With the blurring of archetypes, making a character on "red side" is now meaningless. The changes to Mercy Island are nice, even interesting, but everyone is making Regen brutes and Masterminds in Paragon City, now. Any time I get on, again, even during peak periods, there are not enough players in the Rogue Isles interested in the sewer trials to get a group formed.

3) The Tutorial now has less meaning. The run-up to the release touted it as a more "streamlined" experience. It certainly is more brief, but it lacks the informativeness of the original. Sure, the content had gotten a little stale, but I could have set my 10 year old loose in the "Breakout" tutorial and been reasonably confident he could have picked up all he needed to know to play the game, short of intermediate-level strategy. Now, there's just enough instruction to get you able to run around and attack things. The audio cues are annoying, at best, and the audible exposition is kind of pointless.

I'm not jumping ship, or anything, but I'm a whole lot less enthusiastic about maintaining my "VIP" status.

Don't blame Freedom for people not wanting to play the Hollows or redside. They're still there, you still have the ability to do the stuff there. People just don't want to do it.

I didn't buy CoH. Every game in the world lets you play the hero.
I bought CoV.

Great! You can play CoV to your heart's content. But apparently, many people bought CoH and prefer it.

If you want to propose a way to make redside more attractive to players, sure, great. If you just want to lock people in there even though they'd rather play blue, you might find less support.

Edit: This seems like completely the wrong subforum for such a thread...

I usually switch sides every few months based on what I feel like doing toon wise. I recently have been redside for the past year now and dont see the problem that is often brought up about it being a dead place (Freedom & Virtue). I always recommend relooking at what server you play on and go from there if you enjoy villain content.

No opinion about the rest of the original post since I rarely did the tutorial and got tired of the hollows about 3 years ago.

I view most contact/arcs as solo play for those who enjoy a story. And some of the Legacy Arcs... well, the story is lost in really bad design of street sweeps, fedex, and repetitive missions, which, though maybe necessary in their day, not so much anymore.

Most of the stories of the legacy arcs, which were told in 12 missions can be done today in 3-4 missions.

But once you've gone through the story once or twice or ten times... no need to anymore. Stick to powerleveling trials and TFs.

I think it's worth keeping in mind that what used to be covered in the Tutorial now has been spread over the first 20 levels of the game. What you now call the tutorial is really the first part. the REAL tutorial is running that, the Matthew Hashby arcs and Dual Shots arcs Blue side or the Inquisitors arcs and Doctor Graves arcs redside.

Those cover all that Breakout and Outbreak used to cover and more. Of course, they do it way too slow and too far apart, but they do cover it. Is it a good make-over? Heck no! The write-up for the arcs is pretty good, and sometimes very funny, but by the time they tell you about stores or Icon, chances are anyone but a rank newbie is on his second costume with every slot filled already. And nowhere is it advertised that those arcs teach you about the game, which I'd say is a criminal oversight. But ultimately, the information IS there.

For the record, I would watch the crap out of a Venom cartoon.

what about Preitoria? last night on server chat a player was complaining about lack of players so he deleted the char he was running and re-created a hero version.

ive always and only will play redside, never felt like a graveyard to me, i love the redside content and zones, heroside annoys me at every turn and EVERY toon i make goes redside, no question


i do feel that the one side which is neglected is praetorian, theres little to no reason to make a praetorian unless you like being trapped in a jail for 20 levels