Question about MasterMinds
By
Android_5Point9,
Posted on: 2012-02-04 16:42 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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Two of the base Archetypes (MMs and Controller) and the Epic ATs were made pay-for when CoH went F2P. These are pet intensive classes and thus use a lot of gaming resources (and are a little bit harder to learn) and thus were the targets of "What can we hold back so that free players have an incentive to pay at least *something* since it would be pretty dumb to give everything away free cause then we make no money and don't get paid and our children starve?"|
Originally Posted by FireLancer
I went and sent a ticket but was told to come here so I can find out why Masterminds where made unavailable unless you do one of the three things to get them.
Honestly why couldn't they do the whole LOTRO or DDO and made it available to people who already purchased the game? |
So, you can get access to MMs by either subscribing or paying a one time cost for a license to use them while F2P (1,200 points which is $15USD). The third way is gaining them from the reward system which involves having spent some time subscribed or spending a certain amount of points on other stuff (namely, completing Reward Level Tier 5).
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Masterminds are by far the most resource-intensive class in the game from a server capacity standpoint. Each Mastermind tracks not just the character, but at least six other henchmen, their costumes, their powers, their AI and the command interface surrounding them. When City of Heroes swapped over to its current Hybrid/F2P model, they cut a LOT of extra server performance hits from free players. The new Atlas Park and Mercy Island starting missions have almost no instances, putting less of a strain on the system having to track them, just for example.
Why Controllers got the axe too, I can't say. I believe it's for parity's sake, so that heroes and villains each lose one AT, in addition to the Epics.
You can buy access to the AT off the Market. I don't know what it costs, but it's there. Or you can subscribe. That unlocks both ATs and the four Epics.
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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.
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I think it's because Controllers have access to some more pet-intensive sets than the Dominator (Illusionists poop out phantoms)
But that still doesn't make sense, my epic archetypes are unlocked while the others are still are.
Why is that?
I think if you unlocked the EATs before Freedom started (i.e., by getting to level 20 as a hero or villain), they're still unlocked now, even if you drop to Premium now.
... at least, that's the only reason I can think of why mine are unlocked (even though I'm Premium at the moment).
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Also, Masterminds are unusual and interesting enough that they are more likely than, say, Scrappers or Blasters to induce people to buy; "melee guys" and "shooty guys" are a lot more common in games than a powerful pet specialist like MMs. I've heard people elsewhere express a liking for Masterminds as a distinctive CoX feature that they miss in other games. |
Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Masterminds are by far the most resource-intensive class in the game from a server capacity standpoint. Each Mastermind tracks not just the character, but at least six other henchmen, their costumes, their powers, their AI and the command interface surrounding them. When City of Heroes swapped over to its current Hybrid/F2P model, they cut a LOT of extra server performance hits from free players. The new Atlas Park and Mercy Island starting missions have almost no instances, putting less of a strain on the system having to track them, just for example.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Why Controllers got the axe too, I can't say. I believe it's for parity's sake, so that heroes and villains each lose one AT, in addition to the Epics.
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I'm fairly certain it's one part server resources (for Masterminds) and one part newbie accessibility (for both). Masterminds can be very difficult to control if you've never played one before and are using those terrible default macros they give you. Controllers are very team oriented and most of their sets aren't frontloaded with damage. Dominators always seemed like inverted Blasters in the same vein that Corruptors are inverted Defenders, hence why they're not gated as well.
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Originally Posted by Obscure Blade
Possibly. I also suspected it might have been because Doms are more newbie-friendly. They are stronger out of the box, and don't depend on pets they get at 32 for damage. And blasting things is easier to get a handle on than buffs/debuffs.
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... except all non-Epics are available to all sides at creation, so that doesn't really fly.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
I believe it's for parity's sake, so that heroes and villains each lose one AT, in addition to the Epics.
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Wanted: Origin centric story arcs.
If you've only played an AT once (one set combo) and "hate" it - don't give up. Roll a different combo. It may just be those sets not clicking for you.
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I believe the Dev comments on it were 'These are both more advanced ATs, hence the lock' or something like that
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Originally Posted by Stormbird
... except all non-Epics are available to all sides at creation, so that doesn't really fly.
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
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That's probably a bug. Some people find they have the EATs unlocked when they're Premium, and some people don't. So don't be surprised if the bug is fixed at some point and you lose access to the characters again.
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Originally Posted by FireLancer
But that still doesn't make sense, my epic archetypes are unlocked while the others are still are.
Why is that? |
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The short answer? This isn't LOTRO or DDO. And both of those games have pay-for classes.
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Originally Posted by FireLancer
I went and sent a ticket but was told to come here so I can find out why Masterminds where made unavailable unless you do one of the three things to get them.
Honestly why couldn't they do the whole LOTRO or DDO and made it available to people who already purchased the game? |
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Also bear in mind that each NPC pet a mastermind has out uses up the server resources as a whole player character, so each free player using a mastermind potentially eats up the space of 7 players rather than just one.
I went and sent a ticket but was told to come here so I can find out why Masterminds where made unavailable unless you do one of the three things to get them.
Honestly why couldn't they do the whole LOTRO or DDO and made it available to people who already purchased the game?