Oh Shard Cannon, how you taunt me!
Cool, Zwillinger
![]() While you're at it, could you check on Robot Masterminds too? They're lazer weapons, but haven't had a single new model ported to them since they came out. I'd really like the option of some of those newer models for mine. (the D.U.S.T. Cannon and Shard Cannons in particular). Is there a reason they haven't been, or just missed by accident? |
"But in our enthusiasm, we could not resist a radical overhaul of the system, in which all of its major weaknesses have been exposed, analyzed, and replaced with new weaknesses."
-- Bruce Leverett, Register Allocation in Optimizing Compilers
Thanks for checking. Can you explain in more detail? Because I don't understand how the Celestial Rifle and the Steampunk Rifle made it over to Arachnos Soldiers with no issues, but the Shard Cannon has issues?
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I was okay with the answer I received to this whole issue until afterwards when Steampunk/Celestial popped up. I was happy to see this as I assumed this was setting a new standard in weapon model proliferation. Now, we take a step back with this Shard Cannon/Beam rifle situation.
Currently on Virtue:
Jinrazuo - Crab Spider
RWZ All-Pylon Solo Run
One of these can shoot a barrage of energy from its tip. You can you guess which?
Surprise! Not the one swirling with energy!
While you're poking people about weapon models Zwil, please ask if they can look into getting the Carnie maces ported to Mace Mastery for all ATs. It's a shame that they're limited only to Warmace when they really would work well for Mace Mastery powers like Poison Ray and Disruptor Blast. They make fine magic wands for people, you know, in case I want to cast Web (a.k.a. on Web Envelope and Web Cacoon) on an enemy.
On beta, the Super Packs actually did contain an advanced AI that could read the minds of players to work out what power sets they were and weren't planning to buy, and then adjust the cards to suit them - but it was dropped after it was found to contain a bug that could lead it to take over the player's computer, and from there every other computer connected to the interent, declare war on humanity, and proclaim the age of the machines.
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But that was awesome.
When something good happens to me, I can never enjoy it....
I am always too busy looking for the inevitable punchline...
BEHOLD THE POWER OF CHEESE!
Deamus the Fallen - 50 DM/EA Brute - Lib
Dragos Bahtiam - 50 Fire/Ice Blaster - Lib
/facepalm - Apply Directly to the Forehead!
Formally Dragos_Bahtiam - Abbreviate to DSL - Warning, may contain sarcasm
Can we also get the Celestial Ax added to Mace Mastery.
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The reason this is happening can only be due to one thing: poor leadership and internal practices.
There should be standard procedures in place when developing new assets and code that says: "If you make X new asset, then it interacts in Y way with existing assets" This practice is then followed with every new asset that is made.
Instead what is happening is that they reinvent the wheel every time they make a new asset, leading to things like the inexplicable lack of beam rifles for MMs or Shard Cannon not going to SOAs when other weapons do.
Instead of strong leadership developing procedures and determining best practices, everyone's just running around making decisions on the fly.
No wonder new things take so long to get done and nothing ever gets fixed.
The reason this is happening can only be due to one thing: poor leadership and internal practices.
There should be standard procedures in place when developing new assets and code that says: "If you make X new asset, then it interacts in Y way with existing assets" This practice is then followed with every new asset that is made. Instead what is happening is that they reinvent the wheel every time they make a new asset, leading to things like the inexplicable lack of beam rifles for MMs or Shard Cannon not going to SOAs when other weapons do. Instead of strong leadership developing procedures and determining best practices, everyone's just running around making decisions on the fly. No wonder new things take so long to get done and nothing ever gets fixed. |
Currently on Virtue:
Jinrazuo - Crab Spider
RWZ All-Pylon Solo Run
In talking to various people, I got the impression it was mostly an aesthetics/animation issue.
We can look into porting it over, but no guarantees that it will happen or in what timeframe we can accomplish it in. |
I love you guys, but how many times have the playerbase responded to things like this with "let US decide if we like the aesthetics" before it's taken to heart?
Global name: @k26dp
::headdesk::
I love you guys, but how many times have the playerbase responded to things like this with "let US decide if we like the aesthetics" before it's taken to heart? |
But DAMN if "headdesk" wasn't my response, too. It's a weird sci-fi weapon that could shoot bullets, lasers, fish or leprechauns. Let US decide whether it looks right for our Robotics Masterminds or Soldiers of Arachnos or what have you. There really is no argument for why the weapon makes no sense. The only argument is someone in power doesn't like how it looks.
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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While we're at it... why are the Carnival of War/Light/Vengeance maces limited only to War Mace and not applicable to Mace Mastery? The Celestial mace works with Mace Mastery even though it looks odd shooting webbing and beams from a hammer. The Carnie maces would actually make more sense being usable there.
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Devs have stated it cannot/will not be fixed due to program limitations. May also be that that all Mastery powers are balanced on having a redraw. Eliminate them for some powersets and it unfairly unbalances things.
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You can't please everyone, so lets concentrate on me.
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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Mace Mastery uses completely different animations. If you have Mace as a primary/secondary and take Mace Mastery it redraws the mace for your attacks regardless of which mace you take.
Devs have stated it cannot/will not be fixed due to program limitations. May also be that that all Mastery powers are balanced on having a redraw. Eliminate them for some powersets and it unfairly unbalances things. |
In talking to various people, I got the impression it was mostly an aesthetics/animation issue.
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![](http://i.imgur.com/8JZNB.jpg)
It almost seems like the devs would have to create a Laser Pistol blast set in order for us to use them.
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Sometimes I feel sorry for Zwill. He's the bearer of bad news and the guy we tend to unload on when we're told something remarkably illogical from the greater development team. Honestly, I like the guy. He does a good job and he does it with passion.
But DAMN if "headdesk" wasn't my response, too. It's a weird sci-fi weapon that could shoot bullets, lasers, fish or leprechauns. Let US decide whether it looks right for our Robotics Masterminds or Soldiers of Arachnos or what have you. There really is no argument for why the weapon makes no sense. The only argument is someone in power doesn't like how it looks. |
Always I feel sorry for the developers, who are always accused of having "vision" when they do not compromise as if that were a curse, and always accused of being inconsistent when they do compromise as if that only proves they could always do it our way if they can do it once.
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In one little corner of the universe, there's nothing more irritating than a misfile...
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I am a sucker for a well-reasoned argument though.
No promises.
We'll look at it, the schedule is a harsh mistress.
Assault Rifle, Pulse Rifle, and Arachnos, we'll see.
At the very least your concern has been heard.
Because if they decide to compromise on one area, might as well just scoop their brains out with a shovel and turn over the keys to the players.
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What's funny is you're saying it's a no-win situation because we extrapolate developer decision to infinity and make absolute arguments, yet you take my argument, extrapolate it to infinity and present that exaggeration as evidence to its fault. If you argue for moderation, then please be consistent with it and argue case-by-case. How, in your eyes, is the Shard Cannon not appropriate for Robotics Pulse Rifle?
For that matter, how are most of the Beam Rifle inappropriate?
Ah, but we're arguing Arachnos, of course. Well, their weapons, too, are usually designed to be strange, inexplicable and over-designed, almost like what guns would look if they came out of a Fantasy MMO that had in it. It makes sense for their weapons to be weird sci-fi guns, too.
Larger social commentary on the dynamics of the forums as a whole aside, do you disagree with any of the arguments I made?
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 am a sucker for a well-reasoned argument though.
No promises. We'll look at it, the schedule is a harsh mistress. Assault Rifle, Pulse Rifle, and Arachnos, we'll see. At the very least your concern has been heard. |
![Wink](images/smilies/wink.gif)
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
Now, I obviously don't quite know your design specifications behind each set, but here's how I see them for Arachnos rifles and Robotics rifles:
Arachnos rifles: Fantasy-inspired, overly-designed weapons, purportedly owing their design to the high-tech, strange science behind their construction, as well as owing to Arachnos' love for the Fantasy villain look. Any weapon which can appear to fire small kinetic projectiles in rapid succession would fit the bill. I suppose you could argue that the weapons would need to have a small barrel, thus why the Devastator cannon wouldn't work, but at the same time, I believe that it's easy enough to infer that one is hidden inside the darkness of the much larger barrel. Or that the larger barrel perhaps houses multiple small barrels on a rotating rack similar to a gatling gun.
Robotics rifles: "Indescribable" science contraptions that don't always resemble an actual rifle, owing their design to the unorthodox technology which spawned them and to the futuristic design of Robotics in general. Any weapon which appears able to fire a basic thin pulse laser beam should be applicable. Again, you could argue that having a larger barrel could be problematic for the smaller beam thickness (though not for the Photon Grenade), but I believe the Death Star is a prime example of how a big hole can produce a small beam. It is fairly safe to assert that the formation of the laser blast takes open-air space without you needing to show it via power effects.
To conclude, I believe that your players are significantly more forgiving of minor misalignments and irregularities than most people give us credit for. Sure, we'll raise all hell when we feel that a good job wasn't done, but considering we've been asking for greater control over our characters, even if that produces unappealing combinations, I believe we'll be able to handle a few possibly unseemly combinations once we understand that we're getting something you originally held back because of exactly the problems in question.
That is my argument.
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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(In fact, none of the Beam Rifles are)