New Content Instead of New SSAs?
By
Agent White,
Posted on: 2012-03-31 08:38 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Well I didn't really think about it much since I am VIP and get SSA's free anyway. I finished all hero side ones with my main once and villian side ones up to 5 (due to lack of a villian capable of soloing them quickly)
If I was actually buying these with paragon points however I would probably observe them more closely and abuse their rewards often for extra hero merit etc.
One thing I realise about them however is they are more like reading a comic book than rest of the game and for some reason I find it good. Not sure why but there was some cliches in the first SSA that I missed reading from old comic books. New series like ultimate marvel and such just doesn't give me that old comic book feel I had from black and white huge volumes. For some reason this first SSA did that for me and I felt nostalgic. Even if my chracter was like a spectator I forgot about it for awhile and just enjoyed the story that was unfolding in front of me.
Sure there was lots of mistakes on part of how story written but I only figure them out once that particular story ended. I was enjoying the story unfold while I was playing it so those points didn't bother me.
Although the SSAs are new content, my biggest issue with them is that they are TF structured that need ViPs or people who have bought them.
Personally, I'd rather they be more like regular repeatable arcs where I can invite whoever I want whenever I want. Give the rewards to mission holders only, that way whoever wants the reward has to go to contact and auto complete as we go.
On principle, the idea behind the SSAs isn't bad, because the PCs don't always have to be the main characters in a story. I actually welcome a departure from the me, myself and I mentality. Luke didn't bring down the Deathstar by himself, there were other pilots out there too, including Han, Biggs and Wedge. Its all a matter of perspective, that the camera chooses to zoom on the player even though he's not the star of the show. That said, there's a big different between playing a secondary role and being inexplicably relegated to spectator whenever the story demands auto-failure.
Regardless, the problem is taste and execution, apart from it being short, overpriced and stingy on rewards, there's nothing outright broken with the SSA model. The most recent non-SSA content released (Laura Lockhart's story arc) is plagued by the exact same problems that Melancton, Samuel_Tow, SlipRiptide and myself have ranted to exhaustion.
In short, IMO, the problem is the writing itself, the "hold still while the bad guys do their thing... ok, you can move now" crap. Whether that happens on an SSA or regular, PC-focused content is irrelevant.
<Qr>
Couple thoughts.
First, quality. The devs have said they're not going to do something like they did with this set of stories again - they pushed them out far too fast, affecting both the final product and their work schedule, and it shows. If they're going to *release* them this fast, then they need to be working on them at a far more appropriate pace ahead of time, letting QA really run things through the ringer so we don't get some of the mistakes in text and such that made these look - well, rushed. Someone coming to this later isn't going to have the sense of "They're pushing these out, when's the next one" - they're already in game, and will leave a poor impression. (IE, "THIS is what I'm paying extra for?")
Second, story - this is going to affect the game world as a whole. Looking back on it - it was a poor choice, perhaps, to have as an SSA (other than from a marketing perspective.) These should probably be more focused on "interesting side stories" so that you don't have to (potentially) pay to see the world-changing events. It's - well, sort of like the Kheldians. Everyone sees Moonfire, everyone sees the 1-50 arcs. The Khelds (currently with a price tag) have a whole *other* side storyline "in the shadows" - where, yes, you do save the world, but it's not via an event that everyone would be blind to miss.
I enjoyed the run through the arcs, even as the "rushed" feeling of them started to show later. I do somewhat wish they would have just stuck to "X level and up" instead of raising it, personally.
All that said, would I prefer SSAs vs standard content... I'd prefer both, with the time taken to polish them properly, *especially* when it's something you're going to ask someone to pay extra for.
well, as a subscriber, i liked them, they were value added, not a full issue of content, but new stuff in between major arcs focused on me that helped me fill out some of the blanks with the major npcs. One problm I felt coh had is that as much as it establishes the big heroes and villains, it shies away from using them enough, to avoid the feeling of overshadowing us, and winds up pretty much ignoring them. Outside of an infrequently run oroboros arc, an ending to a long and drawn out endgame story arc and as antagonists for villains on the stf, the phlanx has little direct involvement with you outside of being stationary tf givers. I was more affected by the plight of sigil and kadabra than the phalanx, because at least i teamed with them and got some feel for them
. As such, i think there is room for ssa's as done with the wwd arc. they allowed us to see some story that moved the lore along, gave u some insight into characters (psyche wanted a child? that's an actual humanizing detail that i previously didnt know about, that actually gets me closer to feeling for the character). and still let them give some previews of new stuff for future arcs, like the space battle. In a sense it was content not initially about us that moved lore and explored other characters motivations and plans, and how they moved the world. and in issue content, then it can be all about us being the primary actors.
as such, i liked it, and for value added for a subscriber, i hope they continue to put resources into such stuff.
I'm fine with both. Not everything should be about the PC. We're already Mary Sues that can do anything, get out of any jam, loved by all, we're 'the chosen one' etc. It can be nice when done right like Dark Astoria, but at the same time it doesn't always move the plot forward properly. Even with DA we had non-PC related stuff with the personal story arcs.
I'm 100% fine with them developing the Signature characters. I mean, they're the Signature Characters. As much as we're awesome, it's cool to be playing around, beside, and against characters we actually care about. They're just not interesting if they're just cardboard cutouts. I want to play in a Superhero -world-, so its nice to have plots going on around me that don't just star 'me me me'.