a lot of what your suggesting is basically already implemented in ouroboros
flashbacks allow you to run content basically in the order its supposed to be(ie low to high lvl)
and ouroboros tfs like mender lazarus and mender silos tfs are referencing parts of the past which have happened (i think mender lazarus tf shows the fall of the 5th column for example which takes place way before the games timeline actually starts when you are a fresh created character)
now would more ouroboros tfs like the one i mentioned above showing other events of the past? sure why not always fun for a play through here or there
Low-to-high isn't chronological order. The destruction of Galaxy City happens a damn long time after Wu Yin is kidnapped in Faultline. Shining Stars takes place after the events of level 1-20 in Praetoria. The Portal Corp arcs happen before Praetoria, too - and the catch is, a new player misses out on the opportunity to experience it as a proper story. It's THERE, you can visit it through Ouroboros, but how the hell are you supposed to know what order stuff happens in? The levels are no use! They USED to be, but now it's out of order and a confusing MESS. The time travel is /irrelevant/ - I just want to be able to play through the game in the right order, and Ouroboros already has a system which could be modified to fit it. But it isn't there yet.
I don't want new content - I want the old content organized. I want to play through the game as a story, not a disconnected series of events.
I think I see where you're going with this. Not a bad idea really for the older content, UI may even just require a tab in the Oro UI that switches to "Lore" mode. Only downside, is I think alot of the arcs happen "at the same time" depending on level.
Maybe have themes to what parts of history you want to see in Paragon, perhaps bases on origin? Say magic theme starts with the early Hellion and progresses through Circle, and BP arcs? Science deals with events delaing with Vahz.
Interesting, but seems like it would be hard to implement vs how many people would use it. I would use it though.
@Sylver Bayne
Pinnacle Server
Something like that would seem pretty perfect, yeah! Maybe if you wanted to view all storylines pertaining to Penny Yin, or Praetoria. I don't /think/ it'd be that hard to work in, relatively speaking (though the logistics of adding a second order to Ouroboros would probably be the most difficult part?), but being able to play through the Rikti storyline /in order/ would make up for that, I think.
There are two big problems with the story of CoH right now. The first is that it's a disordered chronological mess - most new players will experience Drowning in Blood before meeting Penny Yin in Faultline or seeing her interact with the Clockwork King. The second is how much of it is unavailable when solo - a rather large problem when people have no interest in doing the older content.
To fix these problems, and allow people to experience the full CoH story and immersion, I propose a 'story mode'.
It's not a huge change, hopefully - basically just an arrangement of missions via Ouroboros to avoid spoilers and actually travel through the timeline of CoH in the right order. As for the Task Forces and Strike Forces, the ideal solution would be a reduced difficulty version - or, rather, one which scales to the player's difficulty, rather than balancing for a group. These wouldn't have anywhere near the rewards, but would simply allow for the story to continue for those who would otherwise need to spend a week finding group members.
With the world of CoH changing so much lately, older content is being altered to fit - which is actually a bit disappointing for some people who would like the opportunity to experience how it was. If things were actually retconned, like Tyrant and Dominatrix, then it doesn't need to be included. But something like Anti-Matter and Neutron's original rivalry? I want to see that happen. I want to see the rescuing of the two sisters from the Rikti Homeworld, find out what the deal with the Lost is, save the city from Vahzilokh. Not just come in and find that it's all been done.
City of Heroes has some of the best writing I've seen in any game I've played. Please, don't let it go to waste.