Quote:
I'm not the best person to elaborate on this, as most of my conversations were on the edges. I do know that there was strong desire amongst the dev team as a whole to create a wide range of abilities that would enhance and balance every AT in different ways. I found that technical limitations were a greater challenge than anything.
|
Originally Posted by Starsman
We talking "we never had enough time" disclaimer, or "we stuck to the design" disclaimer? I have been given both over time for different things various devs wished they were able to have done differently.
|
-Hosun "Black Pebble" Lee
Help me beat Dr. Aeon! Follow me on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/hosunl
Quote:
True story. "Black Pebble" is an Asian, playing an Asian, disguised as another Asian.|
Originally Posted by Black Pebble
True story. "Fire Man" got his name because he's the size of every Megaman/Rockman bad guy - 2 feet tall.
Oh and FPARN. |
FPABP.
Quote:
Jinkies!|
Originally Posted by Fire Man
True story. "Black Pebble" is an Asian, playing an Asian, disguised as another Asian.
FPABP. |
*rips off mask*
[edit: Oh. Well then, possibly my FPARN. But will it be the last.... DUN DUN DUN!]
Guides: Dark Armor and IOs | SS/DA | Crabbing | Fortunata
Quote:
I am not as familiar with Sean as I am with some other devs, but from what I do know and from what I've seen since the shutdown, Sean seemed not just interested in developing content, but also pushing the technical envelope of the content creation tools and the content engines themselves, which is consistent with his original interest in the Architect. I hope he gets a chance to bring that philosophy to STO, because while there are things I like about STO and things I don't like about STO, my biggest verdict about that game is that it has enormous untapped potential. An infusion of talent that wants to expand the limits of the game can only be a good thing for STO.
|
Originally Posted by JohnRobey
Congratulations to the Dev Team who've found new employment in the MMO industry. Star Trek Online (per their forum) players look delighted to have a content dev join their MMO. And if Sean "Dr Aeon" McCann is there, I'm even more tempted to check out STO after 11/30. Thank you again, Dev Team, for CoH! Thank you also to the many players who made teaming up a joy!
|
[Guide to Defense] [Scrapper Secondaries Comparison] [Archetype Popularity Analysis]
In one little corner of the universe, there's nothing more irritating than a misfile...
(Please support the best webcomic about a cosmic universal realignment by impaired angelic interference resulting in identity crisis angst. Or I release the pigmy water thieves.)
Quote:
Ironically, the Asian he's playing is disguised as Hosun Lee, and in my opinion he's not that good at it.
|
Originally Posted by Fire Man
True story. "Black Pebble" is an Asian, playing an Asian, disguised as another Asian.
FPABP. |
[Guide to Defense] [Scrapper Secondaries Comparison] [Archetype Popularity Analysis]
In one little corner of the universe, there's nothing more irritating than a misfile...
(Please support the best webcomic about a cosmic universal realignment by impaired angelic interference resulting in identity crisis angst. Or I release the pigmy water thieves.)
Quote:
No.
|
Originally Posted by Xzero45
Holy ****. I'm just gonna say this. You are ******* close minded.
|
My new Youtube Channel with CoH info
You might know me as FlintEastwood now on Freedom
Quote:
I suppose there's not TOO much point in rehashing this. |
Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba
I always said that any solo path *should* be slower. It's slower to solo everything else in this game.
The problem for me was the insane disparity between: A: The difference in real time between soloing content to 50 and running with teams to 50 versus B: The difference in real time between soloing DA for incarnate shinies and running itrials. All I ever wanted was for B to be far closer to A. Why rehash this now? I hope some of the devs are still reading these forums and I hope that they don't make the same mistake in future games they work on because I like, for the most part, what they did here and would be more than willing to check out their new projects. |
I do have an observation based on how fast the Devs were introducing new content though.
If they and the game had been allowed to continue - I could easily imagine that Dark Astoria would NOT have been the only place where you could run the solo Incarnate stuff.
I haven't asked (because really - I just thought of this) but I bet if you asked around with the former Devs, there were ideas and plans to introduce the solo incarnate pathing either to a new Zone (Kallisti Wharf perhaps?) Or to do more zone revamps to add incarnate solo paths.
So a couple of further issues down - especially as the next incarnate stuff was introduced with the Battallion - I imagine that there would be multiple zones with Incarnate solo paths.
Like - say - the Shadow Shard? We've all known for years that that set of zones was tragically underused. It would've been simple to leave the zone mostly as it was and yet add new contacts and instanced missions for incarnate solo path content.
That's my initial thoughts. Mainly that I seriously doubt that your concerns with DA being the only place for Solo Incarnate Path would have gone un-answered.
Of course, now we'll never have that. And we'll never know what that would've been like. *sigh*
True, we'll never really know. What we do know is that on beta right now there are two solo arcs to get hybrid XP in the praetorian zones. They added those but left the one component per day lock in place. I think one of these is live right now but doesn't give hybrid xp.
While it is true that the devs surprised us all over the last few years in various ways, the last year (2 years?) showed nothing but the same story: force/guide/coerce players into incarnate trials by keeping the solo path glacially slow.
Be well, people of CoH.
There was already an Incarnate XP arc outside of DA in Issue 23, in Night Ward. (Belladonna's arc that sets up where Shadowhunter and Nega Pendragon come from, story-wise leading into the Magi trial)
Another arc was going to be added in I24, in the Rikti War Zone. You can play it on Beta.
I24 was also going to let you get Hybrid XP from all Incarnate content as long as you had Lore unlocked (pretty much removing the line between iXP and AiXP), but since that was actually a last-minute change added to the update at the behest of players, I don't know whether they finished adding it to all the Incarnate content before development was shut down.
So, while DA is still the only place you can street-sweep for Incarnate experience, DA is not the only place for solo Incanate arcs even now. I like to think that if the game hadn't been canceled so abruptly, the solo Incarnate path would have gotten even less restrictive.
Oh, and more on topic I want to say congrats to the devs on the new jobs and I hope that you all end up doing something that you really enjoy. The fact that I have problems with the implementation of the incarnate system doesn't take away from the fact that I got into this game more than anything else since my teens. I'm going to miss it greatly and you all did excellent work here.
Quote:
That all makes a great deal of sense... but I guess my point was simply that folks did the most ridiculous things you can imagine with just IOs... well before iPowers. *Shrug* I do see your point.|
Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba
37, the only thing you lose from incarnate powers while solo is two level shifts. Do you honestly think that the (we'll go with my main's case) +recharge from spiritual, +heal/+regen from rebirth, massive pyronic aoe, extra damage from assault and lore pets have no use while running around at +4/x8? Or with soloing AVs?
Just adding clarion alone to a squishy is a game changer for many builds. Trials have nothing to do with it. The incarnate powers are part of character progression. Builds can be drastically altered with the inclusion of the incarnate powers. Nothing demands even the use of SOs in this game. Everyone can drop their diff to -1/x1 with no bosses or AVs. Incarnate powers are no different than base enhancements or a new level or inventions. Blocking access to those abilities for no reason other than "well, we think only raiders should be allowed the l33t gear!!!" was a moronic decision for this game. This game was never WoW and the devs shouldn't have tried to act like it was. |
And yes, I do agree that it was a really odd decision to bar those powers in the way that they did, but from my POV, once I had run trials, I really grew to like them. As such, my opposition to the idea faded from some of my earliest posts on the subject.
... wow, this topic got derailed pretty quickly. How did we get from tracking the new jobs about he devs to having another argument about Incarnate solo paths?
(Again, I feel that, had the game gone on longer, we could have talked Positron around to at least removing the 20-hour gate on the arc rewards). 
Quote:
Yeah, some things with design approaches and implementation get a little set-in-stone by the creators (it happens in every single case of game design... they're shaping what they want to see, after all). Most places never even look back or change these stances, but Paragon Studios was so much more open to being more balanced and accommodating for a wider appeal.|
Originally Posted by Thunder Knight
(Again, I feel that, had the game gone on longer, we could have talked Positron around to at least removing the 20-hour gate on the arc rewards)
|
I do believe, over time, it would have been better for soloing and small teams. Sometimes it just takes a little more time for the designers to let go and adjust (and/or change their opinions). With Paragon Studios and these great people, we were spoiled with them being open to such changes against what they really believed was right... but they likely would do it eventually.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Thunder Knight
... wow, this topic got derailed pretty quickly. How did we get from tracking the new jobs about he devs to having another argument about Incarnate solo paths?
|
@Zethustra
"Now at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew come out
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
Sigh..one thing I never understood was this....Teaming got better rewards to encourage people to team....This means to me that, if given a choice between *teaming* and *not teaming*, the most people would choose *not teaming*, otherwise, there would be no need to, err, "give players a cookie" for teaming..am I making sense?
That said, if a game wanted to get a large number of players, based on what I said above, it would be very smart to do away with the way better rewards for teaming, and toss forced teaming out the window.
I really really like Guildwar2 method of handling the Teaming Vs Solo quandry.
This morning I was running my Guardian through some Hearts (events) and I noticed an elementalist was fighting beside me in a lot of the Hearts I did...we were not on a "Team" but were helping each other, and each of us was getting our own rewards.
I like that.
Lisa.
So don't wait for heroes, do it yourself
You've got the power
winners are losers
who got up and gave it just one more try
***Dennis DeYoung
Quote:
This is true, and it has been handled far better than in Champions. I haven't played it in years but I recall nearly no one teamed until they ran into a mission that required it and then they would all immediately leave. On the other hand, there isn't much social interaction in the scenario you are talking about either.
|
Originally Posted by McCharraigin
Sigh..one thing I never understood was this....Teaming got better rewards to encourage people to team....This means to me that, if given a choice between *teaming* and *not teaming*, the most people would choose *not teaming*, otherwise, there would be no need to, err, "give players a cookie" for teaming..am I making sense?
That said, if a game wanted to get a large number of players, based on what I said above, it would be very smart to do away with the way better rewards for teaming, and toss forced teaming out the window. I really really like Guildwar2 method of handling the Teaming Vs Solo quandry. This morning I was running my Guardian through some Hearts (events) and I noticed an elementalist was fighting beside me in a lot of the Hearts I did...we were not on a "Team" but were helping each other, and each of us was getting our own rewards. I like that. Lisa. |
My new Youtube Channel with CoH info
You might know me as FlintEastwood now on Freedom
Let's get the conversation back on topic please.
Jessie Lawrence
Assistant Community Manager
Paragon Studios
'Like' us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Circle us on Google+
Watch us Live on Twitch.TV every Wednesday!
Quote:
Yeah. I hate it when people force morals on others who may not share the same morals. Like not killing animals for food or clothing? What's up with that? Yet it's still being forced on us!|
Originally Posted by I Burnt The Toast
As a gay man please do not use something that is a real world issue to compare to a frickin MMO..it belittles the true struggles that the LGBT go through every day... My life is not a game..nor are my rights - they are REAL hurdles I face every day because of closed minded people who think hate and denial of human rights is ok....
Seriously.. CoH is a game...that's it. "Forcing" someone to team in a game is NOTHING like forcing one's morals on someone's actual life. If you fail to see the difference by comparing them...I feel bad for you. And contrary to your opinion Freedom (at least) ran multiple itrials every day not just Mag farms. EVERY toon of mine that was 50 had EVERY MOITrial badge (Yes even UG). |
Basically, saying one shouldn't force morals on people because it's a game and then try to force your own morals, ruins your arguement
BrandX Future Staff Fighter
The BrandX Collection
Quote:
So you get upset when a company fires them. Then wish they lose their job again? o.O
|
Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
Zwill! How could you?!
Unless you plan to destroy them from the inside out. In which case, get on with it, Hero! It's up to you to cleanse this filth from the gaming world! No, no I am not kidding. EA deserves to crash and burn almost more than NCSoft do... |
BrandX Future Staff Fighter
The BrandX Collection
Devs moving on, I wish them all the best.
That said, who is going to be around to initiate all the send off events? lol considering how quiet things have been since the announcement I expect little to nothing. Dying a slow, quiet death,.... so much for going out with a bang.
I have faith that Peter Moore will eventually turn EA around.
My new Youtube Channel with CoH info
You might know me as FlintEastwood now on Freedom
Updated OP for Black Pebble.
My new Youtube Channel with CoH info
You might know me as FlintEastwood now on Freedom
Quote:
Their LinkedIn profiles show only the change in status (well, WarWitch hasn't updated hers yet). But no movement on the employment front.
|
Originally Posted by shadow35
I keep sporadically checking Hosun Lee's, Melissa Bianco's and Matt Miller's twitters, but nothing yet.
|
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
Congrats to Nate "Second Measure" Birkholz.
Senior Producer on an unannounced project at Z2Live.
If the game spit out 20 dollar bills people would complain that they weren't sequentially numbered. If they were sequentially numbered people would complain that they weren't random enough.
Black Pebble is my new hero.
Quote:
Updated OP.
|
Originally Posted by Texas Justice
Congrats to Nate "Second Measure" Birkholz.
Senior Producer on an unannounced project at Z2Live. |
My new Youtube Channel with CoH info
You might know me as FlintEastwood now on Freedom
Most MMOs' endgame consists of grinding one dungeon over and over hoping for a 0.00001% drop so that you can increase your stats by a tiny amount.
Was the Incarnate system perfect? No, of course not. As said, the solo path could and should have been a lot faster (but who knows - if the game had gone on longer, maybe we could have talked the devs into it), and having a limited selection of trials made it a bit grindy itself (but with an ever-growing number of iTrials, that was becoming less of an issue).
But it was better than 99% of what's out there.
With the team broken up and moving on to different places, all of which are desperately aping WoW (in play mechanics, if not necessarily in setting), I don't know if we'll ever see a game like this one again. And that makes me very sad.
Before all of this, I was really looking forward to WildStar. Now, I honestly wonder if the inevitable axe will fall before or after it launches.
(Oh, but they've been developing lots of ways to make us sink more money and/or dilithium...)
My characters at Virtueverse
Faces of the City