FDR's Think Tank

Maybe I am missing something here, but since mobs can use inspirations, can't they boost their own accuracy in order to hit that which they are normally too clumsy to hit? Why would there be a separate system to give the result of a to-hit buff outside of existing powers, inspirations, and enhancements? Oh, right... Streak-Killer. But does it work in reverse too? Do attacks that consistently hit build on a counter towards a guaranteed miss? What am I missing here? This seems very curious... It's strange the mechanics people use to sidestep a robust pain wheel.

It was much easier to find a team back then. Since I have come back, most people on are Level 50 and doing incarnate. However, more people were willing to get into the early game content back then. By now, there is a hearty class of people who totally despise early game content. They are totally focused on leveling up and the game doesn't reward grinding the old way. Of course it feels different. It's the difference of farming with a hand tool or farming with a tractor. Farmers gonna farm.

They can impeach you, but all it does is send you to the country with millions of peaches. You'd still be the Mayor of them.

A lot of people don't seem to factor range or projectile speed as a factor in balancing powers, unfortunately. They can crunch the heck out of draw time, out of to hit, damage, defense, and resistance... but positional and timing of hits are so much more nebulous and hard to calculate. The Tankermind Build is kinda specialization of Masterminds though. As they were designed, they were primarily support classes with lots of pets to support, allowing them to solo better. Maybe if there was some way for poison powers from a Secondary Set to stack on mastermind's Primary ranged strikes, you could balance the set better. Unfortunately, that would be exactly the opposite of what I am hearing you ask for, as far as getting up close and personal. To me, it just makes sense that, for instance, a Ninja Mastermind with Poison would probably poison his arrows. However, that's going off concept, rather than function. I have heard a lot of people complain about how weak poison is. What strikes me deeply about this is that Masterminds complain far less about Trick Arrow. Perhaps it's much better balanced for Masterminds than it is for Defenders, although it's more likely only some Ninja Masterminds actually use the set. Defenders all know Trick Arrows is definitely weak. I am starting to think the real reason it doesn't get fixed is because of how limiting the archery animations are for concept. If they added alternate dart/boomerang/ninja star/crossbow/prank gun animations and titled the set "Trick Shot" the entire community would probably demand the set be repaired. Once that happened, we would get a better idea of exactly how badly poison needs love too.

It's also a source of endless inspiration for new power sets. Fixing it requires them to essentially explore every possible solution to the issue before ultimately settling on the LAST solution to be tackled/fleshed out well enough to address the concern. It's a painful topic because there is what was intended with the mechanic and what the company allowed to become expected... Without a pain wheel, there is no way to satisfy anyone. It's very hard to balance a game with only two choices. You either do a build that was probably not supposed to be allowed, but became accepted... or you try to make something competitive that doesn't rely on well established cheese. Some people resent how aspects of the game were nerfed, possibly inappropriately, in response to the flawed mechanic... where other people, in invested years into this style of build see no reason to have it taken away now... preferring to find a different solution to balance what they basically want to KEEP. If PvP was more viable in this game the pain wheel would solve all the bickering outside of the forum and on the battlefield. Since this is more of a cooperative game, people are more prone to argue about the rules and whether or not they are being implemented correctly. For a Pain Wheel, I would almost consider building in weaknesses to Pool Powers for specific Archetypes. That might be an alternative angle to increase meta viabilities. However, this would only really affect PvP and wouldn't change the rest of the game. Of course, I can't get enough of the Irony of all the Rage arguments, still blazing hot all these years later. It really shows how much City of Heroes meant to so many... Why haven't they made "Rage" inspirations? They could be Superdine themed, even.

This is pretty basic as a request, but I don't know how complicated it is for coding/implementation. However, it would be tremendously helpful for people "LFG" Simply put, Color our text based on alignment in LFG. Heroes stay Blue, Villains get Red. If necessary or simple, Make Vigilantes green and Rogues purple. As far as I know, Goldside LFG is already Yellow and a separate chat log. Then, when someone says starts forming a group, it's easier for players to understand if they can apply. For the most part, this doesn't affect Heroes, since Blueside is already very popular. This just makes it easier for Villains to recruit. ~On a Separate but related note, if someone is in LFG Chatting and not part of a group already, it might be helpful for their status as "Not LFG" be automatically changed to ANY... if they want to get specific, they can go in and change it to the task they want. If they are already looking for something, it wouldn't change their status.

I am definitely for making more sets capable of precision targeting.... but I don't need the actual intent of the set powers to change or be given a secret bonus for targeting myself. I just want to use my trick arrows like a huge variety of Disco Lights/FX for clubbing. Since there is no way to switch between targeting modes right now... they could either add one... or just give Trick Arrow the ability to zone-target all multitarget arrows, rather than mob-centered targeting. And poison too, sure, without giving it self-heals that didn't exist before. If you need another self heal, Medicine Power Pool is good and it can improve all heals as well. Of course, if the self-heal is built in and it's a matter of positioning and tactics, I am not sure how to balance that. Short of heals being more potent near foes or out of combat, I suppose you just shrug it off. It's not gonna hurt the gameplay tremendously if they could run up to their target and get splash healed anyway, since the existing Heals aren't especially broken in the current format. If players are trading out damage and debuffs for pure self healing, it's not overthrowing game balance.

Would Marcus Cole Boulevard always be in a bad neighborhood?

This is really off-tangent, but since this was talking about an energy crisis and tankers, I thought it would be really neat to suggest an Oil-based defense set for Tankers. You know, like Oil Wrestling... your character is really slippery. They would probably be weak to fire though. Thematically, I can really get behind all the resulting puns from this.

Considering that most people don't even use the I.D. description, I don't see a huge reason to have it be so limited. While Brevity is simple to read, I would prefer to leave that to each player to decide, especially since opening up the character count could see the I.D. Description used in a variety of alternative ways. The main thing I would like to add to all this is simple: I want different I.D. descriptions with each costume... or barring that, an additional description space paired with each costume. This way, I can explain what each costume is or provide salient details to go with the look. If I am in my Civies, I might want to have a description of my characters alter-ego. If I am in my Artic Warfare outfit, I want to give a better description of the outfit than some dollar sign seeing executive who wants to make an action figure. Brevity can be the soul of wit more often if we have more spots to exercise it.

It would be neat to see a ranged damage/assault damage power set. It might not be totally a toon set in my mind, leaning more towards prank attacks that could go for a wider range of concepts. You could have the Bang Prank Pistol, an acid spitting flower, A hammer with a scissor-spring punch, classic cartoon fused bombs, and maybe a fake parachute that randomly drops a tire, anvil, or piano on an enemies head... But that's more of a Primary/Secondary set than a Power Pool. On the other side of toon possibilities, it would be neat to see a stretchy melee set and an inflatable defense set. An insanity mechanic would probably be timed power based, as fallout for some self rez or something very powerful. I don't think you will see a "power bar" mechanic outside an explicit archetype design. Along those lines you could always try doing something like "Dr. Aeon's Saturday Morning Platoon" about animated Holograms who have escaped and have their own sentience. Of course, many people call their characters in this game toons already. So terminology wise, this could get really confusing. Since they are already working on "Premium Power Pools" this would also be a good suggestion line to work with. The model for these is generally 5 powers, with the 3 power being a Travel power that is slower than the pure travel power pool powers, but has a built in hidden power you can use while the toggle is active. There is a lot of flexibility there to build a set anyone can take (provided they didn't take another Premium Power Pool Set already...) Maybe a Toon Premium Power Pool could look like this: Toon Brawl- A melee attack with considerable range. Hit your target from a distance, but apply melee defense values. Toon Dodge- Activate this to have your character move in a goofy and unpredictable manner. Defense vs. Ranged + Toon Dash- A Superspeed type power with a toon animation for movement. Something that looks like those spinning legs you'd see on Sonic the Hedgehog. Toon Teleport- Teleports you behind to targeted foe and deals a melee strike. Can only use while Toon Dash is active. Toon Taunt- Let out a cloud of obscenities so foul they can only be expressed with symbols. Chance to cause Confusion in Target. Toon Rez- You can't keep a good toon down. Self Rez with debt protection, full health, and stamina... but suffer from lowered resistance to confuse and fear for a short time.

If you are gonna do it Pacific Rim Style, then Villains could make someone a GM and Heroes could work to assemble a GM-battling Robot. It would still be interesting to see the initiation of the whole thing rest on the Villains side... forcing players to either join redside or rely on others to be bad guys. However, short of that brutal style, you can have the assembly of a hero Robot initiate a countdown, at the end of which, if no villain has transformed a GM to battle, the system automatically provides one.

It seems really unethical for Heroes to knowingly turn themselves into a giant monster.... although I suppose it's just them being gullible? It would be really neat if somehow Villains could do it to themselves, other Villains, or TO Heroes.... as opposed to a Hero just walking into it, he is literally tricked by Villainous Player character. Of course, then the fight against the monster would give a Badge to all who fight the monster and cure the hero.... but if they fail, the "Rube hero/villain" AND the original scheming villain get a special badge.

If you make the Defensive Powers Primary and the Ranged Damage as Secondary, I could see this class being more like a heavy gunner type... which fits with Warsuit. Other alternatives for set mechanics could revolve around heavy weapons type mechanics. This might help set it apart from the existing Sentinel set, which already has an "Offensive"/"Defensive" opportunity mechanic and it still has people asking for Archetype buffs. Here are some ideas for "Heavy weapon" mechanics.... Deploy- Character gets a significant bonus by sacrificing mobility. 1. The mobility can either force the character into take a speed debuff.... or fully lock the character down when deployed. This could be made to vary between individual power sets to help create playstyle variety. 2. The Bonus gained would be To-Hit/Range by default, but could also alter the attacks instead, giving a character large cones or mortar aim AoE, or even change the attacks to melee style PBAoE. 3. For especially big guns, your character could even have the gun/power strapped to his back, unable to use it until he deploys. This would be a very extreme application of the concept and need to only apply to higher tier powers. For his early attacks, his pop-up guns would need to still fire outside of deployed mode. ~This can be used to express a variety of mode alterations which really aligns with the idea of a "Warsuit", whether it's Magic, Technology, Evolution, or whatever. It might mean some sets would lose range in deploy mode and become dedicated "Self-Nukers". For Example: Ironman is usually ranged with armor, but if he gets into a critical close combat situation, he has lots of energy blast self nukes, for instance. Meanwhile Warmachine has chainguns, missle launchers, and even mortars that he can deploy at a reduced movement speed for additional range/accuracy. They are both classic Warsuits, but have vastly different ranged weapon systems. Spin-Up- Character is able to shorten animation times between attacks but risks overheating. 1. The first way to express this is to give the character a built in or alternate aim power that activates a modified effect. While active, the animations for attack would be reduced/chained together to eliminate drawtimes an let the character unload a barrage of ranged damage. However, the character would experience a "crash" afterwards with increased cooldown times on all ranged attacks. (This encourages them to take some melee perhaps, or back off the main front of battle.) 2. The Second method to express this is for them to have a charge up bar like brutes. They would charge up faster than brutes, but being hit by enemy fire would remove charge, rather than add it. When fully charged, they could activate a power that would reduce cooldowns and keep all weapons deployed for rapid fire/no draw animation for a set period. ~With the pop-out weapons you are suggesting it would look really hardcore to be in "Spin-Up" mode, like when the Mask pulls out a bunch of heavy weapons all at once. Characters could move around freely, but all pop-up weapons would be locked in activation for the duration. Another aspect to consider with Warsuits is that since they are armored classes, whether you make it primary or secondary, they don't need the long range as much. However, you can toy with Deploy or Spin-Up giving them longer range when they are in mode.... with decreased armor. Meanwhile, while out of mode, they can tank... but where is the TAUNT? Consider giving them a defensive ability, even. Overwatch- Character automatically defends his teammates. When they are attacked, he has autofire cannons that retaliate and draw aggro from the offender. 1. The first way this power could operate would be as an early teammate target toggle. This would provide a very FOCUSED defense of critical team members. You could defend the team healer, defend a blaster, defend a Controller, or play petty mindgames with the team tank by trying to steal all his aggroed mobs. This may have an ammo count before being exhausted or have a limit to how often it procs... but it's definitely an Defensive style autocannon. 2. The second version of this would be a Defensive Toggle that creates an AoE around the Warsuit where Mobs are damaged when they attack an ally. Like the first method, this doesn't defend the Warsuit at all. It purely defends teammates. However, it lets you play zone defense for multiple teammates, as opposed to option one. Covering Fire- Character launches a hail of bullets to provide cover for allies and draw aggro. 1. This can be a Cone taunt. If in a defensive set it would have weak damage with some debuff on affected mobs. If part of the attack set, it would likely do more damage and require a longer cool down. Any of these ideas could be used... separately or in combination even. But it might help outline a really strong case for a tankish character with ranged attacks. I think a ranged scrapper is a hard sell, since we already have Sentinel and it's fairly controversial right now. I hope this also doesn't collide with the Guardian AT which I didn't realize already has a drone/pod mechanic.

I am curious... Does DPA translate to Damage Per Action? If you are saying overall DPS is low, but the Damage Per Action is high, you could give the Battle Axe a benefit for dealing finishing blows. Maybe a fear proc, which would tie into the beserk nature of the combat style? Every set doesn't need to be a speed farmer set. You can build in other benefits and give melee more situations they can create/handle.

As Destroyovich once told Captain Liberty- "You aren't NEEDY... You are WANTY."

I will never voluntarily skip a cut scene. The minor annoyance is worth how much the cut scenes add to the mood. Otherwise the game is just a grind.

I think backstory should be a factor, but not the sole determining factor. Most people don't even write anything in their character bio. Think about that. Everyone has Google. You could do a quick search for Benjamin Desraeli quotes and just pick one if you didn't feel strongly enough about anything else. You can't go wrong there. But if you don't even log into your account after, I don't think you are long for keeping a name. If you lose the name, you can move to another server and take it when you return. If you didn't level up, you probably aren't even in an SG that needs your character yet.

There IS lore. People have built countless characters around the self nuke. You want to change the mechanic to punish people who use it as it was originally intended... And you draw a false conclusion that range doesn't have a cost factor or bearing on the set as a whole. Did you know there were equally popular threads that asked for all T9 powers to be self nukes? The Devs explained that the electric and ice sets had a range because after hours of playtesting, they realized the best way to take advantage of their elemental advantages required distance between the player and foes. This topic is 15 years old and you brought not a single new argument to the table. You stubbornly refuse to admit your concerns have less intrusive and more positive and productive solutions. You even admitted that you felt you would be better off making a water blaster than playing the sets with self nukes. I didn't make you say that, I didn't even suggest it because I don't agree... But that's how you FEEL. You are arguing with YOURSELF now. How can anyone have a rational discussion with you? What is wrong with a new fire set or rad set that uses new animations and adds creative options to the game... While addressing the _core mechanics_ issue you are bringing up? You haven't even tried to explain what the issue is and you falsely stated it would take more work. Work done going BACKWARDS and erasing established mechanics without improving game balance is redundant and effectively wasted. Work done making something new is far more valuable, because it advances everyone without punishing anyone invested in the original system. There are limited programmers, reverse engineers, and devs. You have proven the counterpoints against you more than you have advocated for a worthy investment of currently limited programming resources. That being said... You should check out Thunderspy Gaming/CoX. While they have gotten into some frankly petty conflicts with the Devs of this game, they have, as I understand it, fundamentally rebalanced all the old sets. I haven't heard if it's good, but it very well could include the very things you are talking about. We now live in a world with multiple City of Heroes versions. Their version has wind power proliferation and some other things. Homecoming is focused on keeping the existing classic, only making necessary balance changes and adding _new_ features. Not core set function changes, unless it's brokenly OP. You haven't described anything broken. Just mildly inconvenience from what might actually be a character concept, but you haven't actually told us...

If you are stuck between wanting support and defense buffs, you could make it so the set has drones/pods/sprites that it summons for it's secondary that follow the war machine and give a defense buff to him and his allies. It would be a simple pet summon class, but the pets would all be without attacks. This sets it apart from Sentinel without making it too much like Dominator or Controller, who have the attack/support role as well. You could have an inherent that boosts your primary powers the more support pods you have in range... A triangulation targeting or powered up effect.

I am glad to see you ultimately agree with me. New sets are a better solution than fundamentally changing what has been established simply because you value range but refuse to admit that it plays a factor in how sets are balanced or designed to function. You forget, the sets, as they exist, are already playtested... And you want to throw it all out the window because T9 needs to be the same basic power? Again, you are free to muck around with the mechanics of the game as you want on your own server. And really, rather than coming hot and taking everything personally, that would be the ethical and principled action on your part. Prove it. The game needs more people experimenting with changes and ideas. I still believe anything useful you discover would be built into a new set, rather than make a sweeping change to decades established lore and structure... And I know you would thank everyone for doing it that way in the end. However, there is nothing wrong with being stubborn if it also means you are productive. I dare you to code your own server with the heretical changes you desire. Complete your evil training and join the dark side!

On one hand, thank goodness this game isn't overrun with Chinese Gold Farmers. On the other hand... Why can't this game be overrun with Chinese Gold Farmers!? Seriously though... The game just came back and is really rather stealth about it. Most people don't use Reddit and short of a random nostalgia search have no reason to suspect CoH is back in any way. The key to there being more stuff in auction is more people playing. It will be harder to get names then, but it will be easier to get recipes. So invite your friends, your family, your coworkers. Badger them about it. Threaten them. Ruin relationships with your demands for them to join. This Community is so positive, they will quickly forget and forgive you, once they join. With Thanksgiving coming up, it's a great way to derail discussions about Politics, which really don't matter. You just leave your Government to me... And I will rely on you to bring in oddles of more players! Everyone wins!

Stances wouldn't be like the combo system... But it might be incompatible with bio armor, or you might have to choose between bio armor modes and combat stances. At least, that's what it seems like to me. For Nunchucks/Duel Blunt Force I could see a -Bonus Taunt stance, that might have fire damage, since it's flashy and provocative. -Flexible wild combat which, similar to a blaster allows use of attacks even when held, dazed, or sleeping. This might be electric themed. -Dodging stance, which gives a bonus to defense/resistance vs projectiles... This is really good for flying melee. Wind themed. I don't know if that's too crazy or breaks too many archetype systems. You could add in downsides to the stances if the bonuses were too extreme. I feel like not picking a stance SHOULD be it's own stance, but swap ammo and bio armor don't currently do that.

Different combat stances might be more appropriate for nunchucks than elemental variables... Although perhaps an element could be involved in on or two of the stances. I really like the attack until endurance runs out. That sounds like loads of fun

A few questions: -where is the Mastermind pet upgrade ability? You need to be able to empower your pets, giving them the necessary paperwork would be a good start! -Is Habeas Corpus a summon for a Judge (or two?) Or is it a bizzare attack? -Where are the Jr. Partners? -maybe instead of a bounty Hunter, a super secretary/personal assistant, like Donna from Suits, is more in keeping? -Are you dead set on this being Lawyers, or can this be paired down to a more "Suit" themed Mastermind? They could be lawyers, businessman, or Family accounting assassin's... -what are the minions attacks? Do they have combat ties? Briefcase machine guns? Or do you really want them throwing legal papers at people? -How can we take this from an amusing ponderance into a likely addition?