UltraAlt

I'm in the game a good bit. I'm not watching the /general channel so i don't know what goes on there. I don't know what server you are on. I don't go out of my way to look for negative feedback on farming. Sounds like a waste of time to me. Perhaps you lure this kind of content to yourself. Okay. That's obvious. Perhaps you don't understand that farming in the AE would not have happened if the DEVs on live had stood their ground before the sunset. IF they had, most likely, there wouldn't be farming on Homecoming. Obviously. You prove no point with that statement Makes no sense. The largest change is removing micro transactions and making all paid content free. The Devs added more to the game, but the main changes to farming in the AE have been to NERF IT. I think somehow you are confused. I disagree. If they wouldn't have been allowed before the Sunset, i serious doubt Homecoming DEVs would have been okay with changing the rules. Honestly, the hardest part of the DEVs dealing with Farming with AE was policing the AE. With so much content, all they could do was look for excessive XP/Influence gains during AE missions and robotically ban accounts based on that automated feedback. The Policing and dealing with complaints about banning must have been overwhelming. They needed to do a huge overhaul on AE so that it could not be abused, but that may have been to daunting of a task ... sort of like fixing PVP. THere is a difference between playing a game efficiently and cheating/exploiting. People like to ding. Take away dinging and people don't play. People that are attached to something are more likely to be involved in that thing. If you don't understand human nature, then I'm not going to go out of my way to find proof on some of the most obvious facts of life. Your not worth my time so maybe I should stop wasting my time now. Maybe you are confusing my use of "PVP" as "PVE". you seem to just be attacking me to defend yourself. I'm sorry you feel like you are experiencing PVP. The best PVP in City of Heroes is the Auction House. I don't think anyone can get "strong-armed" into anything in CoH. They just succumb to peer pressure. Yep. I think Doorsitting is wrong. I don't see how that statement is "strong arming" anyone. I think you are getting increasingly defensive and nitpicky so I think i'm over this waste of my time.

I honestly haven't heard anyone say that "we should nerf farming content". I don't think AE Farming should have been allowed to begin with (The DEVs stated that they would ban accounts that created farming missions prior to the release of AE and then caved after release of the AE because banning players became - I'm assuming - an issue. I think they said something like they were going to take a 40-ton ban hammer to anyone that created exploitive/farming content on the live servers. And promptly deleted that post after they caved.), but I have never said it needed to be nerfed. I will say that I thought it was bad enough in that people were doing it in actual game missions by not completing maps and resetting them. I do put farming missions into the barrel of the old herd all the warwolves into a dumpster thing (and that was something that was a farm and an obvious exploit/cheating). I never complained about either needing to be nerfed but I didn't join teams doing either. I have been known to say that I think PL'ing and farming are an issue and that they take away from player retention. I don't know of anyone that has said "We need to nerf/remove all PVP activities" from the City. I don't even know where that one is coming from. What I see is players thinking that the DEVs don't need to take additional time working on content that only benefits a small portion of the community ... unless of course, that is something that they want to work on personally. It's not a subject brought up to lure people into playing CoH. It is about player retention and continued involvement. We know what gets people to try a game. Positive advertizing or word or mouth. I am no expert, but targeting your advertizing audience is key. Who is going to want to play City of Heroes and do they have access to a computer powerful enough to play it (which isn't the issue it used to be)? I wonder who would want to run around dressed up as a superhero in a MMORPG? Maybe Cosplayers? One would think comic book and superhero movie fans. On the cheap? Fliers and those little tear off a phone number things with homecoming's website address on it. Hand out at conventions and post up on comic book shops and gaming stores. More time consuming? make videos praising what you think is great about CoH. More expensive? Rent a both at a convention, setup computer, and play the game. Invite people (cosplayer) to check out the character creator. Am I going to do any of this? No. Do I want or expect Homecoming to do any of this? No. If YOU want more players these are things for YOU to do. No one should be "strong-armed" into anything. People are here to game and have fun. If they don't want to farm, don't farm. if they don't want to PVP, then don't PVP. But I think that players that sit at a door and level up to 50 and know nothing about the end-game are not going to become long-term players. I don't think players coming to CoH expecting to find a vibrant and active PVP community are going to find one and they likely aren't going to like the mechanics they are looking for. City of Heroes was created to be a superhero MMORPG with superheros teaming-up to run missions fighting as a team against PVE foes with an incredible character customization system. If you get players that are looking for those things, then you will get players that will continue to enjoy playing CoH. Other retention items are an enjoyable player base, finding friends to consistently game with, and having people that are willing to help you figure out this incredibly complex game.

Zhu Bajie aka Pigsy from the "Journey to the West" For the comical aspect, you have to read the book.

Yep. Reunion is pretty quiet. I agree. I still log in over there sometimes, try to get something going, or join a team. If you yell out that you are doing something, you might be surprised how often people will respond. A large majority of players want to team (and not to team so that they can show-off) but they don't want to lead. At the same time, it's ironic how many players will try to take over a team (to make you pass the star to them or someone else on the team) once you have taken the time to recruit. If you are recruiting for a team, do what you want to do and the team follows you. They were too lazy to recruit, and you took the effort to form the team. You deserve credit for that ... and, after a while, you will see the number of people that try to get you to give up the star are very few and no big loss if they leave the team. Lot of us have enough alts that we like to switch up and play things at different levels, like to help, and/or just like teaming up.

I replied to @ZEdglord and not one of your posts. You are being defensive about soloing? City of Heroes is based on teaming up and people shouldn't be shy about doing it. Archetype synergy goes a long way. It is how the game was designed. You aren't "leaning on teammates". The only time you are "leaning on teammates" is when you are doorsitting or similar non-participatory game play. This is the mentality that Defenders are useless because their main power is to heal, buff, and debuff so that other people can keep doing damage, do more damage, stop the enemies from doing more damage, and make them more vulnerable to damage. To each their own type of challenge. If you are having problems soloing - like the poster of this thread - then teaming up IS a viable solution. You doesn't mean "you" personally. I'm never gaming to watch someone else show off their "build". I'm gaming to enjoy the playing the game. I'm not sure who you think your "audience" is that is paying attention to your "build". I guess you must be streaming or something. If you are streaming, then why would you need a team to show of your "build"?

Why does this idea sound so, so familiar.... 🙂

AE farming is one of the main reasons that I stopped subscribing to City of Heroes - almost exactly a year before it sunset. I tolerate famers here. I still think Farming is very harmful to a new players' longevity of gameplay. There is no reason to bring in new players and then burn them out with farming in order to to rush them into the end-game instead of actually letting them play the game content which is the first 50 levels which would give them time to love the game because they will have become invested in it. What you are doing is rushing them past all the learning and dumping them in the deep-end with the messed-up incarnate system that they can't power-level though. They have to GRIND. I can't really understand the players that like Grinding. I hate grinding. If you are pro-farming, that's your thing. I think farming is very detrimental to player retention.

Theme From Secret Agent (aka Danger Man in the US)

I'm being lazy and not reading through all the posts. Controller's special power is Containment. When you have Containment on a target, your other primary power do additional damage. I think all ranged characters that are soloing should pull and not rush in. You can also get teleport target so you can pull one at a distance (and at a time) until the mob is a more manageable size. walls have 100% resistance and defense, so you want to immobilize a bunch at once, try to be in a position so only a couple can target you once they are immobilized. fall back/run as necessary. Phantom Army is your damage. Oh, and why aren't you teaming up? Soloing is okay sometimes, but the glory and true power of this game is in teaming.

For most it's a DFB. Show the new guys what it's like to team up with others from the get go.

Honestly, if you are trying to build a community, that's the lowest level thing you can do. Fostering the lowest level characters go a long way ... and most of those players ... if they are new ... are going to be unlikely to recruit. You don't have to spend all your game time building Community, but, if you take some of your time, use search to see where the teams are needed level-wise and recruit for task forces, mission teams, etc. around that level ... you are a much better boon to the game in general. Power-leveling doesn't build community. Speedy task forces don't build community. Playing the game together builds community. Chat it up when you have time to show interest in what other players are doing. Share knowledge - pay attention and respond to the help channel!

Print up your own join Homecoming business cards or fliers and hand them out at Conventions and don't forget to give them to cosplayers and let them know about the depth of the City of Heroes costume creator!

Play a knockback character!

I think this is actually being useful. I have seen change in the population. The post was even an example of it .. be it in off-peak times. I've also seen increases in pop on Everlasting percentage-wise against Excelsior. Torchbearer dies off around midnight EST on the week nights.

This is an off-prime hours screen shot. The increase of population on Indom has happened just lately, and it is still lower than Torchbearer in prime time.

To a large extent the players behave on Homcoming like they did before F2P was released (subscribers) - exception of Excelsior (which is the new Freedom). It is F2P now, but there is are no microtransactions. I do run into new players. And I'm still running into new players that are just logging into Homecoming for the first time ... or at least they are saying it is their first time being back.

That's what killed it for me +the F2P community ("how do I get out of Atlas?" due to ....) +AE farming +incarnate system

I don't know. I don't understand why the incarnate system needed to be about realizing that you are a god. It's about character conception. And, I have to say, most these things that you have mentioned do and have fallen under comic book/superhero genre from the beginning. Vampires have shown up in comics as heroes and villains. Unkillable assassin (you are only immortal until someone kills you) - Blade of the Immortal? or are you talking more like Wolverine or Deadpool? Angel? Sure. All the time in comics. Phantom Stranger? The Specter? tons of others Dragons? Yeah sure. it happens. Reality-bending Aliens? I could probably pull 3 or 4 comics that came out this month off the racks in a comic store any given week. Sidhe? Sihde? You think they aren't in comics?! What? ... wait. Have you ever been to a comic book store? I am not one that feels like my character has to be the Lord God Emperor of City of Heroes throughout Time and all Dimensions. It is too long to pick as a name at any rate. I do believe in character conception, and I do have characters that are vampires, angels, devils, reality-bending aliens, fae creatures (though not cruel or from the dawn of time). I did have an ancient dragon character before the sunset (that started off being a Dhalsim clone) But, yeah, costume slots ... can breath fire, so, yeah, a dragon form. Because being a superhero/superpowered is about being more than a normal human could be. You are already a demigod compared to humans. Samson Hercules Gilgamesh This can be raised to different levels. Batman has the superhuman amount of money to be a superhero because he felt the calling to bring wrongdoers to justice and to stop them from inflicting the kind of pain on others that he felt when he saw his parents killed in front of him. It is about character conception. Why do some people want to take it to the extreme? I think it is because they need to take it to that level to make them feel good about themselves. I mean that is all we are really doing with our characters is a wish-fulfillment thing. I had to break it to a friend of mine, that we could never get to a mission if he kept stopping to fight every purse snatcher we ran into in Atlas Park. I think you need to get some perspective. Are you the only one that doesn't know about doorsitting AE farms and power-leveling? I have to say "keep it in your pants". This kind of comment is kind of uncalled for. This is a comment that you are better than other players because you play differently than they do. Just get over it and enjoy playing the game or move onto a game or whatever bring you bliss. You are getting aggravated for no good reason. You don't have to read their bios and you don't have to game with them if you don't like their bios. You can even put them on ignore in order to avoid them if you are really feeling that badly about running around with any characters that you feel don't fit into your mold of what is "right". You think it's them being about "me". You see, you are about being "me" as well. You don't have to. If you don't want to, then don't interact with them. No one is forcing you to do so. If a player was creating characters that were all apparently about defecation and urine, I wouldn't complain to the player. I would put them on ignore. I don't want to interact with them so I don't. Such crude behavior is beneath the dignity of the City. I think that is much worse than someone putting in their bio that they are the UberL337st SuperGodForm Ultimate Omni-powerful Being of All Space and Time. But to each our own. And I think that is the key.

City of Heroes wasn't making enough money for NCSoft even with all the microtransactions. I was one of the players driven away from City of Heroes because of the microtransactions. They lost my subscription that I bought by the year. City of Heroes was still profitable. It just wasn't as profitable as their other games. City of Heroes also was a total flop in South Korea. They tried to rework it to draw in more Koreans, but it didn't happen. You can even see the trailer for it. It looks like they might have been working on an area with more ancient-Korean-looking buildings in it (which would have been cool),. But NCSoft already had other games they were pushing. * disclaimer. I did not create this. I downloaded this from the old COH forums before they were destroyed. If the Western audience didn't want to support their games that were popular in South Korea, why bother with a bunch of upstarts that want to tell them what will sell to an audience that wants superheroes in a game. I kind of think that NCSoft thought that the Praetorian content was the correct way to go. For a dystopian future where superheroes exist, it was okay in concept, horrible in execution, and no fun to play. Setting up alignment shifting was a way to give the small villain player base others to game with, but it kind of break the genre. Sure the comics explore this kind of behavior, but it is a rare case that anyone is trusted after flip-flopping sides even once. I'm kind of glad that NCSoft sunset City of Heroes. Homecoming is a much better take on the game because the people in control of it love the game. NCSoft did not even like City of Heroes.

I remember specifically one week where my Ice Controller dominated for about a week. I saw the post about the changes to control so I headed in and slowed opponents so they couldn't reach me and slowly ... slowly ... slowly ... ate them down to zero XP. The DEVs removed the change at the end of the week. I don't have documentation, but I know it happened. It must have taken 10 minutes for me to whittle down this one tank. and they was livid that I had defeated them. My character's health was full. The tank didn't land a blow my character. Wasn't the same after the DEVs reverted it back.