UltraAlt

Because say, you just want to use the bird attacks out of the animal mastery sets because of your character conception - for example.

I definitely think that supergroups are more for individuals or close friends. There is a much greater advantage salvage/enhancement storage-wise to have your own base. I saw some of the other posts and I do think that coalition is really the way to get the kind of connection that super groups used to be in THE CITY before the sunset. One function that could work this way as well is having a Global channel for people that tend to game as a group frequently And, of course, these days Discord probably goes along way of having supergroups in its own way.

I'm trying to figure out "why increase the population of the villain side?" I played before the sunset. I played in the CoV beta, was there when they shut down the CoV beta test, and bought CoV when it came out. I made characters ... not anywhere near as many villains as as heroes. I can't even remember if I made it to 50 with one villain character. Maybe one. Maybe just into the high 40's. I would only play villains when I felt like being a villain which wasn't all that often. The most fun I had was in the bank heist missions (opposite of the safeguard missions). (or - as usual - just making the character) So I had a bunch of characters that I made as villains before the shutdown that were kind of fun to play, but I never really enjoyed playing them as much partially due to the population. So I can can understand why people playing villains would want more people to game with. I made one villain since I have been back. Not fun at all to play the low levels. The map is horridly overpopulated for a low level character not in a team. The area really isn't enjoyable to run around in. There was no one else there. It just wasn't fun. I made some of the character that I had made as villains as heroes. One of the things that really dishearten me about some people's need to get more people to play the villain content with the is the dropping down of walls between the two sides. Honestly, I don't even really like the concept of "Going Rogue" and, honestly, between that and - what I saw - as a downslide in the quality of gamers that farming in the AE, Power-leveling through AE, and the game opening the F2P option ... I stopped playing a good 6-9 months (at least) before the sunset. I was over it at that point. The game I had loved had had some great improvements over the time, but the quality of gameplay I was experiencing had dropped drastically (and I will say again - from my view point). Comics were very ... I hate to use the term these days, but ... black-and-white. Heroes were heroes. They were good guys. They stood for high moral values and did good things for the benefit of society and not themselves. Villains were villains. They commited crimes for their own game. They would sacrifice their flunkies to save their own skins. They were bad people and you were supposed to want the heroes to defeat and imprison them. Comics have strayed far away from those ideals to be uplifting and inspirational. They mire in muddy grays. Heroes are villains. Villains are heroes. A villain can be President. Playing City of Heroes - like reading comics - is an escape for me. An escape to a place where it is obvious what is good and what is bad (I say "bad" because not all villains are necessarily "eviL" <--- a discussion for another day). I don't like seeing mingling of heroes and villains. I don't like calling the sides "Blue" and "Red". They aren't "blue" and "red"; they are Hero and Villain. Like I said. I have played villains. If someone wants to play a villain, that's fine. But don't drag down what it is to be a hero so that villians, can be villains and still run the same missions as Heroes. If villains want to game with heroes, make a hero or follow the path to go rogue. For myself, I'm not going vigilante with any of my heros, and I really don't want to be forced into that status because there aren't enough people playing villains. To each, their own.

F2P vs Subscription based games We have to look at the mentality of a F2P player versus a subscriber. Obviously, we don't have subscribers in CoH any more, but I would argue that there was much less power leveling when CoH was subscription only. People were paying to enjoy the game, so the were working to explore the game and enjoy all the aspects of the game that they could. Paying for a subscription means and breeds loyalty. People would stand around and chat. The Pocket D was full of characters dancing and hanging out. Each zone was a new experience that allowed you play differently and enjoy a different sub-genre of comics/super-heroics. F2P players tend to be pass through players. They are playing multiple games and aren't focused on just one. They don't have time to enjoy the scenery, they just want to get to "the cool stuff" or "the end-game". That is to say they don't want to play "the game"; they just want to get to the content slapped onto the end of the game that is there to give the highest level players something to do. F2P players are also less likely to Alt. They are there to play their (one) character and not their to create or to explore the environment at a level that it would be "fun to play" or a challenge at their current level. The AE of Power Leveling First big blow against low level content was, of course, the exploitation of the AE and the DEVs not standing up and using the 40-ton Ban hammer on the players that exploited it (and/or devising means of tracking and disabling excessive xp again). Almost as soon as AE was released, characters were standing at the door in AE missions and getting a free ride 50 without doing anything (which I define as a "leach") This was bad enough with subscriptions, but as soon as F2P hit the door, a large majority of players would go to the AE and stay there for 2-3 hours until they were level 50 and then would have to ask how to get out of Atlas Park. To elaborate on that, the AE-powerleveled new players has no grasp on their powers, the mechanics of the game, or the feeling of joy of out-leveling a foe type that you had to struggle with and find yourself able to beat them down easily. (The joy of each "ding" is lost as it isn't gained through struggle). It may very well have been the best option for the DEVs to have made the AE level 50 only. Maybe allow low levels to create, test missions (as if they were level 50's for no XP gain), and post missions, but only allow level 50's the ability to play AE missions and, even then, cap the xp and infl gain per AE mission and/or mission set/adventure. None of this stops power-leveling through level-ranged sidekicking. The L337ness of Eng-game aka "I just want to be Uber(wo)man" Some players simply don't want to play the game (aka "the leveling content") because they just want to feel like they are the best of the best. The thought is like this :: Obviously, I'm a better player (because I power-leveled to level 50 with my one character) than that person playing a level X (that hasn't hit 50, is probably an alt, took Y times as many hours to get to level X as I did getting to level 50) and I'm playing the end-game and they aren't. Most players (seem to) just want to feel like they are super-powerful and feel that nothing is a threat to them and/or just want to have all flashy stuff without working for it. God-complex (or helping out a friend)? Of course, the low level character can't bypass all of the low level content (or even know how to bypass content by alternate means - street sweeping, tasksforces, etc.) without someone to power-level them or show them how to quickly gain levels without really struggling for it. I'm sure that this just started with some players wanting to game with a friend (which is what sidekicking is for), but they wanted their friend to be at the same level and the mechanics of sidekicking could be exploited to power level characters. Next level of his was "I'm a bored 50, so what now". So the 50 decides that they will gain standing in-game by powerleveling other players characters to 50. "I'm cool. I'm the guy that is going to take you level 50 the quick way" (massively augmented by AE farms). This makes the level 50 feel good, but it robs the new player of the joy of the content and level progression. The Game is getting old Some players that have played the game a lot get jaded - even those that can't stop making Alts. They either just don't want to do content that they already did or (even if they don't want to farm or use alternate leveling paths) don't want to get put into a mission arc that is going to drag them halfway across the map and back or from one zone to another (which is all good for showing off the glory of THE CITY, but it takes away from the quick combat fix that most F2P gamers need to keep their attention). The fewer players there are playing at lower levels (and running teams), they shinier and more alluring the need to powerlevel/leach to level 50. The real issue : Power-leveling and Leaching There will be ever fewer people to play low level content when 1) new players are looking to bypass leveling content to get to the end-game and 2) level 50's (could be a player who has only played a couple of hours) is willing to help get another player to 50 as quickly as possible (which the leveling content won't do). Too late to fix the insta-50's It's too late to stop the mechanics that caused this. The lower zones aren't populated. A new player would have hardly anyone to game with if it wasn't for the sidekicking mechanism, but if they sidekick, then they bypass the low level content. It's a two-edge sword. Even if they just want to find a team, they are pulled away from experiencing the lower level content. So how do we fix it? The only way to fix this in the current game format would be to level cap characters to the zone's level cap so that all contacts are available to any character in the zone. Potentially the door missions could be regulated based on the the max level. Influence gain would probably need to be increased for the level 50's to make it worth their time. There are many great missions and taskforces in the leveling content and all that hard work is wasted because players are lured into bypassing it by powerleveling/leeching and then it is simply too late to have access to it and/or simply hate it because they don't have access to all their powers. The best fix appears to be giving level 50's an incentive to seek out lower level players and be mentored by them in order to run the lower level players missions - perhaps merits? What is that thing that a high-level character wants once they have everything? (I don't know. I'm not an end-gamer. I'm an alt jumper who loves making new characters, trying out different power sets, learning new tactics, etc.)

Hover covers what Combat Jumping does. It's extra defense and lower power consumption. Fly is a bit slow, but you can slot it up and there is another power in the pool to make you fly faster. The basics of why Fly is slow is because it is the safest travel power. There aren't a lot of villains flying around in the air in most zones (none on the lower level zones), so you can get somewhere without being attacked! Super Jump keeps you in the air, but you still have to land somewhere. i would agree with the change to allowing purchase of the main travel power at the same time as it's lower level defense related travel power, that flight should allow you to move faster a bit faster. I see friends going with the sorcery pool to get the flight with built in teleport. That appears to be a bit faster if you use the teleport. However, I will still make characters with fly due to character conception, but then I'm a character conception type of player. I like experiencing the game through the character I'm playing at the time base on the way that character would relate to THE CITY.

Anyone can get Stimulant from the Medicine pool. Empathy can use Clear Mind on others to help them resist holds, etc. Kinetics has Increase Density Radiation Emission has Accelerate Metabolism that makes an ally somewhat resistant. All of these are usable on others. Help your teammates out and maybe one or two of them will help you out in return.

Player-character sidekicks not good enough for you? Invite that low level to a team! /emote protest Sidekick rights! Sidekick rights! "I'm a sidekick not an NPC!" or is that "I'm not a sidekick! That's a side kick!"

When it comes down to it, the whole playstyle thing is dumbing down the character creation to make it more accessible to novice players. I think that anyone is going to admit that new player shouldn't be starting off placing an Arachnos Soldier, Arachnos Widow, or Kheldian. I would even say that a new player shouldn't be playing a mastermind. It would be good to have a gate in character creation that allows you to pick "new player", "guided" or "experienced player". The "new player" path would ask you from the beginning if you want to create a hero or villain (no Preatorian option). From there you would be gated into a revised playstyle listing with the archetype selections being only the original ones from CoH and CoV (no Arachnos Soldier, Arachnos Widow, or Kheldian). After power selection, it is the same (except that you have already picked if you are a hero or villain.) By default, you go to the tutorial as you are a new player. I would go as far as to automatically "gift" them some things from the P2W vendor (the enhances at least for sure). The "guided" path would put you into what the current character creation system looks like. The "experienced player" path takes you to as list of all the Archetypes. After Archetype selection, it functions the same as the current character creator. Setting it up this way allows ease of use. Helps new players easily learn the fundamentals of the game before getting into situations that are even more complicated. Helps those that aren't sure that they completely understand the Archetypes. Gives ease of access to archetypes to those that already understand what the archetypes are.

Found a thread on tails, but not much in it so hopefully it isn't a problem posting here about it again. I would like to see all the tails be animated. I don't see a reason why you wouldn't want the tail to be animated. I would also still like to see an electrical power cord tail with a plug on the end for recharging those robot/mechanized characters. Some animation on some of the hair styles would be nice (I can understand why someone wouldn't want some of the hair styles to be animated). I would love to see a large wrench and large screwdriver in the Dual Wield set (conceptual for one of my characters). Even just add access to the wrench from the Mace set to Dual Wield would be cool.

I would assume that the easiest way to handle this would be to duplicate an existing zone, renaming it, and slowly doing a makeover on it. Subtle changes to the buildings to add flavor. Changes to the advertising signs. The hardest part of this is making the zone useful enough for players to have a reason to go there and the easiest way I can see to do that is to auto sidekick or mentor everyone in the zone to a certain set level, so that everyone is more-or-less equalized and anyone can participate in the zone for level relevant rewards. Zone missions would default to those that are already in the zone and street enemies as well. Possibly modifying villain group names and appearances over-time for more flavour. Of course, as players, we have the ability to make Cultural-related missions in the AE. I mean, that kind of thing is what the AE was designed for and not power-leveling. (So wish they have brought the 40-ton ban-hammer down hard the first day and kept hitting with it so that AE power-leveling had never happened the way that it did ... and apparently still goes on ... empty low level zones? yeah. looks like.).

I would still (carry over from CoH before the Sunset) like to see all tails animated and electrical power cord tails .. because, you now, if you are a robot/mechanical you still might need to plug in somewhere to recharge.

I tweaked my controller settings (Logitech F310) so traveling the caves isn't so bad, but I still ... well ... hate the purple caves. Normal caves are fine, but due to the way that lighting works the purple caves are just Hades on the eyes. I would really like to see their color changed. If they have to be purple at least make them a darker shade of purple. (Of course, I would rather that they weren't purple at all!) Having them be purple doesn't make me feel like I'm some mystical surrounding in any way at all. Yeah. Please. No more purple caves.