gabrilend

It'd be cool if there was a way to have the new hospital in effect if you died in the second half of the zone. Maybe keep a small Arachnos outpost where they currently are with a hospital, quartermaster, and arbiter, so that you have a "checkpoint" for new players so they aren't as punished when they die (maybe even fighting the high level Arachnos mobs in the red area) Yep and it was changed during the patch that made the game F2P, aka the most traumatic event to happen in the latter portion of the games lifecycle... It feels like this open wound that has never been able to heal. Homecoming has done a great job, a FANTASTIC job they literally could not be better. I cried when Homecoming released. I'll never play on another server, I love it here too much. I'm pissed at the F2P update, not anything they ever did.

Okay first of all why do you keep putting she in parenthesis it makes me feel weird - Second I don't want to regress the story. I think it'd be fine as an echo zone because I never do the contact missions anyway (done 'em once or twenty times, doesn't matter anymore) as long as I can patrol through the zone at level 1 and generate my own story in my head. Call it roleplay or whatever but that's how I play. I see a lot of people doing the same thing (less so these days /cry) so I know I'm not alone. Plus it's been in the game since the beginning to have "looking for patrol" in the LFG interface, so I kinda figured it was a recognized playstyle? Anyway I'd be fine if the current story stayed the same, especially if there was the option to get the best of both worlds and have the player start in Fort Darwin but still have access to the old (new?) contact missions. Alas this is all a moot point because the change happened before Homecoming, and thus there's no way to achieve it. I hope I'm wrong but just thinking about it logically that's the conclusion I come to. Sad day for all Mercy Island enthusiasts.

It's really sad to hear you say that, but you make some convincing points. If it's impossible to revert / transfer in some way (echo), then it truly is a deep loss. I'm sorry but it's good to hear someone else commiserates with me.

Why not? I don't know what an echo is but it's a way to play through the old zone, right? Are all the NPCs in the same places and can you do it from level 1? The contacts are fun to do once or twice, but for me the real bulk of the game is the levelling process via patrolling. Each time it's a new route, and you see different parts of the city. It's a great experience, but Mercy Island feels wrong. I don't know how else to explain it, I feel like there was something that was fundamentally lost when they changed it. Yep, but the contacts are obviously easy to change. All you have to do is move their character object, update the quest text, and change the location of the missions. Easy peasy. The harder stuff, like hand-crafting a zone (as they did before the launch of CoV) is lost during the patch cycle. So what did they do? They just sneezed gobs of Longbow all over the island. They're all the same, especially at low levels when there's no rocket troops or specialized guys - it's boring because there's so many. The flier only activates for the mission, right? What if you aren't doing the missions? I'm talking about actually exploring the zone and levelling the old-style way. Also you only had to go back once or twice before the contact gave you their cell-phone number. It also coincides with the levelling rate - by the time you finish the first mission you'll need to level, but by the time you get to level 4 you'll have done enough work for Burke / Kalinda that they'd give you their phone number, and you only have to go back to train / buy / sell enhancements. But that cycle stays in place no matter what zone you're in, so I don't think it's really relevant. I'm talking about doubling back on your path through the zone, not the back-and-forth of exploring, training, and questing. You're right it's not a reason. I was just explaining what was missing from the new map. Yep, exactly. They've always been here but it's been a minor presence at best. They were scouting, like you said, and that was fine. You rarely saw them, maybe did a mission or two against them, and they kept their distance. But now they're all over the place! It's weird, they don't belong there. This is supposed to be the lowest of the low scummiest places in the world - like Mos Eisley but worse. And idk it kinda loses that feeling when you adjust your perspective to the town. I mean, it felt like a real city before that people actually lived in - and it was *horrible*. Life on Mercy Island was just the worst, but people still lived there. It was beautiful. I don't know what kinds of reasons would be impactful. I gave the ones that were the most important to me, but I still don't know why anyone would be against this. An echo zone is just an alternate path, right? Like choosing between the different tutorials - each offers a different experience and it's pretty neat.

Okay forget the snakes then, you're right they're still there. What about the progression through the zone? For a new level character I think the original storyline made the most sense - Arachnos is infesting this island with a small outpost where the Destined Ones (a small contingent of super-powered peoples that have potential and may be swayed to Lord Recluse's cause) can learn and grow. I liked the idea of starting with the worst-of-the-worst, the most downtrodden (in the ruined half of Mercy) because it feels better to start at the bottom and work your way up. Starting in the middle feels like... Going forward, then back. Before, Arachnos was in full control of the island with Fort Darwin on one end and the city / port on the other. Now it's contested, with Longbow just sorta squatting on the north-east side? I mean looking at this map: (for reference, if the image doesn't work) There's a gradual flow from the top right to the bottom left - you advance slowly through the zones, skipping the dark red area if you want. It's like a path the character goes down. When in the darker yellow zone (the city half of Mercy Island), they have the choice to beat up Arachnos in their base or take the ferry to Port Oakes, where they can take on the Mafia, or maybe beat up some fish-mutants. That sounds pretty cool... But now there's no choice. The new zone journey: You still have the green safe area, and the path is relatively consistent until you hit the red area (Fort Darwin), but there's a lot of doubling-back that you're forced to do. I get that can be a good way to encourage new players to visit the Arbiter and quartermaster more often, but ideally the reward of having a new power available would be enough. Also it's more difficult to create a cohesive story because you're moving around so much. It makes the entire zone feel smaller, as you're constantly doubling back. Humans crave novelty, so you're unlikely to return and explore an area to completion if you are forced to turn around halfway through the patrol. Especially egregious is the long travel time from the only red zone (Fort Darwin) and the Arbiter / way out (through the port). Most characters won't have a travel power by this point in the levelling path, so they'll have to sprint all the way back. That sucks, and is boring. The old layout had a much smaller travel time, as you only had to travel ~3 blocks to get from the highest level area to the exit. Anyway it's not just the snakes, the entire zone is borked. EDIT: That's not to mention the fact that Longbow has *no reason* to be here. There's no useful resources they can use in Fort Darwin, and their mini-soirees into the island haven't claimed any actually valuable resources - some buildings? Great... So why are they still there? I dunno it feels like it should have been a mission instead of a longstanding thing because their invasion just doesn't make tactical sense.

Right but it's all just *wrong*. I'm attached to the zone itself, to the land beneath my feet. Sure you can find snakes, but they aren't hanging out in the city anymore. I don't really do missions, I mostly just patrol, and it feels weird that the entire place is completely upended because of some event in the lategame story that I didn't even pay attention to. Plus, I miss Fort Darwin.

I'd just love it if it could be added back into the game somehow. I loved levelling through that zone, it felt perfectly tuned and the fantasy was all there! I don't much care for the new design - why was Arachnos pushed out of their stronghold on the island? Shouldn't Fort Darwin be their most defensible spot? Why haven't they taken it back? I feel like the new longbow spawns they added are clumsy. They're all the same and it feels like a rushed hack job - most enemy spawns in this game are unique and diverse, but the gobs of Longbow that were added are just... Boring. They're two minions and a lieutenant, every time. B O R I N G. And where are the Snakes? I miss those slimy fellas. I miss the fantasy of choosing between a mercenary outside of the Arachnos and between the mystic who broke you out of the Zig. I miss travelling along the shore because I didn't know where else to go. I miss exploring the rooftops, because they're ALL CONNECTED (so cool). I miss beginning in the slums and working my way up - why the heck do we start in the decent side of town? We're VILLAINS we deserve to start with the trash. I miss the design of the Arachnos fortress, I miss Fort Darwin. When I came back to Homecoming I was so confused - why do we skip half the zone? Turns out you just turn around and it's confusing. Idk. I think it'd be neat if there was a way to visit old Mercy Island. You don't have to make it the default (because I seem to be the only one who cares?) but still it seems like an egregious omission considering the entire point of the game is to restore what was once special. Mercy Island was changed after the game went downhill, I don't even remember the new zone being the way it is. Please change it back.

I haven't looked into the new electrical powerset, but Genin run out of endurance a lot so I imagine the electrical powers might help with that. Could be a cool combo!

Hi, I recommend Ninjas and Dark Miasma. There's a ton of debuffs that make your ninjas less like glass cannons, and you can fear / stun the baddies as well. I think it's a great combo and you should totally consider it :)

Hello. I saw the changes on the patch notes so I came looking for some discussion on these forums. I read through all the comments y'all made here and there's some good points being made, lots of which are being lost in the discussion of "auto vs upgrade" I think the training powers should be left as they are. I'm not even convinced yet about the reduction in summon recharge time. Just my 2¢ - Here's why - feel free to skip the next 2 paragraphs if you don't care about nostalgia: I play ninjas and dark miasma. I mostly just patrol and explore, but sometimes I'll do a mission or two. My Genin die pretty often, so I usually leave them on defensive and follow to keep me safe. My Jounin and Oni are pretty good at fighting, so I usually send them into the fray and I'll toss 'em a smoke bomb every once in a while to keep them alive. When they die, it sucks, but I do my best to heal them and debuff the baddies and it works pretty well. I don't know why you guys are complaining about purple enemies when you should be fighting white -> orange enemies. The enemy minions should be your level imho, and fighting higher level baddies is just asking for trouble. I guess there's only so much you can do at max level, but I wouldn't know even though I've played this game for a long time. I think the devs should be making the game harder rather than easier! Everything went off the rails when they added the university to the live game, because you could make very strong enhancements that trivialized the rest that dropped from enemies. But I digress, that tangent isn't relevant - I'm not a very high tier player (obviously) but I think my perspective is also at least a little valuable because it's rare on forums like this. And maybe the game isn't designed for me anymore, and I guess that's okay. Anyway, the point is that your minions should be cherished and shepherded with care. I worry that with the reduced summon time, they might not be as valuable to keep alive. - Anyway... skip to here if you don't care about my story and just want the feedback: Reducing the cooldown makes it easier to resummon your pets (obviously) and I think that should be discouraged because it reduces their significance. I understand the mobility concerns, and maybe it's just that ninjas are stealthy or something but I've never had problems with pulling groups that I didn't intend. I'm also dark miasma and I have shadows fall, so maybe that's cheating in this respect LOL - But if you let one die, I think you *should* be punished with less damage output. You allowed your pawns to fall in battle, and expect an endless supply to arrive at your beck and call? No way, nobody would follow you if they knew they wouldn't be cared for like a precious commodity. I like the ninja training powers. Maybe they're more bothersome on other powersets, but to me it feels like my guys are average run of the mill ninjas fresh out of some mountaintop monastery that I'm imparting mystic power unto - like I'm enchanting them with my dark evil power. If they showed up pre-enchanted it wouldn't have that fantasy, which I think would be at least a little bit of a loss - I'd feel less like a "master" and more like a "mind". I think those two terms have to be in equilibrium in order to maintain the fantasy. - HERE'S MY IDEA - skip here if you don't care about the previous two paragraphs: PART 1: Keep the training powers, make them single target only again, and make them recursive. If you educate one ninja, allow that ninja to educate the others by bundling the equip power into the equip power, and making only targets without the buff viable targets. So, if you resummon one in the middle of the fight, your other guys will be able to educate the newly arrived minion, slightly reducing their damage output as they cast the spell but not bothering the mastermind with petty details such as getting the new guy up to speed. The downside is it removes the tactical choice mentioned previously in this thread. So we can't stop here -> PART 2: Make it so that when the ninjas cast the education spell, they take 500% extra damage for the duration of the cast time. But they have to be in melee range. These two limitations wouldn't affect the mastermind version of the spell. So it's a tradeoff, right? When you resummon the pet, they'll stay near you because they default to the "follow" command, and you can upgrade them yourself if you want. Nothing would effectively change in this scenario. But if you wanted the "auto" playstyle, then just summon your pet and send them into the action, and boom you don't have to worry about the upgrade anymore because one of your other guys will handle it. But they'll also make themselves vulnerable for the duration of the cast time, so it's a tradeoff that doesn't disturb the old playstyle, but introduces a new option. Let me know what you think, I'll try and pay attention to this thread. I'd also be 100% okay if they left it as is, but since the devs already changed the re-summon cooldown I worry they might want to change more things. So in the interests of catering to as much of the feedback here as possible, please consider my idea. Thanks for reading <3