FoulVileTerror

Sorry to say, @unblocked, but we just got word that exactly -that- (regarding your sneaky text) is what the core team are pursuing. I'm there with you; I am FAR more interested in seeing Piecemeal's work than balance passes in the name of a nebulous extension to an endgame that's already deeply unappealing to me for a variety of reasons. But, we both should accept that there are a lot of players who -are- interested in that bitter gelatinous blob which is the Incarnate content, and that happens to include the core Devs. I don't begrudge either them or Piecemeal for pursuing the content which interests them. And that's something which I've seen a few players complain about, and I feel it's unfair. The Devs are going to do what interests them; they're volunteers! On the other hand, I do hope that they get -someone- on the team who has the same interests as me some day, or change their recruitment requirements so I can toss my hat in to the ring. It's disappointing to see even low-hanging fruit for roleplay Quality of Life improvements being wholesale ignored, but if none of the volunteer devs are roleplayers, it's not surprising that these concerns are either invisible to them or they don't comprehend the scope of impact related to them. I would like to see an overhaul to the development process so that directed feedback can enter in to the process earlier. Such an overhaul would include stricter adherence to constructive criticisms from the community, since "I wanted you to use your free time and passion for something I want, not what you care about" isn't a criticism and isn't helpful to refining the work which -is- being done. I think there are members of this community who could use a guide on how to provide constructive feedback (some more than others, too). Maybe that would help.

Will Freaklok be on the streets anywhere, in any Newspaper or similar missions, or strictly just these story arcs?

An alternative thought occurs . . . To deal with the problem of Controls being Binary, what if we absolutely gutted their Control Protection and Resistance, and instead gave Archvillains and Giant Monsters the Defiance treatment: Allow them to get certain attacks through -while- being Controlled. The higher the Magnitude of Control slapped on them, the fewer Powers they have access to. Ta-da! A gradient of Control, rather than a binary. It would take a considerable amount of work to balance, but I think it's at least worth examining. And hey! Overwhelming Overpower could still be a thing this way too.

I feel you're way off the mark with Chaos Mastery on Recluse there, @Tyrannical. I would think something like "Chaos Mastery" would be Aeon's domain, and be a lot of Energy Blast and Energy Melee Powers, with some Bubbles thrown in to flesh out the supportive side. I would recommend Lord Recluse's Pool being comprised entirely of Pet Summons of various Arachnos personnel.

I brought up the Resolve mechanic as a potential solution to the dual problems of Controls not really being meaningful in a damage-as-means-to-progress meta, AND in this being a game nominally about being heroes and villains, but ultimately all conflict resolution coming down to violence. But that's really a topic for a different thread. This one's your baby, @Blackfeather. At most, I would be curious to know if you feel that both our solutions would be necessary or beneficial in a theoretical situation where both were applied.

It's a lot of reading, @Neiska, but look at the articles related to City of Heroes starting around April of 2019: https://massivelyop.com/tag/city-of-heroes/

We've been largely on the same page with a lot of the discussions here, @Neiska, but even the Homecoming Team have admitted to the sticky legal situation surrounding this whole venture. Negotiations alone don't make that situation any less sticky. "Stolen" is definitely a word which could be used for it, up to and including in the court of law.

Well said, @Williwaw. Well said.

Not suggesting you personally aren't skilled at game design, @Captain Yesterday, but success with one type of game design doesn't necessarily make someone an ideal candidate for applied design skills in an entirely different class of game. Which applies to the Homecoming Devs just as much as anyone, to put perhaps too-fine a point on it. I get that we've got industry professionals on the Team . . . but that doesn't inherently mean they're the right -kind- of professionals for a game quite like this one. But, overwhelmingly, the players who are still on Homecoming are certainly supporting the belief that those Devs are, in fact, the right people. At least for the game which those players are here for. We're a diverse community. I just hope (really, really hope) that the Dev Team is just as diverse.

I don't think you have a dastardly plan, @GM Widower, but . . . well . . . in the absence of fact, creative minds seek an outlet. If certain members of the community can't see -any- plan, but are told that there expressly -is- a plan, and they notice trends which disturb or discourage them, they'll naturally fill in the blanks to the best of their abilities. Broken Record Mode Activate: If all the cards get laid out on the table, including the ones which expressly state "we're not sure about this part yet, so here are the ideas we have so far," then I think everyone will be in a better place. I contend it's the half measures on transparency that are actively breeding the outcry of fear and trepidation from certain members of the community. Of course the Homecoming Team will not be able to make everyone happy with all of their decisions, but when players can actually see the big picture rather than little fragments, they'll get to make an informed decision about their continued support. And yes, the standard caveats come in to play: - Volunteers have real lives that are more important than the game. - Time and resources are limited. - It's a privilege to play this; not a right. - Things are constantly evolving. - The Devs and the community are constantly learning. - Everything is theoretical, until it's updated on the Live Servers. And even then, it might get rolled back if necessary. - Change cycles back in to chaos. So, even if it's only temporary, it can be scary. But the best cure for fear is knowledge! It's like a sticky bandage. Get it done in one swift action, let the thrashing of limbs happen, and then recover. I do not like to speak for everyone in anything I say, but I do genuinely believe that a detailed picture of what plans are in the works will be the healthiest way to play this out. And, since it's ideal not to do these sorts of things in a vacuum bubble, I recommend the Homecoming Team start a thread titled: "Homecoming Asks You, the Community: What Would You Like to Know?" Make it clear that some things might be blocked behind contractual obligations, and that the Homecoming Team isn't under any obligation to answer anything, but would like to foster goodwill with the community for a more positive feedback cycle. I recommend you say that you would like the community to politely and respectfully state the issues that they want greater clarity regarding, and (I stress this) ask anyone who "doesn't want to see how the sausage is made" to politely not shout-down anyone who -does.- And then . . . Make good on it. Let the community know when the process of documenting begins, and if anything comes up which ends up putting it on hold. Doesn't need to be a novel in those cases. Could be as simple as "the author of public design document has some unexpected family matters. Indeterminate delays will occur. Sorry for this." What do you (all of you) think? Is this on the table? Some variation thereof? I realize that even the senior GMs might not get to make the call on this, but I would still appreciate your feedback on how to make it happen.

I may not count as "people," @DoctorProteus, but I'll say it a million times more: I -do- prefer to hang out Redside, because the zones are alive with vital character! The trash isn't always random. Sometimes it tells a story, and I absolutely adore that about Redside. But, hey. Maybe some new Redside zones can get built by the amazing talent we have in the Base Building community, and some of those could have less garbage lying around. Add more content, rather than remove existing content, and all that jazz. As for . . . Admiral Sutter Task Force - Levels 20 to 40 Moonfire Task Force - Levels 23 to 28 (wut?) Graham Easton - Levels 15 to 24 Doc Delilah - Levels 20 to 24 Eagle Eye - Levels 7 to 20 Talshak the Mystic - 12 to 14 Synapse Task Force - 15 to 20 Positron Task Force Part Two - 11 to 16 (I thought this was 12 to 18?) Marvin Weintraub (Talos Island) or Collin Larson (Independence Port) "Freaklympics" - 25 to 29 Making the overall minimum, assuming these are correct, to be level 25. Acceptable to my greedy personal threshold, but I'll remain adamant about busting down level gates for all content for everyone else's benefit.

Absolutely, @Ironblade. Which is all the more reason to bring it up to the forefront. The more we shine a light on it, the more we -can- talk about it, and the more robust the language we can form to articulate the ideas that were previously just held as assumptions. It's win-win-win-win!

I wonder if they could implement a series of Badges which essentially document how often and how easily a player-character demolishes an Archvillain or Giant Monster. And then, based on which Badges an individual character has earnt, throw the bigger-badders at them accordingly. Would need some way to reset the Badges, though, in case someone Respecs or has their Power Sets nerfed and can no longer meet their previously held levels.

@Noyjitat; I think you have some meaningful and important feedback to provide in your criticisms here. But I agree with @Neiska: The way you are expressing those criticisms right now is regrettably undermining them. If you would like some assistance in formulating your ideas differently, I suspect there are some users here who would be happy to help work with you in private to editorialize a little and get the meaningful parts of your concerns fully articulated, while minimizing the negative impact.

Will any of the content that unlocks the special Badge require the use of Ouroboros, or is it all pre-30 content?

Any changes to Hallowe'en compared to last year?

Not a bad idea, @ninja surprise. Incarnates attracting Incarnate-level threats. Of course, they would need to be careful about implementing something of that nature. There is no shortage of players who do enjoy playing as Incarnates against non-Incarnate content. So, perhaps, if this were an optional difficulty/Notoriety setting, with suitable rewards to incentivize those who wanted to enable it.

Do you have the Double Experience Booster active? Experience Boosters trade Inf for the additional Exp.

"Page 6 is almost ready for public testing," is the best we've got at the moment, @SuperPlyx. Couple of weeks, if given track record plays out, but as has been mentioned many, many, many times . . . This is 2020. The year of:

While I don't disagree that the pursuit of balance and endgame content is a potential (and I apologize in advance for the use of this idiom, but) fool's errand, particularly if it blinds anyone to alternatives that would offer a greater net positive . . . I understand where members of the Homecoming Team have likely developed the perspectives which lead to those decisions. Broken Record Mode Activate: A key reason I would like to have the underlying philosophies which the Team are operating under made public is so that the community can better address any detrimental assumptions or narrowed points of view. Criticism in a vacuum is just conjecture, and that's not really helpful to anyone. I don't doubt the team is doing what they believe is the correct decision. It's just very, very difficult to address those beliefs when they're hidden. The express plans of balance tweaks to facilitate endgame content development is very helpful. It gives us the opportunity to see what they're trying to do, and (very importantly) why. There's more to the puzzle, of course, and I hope we get there some day soon. Still, for the meanwhile . . . Being concerned about the efforts the Team are putting forward is entirely valid. Please just remember to be respectful with your criticisms so that it doesn't undermine your entire perspective.

uh . . . she plans to dump it all on the market. At 1 Inf each. The way it should be. And really, I don't know how many times she's done this before. But usually it was just with 100 of each Pack. Probably at least 700 to 1400 Packs have already flowed through her marketing character(s) in the past.

Sooooo . . . Neuron's Ghoul programme doesn't even enter in to it? Well! Next step, I suppose. After all, transhumanism is an on-going effort. (I do like the looks of merging the Vahzilok and the Freakshow, given both of them have similar beliefs. I wonder how the Orb-Weavers view these upstarts, though.)

A proposal for you, @zenblack: "Dissonance"

Thank you for sharing information about your plans for endgame. I look forward to seeing information about your plans for the rest of the game too when you're able to.

Doesn't mean it's not worth putting a little extra effort in to emphasizing it.