FoulVileTerror

Have we been here before? https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/20950-biggest-pet-peeves/page/6/?tab=comments#comment-241087 I feel like we've been here before.

Theme gaps (based on https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Ancillary_Power_Pools so if this isn't accurate, then I apologize for my errors): Scrapper / Stalker: - Ice - Psionic Arguable: - Electric (if Soul and Dark are two different things, then shouldn't Electric and Mu be as well?) - Energy (Body Mastery kind of does it, but I'd like to see something more distinct) - Earth (although we need Earth Primaries and Secondaries for those Archetypes too) Tanker / Brute: - Weapon - Psionic Arguable: - Dark (as mentioned in the argument for Electric for Scrapper/Stalker, Soul and Dark exist for those Archetypes) - Electric (same as above) - Body (see Energy for Scrapper/Stalker above) Dominator / Controller: - Stone for Dominators - Kinetic - Weapon Arguable: - Dark (Soul strikes again) - Electric (starting to notice a trend) Corruptor / Defender: - Ice - Weapon/Natural/Willpower Arguable: - Earth (although we need Earth Primaries and/or Secondaries for those Archetypes too) Blaster: - Psionic Arguable: - Earth (although . . . said it already for previous Archetypes) - Dark ('cause Soul) Mastermind: - MUNITIONS/Weapons/Willpower/Natural/-Something-! Arguable: - Earth? - Dark ('cause Soul) Everyone: - Biological/Organic/Poison/Toxic - Sonic - Radiation

If I am going to VOIP, it's definitely not going to be on discord. Their terms of use are facebook-levels of overreach. I know people tend to prefer convenience, though, so discord currently has the crown. I strongly encourage folks to examine alternatives, such as Tox, Riot, and Teamspeak* * Note: Since Teamspeak is just the software itself, you need to take time to consider which server you are connecting to, as they might have their own terms of use. However, since Teamspeak also allows you to just make your own server with your own settings, I find it's the superior option. But, again, convenience wins out, and most people don't want to make their own server. It makes me sad. I would certainly appreciate it immensely if the Homecoming Team took the time to leverage their existing server infrastructure and established a non-third-party chat/VOIP community.

The only trouble with Souvenirs is that they're tied only to a single player (the one who actually owns the Story Arc), which is a disincentive to team up. The exclusion to that rule is Task Forces, of course, which award the Souvenir to everyone who participated. . . . hmm. I need to test this; do Ouro Arcs award the Souvenir to everyone, since they're effectively Task Forces?

Add tokens redeemable for the Costume Powers -in- the Super Packs?

aaaaand . . . I just bought Carrion. It controls like a dream AND a nightmare at the same time! That's quite fitting, frankly. I'm attempting a zero unnecessary human death run. That includes preventing humans from killing themselves by running in to environmental hazards due to panic. It's making the game VERY challenging, but I'm enjoying myself.

I mean, maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but didn't service interruptions like this happen all the time back during Legacy? At least prior to 2009'ish? I'm honestly shocked randomly downed servers doesn't happen more frequently here.

Don't panic.

Rather than unlocking on Level 50, it should probably unlock with a certain combination of Badges. The sort of Badges that aren't just farmable, like Accomplishment Badges. Something to demonstrate the player behind the account -has- done a variety of content and developed the experience (rather than "Experience / XP") to know a thing or two about the game. I mean, I'd personally be okay with this feature just being straight-up available to anyone, but I propose the unlock as a means to help soothe the concerns of players who are afraid of teaming with someone who doesn't understand the game.

So, without any specific direction from anyone else on which of the three paths I should focus on, I've started work on the second proposal I offered. I've got some numbers hashed out already, but I wonder . . . with the mechanic that exists to reset the Cooldown on Powers, can it also be used to -set- a Cooldown to a specific time? And if so, how does it interact with Global Recharge and Recharge Enhancements on that specific Power? What issues might exist if a Power would normally have a Recharge of 24 Seconds, but if conditions are met, the Recharge would be 8 Seconds? Would the Recharge Enhancements and Global Recharge be preserved, or would a mechanic like that ignore one or both? How reliable would such a mechanic be? Would it occasionally fail and cause the 24 Second timer under conditions that are supposed to be only 8 seconds? Do we have anyone with some technical knowledge who might shed some light on that?

I've been watching some Crusader Kings III videos on youtube lately. I want that game, but set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The Noble Houses of the Imperium are absolutely RIPE for that kind of gameplay!

@ABlueThingy . . . I've been mulling the Anti-Incarnate System in my head for quite a while now. I can't think of a way to effectively implement it without a whole Expansion's-worth of content and features . . . but I very much agree that providing players an alternative to the Incarnate system would be absolutely stellar! The basic jist of it: Anyone familiar with the Pariah from Warhammer 40,000? Like that. But rather than just being a bit of genetic engineering from an antediluvian race of techno-liches, it would be a whole series of intentional efforts akin to what the Rikti did in their home dimension to slay their own gods. Could make for some really compelling stories too. "Oh no! The Battalion is coming! You know what this means?" "It means we have to use the Power of The Well to fight back against them!" "What? No! They're only coming -because- of the Well. We need to DESTROY the Well!" "What!? Are you insane! If we do that then, like, 80% or more of all heroes will lose their Powers!" "Yeah, sorry, but that's a cost worth -saving humanity from enslavement or death-!" "Bullshit! We've beat the Rikti! We've beat the Praetorians! We've beat MOT! We can take care of the Battalion!" et cetera That's some Grade A level conflict right there. Lots of narrative potential.

I think it's actually a fairly common feeling that Tactical Arrow is powerful enough to merit some closer examination. Whether that results in a "nerf" to Tactical (fairly likely) or a positive balance pass for everything else (less likely), I don't imagine many people would be terribly surprised. Those buffs that Blaster Secondaries got from SCoRE really do make them outshine the Control Primaries. That's definitely problematic.

That's an excellent read on Recluse, @Luminara. I hope if anyone continues the lore there that they share your view.

Did I miss Hardcase? *scrolls up to check* No . . . Did I put Hardcase in the wrong level range? *checks the wiki* AH! He's apparently in both of the 30 to 34 and 35 to 39 ranges.

Bobby Curtin was added last year, and is level 25 in Nerva. And as @Six Six mentioned, Sgt. Schorr is level 30 in St. Martial. They're both Rogue-only Contacts.

They strike me more as megalomaniac villain content, personally.

Oh. If we're going with dedicated Rogue Contacts too, and not just the Villain Contacts who could be argued to be Rogue'ish, then we have to be sure to bring up @holymittens' fine work with Bobby Curtin ( https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/10968-feedback-new-story-arcs/ )!

What about as an optional Weekly reward? Either the double Merits or the Pack, limited to once a week per character?

Based on my own memory, these Contacts are either decidedly mercenary or at least not malicious for evil's sake. 1 to 4 Matthew Burke ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Matthew_Burke ) 5 to 8 Mongoose ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Mongoose ) 5 to 9 Angelo Vendetti ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Angelo_Vendetti ) Billie Heck ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Billie_Heck ) 15 to 19 Golden Roller ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Golden_Roller ) Willy Wheeler ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Willy_Wheeler ) Seer Marino ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Seer_Marino ) 15 to 24 Bane Spider Ruben ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Bane_Spider_Ruben ) Brother Hammond ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Brother_Hammond ) 20 to 24 Lt. Chalmers ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Lt._Chalmers ) Operative Vargas ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Operative_Vargas ) 25 to 29 Doc Buzzsaw ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Doc_Buzzsaw ) Diviner Maros ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Diviner_Maros ) Operative Kirkland ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Operative_Kirkland ) 30 to 34 Hard Luck ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Hard_Luck ) Hardcase ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Hardcase ) SLOT MACHINE! ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Slot_Machine ) BIG WINNER! Timothy Raymond ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Timothy_Raymond ) 35 to 39 Arbiter Leery ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Arbiter_Leery ) Basse Croupier ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Basse_Croupier ) Jezebel Jones ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Jezebel_Jones ) Mu'Drakhan ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Magus_Mu'Drakhan ) Technician Naylor ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Technician_Naylor ) 40 to 44 Mage-Killer Zuhkara ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Mage-Killer_Zuhkara ) Number 204 ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Number_204 ) Regent Korol ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Regent_Korol ) Terrence Dobbs ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Terrence_Dobbs ) 45 to 50 Efficiency Expert Pither ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Efficiency_Expert_Pither ) Operative Grillo ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Operative_Grillo ) Shadow Spider ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Shadow_Spider ) Tavish Bell ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Tavish_Bell ) Patron Black Scorpion ( https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Black_Scorpion ) has you going up against Malta, Crey, and Arachnos for the most part, with only a couple of missions in the post-unlock Arc against Longbow. It's fairly easy to view his first arc as heroic, even. Also, it's interesting to me . . . many of the Arachnos Contacts are decidedly mercenary. They're not doing things out of spite or sadism; but instead are just people with ambition who are operating within the practical bounds of the Arachnos culture of "social darwinism" extolled by Lord Recluse. I mean, that's evil and all . . . but it's not evil simply for evil's sake. I'd suggest asking @Chris24601 in particular, since 24601 has spoken firmly about personally pursuing less heinous paths while Redside a number of times in the past. So, 24601: If you feel I'm off the mark with any of these Contacts, and there's something definitely crossing the line in to plainly malicious with any of them, please feel free to make a note of it here! Thanks.

From a gameplay standpoint, I'm not against this. I maintain that player-choice is a good thing. From a technical standpoint, there might be a minor issue with the specialized Contacts for the Epic Archetypes that could theoretically have far-reaching issues in the code, but those could likely be overcome. From a lore standpoint . . . it's dicey. But like the technical issue(s), I think some creative thinking could help solve that too. And really, it wouldn't be the end of the world if another little bit of lore became wonky. Certainly isn't the first time.

Menu -> Options -> Graphics -> Screen/UI Resolution -> Windowed I believe you can also toggle between Full Screen and Windowed with the Alt+Enter keyboard shortcut.

Alright, groovy! So, question to both @Tyrannical and @Player2, and all the viewers at home (or hell, if anyone else wants to get in on this action and co-develop) . . . Do we want to keep things simple and just stat-out the Tactical/Utility Grenade Set as proposed by Tyrannical in the other thread (linking again, just 'cause: https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/13484-eco-friendly-powerset-recycling/page/6/?tab=comments#comment-194717 ) OR . . . see, I've been thinking about this set for many, many years. I've got an idea which might not be terribly popular, but it's a little experimental and I think it could be interesting to use here: High Explosive Munitions Toggle The premise is thus: The Powers are Single Target normally. That's doesn't really scream "Grenade!" to me, though, but frankly if we make -everything- an AoE by default, that'll be problematically overpowered. So, instead, similar to how Dual Pistol is coded to swap damage types and secondary effects with the Swap Ammo Toggles, the idea here is to have a Toggle (likely unlocked around level 6) which switching all the Grenade Powers from Single Target with a high Magnitude, or an AoE with a lower Magnitude and a higher Endurance cost. Some would also lose or gain their Damage depending. Naturally, developing such a mechanic for the Set would vastly increase the time and resources to balance. But there's also the Cool Factor to consider, and really, I think it would be a nifty way to make a Control Set which really stands apart from the more rigid design philosophy that we see with most Control Sets. The other alternative unique mechanic I was thinking of was an Ammo mechanic, utilizing that "use this Power X number of times before it goes on Cooldown" stuff we've been seeing lately. I haven't thought through that mechanic quite as much as the High Explosive one, but the basic thrust is that the Set would play VERY differently than normal with an ammo count. Could be interesting, but I'm imagining that investment to develop something like that would be significantly higher than the simple Toggle proposal with High Explosives. SO! 1 - Minimal effort, quickest return, but least unique: Take the existing proposed Powers from Tyrannical and just stat them out. 2 - Moderate effort, marginally experimental, but fairly unique: Develop the High Explosive Munitions Toggle using the proposed Powers as a framework. 3 - Exceptional effort, very experimental, but definitely unique: Develop an Ammo Count mechanic using the proposed Powers as a framework. Thoughts?

Well, I rated Utility Grenades ( https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/13484-eco-friendly-powerset-recycling/page/6/?tab=comments#comment-194717 ) as my number one pick, although that title honestly conjuring me in the thought of a Support or Manipulation Set. Tactical Grenade may be a more fitting name, invoking a sort of S.W.A.T.'iness to it. And, hey! Tactical Grenade. Tactical Control. I think that's on-brand with what Player2 is asking for here. What do you say, @Player2? Would you like us to flesh out a Tactical Control Set in this thread, or would you rather we work on that project elsewhere?

It's definitely on the Homecoming Team's radar: https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/19242-weekly-discussion-51-kallisti-wharf/ Granted, they've not announced any specific plans, other than to continue to use it for their monthly costume contests and occasional events.