Alchemystic

Exactly, I'm pitching the idea to rename these things to mez defense/mez resistance to make them more coherent, and create greater distinction between the two in terms of mechanics.

I think that would probably be a new mechanic entirely that could be introduced into existing powers maybe? Sort of like how we have both defense and resistance, we could create mez defense and mez resistance. mez defense working much like how mez protection works right now mez resistance working as you suggetsed, something that reduces the amount of time you spend mezzed?

Again, not the point I was making. I'm saying if YOU get mezzed, SOMEBODY ELSE playing a controller/corruptor/defender/mastermind can un-mez you. The game was built around dynamics like this, most MMORPGs are, that's what the R stands for after all.

Force Field/Psionic Blast defenders would like to have a word with you.

Quite right, this seems to have gone off track. My initial post here was just to highlight that a majority of the problems people have with mez stems from soloing the game on ATs without access to mez protect, something that can be alleviated by teaming with somebody who can offer mez protection (corruptor, defender, mastermind, controller) or instead soloing as an AT with personal mez protection (scrapper, stalker, sentinel, tanker, brute, HEATS, VEATS). My personal opinion is that making it so that every AT can inherently break free of mez would diminish the value of the powers that provide protection to it.

I think you very much missed the point. I never said defenders/controllers/corruptors suffered from mez problems, I said they were the solution to mez problems.

The other ATs are the teammates those descriptions are referencing 🤣

It is entirely a team based game. It's an MMORPG, that's how these kinda games work.

Honestly, I only ever see this being a problem when soloing. City of Heroes is a team based game after all. Where one archetype falls short, that's where another picks up the slack. I can't say I've really felt as though I need more mez protection with my squishies, because usually there's somebody on the team with some form of mez remove/protect that can help me out. That's the dynamic of the game after all, no one archetype is good at everything, but they each contribute a vital part of the team composition. If you're struggling with mez, then it's probably wise to bring a defender, corruptor, controller or mastermind. That, or play an archetype that has mez protection readily available. If you're soloing, then you're making the choice to forgo that dynamic, and the only thing you can do is to make a build where you can compensate for what you are missing. So with this in mind, I can't really get behind this idea, because it's only a problem if A) your team isn't great or B) your build isn't great, both of which you have complete control over.

I did notice one thing about he Rogue Isles which was that you barely see much change after the Praetorian war. Paragon City has plenty of little changes to showcase how Praetorian refugees are settling into the city, and the stories of characters that were part of the whole thing... But in the isles? Doesn't look like theres much of it. I'd like to see Lord Recluse attempting to indoctrinate Praetorian refugees into his regime, and perhaps forcing scientists to help him reconstruct the Keyes Reactor, or upgrade his Arachnobots with clockwork tech, or maybe attempt to build the sonic fences to strengthen the perimeter. He could even push to introduce the technology and training from the Praetorian Police Department to the Rogue Isles Police, perhaps as a higher level upgrade much like the PPD functions. If it's possible, having a new map to showcase this would be great. Something similar to Khallisti Wharf, where Praetorian refugees live, featuring a district for civilians patrolled by the new RIP, a partially constructed reactor being worked on by newly upgraded Arachnobots, and an Arachnos fort designed to overlook the efforts. Perhaps we could see Doctor Aeon disgraced, his power system in Cap Au Diable no longer competitive with this new technology, and he defects to Crey instead. Maybe in turn Crey spies would appear in the map, monitoring the situation, gathering what information they can. We could even throw the UPA in as a faction that is trying to fight back against Arachnos and the Praetorians that joined the RIP, saying that they have traded one dictator for another, and have them battle in the streets. I also recall something about a potential arms race between Black Scorpion and Battle Maiden, the whole powersuit vs nanotech thing? Could probably introduce that as a story arc, perhaps alluding to Recluse seeing more promise in Battle Maiden, and threatens to replace Black Scorpion if he doesn't get results. This also loops back to Crey, who once held possession of Valkyrie's 'nanotech spear'. They could serve as an antagonistic force led by the defected Doctor Aeon in attempts to steal technology and win his way back into Recluse's favor. So we have a three way standoff over who gets to be Recluses favourite, each going for it for different reasons.

Yeah, I already moved on, but I guess others haven't.

I only play with SOs And I advocate the idea for a notoriety option that disables set bonuses. Options are good, especially ones that don't actually need a lot of 'work or effort' to implement.

Like I said last time, I didn't say I was revamping them the same way, I simply said that RWZ and Dark Astoria are examples of revamped areas that are no longer considered 'hazard zones'. Why not? Who decided this? You? You are not an authority on the matter, so please don't act like one. And yet, you have brought nothing to the discussion. As I said in my first response, I acknowledge your feedback, but I'm afraid we just don't see eye to eye on the subject, and that's alright. What isn't alright is being standoffish and condescending, that's the part where it's obstructive. So I just propose we end this here, neither of us have anything else to gain from further going off topic.

Oh yes, this. I think there's actually a name for this now, I think it's called the Archer paradox? people noticed that in the Archer TV show there was a lot of inconsistency with when the series was set, looking as though it could be anywhere from the early 80's all the way to the present day, so people just decided to take the idea and give it a name 😛

People forget this used to happen all the time back in the later years of the live game. The destruction of Galaxy City, the death of Statesman, even the revamp of Praetorian content all meant that different contacts and mission arcs had to be adjusted to compensate for the story as it progressed. What I'm proposing is no different. Striga Isle is the focus of a new storyline, one which could be explored further. Who said this content had to go away? I certainly didn't. In fact, I said that Striga Isle would mostly remain in tact. These little aspects of Striga Isle would remain as they did before, only now it's from a new perspective. Well that's why most of us are here, we're pitching ideas to evolve the game. If you want to experience a version of City of Heroes that exists in a constant standstill, I'd recommend trying Rebirth. Otherwise, feel free to put forward constructive ideas, that's what the thread's for after all.

Again, nothing about the missions would have changed save for the entry point and one or two lines of dialogue.

All Snipe powers, most of the Pool Powers and Blaster Secondaries, as well as a handful of other powers like Repulse, Dimension Shift and Total Focus. Now, if you want examples of how Homecoming has broken the cottage rule; pretty much ALL pool powers are getting a revamp, as well as some bigger changes to melee, armor and manipulation sets, all of which dont adhere to the cottage rule. And if that wasn't enough, there's so much discussion about changing powers like Serum and Twilight Grasp, or entire powersets like Regeneration and Stone Armor, or even broad mechanics like sleep and confuse. The cottage rule is ancient history, and I wouldn't put too much stock in Castle either, most of the new powersets came before or after his time with Paragon Studios... food for thought.

Gonna attempt to make another Mastermind Primary set, using only material we have in the game already. I even made a few concepts for what their attire could look like just to try and flesh it out some more. One of the most popular ideas for new MM primaries was 'knights', so I'm going to try and take that and work it into the thread here, and see how it might look on paper. (I'm also going to make a few adjustments to Ninjas, since I'm stealing Archery powers from them). Feudalism - Snap Shot: Stealing this power from Ninjas, and replacing it with 'Shuriken' which is more fitting. - Call Archers: Summons 3 Archers, which are ranged pets armed with a few archery powers. - Aimed Shot: Stealing this power from Ninjas, and replacing it with 'Poison Dart' which is more fitting. - Train Warriors: First upgrade power, the animation for this features the player using a ceremonial sword and the 'Summon Spiderbot' animation from Mace Mastery - Fistful of Arrows: Stealing this power from Ninjas, and replacing it with 'Explosive Shuriken' which is more fitting. - Call Champions: Summons two Champions, each wielding a shield, one with a sword and one with a mace. - Siege: A special power that imbues a warrior with a single-use attack that they will use immediately on the target they're focusing on. Animation is similar to 'Call Hawk' - Call Crusader: Summons one extremely powerful Crusader, who uses a Titan Weapon and can gain/lose Momentum. - Knighthood: Second upgrade power, the animation for this features the player using a ceremonial sword and the 'Point Sword' NPC animation before returning to holding it in both hands. - Archer Base Powers: - Brawl, - Snap Shot, - Armor (Inherent S/L defense) Trained Powers: - Aimed Shot Knighthood Powers: - Fistful of Arrows Siege Power: - Rain of Arrows - Champion Base Powers: - Slash/Bash, - Hack/Clobber, - Net, - Shield (Inherent S/L and Melee defense) Trained Powers: - Disembowel/Jawbreaker, - Javelin, - Grant Cover Knighthood Powers: - Headsplitter/Shatter, - Phalanx Fighting Siege Power: - Shield Charge - Crusader Base Powers: - Crushing Blow, - Defensive Sweep, - Heavy Armor (Inherent S/L and Positional Defense) Trained Powers: - Titan Sweep, - Follow Through, - Rend Armor Knighthood Powers: - Whirling Smash, - Arc of Destruction Siege Power: - Catapult (extreme Smash/Fire Targeted AoE with Stun/Knockback, visually identical to Meteor)

NPCs get displaced. Look at Dark Astoria, or Galaxy City, or even as far back as the Rikti Crash Site. That's how stories progress. Things change, events unfold, nothing remains exactly the same. Stephanie can disappear to Striga for a while and only be reached by phone, which happens to a few NPCs already when they introduced player instancing. At least I'm proposing to make alterations to these stories instead of locking them behind orouboros or removing them completely. I didn't want to do them a disservice like that. Heroes also can't enter the Rogue Isles, but plenty of missions take place there, often in instanced outdoor maps. So I really don't see how this is a problem? This also circles back to the point I made about moving mission doors to helicopters or other suitable transport. Vehicles and portals make for an easy narrative reason for why you go from once place to another, and it can feasibly be applied here. I never said that I was going to revamp it strictly in the same way as Faultline or The Hollows now did I? And besides, Dark Astoria and the RWZ aren't even 'Hazard Zones' anymore, their maps have been entirely repurposed, which is what I'm proposing. Also, the zone wont be deleted from a hero perspective, I already stated that it will exist as an Echo map. The content will move, but it will still exist, so let's not pretend this is Galaxy City 2.0. Either way, this is a thread about the evolution of the game, so I don't see what you have to gain here by being obstructive. Your feedback's been noted but I don't see anything that I can really take as constructive criticism.

The arcs wouldn't be affected. Any mission that takes place in Striga will still take place in Striga, the access point for missions will just change (often to a helicopter that will take you to Striga, or if it's a random base, Boomtown doors work). So, nothing is "taken away". I'll agree that there will be a little rewriting needed, likely to make sure that dialogue indicates that the contact is in Boomtown instead of Striga, but as for the events of the missions, nothing should need amendment. Revamping the Hazard Zones was always the plan, moving forward sometimes means closing a chapter on something, and the new content introduced that's centred around Striga is a strong starting point for something like this.

Cottage rule is moot. Castle isn't part of Homecoming, hell, he wasn't even part of Paragon Studios in the later years.

One of the ideas I had a while back was to repurpose Striga Isle into a villain zone, and moving all contacts from the map to Boomtown, and the doors to their missions would be replaced with a helicopter (or if suitable, moved to locations in Boomtown). I know Striga Isles isn't in the Rogue Isles, but it's technically not in Paragon City either, and I feel as though it would make sense for Arachnos to make a move on it and secure it for villains properly. Then, the narrative of the relationship between the 5th Column, Council, and UPA can be further explored by a suite of new contacts with interesting backstories and story arcs, as well as showcasing what the Banished Pantheon are doing after their defeat in Dark Astoria. In order to get there, you can take a black helicopter to a newly created Arachnos seabase off the coast of the islands, where villains will be briefed on the events taking place in the island. You can also access the zone via submarines, including the one in Paragon (Though now only available to Rogues and Vigilantes). There will be new exploration and history badges created to narrate the more recent events surrounding Striga Isle and its inhabitants. Other than that, not much of the map or the enemy activity would have changed. For heroes, they will still be able to access an Echo version of Striga Isle wih all the old badges still available to them. To make up for the fact they are losing direct access to the 'Mortician' day job, a new cemetery will be created nearby the tunnel connecting Perez and Galaxy City, mourning those lost in the Shivan attack. The mission arcs and task forces that were once available in Striga Isle will still be accessible, just from Boomtown, so not much there would have changed besides location. All in all, I think this accomplishes a great many things; Revamps a Hazard Zone, which was the original plan of Paragon Studios. Creates a new villain zone, since redside is lacking. Integrates existing narratives from story arcs into the world. Finally allows villains to explore relations with 5th Column and Council. Villains can also experience the UPA for the first time. Moves the hero side Council narrative to Boomtown, where it is currently being staged. Doesn't require much in the way of new environmental assets/map designing. More space for newly created contacts/mission arcs. Added bonus of a memorial for Galaxy City. Other possibilities; Making it a level 40-50 zone, and introducing a Warrior revamp to match this UPA spawns added to the map Zone event; 5th Column vs Council Room for Nictus themed content More direct conflict with heroes

Agreed, Ablative Carapace feels so out of place when using MinFX, I wouldn't mind if it had similar visuals so that armor didnt appear. Since it's always going to play that shell-crack sound effect, maybe keeping the burst of debris would keep it cohesive.

Judging by how Interface Incarnate Powers work, it may be possible to add auras/FX onto enemies with regular attacks, but I'm unsure how possible it is to recreate that sort of effect for purely cosmetic purposes. If it can be done, I'm all for it, having more customisation options is always good, and I'd love to see more of it for powers too!

To be honest, a powerset with the ability to boost MaxHP or healing received will benefit more from Absorb than most other powersets, so I think it would be a missed opportunity to leave Absorb out of these proposed Regeneration changes.