TemporalVileTerror

Yes, true enough. The teaming culture on Everlasting is quite pleasant for the most part from what I've seen, although I don't have much experience on the other Shards. I see many LFG messages there where the team leaders will expressly state weather a team is "open to all levels" or "##+ only." I will of course maintain that clear communication between community members will always remain the ideal solution to many issues related to team expectations . . . but if the Devs can provide additional tools to facilitate or clarify player communication to pre-emptively mitigate those problems, then I am all-for those tools also being implemented. But that's really a whole other topic. I just wanted to acknowledge that the risk of unclear team expectations IS a potential problem with what I'm requesting here, so a mindfulness of that during development should be encouraged.

I'm not sure if this is more of a bug, an oversight, or a request for the expansion of an existing feature, but . . . The /chat_set command appears to not have all channels working with it. https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Chat_set_(Slash_Command) Specifically, I couldn't get it to switch to the Help Channel, any channel which is aliased to two or more letters, or the new General Chat channel. Maybe it was just my error, but the command could probably use a consistency pass by someone with access to the code.

Sourced from: https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/29123-beta-patch-notes-for-may-24th-2021/page/3/?tab=comments#comment-365010 So, no such mechanism exists presently, to the best of @Faultline's current awareness, that would allow a team to launch a Task/Strike Force with just the Team Leader's level mattering. I wonder if the Badge/Souvenir Requirement system could not simply be subverted to that end, as I think there are instances of content which unlocks for the leader once they complete a particular mission, and does not extend that requirement to the rest of the team members. But even if that workaround is not the ideal solution, I wonder how feasible implementing new code to make the distinction between team leader's level and that of the team members' to determine the entire team's eligibility to begin a Task/Strike Force. Ideally, to ensure new players aren't dragged in to a no-win scenario, a dialogue box would pop up to reinforce the information of which level range a particular series of missions was designed to be completed in. Extra focus placed on informing players who are below that original level range of the risks associated with beginning said content, and likewise a notice for the other members of the team of low level participants, so those other players may be more selective in their teaming. And, of course, I am fully aware that there are members of this community who feel strongly in favour of gating player from enjoying content with their friends and peers at different level ranges. I feel very strongly against it. I don't think either that group or I will necessarily be able to see eye-to-eye on that any time soon, so I politely ask that if anyone feels inclined to debate the value of increasing content accessibility, that perhaps we should dedicate a General Discussion thread to that debate instead. I would personally rather see this thread used to examine the merits of the proposed workaround using Badge/Souvenir Requirement code, or the technical limitations that may hinder the feasibility of new code developed to meet this need.

At the risk of subverting what's been a very informative thread with a rant, I'll just say that I am deeply disgusted with the idea of the Homecoming Team handing over the creative rights of their own original work to NC. The entire games industry is a fucking disaster for workers' rights presently, and while I know the Homecoming Team may need some leverage to try and secure a favourable position in the negotiations, it really rubs me raw to think of this Team having to hand over their hard work to a company which already demonstrated a cavalier disregard for the value of people's work and creative investment. Not that many publishers are any better, of course, so I don't single out NC in this regard beyond the specifics that they are apparently the rights' holders to City of Heroes, on paper.

I just conducted a little test, and I see that "Thumbs Down" doesn't appear to deduct any Reputation. So, at least there's that. Additionally, with this change, the Confused Reaction can hopefully be read in the context of the post in question causing confusion, rather than the reading that seemed to develop for some users thinking it was used in the absence of a "negative" Reaction. Overall, though . . . I wonder how much use these two new Reactions are going to see. Will the availability of the Thumbs Down create any more hostility between members of the community? And really, is there a difference in context between the blue Like heart and this Thumbs Up? That does also seem a bit redundant from my perspective.

Whoops! Sorry. Just saw https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/29134-thumbs-up-or-down/ right now.

So . . . What changed to inspire this modification to the forum?

Someone just pointed this out on the Everlasting General Chat: https://hcwiki.cityofheroes.dev/wiki/Words_of_the_Warrior_Badge Just wanted to make sure it's on your radar, @Piecemeal.

A previous thread on user-submitted content which may be worth reading: https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/17513-flag-emblems/ Particularly: https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/17513-flag-emblems/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-229956

Cool! Thanks for letting us know. And to head it off at the pass, just in case: What @Naomi just said is NOT a promise, folks. It's good news to hear, absolutely, but it is not tantamount to a declaration that butt-capes-for-all will happen. It also doesn't have a timeline attached to it. So, for now, we can direct any future requests for butt-cape parity to Naomi's response here, with the caveat that it is not set in stone,. If any other announcements happen with a Dev later saying "it's not happening," it would probably be advisable to post a link to that message here.

Given that we got a response from @Faultline on the subject too, seems like the nails are sadly driven in to that particular coffin. But under normal circumstances I would advocate that others still conduct the same test that someone already did. After all, I may have made errors in my testing method. More testing may feel redundant, but small variations can have a deep impact, and it's usually worthwhile to smash your forehead in to things from every angle during a testing phase.

That really is the odd crux of it, isn't it, @EmperorSteele? If I have the option to solo it at Level 45 (or ANY content, for that matter), bringing players of any other level would only help make it easier, theoretically speaking. The "but won't someone think of the power-levelling" clutching-at-pearls or "they have to earn it" gatekeeping arguments can just go take a long walk off Spanky's Boardwalk. There's an argument to be made about facilitating a player-experience that makes sense in terms of UX and maintaining consistent expectations. The problem is that this game is so all-over-the-map already that maintaining those elements is already a mess. My personal view is to lean HEAVILY in favour of City of Heroes' signature selling feature: Player choice and agency. The more of the game which is offered to players to personally engage with on their own terms, the better. As it stands, with this change in place, my personal feedback is: This will cause me to play the Lady Grey Task Force far less. It's essentially removing access to content which I presently have the option to play at this time on the Release version of the game. Yes, there is a fundamental issue with this particular content which would make it virtually impossible for me to solo; I can still team up with other players who are 50 (or there abouts) and participate in the content as-is. This is not a solution to the problem related to Weakened Hamidon which I personally support.

There was some confusion, as it had been reported that in previous versions of the game that it was possible to launch the Strike Force with a Level 45 leader, while members were as low as level 35. We were seeking clarity on what this latest patch would do, exactly.

A player can opt-in to showing their Alignment in their own Personal Info window, by selecting the Alignment tab and hitting the toggle. This is shut off by default, and the setting seems to keep resetting when you zone or log out/in.

Level 45 on leader. Was given option to launch the Task Force while solo. Teamed up with a Level 35 alt, and got this message.

Ok. Damn. Good luck troubleshooting that, Flea! In the meantime, I suppose I'll try to multibox the test, then post results in here.

I don't see any demands. I see players genuinely wanting to understand what's going on so they may make informed decisions and provide the feedback they've been asked to. This is a two-way street, after all.

Isn't that exactly what's going on, @Glacier Peak?

Huh. Weird. I just got in and bumped myself up to 35 already. Shut down all instances of the client, and give your Homecoming Launcher a reboot, mayhaps?

I'll pop on right now, @Bionic_Flea. You wanna be the 35, or the 45 in this test?

Sorry, to be clear, I'm reading your concern in regard to Pocket D's access as an issue related to AE Power-levelling @Replacement? See, I thought it was more about the convenience of access to Null the Gull, the travel hub, and for quality of life of the Everlasting Club-Roleplay crowd.

Or, hell . . . just drop Weakened Hamidon down to level 35 too. The rest of the Task Force is already there anyway. Bargain compromise of Level 40! Lowest I'm willing to haggle!

Also, just in case anyone in this thread hadn't seen it yet, or wants a refresher: https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/19655-weekly-discussion-53-how-to-increase-villain-population/ There's a WEALTH of ideas to improve Redside population by implementing gameplay ideas which deliver on the original promise made by Cryptic way back in 2005: Villains Act, Heroes React. With @Cobalt Arachne mentioning that they're adding a trigger to launch a Nemesis Invasion, it's clear that the possibility exists for the likes of: https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/17554-make-red-side-great-again/ So, come on Devs! Add content to Redside which triggers content Blueside. Something for everyone, but incentives for Redside in particular. On EVERY Shard. If you build it, we WILL come!

Villains are people too. That's meant to be only -slightly- tongue-in-cheek here. The REAL answer is: Every player has a legitimate play experience, so long as they are doing no harm to other players. Besides, Everlasting is the Redsider Shard, clearly. Excelsior may occasionally have more individual players on Redside, but Everlasting has the highest ratio in favour of villains. (Again, going tongue-in-cheek here, to be clear. Players get to be Villains everywhere, and SHOULD be Villains on every Shard. Especially if any of the many requested gameplay features to enhance Redside agency are ever implemented.)

Just in case anyone didn't see it: https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/29123-beta-patch-notes-for-may-24th-2021/