Llewellyn Blackwell
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Posts posted by Llewellyn Blackwell
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1 minute ago, Judasace said:
Sure there were other things they didn't like about it. Hollows was , at one point, new content. It didn't release with the game. these were people who had already slogged through an alt or two, then the brand new content comes out...and it's another great big slogfest. The run across the Hollows was the straw that broke the camel's back.
While I admire their ingenuity, the simple fact that the game gave rise to people playing as Taxibots should tell you there's something horribly wrong with the way the game is designed.
Taxi bots arose with in the early months of live, places like perez parks woods being a literal maze legit had players get lost in there, which was imo brilliant design. few MMO have ever had the balls to make a legit maze you could not map nav out of easily. Taxibots were a noble and venerated super group, one that was oh so very coh and the fact the game gave rise to them a positive not a negative. Because heaven forbid a game make travel powers actually useful by having long travel distances, and a reason to want to use such powers. Some of us gasp actually do enjoy flying around and actually appreciate the breather between missions that such trips give when moving quickly on a tf.
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2 minutes ago, Ukase said:
I actually have a clear memory of one of my classmates telling me they were doing the beta for CoH and asking if I wanted in, as we were both in the masters program for computer science at the time. But, because I had more than just computer science in my mind when I was with her, I passed, not wanting to get in that friend zone. She ended up transferring to Georgia Tech and is actually part of a game design team. I ended up doing something with nothing to do with gaming and very little, if anything, to do with computer science. Should've done the beta!
Considering I had 2 in game friendships with women in coh turn into RL physical relationships over they years back on live, yeah you really should of played with her;)
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35 minutes ago, Ukase said:
I'm going to digress, forgive me. But when I first bought this game at the now defunct Circuit City, I had no idea what the initials MMO stood for. I was 35, I think. I'd always loved Marvel Comics. DC not as much. Certainly a childhood fan of Captain Marvel of Whiz comics (and later DC). I was a bit dismayed to read through the EULA and other rules to learn I couldn't make a Spider Man or a Thing.
When I made the first character, and I figured out there were other people in MY game, I was bit pissed. I'd be wailing down on a clockwork, and some other player would see fit to "help" and still my kill when it had just a sliver of hp left. This didn't just happen a few times, either. I was completely ignorant of the forums then. I had no idea how to slot beyond the tool tips that revealed which kind of enhancements would be accepted. There's no question in my mind this game should have been developed for solo play, without requiring an internet connection. (truth be told, without those "other people", I would have never learned how to slot with any purpose or efficacy)
Actually this certainly explains a fair bit about yourself as a gamer and I will certainly keep it in mind in future discussions. While CoH was my first MMO, I had dabbled in MUDs( multi user dungeons) basically online text D&D like games. Also I had read a very interesting and indepth article about everquest in an issue of Playboy. So I had a fair bit of understanding of MMO even before getting into one. It was actually at a D&D session that a friend first sat me down on his copy of coh to check it out. That was I think about 3rd month of live, and I would have my own account not very long after that. For me playing in a game world with other gamers( wasnt really into RP online just yet) was a hell of a thing, as soon as I was high enough level I started a positron tf, oh the brutal pain of that. Good times;).
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7 hours ago, Ukase said:
By PL'ing to 50, yeah, you get your inf and the nice drops. And you can always do stuff through Ouro, armed with all of your attuned IOs and all the slots, sure. But with Ouro - you're locked in. By doing the content when you're that level, you can stop, do a tf, whatever. With ouro...you're stuck, or you're re-doing it. But you do you.
As for teaming during the lower levels, I don't seek them out. Most of the time, they want to do radios, which don't give merits. Story arcs give merits. And if you're doing a story arc - I don't get the merits, you do. So unless I'm doing the same story arc as you, and I opt for simultaneous completion, I'm leveling beyond my story arc, and missing out on merits. So, that's why I don't team up much. That, and I find so many inexperienced players taking what should be a 30 minute posi 1 (even if you kill all) and making into 90 minutes of frustration because they don't want to learn, they just want to kill stuff without regards to their hp. They don't consider waiting for a blaster to pull to a corner, or a tank or brute to taunt. As one other put it - it's like leading a cat to a bath. Just not easily done, and even if you can do it, the cat doesn't like you afterwards.
Still, because of this post, I'm going to try and not sweat merits and team more. It's not like I need the merits for anything. I have my next 100 alts funded already. I would even consider mentoring beginning players on how to market, how to make a farmer to subsidize their character's needs, and how to get the 4 passive accolades in a fairly efficient manner. I've often thought about making a super team start off with ZERO from any alt, no assistance from anything other than what drops. How to get those first batch of converters to make enough inf to get your character into the 20's, and then how to get enough inf to get to the 40's and then to a billion before 50, and still be kitted out, and have about 750 badges. (amazing how many badges aren't available until 50!)
Maybe I should get off my high horse and do that.Ill Be brutally honest, your more likely to drive away players from the game trying to mentor based on those lines of yours I highlighted. If your the kind that feels stuck when locked into a group via flashback or tf, and get frustrated easily by how others and especially newer/less meta gamer play.
For example in the above,a posi 1 no one can really tank at those levels, most tanks and brutes who try to hold aggro even with support will face plant that low. Posi 1 is one of those that is simply understood to become a real pita the bigger the team. Solo Stalkers rule that baby. And in general you are going to find both old gamers who enjoy modern games and young gamers are not going to embrace tank and spank but see it as the most boring way to play, right up there with door sitting at an AE farm.
I mean new players dont need to sweat inf, best tip anyone can give them is 5 slot their best early attack and slam all 5 of the prestige enhancements in it to have it basically be a one shot attack through the early levels as early game wasnt designt to have a high dmg attack with a 80% dmg buff until much later, so early mobs melt to that. Get the acc buff from the sewer run and good to go for a while. Usually keep a stack of lvl 15 common IOs of the acc dmg and recharge variety I just toss at folks of those levels when I see them, that 19% percent that doesnt go away is a nice interim boost till 22 and the decent lvl 25 common IOs.
But really mentoring is all about your own mentality and yours does not sound ready for it. I dont say that to be unkind. I myself recall my own evolution to mentor very clearly. Way back on live it was around the time I had my first solo AV capable toon. I started running TFs and basically ignoring the team in the last mish, ghosting straight to the AV and killing it before the team ever got near. This ended up getting me on a lot of peoples shit list. But I was so intoxicated by my lack of any need of others beyond starting tfs I did not care. They were all just noobs!, envious of what I could do, and holding me back, being nothing but sources of frustration for me in my goal to prove I could defeat every AV solo!
Then one day I shed that youth induced narcissism, when I learned that a regular I RPd with had legit quit the game after a TF run I was on and was a right proper arse to everyone on. Like a good beating and a toss in a cold river I awoke from what could only be described as a legit case of being corrupted by power even if it was all in game. I had let my character reaching their peak influence both their rp concept and my own behavior and for the worst.
I thought to myself what a terrible fool I had been, a real berk... and then I recalled an NPC a curious one, in an old story arc. A guy with a funny name, one that the nickname berk would be oh so fitting for. And so I became Bentley Berkeley the old berk. I embraced the persona in game of an old mentor, one who often gets in over his head and needs the help of others. In fact in any council map with a cell room, I used then and still use self destruct to put myself in a cell right away on Berk. Yes he is also strong enough to carry teams of puggles through most content, and has, and always will be willing to. But his number 1 reason for being, is to act as a mentor, a guide, to help others explore their potential.
I mentor by teaching players to explore their builds, and to not use guides. Rather to make use of the liberal respec system and at the same levels we can first access the respec trials, to run those, as they tend to be a good test on build performance. If you struggle you likely should look over your powers and ponder what is and what is not working well for ones playstyle as an example.
As a guide, I try to show people the areas and arcs worth running both for the story and insight to the world, and the early rewards. Like the hollows, faultline, early TFs, and sometimes just enjoyable locals visually to also street hunt in for casual time.
And as a right proper Berk I try to keep things amusing and fun, like a modern jester. You wont get through a pen yin run without me making some wise crack about clamors hand!
So to be frank unless you really are ready to shed the attitude that makes you find frustration in how others play, and seem to lean more to control freak then teacher, your likely not ready to take on the mantle of mentor.
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17 minutes ago, Healix said:
I am not fond of 'speed' runs that are so fast I can barely keep up. I enjoy teaming with folks who like to talk and laugh on the mish/TF. I also like actually using strategy and working like a well-oiled machine. (I team often with an 'old-school' tank who let's us know the spot he is bringing the baddies to, then herds them up like a sheepdog...he taunts over and over, and the bad guys don't stand a chance.) For me, this is much more fun than sitting in AE, hurriedly getting to 50 and missing all the great lore and thousands of small touches in the game. I will never demean anyone who dashes from 1 to 50 in AE...everyone should play the way they want to. There is no right or wrong way to enjoy yourself in this awesome game.
See I both agree and disagree with this. On the one hand the sentiment of enjoying the game how you like, totes agree with.
On the other, I myself loathe tank and spank design and always have, I am one of those who def appreciate the better AI in more modern games that negate that frankly imo exploitative game style which exist only to abuse very limited AI mechanics.
I far more favor modern aggro mechanics that usually switch around much faster based on things like most recent dmg dealer, highest dmg dealer, most powerful character, weakest character, character out of range of ally support etc. In other words I hate everything about the traditional concept of aggro magnet tanking. And if I had one wish for this game it would be to see it go the way of the dodo. The simple truth is the concept of an AT being squishy is entirely out of place in the comic book genre, actual active heroes in the comics are all capable of defending themselves. We dont include the likes of Prof X or Oracle because they are not field operatives so to speak.
But the fact is when you translate some of the weakest and most fragile comic characters like a 14 year old human child in tights armed with nothing more then ninja skills and a staff into one hard to put down staff/ninja stalker who by virtue of being one of the Melee ATs ends up at the forefront of survival ATs, the fact is, the truth is that none of us should be squishy, all of us should be taking our share of aggro. If anything TFs should of been the solo affairs because in comics the long quest to face a specific big bad is almost always a one on one heroes journey to face a personal nemesis kind of story.
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4 hours ago, GlaziusF said:
I don't team up for story missions, pretty much ever. The reason is simple: unless somebody is exactly story synced with the leader, they get bupkis. Their contact doesn't progress, they don't get to see the story as it shows up in clues, and they don't get the merit prize at the end of the arc. I feel either selfish or shortchanged, depending on if I have the star or not. Those few story missions I team up for are the ones that do have a prize for all participants at the end - unlocking Karsis or Katie Hannon or Ernesto Hess as a contact.
Trials and task forces pay out to everybody equally. When I team, I play those.
This is a pov I think needs more consideration, because while not getting merits myself has never kept me from helping those in need on the final big boss fight of a story arc mish, I have seen no few over the years of live and now this last year+ on HC that suggest it isnt as uncommon as Id like to think it is.
One of the things I have always loved about CoH and the community by and large is a lack of the mercenary " I need to be getting mine first and foremost" so common in the typical fantasy MMO. Ive often thought this might well be due simply to the nature of the genre. In D&D player characters are by and large mercenary adventurers working for pay and the promise of great wealth.
In CoH not so much, even our currency is called Influence, to divorce ourselves from the idea our characters are motivated by wealth, rather they seek greater influence to change the world for the better, or in the case of villains are more interested in being the most infamous truly worst of the worst. In either case, the nature of the game universe, and content always directs our characters down the path to being chosen by the universe itself as great champions( anyone ever feel like the writers of the shows like arrow and flash played a ton of coh?, like seriously that crisis cross over was even using the term paragon for their chosen of the well concept) of the forces they fight for.
Yet there is a portion of the players who basically will not play any content they do not get merits for. Its the number 1 grumble I see on radio teams, the lack of merits. I see it as the most common grumble for those who enjoy casual street sweeping. I get the feeling there is certainly a meaningful portion of our population that is in fact very reward driven, and its not just AE farmers.
Can I ask you specifically though and truly am asking, why cant you help someone with their content, even if it means they get some reward you dont, if you value being a friendly and helpful member of the community, I mean if you are enjoying playing the game, enjoying the company in the game, then why does you getting yours matter so much?
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14 minutes ago, The Pyn said:
it's all hypothetical the following are what first occurred to me:
- variety of origins are available which support both rp and so/do enhancements
- deferring all slots until 38+ would increase power-levelling to that point
- deferring all slots until 38+ would unbalance the gameplay at lower levels since the mob difficulty is intended to be offset by slotted so's - increase in power-levelling
- sets being only available at 50 would increase power-levelling to 50
net-net it's probably unnecessary and if implemented would probably result in power-levelling to counter-measure the gap associated with every impact.
Oh Im not talking about any of this as something that should be done, more a what if it had been done this way to start with. For example if we got all our powers faster do you think there would be such a rush to the slot phase? maybe we could make powers stronger baseline and enhancements and slots less impactful in such a theoretical. Would actually make sense to do so since slots would all be a mid to late game system at that point. We would obviously be doing away with everything but IOs the actual enhancement system of modern coh in such a system as with hindsight we see how pointless those paltry trainers and DOs are, to the point a great many are just running around unslotted until they reach SO/lvl 30 IO range now days.
Again this isnt a how would we change current coh but how we would if we could taking what we know now, have built coh in the first place. One of the biggest and why its kind of the starting point for the rest of what I post is, that I do encounter many who do not like having to reach cap to have their super hero have all their super powers. A great many fans of this genre chafe at the classic game power tiers, and see them more as remnants of MMO design at large rather then something befitting the comic hero genre. We see even the HC devs to some extent must feel something like this or we wouldnt see travel power access for example coming so much earlier then on live.
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1 hour ago, Grouchybeast said:
Shotgun-Axe Powerset CONFIRMED!!!
That looks like a terribly designed weapon. Especially when history already had a better melee/shotgun combo.
Meet the Howdaha double barrel muzzle loaded pistol shotgun ( typical 12 or 20g) traditionally loaded with one shot, one slug and fired both at once at the face of tigers by pack elephant guards. Now what is not easily seen in the picture is the butt of the handle, its heavy from a thick nasty bit of brasswork that turns it when held by the barrel into a right proper war hammer. the kind that could finish of a wounded tiger with a single swift brutal blow to the skull.
Something like that converted to a modern cartridge weapon would be far better as some kind of zombie apocalypse/end of the world weapon imo.
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16 minutes ago, Judasace said:
If you can't respond without name calling and personal attacks, maybe that's a "you" problem.
Reported and ignored.
Hm I reread my post I cant find a single personal attack. Some inferences yes but no direct insults. Questioning someones game play ability is not an insult especially when said gamer has stated they struggle with a piece of content at anything above -1 solo.
And lol sure ignore the person who actually was engaging in discussion with you, because you didnt like what you heard.
I mean I may be a silly ol berk, but your being less then genuine in your desire to have a discussion if your going to respond like this.
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In another thread I was just in, while largely disagreeing with another poster, they did admittedly touch on something I myself have kicked around in my head since the early days of CoH. And this isnt a suggestion just my ponderings hence why it is here. Feel free to add your own and tear into mine as you prefer.
So lets start with Powers. A not uncommon issue Ive seen rise up in chats in game over the years on live and now here on HC is the nature of powers and how we get them in game via the traditions in the comic hero genre. For example Superman has often cited his eye beams as being his most powerful, difficult to control, and first of his more then merely physical powers to manifest, though admittedly some writers have had him cite his flight, but most seem to write that as manifesting during his teen age years often connected with the typical teen age desire to spread ones wings as it were.
Likewise most characters even with a wide range of powers do tend to manifest most of them in a very short span of time. Mostly its those who have the ability to learn or absorb powers from others who have long drawn out arcs to reach their Powers peak.
It makes me wonder things like what if we got our powers at a different pace in game. Like what if we got a power every level. And it was only once we had all our powers that we started to get slots for them. It makes me ponder what it would look like if sets where a only for lvl 50s thing and the new teir of power between cap and incarnate basically. I mean its all just random wild pondering, no real plan or anything again hence why I am here babbling like a silly ol berk.
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18 hours ago, Judasace said:
A lot of "Old School" playing sucked, and it's mostly down to the design philosophy of the original devs, who instead of believing that fun was achieved through a balance of risk and reqard, they somehow got the idea that fun came about as a mixture of Fun and Not Fun. So they did things like make surprise timed missions, kill alls full of places where mobs could easily get lost or stuck in walls, hostages and rescues that you have to lead out like you're trying to lure a cat to a bath. Even in the later years they designed horrible missions - Faultline's "revamp" brought us Fusionette who will usually get herself killed unless it's on missions that are solo and -1, the field agents in Talos that will give you a surprise timed mission, followed by a nearly impossible rescue and then a ridiculous series of timed rescues. None of these are fun or engaging, they're all just frustrating. At least they somewhat improved Positron's and Sister Psyche's TFs, but the others - Synapse, Manti, Citadel mainly although Numina's hunts are still idiotic - are horrid specimens of game design. Don't even get me started on Trials like Eden and Terra Volta.
What they got right were the mechanics of playing and feeling like a superhero, and the character building (eventually). This is what keeps most people coming back, not the actual game content. The game has too much influence from the pre-WoW MMO king, Everquest, to ever be anything but a slogfest if you try to play it the regular way.
The game struggled at about 80k players for most of its life and was cancelled for good reasons. The number of people that I recall quitting out of frustration between the initial release of CoH and CoV was staggering. I had an entire 8 person SG just not return to the game after we had to quit a mission during a TF because we couldn't find a glowie...back before they made noise you could look for hours and not find them. I'm still here, but I do and always have taken LONG breaks from playing...had played since launch but hadn't played in a year when they announced the cancellation.
This is by all respects a bad game that fills a very particular niche for a lot of people. But objectively, it's still a bad game, poorly designed and not something that would hold a very large audience for long.
Bloody hell, what are you a Champions Fanboi here taking out your issues with cryptic on us? I love faultline 2.0s NPCs and arcs and do them on nearly every toon. If you cant keep Nette alive on anything but -1 one solo that speaks more to a "YOU" problem them a game design one frankly.
Being a super hero is all about the ticking clock, and saving the day in the nick of time, timer and hostage missions belong more so in CoH then any other mmo of another genre. Its funny how you sight revamped SpTF aka PYTF even though it ends with bowrrowing the final fight arena of TV trial which you hate on. Frankly I actually love the 3rd respec trial as a casual lvl 50 TF, easy 20 merits and a ton of rikti bashing for more v merits.
The game also had way way more then 80k as a playerbase. It had on its 2 top servers roughly 100k each, with both being at max server load of 30k just about every single hour of every day. It was generally considered to have a stable active sub pop of around 250k which while not WoW or even EQ1 numbers, held those numbers very consistently and thrived modestly in the shadow of the growing titan that WoW was fast becoming at that time.
Maybe you are unaware that CoH was frequently cited positively in online game review sites for its legendary player retention numbers? While the vast majority of MMO only hold between 3-5% of all players that try them, CoH had a massive 25% retention rate. No other MMO has ever had that kind of success in holding those who come here as long term ardent fans.
And the game play and content is very fun. Unlike most MMO that have vastly better single player options. Most super hero type games made for the single player come nowhere near CoH in terms of character design and power choices. Hell some dont even seem like they would, for example, the game that best scratched my super power itch during the Blip, was Saints Row 4. Didnt have flying but the super speed and jumping, energy blasting all gave me some real coh nostalgia back when we didnt have CoH.
Bad game my lily white wrinkly old arse. Someone call Caligula, this guy here needs a Daisy.
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Well frankly I tend to push to 50 pretty quick because I want to know if Ill even enjoy the power mixture. Now I dont PLV, dont need to. with dbl XP on I can runa few arcs, the TF commander TFs as I reach the lvl range, and street sweep if Im in the mood and cap in a few days.
Im way to old of a hand at this game to need to lvl slowly to know how to use my build or powers. The only thing I need to see is them in play to get a feel for if they are fun to actually play with for me personally with the concept I am trying to bring to life.
There is also the snow ball effect. You mention SO's being pricey. Once you have a single 50 such thoughts vanish. Ive been on HC now over a year and half, have about a page full of 50s, and all of them are arounda half bil or more in inf invested in their IO builds. Im also a pretty casual player who mainly does story arcs and TFs.
So hey im glad you found HC and are enjoying the game again like the rest of us. And sure enjoy a nice slow stroll through the park, smelling the flowers, riding every ride. Just dont act like those of us who know the park well, and know which rides we want to go ride on, are somehow not doing it oldschool.
Oldschool in CoH would be joining an SG that will ladder PLV you to cap with a fire/kin farmer in return for staying in sg mode the whole time.
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7 hours ago, Vanden said:
In the mission Check Out the New Dimension from Tina Macintyre, your character discovers a dimension where an alternate version of themself killed every person on Earth. Every character can get this mission, and it's always an alternate version of that character that ruined the world, which means it's not multiple characters visiting the same dimension. This means that every time you create a new character, you murder an entire planet! I hope it was worth it.
While I do love this arc, its nature is one that makes it so I only run it on very specific character concepts that it does not directly conflict with my character concept. For example any character who is a demon.
Why demons as a specific example you may ask? Well this is one of those because I knew Infernal in game casually back in the day things. Now like the rest of the core hero NPCs, there is an Infernal on Praetoria. However unlike all the rest, the praetorian Infernal is also our Infernal. But wait what am I talking about you ask ? Well its all sorts of high strangness that makes me want to say its all wibbly wobbly timey whimey, but technically time travel isnt involved, just a rip in the fabric of reality aka space/time.
You see Infernal even as just a half demon is cosmically unique, just as his mother a full demon is. There are not alternate Infernal Realms, and actually some of those long past conversations I had with Infernal made me pretty sure Demonkind and their origin world might well be the original Earth/dimension in the grand scheme of the multiverse that all others are alternates of. Possibly due to what we know of demons and their powers concerning souls and consuming them, that it was a world were humans basically became human based versions of the Banished Pantheon of our Paragon Earth.
Infernal when he was sucked through a rift caused by an attempt by his best friend to bind the lord of demonkind Valmaz, basically got captain kirked. His dark nature got manifested in praetoria, his good in Paragon. It was one of those things done to hint at how close Paragon and Praetoria are, basically side by side on the multi earth wheel spinner. Our Statesman is Marcus Cole C-137, and Emperor Cole is Marcus Cole C-138.
While certainly Infernal was not the end all be all on the subject, I know he was pretty adamant about keeping the NPC Infernal out of additional timeline archs like nazi Earth with the Riechsman.
However this story arc in question on my character Demetrios Vasilikos, who already deals with being a clone of Doc Vahz, and has encountered the praetorian counterpart to his original as well, utterly loved this arc and found it one of the most fitting to play through, when it first was rel;eased way back on live.
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Well I can offer some possible answers to the why I guess.
First and most obvious answer, it was just a personal design choice by the devs in charge of the visuals.
2nd could be some kind of dictate by Jack. Jack we know well was really into the myths and legends of the greeks and romans and D&D. He apparently ran D&D campaigns going back to his earliest nerd origins that would of fit in as double features with films like Clash of the Titans and Jason and the Argonauts.
And in CoH lore the gods of the greeks are just basically sentient energy life forms that feed off of our psychic energy. So hell I dont know maybe a Phantasm is like ground zero baby god in the making. Like if one Phantasm had hundreds of ill trollers all focus their power on it, what would it become?
Or maybe its like the middle aged guy buying a big truck as a ego booster, like being an ILL means your one of those who feel powerless directly so you make your psychic drone this larger then life superman?
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Also something you just do not seem to be getting nor really responding with any clearer of an idea is what would an AT specific path even mean for ATs? Aside from PB, WS etc there is no idea of what even would be in this game. What would a scrapper path even mean? A blaster? Mobs are not designed with specific ATs in mind. Unless you are like suggesting that there would be mobs on a path for a blaster for example that wouldnt use CC etc, so that only those ATs with the ability to negate a mobs abilities would be encountered. That sounds a lot like fire farming imo though.
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2 hours ago, Golden Azrael said:
RP is good.
It just a case of how you can construct that arc. Or package up the content. A lot is by-passed and wasted because of the current design.
My duo partner and I have taken to doing the Oro so we can share the merits and do the same contact.
I don't think it would be 'that hard' to put the names and origin type to the picture of each Oro mission. Jeeze. You have to look at the HC wiki to find out who they are...
'...uh...mm...this face...is...looks...tabs back and forwards...is it him...no...him?'
Unless I'm missing something.
Having an Origin patch to package up the mission content is an option.
Just like the random choices that can be made from the game 'seemingly' randomly given you contacts.
It's telling that you need a wiki to understand all the different types of contacts and their arcs. Is it part of your origin? Or is it a zone specific contact.
Having an extra option doesn't have to break the current choice. It can add to it.
Like following someone's build. Or just making the build as you play along.
Yes. You can argue that Superman is 'natural' (don't let my Duo Partner here you say that...) but to all intents and purposes he's a 'Superhero' and 'Batman' is just a naturally trained guy with a halloween suit on. And we know what mean by Magic, Science, Tech' (yeah...Iron Man is 'natural...' he's just a guy in a suit...) etc.
Having explicit Origin paths would smarten things up abit. I find the 'same' random experience can seem 'same.'
I'll take your point about Praetoria. My duo partner and I have done it a bit and enjoyed it. Play testing on the missions by the original devs could have been better here and there. But it's interesting if somewhat 1 dimensional. I prefer the CoH setting, if I'm honest.
I miss the Pact system. But now I've finally wrapped my head around Oro' and how the mission system actually works. The nearest thing to a Pact system is just dong the Oro content (and use the Wiki system to decode who the contacts are to follow your 'Origin.'
Just a shame the Oro' stuff doesn't have a contact name and origin status under their picture. (Really? Who is this guy...he looks familiar...goes hunting through the wiki...)
Azrael.
Look forget superman, keep it in game and lets talk kheldian. A peacebringer is a natural because it is as it was at the moment of its "birth" into being. A warshade is science because they are kheldians that used science to manipulate their natural state into something different. And nope, any martial arts masters is not a natural, they are a science. Martial arts are a science, there is no one who naturally knows these highly refined and advanced fighting forms. Even western boxing and wrestling styles meet this definition. The same is true of those who master weapons. They are a mixture of the science tech to create swords, and the science of martial sword forms to master the weapon, though such objects can also easily be imbued with magic and thus empower their wielder rather and in ways making the bearer more of a host and tool of the magic.
I also think you are taking the whole arc/contact thing from a bad angle. Look up the arc by its name, and then see who the contacts for it are, as long as one is natural, then that is all that should matter for your needs. Plenty of arcs use contacts of different origins, usually overlapping much how DO enhancements are paired up.
The truth is though there really is no group that meets your wants fully. Every group in Paragon has at least their toe dipped in the pool of real Power. The Warriors dabble in magic and hell more thena few likely take a little "dyne", maybe even eventually migrating to the Trolls. All the low end gangs have Powers. The Skulls,hellions, outcasts,trolls, council, so on and so on. And really would not be groups most with no Powers would want to be taking on often. Even Batman after his breaking by Bane in internal monologue admitted to himself that he had over reached and pushed himself too far trying to take on a super soldier like Bane when he at their first meeting witnessed Banes massively superior physical ability, and should of just called Clark in for 5 seconds from across the Bay.
And even dabbling in Power tends to have a lasting effect in Cohverse. Using a magic item is likely to trigger latent mu genes, or mark one in such a way that those with real magic can forever track them with ease. Using something like Dyne even once can alter one to the very fabric of reality, and make themselves noticed by those beings that exist on the fringes of what we call reality.
Finally unless you guys intend to not go incarnate, well the game turns those who do in concept and game lore, into actual god like cosmic beings. Chosen of the gods at the least. Now my own Batman homage the Black Flying Fox does not do the incarnate thing specifically because he is my concept build of a mortal man in CoH. He does have limits as to what he can do solo or even duo because of these build limits among them intentional fragility.
Speaking of for me, that really is the biggest need in any "mortal" human build. If you have enough defense your mere human is dodging all gun fire, and enough dmg res they can stand in lava, then they are not normal human builds imo.
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Ill be honest, this feels abit like a mountain being made from a mole hill situation. Now sadly the share xp between 2 chars thing hasnt been brought back on HC, which does make keeping a duo truly in sync harder. But it really is a non issue. The sidekick/exemplar system( one of cohs greatest and most unique strengths btw) already makes sure you two can always be in team with no issue. And really there is no different between doing an arc together via flashback. If your really only playing together when each other are on with the toons, then even having to break mid flashback shouldnt be much of a hassle.
While they did experiment with AT specific arcs with the Epic ATs, even those are not full story paths to level through unless one is really upping the dif and running an xp booster perhaps.
Now I frankly favor Praetoria as a start for duo teams. Its content and setting really lend itself to having at least 1 partner watching your back imo.
And finally you dont seem to notice how what you ask for even as a choice could hurt the game especially for new players. Putting them on a path that would be the same for every character of an AT, or origin might sound like a good idea in theory. But in practice more then likely wouldnt get used more then once for each path for players thinking it might contain unique content like the personal story stuff in SWTOR. Only to eventually learn that the game is actually meant to be played choose your own adventure and build a collection of personal clues in order to show that unique characters path through the content.
You also seem to be making the fundamental mistake many do that Natural as an example implies Batman more then say Superman. When in fact it is superman that is the Natural, and Batman would be science, as even refined martial arts qualifies as the science of fighting. So what you would define as Natural origin game factions might not always be what the game would. Peace Bringer PD for example are naturals, yet would concept wise be quite a cosmic class foe to the average pugilist who normally punches weapon wielding warriors.
This issue ofcourse can also be tackled via lore based RP concepts for ones character. For example my forum handle's in game foe focuses are in order of how long he has been dealing with them, the Nictus,Nemesis,Circle of Thorns,5th Column, Council as far as primal Earth threats go. There are also all things shadow shard, and midnighter related. Every bit of content involving these foe groups being a part of my characters history adds to my personal enjoyment when fighting them, and makes any content with them feel almost made for him. Some really does. Nothing quite like running the path of Darkness and being told to go find myself. Who knew this game was so introspective;) This in fact is the main drive behind lore based RP in general, to become so integrated into the game world, that it often feels like your character really is part of it.
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On 8/24/2020 at 4:28 PM, Solarverse said:
I like those ideas.
What brought this on, is that I have a German character who goes by the name of Cinderhawk.
His costume is of German Flag colors, he was born shortly (within days) after the rise of Hitler, which was all the more reason for his parents to hide the fact that he was born with powers of fire. At the age of 3, his parents fled Germany to America for fear of what Hitler was doing to their country. Once the war was over, his parents went back to Germany because they felt a certain responsibility to clean up after the war had ended and Germany was left in ruins. My character stopped aging at the age of 30, keeping his secrets of fire powers all that time, but his friends continued to age and started noticing and making comments on how my character seemed to stay youthful. When the comments went from being jokes to being closer to accusations, at the age of 42, he left Germany in fear of people learning the truth, he knew he had to leave before it became any more obvious. He went back to America where he discovered a City full of people with powers such as himself, where he had helped Statesman and given his name, Cinderhawk, during his time spent in the Hero Brigade, when the 5th Column attacked. Since then he has been defending Paragon City at every turn and standing up for what is morally right, all the while trying his hardest to stay out of politics or any political affiliations.
Now...that is the short version...which explains why I am here making this thread, lol. 😄Now see this here is the kind of bio Id just have to mosey on up to the character of and say pardon me but while your bio isnt bad at all, and in our world makes sense well enough, doesnt so much in cohverse. For example, while we know hitler and WWII did certainly happen still in this timeline, some details seem intentionally vague, and likely for good reason. For example its likely that the reason for WWII, and for the U.S. involvement in it was radically different to say the least.
For starters we know that the Nictus more then likely engineered or in some other way were the catalyst for most if not all the major wars of human history going back thousands of years. While all the details are not likely known to the general public, Kheldian heroes are not exactly low profile, and PB PD officers only add to the likely truth of them being known to the general public to some extent. Maybe not every bit of kheldy/nictus lore, but enough that it would make this timelines version of something like x files be closer to a docudrama series, and the conspiracies about nazi interest in magic, the occult, aliens, and artifacts of power are not so much minor aspects so much as driving forces in this universe. With power coloring you could even do a blue white flame and have your powers be connected to exposure to a PBs radiation or some such if you have been searching for a reason for them coming into being on an infant. More then like a lot of undercover khelds and nictus were thick as fleas on a sewer rat in german in that time period.
Statesman and his crew of that era were world wide icons. Paragon already a world famous focal point for Powers. Its very unlikely your character would of been unaware of the existence of either for so many years, and there is enough in the lore to infer that Sister Psyche not unlike prof x was always scanning for new Powers. It seems very unlikely that without powers that assisted in being detected a mere fire projector even one who had perfect control from a young age would of managed to never draw much attention, especially one who also was nearly ageless and Im guessing heals quick to?
Also with the existence of multiple cosmic beings like Requiem being involved with the nazi in WWII, I am fairly certain most sane people like your characters parents would of wanted to go no where near Germany for a very long time to come. They like had some first hand awareness of Nictus activity there before fleeing, and fled more then anything due to stories of dark spirits eating peoples souls and taking over their bodies.
As you said it was just the quick and dirty so maybe in your expanded version more of this is taken into account. Either way I hope my ponderings here might offer new ideas to integrate better with cohverse.
Oh fun fact, up until Pearl Harbor forced the hand of the U.S., the main reason for the nation as a whole holding back was simple popular media persona and national hero Charles Lindburgh, a major fan of nazi eugenics, and now days likely the best suspect in what really happened to little charlie. He spent a hell of a lot of time on radio shows, and writing articles for national papers telling folks that nazi really were good folks.
So its pretty likely in Cohverse, with Statesman being a world wide hero at that time, and way way way more influential then a nazi sympathizer like ol Chuck, it likely didnt take Pearl Harbor for the U.S. to get involved.
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On 8/19/2020 at 6:20 PM, ForeverLaxx said:
There was someone who essentially called themselves the Clockwork King on Everlasting before they knew that was a "big-name" villain in the game. I think he ended up tweaking it later, but that happens a lot around here with people unfamiliar with the game's lore and history.
Regardless, the idea that using the word "requiem" in CoH automatically means it must be associated with a space fascist and should be condemned is equal parts hilarious, sad, narrow-minded, and ironic.
Which is not at all what I am saying. What I am saying is there are examples through real world history, where the actions of a singularly terrible person will stamp all things associated with them, including a common name,word, or symbol with their personal brand and taint it for generations to come.
Lets use a very easy to understand real world case, the name Adolf. In Germany, it has all but vanished as a name since WWII. Less then a 100 babies there have been given that name in the last 20 years as a very quantifiable statistic I was easily able to go look up. I can honestly say the one person I have ever met in the U.S. named Adolf literally was the son of a hard core white nationalist neo nazi type.
Now sure its not explicit in the lore. But it does not take much logic from a world building pov to see how in a timeline of our world, where a being like Requiem exists, that the word in general becomes less and less used, or at the very least has that new aspect added as one of its common meanings. A great example would be the word Axis, which after world war 2 became a common short hand term for referencing the Axis Powers faction. And thats just that level of connection. Now imagine just for a second what would a being like Requiem in CoHverse, represent, how deep a loathing people feel for to this day for the actual Nazi, how much more would that be amplified by a nearly immortal, godlike one. How do you think his existence impacted the lives of survivors of the camps, and their generations to follow them, when we can see how what really happened really impacted such people in our real world.
Let me put it a very simple way. You go to a D&D session, its set in the super popular Forgotten Realms setting. One of the players wants to call their character Elminster. Now sure, no rule nor even real harm in it if they do. But if they think every player's character, and every NPC they come across isnt going to mention the fact he shares the name with the worlds mightiest wizard, a chosen of the goddess of magic herself, and mock him for it aplenty, and might even at times end up in trouble because of it, then they are terribly foolish.
I would for example, assume the name Marcus is hugely common in CoHverse because Statesman's identity isnt much of a secret, and he had been beloved globally for nearly a century. And more then likely in the Rogue Isles, Stephen is also hugely popular maybe even at levels comparable to Adolf Or Joseph as names under the height of their tyrannical rule.
Am I saying Requiem has no other, traditional meaning in CoHverse? Not at all. I am saying it has an additional meaning it does not in our real world, but would at the least share aspects more then likely with how words in our world do get changed, including in which groups of people will favor or eschew them.
Id at the very least hope that anyone who actually cares about the game world and setting enough to role play effectively, would if they wanted to use the word requiem as part of their name, reference in their bio that they see themselves as a would be rival to the villain, bent on defeating them once and for all and seizing it for themselves so that it might in time with their help become associated with better things then a mass murdering space nazi.
Oh and here is another example. Imagine some new magnetic mutant in marvel deciding to call themselves magneto man. Again no crime or rule really broken, but dont you think just about everyone who has ever heard of the real Magneto, is going to at least eye roll at this new kid on the block?
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5 hours ago, Solarverse said:
Makes more sense to drop the aggro management from PA completely and leave the rest alone. Reason being; how many times have you hit an illusion target and just kept beating on it? Never, right? So why should the NPC's? I say remove the aggro and let'er rip!
Personally I think your logic very flawed. We quit doing it due to meta game pov, our characters are not the ones capable of recognizing the difference, and the fact AI will attack decoys and summons, kinda makes that point clear.
Besides if we make the PA mortal, dps orientated pets, like a dom should have, then we should then be using our group invis to cloak them to help them survive between CDs of the power.
See if we are going to take away their aggro magnet, we can take away their invuln to, by doing that double nerf in their tank aspect, we can then rightly justify an increase to DPS, or persisting longer or possibly until death( see my above idea about dismissing them to heal up after fights). Another thing could be to give them a disorient or confuse effect, to portray the enemy becoming utterly bewildered by numerous copies of the same person.
I mean you do get that what your saying literally undermines the entire concept of the new mirror image aspect of PA right? Why would someone be able to instantly discern the difference between us and our clones? Im all for better AI but it should be AI that immerses not takes me out of the game. Some mobs could possess the ability to see through illusions, all for that. the big eyes of the Rul and psi mobs in general would all be reasonable choices for such. But a blanket change to all AI would just be bad design imo.
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On 5/21/2020 at 1:12 PM, Captain Powerhouse said:
Since I am being quoted a lot: the post that is being quoted is just one of many potential directions for the power. If I was set on thinking that was my definitive preferred approach, I would had already started work on it and it would had been ok a test wave.
PA is problematic because not only can it manage aggro too well, but also because it’s basically immortal and easy to sustain perma. The damage is an issue but not as big as the other two factors. It’s the dominators own damage output that makes that a bigger issue than it is for Controllers.
Basically, a Dom replacement of the power would either be less effective at aggro management, or killable, or have a much shorter duration, or an in-between of all that.
One thing so am set to do whenever I get there, is to make the Dom version of this power a player clone first (by default use player costume and have some powers from the player assault set) instead of a generic phantom with random attack assortment that happens to be customizable as a look-a-like.
Ive been playing an ill/time the last few months largely since this thread to get my own finger on the pulse of Ill, as it had been many a year since I last actively played one. I also love the Dom AT and have a few of various builds leveling atm.
So I want to take that recent play experience to engage with this post, what you are saying if I understand you right, and what I at least love and want to see kept in Ill as a whole and PA specifically for a dom.
Ok for me what finally made me make an Ill again on HC was the cool new clone thing, never cared for their generic look so much that it was one of the few of my old toons I had zero interest in remaking here on HC, so just want to fit in a big thanks again for that awesome visual update and a big reason for why I think both you devs and we players should want to see this power set in more then one ATs hand. Maybe even one day in the hands of MM as the first customizable mm pets"hint hint".
Back to the point pardon that side blabber.
So Ill is now basically our "Multiple Man" Power set. That is a big reason why perma PA has become more in vogue then ever before imo. Because now one of the most common things I encounter Ills say and say myself, is I wish they did not die every minute. Ive even had one friend mention seeing my character die all the time weird them out on their support/healer and makes them feel like they are failing in some way.
To that end, when you mention the factors you would alter, the ones that are most reasonable to me are making them mortal, and reducing their aggro magnet capacity, since I see Dom as a primary DPS AT and a CC secondary AT, I am fine with making the clones be about DPS and not acting as tanks, and in fact is a great way to differentiate ILL between Dom and Con. People have also mentioned liking an idea put forth at some point, of the pets using the attack powers of whatever 2ndary has been chosen, imo also a spot on idea if possible to do, if not the default powers work just fine so no worries. . Finally, make them a click summon that stays around but that can be healed etc. basically make them mortal persistent dps orientated pets that should be tough enough to not just wither under fire, but need to avoid aggro, and will get ruined in heavy aoe or persistent dot patches.This would make group invis a very useful power for them rather then a dump power, as stealthing your clones would help avoid them taking the aggro they no longer want especially on teams.
What I imagine and would want out of an ILL Dom is to jump into the fray as one of a group of my character, each taking its share of aggro, and dealing dmg, and when the fight is over a neat addition would be if I could dismiss them and with each dismissed get a surge of health back.
Id then also remove the other 2 pets from the set, Id replace them with illusion themed attacks. 2 attacks, very basic ports/animations and that are 2 weapon attacks, like fire sword and greater fire sword, but they would do that temporary spectral dmg kind of dmg and be illusionary weapons. Bonus if you let us customize their look but make them still all glowy
In summary what I am saying is PA should be a dps not tank/aggro magnet power for Doms, but also be persistent. I think the other pet powers should get dropped for a few more attacks to let you be even more active in fights shoulder to shoulder with your clones, and that you wont be a dom tank via them like Cons can with their immortal PA which I think is your main fear.
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2 minutes ago, ShardWarrior said:
That is entirely you having unrealistic expectations and not at all understanding what the post said.
As usual, you are making the assumption that everyone is like you and would want or expect a massive, sprawling maximum plot size base with intricately designed complex structures with all the bells and whistles. Not everyone wants that. Some people are just looking for a very simple, one room hub that has everything they need in one convenient place and are not at all interested in aesthetics or anything complex.
Also, @Ukase expressly stated in the post the bases would be "Nothing fancy, just a base with TP beacons to all zones, tailor, trainer, workbench, insp storage, enhancement storage bin and empowerment buff stations." At least to me, that is very clearly described.
Somebody hasnt had their cuppa this morn methinks. Otherwise bloody ell arent you being a might bit touchy about what was clearly a humorous post. I just personally dont think random generic storage base as gift is a priority that warrants any effort on the part of the HC team to make easier. If generic base a53b2 is the goal, then name it that and call it a day.
And your the one who started using the term simple and calling it subjective. For my base builder whipping up a full sized outdoor plot is pretty quick work. Id call that pretty basic and a good large foundation for anyone to build on, and pretty easy to tuck away the tp and storage down in the basement out of sight.
As for helping people find what they are looking for I do that by educating them to not ever bother with crafting, storing salvage, or the like. Just sell it all, buy what you need as you need of the AH is my motto I spread to all. then they dont need a one room hub, can just use a passcode to a travel hub, and never waste game time sorting through salvage and recipes.
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3 minutes ago, Omega-202 said:
Preventative medicine's proc only affects the person who has it slotted, and it can be in a power you aren't even using.
Examples: I have it slotted in O2 boost and Spirit Ward on different characters. The proc never affects targets of either power, but is always active on my character, regardless of whether that power is getting used or not.
Good to know, figured such based on what I was saying about other self buff procs, but had no first had experience to say for sure.
But to the OP this right here is why especially on ATs with nukes or other alpha strike attacks, controlling your build up proc via a click like aim is better then on a toggle that will proc it randomly,
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Just now, Carnifax said:
Actually is this even true? Gaussians is specifically flagged to affect Self (the caster). Different Procs have different target flags attached to them.
So for the Performance Shifter? I seem to remember one of these in Elec attacks actually having the chance to give enemies back some Endurance back on Live.
lol as one who uses PFs in all my elec melee attacks on an elec brute I can assure you that doesnt happen now days at least, no idea about back on live. But in general as far as I know, all procs that buff you can in no way proc on an ally even if on an ally effecting power.
For example any of the heal set procs that boost regen/recovery only effect the power user, not the person the power gets used on.
The 1 thing I am unsure on is the absorb proc. Ive not tested it or used it enough on heal other powers to see how it interacts.
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Old school playing is getting rare
in General Discussion
Posted
I know there are several one off non arc related mishes that give charged temp powers one can keep as long as they keep the mish up in their actives rather then completing it. Enough of them one could easily end up with only 1 active mish slot to use because the others are acting as place holders to keep a tem power. Used to do them with most new toons on live as temp collecting was a hobby of mine in game back then.