Hero_of_Light
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Posts posted by Hero_of_Light
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8 minutes ago, Omega-202 said:
I used to believe this, but having seen how it plays out in the real world, it really doesn't shake out like that. I've worked with recruiters at big firms who told me that people have lost opportunities for putting gaming related items on their resumes, and having been on the interviewer side, there's a pattern of behavior for those people that is predictive of them not working out at the companies I've been at. If its not a gaming related position, and you don't have more than enough accomplishments outside of gaming to fill your 2 pages, you should reassess your qualifications.
I've long held my tongue on these boards beacuse I like unwinding every few days in game and I feel like most of you are really genuinely good people, but most of you really do seem to be living in a bubble that doesn't reflect the world at large. It's easy to fall into online enclaves and ech chambers, and it seems like an unsettling number of people here have done so.
Having been a manager of a large Verizon retailer, I Don't fully agree.
Sure if it's only gaming stuff then I would do a phone interview and ask more questions.
If someone had some that had shown dedication, leadership, or other potential qualities we were looking for and then had the people skills to explain how the gaming related accomplishments would help them on the job, why not concider them?
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3 hours ago, ShardWarrior said:
In a live game that relies on players playing and more importantly paying longer, yes. Here, no.
So players playing more and playing longer doesn't matter in CoH?
Maybe it's just me wishing for the game to grow
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8 minutes ago, ninja surprise said:
I've already done most of the unlockable stuff on live at least once, and probably several times. There's so many storylines on red and blueside I haven't done
That's why my suggestions we're for new content, and in a way that's tied into the new content. Not 1000 skull kills gets you a costume peice
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23 minutes ago, Sir Myshkin said:
I absolutely hate gated/locked content when it comes to a game like this where the replay capacity is tied more to making additional characters than it is focused play on one character. When this game was still live, and went F2P, I continued paying the monthly not just in support of the game, but because not paying locked and restricted me from things. Didn't even matter what I couldn't have, it was just the pure notion that there was something I wouldn't have access to as a F2P.
I pay an extra $6.00 a month on my Hulu subscription just to turn off ads because they infuriate me for the time it wastes.
When capes and auras were locked behind a mission arc I only ever opened it up on my first two characters, after that I decided I just didn't care enough about either "feature" to complete the missions on anyone else. Same went for access into Cimerora, I unlocked it on a handful of characters I felt it relevant enough to do the content on, and didn't bother on any others because the Midnighter arc is tedious to keep repeating 20+ times (pre Night Ward).
And Katie Hannon? I love Croatoa, it's personally my favorite zone, but I only ever unlocked that arc once. Ever. I didn't even manage to unlock it here, the character I started it on never finished the series of arcs required, hit 50 in other content, and since got shelved in favor of the next project. I don't even remember which character I started it on anymore.
If the game had more staying power for individual characters (more content to cover per character) that incentivized staying with 1-5 characters over dozens, then semi-locked content could be a bit more reasonable. Guild Wars 2 was a lot more along those lines, stick with one character and build up gear and stats progressively, work through their Race/Class story arcs, and it was possible to spend an absurd amount of time on one character without running out of new things. Even with power selection and gear making it possible to mix up any given build, GW2 had very little reason to ever alt beyond a couple of characters, and if one did they paid the penalty of having to redo a considerable amount of stuff they'd already completed once before. I only ever rolled three characters before life got in the way and I... just never went back to it, and I had to intentionally path out what parts of the story I'd complete with each character across the content to ensure I didn't end up repeating anything because the game didn't have (at the time) nearly the same level of content that CoH did/does.
Having said all that, this is a 16 year old game that's spent half that time shut down. Yes it's great to have it back and see new things, but gate keeping content isn't going to provide longevity and interest, there's already a massive back log of missions and such to play through, and any new content we get should (in my opinion) have a reasonable path to access it without abnormal requirements. Taking the more recent new story arcs as an example, they are simple to access based on natural game play (as it should be). If someone came by and told me I couldn't play the new story arc unless I had the Task Force Commander badge, I'd most certainly walk away and never bother.
tl;dr Gated content Bad. If a game needs to have gated/locked content then it needs to have a significant enough value to be repeatable (multi alts), or have the reason it's withheld be relevant to a vast amount of content that plays to/within a story (limited alts). If the content is something basic like a Cape, there's just no value there and should have an alternative means to access on an account after an initial unlock. I don't have an issue with [New Account: Character 1] having unlocks, but after that when/if a locked point/task is earned it should open to the entire account and not just that character. And yes, I'd even take this so far as to apply it to certain badges as well like Exploration, Historical, Oro-Specific, Auction, or Invention; essentially ones that don't track kill counts or trial/TF completion status.
Often value is based on the person. I gave an example of a gated costume piece tied to a story arc that I feel is fair
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25 minutes ago, EmmySky said:
There are levels, vet levels, incarnate levels and powers, and badges as well as inf(luence/amy/formation) to grind for.
I really do not understand the recent downpour of 'everyone is leaving the game let us find a reason for the blame' and I don't understand the continuing plea for more grindy stuff.
The people in charge of deciding what, and what not, to add certainly have my vote whether they choose to add gated stuff or not. As for more gated stuff producing longevity in players, that has been disproven by the sheer numbers of new players who beg for PL or immediately create a farmer for inf. They dont want to participate in the existing grind and new shinies wont keep them around for more than the minute it takes to burn out that content, too.
I firmly believe any population fluctuations are due to the normal ebb and flow of MMO gaming culture and will peak with new content then dip again. I think the type of people who will burn out on the grind and leave will not stay appreciably longer just because of new grind. I think gating things, like costume pieces which can be so integral to character customization, would most likely cause a few people to wander away. Character customization is the salt and pepper of this game.
Between collecting all the badges, making a toon of every powerset combo in every AT and getting them all maxed out, including T4 incarnates, I personally feel we have plenty of grind for the goal-oriented yet non-self-motivationed players out there. Plenty more grind available for folks who want to set their own goalposts and limits.
I am not in charge of anything, so if the people who are in charge of stuff choose to add stuff I dont like, oh well, more power to them. I love this game to the point of obsession and I will continue to play regardless of what is or isnt added.
As always, this is an opinion and agree or disagree, we are all still friends here so lets go punch some skulls in the face!
Awesome!
I love hearing people enjoy the game.
That's all I'm here checking into: is there more that can be done to help people enjoy the game more.
There's obviously people here that like it just the way it is, but why not add some variety so other people have some of the grindy things to enjoy?
Badges won't work as the 'this should make you happy' and eventually instead of seeing posts asking or talking about these things, you just won't see those players in game.
I know this because I'm the last of my 43 person SG and these were the last things we spoke about as I slowly became the last of my SG.
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1 hour ago, Solarverse said:
On a side note, we have badges, like over 1500 of them, and people are more than happy to bash their heads in getting all of them. 🤪
As I'm sure everyone would agree, different strokes for different folks.
Badges shouldn't be expected to be good enough for everyone.
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1 hour ago, DSorrow said:
There's always a very fine balance between more stuff to do and a checklist of chores to get to do the stuff you actually want to do. There's always the danger that the list of things to do is so intimidating that some people will just pick another game. I keep coming back to CoH because we don't have a grind, and I can just instantly hop on to do whatever I like instead of thinking of the stuff I "have to do" before that. For me, at least, the type of grind you have in WoW and many other MMOs fosters a short term commitment: I'll play a lot in the short to medium term, then get frustrated at how much of my precious game time is going to activities I don't actually enjoy, quit and never come back.
That said, while I don't care for unlocks that basically boil down to "spend a bunch of time doing something simple", I wouldn't mind mastery sort of achievements. Spending a bunch of time getting better at something so that you can complete a skill based thing is much more satisfying.
But that's me, though. Different strokes for different folks.
I see where you come from. I also don't always want a crazy grind like most mmos have, but I do want some thing to play towards (like that story arc example I gave)
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9 minutes ago, AerialAssault said:
The former made me throw up in my mouth a bit. The latter? Yeah, I could get behind that.
Ah, so maybe we don't differ to much.
I also don't like generic stuff like that and I'm completely okay with many badges being that, and not costumes/powers/ ect...
But I crave and enjoy the later in games, and would love that to be a part of CoH.
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Just now, Moka said:
It would be! Though I wouldn't mind if it were an account-unlock. But maybe that's just me.
I'm down for account unlocks. Helps balance effort and reward.
Keeping the game from becoming to grindy while still having great moments and things to play towards.
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5 minutes ago, Moka said:
What story arc is that?
It's not one, but I think it would be awesome to have and is a good idea of some of what I would like to see
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5 minutes ago, AerialAssault said:
Yeah, more content would be good.
But you don't have to make that content a grind for the sake of, effectively, manipulating a player into playing longer. Other MMOs do this to justify the price of buying & subscription. Homecoming does not have those obligations.
I wouldn't be opposed to a costume unique to an AV or a new Story Arc being unlocked by defeating that AV or completing that Story Arc. But I see no reason to artificially inflate someone's playing time.
What would be artificially inflating someone's play time vs not for you?
I feel we differ on this.
For me it's having a costume behind 1000 kills vs a story arc where you work with a NPC through the whole arc until the end as it's dying it gives you it's helm and asks you to carry on in thier place.
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1 minute ago, Shadeknight said:
If a majority of the population was clamoring for more to do and not being content with the game and community being a thing, I might be inclined to agree with you.
If people weren't fickle creatures and didn't have other games to enjoy, I might be inclined to agree with you.
Populations decline for any number of reasons. This is a free private server of a game that died due to shut down in 2012. The game is an aged train wreck, and mentalities have shifted.
It is not harmful if people are playing other games. Unless something happens, HC will remain here. Like a rock that withstands the tides.That's why I'm bringing it up. Fourms are always quieter than the game, and waiting until there's a ton of noise normally (or worse, even less noise) means it's taken longer than it should
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2 minutes ago, Shadeknight said:
On second thought, there would be only one sort of grind tied to badges I'd be marginally okay with.
Where defeating specific NPCs unlock their NPC costume parts for use. Not even 100 of a mob group, but AVs/EBs/Heroes.
There, you have your grind.That would be a way to add more content without taking a lot of work and would give many players a little extra to play towards.
Love the idea, thank you
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2 minutes ago, AerialAssault said:
Can we stop with the doomerism? Please?
People stop playing for many, many reasons and there isn't one you could feasibly pin down as "the reason." I sincerely doubt adding in "Defeat 100 X for X costume" will cause a mass return of players.
Having more stuff to do wouldn't keep people engaged and inturn cause them to stay around longer?
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1 minute ago, Shadeknight said:
I think it's a bit of an odd doomsaying to say that a lack of content to unlock/grind is going to cost this server its life.
It was not fun to grind badges to get a costume piece you needed to complete a costume.
It was not fun, especially as the AH prices got shittier, to try and work towards the Excalibur sword as another example.
This game is not particularly complex. There's not much meant to be grinded in the Homecoming version - badges and that's it. I would rather not see costume pieces or base pieces (which was a thing as well!) locked behind a badge or a story arc. This isn't that sort of game anymore, imho. I would rather see effort put behind creating new content in general and not creating gated content. I myself get my heap of grinding through Everquest, I do not need or desire a second game with similar or near enough grind.
Not every game needs to have a grind or unlocks, imho.So, CoH as a secondary game?
There's many people that want more from CoH though, and that would probably bring/keep more players.
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11 minutes ago, Shadeknight said:
I'm going to have to say no, I don't really want a grind for costume pieces or anything. This is a private server of a dead game. A side game for some, or perhaps the day of hard grinding is a thing of the past for some others. I for one would rather be playing FFXIV or WoW or some other game for the hard grind. Don't get me wrong - earning things feels nice, but not every game needs it. I mean, there's badges you need to do a little bit of grinding for. Some take their time, and others don't. That's enough for me.
I for one don't particularly care to have things in a superhero game put behind a 100 kill bosses badge or whatever. If there is anything else that could be locked behind badges, sure maybe that's the key. Otherwise, keep the grind/unlock where it is at: At a bare minimum or in other MMOs.To clarify: Would you rather this be the last hurrah and the game slowly lose what life was rebreathed into it?
The other games you mentioned are kept alive and probably draw people back to them in part by what you don't want here.
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12 minutes ago, CrudeVileTerror said:
But I do want to also try to find the words to express these views of mine in such a way as to share them with all of you. Maybe help you see what I have seen.
Maybe a little, but I'm a firm believer that like any tool, it can be used for the betterment, or harm.
If it leads to more players having fun and being in game instead of playing another game I think it's good, in balance.
I'm confused though: why wouldn't we want players to appreciate thier time in game and what they achieved?
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4 minutes ago, AerialAssault said:
Maybe it's just me, but I never felt the same rush of excitement when unlocking a costume.
I didn't wait all those years for City of Heroes to come back just to run the same cape unlock missions again.
Everyone has their own preferred reward and to some it may be costumes.
To others it might be unlocking a new power set after hitting 50, and even others would love unlocking a new Aura after making 10 completely unique costumes on one character.
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People tend to appreciate something more and stick with it if there was effort involved and then something gained.
Shouldn't be a ton of effort and required everything gained because it is a game after all, but it should include some.
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5 minutes ago, CrudeVileTerror said:
As discussed in the last topic of this nature, people leaving isn't actually that terrible.
Yes, naturally, a social game does need to have multiple players to -be- a social game.
But you don't have to stay here forever. None of us do.
Everyone is allowed to "finish" the game whenever they want, and move on. Maybe they'll choose to come back. Maybe not.
Retention shouldn't be the end goal of all development. It leads to very unhealthy decisions being made in the design process when its focused on to the exclusion of everything else.
9 minutes ago, CrudeVileTerror said:Retention shouldn't be the end goal of all development. It leads to very unhealthy decisions being made in the design process when its focused on to the exclusion of everything else.
Definitely shouldn't be the end goal, but it must be incorporated
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I like to used Paragon Chat as an example because there was literally nothing to play towards and it was almost always dead.
Homecoming came, people came, but once they got thier main back and messed around a bit they left.
I think a large part of it is because the game has even less to play towards now than it did before
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7 minutes ago, Solarverse said:
No, not at all. Check out Vile Terror's last post. That pretty much sums it up. And keep in mind, it's not that I agree with it, but that is the only way to go about it without getting people on a warpath.
Doesn't that lead to people leaving anyways though if there's nothing to play towards?
Self imposed limits only go so far.
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3 minutes ago, CrudeVileTerror said:
You sh
For example, an idea I've been bouncing around that is entirely doable, but might not be feasible without solid support and interest would be to remove level gates from every Contact, and offer two or three methods to unlocking those Contacts.
1: Reach the level that Contact is usually unlocked at, and they're unlocked as normal.
2: Complete the missions from Contacts prior to that one which follow the same or similar storylines (ie: Complete Contacts who have missions for The Skulls, and unlock Contacts for The Trolls. Complete those Contacts, and unlock the Contacts for The Family, regardless of your level).
3: Straight-up unlock a Contact by throwing enough Inf at them.
So story is something left to the player to decide on following or not since previous contacts that may or may not be important story wise could be skipped
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3 minutes ago, Solarverse said:
. It's just one of those things that once you give to players, you can never take away.
So keep current content as is, but new content could be whatever?
Something to play towards or un-necessary forced time sink
in General Discussion
Posted
A great example of 'gated' content that I would be totally excited for.