Homecoming Server Update: Moves, XP, and EU!

[LorenM669]

Maybe a reverse version could be usefull as well.

Bonus to Influence gains costing your xp

[alan92rttt]

I like the XP options.

 

How about the same thing but for INF? +XX% INF with a -XX% XP

 

You kind of sort of already have that. There's an in-game option to "turn off XP" that will automatically convert that XP into influence instead.

Really? Where is that located?

[Ironblade]

You kind of sort of already have that. There's an in-game option to "turn off XP" that will automatically convert that XP into influence instead.

Not quite.  Just turning off XP does NOT get you extra influence.

Turning off XP WHILE EXEMPLARED does get you extra (double) influence.

 

Your statement might be correct at level 50.  I have not tested that.

[Generator]

I like the XP options.

 

How about the same thing but for INF? +XX% INF with a -XX% XP

 

You kind of sort of already have that. There's an in-game option to "turn off XP" that will automatically convert that XP into influence instead.

Really? Where is that located?

 

Somewhere in Options.

[_NOPE_]

I like the XP options.

 

How about the same thing but for INF? +XX% INF with a -XX% XP

 

You kind of sort of already have that. There's an in-game option to "turn off XP" that will automatically convert that XP into influence instead.

Really? Where is that located?

 

From ParagonWiki, Menu -> Options -> General -> "Disable Earning XP"

[Likara]

Nice work. like the idea for the xp boost.

For harassment and such stuff. If over offenders happen do you think deleting there account and toons would be the best way or just ip ban. So they can't join again.

Not effective.  Most people don't have a static IP address.  I can be assigned a new IP by Verizon simply by shutting off my modem and turning it back on.

 

Not to mention VPNs. At best, you make them switch VPN servers, at worse you make life harder for those who have legitimate reasons to use a VPN, who happen to be using the same VPN server as the harrasser.

[Vanden]

Personally I'm not a fan of the free XP boosts; even on the secret server they were priced so that they cost more than a character power-leveling a boosted character would earn getting them from 1-50. I think there should be a price involved, maybe a merit cost or something?

 

I'm glad to hear the chat log is coming back for the purpose of preventing harassment; that was exactly the concern I had about removing it in the first place.

[bonzaicomp]

Wow first forum post.

 

I really love the Xp boosts! I for one am a fan of letting people choose what they want to do and letting them go. I am strongly opposed to how traditional gaming companies pigeon hole you into having to do a certain task X number of times...aka over and over with little end in sight. I even saw an instant level 50 option. I also saw someone post how this should cost a butt load of influence.

 

I propose a compromise. People trying out characters or alts to mess with is no doubt what this game is about. I have made probably over 200 chars over my CoH experience. I think I am safe to assume based upon my own community playing that this sentiment is shared with most of us. I propose we offer an instant level 26. That way all the noob areas don't have to be run over and over just to see if we are gonna like or want to grind it all the way out to 50 and beyond.

 

 

[RussHood]

Firstly, you guys are doing a fantastic job, way better than i realistically expected. The turnaround from feedback to in game tweeks almost feels surreal (compared to the corporate model) and the level of player accommodation is great. 

I like the idea of 'chose your xp rate', I just feel like the hour (up to 8) might not be the smoothest approach. Any way to just have it as a toggle like mission difficulty or the inspiration drops you can activate in P2W?

 

[QuiJon]

I really feel like the AE xp issue should be resolved. If you are giving people the ability to earn x2 xp at will, I fail to see how running x1 xp in the AE (essentially have it back to its normal rates) is not warranted. I can even understand saying that the xp tokens to earn a bonus will not apply in the AE, but if someone is going to choose to give up the influence they need to get enhancements then in order to stay effective in real game play they are going to need a resource for earning enhancements.

 

So IMO either the xp should be normalized in the AE in order to make it a viable way to level and earn at a game intended rate with no way to boost xp with the tokens, or then the ticket reward should be dramatically increased so that for the lower xp it becomes a viable means to earn what you lose using the tokens.

 

All the nerf to the xp has done is essentially change the farm. Before nerfing the xp no one was doing the death from below stuff. Now that is all that is spammed in looking for a team all day long. It it is truly a resource issue then put limits on what you can create in the AE, only so many helper toons etc. But as of right now you are willing to boost the xp in normal game and have it cost influence, however you have nerfed the rewards in the AE without offering any bonus for the lower xp. If you don't want the AE to be viable for people to use, then just get rid of it.

 

I sort of see your point but these XP buffs are currently in game now they cost inf I tested the 10mil boost for an hour and running that and AE with the current rates is about the same XP rate as pre-nerf but you get ZERO inf as a penalty I see this is a fair trade as this prevents the market from getting completely ruined due to inf farms as the server wide rate changes effect the inf gains.

 

My point is it seems to be playing favorites with one type of game play. Oh well if you want to play in the real world you can have all these bonuses, but if you want to use the AE then no you get nothing. In fact we will make it even harder then normal to level. And yes I get the idea of what they were saying about a draw on the servers, but other things put a draw on servers and I have not seen them stop Raids or pvp etc. All I am saying is that if you spent 8 hours earning no influence and leveling up a character to even just into SO level, then you are going to need a set of hancers fast. Fastest way is to go to the AE and farm tickets. Which IMO then really means that this xp change/boost is going to put people back into wanting to farm the AE therefore working against the entire point of nerfing the xp there to begin with. So either put the rewards back to normal so you are given incentives to get the bonuses in the real world but not punished if you don't choose to, just leave a flat bonus in the real world without killing influence earning, or leave the AE nerfed but give it like 3x ticket rewards so that people wont have to farm for as long to get their SOs.

Frankly we started out with AE farms and everyone complained about the farmers and how it bred ignorant level 50s. Then they killed the farms, and I now spend an hour a night at least trying to find a team. Because frankly it seems that all those that don't want people to farm also don't want to invite anyone to their teams to play. And now the chat is filled with DFB team spams. People just changed the farm. And in the new system they can do that farm, earn double xp and then hit level 50 and go and team with people with no enhancements in their slots. Which I am sure will be the next round of complaints about PLers and how they don't even know how to or afford to slot their toons and suddenly we can make another change.

If all these changes were brought about because of the lag on the servers these farms in the AE created, seems to me the simple answer was change the rules of the AE so that you could not exploit it putting like 40 helper bots into the same map or whatever the case was. But it seems like rather then fixing the AE, they are just creating more work for themselves by taking from here and giving there and that will cause another issue and another etc. Fix what was broken and put an end to it and everyone is happy.

[Jon]

I love the changes to XP that are outlined here. This should effectively satisfy all parties in the debate of how XP should be handled - everyone has access to accelerated leveling, but they can opt out if they desire that instead. It's a great solution.

 

I do wish the -50% AE experience nerf didn't have to stay in place. Hopefully down the road that is an option.

[alan92rttt]

I like the XP options.

 

How about the same thing but for INF? +XX% INF with a -XX% XP

 

You kind of sort of already have that. There's an in-game option to "turn off XP" that will automatically convert that XP into influence instead.

Really? Where is that located?

 

From ParagonWiki, Menu -> Options -> General -> "Disable Earning XP"

 

As someone else pointed out the 2X Inf is only when Exemplared. (see text below from wiki) So a INF increase would be nice.

 

Disable Earning XP

    Earn XP - Earn experience points as normal

    No XP - Disable earning experience points (inf gains are not affected)

 

XP While Exemplared

Earn XP - Earn experience points even while exemplared

        Double Inf*, No XP - Earn no experience points but double inf gains while exemplared

 

[_NOPE_]

I like the XP options.

 

How about the same thing but for INF? +XX% INF with a -XX% XP

 

You kind of sort of already have that. There's an in-game option to "turn off XP" that will automatically convert that XP into influence instead.

Really? Where is that located?

 

From ParagonWiki, Menu -> Options -> General -> "Disable Earning XP"

 

As someone else pointed out the 2X Inf is only when Exemplared. (see text below from wiki) So a INF increase would be nice.

 

Disable Earning XP

    Earn XP - Earn experience points as normal

    No XP - Disable earning experience points (inf gains are not affected)

 

XP While Exemplared

Earn XP - Earn experience points even while exemplared

        Double Inf*, No XP - Earn no experience points but double inf gains while exemplared

 

[Mspekkio]

I'm in the camp that enjoyed the Xp boost since there is only so many times you can do the low level arches, but wishes Inf flowed more freely especially sub level 25.  Unless you have a Inf. Daddy or a max level character, it's onerous and disappointing trying to outfit yourself in SO and IO's and the enemies are scalling to expect you to have SO/IO's and you don't.

[Burnt Toast]

The draw on the servers... you have no idea how much it was wreaking havoc on the servers because literally 80% of players were in AE.

You said "We started out with AE farms..." uhh no WE didn't  - AE wasn't even a thing until Issue 14... before that farms were mainly done in PI and Grandville.

Not sure which server you are on, but I know on Indom you can catch a team 24/7 within 5-10 mins max - then again if you are a lowbie trying to get on a PI team - they may not want you there because you are not as effective as someone slotted and with more powers. Solution - make friends with some farmers. Another solution.. make a farmer..make friends.. get farmed by friends.

 

I love AE farming, but I think you are being quite a bit hyperbolic. I am working on my second 50 (level 38) on Indom... took me 6 days to get first to 50 and will take me maybe 4-5 to get second to 50. None of this was done in the AE. You act like they are against AE farming because of "farming" when in all actuality it is a quality of life/server issue that affects everyone - not just you. I would rather the servers run as smooth as they have since the AE nerf than you be able to farm to 50 in 2 days AND I am a huge farmer. Adapt... do it the "old school" way because for 5 years out of the 8 the game was live.. there was no AE and we manage to farm just fine LOL.

 

 

 

I really feel like the AE xp issue should be resolved. If you are giving people the ability to earn x2 xp at will, I fail to see how running x1 xp in the AE (essentially have it back to its normal rates) is not warranted. I can even understand saying that the xp tokens to earn a bonus will not apply in the AE, but if someone is going to choose to give up the influence they need to get enhancements then in order to stay effective in real game play they are going to need a resource for earning enhancements.

 

So IMO either the xp should be normalized in the AE in order to make it a viable way to level and earn at a game intended rate with no way to boost xp with the tokens, or then the ticket reward should be dramatically increased so that for the lower xp it becomes a viable means to earn what you lose using the tokens.

 

All the nerf to the xp has done is essentially change the farm. Before nerfing the xp no one was doing the death from below stuff. Now that is all that is spammed in looking for a team all day long. It it is truly a resource issue then put limits on what you can create in the AE, only so many helper toons etc. But as of right now you are willing to boost the xp in normal game and have it cost influence, however you have nerfed the rewards in the AE without offering any bonus for the lower xp. If you don't want the AE to be viable for people to use, then just get rid of it.

 

I sort of see your point but these XP buffs are currently in game now they cost inf I tested the 10mil boost for an hour and running that and AE with the current rates is about the same XP rate as pre-nerf but you get ZERO inf as a penalty I see this is a fair trade as this prevents the market from getting completely ruined due to inf farms as the server wide rate changes effect the inf gains.

 

My point is it seems to be playing favorites with one type of game play. Oh well if you want to play in the real world you can have all these bonuses, but if you want to use the AE then no you get nothing. In fact we will make it even harder then normal to level. And yes I get the idea of what they were saying about a draw on the servers, but other things put a draw on servers and I have not seen them stop Raids or pvp etc. All I am saying is that if you spent 8 hours earning no influence and leveling up a character to even just into SO level, then you are going to need a set of hancers fast. Fastest way is to go to the AE and farm tickets. Which IMO then really means that this xp change/boost is going to put people back into wanting to farm the AE therefore working against the entire point of nerfing the xp there to begin with. So either put the rewards back to normal so you are given incentives to get the bonuses in the real world but not punished if you don't choose to, just leave a flat bonus in the real world without killing influence earning, or leave the AE nerfed but give it like 3x ticket rewards so that people wont have to farm for as long to get their SOs.

Frankly we started out with AE farms and everyone complained about the farmers and how it bred ignorant level 50s. Then they killed the farms, and I now spend an hour a night at least trying to find a team. Because frankly it seems that all those that don't want people to farm also don't want to invite anyone to their teams to play. And now the chat is filled with DFB team spams. People just changed the farm. And in the new system they can do that farm, earn double xp and then hit level 50 and go and team with people with no enhancements in their slots. Which I am sure will be the next round of complaints about PLers and how they don't even know how to or afford to slot their toons and suddenly we can make another change.

If all these changes were brought about because of the lag on the servers these farms in the AE created, seems to me the simple answer was change the rules of the AE so that you could not exploit it putting like 40 helper bots into the same map or whatever the case was. But it seems like rather then fixing the AE, they are just creating more work for themselves by taking from here and giving there and that will cause another issue and another etc. Fix what was broken and put an end to it and everyone is happy.

[Nericus]

Nice work. like the idea for the xp boost.

For harassment and such stuff. If over offenders happen do you think deleting there account and toons would be the best way or just ip ban. So they can't join again.

I mean the ones that get warnings after warnings then suspended accounts after that. 2 warnings 1 suspension and then account wipe then ip ban. you know over offenders

 

Haven't encountered harassment yet, just a few with either offense names or trademark infringing names. Is the in game reporting system working to report harassment of other things yet?

 

As to banning, well people can get new emails, make new account names and change or disguise ip addresses, so perhaps instead the matrix  room could be turned into a penalty box.

 

Offenders get their alts dumped in to it, all powers are shut down including pocket d and SG base teleport and ouroborus portal. They cannot join teams and thus cannot be reached by someone who has teleport.

 

How long they stay in there depends on the infraction, how many infractions they have and either a set duration that could be increased by the admins.  So the more the player gripes or begs the longer they could stay.

 

Upon release the alt is tagged for a week by admins with an xp/inf penalty the cuts them down to say 25 percent, and that is a week of play time not log out for a week

 

 

[srmalloy]

I like the XP options.

 

How about the same thing but for INF? +XX% INF with a -XX% XP

 

You kind of sort of already have that. There's an in-game option to "turn off XP" that will automatically convert that XP into influence instead.

Really? Where is that located?

 

From ParagonWiki, Menu -> Options -> General -> "Disable Earning XP"

 

And if you need more directions to find it, it's near the bottom of the Miscellaneous section.

[Primantis]

Personally I'm not a fan of the free XP boosts; even on the secret server they were priced so that they cost more than a character power-leveling a boosted character would earn getting them from 1-50. I think there should be a price involved, maybe a merit cost or something?

 

 

The cost is less Influence from kills.

 

50% + less influence after 40 is a pretty big deal, as you can routinely pull in several hundred thousand per mission. Even more if you're on a farm team etc (which most people who use these buffs will be, lets be honest)

 

 

 

I have a small suggestion, in that you might want to clarify they don't work for level 50's in the in-game description. People who don't keep up with the forums/patch notes might think its a bug and result in many tickets.

[sindyr]

AE XP will still remain halved for all non-dev choice content.

 

Would you please consider ALSO allowing FULL XP to Hall of Fame missions too?

[Vanden]

Personally I'm not a fan of the free XP boosts; even on the secret server they were priced so that they cost more than a character power-leveling a boosted character would earn getting them from 1-50. I think there should be a price involved, maybe a merit cost or something?

 

 

The cost is less Influence from kills.

 

50% + less influence after 40 is a pretty big deal, as you can routinely pull in several hundred thousand per mission. Even more if you're on a farm team etc (which most people who use these buffs will be, lets be honest)

That's a cost for the character getting powerleveled. The character doing the powerleveling would still make inf while farming, and that's where the inf cost of the bonus came from

[Jimmy]

AE XP will still remain halved for all non-dev choice content.

 

Would you please consider ALSO allowing FULL XP to Hall of Fame missions too?

Nope, Hall of Fame is an automatic system we have no control over. Currently, some missions that are extremely taxing to the server are tagged as Hall of Fame because they've been played so much.

[sindyr]

AE XP will still remain halved for all non-dev choice content.

 

Would you please consider ALSO allowing FULL XP to Hall of Fame missions too?

Nope, Hall of Fame is an automatic system we have no control over. Currently, some missions that are extremely taxing to the server are tagged as Hall of Fame because they've been played so much.

 

That's a real shame. If only there was a way for me to pay my way, I prefer those *taxing* missions and would be happy to pay for the higher share of resources used. So the one thing that apparently will NOT come back as it used to be is AE. :(

 

Thanks for everything else though.

[vallerainth]

Wow first forum post.

 

I really love the Xp boosts! I for one am a fan of letting people choose what they want to do and letting them go. I am strongly opposed to how traditional gaming companies pigeon hole you into having to do a certain task X number of times...aka over and over with little end in sight. I even saw an instant level 50 option. I also saw someone post how this should cost a butt load of influence.

 

I propose a compromise. People trying out characters or alts to mess with is no doubt what this game is about. I have made probably over 200 chars over my CoH experience. I think I am safe to assume based upon my own community playing that this sentiment is shared with most of us. I propose we offer an instant level 26. That way all the noob areas don't have to be run over and over just to see if we are gonna like or want to grind it all the way out to 50 and beyond.

 

I second your compromise, and everything else you said, as I'm in the same shape you are. And starting at 26 (or 32 =) would really, really help my altaholism, and the congestion in the starter zones as you mentioned. Even with the long absence this is still a game where a lot of us already did most of the early content dozens of times. If we can skip that and get to the more interesting parts of the game I would very much welcome that option.

 

But even if the team doesn't make any more changes I'm still deeply appreciative of their efforts and look forward to whatever else is in store.

[Djevercry167]

When does this patch drop?

[scarasyte]

Is this P2W Vendor already in the game somewhere? Or is that upcoming too? Also will it be restricted to inf and not $?