Suggestion: reinstate a level unlock for epic ATs

[leese]

Don't get me wrong, I love my Peacebringer and would probably love the others if I had the time to play them.

 

But we have a lot of new players about now, and I really hope none of them are getting the wrong idea about the game by rolling a PB first, being forced to skip the tutorial, going into one of Sunstorm's missions and getting rolled by a half-dozen quantum gunners. (I counted)

 

It wouldn't need to be level 50, it could be 20 or 10 or 5 or even 2. Just enough to make sure that they're not on the AT select screen when a player is making their first character.

[Awes]

Nah, let people play what they want, I'm sure they can decide for themselves.

[Nostromo21]

Ahhh and there you have it in the 1st 2 posts boyz n girlz: left vs right, order vs chaos, yin vs yang! :)

I'm a veteran (of sorts) and never played Kheldians & really had no trouble with either once I got to level 6 & their Nova forms - complete steamroll :).

If anything, the recent Warshade I created had an ambush mission in KR where about 5 or 6 yellows Skulls I think it was clumped at the entrance & I was getting 1-2-3-shotted instantly - had to fly back from the hospital half way across the zone about 6 or 7 times before I'd whittled them down & completed the mission. I count that as a valuable learning experience ;-p.

[Vanden]

I don't think EATs need an unlock condition, probably just a notice that they're ATs for advanced players on the AT selection screen.

[n00baka]

This is just my personal $.02, so don’t be afraid to take it with a grain of salt.

 

I played the Kheldians back when they were introduced. They were marketed as being ‘Advanced’, and so needed players to reach a certain level of skill to play. The Devs chose level 50, and I made several that first day. My main became a Warshade and I’ve never looked back since. Even now I play a Warshade as my main on these servers.

 

At some point the Devs dropped the level requirement for the Epic ATs. I don’t remember when, or to what, and it doesn’t really matter to me personally. I remember feeling a little cheated. Not a lot, mind you, because I knew they had over sold the complexity of the AT. It wasn’t harder, just different. Like learning to play a Tanker for the first time after only playing a Controller.

 

And that brings me to today. This time the level required was brought to zero. I was grateful, mostly because I could hop in and make a Warshade without going through the hassle (and yes, it would have felt like a hassle as I did it) of leveling something, anything, back to 50 first.

 

The reason I mention all this is because the Epic ATs were never as complex as the Developers thought. They are different from other ATs, but that’s not unique. All the ATs play differently from each other, each with some overlap with another. And new players, much like veterans, will learn by playing. I had no idea what to expect from the Peacebringer when I first made one, and it was only by leveling one that I realized how it worked and why it played differently from my Warshade or Controller. I may have had the benefit of knowledge from playing my other characters first, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have figured it out through play first, or if I had played different ATs first it would have made a difference. I look back and realize why the Devs did what they did, and while I know you’re not advocating returning to a level 50 requirement, I don’t feel that any level requirement is needed for a player, old or new, to learn on one of the Epic ATs.

 

The only change I would encourage, is giving players the option to do the Tutorial with their Epic ATs. That, I feel, might be a better solution.

[Prototelis]

Better idea; Introduce more epic ATs that require unlocks :)

[Hyperman]

Better idea; Introduce more epic ATs that require unlocks :)

 

This sounds like a much better plan.

[Jaguaratron]

Just remove quants

[leese]

Giving Khelds the option to do the tutorial is definitely a good suggestion. While we're at it, opening up redside and praetoria to them would be good too.

 

I also really like the idea of disabling Quants. How about a Null the Gull or Notoriety menu option to disable Quantum spawns while solo?

 

But really, I suggested a level lock because it's probably the simplest option - and getting any other character to level 2 is not a very difficult unlock condition. My concern is just keeping brand new players from making one as their very first character, because a lot of first impressions are being formed then and a PB/WS is currently a very bad one in several ways.

[Hyperman]

On disabling Qs...

 

When do Q’s spawn? 

 

Instead of removing them outright, maybe only allow them to trigger spawning if the Kheld is level 20?  Maybe even open up a message dialogue warning the player about them.

 

 

[WanderingAries]

Giving Khelds the option to do the tutorial is definitely a good suggestion. While we're at it, opening up redside and praetoria to them would be good too.

 

How about an EAT/VEAT specific origin tutorial? Since they're very specific designs it could work and new story would be awesome. Granted, that would be a lot of work that would require a creation team (that we don't have right now?), but it would be awesome.

[_NOPE_]

I don't think EATs need an unlock condition, probably just a notice that they're ATs for advanced players on the AT selection screen.

 

This.

[leese]

OK, how about this:

 

On the playstyle select screen (Tank, Support, Pets etc) add a new category called Advanced whose description warns that they're for experienced players. Remove HEATs and VEATs from all other categories and put them in there.