Man, this game has changed from what I remember

[ranster44]

 Travel powers at lvl 1. A free set of attacks at level one. Flight ect... At level 4. Stamina ect... NOW!!! I could go on and on. The quality of life changes are great here! (For the few old school people whom I've seen complain about that, you can self gimp and put restrictions on yourself if you need the game to be harder.) The dev team on CoH H has done an amazing job and I have a deep appreciation for them bringing back and IMPROVING my favorite online game. The community here is awesome too. I have encountered 0 griefing in the time I have been here and a great deal of help and patience as I get my feet back under me.
 Hilariously, my old school approach is a LOT different then some people's. Attitudes about builds and skills sets have changed. I was (kind of ) mocked by someone as I take taunt on all of my Tanks. I was told that the game had changed and it was now seen as unnecessary. Until said person saw it actually utilized. Seems they had never seen a Tank with taunt. LOL.  I also use KB on certain toons when in groups to pile up mobs against a wall or in a corner.  It's funny to me how different the average player views skills sets now versus back then. Most people I meet in game (which is very different than here on the forums) are purely about damage and don't usually understand how to use some of the skill sets functionality.  Of course much has changed (mostly for the better) since I last played. So I too, am very much still learning.
 I will never be an elite players with a billion dollar character, as I just don't have the time to devote to that, but I will always love this game AND the people that play it. I have never seen a more fun community than the one I have encountered here and for whatever flaws the game may have and complaints people might voice, this is a great game as is and I am very grateful to have it, especially through the current crisis we are having to live through.  Thank you to ALL of you for making a place where I can escape and find some joy!

[EmmySky]

Amen!

 

Funny about taunt, I take it on all my tanks, most of my brutes and scrappers and even dip I to Presence pool to have provoke on some of my sentinels.  And KB can be a very good tool if used right, its just so easy to use wrong (accidents happen folks).

 

Glad you are back and enjoying it! 

[cohRock]

There is one change I have very mixed feelings about -- insta-change alignment.  The positive side of that is that with a much smaller population than when the game was live, players can team anywhere. Hero/Villain/etc. doesn't matter.  But the not mattering is the negative -- Why bother with alignments at all when they literally do not matter any more?  So if CoH ever becomes legit and the population grows, my opinion is that this feature should be removed.

 

And yes, my tanks and butes take Taunt.  Not taking it is like a stalker not taking their signature assassin move.  It is who you are!

[DoctorDitko]

Having played an old-style Willpower Tank to 50 (pre fixed Taunt Aura), I concur that Taunt is the essential Tank trait. Gauntlet is very welcome, but you need the Taunt to be the Tank.

 

And, BTW, Welcome Home!

Edited August 2, 2020 by DoctorDitko

[ranster44]

14 minutes ago, cohRock said:

There is one change I have very mixed feelings about -- insta-change alignment.  The positive side of that is that with a much smaller population than when the game was live, players can team anywhere. Hero/Villain/etc. doesn't matter.  But the not mattering is the negative -- Why bother with alignments at all when they literally do not matter any more?  So if CoH ever becomes legit and the population grows, my opinion is that this feature should be removed.

 

And yes, my tanks and butes take Taunt.  Not taking it is like a stalker not taking their signature assassin move.  It is who you are!

  This would be one of those things that I would suggest self gimping on. Some people like it and I feel like those that don't are free to not utilize it.

[ranster44]

6 minutes ago, DoctorDitko said:

Having played an old-style Willpower Tank to 50 (pre fixed Taunt Aura), I concur that Taunt is the essential Tank trait. Gauntlet is very welcome, but you need the Taunt to be the Tank.

 

And, BTW, Welcome Home!

  Thank you!  🙂

[Heraclea]

I always take taunt on a tanker.  It's the reason you made a tanker rather than a brute or scrapper.  It's just the best tool for the job. 

[Coyotedancer]

Yep. 'Another "my tanks always have Taunt"-person here. (My Brutes typically have it, too, since I often find myself playing the tanky role with them.)

 

It's useful to be able to pull things' attention away from your squishier team-mates, and Taunt's a better way to do that than relying on an aura or just punching the goon in the nose. 'Tough to use either of those for the purpose when you're not standing right next to them and all....

[FoulVileTerror]

I find the Damage Proc(s) in Taunt also rather handy, since Taunt is auto-hit.

Sometimes I even take both Taunt AND Provoke on a Tanker, such as Algia Kruos my Ice/Ice.  Unrelenting is a nice Power to have, and Pacify just wouldn't have made any sense.

[Lines]

I was also surprised by the taunt opinion you encountered. Taunt and gauntlet work well together, one doesn't make the other obsolete.

 

I could probably live without taunt, but it's really handy to be able to control aggro at a range.

[SuperPlyx]

To often I come across teams where the leader asks the tank to pull or hold aggro off the team and tank says "I don't have taunt"....whereupon I quietly mutter to myself..."then why did you make a tank..."

[FoulVileTerror]

I mean . . . because they wanted to?

I may take Taunt on all of my Tankers, but I don't think it's a rule that everyone has to.  It's part of the beauty of this game!  Play as thou willith, et cetera et cetera.

[DoctorDitko]

"Lettuce that wilts, shall be the cole of the slaw!"

[Twisted Toon]

5 hours ago, ranster44 said:

 Travel powers at lvl 1. A free set of attacks at level one. Flight ect... At level 4. Stamina ect... NOW!!! I could go on and on. The quality of life changes are great here! (For the few old school people whom I've seen complain about that, you can self gimp and put restrictions on yourself if you need the game to be harder.) The dev team on CoH H has done an amazing job and I have a deep appreciation for them bringing back and IMPROVING my favorite online game. The community here is awesome too. I have encountered 0 griefing in the time I have been here and a great deal of help and patience as I get my feet back under me.
 Hilariously, my old school approach is a LOT different then some people's. Attitudes about builds and skills sets have changed. I was (kind of ) mocked by someone as I take taunt on all of my Tanks. I was told that the game had changed and it was now seen as unnecessary. Until said person saw it actually utilized. Seems they had never seen a Tank with taunt. LOL.  I also use KB on certain toons when in groups to pile up mobs against a wall or in a corner.  It's funny to me how different the average player views skills sets now versus back then. Most people I meet in game (which is very different than here on the forums) are purely about damage and don't usually understand how to use some of the skill sets functionality.  Of course much has changed (mostly for the better) since I last played. So I too, am very much still learning.
 I will never be an elite players with a billion dollar character, as I just don't have the time to devote to that, but I will always love this game AND the people that play it. I have never seen a more fun community than the one I have encountered here and for whatever flaws the game may have and complaints people might voice, this is a great game as is and I am very grateful to have it, especially through the current crisis we are having to live through.  Thank you to ALL of you for making a place where I can escape and find some joy!

If I'm not mistaken, the travel power at level 4, Prestige attacks, and a few other things were already in the game before shut down.

They were just locked behind a Veteran level (not level 50 vet level) dependent on how long you had that account.

the more veteran levels you had, the more account perks you had available.

 

Homecoming just put all that in the P2W vendor.

 

Also, welcome home.

[ranster44]

1 hour ago, Twisted Toon said:

If I'm not mistaken, the travel power at level 4, Prestige attacks, and a few other things were already in the game before shut down.

They were just locked behind a Veteran level (not level 50 vet level) dependent on how long you had that account.

the more veteran levels you had, the more account perks you had available.

 

Homecoming just put all that in the P2W vendor.

 

Also, welcome home.

 To  me, Ninja run counts as a travel power. You can get it at level one.

[Troyusrex]

7 hours ago, ranster44 said:

I was (kind of ) mocked by someone as I take taunt on all of my Tanks. I was told that the game had changed and it was now seen as unnecessary. Until said person saw it actually utilized. Seems they had never seen a Tank with taunt. LOL. 

As someone with a very potent blaster I deeply appreciate tanks with taunt. Punch-voke just doesn't cut it and I'm often finding myself with AV aggro because the tank or brute can't keep it. 

[Hero_of_Light]

6 hours ago, ranster44 said:

  This would be one of those things that I would suggest self gimping on. Some people like it and I feel like those that don't are free to not utilize 

Self gimping has it's place,  but it shouldn't be used for everything in every situation. 

 

Demon Souls/Darks Souls wouldn't have made the same impact on gaming if instead of impossing a difficulty, it relied on

self gimping.

[FoulVileTerror]

And City of Heroes wouldn't have made the same impact it did if it were as punishing as Jack Emmert purportedly wanted it to be.  Accessibility has been a godsend for this game!

[MunkiLord]

My Tanker definitely has taunt. My Archery Blaster has provoke. 

[Twisted Toon]

1 hour ago, ranster44 said:

 To  me, Ninja run counts as a travel power. You can get it at level one.

I have a character or 2 that only use ninja Run to get around.

It saves a power choice for something else (a mule, or what not)

I also have people that still use Sands of Mu and/or the Undead Slaying Axe at level 50.

Granted, the Axe is generally only used against ghosts and BP zombies...

[DoctorDitko]

2 minutes ago, Twisted Toon said:

Granted, the Axe is generally only used against ghosts and BP zombies...

It makes a nice auto-fire choice when ghost-hunting. The ones that charge right up and get in your face get an axe in theirs.

[carroto]

19 hours ago, ranster44 said:

 Travel powers at lvl 1. A free set of attacks at level one. Flight ect... At level 4. Stamina ect.

There were a lot of smaller QoL changes made towards the end as well.  Off the top of my head: the endurance cost of Brawl was removed completely, and the cost of the origin attacks were reduced considerably.  Along with inherent Fitness (and the temp attacks) the low-level experience became much smoother.  I haven't thought about it in a long time, but yeah it was a boring grind before some of those changes.

[Shred Monkey]

I not only take taunt... I slot it for range because that's what I use it for most... to pull something that is out of range of my melee attacks.