If you could radically overhaul 1 thing....

[Turric]

On 9/11/2020 at 5:28 PM, FoulVileTerror said:

My laundry list of ideas is a bit too long to get in to, though if I had to choose just one . . . 

 

It would be to implement an alternative or three to the damage-as-only-means-of-progress meta.  

The key one being a Resolve mechanic.  Essentially a different form of "HP" that is decreased with Controls and Debuffs, which would cause enemies to surrender when depleted.  It would be slower than DPS'ing things, but would offer rewards in the form of granting Reputation with factions and various NPCs, in addition to the usual Experience and Inf.  It would also provide significantly more roleplay potential.

All the tech's already here, honestly.  By the time the Legacy Devs implemented the "NPC drops to a knee and becomes non-hostile, clickable, and chattable" code, this dream could become a reality.

 

Of course . . . it would just take an amount of work that would require a whole professional team and months, or maybe even years of time.

Part of why I'd like to see the development changes I keep harping on and on about regarding work delegation and clearly established design documents.  If not for my dream, then for any of the other ambitious projects which are technically possible, but just need the oversight to become feasible.

 

So the first time I read through this, I did not think much of it, but when I saw someone else had quoted it, I reread it more carefully and I think this is actually quite a good idea, especially the part about building reputation. Don't want the Hellions to keep attacking you? Do the Hellion arc and build reputation so they fear you (or love you, which ever).

[Turric]

On 9/11/2020 at 7:19 PM, Greycat said:

As for what I'd do... hmmm.

Unpopularly - drop the rule of 5 to a rule of 3 for set bonuses. (And fold LOTG into regular recharge percentages.)

 

I would be inclined to vote against this UNLESS the enhancement sets were redesigned from the ground up also. For instance, IMO, the Obliteration set is the only good PBAOE set and I would be a little annoyed at having to take a different set. BUT, if the others were brought up to the same standard to allow for more choices, then I would be ok with this. My other thought is that this is very rarely an issue anyway. I can think of one character of mine that has 4 Obliteration sets on it, but most of the time there simply is not room for more than 3 of the same set. And the LOTG bonus could/should be proliferated to other sets maybe

[Turric]

On 9/11/2020 at 7:40 PM, Eva Destruction said:

An alternate path for villains that takes place in a separate instance of Paragon City.  With its own contacts, and NPC heroes running around.  And add a separate instance of the Rogue Isles for heroes so they can work with Longbow to illegally invade a sovereign nation and commit war crimes against civilians.

 

This is simply brilliant. While the look and feel of the Rogue Isles is great, they could have saved so many resources and just used what was already there, perhaps with a few Villain Only zones, like an Arachnos base out at sea (Grandville), or a Skyraider platform (Striga Isle!). 

 

In the direction of an earlier suggestion, the villain side should have meshed better with the existing villain factions. Want to work with Banished Pantheon? Cool, do the mission arc and build reputation with them. Want to be a Skull? Easy, do the arc and you could be an honorary Skull member, or a leader among them. And then offer specific badges for such accomplishments (i.e. Death Head, Death Doll, Tsoo Sorcerer, etc).  And the newer red side factions, like the Coralax and the Gold Brickers could get more use. 

[Turric]

On 9/11/2020 at 9:13 PM, MTeague said:

okay for something with a Snowball's chance in hell?

 

I'd completely rebuild Boomtown. I mean, it's been decades now. Give it the full Faultline treatment, new map, new contacts that give you a reason to vist all  corners of the zone.

 

And I'd add at least two more Redside Zones, not matter how I have to put them into being.  One lvl 20-30, the other 40-50, and there wouldn't be a single Arachnos OR Longbow NPC in either one. Just varied other factions vying against each other for control, and have a quest line where you can either pick one to win if you're the mercenary who's code of honor demands that you stay bought, OR, play them all against each other to keep them all weak while you make off with the money, your choice. 

 

And I'd allow you to actually ENTER Loyal Tea & Coffee shops goldside. Hanging out there would get you a Barista Day job with temporary +Recharge.

 

 

All of this! Boomtown is sorely in need of attention. First, it is too large for what is there. And too much of the same. With the exception of the War Walker area, most of it is rather bland IMO. I have said this before, it needs its own story arc like Faultine, Croatoa, Striga etc. And where are the Rikti? Nowhere to be found and they are responsible for destroying it. Why? Perhaps they need to be scavenging among the ruins. What are they looking for? Perhaps they are lost soldiers trying to reconnect with their unit. I think there needs to be a downed spaceship in there. 

[Turric]

On 9/14/2020 at 7:14 PM, Player2 said:

Actually, if there was one thing, I think it would be names.  I would want the name exclusivity thing overhauled so that character names don't need to be unique and are tied to global names.

 

I am down with this for the most part. Whoever has "Armsman" on Indomitable, contact me...

[Turric]

On 9/16/2020 at 6:10 AM, Puma said:

Three things:
 

#3: More cut scenes, and with audio.   While the comic shtick was a creative way to deal with limitations in tech in 2005...it's 2020.  I want audio. I want voices.  You could always make it an option.  NPC audio: Text box or NPC Audio: Voice or NPC audio: Voice and Text.  

 

 

The audio on Star Wars - The Old Republic (SWTOR) is fantastic. Hire those people!

[Turric]

On 9/17/2020 at 8:37 PM, MTeague said:

• Completely remove Arachnos, Lord Recluse, the Patrons, and Longbow from existence. 
• Instead have different parts of the Rogue Isles controlled by multiple factions all competiting with one another (Crey, Cage Consortium, the Tsoo, the Family, The Council, Malta, Circle of Thorns, Nemesis, etc.).  Make it more of a No-Man's Land / Wild West / Anything Goes, rather than "Under the Dominion of one unconditionally unchallengeable NPC boss".  
  • Yes, I'm completely aware that would savage a decade or more of in-game lore, and require rewrites of multple TF's and story arcs.
  • I'd do it anyway.
• Let the player choose which factions (if any) to ally themselves with, and play a few factions against each other.
• Remove all War Walls.  
• Remove all zone barriers.
• You should be able to run/walk/swim/jump from the Golden Giza to Atlas Park City Hall without "loading please wait" even once.

These will never happen. 

But they've been on my personal wishlist for awhile.

I am on board with 90% of this:

 

1. No, not quite remove, but downplay yes.

2. Absolutely yes. The original devs really missed the boat on this for storytelling purposes.

3. Absolutely yes. See #2

4. Yep. Someone before this mentioned city-scapes in the background that had moving parts in them to make you feel like you're in a living city. Great suggestion.

5. This might be hard but I am ok with it.

6. See #5.

[Turric]

On 9/18/2020 at 11:36 AM, gourdhead said:

Late to the game on this, and apologies if its already been dragged through the dirt :).  I've always wished, since day 1, that origin MATTERED. 

 

It hasn't and holy crap yes. Originally there were different starter contacts based upon your origin but those were replaced. You can still do them but they have no significance after level 10 or so. Your origin power should be able to be slotted out if you want. I REALLY, REALLY want throwing knives!

 

I think of quest/mission tracks like this: there should be an origin path of multiple arcs for each level bracket, a zone arc for each zone including task forces and special arcs for hazard zones (Perez Park, Boomtown etc), archetype arcs that can be done in much larger level brackets (say between 10 and 20, 30 to 40 etc) which are the same regardless of origin, epic level arcs which are done at a higher level and finally special arcs for special purposes (tailor arcs, respec arcs etc). As filler, the Reconnaissance Officer in each zone should give repeatable kill/arrest tasks along with the detective tasks. I think this was a feature in Age of Conan or LOTRO (I cannot remember which). Anyone who has played SWTOR would recognize the setup: class arcs, planet arcs, epic arcs. Dark Age of Camelot had a special epic chain to get your "epic armor" at level 50 which was quite good (mostly). I think the same could be done here for a particular enhancement set, or something else of similar reward value.

[Hew]

1 hour ago, Turric said:

I am on board with 90% of this:

 

1. No, not quite remove, but downplay yes.

2. Absolutely yes. The original devs really missed the boat on this for storytelling purposes.

3. Absolutely yes. See #2

4. Yep. Someone before this mentioned city-scapes in the background that had moving parts in them to make you feel like you're in a living city. Great suggestion.

5. This might be hard but I am ok with it.

6. See #5.

Fantasy games have fairly huge areas between "levelup" movement between them so noobs don't get isntagibbed wandering. This is predominantly a city; there is no place to put buffer between level gradiations. Rogue Isles is 100% islands; if you aren't flying, you really arent making it from point a to point b, so what ultimately is gained there?

[Hew]

I would like to see PVP stripped out entirely.

 

Outliers in PVE are squashed pretty thoroughly due to PVP. Wild swings in PVE performance do not translate well into "balanced" PVP. What we have seen, over and over and over and over and over is PVE concepts/functions/"fun" squashed to enforce a bell curve in function in PVP. 

 

You cannot excise PVP entirely, because hey, people want their PVE char (derivative of slotting) to function the same in PVP, but with some slight additions/subtractions to powers used in each format.

 

As a result, the two end up in some sort of pale imitation of each other, as we watch cast times, power affects, dpa, all toe the line towards making PVP accessible and eliminate people from swinging too far to the left or right of the bell curve in PVP.

 

MANY bad decisions that affected PVE play over the years have stemmed from PVP. I did not join to PVP. In fact, I joined because at the start, there WAS no pvp.  I still enjoy playing, and will play till it dies again, but always lament seeing changes flow into PVE, originating in "balance concerns" from PVP.

 

 

 

I enjoyed the arena, but apparently noone else did. To me it was a creative take on PVP that could have been taken farther, and if you actually got rewards for winning matches, could have had an impact on the general life of a player.

[tidge]

On 9/18/2020 at 4:47 PM, MTeague said:

But I guess my main objection is that Arachnos is so completely dominant over everything.  If they were on more of an equal footing with Crey, or the Council, or Malta, or Nemesis, then I wouldn't care so much about the named NPC's.  I get that my redside characters have to start out as a nobody. I get that nobody gets to be treated like Doctor Doom or Emma Frost at lvl 1.  But I hate that even by the time I'm lvl 50, I still have various Arbiter's talking smack to me, and I'm only considered worthy to be a servant and join a faction, instead of really being treated like a power in my own right.

I've played a villain all the way to level 50 using contacts and story arcs, and by the time the villain is lvl 45+, the contact dialogue definitely feels like the character has made a serious name in the Isles. I pay some measure of attention to the badges my character collects as well; the villain-side text generally gives me a better sense of villain accomplishment than the blue-side text (which always had the flavor of 'Cub Scout badges' to me).

 

Arbiter Daos, who initially appears to have your life in his hands ends up practically subservient to you. You can revisit some of those Mercy Island contacts who have changed their approach to you. If you finish the Patron Arcs, you've pretty much put your (former) Patron down and demonstrated to Recluse that you can handle him if you need to. By the time you are level 45, it is likely that you've faced off against almost every member of the Freedom Phalanx and the Vindicators.

 

I can't write for any other villains, but there are a significant number of 'heroes' who have been funding my villains with their purchases on the Auction House. I've got lackeys customers who don't even know who their master supplier is.

 

Edit: I'm aware that there is lvl 45+ content which isn't radically different than lower level red content, but I think a lot of this sort of complaint is addressed in the pre-incarnate, non-RWZ Red side storylines. If you want to get some press as a Villain, do the SSA "Who Will Die" as a villain instead of as a hero.

Edited September 20, 2020 by tidge

[Greycat]

10 hours ago, Turric said:

 

 

All of this! Boomtown is sorely in need of attention. First, it is too large for what is there. And too much of the same. With the exception of the War Walker area, most of it is rather bland IMO. I have said this before, it needs its own story arc like Faultine, Croatoa, Striga etc. And where are the Rikti? Nowhere to be found and they are responsible for destroying it. Why? Perhaps they need to be scavenging among the ruins. What are they looking for? Perhaps they are lost soldiers trying to reconnect with their unit. I think there needs to be a downed spaceship in there. 

Eh, Rikti aren't needed there.

 

And all the way back to live, I've had a wish for Boomtown (when we had regular issues) to be progressively reclaimed. Yes, it means a lot of work, some of which would be temporary. Like construction crews (there now) get partway in, we have missions and repeatables to protect them, investigate things, etc. Then 2-3 issues later, they're further in, with the area by the door cleaned up. 2-3 issues later, we have contacts and "life" in the first area, the second area's a cleaner but not fully "live" zone with some repeatables, and the reclamation zone has the "guard the workers" and "investigate uncovered lair" type missions that were initially in the first zone, until eventually we have a usable, mission filled zone, with only the fringes still in "hazard zone" status.

[DancesWithDanes]

Streakbreaker:  Get rid of it. Alternatively, if you feel you MUST keep it, please re-evaluate the access that mobs have to -def and improve the -def resistance for those heavily reliant on it as a primary defense.

 

Respecs:  Please stop messing with my trays. Just leave everything where you found it. If I no longer have the ability, fine, delete it from my tray. But don't touch the things that don't need to be messed with. Thank you.  

 

Bugs in text entry boxes:  When putting certain text in ID or in AE, the system seems to freak out and begin... well. It almost registers typing, then moves the cursor, then I type again and it adds back in the missing letters or forces a return. Not fun.

 

Someone else said it, but I agree that it'd be something I want to see. Overhaul the emphasis on damage/kills for experience. I have no suggestions at the moment on how to implement this, but I would honestly love to see it.

 

Rewards for carrying: I'm running into groups where I can tell folks aren't slotted to any sort of level. Those buffers/healers/controllers who are having to work overtime to make up for people on their team not being able to afford their enhancements at best deserve a little extra something something for making up the difference of someone else trying to skate by. Maybe a system check and give the "Windfall" bonus to buffers/controllers working on a team where half or more are registering "not fully slotted/enhancements not useable"?

[Greycat]

19 minutes ago, DancesWithDanes said:

Rewards for carrying: I'm running into groups where I can tell folks aren't slotted to any sort of level. Those buffers/healers/controllers who are having to work overtime to make up for people on their team not being able to afford their enhancements at best deserve a little extra something something for making up the difference of someone else trying to skate by. Maybe a system check and give the "Windfall" bonus to buffers/controllers working on a team where half or more are registering "not fully slotted/enhancements not useable"?

How to fix this:  When you see people in help saying "I don't bother slotting til 25 or 30," say "No." 🙂

[Grouchybeast]

6 hours ago, DancesWithDanes said:

Streakbreaker:  Get rid of it. Alternatively, if you feel you MUST keep it, please re-evaluate the access that mobs have to -def and improve the -def resistance for those heavily reliant on it as a primary defense.

The chance that Streakbreaker actually affects a heavily Def-reliant character is tiny.  If a mob has a 20% or less chance of hitting you, then the Streakbreaker will kick in only after they've had 100 consecutive misses.  That's per mob.  With a 20-30% chance of hitting per attack, an individual mob would still have to miss 8 times in a row before they get the Streakbreaker auto-hit.  The 5% To-Hit floor is vastly, vastly more significant.

[Spaghetti Betty]

I would make passing cars deal damage and kb. Imagine fending off a Rikti Invasion and you get hit by a car. What a jerk. It goes both ways. Imagine your average lowbie has a street sweeping mission, turns a corner, and runs into a giant mob. You run out into the street and they get plowed through by a box truck.

 

This started as a joke, but makes me wish for things that made street sweeping more interesting in all honesty. Revamp street sweeping!

Edited September 21, 2020 by Leetdeth

[Dreamboat]

Just now, Leetdeth said:

I would make passing cars deal damage and kb. Imagine fending off a Rikti Invasion and you get hit by a car. What a jerk. It goes both ways. Imagine your average lowbie has a street sweeping mission, turns a corner, and runs into a a giant mob. You run out into the street and they get plowed through by a box truck.

 

This started as a joke, but makes me wish for things that made street sweeping more interesting in all honesty. Revamp street sweeping!

I want to be able to not slide off of cars/trucks/trams/blimps when I jump on them. I should be ferried through zones like a king!

[Grouchybeast]

17 hours ago, Greycat said:

And all the way back to live, I've had a wish for Boomtown (when we had regular issues) to be progressively reclaimed. Yes, it means a lot of work, some of which would be temporary. Like construction crews (there now) get partway in, we have missions and repeatables to protect them, investigate things, etc. Then 2-3 issues later, they're further in, with the area by the door cleaned up. 2-3 issues later, we have contacts and "life" in the first area, the second area's a cleaner but not fully "live" zone with some repeatables, and the reclamation zone has the "guard the workers" and "investigate uncovered lair" type missions that were initially in the first zone, until eventually we have a usable, mission filled zone, with only the fringes still in "hazard zone" status.

You wouldn't even need to waste the work if you used the phasing tech.  

[Oubliette_Red]

If I could radically overhaul one thing...

 

It would be the game engine.

[Coyotedancer]

I'd like to be able to perch on top of the blimp in Atlas Park.

[Ruin Mage]

I'd radically overhaul the forums to remove the Suggestions and Feedback section.

Shitpost answer aside: I'd overhaul Staff so I could make Staff Fighting / Shield Defense.

That's all I want :<

[KC4800]

On 9/20/2020 at 11:27 PM, DancesWithDanes said:

Respecs:  Please stop messing with my trays. Just leave everything where you found it. If I no longer have the ability, fine, delete it from my tray. But don't touch the things that don't need to be messed with. Thank you.  

This is why I rarely respec, and when I do, I take a picture of my trays with my phone so I can put them all right back in the right order.

 

To add to the discussion: If it hasn't been stated in the previous 9 pages (sorry if it has): Get rid of TO, DO, and SO origin specific enhancers. Make everything Generic IOs to start. Then make upgrades for the IOs to go up 5 levels. For instance you start with a lvl 5 ACC IO, you can slot at lvl 2. At level 7, upgrade it to a lvl 10. Repeat. As often as you need to get it to the number you want. Then when you get to lvl 40ish start replacing generics with IO that have set bonuses. A lot of players dont even slot TO and DO unless they drop. To replace those drops, just drop ingredients you need to upgrade the generic IO. Call them upgrade threads. Level 5 IO + 2 Upgrade threads ---> lvl10 IO. Level 10+4 Upgrade Threads -> Level 15 IO. 

 

Obviously still allow the normal way to create a lvl 30 Acc IO from normal ingredients. So when you get to adding that lvl 28 power choice you don't have to start with a lvl 5 IO enhancer and upgrade it 5 times.

Edited September 22, 2020 by KC4800

[Turric]

41 minutes ago, KC4800 said:

This is why I rarely respec, and when I do, I take a picture of my trays with my phone so I can put them all right back in the right order.

 

To add to the discussion: If it hasn't been stated in the previous 9 pages (sorry if it has): Get rid of TO, DO, and SO origin specific enhancers. Make everything Generic IOs to start. Then make upgrades for the IOs to go up 5 levels. For instance you start with a lvl 5 ACC IO, you can slot at lvl 2. At level 7, upgrade it to a lvl 10. Repeat. As often as you need to get it to the number you want. Then when you get to lvl 40ish start replacing generics with IO that have set bonuses. A lot of players dont even slot TO and DO unless they drop. To replace those drops, just drop ingredients you need to upgrade the generic IO. Call them upgrade threads. Level 5 IO + 2 Upgrade threads ---> lvl10 IO. Level 10+4 Upgrade Threads -> Level 15 IO. 

 

Obviously still allow the normal way to create a lvl 30 Acc IO from normal ingredients. So when you get to adding that lvl 28 power choice you don't have to start with a lvl 5 IO enhancer and upgrade it 5 times.

 

I believe this is coming very close to fruition. At least in some form.

[Twisted Toon]

2 hours ago, Shadeknight said:

I'd radically overhaul the forums to remove the Suggestions and Feedback section.

Shitpost answer aside: I'd overhaul Staff so I could make Staff Fighting / Shield Defense.

That's all I want :<

They do try to instill some sense into the game.

 

The character models don't have three arms.

That's why you don't see shield defense available with Staff, Dual Blades, or Titan Weapons. (and similar power-sets)

 

[KC4800]

34 minutes ago, Turric said:

 

I believe this is coming very close to fruition. At least in some form.

neat!