Focused Feedback: Travel Updates: Base Teleportation, Long Range Teleporter Accolade, Special TP Powers

[AboveTheChemist]

45 minutes ago, Ironblade said:

Question:

Referring to the section in another part of the patch notes where it says the Passport badge will no longer be awarded upon character creation - will the Passport badge be REMOVED from existing characters who do not meet one of the conditions listed above?

According to this post from Jimmy, it will.

[Wavicle]

26 minutes ago, @Ghost said:

Since we're up to a RC build now and things seem more set in stone, I figured it was worth reiterating some previous feedback re: inroads for new players.

 

The current 0-cost options are still centered around VidiotMaps, standing around for an hour, or temporary options for logging off for a while. Something more akin to the "one free Ninja Run/Beast Run" to get people started with subsequent purchasables seems more accessible than current means, and could breadcrumb other options with the Fast Travel menu.

  

4 minutes ago, Number Six said:

I've seen accessibility for new players brought up a few times, but is it really such a bad thing for brand new players to be encouraged to explore the game world a little bit first before they start fast-traveling around everywhere?

I think you both make good points.

[Apparition]

14 minutes ago, Number Six said:

I've seen accessibility for new players brought up a few times, but is it really such a bad thing for brand new players to be encouraged to explore the game world a little bit first before they start fast-traveling around everywhere?

 

I've teamed with level 50 PCs who legitimately had no idea how to get from Nerva to Sharkhead without the base macro.  So, yes, player encouragement to explore is a good thing.

[@Ghost]

7 minutes ago, Number Six said:

I've seen accessibility for new players brought up a few times, but is it really such a bad thing for brand new players to be encouraged to explore the game world a little bit first before they start fast-traveling around everywhere?

I agree with the sentiment, absolutely, but Exploration badges aren't really a great means for that. Some are absolutely in natural spots; AP has the globe, the flag, inside City Hall. And then it also has two on the tops/sides of random buildings off in far corners of the map where nobody would really go to look without specific knowledge.

 

imo I'd hand out the LRTP power with nothing on it at the vendor, and let the 1 badge/zone rule take effect everywhere. I think most of those will come by accident, but it's a large measure more accessible than expecting a brand new player to find every badge in a zone without resorting to a wiki or VidiotMaps or someone helping them (who could then just hand them some inf anyway.)

[Myrmidon]

22 minutes ago, Number Six said:

I've seen accessibility for new players brought up a few times, but is it really such a bad thing for brand new players to be encouraged to explore the game world a little bit first before they start fast-traveling around everywhere?

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 

[DoctorDitko]

On 11/10/2020 at 7:48 PM, GadgetDon said:

I think there's an assumption that everyone has the Vidiotmaps patch installed.

Um, would anyone else mind if this is a thing that happened?

Seriously, sounds like a plan to me!

[@Ghost]

12 minutes ago, DoctorDitko said:

Um, would anyone else mind if this is a thing that happened?

Seriously, sounds like a plan to me!

A little off-topic, but I think something similar to the current CoH Modder was planned to be added to the HC Launcher to let people pick stuff like that up easier.

[zenblack]

We need an updated Vidotmaps!

[Faultline]

3 hours ago, @Ghost said:

The current 0-cost options are still centered around VidiotMaps, standing around for an hour, or temporary options for logging off for a while.

Ouroboros Portal is intended to be the easiest (and therefore most limited) 0-cost travel hub. Get it at level 1, as easy as someone dropping a portal for you to go through, but you only get a limited number of destinations (though it includes hubs on both sides: Talos and Cap, which is why the Ouro exit to Cap was moved).

[Faultline]

3 hours ago, @Ghost said:

Exploration badges aren't really a great means for that. Some are absolutely in natural spots; AP has the globe, the flag, inside City Hall. And then it also has two on the tops/sides of random buildings off in far corners of the map where nobody would really go to look without specific knowledge.

One of the ideas kicking around my head is to add Tip missions that drop when you defeat enemies in a zone and point you to an Exploration badge in that zone that you do not have. Tricky to implement but it would mean that if you're missing a badge in a zone, just go, er, "ask" one of the local thugs where it is.

[@Ghost]

47 minutes ago, Faultline said:

Ouroboros Portal is intended to be the easiest (and therefore most limited) 0-cost travel hub. Get it at level 1, as easy as someone dropping a portal for you to go through, but you only get a limited number of destinations (though it includes hubs on both sides: Talos and Cap, which is why the Ouro exit to Cap was moved).

That's fair, the Ouro portal completely slipped my mind. I'd still say that process is a bit arcane for someone brand new and keeping something accessible on the vendor is better in the long run, but I don't think appeals for extra convenience are catching much traction here anyway.

42 minutes ago, Faultline said:

One of the ideas kicking around my head is to add Tip missions that drop when you defeat enemies in a zone and point you to an Exploration badge in that zone that you do not have. Tricky to implement but it would mean that if you're missing a badge in a zone, just go, er, "ask" one of the local thugs where it is.

I think that could work well. The idea floated for Badge Tour Guide NPCs was also really strong, and I think could be really neat as a Ski Chalet style race. DCUO does similar time trial challenges, and it'd be pretty cool to have leaderboards per zone.

[gromartwo]

I like the idea of the Long Range Teleporter but not the execution exactly. It is already very easy to get around the zones.

 

You should have to work a little to get the Long Range Teleporter. I was hoping that the devs would use the example of the SG Beacons - ie: you needed most of the exploration badges to unlock the beacon. It makes more sense for each zone to be unlocked by the zone exploration accolade not just one location badge. If a player is too lazy to visit all of Boomtown's exploration spots (for example) to get the accolade then he has to do without teleporting to that zone.

[Wavicle]

6 minutes ago, gromartwo said:

I like the idea of the Long Range Teleporter but not the execution exactly. It is already very easy to get around the zones.

 

You should have to work a little to get the Long Range Teleporter. I was hoping that the devs would use the example of the SG Beacons - ie: you needed most of the exploration badges to unlock the beacon. It makes more sense for each zone to be unlocked by the zone exploration accolade not just one location badge. If a player is too lazy to visit all of Boomtown's exploration spots (for example) to get the accolade then he has to do without teleporting to that zone.

Gatekeeping is generally not good. One accolade and one badge in each subsequent zone is enough.

[gromartwo]

Quote

Ouroboros Portal is intended to be the easiest (and therefore most limited) 0-cost travel hub. Get it at level 1, as easy as someone dropping a portal for you to go through, but you only get a limited number of destinations (though it includes hubs on both sides: Talos and Cap, which is why the Ouro exit to Cap was moved).

I think the Ouroboros Portal should be given at level five. That is the level most people begin checking out other zones. Also unless a person is sidekicked to another the available zones a player can go to are all too tough for very low characters.

[ivanhedgehog]

8 hours ago, thunderforce said:

Well, let's see; anyone on your team will be able to have a power that lets them summon a base portal that the whole team can use every ten minutes. Anyone on your team will also be able to have a power that teleports the whole team to the next door mission, and unlike now, that power will recharge every ten minutes not every half hour.

 

So, since this change will make getting around the Shards no harder and in some ways slightly easier, I would guess the answer to that is "there will be no real change in the number of Shard TFs being run".

for another 10 million each character. new players do not have that kind of cash. kinda pricey to get back a little of what we have now.

[Wavicle]

Just now, ivanhedgehog said:

for another 10 million each character. new players do not have that kind of cash. kinda pricey to get back a little of what we have now.

By the time they get to the Shadow Shard? Yes, they do.

[ivanhedgehog]

6 hours ago, Number Six said:

I've seen accessibility for new players brought up a few times, but is it really such a bad thing for brand new players to be encouraged to explore the game world a little bit first before they start fast-traveling around everywhere?

If you dont expect them to do tf's, no. They will just be the slow guy in any task force.

[ivanhedgehog]

5 minutes ago, Wavicle said:

By the time they get to the Shadow Shard? Yes, they do.

not really. most level 40 toon do NOT have an extra 10 million to burn. not if you expect them to be enhanced too.

[Ironblade]

1 hour ago, gromartwo said:

I think the Ouroboros Portal should be given at level five. That is the level most people begin checking out other zones. Also unless a person is sidekicked to another the available zones a player can go to are all too tough for very low characters.

Back in the day when farming took place in Peregrine, level one characters routinely made the trip to Portal Court.

[Takehai]

On 11/11/2020 at 2:32 PM, csr said:

Even given the P2W option, for the most part I'd just spend the time to get the explores and pick up 5 RM in the process.  Where I'd want the P2W option is fairly common for me though.  I see someone advertise a TF, I have some toon that I want the badge for, I say "let me switch", and then end up on a toon I find doesn't have the LRTP power unlocked yet.  Also, if there's a red-side toon I don't want to switch alignment on I might also just fork over the INF if given that "out".  There's no easy to explore zone comparable to Atlas Park red-side or yellow-side.

Mercy and Nova Praetoria are actually pretty easy to explore and get the Accolades for. Just not as _fast_ as Atlas is. Atlas has 5 of the 8 badges right around City Hall. Mercy has them a bit more scattered, but they are all just as accessible as the ones in Atlas. Nova Praetoria is where it gets more time consuming if you don't have a Flight power. It _is_ possible to get all the exploration badges there without flight, it just takes some patience, since Tyrant's tower is too tall to make it up with one jump of the prestige jump packs, you have to land partway up and wait for the 60 second cool down to elapse. Otherwise, you can always buy a jetpack power from the T2W vendor in the Magisterium plaza and fly to the top.

[Mr. Vee]

5 hours ago, gromartwo said:

I like the idea of the Long Range Teleporter but not the execution exactly. It is already very easy to get around the zones.

 

You should have to work a little to get the Long Range Teleporter. I was hoping that the devs would use the example of the SG Beacons - ie: you needed most of the exploration badges to unlock the beacon. It makes more sense for each zone to be unlocked by the zone exploration accolade not just one location badge. If a player is too lazy to visit all of Boomtown's exploration spots (for example) to get the accolade then he has to do without teleporting to that zone.

That's all well and good for people with a few alts. I just finished powering through getting one explore per zone on each of 40+ alts and it was, quite frankly, awful. And many of them already had some of the zones covered. I wouldn't wish what I just did on anyone and there are plenty of folks with way more alts than I have. It was one thing when I got the accolades in every zone when nothing else was going on just for the merits on live. There was no real pressure and nothing to keep track of. Having the full accolades as a requirement for LRT would just be insane.

[UltraAlt]

22 hours ago, Keovar said:

.... managed to bring some measure of peace between Paragon City and the Rogue Isles....

No peace between heroes and villains any time soon.

[UltraAlt]

7 hours ago, Ironblade said:

Back in the day when farming took place in Peregrine, level one characters routinely made the trip to Portal Court.

3 hours ago, Veelectric Boogaloo said:

That's all well and good for people with a few alts. I just finished powering through getting one explore per zone on each of 40+ alts and it was, quite frankly, awful. And many of them already had some of the zones covered. I wouldn't wish what I just did on anyone and there are plenty of folks with way more alts than I have. It was one thing when I got the accolades in every zone when nothing else was going on just for the merits on live. There was no real pressure and nothing to keep track of. Having the full accolades as a requirement for LRT would just be insane.

I don't consider the LRT to be critical for getting around, but I'm still working my way through my 70+ alts. 

I have a couple capped at low levels that won't worry about getting it.

Probably have 20 some more to work through at this point.

Not that rough to do as far as I'm concerned and I stop and run a tf if someone is recruiting and I have time to run one.

[CrudeVileTerror]

Rather than getting the Tip from defeating random enemies, @Faultline; what if it was given to players when they rescued a civilian from thugs?

I realize not every zone has that, and the encounter would either need to be added to those zones, or just do the random-thug version in those un'civilized zones, but I think it would be a great little bit of world-building to get something like an Exploration Badge location from a civie rather than a thug.

[thunderforce]

14 hours ago, ivanhedgehog said:

for another 10 million each character. new players do not have that kind of cash. kinda pricey to get back a little of what we have now.

They do, because if they run TFs they have merits and a really regular topic in in-game help is how to turn your merits into cash. (To anticipate your next reply, the hypothetical player here was running a Shards TF, remember?)

 

And as Jimmy points out, right now you have _no_ ability to use beacons into the Shards. If even one person on the team has the power, you get more post-patch than you have now.