Issue 27: Second Chances, Page 1 Open Beta

[carroto]

The most important part of all of this is obviously the shoulder kittens.  This was clearly a ploy to deflect criticism from other aspects of the issue.  This will be effective, sadly, because kittens.  Well played.

 

I haven't dug into the details yet but the one thing that does disappoint me already is the need to get the exploration accolade for a zone before being able to easily travel to it.  I've always enjoyed slowly getting exploration badges as I play through zones normally.  When I have a mission close to a badge I'll go ahead and get it.  There's something that feels good about doing that, a slow trickle of dopamine as I am playing the game normally.  Instead now it will be something grindy I have to do on new characters just so I can get around.

 

Not looking forward to Independence Port on new characters.  I know that I don't have to do it at level one, but at some point there will be that moment.  "Ugh, I have to travel to IP, guess I might as well get it over with."

 

 

[macskull]

1 hour ago, Zed said:

Nerfing the base port is a fix for a pvp

No it's not.

[Wompy]

Teleport TP needs it endurance cost reduced or removed; in relation to blaster 2ndaries, blaster melee modifier should be increased to the same as ranged.  This would make moderate level melee powers (energy punch) more worth taking and put a bit of distance between blaster melee powers and tanker.  

 

Also the need to make the same sort of powers in different sets the same regarding various stats is unnecesary as it fails to take into account the overall balance of each set.  And its just boring making everything the same.

 

Some good changes to some powers in blaster 2ndaries, (though I dont understand the stacking non stacking thing).  A lot of garbage powers untouched and though it would be nice to see these buffed I realise you guys only have so much free time and I appreciate the effort.

 

p.s Would like to see stalker cone powers have a guaranteed crit on the target and the usual chance on other targets.

p.p.s /Energy Manipulation wins again lol.

Edited October 24, 2020 by Wompy
didnt see the full patch notes.

[Nerio72]

8 minutes ago, carroto said:

The most important part of all of this is obviously the shoulder kittens.  This was clearly a ploy to deflect criticism from other aspects of the issue.  This will be effective, sadly, because kittens.  Well played.

 

I haven't dug into the details yet but the one thing that does disappoint me already is the need to get the exploration accolade for a zone before being able to easily travel to it.  I've always enjoyed slowly getting exploration badges as I play through zones normally.  When I have a mission close to a badge I'll go ahead and get it.  There's something that feels good about doing that, a slow trickle of dopamine as I am playing the game normally.  Instead now it will be something grindy I have to do on new characters just so I can get around.

 

Not looking forward to Independence Port on new characters.  I know that I don't have to do it at level one, but at some point there will be that moment.  "Ugh, I have to travel to IP, guess I might as well get it over with."

 

 

I'm pretty sure that's just for the Long Range Teleporter Accolade, you can still use other teleporter powers and bases.

[Zed]

11 minutes ago, macskull said:

No it's not.

Yes it is. When it's about preventing players in pvp to suddenly leave because they see they're about to lose, it definitely is.

[macskull]

Just now, Zed said:

Yes it is. When it's about preventing players in pvp to suddenly leave because they see they're about to lose, it definitely is.

Have you not been paying attention the last year or so to the multiple dev/GM posts saying that command was supposed to be GM-only and it would be going away because of that? Besides, the current implementation of the base TP changes do not make moving around significantly slower, only a little different (especially if you park characters now to get charges of the day job portal power).

[Xanatos]

6 minutes ago, Zed said:

Yes it is. When it's about preventing players in pvp to suddenly leave because they see they're about to lose, it definitely is.

 

This change is 100% not done with PVPers in mind.

 

You clearly weren't paying attention in the closed beta thread.

Edited October 24, 2020 by Xanatos

[Blackbird71]

44 minutes ago, Blood Speaker said:

Yeahyeahyeah, patience, howlongwillthattake?!?  :p

Boot to the head.

[borgking001a]

2 hours ago, Lunchmoney said:

13 new badges!

I was hoping 8 of these were Khalisti Wharf badges.

[Blackbird71]

I'll be honest:  I haven't read through all the fine print yet, but of what I have seen, there's much more I'm disappointed about with these changes than I am excited.  Overall it feels like the cottage rule may not have been broken, but it's definitely bending a fair bit.

[Cinnder]

Thanks so much to the devs for keeping the game alive!

 

While I'm not so interested in the power set tweaks and don't see the need for making travel any easier in a game where we already have better travel options than in any other MMO, I do very much appreciate the new power sets and content.  One small disappointment is that the new blueside content is in the 20-29 range, as there's already a glut of content there while there remains a dearth at 30+.  I'd be very happy if we could get some new 30-39 and 40-49 content for both blue and red in the future.

[carroto]

19 minutes ago, Zed said:

Yes it is. When it's about preventing players in pvp to suddenly leave because they see they're about to lose, it definitely is.

While that was an issue it could also be used to cheese "Master of" runs as well.  That and generally avoiding defeat anywhere anytime.

[Myndwurx]

1 hour ago, Marshal_General said:

Did you miss this?

 

As part of the rework to the Teleportation pool, Long Range Teleport was removed from the pool, and instead has been reimplemented as an Accolade power. You earn this power by gathering exploration accolades - the first one will unlock the power with that zone as the first destination, and each subsequent one you earn will add that zone to the list of destinations (note that not every zone can be added, see the image below or the patch notes for the full list).

Right, Does that mean people that Have the Pool Power are going to get that Accolade automatically? What power will replace that In The Power Pool?  These are unanswered questions.

 

 

[Shayendrel]

Sorry, but the changes to Shadow Maul reduce the Dark Melee set back to near uselessness and potential obscurity. It is the ONLY AoE attack it has, and coupled with the fact that you need to have several targets to make their pbaoe buff & end abilities, it does not make it 'balanced', in these changes, just weaker. I guess you just want everyone to use Titan Weapons, Mace and Fire Melee toons.

I have multiple Dark/Dark toons, but the Scrapper and Tanker I have really enjoyed the boost you gave them to their ONE AoE attack, and now you want to yank it? and Eff touch of fear. Never taken it because it is useless, and even with the changes you have done to it, I never will. The cone is too small, the damage is too little, the debuff is not worth it as I'm already capping the hit debuff from the rest of the set, and if I want fear, I will take cloak of fear from the Dark Armor set.

Stop screwing those of us who want to play the dark melee set. The DM set is already one of the lesser DPS sets there is, and mostly single target based, so why the hate for us now?

[Lunchmoney]

49 minutes ago, borgking001a said:

I was hoping 8 of these were Khalisti Wharf badges.

Plus associated Accolade for 9. The other 4?

[Jimmy]

21 minutes ago, Shayendrel said:

Sorry, but the changes to Shadow Maul reduce the Dark Melee set back to near uselessness and potential obscurity. It is the ONLY AoE attack it has, and coupled with the fact that you need to have several targets to make their pbaoe buff & end abilities, it does not make it 'balanced', in these changes, just weaker. I guess you just want everyone to use Titan Weapons, Mace and Fire Melee toons.

I have multiple Dark/Dark toons, but the Scrapper and Tanker I have really enjoyed the boost you gave them to their ONE AoE attack, and now you want to yank it? and Eff touch of fear. Never taken it because it is useless, and even with the changes you have done to it, I never will. The cone is too small, the damage is too little, the debuff is not worth it as I'm already capping the hit debuff from the rest of the set, and if I want fear, I will take cloak of fear from the Dark Armor set.

Stop screwing those of us who want to play the dark melee set. The DM set is already one of the lesser DPS sets there is, and mostly single target based, so why the hate for us now?

Please test the changes and post your feedback here:

 

[Bionic_Flea]

People, this is a beta test.  Please stop generic complaining and get to testing and give specific critiques as to why a certain change is bad.  Just complaining will not result in a change.  Testing and critiquing can and does result in changes.

Edited October 24, 2020 by Bionic_Flea

[Wavicle]

This looks like a GREAT update.

[Wavicle]

1 hour ago, Myndwurx said:

Right, Does that mean people that Have the Pool Power are going to get that Accolade automatically? What power will replace that In The Power Pool?  These are unanswered questions.

 

 

No they aren't. Read the patch notes. The teleport pool is getting a new power to replace it that is actually useful.

[Machariel]

Really really cool changes overall.  I think you absolutely nailed the titan weapons changes.  I can't speak for old fans of energy melee and I think some might be unhappy with a combo mechanic, but it looks fun and I'm excited to try it.

 

Also, in general, the amount of support this game is getting from a purely volunteer team is amazing.  Thanks for all the hard work.

[Mystic_Cross]

Wow... just wow!

 

This is a huge update! So many changes I want to comment on, but a lot of testing is in order first!

 

So until then I'll just say.... Thank you to the Homecoming team for all of your Hard Work!

[carroto]

I hate to be one of "those" players, but I'm afraid I must.  However I'll start off by saying that I recognize and appreciate the tremendous amount of work that clearly went into this set of changes.  It's surprising that a volunteer team has managed to do so much.  Thank you all for the care and passion that you have put into this project.

 

However...I am rather disappointed on a personal level.  Few of the additions and improvements will benefit me, but many of the reductions will.  On balance this is a loss for me, so it's hard to get excited by it.

 

I'd say the largest disappointment is the feeling that sets are being homogenized.  I've seen that over and over since I've been here.  Things that make sets unique are altered or removed.  It's clear that some of the most popular and fun sets could never exist in the modern game if they were not grandfathered in.  I am aware that there are some new gimmicks being added, and I enjoy some of them, but that's not the same thing.

 

I'm happy for the players who are getting improvements or new toys they will enjoy.  I don't think any of these changes will "ruin" any of my characters or cause me to shelve them.  I'll need a few respecs and I'll adjust.  I'm not seeing any reason to roll up new characters I wouldn't consider before either.  Not that a new issue has to provide that, but it would have been nice.

 

Thanks again for all the work that went into this.  I'll try to make some time to test but it might be hard to motivate myself.

[scorpiorex]

It looks like Recall Friend has been utterly destroyed for those of us with more than one friend.  A 20 second recharge?!  That's going to really hurt the Dark Defenders that need to quickly add defeated teammates to the pile prior to Howling Twilight, to anyone that is scooping up stragglers to get in the mission door.

 

edit: In Beta, Teleport Target (ally) recharge is 6 seconds, Teleport Target (foe) recharge is 20 seconds.

 

And I can't see never not using Combat Teleport ever again.

Edited October 28, 2020 by scorpiorex

[CraterLabs]

So, I've got a couple of characters who are rooted in teleportation. It's their whole thing, and the choice to take Long Range Teleport instead of another attack or utility power always felt special to me. Being able to just pop over to Sharkhead while other people have to run or fly has always been a bit of a delight. None of this is a good reason to not make these changes that you're making, of course... but I kinda feel like the single most impressive "capstone" of my dedication to Teleportation is being made a little less special? Don't get me wrong, it's a *great* Quality of Life improvement for most players, and I'm sure the new power coming in to replace it will be super nice, but... still.

 

Having said that: I love the idea of it being expandable through accolades. The fact that I could go to the original redside zones but nothing else always felt weird to me. I'll just need to do some legwork before it goes from Beta to Live.

 

But out of curiosity: could you please, please, please implement some ways to customize the Teleport accolade? Astra Dynamic's teleports are pink, not a general flash of light. And Professor Flummox would love to arrive in a cloud of dark smoke or explosion of playing cards. Ooh, honestly, could the "appearing" end of this new teleport power (and of the other teleportation powers) have some of the costume change emotes worked in? I just imagined a big Christmas present appearing and my Christmas Ninja character exploding out of it. And that's just three of my characters who could benefit from it. 😛 

 

(In fact, being able to customize the appearance of the Long Range Teleportation power might be a fun treat for people who get all the other powers in the set... just sayin'... 😉 )

 

Anyway, this whole expansion looks great. You guys are doing great work, keep it up.

 

Sincerely,

 

Crater "Way Too Opinionated About Teleportation" Labs

[Wavicle]

5 minutes ago, scorpiorex said:

It looks like Recall Friend has been utterly destroyed for those of us with more than one friend.  A 20 second recharge?!  That's going to really hurt the Dark Defenders that need to quickly add defeated teammates to the pile prior to Howling Twilight, to anyone that is scooping up stragglers to get in the mission door.

This seems like a legitimate concern. Is it possible for the recharge to vary based on the usage?