The Future - An Open Letter from the Homecoming Team

[Yikes]

I keep hearing requests to change the game, for various reasons, when in most cases, simply adjusting one's own play style will address most of the concerns I have seen.  You don't want to level so fast, turn off XP earning.  You don't like inherent Stamina, don't slot it, and it will be MUCH less a factor.  Don't like DFB, don't play it, and you can create a separate chat window to squelch all of the calls for DFB.  Don't like the naming policy?  Log in and move your characters around once in awhile.  Move them to new Day Job locations, and it makes it more worthwhile.  The one I really love is when folks complain about not being able to find a team for this, that, or the other thing.  The answer there is to put one together yourself.  There are a lot of people around, and if you put out a call, you will find folks who want to go along.  It's not that hard.

 

There are easy solutions to all of these issues that don't require the game to be changed to accommodate.  Let's not forget that it was just a little over a month ago, and there was NO game.  Now we have had it for a few weeks, and we are already dictating terms on how we will enjoy it more?  I think we really need to sit back, take stock of what we have been given (which is a second chance that nobody ever thought would happen), and appreciate what we've got. 

 

You want changes to the game?  Let's start thinking of things that actually require change, and are inclusive of the whole community, instead of those that would make it more the way we as individuals would like to see it.

 

except we're rightfully bothered that the game has already been changed and a lot of people are unhappy with the changes.

homecoming says they've received "overwhelming support" despite never once to my knowledge putting out a poll or survey regarding the current changes between i24-i25. They're manufacturing a narrative.

 

It's my understanding there are people running a more vanilla i24 version of the game, or will be soon. If that option exists, then what exactly is the problem?

 

Yeah, Munki, in fact, there's at least four other groups out there running i24 servers right now... I THINK that Homecoming is the ONLY one that's running i25 in fact. So, I don't see the problem. You don't like i25? Go elsewhere.

 

the fact that people on homecoming are barely aware of i24 servers itself constitutes a problem

 

none of the i24 servers are reaching nearly high enough playercounts to facilitate the 'massively multiplayer' part of MMORPG, so things like raids and itrials an the auction house are effectively dead. Homecoming has by far the most players concurrently, and they've done everything they can to give other servers as little publicity as possible.

[_NOPE_]

So? They have no obligation to support other, "competing" servers. Why should they?

[Healix]

[Abraxus]

It's funny.  But, when NCSoft/Cryptic made changes to the game, not everyone liked the changes, but since it was the only place to play CoH, they played anyway, and found ways to have fun.  Or, they left the game.  But, now for some reason, if we don't like the way things are, it's perfectly OK to lament the fact that the place they apparently don't like anymore, has the largest player base, and advocate for advertising alternatives so that we can fracture the community even further.  Sorry.  Not on board with that. 

 

It just floors me how quickly we are able to just take for granted the fact that the game is even here, and available to play.  Now, our micro-attention spans have turned to complaining, rather than playing.  It's this kind of thing that gives me concern about the long-term future of the game.  We stated off all in the same place.  Now, we are scattering to the winds.  Does that sound like a long term solution for a community that is nowhere near large enough to facilitate being spread that thin?

 

You have suggestions, the lines are open.  You have demands, and you'll find most folks unsympathetic. 

[Healix]

Abraxus, THIS SO MUCH...we finally actually HAVE OUR GAME BACK, and I can't believe some of the complaints I have read. I will play and have tons of fun and will also have faith in the brilliant folks who run this place to update/improve the QOL.

[Abraxus]

Abraxus, THIS SO MUCH...we finally actually HAVE OUR GAME BACK, and I can't believe some of the complaints I have read. I will play and have tons of fun and will also have faith in the brilliant folks who run this place to update/improve the QOL.

 

Hells yeah!  I love everything.  Even the dreaded Layer-Cake cave map!  I love that I have the option to loath it once again!  I am using different characters to experience different parts of the game.  One is endeavoring to experience as much content as possible.  Others are venturing out to the various zones, and methods one can use to get through the formative levels.  Atlas, Galaxy, The Hollows, DFB, Perez Park.  I want ALL of it, even the ignominious defeats that are inevitable!  I LOVE this game.  It has, and always has been the only one I wanted to play after the first time.  In the years it was gone, the other games I played only served to make me miss CoH even more.  Now that it's back, I want it back forever!

[Yikes]

So? They have no obligation to support other, "competing" servers. Why should they?

 

because dividing the community this way and not supporting other operations is obviously bad for the community

 

the game came back by a miracle, we shouldn't be competing and throwing each other under the bus especially considering there's no legal way to benefit from these operations. We should be acting like a god damn community.

[Disruptor]

I love how the first big change the biggest private server does is nerf AE then proceed to nerf Vanguard Merits. Its a private server you can literally do anything and your first choice is to start nerfing things, haha.

 

 

Yup, just keep nerfing stuff that'll definitely not make people leave the server.

 

You know what made a lot of people quit CoH? Consistent nerfs.

 

BTW incarnates are too easy right now, you should nerf that too! Reward merits are too easy to come by as well, don't forget to nerf them!

 

You can flood the Auction House with salvage making it all worthless but somehow Vanguard Merits are too OP? Wheres the line? Seems a slippery slope. You guys deemed salvage too expensive, yet Glad Jav proc recipes are now selling for 1 million influence because Reward Merits are way too abundant.

 

 

[justicebeliever]

 

Yup, just keep nerfing stuff that'll definitely not make people leave the server.

 

You know what made a lot of people quit CoH? Consistent nerfs.

 

 

Here it was I thought it was game shutting down that caused most people to leave.  Let's be patient - it's back.

 

And I think any argument that expresses itself in terms of people leaving or quitting is kind of pointless.  This isn't a commercial enterprise.  Heck, it's only quasi-legal at best.  Homecoming does not need me any more than I need it.  If you leave, you are only lowering the load on already straining servers.

[Zolis]

This nerf is only hurting the people that want to be lvl 50 fast and gear up. There are waaay toooo many "omg farming is the devil" or "I want people to play the way I want them to" I'm sorry, this nerf is stupid. It's just that simple. Let people play the way they want to, we waited 7 years to play again I for one don't care about your opinion and will play the way I want to. So to the Homecoming team, please put up a poll and VOTE for this if you want to make it fair for everyone. That is all.

[Abraxus]

These nerfs affect only a certain segment of the player base, and certainly not the majority.  We really have to start looking at things in proper perspective.  If doing things to preserve performance, and encourage folks to enjoy the game, rather than using exploits to skip to the end is all it takes to create dissatisfaction, then some really gotta ask themselves why they play CoH in the first place. 

 

"Youse nerfed mah ability to exploit the exploits!  I'm outta here!".  *eye roll*

[golstat2003]

So? They have no obligation to support other, "competing" servers. Why should they?

 

because dividing the community this way and not supporting other operations is obviously bad for the community

 

the game came back by a miracle, we shouldn't be competing and throwing each other under the bus especially considering there's no legal way to benefit from these operations. We should be acting like a god damn community.

 

 

 

Um yeah, no. Not just no, but HELL NO!

 

If those other operators are doing things that could bring down NCSOFT upon ALL of us, then NO, the Homecoming team is under no obligation to support their shenanigans.

 

Full stop.

 

And folks can find those other servers. The installation guide clearly states where to find them. This team (and it's wonderful work) are under no obligation to advertise for them. (Especially with some of the toxicity allowed, as I've read, in one of the more, errr, anything goes servers)

 

The i24 servers aren't some trade secret. Folks know where to find them if they want that. Clearly with the majority being here, they don't.

 

I prefer i25, folks that don't have options other than Homecoming.

[justicebeliever]

This nerf is only hurting the people that want to be lvl 50 fast and gear up. There are waaay toooo many "omg farming is the devil" or "I want people to play the way I want them to" I'm sorry, this nerf is stupid. It's just that simple. Let people play the way they want to, we waited 7 years to play again I for one don't care about your opinion and will play the way I want to. So to the Homecoming team, please put up a poll and VOTE for this if you want to make it fair for everyone. That is all.

 

So much here....

1.) Yes, too many people telling other people how they should play...it's a problem and it's never going to solve anything...I agree

2.) The nerf, I assume, is AE XP?  How is ensuring the servers stay up stupid?  Elaborate please...

And regardless, if you read the original post on this thread, it's about the same as it was on live...

3.) "I don't care about your opinion"?  But you want the developers to respect yours?  Nice!

 

 

[truevox]

I too would just like to add my voice to the chorus of folks asking for a way to export our toons. I understand if there are other things that come before it, but please give it to us when you can (and a firm promise would go a long ways :D).

 

Thanks for everything you do, and have done! :)

[scarasyte]

There's a problem I've always ran into with RPGs (even though I love them anyway) where once I've played through the entire game's content several times, I already know what's going to happen and I just end up mind-numbingly grinding through it out of boredom. Once I've witnessed the story, it all becomes a skip-dialog grind-fest... In the case of AEs, they don't really solve that issue, but they do offer a more efficient grind. You wont find yourself wasting a ton of time flying all over paragon city looking for a mission entrance with mostly minions and a few lieutenants inside that you quickly burn through.

[Dr. Gemini]

Lots of people left way before shutdown, bro.

 

 

Lets not be delusional here that the game was perfect at shutdown, very small amount of people played from launch to shutdown.

 

 

Lets also not be delusional and think that the 7 year absence along with nostalgia didn't help peoples opinions, if the game never shutdown the majority of people playing on these servers wouldnt be combine that with the fact its currently 100% FREE TO PLAY AND ACCESS ALL CONTENT.

 

The majority of people I know werent playing the day of shutdown and didnt give a flying fudge. Those same people are playing right now cause its 100% FREE and its been 7 years.

 

Of course, the number of people you knew were less than 1/10th of 1% of the playerbase of a game with a growing playerbase at its end, so the disposition of people you knew is irrelevent. For all the WoW was a juggernaut, very few people who played at launch (which was shortly after CoH started) were still playing it at the time CoH ended. That's the nature of games, because no game is perfect to everyone, and we all get tired of games if we constantly play them.

[Zep]

I like it here.... maybe this little thing or that might not be exactly perfectly how I want it - BFD. OMG I get to play again!!!!!

 

It doesnt take much work digging around to find VMs that can be downloaded and run your own server at home -- I've run across I24 and I25 versions.

 

I have a copy in a safe place as protection against the future. Anyone can make their own server and run it any way they want. I dont see room for any serious griping.

 

I will not be providing any links out of respect for Homecoming's desire to not share code as mentioned up stream in this thread. (Like the OP).

 

I cant say enough times and ways how nice it is to have this world back!

[_NOPE_]

You now have the power to run your own server! You're no longer beholden to the whims of others! Expend that effort making your own perfect CoH world! Why try to tear down someone else's sandbox when you can build up your own?

[Lunchmoney]

except we're rightfully bothered that the game has already been changed and a lot of people are unhappy with the changes.

homecoming says they've received "overwhelming support" despite never once to my knowledge putting out a poll or survey regarding the current changes between i24-i25. They're manufacturing a narrative.

 

 

I am going to come off as a jackass but..

 

No you can't be "rightfully" bothered because that implies you have skin in the game or that they owe you something. Homecoming owes you (or any other player) nothing. They can do whatever they want. Like it or not, we are guests in their sandbox and they are in control. Frankly we shouldn't even be playing this game right now, but we are. Because a few people decided to put themselves on the line to provide it to the rest of us.

 

It's like attending your neighbor's public barbecue and demanding that they stop serving their current choice of beef patties for your specific brand of grass-fed patties. At their expense of course, not yours.

 

6 Weeks ago we didn't even have a server, and people said they'd be happy with table scraps. Now look at us. Bickering over petty things like XP gain and incarnate rewards. Just enjoy the damned game and be happy we have it at all.  Leave your entitlement at the login screen. This is not vanilla, nor was it every stated to be as such. If a person wants "vanilla" there are other servers out there for them.

 

Now I am not saying we shouldn't voice our opinion or provide suggestions etc. Homecoming has decided to listen to feedback to an extent, and I do think that is wise. But we really need to check the entitlement and stop trying to dictate how others play the game.

[Remidi]

I'd like to make two points. 

 

First, people seem to be forgetting that the Homecoming team is not NCSoft.  They are volunteer hobbyists who don't have to care if you play here.  They are not a game company trying to keep your business and therefore your continuing payments.  This is their world, and they are just letting us borrow it.  If it is not to your taste, leave.  There are other servers.  I am sure that before long there will be servers for every style.  Remembering the old days on the official forum, eventually there will be a server with PvP in every zone.  But Homecoming cannot possibly make everyone happy.  There are too many play styles, and they can't cater to them all.

 

Second, I will repeat a point I made earlier.  A lot of what people are complaining about as being too easy are just changes made to help people get back what they had.  We can't have our old characters back.  They are lost to the sands of time, and we mourn them. Maybe if things go well and this gets to stay, they can dial some things back.  But complaining about losing players over the long term on a game that might be gone tomorrow is just madness.

[Healix]

[SwitchFade]

I think the homecoming team is just incredibly biased, two-faced and hypocritical. They say they want people to be able to play the game how they want to play it (a ridiculous mission considering this isn't a fucking social sim, and the game was made a specific way for a specific reason and disrupting that disrupts the delicate balance of all existing content) and show that by preserving system changes tha twere only made because the servers running them were too small for the content (itrials), but immediately prevent people from playing the game the way they want to play by enforcing strict nerfs to content like AE. It seems like it's less "play how you want to play" and more "play how we feel you should want to play" which means getting the rewards from more challenging time consuming content is easier and faster, but... getting other rewards easier and faster is penalized.

 

opinion time but: I don't see why icontent has to be so watered down, people could still do shit in DA to get the rewards if they didn't like the trials, now there's just LESS reason to run them. I don't think it's reasonable that people can run DFB over and over and get incarnate xp doing it. Incarnate xp was supposed to be high-end gated content that gave you a reason to keep playing and persevering. it wasn't meant to be easily acquired and rewarded for the bare minimum, because the actual effect of incarnate powers is so tremendous. It was something you really had to work for and invest time and influence into.

 

So? They have no obligation to support other, "competing" servers. Why should they?

 

because dividing the community this way and not supporting other operations is obviously bad for the community

 

the game came back by a miracle, we shouldn't be competing and throwing each other under the bus especially considering there's no legal way to benefit from these operations. We should be acting like a god damn community.

 

 

 

Um yeah, no. Not just no, but HELL NO!

 

If those other operators are doing things that could bring down NCSOFT upon ALL of us, then NO, the Homecoming team is under no obligation to support their shenanigans.

 

Full stop.

 

And folks can find those other servers. The installation guide clearly states where to find them. This team (and it's wonderful work) are under no obligation to advertise for them. (Especially with some of the toxicity allowed, as I've read, in one of the more, errr, anything goes servers)

 

The i24 servers aren't some trade secret. Folks know where to find them if they want that. Clearly with the majority being here, they don't.

 

I prefer i25, folks that don't have options other than Homecoming.

 

those other server operators are not doing anything more illegal than what homecoming is doing. Stop this fearmongering bullshit and face the reality that homecoming is not better than the other server hosts for any reason.

 

You, my good sir, should seriously consider reigning in your aggression. Stop being disrespectful. There is no room for this behavior. Please be respectful, or leave.

[MunkiLord]

 

opinion time but: I don't see why icontent has to be so watered down, people could still do shit in DA to get the rewards if they didn't like the trials, now there's just LESS reason to run them. I don't think it's reasonable that people can run DFB over and over and get incarnate xp doing it. Incarnate xp was supposed to be high-end gated content that gave you a reason to keep playing and persevering. it wasn't meant to be easily acquired and rewarded for the bare minimum, because the actual effect of incarnate powers is so tremendous. It was something you really had to work for and invest time and influence into.

 

I prefer it this way, I don't have the time to do trials countless times to grind out abilities. If you don't like it, then do the trials a bunch before you acquire any abilities and it'll take you just as long as it used to! Stop complaining that other people aren't grinding as much as you think they should. And let's stop pretending grinding in a game to get rewards is some sort of accomplishment or great feat, it's not. It's simply grinding and it's not a notable accomplishment in any way and it's nothing to feel special about. It's simply grinding. If you enjoy it, cool, then do it.

[golstat2003]

 

opinion time but: I don't see why icontent has to be so watered down, people could still do shit in DA to get the rewards if they didn't like the trials, now there's just LESS reason to run them. I don't think it's reasonable that people can run DFB over and over and get incarnate xp doing it. Incarnate xp was supposed to be high-end gated content that gave you a reason to keep playing and persevering. it wasn't meant to be easily acquired and rewarded for the bare minimum, because the actual effect of incarnate powers is so tremendous. It was something you really had to work for and invest time and influence into.

I prefer it this way, I don't have the time to do trials countless times to grind out abilities. If you don't like it, then do the trials a bunch before you acquire any abilities and it'll take you just as long as it used to! Stop complaining that other people aren't grinding as much as you think they should. And let's stop pretending grinding in a game to get rewards is some sort of accomplishment or great feat, it's not. It's simply grinding and it's not a notable accomplishment in any way and it's nothing to feel special about. It's simply grinding. If you enjoy it, cool, then do it.

 

Agreed. Again if anyone wants the grind then they can do so, or they can find one of the i24 servers. They are not a secret where to find them. The installation guide clearly has addresses for them.

[praxidicae]

First off I'd like to add my thanks to the Homecoming team for all their work. You're doing a fantastic job pulling everything together.

 

To those arguing about DFB spamming the LFT channel or people "playing wrong", I think a little perspective is needed.

I play DFB once or twice on each character (mainly for the badges and for the ever useful Hydra buff for the early levels), after that I head off to the other content in the game (and there is a heck of a lot of it). Sure there are level bands where you tend to get constrained into similar/the same content on every toon, but generally there is enough there that you can level through vastly different stories with each character.

My main problem with DFB isn't the spamming (as already suggested earlier in the thread I currently have LFG silenced on my main for this exact reason - which is an entirely separate problem as I tend to miss any other requests that are floating around on there), or the fact that I in any way think that people are playing the game wrong. It’s that there are people who didn't play the game before, who joined now and think that DFB to 20+ is the best way to play and the best way to learn to play the game or to learn how their character/powers work.

Case in point:

Yesterday evening I spent the better part of an hour explaining to a level 28 character how the fundamental basics of the game work:

• How to level up (yes apparently they hadn't levelled up at all during the time they were playing DFB and had been using the basic 2 powers they had started with all the way through.
  
• What slots are and how to add them to your powers.
  
• What the different types of enhancement are and how to add them to their powers
  
• The difference between Defence and Resistance.
  
• What Influence is.
  
• What debt is.
  

I have also teamed with few players who clearly didn't know how powers/ATs worked (blasters rushing off 'Leeroy Jenkins'-style and then complaining that no-one supported or buffed them (we were waiting for the Defender to Rez another player who had got a little over his head) and a particularly annoying Bubble Defender who seemed to have specced everything out for knockback (because if they are flying away from me/my friends they aren't a problem anymore - don't get me wrong I don't have a problem with bubblers or knockback powers in general (I even had a couple of characters built for it previously, but I wouldn't take it onto a SF, and if I did I would at least warn the other players to expect it (and wouldn't run Repulsion Field/Repulsion Bomb constantly)) - in both these cases I and other members of the team tried to explain why there was an issue and were met with blank incomprehension).

All of this is fairly basic stuff that you can pretty easliy pick up in the tutorial or by a few levels of playing, added to this are the people who (assuming they manage to find out how to level up) will be playing in the upper tiers of the game with little to no idea of how the actual power mechanics work.

 

Really my only issue is that people should learn how to play their characters, if you want to play on AE or DFB good for you, your enjoying the game doesn’t and shouldn’t effect my emoting the game. But, at least learn the basics behind the game, learn how your AT works, how your powers work and how Team etiquette works. If you don't you aren't just robbing yourself of additonal elements of the game you are likely to impact on the enjoyment of others too.

 

Edit: Amended Corruptor to Defender