Zone Travel Updates in Issue 27

[Myrmidon]

2 hours ago, majorprankster said:

So, really this all boils down to the current HC team deciding what they wanted to do and they did it.

Per their posts, it won't change, they are convinced they are doing the the right thing.

 

Welcome to the world of rogue servers where amateur implementations take simple things players love and turn them into convoluted messes and call it progress.

 

IMO, the HC team does some great work.

The teleportation re-vamp is not, IMO.

A bad plan is bad plan even if it's implemented with love.

 

But since HC has decided they are in control, then we all just have to follow along like good lemmings, it would seem.

Do tell us what the rules will be on your server when it opens up. So far, Homecoming’s take has been my favorite, however, I am willing to at least give you benefit of the doubt.

[EmperorSteele]

32 minutes ago, Flintlock Burnfur said:

It still works, in a fashion, you just need to be at a base portal to use it.  Back on live, there wasn't even that option at the base portal.  It was just your base and any SGs in coalition.

I was refering to all the drama and complaining =), give people something to REALLY kvetch about!

[DoctorDitko]

Nerf kvetching!

[Jimmy]

 

Some improvements:

• Pretty background colours
• Locked zones are also listed (but we still want there to be a way for you to see them without burning the cooldown)
• Shadow Shard moved to the bottom

And a question: Is this too colourful? Should the text and the background be coloured, or just the background?

[Apparition]

5 minutes ago, Jimmy said:

 

Some improvements:

• Pretty background colours
• Locked zones are also listed (but we still want there to be a way for you to see them without burning the cooldown)
• Shadow Shard moved to the bottom

And a question: Is this too colourful? Should the text and the background be coloured, or just the background?

 

 

I like it!  Of course, ideally the red side zones should be on top, but nothing is perfect.   Seriously, no, it's not too colorful, IMO.  The text and background should definitely both be colored.

[Bopper]

20 minutes ago, Jimmy said:

 

Some improvements:

• Pretty background colours
• Locked zones are also listed (but we still want there to be a way for you to see them without burning the cooldown)
• Shadow Shard moved to the bottom

And a question: Is this too colourful? Should the text and the background be coloured, or just the background?

I like it. Very clean, colors look good.

[Bionic_Flea]

I like the purple and gold.  I would prefer a redder red and a bluer blue.  But maybe it won't work with that background.

 

Love that it displays the locked zones.

[Nerio72]

32 minutes ago, Jimmy said:

 

Some improvements:

• Pretty background colours
• Locked zones are also listed (but we still want there to be a way for you to see them without burning the cooldown)
• Shadow Shard moved to the bottom

And a question: Is this too colourful? Should the text and the background be coloured, or just the background?

For heaven's sake go cook a turkey man! 🦃

Happy Thankgodwerealmostdonewith2020 Day!

[Widower]

Just now, Nerio72 said:

For heaven's sake go cook a turkey man! 🦃

Happy Thankgodwerealmostdonewith2020 Day!

He's British. 😛

[Nerio72]

Just now, GM Widower said:

He's British. 😛

And British love 2020... Got it 🤣

[Luminara]

17 minutes ago, Nerio72 said:

For heaven's sake go cook a turkey man!

 

It's illegal to cook men.  Even turkey men.  As apropos as it is to reference cannibalism in a feedback thread, don't cook people.

[Mr. Vee]

Ok that menu looks glorious. Almost makes me sad I did the explore dance already. Oh well, new alts soon anyway.

[EmperorSteele]

Looks great! Buuuut, I think the blue and red colors might be too close in hue? Can we get someone with colorblindness to look this over? (Sorry, old graphic design schooling kicking in)

[Flintlock Burnfur]

55 minutes ago, GM Widower said:

He's British. 😛

Ah, so he would have celebrated back in October... wait, do British have Thanksgiving in October as we Canadians do?

 

I think the set up of colours is great.

Edited November 26, 2020 by Flintlock Burnfur

[Bopper]

18 minutes ago, EmperorSteele said:

Looks great! Buuuut, I think the blue and red colors might be too close in hue? Can we get someone with colorblindness to look this over? (Sorry, old graphic design schooling kicking in)

Achromatopsia might have issue with it, but it appears all other forms of color blindness should be able to pick out the differences. If anything the red and gold might be harder to decipher, but going through each filter it seems as though it shouldn't be too much of an issue. 

[ZacKing]

5 hours ago, Jimmy said:

These are some stats from just Everlasting a few weeks ago, and they aren't entirely accurate as they don't include players who purchased the Pocket D power and don't own one of the accolades:

• 59% of characters at level 50
• 47% of characters at level 32 or above
• 25% of characters at level 10 or above

This isn't a fair assessment though, because you didn't have direct connections to every single individual zone before i27 (unless you were using the more extreme version of the exploit). You had access to bases (which had fewer and less convenient drop-off points than they now have). Base access takes a 5 minute tour of a single zone to unlock.

 

Direct access to individual zones requires a bit more investment and is a reward for actually exploring the world. You don't need it, the same way that you don't need purple enhancements or your own personal summoned base portal.

I agree, teleporting directly to a mission shouldn't be as easily accessible. That's why they don't actually operate the same way.

• Supergroup Portal = 10 million inf, 10 minute cooldown
• Team Transporter = 10 million inf, 30 minute cooldown

This was one of the many changes we made in direct response to feedback during beta, the Supergroup Portal had a 30 minute cooldown originally.

So the majority of characters below 50 will not get this automatically.  That's what was suspected.  As far as now getting direct access to every zone, thanks but that isn't what some people asked for.  Some of us actually like visiting bases and didn't need a way to bypass them completely. you keep pushing the LRTP thing but again, thanks it wasn't what some of us asked for.   You're ignoring the community that was built around simple access to them.  and Supergroup Portal = 10 million inf.  TT = 10 million inf.  Where is the inf price difference again?  One should cost more than the other because it's a direct drop to the mission door for an entire team.  The other isn't.  you're pricing a Toyota the same as a Ferrari.  I realize I'm talking to a brick wall here, just hoping that next time you all consider actually engaging the community a little more to help flesh out ideas before making sweeping changes. 

[ZephyrWind]

Edit: Never mind, I found it.  Thanks anyhow!

 

I have a question, and no, I didn't read all 15 pages of this thread first - sorry if this has been answered before. 

 

The patch notes say that you can use /enterbasefrompasscode with the LRT to enter any base, but I don't understand how. Can someone clarify please?

 

Thanks!

 

-=>ZephyrWind

Edited November 26, 2020 by ZephyrWind
Readers are leaders!

[Dreamboat]

1 minute ago, ZephyrWind said:

I have a question, and no, I didn't read all 15 pages of this thread first - sorry if this has been answered before. 

 

The patch notes say that you can use /enterbasefrompasscode with the LRT to enter any base, but I don't understand how. Can someone clarify please?

 

Thanks!

 

-=>ZephyrWind

When you have the LRT menu open, you're able to use the slash command as normal. So activate LRT, then do whatever you normally did to use /ebfp - hit your macro button, type it out, etc.

[Vanden]

 

1 hour ago, Jimmy said:

 

Spoiler

 

 

Some improvements:

• Pretty background colours
• Locked zones are also listed (but we still want there to be a way for you to see them without burning the cooldown)
• Shadow Shard moved to the bottom

And a question: Is this too colourful? Should the text and the background be coloured, or just the background?

 

 

Looks nice, though I think it would be better to group unlocked zones at the top of the list together, before listing locked zones, if it's possible.

Edited November 26, 2020 by Vanden

[ZacKing]

2 hours ago, Myrmidon said:

Ok, I’ll slow it down so that you can catch up.😉

 

Using the original premise that you mentioned, if you think that the original Devs would have placed a /enterbasepasscode exploit in the Paragon Store, then would you please share whatever psychotropic refreshment that you are partaking in, because I would really love to see how it would affect my own outlook.🤣

I can keep up fine, but what're you talking about?  I never suggested they'd put an exploit into the store at all.  That's just stupid and if I posted that exact wording, please share it.  what I questioned was your comment of "I don’t believe that they would have ever given us the new Travel Update that the Homecoming team has put in place. "  I said if the original devs felt they could make money off of adding fast travel stuff in the store, absolutely they would have. no question about it.  how you got that means adding in the base exploits into the store I don't know.  you're not reading right.  

 

here's your post for reference. 

 

 

[Rodion]

On 11/24/2020 at 1:00 PM, amusingsn said:

If you've every tried to do ITF with a pick up group, you know how often a teammate doesn't know how to get there, never mind doesn't have the badges necessary.  Now imagine a version of that over and over again, for every Task Force, where the team has to wait five minutes for someone to figure out how to get where you are, while everyone else just teleports there using their accolade based long distance transporters or whatever other thing they had to "earn."

There is another teleport system which is not mentioned in the base post: the LFG queue. If you are solo you can use the LFG queue to go directly to any TF or Trial contact: select the TF or trial in the LFG window and click "Lock the event for your group," then click Queue. Players in the know use the LFG queue to teleport directly to Imperious, and then get an invitation from the team leader. This way you don't need to go through all the hassles of running to Steel Canyon or Croatoa, through the Midnighter Club to Cimerora.

 

I ran an ITF this morning and most of the participants used LFG to get to Imperious, minimizing the wait.

 

I believe the LFG queue has always worked this way, so the original devs did not consider it an exploit, and neither should the new devs. You can't use it while you're on a TF, so it can't be used to teleport around town during a TF. It's sole purpose is to expedite task force setup. 

 

If the devs could do something to make this use of the LFG queue more transparent, that would be great.

[TheSpiritFox]

10 hours ago, Jimmy said:

Hello! Thanks for your feedback.

We actually ran the numbers, something like 60-70% of existing level 50 characters should've had access to Long Range Teleporter off-the-bat, and LRT allows you to enter your base using the existing /enterbasefrompasscode command after using it - meaning you only need to go and gather those badges if you wish to teleport directly to those zones without going through a base. If you don't have LRT, it's a quick 5 minute tour around a single zone to unlock it.

 

This is reasonable. I agree that for a few cases - especially for players who had memorized exactly where all the drop off locations were for the various methods of teleportation - this new system can be slightly less convenient. Our goal here however was to make zone travel more consistent, understandable and accessible for all players. Dropping in and out of the same portal location was a big part of that.

This however I'm not sure I agree with, but I think the real issue here is an understanding one. The portal is an additive extra, just like Team Transporter (the power which teleports your entire team to the mission, it also costs 10 million).

 

LRT and Ouro are free, with Base Transporter (teleport self to base) and Mission Transporter (teleport self to mission) both coming in at 1 million each. For just 2 million you can fast travel roughly 5 times every 10 minutes, and that's not including the times you're already close to a base portal. Essentially - the summoned base portal doesn't really speed up your travel. It's a cool toy to have, and can be nice to help your teammates with, but that's about it.

 

This feedback is really helpful though, and it's starting to become clear what one of the biggest problems is - the perception that the summoned base portal is required to access your base remotely, when in fact you can use either Base Transporter or Long Range Teleporter to do this as well. LRT specifically doesn't communicate that it allows you to use /ebfp at all, so unless you've been told it does that, you'd have no idea. This is definitely something we need to improve.

My biggest problem is that LRT is too grindy to unlock. 

 

The enterbase thing, my biggest complaint is that the cosmic base became something of a minor social space. Lots of people crossed through it and it helped the game have a feeling of population. Thats gone, that sucks, whatever. 

 

I get there are alot of options. I set up a base for this change. 

 

The badge grind for LRT adds nothing to the game. It is miserably boring, insanely repetitive, and generally can take a solid half hour per character to complete. If someone has 40 50s that's just an extra 20 hours added to sink into the game. 

 

I would really like to have the exploration badge requirement changed to just unlocking LRT locations on visiting that zone at all, put a badge at every portal in every zone to shorten the time this takes considerably, or having LRT locations unlock with your level, level into a zone and that zone unlocks. 

[Glacier Peak]

37 minutes ago, ZacKing said:

So the majority of characters below 50 will not get this automatically.  That's what was suspected.  As far as now getting direct access to every zone, thanks but that isn't what some people asked for.  Some of us actually like visiting bases and didn't need a way to bypass them completely. you keep pushing the LRTP thing but again, thanks it wasn't what some of us asked for.   You're ignoring the community that was built around simple access to them.  and Supergroup Portal = 10 million inf.  TT = 10 million inf.  Where is the inf price difference again?  One should cost more than the other because it's a direct drop to the mission door for an entire team.  The other isn't.  you're pricing a Toyota the same as a Ferrari.  I realize I'm talking to a brick wall here, just hoping that next time you all consider actually engaging the community a little more to help flesh out ideas before making sweeping changes. 

This is factually incorrect. This community has been given even more access than before. You're ignoring the actual data that Jimmy presented to you. Every single post you have made in this thread screams of "not good enough for me, not listening to the community" repeated over and over with the same talking points. Yet in this very post, you say you realize you're talking to a brick wall - is there a mirror in front of it???

[Glacier Peak]

12 minutes ago, TheSpiritFox said:

My biggest problem is that LRT is too grindy to unlock. 

 

The enterbase thing, my biggest complaint is that the cosmic base became something of a minor social space. Lots of people crossed through it and it helped the game have a feeling of population. Thats gone, that sucks, whatever. 

 

I get there are alot of options. I set up a base for this change. 

 

The badge grind for LRT adds nothing to the game. It is miserably boring, insanely repetitive, and generally can take a solid half hour per character to complete. If someone has 40 50s that's just an extra 20 hours added to sink into the game. 

 

I would really like to have the exploration badge requirement changed to just unlocking LRT locations on visiting that zone at all, put a badge at every portal in every zone to shorten the time this takes considerably, or having LRT locations unlock with your level, level into a zone and that zone unlocks. 

The "badge grind" that your referring to is not accurate in the slightest. It took me less than 10 minutes to unlock the power on one of my brand new characters running though Atlas Park. If you are seriously in need of access to all zones at all times, instead of worrying about collecting ONE BADGE in each zone you want on your character, just buy the base transporter and use the /ebfp command as usual to the hub you described. If you don't want to spend a small amount of influence on the base transporter, log out next to a base portal and you will get charges for the day job accolade without any investment. There are so many more options available now.

 

And to your point about 40 or 50 or 500 characters - if a player wants to unlock this ability for every character, they must put in the effort to do so. They aren't forced to, they aren't required to, they miss nothing from the game by not doing so, but if they feel they WANT the power, they have the option to gain it on as many characters as they would like.

 

Your last suggestion feels like a free hand out to me. Let's take it a step further, why not just unlock all the badges for your characters with a simple command? Why not give your player all the influence in the game? Or make them undefeatable? This boils down to 'Giving me something for absolutely no investment in my time or effort'. That does not sound fun or challenging or rewarding, it sounds like entitlement.

[Flintlock Burnfur]

Maybe it's the fact that I'm 50 years old, but I just don't find the changes made to the way you teleport to a base that big a deal.  I kinda like 'em, and to be honest I would walk to a base porter before using the exploit (there's been a couple of times I used the exploit, but often that was to show off a base when I wasn't on with a character that was in that SG).  Overall, I don't mind the changes.  The only real issues I had was with A) teleport abilities in Mystic Flight and Speed of Sound and both of those still work as before B) the fact that Myst Haven has Echo: Galaxy City as a teleport point and all I need to do is remove that one C) the teleport travel power and I quickly respecced outta that one.