Christmas Wish List (Santa's Eyes ONLY!)

[SpookTheHerd]

Here is my wish list for CoH updated for 2021!

 

*Drop Down Account List At Log In Screen* - Instead of retyping account names, CoH will keep a list of any accounts which have logged in from your computer, enabling quicker logging in for those of us who alt or share computers!

This actually seems practical and easy to implement without a whole lot of programming and I'm sure it would enhance the experience for many users!
 

Waist Slider/Rotund Body Setting! - We've seen NPC's with their round bellies, we demand obesity! If whatever those NPC's have is at ALL compatible with the CC, I'd love to have it enabled! Heroes come in all shapes and sizes!

Intermittent Snow/Weather/Rain - This time of year always has me wanting to see all the city zones of CoH blanketted in snow! Instead of a labor intensive zone overhaul for every zone like Atlas has, I feel that this could easilly be accomplished by an effect which would just switch on at random times (when seasonally appropriate obviously). Like a spattering of blood on the ground after an attack, we could have an accumulating snow effect on the surface of our city zones that fades away after a while. It hasn't properly snowed in the state in which I live for almost a decade, so I usually wind up looking for my snow experiences vicariously in video game settings. If it won't snow at home, Paragon is the best alternative!

Mastermind Pet Coloration - Don't need to enable full CC options, but I would like to be able to color tinge my Mastermind pets! Just two main base colors for the costumes, and probably the ability to change skin tones! That way you can know that my mercs are MY mercs and those Pink and Purple Demons are with ME.
I've heard that another CoH server allows for select MM pets to load from their own costume slots but I'd rather just recolor pets the way they are (AND not have to reserve all those different costume slots!)

[SpookTheHerd]

I'm a bit of a wishful thinker with no way to help make any of this a reality, BUT I was blown away by the addition of inherent stances in this past update! If my beastly-dudes can be beastly without a toggle, it means SOMEONE is out there making wishes come true!

[SpookTheHerd]

PART 2

 

QoL upgrade! LRT prioritization - I know LRT is still fresh and probably being revised somewhat as we speak, but it would be neat if LRT would prioritize the order of the zones based on things like character alignment and active missions. Villains and Goldsiders already have it rough enough, scrolling down the list to find their homes like second class citizens just rubs it in even more (although perhaps they already knew their choices would come at a cost).

 

Ouroboros Temp Powers - When you run an Ouro arc, everyone on the team receives credit for the arc and merits as though it were their contact, yet only the team lead typically receives the temp powers they award. Half of the time the temp power is a large motivation in running many of these arcs, it would be nice if the whole team could share in these rewards!

 

Global Accolades (with a catch) - A fellow player and I were discussing if exploration accolades should become global unlocks, I personally do not believe they should because of one word: merits. You would either have to eliminate hundreds of award merits from the game or risk other players immediately exploiting free availability of hundreds of merits to churn-and-burn characters that they create solely for merit farming. Obviously, the player base would probably wind up in an uproar if they find themselves no longer being rewarded for zone exploration
BUT I did think: what if each accolade allowed a 1 time unlock per times earned... meaning each time you earn one accolade you gain a credit which would show up on an un-earned exploration badge for the other characters on your account. Then if you so choose, you could click to redeem it and probably forfeit the 5 merits on whichever character you choose to award it to.
It sounds complex and like it would require a lot of additional programming so I imagine HC would probably rather let sleeping dogs lie on this one.
But if it WAS to be implemented, I suppose it could also be applied to other accolade powers like Geas or TF Commander. Might be something to consider!

 

[Galaxy Brain]

*everyone who isnt santa rn*

[Vanden]

On 12/5/2020 at 4:30 PM, SpookTheHerd said:

Waist Slider/Rotund Body Setting! - We've seen NPC's with their round bellies, we demand obesity! If whatever those NPC's have is at ALL compatible with the CC, I'd love to have it enabled! Heroes come in all shapes and sizes!

I'm really not sure what NPCs you're referring to. Other than Cyrus Thompson, with his unique chest piece, I can't think of a single fat NPC.

[Player2]

On 12/5/2020 at 4:30 PM, SpookTheHerd said:

Here is my wish list for CoH updated for 2021!

 

*Drop Down Account List At Log In Screen* - Instead of retyping account names, CoH will keep a list of any accounts which have logged in from your computer, enabling quicker logging in for those of us who alt or share computers!

This actually seems practical and easy to implement without a whole lot of programming and I'm sure it would enhance the experience for many users!
 

Personally, I'd also be thrilled if I could have an option to see my password as I type it.  I have never once needed to have a password concealed by asterisks in all my time on the internet.  People are just not standing behind me waiting to get my game login info or hack my forum logins.  I get that some people might have a problem with that, but it's not everyone's problem.  We should have an option to turn it off.

 

[Player2]

  

On 12/5/2020 at 4:30 PM, SpookTheHerd said:

Intermittent Snow/Weather/Rain - This time of year always has me wanting to see all the city zones of CoH blanketted in snow! Instead of a labor intensive zone overhaul for every zone like Atlas has, I feel that this could easilly be accomplished by an effect which would just switch on at random times (when seasonally appropriate obviously). Like a spattering of blood on the ground after an attack, we could have an accumulating snow effect on the surface of our city zones that fades away after a while. It hasn't properly snowed in the state in which I live for almost a decade, so I usually wind up looking for my snow experiences vicariously in video game settings. If it won't snow at home, Paragon is the best alternative!

 

What bothers me about the snow is that it shows up at the beginning of winter, in one zone only, lasts the entire month as a constant but non-accumulating dusting, and as the new year starts, suddenly we're back to greener scenery.  I'm not saying we should have the month long blizzard-lite of Atlas Park, but maybe when the New Year gets here turn off the flurries and just let us have time with snow on the ground and frozen lake (and occasional sky full of flurries)... maybe through January and into February... ending with the start of the Spring event.

 

  

On 12/5/2020 at 4:30 PM, SpookTheHerd said:

Mastermind Pet Coloration - Don't need to enable full CC options, but I would like to be able to color tinge my Mastermind pets! Just two main base colors for the costumes, and probably the ability to change skin tones! That way you can know that my mercs are MY mercs and those Pink and Purple Demons are with ME.
I've heard that another CoH server allows for select MM pets to load from their own costume slots but I'd rather just recolor pets the way they are (AND not have to reserve all those different costume slots!)

Recolor would be nice.  But I'd also happily sacrifice a few costume slots for pets to get full customization.

 

 

 

[Player2]

7 hours ago, Vanden said:

I'm really not sure what NPCs you're referring to. Other than Cyrus Thompson, with his unique chest piece, I can't think of a single fat NPC.

They exist.  They're usually the random walkers in the background that people don't tend to notice.

 

[JKPhage]

On 12/23/2020 at 12:13 AM, Player2 said:

 What bothers me about the snow is that it shows up at the beginning of winter, in one zone only, lasts the entire month as a constant but non-accumulating dusting, and as the new year starts, suddenly we're back to greener scenery.  I'm not saying we should have the month long blizzard-lite of Atlas Park, but maybe when the New Year gets here turn off the flurries and just let us have time with snow on the ground and frozen lake (and occasional sky full of flurries)... maybe through January and into February... ending with the start of the Spring event.

The winter event is always cute with snow on the ground and such, but with the addition of the snow feature this year... I'm a little annoyed by it. That effect persists into the costume customization screen if you decide to make an adjustment to your newly picked pool powers or inherent stuff at Ms. Liberty, which can in turn make it a little difficult to discern what those colors will look like out of the customize screen, not to mention just being annoying screen noise. The frozen Atlas is all well and good as well, but I'm not particularly jazzed about it being like this past the end of December. We already had eternal night and a giant pumpkin in Atlas for the whole of October, and dead trees with piles of leaves on the ground (which looked more like there was litter everywhere if I'm being frank), and I'm kind of looking forward to getting back to vanilla Atlas as soon as possible. No special Atlas globe, no altered day/night cycle, no environmental differences, just plain old Atlas as it is supposed to be most of the time. Three months out of the year having an altered/holiday version is enough, especially when they're back to back. Just let us have our normal Atlas for the rest of the year and leave well enough alone. If people really want to play around with seasonal versions, maybe the devs can make clone zones with seasonal changes toggled on to be accessible through Null or the Ouro echo transporters?

 

On 12/23/2020 at 12:13 AM, Player2 said:

Recolor would be nice.  But I'd also happily sacrifice a few costume slots for pets to get full customization.

I don't know about other servers offering such customization at the moment, but back when things were still new on this particular scene, I was following some of the developments on reddit, and one particular developer who was working on this kind of system didn't require you to sacrifice *your* costume slots. They had an option that would let you toggle between your own costume slots and a second set, which would correspond to MM pets, so your first slot was your first low-level pet, fourth slot was your first mid-level pet, and sixth slot was your high-level pet. One could simply clone their first costume across said slots to have a "clone creator" character, or make each one look unique. If such a system were implemented then it would be very easy to have your full ten costume slots and let you choose your pets looks. Hell, depending how in-depth the system is, perhaps it would even allow for the 7th and 8th slot to change your Lore Pets even as a non-MM? I know I'd be more than happy to create some custom sidekicks for my characters.

 

That said, I don't remember if they ever publicly addressed the rub that might be robots/demons/beasts. Robots have a special set of animations and a different skeleton if I remember correct, one that is shared by PPD robots, Longbow Cataphracts and Vanguard Heavies and their assorted smaller/larger counterparts with slight differences. I'd be kind of thrilled if they found a way to give us a set of MM costume slots like mentioned above and have a drop-down at the top sort of like the VEAT "helmet/no helmet" option or "special tops" option on regular toons that would let us select from a drop down menu of the various robot drones sharing said skeleton so we could perhaps make a Vanguard operative utilizing drones and heavies to match their costume, or a PPD officer directing a squad of semi-autonomous drones, or even a Longbow agent who perhaps has technomancer powers and fights through robotic enforcers. A similar option could perhaps be offered for beasts to let us choose spirit beasts or Lion/Liger models for the pets. I mean, we also have the dog pet, black wolf and coyote models that could be plugged in and presumably function on the same rig too. I know I certainly wouldn't mind having a pair of Lion/Lioness pets, or swapping them into Spirit Stalkers, or just changing them all into wolves/lions/panthers/etc. The wolf model at the very least is also shown to be color tintable under the Dark Control set, so being able to have a wolf pack that are all different colors, be they natural or unnatural, would be a cool concept, and someone who wanted to use a bunch of mystical spirit animals could easily have a few panthers/stalkers/woden to go for a shaman kinda vibe. Demons... well I'm not sure anything else runs on the same model/skeleton rig as they do. The demons and Robots at least could probably be fudged with human rigs to let us make our own custom pets though. I wouldn't mind being able to make a whole bunch of clockwork minions for a Praetorian robotics MM, or a bunch of junk robots for a scrapyard genius kind of character. Likewise, being able to make a bunch of vicious sub-humanoid monsters that hurl fire/ice/hellfire, roar and viciously slash at enemies with claws could be really cool too.

 

Either way, that's the last I saw of the idea in practice and that was some time ago. I'm sure it could possibly be implemented on HC given the effort, but something like that would probably require a lot of work and probably be the main focus of a "page". I'm fine with that if it means being able to *finally* customize MM pets, and my thugs MM I'm sitting on would be thrilled to be able to theme his henchmen to his particular flavor. Obviously this is my big want out of the lot of things listed, so I say go for it if any of the dev team are looking this over. If our next update is literally nothing but MM customization, the entire community will be thrilled I'm sure, and you'll see a boom of MM's suddenly.

[Player2]

13 minutes ago, JKPhage said:

The winter event is always cute with snow on the ground and such, but with the addition of the snow feature this year... I'm a little annoyed by it. That effect persists into the costume customization screen if you decide to make an adjustment to your newly picked pool powers or inherent stuff at Ms. Liberty, which can in turn make it a little difficult to discern what those colors will look like out of the customize screen, not to mention just being annoying screen noise. The frozen Atlas is all well and good as well, but I'm not particularly jazzed about it being like this past the end of December. We already had eternal night and a giant pumpkin in Atlas for the whole of October, and dead trees with piles of leaves on the ground (which looked more like there was litter everywhere if I'm being frank), and I'm kind of looking forward to getting back to vanilla Atlas as soon as possible. No special Atlas globe, no altered day/night cycle, no environmental differences, just plain old Atlas as it is supposed to be most of the time. Three months out of the year having an altered/holiday version is enough, especially when they're back to back. Just let us have our normal Atlas for the rest of the year and leave well enough alone. If people really want to play around with seasonal versions, maybe the devs can make clone zones with seasonal changes toggled on to be accessible through Null or the Ouro echo transporters?

 

There is an Icon store behind City Hall... It's indoor service where there is no snow.

Ms. Liberty, Back Alley Brawler, and other trainers in the game letting you change out your costume is a convenience.  I know it's not perfect that the snow shows up in the creator screen with them, but I don't really have an issue with it when they are bonus tailors and there's another perfectly suited option in the same zone.

 

Even still, my desire for snow remaining would be limited to just the snow on the ground sticking around for an additional month.  Let the skies clear up, but don't have the fallen snow (and frozen water) melt away so quickly as soon as January hits.

 

Also, I'm pretty sure this isn't an addition just this year.  This was here last year, as well as in game on Live before the game went away on us those many years ago.

Edited December 25, 2020 by Player2

[JKPhage]

5 minutes ago, Player2 said:

There is an Icon store behind City Hall... It's indoor service where there is no snow.

Ms. Liberty, Back Alley Brawler, and other trainers in the game letting you change out your costume is a convenience.  I know it's not perfect that the snow shows up in the creator screen with them, but I don't really have an issue with it when they are bonus tailors and there's another perfectly suited option in the same zone.

 

Even still, my desire for snow remaining would be limited to just the snow on the ground sticking around for an additional month.  Let the skies clear up, but don't have the fallen snow (and frozen water) melt away so quickly as soon as January hits.

 

Also, I'm pretty sure this isn't an addition just this year.  This was here last year, as well as in game on Live before the game went away on us those many years ago.

Oh, I'm aware, but I'm not not a fan of the snow effect regardless. It's extra screen noise that just motivates me to not be in Atlas anymore than I need to for the time being. The frozen Atlas was indeed on live during the Winter event, but by the same token, on Live the Halloween event didn't run for the entire month, more like two and a half weeks or so, so the eternal night didn't seem to drag on *forever* as it does on HC, things were right back to normal afterwards, with no fall trees or leaves on the ground, and then the Winter Events ran for a similar length of time, so it didn't go on an entire month. As-is, Atlas has been in some sort of "special state" for a full quarter of the year, and I'd rather not make it a third. Three out of twelve months having the hub zone of the entire blue-side game (and let's be honest here, the *majority* of the game) in a seasonal state is more than enough. I'm ready to have unfrozen, leafy green, normal day/night cycle Atlas back and keep it that way for the next nine months until it's time for the big year-end holidays again. We don't need to have it redone for everything. If we keep up that trend then we might never see "vanilla" Atlas again.

 

Particle effect or no, I want frozen Atlas gone once the Winter Event is over. Change is only appreciable when there's a norm to change from. Seeing it in such a fun state is fun precisely because it's not what we usually see. If it's frozen 2-3 months of the year then it starts to be just another same-old, same-old, and the less zones that have large low-friction zones in open areas, the happier I'll be. Sliding on ice is fun for some, but I could do without it in large areas that I need to traverse for some low-level characters. I'll be glad when I can dive into Prometheus Pond again instead of fight with slippery physics to get to the Hellion cave on a lowbie mission run and see the whole place green and full of life. This year has been bleak enough, and I'm ready for Atlas to be vibrant and fully alive again, with full daylight, no dead trees and no snow.

[Player2]

Change is constant.

 

And I'm against calling it the "Winter Event" when it starts technically before winter does and lasts less than two full weeks of actual winter once winter begins (Dec 21st).

 

There are presents and elves and the Jingle Jetpack...  let's call it what it is if it's going to be so limited:  The Christmas Event.

Edited December 25, 2020 by Player2

[srmalloy]

10 hours ago, Player2 said:

And I'm against calling it the "Winter Event" when it starts technically before winter does and lasts less than two full weeks of actual winter once winter begins (Dec 21st).

I'd be interested to see the reaction you'd get if you went to some of the news agencies and tell them that they're using the term wrong when they describe the storms hitting the northeastern US prior to December 21 as "winter storms", and have to stop using the term before that date.

[Crimson621]

There's a difference between Astronomical and Meteorological dates for the starts of seasons.  While the Astronomical start of winter is the solstice (December 21st), the Meteorological start is December 1st.  Therefore, neither is really wrong.

[Player2]

5 hours ago, srmalloy said:

I'd be interested to see the reaction you'd get if you went to some of the news agencies and tell them that they're using the term wrong when they describe the storms hitting the northeastern US prior to December 21 as "winter storms", and have to stop using the term before that date.

There's more to it than just the date.  As I explained, there's a definite holiday theme to the "Winter Event," and it starts before winter does.

 

But yeah, those news agencies are wrong.  If a snow storm hits prior to winter beginning, it is JUST a snow storm.  If you have warm, wet, windy weather in January... that would be a winter storm because it is occurring in winter even if it feels like an early spring or late fall storm.  They wouldn't care at the news agencies because they're all about ratings and they misuse words in ways they know will hook viewers attention... because ratings = money, and to them money is more important than using words correctly.

[Player2]

2 hours ago, Krimson said:

Meanwhile in Canada, we know that Winter spans from November 1st to April 30th. We do not care about imaginary lines in space. Later, I might tell you about our three days of Summer. 

City of Heroes is set in Rhode Island in the United States.  Canada winter has no bearing on anything in this discussion.

[Player2]

26 minutes ago, Krimson said:

The servers are all in Canada, except the one in Europe. But if this discussion is for Americans only, then I will happily bow out and stick to other Canadians.

It's not about the servers or the players... it's the location the game is set in.  Paragon City is in Rhode Island.  Everyone should feel free to discuss the game regardless of where they live.  But where you live doesn't alter the facts about other parts of the world.  Winter in Rhode Island, as with the rest of the U.S., starts on December 21st.  Being from Canada where Winter starts at the beginning of November does not change or influence winter in Rhode Island at all.

 

Jeez.... don't take things so personally.

 

 

Edited December 25, 2020 by Player2
(Also, your "bacon" is just ham.)

[Player2]

That's on you.  If you want to grossly misinterpret my words as an attempt to chase you away, then you are doing it to and/or for yourself.  Leave me out of your decision making process.

[EmperorSteele]

To be faaaiiiir, even though "winter" doesn't start until late December, if you live in the North East of the USA (where R.I. is), then "winter" tends to unofficially start in like, November due to the massive amount of snow we -usually- get (the last couple years have been a bit forgiving in that regard). No one ever looks out their window on November 6th to see a bunch of snow and say "What lovely fall weather", they say "Yay/oh-oh/dammit (depending on disposition), winter's here!"

Also, /jranger on calling it the Christmas event, even if it would be more accurate in an IRL sense. Over 30 holidays are celebrated between November 25th and January 1st, and most of them are just based around the Solstice anyway. No need to make any of our Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, African-American, British, Scottish, or Spanish fans feel discluded.

That said, I'd be all for extending the "Winter Event" to like, March, or at least keeping the snow on the ground until then.

[JKPhage]

On 12/25/2020 at 6:29 PM, EmperorSteele said:

To be faaaiiiir, even though "winter" doesn't start until late December, if you live in the North East of the USA (where R.I. is), then "winter" tends to unofficially start in like, November due to the massive amount of snow we -usually- get (the last couple years have been a bit forgiving in that regard). No one ever looks out their window on November 6th to see a bunch of snow and say "What lovely fall weather", they say "Yay/oh-oh/dammit (depending on disposition), winter's here!"

Also, /jranger on calling it the Christmas event, even if it would be more accurate in an IRL sense. Over 30 holidays are celebrated between November 25th and January 1st, and most of them are just based around the Solstice anyway. No need to make any of our Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, African-American, British, Scottish, or Spanish fans feel discluded.

That said, I'd be all for extending the "Winter Event" to like, March, or at least keeping the snow on the ground until then.

That's a surefire way for me to not want to go anywhere near Atlas Park for four months out of the year. As I pointed out earlier, Atlas is the central hub of the game, whether we openly admit it or not, and having it in a permanently snowy state (particle effect or no) for four months out of the year, and a Halloween/Fall version for another two means that for half the damn year we don't get to see the place in the default state meant for everyday play. I *despise* maps with ice because the slippery physics are annoying as hell, and they are currently all over Atlas. The Fall version was less obtrusive because it was just dead trees and crap on the ground, and Halloween I can deal with because it's spooky season and we have spooky shit going on everywhere, but these are big year-end holidays. They all happen in the last three months of the year and give us something different and exciting to look forward to. If Atlas is in a constant state of flux then I start to question why *every* zone isn't covered in snow/dead trees/whatever special thing is going on this month. It also means that it stops feeling special because every month something different is going on, or we get tired of the "special" snowy conditions because they're taking up half the damn year.

 

No, I say be done with it in January, and just leave Atlas as-is, default state, no special crap going on, just Atlas. There's being fun and there's going overboard. Just because we *can* doesn't mean we *should*. As I proposed previously, stick the seasonal variants in an Echo zone and let people visit them if they want to. Feel free to put all the same mission contacts/phasing/whatever in them so people can run around in them doing what they feel like doing, use them for RP or just a change of scenery that can be accessed year round for those that want to be a bit more "Wintery". Gives the option to throw player events in a special themed environment if someone wants to have a spooky costume contest in Halloween Atlas, or throw an ice skating RP party on frozen Prometheus Pond. Keeping special versions of Atlas for more than these year end events is obtrusive and annoying.

[Player2]

9 hours ago, JKPhage said:

That's a surefire way for me to not want to go anywhere near Atlas Park for four months out of the year. As I pointed out earlier, Atlas is the central hub of the game, whether we openly admit it or not, and having it in a permanently snowy state (particle effect or no) for four months out of the year, and a Halloween/Fall version for another two means that for half the damn year we don't get to see the place in the default state meant for everyday play. I *despise* maps with ice because the slippery physics are annoying as hell, and they are currently all over Atlas. The Fall version was less obtrusive because it was just dead trees and crap on the ground, and Halloween I can deal with because it's spooky season and we have spooky shit going on everywhere, but these are big year-end holidays. They all happen in the last three months of the year and give us something different and exciting to look forward to. If Atlas is in a constant state of flux then I start to question why *every* zone isn't covered in snow/dead trees/whatever special thing is going on this month. It also means that it stops feeling special because every month something different is going on, or we get tired of the "special" snowy conditions because they're taking up half the damn year.

 

No, I say be done with it in January, and just leave Atlas as-is, default state, no special crap going on, just Atlas. There's being fun and there's going overboard. Just because we *can* doesn't mean we *should*. As I proposed previously, stick the seasonal variants in an Echo zone and let people visit them if they want to. Feel free to put all the same mission contacts/phasing/whatever in them so people can run around in them doing what they feel like doing, use them for RP or just a change of scenery that can be accessed year round for those that want to be a bit more "Wintery". Gives the option to throw player events in a special themed environment if someone wants to have a spooky costume contest in Halloween Atlas, or throw an ice skating RP party on frozen Prometheus Pond. Keeping special versions of Atlas for more than these year end events is obtrusive and annoying.

Where are you getting 4 months of snow and ice?  I suggested one additional month of snow on the ground without the constant flurries, to acknowledge that it's still winter.

 

As far as you avoiding Atlas Park for any length of time, that's on you.  It's only the "central hub" of the game because it's the familiar zone that everyone starts with (excluding tutorial).  Aside from starting a supergroup and collecting badges (exploration, history, and City Official day job), everything you can do in Atlas Park can be done in pretty much any other city zone.  I say "no" to your no.  Just because someone who doesn't like the change says we shouldn't doesn't mean we shouldn't.