Automatically assign powers and slots

[SuperPlyx]

I was wondering if it would be possible to add a button to the Freebie Menu that would automatically assign the powers and slots needed for a level 50 ?

 

So you would click the button we have now to make yourself 50 , then click new button to randomly assign all the powers and slots. So you are left with a all leveled up 50.

[MoisesG]

Wouldn't this require a preset standard slotting for every power in the game?

 

and since everyone plays their toons differently and play their ATs differently, therefore slotting differently, how is this beneficial?

 

Maybe if you could expand your reasoning and give us an idea of WHY this is needed and HOW it should be implemented, to lay down the grounds for fair discussion.

[SuperPlyx]

You are correct , I should have mentioned the reason.

 

Simply put respecing is easier than leveling up one level at a time with Ms, Liberty. So the point is only to get past leveling individually to get to 50 for a respec. So what power picks and slot placement doesn't really matter.

 

Apologies , Insomnia posting at it's finest. 

[MoisesG]

so you just want a button that would automatically level you to 50 with a slotting preset, so that you may then do a respec?

I gotcha now.

I assume it is for beta testing purposes?

 

I thought there was a command to take you to 50 in the beta test server?

Unless i'm thinking of a different game.

 

But yes for testing purposes that would be great.

[Ukase]

There is a command on beta to get you to 50 instantly. But a button or power to click on, instead of a user having to sift through the forums and finding the macro to do so would be useful. 

And, candidly, it would be useful on regular servers as well. So many players just PL past 1-50 for whatever reason. I see no reason to not just let them do so. That would certainly remove a lot of characters out of the AE, and if need be, free up those resources that I hear AE uses up. 
I don't think I'd use it that often, but it would certainly be useful to a lot of players. 

[Hyperstrike]

2 hours ago, Ukase said:

There is a command on beta to get you to 50 instantly. But a button or power to click on, instead of a user having to sift through the forums and finding the macro to do so would be useful. 

And, candidly, it would be useful on regular servers as well. So many players just PL past 1-50 for whatever reason. I see no reason to not just let them do so. That would certainly remove a lot of characters out of the AE, and if need be, free up those resources that I hear AE uses up. 
I don't think I'd use it that often, but it would certainly be useful to a lot of players. 

No.  No.  No.

Putting the insta-50 function from the testing server on the Live setup should not happen.  EVER!
EHH-VURR!!

 

It has a place on testing so that specific changes can be tested without having to play hours/days/weeks to get into range to equip.

On Live, you need to work for what you want, even if you're being farmed to 50.

[TemporalVileTerror]

"Work."

Does that not sound terribly incongruous with a leisure activity?

I mean, sure.  If some people work for leisure, they can work.  As a personal choice, absolutely.

But wherefore the "need?"

[Bopper]

9 hours ago, SuperPlyx said:

I was wondering if it would be possible to add a button to the Freebie Menu that would automatically assign the powers and slots needed for a level 50 ?

 

So you would click the button we have now to make yourself 50 , then click new button to randomly assign all the powers and slots. So you are left with a all leveled up 50.

For the reasons you mentioned later, this is a good idea. There are plenty of times where I just need a test dummy, but selecting and slotting powers up to 50 is a drag. There are 24 powers in a build, just make it select every primary and secondary (18 powers), grab 3 powers from the fighting pool, then snag Super Jump, Super Speed, and Flight. It will give you the essentials just in case you don't want to go into Respec Mode immediately after.

[Hyperstrike]

5 hours ago, TemporalVileTerror said:

"Work."

Does that not sound terribly incongruous with a leisure activity?

I mean, sure.  If some people work for leisure, they can work.  As a personal choice, absolutely.

But wherefore the "need?"

If one does not strive for a thing, that thing has no value.
At which point, why are you playing the game?  It's become a spreadsheet..

[TemporalVileTerror]

That's a very strange philosophy to me.  Equating value to "striving."  I can't honestly fathom it.
I play the game because it's a game which checks a significant number of boxes for the interests I have in a form of interactive entertainment, in terms of visuals, auditory, social, and mechanical elements.

Why else would you think someone would be playing?

[Captain Valiant]

Yes, it can be a tedious process to respec a level 50 character.
Perhaps there could be a stored build system, where variations could be saved to reload. These variations would have to be earned through normal gameplay once and then that build could be saved like stored costumes.
Another alternative could be the ability to "untrain" your powers in reverse order. This way one could backtrack to the point where a bad choice might have been made in power choice or slotting and it could be corrected.

[SuperPlyx]

This is a suggestion for the Beta Test Server ONLY to make testing easier. It has NOTHING to do with the main game server......

[billha65]

Back in the day I really wanted a build planner with all the bells and whistles integrated with the CoH respec function. That would would be so nice.

[Marine X]

I think I may get what the OP was going for.....maybe.

 

When you Respec, you pick all your powers first, then assign the slots to the powers as you wish, rather than having to go level by level thru the build like you do with the Test Insta-50. It would be nice to have it as button, then assign things like a respec. It really does go much faster and allows you to build a more accurate 50 because you can slot things heavier early than you could if leveling the Character, which is one of the benefits of a respec anyway. On test that would be a great idea, but the idea of putting this on the Active Servers, I'm with @Hyperstrike, Hard Pass.

[BlingBaby]

So really, this would be a command that levels you to 50 and puts you into the respec screen immediately? Sounds interesting for Test. I mean, it's purely for convenience, but I can see that it has a purpose.

 

As I recall, you can't respec with untrained levels--says "respec failed" when you click to confirm the last time. Not sure if that's still an issue and how easy it is to bypass. Even then, it might be possible to have the system quickly select every power as it becomes available and fully slot each power to six slots before starting slotting the next power. Or something. In the event neither primary nor secondary has newly available powers, maybe assign a power from a random (or particular) pool just to move to the next level. The actual stats or powers wouldn't really matter as the next part of the command goes right to respec, so you're not really assigning an actual set of powers and slots, just a filler so the respec command executes without a hitch.

 

Or maybe it's not an issue at all and I've solved a problem that doesn't exist. Go me. 😐

[Troo]

On 1/24/2021 at 11:11 AM, SuperPlyx said:

This is a suggestion for the Beta Test Server ONLY to make testing easier. It has NOTHING to do with the main game server..

I have no problem with this as a developer tool. I do have a problem with it being accessible to any player.

 

Surely you can see how this would be abused,

Maybe that's why it is being asked for.. Once it's on beta then ask to push to live. Beta is where many bad ideas start.

[SuperPlyx]

 

1 hour ago, Troo said:

Surely you can see how this would be abused,

Maybe that's why it is being asked for..

And how is this different than auto 50 that is on Beta..it would simply make slotting faster....

....And I don't appreciate the implication I want it on Live...I have stated many times it for beta testing.

 

I have never been so frustrated with community before

[Troo]

3 minutes ago, SuperPlyx said:

And how is this different than auto 50 that is on Beta..it would simply make slotting faster....

....And I don't appreciate the implication I want it on Live...I have stated many times it for beta testing.

 

I have never been so frustrated with community before

c'est la vie

 

Okay honest question - Do you want this for testing the game as a whole (improving the game for everyone) or testing for personal use?

 

[TemporalVileTerror]

It would be for testing the game during Beta.

The amount of time it takes to set up a testing character can be prohibitively high and a barrier for players interested in providing valuable feedback during the Beta process.  Having the ability to basically just crank up a new character and be ready to go would be helpful.

 

Granted ...

The character transfer tool already exists.  While it has the prerequisite need of the player having an existing character, it does largely serve many needs for getting a character set up and running on the Beta server.

 

But in all things; more options are better.  Giving players the tools that would allow for rapid deployment of playable characters for a variety of testing scenarios improves the likelihood of those players finding bugs or issues in their limited play time.

[Troo]

1 hour ago, TemporalVileTerror said:

improves the likelihood of those players finding bugs or issues in their limited play time.

If this was the reason sure but it is not. We already have a tool to bring full builds to beta.

[Apparition]

7 minutes ago, Troo said:

If this was the reason sure but it is not. We already have a tool to bring full builds to beta.

That isn’t good enough.  Part of the reason why Piecemeal’s first two mission arcs are/were so difficult was because it was largely being tested by veteran players using min-Max builds loaded to the hilt with IO enhancements.

 

SuperPlyx’s suggestion would make it easier to test content with average Joe builds, using SOs or generic IOs.

 

Copying characters doesn’t solve that problem as none of my characters aren’t loaded to the hilt with IO enhancements.

Edited February 7, 2021 by Apparition

[Troo]

29 minutes ago, Apparition said:

was largely being tested by veteran players using min-Max builds loaded to the hilt with IO enhancements.

Yeah no.

I have a bunch of characters, they are not all 50s, this is likely common. Folks could have used lower level characters if they wanted to.

Providing a tool to more easily min/max builds is not going to encourage more variety, it more likely do exactly the opposite.

[Doc_Scorpion]

1 hour ago, Apparition said:

SuperPlyx’s suggestion would make it easier to test content with average Joe builds, using SOs or generic IOs.

From previous experience on Beta the majority copy over their Big Builds and use them to test.  Which ends up with a chicken-and-egg question...  Do people do this because (as Bopper points out) it's currently a massive PITA to build a test dummy?  Or do they do so because they're not interested in low level or Average Joe builds?  (Some of the pushback I received for running tests with single-digit-level characters strongly suggest the latter may be the case.)

The easier we can make it to test characters of all levels, the easier we can make it to build a test character, the easier it becomes to attract more people to Beta.

[Myrmidon]

I am in complete agreement with this for testing purposes. It will save quite a bit of time in the building process for different setups, particularly when there is a lot of variation to test (as I27 definitely had). We can call it the “Auto-slot” feature.

[WanderingAries]

Or you could do what I generally do when I'm not sure how a build works yet. Start with the basics (Acc, Dmg, Rech) and then go from there. Anything beyond that is the whole POINT of being able to do it on our own. Need help? Check the forums for suggestions on the build.