Regarding Invasion Events

[Techwright]

The Rikti invasions this week have brought to the forefront something that's been on the back burner of my mind for some time.

 

Regardless of whether it is Rikti, zombie, or Nemesis invading:  why are so many zones ignored when an event triggers?  I understand if the alerts go off simultaneously on several zones, but when it is one at a time, and normally infrequent, why would say, a zombie event in Croatoa go ignored?  Is it confusion on where the group should assemble?  I know folks usually move into Talos or Peregrine Island pretty quickly when an invasion sounds, but sometimes seem confused in Skyway or Kings Row, and assembling a team seems much more challenging in these locations.  Then there's other locations which never have a team assemble.

 

Second thought:  why not create a badge or two covering those zones?  I don't recall how many blue-side zones get any of these invasions, but lets say 16 for purposes of discussion.  Badge 1 I'll call "Not In My City", and might issue after participating in repulsing invasions in 8 zones.  Badge 2 (I'll call it "I Can Do This All Day") issues when you've participated in repulsing an invasion in every blue-side zone, and maybe throw in a nice temporary power or effect as icing on the cake.  Redside would have their counterparts.  "Participation" would have to be defined: staying to the end? 5 minutes of fighting? other?  Seemingly, this might encourage participation in more of the off-the-beat locations, and possibly help hold a bit of interest for some who quickly experience invasion fatigue at annual events.

 

Third thought:  considering the comments I've seen this week about invasion fatigue, might it not work better to set the invasion to 1 zone per side at a time?  Two or more practically guarantees one will be either understaffed or not staffed by resistance.

 

Fourth thought:  Why do Ritki (and presumably others) always land a distance from the players?  If you've done an event, then you know the complaint:  Melee to connect has to move to the Rikti, which means the next batch lands farther away, forcing the melee folk to move again, rinse and repeat.  Pretty soon, you've got Rikti beaming into the path of the security drones (or down the hill and into the woods and shops), and people "yelling" at others to back it up, which melee are reluctant to do because if they move and another doesn't, they've just lost several hits.  Can there be a redress to this? Maybe get the next batch to teleport in 180 degrees in the other direction of the players from the first batch?

[Lazarillo]

I just want to say I like every single one of these points.  The badge ones, maybe could be "stop an invasion in every zone" (so Rikti, Zombies, Nemesis, or Banners, but not separate ones for each), but the idea of some sort of distinction for defending every zone is a neat one.

[Greycat]

Not sure which zones you're seeing not get invasions. Atlas and Mercy won't, because they're starter zones and specifically excluded.

 

Also, frankly, as far as ignoring invasion events? Not having enough interested people, not wanting to deal with them (some invasions I don't want to bother logging on even. Tell me it's a Nemesis invasion, and ... ugh. Zombies lead to burnout quickly. Even Rikti get tiresome.) Or people just doing other things - if an MSR or hami raid's on, or there are itrials going on, that has peoples' attention.

 

As far as distance from the player? Not everyone has a great connection (or PC.) That distance gives some degree of safety and reaction time. (Plus, of course, they're not *supposed* to spawn - at least with Rikti, not sure about the others - if you're "under some sort of cover.") I'd much rather *not* be spawn-ganked by something showing up right on top of me. ANd if you're in a group, well, it gives room for the players to be *in* a group.

[Shred Monkey]

The problem is the lack of rewards.  It's a badge at best.  

 

If they want more attention for events, they need to reward bonus inf/exp/drops... something that makes people stop what they're doing to go join in.  If what their doing gives more reward, they're not going to do it.

 

 

[Grouchybeast]

My guess is that most people who badge do so only on a small number of characters, probably their mains.  Once you have the invasion badges, there's no much incentive to go to an invasion -- the XP is relatively poor, and it basically just involved standing in one spot while mobs melt in AOEs in more-or-less of a slide show depending on your computer performance.  They're not the most fun events in CoX.

 

I don't really see why it's a problem that people generally prefer to assemble in a couple of zones, as it does make it easier to get the boss badges.  Encouraging people to spread out would probably make those badges much more hit-and-miss.

[Marine X]

Also some Zones have well known Invasion Locations. If the Invasion is on Talos Island, for instance, everyone knows where to gather, on the hill next to the Tram, Tunnel and Base Portal. Peregrine Island, typically at Portal Corp. Other zones, not so much, there is not always an Obvious gathering point, and that makes it a time sink searching the zones for where people have gathered, if they even have. Croatoa actually would be a good one because of the open space right behind the Tram. A lot of the zones have a spot that would work if there weren't Security Drones there. Have done a fair number of events in Kings Row as it has a decent spot or 2, like the fenced construction site. Good suggestions @Techwright.

[The_Warpact]

I love doing the invasions unless I'm on a mish, I'll literally run around getting the a bombs then go to the main areas to fight.

Then onto the next areas and keep it rolling.

 

I haven't been on any Nemesis ones since live and zombies are ok at Halloween. 

[srmalloy]

2 hours ago, Marine X said:

Other zones, not so much, there is not always an Obvious gathering point,

In Kings Row, the traditional gathering point has been just north of the intersection down the stairs from Blue Steel -- moving back into the intersection itself gets people ganked by the dropship on the E/W run over the plaza. However, I've noticed that the plaza in front of the tram may actually be better, as you don't have the problem of the spawns falling over the side as they move NE.

 

Steel Canyon used to be out in front of Positron, but with the change that has him and Valkyrie coming out after mobs that get too close, that's become more complicated. Founder's Falls was the plaza south of Infernal, but again, him getting involved if the fight gets too close makes that less attractive. Skyway was always in or around the park where Synapse stands. Brickstown and Independence Port, I don't remember where people gathered.

[Techwright]

10 hours ago, Grouchybeast said:

I don't really see why it's a problem that people generally prefer to assemble in a couple of zones, as it does make it easier to get the boss badges.  Encouraging people to spread out would probably make those badges much more hit-and-miss.

 

I'm not sure we're thinking along the same line.  I wasn't fielding a concern that people spread out.  I was voicing a concern that so many of these when triggered anywhere but a few zones would result in a wasted opportunity, because no team/league will assemble.  Further, I was voicing a concern that multiple events triggering at once does indeed thin the ranks if we try to address both or all of them.  So we congregate on the ones we've an established comfort with.  In other words, why even have events in places like Perez Park if they're not utilized?  But if we have an acceptable rewards arrangement (and in my scenario I'd suggested badges and a temp buff) that encourages players to participate in a one-at-a-time event in Perez Park or other currently ignored places, then we've gained a greater efficiency.

 

10 hours ago, Marine X said:

Also some Zones have well known Invasion Locations. If the Invasion is on Talos Island, for instance, everyone knows where to gather, on the hill next to the Tram, Tunnel and Base Portal. Peregrine Island, typically at Portal Corp. Other zones, not so much, there is not always an Obvious gathering point, and that makes it a time sink searching the zones for where people have gathered, if they even have. Croatoa actually would be a good one because of the open space right behind the Tram. A lot of the zones have a spot that would work if there weren't Security Drones there. Have done a fair number of events in Kings Row as it has a decent spot or 2, like the fenced construction site. Good suggestions @Techwright.

 

Right.  You've filled in some of the point I may have been expressing poorly.  I see Rikti and zombie event teams in Skyway, for example, that want to assemble but are not entirely sure where.  They're usually in proximity to Synapse, but run the risks of hospital security drones and the additional risk of being at a level and location where the Rikti ships use the team for target practice.

 

Based in part on your comment @Marine X, I think what might be needed is a scouting and publishing of ideal sites in each zone for teams and leagues to gather.  Something clear of the ships' energy blasts and also of any security drones, and preferably somewhere where battle drift doesn't take us into one of them.  If the site is close to transportation, so much the better. 

[MTeague]

I only rarely deal with invasions because when i logged on that night, I logged on to do various story arcs. I didn't log on for the sake of a Rikti invasion. 

 

If the mood hits me? Sure, I'll go. 

But more often than not I'm firmly in a "Nope, I'm NOT dealing with this" mode.

[gamingglen]

If no one goes into a zone, do the Rikti still invade it?    🤫

 

I avoid the zombie invasions, the XP for those is terrible. XP for the others is okay (bombs are delicious XP).

I prefer to fight them by myself, being a soloist, so I like the less used zones when invaded.  At times I like to get the regular street mobs to fight the invaders so I wait by a few. Warrior Lts beat the crap out Rikti. 

 

One issue I have is that the spawns are always NE of you.  Didn't they use to spawn in any direction around you?  

[Techwright]

12 hours ago, gamingglen said:

If no one goes into a zone, do the Rikti still invade it?    🤫

 

 

Schrödinger, is that you?  😉

[KC4800]

Did you know you can be standing inside the powers supression room of an AE building and still get one shotted by a Rikti Drop ship. 😜

 

SHould be a badge for that. Most-unlucky hero? Innocent Bystander?

Edited May 1, 2021 by KC4800

[gamingglen]

2 hours ago, KC4800 said:

Did you know you can be standing inside the powers supression room of an AE building and still get one shotted by a Rikti Drop ship. 😜

 

SHould be a badge for that. Most-unlucky hero? Innocent Bystander?

 

Finder of Hole in Roof

[KC4800]

On 5/1/2021 at 10:33 AM, gamingglen said:

 

Finder of Hole in Roof

Yeah, there's a Hole in there, now!

[Xenosone]

Pretty sure it has to do with the nature of AE. 

 

If youve never left atlas park, how do you know where to go?

[tidge]

No complaints about the rest of the OP, and I just want to chime in on:

 

On 4/29/2021 at 8:01 PM, Techwright said:

Third thought:  considering the comments I've seen this week about invasion fatigue, might it not work better to set the invasion to 1 zone per side at a time? 

 

I suspect fatigue plays a big part, but it could also be timing. Aside from Vanguard Merits (and whatever XP/Inf that comes along) the reward is pretty much badges (and an eventual accolade)... and you can only get those once per character. I was starting Leagues (Blue Side) to help other players get badges simply because no one else wanted to do so. I also felt that since I was logged into a 50+ Stalker: being able to one-shot freshly dropped bombs has got to help other players looking for that badge.

 

We never got full Leagues, but this week also has some high-level Weekly TFs that were running and I think some Incarnate trials were running simultaneously while I was logged in. The structure of the event really benefits large teams/leagues, especially if your character is low DPS (during the Bomb phase).

 

The only tweak I feel would improve the event: I'd like to see the Rikti Master at Arms spawn similar as to how Nemesis spawns during his invasions. Maybe he does and I have always missed him?

[cranebump]

Did a Cap invasion team last week. That was interesting. Think there were only 4-5 of us. The baddies kept popping up right next to a building corner, so they were always contained. Didn't get many heavies though.

[Luminara]

On 4/29/2021 at 8:01 PM, Techwright said:

Regardless of whether it is Rikti, zombie, or Nemesis invading:  why are so many zones ignored when an event triggers?

Lack of proper notification is part of the problem.  Yes, the game will send an alert to a specific channel when an event begins, and a notification when the event has ended, but that's really a minimalist approach.  There's nothing to ensure that players actually see the information.  Furthermore, there's no information at all about the current progress of events, nothing to keep prompting players to participate, nothing to catch players' attention if they missed the single "Hey, something's happening in zone X" line of text in a chat tab that they may not even be paying any attention to, or could have lost in a flood of conversation or combat spam... the game doesn't actively encourage players to participate in events, it simply tells them that they exist.  A "Current Events" channel which continually updates players about the state of events, even if it's only when an event starts a different phase, like, "The Rikti Drop Ships have ceased their bombardment and begun transporting troops to the ground", would go a very, very long way toward attracting more players to events.

 

Another problem is that some of the events have no clearly defined location.  These Rikti invasions, for example, don't encourage players to gather at a particular spot, people either see other people and huddle together, or they wander around aimlessly and separately.  A simple "Go here" marker would make it a lot easier for people to know what they're expected to do.

 

And on the subject of what they're expected to do, that's also not often clearly defined.  After all of this time, I still have absolutely no fucking clue what the whole zombie invasion event is supposed to be about, or what I'm supposed to do at those flagged spots.  Yeah, it's on the wiki somewhere, but I'm not looking at the wiki when I'm playing, and I'm not interested in looking it up when I'm not playing, so I never learn anything about that event.  For that matter, why should I have to go dig up the information on the wiki?  If the game wants me to participate in that event, it needs to give me the relevant information - go here, kill X of Y to spawn Z, poke Z in the eye, get badge.  Instead, it just drops a waypoint on the map.  In-game information about events doesn't have to be filled with spoilers or give the player the exact process to complete the event, but it has to do something more than make a colored dot on the map and call it a day.

 

Not much point going to a different zone to participate in an event when the game works so hard to discourage participation.

[Col. Kernel]

On 4/30/2021 at 7:10 AM, Marine X said:

Also some Zones have well known Invasion Locations. If the Invasion is on Talos Island, for instance, everyone knows where to gather, on the hill next to the Tram, Tunnel and Base Portal. Peregrine Island, typically at Portal Corp. Other zones, not so much, there is not always an Obvious gathering point, and that makes it a time sink searching the zones for where people have gathered, if they even have. Croatoa actually would be a good one because of the open space right behind the Tram. A lot of the zones have a spot that would work if there weren't Security Drones there. Have done a fair number of events in Kings Row as it has a decent spot or 2, like the fenced construction site. Good suggestions @Techwright.

The street in front of Blue Steel is a common fighting spot for KR, though the construction zone might be better.

I don't recall ever doing an Invasion in Sky, Bricks, Fault, Croatoa, or a hazard zone.

[wjrasmussen]

On 4/30/2021 at 3:56 AM, Greycat said:

Not sure which zones you're seeing not get invasions. Atlas and Mercy won't, because they're starter zones and specifically excluded.

 

Also, frankly, as far as ignoring invasion events? Not having enough interested people, not wanting to deal with them (some invasions I don't want to bother logging on even. Tell me it's a Nemesis invasion, and ... ugh. Zombies lead to burnout quickly. Even Rikti get tiresome.) Or people just doing other things - if an MSR or hami raid's on, or there are itrials going on, that has peoples' attention.

 

As far as distance from the player? Not everyone has a great connection (or PC.) That distance gives some degree of safety and reaction time. (Plus, of course, they're not *supposed* to spawn - at least with Rikti, not sure about the others - if you're "under some sort of cover.") I'd much rather *not* be spawn-ganked by something showing up right on top of me. ANd if you're in a group, well, it gives room for the players to be *in* a group.

Well I wish Atlas still had them.  Loved having a level 2 join in the fun.

[Greycat]

35 minutes ago, wjrasmussen said:

Well I wish Atlas still had them.  Loved having a level 2 join in the fun.

Still can... in King's Row.  Honestly I rarely have fun on invasions with any sort of lowbie. The critters might be "levelless" but they don't exactly *scale* well.

[Hew]

People are immensely lazy when it comes to travel. As a whole, the game is played in something like 4 zones blueside, and the very few redsiders doing whatever.

 

Unless its for merits/badges for giant monsters, thats it.

 

PI, IP (solely for penny), KR (if you are doing the two skulls arcs), Talos, Atlas, $insertwhereyouAEzonehere. 

 

Anything else is purely oddball usage. The old school arcs in other zones run you all over gods creation so clearly thats out, street sweeping does no good for you exp-wise (travel tips are cool though for completionism), the new school arcs that DON'T generally aren't run, or are run by a select few which gets SOME people into other zones. 

 

Cim is the prime example of this behavior. Unless you are doing an ITF, PEOPLE DONT GO THERE (excluding the .05% that do the arcs there). Aside from War Walker/Babbage, PEOPLE DONT GO TO BOOMTOWN. Not even for exploration badges. 

 

The list goes on and on.

 

People. Are. Lazy.

 

Think of how many PI Radio teams people join, when exp can be had with equal difficulty to 4/8 council, in other areas, level aligned, merit or otherwise aligned. What I have seen is people ALWAYS GO FOR THE PI Radio teams.

 

Nobody is going to go to a one-off invasion in some zone they have hardly, if ever, gone to and then tried to drum up companions. It simply isn't near the nexus of traffic flow blue side (atlas, talos, PI). I see redside lft/lfg messages so rarely I wonder if they even really do anything groupy. 😛

 

I have no solution, simply stating reality.

People have fun with that reality, I do not think any attempt should be made to try and force people elsewhere.

[Hew]

2 hours ago, Luminara said:

Another problem is that some of the events have no clearly defined location. 

Talos hill. PI plaza.

 

Thats all I have. 😄 Please note that these correlate to above post I just made too.

[gamingglen]

1 hour ago, Hew said:

People are immensely lazy when it comes to travel. As a whole, the game is played in something like 4 zones blueside, and the very few redsiders doing whatever.

 

Unless its for merits/badges for giant monsters, thats it.

 

PI, IP (solely for penny), KR (if you are doing the two skulls arcs), Talos, Atlas, $insertwhereyouAEzonehere. 

 

Anything else is purely oddball usage. The old school arcs in other zones run you all over gods creation so clearly thats out, street sweeping does no good for you exp-wise (travel tips are cool though for completionism), the new school arcs that DON'T generally aren't run, or are run by a select few which gets SOME people into other zones. 

 

Cim is the prime example of this behavior. Unless you are doing an ITF, PEOPLE DONT GO THERE (excluding the .05% that do the arcs there). Aside from War Walker/Babbage, PEOPLE DONT GO TO BOOMTOWN. Not even for exploration badges. 

 

The list goes on and on.

 

People. Are. Lazy.

 

Think of how many PI Radio teams people join, when exp can be had with equal difficulty to 4/8 council, in other areas, level aligned, merit or otherwise aligned. What I have seen is people ALWAYS GO FOR THE PI Radio teams.

 

Nobody is going to go to a one-off invasion in some zone they have hardly, if ever, gone to and then tried to drum up companions. It simply isn't near the nexus of traffic flow blue side (atlas, talos, PI). I see redside lft/lfg messages so rarely I wonder if they even really do anything groupy. 😛

 

I have no solution, simply stating reality.

People have fun with that reality, I do not think any attempt should be made to try and force people elsewhere.

 

You're wrong on all counts. Maybe MOST people don't wander around most zones, but I do and I see others (I take a second look just to be sure I ain't seeing things :D) in those zones as well. 

 

At certain levels (okay, mostly in the teens) you can get a fair amount of XP street sweeping. In Steel I can "swat" an outcast boss and gain a whole experience bar.  I'll admit that once I get to 30 then street sweeping becomes more of a chore and I've found that Brickstown and Founders' Falls is less appealing for that, despite FF's aesthetic which I do like.  Might be due to the mobs one has to fight. Whacking snipers is fun, though. 

 

For invasions I go to out of the way places. All the graphics of league play tax my older computer, although I do turn down the graphics settings when I do join a league.