If City of Heroes were remade entirely today...

[srmalloy]

2 hours ago, Luminara said:

 

As long as they're available to everyone, rather than restricted so one third the characters can't have them, sure.  Gag away.

Didn't we get enough of that horror in Batman Forever (no picture to prevent screaming)?

[Luminara]

Just now, srmalloy said:

Didn't we get enough of that horror in Batman Forever (no picture to prevent screaming)?

 

There were ball gags in Batman Forever?

 

No, don't answer that.  If there were, I've forgotten and I want to keep it that way.

[oedipus_tex]

I'll start with what I'd keep:

• The "pick an archetype, then pick two kits" structure. I think this structure is genius. I wish more games would pick up that model.
• Port over most of the existing archetypes (more on this in a second)
• Keep the Magnitude system for stacking mezz--again a piece of brilliance I wish other games would copy
• Keep the concept of super side kicking
• Keep some version of the IO system

 

What I'd consider changing:

• Do more to separate the intent behind certain archetypes
  • Defender: Push further into the realm of a support role
  • Corruptor: I'd change this archetype completely. Instead of Blast/Buff, they'd get a primary Blast-Buff combo set and a secondary Blast-Buff secondary called a Corruption set. For example, in the primary could pick Corrupted Fire Blast + Thermal Radiation. Then for your secondary you could pick Corrupted Dark Blast + Dark Miasma. 
• Melee archetypes:
  • Tanker would only melee archetype mostly immune to mezz (unlike all of them at present) without relying on a T9
  • Brute damage more directly tied to number of enemies facing this exact moment, not just a "Rage bar."
  • Stalker would have very high defense versus a limited number of targets but not handle huge groups well without sheering off aggro
  • Scrappers walks the line in the middle of these
• Balance stuff
  • Rebalance Armor sets so that armor is viable from start to finish of the build, not just "coming together" at high levels
  • Lockout timer on Inspiration drops so that don't rain down on player's quite so freely after becoming lawn mowers. Nothing crazy punishing, but long enough that the inspiration system doesn't greatly favor high damage characters over low damage ones.
  • All archetypes would be more vulnerable to enemy mezz; however enemies with mezz would be rarer and the punishment for being mezzed less severe
  • Remove or rebalance the Dodge mechanic
  • Add an explicit stat for how well a given character handles multiple opponents at once, to give more dynamics to battle parameters.  

Edited July 29, 2021 by oedipus_tex

[srmalloy]

1 hour ago, Luminara said:

There were ball gags in Batman Forever?

Not ball gags -- the infamous "Bat-Nipples".

[Player2]

On 7/28/2021 at 1:43 PM, Luminara said:

 

Nipples.

The game already has them...  on Male and Huge models.

 

On 7/28/2021 at 2:11 PM, PeregrineFalcon said:

This is just silly. There's way too much of this that's freely available on the internet for the devs to remove the family friendly rating of City of Heroes.

 

Want to see more of this? Just do a google search.

Not only does the game currently have nipples, it also has PIERCED nipples.  (See the Leather Straps option under Tight -> Chest options.)

 

On 7/28/2021 at 2:40 PM, Luminara said:

 

This isn't a question about what we want added to the existing game.  This is a question about what we'd want if the game were being created today.  As such, there's no rating to be removed, since the game in question hasn't been completed or released yet.  Read the thread title.  Read the first post.

 

Also, nipples are nipples.  Dude nipples, lady nipples, they're biologically identical, nothing more than organic straws.  Labeling one gender's straws as "unfriendly" is parochial; doing so while giving a pass to the other gender's is hypocritical.

 

Don't make me say something the mods will regret.

Hypocrisy is bad.  Definitely.

 

On 7/28/2021 at 2:50 PM, PeregrineFalcon said:

You are absolutely correct about that and I agree. However, it doesn't matter what we think, it matters what society at large thinks. There is still a large majority of the planet that thinks that seeing a female nipple will somehow harm children and cause their society to collapse.

 

Old fashioned societal standards are evolving.  In some places, women can go shirtless anywhere a man can.

https://www.quora.com/Is-it-actually-legal-for-a-woman-to-be-topless-in-New-York-City

 

7 hours ago, Arnabas said:

I remember when the game launched and we had nipples....

Yup.

[Player2]

If the game were made from scratch from the ground up now, I think the first thing to do would be to recreate all NPC enemies so that they can use the scaling to level technology that zombie apocalypse and rikti invasion enemies do.  If the canon stories only use Hellions up to level 10 or 12 or whatever, that's fine... but if there's ever a need for some level 40 or 50 Hellions, just drop them in and let them scale up.

 

In addition to that, recreate all NPC costuming elements so that they are individual pieces rather than whole body skins like older NPCs are... and then make all of those assets available to players, with maybe the exception of a handful of unique faces for AVs and Signature Heroes (and even for those, create similar variants for player use).

 

Next up is rework the AE mission designer so that maps are more customizable, allowing mission designers to change colors of walls, floors, and details as well as drop in objects as set decoration just like in the base builder...  also allow the mission designer to place spawn points for specific mission content, such as ambushes, traps, environmental damage effects, lighting, etc.  And while we're in AE, allow ALL NPC assets to be available including Reichsman, monsters (like tentacles), and giant monsters (outdoor maps only).

 

And since it's a from-the-ground-up rebuild, I'd say get rid of Origin in character creation process (it's functionally pointless anymore, but too tangled in the code at present to remove) and also rework how powers function so that you can select a power and then customize it's color, animation, and effect appearance.  So let's say you want an Ice Blaster that shoots his cold beams from a gun and the effect looks like fire...  but functionally, it's still an ice blast power.

[Luminara]

Hit mechanics, but instead of misses, glancing blows.  Glancing blows would deal less damage (if the power deals damage) and the secondary effects would be reduced (either duration or percentage/magnitude), providing a measure of parity between toggle/passive mitigation and active mitigation.

[Shred Monkey]

On 7/28/2021 at 1:13 PM, Luminara said:

 

No idea.  But I can't think of anything that doesn't need more Karl Urban.

Did star trek need Karl Urban?  I mean, I'm with you on pretty much everything else, but that was a bit of a stretch to me.

[Luminara]

22 minutes ago, Shred Monkey said:

Did star trek need Karl Urban?

 

On 7/28/2021 at 2:13 PM, Luminara said:

I can't think of anything that doesn't need more Karl Urban.

 

[Player2]

Dredd needs more Karl Urban.

[PeregrineFalcon]

3 hours ago, oedipus_tex said:

Do more to separate the intent behind certain archetypes

While I do like the "archetype and two kits", as you called it, I'd like to see less classes with more crossover. So my melee character could take the Tank/Brute/Scrapper ability specializations. Combine this with multiple builds and I can use my favorite character in multiple scenarios.

 

If I'm soloing I could just 'click' and set my Scrapper build. When my friends log on I could then switch to my Tank build and tank for the team. If they already have a Tank I could either stick with my Scrapper build or switch to my Brute build and off-tank if needed.

 

Same thing with other characters. I could either go full Defender on a team or switch to Corruptor when I'm solo or on a small team.

 

Of course I'd also like to see a huge rework of the mez system for the new game.

[Rishidian]

A few notes:

 

Karl Urban did a pretty good Bones.  Got the stiffness down pretty well

He did a good job in Lord Of The Rings  - I wish he had a bigger part

CoX does not need Karl Urban (or Karl Urban's) nipples.  Let's just drop that one there.

The Nude female body addon is local only, and not impressive.  Don't bother with it.

 

Now for the biggie:

What if there was friendly fire?  Those Blaster misses hitting civilians, or other PC's.  Or damage to the environment.  That would make the game so much more difficult...

(now, everyone and their sister is going to BMC at me for such a idea [not even a suggestion])

Edited July 29, 2021 by Rishidian
Correcting a typo

[Luminara]

12 minutes ago, Rishidian said:

CoX does not need Karl Urban

 

Blasphemer.

[Rishidian]

31 minutes ago, Rishidian said:

CoX does not need Karl Urban (or Karl Urban's) nipples. 

 

That was a misquote -

Luminara - you are better than that (and I have much respect for you and your posts)!

 

I am all for having a Karl Urban NPC (or even inviting him to play!)

[wjrasmussen]

13 hours ago, Greycat said:

 

Yes. You *can* love something and miss something and still want to make it better or play "what if" with it. I don't see what's hard to understand about that.

Is it make it better or make it different.  Better is kind of egotistical in the my way is so much better kind of way.

[DoctorDitko]

An option to matchmake Bank/Mayhem missions, with improved rewards. "You can fight NPCs, but if you want a real challenge..."

 

An archnemesis system where you can design your own opponent.

 

Epic Archetypes where you can mix-n-match powersets with more flexibility.

 

As mentioned above, the ability to pick a powerset, then an sfx set. (This was one of the major strengths of paper-and-pencil Champions.) Want a healing Arrow? Go for it!

[Greycat]

3 hours ago, wjrasmussen said:

Is it make it better or make it different.  Better is kind of egotistical in the my way is so much better kind of way.

 

Only if you choose to take it that way. For instance: Cars being more fuel efficient? Better. Cars being safer and more survivable in a crash? Better. I don't think anyone's ego is involved there.

2 hours ago, DoctorDitko said:

Epic Archetypes where you can mix-n-match powersets with more flexibility.

 

Call it something other than "epic." Epic ATs = ATs tied to their own storyline versus the generic world ones.

[DoctorDitko]

15 minutes ago, Greycat said:

Call it something other than "epic." Epic ATs = ATs tied to their own storyline versus the generic world ones.

Fair enough.

 

I just really liked the PnP Champions. The first dozen or so characters I made on Live were all approximations of my Champs characters. Being able to mix & match powers more freely would definitely scratch that itch.

 

There was an Ultima-esque game on Palm Pilot,* that once you won the game, it unlocked the full game editor the developer used to build it. Taskmaker IIRC? 

 

Anyway, I thought that was one of the coolest rewards ever granted on a game completion. So a rules-bendy archetype after 50 would be extremely cool, IMHO!

 

I'd not make any combo available, though, because minimaxing.  Just say if someone chooses a HTH attack, "You can choose among one of these three melee attack powers" when you level.

 

* Look it up, kids! It was a smartphone before there were smartphones. It couldn't make phone calls, but half the time my current smartphone can't, either!**

 

** And who makes phone calls any more?

[Llewellyn Blackwell]

On 7/28/2021 at 11:13 AM, Luminara said:

 

No idea.  But I can't think of anything that doesn't need more Karl Urban.

Oh I dont know, I think Xena Warrior Princess might feel differently what with it being he who had her crucified and her legs broken with mauls. Well his character anyways. Though maybe you are pro roman empire in your view of history.

[Llewellyn Blackwell]

On 7/28/2021 at 11:11 AM, PeregrineFalcon said:

This is just silly. There's way too much of this that's freely available on the internet for the devs to remove the family friendly rating of City of Heroes.

 

Want to see more of this? Just do a google search.

First it is generally said to be one of the things about age of conan that has kept it alive at all and relevant in the MMO scene, being an adult rating is actually seen now as something companies may well have screwed up by not seeking to cater to during the golden age of MMO's.

 

And saying this game is family friend is hilarious. The HC admin seem very lenient on people doing very graphic ERP in public chat channels and using the/e emote text function that the average text one sees in the D these days on everlasting would give a hustler editor a blush. And you ask these folks to keep it in private locations and tells and they act like you are assaulting them.

[Llewellyn Blackwell]

18 hours ago, Player2 said:

Dredd needs more Karl Urban.

That we have not had a KU Dredd flick every year since that first one is a gawd damned crime to all humanity imo. And unlike Stalone, never took OFF THE HELMET!

[PeregrineFalcon]

9 minutes ago, Llewellyn Blackwell said:

First it is generally said to be one of the things about age of conan that has kept it alive at all and relevant in the MMO scene, being an adult rating is actually seen now as something companies may well have screwed up by not seeking to cater to during the golden age of MMO's.

 

And saying this game is family friend is hilarious. The HC admin seem very lenient on people doing very graphic ERP in public chat channels and using the/e emote text function that the average text one sees in the D these days on everlasting would give a hustler editor a blush. And you ask these folks to keep it in private locations and tells and they act like you are assaulting them.

1) Age of Conan is based on a series, and a genre, that are "adult." City of Heroes is based on American Four Color Comics which, if not always strictly for children, were always at least "family friendly." Apple/orange.

 

2) The GAME is family friendly. People playing it may not be, but that was not what I was talking about, and you know it.

 

3) I agree with you that desperate people who are ERPing in game, because they're too cowardly to just approach someone in the real world, shouldn't get upset when you ask them to take it to a private channel. I also agree that the Homecoming administration should do something about that, but I suspect they may not have much in the way of manpower.

 

4) Look, I get that you're still sore at me because your attempt to paint me as a founding member of the Fifth Column didn't work out so well for you, but deliberately straw-manning my arguments is beneath you. You're smarter than that. You can disagree with my actual arguments, instead of deliberately mischaracterizing my statements and making inherently wrong comparisons.

[Player2]

26 minutes ago, Llewellyn Blackwell said:

That we have not had a KU Dredd flick every year since that first one is a gawd damned crime to all humanity imo. And unlike Stalone, never took OFF THE HELMET!

Stallone was a name to bring fame to the Judge Dredd franchise.  Urban celebrated the character and should, himself, be celebrated for doing the character justice.

[Player2]

10 minutes ago, PeregrineFalcon said:

2) The GAME is family friendly. People playing it may not be, but that was not what I was talking about, and you know it.

How dare you, sir?  How dare you?!

 

Anyone that says I'm not family friendly can suck my [family friendly metaphor substitute goes here].

[DoctorDitko]

My whole family likes nipples just fine. What's unfriendly here?