More incentive for badge collection

[cotesan]

My suggestion is to help give people reason for badging. Maybe have unlockable powers ( yes I know the accolade ones but something else). 
maybe new costume pieces. 
maybe an icon or something on character name in game (gold text?)
 

nothing against powerlevelers, but those of us who enjoy and work our characters through content should be given incentive. 

[ZacKing]

No thank you.  hard pass on locking costume pieces and more temps behind badge collecting too.  

 

10 minutes ago, cotesan said:

nothing against powerlevelers, but those of us who enjoy and work our characters through content should be given incentive. 

 

Sounds like a "farmers are ebil!" thread in disguise.

[cotesan]

7 minutes ago, ZacKing said:

No thank you.  hard pass on locking costume pieces and more temps behind badge collecting too.  

 

 

Sounds like a "farmers are ebil!" thread in disguise.

Nope. Read it again. 

[Coyotedancer]

Collecting that badge ITSELF is your reward.

 

That's the whole point of badging as a mode of gameplay... Getting all those little shiny things that you can point to and say "Look what I got!"

[ZacKing]

1 hour ago, cotesan said:

Nope. Read it again. 

 

I did.  I know a farming is evil post in disguise when I see it. :)

[arcane]

1 hour ago, cotesan said:

Nope. Read it again. 

Why is farming relevant then? 🙂

[cotesan]

18 minutes ago, arcane said:

Why is farming relevant then? 🙂

Good question. Up to you to decide. 
 

[cotesan]

1 hour ago, Coyotedancer said:

Collecting that badge ITSELF is your reward.

 

That's the whole point of badging as a mode of gameplay... Getting all those little shiny things that you can point to and say "Look what I got!"

Not imo

[arcane]

41 minutes ago, cotesan said:

Not imo

Why do you pursue badges specifically if they aren’t a reward?

[FrauleinMental]

No, thanks.  Badging is its own reward.

 

And there's a lot of grinding behind some badges that shouldn't be the gatekeeper to powers.

[Ruin Mage]

I believe that HC's official stance, from reading discord posts and elsewhere, is that costume pieces will never be an unlock/earn thing anymore.

Badges are an incentive enough. Accolades & Day Jobs give powers (temp or otherwise)

There's no real need for added incentive.

[Coyotedancer]

1 hour ago, cotesan said:

Not imo

 

To be blunt, you're not much of a badger then.

[Darmian]

4 hours ago, cotesan said:

but those of us who enjoy and work our characters through content should be given incentive. 

For me the incentive IS the storyline/Lore.  And then I go write my own additions.  Oh well.

 

2 hours ago, ZacKing said:

farming is evil

Ah.  That clears things up.  Been working off a "Farming is OVAL" misapprehension for AGES now.

[cotesan]

Im giving a suggestion. You don’t have to agree. Yay. 

[Aurora_Girl]

21 minutes ago, cotesan said:

Im giving a suggestion. You don’t have to agree. Yay. 

 

And your suggestion is bad. Ill-advised, short-sighted and completely without merit. I do not agree. 

[Glacier Peak]

Badging itself is the reward. I'm serious. Players receive a badge for completing a specific requirement. The player receives the dopamine release and the in-game character attains a reward.

[arcane]

1 hour ago, Glacier Peak said:

The player receives the dopamine release

Only thing that really matters

[cotesan]

3 hours ago, Aurora_Girl said:

 

And your suggestion is bad. Ill-advised, short-sighted and completely without merit. I do not agree. 

Says you my friend. Thank you for sharing. 

[Greycat]

9 hours ago, cotesan said:

My suggestion is to help give people reason for badging. Maybe have unlockable powers ( yes I know the accolade ones but something else). 
maybe new costume pieces. 
maybe an icon or something on character name in game (gold text?)
 

nothing against powerlevelers, but those of us who enjoy and work our characters through content should be given incentive. 

 

As mentioned, badging is its own thing. Just like, for some, base building is. Or any other activity.

 

You already have some unlockable powers, both through the accolades and day jobs. Honestly, with day jobs there's *more* than enough there.  And absolutely *no* to tying it to costume pieces.

 

Also, what makes you think - as you appear to - that the only options are "powerleveler" and "badger," or that there needs to be any further incentive to do so? Working through content gives merits - now, it could be argued that those joining teams for mission arcs should be given merits as well as the mission owner, and I'd say yes, something should be done there (merits weren't a thing for much of the game, after all,) so even if you don't go for the badge missions, *that* could well be considered "incentive" enough.

 

Frankly, as a fairly heavy altaholic, I enjoy the content for its own sake. That, deciding how my characters react, who they take for contacts and why (and, yes, RP,) is all the incentive needed.

[cotesan]

8 minutes ago, Greycat said:

 

As mentioned, badging is its own thing. Just like, for some, base building is. Or any other activity.

 

You already have some unlockable powers, both through the accolades and day jobs. Honestly, with day jobs there's *more* than enough there.  And absolutely *no* to tying it to costume pieces.

 

Also, what makes you think - as you appear to - that the only options are "powerleveler" and "badger," or that there needs to be any further incentive to do so? Working through content gives merits - now, it could be argued that those joining teams for mission arcs should be given merits as well as the mission owner, and I'd say yes, something should be done there (merits weren't a thing for much of the game, after all,) so even if you don't go for the badge missions, *that* could well be considered "incentive" enough.

 

Frankly, as a fairly heavy altaholic, I enjoy the content for its own sake. That, deciding how my characters react, who they take for contacts and why (and, yes, RP,) is all the incentive needed.

If that works for you, great. 

[cotesan]

5 hours ago, Coyotedancer said:

 

To be blunt, you're not much of a badger then.

And you are getting that info from where?

[GM Impervium]

The entire point of locking cosmetics behind progression on Live was to ensure that customers continued to pay for an ongoing service. You couldn't look exactly how you wanted out of the gate, you had to be level 20 to get your cape, 30 to get an aura, and had to do certain missions or earn merits to be able to use certain costume pieces. On each character. And you had to keep paying a monthly subscription to get these carrots at the ends of the sticks. Or buy them from the micro transaction store when they added THAT. This was all put in place for the developers and publisher to make money.

Homecoming has no financial incentive to keep people playing, we're all just here for the love of the game, so we have no reason to dangle these carrots. Capes, auras, etc, everything unlocked at level one, with no further investment needed. That's how we do things, and that's not changing.

We understand that some people ENJOY the carrot-dangling, or would like a more visible way to show off their accomplishments (hypothetically: a special cape you only get once you have over 1,000 badges so everyone knows how cool YOU are), but for most players, that won't fly. Or teleport, super-jump, or run at super-speed. We've already cultivated an expectation of making things more accessible (capes, auras, costume parts, rent-and-requirement-free bases, easier access to Incarnates, etc), and going back on that would be the 3rd worst thing we could do.

That said, if people wish to continue to discuss the merits of one view or another, fine, but keep it civil and non-argumentative. Thank you!

[GraspingVileTerror]

Increasing the number of Badges with rewards frankly seems like an ideal approach for lateral progression options to me.  We have Merits for Exploration and the classic Accolade Powers already, and even some content such as Missions and Task Forces.  Further development along that branch could be done to provide players additional alternatives in their day-to-day engagement.  Nothing cosmetic, of course.  Just offering Badges as an alternative path toward elements of the game.

Naturally, some existing Badges are very poorly implemented and don't make good candidates for such an expansion.  But things like the Badges for completing all the story arcs in a given Zone are solid choices to tie a little something special on (even if it's just a small handful of bonus Merits).

 

The thought that "Badges are their own reward" though seems particularly half-baked to me.

We could just as easily turn that around to say "the +1 to your level is its own reward.  No need to unlock Powers or Contacts from levelling up."  

Progression doesn't need to be tied to a single game mechanic.  Badges offer an ideal alternative since they represent a player's active engagement with the game (and even community, for certain Badges).

[Glacier Peak]

6 minutes ago, GraspingVileTerror said:

The thought that "Badges are their own reward" though seems particularly half-baked to me.

No, it's fully baked. 

[cotesan]

6 hours ago, GM Impervium said:

The entire point of locking cosmetics behind progression on Live was to ensure that customers continued to pay for an ongoing service. You couldn't look exactly how you wanted out of the gate, you had to be level 20 to get your cape, 30 to get an aura, and had to do certain missions or earn merits to be able to use certain costume pieces. On each character. And you had to keep paying a monthly subscription to get these carrots at the ends of the sticks. Or buy them from the micro transaction store when they added THAT. This was all put in place for the developers and publisher to make money.

Homecoming has no financial incentive to keep people playing, we're all just here for the love of the game, so we have no reason to dangle these carrots. Capes, auras, etc, everything unlocked at level one, with no further investment needed. That's how we do things, and that's not changing.

We understand that some people ENJOY the carrot-dangling, or would like a more visible way to show off their accomplishments (hypothetically: a special cape you only get once you have over 1,000 badges so everyone knows how cool YOU are), but for most players, that won't fly. Or teleport, super-jump, or run at super-speed. We've already cultivated an expectation of making things more accessible (capes, auras, costume parts, rent-and-requirement-free bases, easier access to Incarnates, etc), and going back on that would be the 3rd worst thing we could do.

That said, if people wish to continue to discuss the merits of one view or another, fine, but keep it civil and non-argumentative. Thank you!

Thank you for not being 5 years old with your reply and explanation. 
I absolutely do not mean to change what is working today and what has been status quo. It’s more about just having some payoff, if not additional unlockable costume pieces perhaphs extra enhancement slots, colored text, having temp powers to perm, added pets..some kind of true incentive to encourage more teaming and community, not to mention recognition for the dedication to content and character development. Thank you again for your reply. 
 

Edited October 8, 2021 by cotesan