Just throwing this out there: Level Lock AE

[Sakura Tenshi]

So, basically the removal of Veteran EXP, AEs from starting zones, and other such changes they have often been controversial in the past (and present) have been geared towards two things: balancing rewards/time ratio of AE with other content, but also to prevent new players/characters from ending up only doing AE and neglecting all other content, especially starting stuff, I have a kind of simple proposal: just as the title says let's just lock AE access behind a certain level.

 

What would be a good level to 'unlock AE' can be up for debate. Actually this whole thing is up for debate and I'd like to hear all of your thoughts on it. But I think level 20 would be the latest, and maybe even the ideal level to open up AE for people. Let's them experience the early game stuff, even run a a TF or two and DFBs, then by level 20 this bigger field opens up to even make your own content. And, I don't know if it should be done in conjunction with any of the existing or planned measures or just on its own, but that's sort of where you all come in.

 

What do you think of this suggestion?

[Timeshadow]

I don't hate it but I do have concerns. Namely, balancing the new player experience versus what veterans want. 

 

Any MMO lives on new players. If you're not drawing them in and keeping them, your game is eventually gonna die. And what keeps new players on board? The experience. Having a populated world that encourages interaction and cooperative play is a key part of making that experience great. That, IMO, is the problem with AE. It takes players out of normal content in favor of sitting on farms. That, in turn, can give new players the impression that the leveling experience is just a boring grind to 50. 

 

All of the above is a huge deal for live games. Homecoming's different though. Everything runs on donations, not subs or micro transactions. Those donations are largely made by veteran players and those vets may not be interested in going through the leveling experience for the Nth time, especially with the altoholic culture that permeates CoH. 

 

So you've got something of a Catch 22 that makes ideas like this somewhat difficult to manage. Again, I don't hate it but I can definitely see some potential issues. 

[Excraft]

8 hours ago, Timeshadow said:

If you're not drawing them in and keeping them, your game is eventually gonna die.

 

This game is going for 18 years with a veteran group of players.  There's no indication it won't go for another 18 or more.  Stop trying to chase these mythical hoards of new players that will never be coming in mass numbers.  It's just not going to happen for an 18 year old game running on a pirate server.  It just can't compete with modern titles.

[Timeshadow]

Hence why I said:

 

14 hours ago, Timeshadow said:

All of the above is a huge deal for live games. Homecoming's different though. Everything runs on donations, not subs or micro transactions. Those donations are largely made by veteran players and those vets may not be interested in going through the leveling experience for the Nth time...

 

Every game depends on its veterans to stay profitable when the hype dies down. WoW hasn't managed to stay the most popular live service MMORPG on the planet for all these years by ignoring the veterans. However, it has shifted significantly in favor of more casual play as the expansions have come and gone. And yeah, some veterans complained about that but Blizzard didn't care because they were making more money by adapting.

Point is, you have to strike a balance. Even though CoH isn't competing with live titles, one of the goals is still to maintain a game that everyone who chooses to play can enjoy. In some respects, AE is robbing Peter to pay Paul in terms of the player experience. That's not to say it's a bad feature that should be scoured from the game, but there's nothing wrong with considering adjusting it if doing so benefits the majority's good time. 

[Darmian]

16 hours ago, Sakura Tenshi said:

So, basically the removal of Veteran EXP, AEs from starting zones, and other such changes they have often been controversial in the past (and present) have been geared towards two things: balancing rewards/time ratio of AE with other content, but also to prevent new players/characters from ending up only doing AE and neglecting all other content, especially starting stuff, I have a kind of simple proposal: just as the title says let's just lock AE access behind a certain level.

 

What would be a good level to 'unlock AE' can be up for debate. Actually this whole thing is up for debate and I'd like to hear all of your thoughts on it. But I think level 20 would be the latest, and maybe even the ideal level to open up AE for people. Let's them experience the early game stuff, even run a a TF or two and DFBs, then by level 20 this bigger field opens up to even make your own content. And, I don't know if it should be done in conjunction with any of the existing or planned measures or just on its own, but that's sort of where you all come in.

 

What do you think of this suggestion?

Again, automatically conflating AE with farms.  Plenty of us do not use it to farm but actually to find actual player made content, of any level.  Yes, we can exemp and do stuff written to be lower level, but a level lock shuts out a level 10 from playing something written to be level 10.

 

I think the suggestion is well intentioned but it's not an adequate solution.

[The_Warpact]

If it was a perfect system with new players, I'd say complete a series of tasks that could be checked off.

Like the University IO tutorial, the Cape mission, maybe an expansion of the combat system, RP, travel, base building, AE tutorials,  pvp, etc, etc, etc. Each of these could be trees that further delve into the mechanics of whatever you're interested in, with some being bonus ones (cape mission). So it's not just a grind to learn things but, what may interest you or the path your toon with travel.

New missions and new contacts to unlock everything with a leveling and progression system until 20 then you're free to do whatever, level however, etc this stuff would be unlocked per global not per character. 

 

Just an idea.

Edited July 19, 2022 by The_Warpact
Misspelled

[Darmian]

29 minutes ago, The_Warpact said:

If it was a perfect system with new players, I'd say complete a series of tasks that could be checked off.

Like the University IO tutorial, the Cape mission, maybe an expansion of the combat system, RP, travel, base building, AE tutorials,  pvp, etc, etc, etc. Each of these could be trees that further delve into the mechanics of whatever you're interested in, with some being bonus ones (cape mission). So it's not just a grind to learn things but, what may interest you or the path your toon with travel.

New missions and new contacts to unlock everything with a leveling and progression system until 20 then you're free to do whatever, level however, etc this stuff would be unlocked per global not per character. 

 

Just an idea.

There's some legs to this.  It's not entirely there yet but it has the makings of something.

[biostem]

17 hours ago, Sakura Tenshi said:

What do you think of this suggestion?

I think all you'll do is push people toward the next FotM way to PL up to whenever AE becomes available;  We'll probably see a return of the Portal Corp Warwolf farms, or just PI radios.  I think you're trying to address a symptom, instead of the root cause - make low level content more rewarding and easier to access.  Even if you tripled the XP for those early, you'd still be lacking the convenience.  I could maaaaaaaaybe see this as an account limitation, and once you get 1 character to level 20, the AE becomes available to all future characters, but even then, I'd prefer to simply not restrict content to anybody...

[ShardWarrior]

13 minutes ago, biostem said:

I think you're trying to address a symptom, instead of the root cause - make low level content more rewarding and easier to access.

 

I would add less repetitive and thereby less boring.  There is not enough variety in mission objectives that the game becomes very stale, very repetitive very quickly.  Low level content is like running Synapse or Citadel all the time.  The NPCs change, the activity remains the same.  Much more variety in what the mission objectives are would go a long way in addition to better rewards in my opinion. 

[biostem]

Just now, ShardWarrior said:

I would add less repetitive and thereby less boring.  There is not enough variety in mission objectives that the game becomes very stale, very repetitive very quickly.  Low level content is like running Synapse or Citadel all the time.  The NPCs change, the activity remains the same.  Much more variety in what the mission objectives are would go a long way in addition to better rewards in my opinion. 

I wholeheartedly agree.  For one thing, I think all objectives (glowies or hostages) should be marked on the map, (make it an option you can toggle if so desired).  Mission doors should be fairly close for those levels where the character may not have a travel power, (let's say below 12 or maybe even 20).  The concept of "kill all" should be reduced to "defeat 75%" or something, and so on...

[Sakura Tenshi]

@Darmian no arguments here on the idea being rather hazy, it was mostly just a suggestion I was honestly throwing out in hopes it might address whatever the SCORE team’s concerns are and could mitigate future nerfs and even lead to buffs in AE.* But, while unpopular, I am happy to see some good discussion going on than just a procession of /jranger gifs.

 

*I think one of the things that bug me about custom AE enemies and power selecting is how you need to give even custom minions a lot of powers to give full rewards, even at low levels. Meanwhile, the live game includes enemies with single attacks, no resistances, and that’s fine for a level 50 minion. I’m referring to freaking Council troops for clarity. That’s seriously just some BS.

[Rudra]

1 hour ago, ShardWarrior said:

 

I would add less repetitive and thereby less boring.  There is not enough variety in mission objectives that the game becomes very stale, very repetitive very quickly.  Low level content is like running Synapse or Citadel all the time.  The NPCs change, the activity remains the same.  Much more variety in what the mission objectives are would go a long way in addition to better rewards in my opinion. 

More variety to missions? Would be greatly appreciated.