So what is it going to take to

[wjrasmussen]

Get some old fashion run around touring  zone call box quest?

[Vanden]

Some kind of head injury on the dev team, I imagine

[Greycat]

The call boxes *are* underutilized. Outside of a TF or two, they're used about as much as bus stops in Paragon.

[dtjunkie]

See Agent Watkins.

[ZemX]

9 hours ago, Greycat said:

The call boxes *are* underutilized.

 

Can you really under-utilize something nobody wants to utilize at all?

 

I would rather see more use of open-world glowies like you have in a few Praetoria missions.  Have them spawn ambushes or result in quick "side" missions like stopping a pawn shop robbery or a jail break.  This would make for a more interesting "patrol the city" kind of objective than just running around clicking call boxes for no apparent reason.

[SwitchFade]

I'd buy that for a dollar!

[Mjolnerd]

It would be kind of nice for the "overworld" -- you know, the actual city -- to have more of a point, instead of just being the stuff you speed past as fast as possible on your way to the mission door when your teleporters are all on cooldown.

 

I don't know if "go there and click that thing, then go over there and click that other thing" is the best way to do it, but it's something.

[biostem]

21 minutes ago, Mjolnerd said:

I don't know if "go there and click that thing, then go over there and click that other thing" is the best way to do it, but it's something.

It's certainly not "something" I'd want to see implemented, though.  Games that do utilize the open world more tend to have things like waiting for a named NPC to respawn so you can complete your mission, or placing glowies spread far apart to just waste your time as you go around clicking stuff.

[Techwright]

20 minutes ago, Mjolnerd said:

It would be kind of nice for the "overworld" -- you know, the actual city -- to have more of a point, instead of just being the stuff you speed past as fast as possible on your way to the mission door when your teleporters are all on cooldown.

 

I don't know if "go there and click that thing, then go over there and click that other thing" is the best way to do it, but it's something.

Maybe instead of running to call boxes we add a bit of a look to the city and instead we run to the word-on-the-street guys?  Joe standing in front of his pizza parlor, Madge taking a smoke outside her hair salon, Ol' Ben the chess player sitting at a park chess table, that sort of thing.   (Though, Ol' Ben gotta be mighty tough to just hang out in the parks these days.)

[High_Beam]

Synapse still demands their use!  Obey Synapse!  The fastest man in Paragon City wants you to run around and check call boxes!  Obey!

 

[biostem]

Champions Online implemented something which, while sounding good on paper, was not terribly utilized - sometimes while wandering in a zone, (mainly the main hub zone, Millennium City), you'll get a popup that you see a crime in progress or something out of the ordinary, and can accept a related mission.  The problem is that they are neither rewarding nor interesting enough to be any sort of reliable source of content.  I much prefer the general reliability and accessibility of CoH's radio/newspaper contacts.  Those could stand a bit of customization and enhancement, though - like choosing the enemy group(s) you want to fight, excluding hostage/escort missions, and so on...

[Clave Dark 5]

7 hours ago, biostem said:

Those could stand a bit of customization and enhancement, though - like choosing the enemy group(s) you want to fight, excluding hostage/escort missions, and so on...

So there'd be a box you could check off that just reads "Council Missions Only" right?

[Glacier Peak]

The player could click the call box to call for help from any of the generic heroes to spawn in on a short timer to help street sweep. 

 

Street sweeping used to be all the rage, it was great xp and fun to explore. That's how I fell in love with Crey's Folly and Eden.

[wjrasmussen]

On 6/12/2023 at 6:01 PM, biostem said:

It's certainly not "something" I'd want to see implemented, though.  Games that do utilize the open world more tend to have things like waiting for a named NPC to respawn so you can complete your mission, or placing glowies spread far apart to just waste your time as you go around clicking stuff.

It was part of the game at release.

[Bionic_Flea]

The only thing I want from call boxes would be to "hear" Ascendant talking to Saul Rubenstein.  https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Ascendant-O's

[PLVRIZR]

On 6/12/2023 at 1:13 PM, SwitchFade said:

I'd buy that for a dollar!

...driving off in the SUX2000, maybe? (RoboCop references, of course)

[Hyperstrike]

On 6/12/2023 at 12:35 AM, wjrasmussen said:

Get some old fashion run around touring  zone call box quest?

A lot of the call box runs tend to happen at mid level ranges.  20-30.

Usually by then, rapid transit and travel powers have set in.

So these "Tour" missions peter out.

Several of the arcs in Skyway and early in IP have these.

[Hyperstrike]

7 hours ago, Bionic_Flea said:

The only thing I want from call boxes would be to "hear" Ascendant talking to Saul Rubenstein.  https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Ascendant-O's

We do have access to the audio.

We also have a video I made off it.