If you're going to play at the highest level in the game...

[Seed22]

6 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

Personally I'd like to see XP boosters removed from P2W entirely - and AE XP halved from base level. That would allow people to create and play missions for the sake of them while also encouraging teaming and actually playing the game. That said I'm under no illusion that this is a popular notion and I doubt it would get much traction in the community.

Problem isn't the idea, it's that the leveling experience is pretty trash. Boring content all around minus maybe red and goldside. If the leveling experience were any good at all I'd do it and maybe even PUG it, but hell no not now. God no. Also lowering XP from AE won't encourage more teaming or even use of the system, the opposite will happen actually.

 

Though that's only from a vet's perspective, a new player should at least try it once. Then they can see what I'm talking about and maybe become vocal in getting some actually good/interesting leveling arcs in the game 😄

[wjrasmussen]

17 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

I wouldn't even describe those as playing "the highest level in the game" so much as just "playing the game."

Yup.  I don't like the elitist title of this thread.

I am just playing a game and don't need to turn it into a trophy game.  No need to show off.

[Bionic_Flea]

2 hours ago, Seed22 said:

Though that's only from a vet's perspective, a new player should at least try it once.

 

If it could be coded easily, I would be in favor of having to "unlock" 2XP and AE by having your first 50 on the account.  That way everyone would have to go through the game at least once to experience it from beginning to end.  Then after that they can speed through if they want.

[Snarky]

23 minutes ago, Bionic_Flea said:

 

If it could be coded easily, I would be in favor of having to "unlock" 2XP and AE by having your first 50 on the account.  That way everyone would have to go through the game at least once to experience it from beginning to end.  Then after that they can speed through if they want.

There is a quest in WoW where you register at the new inn in the latest expansion.  3 questions, about 10 options each.  One of the questions... "Why are you here?" One of the options "You tell me, I never read the dialogue."

 

You are not going to improve (significantly) the experience of players by posting boiler plate the first time (or first hundred times) they log in.  You are not going to improve them by slashing 2xp in various ways.  

 

Oklahoman and a few others have a CHANCE of improving how people play.  Because they lead and instruct.  Some folks will learn from that.

 

I think I have been on one of Oklahoman's leagues and had to be PMd to give the star back.  I dont look!  I am fiddling with stuff and moving my coffee cup to attack position.

[Zep]

Back to Oro a moment:

 

I am a fan of something unpleasant, but not permanent or damaging, to anyone who blocks doors (aisles too).

 

Perhaps a 5 min timer around the portal, after the character gets ported randomly to one of the allowed exits for their alignment. I dont recall any that are "Hot" so not like they'd end up in the hospital. Yes this could lead to clumped exit locations but that's easy enough to move though. Or perhaps being dumped into Pocket D.

 

 

[Clave Dark 5]

5 hours ago, Snarky said:

I think I have been on one of Oklahoman's leagues and had to be PMd to give the star back.  I dont look!  I am fiddling with stuff and moving my coffee cup to attack position.

Ah- HA!  After all that carping about bad PUGs, turns out the Snarker has become the Snarky!  I KNEW IT!

😁

 

(Happened to me a few times too - after a bunch of "hey dummy, give me back the star," went by in chat, I realized I hadn't yet checked to see if I had it myself.  Turns out I didn't, but...)

Edited June 20, 2023 by Clave Dark 5

[Snarky]

3 hours ago, Zep said:

Back to Oro a moment:

 

I am a fan of something unpleasant, but not permanent or damaging, to anyone who blocks doors (aisles too).

 

Perhaps a 5 min timer around the portal, after the character gets ported randomly to one of the allowed exits for their alignment. I dont recall any that are "Hot" so not like they'd end up in the hospital. Yes this could lead to clumped exit locations but that's easy enough to move though. Or perhaps being dumped into Pocket D.

 

 

dumped into pocket D....on the dance floor randomly....dancing like an idiot

[OverkillEngine]

16 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

I think we suffer from the presumption that all players are vets but there does seem to be a significant influx of new/returning players who have either forgotten how the game works, or never knew in the first instance.

 

I also think that the ready availability of DXP and fast levelling via AE is  seriously damaging to the game overall. It allows people to race to 50 without engaging with the game in a meaningful way. They don't learn their characters, the ATs, Power sets nor do they get to team with players and thus understand the subtle synergies of their AT with others.

 

To me the primary issue there is that the AE has always had deliberately neutered content for ease of farming and leveling.

I made all my characters as Praetorians while relearning the game and have yet to step into the AE since coming back, nor have I had easy availability of large tricked out teams from 1-20 since most the pop are on Hero/Villainside.

Which has forced me to at least build characters that are soloable as well as relearn enough of the game to achieve that goal. Plus there is only so many times I could possibly stand to run the same set of AE missions over and over before tearing my eyes out, I am playing a game to have fun, not bore myself into fits of insanity.

[Scarlet Shocker]

4 hours ago, OverkillEngine said:

To me the primary issue there is that the AE has always had deliberately neutered content for ease of farming and leveling.

I made all my characters as Praetorians while relearning the game and have yet to step into the AE since coming back, nor have I had easy availability of large tricked out teams from 1-20 since most the pop are on Hero/Villainside.

Which has forced me to at least build characters that are soloable as well as relearn enough of the game to achieve that goal. Plus there is only so many times I could possibly stand to run the same set of AE missions over and over before tearing my eyes out, I am playing a game to have fun, not bore myself into fits of insanity.

 

Sadly nobody is interested in teaming any longer. I tried to get a mission team together and it fell completely flat. The AE really does suck the life out of this game in a very negative way.

[GM Crumpet]

I think it's a combination of many things. I have a 17 year old living in my house (not my kid) and she has the attention span of a goldfish. YouTube is too boring, everything has to be a 30 second TikTok. You talk to her and it's like the lights are on and nobody is home. Yet she's not stupid, just really low attention span. And I've noticed the same thing with my nephews. It's like the journey isn't important, just getting there as quickly as possible. I'm at the age now where I've turned into my dad and don't understand the youngsters or their interests.

 

I'm as guilty as anyone else of focussing on the screen and not paying attention to chat. Someone will ask me something (such as pass the star) and it can take a couple of tells before I notice. I am so busy trying to be a contributing member of the team I kind of zone out of anything that isn't fight related.

 

As for new players, 99% of the time I see so many people on chat patiently answering questions and pointing new players to the wiki, or mids, or vidiotmaps. There are always going to be unpleasant people with no patience, but the majority are always really helpful. It's not the new players fault they don't know something, and it's not their fault they made questionable choices when they started playing. It's up to us as a community to get them on the right track. Someone the other day was standing next to the P2W vendor in Atlas and giving out free inf to help new players buy boosts and temp powers. That's the kind of community we have. Some games are really toxic, this game isn't. Most players are actually really great people and it's part of the reason I've stuck with it for as long as I have 

 

[JasperStone]

2 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

 

Sadly nobody is interested in teaming any longer. I tried to get a mission team together and it fell completely flat. The AE really does suck the life out of this game in a very negative way.

What server are you on?

 

I have moved from Indom to Excel.

Lotsa team-up options in chat ... yes AE stuff but:

• TF/SF - particularly the WST
• Radio mission teams -  a variety of  lvls and zones
• Story arcs - I see the Hollows a lot, but others as well
• People doing Ouro badge runs
• Also people looking for teams 

 

 

[Shred Monkey]

On 6/17/2023 at 3:18 PM, GM Crumpet said:

As you say, there are a lot of people who are under the impression CoX is like some other MMO's where the game starts at level cap and everything to get there is a painful grind, so they do AE farming until they hit 50 then have no real clue how to play. Not their fault, it's a symptom of a lot of games, but it does mean they don't have much to do at that level and they don't understand the basics.  I think we need to have patience with those people and help point them in the right direction, but I can see why someone would be annoyed with lots of people all messaging them 🙂 

 

I love our dev's   They have great wisdom and insight into this game. 

 

But the engineer with 30+ years of root cause corrective action experience can't help but read this and say to myself... "Um... yeah, but maybe we could fix the bug." 

 

I know Forum GMs don't fix bugs... but perhaps you could poke someone a little for us and get it moved up in the priority list?  It would actually be an extremely significant improvement to the endgame if this didn't happen anymore.

 

Thanks... keep up the good work.  We love you.

 

 

[Herotu]

On 6/17/2023 at 9:18 PM, GM Crumpet said:

As you say, there are a lot of people who are under the impression CoX is like some other MMO's where the game starts at level cap and everything to get there is a painful grind, so they do AE farming until they hit 50 then have no real clue how to play. Not their fault, it's a symptom of a lot of games, but it does mean they don't have much to do at that level and they don't understand the basics.  I think we need to have patience with those people and help point them in the right direction, but I can see why someone would be annoyed with lots of people all messaging them 🙂 

Can't they Ouroboros everything they missed? If not, why not? And what should they(we) make sure we don't miss during the levelling process? I'm interested in the main story of the game in particular...
  WARNING: ENORMOUS PLOT SPOILER AHEAD  

Spoiler

I never did the "Who will die?" stuff and then Statesman disappeared.

I still don't know where to pick those missions up.

[Snokle]

24 minutes ago, Herotu said:

Can't they Ouroboros everything they missed? If not, why not? And what should they(we) make sure we don't miss during the levelling process? I'm interested in the main story of the game in particular...
  WARNING: ENORMOUS PLOT SPOILER AHEAD  

  Hide contents

I never did the "Who will die?" stuff and then Statesman disappeared.

I still don't know where to pick those missions up.

 

If you need to do the premier story arc for that main story, it is in LFG window under the tab for Story Arcs. There should be two arcs in there to play.

[Skyhawke]

1 hour ago, Herotu said:

Can't they Ouroboros everything they missed? If not, why not? And what should they(we) make sure we don't miss during the levelling process? I'm interested in the main story of the game in particular...
  WARNING: ENORMOUS PLOT SPOILER AHEAD  

  Reveal hidden contents

I never did the "Who will die?" stuff and then Statesman disappeared.

I still don't know where to pick those missions up.

 

When I first started playing again, I remembered that there were big changes in the main stories and did some digging.  These wiki pages still get alt tabbed to at times because I forget who's where. 

 

https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Who_Will_Die

 

https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Pandora's_Box_(SSA)

[Scarlet Shocker]

4 hours ago, JasperStone said:

What server are you on?

 

I have moved from Indom to Excel.

Lotsa team-up options in chat ... yes AE stuff but:

• TF/SF - particularly the WST
• Radio mission teams -  a variety of  lvls and zones
• Story arcs - I see the Hollows a lot, but others as well
• People doing Ouro badge runs
• Also people looking for teams 

 

 

 

I mostly play on Excelsior,

 

so I have seen calls for the WST and Radios - I rarely see mission teams. I did get some interest here on the forums but nobody showed for a regular gold side team.

I've put shouts out plenty of times but there's very little response unless it gives great XP (Tina Mac et al) or is a badge.

 

There are plenty of calls for DFB and if you go to PD it's often rammed in the AE.

 

I've mostly stopped playing recently because I'm finding the experience quite despondent these days.

[Oklahoman]

On 6/19/2023 at 3:25 PM, Snarky said:

I think I have been on one of Oklahoman's leagues and had to be PMd to give the star back.  I dont look! 

 

Cut the crap, Snarky. You steal it on purpose and you know it.

[Snarky]

2 hours ago, Oklahoman said:

 

Cut the crap, Snarky. You steal it on purpose and you know it.

you're kidding right?  One of the reasons I dont get (besides no need) a faster rig is fear of that thing!

[Yomo Kimyata]

Say, what *is* the highest level in the game anyway?  Is it the top of the volcano in Striga?

[Snarky]

1 minute ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

Say, what *is* the highest level in the game anyway?  Is it the top of the volcano in Striga?

My goto:

[JasperStone]

I am definitely NOT top shelf or a high level player.

Buuuuut....

I still reach for the stars.....

 

 

 

[Techwright]

3 hours ago, JasperStone said:

 

 

 

 

I see this, and first thought is:  "How many cats does it take to change..."

[Seed22]

On 6/20/2023 at 3:18 AM, Scarlet Shocker said:

 

Sadly nobody is interested in teaming any longer. I tried to get a mission team together and it fell completely flat. The AE really does suck the life out of this game in a very negative way.

Thats not AE. Bet it was blueside you were trying to form it on. Those mishs are filler at best and a slog at worst, that's not AE's fault.

 

Though what gets me is how quick people blame AE instead of the literally obvious fact that, once again, these mishes need an overhaul.

 

I've never seen a mish team struggle to form for arcs that are actually worth doing(which is not most of blueside arcs), either they give accolade progress or other rewards like merits and badges. I'm not, and I suspect most won't, go take time out to do a generic filler arc(red or blue) just because. And there's nothing besides merits or badges you can attach that will change this stance.

 

Don't get me wrong, I want these arcs to be worth doing and teaming for, I'm just pointing out why I think they aren't. Don't blame AE, blame the arc.

Edited June 22, 2023 by Seed22

[Scarlet Shocker]

2 hours ago, Seed22 said:

Thats not AE. Bet it was blueside you were trying to form it on. Those mishs are filler at best and a slog at worst, that's not AE's fault.

 

Though what gets me is how quick people blame AE instead of the literally obvious fact that, once again, these mishes need an overhaul.

 

I've never seen a mish team struggle to form for arcs that are actually worth doing(which is not most of blueside arcs), either they give accolade progress or other rewards like merits and badges. I'm not, and I suspect most won't, go take time out to do a generic filler arc(red or blue) just because. And there's nothing besides merits or badges you can attach that will change this stance.

 

Don't get me wrong, I want these arcs to be worth doing and teaming for, I'm just pointing out why I think they aren't. Don't blame AE, blame the arc.

 

You'd be wrong - I have tried to form missions and regular events on Red and Gold and some Blue too. Your assessment of the content is unfortunately imprecise. There is some excellent content throughout the game and regardless of the actual story, few people stop to read it on a team - mostly it is about the teaming experience. There is a lot of blue content well worth doing and even the stuff that is less good still provides a useful pathway to the gems.

[Snarky]

2 minutes ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

 

You'd be wrong - I have tried to form missions and regular events on Red and Gold and some Blue too. Your assessment of the content is unfortunately imprecise. There is some excellent content throughout the game and regardless of the actual story, few people stop to read it on a team - mostly it is about the teaming experience. There is a lot of blue content well worth doing and even the stuff that is less good still provides a useful pathway to the gems.

I love Red, but Red is dead baby.  Except for Freedumb in it's heyday there is not much Red. Even there it was normally just Mercy popping.  Try to form a DFB Blue, run one, see how many you can do in an hour.  Now try it Red...   uh huh.  And GOLD?  You tried to team GOLD?   In the end was it just you and Wilson?