the ugly 3 buffs Options to properly reduce/remove/improve The Ugly 3 Buffs (On our own screens). The ones that kill the looks of everyone's characters.

[Cozybread]

I think most of us can agree that City Of Heroes even by today's standards still has one of the best if not the best character creation for an MMO.  This certainly plays a major role in the fun that I have with this game.  I love spending hours creating a toon to enjoy looking at and showing off to others while enjoying everyone else's creations.  

 

Now before I finish my little infomercial / rant...to cut to the point of this so you know what I'm requesting...

             I want the ability to change/tone-down and almost completely if not completely remove the current, outdated visual fire and ice buff effects placed on my toon and others on my team on my screen.  
This can be done with a code such as:

 

/fx_teambuffs-to_aura_1  in a code form.

seeing Null the gull.

or adding options in the games option screen.

 

       Something like this to make the fire and ice buffs only appear around our characters and not block the looks of our toons that we love and spent hours making.   I will include examples further down. 

Ok.. now to continue my rant with further details in a fun way that's easy to understand where I'm coming from with all this. 😉

 

You spend hours making your toon and she looks amazing.  You can't wait to show your friends and even invited new players to the game and want to greet them looking like a real hero when all it takes is for someone with fire or ice buffs to come along or join your party and all of your work designing your toon is blocked for the entire time that buffer is present.    Behold example below

 

 

You got your new outfit done.  Your feeling good. You start slapping a team together.  "+2 Yin LFM.  Room for 7. pst. (lv.s 20 and up)"

 

Your team can see you, Others in the world can see you,  Even You can see you... and your looking good.  You spent hours working on her looks and you're so proud.  But then someone with Fire or Ice Buffs joins the team.  (Fire in this example) That person only does what comes natural and uses his powers to buff you and your entire team.  

 

 

Now this is just the first layer of fire.  And he probably had 2 slots with red number Dual Enhancements in them but the buffs don't show the lack of oomph they provide.  They are as bright and covering as can be.  You hear the Bloooomnn sound! You feel your entire costume design work and personality disappear from your toon as the fire is placed on your character with you having no visual choice on this matter. 

 

 

 

 

Now the fire shields have 2 layers so.... 

The following is what you are most likely going to see once the completion of the dual-layered fire buffs is forced on you and your party members.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes.  this is not even an exaggeration.  This is how you will be looking for the whole mission or many missions. Maybe the entire TaskForce.  

I've been in Taskforces where nobody even had a chance to see what the other players' toons even looked like.  For the entire 2 hours.  I've even played with lively teams where everyone is talking and joking and roleplaying and once the fire or ice buff person joins... shortly after ... people stop talking ... because they can't even see or feel their personality anymore.  Everyone looks like fire or ice monsters. 

      

    So here is an example of what a good change of the buff powers would look like.  Turn the body buff into an aura where it shows on the outer area of the person receiving the buff but doesn't appear in front blocking the view of your awesome character.  

 

 

 

 

See... not only can you clearly see you have been buffed,  .... but the fire fx that previously covered/blocking your character is only displayed as an outer aura.  You can still show off your toon and the game can still retain its great looks.  The person standing in front of you is clearly seen and doesn't lose personality when buffed and can still enjoy what they spent hours designing.  

 

It can be added in many ways to the game.  It can even be offered as an option for the caster to use.  But still an option for the players being buffed if the casters wants to use ugly buffs.   Or just make the buffs look better overall so that no one has to change their screen.  

    Also if people miss the ugly.. I mean body covering look... the caster can have the options for classic fire / ice buffs that display on the casters screen only.    Plenty of ways to do this and everyone is happy.  

 

And I don't want to skip talking about the 3rd ugly buff.  Stealth.  I've talked about it before.  But Stealth FX needs work as well.  Here is my classic example I've used before.    I'd settle with a tiny icon or word saying stealth over my head rather than my body and clothes becoming see-through just because someone has stealth toggles on.  

 

 

      Now we do know about commands such as /suppressCloseFx 1 that can completely turn off ALL effects on your own character. This is nice but... It doesn't remove the fire and ice monster look on your teammates on your screen.   It just frees your own character's body of all the effects.  I'd like to still be able to enjoy some visual appeal of the buffs that look more updated/modern, on everyone that's on my team or screen. 

       

     Another idea:  Maybe /suppressCloseFxAll 1  where the effects are removed from everyone in your party. Not just your toon. 

 

     City of Heroes looks amazing in lower-level teams where fire ice and stealth buffs are not found. 

At a minimum, I'd want the option to keep at least my own screen looking good by fixing the issue of the 3 ugly buffs.   However, ultimately I'd like an option that makes it simple for Everyone to easily enjoy the look of City of Heroes and show off their toons knowing everyone else can see them too.

   

         I wanted to throw this in there:

This is my Electric Tank I named Amber Loves 2 Herd.  And THIS.... is an Aura done right.  

   It's not in the way blocking the view of the character,  but on the far side off the camera behind the character and around the character. 

 

(Headphone Warning)  Forgot she was standing next to the chopper

 

  

     Thank you for taking the time to read all this.  I hope you at least enjoyed it.   I will do a follow-up on this soon 

Edited February 5, 2024 by Cozybread

[Troo]

 

I like it.

Kudos.

 

[A Cat]

I just skimmed it but yeah, this game has a love of particle effects. I definitely agree on the stealth thing too. I for one wish for an option for minimum FX or no FX for Stalker Hide. 

[Doc_Scorpion]

Absolutely agreed.  And worse than teaming, I hate it when some random person comes by "helpfully" buffs everyone in sight.

[Rudra]

Just so you know, you can turn those buffs off. Right click the buff and make it go away.

[Laucianna]

Even an option for Null the Gull to turn off visual effects from other AT's, similar to group fly and speed boost ❤️ I 100% would love this!

[Rudra]

@Cozybread, when someone affects you with one of those stated buffs, you can right click the buff and choose Cancel. It goes away. I'm not arguing against the OP, I'm just telling you that you do not have to wait for it to time out. And if the player that buffed you is still present and buffs you again? Ask them to stop and then make the buffs go away again. And if they persist? Report them for harassment.

[Cozybread]

1 hour ago, Rudra said:

@Cozybread, when someone affects you with one of those stated buffs, you can right click the buff and choose Cancel. It goes away. I'm not arguing against the OP, I'm just telling you that you do not have to wait for it to time out. And if the player that buffed you is still present and buffs you again? Ask them to stop and then make the buffs go away again. And if they persist? Report them for harassment.

Hi Rudra.  This is news to me.   Thanks for sharing!  

        Now I would never report someone for playing the game in a normal way by simply buffing as the Buffer should.  The buffs go on everyone in a wide aoe area and I'd never wish the stress or worry of buffing the wrong person on anyone.  This would cause fighting in game and ruin the fun for fire, ice and stealth casters. 

 

My request is so that you don't have to completely rely on the caster to run threw any hoops or change their play style for anyone.  I'd like to be able to take care of it on my own screen when needed.  The caster can enjoy his role of buffing and the receiver of the buff can enjoy the buff's benefits and protection, while enjoying the amazing looks of the entire team no matter what the caster does.

 

   Sorry, I didn't fully understand what you meant at first.  I was just about to ask you to explain what you meant in more detail.

 

I figured out what you were trying to tell me.

 

I'll include a picture to help others that were confused like I was.  

 

So by following what Rudra shared with us:

 

      You have to click on the buff's ((icon)) under your main health and end bars.  You can right-click that and then click cancel.  This turns off the buff completely not just the FX.  I never knew this Rudra!  This is great for when I want to show off my looks while standing around in AP.

   But I still want to enjoy the benefits of the buffs from my teammates and others.  Just look at what a well-slotted fire shield can add to you on that screenshot 😄

I don't want to miss out on that! or make the caster feel I don't want their help. 

 

This is a great area to add an addition to the game. 

 

Just like how it says cancel when you right-click the buff icon... It would be great if you could click on the buff ICON  and see "Hide buff FX "and right under it "Hide buff FX on team" But I would like it to stay on where I don't need to cancel it every time it's cast on my team. 

     Once I click on Hide FX on Team option... I'd want my screen to automatically continue to hide the buff FX on me and my team until I turn it off or remove this option.  This would be a great addition. 

 

So I still want the buffs,  I just want options and updates on the outdated FX that ruin the aesthetics of the game's character design we love so much. 

 

Love the buffs itself... just don't like how the caster has so much power over our character's looks.  It's like letting someone have a bright sheet that can be placed over anyone that covers them up nearly completely and the receiver has to keep canceling it or bear with it

 

Updating the buff FX to an outer aura surrounding the body as I show in the pics would make me very happy.  Just look how awesome it can look.  😃 I wouldn't even want to hide it if it was like that!  

 

Thank you again for sharing this Rudra.  

[Oubliette_Red]

While I love colourizing and adjusting the fx for all my powers and the leeway we have with doing so, any of my buff powers, especially on others I try to minimized the visual impact it will have on their appearance. Ice buffs are the worst, walking around like a giant piece of hail.

 

[tidge]

[golstat2003]

Good suggestion! 😊

[Cozybread]

On 1/30/2024 at 3:39 PM, Oubliette_Red said:

While I love colourizing and adjusting the fx for all my powers and the leeway we have with doing so, any of my buff powers, especially on others I try to minimized the visual impact it will have on their appearance. Ice buffs are the worst, walking around like a giant piece of hail.

 

 

I'm glad that the option for minimized ice is there, however... Sure would be nice if the ice and fire shields got updated into an outer arua,  so we could see ourselves  and look like superheroes and not like we belong in someone's drink

 

 

[Derek Icelord]

I would absolutely love this.

[JasperStone]

On 1/30/2024 at 7:44 AM, Laucianna said:

Even an option for Null the Gull to turn off visual effects from other AT's, similar to group fly and speed boost ❤️ I 100% would love this!

Listen ...

Null the Gull is over worked.😜

 

How about somebody new

Biff the Debuffer?

Edited February 1, 2024 by JasperStone

[Random Robot]

Having a client-side option to turn off any FX that are covering your character is a great idea. I'd really like it if it was expanded to cover things like the rings from having a regen power up, the floating icons that appear when you use an insp or leadership power, all the little FX that tend to add up and look visually busy. Just a client-side flag in the options menu to make them all totally invisible to yourself would be perfect.

[Cozybread]

28 minutes ago, JasperStone said:

Listen ...

Null the Gull is over worked.😜

 

How about somebody new

Biff the Debuffer?

 

I like it!    I don't think the Gull is getting enough bird feed for this task.   

       

      Someone new needs to occupy an area in pocket D's.  Someone who knows about style and knows how to keep things looking fabulous on the entire team on your screen,   Someone who knows the importance of appearance.  Someone dedicated to keeping things gorgeous and has all of the tweaks and changes you could wish for, all in one place when it comes to keeping the visual FX of buffs classy,  For you and your entire party.

     

      So many fun ways to update this!

[Laucianna]

2 hours ago, Cozybread said:

 

I like it!    I don't think the Gull is getting enough bird feed for this task.   

       

      Someone new needs to occupy an area in pocket D's.  Someone who knows about style and knows how to keep things looking fabulous on the entire team on your screen,   Someone who knows the importance of appearance.  Someone dedicated to keeping things gorgeous and has all of the tweaks and changes you could wish for, all in one place when it comes to keeping the visual FX of buffs classy,  For you and your entire party.

     

      So many fun ways to update this!

For good looks and fashion it should be a Kheldian Dwarf form ❤️ Those hunks are dreamy...

[Cozybread]

On 2/1/2024 at 4:09 PM, Laucianna said:

For good looks and fashion it should be a Kheldian Dwarf form ❤️ Those hunks are dreamy...

 

Wait a sec.  your talking about the squid/lobster/dwarf form?  Hmmm,   I think the Dwarf forms are huggable but hunky?  hmmm   

 

 

[Laucianna]

1 hour ago, Cozybread said:

 

Wait a sec.  your talking about the squid/lobster/dwarf form?  Hmmm,   I think the Dwarf forms are huggable but hunky?  hmmm   

 

 

The novas give the best hugs, but those dwarves are beef cakes ❤️ 

 

 - Lauci x

[nihilii]

If you're going to make beautiful, hilarious comics for every suggestion, I'm going to agree with anything you suggest.

Use this knowledge as you see fit.

[Laucianna]

2 minutes ago, nihilii said:

If you're going to make beautiful, hilarious comics for every suggestion, I'm going to agree with anything you suggest.

Use this knowledge as you see fit.

Nothing I can post is more beautiful then this face