20th Anniversary Q&A Responses!

[Dev Holymittens]

Quote

Vincent Ross's storyline with the side branching paths was way too convoluted and way too much work was put into it where I could've probably made a few other story arcs in the time it took to do that one. 

 

Dr. Aeon, are you me?

 

Quote

Simplicity in your design is bliss.

 

Wait, never mind, you aren't me

[pohsyb]

16 hours ago, Laucianna said:

Thank you for answering the questions about Kheldians! ❤️ Though I was hoping you would all appose the consumption of Kheldians... And Pohsyb you are uninvited to all my birthday parties 😞 XD

 

Birthdays are not for aliens, they were born in space or some other planet.   Our sun and planet's position have nothing to do with them.

[Blondeshell]

These were all really great to read. Thanks to the powers that be for arranging for it to happen.

[Laucianna]

10 minutes ago, pohsyb said:

 

Birthdays are not for aliens, they were born in space or some other planet.   Our sun and planet's position have nothing to do with them.

Birthday gate keeping now.... Keep earth for the Kheldians! 😄 

[Ulysses Dare]

Thank you all for taking the time to answer our questions. Especially mine 😁

[High_Beam]

Thanks for the great responses; my head canon is already altered on a lot of things.  So glad to hear that for the most part everyone of the OGDs are healthy and happy.

[Abraxus]

Of course, after the period closed to get questions in, I thought of one.  I had wondered if there were secret entrances, rooms, locations, or easter eggs that they left behind, which nobody has ever found?  

Too late now, I know.  

[High_Beam]

24 minutes ago, Abraxus said:

Of course, after the period closed to get questions in, I thought of one.  I had wondered if there were secret entrances, rooms, locations, or easter eggs that they left behind, which nobody has ever found?

I think it did get asked and a couple responded.

[Aracknight]

This was a gift.  Thank you all.

[kelika2]

I.. couldnt get through most of that.

But I did like the part where health regeneration based on max health was an issue

[Abraxus]

48 minutes ago, High_Beam said:

I think it did get asked and a couple responded.

Yeah.  I read a couple of responses that touched on it.  But, I'll bet there are still some secrets out there, left by one, or more of them, that have remained just that.  A secret. 😉

[Sanguinesun]

Phil "Synapse" Zeleski's response concerning the changes poorly done for higher level Council / CoT on Homecoming were spot on. 

 

Some of the HC dev team are just trying to change things that never really needed to be changed in the manner they did in the first place.

 

HC devs who pushed for those changes in that context unfortunately probably dont care though, which is a shame.

 

But thank you Phil for what you said on that.

Edited June 5 by Sanguinesun

[Abraxus]

56 minutes ago, Sanguinesun said:

Phil "Synapse" Zeleski's response concerning the changes poorly done for higher level Council / CoT on Homecoming were spot on. 

 

Some of the HC dev team are just trying to change things that never really needed to be changed in the manner they did in the first place.

 

HC devs who pushed for those changes in that context unfortunately probably dont care though, which is a shame.

 

But thank you Phil for what you said on that.

The Devs always have a reason for doing what they do.  You likely won't always be aware of what that reason is, and in some cases (apparently like this one), you won't always like it, and obviously, Phil had his own take on it.  But, I feel pretty safe in saying they don't do it to sabotage the game, or annoy the players.  This community always functions best when we assume good intentions, and refrain from making assertions about their process, or their state of mind, without firsthand knowledge.  

Let's just stick to that. 🙂

Edited June 5 by Abraxus

[High_Beam]

22 hours ago, Arcanum said:

Quote from Castle

Thing I wish never landed in CoH/V - PvP. The game was not designed for it and trying to shoehorn it in created more dissatisfaction than it provided enjoyment in general.

 

and

 

22 hours ago, Arcanum said:

With the benefit of hindsight, what is one thing that you wish you had done differently? Whether expanding upon something for the release, changing the implementation, outright not adding in something, whatever the case may be.

• I'd have not put the time and resources into the PvP Revamp in I13

Respect!

[SakuraFrost]

It was very special to read through the responses to so many different questions from the original team. I think it took me an hour 😅

 

I couldn’t help but feel sad that everyone seemed to agree that a game like COH couldn’t be made today due to external, predominately, financial factors and not due to things that should matter such as passion, creativity, or player interest.

[Sanguinesun]

41 minutes ago, Abraxus said:

The Devs always have a reason for doing what they do.  You likely won't always be aware of what that reason is, and in some cases (apparently like this one), you won't always like it, and obviously, Phil had his own take on it.  But, I feel pretty safe in saying they don't do it to sabotage the game, or annoy the players.  This community always functions best when we assume good intentions, and refrain from making assertions about their process, or their state of mind, without firsthand knowledge.  

Let's just stick to that. 🙂

 

 

Let's not stick to that patronization as what you stated is a bit of a disingenuous misdirect and a bit of a backhand to Zeleski at the same time that almost sounds intentional.  

 

That said, the lack of transparency that you've pretty much eluded to in and of itself also doesnt exactly lend to your take on this either.  We've seen over the years how decisions have been made that were unfavorable and, like the thread here's contentions against them, did at times lead to the community having those things changed. Then again some do not and still remain unfavorable to some folks. 

 

Also just because there is "a reason" doesnt mean that its always a sound one either or one not laden with an agenda incongruent to the community either. One could speculate it is because a segment of the devs desire for a return to increasing the time sink in fights/leveling, etc.   Again, assumptions in any directing wouldn't have to be there if there was more transparency to the community as -a whole-.  

 

And its also not like the entirety of the HC team's feelings are universal either.  Some get out weighed by others in their considerations but publically they'll be more apt to look more unified in decisions than they necessarily are of course. 

 

 

Edited June 5 by Sanguinesun

[Yikes]

I'm slightly disappointed in how many of the questions give the implication that homecoming is the only server. questions like "what powerset do you wish you could add to homecoming" paint a picture as though homecoming is the only server - or at least, the only one adding powersets. In general it feels like "city of heroes" should be substituted in questions like this, otherwise it acts as a subtle suggestion that homecoming is the one and only server developing new content.

[Glacier Peak]

1 hour ago, Yikes said:

I'm slightly disappointed in how many of the questions give the implication that homecoming is the only server. questions like "what powerset do you wish you could add to homecoming" paint a picture as though homecoming is the only server - or at least, the only one adding powersets. In general it feels like "city of heroes" should be substituted in questions like this, otherwise it acts as a subtle suggestion that homecoming is the one and only server developing new content.

These questions came from the community here, so that makes sense that the questions would be about Homecoming. And the submission for questions was open for a month, if anyone wanted to ask about other servers. 

 

Edit: Well now this post makes sense after reading the poster's previous responses on these forums. 

Edited June 6 by Glacier Peak

[Sanguinesun]

19 minutes ago, Yikes said:

I'm slightly disappointed in how many of the questions give the implication that homecoming is the only server. questions like "what powerset do you wish you could add to homecoming" paint a picture as though homecoming is the only server - or at least, the only one adding powersets. In general it feels like "city of heroes" should be substituted in questions like this, otherwise it acts as a subtle suggestion that homecoming is the one and only server developing new content.

 

1. You're posting on the Homecoming server forums.  

 

2. The Questions were made by HC players and the live team devs were approached by and agreed to respond to said questions by the HC powers that be and the community(of which some of those live devs have spent years here playing on as well vs other community run servers).

 

3. HC is also the only official licensed community run set of servers, the live devs would perhaps also not be willing/capable of addressing or answering feelings regarding things implemented on other community run servers.

 

All in all expectations/wants for them to comment about the circumstances with other community run servers when questions were either pertaining to their live days or the specifics of HC doesnt really match the purpose/function of the Q&A to begin with. 

Edited June 5 by Sanguinesun

[BurningChick]

Hey, thanks for this! It was a nice trip down memory road. I always appreciated how the devs interacted with the community. 
 

And I loved how someone snuck in some FF bait for Castle. If anyone cares, I traded PMs with Castle about FF. I think he felt constrained in not wanting to completely change how powers work, so FF was stuck with some dreck. 
 

But he did change Repulsion Bomb to mob targeted, gave it a 10x damage buff, then lowered the magnitude of the KB to KD based on feedback. Not sure about others, but the outdoor RWZ missions had me knocking mobs through geometry which limited its use. KB was never a great fit for / Rad. Heh. 

[Yikes]

Just now, Sanguinesun said:

 

1. You're posting on the Homecoming server forums.  

2. The Questions were made by HC players and the live team devs were approached by and agreed to respond to said questions.

3. HC is also the only official licensed community run set of servers, the live devs would perhaps also not be willing/capable of addressing or answering feelings regarding things implemented on other community run servers.

 

All in all expectations/wants for them to comment about the circumstances with other community run servers when questions were either pertaining to their live days or the specifics of HC doesnt really match the purpose/function of the Q&A to begin with. 

 

and thus the problem; the "city of heroes" community is and has for a long time been fractured. in practice, we have a "homecoming" community and individual communities for the rest of the servers. 

it's the division that bothers me

[Sanguinesun]

13 minutes ago, Yikes said:

 

and thus the problem; the "city of heroes" community is and has for a long time been fractured. in practice, we have a "homecoming" community and individual communities for the rest of the servers. 

it's the division that bothers me

 

I get you frustrations for other community servers or the fact that literally anyone can download the old server code to make their own CoH (yes anyone still) and not have participation in what transpired to an extent; but Im trying to explain that you're having an unrealistic expectation that those server communities would have their situations relevant on the HC forums when they're not the HC community nor official licenses(ie live devs may be adamant/(OR allowed...) to publicly comment about such other servers.

 

Again I recognize your wants but its just a bit strange to expect such wants where they're not applicable. Worse you're not endearing any future potential for any of those live devs who responded to necessarily feel comfortable to mention/comment about such community servers either. 

 

As for division of the CoH community, you act like this is something only now to exist.  All the rogue servers existed for years and people simply played where they wished to and still do.  Its a choice of course but its also no an invalidation of any of those other communities efforts for their server's developments over the years in and of itself either.   If you do not wish to create contentiousness and animosity between different server communities, focusing on those divisions resentfully  with such a comment may not be a prudent approach.

Edited June 5 by Sanguinesun

[Shin Magmus]

It's just nice to get to see more info about the game, and some stories/opinions from outside the narrow band of the Homecoming dev team. 

[Super Atom]

54 minutes ago, Yikes said:

 

and thus the problem; the "city of heroes" community is and has for a long time been fractured. in practice, we have a "homecoming" community and individual communities for the rest of the servers. 

it's the division that bothers me

 

Not to defend homecoming, because i will never forgive them for not naming it beanbag control, but Homecoming is the official server. It's the only official server since the live game. The questions asked should be about the Live server, not the many rogue servers.

 

Side note, There were questions asked and answered about the other servers. Those individuals were likely completely welcome to come and ask questions since some of those questions made it in. Homecoming and its team appears to have not interfered with that at all. I've never seen them disallow their mention on here, in game or the discord either.

Edited June 6 by Super Atom

[Abraxus]

3 hours ago, Sanguinesun said:

 

 

Let's not stick to that patronization as what you stated is a bit of a disingenuous misdirect and a bit of a backhand to Zeleski at the same time that almost sounds intentional.  

 

That said, the lack of transparency that you've pretty much eluded to in and of itself also doesnt exactly lend to your take on this either.  We've seen over the years how decisions have been made that were unfavorable and, like the thread here's contentions against them, did at times lead to the community having those things changed. Then again some do not and still remain unfavorable to some folks. 

 

Also just because there is "a reason" doesnt mean that its always a sound one either or one not laden with an agenda incongruent to the community either. One could speculate it is because a segment of the devs desire for a return to increasing the time sink in fights/leveling, etc.   Again, assumptions in any directing wouldn't have to be there if there was more transparency to the community as -a whole-.  

 

And its also not like the entirety of the HC team's feelings are universal either.  Some get out weighed by others in their considerations but publically they'll be more apt to look more unified in decisions than they necessarily are of course. 

 

 

Really sorry you actually feel that way.  You seem to read the worst into things, and I don't participate in conversations any further, once I realize that.  I do hope you find satisfaction somewhere.  Because, it's pretty obvious that this isn't it.