How's the community these days?

[the1egend1ives]

A lot of players in this community are extremely rude when responding to feedback on the current state of the game. Last week, I posted to the Suggestions forum that the devs should consider a name release policy for Supergroups. The level or snark and sass I got in the replies was absurd. If the logistics are too complicated to implement, explain why and don't say anything more. Don't tell me to "pick up a thesaurus", just because I prefer "The Menagerie" for the name of my VG instead of "The Menagerie of Crime".

This isn't limited to the Homecoming forum. On the CoH subreddit, I've been given lip because I don't like the graphics and sound effects of the new power sets. I don't have to be an animator to think the animations look poor. I would rather efforts go towards creating new storylines and new content instead of stitching together powers out of recycled sprites in the game. The costume creator in Homecoming is still extremely limited compared to Thunderspy. But instead, the devs gave us a cyclone on Whirling Axe. Who asked for that?

 

Years ago, I posted on the forum AND the subreddit that the game needed a harder difficulty setting. I was met with unreasonable amounts of hate. Some players spoke up after recognizing how the overall community was treating me for politely expressing my opinion. And guess what? My idea was looked at because 4-star TF/SFs have become a huge part of the Homecoming server.

 

[Mopery]

36 minutes ago, the1egend1ives said:

A lot of players in this community are extremely rude when responding to feedback on the current state of the game. Last week, I posted to the Suggestions forum that the devs should consider a name release policy for Supergroups. The level or snark and sass I got in the replies was absurd. If the logistics are too complicated to implement, explain why and don't say anything more. Don't tell me to "pick up a thesaurus", just because I prefer "The Menagerie" for the name of my VG instead of "The Menagerie of Crime".

This isn't limited to the Homecoming forum. On the CoH subreddit, I've been given lip because I don't like the graphics and sound effects of the new power sets. I don't have to be an animator to think the animations look poor. I would rather efforts go towards creating new storylines and new content instead of stitching together powers out of recycled sprites in the game. The costume creator in Homecoming is still extremely limited compared to Thunderspy. But instead, the devs gave us a cyclone on Whirling Axe. Who asked for that?

 

Years ago, I posted on the forum AND the subreddit that the game needed a harder difficulty setting. I was met with unreasonable amounts of hate. Some players spoke up after recognizing how the overall community was treating me for politely expressing my opinion. And guess what? My idea was looked at because 4-star TF/SFs have become a huge part of the Homecoming server.

 

Some people think cucumbers taste better pickled.

[Contrarian]

I've recently returned after a long absence. Had nothing to do with my opinion of the community (which was, and is, overall positive), just real life real-life-ing.

 

The community has been great since my return, old friends as well as strangers, BUT I have noticed a change in tone. It's not mean or toxic...it's prickly.

 

Seasoned players here are happy to share their knowledge and opinions, which is lovely, but a subset of these well informed people could do with a secondary reader looking over their shoulders. It's an over-specificity and preamble in phrasing that comes off as 'The IT guy who's been here too long'. Less of this vibe would be great.

 

[Skyhawke]

I think part of the reason those of us that've been here a good while don't think much about those prickly types is we've 1 starred them or just remember names so we know who to avoid. Plus we've hit a point where we know we can just leave if things get too squirmy and easily catch another TF/Raid/whatever. Newer folks might not feel comfortable jumping a sinking ship and end up riding it out with not so great people. 

[Nerio72]

28 minutes ago, Contrarian said:

secondary reader looking over their shoulders

 

[Seed22]

3 hours ago, the1egend1ives said:

And guess what? My idea was looked at because 4-star TF/SFs have become a huge part of the Homecoming server.

I wouldn’t call it huge if it’s played by roughly 1% of the playerbase, nor would I call it hard, but thats because I played other games and saw actual difficulty and how it’s done imo right vs artificially. 
 

But I get the idea.

 

It serves a niche in the community. But overall the community is as I said, overall in game way better than on the forums and reddit. Discord usually is pretty chill but has its’ slip ups.

Edited November 13 by Seed22

[Sovera]

I haven't played 'seriously' in a while but for a good two years this was my go to game. Now, every server has their own community, but Everlasting was always good so take that in mind when someone says they've had a good or a bad time.

 

 

5 hours ago, the1egend1ives said:

A lot of players in this community are extremely rude when responding to feedback on the current state of the game. Last week, I posted to the Suggestions forum that the devs should consider a name release policy for Supergroups. The level or snark and sass I got in the replies was absurd. If the logistics are too complicated to implement, explain why and don't say anything more. Don't tell me to "pick up a thesaurus", just because I prefer "The Menagerie" for the name of my VG instead of "The Menagerie of Crime".

 

The suggestion subforum is a cesspool of well meant white knights that want to defend the poor devs from extra work. Any suggestion these players disagree based on whatever whim dictates it is met with a firm no.

 

Which is completely hilarious if we consider that:
A) The suggestion was not addressed to them but rather to the devs, so why are they even chiming in? If they are devs then it's valid, sure. But an internet rando saying no because it's too much work? Lol?

B) Their opinion isn't worth the pixels it is printed on. If the devs decide to implement it it will be implemented and that's it.

[Frunobulax]

6 hours ago, the1egend1ives said:

 But instead, the devs gave us a cyclone on Whirling Axe. Who asked for that?

 

 

 

I kind of agree that there are lots of people on HC who for whatever reasons often seem very eager use anything they can as a pretense to puff themselves up at the expense of a stranger, and I agree completely with your thoughts on difficulty, but I strongly disagree with you including cyclone as an example.

 

I would have asked for that, if I had thought of it. What a tremendous change. It is one of my favourite buffs to any skill in the history of mmo. I love cyclone and what its done for some of my characters such as my ice/axe's that got way more fun to play overnight. Anyways I have no issues with the rest of your post. I just love cyclone, spiritually, emotionally and especially physically.

 

 

[biostem]

7 hours ago, the1egend1ives said:

A lot of players in this community are extremely rude

 You got a few responses you deemed to be rude, and somehow that extends to the hundreds or thousands of people who play CoH:HC?  This hasn't been my experience, so how do we reconcile our disparate experiences?  Is it at all possible that it could be a specific response to what you post or how you posted it?

[UltraAlt]

On 11/10/2024 at 9:24 PM, wmtyrance said:

I used to play this with a few real-life friends, but they all left because they felt the community was becoming toxic to new players.

 

If you don't mind, did they experience this on the forums or in-game?

If in-game, which server were they playing on?

 

Of course, the time of day may be affecting their experience as well.

 

Came back to add a couple of more questions.

What level character were they playing?

Where they on a task force team?

Where they teaming on a level 50 team?

 

 

Edited November 14 by UltraAlt

[biostem]

5 minutes ago, UltraAlt said:

If you don't mind, did they experience this on the forums or in-game?]

If in-game, which server were they playing on?

 

Of course, the time of day may be affecting their experience as well.

I know this wasn't directed at me, but I feel it is important to note that one person giving a curt response can easily be interpreted by another as rude.  It's also important to keep in mind that tone/inflection don't translate well to CoH's text-only chatting system, so person A could ask a question, person B replies with what is to them a joke or snark, and player A interprets it as a slight or rudeness.  Basically, I view any such reports of "The community (tm) is toxic" as a bit of venting or fear-mongering...

[UltraAlt]

On 11/12/2024 at 11:08 AM, Psyonico said:

If you're on Everlasting, Repeat Offenders exists.  We're not anywhere near as active as we were on Live, but I always start in our global channel when looking for or starting a team.

 

Well. I honestly have to say that this like the 2nd post about the Repeat Offenders that I have run into on Homecoming.

I guess I need to go look in the supergroup sub forum (oh, there apparent is no sg sub forum here ... did the supergroup form become the base builder's forum at some point?) again about it.

 

I had characters in multiple RO SG's back on before the Sunset.

It is kind of odd to hear that the RO is only on Everlasting. But I guess there are half the number for Shards there were before the Sunset.

Edited Monday at 10:20 AM by UltraAlt

[tidge]

17 hours ago, the1egend1ives said:

A lot of players in this community are extremely rude when responding to feedback on the current state of the game. Last week, I posted to the Suggestions forum that the devs should consider a name release policy for Supergroups. The level or snark and sass I got in the replies was absurd. If the logistics are too complicated to implement, explain why and don't say anything more. Don't tell me to "pick up a thesaurus", just because I prefer "The Menagerie" for the name of my VG instead of "The Menagerie of Crime".

 

Was it this thread, or another one? I went looking for your post, to see what level of snark as sass was absurd, but couldn't find your post or any responses to it.

 

 

 

11 hours ago, Sovera said:

The suggestion subforum is a cesspool of well meant white knights that want to defend the poor devs from extra work. Any suggestion these players disagree based on whatever whim dictates it is met with a firm no.

 

Cesspool?

 

I see a mix of all sorts of things in the Suggestion forum, including:

1. Swinging (with anger) at dead horses
2. Suggestions that have been made before, or variants thereof
3. Suggestions that look (to me, MMV) to have originated in "I just noticed this one thing that bothered me, it popped into my mind, Imma post about it."
4. Suggestions that perhaps should engage forum members in another subforum (because of a lack of understanding/insight regarding an AT, powerset, the market)

#1... maybe not everyone recognizes a "dead horse" (ehem, Group Fly), but some of these threads have a disproportionate amount of engagement from long-time forum participants, repeating points that have been made repeatedly. Over and over again. Multiple times. Repeatedly.

 

#2... Quite a few repeated suggestions that don't devolve into the "dead horse" category, are ones I find well-meaning and interesting. I usually read them, and I often don't feel obligated to participate more than "emoting" to posts made by others. These threads are often good ones to get perspective on the underlying code and game mechanics.

 

#3... This is where a question of scale comes into play, and I see a lot of "whims" made as suggestions. Sometimes that source of the suggestion is obviously a point of irritation that I want to believe really did upset a player, in a moment, but that the circumstances are convoluted enough that the "suggestion" is essentially "THAT should never have happened to ME!" (I'm thinking of the threads like the one about multiple players simultaneously trying to use the same salvage rack while crafting, or accidentally selling a recipe, etc.) There would be so little juice to come out of a development change to "fix" a certain issue that I think it is much more likely that if a player can't figure out how NOT to do that one thing, they are probably going to find something equally as trivial (my "white knight" opinion, perhaps?) to suggest.

 

[Glacier Peak]

I've read a lot of terrible suggestions on the sub thread here. I've made a few myself. I've seen posters who tell others not to post in their threads, posters who won't accept reality that such a proposal is impossible, or posters who think their way of playing is more important than anyone elses. I've seen posters who think of really smart ways to address problems with novel solutions that the whole community would benefit from, posters who share feedback that gives others a new way to look at enjoying the game, or posters who start threads that lead to concepts or ideas for a developer to refine. I've seen posts go no further than the original post, I've seen threads get locked because posters bring up the same topic every week, I've seen trolls dunk on posters because they think it's funny or makes them feel cool. I've seen our GMs work full time jobs to ensure the forum community behaves. 

 

It's the internet and it's been around for a while now. It's better than most places I've seen, but it's still just humans behind a screen. 

[Octogoat]

1 hour ago, Glacier Peak said:

 

 

It's the internet and it's been around for a while now. It's better than most places I've seen, but it's still just humans behind a screen. 

 

Despite all I've seen I'm still just a human behind a screen!

[Ukase]

On 11/11/2024 at 12:07 PM, Go0gleplex said:

I know I can be annoying myself...but that's more because I have the IRL social skills of a brick more than any actual animosity or what towards anyone. 

Aww...imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And you really flatter me! 

[Neiska]

Could be better, but it could be a lot worse too. Just remember that unless they have a “HC staff” by their name, anything said is just their opinion. And to be taken with a grain of salt.

[Octogoat]

8 minutes ago, Neiska said:

Could be better, but it could be a lot worse too. Just remember that unless they have a “HC staff” by their name, anything said is just their opinion. And to be taken with a grain of salt.

Staff can't have an opinion? I thought this was Paragon City! It was the rogue isles all along?!?!

[Ukase]

18 hours ago, Contrarian said:

It's an over-specificity and preamble in phrasing that comes off as 'The IT guy who's been here too long'.

So...um...is that me? I do tend to be as precise as I can be. Various parts of this game have a lot of options, and I think it's best to let the player make informed decisions. And yeah, I use way too many words to communicate stuff. But I've never been an IT guy. 

A bit of a long-winded example in the spoiler, keep on trucking if you don't like a lotta words. 
 

Spoiler

"Preamble in phrasing" is necessary to answer most questions from a new player. They don't even know what they don't know! I try not to have new players sip water from a fire hose, however. I try to keep as much behind the curtain as I can, but still answering the question. 
I'm not perfect, but I think it's a lot better to answer a question with context, than some broad generic statement that's only true 3/4 the time. 

One that gets me a lot of heat is this trite shards vs threads debate. Most folks just tell them to scroll down, use threads. As if their play experience dictates how the rng works for every other player. 
As I play more characters, it's clear to me that Shard drop rate should get a review. They drop fairly often in MSRs, Hami Raids and now, the Labyrinth. I even get a few in Apex/Tin Mage, which took me by surprise. 
(let's not get distracted and delve into this dead horse, okay? Talking to myself as much as the rest of you, lol) 
The point is - there's an optimal option for you and the content you do, but that might very well be different from what I do, given the content that I do. And the RNG can be a fickle mistress. Help chat can't really be expected to be a place to give a clear, brief answer to this question from a new player. There's too many variables at play. But I will try if I'm not bogged down in a nasty battle in game. I will aim to add more info to people's lazy, incomplete answers of "just scroll down and use threads". 

Why? Because I hate it when I finally get that very rare and don't have any damn threads because I pissed 'em all away on an alpha slot. And now I have 85 shards. Not enough to burn into threads and make what I need. But they would have been enough to get the alpha if I hadn't followed the advice of a player who either didn't grasp or care that the rng is different for everyone, and that the content you do can be a factor in those drops. If all you do is iTrials and then wonder why you're not getting shards...you shouldn't be assuming that's the case for the person asking the question. 

See? All these nuances. So, yeah, some folks are going to ramble with the preamble. Gotta take the good with the bad. 

 

[Ukase]

14 hours ago, Sovera said:

The suggestion subforum is a cesspool of well meant white knights that want to defend the poor devs from extra work. Any suggestion these players disagree based on whatever whim dictates it is met with a firm no.

 

Which is completely hilarious if we consider that:
A) The suggestion was not addressed to them but rather to the devs, so why are they even chiming in? If they are devs then it's valid, sure. But an internet rando saying no because it's too much work? Lol?

B) Their opinion isn't worth the pixels it is printed on. If the devs decide to implement it it will be implemented and that's it.

So, maybe I should make a suggestion that nobody should be allowed to comment on suggestions? 

I like your phrasing of "well meant white knights". My preference though is "well-intentioned idiots", that I jokingly refer to people who try to be helpful in help chat but are woefully wrong with their answers. 

[arcane]

15 hours ago, Sovera said:

The suggestion subforum is a cesspool of well meant white knights that want to defend the poor devs from extra work. Any suggestion these players disagree based on whatever whim dictates it is met with a firm no.

 

Which is completely hilarious if we consider that:
A) The suggestion was not addressed to them but rather to the devs, so why are they even chiming in? If they are devs then it's valid, sure. But an internet rando saying no because it's too much work? Lol?

B) Their opinion isn't worth the pixels it is printed on. If the devs decide to implement it it will be implemented and that's it.

I’m sorry that so many of us have had the audacity to speak up when we don’t want a suggestion implemented. We’ll all do our best to know our place and not speak out of turn 🙄

[Nemu]

It's bad.

 

It turns out old people are even more entitled than young people, fuck them! Fuck them all!

 

That's why I hang out with Pandas.

[High_Beam]

20 hours ago, Contrarian said:

secondary reader looking over their shoulders.

In Naval comms we called that dit checking.  Their job was to correct watch and track the errors so that they could then advise what to correct before sending.  High precedence traffic demanded this and it was a good thing.  There are people that need exactly that.  Some people deserve the ZBM-2 they are sent, especially when on an orderwire. 

[Sanguinesun]

17 hours ago, Sovera said:

I haven't played 'seriously' in a while but for a good two years this was my go to game. Now, every server has their own community, but Everlasting was always good so take that in mind when someone says they've had a good or a bad time.

 

 

 

The suggestion subforum is a cesspool of well meant white knights that want to defend the poor devs from extra work. Any suggestion these players disagree based on whatever whim dictates it is met with a firm no.

 

Which is completely hilarious if we consider that:
A) The suggestion was not addressed to them but rather to the devs, so why are they even chiming in? If they are devs then it's valid, sure. But an internet rando saying no because it's too much work? Lol?

B) Their opinion isn't worth the pixels it is printed on. If the devs decide to implement it it will be implemented and that's it.

 

That sounds a bit elitist there, unless you want development and feedback to turn into more of an epistemic bubble.  Or is that the goal?

[momentarygrace]

3 hours ago, Octogoat said:

 

Despite all I've seen I'm still just a human behind a screen!