Worst room in game?

[Zappalina]

The one where Penelope Yin helps out and we defeat Malaise and MM, continually get caught on items in it or stuck behind them, it's very crowded with junk.

[Triumphant]

5 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

 

I think I give you top marks for callous honesty but not much else.

What can I say?  I prefer straight-talk to sugarcoating.  But if it makes you feel any better, it's only my opinion and has no more or less value than your own (or anyone else's) opinion.  

[Snarky]

5 hours ago, Triumphant said:

But if it makes you feel any better, it's only my opinion and has no more or less value than your own (or anyone else's) opinion.  

Really?   

[Andreah]

On 7/4/2025 at 10:53 AM, Snarky said:

My personal favorite is the Arachnos Reactor room with ramps and elevators that is about 17 stories tall. 
 

There is the layer cake room. The Council pool room. The cave that snakes back around on too of itself in a corkscrew.  
 

Any others?  
 

Post what you think are the worst!

 

My most disliked top 3:

 

1. Layer Cake -- rough to navigate, has a lot of group that often have to be cleared, and it's a commonly encountered map.

2. Corkscrew Cave a.k.a., "Klein Bottle Cave" -- There are times I simply cannot find my way through this and abandon the mission.

3. Council Pool Room -- usually have to  systematically re-search it for some mob or other whom I missed the first time. And the second time. And maybe the third time, too.

 

 

[Snarky]

20 minutes ago, Andreah said:

 

My most disliked top 3:

 

1. Layer Cake -- rough to navigate, has a lot of group that often have to be cleared, and it's a commonly encountered map.

2. Corkscrew Cave a.k.a., "Klein Bottle Cave" -- There are times I simply cannot find my way through this and abandon the mission.

3. Council Pool Room -- usually have to  systematically re-search it for some mob or other whom I missed the first time. And the second time. And maybe the third time, too.

 

 

The key to the corkscrew cave is simple, well for me.  But it was hard to figure it out at first. Say you are coming from below.  You loop up and the structure bends right.  There are some side bulges, but really it is up and rightwards. Then it opens up. As it opens just continue the upwards and rightward curve, and turn harder. The cave door should be right there.  When coming the opposite way it can be harder if you don’t realize what map it is. But you just reverse the motion heading slightly down and left to the wall then follow that down the tunnel 

 

this is similar to the “heart valve” clusterfrack in CoT, very often found in respec trial. The trick there, in either direction, is to hang to the outside. The rest of the slopes and tunnels are dead ends. I call it a heart valve because on the map overlay it looks sorta similar to a heart with all the tubes cut and just held out. 

[Triumphant]

4 hours ago, Snarky said:

Really?   

 

Well, no- of course not, Snark.  My opinion is obviously the bestest opinion.  But I was trying to politic. 😁🤷‍♂️

[srmalloy]

7 hours ago, Andreah said:

3. Council Pool Room -- usually have to  systematically re-search it for some mob or other whom I missed the first time. And the second time. And maybe the third time, too.

Something I discovered on a 'defeat all' mission that included that room is that there is an additional 'floor' at the bottom of the room very few people ever notice. When you enter the room, go to the left side and take the ramp down to the 'lower' level, then out onto the ramp leading down into that area with its four pools. Now step to the left off the ramp, turn around, and move under the ramp. There is a cross-shaped passageway between the pools under the walkway of the 'lower' levels, and I've had two missions where there has been a Council mob hiding down there that prevented mission completion until I dug them out and defeated them.

[Snarky]

27 minutes ago, srmalloy said:

Something I discovered on a 'defeat all' mission that included that room is that there is an additional 'floor' at the bottom of the room very few people ever notice. When you enter the room, go to the left side and take the ramp down to the 'lower' level, then out onto the ramp leading down into that area with its four pools. Now step to the left off the ramp, turn around, and move under the ramp. There is a cross-shaped passageway between the pools under the walkway of the 'lower' levels, and I've had two missions where there has been a Council mob hiding down there that prevented mission completion until I dug them out and defeated them.

i never knew that, will be exploring next time   thx

[momentarygrace]

Since we're sharing, I'm with Scarlet Shocker on this one. I appreciate Triumphant's honesty but chile, it's called "Homecoming" for a reason. Don't bulldoze my home, pretty please kthnxbye 🙂 

 

When you are older you may experience the pain of returning to old places you lived and finding them converted to a Walmart parking lot. Or you may not. I know in what we laughingly call real life, change is inevitable and way must be made for the folks coming up, but in this digital space I don't see why there can't be one place I can return to and recognize it for as long as it's there and I am able.

 

 

 

[WanderingAries]

The Huge lavatory

Midnight / Taco Tuesday

[Snarky]

8 minutes ago, WanderingAries said:

The Huge lavatory

Midnight / Taco Tuesday

Sharkhead is a toilet, but never heard it called that before...

[Forager]

I just came to defend rooms that pull the team apart. The council pool room is my favorite and is responsible for some dramatic battles. The cake room just suffers from a terrible aesthetic.

 

More action set pieces! Less "numbers go up!"

[shortguy on indom]

• THAT VILLIAN OR ROGUE(?) ARC "MISSION 22" OR WHATEVER IT WAS CALLED, IN THAT DARK REACTOR MULTI-MULTI LEVEL ROOM WAS THE PITS.  TRYING TO FIND THOSE INVISIBLE ENEMY IN THOSE KILL-ALLS WAS INTERSTING.  UNTOLD HOURS SPENT.  MY LEAST FAVORITE ARC IN THE GAME.  COMPLETING ALL THE CONTENT IS A MISSION OF PATIENCE.

[Scarlet Shocker]

19 hours ago, Triumphant said:

What can I say?  I prefer straight-talk to sugarcoating.  But if it makes you feel any better, it's only my opinion and has no more or less value than your own (or anyone else's) opinion.  

 

This I find genuinely interesting.

 

You're playing a 21 year old game, with a huge amount of history, and for the vast majority of players, a huge amount of emotional attachment, that literally came back from the dead and you buy into none of that?

 

I'll take what you say at face value but I admit to finding it strange.

[Lusiphur Malache]

There's a map in the Night Ward Magician's arc that I duoed with a lvl 50 when I was new to Homecoming. All the walls are invisible so I was constantly looking at the map to see when I stopped so I could turn the corner into groups that made light work of me. Did that one mission and quit for the day.

[Triumphant]

13 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

 

This I find genuinely interesting.

 

You're playing a 21 year old game, with a huge amount of history, and for the vast majority of players, a huge amount of emotional attachment, that literally came back from the dead and you buy into none of that?

 

I'll take what you say at face value but I admit to finding it strange.

 

I resemble that remark. 😁

[Triumphant]

16 hours ago, momentarygrace said:

Since we're sharing, I'm with Scarlet Shocker on this one. I appreciate Triumphant's honesty but chile, it's called "Homecoming" for a reason. Don't bulldoze my home, pretty please kthnxbye 🙂 

 

When you are older you may experience the pain of returning to old places you lived and finding them converted to a Walmart parking lot. Or you may not. I know in what we laughingly call real life, change is inevitable and way must be made for the folks coming up, but in this digital space I don't see why there can't be one place I can return to and recognize it for as long as it's there and I am able.

 

 

 

 

Legit.  But this game has already had vastly more dramatic changes than fixes to crummy maps.  Has none of that ruined your nostalgia?

And on that topic, when does this nostalgia thing finally happen, anyway?  I'm almost 54 years old.  🤪  

[BjorJlen]

1 hour ago, Triumphant said:

 

Legit.  But this game has already had vastly more dramatic changes than fixes to crummy maps.  Has none of that ruined your nostalgia?

And on that topic, when does this nostalgia thing finally happen, anyway?  I'm almost 54 years old.  🤪  

 

Ok, after reading threw these and others comments on a topic the OP did not ask about (not that really matters much these days lol), I figure I'll add my thoughts to this, and maybe end it for now... 😁

 

   Basically, it's like this @Triumphant... What you originally said on page one was right, in both feeling and content. But unfortunately, with a game as old as CoH is, it is fairly impossible to update these blue cave maps without a TON of work, and even if it was done, it might just break them beyond repair, which is why it would be cheaper and easier to just make a new CoH instead (which has also been debated a lot in the past). Especially with the game code and graphics engine used to make it in the first place, which I forget the name of atm (sorry). As I am sure you would agree on. So again, as I have said comedically before, "if wishes were horses, beggars would ride" lol. 🙂

 

   But the nostalgia we old timers here feel about the game is another story, and I disagree with age of the people involved being a real big factor here for the most part. No, its just the fact that us old times grew to LOVE this game, it's uniqueness, and the community on many, many level's, despite the Dev's not necessarily always feeling the same way. To some of them, it was all about money... not for us. Which is why when one asks about how someone felt when the game's sunset hit, you'll hear things like... "I cried my eyes out", or "I am angry as hell", or other not so kind words. Back then, and to an extent even now, CoH was not just a game, it was a way of life, love fest, and from the heart, in a time that will never come again.

 

   In this I am sure you can relate too, being 54 years old and all (Hi @Triumphant! My name is T'rel, or T as some call me, and I am not only a Altaholic, but I am also 59 years old too. 😃 Glad to meet ya.) And of course, when the game came back, it was like light and miracle shining down on all of us "old timers", and instead of tears of sadness, tears of joy fell instead. It was... a HUGE blessing, one in which none of us should ever take for granted or forget. Because it may have never come. We old timers here are passionate about this "game", and as I am sure you know, passionate people will defend something they love with all their heart and might.

 

   So while you absolutely correct, and we sensible people here respect your words, we may not agree with them (for the most part). Which is ok too, because as my Dad used to say, "If everyone was the same, someone would not be needed". So the nostalgia will only happen with something you LOVE, in which you have spent years involved with, and boy the stories we could tell... and have before. It is a matter of the heart really, more than age, and that's a great thing too imo. This community is the BEST of any game out there today, as is many aspects of this game itself (like the character creator for example) imo. And you are a part of that. So welcome aboard, have a beer and seat, and enjoy the ride along with us all. 🙂

 

"You may like it, or not like it, but you better love it, because it's the best thing going today!" - T

Edited July 7 by BjorJlen
Grammer, always grammer lol...

[srmalloy]

18 hours ago, Forager said:

The cake room just suffers from a terrible aesthetic.

The cake room is the pool room, just with different dressing. The blue caves and Council/5th bases share the same general tunnel geometry, just with different modifications added to them to make them visually distinct. 

[Forager]

36 minutes ago, srmalloy said:

The cake room is the pool room, just with different dressing.

 

Oh... I always thought the "cake room" was the one with the open center with each level kind of shaped like a ring. Like a big hotel atrium.

[Triumphant]

6 hours ago, BjorJlen said:

 

Ok, after reading threw these and others comments on a topic the OP did not ask about (not that really matters much these days lol), I figure I'll add my thoughts to this, and maybe end it for now... 😁

 

   Basically, it's like this @Triumphant... What you originally said on page one was right, in both feeling and content. But unfortunately, with a game as old as CoH is, it is fairly impossible to update these blue cave maps without a TON of work, and even if it was done, it might just break them beyond repair, which is why it would be cheaper and easier to just make a new CoH instead (which has also been debated a lot in the past). Especially with the game code and graphics engine used to make it in the first place, which I forget the name of atm (sorry). As I am sure you would agree on. So again, as I have said comedically before, "if wishes were horses, beggars would ride" lol. 🙂

 

   But the nostalgia we old timers here feel about the game is another story, and I disagree with age of the people involved being a real big factor here for the most part. No, its just the fact that us old times grew to LOVE this game, it's uniqueness, and the community on many, many level's, despite the Dev's not necessarily always feeling the same way. To some of them, it was all about money... not for us. Which is why when one asks about how someone felt when the game's sunset hit, you'll hear things like... "I cried my eyes out", or "I am angry as hell", or other not so kind words. Back then, and to an extent even now, CoH was not just a game, it was a way of life, love fest, and from the heart, in a time that will never come again.

 

   In this I am sure you can relate too, being 54 years old and all (Hi @Triumphant! My name is T'rel, or T as some call me, and I am not only a Altaholic, but I am also 59 years old too. 😃 Glad to meet ya.) And of course, when the game came back, it was like light and miracle shining down on all of us "old timers", and instead of tears of sadness, tears of joy fell instead. It was... a HUGE blessing, one in which none of us should ever take for granted or forget. Because it may have never come. We old timers here are passionate about this "game", and as I am sure you know, passionate people will defend something they love with all their heart and might.

 

   So while you absolutely correct, and we sensible people here respect your words, we may not agree with them (for the most part). Which is ok too, because as my Dad used to say, "If everyone was the same, someone would not be needed". So the nostalgia will only happen with something you LOVE, in which you have spent years involved with, and boy the stories we could tell... and have before. It is a matter of the heart really, more than age, and that's a great thing too imo. This community is the BEST of any game out there today, as is many aspects of this game itself (like the character creator for example) imo. And you are a part of that. So welcome aboard, have a beer and seat, and enjoy the ride along with us all. 🙂

 

"You may like it, or not like it, but you better love it, because it's the best thing going today!" - T

 

You have some solid points.  In the wooden literal sense, I guess Snark wasn't asking for a fix to the terrible rooms.  But, then, if a thing is a terrible design, my feeling is always, "Why not fix it?".  Of course, as you very sensibly point out, it's pretty likely this either may not be possible, or is simply too much effort for too little reward, even if it is possible.  While I do dislike the caverns and some of the other rooms mentioned, it's certainly not an issue that I feel strongly enough about to push hard on having it addressed by the Devs (Hey, don't let me discourage you if you can figure out a relatively pain free fix, though!), particularly as there are other tweaks and changes that I would rather see them lend their attention to.

 

Despite my tongue-in-cheek comments (humor generally, and my humor in particular, don't always translate well to a forum discussion 😝), I actually have experienced nostalgia for at least one game in my life (Neverwinter Nights, playing on various persisten worlds, if you know what I mean by that), and certainly enjoyed a special and unique experience playing  that game, that I have never experienced since.  But for me, nostalgia is not induced (or dependent upon) keeping the game always looking and functioning exactly the same.  It's about the worlds and players that I lived in and interacted with, while playing my characters. 

Recently, I bought the Neverwinter Nights Enhanced edition that was rereleaseda few years back, and tried to play again.  The game had not really been changed in any significant respect (much less change than Live CoH, as compared with Homecoming, for example), but I simply did not enjoy returning to the game.  There were so many things that could have been improved in the intervening years (Control interface, camera view, character models... I could go on, really) and having played better designed games since (CoH being one of them), I could not bring myself to enjoy playing it again.

Honestly though, I can still relate to and understand players having strong nostalgic ties to a beloved game and not wanting that experience to be damaged.  It's just odd (and, I guess, a little funny) to me that the numerous major changes the devs have made to the game (huge changes to costumes, a new archetype, many new power sets, lots and lots of alterations to legacy AT's and powersets, switching an entire neighborhood- galaxy city- for Atlas as the starting area, free base building with not pvp base assaults, easy (and early access to movement powers and telporting quickly via LRT, and so on), but this one thing- making some maps less annoying to traverse, is the thing that is the breaking point for you.

But again, as  you correctly point out, we don't need to agree.  Your feelings on the matter are just as valid as anyone elses and I always enjoy reading and learning more about how player's enjoy this game (which is one of only two that I play these days), even if I don't enjoy it and appreciate it in precisely the same ways.

 

Edited July 7 by Triumphant

[BjorJlen]

Ohhh, I actually do agree with you @Triumphant🙂

 

   And totally am with adjustments made to CoH that would improve the quality of life for all concerned. Including the one's, both big and small, that you listed (and more). In am just pragmatic in what can be done considering the game's age, the code that has been written to make it, and the graphics' engine used therein. Generally a balanced view of things overall, and just enjoy the living miracle that this game is. 🙂

 

   Though, if improvements to the Blue Caves could be made (and I have no idea if they could), just removing all the wooden beams alone would make things a lot easier to get around the place, including those Civilians and such that we sometimes have to escort out of them. That I would be way in favor of, but not something like expanding the tunnels themselves to make them bigger, as I feel that could break things. But who knows, if it wouldn't, that would be cool to see... Though it's a non issue for me as I myself have learned to get around fairly easily, sands anything like being speed boosted in them lol.

 

   As far as @Snarky goes, he's fairly harmless (unless your holding up a bag of blood, then look out), a great dude imo, and is a priceless treasure here, along with several others here as well. But, he's @Snarky, so one's mileage may vary hehehe. Poke @Snarky! And as far as the "wooden literal sense" statement you said, well I have also been a old school Captain Kirk fan since the show came out, and well... sometimes William Shatner's performance comes out in me lol. And while I played and LOVED Neverwinter Nights, and totally agree with what you are saying about it's own "improvements", that game holds no where near the Nostalgia that CoH has for me. Though with NWN's, there are always the Mods... 😁

 

   It's my home away from home actually, and being Disabled, a true blessing to me... both as a game and the community overall as well and the friends I have made in it. Not to mention the Dev's too, who never seem to get enough credit for what they have, and still do, worked on and given us (in a volunteer way too mind you). To me I am satisfied with how the game is, and what is being done with it, but hey... I am easily satisfied these days. So that's just on me. I am super happy that you are enjoying the game, as are we all, and am happy you are here. Maybe we'll team up one day? Who knows... 😁

 

"Every day is just a brand new chapter in your book of life. Write a great one." - T

[Snarky]

2 hours ago, Triumphant said:

  In the wooden literal sense, I guess Snark wasn't asking for a fix to the terrible rooms.  But, then, if a thing is a terrible design, my feeling is always, "Why not fix it?". 

 

Blinks.  What?  No!  No, no, noooo… 

 

I was asking about the horrid rooms because….  That is so beautifully wonderful.  
 

DRAMA.  All great stories are built on drama.  If all of our environments were candy coated perfect the game would be… so much less.  
 

It is in these terrible rooms, these horrid maps, that we must achieve….  I do not know?  Exp? Random hami drop? The love of our friends? Having Snarky ask you to give him inf?  THIS IS THE PLACE IT HAPPENS!  The drama, the beautiful struggle in this miserable world.  
 

Whether by design or tragic incompetence we have been given these treacherous places to strive to achieve our goals.  I, for one, give thanks.  

[BjorJlen]

Amen @Snarky, amen...

 

"Wait what?! @Snarky said some very true words of wisdom? From a Vampire no less? Will wonders never cease..!" - T

Edited July 7 by BjorJlen
Ahhh yes, typo's... Gotta love them...

[WanderingAries]

On 7/6/2025 at 5:52 PM, Snarky said:

Sharkhead is a toilet, but never heard it called that before...

 

I was thinking more along the lines of: Fe/Male, Huge  😛