Bring Balance to Homecoming

[Lunar Ronin]

I contemplated placing this thread in the Suggestions & Feedback sub-forum, but it's more of a discussion because odds are none of the following will ever be implemented.

 

 

How to bring balance to the Force Homecoming:

 

• Procs: Revert the proc system back to what it was on live, a flat percent chance.  On top of that, make damage procs respect AT damage modifiers, and respect damage buffs and damage debuffs.
• Limit the /ah command to game masters only.
• Lower the in-game e-mail storage back down to 20 like it was on live.
• Make non-weapon ranged damage power set nukes crash again.
• Restrict the Alpha Incarnate ability's +1 level shift to Incarnate content only.
• Limit the Interface, Judgment, Destiny, Lore, and Hybrid Incarnate abilities to Incarnate content only.
• Raise the Controller ranged damage modifier to match Defender at 0.65.
• The hardest part of the list: Re-balance the Mastermind AT so minion and lieutenant henchmen are equal level to the Mastermind PC.

 

Implementing all of the above suggestions would make Homecoming a much more balanced game, and bring more value to all roles and functions in the game, instead of the current damage meta to the exclusion of all else.

[Skyhawke]

Good luck!

 

 

[BZRKR]

No thank you.

[PartyKake]

Are all of those terrible ideas just to justify the last part where you buff the mastermind?

 

As a mastermind, I'm listening.

But what if, instead of paying for all those awesome buffs, we STEAL them and get them for free?

[Yomo Kimyata]

Another meister balance balance meister!  Good to see it!

 

29 minutes ago, Lunar Ronin said:

Procs: Revert the proc system back to what it was on live, a flat percent chance.  On top of that, make damage procs respect AT damage modifiers, and respect damage buffs and damage debuffs.

 

I don't like this, because the whole reason (IMO) procs got changed to a PPM was abuse of the flat percentage.  Suddenly everyone is 6-slotting Parry with damage procs again.  I'm ok with the current system, although I'm watching the advent of Adjustable Recharge with suspicion.

 

31 minutes ago, Lunar Ronin said:

Limit the /ah command to game masters only.

 

I'm ok either as is or reverting having to go to special spots to open the interface.  It's a tremendous convenience as is, and I'm not sure it's disadvantaging anyone as stands.

 

33 minutes ago, Lunar Ronin said:

Lower the in-game e-mail storage back down to 20 like it was on live.

 

Doesn't matter to me either way.  I'm guessing that it's mostly used nowadays to store inf, but there are other ways to do so.

 

34 minutes ago, Lunar Ronin said:

• Make non-weapon ranged damage power set nukes crash again.
• Restrict the Alpha Incarnate ability's +1 level shift to Incarnate content only.
• Limit the Interface, Judgment, Destiny, Lore, and Hybrid Incarnate abilities to Incarnate content only.
• Raise the Controller ranged damage modifier to match Defender at 0.65.
• The hardest part of the list: Re-balance the Mastermind AT so minion and lieutenant henchmen are equal level to the Mastermind PC.

 

I have no relevant experience or axe to grind here.  I'd love it, LOVE IT, if there were some sort of governor on incarnate powers, which would help slow the power creep at top levels.  My suggestion has been to limit incarnate powers to two characters per account.  Want more?  Make more accounts or retire one of your godlike characters.  

[tidge]

Plenty of absurd requests in the name of "balance", I'll respond to these:

 

39 minutes ago, Lunar Ronin said:

• Procs: Revert the proc system back to what it was on live, a flat percent chance.  On top of that, make damage procs respect AT damage modifiers, and respect damage buffs and damage debuffs.

 

The current %damage does more to reduce the difference in completion times for typical missions among different ATs than it does to "make the rich richer".

 

42 minutes ago, Lunar Ronin said:

• Limit the /ah command to game masters only.
• Lower the in-game e-mail storage back down to 20 like it was on live.

 

These nerfs appear to come from a mental place where someone once read a post or two about how some players use inspirations.... inspirations of course also help to shrink the difference in relative performance between ATs, so I'm starting to think that there isn't a problem with the game's balance, but perhaps the OP's perception of the game.

 

45 minutes ago, Lunar Ronin said:

• Raise the Controller ranged damage modifier to match Defender at 0.65.

 

This would do next-to-nothing for "balance".. if in doubt, try chugging red inspirations as a test.

 

[mistagoat]

41 minutes ago, Lunar Ronin said:

• Procs: Revert the proc system back to what it was on live, a flat percent chance.  On top of that, make damage procs respect AT damage modifiers, and respect damage buffs and damage debuffs. I don't know enough about this to comment
• Limit the /ah command to game masters only. not interested in this as I like the convince of /ah but doesn't matter to me all that much.
• Lower the in-game e-mail storage back down to 20 like it was on live. No strong opinion on this
• Make non-weapon ranged damage power set nukes crash again. Hard no! Crash Nukes make me not want to play a set
• Restrict the Alpha Incarnate ability's +1 level shift to Incarnate content only. No strong opinion on this
• Limit the Interface, Judgment, Destiny, Lore, and Hybrid Incarnate abilities to Incarnate content only. No strong opinion on this
• Raise the Controller ranged damage modifier to match Defender at 0.65. Cool
• The hardest part of the list: Re-balance the Mastermind AT so minion and lieutenant henchmen are equal level to the Mastermind PC. Very Cool!

 

[Mopery]

Why insist on buying a Yugo, when you have the means to buy a Ferrari?

[Jiro Ito]

1 hour ago, Lunar Ronin said:

• Limit the /ah command to game masters only.
• Lower the in-game e-mail storage back down to 20 like it was on live.

 

How are these unbalanced when they are available to all players and accounts?

 

 

 

  

1 hour ago, Lunar Ronin said:

• Restrict the Alpha Incarnate ability's +1 level shift to Incarnate content only.
• Limit the Interface, Judgment, Destiny, Lore, and Hybrid Incarnate abilities to Incarnate content only.

 

The option to disable incarnate abilities already exists when setting up any task force or Ouro mission.  You are already free to play this way, while others may play the way they like. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Billbailey96]

So I have a broader question related to this topic:
Is balance fun?

[biostem]

Revert to i1 and reinstate monthly fees, also can someone figure out how to generate 1.21Gw so we can all go back to 2004?

[Ghost]

I’m confused on the limiting  /AH and lowering email requests - how does that balance anything?

 

 

[ZemX]

I have unfortunately spent some time recently on various Steam message forums.

 

I think they call this sort of thing "clown farming".  Except we don't have a clown award here, so I'm just gonna give you a Moose.

[Erratic1]

I think we've reached, "This isn't right...It's not even wrong" territory.

[MTeague]

I would love allllllmost everything on that list. I really, really like having /ah available when I'm AT the crafting table, because I have a bunch of IO's to craft all at once after a long mission run.  That said, I could adapt. 

 

But even if I would greatly enjoy these proposed changes, I'll be shocked to my toenails if they ever happen.

[skoryy]

Do we have actual discussions here anymore?

[Scarlet Shocker]

 

I'm all in favour of giving Controllers more damage but I truthfully don't know how some of the other suggestions would meaningfully impact the game.

 

When I play, I'm fighting the guys in front of me for the most part. If they fall down and fade away and I don't trip to the hospital, I'm pretty happy no matter where that extra couple of percentage points added or subtracted went. It may be my play style but I don't recall noticing any real difference when a tweak here or a tweak there is implemented. I'm still playing the same game after 20 years and if I'm really lucky I'll be playing it in another 20

[mechahamham]

2 hours ago, Lunar Ronin said:

• Restrict the Alpha Incarnate ability's +1 level shift to Incarnate content only.
• Limit the Interface, Judgment, Destiny, Lore, and Hybrid Incarnate abilities to Incarnate content only.

 

These would make me happy in that it would make contributing to zone events and league events easier for non-incarnate players. The various defense and resist shields suddenly become a lot more valuable in invasions when there aren't 20 level 50s dropping Barrier every time it comes up.

 

BUT, it ain't EVER gonna happen, no matter how much I want it to. People just love their incarnates too much. They build around their incarnate abilities and will refuse to do content that restricts them.

 

Despite this being a purely speculative thread, I can already hear the angry screaming starting in the distance.

Edited 15 hours ago by mechahamham

[aethereal]

1 hour ago, Ghost said:

I’m confused on the limiting  /AH and lowering email requests - how does that balance anything?

 

The concept that I believe the OP has is that this enables people to cover defense holes in their builds with high-end inspirations.  You open AH between every mission and fill your insp tray with purple/orange insps, and if you run out you grab more from your email even in the middle of a mission.

[Seed22]

1 hour ago, Billbailey96 said:

So I have a broader question related to this topic:
Is balance fun?

Fuck no.

 

But fun is never in consideration when people suggest "balance" just bias and psuedo intellectual drivel.

Edited 14 hours ago by Seed22

[skoryy]

1 hour ago, Ghost said:

I’m confused on the limiting  /AH and lowering email requests - how does that balance anything?

 

 

 

Players are having fun in ways OP disapproves of.

Edited 14 hours ago by skoryy

[Go0gleplex]

Balance? I thought that was just some mythical thing...ya know...like a pink fuzzy Lord Recluse or law abiding freakshow. ( Oo ) 

 

Balance has been a complaint in nearly every game created...and achieved about as often as harnessing a black hole for green energy. Especially in fictional games where everything is based more-or-less on abstract concepts modeled to give a semblance of realism despite not being such. So...while I can understand people's desire to make changes in things based on their perceptions and thinking...I just don't see it happening because obviously those changes from the 'old' to present were made by someone else for a reason or three. 

 

As they say...if it ain't baroque...don't tinker with it.  :p lol 

[Seed22]

Btw OP, this is just 2007-08 CoH. Which wasnt balanced at all, it was more of a shitshow than today. 

 

This is like people wanting to go back to the 40s with no idea how the 40s REALLY were even having lived in them. You dont want that, you think you do, but you dont.

[lemming]

3 hours ago, Lunar Ronin said:

Re-balance the Mastermind AT so minion and lieutenant henchmen are equal level to the Mastermind PC.

This one I think is the only one attainable and I have no problem with it.  (Though, I don't play many masterminds, so...)

 

On /ah, that would be annoying, but I don't use it outside of selling or buying stuff.   I don't like storing stuff in there.  Really the only thing in there are EoEs and Draughts while a char is off doing non-specific content, otherwise, it's in the base.

 

Incarnate stuff:  I think that ship has sailed.  I think if it was like that from pre-HC, sure.   Otherwise, it's more for groups to get together and run that content.   And you can always start stuff and say "No incarnates"  (heck, it's a setting for TF and Ouro...)

 

Email storage, I can think of a dozen ways to circumvent that idea, so no.  That would just lead to a bunch of whack-a-mole.

[PeregrineFalcon]

I have to admit. I don't understand what the OP means by "balance" in this context.

 

While he did write this:

 

3 hours ago, Lunar Ronin said:

bring more value to all roles and functions in the game, instead of the current damage meta to the exclusion of all else.

But I don't understand how any of his bulletin points will accomplish this.

 

The fact is that the only way to complete most missions is to defeat enemies, and the only thing that defeats enemies is damage. No amount of lowering a character's damage output will change that. All it accomplishes is reducing options and increasing mission completion times.