A re-look at TF rules

[skoryy]

3 hours ago, kelika2 said:

thank you for the explanation but i dont really see people who invest as people who.. work either.  its more or less loan sharking.

 

terrible terrible example

 

The point wasn't about investing.  It's that if you want your accolades, you get them the old-fashioned way: You earn them.

[kelika2]

26 minutes ago, skoryy said:

The point wasn't about investing.  It's that if you want your accolades, you get them the old-fashioned way: You earn them.

thats another thing, i dont even go for the accolades anymore

the one-shot code protects us way more than a little bit more health

i join tfs for the exp and stuff i can sell for cash rewards

 

thats why im so nonchalant about being able to invite others to a tf.  i just dont care about the badge.  and even then someone on excelsior sets up a group so you can get the hp thingy in like 10-15 minutes on villain side regularly so even the old devs at some point thought that was not super important as well

i also dont recall said person selling spots or kicking someone near the end either

[lemming]

6 hours ago, Snarky said:

I have (very rarely, and again I have led a lot if PUGs) seen people have an emergency and leave.  
 

I have never ever had someone announce they had no idea this was a TF/SF/Trial and needed to leave.  
 

To have someone say this happens to them regularly….  Maybe they just get people to join the team and never tell them what ir why?  Or, much more likely, bullshit story to justify this strange pitch for a game change…

I have seen a couple times people going "Hey, this was fun, maybe I'll be back!" and quit out of a TF.   It's an aberration though.

 

On the OP, I don't think it's very feasible.   AE allows it, but there's no end of mission or arc bonus for them. 

[Ghost]

I can see it all now.

”hmm, I don’t like how you played the first mish”.

Kick and replace.

 

or “hey I know that I invited you and we already started, but my friend just logged on so you are off the team!”

Adios sucker!!!

😒

[Canadian Anvil]

I find most people that drop is because the team dynamic is horrible (a Leroy Jenkins for example), too high with rigid leadership (+2 Posi 1 with 3 level 8s for example), or RL aggro (people have adulting to do and this is a break from reality). I think a better solution would be a LFG system that shows #queued instead of time. Granted this may be tricky as it would have to apply to those in open maps and not mission maps, zones (hero, villain, co-op, PvP, & Pretoria). For example, create a new toon, hit LFG, see 5-7 people queued for DFB & auto launch when 8 people meet the conditions. 

 

I know the current system does work - it just seems very awkward. Think it was a year or so ago, someone in LFG asked 3 people to queue 1st available for SBB, and the requester launched when enough QUEUED replied, and I was on a full team. We were from 3 different zones I think.

[battlewraith]

On 8/23/2025 at 5:07 PM, kelika2 said:

thank you for the explanation but i dont really see people who invest as people who.. work either.  its more or less loan sharking.

 

terrible terrible example

 

A failed boomer mentality referenced in a 40+ year old ad used to justify why we can't change the rules for a TF in an old video game. 

It just doesn't get any worse/better than that.

[Yomo Kimyata]

On 8/22/2025 at 5:21 PM, DrRocket said:

Now the issue is, because it could be gamed, should the relaxing not be done?

 

Got it in one.  And that's why we (and by "we" I mean humans, not just Homecoming players) can't have nice things.

[UltraAlt]

On 8/21/2025 at 10:15 PM, DrRocket said:

Currently with TFs you can't replace players that dropped for whatever reason, 

 

Task forces have always been like this.

I have never seen a large number of players drop out from at task force. I don't remember a task force I've been on since gaming with Homecoming server for over 5 years where a task force I have been on has lost more than 2 players from a full team by the end of the taskforce.

 

On 8/21/2025 at 10:15 PM, DrRocket said:

once in a TF you can't stop and do another mission with another group etc.

 

Sure you can. You just can't do it with the character running that is in the task force.

I'm assuming you have more than one character.

 

On 8/21/2025 at 10:15 PM, DrRocket said:

I had thought about the AV situation in TFs, and would like to see a relaxation here, if playing in a team up to 2, the end boss would be a Boss?

 

The whole point of task forces originally was to always run them with a full 8 character team.

Being able to run them with fewer characters is already relaxing the taskforce rules.

 

If putting your settings at -1, x0 isn't enough for the end boss maybe you should try to get at least 4 on your task force.

 

I'm glad you posted, but I disagree with you.

I think the task force system should stay the way that it is now.

[Jiro Ito]

On 8/21/2025 at 7:15 PM, DrRocket said:

Currently with TFs you can't replace players that dropped for whatever reason, once in a TF you can't stop and do another mission with another group etc.

 

I as thinking, how about removing these restrictions to some extent.

 

For example say a TF rewards you with 40 merits and it is composed of 8 missions, why not award merits upon completing each mission , in this sample 5 merits per mission completed. If this is done, if a player drops (real life) of the team; the team would be stuck trying to finish with one or  more players who dropped out of the team (I remember doing an LGTF and our 1 controller had to drop due to family emergency and then later had to do the Hami mission - it was ugly), by awarding as we go, and letting the leader recruit replacements, the ne player only gets a number of merits based on the number of completed missions they actually do. Of course, it would be reasonable if the number of merits for each mission be weighted instead of evenly distributed.

 

Many players solo Oro - TFs, by being able to accept invitations from other teams to do their TF, they can switch and help their friends, and later finish their Oro TF mission.

 

Those are 2 examples of relaxing the rules, provide a workable suggestion which may not be the best solution but it is offered as a "go by"

 

I had thought about the AV situation in TFs, and would like to see a relaxation here, if playing in a team up to 2, the end boss would be a Boss? at 4 an EB, 5 and 6 calls for an AV. Doing this for players who play at odd hours where getting groups together is extremely difficult, still would be able to enjoy the game content in a casual manner. Not sure about the brackets, some ideas here would be awesome!

 

If you all have any ideas on how to relax TFs and make them a bit more casual, would be awesome!

 

It would be nice to be able to add a friend to a TF midway through if they happen to log in later than we started, and if we have an open spot.  That said, it wouldn't be fair to award TF badges, merits, TF-specific rewards (Dsyncs, Market Crash purple recipes, etc) to people who don't participate the whole way through.  They would be limited to xp and drops from enemies defeated.  Feasible according to existing code?  I dunno!

[srmalloy]

4 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

I have never seen a large number of players drop out from at task force. I don't remember a task force I've been on since gaming with Homecoming server for over 5 years where a task force I have been on has lost more than 2 players from a full team by the end of the taskforce.

I have. Back on Live, I was running my Bots/Dark MM in a Manticore TF with the rest of the team being a group that obviously played together normally. After the defeat-all missions, something led all of them to quit the TF (could be another of their friends got on, and they decided to quit and restart with them; I don't know the reason), and I had a WTH moment, and decided to see how far I could get with the TF. This was the old version of the TF where you only had Hopkins to defeat in the last mission, not Hopkins and Countess Crey... and I was surprised to find myself still standing with Hopkins defeated at the end of the TF.