Give Detectives Cell Phones!!!!

[WindDemon21]

Jesus for the 5th recreation in a row of my one troller i've gotten Selnum and had to recreate, still can't get Mclord cause it's SOOOOO annoying having to go into the building every 3-5 missions to find the detective to talk to them directly. Not only that but the first recreation I forgot i transferred 50 mil to the character before I realized and forgot and lost that due to this stupidity too. Please for the love of all that is holy give detectives cell phones that we can call them instead of having to go to them every time to freaking deny their bank mission.

[Apparition]

... Am I reading correctly that you reroll your character if you happen to get one detective that's inside a police district building?

[WindDemon21]

Yes as it's the final detective so you're stuck with it. I often enjoy even at 50+ doing radios for fun without the intensity of tfs, incarnate content, arcs etc. So when constantly having to go into that building every time its gets beyond annoying, especially since the detectives should just have cell phones anyway like every other contact does in the game. Its a very easy fix yet huge QoL issue. I could even see talking to them directly the first time, or at least having to do their bank mish first, but after that, call to deny it, or even skip future bank missions completely.

[WindDemon21]

Still valid and needs an update to add a call button to detectives.

[WindDemon21]

I really don't get how the game determines which detective contacts you get. I've tested which spot in your list you create the toon from. I've tried how many you have when you create it, IE if it's an odd or even number when you make the character, that doesn't matter. Name and AT don't matter either. I made the same character, in the same spot, deleted one to make it the same "number" of toons when i created it, and one time it was mclord for PI, and another it was Selnum under the exact same conditions. So it would seem random, but then I literally remade a controller of mine 4 times to try to get Mclord, and every time it was still stupid Selnum, so that is way too consistent to be random...

 

All this would be alleviated if they would just freaking give detectives a call button like other contacts get...

[EmmySky]

I agree they need call buttons.

 

Have you tried tip missions instead?  No return to contact on those and you can refill them from the base mission computer if you want to spend the merits or even maybe get new ones by running one or two radio missions in between.  Thats just maybe a stop-gap measure until detectives get phones IF detectives ever get phones.  

[Megajoule]

I agree with you, OP, and yet I am utterly boggled that you would rather reroll and level to 50, multiple times, than simply go inside the building when you fill the meter.

[Certified Comic Shop]

Remember when the Hollows didn't have a hospital, so when your team got wiped you got sent back to AP, where you then needed to sprint (yes, sprint because you weren't level 14 and didn't have a travel power) allllll the way back to the Hollows zone entrance, then book it 3/4 of the way across the zone to get back to the mish door, all while evading large groups of trolls, igneous and other baddies just so you could take one more crack at Frostfire — only to get wiped once again? Sometimes I miss the old COH 😛

[Apparition]

1 hour ago, Certified Comic Shop said:

Remember when the Hollows didn't have a hospital, so when your team got wiped you got sent back to AP, where you then needed to sprint (yes, sprint because you weren't level 14 and didn't have a travel power) allllll the way back to the Hollows zone entrance, then book it 3/4 of the way across the zone to get back to the mish door, all while evading large groups of trolls, igneous and other baddies just so you could take one more crack at Frostfire — only to get wiped once again? Sometimes I miss the old COH 😛

 

Between memories of that and memories of teammates "helpfully" TPing you off of rooftops, I still have the occasional Hollows flashback.

[WanderingAries]

6 hours ago, Certified Comic Shop said:

Remember when the Hollows didn't have a hospital, so when your team got wiped you got sent back to AP, where you then needed to sprint (yes, sprint because you weren't level 14 and didn't have a travel power) allllll the way back to the Hollows zone entrance, then book it 3/4 of the way across the zone to get back to the mish door, all while evading large groups of trolls, igneous and other baddies just so you could take one more crack at Frostfire — only to get wiped once again? Sometimes I miss the old COH 😛

DebtBadgeFodderWhat?

[WanderingAries]

5 hours ago, Apparition said:

 

Between memories of that and memories of teammates "helpfully" TPing you off of rooftops, I still have the occasional Hollows flashback.

No-no, they were teaching you how to fly. It's not their fault you too SS instead. :p

Seriously though, is that why they put the floor (can't drop below 1 hp) on fall damage? Or am I making something up...

[EmmySky]

33 minutes ago, WanderingAries said:

No-no, they were teaching you how to fly. It's not their fault you too SS instead. 😛

Seriously though, is that why they put the floor (can't drop below 1 hp) on fall damage? Or am I making something up...

People didnt die from the fall, they died from the deep purple igneous down in the bottom.  Of course the fall didnt help that.

[Fan Mail]

Giving Fitness inherent and a travel power at level four has completely changed the early game, no doubt.  Or before there were radio/paper missions, you'd have to do all of those kill 50 outdoor sweep missions over and over. 

 

As far as the thread topic, I'd like to know why the Detectives didn't get phones in the first place???

Edited November 26, 2019 by tafilr

[WindDemon21]

Exactly they should always have them, even if you have to do their bank mission first to get it. But it's especially bad for the pi one cause you're stuck with that one forever.

 

And in my experience it's the jump pack that'll take your jump to the top and drop you dead if that 1hp wasn't there lol.

[krj12]

I started a thread on this some time ago in the suggestions area.  Hopefully, this will be implemented at some point.  I don't mind having to go inside the building as much as having to truck across the entire zone to get to him, when all I want to do is frigging radios.  As I suggested in the thread, I'd also like the option to completely turn off the bank mission, so I don't even have to deal with the detective.

 

[Ago]

Personally, it doesn't bother me.  I don't think every contact in the game should be able to be called (I know that's not what is being asked for here) and to some extent, missions that force players to talk to a contact encourage navigational awareness that they wouldn't otherwise gain.

 

That being said, I would see turning off Safeguard/Robbery Missions from the Radio/Newspaper menu (could be done a variety of ways: Null the Gull, Options toggle, Hero Corps/Villain Notoriety contact option, etc.) as a possible Quality of Life improvement.  On by default, able to be shut off for folks who just want to keep the missions rolling without filling up AE.  Safeguard/Robberies are very fun with a team, but when soloing, I can see them being difficult on some ATs more than others.

 

(Full disclosure: I am not a developer NOR a part of Homecoming staff.  My nod to such an idea has no more weight or pull than any other player in Homecoming, nor should it.)

[WindDemon21]

Actually yeah having it able to turn them off (thus not having to talk to the detective in the first place) would also be a much better option really. Please do this.

Quote

Actually

 

[Ael]

Based on experience, I think your origin determines who you get. Every single time I go mutation or magic, which is pretty much always, I get the dude right outside. That said, if you're re-rolling, re-leveling your toon each and every time over going into the station to click the guy and say "Nah!" to the bank mission... I've got no words for that. That's a bit extreme over something that takes a minute or less.

[WindDemon21]

Nope that's not it cause I'm always 100% mutation and have gotten both.

 

And it's SUPER annoying having to go in when it's already annoying having to go to the detective in the first place. They could just copy and paste the "call contact" code to the detectives and be done with it. If there was some other issue where this wouldn't work that's one thing but I know this annoys a lot more people than just me.

[Roderick]

It seems to be random which you get. It definitely isn't origin based.

 

Hopefully the OP isn't getting to 45-50 and rerolling because they got the wrong detective. You can go to PI as soon as you're high enough level for radio missions (5? 10?) and see which detective you'll be assigned, although they'll just give you the radio and then tell you to bugger off because you aren't high enough level.

 

As to the suggestion, it was asked on live, and the answer was "We can't do that, because the call button is tied to the reputation bar, and detectives use the reputation bar in a non-standard way, so weird things happen when we try to give them a call button." However, since then, contacts were added that always have a call button, and even some that don't even have an on-map NPC, and can only be accessed via call button, so I'd imagine that it's possible to add a call button to them now. If it can be done, and if it's not an excessive amount of work, they'd probably have the call button right away, not something that is unlocked over time like on other contacts. I don't see that as a problem though. While there are a few exceptions, I don't think the "I don't trust you enough to give you my phone number" attitude makes much sense any more. Especially for people whose very job is to coordinate with the super heroes that are saving the city.

Edited November 30, 2019 by Roderick

[Lost Ninja]

2 hours ago, Roderick said:

It seems to be random which you get. It definitely isn't origin based.

 

Hopefully the OP isn't getting to 45-50 and rerolling because they got the wrong detective. You can go to PI as soon as you're high enough level for radio missions (5? 10?) and see which detective you'll be assigned, although they'll just give you the radio and then tell you to bugger off because you aren't high enough level.

 

As to the suggestion, it was asked on live, and the answer was "We can't do that, because the call button is tied to the reputation bar, and detectives use the reputation bar in a non-standard way, so weird things happen when we try to give them a call button." However, since then, contacts were added that always have a call button, and even some that don't even have an on-map NPC, and can only be accessed via call button, so I'd imagine that it's possible to add a call button to them now. If it can be done, and if it's not an excessive amount of work, they'd probably have the call button right away, not something that is unlocked over time like on other contacts. I don't see that as a problem though. While there are a few exceptions, I don't think the "I don't trust you enough to give you my phone number" attitude makes much sense any more. Especially for people whose very job is to coordinate with the super heroes that are saving the city.

Totally random, I frequently triple box three characters and I think I have once had all three with the same detective. Normally I have one with one and the other two the other. The characters are with the exception of creation time and name identical in every respect that I can make them.

 

My personal thought is why do we even need two detectives? And if we must have two can the inside one not be moved outside? I also like @Tahquitz's solution.

 

Also why is this in trouble shooting and help and not in suggestions?

[ChocolateMercenary]

On 9/4/2019 at 1:56 PM, WindDemon21 said:

Jesus for the 5th recreation in a row of my one troller i've gotten Selnum and had to recreate, still can't get Mclord cause it's SOOOOO annoying having to go into the building every 3-5 missions to find the detective to talk to them directly. Not only that but the first recreation I forgot i transferred 50 mil to the character before I realized and forgot and lost that due to this stupidity too. Please for the love of all that is holy give detectives cell phones that we can call them instead of having to go to them every time to freaking deny their bank mission.

The detective you get is tied to your character's origin.

Edited November 30, 2019 by ChocolateMercenary

[Roderick]

I wonder how hard it would be to just remove detectives and brokers, and instead, when your bar is full, the radio warns you about a robbery in progress, or paper tells you about an opportunity to rob a bank.

[Lost Ninja]

On 11/30/2019 at 1:33 PM, ChocolateMercenary said:

The detective you get is tied to your character's origin.

It's not. Really, really not.

[WindDemon21]

Been a while and no word on this. Can we please get them cell phones or an auto-decline.