A Question from The Homecoming Team

[FeralDemonKai]

16 hours ago, Jimmy said:

Hello everyone!

 

Today we have a simple question for everyone: What do you want to see out of a legitimate, licensed City of Heroes server?

 

As a caveat, this thread is not a Q&A and we won’t be answering questions here. We’re primarily looking to gather everyone’s thoughts and feedback about what they’d like to see from us going forward - both operationally and for the game itself!

 

- The Homecoming Team

Compensation for being inconvenienced. For example: if a power gets "balanced"; please take into consideration that some players take a lot of time to invest and fine tune there characters and for those that do; an explanation do not make them whole again. I honestly do not believe that it is in any way game breaking or asking too much to let those with that power set allowed a type of advanced respect to choose a different one withing the same class.

[Dezran]

I'd love to see new content and new powersets... A way forward.  

I love the game as it currently exists on Homecoming, but I would be ecstatic if the game could move forward into the future.

New powers, new content, improvements to the existing graphics and improvements to the visuals of existing powers.

[DougReyn]

I´d like the following (in priority order):

 

• Persistance/Reliability: I have the feeling that you are going to stay without the fear the NC can at anytime kill it again.
• Powerset Balances: Some Powersets or even single powers could be adjusted to be more viable (e.g some unusable T9s)
• New Story Content: e.g the "Coming Storm" would be awesome
• No further divergence between pre and post 50 powerlevels: Having everyone play together nearly regardless of level was always a staple of CoH to me.
• Rebalancing of risk/reward in regards to enemy groups. Maybe it can be achieved that players will face the more annoying groups like carnies and arachnos more often. Not just council day to night.
• Upgraded Visuals: If possible we could increase the model and texture quality.

[Player2]

Things I would like to have:

 

1. Powers!!

1A, More Pool / Ancillary power sets.  Removal of patron arc completion for patron pools.

1B. More proliferation (I can do a MA/SR tank... but now I want a SS or EM scrapper).

1C. New powersets, even based on other stuff we have... like a Shuriken "blast" powerset for blasters, corruptors, defenders, and sentinels.  We have 4 attacks already with the dominator Martial Assault secondary set...  add a Build Up and a few specialized damage shuriken effects (a shocking/stun shuriken, for example, like Batman's electrified batarangs, one that explodes into a movement & rech reducing goo like the glue arrow).

1D. New mastermind sets... a Horror Minions set using the Halloween monsters (vampires, werewolves, and witches and summonable pets and maybe a swarming ghosts attack similar to the Call Ravens power from Beast Mastery).  No need to make cosmetic changes to the existing monster models with upgrade powers; just give them their boosts and indicate upgrades in place with glowing eyes.

1E. Illusion Control for dominators... and modified similar set for Masterminds: Illusionary Minions.

 

2, Speaking of pets... pet CONTROL for controllers and dominators.  It doesn't have to be as complex as mastermind control over their pets, but basic Attack and Heel commands so that we can keep our pets from drawing aggro when we're trying to avoid it would be nice.

 

3. NEW unique heroes and villains in things like mayhem & safeguard missions, as well as other mission content with unique recurring characters like Frostfire.

 

4. Fixing the costume creator so that the content we have can be in a recognizable (alphabetical please) or even sortable order as it grows increasingly difficult to find pieces as the content grows... because I do want to see more content.  Also, making existing content available & accessible in all modes.  For example, the new spectrum pieces are awesome and while the chest piece is there under shirts & jackets, the spectrum gloves are not accessible with shirts and jackets.  Also, need spectrum on other "boot" items than just standard... especially the "Flat" boot option.

 

5. More face options or maybe a redesigned face system that allows one to create faces from a pool of parts (using the eyes, noses, and mouths of the faces we have).

 

6. More skin color options.  The ones we have are okay, but a little limited at times.

 

7. Additional work on auras.

7A. Several auras need "and Eyes" options added.  For example, "Glow" has body or eyes, but not Body and Eyes even though "and Eyes" is there for things like Gloves and Eyes.  Fire needs this, as does the Starburst Glow aura.  Would also like to see "and Eyes" options with some of the Path Auras, too.

7B. More asymetrical aura selections.  Some of the newer auras, such as Battle Fury allow you to select a single hand (and even choose if it's left or right).  Additionally, lower body (boots or legs & boots) options should be available.  I think the only aura that has a lower body only option right now is Slime.  But I'm thinking stuff like flaming boots or glowing legs, for example, as thematic options for speedsters.

7C. Multicolor auras... would especially love to see the option to have eyes glowing one color with body or specific other parts in a second color.

7D. Glowing eyes for headless options.  I know it sounds counter-intuitive to have glowing eyes when there are no actual eyes, but why not have just glowing disembodied eyes floating above the headless body or emanating from the floating orb or within the empty sockets of the floating skull?  Seems spooky and ominous and cool.

 

8. More work on hats...

8A. More monstrous heads and options for them.  Maybe hats for the monstrous heads.  Why can't I have a fish head with a fedora?

8B. Hats with more than one hairstyle.

 

9.  Hairstyle proliferation.  There's absolutely no reason to limit the female hairstyles to females only, or male hairstyles to males only.  The super-long Glam or Hard Candy styles are equally valid choices for male characters.

 

10. Costume piece proliferation:  Thigh High boots for males and Barbarian Ring gloves (as well as matching belt) for females should be options... as well as other gender-specific costume pieces being made available to all 3 body types.  Carnie gloves and boots for females only?  Not fair.  😛

 

11. More AE functionality.  More more more... and better.

 

12. More special event missions like the Summer Blockbuster.  More locations for missions with the ability to go outside the city (space missions, undersea missions, remote locations (teleport in, complete mission, go home) such as deserts, forests, or even small town(s) outside the city limits would be nice.  Croatoa was a nice start, but it's still linked to Paragon City via the train line.  I'm thinking a little further out... rural and almost completely removed from the city except by roads (too far to walk) or teleporting in.

 

[Djevercry167]

New Mastermind pets and new content and I would gladly pay the subs if it was the way forward

[Andrewvm]

On the business side:

-I'd like to keep your current transparancy, community involvement and willingness to listen/work with the community (which is a breath of fresh air) 

-if a steady, and greater, source of income is needed i'd rather pay for a subscription than for microtransctions (the free to play made me leave the game in the first place) 

-security from ncsoft being able to pull the plug again. (or anyone else) 

 

And on the game side:

-improvement of current gfx quality in general

-new costume bits (including npc costume parts) 

-new powers

-new story/mission content

 

The business side ones are the most important ones IMO

[Redfern]

-costume sets

-power sets (completly new archetype?)

-missions who are more different

-"dungeons" for 8 players with arch-villains 

-power-sets for the "endgame"...means more arcanate power-sets/epic-power-sets or even something total new for players who are lvl 50

-a new area to visit

 

So 2 things for me are important...new things for the character and then new things to do with the character.

[JusticeBringer]

19 hours ago, God said:

 Transparency, too much shit is behind the curtains for a group running illegal affairs.

New staff, some of these people shouldn't be here after the stunts they've pulled.

...Huh?!

 

Why do so many of you expect transparency from an illegal project? Who raised you people? That is not how you avoid going to jail.

 

Some of the stunts they've pulled are the only reason you're able to enjoy this so calm that down.

[Rebel231]

New power sets, arch types, content, taking things from newer games or games that have lasted a long time. We need more to do at 50, but it has to matter. 

[Hedgefund]

A means of checking in game data while out of game.  Info about badges, both obtained and missing, about what characters have filled buy orders or sales.  I could go on about what information I'd like to see from this terminal in the city.

[SteelRaines]

Things I would like to see (by no means exhaustive):

 

• More content, including finishing the incarnate story and more stuff for 50+ to do
• Customization of minions 
• Additional costume slots (10 just isn't enough for some RP characters)
• Upgraded graphics / New graphical engine
• Easier SG base editing
• A way to check AH out of game
• Continued transparency
• A way to contribute despite living in the wrong timezone
• No wipes
• Community

 

[dmcarden2012]

1. Finish Khalista Wharf.. it's a beautiful place

2. If possible (though might be improbable), upgrade graphics.. CoX content + enhanced graphics = Nirvana.. I would live in the city perpetually

3. Not having to restart

4. Enhancements to AE including making more of the main game's powersets available and more maps available. I know people have mixed feelings for AE, but the amount of creativity afforded to players is unrivaled

5. More content and continued evolution of the story lines

6. Ability to play even after death? Ok..just joking but we're passionate about this game, perhaps we can even play in the afterlife 😁

[Infinitum]

12 hours ago, tenchymuyo2 said:

I'm a good follower - atrocious leader.

Are you in a good Super Group?

[Panthonca7034]

I got some ideas myself,

 

 

Individual Origin Story/Stories (for your character) which could or couldn't be part of canon.

 

Access to NPC Costume pieces (Carnie Masks for females, especially the Vanessa Devore Mask, Steel/Bronze Strongman helmets)

 

A Nemesis/Archnemesis type system in which you could pit your Heroes/Vigilantes against your Villains/Rogues, other than just AE.

 

The Liberation/Restoration of Praetoria to a free and sovereign world much like Primal Earth (in which the Hamidon finally makes peace with humanity but is constantly at war with supervillains from Arachnos/5th Column/Council/Nemesis/Crey, and calls for help from heroes/vigilantes or Rogues) so that Praetorians can go back to their home dimension and rebuild it.

 

Maintain a Primal/Praetorian Co-existential zone in Khalisti Wharf.

 

Primal/Praetorian Enemy supergroups clashing for territory in Khalisti Wharf (Example: Freakshow vs former Resistance Wardens, Trolls vs Destroyers, Carnies vs Carnival of Light/War/Vengeance, Paragon PPD and Neo-Praetorian PPD vs Skulls, Hellions, Tsoo and Syndicate).

 

Some sort of Primal and Alternate Praetorian Dimension Rikti Homeworld storyarc.

 

As silly as some of my ideas may sound, they're worthy of consideration, and that's all I can think for now...

[PaxArcana]

In descending order from most to least important ...

 

• Stability and Longevity; I want to be able to rest assured that these servers will continue to be here for the next ten or more years.
• New Content; More things to do will always be good.
• New Zones; More places to go will always be good.
• New Powersets; More options for new alts will always be good. 
• New Customization Options; More ways to make my costume and powers look like they "should" will always be good.
• Rework and Revamp existing zones and content; What was old, is new again - make the good better, and make the bad good.

[thegee]

More costume sets. More powersets. Buff the powersets that are subpar.

[Player2]

Almost forgot this with my big list above, but an idea from the past that I think Champions Online wanted to implement:  personal arch nemesis.

 

Maybe some kind of complete character creation add on for each character so we can build an arch nemesis with a unique costume and powerset selection, and the ability for this NPC to show up in missions randomly as a boss, elite boss, or AV/signature hero depending on team size and team leader's adjusted mission level.

[molleafauss]

I believe everyone in this thread has a lot of expectations, I'll put down a few ideas also myself. I'll try to judge the efforts, though am only an experienced software developer and not an art or content designer so may not have the idea of the efforts when it comes to those fields.
From what I see, beside hopes and expectation of the games remaining free/donation based (which might not be totally under our control), most people are mostly hoping for "More content/more powers/more costumes" which is basically what the game is about.

 

Below a list I believe can be reasonably achievable:
- Remove all "max level check" from the existing contacts, so that all can be accessed regardless of level. There is a lot of content in COH/COV and all should be able to be run without resorting to Ouroboros when you outlevel the contact range.
- Maybe reatroactively add badges or good rewards in merits to all previous and low-level content to make them viable as content to run instead of the usual TFs.
- Add "Story Arc of the Week" beside "TF Weelky target" which gives better rewards
- Rework all old TF to be more cinematic (like Posi rework)
- Have the TF have exit doors which lead directly to the next chapter instead of requiring to travel (follow faster the story)
- Have incarnates run low level content with their incarnate powers disabled (toggable choice) so not to trivialize the content, but still giving Incarnate threads and rewards so they are viable for all levels.
- Upgrade old costumes to better, newer textures
- Make all powers viable in all powersets, making so that everyone has available 9+9+5=23 real interesting powers (primary/secondary/epic) powers to choose from.
- Allow all available content (powersets, mobs, mission types and objectives, captions, ...) to be used in AE
- More Zone events. Would be nice seeing a system like GW2 where multiple zone events are connected in a "sort-of-story".

All the things I list here would require major efforts:
- New powersets (i.e. arts, animations, effects, balance)
- New zones
- Rework of old zones (Firebase Zulu am looking at you), adding new stories
- New/Better TF with end boss "epic" fights instead of plain tank&spank (i.e. some of the Incarnate fights mechanics should be moved to TFs). Think other MMOs - ahem DCUO cough cough. Honestly, the mechanics for Raids and bosses in DCUO are great, game might be dull and full of lootboxes now, but certain mechanics and fights require more coordination and situational awareness than the average COH TF.

Pet peeves of mine:
- Remove hasten and give a flat recharge bonus to all characters based on level, like we give fitness pool, up to the average recharge bonus one would have with a hasten with 2x50 recharge IO (i.e. like the bonus one would have with a 2x50IO hasten on auto).
- Remove slotting for swift/jump/health/stamina and transform them to a flat bonus increasing by level
- Am unsatisfied by the ability to tweak the build with IO and sets, I've a couple of idea to make it more streamlined while giving more freedom, I'll see if such discussion comes up on Discord else I'll make a longer post here.
- Allow IO tables to be accessed anywhere like we had /ah

 

Final words: am conscious that there are volunteers behind this (and not enough praises can be said to them for all the monumental, transparent and professional effort they put into this) and like everyone they might have RL, a job and other priorities so my real big hope for this is to make Homecoming entirely community driven.
This would reauire a lot of legal (sadly) and an agreement with NCSoft about contributions, but honestly the best content can only come from the community more than a few people, AE should probably be the main focus of the "game" (i.e. the developer efforts) making sure that some of the best arcs can become first class new content.
In a certain sense, look at the modding community in Skyrim or Neverwinter Nights where there are incredible new pieces of content done by the community.

 

Let's hope this can happen, would be also a nice example for other MMOs out there.

 

[lhsabre]

Continuing the story content (if at all possible) and releasing/fixing some of the things that were on the roadmap when the original game was cancelled. Other than that, you've been doing an outstanding job supporting the game!

[Lusiphur Malache]

Has anyone mentioned new content?

 

Obviously besides that, I would like to see more connectivity between red, blue and gold.

 

Post 20 content on gold side and a new tutorial for red and blue.

 

More synergy between powers in combat, even if the 'trollers storm puts out the blaster's fire

 

A test server for uncoupling powersets from archetypes make everything offence, defence, crowd control, support, inherent, and pool.  If it takes off on test give it a live server.

 

Fix all the current issues in the game.  Let superspeed run up buildings or through them

 

Give goldside a veteran archetype

 

I'll stop here, i think you are going to get more than you know.

 

[Telera]

Would definitely love to see new arcs, powersets, costumes, NPCs, areas, content, etc.  Seeing the game and fantastic community continue to grow.

[K26dp]

• Re-organized costume creator
• Customizable pets
• Refreshed art assets, starting with the ones from launch
• Annual AE contest, where the winner gets her story arc added to the game
• Complete the Incarnate System

 

 

Edited September 8, 2019 by K26dp

[Amidamaru]

My wish list for a real, live, legal server (in order of importance to me):

• Keep the progress I've made on my current characters
• Finish the things that got interrupted at shut down (Kallisti Wharf, Incarnates Track, story lines left hanging)
• Balance pass on powersets that under/over perform
• New content, power sets, AT's  (content could potentially be crowdsourced via the "cannon" AE arcs--turn the best arcs into official missions)
• Quality of life improvements in the UI and social aspects of the game
• Regular bug fixes and a dev team responsive to user input (y'all are already great about this, so just keep it up)
• Ability to pay for conveniences, through microtransactions or subscription. 

[Celerity]

What do you want to see out of a legitimate, licensed City of Heroes server?

 

1. Possibly my old characters back, please.

2. A chance to play the content that was going to come out.

3. New content.

4. GMs on each server, for prompt help with bugs.

5. GMs on each server one a month doing zone events.

6. A safe, supportive community that we once had, and are regrowing as we speak!

7. Wind powers.

8. New controller powers.

9. New Khelds/VEATs.  I'm sure there are more than just the Crabs, Spiders, and glowy aliens! :D

10. More clothes!! :D

12. A way to advertise how awesome you guys are, and how great this game is!  This game will need a PR agency!  The game closed just as the super hero genre was exploding, I'm positive others out there would want to play this too if they had an idea the game exist(ed/s!)

 

[Perma-Newbie]

On 9/7/2019 at 10:19 AM, altairchan said:

I would like to see a progression in the story lines that are already in place that affect maps that aren't really used right now like Perez Park or Boomtown.

This, but more importantly to me would be to update the old zone content to be more in line with what "modern" MMOs have for zone content:

 

In zone content and storylines should all REMAIN in one zone, not travel all over 10 different zones.  Each archetype should have a "path" that leads through a set of zones (frequently that will be the same set of zones, but not always!) so that when leveling new toons and doing storyline content we have a reason to do the STORY content and not do radio mishes.  I know the reason I mostly do radio is so I know I'm not bouncing all over 20 zones.