A Question from The Homecoming Team

[Sylar]

Just more content, there is no excuse, other servers have guardian AT and new powersets regardless of whether they are balanced or not is neither here or there, fact is they are making more changes to the game than this one, changes to epic AT's to make them better, more raids and more endgame content like the other incarnate powers, we should, at the very least, see it all through to the end so that we can truly be incarnate.

[TripleSixes]

I would like it if Supergroup prestige was a thing again. I know it's a pain to gather, but it was part of the experience for me, and I miss it. I feel like Supergroups in general need looking at, such as ranking, new content, etc.

[William Valence]

I've always wanted CoX to return in a fully develop-able state. Preferably with our character data intact.

 

The two biggest things that made CoX so unique and positive to play and be a part of, for me, and that I think are crucial for it's future:

 

1.  The dev team were members of the community. They had more of an investment in the game, than the average player even, because it wasn't just their livelyhood, they were also part of the community. This made them protective of the game system and styles that made the game what it was and not something else. They also had respect for the players. They would occasionally look to players for answers to question, but they would always look to the community for questions that they themselves needed to answer. I've never played a game where a Dev answered one of my 1:30am can't sleep DMs at 3:45am because they also couldn't sleep and were still.
2. The community. The CoX community always felt indestructible. I could take a break around a holiday, and when I came back the community was still there. The game could shut down and the community was still there. The first thing that ever made me doubt the community could survive anything, was the secret server. So I would want to see transparency, and I would definitely want to see safeguards put into place to assure us that we don't have another situation of allowed and not allowed.

With the differences in opinion on how the game should be developed going forward; certain things need to be decentralized. The non-specific community platforms (I.E. Reddit) should be independent of any server group, for example.

 

No matter what I'm just in standby mode until whatever is going to happen, happens.

[EggofOrder]

New content of course, but I think it should be tied into the community. The CoX community is, kind of by it's nature, really creative, and it'd be cool to see new costume pieces and whatnot being designed by the players- I've seen so many fan-made modifications, and I know for a fact that many people who are playing also have some 3D modeling/texturing know-how. I'm envisioning something sort of similar to how Warframe selects player-made models and accessories, with their whole Tennogen thing. It'd be a good way to add new content for customization while also adding some fun contests and stuff for community engagement.

[Ringu]

For me, far and away the single most important thing is keeping my city alive.

 

After that, any new endgame content would be great, as would tidying up the entry points into various existing content - I got started in the middle of Night Ward for some adventure with something called Trinity, long before I'd even heard of Night Ward/First Ward/Trinity or anything to do with it (and now, ten levels later, I still have no clue what it's all about).  Somehow, one contact I got pointed towards gave me this set of missions without having any kind of qualifying storyline before it, which has confused me a lot.

 

But those are just minor points compared to the first.

[Abraxus]

16 minutes ago, Sylar said:

Just more content, there is no excuse, other servers have guardian AT and new powersets regardless of whether they are balanced or not is neither here or there, fact is they are making more changes to the game than this one, changes to epic AT's to make them better, more raids and more endgame content like the other incarnate powers, we should, at the very least, see it all through to the end so that we can truly be incarnate.

Any idea how much work has gone into modernizing the client to 64-bit?  Might not have added as much content as the others, but what they have accomplished is to future-proof the client against OS updates that would invalidate it, sooner or later.  Case in point, the newest update to the MAC OS kicked 32-bit app support to the curb, so players on those other servers, enjoying those new ATs that play on MAC computers, won't be able to play the game at all once that update is installed.

 

Just a case of differing priorities, and timing.

[Auroxis]

55 minutes ago, DarschPugs said:

absolutely no rewards for donors, our reward is being able to play and know we can help out when we can.

That's a fine approach if you just want to play. But you don't need to read even a single page into this thread to know that a lot of people want considerably more time invested into the project. And to make that happen it would be helpful to secure more funding by offering rewards to donators.

[Astrobear]

I’m pretty happy with things the way they are. 

 

If it has to become commercial then a low subscription model ($10 per month max), no premium content/multi tier system. No micro transactions. 

 

In return I’d like more content

[Arnabas]

• I want to see the fulfillment of our roles as Incarnates. Finish up the system
• The Battalion
• Some sort of Arch-nemesis system. Let us create a villain that will grow with us, periodically crossing our path in missions. 
• A continuation of the official, planned storyline from before the game was shut down.  Tweak it to give us some surprises, but otherwise continue what was planned.
• Creative ways to use powers: a super strength character can lift a pile of debris blocking our path, a flying character can rescue a cat from a tree, ice and water powers putting out flames in missions, etc.
• More face options
• Bare feet that don't look like boots with toes drawn on
• IF you add new ATs, please invest as much time as possible to actually balance them properly
• Moon Zone
• New Mastermind pets

 

And while this probably won't be what other people want, I would much rather pass on new archetypes in favour of reworking the power pools. 

Let us use pools to round out our characters, instead of trying to create new ATs like "ranged melee" or tank controllers, or whatever.

If you want to play a character as tough as a tank, but with ranged attacks, play a Tanker and invest in a ranged attack power pool. 

This would be much easier to balance, in my opinion.

Edited September 7, 2019 by Arnabas

[50caltech]

another future update, or alternative mm version would be an evil version of the beast mastery.....the dire wolf is kool, but i would have liked a stronger beast....gorilla's or Kodiak/ polar bears..........evil versions....succubus's, poisonous  spitting spiders/scorpions....not metal bots, and or viper hooded snakes,? etc....

alternative for zombies..?  skeletons? 

magic/elemental mm's?....human sized pillars of flame? wind storm/tornadoes? water spouts? dust storms? etc?  based from magic npc's in the night ward?

 

[JAR247]

I would really like to see dominators with assault rifles. Leg Details: like weapon holsters. Blade sheathes for weapons as back details, New assault Rifle skins , new alternative power action sets. Long long hair styles for male characters... I'll think of some more

[Elfshadow]

• New missions/TFs/etc. would be nice, but not mandatory; as at least one other person has said, content at different levels would be great
• The ability to get Discord to recognize the game and keep recognizing it - I haven't had luck with this so far
• Not having to start over with new characters

...but I would be happy with what we already have even if I didn't get the above.

 

I would also be willing to pay; before NCSoft dissolved Paragon Studios, it was a "shut up and take my money" situation for me. I both subscribed and paid into microtransactions on occasion. I'm not a big fan of microtransactions but I think they're okay for cosmetic items.

 

ETA: Oh, and I think Titan Weapons for Stalker would be hilarious.

Edited September 7, 2019 by Elfshadow
added another suggestion

[Xalic95]

Maybe a level raise with some new content maybe a new map with heroes and villains working together against a new more powerful enemy. (Still debating on what kinda enemies but it would always be awesome no matter the enemy)

[biostem]

7 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

My biggest "want" is to be able to fully customize my character and their powers.  This means everything from being able to pick from virtually any animation, (where appropriate and within the activation time requirements for said power), as well as mastermind pets.  I'd also love to see an emphasis placed on balancing the player experience around all levels, and not just 50/Incarnate.  Regardless of what we do or do not get, thank you all for your efforts!

[EmperorSteele]

It's been said here and on Reddit, but... Basically, a guarantee that what we have here won't go away.

My main is at over 1330 badges, I don't wanna have to start all over again!

[Cooltastic]

10 minutes ago, biostem said:

My biggest "want" is to be able to fully customize my character and their powers.  This means everything from being able to pick from virtually any animation, (where appropriate and within the activation time requirements for said power), as well as mastermind pets.  I'd also love to see an emphasis placed on balancing the player experience around all levels, and not just 50/Incarnate.  Regardless of what we do or do not get, thank you all for your efforts!

Oh man, adding Atom Smasher's animation to Foot Stop would be a dream come true! Without the FX.

[Velocikitty]

Honestly, I have no thoughts on the content or otherwise. (Do whatever you want with regards to that.)

 

Just keep it free to play (Done extremely right. I love the ability to choose if I want to jump through levels, or take it slow. It was actually a unique thing, and would love to see more private servers implement it. You have people that want it to be scenic, or who want it to go fast.) The community has gone nuts with donations, so even if NCSoft want a portion of any profit, you guys should be fairly safe.

 

Security being the other thing. Knowing that the server isn't gonna just disappear over night.

[biostem]

1 minute ago, Cooltastic said:

Oh man, adding Atom Smasher's animation to Foot Stop would be a dream come true! Without the FX.

Well, as long as it matched the animation time, (so as not to make a power OP), then I see no problem...

[Renegade]

I think you guys have done fantastic thus far.

What I would like is: (if wishes were fishes)

1. Not to start over that is always panful

2. Better MAC intergration, as I believe the original had single Mac binary to install it, and did not need to jump though hoops though you guys again have done very well on this.

3. If you need a payment model I would like to see the sub model as apposed to the microtransaction is more a pay to win model.

 

[Snakebit]

1) Nerf Regen.

 

Here's what I posted on Reddit:

 

I really really want to see an instance map revamp and some modernization of the Radio/Paper missions.

Either completely remove the purple caves from the game as much as possible or scale them up to a size appropriate for 8 person teams. I'd honestly be happy if someone just opened them in whatever map editor CoH uses and scaled them up proportionally 200%. I realize this is probably no small amount of work, but I think it would vastly improve the day to day experience for everyone, especially on radio runs and whatnot. Nobody opens a radio hoping for another cave map. Modern textures would be nice, but I honestly don't much care about that.

I'd also like to see some customization features in radio missions, where the team leader can select the enemy group and mission objective from a list of everything available, not just 3 missions. Something similar to Anarchy Online. For instance, you open the radio and instead of three missions, there's a few drop down menu's. First one sets the enemy group, second one sets the mission type, third one sets the map set. You don't choose from what the game says you can choose from, you choose from everything and the game spits out a mission.

It'd be a great QoL feature if we could get some better inventory controls. Shift-Clicking on sell automatically sells the entire stack of salvage/recipes. Shift-Drag moves every item in the stack to the AH. Control+delete key on keyboard deletes the stack, etc.

An easy access option menu to turn off specific sound and effects on a per power basis.

Revamp the respec process to be something more akin to Mids in Dynamic Mode please. (Maybe an "advanced" option setting?)

Please for the love of Gawd, improve the Badge interface. I should be able to click on a badge or accolade and see what I am missing, my progress towards what I am missing, and what missions I need to get what I am missing. I should be able to open this screen while standing next to the Ouro mission crystal. I should be able to pin the window to my interface and leave it open as long as I want it there.

Please improve the interface for Incarnates. It needs it's very own full screen window. It needs better feedback to the player. It needs to help the player make decisions, not push the player into the help channel. Other than dev time, there's no reason I shouldn't be able to click on a T3 one time, read it's effects, craft it and equip it WITHOUT EVER OPENING ANOTHER MENU. No opening other screens or menus, no going back and forth. One screen. Even if it cascades down into smaller screens, that'd be great. I shouldn't have to remember anything.

I'd like to see some improvements to models and some animation diversity, but I know that's pretty pie-in-the-sky.

Modern sounds/improved sounds would be great. I play with the volume down because the sound quality is pretty poor. Also dreaming big here, I know.

A few simple SG base templates would be REALLY nice, with storage racks and teleporters already set up. Nothing fancy, just working teleporters that have zones already baked in so the player can just drag them around to where they want.

 

 

FWIW, I'd be happy paying 10-12 a month for a recurring sub. No Microtransactions of any kind at all. I'm not opposed to the concept of monetizing gameplay at all, but I prefer not to have MtX in a game this old...especially if it gates content.

I know you guys have said that it will remain F2P, but a sub option would be great.

[merrypessimist]

I'd love to see more powersets naturally.  I'd also liek to see the story lines progressed and some or all of the dangling plot threads resolved.  I'd like to see the Praetorian EATs developed.  I want to see more uses of the Whip animations.  I'd love new animations of all sorts, in fact.

 

 

[Puma]

My wish list:

 

#1: New content that furthers major game storylines, not just serve as one off contacts. 

 

#2:  Two new Archetypes:  Melee/Support (so a staff/kin, or an electric melee/storm, etc.)  and then a single pet MM/damage hybrid.  Think  Snake Eyes and his wolf, Junkyard and Mutt, or Falcon and Redwing, He-man and Battle cat, etc.  Have the pet be based around aggro management and crowd control while the player is based on damage and self-survival.   In short the opposite of masterminds whose main role is keeping many pets alive while they do damage. Here, you have a single controllable sidekick pet who keeps you alive while you do damage. 

 

3:  PLEASE MAKE A WAY TO "SHARE" AN ENTIRE BASE DESIGN SO OTHERS CAN "IMPORT" IT AND HAVE A SIMILAR BASE.  This would not only make for a new economy where people can sell their elaborate base designs for inf, etc. but would also let base builders easily share basic bases for non-base builders.  

 

4: PERIODIC STORY LINE CONTESTS VIA AE:  Winner's AE arcs are made into real in game contacts and story lines.  Crowd source the development. 

 

5: BYOE:  Build Your Own Enhancements:  Have a very rare crafting system that lets you design your own enhancement set complete with set bonuses, a proc, etc. based around a point system.  You can put more points into more damage, less end, more recharge, make the bonuses very defense based or regen based etc. The  use of "points" to keep it from becoming entirely too overpowered similar in some ways to how ED works. The more you put in a similar category (so defense set bonuses  for example) the more points each addition to that category costs.  You can also use a "proc" that changes the secondary effects of all of your similar powers to certain other effects related to that power.  So electric can change the -end aspect to a momentary stun, or extra energy damage.  Ice can change the slow to increased cold damage, fire can change the extra damage to a fear. 

 

IDEAL THAT PROBABLY WONT HAPPEN:  A server that is "chaos-world" where there are no archetypes or power set restrictions.  Players can mix and match to their hearts content but only on that sever and no transfers to other servers.  If necessary, make it so it's only unlocked once a player has gotten a toon on another server to level 50 and has spent 100 hours in-game (to prevent AE farming just to get on the server).   Then use this server to data mine the combinations people come up with, etc. to see what might actually be viable in the real game or not. 

 

 

 

[theillusionary]

Here's some things I would like to see:

• New MM types like Snakes and Mages
• The ability to customize each MM minion(all tiers)
• Graphically update the entire game to match current and average PC specs
• "Skip cutscene" option(if there is one already, I haven't found it. lol)
• More emotes(especially interactive ones like the drilling one and what not)
• Stethoscope for those Doctor characters we make.
• New travel powers
• New powers
• Balance and add new animations for existing powers
• New weapons
• As a veteran player, I really enjoyed the way it ended with it being F2P and the option of being a premium paid subscriber(which i was). If things are updated graphically and we get steady new content and balancing, I'd happily pay $15/mo again to get some extra snazzy stuff monthly.
• New costume options
• New auras
• Wouldn't mind seeing costume parts getting a 3rd color option
• New AT's
• Maybe a beginner TF for newly made toons that gives, not only good xp, but 1 million influence/infamy as a reward and is not affected by the double xp booster(get the million no matter what)
• I would like to be able to slot Ninja Run and Beast Run. I hate having to break character just to move at a decent speed in later content.
• For players unfamiliar with the best enh to slot, it would be helpful if there was an option in settings to turn on enh suggestions

[Kruhl Sentru]

Here's a few things I'd like considered:

 

A 'classic' server for those who don't want the game to be changed.  I personally like the updates, but I know not everyone agrees.  It just makes sense to me, then, that having one or more 'classic' servers could help alleviate the issues.

 

Reconsideration of S.C.O.R.E.'s changes.  Most are pretty awesome, but some don't make sense to me.  I feel that a serious review of the changes could go a long ways.

 

Stability.  Balance.  Some of this stuff was in beta for a reason.  For example, while the idea of the Vigilant is cool and all, they still can't keep up with scrappers or blasters.  They don't have the DPS, and lack durability or taunting to be a hybrid tank.  The devs had told us that Vigilants needed a more clear role in a team, and I agree.  Likewise, a number of other options still need more polish, if possible.

 

Regarding vet rewards and DLC:  Either make them available to all, or readily able to re-earn, possibly with both an option for paying or not paying.  I spent a LOT of cash on this game, and I'm not alone.  I'd really hate to lose all that, and in the current state, I won't, so that's fine.  I'm just tossing out this in case we don't just straight up use i25 as-is.

 

A review of "low-hanging fruit", if you will.  For example, why do we need IO's to turn KB to KD?  Why not just use Null the Gull for a global setting?  Sure, if you've got like, one power, that's fine, or maybe two or three, but what about stuff like Khelds or Energy Blast?  It's pretty expensive, and sucks up IO slots, while being practically required.  Likewise, there are lots of other, simple, easy fixes I feel players could use.  Here's a bit of trivia: did you know Scrappers, a DPS AT, generate 50% more threat than a standard AT?  Everyone has a threat level, normally set to '2', that acts as a multiplier of generated threat.  Tanks and Brutes have a 4, and Scrappers, 3.  Back before massive defense nerfs and Enhancement Diversification, Scrappers were a secondary tank, so having a taunt and boosted threat made total sense.  Now, Tankers are still the primary tank, Brutes are your secondary tank, and Kheld 'Dwarf' form is a sort of tertiary tank.  Scrappers fall behind even them, so they're, what, a quartiary tank?  Maybe use Null the Gull to turn down that threat level to 2 or something, so Scrappers can stop pulling aggro of off Tankers.  And, if they haven't taunted an enemy, the threat generated by a Tanker is not enough to match the combined DPS and threat level of a Scrapper in many instances.  So, again, lots of low-hanging fruit out there, changes that should have been implemented a long, long time ago.

 

Long asked for upgrades!  Masterminds, for example, have virtually no real customization of pets.  They also have a measly 7 primary powersets.  I'll be using some of the stuff in game, with a few minor tweaks, we could more pet sets.  Illusion Control's pets, or maybe the spider bots from Arachnos and the Bane spiders come to mind.  Maybe mine the Lore pets a bit for easily worked with assets.  More powersets being spread to other ATs is another good one.  Like, why can't Scrappers use Energy Melee?  A few tweaks should fix that up.  Just follow the patterns set by the original devs, and you're golden.  That kind of stuff could allow for faster addition of new options, and with a smaller team, it probably won't be easy to add much in the way of entirely new content.

 

Kick P2W to the curb.  No one needs that garbage.  It's not the end of the world if we don't have double xp at all times, and what I really want is to make sure this game never goes full P2W.  Sure, P2W makes good money in the short term, but I guarantee you, the losses add up over the long run.  Just don't do it.

 

I'm not sure if this exists, but perhaps some actual policing of some sort of rules of conduct.  Most people are pretty good folks here, but we don't need things like racism, trolling, griefing, etc. to end up showing up with nothing more than an ignore list to stop it.  Trust me, this is still the internet, and there are still plenty of troubles that can show up.

 

Anyways, this post is more of a brainstorm than anything.  I doubt I'll get everything, I'm just looking to toss out some ideas that might help.  Also, a side note: assuming no chaos of life (y'know, like BOOM pc died kinda random stuff), I plan on making a Let's Play series of the game, once it's fully legal.  I know there are plenty of other content creators out there as well, some who even jumped the gun a bit.  It's not like I'm some big time LPer, it's more of a hobby for me, but I'm sure plenty of peeps are looking forward to likewise getting those videos and streams out once this is all done.  Just letting you know, we're still rooting for you in the negotiations.  😃

[biostem]

Kruhl Sentru, Are you talking about a different CoH team?  There is no 'Vigilant' AT in Homecoming.  I also disagree with some of your points.  For instance, you said "Kick P2W to the curb.  No one needs that garbage", but neither does anyone need to play the game at all.  Why take away something that many find to be a great improvement to their QoL?  There is also already a set of rules of conduct in place, as well as a way of reporting players who violate them.  The devs, GMs, and mods are volunteers, so if things "went legit", there could very well be more brought on board.  There are no microtransactions or subscription fees currently, so are you talking about stuff you *don't* want to see added back into the game?  Lastly, Homecoming is not the same game as when CoH was live, nor is it NCSoft/Cryptic or even the same dev team, so I'm not sure what you having spent money on the game when it was under control of those other groups has to do with Homecoming...

Edited September 7, 2019 by biostem