A Question from The Homecoming Team

[drboston]

1 hour ago, drboston said:

I have upscaled versions of the textures, if folks are interested.  https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tnx581bzwpa7s7u/AABGF9qchgbB82tC3Y3oxXSBa?dl=0

To access the textures, you will need something that can uncompress a .rar file. Also, the textures are not game-ready; they are AI upscaled versions of textures extracted from the game files. They are, however, in a format that is easy for someone to touch up with GIMP or PhotoShop.

[plapete]

A no fx version of the earth armor powerset...  its ruining the rocky gargoyle fascade of my main.  Other than that...  no costs for continued existence(no sub costs.)  All powers and stuff remain unlocked or purchaseable for existing in game currency.  Ability to respec from full scratch (tankers can become brutes or masterminds etc)  

[Doc_Scorpion]

1 hour ago, drboston said:

Yeah, it's critical that if we put in the effort and expense to be legitimate, that we get a turnover from NC Soft with no future strings. Good luck with that. May just want to make sure it'll be an expensive PITA to enforce their legal rights.

No offense, but that's not happening.  NC Soft holds all the cards and has all the legal rights - and Homecoming has nothing.  Zip.  Nada.  Zero.  Homecoming exists and always will exist at NC Soft's sufferance.

The only way that will ever change is for NC Soft to voluntarily wholly and irrevocably sign over it's rights to the IP.  And I can't see that happening.

[Breakstar]

I largely want costume creation stuff: 

- More costume parts, especially 'normal people' clothes like jackets, glasses, headphones 

- More/better faces/hair 

- More modifiable animations/attack-spawn-points, kinda like CO did, so you could use different blast animations or have an eye-beam-only character if you wanted 

- 'Unlocked' color customization for 'limited' sets like Plant and Ice 

- More costume part proliferation (all tights options should be available in Skirts and Jackets, more weapon proliferation ESPECIALLY for VEATs) 

- More powerset proliferation 

- New powersets

[Soulkreaver]

New story content, more TFs. Expandage or remodeling of some zones, maybe even some new ones. More incarnate stuff. Everything has been coming along beautifully, I have zero true complaints. My home is back and its wonderful. While this game was away it felt like someone took a piece of my heart and soul and now its returned.

[EarlyGene]

More Epic Pools for each of the Archetypes:

 

Blasters:

- Dark Mastery

- Psionic Mastery

 

Brutes/Tankers:

- Dark Mastery

- Electric Mastery

- Psionic Mastery

 

Controllers:

- Dark Mastery

- Electric Mastery

 

Corruptors/Defenders:

- Ice Mastery

 

Dominators:

- Dark Mastery

- Electric Mastery

- Stone Mastery

 

Masterminds:

- Dark Mastery

- Munitions Mastery

- Psionic Mastery

 

Scrappers/Stalkers:

- Electric Mastery

- Ice Mastery

- Psionic Mastery

 

Sentinels:

- Energy Mastery

[Sanguinesun]

On ‎9‎/‎7‎/‎2019 at 11:13 PM, 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

1. Free and absolutely no microtransaction shenanigans. Keep it donation based only.   Development centered around making money didn't end well for CoH before so lets not change the current tune we have if legitimacy/licensure goes forward. 

 

2. Work on new animations and assets in conjunction with new game play.  Just do not get stuck in a progression creep epistemic development bubble.

 

3. More mixing around of abilities currently in game. Consideration for free form AT's with more freedom of choice.

 

4. Better organize the costume design choices(alphabetical as just one example).  Make darn sure to finally get all pieces available across most all parts and choices made. So many pieces currently aren't able to be combined with other pieces(ie not there in choice) spectrum is a perfect example but there are scores more.

 

5. Continued improvements on the 64bit client. There teams using lots of powers still can lag the performance of even top and close to top end rigs.

 

6.  Full, 100%, transparency on adjustments of game play, especially in regards to drops and other such things. In other words, no stealth. "oops forgot to mention" or similar changes.

 

7.  Look into non server feasibility of developing single player versions of the game.

 

8. In conjunction with 7(or otherwise) developing a devkit for those that would be interested in developing modded content(not wow style stat tracker crap but actual game play related modded content(ie new zone maps, npc's and more).

 

  

[boggo2300]

8 hours ago, JCMcBoo said:

Impossible or implausible but you asked

Fold CoV into CoH and give players access to all PC and RI zones regardless of moral code and make heroes and Villains factions within the game. Kind of like the PVP zones, control of a would depend on hero or villain activity and make PvP voluntary in any zone in the the game based on individual challenge. Villain control would be indicated by longer night cycles and Hero by longer day cycles and the controlling side would still get PvP bonuses. Set up new statues around the zones that can be chosen by and sing the praises of super groups and villain groups that do the most to keep control of a given zone.

 

 

ANYTHING but this!

[Shadojak]

I just want to keep the toons I currently have on Homecoming.

 

That's all I ask.

 

Lost all of 'em once, don't wanna go through that again.

 

Anything and everything else is just gravey.

[EggKookoo]

2 hours ago, boggo2300 said:

ANYTHING but this!

I wouldn't mind a zone or two that used this mechanic, but not the whole game.

[boggo2300]

46 minutes ago, EggKookoo said:

I wouldn't mind a zone or two that used this mechanic, but not the whole game.

That would honestly make me leave,  I played Warhammer online

[MTeague]

Mostly?  I just want the opportunity to sign up for an subscription payment of some kind to help sustain the servers and game.  You guys aren't making a dime for your efforts right now, and you have real lives and other obligations just like the rest of us. Some ability to support what you do only seems fair, and would feel like we're doing our part to KEEP this incarnation of Paragon City going for the long haul.

• I'd like to see more well written story arcs.  Whether that was done as part of new issues relating to the Battalion, or more stand alone items, does not matter to me in the slightest.  The Praetorian arcs are pretty much pure gold in my book.
• I wouldn't mind an option to prune some of the "busywork" missions on Blueside.  (Having the Security Chief sending you on Street Sweeping missions for Council when it's hard to FIND enough Council because the 5th Column have replaced most of them, etc).  It can be tedious to chew through 4-5 busywork missions before you realize, OK, this contact simply isn't going to give me a story arc.
• If there were some way to recover some classic story-driven AE Missions from Live, that would be awesome. I still miss the Moon Base Laser mission.  And AE is so very full of farm missions these days.  OTOH, I'm not real sure where ownership of those actually stands, so if it's not in the cards, I get it. If they cannot be recovered, maybe I'll fumble around with the editor and try my hand at a tribute mission. 
  • Maybe just an option to search AE missions excluding certain words? (ie, a way to filter out anything containing the word "farm")

[deymos]

Get rid of travel power suppression in non-PVP situations. Oh, and raise the aggro cap.

 

But seriously, AE is an awesome tool, but what would really make it better, and the entire game as well, would be adding a voice-over option for contacts and mission briefings, and even cut scenes. Reading the text is adequate but having the option of listening to it would make it even better; what's the point of a great villain monologue if you can't hear the evil laugh that goes with it? I feel this would a layer of depth that is missing right now.

[Celtic Lass]

Quote

I would like, as an unrealistic prospect as is most likely is, more content for Going Rogue. I really enjoy Praetoria. I'm always kind of sad at level 20 when I have to choose Atlas or Rogue Isle at the end in order to continue leveling. Yeah, I know I'm weird.

 

[Ukase]

I know I'm in the minority with some of these thoughts. 

 

We simply do not need new content. There's really too much content already. Without Ouroboros, we'd never see but a fraction of it. And with the 2xp option from p2w, many of us now see even less. In lieu of new content, how about refreshing some of the older content? 

The Numina TF has a string of "Defeat X" in Zones A, B, C, etc.  These do nothing but take an appropriately long task force and at 30 minutes to it. From a story line perspective, it barely makes sense. I've no idea what the code looks like, or if it's possible, but let's snip those out. Or some of them. Or at least have the 5th Column stop beating up the Council so quickly in Boomtown. 

Task Force Commander - I see people with this accolade who have never led a task force or even a DFB. I think the original Dev team lost sight of what the term commander meant. Additionally, this shouldn't be awarded until a character has done ALL the task forces for their respective alignments. That includes Dr. Q, for blue side, too. 

 

Rumor has it the new "backdoor" base tp macro is going to be removed. I get why. But, please see my point above about the lengthy animation and recharge timer. Additionally - there should be a way to earn a drop point for base tp. I've no idea who decided that porting into Steel would place you on an exploration badge, fairly close to the North train, but a fair hike from Posi. Maybe if we earned the explores for a given zone, we could somehow place where our beacon would place us. (maybe the last place you used base tp in that zone could do it)

Let's look at - reducing the ridiculously long animation times for base tp, pocket d tp and mission tp. There is no good reason they're that long. Let's also eliminate the need for recharge on them, too. What's the point? 

 

 

More Influence/Infamy/Information sinks. The summon pets, the hero/winter/villain packs are nice enough - but frankly I've got billions. As I play more, and pursue the t-4 of all 6 incarnate slots, each character I make ends up making more than I spent on them. So I end up with more. That's fine. But what in the world do I do with it? Even my characters in my teens are carrying a billion inf., and I'm still not sure I want to keep them. Either jack up the prices of the hero/winter packs, or give us more stuff to buy. 

Ouroboros could use a trainer and a p2w contact. 
 

[ShardWarrior]

4 hours ago, Ukase said:

We simply do not need new content.

A game will wither and die without new content.  I'm all for refreshing the older content as you suggested, however that should not replace developing new content.

 

As for me personally, more content in terms of story and costuming.  Would love to see the amount of costume slots doubled or more.  Also, Veteran reward/badge unlocks should be made account wide.  Having to grind those out on multiple characters is a lot of effort.

 

 

Edited September 10, 2019 by ShardWarrior

[moocowgaipan]

If this licensing happens and actually gets NHC involved again, I would like to see the public statement from them detailing their plan to make sure the player base doesn't get screwed over again with a shutdown or some other shenanigans. I don't mean a standardized one paragraph verbal vomit. I'm talking about a detailed plan as to what their plan is for long-term development  and how they plan to commit to keeping things alive for the player base if they get bored with the project or find some other new shiny profit machine. In other words, why should we trust them this time?

 

I see too many brilliant and standout TV shows, games, etc, build up devoted fan bases only to disappear into the corporate grist machine by executive fiat. Star Wars: Galaxies also exists in several forms, including the old skill tree system. While NHC may have legal options they have chosen not to exercise so far, the fiendishly clever gaming community is likely to find ways to keep rogue servers in any event, so what the Homecoming team is offering is also something of a courtesy.

[Ravara]

Updated textures, fixes too some animations, more functionality with the mail system, the incarnate systems could use some attention and going forwards new content 🙂

[Silvanthis]

10000% powerset. Even mixing classes together!

A MM/blaster hybrid, Bots/Fire.

Heck! Katana/energy manipulation 

Titan Weapon/Time(whichever)

Energy Assault/Fire Aura

It's not like we parse for the 1337 deeps. It's already quick to level if you want, so where's the harm(besides pvp, that would be an issue).

[quixoteprog]

I would like some more compelling game play. Some element, probably optional because it would involve a change in play style. I would like the mission description to have some useful information instead of, for the most part flavor text.

 

For most mission, not all but most, you don't really need to read anything other than the objective summary. Find all clickies, defeat bad guy with a name, Defeat bad guy and his henchmen, clear the map. All pretty self explanatory. It is so unusual for there to be any need to read this stuff that when you get one of the rare missions where it IS helpful, even necessary, I usually miss it.

 

I have had at least a couple missions, usually red side, where the objective was "prevent the escape of <Dude-X>". As I work my way through the map I see one guy come running by without stopping. About the time I start to think, "hey, that one mob did not even stop to attack once" I get kicked out of the mission because it failed. About which time I realize all I really needed to do was stop that guy from reaching the exit.

 

That is super frustrating. NOT because it makes the mission harder, I'm fine with that. It's just that 99% of all missions have nothing like that and then you get the one where it does, with no warning, and you get burned.

 

I would really like MORE missions like this. It would be nice for them to be marked in some way. You enter a map with clickies, but instead of just needing to run around and click them all you need to click them before a certain mob does. Or, I need to destroy it before the mob gets to it and "activates" it in some way.

 

It would also be nice if a door mission to a building had several options for entry. For example, you don't just get ONE waypoint to a mission, you get several. Picking the right door makes the mission easier, less mobs to fight or easier, or whatever, picking the wrong one makes it harder. The way you know which one to pick is by picking up hints in the mission briefing.

 

I understand the difficulty of the task and how much work it would be only to satisfy someone like me; but you asked.

 

 

[theta31]

Massive advertising campaign to bring in thousands of new players leading to more servers and eventually removing the faux caps on auction house salvage items.  Get rid of anything at the P2W vendor that can be earned in game.  A return of Veteran rewards.  Content that makes playing Villain and Praetoria good options.  Remove side switching... you aren't meant to have every single badge on a single character.  More ATs, more powersets, more costume pieces.  Alphabetize costume pieces!  Make the character selection screen sortable!!!!

[spatmwin94]

Is there any way we can get the weapons we use to show up holstered on our character? 

[Lucy Firestorm]

If possible, remove some of those things that makes the game too easy/fast/boring: Too much P2W stuff, Starting TF:s alone or without having done the required contacts first (like katie hannon), moving between villain/hero side without doing tip missions (Kill the damn bird or make him do something else!), starting events with a simple click (Adamastor and I think halloween, winter etc...). And so on. 

I want to earn the things I get. Not just get them. 🙂 And I'm not sure why, but all TF I've done so far have been way easier and faster than before. Would be nice to have that feeling of actutally accomplishing something when you have done a big TF. 
Other things, maybe a way to sort your characters in login screen. Oh and maybe some more fun praetoria content. Those are pretty zones! 🙂 Then I can't think of anything else atm.

Keep up your good work! It's so nice to have our city back! 😄

Edited September 10, 2019 by Lucy Firestorm

[jubakumbi]

15 hours ago, JCMcBoo said:

Impossible or implausible but you asked

Fold CoV into CoH and give players access to all PC and RI zones regardless of moral code and make heroes and Villains factions within the game. Kind of like the PVP zones, control of a would depend on hero or villain activity and make PvP voluntary in any zone in the the game based on individual challenge. Villain control would be indicated by longer night cycles and Hero by longer day cycles and the controlling side would still get PvP bonuses. Set up new statues around the zones that can be chosen by and sing the praises of super groups and villain groups that do the most to keep control of a given zone.

 

Awesome ideas.

[EggKookoo]

3 hours ago, boggo2300 said:

That would honestly make me leave,  I played Warhammer online

You would leave a game because it has one or two zones you don't like? That's not an unrealistic standard?

 

2 hours ago, ShardWarrior said:

A game will wither and die without new content.  I'm all for refreshing the older content as you suggested, however that should replace developing new content.

I would go so far as to say that lack of content is CoH's #1 problem right now, and has been for a long time. Graphical updates are less important.

 

"Content" is not the same thing as filler. Content is "something interesting to do." CoH's missions are highly repetitive, in terms of both objectives and settings. How many times have you been in that warehouse, clearing out random MOBs? While they did layer in some new stuff like with Twinshot and a few other lowbie arcs, by the time you're into your teens the missions start all becoming samey, and they stay that way pretty much through the end on blueside. The 40+ missions on redside have a bit more variety but really nothing that exciting.  It's one thing to always have to deal with Mission X at Level Y (a pattern that fits, say, WoW), but CoH has Mission X... endlessly.

 

A lot of bang for the buck could be got by going through existing missions and arcs and spicing them up. Adding some unusual complexity or twists (like peppering in "surprise" MOBs from other groups). For a little more buck, we could benefit from a setting refresh, so not all office building or sewer systems or caves or warehouses look the same. Changing the visuals of a given mission's setting might not seem like much but it really would add a lot. This is all "content."

 

CoH certainly does not have too much content. It has too much undifferentiated content.