A Question from The Homecoming Team

[Castrum]

1) Free. No microtransaction store, no paid expansions, no DLC, no pay to win.

 

2) New content, as dictated by the ability and desire of volunteer developers. Advance the story, make new events, whatever. But nothing that would require anyone to need to require payment for purchase/play. If people want to donate to help speed it along, go ahead. But everyone gets all content upon initial release, and no one starts talking about charging to maintain a revenue stream (i.e. becoming a business).

 

3) No NC Soft. In as much as is possible, zero input from NC Soft, zero financial backing, no advertising, no control, nothing. They let it die on the vine and then killed it once. They should never have a hand in CoH or control of it in any way ever again. They need to sign away the rights and be done with it.

 

4) Related to the other notes, always and forever keep it community-based. Open and transparent.

 

5) More a personal issue, but probably send some Cease & Desist-type orders to the coxg crew, Dr. Brain in particular. Dude literally posts announcements on Discord insulting the Homecoming team and stating or insinuating that Homecoming is hacking them or undermining them all the time. It’s really petty and they should probably deal with some real consequences.

[TheSuperRobbie]

I want to see new and good content, I have faith in the homecoming team because of what they've already done, I'd like maybe to have Destroyed Galaxy City more then just a tutorial, maybe a tutorial and a higher level zone, kinda like in Brickstown you can see the prison from Breakout. Also I'd love to actually do missions and have contacts and characters in echo zones, they'd probably have to exemplar you down if you were too high level, that's just my opinion though.

Edit: Also forgot to say earlier but more AE customization options, maybe be able to talk to characters, have an underling rank and be able to rename the ranks for specific characters (like having a hero being listed as a hero instead of an archvillian). Also I'd love for there to be customizable giant monsters, although it's probably unlikely it would be nice.

Edited September 7, 2019 by TheSuperRobbie

[Sealdy]

I'm truly happy with the game as it is. But if i really need to chose I would say:

 

Some more debugging. Finalizing story arcs. A new villain zone, the rogues isles are pretty small. Kallisti Wharf finalized. In that order.

 

Oh and i'm happy to pay up to €10/month if that would keep the servers up and viable. Or something like the old fremium system.

Edited September 9, 2019 by Sealdy
Saw many posts that don't want subscription fees.

[EverStryke]

1 hour 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

NC Soft gets NO SAY in development going forward. (They killed it once, don't give them a second chance)

 

No Pay to Win (it devalues players' efforts)

 

24 hour uptime (because 23 is unthinkable)

 

Marketing budget allotted (to ensure new blood)

 

Knockback resistance added to ALL tanker armors (Let's make tanks great again)

 

Weekly in game Dev Prizes/Titles (new players love this kind of thing)

 

Monthly contests (Rules announced in forums of course)

Edited September 7, 2019 by EverStryke

[cforciea]

Wait, is this the talks that TonyV said were happening with Titan Networkin April, or the talks TonyV said were happening with Titan Network in August, or the talks that were happening when the game shut down, or maybe this guy from 2014 https://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php?topic=10284.0?

 

How about you guys stop talking about this until it actually happens? Giving people potentially false hope in order to give yourself an extra air of legitimacy is just cruel.

 

(edited to clear up name confusion)

Edited September 7, 2019 by cforciea

[Greeno34]

For me I'd love to see content added/ developed. New power sets would be cool.  The addition of new, even more challenging content as the incarnate system is expanded would be GREAT!! 

And... I'll give you my first born if you'll up the agro cap. It's just too low imho.

 

Mainly, though,... just keeping the game going!

Edited September 7, 2019 by Greeno34

[SilverWolf]

I'd really like to see costume pieces become available that are part of the various npc groups. I really enjoy making heroes or villains that are tied to NPC's in the game (freakshow, council, nemesis, rikti, ect.)

 

I'd also like to see some new power sets, Wind control being a big one but new powers in general would be great too.

[Killjoy69]

Hats with out hair as an option.

a "huge" version for Females 

[Mr. Vee]

Everything as it is/is planned. I want the licensing to have no bearing on the HC crew's way of doing things as they've been doing a great job so far.

[Twintania]

4 minutes ago, cforciea said:

Wait, is this the talks that TonyV said were happening with CIty of Titans in April, or the talks TonyV said were happening with City of Titans in August, or the talks that were happening when the game shut down, or maybe this guy from 2014 https://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php?topic=10284.0?

 

How about you guys stop talking about this until it actually happens? Giving people potentially false hope in order to give yourself an extra air of legitimacy is just cruel.

How about not being a buzzkill and actually reading all announcements? City of Titans has nothing to do with what is going on now.

Edited September 7, 2019 by Twintania

[Tortoise]

The dreams of the community are independent of a "legitimate, licensed" solution. City of Heroes will gradually progress toward open source, so Homecoming should let that inform the server's competitive position and governance mechanisms. I will not name the competitors here, but other servers have already started to compete by offering new archetypes, expanded powerset options, and speakeasy environments free of censorship. In contrast, Homecoming competes at the level of architecture (x64 compatibility, server cost improvements, launcher tools), of interface (numerical countdowns on power icons), and of player retention (merit vendor, auction house price floors, surplus of /fire brutes farming in architect).

 

It's obvious that the community wants new content. A superior path to new content lies in the creation of an entirely new business model for an MMO.

 

Legitimacy and licensure strengthens our already great opportunity to define an all-new process for developing an established MMO. Let the core team build a durable infrastructure, while the players propose, submit, and vote on what becomes official game content. This is the optimal way to proceed because it minimizes development costs, maximizes game lifespan, maximizes knowledge of the game's development parameters, and maximizes community buy-in.

 

As the leader of Veracity, I've personally been hungry for new content since our world first Really Hard Way run with No Lores. But the addition of content is a controversial thing, and by deferring the addition of new material, the Homecoming team has wisely evaded a political issue. I think there is an enormous opportunity to educate and source content from the massive Homecoming playerbase, that doing this with the blessing of legitimacy is the basis of a revolutionary MMO business model, and that proceeding in a way that decentralizes the power to publish content would affirm that any controversial decisions made by Leandro ultimately led to a superior outcome.

 

Some scoff at this negotiation and see it as a means for the Homecoming team to enthrone themselves as eternal dictators. The game's source is leaked, so that won't happen, and that position fails to recognize the massive upside of these conversations. The blessing of legitimacy and licensure can empower Leandro and Cipher to become the community's greatest enablers. We can publish new issues together and collectively write the future of our City.
 

[Moka]

7 minutes ago, cforciea said:

Wait, is this the talks that TonyV said were happening with CIty of Titans in April, or the talks TonyV said were happening with City of Titans in August, or the talks that were happening when the game shut down, or maybe this guy from 2014 https://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php?topic=10284.0?

 

How about you guys stop talking about this until it actually happens? Giving people potentially false hope in order to give yourself an extra air of legitimacy is just cruel.

No. This is separate.

[fcfromcoh]

Keep catering to the RP community, PVP/PVE community and AE/Creative community. Don't shun one group over the other.

 

Keep balancing.

 

I'm viewing this as more a restore and preserve movement rather than a "gimmee new things!" Because, well, this game was shut down. I think people need to realize this. I never expected to have what we have to be honest, let alone brand spanking new content. And I'm ok with that.

 

Preserve and Restore. Don't spread yourselves thin trying to develop new content unless you are at a place where you can, comfortably.

Edited September 7, 2019 by fcfromcoh

[DaSlaya]

More story arcs in contents in zones that lack them currently, giving more options to level toons in different areas.  The specific areas that come to mind are Perez Park, Eden, and Khalistas Wharf.  Other than that the game is as awesome as it used to be and I am still so happy!  In the long term of course, maybe more power sets and archetypes, but that is long term.  You guys are awesome keep up the great work and fingers crossed!

[Lamb Chop]

Content is the obvious answer. Absolutely more patterns and costume pieces if possible, and more powersets- even if they're just hobbled together moves from other sets. A multi-element set maybe, a Weapons secondary for the Dominator with Assault Rifle and rifle butt attacks, y'know something that could be pieced together with already existing components and assets. I'd love to see a small writing team to help advance some of the plots perhaps. I think the top of my wishlist as a roleplayer in terms of writing would be a chance for the RP community to chat with the writers and bounce ideas around- but I know adding this sort of content even on an official server is unlikely at this point. 

But the biggest things for me are probably 1.) that any monetization not be as egregious as modern games are. Compare the pricing model for this during live and, say, Fortnite, and you'll see exactly what I mean. And 2.) that the P2W vendors as well as any new QoL changes that we've grown used to on Homecoming stay.

I'd also like a character transfer to an official server because I don't wanna build up 50's AGAIN AGAIN, but that one is probably not possible RIP. Anyway thanks for reading.


EDIT: An elaboration on the RP/Writer collab pitch, I mention it simply because the RP community has been around forever, and some of us have written things that are not only better than some of the original content, but also make unforgettable characters and concepts that could be be made part of the game world itself. I love Ascendant, and I think his memory is cherished by many of us here, and I think opportunities for more characters and stories to become immortalized into the game in some way would make this place feel even more like a home (y'know, HOME coming? Get it? I'l shut up now).

Edited September 7, 2019 by Lamb Chop

[cforciea]

4 minutes ago, Twintania said:

How about not being a buzzkill and actually reading all announcements? City of Titans has nothing to do with what is going on now.

Sorry, meant the Titan Network.

[colemyboe]

I would love to see a system similar to RuneScape when it comes to content updates. Like a community vote to implement certain changes/new additions or which new things to focus on first, like new TFs, powersets, costume pieces. Community involvement I think is the best way to keep the game alive.

[Sevorizzle]

New content! Storylines! Missions! Maps! Powersets! Enhancement sets!

 

Continue to make performance improvements where possible to modernize the game. 

 

You folks have done a fantastic job so far, I know it gets said a lot but I'm just so grateful to be home again for real.

[Steele_Magnolia]

1. Not to lose the characters I have made here. In a choice between my old and new characters, I would choose new.

 

2. Regular updates on the "State of the Game" and where we are going from here if any changes are coming.

 

3. New content if funding and personnel allow for it. 

 

 

[KitsuSkya]

I would like my game not to litterally crash every time I zone during peak hours. 

[InfamousBrad]

Do want: Finish Powerset Proliferation. Every armor set proliferated to every melee archetype. Every melee attack set proliferated to every melee archetype. Every blast set proliferated to every ranged archetype.

 

Do want: Use mostly-existing animations to finish the Experimentation, Force of Will, Gadgetry, and Utility Belt power pools.

 

Do want: New content. Wrap up the Battalion/Coming Storm plotline. Then write new stories wrapping up dangling plot threads from existing canonical stories, like the war in West Libertalia, the fate of the Soviet supersoldier program, Stheno, Merulina, the underwater lost city, the Council moonbase, Rikti Earth, Council Earth, and Nemesis' hidden city in the Shadow Shard. Ideally, I'd like to see a content release schedule comparable, or at least half as good as, Guild Wars 2's. Let's say three new content releases and one new zone per year.

 

Do want: Any reason to care about the Freedom Phalanx as people. In new content, have them show up as helper NPCs in the mission with scripted dialogue that lets you see what they're like as people. (Incarnate content would be a good place to do this.) Basically do for them what Melissa Bianco did for the characters she introduced in the New Faultline arc.

 

Do want: Player housing. Specifically, give each player the option to join two supergroups, so that they can use one as a personal base/lair for themselves and their alts, and one for group content. Continue to expand the decor options.

 

Do want: More Incarnate content. One new 24- to 36-person raid every year or so, corresponding to the unlocking of each new Incarnate slot.

 

Do want: Any needed bug fixes or minor balance tweaks to existing powers.

 

Do want: More mastermind primary powersets based on existing NPC groups. In particular: Paragon Police, Rogue Isles Police, Praetorian Police, and Praetorian Clockwork. A mastermind-primary version of the Illusion Control set would be nice, too. Nothing that requires extensive art or animation time, just more RP flavor options that tie into the existing lore.

 

Do want: Annual expansions, however small, to the holiday events. (More valentines. Holiday base decor. Seasonal decorations in Atlas Park and Pocket D. A summer-holiday fireworks event using Null the Gull's "luau" zone. New monster types for trick-or-treating. New holiday-themed rewards.)

 

Do want: Better open-world content. Put some or all zone events on timers, or at least display warnings well in advance, so that it's easier for groups to organize for them. Make the rewards for giant monsters, in particular, valuable enough that people are eager to fight them again. Also, create a Prestige power toggle that auto-exemps you down to the max level for the neighborhood you're in, to incentivize street sweeping.

 

Do want: Finish the Hazard Zone revamps. Either reduce the Hazard Zone spawn sizes to solo, or get completely rid of the Hazard Zone security-chief missions.

 

Do want: Additional clarifications of the level 1-15 hero content. From time to time, revamp one of the Level 1-15 hero contacts, replacing their random door missions and street sweeps with actual small story arcs. Further differentiate (and label!) those contacts so that players who are trying to do so can specifically follow the Hellions storyline, versus the Skulls storyline, versus the Council storyline, versus the Clockwork storyline, versus the Vahzilok storyline.

 

Do not want: More PvP content. PvP can never not suck in a game where most of your attack root you in place but the enemies move at 60 miles per hour.

 

Do not want: Action combat. I've enjoyed action combat in other MMOs that were built around it from the start, like Wildstar and Defiance. But none of those games had City of Heroes' fantastic combat animations or variety of archetypes and powers, because the animation budget to have in-motion versions of every power moving in all eight directions would break the bank.

 

Do not want: More phased content open-world. The phased-content system in Atlas Park and Mercy Island is grinding the frame rate down in those zones, especially in Atlas Park. (If you can debug this and it stops being a problem, I withdraw this request.)

Edited September 7, 2019 by InfamousBrad
(forgot one wish-list item)

[zonapetros]

First off big thank you for going to a 64-Bit build.

 

Now to take advantage of that with more phasing according to character storyline uniqueness.

 

Plenty have said more content I'd love to see a focus on rogue/vigilante story arcs.

 

Would there be a way to give tools to the community to come up with costume pieces?

 

Customized Pets (fantasizes about steampunk droids with wheels... 😵)

 

 

BATTALION!!!

 

[Galeden]

One thing I've always wanted was Arachnos Mastermind, or more mastermind types using existing enemies. That or some way to customize your minions costumes.

[Dimeno]

At the very least, I would like a guarantee that this server is safe, and wont spontaneously disappear or otherwise be taken down some day. But in all honesty, I have 3 things I would LOVE to see:

 

- New end-game content:

 

Regardless of whether it's a trial, task force or something new altogether, some sign that the story is continuing would be nice. The Coming Storm has plenty of options for new/improved content. It would be nice to see Firebase Zulu get an overhaul similar to Dark Astoria, and would serve as a great area for new incarnate content. I'm sure by now we've all seen/heard talk about genesis powers, and it has left many hoping for additional incarnate abilities (although I think the game's content/difficulty needs to catch up to the current state of incarnate abilities before adding more). Regardless, there is a large number of people leaving the game once they hit the current brick wall after defeating Tyrant in the Magisterium iTrial.

 

- Fix PvP:

 

I dont think there's a single pvper out there who is content with the current state of pvp. It certainly wasnt perfect before i13, but it was most definitely better than what it is now. Between the PPM functionality of procs, the god-awful mez system and blatant lack of proper power balancing has left players with little options beyond playing a blaster or a stalker. Honestly, any attempt to fix pvp would be nice, since it feels like we've pretty much just been pushed aside. If the dev team needs any ideas on where to start, I strongly recommend communicating with the leaders of the pvp community. Dan, M3z, Macskull and several others are incredulously knowledgeable with the mechanics, and have done a wonderful job testing out pvp and trying to keep things as close to balanced as possible.

 

Speaking of power balancing, that brings me to my third, and possibly most important desire...

 

- actual, proper, unbiased power balancing:

 

Blasters. Where do I even begin? While I am happy that new powersets have been created, more time and attention needs to be applied to them. Most of the new powersets still function on pve stats while in pvp(stalker's psi melee, dark control, defense's poison, ALL of the new blaster secondaries...), and others barely function at all (ice melee, kinetic melee, dual blades...). On top of that, there's also the ridiculous amount of focus being poured into snipe attacks, while doing nothing to compensate for the lack of damage in sets that dont have one at all.

 

If ANY of these three things are actually taken seriously(especially the new content), that would be amazing. That being said, there are a couple other things that I think need to be considered:

 

Dayjobs:

 

As any badge hunter can tell you, obtaining all of the day job badges is obnoxious, and doesnt just encourage, but actually FORCES you to stop playing in order to get them. While it may seem like a mild inconvenience at  most, when coupled with a lack of new/challenging content, it is leading to a number of players outright leaving the game for a month or more. Encouraging players to NOT play the game, in any fashion, does not seem like a healthy model, especially for smaller communities like ours.  I dont necessarily have an idea for improving this at the moment, but I do feel it needs to be discussed.

 

The dev team's mentality/treatment of players:

 

This one may get me in the hot seat, but it needs to be said regardless. Our dev team is terrible at interacting with the public, and has outright ignored serious issues on MULTIPLE occasions. There is one player in particular who is responsible for the Magisterium iTrial functioning properly, @Sillow. He, along with his group, identified the SERVER-BREAKING crash caused by Nega Pendragon's multi-hitting attack AND supplied the devs with both functional work arounds as well as a proper fix for the issue. Despite all of this, he has received NOTHING in return, not even the Bug Crusher badge, which is ONLY awarded by the devs for finding/reporting bugs. Several bugs have been found/reported by the SG Veracity, yet nothing has been done to fix them, nor have any Bug Crusher badges been awarded to them either (at least one of these bugs were even caught on a live stream). In addition to this, there have been several issues with sexual harassment in-game, which have been TOTALLY ignored, despite the mountain of evidence shown. To me, this is completely unacceptable, and needs to change IMMEDIATELY. The devs don't need to be in constant contact with the players, but incidents like these are the few times when action is required.

[Darklotus]

Unless some one said it already. Cross arch powers. Like when u reach 40 to like energy .mastery.  offer other powers as well. Like if I'm a blades scrapper.  And at 40 I can choose blades and fuel pistols. Like deadpool.