UNTIL Field Report (9/22/11)

[Archived Post]

Heroes!
Here is the the first of many UNTIL Field Reports. I hope you enjoy this first glimpse into what the Champs team is currently working on and working towards. There is a lot of info here and we are excited about all of them!

...Enjoy!

In Test
Items "In test" are being looked at and testing internally and on PTS. These are issues, features and fixes that are the closest to release as you can get. Occasionally there will be some items that are in test that are part of a larger release.

PvE Queues: Each Lair added to the PvE queue list
Character Conversion
KotH updates
Crafting stations in MON/LEM
Jet destination update: Mon/Des/VIB
Tab targeting fails to target closest enemy.
Player is unable to convert between silver and gold even though they are keeping the same archetype.


A closer look (On Deck)
These are hot topic issues in the Player Community, QA and CS. This list does not represent all the issues we are taking a closer look at, but are issues at the top of our list.

Character Conversion
Targeting
Duel whitelists
Camera Zoom when zoning
Zone balancing
Archery: Strafe: While using the power, the model in the characters hand turns into a sword.
Zoning or changing instance causes the slow fall for teleport to fail.
Female Average Walk: Arm swing and lower body leg steps are out of sync.
Remote Access: After interacting with the robot, it does not begin moving, preventing completion of the mission.
Escort missions
Malevolent Manifestation: Hold resistance not applied to target every time the hold duration refreshes.
From Bad to Worse perk
BoP bags in loot tables.
PVP Acclaim and XP rewards
Event items are appearing randomly when events are not running
Tailor: Costume selection does not indicate which costume is being edited after a player completes editing.
Sea Slug becomes stuck after the first wave of critters.


Up Next!
In Development
These are features we are working on right now. They have made it through the design phase and are being implemented. Items in this section will move to "In Test" once complete.

Comic Series 2: Whiteout
Alerts: Repeatable instanced missions that offer a variety of encounter and reward types set in various locations
Vibora Mini Arc (level 22): A new mini arc that starts in Canada and takes you to a pre-Crisis Vibora Bay. A place that is just seeing the arrival of the darker elements found later on.
LVL 40 PVP Gear Review: An adjustment to the Hero Games acclaim. This review looks to reduce the prices, increase the usability and remove previous bind restrictions.
Unarmed review: A review that will see, when complete, 2 new AT's (one Tank and one MDPS), new animations and several new powers.
MOAR tights: In addition to our regular costume updates we will offer more tights with options for non normal maps and skin.


On the schedule
These are updates that are next on the list to implement. Some features have a longer development time than others but these are what the team will be looking to move on to soon.

Bloodmoon Updates: Several updates to the Bloodmoon Event including a fight with Takofanes
Neighborhood Events: Small open missions focused on Heroic encounters
New Zone Events: Large scale, multistage, zone events that offer new encounter opportunities and large group gameplay.
Infernal review: A review of the Infernal framework that will include new powers and additional AT's
Team Duels: Team leaders will be able to challenge a member of another team to a duel.
Auto Teaming, temp teams: Auto teams for open missions (if solo) and optional for groups. These are temp teams that overlay your existing team.
Earth Framework: Very earthy stuff! This is a Brick framework.
Wind Framework: Very windy! This is an Energy framework.


In Design Discussion!
These items in design discussion are for features that are being considered for an upcoming update. The next step for these topics is to have them added to the schedule. Some of these are smaller, quicker tasks while others are a lot larger and require more to design and implement.

Lair Boss reviews: Improvements to the Lair Bosses.
Events Calendar: A system that will allow you to see what there is to do in champs at any time and get right to the action.
Nemesis Updates: Any and everything we can do to get you more time with your Nemesis. This includes more frequent encounters and opportunities to fight your nemesis with your fellow heroes. Additionally we are looking to add more minion types and options.
Crafting improvements
Mini Arc level 32: This may fall in the area of Wells Pass and offer a break from Viper and Manamals
Xp Gifting: Gift some of your experience to your alts or friends.
C-Store Coupons: Items that give you a discount in the c-store.
New RenCen Powerhouse: Costume stage w/tailor, dueling area, revamped powers testing area.
KotH Perks
Comic Series 3


The Future
These are features that we are working towards. Items listed in this section need the most discussion and are subject to the largest change. This list does not represent all the things we want or are planning to do but they are some of the larger things we are planning and working towards.

New Zone (3-4 Neighborhoods)
Level cap to 45
Itemization
More Comic Series
More Events both small and large
Super group Bases
Guild Improvements (Leveling, Duels)
New Zone (Moon is being discussed)
Level Cap to 50
End Game (Currently looking at Star Guards)
And so much more!!

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Hmmm... no mention of costume passes. I do like that Nemesis stuff is being planned/discussed.

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Very exciting. Can't wait to see what the next year of CO brings.

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Overall looks like we have some great stuff coming in both short and long term.

Hmmm... no mention of costume passes. I do like that Nemesis stuff is being planned/discussed.

There is still Ask Cryptic.

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That's a rather large list.

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I like what I'm seeing, especially what was mentioned about the Moon Zone :D

Also great to see that we're getting the Earth set and Wind! Great stuff!

I noticed that there's no PvE Challenge map discussed here. I'm guessing that's a canned project?

All in all, this is a fantastic addition, and I look forward to seeing this updated!

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Well, I think that covers just about everything out side of purely cosmetic issues. This is a pretty epic list, it makes me pretty excited.

Any estimation to how far into the future, "The Future" extends?

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I noticed that there's no PvE Challenge map discussed here. I'm guessing that's a canned project?


Maybe they need a great map to do it on first, like the forum.

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Most excellent.

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Errm don't we already get to fight Takofanes?
Whines and sulks - no Single Blade Review sob sob!
Seriously it is nice to have some idea of oncoming changes with a bit more than a month in advance, so thanks for that!

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Errm don't we already get to fight Takofanes?
Whines and sulks - no Single Blade Review sob sob!
Seriously it is nice to have some idea of oncoming changes with a bit more than a month in advance, so thanks for that!

No, we don't fight Takofanes. He sits in his chair and watches us fight his minions.

In time Single Blade will likely get another review, but they are currently working on reviewing power sets that don't have an archetype.

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Errm don't we already get to fight Takofanes?
Whines and sulks - no Single Blade Review sob sob!
Seriously it is nice to have some idea of oncoming changes with a bit more than a month in advance, so thanks for that!

No, we fight a lackey of his, not Takofanes.

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all well and good robobo and i love that you are trying to inform us as to whats around the corner but a tentive timeline would be appreciated, even if it "within the next 6 months" for each of those headings would really be nice. with what you have stated and the rate in wich we have gotten updates has been incredibly slow so going off of past updates we could be looking at a 4 year plan, please let uis knopw when these woul;d be implemented even if it is a tentative timeline.

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I think I like this format better than the state of the game or the Ask dev things. This shows a LOT of stuff I'm really itching to see added.

I have a million ideas for improving the Nemesis system, many straight from the PnP version of the game, and I really hope you're willing to listen to community feedback. Once it gets closer I will post my Omnibus of Ideas for the Nemesis System. :p It's currently at over 20 pages.:D

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*Needs new pants*

The last three lists make me happy in the right places

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The XP sharing sounded sort of interesting. I wonder if you'll be able to level down or if it will just remove it to the lowest you can be for your current level? Sounds like something someone could use to keep there level at 20 and 30 and not leave tier 2 or 3 pvp. I remember someone suggested having the option to turn xp off and the responses were not positive.

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Malevolent Manifestation: Hold resistance not applied to target every time the hold duration refreshes.

Team Duels: Team leaders will be able to challenge a member of another team to a duel.

Great news!

LVL 40 PVP Gear Review: An adjustment to the Hero Games acclaim. This review looks to reduce the prices, increase the usability and remove previous bind restrictions.

Does this mean that the acclaim gear review is still a work in progress, and that there will be more to come after today's patch?

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So the levels will most likely go up in 5 level increments. Will that mean more power picks, or will something else be implemented instead?

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all well and good robobo and i love that you are trying to inform us as to whats around the corner but a tentive timeline would be appreciated, even if it "within the next 6 months" for each of those headings would really be nice. with what you have stated and the rate in wich we have gotten updates has been incredibly slow so going off of past updates we could be looking at a 4 year plan, please let uis knopw when these woul;d be implemented even if it is a tentative timeline.

New employees have been hired. Content should come out a little more quickly as soon as these guys have been familiarized with the system and game.

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You know that weird sound you guys just heard?

That was the sound of a grown man squealing delightedly in a manner unbecoming a fully functional adult.

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It's really good to see that character conversion and the Archery/Strafe problem are at the top of the list. There are many nice things on the list here. Guess we will see how this gets handled.

"Female Average Walk: Arm swing and lower body leg steps are out of sync."

I think the biggest problem with the animation is not so much that arms and legs are out of sync, but simply the fact that it overall just looks extremely strange (ie. stick in the a*) Generally speaking a little bit love to the emotes could not hurt really. A bazillion dance emotes are nice, but several basic emotes like sleeping/resting are missing.

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What is Itemization?

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MOAR tights: In addition to our regular costume updates we will offer more tights with options for non normal maps and skin.

!!!

You guys are awesome!

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Generally speaking a little bit love to the emotes could not hurt really. A bazillion dance emotes are nice, but several basic emotes like sleeping/resting are missing.

Precisely. A "laying down" emote shouldnt be too hard. I mean, we do it everytime we die. Maybe something a little more elegant, but man, I just wanna lay down on my penthouse bed, not sit on the edge.

Then again, I'm not a programmer and have no idea how hard it would or wouldnt be

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What is Itemization?

Essentially fixing stats on items.

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Hmmm... no mention of costume passes. I do like that Nemesis stuff is being planned/discussed.

This^

Some interesting stuff on that list: Nemesis, couple of fixes, new power sets, alerts, crafting improvements, some new mission arcs, etc. But would really like to see a costume pass in there.

I wonder what this is, though...


Tailor: Costume selection does not indicate which costume is being edited after a player completes editing .


...kind sounds like a bug Ive gotten a couple of times, where I would alter an existing costume, and uppon completion, it would override another costume instead. But not sure if that's it or something else.

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Okay just finished reading.

I LOVE that you guys are doing more public "events." If this means giant monsters and robots and the like, then I am very happy. Even if not, then I hope they're fun anyway. :) And making quick heroic events sounds really, really cool too.

Great idea, this UNTIL Field Report thing. I likes.

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My face when saw list.

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-Skims through the list-


B... But... Now what's left to complain about? D:






EDIT: Oh, yeah, I second Emotes... And maybe take a look at the whole report spam bug while you're at it?

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MOAR tights: In addition to our regular costume updates we will offer more tights with options for non normal maps and skin.


This makes me quite happy.

The rest makes me extremely happy.

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Thank you for the list. If I wasn't so tired, i'd jump up and down.

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A few answers...

I think things like a costume pass is something that is ongoing.
Itemization is fixing item stats, distribution, scale, drop rates etc... I guess everything... It's kinda big.
The PVE challenge will most likely change (mentioned in the Ask Cryptic)
ABSOLUTELY!! interested in your Nemesis Ideas or any for that matter. You can always PM me with what you got, post links to threads or even sent via pigeon.
Always take the time to jump up and down!!!


*Remember, not everything can be listed all at once. Expect to see items move up the list and new things added in each group.

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Thanks for sharing. I noted level cap increases twice, one to 45 and one to 50. I take it there'll be two "expansions"?

Also, like most of the near future changes.

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Definite thanks for posting this. It's a great move in the right direction, I believe.

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Good things are coming :)

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I sure hope the fixing of the Sea Slug includes fixing the multitude of other escorts that just don't work as well. <_< I do like the list. Thanks for sharing.

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A few answers...

I think things like a costume pass is something that is ongoing.
Itemization is fixing item stats, distribution, scale, drop rates etc... I guess everything... It's kinda big. The PVE challenge will most likely change (mentioned in the Ask Cryptic)
ABSOLUTELY!! interested in your Nemesis Ideas or any for that matter. You can always PM me with what you got, post links to threads or even sent via pigeon.
Always take the time to jump up and down!!!


*Remember, not everything can be listed all at once. Expect to see items move up the list and new things added in each group.

I hope that means adjusting (read: LOWERING) the extremely long timers on many items that COULD be fun and useful.

For instance, Poisoned Shuriken at 5 minutes is too long. Use it once, then vend it, is the usual action. Same for Totemic Helms, etc. And 2 - 4 hour timers on anything is just TOO DARN HIGH!!

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•New Zone (3-4 Neighborhoods

Just out of interest, This semi-gritty city; how big is three to four neighbourhoods in.... say, comparison to Vibora?.
Are you going for that same concentration of content on a comparitively sized map?, and please tell me you will be considering designing and adding missions and events on the vertical axis in (potentially) an urban city zone full of skyscapers.

Where should we dump all of our creative ideas for urban content that differs to Millennium City? - suggestions forum?, or would you like somewhere more focused?.

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If you guys are going to raise the level cap, I hope you guys re-tweak the levels for the existing content along with it. Having obsolete endgame content just seems like a waste of development time.

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A few answers...

I think things like a costume pass is something that is ongoing.
Itemization is fixing item stats, distribution, scale, drop rates etc... I guess everything... It's kinda big.
The PVE challenge will most likely change (mentioned in the Ask Cryptic)
ABSOLUTELY!! interested in your Nemesis Ideas or any for that matter. You can always PM me with what you got, post links to threads or even sent via pigeon.
Always take the time to jump up and down!!!


*Remember, not everything can be listed all at once. Expect to see items move up the list and new things added in each group.

One thing I've always wanted to see is nemeses team up. Like fight two at once. Along similar lines it'd be good if we could make a nemesis who are a pair or team. Like those Harajuku Twins. I've got a pair of Redcaps who're supposed to fight together, but I've held off making them because you can't do that currently.

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A few answers...

Itemization is fixing item stats, distribution, scale, drop rates etc... I guess everything... It's kinda big.



Much thanks Robobo and Dar, just needed specific context for the word used to understand its use.

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Thank you, really good report ^_^

level cap increase to 45? sweeet

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I haven't been to bed and it's 6am and I've just finished reading the ask cryptic and all these lists. Now I'm wide awake and smiling and looking forward to a great future. Looks like I'm going to be up 24 hours. It's all your fault Robobo my wife will be having words with you :D

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Ok, I've been quiet on this subject for quite a while now, but no more.

There's no mention anywhere in there of an upright running animation.

You may now count on hearing from me frequently on this from this point forward.

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Ok, I've been quiet on this subject for quite a while now, but no more.

There's no mention anywhere in there of an upright running animation.

You may now count on hearing from me frequently on this from this point forward.

From the Ask Cryptic...

Q: There also seems to be a large outcry concerning the animation for the Acrobatics power. Could it be un-naruto'd?

A: A new runspeed animation is on the schedule for late October. The current Acrobatics animation will not be removed. We will be adding a new super speed animation, however.

While not necessarily an upright running animation, that does kind of suggest that they're planning on doing something about the issue doesn't it? Unless you're referring to a default, non-travel power enhanced run (in which I thought males DID run upright when moving at 'normal' speeds).

I suppose I'm not sure what the specific complaint is, in review.

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Yeah, I didn't catch that on my first read through of the AC. Thanks. Still, I figured if it was actually on the schedule, it might have been mentioned here.

Edit: My specific complaint is with the arms back, ninja-style, about-to-faceplant-because-there's-no-way-a-person-could-possibly-run-like-this-and-stay-on-their-feet, idiotic run for lightspeed, superspeed, and acrobatics that we have now.

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S'all good, mang. ob

I, for one, hope it's at least mostly upright as well. :U

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Aha! I was wondering when you guys would steal the whole Engineering Reports thing from STO >_> glad to see it!

Hrm... mostly like what I see, but I must re-re-re-re-re-re-re-for-the-eleventy-billionth-time-iterate one thing:

Let us customize our Nemesis' minions.

Please.

Let me explain in-detail:

First, I am not asking for the ability to change stats or anything. I admit I'd really LIKE the ability to choose custom powers beyond power-types... but I'm willing to deal with that limitation.*

The thing is, while it may not sound like a big deal, in CO, cosmetic changes are enormously important in defining who and what you are, and who and what your Nemesis is. The stock henchmen... make it feel like your Nemesis isn't an independent threat - they have to have to hire some Goons R US clowns to handle their dirty work.

That may work for some villains, but what if my Nemesis is supposed to be the leader of their own organization, or literally spawns their own minions, or any of a number of ways in which they rightly should have an army of their own? The stock henchmen simply cannot do that justice. It's impossible - even if you add 10,000 varieties, you simply cannot ever do justice to a given concept because you are not creating those henchmen for that concept.

This limitation is further aggravated by the fact that the Foundry actually has a tool that is *perfect* for allowing this kind of thing - I'm talking about the Costume system.** The tech exists - I'm sure there's more to it than just turning it on of course, but it's not like there is not a way to put custom visuals on mobs - it's not something that's never been done before in the engine.

I'd argue however, even if for some reason that simply is unworkable (and I'm not a programmer, maybe it is *shrug*) - I'd still say it'd be worth the time to do it. If you're really willing to expand the Nemesis system (and I hope so) - then one of the things that could really help amp up the polish on that feature would be the ability to visually customize our Nemesis' minions.

Right now, Nemesis is a 'neat idea that didn't go anywhere' - I see a few notes up there about changing that, and that's good... but simply adding stuff on top of what we have without some larger tweaks isn't going to do it I don't think.

Finally, on a note only sort-of related to the above:

Could we get a lot more options for minion power sets? For instance, a Munitions based military weapon set? The lasers are fine and all for some villains, but it doesn't make sense at all for others. Likewise a Street Crook set for minions with abilities similar to the West-Side gangs. Not to mention some of the actual super-power sets.

--------------

Sorry if that's a bit ranty, but I get sorely disappointed every time I hit level 25 on a new character, instead of excited like I ought to be. The minion thing is a good half of why that is.

*I would however like it to be broken down a bit maybe - instead of 4 minions, why not 8 or 12 (If we want), and maybe let us select the power set for each minion individually? That way if my villain's organization has various branches - say tech, magic, etc... I can actually show those off in play.

**Not to be confused with the costume system we players understand, though it's obviously related. The idea is you create a custom visual look, then you put it on a given mob, like a suit. It's still stat-wise the same mob as ever - a Destroid is a Destroid even if it's wearing a skin that makes it look like a dragon, for an example... In terms of the foundry itself, I actually dislike the costume system - it's very limiting in terms of allowing custom storytelling unless the exact right mob type exists. However the Nemesis system is very different than Foundry, and in terms of that, the costume system would work perfectly for what I'm asking.

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For uneven teams, I hope this upcoming Team Duels feature includes a method of inflating the hit points of the of the team that's lacking members. It would be awesome if this one system would work equally well for having Superteams versus Superteams and Superteams versus The Big Bad.

The roleplayer in me grows giddy at the thought. d("-" )

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More communication with the player base, and details!
You guys are all kinds of amazing.

-tips horns to Robobo and team- What? I ain't got no hat!

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For uneven teams, I hope this upcoming Team Duels feature includes a method of inflating the hit points of the of the team that's lacking members.
You should be able to do it manually with sidekicking; have the larger team pick a lower level champion.

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Wheeee! Nice first report.

Level cap to 45? I was thinking about level cap is too low with that much thing I've left to do after 40.

Only sore spot about Nemesis. We have to wait for it to become better. :( However it will give us (devs and players) time to discuss what can be done and what cannot.

Don't let me keep you. You've so much work to do.

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Earth Framework: Very earthy stuff! This is a Brick framework.
Wind Framework: Very windy! This is an Energy framework.



Can I get a passive that will boost Earth, Wind and Fire?

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Can I get a passive that will boost Earth, Wind and Fire?

Yeah, it's called "Boogie Wonderland" :p

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Exciting times lay ahead! :D

Like Sekimen, I was hoping to see a costume pass in that list though.

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Thank you, thank you, thank you for bringing in this level of communication to us players!
:D

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How about a big nemesis database you can publish a nemesis to and the ability to search for nemeses to use, particularly those your friends. You could then use a shared Nemesis with the alert system.

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No ,sir. I don't like it. :mad:
I'm sick and tired of being abused by Cryptic like this!



This new section totally bumped down where I usually click and I end up here more often than not. :p
Besides that... I like it. I missed the engineering posts from STO.
Team Duels just might make me interested in PvP in this game.
And XP gifting you say? Sounds interesting enough. (and will allow me to not complain as much when leveling a new squishy alt where I get bored at lvl 13 right before getting the power that will help me survive)

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Lots of good news there .

That being said , why did you shine us on about the foundry for the better part of a year if you knew it was not feasible .

Keep missing target dates , and engage in vapoware and watch the population continue to tumble .

Facts from now on .

No more of your ******** .

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this. is. awesome.

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Thanks for the info, Rob!

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A few answers...

ABSOLUTELY!! interested in your Nemesis Ideas or any for that matter. You can always PM me with what you got, post links to threads or even sent via pigeon.
I thought it was against the rules to PM a dev or GM...or have those changed now that PWE is in control?
In Test

Tab targeting fails to target closest enemy.

A closer look (On Deck)

Targeting

Finally! Please get this to work right. Even when it was working it never worked great. I know Kenpo will be happy about this.
Up Next!
In Development

Comic Series 2: Whiteout
Alerts: Repeatable instanced missions that offer a variety of encounter and reward types set in various locations
Vibora Mini Arc (level 22): A new mini arc that starts in Canada and takes you to a pre-Crisis Vibora Bay. A place that is just seeing the arrival of the darker elements found later on.
Unarmed review: A review that will see, when complete, 2 new AT's (one Tank and one MDPS), new animations and several new powers.
MOAR tights: In addition to our regular costume updates we will offer more tights with options for non normal maps and skin.

All very nice right there! Are MOAR tights going to be c-store or are we gonna get some more free ones finally?
On the schedule

Infernal review: A review of the Infernal framework that will include new powers and additional AT's
Auto Teaming, temp teams: Auto teams for open missions (if solo) and optional for groups. These are temp teams that overlay your existing team.
Earth Framework: Very earthy stuff! This is a Brick framework.
Wind Framework: Very windy! This is an Energy framework.

NEW POWERS!!! Lots-o-new-powers!! And Earth! Woot! I'm a little pumped, can you tell? Also, auto teaming sounds very cool.
In Design Discussion!

New RenCen Powerhouse: Costume stage w/tailor, dueling area, revamped powers testing area.

Please make this a separate entity from the regular powerhouse. I'm sure that's your intention but I just want to make sure that I'm not going to lag horribly when training up because there's a costume contest in the next room.

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Robobo, this is all amazing news. I'm very excited. Thank you.

The only things missing are the Nemesis, Power Replacer and Foundry.

I'm really hoping those are in the list somewhere. I know you guys have mentioned Foundry would be a long way off etc, but it would be reassuring if it was at least noted as something like "not coming any time soon, but still trying to keep it on the table." I'm also hoping Power Replacers are part of the Itemization.

Finally, Nemesis. Nemesis should be everywhere in everything. Nemesis should start at level 10 or 15 and be a constant in your hero career. Nemesis is one of the most exciting things to come out of MMOs in a very long time. Please don't let this drop by the wayside.


Edit:
I just saw the Ask Cryptic, I'm very excited that my concerns were addressed. Thanks again!

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Very handy nice and informative ^__^

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Nemesis should be everywhere in everything. Nemesis should start at level 10 or 15 and be a constant in your hero career.
While I agree that Nemeses should perhaps affect the hero's life more often than they do, I think I'd have to draw the line somewhere short of "everywhere in everything". Superman can go months without running into Lex Luthor; a good Mastermind needs some planning time, after all, and every villain needs "me time".

OTOH, if the software could handle it, I think I'd like the idea that when a hero has a Hideout, there should be at least one Nemesis mission that starts off with him arriving at his Hideout only to find the place trashed, and either something important missing or a note from his Nemesis mocking the hero's security and speculating on whether the hero's loved ones are defended so poorly...

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I thought it was against the rules to PM a dev or GM

Really!? I've been getting PMs for YEARS! I didn't realize I was supposed to be reporting those people. I even replied to almost every one of them! What a fool I've been!

Please make this a separate entity from the regular powerhouse. I'm sure that's your intention but I just want to make sure that I'm not going to lag horribly when training up because there's a costume contest in the next room.

Both the Theatre and the Duel Arenas will be in separate instances so they can have many people per map, their own zone chats, etc. But both will be part of, and accessed through the new powerhouse.

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Really!? I've been getting PMs for YEARS! I didn't realize I was supposed to be reporting those people. I even replied to almost every one of them! What a fool I've been!


It is a rule that really only one person on Cryptic follows and I thank all of you who do respond for better serving your community.


Both the Theatre and the Duel Arenas will be in separate instances so they can have many people per map, their own zone chats, etc. But both will be part of, and accessed through the new powerhouse.

Does that mean we will have to go through the powerhouse first or will there be an option to zone directly into the theatre from MC, Desert, whatever?

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Really!? I've been getting PMs for YEARS! I didn't realize I was supposed to be reporting those people. I even replied to almost every one of them! What a fool I've been!

*looks at sig* *looks at quote* *looks at sig* *looks at quote*

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While I agree that Nemeses should perhaps affect the hero's life more often than they do, I think I'd have to draw the line somewhere short of "everywhere in everything". Superman can go months without running into Lex Luthor; a good Mastermind needs some planning time, after all, and every villain needs "me time".

OTOH, if the software could handle it, I think I'd like the idea that when a hero has a Hideout, there should be at least one Nemesis mission that starts off with him arriving at his Hideout only to find the place trashed, and either something important missing or a note from his Nemesis mocking the hero's security and speculating on whether the hero's loved ones are defended so poorly...

I failed myself, you are correct. Usually I put "option" in there somewhere.

I would like the option to have nemesis everywhere in everything. Maybe tie that to their Mood or whatever it's called. Personality. If they're aggressive they attack more often, in more varied missions/instances/whatever. Mind I don't mean the your Nem should appear in every mission, I'm saying it should be possible that they appear in all kinds of missions, be they APs, CSs, Open, Street sweeping, Cosmic Battle, PvP (maybe not, that would be bad), Social Instances (with limitation, like not Caprice, but a bar or gym maybe, and your hideout definately, but very very very rarely), while you're AFK (cuz they're villains). Stuff like that.

[Archived Post]

Both the Theatre and the Duel Arenas will be in separate instances so they can have many people per map, their own zone chats, etc. But both will be part of, and accessed through the new powerhouse.

Bless you, Tumer. I assume the RenCen PH will now have three access-options for each PH-prime, The Arena, and The theater?

Also, is it possible to get any concept art? :D

[Archived Post]

Both the Theatre and the Duel Arenas will be in separate instances so they can have many people per map, their own zone chats, etc. But both will be part of, and accessed through the new powerhouse.

Before you put these areas in the powerhouse, please consider this:

Do we really want more loading screens?

Perhaps (and maybe this is what you're thinking) when we go to the PH entrance (from MIL) we get a number of options (like the jet) that lead us directly to where we want to go (PH, Theatre, Duel Arena) rather than having us load up the PH Main Lobby map--that we may not even interested in--to use the teleporter pad to get to the map that we are interested in. These areas could also be accessible from the teleporter pad inside the PH, but if there's no technical reason that you have to funnel us through the PH lobby to get to these areas, then it's just cruelly tedious to make us do so.

Thanks

[Archived Post]

Xp Gifting: Gift some of your experience to your alts or friends.
C-Store Coupons: Items that give you a discount in the c-store.
On, now these things sound interesting. I'm especially interested in how XP Gifting would work. Hmmm...

???

[Archived Post]

Um...

*looks around nervously*

Can I just say....umm....

*squeeeeeeeeeee!!* I'm so excited for everything on that list!!

*ahem*

*goes back to sipping tea*

[Archived Post]

New RenCen Powerhouse: Costume stage w/tailor, dueling area, revamped powers testing area.
...Please make this a separate entity from the regular powerhouse...
If this happens, i certainly would expect a SEPERATE tailor option in the existing PH's for SB/DB/etc :cool:

[Archived Post]

Can the C-store coupons be a weekly or monthly reward for gold members? Pleeeaaasseee?

[Archived Post]

Also, is it possible to get any concept art? :D

Nope, it's all up here :::points to taco:::




Before you put these areas in the powerhouse, please consider this:

Do we really want more loading screens?

Perhaps (and maybe this is what you're thinking) when we go to the PH entrance (from MIL) we get a number of options (like the jet) that lead us directly to where we want to go (PH, Theatre, Duel Arena) rather than having us load up the PH Main Lobby map--that we may not even interested in--to use the teleporter pad to get to the map that we are interested in. These areas could also be accessible from the teleporter pad inside the PH, but if there's no technical reason that you have to funnel us through the PH lobby to get to these areas, then it's just cruelly tedious to make us do so.

Thanks


Nothing's been hooked up yet, so it's all open to discussion. I lumped these into the PoHo because it made the most sense to me, and was a way to improve the PoHo while also adding new features I hope people will like. I'm not opposed to putting in separate entry points from MIL, but we'd have to figure out where to put them. It's possible to put in multi-choice move on the PoHo door, and maybe that's a better solution.

This is all in it's infancy, everything is subject to change.

[Archived Post]

I need to go clean my hand.

[Archived Post]

Nothing's been hooked up yet, so it's all open to discussion. I lumped these into the PoHo because it made the most sense to me, and was a way to improve the PoHo while also adding new features I hope people will like. I'm not opposed to putting in separate entry points from MIL, but we'd have to figure out where to put them. It's possible to put in multi-choice move on the PoHo door, and maybe that's a better solution.

This is all in it's infancy, everything is subject to change.

I think multiple choice on the Powerhouse door would work, especially if stylistically all 3 areas will look the same. Just have it so Powerhouse proper is the default z choice when walking up.

[Archived Post]

Too much magic stuff, don't like it.

[Archived Post]

Can the C-store coupons be a weekly or monthly reward for gold members? Pleeeaaasseee?
Sounds like something for veteran rewards, no?
Of course it would have be retroactive if they go that route...

[Archived Post]

Hrmm, I am not sure how I feel about the costume runway being in the power house myself. I know a bunch of people, for whatever reason, want the tailor in the power house because they feel it will allow them to freely change costume bits without incurring a cost or something, but personally, if we are making this some sort of runway stage show event thing then I would prefer a whole new location for it not within the power house.

I know the idea is probably to centralize it so it is accessible to everyone, but honestly I would like to stop having everything crammed in the Ren Center of Millennium City. One of the things about an MMO is the fact you can traverse the world, and cramming everything in one spot removes that aspect. There is a lot of territory of the city out there that lies untapped and could potentially use additions like this.

Now that that is out of the way, I would personally make it something hooked to either Club Caprice (after all there has to be 8 million floors to that place given how large it is) or hooked into the blimp removing the UNITY link once and for all (it has been about a year since that change, think we can dump it finally).

My alternative is the little plaza area that has a bunch of cars in it just north of the bookstore in Downtown, having the entrance there. That looks like it would fit the locale where people would go to show off.

Mostly just want to stop cramming every little social thing into the Ren Center. It just makes people not want to leave the place which keeps us right where we currently are, a whole bunch of social areas but no one bothers to go to them because too much is in the Ren Center. Not to mention, it would be in the best interest of Champions to actually start making Millennium City, and the others, feel like an actual living, breathing city with its locations.

[Archived Post]

Oh hey, about the xp gift.

If it is going to work how I think it might, maybe there should be some sort of "Leftover XP" system implemented for level 40 toons? Just my opinion.

[Archived Post]

Now this post here will actually concern endgame content, and what I can hope will evolve into content that can involve teams of 10 or even 15 (ie raiding). Now my first concern is that the team is looking at the Star*Guard as the outlet for that. Now, I am not saying that's bad, but I will say, on a fundamental level, going to space ends up putting a bit too much expectation on things. As Yahtzee stated, going into space pretty much doesn't leave much else where you can go, and we've already been to the depths of the ocean.

Now as far as raid content is concerned, and I know I am not the only one who wants it, do not just focus on boss style encounters. Maybe make them similar to the Open Missions in scope with a potential final boss that presents a large challenge and not just a mountain of hit points, but allow us to create a team larger than 5 members. UI'ly, doing what SWTOR is doing for a team larger than base seems to be good, just bars with names on them.

Also do not try to under-rate your loot. People do want to be rewarded, and as great as costume bits might be, people want things that actually help make their character feel like they are growing, which in this case would be the loot. I know the big issue is reigning in the eventual stat bloat that could happen, but there does need to be some feeling of reward for the work involved.

And finally, do not make the fights stupid easy. The whole concept of people can be anything is all and well, but honestly, there needs to be things that encourage teaming. The current team and lair content does not encourage teaming. This is one of the things that many endgame players have been disappointed with, the fact that the content doesn't encourage teaming instead of just five players running around like idiots doing their own thing, and in turn the bosses are so easy it presents absolutely no challenge at all leaving either a sense of being handed our rewards, or it's just tedious conducting the fight because the challenge is only staving off falling asleep while you plow through the mountain of hit points.

[Archived Post]

I like the list, I really like the list.

I could gush about darn near everything on that list.

However [You knew that was coming didn't you]...


No mention of social spaces? Emotes? Or well anything the RP community wants?

Notably all these were given the 'no time now, content content content'' response on the Ask Cryptic. Never mind that it Would Be Content.*

No Foundry?

Should we just give up already? The Ask Cryptic essential said never going to happen.

*I know there's one coming in a VibBay mini arc, but for mechanon's sake, it's going to be in VibBay.. so, no one will go there. >.>. And emotes got mentioned in Ask Cryptic, but it's not on this 'to do' list at all so I assume it's not going to be done.

[Archived Post]

On the question of the level cap up, I think this would be a good time to actually revisit the tier 4 powers and refine them. Tier 4 powers have basically been a bust form a lot of perspectives and in many cases people are somewhat displeased we have these tier 4 powers, but the ones that would actually fit their characters are actually locked away in other tree set ups.

I suggest this; Tier 4s get changed to Signature Powers. Something people want, a major power that helps define them as a character. This might mean a bit more additions added in but put signature powers in their own tree and let's go from there. Players only get one signature power choice, but it's a start. Basically changing tier 4s into signature powers allows people to actually fit specific power to the theme of their build.

First, on the level of points being added, here is my suggestion for level 41 to 45;

41 - Signature Power
42 - 2 Advantage Point
43 - 1 Talent Point
44 - 1 Power Point
45 - 2 Advantage Points

The 46 to 50 spread will probably be a tad trickier but I would add another talent point, but I would consider something like this;

46- 1 Power Point
47 - 1 Advantage Point
48 - 1 Talent Point
49 - 1 Advantage Point
50 - 2 Advantage Points

[Archived Post]

Please make this a separate entity from the regular powerhouse. I'm sure that's your intention but I just want to make sure that I'm not going to lag horribly when training up because there's a costume contest in the next room.



Just for the record you guys (not just you Rox) know the point was that the tailor was actually in PH right? The point was so that if you pick a weapon power or, now, jet pack flight, you could see what it looked like without having to pick the power, leave the PH (load screen), lock in the power, go to the tailor, buy the piece, test it, change your mind, run back to the PH (load screen), pay to retcon out your power, pick a different power, lock in the power, leave the PH (load screen), run to the tailor, pick teh costume piece etc.

Consider a blade user trying to find a good stabby attack, you go to the PH and have to pick between HW stab, Ego blade stab, Single blade stab and Dual blade stab. Each time you want to see what it would look like you have to go through the entire process. It's annoying and expensive for no reason.

And it doesn't even have to get that complicated - you could just be trying to decide which sword looks best with the same stabby motion, decide you don't like any of them, and retcon it out. It'd be much simpler and less painful if we could just do it in the same spot. Besides I don't think that many people would go through a load screen to mess with their costumes when they don't have to, but even so, I suggested limiting it to a be a "weapons chest" type deal where you can only access stuff that's affected by powers like weapons or jetpacks, and maybe capes I guess.

[Archived Post]

Concerning Nemesis missions and such;

Nemesis is a sticking point for me now. In fact it's downright annoying as it currently stands. There are maybe a smattering of a dozen indoor missions throughout the whole Nemesis plot line and the beginning and ending is always the same. Even the out door bits tend to get repeated since they are attached to specific in door missions.

Something I would want to see is more missions added into Nemesis and for the love that is holy, different ending arcs for Nemesis. Nothing annoys the hell out of me more than the fact I do Deathray Demolition for EVERY Nemesis I've had. For the love of comic books create more endings, if nothing else.

On top of that, I have to ask that concerning things that use our nemesis, for instance Nem Conn, please pick from our stable and don't put a random generic in. I know it's probably tech issue, but when I don't have a Nemesis chosen I don't want to be given some random Red Winter person that doesn't even fit my theme. Pick from my stable and surprise me that way.

We also need more personality choices. Most of the personalities don't even fit half the nemesis I create, and on top of that I spend some time actually writing a bio for them and no one can actually read the bio of the nemesis, which kind of disappoints me. So please, do something to flesh out more nemesis missions and such. I am tired of running deathray demolition, especially for at least half my stable it makes no damned sense.

One other thing, allow us to make our nemesis bigger than normal so we can try to represent that they are actually suppose to be giant sized since we can't exactly give them permanent growth machines and such.

[Archived Post]

I like this list a lot. Only disappointment is a lack of emote pack. STO users can lay down. I want to as well!

[Archived Post]

On the question of the level cap up, I think this would be a good time to actually revisit the tier 4 powers and refine them. Tier 4 powers have basically been a bust form a lot of perspectives and in many cases people are somewhat displeased we have these tier 4 powers, but the ones that would actually fit their characters are actually locked away in other tree set ups.

I suggest this; Tier 4s get changed to Signature Powers. Something people want, a major power that helps define them as a character. This might mean a bit more additions added in but put signature powers in their own tree and let's go from there. Players only get one signature power choice, but it's a start. Basically changing tier 4s into signature powers allows people to actually fit specific power to the theme of their build.

First, on the level of points being added, here is my suggestion for level 41 to 45;

41 - Signature Power
42 - 2 Advantage Point
43 - 1 Talent Point
44 - 1 Power Point
45 - 2 Advantage Points

The 46 to 50 spread will probably be a tad trickier but I would add another talent point, but I would consider something like this;

46- 1 Power Point
47 - 1 Advantage Point
48 - 1 Talent Point
49 - 1 Advantage Point
50 - 2 Advantage Points

That's a lot of, bordering on too many, advantage points IMO. I think instead maybe at levels 42 and 47 you unlock a "Rank 4" advantage point to boost one power (that's already at rank 3) instead of advantage points. It would essentially make you're already most powerful attacks (maybe) your "Signature Attack." It also may completely break things since some powers already hit potentially WAY too hard.

The problem is less that T4s are too hard to get, but rather that the T4s aren't very good even if they were T2s. I love the way Energy Torrent looks (and sounds) but it's comepletely useless even if you build for it (which you can't and still be decent). The power actually reduces the effectiveness/efficiency of all the other powers it relies on if you try to, due to lack of proper synergy.

[Archived Post]

That's a lot of, bordering on too many, advantage points IMO. I think instead maybe at levels 42 and 47 you unlock a "Rank 4" advantage point to boost one power (that's already at rank 3) instead of advantage points. It would essentially make you're already most powerful attacks (maybe) your "Signature Attack." It also may completely break things since some powers already hit potentially WAY too hard.

The problem is less that T4s are too hard to get, but rather that the T4s aren't very good even if they were T2s. I love the way Energy Torrent looks (and sounds) but it's comepletely useless even if you build for it (which you can't and still be decent). The power actually reduces the effectiveness/efficiency of all the other powers it relies on if you try to, due to lack of proper synergy.

Actually doing the math it's probably too few. 13 powers /36 is 2 points per power basically. 3 new powers with 8 power points comes out to roughly 2 and change so that's pretty much right it is at now. Throwing in travel powers and such even reduces that further. I've been thinking on it a while :p

[Archived Post]

Just for the record you guys (not just you Rox) know the point was that the tailor was actually in PH right? The point was so that if you pick a weapon power or, now, jet pack flight, you could see what it looked like without having to pick the power, leave the PH (load screen), lock in the power, go to the tailor, buy the piece, test it, change your mind, run back to the PH (load screen), pay to retcon out your power, pick a different power, lock in the power, leave the PH (load screen), run to the tailor, pick teh costume piece etc.

Yes, this I know and agree with. I was commenting more specifically on the costume contests...or wait...I read it as a costume contest area, not a tailor area. NEVER MIND!!! Nothing to see here ...

[Archived Post]

Yes, this I know and agree with. I was commenting more specifically on the costume contests...or wait...I read it as a costume contest area, not a tailor area. NEVER MIND!!! Nothing to see here ...


Powerhouse max per instance is really low. Even if someone wanted to hold a costume contest there, it wouldn't work very well.

[Archived Post]

Powerhouse max per instance is really low. Even if someone wanted to hold a costume contest there, it wouldn't work very well.

Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking. Something along the lines of a new area (assumed instance) of the powerhouse that we could hold contests at. I guess I've had previous thread suggestions and convos stuck in my head when I read that.

[Archived Post]

A big "THANKS!" for adding this section to the site. A lot of the grumbling on the site comes from not knowing where the game is headed and what the devs are working on.

There's lots of items I'm excited about, but really the best part is just seeing some planning for the long-term.

[Archived Post]

A lot of cool stuff. Not c-store stuff, but real game stuff. I'm pleased to see that.
The only one question is when we will have these and if the deadline of these projects will come soon, allowing champions to retain his players or to increase their number, to be able to raise his bad reputation of low content, and to allow cryptic to make more income and to give to champions the success which it deserves.

In any case, a lot of good news. I was desesperate to see only content in store since June.
Oh, and a little troll (but very little). What's store discount coupons ? Will be a item subscribers buy in store? :p

[Archived Post]

Concerns on the UNITY revisit;

I will just come out and say this. One thing that has basically ****ed me off about the entire token system is both the fact we have so many pointless tokens and on top of that we get so few making it feel too damn grindy. The UNITY rewards cost so much and we get so few behind a wall of even more tokens just to get the privilege to earn those tokens it is bloody annoying.

So here is my suggestion;

Roll Snakebucks, Nemesis tokens and Intelligence all into UNTIL tokens. That can be considered the low grade tokens. UNITY tokens can be the high level. Increase the amount of tokens earned up. Not significantly, but enough to where people don't feel like they have to grind themselves stupid for weeks on end just to get an item out of the system.

Finally, just nuke UNITY all together and put it inside with UNTIL. Move all the NPCs in, and let's start making that place look more interesting. The teleporter can be moved into it's own special room in there and let's try to liven it up and the crafting area.

In short, other than the poor loot drops from Lairs, one of the biggest sticking points for me and I am sure many others has been the rather pathetic point system as it stands.

[Archived Post]

Just wanted to say i love this format. More info and easier to read then the ask cryptic. Kudos.

[Archived Post]

Not sure how feasible this is, but what about adding some sort of MC role to costume contest instances, with the power to boot unruly players? A dedicated costume contest area sounds fantastic, but it's going to be a troll magnet.

[Archived Post]

Not sure how feasible this is, but what about adding some sort of MC role to costume contest instances, with the power to boot unruly players? A dedicated costume contest area sounds fantastic, but it's going to be a troll magnet.

Also a theater box for watching.

[Archived Post]

Maybe these should be signed off everytime with "UNTIL next time!". :rolleyes:





*ahem. :o

[Archived Post]

OMG
Super group bases
right there
there goes my mind with the ideas and such for RP implication
and THIS is why i stayed here and not switched to some other mmo :D

[Archived Post]

Also a theater box for watching.

Does the theater box include NPCs that are quite obviously Statler and Waldorf wannabes?

[Archived Post]

In regards to the new city zone please include/give major thought to these things.

1) Female minions

2) Villains with ACTUAL superpowers - (Telepaths, Fire, Electricity, Force, etc) this does not include magic, weapons, or gadgets

3) Villains in tights - be they man or beast.. this is a superhero game and there is a lack of super-villain teams

4) Make more use of the Z axis. The sky is vast space and can be fun to use when implemented correctly (see Lemuria). This also makes use of your Avian costume set. Elevators and stairs and even a sky-monorail will be neccesary for runners/tunneleers (and larger than current) and maybe even a temporary jet pack (like the boots used in VB crisis).

5) Make more use of the Z axis. This ALSO includes a subterrain. A tunnel/subway system also is a great and simple way to increase the playable space of a smaller zone (Would have been great in a map the size of Vibora Bay).

6) More (and functional) open missions than EVER BEFORE. Endgame zones require them.

7) More Legendary and Cosmic villains than ever (and maybe don't make them huge sized. I see the reasons you make them large.. but change would be good.

[Archived Post]

*Snip*

Let us customize our Nemesis' minions.

Please.

*Snip*



Totally agree with this. It would be so cool to create a Jamaican drug cartel (like the one in Predator 2) for one of my alt characters with a voodoo prince as their head. At the moment, all of the human henchmen are Caucasian. Make it so, Cryptic!

[Archived Post]

Really!? I've been getting PMs for YEARS! I didn't realize I was supposed to be reporting those people. I even replied to almost every one of them! What a fool I've been!

I'm pretty sure, in the Great Forum Revised Rulefest of 2010 (or was it 2011?), it was made expressly clear that people such as I were no longer permitted to send any Cryptic employees any private messages. At all.

I'm also rather sure Wishstone and Stormshade fielded questions pertaining to that very rule as well.

But hey, good to know we can ignore it.

Curious though why the Powerhouse is being expanded with a runway. The place seems so.. industrial. I would've thought the VIP lounge would've been a better fit. If that meant opening it up, I'd be for it. Its lonely in there.

[Archived Post]

To be clear, the new powerhouse plan as it stands now, includes revisions to the powers testing area, the addition of some dueling arenas, a costume contest theatre, and a tailor.

Silverspar, I hear you, but the gripe about other instances is always that they AREN'T in MIL. And while I do like the idea of scattering things a bit more around the city, it's not really reasonable to expect a lvl 5 character to run halfway downtown. Mil (outside Ren Cen) is a dangerous place, populated by lots, and lots of bad guys. Like it or not, Ren Cen IS the hub of our city, and as such, needs to have the majority of noncombat functionality located there.

Yes, it's an MMO, but even in WoW, pretty much everything is accessible in Stormwind or Ironforge. Sure there are some small safe area pockets around, but you wouldn't expect to find an auction house or bank out there. Similarly, I feel that a costume contest instance, that should be available through non-combat means, to every level, pretty much has to reside within Ren Cen. Sure, I guess it could have been tied to Club Caprice or somewhere else. But I was going to be working on the power house anyway, and it seemed like a fine place (to me) to put it. As such, it can easily roll into the work that was already going to be done, and doesn't have to be scheduled separately, with a separate asset list, etc.

[Archived Post]

Finally, just nuke UNITY all together and put it inside with UNTIL. Move all the NPCs in, and let's start making that place look more interesting. The teleporter can be moved into it's own special room in there and let's try to liven it up and the crafting area.


Surprisingly, I find myself agreeing with you for once. :p

Roll UNITY and UNTIL into the same building, but make the UNITY room a lvl40-access-only room or something. Kinda like how (and I hate to use this example, trust me) DCUO has the "big three" of each side behind closed doors.

In fact, I kind of see it like the current UNTIL building, but in the back where the water and chopper are, there's another door that only opens when you hit lvl40, and contains just two rooms: The teleporting room, with the big holo-globe acting as the teleporter and mission giver (Walk up and interact with it, you go somewhere or choose whatever the current consoles have), and the Drs. White planted somewhere. Second room is Mentiac's current room, scaled down a little.


Also, The Theater in Caprice is a pretty inspired idea. Make it a large room with a nice glass panel somewhee that overlooks either the city or the rest of the Ren Center.


And one more thing: I'm not entirely sure this thread was meant for suggestions. But I dont mind posting until someone tells us to stop. :D

[Archived Post]

To be clear, the new powerhouse plan as it stands now, includes revisions to the powers testing area, the addition of some dueling arenas, a costume contest theatre, and a tailor.


Please let this include 100K hp dummies and one million hp dummies.

[Archived Post]

Please let this include 100K hp dummies and one million hp dummies.

That. Would. Be. Awesome.

[Archived Post]

Just for the record you guys (not just you Rox) know the point was that the tailor was actually in PH right? The point was so that if you pick a weapon power or, now, jet pack flight, you could see what it looked like without having to pick the power, leave the PH (load screen), lock in the power, go to the tailor, buy the piece, test it, change your mind, run back to the PH (load screen), pay to retcon out your power, pick a different power, lock in the power, leave the PH (load screen), run to the tailor, pick teh costume piece etc.

Consider a blade user trying to find a good stabby attack, you go to the PH and have to pick between HW stab, Ego blade stab, Single blade stab and Dual blade stab. Each time you want to see what it would look like you have to go through the entire process. It's annoying and expensive for no reason.

And it doesn't even have to get that complicated - you could just be trying to decide which sword looks best with the same stabby motion, decide you don't like any of them, and retcon it out. It'd be much simpler and less painful if we could just do it in the same spot. Besides I don't think that many people would go through a load screen to mess with their costumes when they don't have to, but even so, I suggested limiting it to a be a "weapons chest" type deal where you can only access stuff that's affected by powers like weapons or jetpacks, and maybe capes I guess.

Well you could always do both. Have a multi-destination door for the Power House to go the PoHo, Tailor, or T heather zones directly. One inside any zone, you can move to free between the zones with multi-destination doors. And have the exit to MC which will lock-in any power selections as usual. They have that tech already inside of the Power House already.

[Archived Post]

I'll second the call to link a new costume area to Caprice. I think it's much more intuitive to have it in a place devoted to social gatherings than in the Powerhouse.

Likewise, combining UNTIL and UNITY together would be nice, but a much lower priority. The system's clunky, but works.

[Archived Post]

Nope, it's all up here :::points to taco:::





Nothing's been hooked up yet, so it's all open to discussion. I lumped these into the PoHo because it made the most sense to me, and was a way to improve the PoHo while also adding new features I hope people will like. I'm not opposed to putting in separate entry points from MIL, but we'd have to figure out where to put them. It's possible to put in multi-choice move on the PoHo door, and maybe that's a better solution.

This is all in it's infancy, everything is subject to change.

How about the door in MC that used to go to Unity HQ? It's just a useless building now.

[Archived Post]

How about the door in MC that used to go to Unity HQ? It's just a useless building now.

I'm not sure Mr. Stone would care much for people loitering around his building. <_<

[Archived Post]

Can I get a passive that will boost Earth, Wind and Fire?

Its Called The "Captain Planet" Passive

Have to say this all pretty much looks great, the Earth and Wind classes are on my want list

[Archived Post]

I have no doubt that the costume area, once finished, will look great. After seeing the job they did on Sapphire's stage; it's obvious the the environment guys are cookin' with fire these days.

I just hope that where ever they decide to place the costume area that they keep certain things in mind.

Things I can think of at the moment:

-Instance population limits (low limits would be bad.)

-Available space (costume contests require a good amount of standing room for contestants and onlookers otherwise everybody gets mashed together).

-Lighting. The costume area needs to have lighting set up so that texture (cloth, leather, metal, etc), glow effects, and proper costume colors are easily visable.

-A winner's area (just a suggestion here). This would save the CC host the trouble of directing winners to a random spot. A distunguished, easy-to-find winner's area could be a good idea. This way the winners of a CC could have a place to stand while winnings were awarded and so others can take a look at the winners costumes. Perhaps this area could be at the end of the catwalk (provided a fashion catwalk is being created and has the traditional "turn around" circle at the end.

-Communication. There needs to be a way for CC hosts to easily announce to the game population that a CC is being hosted. Using Zone Chat in MC works currently due to CCs being held IN MC, but if the designated area created for CC's is not in MC; there needs to be a way for hosts to alert possible contestants that's a contest is going on. Perhaps a new channel could be added called "contest" or something. That way people can read local, zone, contests, and other custom channel feeds as well as turn them off if they don't want to read them. In any event; there needs to be an easy way for hosts to let players know a CC is about to start.

-Music. Another pure suggestion here, but feel free to put in a DJ or something. The Sapphire event had music. Club Caprice has music. It seems that "social" areas in the game have social music as part of their flavor. That's one thing that's kind of missing from the social stuff in MC. That was another cool thing about the Sapphire event in MC; it provided nice social music to go with the social atmosphere of the event. So hopefully; this new social area will include a good blend of social soundtrack.

/$0.02

[Archived Post]

Similarly, I feel that a costume contest instance, that should be available through non-combat means, to every level, pretty much has to reside within Ren Cen. Sure, I guess it could have been tied to Club Caprice or somewhere else. But I was going to be working on the power house anyway, and it seemed like a fine place (to me) to put it. As such, it can easily roll into the work that was already going to be done, and doesn't have to be scheduled separately, with a separate asset list, etc.

I'm in agreement with you. In the book, The Blood and Dr. McQuark the main costume venue of Millenium City was set in a place very much like the powerhouse so this fits the lore.

[Archived Post]

Can I get a passive that will boost Earth, Wind and Fire?
You'll have to go through your Member of Parliament Funkadelic for that.

[Archived Post]

I have no doubt that the costume area, once finished, will look great. After seeing the job they did on Sapphire's stage; it's obvious the the environment guys are cookin' with fire these days.

I just hope that where ever they decide to place the costume area that they keep certain things in mind.

Things I can think of at the moment:

-Instance population limits (low limits would be bad.)

-Available space (costume contests require a good amount of standing room for contestants and onlookers otherwise everybody gets mashed together).

-Lighting. The costume area needs to have lighting set up so that texture (cloth, leather, metal, etc), glow effects, and proper costume colors are easily visable.

-A winner's area (just a suggestion here). This would save the CC host the trouble of directing winners to a random spot. A distunguished, easy-to-find winner's area could be a good idea. This way the winners of a CC could have a place to stand while winnings were awarded and so others can take a look at the winners costumes. Perhaps this area could be at the end of the catwalk (provided a fashion catwalk is being created and has the traditional "turn around" circle at the end.

-Communication. There needs to be a way for CC hosts to easily announce to the game population that a CC is being hosted. Using Zone Chat in MC works currently due to CCs being held IN MC, but if the designated area created for CC's is not in MC; there needs to be a way for hosts to alert possible contestants that's a contest is going on. Perhaps a new channel could be added called "contest" or something. That way people can read local, zone, contests, and other custom channel feeds as well as turn them off if they don't want to read them. In any event; there needs to be an easy way for hosts to let players know a CC is about to start.

-Music. Another pure suggestion here, but feel free to put in a DJ or something. The Sapphire event had music. Club Caprice has music. It seems that "social" areas in the game have social music as part of their flavor. That's one thing that's kind of missing from the social stuff in MC. That was another cool thing about the Sapphire event in MC; it provided nice social music to go with the social atmosphere of the event. So hopefully; this new social area will include a good blend of social soundtrack.

/$0.02

Player Capacity - We haven't set up the instancing yet, but I foresee no reason for it not to have a higher end cap. There is lots of room in there

Standing Room - Did I mention there's lots of room?

Lighting - In my investigations to what "good" lighting means to people, most seemed to agree that the Character Creator's Lighting was good. I'm using a slightly tweaked version of that sky file as the base. So I THINK it will be acceptable.

Winners Area - There is a catwalk, with a circle at the end to do your turn arounds etc. Would that suffice? Or do you want the actual 1st/2nd/3rd style tiered blocks to stand on?

Communication - I don't think we had anything planned for this, I can talk some with Robobo and the chat guys. Even if we made a new "events" channel or something in MIL, you'd still have to go there to use it right? Or are you envisioning something more pervasive?

Music - I'm not opposed to putting some music in there. I don't think I'd have trouble convincing the audio guys. But whatever it is has to be fairly low key, not grating or annoying. What do you think would be appropriate?

[Archived Post]

Music - I'm not opposed to putting some music in there. I don't think I'd have trouble convincing the audio guys. But whatever it is has to be fairly low key, not grating or annoying. What do you think would be appropriate?

Something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v9-Nw4nAZg&feature=related

[Archived Post]

Communication - I don't think we had anything planned for this, I can talk some with Robobo and the chat guys. Even if we made a new "events" channel or something in MIL, you'd still have to go there to use it right? Or are you envisioning something more pervasive?

There is already a widely used contests channel, so really all that is needed is to teach more players about player created channels.

For size, as long as it can hit 100 it is good.

[Archived Post]

Hey Tumerboy. As a dumb question and for a bit of retroness (not in the way of comics but games) do you think you could sneak the Pocket D club music as a part of the loop maybe into the Minefield Club? That's if you guys do own the music files that is, honestly always loved that for the club scene.

[Archived Post]

Player Capacity - We haven't set up the instancing yet, but I foresee no reason for it not to have a higher end cap. There is lots of room in there

Standing Room - Did I mention there's lots of room?

Lighting - In my investigations to what "good" lighting means to people, most seemed to agree that the Character Creator's Lighting was good. I'm using a slightly tweaked version of that sky file as the base. So I THINK it will be acceptable.

Winners Area - There is a catwalk, with a circle at the end to do your turn arounds etc. Would that suffice? Or do you want the actual 1st/2nd/3rd style tiered blocks to stand on?

Communication - I don't think we had anything planned for this, I can talk some with Robobo and the chat guys. Even if we made a new "events" channel or something in MIL, you'd still have to go there to use it right? Or are you envisioning something more pervasive?

Music - I'm not opposed to putting some music in there. I don't think I'd have trouble convincing the audio guys. But whatever it is has to be fairly low key, not grating or annoying. What do you think would be appropriate?

As far as the player capacity... Do you think you would disable ALL powers in the instance? My reasoning for this is that having over a hundred toons in an area, if someone starts popping off PBAOEs like pyre and such, the framerates are going to fall through the floor. As it is, having 75+ people all gathered together and NOT using powers is hard enough on the graphics capabilities of some lower end systems.

[Archived Post]

not to derail, the derailment.. but I wanted to ask about the XP gifting...
I wonder how it will work if one toon is already 40. do you lose an amount of XP you already have, or do you shave a portion off XP being earned and pass that amount to your alt?
or is it so far out in development that you don't know yet or aren't going to tell me?

[Archived Post]

Heyaz Tumerboy...

I'm thinking the subject to the CC room could maybe use it's own official TB started and taco-stamp approved thread, like the Hideouts?

Heck, I'm interested and I gave up trying to compete in CCs long ago...

:)

[Archived Post]

Player Capacity - We haven't set up the instancing yet, but I foresee no reason for it not to have a higher end cap. There is lots of room in there

Standing Room - Did I mention there's lots of room?

Lighting - In my investigations to what "good" lighting means to people, most seemed to agree that the Character Creator's Lighting was good. I'm using a slightly tweaked version of that sky file as the base. So I THINK it will be acceptable.

Winners Area - There is a catwalk, with a circle at the end to do your turn arounds etc. Would that suffice? Or do you want the actual 1st/2nd/3rd style tiered blocks to stand on?

Communication - I don't think we had anything planned for this, I can talk some with Robobo and the chat guys. Even if we made a new "events" channel or something in MIL, you'd still have to go there to use it right? Or are you envisioning something more pervasive?

Music - I'm not opposed to putting some music in there. I don't think I'd have trouble convincing the audio guys. But whatever it is has to be fairly low key, not grating or annoying. What do you think would be appropriate?

If the costume contest area is instanced, then zone chat would be fine for the contest organizers. As for the winners' area, a raised area would be preferable. I wouldn't go w/ a 1st 2nd 3rd thing since many CCs now are category based, with more than 3 categories. Perhaps a part with 5 or so raised platforms for winners to stand in would work. It would also be a good idea to disable dueling in this area.

[Archived Post]

Fair enough (http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?p=1951483#post1951483)

[Archived Post]

...I love the random text. <3

[Archived Post]

Lighting - In my investigations to what "good" lighting means to people, most seemed to agree that the Character Creator's Lighting was good. I'm using a slightly tweaked version of that sky file as the base. So I THINK it will be acceptable.


Just wondering, would it be possible to have varying lighting? That is, for example, a runway that is unusually bright at one end, unusually dark at the other, and like the character creator in the middle? That way, dark hero types can show off their costume in their nice, brooding light, vibrant characters can go to their happy light side, and "normal" heroes can be somewhere in between. At least, it'd be nice to have a dark and light area somewhere.

Just a thought (one that I really, really hope makes it in though. ;) )

[Archived Post]

A few answers...

I think things like a costume pass is something that is ongoing.
Itemization is fixing item stats, distribution, scale, drop rates etc... I guess everything... It's kinda big.
The PVE challenge will most likely change (mentioned in the Ask Cryptic)
ABSOLUTELY!! interested in your Nemesis Ideas or any for that matter. You can always PM me with what you got, post links to threads or even sent via pigeon.
Always take the time to jump up and down!!!


*Remember, not everything can be listed all at once. Expect to see items move up the list and new things added in each group.

Not meaning to be out of turn, but I have bug for a costume item that seems a simple thing but might not be.

I was trying to change a characters costume a about 5 days ago to the stripe partial mask. It did not appear in any of the pattern or other drop downs for partial mask. Strap was there, but not Stripe.

To access it I had to reset the whole costume to default. I did find it in the list then. I have noticed from time to time similar things like chain mail patterns not being available for a leg but available for uppers. Just minor inconsistencies. Thanks for all you do.

[Archived Post]

XP Gifting-
Characters of nearly all levels could use a portion or percentage of the XP they would earn while adventuring normally. You wouldn't designate a recipient as much as you would build up an XP reward Item that you can share.
We are really early in the design discussion for this feature and several details need to be ironed out. I'll probably not get into every little detail because those aren't final just yet. In fact they wont be final until it is going live.

Hope that helps a bit..

[Archived Post]

XP Gifting-
Characters of nearly all levels could use a portion or percentage of the XP they would earn while adventuring normally. You wouldn't designate a recipient as much as you would build up an XP reward Item that you can share.
We are really early in the design discussion for this feature and several details need to be ironed out. I'll probably not get into every little detail because those aren't final just yet. In fact they wont be final until it is going live.

Hope that helps a bit..

...... WHAT? It's like, really bad Engrish... But not really... :S It makes almost no sense to me. So is this like, you lose a percentage of your normal XP gain to... Craft a Team XP Boost, or something? Or something like an XP Boost that can only be used by someone else?

[Archived Post]

To be clear, the new powerhouse plan as it stands now, includes revisions to the powers testing area, the addition of some dueling arenas, a costume contest theatre, and a tailor.

Silverspar, I hear you, but the gripe about other instances is always that they AREN'T in MIL. And while I do like the idea of scattering things a bit more around the city, it's not really reasonable to expect a lvl 5 character to run halfway downtown. Mil (outside Ren Cen) is a dangerous place, populated by lots, and lots of bad guys. Like it or not, Ren Cen IS the hub of our city, and as such, needs to have the majority of noncombat functionality located there.

On that note, I'd be nice if the Science Gadgets and Mutations, Arms Guns and martial Arts trainers weren't a giant pain to get to. The Devices/Gadgets one being the worst offender.

[Archived Post]

On that note, I'd be nice if the Science Gadgets and Mutations, Arms Guns and martial Arts trainers weren't a giant pain to get to. The Devices/Gadgets one being the worst offender.

Inventions is rather quick to get to in comparrison to the others since its north of Rec Center, its Martial Arts and Mutations that are the worst as they require the most time to get to. But the locations outside of Ordinance (Guns) and enchanted gear actually make sense.

On an another note, was....kinda hoping to see a PA power review in that to do list. Overall, all of this is great.

[Archived Post]

Inventions is rather quick to get to in comparrison to the others since its north of Rec Center, its Martial Arts and Mutations that are the worst as they require the most time to get to. But the locations outside of Ordinance (Guns) and enchanted gear actually make sense.

On an another note, was....kinda hoping to see a PA power review in that to do list. Overall, all of this is great.

It is quick to get to, that's not why it's a problem. It's a problem because the level you first get the 'intro quest' to go there you will get killed by the mob standing right outside the door. And it's a bit tough to find the first time.

Actually, come to think on it. I'm not sure why any of these are any farther from the ren center than they msut be. And why most of them do not have logical doors/exteriors.

Too many are just doors in a wall. Only the Mutations and Arcana ones seem logic ally placed at all. Why is there one in a hole in the ground anyway? And why in such a sorry location?

[Archived Post]

Player Capacity - We haven't set up the instancing yet, but I foresee no reason for it not to have a higher end cap. There is lots of room in there

Standing Room - Did I mention there's lots of room?

Lighting - In my investigations to what "good" lighting means to people, most seemed to agree that the Character Creator's Lighting was good. I'm using a slightly tweaked version of that sky file as the base. So I THINK it will be acceptable.

Winners Area - There is a catwalk, with a circle at the end to do your turn arounds etc. Would that suffice? Or do you want the actual 1st/2nd/3rd style tiered blocks to stand on?

Communication - I don't think we had anything planned for this, I can talk some with Robobo and the chat guys. Even if we made a new "events" channel or something in MIL, you'd still have to go there to use it right? Or are you envisioning something more pervasive?

Music - I'm not opposed to putting some music in there. I don't think I'd have trouble convincing the audio guys. But whatever it is has to be fairly low key, not grating or annoying. What do you think would be appropriate?

First off; thanks for the reply as always. Secondly, let's see if I can be a little more in depth on some of this per your asking.

-In regards to the "winners' area". I'm not going to go as far as say there should be placement blocks (since some CC's have a 1st place for multiple categories and others have a total 1st place with runners up and so on). I'd say in this aspect that a large enough "winners' circle" would work good enough.

-In regards to the communitcation part, it really comes down to what the chat window tech will allow vs. the difficulty/pain in the a** to implement it. Allowing the contest channel to be global (available everywhere in game that's possible) would be the best way for CC/social event hosts to get the best turn out. Currently, if someone announces in MC via zone; everyone in a MC instance gets the message but those in Canada/Desert/VB/Lem/MI are clueless that it's going on unless the host(s) literally jump into every zone and announce it. I've seen many instances where someone was doing missions in Canada or the desert only to find out about a CC going on by chance when they zoned to MC to throw stuff in the bank...and they found out about it as it was already underway and thus missed the chance to participate. With player operated social events like this; the hosts need a good method to let people know it's happening. If you guys over at Cryptic want players to know something, you can tell us no matter where we are...which leads me to believe that if the devs hosted CC's (and feel free to do so btw), you could announce it in every zone at once so nobody missed out. Basically with this, there needs to be a simple way to allow hosts to let players know that social events are happening so those who want to check it out don't miss it. This game was made with being very casual friendly in mind, and by doing so, Cryptic has created a very social-oriented game.

-In terms of music; I'd say things similar to what you used in the Sapphire event (instrumental DJ stuff) or in the dance club portion of Club Caprice. But that said; I'd also encourage other players reading the thread to post suggestions here about what types of music they'd like in the mix as well.

/two coppers sunny-side up

[Archived Post]

Here's a question concerning that low level Vibora Bay stuff to open it up for the 22s. Will Vibora Bay, itself, be getting a level redo or something and the over all level of the outdoor critters being lowered? Will it be like a sort of phased instancing then we have group A of level X and Group B of level Y or what? How will this work in general?

Level 22s in Vibora, the main part, will probably get their clock cleaned a lot, though realistically, the city shouldn't be high level to begin with, according to lore with a few key points. It will, however, mess with a lot of outdoor content.

On that note, will high levels actually be able to participate in this level 22 content?

[Archived Post]

XP Gifting-
Characters of nearly all levels could use a portion or percentage of the XP they would earn while adventuring normally. You wouldn't designate a recipient as much as you would build up an XP reward Item that you can share.
We are really early in the design discussion for this feature and several details need to be ironed out. I'll probably not get into every little detail because those aren't final just yet. In fact they wont be final until it is going live.

Hope that helps a bit..

This idea intrigues me... I've never actually seen anything like that done in any MMO... ever... before. < . .> It's a really interesting concept.

This has some very intersting possible consequences as well -

If we can gain the XP on our 40s, this gives us a reason to play them in order to level lowbie alts up to whatever our acceptable play level is*. This also encourages people to play, which is better than simply handing people free level-whatever characters like a few games have tried (as that absolutely murders the newbie experience.) - I personally like this idea as I've seen so much of early MC, the Desert and Canada that I'm starting to get to where I just want to quit whenever I start a new character.

This also basically makes Power Leveling convienent for those so inclined... this has a lot of potential effects, some good, some bad, some "I have no idea until we see it in practice" - but basically I see the following:

1) RMT Power Level Services are dead under this model. There's simply no reason to engage them at all since you can likely pay another player in in-game currency for the same thing, without the account hacking concerns. True the RMTers could use the system... buuuuut why spend real money?

2) Depending on how it works out, this could make purchases of things like XP boost items more worthwhile; which is potentially more money for Cryptic (not something I'm opposed to by any stretch).

3) Depending on how the system shakes out, it could also provide another economically desirable item for the AH other than costume pieces. Theoretically that's a good thing (I'm not saying absolutely it is because it could shake out to be a bad thing, depending.)

So... consider me both interested and optimistic, if s lightly cautious. The idea is great, it's just a question of implementation and player usage really.

*Everyone is different, but I think for me it'd be 25ish. I've just done the pre-25 content so many times it bores me to tears at this point.

[Archived Post]

I like the idea of XP gifting now.

Hey, I can even see an alternate use for it. If it's an item, why not horde the XP gifts to use them just incase there is a level cap raise? There's a lot of potential for such a thing.

[Archived Post]

some good things on. I hope not waiting lonnnggg time for new content like alert..

[Archived Post]

snip

replied here: http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?p=1951708#post1951708

Here's a question concerning that low level Vibora Bay stuff to open it up for the 22s. Will Vibora Bay, itself, be getting a level redo or something and the over all level of the outdoor critters being lowered? Will it be like a sort of phased instancing then we have group A of level X and Group B of level Y or what? How will this work in general?

Level 22s in Vibora, the main part, will probably get their clock cleaned a lot, though realistically, the city shouldn't be high level to begin with, according to lore with a few key points. It will, however, mess with a lot of outdoor content.

On that note, will high levels actually be able to participate in this level 22 content?

The lower level Vib will be a new static zone, like any other.

[Archived Post]

As far as the player capacity... Do you think you would disable ALL powers in the instance?...
NONONONONO! :eek:
Some CC's allow powers, expecially passives, and Flight.

[Archived Post]

The costume contests, you realise they are going to end up recorded and put on youtube for those that miss them. With that in mind Its gotta have the NPC-manned twin TV cameras (http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=tv+studio&start=616&hl=en&sa=X&tbm=isch&tbnid=tYRnH7JAsJrRQM:&imgrefurl=http://www.culture.gov.uk/news/news_stories/8328.aspx&docid=iHqL29ZYbwu78M&w=350&h=221&ei=-A1-TtjIEo_F8QOklqGvAQ&zoom=1&chk=sbg&iact=hc&vpx=1073&vpy=393&dur=4727&hovh=176&hovw=280&tx=187&ty=101&page=24&tbnh=126&tbnw=170&ndsp=29&ved=1t:429,r:27,s:616&biw=1536&bih=798) that are on a pedestal and a presenter somewhere, possibly a bit of red carpet or VIP roping and the audio cable on the floor at the back. Something to indicate its a big televised event.

Maybe theres some assets you can pull in from the Foxbat TV studio map.

[Archived Post]

XP Gifting-
Characters of nearly all levels could use a portion or percentage of the XP they would earn while adventuring normally. You wouldn't designate a recipient as much as you would build up an XP reward Item that you can share.
We are really early in the design discussion for this feature and several details need to be ironed out. I'll probably not get into every little detail because those aren't final just yet. In fact they wont be final until it is going live.

Hope that helps a bit..

Sounds very interesting. Hopefully this will give us even more of a reason to do missions at level cap.

[Archived Post]

NONONONONO! :eek:
Some CC's allow powers, expecially passives, and Flight.

If a difference is able to be made; passives can be part of a costume contest. I'd be ok with flight (and all travel powers) being omitted as long as there is a second tier of seating or balcony that we could use to get a better viewpoint.

On second thoughts.... some back items like fluttering insect wings only animate on power activation and people would probably want to show off stuff like that, so perhaps it would be better off allowed.

Some Sapphire style video screens would be fun if they were fairly low-key.
Would it work like the powerhouse holo-npcs were you select the foes you want to face. Could you select 'classic fashionista', ' funk' or 'futuristic' and have different lighting and music play?.

[Archived Post]

The lower level Vib will be a new static zone, like any other.

From this comment, it makes me thing it'll be a pre-Crisis Vibora, without the gangs being superpowered and such...well, except for the Sons. So, will we be seeing a lack of the Dogz as werewolves, no Nephilim, etc, and Vibora much more like a zone without as up-front mysticism as post-Crisis Vibora? Maybe a reppearance of Talisman, or maybe even Dark Seraph (Since the Crowns of Krim are elsewhere as well)? Or will it be strictly DEMON-related, since there's a large Demonhame there (Which was oddly left out of the current VB)

[Archived Post]

From this comment, it makes me thing it'll be a pre-Crisis Vibora, without the gangs being superpowered and such...well, except for the Sons. So, will we be seeing a lack of the Dogz as werewolves, no Nephilim, etc, and Vibora much more like a zone without as up-front mysticism as post-Crisis Vibora? Maybe a reppearance of Talisman, or maybe even Dark Seraph (Since the Crowns of Krim are elsewhere as well)? Or will it be strictly DEMON-related, since there's a large Demonhame there (Which was oddly left out of the current VB)

Also, as this might well be from the time that VIPER is doing their evacuation, so that's another mob type that could still be present in the city. That could enhance that part of the later storyline.

[Archived Post]

Wind Powerset!! ^_^


Heheh, well, beyond that, lot's of interesting stuff, especially the Alerts and 'Star Guard' stuff. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

And XP gifting... possible for max level chars to build the items for gifting? Allow you to play your favored main char while still leveling alts? I can hope!

[Archived Post]

Am I immature each time I see wind powerset I lol :D

[Archived Post]

Sweet awesome stuff coming up can't wait :eek:

[Archived Post]

Earth Framework: Very earthy stuff! This is a Brick framework.
Wind Framework: Very windy! This is an Energy framework.


Ceiling Cat sez "Make it so."

[Archived Post]

Curious about what will happen to my current 40s, all 20 of them, once the level cap is raised. I notice that we are still getting xp for kills and missions, etc., so I am hoping that I won't have to climb the ladder to 45 for the ones with enough xp. Any thoughts on how you will address this issue?

I am also heartened and excited by what I've read throughout this thread. Thank you for making a fun game and working to continually improve the game.

[Archived Post]

replied here: http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?p=1951708#post1951708



The lower level Vib will be a new static zone, like any other.

Woot! Above expectations! rather than on par. :)

[Archived Post]

I am so very glad that the worthwhile and important things are top priority for Cryptic! You listened to the players and it shows. :D

[Archived Post]

XP Gifting-
Characters of nearly all levels could use a portion or percentage of the XP they would earn while adventuring normally. You wouldn't designate a recipient as much as you would build up an XP reward Item that you can share.
We are really early in the design discussion for this feature and several details need to be ironed out. I'll probably not get into every little detail because those aren't final just yet. In fact they wont be final until it is going live.

Hope that helps a bit..

Neat, sounds like a Hero's memoirs or his field reports. Chronicling his adventures & experiences for others to benefit from. :)

[Archived Post]

Heroes!
Here is the the first of many UNTIL Field Reports. I hope you enjoy this first glimpse into what the Champs team is currently working on and working towards. There is a lot of info here and we are excited about all of them!

...Enjoy!

In Test
Items "In test" are being looked at and testing internally and on PTS. These are issues, features and fixes that are the closest to release as you can get. Occasionally there will be some items that are in test that are part of a larger release.

PvE Queues: Each Lair added to the PvE queue list
Character Conversion
KotH updates
Crafting stations in MON/LEM
Jet destination update: Mon/Des/VIB
Tab targeting fails to target closest enemy.
Player is unable to convert between silver and gold even though they are keeping the same archetype.


A closer look (On Deck)
These are hot topic issues in the Player Community, QA and CS. This list does not represent all the issues we are taking a closer look at, but are issues at the top of our list.

Character Conversion
Targeting
Duel whitelists
Camera Zoom when zoning
Zone balancing
Archery: Strafe: While using the power, the model in the characters hand turns into a sword.
Zoning or changing instance causes the slow fall for teleport to fail.
Female Average Walk: Arm swing and lower body leg steps are out of sync.
Remote Access: After interacting with the robot, it does not begin moving, preventing completion of the mission.
Escort missions
Malevolent Manifestation: Hold resistance not applied to target every time the hold duration refreshes.
From Bad to Worse perk
BoP bags in loot tables.
PVP Acclaim and XP rewards
Event items are appearing randomly when events are not running
Tailor: Costume selection does not indicate which costume is being edited after a player completes editing.
Sea Slug becomes stuck after the first wave of critters.


Up Next!
In Development
These are features we are working on right now. They have made it through the design phase and are being implemented. Items in this section will move to "In Test" once complete.

Comic Series 2: Whiteout
Alerts: Repeatable instanced missions that offer a variety of encounter and reward types set in various locations
Vibora Mini Arc (level 22): A new mini arc that starts in Canada and takes you to a pre-Crisis Vibora Bay. A place that is just seeing the arrival of the darker elements found later on.
LVL 40 PVP Gear Review: An adjustment to the Hero Games acclaim. This review looks to reduce the prices, increase the usability and remove previous bind restrictions.
Unarmed review: A review that will see, when complete, 2 new AT's (one Tank and one MDPS), new animations and several new powers.
MOAR tights: In addition to our regular costume updates we will offer more tights with options for non normal maps and skin.


On the schedule
These are updates that are next on the list to implement. Some features have a longer development time than others but these are what the team will be looking to move on to soon.

Bloodmoon Updates: Several updates to the Bloodmoon Event including a fight with Takofanes
Neighborhood Events: Small open missions focused on Heroic encounters
New Zone Events: Large scale, multistage, zone events that offer new encounter opportunities and large group gameplay.
Infernal review: A review of the Infernal framework that will include new powers and additional AT's
Team Duels: Team leaders will be able to challenge a member of another team to a duel.
Auto Teaming, temp teams: Auto teams for open missions (if solo) and optional for groups. These are temp teams that overlay your existing team.
Earth Framework: Very earthy stuff! This is a Brick framework.
Wind Framework: Very windy! This is an Energy framework.


In Design Discussion!
These items in design discussion are for features that are being considered for an upcoming update. The next step for these topics is to have them added to the schedule. Some of these are smaller, quicker tasks while others are a lot larger and require more to design and implement.

Lair Boss reviews: Improvements to the Lair Bosses.
Events Calendar: A system that will allow you to see what there is to do in champs at any time and get right to the action.
Nemesis Updates: Any and everything we can do to get you more time with your Nemesis. This includes more frequent encounters and opportunities to fight your nemesis with your fellow heroes. Additionally we are looking to add more minion types and options.
Crafting improvements
Mini Arc level 32: This may fall in the area of Wells Pass and offer a break from Viper and Manamals
Xp Gifting: Gift some of your experience to your alts or friends.
C-Store Coupons: Items that give you a discount in the c-store.
New RenCen Powerhouse: Costume stage w/tailor, dueling area, revamped powers testing area.
KotH Perks
Comic Series 3


The Future
These are features that we are working towards. Items listed in this section need the most discussion and are subject to the largest change. This list does not represent all the things we want or are planning to do but they are some of the larger things we are planning and working towards.

New Zone (3-4 Neighborhoods)
Level cap to 45
Itemization
More Comic Series
More Events both small and large
Super group Bases
Guild Improvements (Leveling, Duels)
New Zone (Moon is being discussed)
Level Cap to 50
End Game (Currently looking at Star Guards)
And so much more!!


WOW.... Now this looks great for the future of the game! Can't wait for the earth framework, and the new zones, SG bases and level cap raises in discussion I am also interested in!

Can't wait to see what you guys have in store for us this is awesome! As far as guild improvements I am all for that too, I'd like to see some great new content added to help make SG organizing even better than it is already!

...there's just so much to be excited about here the end game, new nemesis stuff, comic series stuff, large scale zone battles, event calendar jeez... this is alot to take on Cryptic I hope you guys can do it I am rooting you on!

Keep up the awesome work!

[Archived Post]

Actually doing the math it's probably too few. 13 powers /36 is 2 points per power basically. 3 new powers with 8 power points comes out to roughly 2 and change so that's pretty much right it is at now. Throwing in travel powers and such even reduces that further. I've been thinking on it a while :p

Jeez, this thread exploded.

Anyway, I'm thinking that while in theory you're correct, in practice our characters are potentially so strong already that 8 more advantage points would be game breaking as all get out, regardless of whether or not we get new powers. Maybe you're right and it'll play out according to the current curve, but it's still a little worrying.

[Archived Post]

[Unarmed review: A review that will see, when complete, 2 new AT's (one Tank and one MDPS), new animations and several new powers.
Ok but I see this has dropped off the radar for the 29th, so I assume it has been pushed back to next month. Is the plan still for one of the new ATs to be free for silvers, or is that supplanted by the new rotating free AT feature? Or, will we be getting a new free unarmed AT permanently, and later on get the rotating free AT feature?

[Archived Post]

Jeez, this thread exploded.

Anyway, I'm thinking that while in theory you're correct, in practice our characters are potentially so strong already that 8 more advantage points would be game breaking as all get out, regardless of whether or not we get new powers. Maybe you're right and it'll play out according to the current curve, but it's still a little worrying.

Not really, 8 more points won't do anymore damage that's already been done. People have already maxed out their potential cap in those powers and adding more advantage points won't give them any ability to take them further.

[Archived Post]

Not really, 8 more points won't do anymore damage that's already been done. People have already maxed out their potential cap in those powers and adding more advantage points won't give them any ability to take them further.

Agreed. It seems likely that a few more advantage points will allow for more diversity in builds (ranking a second single target or AoE for example) rather than increasing the direct power level of many characters who already have their energy efficiency down pat, their damage maxed out, etc.

I can imagine some min/maxed builds pushing the envelope a bit, but the people creating those builds are already able to trivialize the content. More AP's wont change that.

[Archived Post]

The topic post sounds.. incredible :)

Possible increase of level cap made me go :eek:
Im not sure I like the idea about XP gifting though. Didnt COH do somethign similar?

[Archived Post]

Curious about what will happen to my current 40s, all 20 of them, once the level cap is raised. I notice that we are still getting xp for kills and missions, etc., so I am hoping that I won't have to climb the ladder to 45 for the ones with enough xp. Any thoughts on how you will address this issue?.

Based on other MMOs, I suspect we're going to be climbing the ladder when the level cap is raised, regardless of additional xp earned.

[Archived Post]

I wonder if it would be like AoC's offline leveling? As you play your main you earn offline levels for which you can give to any of your alts. I liked that in AoC

Edit: I was talking about the gifting xp. I forgot to quote it

[Archived Post]

Based on other MMOs, I suspect we're going to be climbing the ladder when the level cap is raised, regardless of additional xp earned.

Undoubtedly. Not that I expect it to be hard, it rarely is. Dunno why people expect a free ride just because they grind themselves silly. Based on the number of critters I've killed, I should probably be a theoretical level 80 by now if I were to be able to keep all that XP and such. Hehe, that would be a tad unfair.

[Archived Post]

This post has been edited to remove content which violates the Cryptic Studios Community Rules and Policies (http://forums.champions-online.com/announcement.php?f=19&a=8) ~GM Tiyshen

[Archived Post]

This post has been edited to remove content which violates the Cryptic Studios Community Rules and Policies (http://forums.champions-online.com/announcement.php?f=19&a=8) ~GM Tiyshen
And please, pray tell...
...What is your experience in this matter? :rolleyes:

Inquiring people DON'T want to know :eek:

[Archived Post]

XP Gifting-
Characters of nearly all levels could use a portion or percentage of the XP they would earn while adventuring normally. You wouldn't designate a recipient as much as you would build up an XP reward Item that you can share.
We are really early in the design discussion for this feature and several details need to be ironed out. I'll probably not get into every little detail because those aren't final just yet. In fact they wont be final until it is going live.

Hope that helps a bit..

I love this idea and not just for my characters at level cap. I'm never in a rush to hit 40 and each character is usually sitting on a half dozen or more missions below their level. It would be great to be able to slow down progress a bit and give XP to those who want to level up faster. Great stuff! :)

[Archived Post]

First of all I wanna say that I love this new section of the forum, such an easy way for us to see what exactly is coming down the pike so to speak.

Secondly: As for the powers vs no-powers in the PH debate, I am voting for no powers other than travel powers. Why? It is a costume contest not a concept contest. Besides I don't need AoE FX going off from 75+ different people all at the same time... my PC can't handle that kind of abuse :(

This post has been edited to remove content which violates the Cryptic Studios Community Rules and Policies (http://forums.champions-online.com/announcement.php?f=19&a=8) ~GM Tiyshen

It always amazes me that people become doomsayers for things like games. It's already F2P, the only thing I'm gonna lose is time and the money I've spent in the C-Store. Nothing lasts forever and correct me if I'm wrong but CO has never seems as lively as it is now.

My last thing I want to mention is the C-Store. I don't know if it has ever been mentioned before but right now if you don't have a credit card, buying points with PayPal has been nothing but a pain in the mass. It isn't instant, it will come out of your secondary account (IE Bank) even if you have enough money in your PayPal account. I tried to cash in on the Hideout Sale but I had to wait for 3-8 business days for the transaction to complete. The money came out of my bank account and I still don't have my points. I emailed billing and even chatted with a CS rep from Accounting. Still no points.

Anyways... rant aside, I want to spend money in the store and I want that money to go to Cryptic, but you are not making it easy for me at all. Please fix this or pass this on to someone who can. Thanks!

To end on a high note: The future looks nothing but bright. Activate sunglasses. :D

[Archived Post]

I hope that future level cap still allows us to solo to 50. That's the greatest feature of this game, that I can and get items. I'm done with the WoW end game, and CoH changed theirs. I just hope this game doesn't make the dreaded mistake of alienating some players who prefer solo/duo playstyles. Like this auto teaming feature too. Is the game going to take a turn into grouping content, and less solo? I left CoH for this game because of those exact changes for leagues and the developers being too confidant in doing new things that now they are discussing changing back right now on their forums. Nothing good about not being able to access content (especially when you pay) because your schedule or constant having to go afk would never work on teams. Or maybe someone just likes to play alone or with a friend or significant other.

I kind of agree with the not wanting more levels. I don't want more powers and more binds. I enjoy the 40s I have now. I want more places for them to fight, but not more experience and yet more powers and headache choices to make. A game can be fun without levels at all anyway. There's 1000s of them out there that have lasted longer than this games been around.

[Archived Post]

This post has been edited to remove content which violates the Cryptic Studios Community Rules and Policies (http://forums.champions-online.com/announcement.php?f=19&a=8) ~GM Tiyshen[/color]
Oh is it now. Please, give us some examples of this. There must be plenty if you can make such a bold statement.

Oh, and be sure to use an example where the game in question was first designed with a level cap of 50, but then lowered to 40 so they could hit their release date. You know, just like CO?

This post has been edited to remove content which violates the Cryptic Studios Community Rules and Policies (http://forums.champions-online.com/announcement.php?f=19&a=8) ~GM Tiyshen
Everyone needs an expert with hugging experience to make them think better. Hugs make the world go 'round.
Have you hugged anyone today?

[Archived Post]

... 10 char

[Archived Post]

I hope that future level cap still allows us to solo to 50. That's the greatest feature of this game, that I can and get items. I'm done with the WoW end game, and CoH changed theirs. I just hope this game doesn't make the dreaded mistake of alienating some players who prefer solo/duo playstyles. Like this auto teaming feature too. Is the game going to take a turn into grouping content, and less solo? I left CoH for this game because of those exact changes for leagues and the developers being too confidant in doing new things that now they are discussing changing back right now on their forums. Nothing good about not being able to access content (especially when you pay) because your schedule or constant having to go afk would never work on teams. Or maybe someone just likes to play alone or with a friend or significant other.

Agree. If I'd want wow-style junk I'd play WoW.


I kind of agree with the not wanting more levels. I don't want more powers and more binds. I enjoy the 40s I have now. I want more places for them to fight, but not more experience and yet more powers and headache choices to make. A game can be fun without levels at all anyway. There's 1000s of them out there that have lasted longer than this games been around.
I also wonder what extra levels will do. I have enough powers now. What will those new power do? Will everyone and hes pikachu be selfhealing-DPS-Tank-Pet-master-support-healer-PvE-PvP-melee-ranged-god or will new power be so imba all existing ones will become useless junk? And will I have enough quickslots?

OK, one thing I know. ALL existing gear (blue and stuff) will be useless junk. Better start selling SL stuff while its still worth something.

[Archived Post]

In Development

MOAR tights: In addition to our regular costume updates we will offer more tights with options for non normal maps and skin.


On the schedule

Bloodmoon Updates: Several updates to the Bloodmoon Event including a fight with Takofanes
Neighborhood Events: Small open missions focused on Heroic encounters
New Zone Events: Large scale, multistage, zone events that offer new encounter opportunities and large group gameplay.


The Future

New Zone (3-4 Neighborhoods)
Level cap to 45
Itemization
Super group Bases
New Zone (Moon is being discussed)
Level Cap to 50


The one I'm really interested in :D
And based on the time it takes something to get from the bottom to the top of this report
(based on the Engineering report in STO)
I'll see it around the time Mass Effect 3 comes out next year in March! :eek:

[Archived Post]

The one I'm really interested in :D
And based on the time it takes something to get from the bottom to the top of this report
(based on the Engineering report in STO)
I'll see it around the time Mass Effect 3 comes out next year in March! :eek:
Considering the amount of work that would have to go into raising the level cap (new zones, new missions, new mobs, new artwork, new powers, new gear, new drops, new... well, you get it) I don't think even March next year is a realistic time-frame. That's only six months away.

[Archived Post]

I look forward to seeing some of these changes. Especially a fix for the Archery sword thing... :)

[Archived Post]

... 10 char

[Archived Post]

They can hold that level cap as long as they like in my book. I honestly do not want one. There are sooooo many more things that can be done with this game that should, IMO, supercede adding a few more levels any time in the forseeable future.
I have 1/28th of my heroes at 40, and there's a truckload of existing content I've never done. A level-cap increase leaves me kind of cold as well.

[Archived Post]

... 10 char

[Archived Post]

They can hold that level cap as long as they like in my book. I honestly do not want one. There are sooooo many more things that can be done with this game that should, IMO, supercede adding a few more levels any time in the forseeable future.

I have 1/28th of my heroes at 40, and there's a truckload of existing content I've never done. A level-cap increase leaves me kind of cold as well.

I'm with you. I ran into missions I never saw this weekend and ones I've done before probably a year ago. I always end up with more than a zone worth of stuff untouched by the time I hit 40 (half of MI undone, half of VB undone and all of Lemuria undone) on the occassion that I don't power level at some point. So with that said adding a higher level cap, particularly if it interferes with any of the other stuff they could add to the game, just makes me shiver and shrug.

Yup. I just realized last night (for the millionth time) that I really haven't done anywhere near everything in this game. The entire upper eschelons of the game for example. I just started unity on one of my mains which brought me to level 40+ areas I hadn't been to before (because I stopped playing them when I hit 40 in favor of concept alts). Heck, I didn't even know there were mobs higher than 40 in this game. Not even counting the APs or the CSs.

There's entire chunks of Desert (west of Area 51) and Canada (the Bigfoots, and north of the cave thing with the ghouls down southeast), a good portion of VB, most of northern and western MI and probably some Lemuria in there.

1-30 I know by heart tho.

[Archived Post]

Star Guards...wow.
That would mean the end game content is going to start on Europa, Jupiter's 6th moon.
Sweetness.
At least I don't have to drink out of some dusty old well...
:D

I would guess the end game content would involve fighting Terranon as well.

[Archived Post]

Agree. If I'd want wow-style junk I'd play WoW.


I also wonder what extra levels will do. I have enough powers now. What will those new power do? Will everyone and hes pikachu be selfhealing-DPS-Tank-Pet-master-support-healer-PvE-PvP-melee-ranged-god or will new power be so imba all existing ones will become useless junk? And will I have enough quickslots?

OK, one thing I know. ALL existing gear (blue and stuff) will be useless junk. Better start selling SL stuff while its still worth something.

Yes, the level cap raised would be a sad thing indeed. I'd rather just have more places to go, though I still haven't done everything there is to do on my level 40s and with the way the world is these days, it'll be a slow process for me anyway. I definitely don't want to grind out more experience or have raids at the end of 10 more levels either, and I definitely don't want these 5 player Alerts. If I wanted that I'd go play WoW. For the 5 man alerts (instances), i'd go play LoTRO again.

I do like the concepts behind the Alerts, but I would like to see an instance scaling system, that scales the content to party size, or let us choose the difficulty, so that everyone can experience things how they want to - be it a solo person or a group of people. Nemcon should have it too. As I said in that last post, I have to ask people to leave all the time or I leave. I won't do it with others.

Keep in mind:
taken right from here: http://www.crypticstudios.com/about

"The goal is to deliver unparalleled gaming experiences that appeal to a wide range of audiences"
A wide range is both solo and people who like to group, so keep make more difficulty settings, leave it as it is or try something new, but don't exclude people from content in the game, if they don't have the time, or just don't want to group with others and prefer to play alone or with just one other friend.

"with the aim of reaching beyond the traditional MMORPG genre"
Forced grouping would be the traditional MMO, and raising level caps, when more content is really good enough.

To be honest, to me, the other players in a mmo are just moving scenery at best. It does make the world a little more dynamic than a singleplayer RPG and a lot more alive and that's why MMOs are superior to single player games.

Yet when it comes to grouping from my experience in a MMO, I don't like feeling hindered by the committee atmosphere of groups and I prefer to set my own pace and direction and not have to worry about making sure that I'm conforming to the hive mind (of the group.) I like to follow my own path, even if it sets me off from the main path, and do so at any moment without having to worry about if everyone else wants to follow that path as well. I will say I like to duo with a friend or someone I know well, but I don't want to be forced into doing it constantly. Most of the time in games I prefer my solitude. I need moments to step away from the computer too as much as I feel like, and I just can't do that with a group of people waiting on me.

I don't get why there are people incapable of doing anything in a game without having other around them to keep them company. What is it anyway, the emotional support? Safety in numbers? Collective decision making? A big group hug when someone levels up, which is what the games code intends you to do anyway? a good point to make is that real life is massively mulitplayer too, but it doesn't mean that I need someone with me everytime I step out of the house, or need someone with me when I want some quiet time at a resturant or want to go see a movie on my own.

There should always be a choice. You can say you give me that choice the first 30 or 40 levels, but then you completely take away choice and force me into a group situation, not once, not twice, but you make it a continous experience that I can't avoid. After 100s of hours of playing alone and getting attached to my a character, it's hard to turn back at that point. If I hope to make further progress with my character, or be allowed access to more content I pay for, you restrict me completely from it, unless I group with complete strangers and put on a fake smile as I'm lead around by someone I don't know, or care about who is essentially deciding on how I spend my money.

All I know now is, until this is settled and I know how the game is going to continue, I sadly have to hold off on lifetime or cstore purchases for my two accounts. I don't want to pour a bunch of money into Champions, like I did with other MMOS, just to see it turned into the same thing those MMOs were about, that made me quit them in the first place.

[Archived Post]

Honestly i agree with the level cap I'm more interested in new zones and places to explore then level increases. I also hope that they don't start changing this game to being forced groupings. I also love the fact I can solo to max level or grab a friend or 2 if I want. I guess that's the main part if I want, not forced to.

[Archived Post]

I don't mind teaming with friends on occasion and I really like open missions purely for the "feel" of it. I generally despise "blind groups" due to (as BloodDoll put it) the committee aspect as well as the sheer "grab bag" of team-mates you can wind up with. I like playing the part of a superhero, but I swear some players think "hero" is a only the name of a sandwich, so teaming completely ruins my immersion.
To me it is unfortunate that some of the most interesting content (like NemCon) is basically wasted when you are stuck with "dotdotdot dialogue*" team-mates.
I hope that CO retains and expands the options for solo or teamed content without penalizing or excluding either for the choice. I would like to see CO grow "sideways" as well as "upwards;" offering more paths to 40 (or whatever) thereby increasing replay value instead of just repeating the same steps over and over again. Games that don't have low-mid level content proportionate to high-level content tend to become top-heavy and come crashing down.


* reference to "saying nothing" in comics; the writers used to put "..." in the text bubbles when dealing with expressionless or mute characters.

[Archived Post]

...
I don't get why there are people incapable of doing anything in a game without having other around them to keep them company. What is it anyway, the emotional support? Safety in numbers? Collective decision making? A big group hug when someone levels up, which is what the games code intends you to do anyway? a good point to make is that real life is massively mulitplayer too, but it doesn't mean that I need someone with me everytime I step out of the house, or need someone with me when I want some quiet time at a resturant or want to go see a movie on my own. .
People that play MMO games do it for a different reason. Some do if for the game itself, some for story, some for grrrr hardcore 'progression', some use it as Char Channel/Facebook, so do it for PvE, so for PvP, some because others do it, some for ... many different reason.

People are different.

[Archived Post]

They can hold that level cap as long as they like in my book. I honestly do not want one. There are sooooo many more things that can be done with this game that should, IMO, supercede adding a few more levels any time in the forseeable future.

Yeah .. there where also quite some long threads about raising the caps when i returned in May, and a lot
of people there don't really wanted a higher level but instead more alternate level paths.

So for me .. instead raising the level cap .. i would also prefer just more alternate content for alle levels ;)

[Archived Post]

I ran into missions I never saw this weekend .

I played with some old friends the last weeks, that i finally could convince to try Champs, and they also
just found a quest in the desert that i never did before ;)

[Archived Post]

Being the lvlholic that I am I cant oppose moar levels to ding into. As for the current content, I've leveled thru every bloody misson so many times that just mindlessly trudge through them as I get moar 40's. I want new content regardless of lvl rangeeeee D:

[Archived Post]

I'm still finding new missions too for my 40s, and new ways to force people to leave group ones so I can solo them. I hope they rethink this alerts thing and make it scalable. I'm getting tired of begging, bribing and typing in my other language to get people to leave.

[Archived Post]

I've been seeing that lately. Where does it say that alerts are team forced ?o_o

[Archived Post]

I'm still finding new missions too for my 40s, and new ways to force people to leave group ones so I can solo them. I hope they rethink this alerts thing and make it scalable. I'm getting tired of begging, bribing and typing in my other language to get people to leave.

I'm also not happy about the alerts. I first thought it should be open world content more like Public Missions,
what would be fine for me, but i don't like if the game turns into a forced group dungeon-grinder :o

I've been seeing that lately. Where does it say that alerts are team forced ?o_o

I think it was in the ASK CRYPTIC .. not sure at the moment.

[Archived Post]

About the level cap rise,

Robobo did state in a previous Ask Cryptic that a level cap rise was necessary for them to implement the new itemisation methods without rendering all currently equipped gear useless.

Although why they're doing 2 rises I don't understand.

[Archived Post]

About the level cap rise,
Robobo did state in a previous Ask Cryptic that a level cap rise was necessary for them to implement the new itemisation methods without rendering all currently equipped gear useless.


That makes no sense .. normally the only reason for a level cap raise is indeed to render all items useless.

If there are level 45/50 items they are normally better than 40 items, so you need again hunt for better items
at the new cap.

[Archived Post]

About the level cap rise,

Robobo did state in a previous Ask Cryptic that a level cap rise was necessary for them to implement the new itemisation methods without rendering all currently equipped gear useless.

Although why they're doing 2 rises I don't understand.

Didn't they intend for 50 in closed beta? Hell even vibora was gonna be 45 before the scream fest insued. It shound not be terribly surprising.

[Archived Post]

That makes no sense .. normally the only reason for a level cap raise is indeed to render all items useless.

If there are level 45/50 items they are normally better than 40 items, so you need again hunt for better items
at the new cap.

From July's Ask Cryptic (http://www.champions-online.com/node/595448) -

DejahYeah
Q: Is there a plan to establish a formal Endgame that would entice players to not only reach 40, but to continue improving their characters once there? More Epic, Level 40 only content for SG's and PuGs to go after in the spirit of Therakiel's Temple?

A: We have plans for expanding our endgame, but we feel we have some things that we need to fix before we roll it out, or we'll have lots of issues down the road. The main barrier we currently have is our itemization. We have a reboot of sorts planned for how we handle items, and how we handle acquiring end game items, but in order to truly fix it... we're probably going to have to raise the level cap, and allow you to regear with the new itemization system during that period. This is clearly a long term process, and not something we'll be implementing overnight, but we've been discussing our endgame plans and itemization plans for a while, now.

[Archived Post]

From July's Ask Cryptic (http://www.champions-online.com/node/595448) -

The only reason i see here is, that with the difficult sliders and elite-loot from APs, they made most of the purples
actually senseless. So it maybe easyer to male new even better loot for 40+ instead of reviewing all the old
Nemesis/Unity items.

But since they recently reviewed the PvP items, they could maybe also just review Nemesis/Unity items
to bring them in line instead of raising the level cap.

[Archived Post]

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[Archived Post]

I've been seeing that lately. Where does it say that alerts are team forced ?o_o
It doesn't say "forced", exactly, but from the September Ask Cryptic:

Q: Any more Info on Alerts?

A: There isn't much new information more than a clarification of the Alert types. Alerts are 5 man instanced encounters that you will access via the Alert system. The current Alert types are "Grab", "Overdrive", "Brawl" and Nemesis. (These names are working names for now.) In a Grab mission you will need to stop a villain group from things like heists and kidnappings. In the Overdrive missions you will become Ultra powered and fight against incredible forces. A Brawl is just that: a classic Villain Brawl where you need to stop a villain before they can destroy the world. Nemesis missions can be any type but include or feature your Nemesis. (Keep in mind we are still working on this feature and details are subject to change.)
One hopes this will be similar to certain lower-level instances where it recommends, but does not require, "1-5 players". If Alerts force one to group in order to even attempt them, well, some of us will be less than best pleased...

[Archived Post]

It doesn't say "forced", exactly, but from the September Ask Cryptic:


One hopes this will be similar to certain lower-level instances where it recommends, but does not require, "1-5 players". If Alerts force one to group in order to even attempt them, well, some of us will be less than best pleased...

He said 5 man .. and not 1-5 .. so i fear it is indeed forced group :(

[Archived Post]

Escort missions
Remote Access: After interacting with the robot, it does not begin moving, preventing completion of the mission.
Sea Slug becomes stuck after the first wave of critters.


Please don't forget Foxbat in Fox vs. Fiend! He suffers the same bug!

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One hopes this will be similar to certain lower-level instances where it recommends, but does not require, "1-5 players". If Alerts force one to group in order to even attempt them, well, some of us will be less than best pleased...

I would party all day, if you would need a full team for them. Go play APs if you want to solo.

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I would party all day, if you would need a full team for them. Go play APs if you want to solo.

Don't be mean. D: even if they are forced it doesn't mean hordes will suddenly want to team for them all the time. I'd work with either way but that's just my opinion.

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I would party all day, if you would need a full team for them. Go play APs if you want to solo.
You would "party all day" if some players were locked out of content because they either can't or don't wish to group? It's not like my soloing a mission means you can't team for it - my roommate teams for Aftershock at least once a week.

I'm afraid I simply don't understand why you would see forced teaming as a good thing.

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You would "party all day" if some players were locked out of content because they either can't or don't wish to group? It's not like my soloing a mission means you can't team for it - my roommate teams for Aftershock at least once a week.

I'm afraid I simply don't understand why you would see forced teaming as a good thing.

Im assuming he's among the crowd that believe for there any real teaming to there definition to teaming in a MMO that it has to be gated or rather forced

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You would "party all day" if some players were locked out of content because they either can't or don't wish to group? It's not like my soloing a mission means you can't team for it - my roommate teams for Aftershock at least once a week.

I'm afraid I simply don't understand why you would see forced teaming as a good thing.

You can't group in a MMO? If you don't wish to... there is plenty of stuff to do for you. It's not like you miss all the game if you don't want to team. I am all for forced teaming at least in some parts of the game. You only need 5 people, not 40 or 100 like in other games.

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Lama, I sometimes can't group because I only have, say, half an hour to play that particular day (I do have other things to do sometimes), and nobody is available to team with at that particular time. Other people have other reasons why they can't team.

And sometimes I don't particularly want to team because by the simple magic of random distribution, there are times when the majority of the players online are people I don't even want to see spouting off in Chat, much less go adventuring with...

So, because I don't want to hang out with unpleasant strangers, you want me to be completely locked out of content? I'm NOT saying that you can't go play with these people - please do, it keeps them out of my hair - but why should it be necessary for me to do so?

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Lama, I sometimes can't group because I only have, say, half an hour to play that particular day (I do have other things to do sometimes), and nobody is available to team with at that particular time. Other people have other reasons why they can't team.

And sometimes I don't particularly want to team because by the simple magic of random distribution, there are times when the majority of the players online are people I don't even want to see spouting off in Chat, much less go adventuring with...

So, because I don't want to hang out with unpleasant strangers, you want me to be completely locked out of content? I'm NOT saying that you can't go play with these people - please do, it keeps them out of my hair - but why should it be necessary for me to do so?

I understand your point. I'm soloing 80% of my time in CO but not every type of content should be accesible for everyone. Would you say that you want play PvP without the other players? I would agree with you, if there weren't alternatives to solo players but there are plenty. Now just give us team-hungry players, who like to get forced to team, something to play with. The last time we got something like this was Therakiel's Temple back in early 2010. You got SL, DF and Resistance... even Aftershock and CS 2.0 will be soloable.

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I understand your point. I'm soloing 80% of my time in CO but not every type of content should be accesible for everyone. Would you say that you want play PvP without the other players? I would agree with you, if there weren't alternatives to solo players but there are plenty. Now just give us team-hungry players, who like to get forced to team, something to play with. The last time we got something like this was Therakiel's Temple back in early 2010. You got SL, DF and Resistance... even Aftershock and CS 2.0 will be soloable.
Dude, if you're "team-hungry", then for the love of Revenant, go team! Surely you can find someone to go with you - I see people in Chat all the time looking for teammates for missions as simple as the low-level one where all you have to do is go confront the Purple Gang's weapon supplier and beat him up for a few seconds until he talks. Why must everyone else be forced into the playstyle you prefer???

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I'm curious to that question as well but honestly I know what the answer will be (generally the same thing is said when explaining forced teaming).

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With regards to the Alerts requiring 5 people, it is a little frustrating, mainly because I'm often on and teaming but only with 1-2 other friends from my SG. CAN we add others? Sure. Do we WANT to HAVE to in order to play the new content? No.

I like the way Skirmishes are handled in LOTRO - the offer solo, duo, small group (3), and group (or something similar, which covers 4+). While it doesn't scale perfectly, it does provide more options for teaming that don't require a full team.

From the alerts, it sounds like the use of villain groups or big uber-villain is intended for team play and likely 5 person. However, I hope that 5 is not a requirement, like NemCon. Let people take their chance at least if they only have 4.

On the flipside, since these are Alerts and sound like they will "pop up", I don't recall whether it was mentioned about perhaps queueing (like for a PVP match or crisis) vs. having to form a team. The former would certainly make it easier to find a full group, though the balance might be a little...off.

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I would party all day, if you would need a full team for them. Go play APs if you want to solo.

I have better things to do with "all day" than play with strangers, and I don't play mmos to start relationships. BUT read everything before you jump to reply. Besides, I can duo Therakiel's temple, though they should scale it back for solo so I don't need to run two accounts. Everything in this game should just Scale to the size of group, be it 1 or 5 people or whatever. I quit so many mmos that forced me to group, for this game, because I've never had to group, so of course I don't want to see it change. There's already better grouping mmos out there, but nothing scalable really other than skirmishes like someone else mentioned in LoTRO, but even some of those you had to group, which was stupid on Turbine's part. So many people I know quit that game and went off to other games, or just totally different gametypes or PS3/360.

as I said before - I don't like feeling hindered by the committee atmosphere of groups and I prefer to set my own pace and direction and not have to worry about making sure that I'm conforming to the hive mind (of the group.) I like to follow my own path, even if it sets me off from the main path, and do so at any moment without having to worry about if everyone else wants to follow that path as well. I will say I like to duo with a friend or someone I know well, but I don't want to be forced into doing it constantly. Most of the time in games I prefer my solitude. I need moments to step away from the computer too as much as I feel like, and I just can't do that with a group of people waiting on me.

a good point to make is that real life is massively mulitplayer too, but it doesn't mean that I need someone with me everytime I step out of the house, or need someone with me when I want some quiet time at a resturant or want to go see a movie on my own.

After 100s of hours of playing alone since this went F2P and getting attached to my a character, it's hard to turn back at that point. If I hope to make further progress with my character, or be allowed access to more content I pay for, you restrict me completely from it, unless I group with complete strangers and put on a fake smile as I'm lead around by someone I don't know, or care about who is essentially deciding on how I spend my money.


go play WoW or some other dull mmo like CoH/DCU if you want to group and play in easy mode. I'm tired of facebook online. I like doing stuff solo or duo and this game has always allowed that, it shouldn't change suddenly.

And I want to Solo or Duo Alerts. I'll just not help people I don't know, like I do in other group content like Nemcon, when they force me to play with people I don't know or care to know. If ANYTHING they should just make it SCALE to whatever the size is of the people answering the call. People already grouped obviously are together already and the mission scales for that, and people who are solo or duo will get an Alert mission scaled to that size.

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Actually responding to the earlier posts on the UNTIL field reports. It would be cool in the Nemesis system that once you're able to create a second nemesis, both your new one and the old will team up (minions and all). Would make for a great story arc. Additionally, I think it would be great for silvers to purchase a toggle pet that does not have a time limit such as a wolf, dog, sabertooth tiger, lion, cougar, raptor, hawk whatever a beastmaster type of archtype would have along side for the fight. Moreover, maybe "grooming" a sidekick the same way we create a nemesis would be fun. Imagine creating a sidekick that appears from time to time, initially as a person you rescue from your nemesis along the story arc. Then, you're able to groom him or her into a champion. Like a Neopet or something.

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Additionally, I think it would be great for silvers to purchase a toggle pet that does not have a time limit such as a wolf, dog, sabertooth tiger, lion, cougar, raptor, hawk whatever a beastmaster type of archtype would have along side for the fight.

Imagine:

1. Superstats - Intelligence and Endurance
2. Energy Builder - crossbow
3. Debuff - snakecharmer or horsewhisperer or lion-tamer (basically, gives you the power to mesmerize an animal foe into fighting your fight i.e. raptors, manamals, ice hounds, bats, sharks, etc.)
4. Pets - choose between lions (overtime you'll gain 3 lionesses and an optional alpha male sabertooth size at 32), raptors (overtime you'll gain 3 raptors and an optional triceratops or T-Rex at 32), panthers would be cool, wolves (overtime you'll gain 3 wolves and an optional alpha male direwolf size at 32).
5. AoE power with crossbow
6. Hawk - kinda like "targetting" but you can see through smoke with a wide radius. Also the hawk will swoop down from time to time to attack. Call the power "falconry"
7. Melee - knife lunge (kinda like that psychic blade, one blade used to sink deep into a foe) emote flip knife by the blade.
8. Longrange power - sniper rifle
9. Stealth - invisibility
10. Another crossbow power like explosive arrows, tranquilizers, smoke bombs, trick arrows
11. Power - set trap
12. Heal other

This is just a working list of options. A whip would be cool to go along with the swing travel power.

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I do not like the idea of team-exclusive content. The argument is/was that group-only content is more difficult, thus you deserve greater rewards. It is a circular argument: This content is so difficult that it requires a group so we have to give better rewards = This content offers better rewards so we need to make it hard enough to require a group.

There have never been especially great reasons for having it and it has always created another exclusivity issue with most MMOs. This because the primary result is to seperate the player base. People who are part of groups/guilds get better stuff. People who do not group cannot get that stuff.
In the case of CO, stuff is not all that important, but solos can't even PLAY the missions that are marked as 5-player-only content. I don't mind socializing and I try to be courteous; but to punish me because I don't like to join "automaton teams," that plain sucks. Please don't tell me I HAVE to be social if I don't want to.
I personally have no problem with loot tables rewarding groups more than solos given that the threat level is adequately scaled (team size vs enemies: 1=1x; 2=3x; 3=5x; 4=7x; 5=9x or whatever.)

This is a superhero game. Some superheroes fight as teams, but most are the single star of their show. CO is a story-based game, so why can't solos enjoy all of the stories? Who does it hurt by making all content 1-5 player scalable? No one. The only way it could possible do harm is by once and for all stamping out publisher-supported super-exclusivity. I cannot see any reason to force grouping at all. That is an element of old MMOs I would be happy to see fade away into the mists of time.

But every player has their preference. If you want team-exclusive content it is probably because THAT is how YOU play, so obviously anything that benefits you is great. If all that matters to you about content is that you gets-the-bestest-stuffs and that only a select few can get it; well, that is a whole other issue.

I wish more players understood that not everyone else shares that style/preference. There are already player divides in CO: Silver/Gold (though minor in terms of content); Introverts/Extroverts; SG/Non-SG, etc. These are all choices made by the players (you pay or you don't; you socialize or you don't; you are in that SG or you aren't.) But these do not directly affect content that you already have access to. They are not publisher-mandated where the content is restricted to something besides level or mission/quest-arc progression (another issue as well.) That is the difference.

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I do not like the idea of team-exclusive content. The argument is/was that group-only content is more difficult, thus you deserve greater rewards. It is a circular argument: This content is so difficult that it requires a group so we have to give better rewards = This content offers better rewards so we need to make it hard enough to require a group.

There have never been especially great reasons for having it and it has always created another exclusivity issue with most MMOs. This because the primary result is to seperate the player base. People who are part of groups/guilds get better stuff. People who do not group cannot get that stuff.
In the case of CO, stuff is not all that important, but solos can't even PLAY the missions that are marked as 5-player-only content. I don't mind socializing and I try to be courteous; but to punish me because I don't like to join "automaton teams," that plain sucks. Please don't tell me I HAVE to be social if I don't want to.
I personally have no problem with loot tables rewarding groups more than solos given that the threat level is adequately scaled (team size vs enemies: 1=1x; 2=3x; 3=5x; 4=7x; 5=9x or whatever.)

This is a superhero game. Some superheroes fight as teams, but most are the single star of their show. CO is a story-based game, so why can't solos enjoy all of the stories? Who does it hurt by making all content 1-5 player scalable? No one. The only way it could possible do harm is by once and for all stamping out publisher-supported super-exclusivity. I cannot see any reason to force grouping at all. That is an element of old MMOs I would be happy to see fade away into the mists of time.

But every player has their preference. If you want team-exclusive content it is probably because THAT is how YOU play, so obviously anything that benefits you is great. If all that matters to you about content is that you gets-the-bestest-stuffs and that only a select few can get it; well, that is a whole other issue.

I wish more players understood that not everyone else shares that style/preference. There are already player divides in CO: Silver/Gold (though minor in terms of content); Introverts/Extroverts; SG/Non-SG, etc. These are all choices made by the players (you pay or you don't; you socialize or you don't; you are in that SG or you aren't.) But these do not directly affect content that you already have access to. They are not publisher-mandated where the content is restricted to something besides level or mission/quest-arc progression (another issue as well.) That is the difference.

I agree with you 100%.

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Meh. Adding more levels doesn't fix or expand "End Game". It just moves the starting line for "End Game" further back. Hopefully 'long term and probably' turns into 'not going to do it because we perpetually have other more meaningful stuff to work on'.

This^ pretty much how I feel about the topic of raising the level cap.

Don't get me wrong, I think leveling characters can be part of the fun. Level progression can give you a sense of accomplishment and growth, and I sometimes wish there could be something meaningfull that could be done to retain that feeling of "my character is growing" all the time. But there comes a point where the numbers are just meaningless, and it becomes an excercise of ever trying to make baddies with higher hitpoints and damage, just to justify you having a higher level cap.

On the topic of itemization, I also have a hard time understanding why they would need to raise the level cap just to fix items. But I have no clue what they have planned exactly, so I'll just have to wait and see.

It doesn't say "forced", exactly, but from the September Ask Cryptic:


One hopes this will be similar to certain lower-level instances where it recommends, but does not require, "1-5 players". If Alerts force one to group in order to even attempt them, well, some of us will be less than best pleased...

This is what I was hoping for as well when I read that. In fact, I didn't think to note that he didn't mention 1-5, but simply said "5" till now. I really hope that "5 man instances" means 5 is the recommended number rather than a requirement.

I would party all day, if you would need a full team for them. Go play APs if you want to solo.

If they made alerts require a team, they would effectively cut me out of them completely since my game usually doesn't run very well in teams (game tends to lag too much, often to the point of unplayability, or at least to the point of limiting my participation substantially).

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I like to solo 5-man missions. If I can and there is no stupid 'limits' like pull more then 1 lever at the same time, some idiotic mirriors and so on. But would not want that every mission is 5-man.

I do it for challenge. Group is ez-mode.

I did a couple of 5-man missions with a group. And it was a PUG, so not what you'd call a perftect group. It was easier then soloing open world collect X items missions.

No idea why people say they want challenging content and at the same time want it group only. Group is ez-mode. The ultimate ez-mode is Trinity group. Simple 1 tanks, 1 heals, 1 DPS. No need to think about other things. I don't think its challenge, must be something else.

Are people that demand group content so weak they need a babysitter? Or is it because of loot. Hmm, I bet its loot.

@Cryptic (so that Im on topic)
Do NOT poke your paying customers with 'forced' something. They may not be paying customers for long.

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That makes no sense .. normally the only reason for a level cap raise is indeed to render all items useless.

If there are level 45/50 items they are normally better than 40 items, so you need again hunt for better items
at the new cap.

Well, that may be the issue. In most MMOs, gear remains static and stays at the level that it was introduced. Old MMOs would then introduce new zones, increase level caps and add new higher level gear; there was no need to change anything. They just kept adding new stuff, then new stuff, then even more powerful stuff.
CO is a "new" MMO and much of the content is scalable. Since it does not appear that they are going to be constantly piling on bigger and badder high-end content that probably means that they need to adjust existing items so that they scale and are placed properly in the new level range.

Just as there is a certain item bonus cap for certain levels currently, they will need to assign a new cap for the higher end gear. They probably already know what they want that value to be, but they may want to "stretch" the variables so there are not major jumps/spikes in gear bonuses.
Itemization usually means categorization and balance; in CO's case you have: White, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple with some subcategories allowing some to exceed "normal" stat bonus limits plus level limiters, plus R&D tags; then add in the desired "rarity within the rarity" factor. They may wish to introduce better relation between standard Blue and really good Green, for example. Another possibility is that they want to address certain R&D imbalances.

Since the most modular mechanical aspect of CO is a character's powers (for freeform particularly, but ATs as well), an increase in the level cap seems more related to that than to gear. Major stat spikes in items would probably not be a priority since superstats and talents might be granting further stat increases anyway.

In the old MMO model, designers would pretty much keep adding gobs and gobs of better gear, with new features and functionality and older stuff would get buried under it all without improvement and more or less forgotten (unless it was a vanity item.) That constant obsolescence is what drove those older games to the towering, ever-escalating messes that they are so well-known for.
I don't think CO is heading in that direction so in order to keep items from becoming useless, any forward thinking plan has to determine the rates and peaks of item bonuses over "x" number of levels rather than trying to squish it all into an inadequate range "as you go." Some of you may have noticed certain points in gear acquisition where the "X-level" reward gear you are wearing is better than the "X-level+5" gear reward. Irregular, forced compression causes items to become vendor fodder unless they are at the sweet spot.
All this involves coding, new tags for every item, creating new loot tables, possibly enhancing descriptions, better balancing of items of a given level and maybe a reconsideration about what items are offered as rewards from missions and where they drop from mobs. (Some missions offer different numbers of choices and the options are sometimes less than balanced; street thugs can drop Sacred Blessings; team drop-rates are wonky; it is all somewhat comical.)

It is a ugly process and I don't envy them the task. But I do thank them for it.

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I think the purpose of raising level in terms of gear is so that you can:

change ALL of the gear that drops in the game
without changing gear that people already have and have worked hard for
while still making that gear obsolete

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There is a piece of information that i'm very interested in, but I need clarification before I get too excited about it... :)

~PVP Acclaim and XP rewards.

Is that... PVP Acclaim, and then, on top of that, global XP Rewards in general throughout the game? Or is it XP rewards related to PVP and PVP alone?

IE: Should it read?

~PVP Acclaim
~XP rewards...

Or is it just XP related to PVP? :)

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to whomever would be in charge of designing emblems, i'd like to request more ... like more beeastial, a golden set to match the recent costume release, and insect emblems (beyond the bug, scorpion, and butterfly is there any more?)

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go play WoW or some other dull mmo like CoH/DCU if you want to group and play in easy mode. I'm tired of facebook online.....

And I want to Solo or Duo Alerts. I'll just not help people I don't know, like I do in other group content like Nemcon, when they force me to play with people I don't know or care to know........

^^ Right He or She is officially now so full of WIN with that statement its un-natrual .

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go play WoW or some other dull mmo like CoH/DCU if you want to group and play in easy mode. I'm tired of facebook online. I like doing stuff solo or duo and this game has always allowed that, it shouldn't change suddenly.

And I want to Solo or Duo Alerts. I'll just not help people I don't know, like I do in other group content like Nemcon, when they force me to play with people I don't know or care to know. If ANYTHING they should just make it SCALE to whatever the size is of the people answering the call. People already grouped obviously are together already and the mission scales for that, and people who are solo or duo will get an Alert mission scaled to that size.

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you. I play MMO's solely for the social experience. I've met GREAT people online, some of which I enjoy the company of MORE than the people I know in real life. If you would rather ignore the populous and play by yourself, sure, more power to you. Your version of the game, your preferred playstyle. HOWEVER-

And I want to Solo or Duo Alerts. I'll just not help people I don't know, like I do in other group content like Nemcon, when they force me to play with people I don't know or care to know.

This sentence (to me anyway) just makes you sound like that annoying jerk-bag who charges headfirst into a group of enemies while everyone else is still healing up, Or that guy who steals your kills/escort because you 'were taking too long and I couldn't wait'. And that, I simply cannot stand. (Again, that's just what I read from your post. I've never met you and you're probably a nice person, but this just comes out as snobbish.)

And I also think it's high-time we all got back on topic. There can be a separate thread for teaming vs solo.

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No i play well, better than you assume. I'm very confident in my abilities, other than my English(not 100% yet). I just like to play alone or in a duo. When I group I don't get a sense of caring about the game anymore, definitely no sense of caring for complete strangers, and last time i checked this was champions online, not match dot com online, so I won't be looking to form a relationship with the people I group with. Also a lot of chatter from people tends to remove me from being immersed in the game, which is the NUMBER ONE reason why I play. I don't want to read "lol" and mmo slang terms, or anything really. I don't want people to tell me to change my build for better teaming because I don't want to team-up. If the game forces me to group to access something, then they will get the third paragraph.

In a group I always have to limit what my character is really capable of from when I play alone. You can think what you want but if you go far back to my long post, it explains more, and people have giving good examples of choice. Your choice it to make friends online in video games, this is not my choice and shouldn't be something I am forced into doing. They shouldn't change the game, ignore how I, or others like I play, and suddenly force us to do something else, or to sit there and do nothing because we cannot access content they suddenly deemed as a forced experience. Scaled instances again is all I can say. I ran away from years... well a decade + of that nonsense and finally found this amazing game that lets me do anything alone or with my friend. I really enjoy it.

If they do it, I will play how i want in that group. I don't have to play any other way. if it involved others dying then that's what it is. I may speak in my actual real language too the entire time. I'm roleplaying a solo character, which may not be to everyone's liking, especially people that are into grouping. If I'm forced into a situation to do some part of the game, I'm not going to be happy about it or play any differently or in favor of anything but what benefits me and a friend of mine that might be sucked into the group as well. I also like to think for myself, not the hive mind. That just isn't in my personality, and a lot of people are like that. It's a trait, and I won't change my personality for a game. I also am a fast player, who doesn't like to wait, as my time is very limited. Note, I also go away from the computer (not just the keyboard) A LOT in this game, and it's great I can. In group stuff I can't, and I can't help that I might have to go away so often.

But before you hit reply (not that I'm going to read it anyway, you've already made up your mind), I just feel they should scale the game, so people can continue to have choice. Then both sides get what they want, and it doesn't hurt anything. I shouldn't be disagreed with because I don't want to make friends in a game. I really don't..i.t's not something I want to do. Plus I already have a friend or two I play with, that's all I need. I definitely don't want to play with people I don't know. I don't want to PvP so I don't, other than dueling friends. I don't want to join a supergroup and never have. It's an option and I make my choices. Grouping sections of the game should scale to player-size. Then people who like to solo or duo can, and people who can't fight on their own, can group or people who want to make friends online, can. I don't have room in my life for more online friends.

The first post mentions alerts, teaming and things related to grouping and also the extra levels I don't want. Everything else sounds good to me. I don't mean to sound like a jerk if I do. Like I said this is my second language, and self-taught. Everything is a bit impersonal sounding I'm sure, but I have a heart. Sorry if my English is awful.

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Well I have to say this right now, That XP gifting thing would be AWESOME!! I say make it sooner rather than later so one more voice can be heard on the issue. Thanks!

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^^ Right He or She is officially now so full of WIN with that statement its un-natrual .

I'm feeling the Nerd-Gasm in me. I could explode with all the joy and team-based content.

I am okay, if they add scalability to Alerst ( i wouldn't like it tho). Maybe i got the Mulitplayer in MMO wrong?

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...Maybe i got the Mulitplayer in MMO wrong?
Yes. Its stands for Many Man Online. If you add RPG, you get Many Man Online Role Playing Girls.

Oh, not a joke. It stands for Massive Multiplayer Online. There is no "group" there. Its just big, can have other players and its over network.

MMO is like a big city. Many people around. But that doesn't mean I have to 'group' with all of them or even with one.

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This sentence (to me anyway) just makes you sound like that annoying jerk-bag who charges headfirst into a group of enemies while everyone else is still healing up, Or that guy who steals your kills/escort because you 'were taking too long and I couldn't wait'. And that, I simply cannot stand. (Again, that's just what I read from your post. I've never met you and you're probably a nice person, but this just comes out as snobbish.)

And I also think it's high-time we all got back on topic. There can be a separate thread for teaming vs solo.

Right thats a sorta personal attack there...not really that nice calling peeps jerks @____@ She only said she likes doing solo and shouldnt need to group for instances . In no way has she ever stated she wanted how the rest of us play changed , just stated she wants be able to do her own thing in peace. Sounds like a hermit not a jerk sir and most hermits as you know are full of WIN :D

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"Mostly solo" players like me already have plenty of love in the game, and judging from the very solo friendly issue 1 of Whiteout that was briefly on Test, that's not going to change in the near future. Similiarly, I don't see the Neighborhood and Zone Events as "team required" events (though undoubtedly, like Open Missions now, you'll probably be working with others on your own initiative.)

I'm quite willing to give other play styles some content to make them happier, provided I don't become a second class citizen when it comes to gear, levelling and other benefits. This game can support multiple play styles. I look forward to seeing what Cryptic does with the Alerts and hope they're good and well received by the player base.

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I'm feeling the Nerd-Gasm in me. I could explode with all the joy and team-based content.

I am okay, if they add scalability to Alerst ( i wouldn't like it tho). Maybe i got the Mulitplayer in MMO wrong?


Why do you care if it scales so I can play it too? I don't understand why grouping people/fans of should care. It's allowing me access to new content and you too. I pay monthly, and like the day before they announced this stuff in this thread, I was ready to go lifetime on two accounts, but until I know if it stays solo, know the end game stuff isn't going to be the same mistake other mmos have made, I'm going to wait. Nevertheless, how I play hurts nothing, everyone wins and should be able to play how they want, which is actually how the game works now. You can group, you can solo, the choice is yours <-- but the key thing is there is a choice. At least in CoH the radio missions were solo friendly, though the end game is awful. I think they got too confidant and now the games barely got anyone on the 4 servers I had characters, 3 of them the more popular. I'm in there right now.


Nepht - I'm not a hermit, I just like playing this game alone. I do play with a friend sometimes, but I know that person and they know and trust my playstyle, and we can move at the pace we want, but mostly I guess I do solo. I have to go afk a lot because of work or other things, depends when I play, time has always been tight for me. It's a nice thing to have a game you can do play the whole thing at your own pace Especially since so many mmos are more like a job these days than a fun experience they should be.

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Why do you care if it scales so I can play it too? I don't understand why grouping people/fans of should care. It's allowing me access to new content and you too. I pay monthly, and like the day before they announced this stuff in this thread, I was ready to go lifetime on two accounts, but until I know if it stays solo, know the end game stuff isn't going to be the same mistake other mmos have made, I'm going to wait. Nevertheless, how I play hurts nothing, everyone wins and should be able to play how they want, which is actually how the game works now. You can group, you can solo, the choice is yours <-- but the key thing is there is a choice. At least in CoH the radio missions were solo friendly, though the end game is awful. I think they got too confidant and now the games barely got anyone on the 4 servers I had characters, 3 of them the more popular. I'm in there right now.


Nepht - I'm not a hermit, I just like playing this game alone. I do play with a friend sometimes, but I know that person and they know and trust my playstyle, and we can move at the pace we want, but mostly I guess I do solo. I have to go afk a lot because of work or other things, depends when I play, time has always been tight for me. It's a nice thing to have a game you can do play the whole thing at your own pace Especially since so many mmos are more like a job these days than a fun experience they should be.

It's probably because in solo friendly game like this unless it forced people generally will solo it. That would mean over time it'll become troublesome to nab up even random people for them (which you hate) to run them. Or it could since its a MMO your suppose you want group lots (which I call bull on as we play for what reasons we want). I could go on but just giving you some general reasons (I don't care for teaming much btw but I do so at my own leisure). I can see where lava is coming from (honestly like how team heavy cox was but it doesn't really tickle me here.

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Nepht - I'm not a hermit, .


Duly Noted >.<

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Maybe i got the Mulitplayer in MMO wrong?

You did.

Multi-Mission Online RPG

Atleast, that's how I've always heard te defintion. There isn't Multiplayer anywhere in it.

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AWESOME!!!

This is just the kind of thing I wanted to see. I'm not worried about time frame, I just love seeing that there is a vision for this game, and they have plans.

Great Work!!

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You did.

Multi-Mission Online RPG

Atleast, that's how I've always heard te defintion. There isn't Multiplayer anywhere in it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massively_multiplayer_online_role-playing_game

(Unless you were being sarcastic? o-o)

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massively_multiplayer_online_role-playing_game

(Unless you were being sarcastic? o-o)
Apparently unless we're all forced to play in teams, whether we will or no, like recalcitrant children eating their vegetables, it's not "really" multiplayer. It's not enough that social butterflies are able to make teams - no, everyone absolutely must be forced into groups, or it doesn't count.

In which case perhaps I should be re-evaluating how I spend my leisure hours - I don't need another job that doesn't pay me, thanks...

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Apparently unless we're all forced to play in teams, whether we will or no, like recalcitrant children eating their vegetables, it's not "really" multiplayer. It's not enough that social butterflies are able to make teams - no, everyone absolutely must be forced into groups, or it doesn't count.

In which case perhaps I should be re-evaluating how I spend my leisure hours - I don't need another job that doesn't pay me, thanks...

Good reply, wish my English was as good to sum up how I feel like that. Hopefully the developers have the blinders off too.

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I'm way too tired for this, so forgive me if any of this comes off as overly-snarky.


I believe there's some serious miscommunication going on here... People who enjoy teaming simply want to have more team-oriented content (Because, seriously guys. Nemcon, TT, Resistance. Whether you team or not, you should all understand that these are the only events endgame where teaming is really rewarded.) I really, really don't get some of the animosity people are receiving on both ends for simply suggesting we get something that can appeal to the other side.

But, I can also easily understand and empathize with the soloer's plight. HOWEVER, having it lean a LITTLE on either side doesn't spell DOOM for everyone. Having new team content doesn't mean solo content will be cut from the game foreeeverrr and vice versa, it simply means we've gotten more content.)


TL;DR and without all the candy-coating so people won't misinterpret what I say(again.*cough.*)

Everyone: just be quiet. Both sides have their merits, but there's no reason to be jerks to each other over how you play a game. Either chill out, or take things to another thread. This argument is as tired as I am.

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I'm way too tired for this, so forgive me if any of this comes off as overly-snarky.


I believe there's some serious miscommunication going on here... People who enjoy teaming simply want to have more team-oriented content (Because, seriously guys. Nemcon, TT, Resistance. Whether you team or not, you should all understand that these are the only events endgame where teaming is really rewarded.) I really, really don't get some of the animosity people are receiving on both ends for simply suggesting we get something that can appeal to the other side.

But, I can also easily understand and empathize with the soloer's plight. HOWEVER, having it lean a LITTLE on either side doesn't spell DOOM for everyone. Having new team content doesn't mean solo content will be cut from the game foreeeverrr and vice versa, it simply means we've gotten more content.)


TL;DR and without all the candy-coating so people won't misinterpret what I say(again.*cough.*)

Everyone: just be quiet. Both sides have their merits, but there's no reason to be jerks to each other over how you play a game. Either chill out, or take things to another thread. This argument is as tired as I am.

I'm tired of it too, tired of mmos having no options to SCALE... though some are starting to now.

When they add the new content just make it scale to party size. I can explain how to code it if you really need to hear that? It would be in theory and based more off the earlier version of the engine CoH uses but it's possible, plus the game already has it. Then everyone can play anything. Grouping people can have their fun and solo people can have their fun. That's all there is to say about it. I mean Epic games just demo'd this very thing at a workshop for something they are working on in the near future that is MMO related, but mostly for people wanting to license the engine, like me.

I just don't want to see new content added, but then I can't even play it solo, and I am stuck playing the same old same stuff over and over. Surely that can be understood?

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If you add a bunch of missions/content that HAVE to be soloed, then you exclude people who only team-play and never solo.

If you add a bunch of missions/content that HAVE to be team-played, then you exclude people who only solo and never team-play.

So, in order to not exclude either side you should scale all content for the two play types. That way everybody can enjoy all the content. No harm, no foul. Everybody gets to play how they like without having any penalty for doing so and without any exclusions.

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If you add a bunch of missions/content that HAVE to be soloed, then you exclude people who only team-play and never solo.

If you add a bunch of missions/content that HAVE to be team-played, then you exclude people who only solo and never team-play.

So, in order to not exclude either side you should scale all content for the two play types. That way everybody can enjoy all the content. No harm, no foul. Everybody gets to play how they like without having any penalty for doing so and without any exclusions.
Now with this, I am in full agreement.

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If you add a bunch of missions/content that HAVE to be soloed, then you exclude people who only team-play and never solo.

If you add a bunch of missions/content that HAVE to be team-played, then you exclude people who only solo and never team-play.

So, in order to not exclude either side you should scale all content for the two play types. That way everybody can enjoy all the content. No harm, no foul. Everybody gets to play how they like without having any penalty for doing so and without any exclusions.

That sums it all up . No room to even argue so +1 internets to you.

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That sums it all up . No room to even argue so +1 internets to you.

I've been saying scale in all my posts! Hope it happens.

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What I personally understood is that Alerts would work like Open Missions. You don't team up, you just figt alongside other heroes.

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If you add a bunch of missions/content that HAVE to be soloed, then you exclude people who only team-play and never solo.

If you add a bunch of missions/content that HAVE to be team-played, then you exclude people who only solo and never team-play.

So, in order to not exclude either side you should scale all content for the two play types. That way everybody can enjoy all the content. No harm, no foul. Everybody gets to play how they like without having any penalty for doing so and without any exclusions.

I see your point and i agree.
Let me say it a bit different. I would like to see Alerts that are designed for full teams with the ability to scale down if needed.

Never thought that hoping for team-based content would cause such a storm.

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So hey, back to the subject at hand (the UNTIL report), So yeah, *looks at calender seeing 30th* um, where's the Unarmed Pass?

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If you add a bunch of missions/content that HAVE to be soloed, then you exclude people who only team-play and never solo.

If you add a bunch of missions/content that HAVE to be team-played, then you exclude people who only solo and never team-play.

So, in order to not exclude either side you should scale all content for the two play types. That way everybody can enjoy all the content. No harm, no foul. Everybody gets to play how they like without having any penalty for doing so and without any exclusions.

One more here in agreement with this^

I honestly think we need both: team content and solo content. And I see no reason why alerts can't be both.

I see your point and i agree.
Let me say it a bit different. I would like to see Alerts that are designed for full teams with the ability to scale down if needed.

Never thought that hoping for team-based content would cause such a storm.

This^ in particular seems like a good compromise. It would be nice if at least some of the alerts were made specifically with teams in mind, but capable of scaling down if people want to solo them. It would provide good content for those that want to do some heavy teaming, while not cutting off those that don't want to or can't team.

In my case, I generally can't team because my laptop can't handle that many people running around using powers on my screen, so I generally have to skip content that I can't do alone. And the concept of alters seems like it could provide some nice alternative content for when I don't want to do the same missions I've been doing since I joined over and over again.

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I've been saying scale in all my posts! Hope it happens.

Yes, you have. I have. Several people have. Maybe some people think of fish or reptiles when they see the word "scale?"

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I see your point and i agree.
Let me say it a bit different. I would like to see Alerts that are designed for full teams with the ability to scale down if needed.

Never thought that hoping for team-based content would cause such a storm.

I don't think that is impossible and it isn't about team-based content; it is about exclusively team-based content. Seriously, alot of people don't want to go back team-required gameplay in any way, shape or form. Too many bad experiences, I suppose. The "alarms" that such announcements set off is a good indication that it is an issue of some concern.

Oh well. It is ultimately up to Cryptic to decide. All we can do is voice our opinions (vehemently, but politely.)

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So hey, back to the subject at hand (the UNTIL report), So yeah, *looks at calender seeing 30th* um, where's the Unarmed Pass?

Look at the calendar for October. It was put up a little bit ago. Unarmed ATs are 19-22nd release, so...

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Look at the calendar for October. It was put up a little bit ago. Unarmed ATs are 19-22nd release, so...

The "unarmed pass" is referring to when the unarmed changes (something they pointed out as going to happen on the 29th, as indicated by the Q&A) were going on to PTS, not live and I have yet to see any dev post where they say it was delayed, so...

I don't want to end up the person who goes "YOU SAID THIS, WHY NO HAPPEN!?" but Is it so hard to say "We are delaying it because of <X>'"?

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I have noticed all the "Nooo level Cap" players are the older "i have 99 level 40's" players complaining.

You guys are just bitter because your top tiered, best geared in the game,uber money hoarding characters wont be anymore, I'd bet you'd lose your money making scams in SL and other places, or your too lazy to go get the newer stuff when its implemented..

What about the newer players that haven't reached level 40 yet, they'd be happy with an increase to 45/50..
I'd personally love to see a increase of levels in this, 40 seems too low in my opinion and the gear is just not worth whining about too me.

But i'd love more end game content too with less bugs thrown in.