The ideas I’m going to present here came up during a thread discussion about teleport--Devs: The 10 second cooldown on Teleport is really a drag. We talked about how we were frustrated with the way travel powers currently work in CO—not just teleport, but all travel powers in general. It’s true that teleport is in many ways far superior to the other travel powers, no one is disputing that. But focusing only on nerfing this one power to end this disparity is only going to get us so far, and the other travel powers could use some work as well. They could be far better than they are now.

For some superheroes, their travel power is a big part of their identity. Many superheroes are known primarily for their travel power, and may have few, if any, other powers that are comparable to those abilities. But in CO, travel powers have been relegated to a secondary role where their primary and most acceptable function is to get us from point A to point B. You can’t do cool stuff with travel powers in CO, and the only travel power that actually feels “super”, is the power everyone seems to want to nerf.

Flight just seems too slow in combat. Acrobatics is in some ways too ordinary and lacks vertical movement, which limits its ability to move across long distances when obstructed by structures. Super speed lacks even more in vertical movement and can’t be used to swoosh pass enemies as effectively as a power with a name like “super speed” should. Swinging and Super Jump are too limited and tedious to use and don’t work well indoors, while all other travel powers do. Activating Tunneling in combat can get you killed while you wait for your character to borrow into the ground.

The system being proposed here:

• Uses the current travel power system as a base without discarding most of what’s already in use
• Does not require a complete overhaul of the current system, mostly additions to what is already in place
• Uses Advantages as a way to improve existing travel powers
• Makes travel powers more usefull, cooler and more fun, like a real super hero’s travel powers
• Provides alternatives to bring the other travel powers up to par with teleport, while working to achieve better balance among travel powers at the same time
• Provides further alternatives for character customization, including the ability to make distinctive choices that could fundamentally affect how your travel powers work
• Offers suggestions on how to change the current teleport power into something that might be more workable from both, a PVE and PVP perspective

The information listed in the upcoming posts will be divided into four sections:

• Travel Power Enhancers: Explains ideas on how to use Advantages to make the current travel powers better, and includes an extensive list of proposed advantages for all travel powers.
• Charged Teleport—an Alternate implementation for Teleport: Details suggestions for a new way of using the teleport power.
• Acrobatics & Swinging: Explains the rationale behind merging the Acrobatics & Swinging travel powers.
• Swinging & the C-Store: Suggests alternatives on how to deal with Swinging being currently a gold travel power that can be purchased at the c-store, if Acrobatics & Swinging were to be merged, as suggested in the ideas presented here.

Note: ALL the information presented here is subject to change based on feedback, additional ideas or suggestions.

These are travel power advantages specifically aimed to improve a travel power's basic capabilities, particularly in relation to combat. All travel powers other than teleport will start with an inherent advantage that increases it’s basic functions somehow (teleport is already powerful enough, it’s the other travel powers that need help). This advantage will be the equivalent of a 2 point advantage, but will not count towards the character’s limit—it is an inherent part of the character’s ability. Other advantages can be purchased normally by the character, and they do count toward the 5 point per power limit.

The inherent advantage of all Flight powers will be determined be the specific type of Flight power. Fire Flight, for example, will get the On Flames advantage, which has a chance to apply the Clinging Flames effect to nearby enemies. Other Flight powers will get advantages appropriate to the type of flight capabilities possess.

All travel powers other than Flight (or teleport, which is except) will allow you to select a 2 point advantage of your choosing, allowing you to customize the basic way your travel power works. This advantage will not count towards your 5 point per power limit.

The lists below includes advantages for each travel power proposed as part of this system. Some of these were mentioned or suggested by other posters at the Devs: The 10 second cooldown on Teleport is really a drag thread, and I have also included advantages that already exist in the game for the sake inclusion.

Acrobatics

• Aerial Leap (2 points): While the power is active, allows the character to perform a “double jump” by pressing the jump key while already in the air as if he/she was on the ground. This advantage will only activate once while the character is in the air, and cannot be activated again afterward until the character touches the ground. Note: If a character takes this advantage, as well as Swinging, this advantage takes priority over swinging for activation purposes. Aerial Leap would be activated first on the initial “jump” attempt while in the air, and the second jump attempt will activate Swinging.
• Gliding: While acrobatics is active, the character will be able to "glide" by pressing and maintaining the jump key while the character is in the air. This advantage uses similar mechanics to the "Swinging" travel power, but allows the character to glide instead, either by using a glider that appears when the advantage is activated, or by using the character's wings or cape if included in their costume.
• Evasive Maneuvers (2 points): The character gets a dodge bonus while the power is active.
• Speed Burst (2 Points): The character will be able to boost their speed considerably for a very short time (around 2 seconds) to help them break away from enemies. This option can be activated by pressing the shift + jump key and has a 6 second cooldown.
• Swinging (2 Points): While acrobatics is active, the character will be able to "swing" by pressing and maintaining the jump key while the character is in the air. Note: This advantage replaces the original Swinging power and turns it into an acrobatics advantage. See "Acrobatics & Swinging", below, for the reasons behind the idea of merging these two powers.
• Versatility (2 points): As the current acrobatics advantage of the same name.

Flight Powers

• Aerial Combat (2 Points): The character will have increased in-combat speed (comparable to acrobatics) while flight is active.
• Afterburn (2 Point; Fire Flight and Jet Boots only): The character generates a stream of flame capable of damaging any enemies directly beneath them.
• Air Superiority (Inherent Flight advantage): The character gains a slight increase to overall flight speed.
• Evasive Maneuvers (2 points): The character gets a dodge bonus while the power is active.
• Hover Push (Inherent Hover Disk advantage): The character will be able to generate some pushback in a small cone when the hover disk is pressed against frontal enemies.
• Hyper Thrust (Inherent Jet Boots advantage): This advantage works like Speed Burst, but its inherent to the Jet Boots power.
• Ice Slide (Inherent Ice Flight advantage): The character leaves a trail of ice that has a chance of apply Chill to enemies directly behind them.
• On Flames (Inherent Fire Flight advantage): All enemies within melee range of the character have a chance to have clinging flames applied to them.
• Speed Burst (2 Points): The character will be able to boost their speed considerably for a very short time (around 2 seconds) to help them break away from enemies. This option can be activated by pressing the shift + jump key and has a 6 second cooldown.
• Trailing Boulders (2 Points, Earth Flight only): Damage caused by the Trailing Peebles inherent advantage is increased.
• Trailing Peebles (Inherent Earth Flight advantage): The character leaves a trail of falling rocks causing physical damage to all enemies directly behind them.

Rocket Jump
Note: In addition to the advantages presented here, characters with this travel power should be able to jump continuously by simply pressing and maintaining the jump key (currently, characters with this power require the player to constantly press jump everytime they use this power).

• Blast Off (2 Points): The character will generate a small shock wave when Rocket Jump is activated. This shock wave will cause a small amount of damage and knockback against all enemies in a small area (5' radius, perhaps).
• Hover Thrusters (2 Points): The character will be able to hover and remain suspended in mid air by pressing and maintaining the shift + jump key for as long as maintained.
• Rocket Burn (2 Points): The character’s rocket thrusters generate a stream of flame capable of damaging any enemies directly beneath the character. This stream of flame is activated whenever the character jumps, then deactivates when the character hits the ground. Note: Characters that also take the Hover Thrusters advantage would be able to maintain this effect on any enemies swarming beneath them for as long as they hover.
• Rocket Thrust (2 Points): The character will have increased running and jumping speed (about +20%) while the power is active.

Super Jump
Note: In addition to the advantages presented here, characters with this travel power should be able to jump continuously by simply pressing and maintaining the jump key (currently, characters with this power require the player to constantly press jump everytime they use this power).

• Evasive Leap (2 Points): The character gains a dodge buff when jumping. This buff is activated when the character jumps, and disapears when he hits the ground.
• Long Strides (2 Points): The character will have increased running and jumping speed (about +20%) while the power is active. Note: This advantage should also indirectly increase jumping distance as well, since increased running and jumping speed would propel the character farther.
• Rebounding Resilience (2 points): As the current super jump advantage of the same name.
• Stomp Fall (2 Points): The character will generate a small shock wave when landing while super jump is active. This shock wave will cause a small amount of damage and knockback against all enemies in a small area (5' radius, perhaps).

Super Speed

• Aerial Leap (2 points): While the power is active, allows the character to perform a “double jump” by pressing the jump key while already in the air as if he/she was on the ground. This advantage will only activate once while the character is in the air, and cannot be activated again afterward until the character touches the ground.
• Elusive Strides (2 points): The character gains stealth whenever running at full speed when using the super speed power. The character must achieve and maintain full running speed for at least 2 seconds for this advantage to become active, and comes out of stealth if he/she stops completely for more than 1.5 seconds and/or if they attack an enemy.
• Evasive Maneuvers (2 points): The character gets a dodge bonus while the power is active.
• Speed Burst (2 Points): The character will be able to boost their speed considerably for a very short time (around 2 seconds) to help them break away from enemies. This option can be activated by pressing the shift + jump key and has a 6 second cooldown.
• Speed Vortex (2 Points): Grants the character a toggle, which--when active--generates an AoE vacum that sucks enemies in its wake, causing them to knock towards the character, bringing them in melee range.

Swinging

• Acrobatics (2 Points): The character's ground movement and jumping ability is replaced with Acrobatics when Swinging is active. Note: This advantage replaces the original Acrobatics power and turns it into an Swinging advantage. See "Acrobatics & Swinging", below, for the reasons behind the idea of merging these two powers.
• Aerial Leap (2 points): While the power is active, allows the character to perform a “double jump” by pressing the jump key while already in the air as if he/she was on the ground. This advantage will only activate once while the character is in the air, and cannot be activated again afterward until the character touches the ground. Note: If a character takes this advantage, as well as Swinging, this advantage takes priority over swinging for activation purposes. Aerial Leap would be activated first on the initial “jump” attempt while in the air, and the second jump attempt will activate Swinging.
• Evasive Maneuvers (2 points): The character gets a dodge bonus while the power is active.
• Speed Burst (2 Points): The character will be able to boost their speed considerably for a very short time (around 2 seconds) to help them break away from enemies. This option can be activated by pressing the shift + jump key and has a 6 second cooldown.
• Versatility (2 points): As the current acrobatics advantage of the same name.

Teleport—Current Version

• Combat Teleport (4 Points): Eliminates the 10 second cooldown imposed when using teleport in combat.

Tunneling

• Accelerated Digging (3 Points): The amount of time it takes the character to burrow into the ground when tunneling is activated will be reduced by 1-2 seconds.
• Burrowing Carapace (2 Points): The character’s resistance to damage is increased while burrowing.
• Debris Cloud (2 Point): The character will generate a cloud of dust and stone fragments while burrowing. This cloud will cause minor damage and pushback against all enemies in a small area (5’ perhaps).
• Earthen Embrace (2 points): As the current tunneling advantage of the same name.

Charged teleport will used most of the mechanics already in place for the current teleport. However, the player will have to charge the power in order to activate its use, and the current 10 second cooldown when used in combat will be eliminated. The amount of time the power is charged before it is released determines the amount of time you may remain phased. It is my hope that the version of teleport proposed here:

• Serves as an alternative for the current 10 second cooldown when teleport is used in combat.
• Reduces abuse by making it more difficult for players to teleport in combat, while still allowing players to have meaningful use of this power
• Makes it more difficult for characters with teleport to skip through entire areas of mission maps, but still allows such a possibility
• Allows options for faster and more efficient use outside of combat
• Makes it more manageable in PVP, because players will be able to target teleporters and affect them with Nailed to the Ground
• Provides additional possibilities for customization using the system for Travel Power Enhancers

Charged Teleport would work like this:

• (+) While charging you are held in place, and will be suspended in mid air if charge is initiated airborne*
• (+) While charging you gain increased knockback resistance**
• (+) When charge is released, phases you out of the normal plane of existence for a number of seconds equal to charge time multiplied by 2, to a maximum of 6 seconds if held for 3 seconds.***
• (+) While phased, you are able to move at high speeds in any direction
• (+) If you exit the phased state above the ground, you will slowly fall to the ground
• (+) Teleport has no speed penalty from combat
• (-) While charging, the character becomes rooted until the charge is released or the power is charged completely
• (-) Holds and Knockback interrupt charging
• (-) Being hit by powers with the Nailed to the Ground advantage will interrupt charging and cancel power
• (-) No powers can be activated while phased
• (-) Healing is greatly diminished while phased
• (-) The Energy cost of all powers is increased and your Energy Generation is reduced while phased****
• (-) Your preception is greatly reduced while phased, rendering you unable to see enemies or other characters unless you are really close to them

* This will allow characters to charge teleport while in the air without falling
** From a balance stand point, this is because the character will be a sitting target while the power is charged and knockback should cancel the charge like any other charged power. From a thematic point of view, the massive forces the character is summoning to tear them through time and space would hold them in place for a while as the character is slowly sucked into another plane of existence.
*** These figures are subject to test, and would change depending on how a charged teleport actually works when tested at the PTS
**** This effect would apply with the Ethereal Sanctuary advantage proposed here (see Teleport—Charged Version, in the section on Travel Powers Enhancers)

Note: Out of combat, a full charge will hold the character in this phased out state indefinitely until the power is deactivated, or the character enters within the perception range of hostile target for more than 2 seconds, at which time the counter will commence from 6 seconds as if the character activated teleport as a full charge during combat.


Teleport—Charged Version

• Astral Sight (2 Points): The character’s perception penalties while teleporting are greatly reduced (though, not completely eliminated). You will be able to see nearby enemies while teleporting.
• Dimensional Traveler (2 Points): The amount of time the character may remained phased out while teleporting is increased from x2 times the charge time, to x3 times the charge time.
• Ethereal Sanctuary (3 Points): Teleport sends you to a parallel ethereal plane while phased. You will be able to use self targeting powers while teleporting and healing penalties are greatly diminished (though, not completely eliminated).
• Remote Teleport (2 Points): You gain acceleration similar to flight while phased outside of combat, except this acceleration uses teleport speed as the base speed (Note: This advantage is meant to simulate skill in long distance teleports).

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Also, as part of these changes, I would propose that the Nailed to the Ground advantage place a debuff on characters that not just cancels out travel powers, but prevents their activation for a while. I mean, it's called "Nailed to the Ground"--you don't always nail someone to the ground once they're already in the air, sometimes you do it before hand, just in case they want to get away. I'm not sure how long this debuff should last at this time, but it would help the advantage have more meaningful use in combat--especially in PvP, and against teleport.

Here are some keypoints detailing why merging Acrobatics & Swinging would be an improvement:

• Conceptually speaking, swinging is really just an acrobatic trick if you think about it. Every superhero that has swinging in the comic books is also an acrobat, and people in real life who have swinging abilities—i.e. trapezists—have acrobatic skills as well, because you can’t swing if you don’t have acrobatic training.
  
  
• Swinging and Acrobatics would complement eachother well. Merging Swinging and Acrobatics means that characters that have Swinging will also have a means to move faster indoors, while characters with Acrobatics will also get thematically appropriate vertical movement, giving them the ability to reach rooftops faster and more effectively (though, still not as effective as Flight, which allows that power retain its intended edge). Swinging would also perform better if it had acrobatics as its base movement, rather than the currently awkard slow run with inexplicably high jumps, which is about the only part of the swinging power that doesn't feel like actual swinging (once you get into the air and start to swing, though, it looks and feels like swinging).
  
  
• It would give both, Acrobatics and Swinging the extra edge it needs to come up to par with travel powers like teleport, or a Flight power with increased in-combat speed.
  
  
• It may give characters with acrobatics an improved means of escape in combat, since characters would be able to activate swinging from a faster running start than possible with the current swinging power giving it an extra burst of speed on their initial swing. This would propel them into the air faster and might provide an added means of escape (this is a theory that would have to be tested at the PTS to determine if this is the case, though).
  
  
• People have been raving about how acrobatics in DCUO lets climb up walls and stuff, which isn't possible in CO and probably never will be because walls were not set up that way since the beginning, but perhaps doing something like this would help give acrobatics here its own cool edge. We already have swinging mechanics in this game, all we need to do is make them part of acrobatics to take advantage of them to boost both powers at the same time.

Players interested in learning more about the rationale behind this change for now can visist the following pages in the Devs: The 10 second cooldown on Teleport is really a drag thread, where the changes for Acrobatics & Swinging where discussed:

Page 19, post by me near the end
Page 20, post by me at start of page
Page 25, post by me at start of page

I may expand on this section further in the future, but for now I will copy this post over from the discussion at the Devs: The 10 second cooldown on Teleport is really a drag thread.

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This is a good point. I have considered this as well, but maybe if the gave people that have already bought this travel power a bonus c-store item of equivalent cost as a refund it might help solve this issue.

One c-store item I think they should add is a swinging skins set. I have suggested this in the past and have see it suggested by other people as well. Not all swinging characters should have to use a grappling hook. They could add:

• Trapeze
• Vines
• Rope (just a plain old rope without the current grappling hook contraption, perhaps with a piece trailing behind as we swing)
• Plain Chains
• Elemental Chains (Flaming, Acid, Mystic Glow etc.)
• Whip
• Elemental Whip (Flaming, Acid, Mystic Glow etc.)
• Tentacles
• Oozing Substance
• Shadowy Tentacles/Substance (good for darkness toons)
• Generic Cable (that can be recolored)
• Glow Cable (a generic cable that can be recolored and glows)
• String of tied-togther brightly-coloured handkerchiefs (for magicians)

Obviously adding something like this would take some work and it would cost Cryptic. But if they added something like this to the c-store along with an acrobatics/swinging merge, it could be something people that have already purchased swinging could select as their refund item, and it would add a cool c-store item for people too look forward to as part of the patch when the changes come through.

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Ok, here's another idea I've been thinking of:

Keep both Powers but allow them to merge as an Advantage

With this option, both Acrobatics and Swinging will remain separate power selections as usual, but they will each have the option to select eachother as an Advantage. This way, Swinging can still remain as a C-Store item for silver members, and only silver members that have purchased Swinging, as well as gold members in general, will be able to access either version of Swinging--either the power itself, or the Acrobatics advantage. This option will require no changes to the c-store item or additions (although the extra swinging skins would still be nice :D), while still allowing us to merge both powers without causing problems for silver members that may have already purchased Swinging as a travel power.

I like where you are going with this. I've often felt that the penalty on travel power movement is too severe in combat. CO combat is much less static than many other MMO's, but it could be even less static.

I've updated the Charged Teleport, Acrobatics & Swinging and Swinging & the C-Store for clarifications, and further ideas. Including some keypoints about the benefits and rationale behind the merge of Acrobatics & Swinging, as well as an idea I think would help solve the issue of merging these abilities, when Swinging is currently being sold at the c-store. Namely, that we could keep both powers, but grant them the ability to select each other as advantages to improve their basic functioning (only characters with access to Swinging would have access to either Acrobatics "Swinging" Advantage or the the Swinging power itself).

Theeere it is! :D

600% SIGNED! Making every Travel Power fun to use is ESSENTIAL to a superhero game!
Make it so!

I heartily endorse this event and or product.

/signed!!:D

Any one whos been reading the other thread knows that its a must that i come through and support this one.
I would like to add:

Devs, please make it so that you can super jump continuously by holding the jump button down instead of having to press it every time you jump.
This worked well in COX. Repeatedly pressing the jump button when your traveling around can cause some peoples fingers to get tired.