Crimson_Scarab

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I am listening to your ideas, but a Flashback system is simply not something we can implement in a timeframe you would all be happy with.

Instead we are looking into other options to get you the Pool B choice so level 50s don't feel gimped.

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Dataminins shouldn't be that hard. Those who've finished the arcs have the souvenirs, the data is all right there. Can't you award us based on that, retroactively?

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That would be a good first step but still wouldn't work for everyone. I have a couple of support alts (A level 50 Illusion/Force Field and a level 49 Fire/Thermal) that have never done their own missions. They team exclusively in PUGs or with the SG so are always doing other people's missions. They have done almost all the Task/Strike Forces available and have done the Trials, but would have no Story Arcs.

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To my mind there are only two acceptable solutions:

Distribute story arc recipes to the general loot tables (they can still drop from the story arcs)

OR

Flashback.


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Or they could add some infinitely repeatable story arcs for level 50 characters.

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Make Kora a story arc, heh. Drops II: Return of the Kora Farms

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I think we are both saying the same thing. We hear you and ze good Doctor understands your feedback. Positron is twiddling at the workbench now. Have faith! Thanks!

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And THIS is why it pays to shout DOOOOOOOM if you think there is a chance that something will work in an adverse way that the devs may not have thought about. Had everyone remained silent when the naysayers were saying telling us not to worry about it until it was on test, they wouldn't be looking into doing something different.

It shows that if the player base makes good, logical, sound arguments that the Devs will listen and consider making changes.

Big Thanks and Kudos to the Dev Team

One thing to keep in mind for people who say they don't have enough time to ever do a Task Force.

Almost every single Task Force/Strike Force can be soloed.

Yep. It's true. For example, if you have a level 47 alt and have never done a TF/SF because you can never play more than an hour, all you have to do is get in-game friends to form a team to start the TF/SF with the correct number of players and make sure that one of them is on a level appropriate alt that they don't plan on playing for a while.

As soon as the TF/SF starts, everyone can log to a different alt, without quitting the TF/SF, leaving their TF/SF alt in limbo until you are done.

You can then solo the SF/TF with spawns set for 1 player. The only problem you will have is the AV at the end but when you get there you can ask your friends to log back into those alts and help and use inspirations/temp powers to finish them.

You can do all of this taking your own sweet time because if you log off after each hour of play, you will still be in the TF/SF when you log back on. You can spend a month doing it if you like.

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Now I hear you guys... you all seem to dislike the Story Arc aspect of this system. I've had some discussions with the team yesterday about what we could do instead, and still keep the flavor of the four pool system, because having the extra three pools allows us to not only reward risk/reward, but time/reward as well. Takes longer to do a Task Force? Here's a nice bonus you can't get anywhere else. Finish the Respec trial, but already have all your Respecs? Here's a nice reward that carries with it some good inherent value.


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Ack now I'm all paranoid because I primarily do story arcs and not TFs or Trials. And it sounds like I won't have a chance to get the rarer recipes that you where originally going to offer me. Ack...


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Remember, Task/Strike Forces and Trials are infinitly repeatable. Story Arcs are not. There is a difference between choosing not to do Task/Strike Forces and Trials and not being allowed to do story arcs because you have already outleved every single one of them.

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Now I hear you guys... you all seem to dislike the Story Arc aspect of this system. I've had some discussions with the team yesterday about what we could do instead, and still keep the flavor of the four pool system

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This part was very encouraging. It sounds like you guys are considering dumping the story arc aspect and replacing it with something else that is repeatable and available to everyone for the 4th pool.

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We also will be actively monitoring datamining on every aspect of this system through all of Training Room and into Live.

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This part is discouraging because it implies the exact opposite of the other part. Makes it sound like you'll datamine it, as you currently have it programmed, all the way through going live with it. And only then, if datamining on live shows a problem, might you consider changing it.

The only solution I've ever found to an NPC dying when you were supposed to lead them out or lead them to something was to reset the mission. I'd rather just get a Mission Failed message the instant they died like you do with Objects you are supposed to protect.

That's one of the things I do think CoV does better than CoH. Map variety.

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Longbow Ambushes

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Let me guess. Temp ran in solo before everyone else got there.

It's quite an accomplishment. It is definitely harder than it sounds. I'm in the same SG and we have tried to form a 2nd Team Relentless on villains. We usually only have 5 or 6 show up for a session and get frequent team wipes. We haven't become the well-oiled machine that the original Team Invincible is.

I'm hoping once we hit 12 (everyone is 10ish) and can buy DOs it will change.

You have a big red ball. Kind of.

In the new Faultline there are boxes that can be kicked around. We were having fun with them the other day as a team.

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Hmm, on second thought, I hope Hamidon gets changed after the Statesman TF comes out. Something not so much a raid encounter .

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I hope it doesn't. I hope that they simply let villains into The Hive to team up with heroes to defeat him. My Dominator would be a valuable member of that team, rather than life support for a Shivan in the LRSF final mission.

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Well, I suspect that if the Statesman TF drops HOs, Hamidon raids will dry up on their own. Hamidon raids are pretty boring for many people (myself included) and with something else to draw the crowds away it may not be feasible to get the requisite numbers.


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I think the exact opposite will happen. I think it will open up Hamidon and make it more popular. I'm sure the Statesman TF will have the same problems as the RSF in that certain builds will be in demand making it hard for some ATs to get invited. These non-demand ATs/power sets will be able to join the Hamidon raids where everyone can play a part

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The webpage says the Gamester will put presents in the zones on the 18th, but the email I received says the 21st.

Is the Gamester just trying to keep us on our toes?

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We decided to move the "phase 2" of the event up to the 18th so that people would have more opportunities to open presents. Because well, we all love the presents!

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Unless it is socks and underwear.

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It depends on who is in the underwear.

I'm in the same SG and we are running a second Team Relentless that started the same day. Unfortunately we haven't been able to get 8 consistently, but yes, villains do seem a bit harder at lower levels than heroes. I especially noticed it with a Council newspaper mission at level 8. We had several team wipes making it through that mission. Mooks, on the other hand, were pretty easy even though, on the surface, the mobs seem pretty much the same.

I think by need they mean to complete it in a reasonable time frame. The longer the time frame the better the chance of people dropping out of the SF.

If something is going to take 4 hours without something or 1 hour with something, to me, that makes it a need.

It's really not impressive. You complained that you wanted a challenge. If you want a challenge that last battle should not last less than a minute. Don't use any of the Warburg weapons or Shivans with that group and you'll most likely see team wipes and way more than a minute. If you can succeed that way, then you have a challenge.

I'm still hoping for some sort of mimic villain group that when you encounter them they randomly mimic the build of a team mate.

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Team Invince - Sewer Trial victory

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W-T-F Mate! What is that short pink/green/blue/yellow/black thing on the right?

Yet no link to see it

And no Warburg weapons or Shivans?

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seriously, we need harder task forces, not easier ones! game on!

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You want harder? Do it without twinking your team. No Warburg weapons, no Shivans and no more than 4 corruptors. Problem solved.

We ran into something very similar. Our stone brute has run it so many times he's pretty much fully slotted with 50++ on most everything.

For some reason, he was killed 3 times in the final battle with the Heroes (at level 53) and it was an extreme rarity for him to even die once when the heroes were 54.

It could be just a case of extreme bad luck but it appears several people have had the same luck.

Okay. I know 2 guys had alts in the Hive. Two guys were watching TV I could see. I'm guessing the drywall was out. Now you drinking or PB putting drops in her eyes are equally plausible so not sure which it is, heh.

What I thought was a lame reward turned out to be one of the unique items of power (only 1 per server). 20% debt reduction doesn't mean anything to a 50, but I guess it really helps lower level alts.

We did do the villain CoP trial 2 nights ago and it was not smooth sailing compared to doing it as heroes. With heroes we had 16 people and it went fast (2 teams of 8). With villains we had 18 (3 teams of 6) and it was no cake walk. We took out the 3 sets outdoors easy enough and got inside where the AV was but we had several team wipes with lots of mobs respawning inside. We finally got things together and did it but it took 7 times as long with our villains. To be fair, with heroes it was almost all level 50s. With villains we had villains that ranged from level 9 to level 50. We got the Damage Increase IoP for our villain group.

For me, it was the first time I had ever attempted the CoP trial so I wasn't sure what to expect (I was on the non-Team Invincible team). I was truly surprised at how quickly the entire thing was over. It was almost blink-and-you-miss-it.

I think one thing that helped was using Teamspeak. It helped everything go like clockwork. One bug I noticed was some people got the mission complete with the exit button. For others the mission name remained and the clock continued to count down along with the exit button.

We are going to try it again tonight on villains, but I expect much more of a challenge since many members of the SG only have mid-level (late teens to 30s) villains.