Eisregen_NA

Ah, found it. It was Geko.

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As I write this, I am glancing over my shoulder to my white board. On the left in bright blue is a spot reserved for future power sets. Some have been there a long time, and may never happen for technical reasons. Recently erased are Archery, Trick arrow, Sonic Attack, and the CoV power sets like Plant Control and Robotics. At the top of the list are ones you can expect in the near future (names are all pending): Street Fighting, Electrical Melee, Electrical Armor, Shields (melee and defense versions), new Henchmen for CoV Masterminds, and a new techno defense set for CoV Stalkers. There is a fairly good chance you will see many of these in the next Update. Some will be shared in both CoV and CoH, and some will be exclusive to one or the other.

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Never mind Spider Arms for Villains... though who knows what faction based Villain EPPs will bring?


It's obviously quite easy to set up outrageous displays of power for videos as they don't need to be balanced for gameplay or -worse- PVP. Same with signature character appearances. They get a 'simple' unique look that doesn't have to fit in with the modular character generator because they'll never have to go to the tailor.


A few powersets were mentioned as being *somewhere* in the design stage a while back in one of the 'Ask X' threads IIRC. Posi's? I forget. But no idea how far along those are. I'd suggest scouring the 'Ask X Answers' threads in the Developers' Corner.

They're 'Signature Characters' and thus not necessarily constrained by what's available for players. Just keep that in mind.

Nice post, but:

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- If you play a "squishy" (most often defenders, controllers, and blasters) a useful way to keep from dying is to auto-assist a tanker or scrapper. Target the tank or scrapper. From now on you will attack their targets and cast heals/buffs on them. This is a good way to fight since the melee toon will hold the villains attention.

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Is actually bad advice for at least half of all of Defenders and most Controllers. Especially when dealing with enemy-targeted AOE effects or anchor toggles, assisting is a disastrous tactics. And holding a minion that's likely to be dead soon is just as bad. For sheer damage powers, this might work nicely, but keep in mind that only a single Buff/DeBuff set is a straight-out buffer. Rad, Dark, Kin, Storm all have powers that depend on their target being alive for a bit, in which case assisting is counter-productive.

Is it me or do good things only happen when I'm not around?

And if that's the case, how much are you guys willing to pay me to stay the hell away?

Quills? Please?

Quills is the most annoying sound in the whole damn game.

And that's coming from a Dark/Dark Scrapper.

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I expect that the next expansions (not expnshalones) but huge purchasable expansions would be additional cities across the world. Perhaps a couple new archetypes, costume options and of course villian groups included in this purchasable expansion. Oh and with this purchasable expansion believe at least one of these cities will be a free for all pvp city, where around any corner you may get a good smacking.

The next expanshalone will likely include either space or the oceans. Both have a strong following, though knowing Statesman has a love for certain water oriented heroes I would suspect this would come first.

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Gods I'd love that. I always wanted to go to wherever exactly the Tsoo are supposed to be from. Fight the Banished Pantheon on its home turf. Knock off the military dictatorship in some fictional banana republic. Or take it over (Villain version) etc.

Yer a nutter.

CTab: I like pie!
Me: You like a lot of things. And you have the attention span of a mayfly.
CTab: I'm the president?

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Actually, I think it would have been cool to have Crey Security appearing early on, as a good guy group, protecting things and people that you have to steal/kidnap. Maybe add in some new lower level Crey security guard types, not in riot gear. Have the riot guys be Lt.s and the agents as bosses.

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Who says it isn't in there?

Check with the Golden Roller in Port au Diable (level 15 contact, I believe).

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Also, my boyfriend plays a Storm/Rad that duos with my Kin/Psy, and he has been upset lately because he feels like he isn't contributing to teams very much when we bring our double defender package deal. It seems there is a reason why. Please fix those storm powers, devs. Lots of people don't like teaming with stormies as is, don't make it harder for them. And I would love for my boyfriend to want to play as his character more. I know he gets discouraged.

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Maybe if he didn't start fights with Snow Storm like he did in that Skyraider mission the other day... (okay, that one might have been an accident, though I admit I almost wetted myself at the sight... knew what was coming when I saw the animation go off). I've got some 70-80 levels of Storm Defenders and Controllers on me and might be able to help if it's just a tactics/build issue.


Uhm, I'll now return you to your regularly scheduled advertisements.

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Well, aside from playing those main characters, which appeals to a lot of people, you can always just play in that world. GM's often mutate settings to make there be an improved reason for the heroes to exist.

The world of the Authority is wonderfully gritty. I would get a kick out of playing in it even if set in some time or alternate universe where the Authority hadn't come along yet (or never would). The Bleed and all that make such settings work even if you assume the comic setting is canon. Your heroes could be their dimension's equivalent to the Authority, or maybe they just don't have an equivalent there.

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Eh... I honestly don't know. Ellis himself has already done the 'alternate Authority' thing in Planetary/The Authority: Ruling the World. And they reused the concept in The Monarchy. Never mind the alternate JLA that pops up in the first (or second?) issue of Planetary.

I'd play Kev, though.

But hey, don't get me wrong. I love Ellis' part of The Authority, and Millar had some good stories too. Then they kind of ruined it for me, somewhere along the line. It was a great overall concept, the whole Bleed thing, it even had some nice spinoffs (I'm probably the only person in the world who actually liked The Monarchy) I just can't see the appeal. If I could write worth a damn, I'd rather do The Authority slashfic instead.


Now I better shut up before we scare the new guy.

Could always add it as a quality of life issue:

"Devs still need to publically apologize for implying people who pointed out I5 EF change before posthumous Patch Note were lying or making things up."


Sorry, just bitter. I can handle power changes, even undocumented ones. But if you screwed up, publically, then you have to make up for it, as publically. This is really the one big blemish for me on the Devs' track record. Well, that and the Controller version of Storm Summoning, but I'd assume this is based partially on coding issues they're afraid to tackle rather than them ignoring it.

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Stepped on? Too many to count (as well as Spider-man action figures, white Isz, and those little shields that the Secret Wars action figures came with).

Slipped into my chair? None so far...but now I'm paranoid about my colleagues.

cheers,
Arctic_Sun

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Okay. I can't figure out why in the hell anybody would want to make or play an Authority RPG. That's kinda like making or playing a Batman RPG or a LOTR RPG isn't it? The best spots in the world are kinda taken (at least in Batman and/or the Authority) and unless everyone wants to play existing characters -which means they'll never be fully your characters- you'll always be in their shadow.


But then along came the reference to the Isz (how many were in that bag originally anyways? They did get lost awfully quickly for some reason) and that kinda made up for it.


Therefore, a hearty MEEEP.

Still scouring the boards for other issues?


Well. On my Defender there's this bug. My Secondary seems to be reduced to about 60% effectiveness of the Blaster equivalent -65% damage at 110% to 125% with cosmetic bonuses to Secondary Effects that don't really show outside of certain powers- where all other Secondaries function at 75%.

I understand that there's an irrational fear of Defenders outdamaging Blasters. But could we at least get the bloody End costs adjusted appropriately? Either that, or alternatively can you change the Defender description to 'dont blast just heal n00b' so that any future Defender players finally understand that they're not supposed to use their Secondary? Cause my skull's too thick for it to sink in.


On a slightly less serious note: The bug of certain Secondary powers working as efficiently as the Primary versions has been around forever. Powers I'm aware of that this applies to:

Defender/Electrical Blast/Voltaic Sentinel: Defender version does as much damage as Blaster version.

Controller/Storm Summoning/Snow Storm: Controller version actually has a stronger -Recharge than Defender version (but less -Speed).

Controller/Storm Summoning/Freezing Rain: Controller version actually has a stronger -Resistance than Defender version (but less -Speed).

Controller/Storm Summoning/Tornado: Controller version does as much damage as Defender version.

Controller/Storm Summoning/Lightning Storm: Controller version does as much damage as Defender version.

And those are only the ones that can be numerically proven. Note that all of the powers that have damage number issues I understand to be untargetable summoned entities, likewise Freezing Rain. Freezing Rain and Snow Storm seem to be bugged implementations as the Defender version is 80% of the Controller version.

This is by no means a complete listing. I understand the issue also exists with several powers in the Force Field line and has been mentioned time and time again. But it's still there as recent tests show. And it really adds a bitter aftertaste to hits Defender powers have taken in I5 for being 'too Controllery'.


If you want to absolutely balance the game, then by all means balance it. However, I honestly think this might require more than just playing with numbers but rather an overhaul of Blaster, Defender and Controller Secondaries. Which is very likely to be impossible at this stage. Or abandon all pretense of balance.

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So when the defenders, after being the happiest and best balanced AT since beta, will finally cry out after being slowly debalanced, what will you do? What stupid inherent power will you come up with to supposedly make up for it again? Can't you just save us all the trouble and forget about unnecessary nerfs?

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Isn't that obvious? Defenders' inherent power will be a glowing pink neon sign that hovers over their heards and perpetually spells out the words 'I R H34L0R'.

Guess Defenders were never intended to DeBuff.

30% -Res according to Erratic IIRC. -Dam should correspond to that, either directly or relatively.

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Yeah, like Rads were way better than Dark with -RES in TP before. Why bother with Rad at all when you get the same thing in Dark, get more defense in Dark, and can stack TP every 22.5s?

At least my Rad is already 50 and I dont have to bother with it...

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The Def DeBuff? Oh wait, you can get that by picking the /Rad Secondary.

Crowd Control? Oh wait, you get Fearsome Stare at 12, which is only a Fear but without 'Nuke' drawbacks and can be strung along to keep the enemies feared infinitely.

Fallout!


But then again, keep in mind that people who play Defenders are romantic idealists anyways. Anybody with some sense would be playing a Controller instead, at the very latest post I5. So internal numerical arguments really don't matter.

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Having to re-edit because the previous version didn't spin things the way the devs want it.

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More like having to re-edit because the people she has to work with think the players are stupid. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she posted #2 without checking back with Cryptic. The players seem to generally have a better grasp of the game than the Devs after all.

Urghs. Yeah.

Gimme Freezing Rain instead of Enervating Field in Rad any day. Then Rad Defenders would really be too powerful.


However. By now I really feel sorry for CuppaJo.

I'm thinking this is some bizarre plot by the Devs to nerf her popularity.

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We wouldn't lynch or shoot poor CuppaJo! We still love her!

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Don't make me change my Avatar (I already realize that's exactly what you want me to do anyways, you sneaky little rascal). Not that I didn't love CuppaJo as well, but if the slow trickle of Defender Liefelding hits the Liefelding Cap (which is only 400% for Defenders -- starting from a 65% base that is already lower than what Blasters hit with 5 Annoyance SOs) then it's hit the Cap. No amount of Love Buffing will Un-Cap it then.

Oh yeah. Should maybe add that.

If any messengers (ie. CuppaJo) get shot (or lynched by a mob with torches and pitchforks) it's not personal.

All anger on my part is directed at the man who said that the Devs considered Defenders the most balanced AT out there... and then went and took down every single Defender Primary down a peg.

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Oh my.

Rads are sharpening pitchforks.

Stormies and DDs are worried.

Bubblers are frustrated.

Oh my.

And I used to think that defenders were the calmest, tamest bunch around here

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That's kind of the problem. 'We' Defenders (I'm not really an ATist, liking my Controllers and Tanks as well, but my heart belongs to Defenders at the end of the day) have taken a lot in stride ever since the game went live. And slowly, ever so slowly you tire of the Devs cutting this away cause you step on Blasters' toes, cutting that away cause you step on Controllers' toes and not giving you jack in return. While blatant bugs in several Defender Primaries keep getting ignored without so mucb as a word all along.

Of course, people react differently. Defenders seem to have a higher boiling point than some other ATs, it might seem. I don't know. I can only speak for myself... and I'm getting sick and tired only now, after having been around since a bit before Public Beta... so I guess that actually makes me relatively patient.


PS.
Even though I play other Primaries, I consider myself first and foremost a Stormie. And I'm not worried. I'm seething.

I presume the apology to Erratic -he was effectively called a liar when he reported the change to Enervating Field- is forthcoming? Apologies if that already happened and I missed it, but it's one of those things that really bugged me.

I further presume this is a step towards finally bringing Defender Secondary damage in Balance -65% of Blaster damage plus ~115% of Blaster End cost = 55% efficiency for a Secondary vs. a Primary is unheard of anywhere else in the game- with the rest of ATs?

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Second...why are there never resources for things the players want, but always enough to nerf them? It had to take some serious hacking of the system to add clicks that automatically shut off after 30 seconds, but that was worth the effort.

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Geko and I were both surprised to find out that the powers system already DID this, so no extra coding was involved. Trust me. If it involved engineering, we would have found a different solution.

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Somehow, this cracks me up.


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When a new badge goes into the game it begins to start tracking it's requirements for the player. Say we add a "100 Sky Raider Shield Generator" badge in an upcoming issue. Since we never tracked Shield Generators before, it begins tracking it as soon as the update goes up. Previous Sheild Generators are not counted.

But if we, in a later issue, add a "500 Sky Raider Shield Generator" badge, then we would have already been counting the Shield Generators, even beyond 100. So if, when the issue goes live, you had killed 501 Shield Generators, you would be issued the badge upon logging in.

So healing, damage taken, influence earn, debt, etc.... all that stuff is currently being tracked on your characters, so when the new badges go in, you will have a head start on them. No datamine required.

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Which brings me to my original point, which I hope will at least be heeded in the future (not cause I said so but cause it's common sense). To actually implement the tracking with whatever you want/need tracked. Even if it's some kind of parallel design/development thing noone thought about before, it can't be hard to add another counter in there, can it? Even if it comes a day or three late, and even if it's not the 'right' badge yet that's being counted towards.

First and foremost. Datamining for two years sounds nasty. But since this would be a low priority process, it's understandable that it would take so long. No offence taken in this regard if it's not done.

However, I agree with the few people that said that this should/could have been foreseen. I presume the problem here is with parallel development. One team does badges, another new mission content and so they were releases alongside one another instead of together. However, when TF Souvenirs went out (I still prefer those -- hell, I still stop to read my Letter From Requiem once in a while) and Badges went in, what should have been done would have been to flag those characters that deserved a not yet made TF Badge for future reception of such a Badge, once implemented.

Could have just given them a blank, nameless placeholder badge for all I care. I'm sure developing a Badge isn't in itself a hideously time consuming task if you know what the Badge is for, so a placeholder badge (random exploration/history badge graphics, TF name, notice that it's a placeholder as text) should have taken all of a minute to design. Don't know jack about the implementation process, but the code to award a badge upon completion of a Task Force is obviously there. So it'd just have to be applied to those TFs that didn't give out Badges yet.

Eventually, once the actual Badge was ready, you could have just gone and substituted it for the placeholders and presto. Instant gratification.

I'm not a coder, but it doesn't sound like rocket science to me.