LordXenite

The closest I've come to an MMO that gave me the illusion that a) it was an MMO; b) my character was a Hero in a persistent story, was Guild Wars because of your character advancing through these special Chapters. Some people claim GW wasn't even an MMO, but I believe that to be totally besides the point of GW being able to deliver a story-content focused experience.

Two other games that come to mind that focus at least in part on story, are Conan and LoTRO. Both of them use a system of chained quests that somehow focuses on your character being important to a degree, Conan doing a bit of a better job of it, if I remember correctly.

The thing is, to me, the Superhero concept holds so much potential to focus both on Hero-centric content and PvP at the same time, but it seems like no one sees it for what it is. The whole concept of Origins could've been used to deliver an experience that would ensure ones' character was more than just a vessel to get them to the PvP-zones... and then there's the concept of PvP-missions that allow a group of Villains to plan a Doomsday Weapon and a group of Heroes attempting to foil their efforts... such wonderful opportunities, but instead... meh.

I mean, think about it, we're getting Going Rogue, when a PvP-enabled AE system where one could design a story-arc for two opposing teams would've kept so many more people focused on engaging and entertaining PvPvE gameplay instead of simply PL'ing through all LT/Boss farms... at least that's what I'd do...

There's a problem making an MMO focus on story-content and the inherent problem is that every character deserves to be the Hero. People power-level because they're bored with the repetitious content they have to go through... that's not difficult to figure out, but the Devs still get to dictate how effective people get to be in power-leveling, and I think the real problem is that some people haven't figured out yet that the Devs alone get to decide.

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I think you fail to understand what drives most pling. PVP. People want to pvp at SC, WB and RV levels.

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It seems to me that PvP has never been the focus of the CoX experience. The problem with people PL'ing for the sake of growing a character to Lv50 and decking it out with special PvP-IO sets is that others are copying them for the sake of PL'ing but not for PvP'ing, and with the recent changes to PvP and seeing how a large part of the PvP community has become quite upset over PvP... I think the number of people PL'ing their characters for the sake of PvP has dropped substantially. I may be wrong of course, but that's the picture that I draw based on what I gather from the forums.

Then... there's the other side of the equation, which to me means... if PvP was built into this game as an integral part of it so that one could use any of their characters and PvP with it at any level, I'd gladly accept your reasoning because that would actually increase the number of PvP'ers in the game, as well as probably make PvP appeal to avid PvE'ers.

I've longed for PvP to become meaningful in the context of the game, and not just as a mock system to enable people to beat one-another across the head with a Nemesis staff, and until such time, I still cannot agree that PvP'ers are driving the PL efforts in such a way that does not affect the community.

It affects those who stay and play. There have been several posts around the forums about people who got several Lv50 characters out of AE and simply quit the game right after. I mean seriously... each side (Heroes/Villains) has about 7 classes, with a matrix of several primary and secondary power-sets with some overlap and some uniqueness, however, the "content" itself is almost always going to be the same no matter what character you create.

Eventually the gameplay mechanics, the scenery, and the scenarios we run our characters through, even considering the virtually limitless variation AE missions provide... eventually, people get burnt and either take a break, or quit altogether.

It is the Devs' goal to keep that day when someone figures they should take a break or quit as far into the future as humanly possible. Power leveling is more often than not, causing that day to come sooner than the Devs plan for.

I think that are more people who are taking breaks or quitting than there are people who get extra accounts for their own personal use.

In essence, the Devs seem to figure that the state of the game is affected by power-leveling and farming, otherwise I doubt they'd spend so much time and effort on stopping exploits... so yes, things do matter... maybe not in the short run, maybe not individually right now... but eventually, it all matters.

Incredibly true AF, incredibly true. We vote with our wallets. What does get me down though is that most people will simply say "I pay for this game, so I get to do what I want" without acknowledging they're being at least as selfish as those people who are upset over the farming and power leveling being so rampant. We are all affected, we are all affecting, and we're all selfish.

While this is just a game for some, for others (i.e. Devs) it's a source of livelihood, so essentially the ones who stand to lose the most out of these flame-wars, are the Devs... gamers can simply move on to another game, and the amount of time a gamer invests in learning a new game is nothing compared to a Dev that has to find or learn a new job.

Wow you went straight for the expensive purples, eh?

Well, if you're hoping to be a TriFormer, I think you should give up on some of the Human-centric powers you took, and beef up your Dwarf form a bit more.

The best tactics of a TriFormer have you direct the combat as you please, switching forms and rarely staying in Human form long enough to actually activate any Human-centric toggle powers.

I offer this build so you can compare our respective Dwarf and Nova forms and see how self-contained and deadly Dwarf can be by itself, and how Nova can actually sometimes hold anything up to a Boss simply by firing its twin-bolt attacks!

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I don't care if my actions affect the community. I pay to play this game how I want to.
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I'm selfish like that....because again...this is a GAME, not real life.

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Finally, someone brave enough to come and admit they're selfish.

You clearly misunderstand what I'm saying, Aura Familia. I'm not saying that people affect me just (or only if) while they play with me. I'm saying people are affecting me even when they're playing their character while I'm offline.

Just as a little example, think about this little mind exercise: lets say there are 100,000 subscriber to the game. Out of those 100,000 players, 80,000 have made Scrapper characters. Out of those Scrappers 40,000 are Spines/DA. Eventually, because of whatever set of circumstances these Scrappers are getting to Lv50 faster than other Scrappers. This may trigger changes to Spines/DA power-sets which essentially affect the whole community of Spines/DA Scrappers, but it also forever changes the Spines/DA power-sets in a way that prevents future Spines/DA Scrappers from ever experiencing the "original" state of Spines/DA! Isn't this effectively how ED has changed the game for all those in it and those who came in to the game after ED was introduced? ED itself... wasn't it triggered by how people flocked to builds with extreme slotting for 6xDmg and the likes?

Every one of us counts for something... whether we like it, or not.

(QR)

The whole point of an MMO is to play and affect a community and be affected by it as you play. If you truly believe your gameplay has no effect on any one else in the community, go read a bit about the Butterfly Effect. If you don't believe MMO's are complex enough to elicit the Butterfly Effect, that's a whole other issue anyway.

[u]A) TriFormer Kheldian Rules[u]

1. Learn whatever you can about every primary/secondary power, whether it is by taking and trying the power, or thoroughly researching it, or playing an equivalent power on the AT that the power in question was borrowed from.
   
2. Primary/secondary power choices always come first, so unless you have a very detailed plan with very sound reasoning never take any Pool Power unless the powers choices you're faced with do not include any primary/secondary powers you actually want.
   
3. Whenever you take a new power, practice it, don't neglect it, even if it's a situational power in your opinion. You might find new uses for old powers.
   
4. Learn to shift forms and think outside the box as TriForm Kheldians are masters of the lost art of blasting something from range in Nova form only to meet it up close and personal and smack it in the face in Dwarf form.
   
5. Every Kheldian attack carries with it secondary effects. Peacebringers debuff the targets' defense, and Warshades slow it down. Use this to your advantage!
   
6. Learn how knockback works. Your life as a Kheldian may depend on it.
   
7. Always plan the battle a few steps ahead, Kheldians are proactive, not reactive!

[u]B) Specific Power Pools recommendations and considerations[u]

1. Pools Powers only work in Human form and the few click-powers that carry over to Nova/Dwarf forms are then limited for the duration of the power. This means that a power like Hasten for example would require you to "refresh" it by returning to Human form, activating Hasten, and shifting back to whatever form you had before Hasten.
   
2. Both Kheldians can take the Medicine Pool, however, since Warshades automatically get a Recall Friend like power at level 10, and are naturally stealthy, benefit their team greatly by being able to teleport defeated teammates and resurrect them, while a Peacebringer cannot.
   
3. The Medicine Pool, while being a good choice for either Kheldian, grants them no advantage while solo and when on a team, does not add the role of Combat-Medic to the Kheldian! Do not make the grave mistake of thinking that just because you can take the Medicine Pool you've suddenly become a Healer. Healing is first and foremost for Defenders and Controllers and Kheldians would see a much better use of their energy in fighting to protect the team so that the dedicated Defender/Controller can perform their duties.

[u]C) My personal Power Pool favorites[u]

1. Hasten (Speed Power Pool, works great for both PB/WS Kheldians)
   
2. Superspeed (Speed Power Pool, works great for both PB/WS Kheldians)
   
3. Grant Invisibility (Concealment Power Pool, works nicely for WS to hide their pets)
   
4. Stealth (Concealment Power Pool, provides a cheap and constant stealth for PB stacked with Superspeed)
   
5. Intimidate & Invoke Panic (Presence Power Pool, provides an interesting option for a PB to stack Fear on a Boss, superfluous for a WS considering their many stun options, but still entertaining. This requires at least one more power pick from the Presence Pool, so be careful when planning how to integrate this into your build!)
   
6. Aid Other, Stimulant, Resuscitate (Medicine Power Pool, very important if your Kheldian is going to play in an All Kheldian Team, negligible otherwise, but still provides teams with a pleasant surprise when a Kheldian can resurrect fallen comrades)

I hope this helps...

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I will never understand why some people are so obsessed with how fast *other* people are leveling. How fast I PL my alt has nothing to do with anybody else. The world would be a far better place if people would just direct all that misguided energy to more worthy... causes.

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It's called Human Nature and we're subjected to it from the moment we're ushered into any establishment/relationship that grades our performance in anything.

If you're a guy, and you've ever had a girlfriend, and she asked you what you thought of Actress X or another Girl Y, what do you think your girlfriend meant to uncover by that? What's worse is that you're utterly wrong in assuming that someone elses' performance does not affect your situation... just try explaining to your girlfriend that you're NOT like those other guys...

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I have a friend who made an Illusion/Storm named Multiple Santa, and since it was entirely a concept build, he skipped Blind, Flash,Spectral Terror, Freezing Rain, Hurricane, Lightning Storm, and Thunderclap. He could essentially do almost nothing. Unfortunately we we fighting nemesis so even his deceive was ineffective. His most effective tactic was to open with snowstorm and run away. That was the most effective We wiped on that team over and over.

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I hope the multiple wipes proved the point that CoX is an MMO and RP isn't as effective in defeating enemies as taking the right powers and using them?

Or heck, stick a Chance for Recharge in it for kicks and giggles

What worries me is that all of these new characters that are so horribly unsuitable for gameplay... someone has to be helping them level their characters somehow, right? Or is it even worse than I thought, and AE is actually enabling people to run horrible builds through missions using Flurry and Air Superiority, Aid Other and Aid Self and nothing but?

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...there are quite a few Kheldian players who will tell you that the challenge is the REASON to play Khelds - not the drawback. You can play 10 khelds, and odds are you'll end up with 10 different builds. So in a sense, their weakness is also their greatest strength...

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That right there.

After getting a Dominator to level 50, and unlocking VEATs I was quite unimpressed with how they played, even after Lv24, as I personally dislike shields and passive/toggle defenses and seeing how VEATs focus on attack power-sets that I didn't like so much in the game anyway, I left my two VEATs to gather virtual dust.

I've brought two Kheldian (PB and WS) to level 50, and I'm on my 3rd Warshade at the moment, and still enjoy the whole TriFormer combat-style... what can I say... VEATs bore me, Kheldians excite me, it's that simple, just like the quote above says... YMMV.

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but...why? that's like slotting Total Focus for Stun instead of damage o.O unless...you're doing Acc/Mez and Dam/Mez Hami's o.o

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Because that's how I play? I like to mez my enemies and defeat them slowly while their friends are watching helplessly!

The problem isn't so much the format of the story-arc file as it is the data that should go into other than the simple dialogs. You essentially have to create a database that contain all the special keys and references to in-game graphic models and in-game NPC entities and in-game maps. Not to mention that you would completely lose the GUI that displays those in-game graphic models.

It is of course possible to write an offline editor, the modding communities of other PC games have done this and more. However, since this is an MMO, the one thing that is guaranteed to us, is change, and it will take just minor changes in those special keys and references to in-game entities to break the editor and any mission created with it.

Whether NCSoft will actually release an offline editor, that remains to be seen, but anybody else releasing an offline editor... I wouldn't hold my breath for something solid out there.

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I personally would slot it as a Hold

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.....wut?

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I like holds, so I'd personally slot IStrike as I would a Hold with one of the Hold-IO sets.

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And seriously, who names a character after a bat? What's he got, giant ears or something? Likes to crawl in small corners and squeak? Or maybe he spreads rabies to suburban residential areas.
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It's the character that makes the name more often than the name making the character.

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Well, my newest creation, a Warshade called Black Smilodon was named as such because he belongs to a Cat-themed Triumph SG, so sometimes, you truly need a name to match a theme, still... creativity and imagination are key!

You know... the lower levels are meant to represent those first days when your super character gets to discover that sure, s/he can do and be much more than the normal person on the street, but s/he is also by no means as "super" as those other superpowered people who can already fly and fire more blasts and throw more punches than you can. The idea is to grow a character through the levels...

Besides, slotting for Endurance, using those yummy blue inspirations, and getting buffed up by others are all valid and already-existing ways to deal with Endurance recovery. A big part of the fun in this game, at least for me, is overcoming those difficulties of growing a character and building it to suit ones' playstyle.

I'm unsigned.

I try to use both color and text attributes in my clues and souvenirs when I write up the story-arc text. I think visual elements that can make something stand-out can leave a better impression in the audience, which is naturally a good thing most of the time.

About the system being capable of handling story-elements, that is totally up to you and the way you choose to integrate the story element in question into your arc. However, there are some story-elements, especially those that require personal choices that will not be very well represented in the AE as it is currently implemented.

You cannot for example create specific rewards for taking certain unrequired mission pathways other than in the form of an Ally or a clue. Even then, some people may choose to ignore the clue altogether, and even worse, complain that they either had to babysit the Ally so it won't die on them, or that the Ally stole their XP because its help in defeating the enemy wasn't necessary.

The situation gets worse when you're trying to make a follow-up arc since there isn't really a way to tie in two arcs other than using the imagination of the player going through the arcs.

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...I don't believe in enforced fairness.

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And that's exactly something that can lead to a MMO game dying. The whole idea of classes and roles in an MMO games means that each player can play and focus on areas of combat that are appealing to them. If you do not distribute rewards in a way that enables each player to advance their characters in the fields of expertise they like, you will create a disparity that may lead people to either flock to running the same characters/roles/builds, or quit the game altogether.

CoX already employs something worse than enforced fairness in the sense that when a Lv50 character can do the work of a team of 3 Lv46's who are bridging for 4 other lowbies... well, you know... that's how PL'ing works.

I actually re-tested my story-arc for I15 last night. My flying critters actually flew rather nicely...

Not as far as I know.

*sigh*