Peacemoon
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:I agree completely with your main point about how it is difficult to make bases "in character" so to speak due to the nature of what you have to do to make them.Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
That actually reminds me of another problem that's always eaten me, but I've always failed to put into words: bases are the result of cumulative character efforts. In essence, if I want a base that I'm not leeching off other people to fund, I have to make one myself, but that requires the cumulative effort of a lot of characters, and often not enough room in the base to give something to them all. Not to mention that not all of them make sense to share a communal space.
Here's the thing - I have as many costume slots as I can get unlocked on all my characters, give or take the free one here and there, and they're all filled with something I've given thought to and put work into. Each costume for each character is a piece of work in itself, but because each character has many, I feel accomplished at the end of the day. A base is just one large entity, and often shared between not just one and two, but between MANY characters, both mine and other people's.
As far as I'm concerned, bases will be useless for my purposes unless I can make, fund and develop one by myself, with a single character. Call it personal housing, call it personal bases, call it what you will. If my character needs a one-room apartment at the top floor for him to look depressingly out the window, an underground bunker in a space with 20 other people will not do. If my character needs his cave of solitude where he can be emo all by himself because no-one understands him, then a bed in the super group ward will not cut it.
Bases are, in essence, meta-game. They're an achievement for the PLAYER, not for the CHARACTER. A costume is a character thing. I made it, but I made it FOR HIM, to express his personality, his story and possibly his powers. A base is a player thing. The design belongs to the architect, the property deed belongs to the leaders, the other members are credited, but any way you look at it, it's something made by players for players with the help of players. It's meta-game, and therefore inherently much less interesting.
There is definitly an argument to be had about a more "personal space", just for your character. Perhaps use acquired total xp as its currency to build, but only allow that character to use any of the goodies inside of it to make sure it doesn't replace SG bases. Of course in my mind it would come with a fully functional and shiny new base editor toolkit, so it wouldn't be a week long project but instead a few hours of creative design to get a cool apartment or whatever with perhaps a few neat tricks (enhancement, recipe, salvage storage?) -
I would love to see the power pools reworked a bit. Presence is definitly a candidate for this because it currently only offers mediocre taunts/fear.
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First of all welcome to the forums, nice to see bew faces :-)
Quote:I kind of agree with this. You have to be a very good reactive healer to save a squishy from an untimely death. Unlike other MMORPG's, certain AT's are extremely squishly. Like cloth caster vs end boss squishy. So to prevent those kinds of deaths you need other abilities, either aggro control, or crowd control, or powerful buffs or powerful debuffs.Originally Posted by Thirty-Seven
I have one quibble with that, good sir. Healing is NEVER a form of mitigation. It does not, and cannot, prevent or reduce incoming damage. It is, instead, a form of reactive assistance. It can only be effective AFTER damage has been dealt.
Still its always nice to have someone who can heal, it keeps the team ticking and speeds progress, especially Empathy which can also keep peoples endurance high. Speeds the whole thing up. -
Quote:Lets be real here, when was the last time you saw the devs do anything for our AT's? Or even a post on our forums? They wouldn't touch the buff/debuff or even control sets with a 5 mile pole. The only thing they would do is change damage modifiers like when the altered repulsion bomb, which is all the current devs are good for really. If you are expecting any real changes to our sets you are going to be waiting years. Nothing will ever happen and I've given up waiting.Originally Posted by magicj
It's easy to test this claim. I'll buff your ill/cold with my emp. Let me know where and when you'd like to try it.
They already have the tech for modifying buff percentages and for changing how defenders run solo. Nothing new about it.
If there's a problem with Defenders soloing, and I think most folks would say there is, then it's worth trying to fix it. Allowing them to use their powers solo seems like a reasonable fix to me rather then asking them to solo using only a portion of their powers. It's not a game breaking idea. It's already in the game with controllers.
Empathy is never for example, going to get damage boosts for using its powers like the way /Pain does. Not because its not needed but because I honestly feel the devs have either no interest in the sets or don't want to open that can of worms due to the complexity of them. Plus our community does not exactly scream for attention and has already established that not all sets are equal, unlike forumites from say, the scrapper forum.
Shame really because ingame defenders and controllers are very popular. -
Age old question really, and the lines got blurred even more with the inclusion of containment and Epic power pool attacks.
Generally though it comes down to:
Controller: control, adequate buff/debuffing, low damage.
Defender: Amazing buff/debuffing, good damage, some control.
Ofcourse due to the nature and variety of our sets, the lines are very much blurred and it all depends on what sets you take. You can't just compare Controllers vs Defenders.
Fire, Illusion and Mind Control both have a respectful amount of damage. Plant is not bad because of its ability to mass confuse. Gravity is a bit weak.
Ice Control and Earth Control have very low damage.
With the exception of Mind Control, most Controllers will take a while to become really solo friendly. Where as a Defender can solo right out of the box with access to multiple attacks straight from level 1.
Anyway, I think its important to realise their capabilities overlap, but it all comes down to what sets you pick. That will have the most impact on your capabilities. Not to mention while Controllers can offer more support from their primary, a lot of times it isn't necessary for the team to be a success. My FF/AR Defender can make a team almost invulnerable while attacking with loads of AoE abilities like buckshot, repulsion bomb, flame thrower, full auto. All powers she has access to earlier then EPP's :-)
If I switched her /AR for something like Fire Control/, then she would be less fun, her shields would be weaker and even with hotfeet, would do less damage early on and play completely differently. Sometimes its nice not to have to spend ages compensating the low accuarcy and short duration of controller powers. -
Thanks for the feedback guys some of it is useful. These are just some ideas I came up with off the top of my head.
My main point is the whole UI could by completely overhauled and improved. I realise the current UI does have a lot of options (I never knew you could sort contacts by zone already, go figure..), but ultimately there is so much that could be done to make it more user friendly and easier to understand.
Games like CoH are constantly updated and things are repeatedly tagged on to the existing format. What happens is it becomes like an onion, with many layers ranging from the stuff that has been around since release, stuff added over the last few years and the occasional stuff that is no longer relevant. If you have lived through all these layers it is fine, but to a new player it can be difficult to get to grips with.
Take the inventions system, it is horribly overcomplicated and even if you didn't change the recipes or the salvage, just irevamping the UI would be a huge advantage. What does a new player do with salvage they have collected, generally they get vendored. Or as my brother did recently just dumped all his salvage/recipes on me because he didn't want to spend time researching how it works.
Ideally some stuff would stay the same, like the power trays. What would be revamped is things like your I.D page, the "power menu", maps, contacts, a list of available task forces for your level.
What triggered this thought is a certain relative of mine got into "WoW Cataclysm" beta, that game which I refuse to play again. Anyway one of the things they have done is completely revamped the UI which makes the whole thing seem new, fresh and inviting to new players. I know they have more resources, but I would love something similar to CoH.
P.S This thread was moved from its original location, the offending line has been zapped. -
In my experience, Villains have lots of small stories worth a small amount of merits.
Heroes have longer story arcs which can be worth over 20 merits each, especially after level 15. Before 15, especially before 10, Heroes don't really have much story content except filler stuff. (Excluding Hollows).
Generally its easier to get Merits Hero side I find. Between running old Task Forces worth 30-60 Merits or old story arcs through ouroboros worth 20-30, you can pick up a lot of merits. Curiously old content seems to be worth much more merits, some of the new arcs, even Hero side are not worth the time.
Me and my boyfriend regularly do Freaklympics and Freakshow Wars from Ouro, 2 story arcs which are worth 32 and 33 merits each. If we do speed runs, its a little over an hour for each. -
Quote:I'm only repeating myself if you only read the final line of my post. Also, "irregardless" is a word. It may not be a formal word but then, I'm writing on a forum not writing an essay. So is it ok with you if I use informal words here? Actually I think I'll use it irregardless of what you say.Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba
Yes, we've already covered that. Why do you insist on repeating yourself and using non-words like "irregardless?"
I'm advocating Team > I, not I > Team. Whether the "I" is a reckless player who runs off to kill everything on their own at the teams expense or a leader who is being overly zealous and controlling. Though lets be honest, its usually the former of the two.Quote:Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba
Most of us are still waiting on YOU to agree that pompous know-it-all windbags that demand total subservience on a team are worthless wastes of time that no one in their right mind would bother teaming with.
I don't agree. The problem is *bad players* or inexperienced players don't necessarily think like that and can follow the wrong person and not realise so-and-so is going a different way on their own. Then some others might follow that person, whilst the other half of the team stay with whoever was leading the way before, then you get a split, people die, the whole mission takes longer then it would have originally. So I maintain my position that when on a team you should generally stick together and work as a team by default, and do your own thing only when the situation requires it.Quote:Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba
We're also waiting on you to agree that players should know their limits and place within a team so that they don't get themselves turned to paste trying to tackle the same level of difficulty that superiorly designed characters can handle.
Anyway I think we are just going to have to agree to disagree, so I will leave it there. -
Quote:I find this amusing. I am arguing for the princple of *teamwork* when on a team, and the fact that arrogant and self loving players who think they are better then the rest of the team put together really annoys me, especially when they could channel that energy in such a more positive way.Originally Posted by Civility
It is your problem. Youre following along with someone who's IOd and extremely capable of taking care of themselves. You are responsible for your own safety just as much as youre responsible for the teams safety.
If you jump on a team and expect them to baby sit you because you cant handle the pace the top tier players are setting on the team, then you either need to learn to hang back, or learn to play better. You dragging down everyone else is just as detrimental to a team and team building as overly aggressive people attempting to bite off more than they can chew.
If I decide to join a team with Peacemoon atleast I have the common decency to play as a team member. And no, its not because I am a "support character" because frankly I can "support" myself through a x8 mission faster then most wannabe IO'd scrappers, stalkers or brutes who have read the latest guide here on the forum. No I play as a team member because I know as an intelligent player, the team has the potential to be much greater then the individual. I know together I can compensate the weaker players on the team and help them enjoy the ride just as much as I will; to make the experience faster & better for everyone.
Of course there are exceptions to this as there are with everything. But if you enter a team with the mindset that you are going to run off and do your own thing irregardless as to the consequences, then you are a bad player and a bad team member. -
Took me a while to spot it, but I did!
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I have been hoping for a revamp of the games UI for a while now. Even though the current UI has served its purpose for some time now it could really use with a complete overhaul, ditching the old stuff that is no longer relevant; it only leads to confusion amongst new players.
Instead it should be a simple and clear message that conveys the complexities of the game in a way beginners can better understand. It would make the game more inviting and it would also give it a fresh feeling.
Here are some ideas to get people started on what could be changed/improved
Character Selection:
i) I always thought it would be cool if our characters used a power or performed an emote when we selected them. I would also love it if the game remembered the order in which our characters are placed. If I go to a different server, the order is messed up.
Character Creation:
i) Tab 1 should be devoted to just origians, going from left to right across the screen. Above it should be some text which states this is how your character acquired their powers. It should also state that origins, like gender, have no impact on your characters ability.
ii) Tab 2 can now be fully devoted to AT selection with a vertical list like currently used. To the right it should have a good description on what the AT can realistically excel at. Underneath this description should be the inherent power for that AT and what it does.
iii) Tab 3 + 4 can again be primary and secondary powersets, but it should also include the level which they are available from. The short description for powers is generally fine. I think a better way of looking at the 'detailed info' would be nice.
iv) Character bio, again this whole interface could use a massive update so its much more shiny and modern. The way it lists powers should be improved because after the first 4 it becomes very noisy and unreadable. It would be nice to have the text editor fixed as well so it isn't so frustrating to use, its not as bad as it once was but I find it still eats letters, bounces the cursor around and generally makes it more taxing then it should be. You could add more fields which are devoted to the characters age etc, but that would require more feedback from others.
Ingame:
Lots of room for ideas here, but here are just a few off the top of my head:
i) Again, under power selection or when you train your character, it should tell you at what level powers become available.
ii) Update the city map so its much more interactive customizable. For Paragon City for example have a pulsing green and yellow line which shows what zones are connected. Make it so if you right click on a zone it tells you what level range it is, what task forces are available in that zone. If you left click on the zone it takes you to the zone map. Let it show you where teammates are in other zones (if possible?)
iii) When you get to level 6 and can choose power pools, it should be much more flashy and informative. Power Pools should have to subgroups, "Travel" pools and "Utility" pools. I think with power pools, there should be much more description to them as well. Have the power pools listed vertically on the left side of the screen with a drop down revealing the powers contained within it. Then on the right taking up most of the screen should be a much more detailed description of what that individual power does.
iv) When leveling up, allow you to select unavailable powers. A red tick instead of a green one, just to allow you to better check them out beforehand.
v) Allow you to look at your power options and power pool options at the trainer, even if you haven't leveled.
vi) Slightly more controversial.. but perhaps disable brawl, sprint and rest from accepting enhancements. Lower the recharge for rest at the same time.
vii) Sort contacts by zone. (Personal opinion here), Let you access all contacts when you arrive at a zone without being introducted to them, let you do old missions without visiting Ouro.
viii) Sort Salvage by common, uncommon and rare. Get rid of the base tab, that doesn't exist anymore right? Improve the UI for the whole invention system so that it is so simple and easy even my mother could make a damage IO if I asked her nicely.
ix) When you join a task force, there should be some cool flash that tells you that you are now in a task force. The contacts face could automatically appear near the nav bar and pop up with the mission dialogue for -all- members of the task force to read.
Ok, that is all the ideas you are getting from me! -
Bases are a hidden gem for CoH, but they also have such unrealised potential.
The editor is difficult to handle, what you "need" for your base to function is very confusing and unclear. I had to read paragonwiki and spend a few days playing with it to even get my head around it.
It is made worse by all the artifacts of the PvP base system which are no longer used.
Unfortunately, the UI is also very clunky - a problem which effects the whole game and sometimes something you don't realise till you look at other games.
Its just another unloved aspect of the game which I think only expert CoH gamers can really use, and unlikely to appeal to the general playerbase. Sad.
To end on a positive though, my little SG on Virtue which is formed of me, my boyfriend and my brother has a very nice base. We always play in super group mode and have slowly been gathering enough prestige to expand it. Been a great pet project. I think the prestige rate is fine - if you want a big base play in a big SG or invest a lot of time.
Currently we have:
1 Energy Room:- Houses a personal vault
1 Control Room
2 Workshops which house:- 16 Salvage Storage, 1 Enhancement storage, 1 invention table, 1 forge.
2 Teleportation Rooms:- 8 Telepads which can take us to the top 16 zones in Paragon City.
We're now working on sticking a Ouro Mission Crystal in the control room and 3 decorative rooms. We will each have our own room and they can customize and it and play basebuilder with it as much as they like. -
Quote:Ah, but does that mean the mission will be completed quicker then if you had 7 allies?Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba
As stated, I can SOLO at the highest difficulty the game offers.
What about the people who die trying to tag along with you, and please no "not my problem". -
Filed a bug report, thanks for the speedy response.
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Any tips for getting final bosses to actually spawn at the end of the map? I.E in the office or the roof? The map is *perfect* for the last mission of an arc I'm making, but unfortunately everytime I test it the boss ends up in a corridor somewhere, even though I've classified him as "Back".
Any tips? I really thought it would work since the map actually seems to have the roof placements labelled as "Back". -
Been a nice discussion to read.
Quote:I'll take this as a challenge that all future threads I make must contian some mathematics in the titleOriginally Posted by NuclearToast
First there was "Tank + Healer + DPS", and now this thread.
STOP WITH THE MATH IN THREAD TITLES! I don't want to do math all the time!
Thank you.
--NT
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Quote:At lower level I always Fort the tank, or the Scrapper/Controller if they are initiating pulls. As you get higher, good tanks will be tough enough by themselves and not require fort. Then its nice to give it to accident prone members of your team or people who could use the +damage. Blasters are generally my preferred option but honestly, aslong as you are using it, thats the main thing.Originally Posted by AllYourBase
Thanks, everyone, for the tips. I run 8-man PuGs because, as a support character, I don't feel sufficiently challenged on smaller teams. I try to put Fortitude on whoever gets the most benefit out of it, so a defense-based melee type is usually my first target.
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Fort does 3 things:
Accuarcy
Damage
Defence.
1) Accuarcy - Everyone always slots to have good accuarcy by themselves, so this aspect of the power is just gravy.
2) Damage - Great aspect of the buff, but unenhanceable.
3) Defence - Most people cannot softcap themselves on defence. If they do, its a very expensive IO build and one you are unlikely to encounter.
So what to slot for?
1st Priority: Slot for defence, as I mentioned its not necessary to slot for the tohit bonus and the damage is not enhanceable. Increasing the defence of the power will greatly boost the survivability of anyone you use it on and makes it more likely you will be able to react with a heal fast enough.
2nd Priority: Recharge, because you want to cast it on as many people as possible. Warning: You will need to regularly be using Fortitude for these enhancements to be useful. So don't just Fort at the start and forget it.
My personal IO sets of choice is
Luck of the Gambler - Global Recharge/Defence.
Red Fortune - Everything but the "Endurance" one.
This will give you 12.5% global recharge, capped recharge and defence, and some other goodies.
Hope that helps! -
I think you put that very well, all_hell.
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Quote:Well its true, there are times when it makes sense to seperate or its not the "split!" deal that its sometimes made out to be, but again that is still in essence teamwork which is different from the people who view themselves as superior and disregard the team completely.Originally Posted by Sapphic_Neko
I dunno.
Sometimes you have such a good team it's just silly overkill to pit all eight members against one group. Better to split up and go thru the mission quicker imo. Granted if it's one person who can do it and the other seven will have trouble with a group, it's not such a good idea.
If i see the rest of the team are fine, i can go take on a diffrent group and we'll fight twice as many, which might be a more appropiate challenge for that team.
Sure there's people who have no regard for being in a team. But at the same time, i don't think it's always bad to separate.
Oh please, just because I think people should play as a team when on a team does not make me, or other people of similar view needy and slow players. Its called working together, not getting people unnecessarily killed by foolish actions and making the missions go smoother and yes, quicker.Quote:Originally Posted by Bill Z Bubba
Perhaps such slow and needy players should learn to become more self-sufficient so that they don't drag down the rest of us.
I have been on teams which work as a coordinated unit and do the mission quickly and efficiently, and I've been on plenty of teams where people rush off thinking they know best, and they can achieve the objective quickly all by themselves, only to end up with a huge mess as people get scattered, then aren't supported by the teams buffs & debuffs. Where is the fun in that?
Lets put that argument on its head, perhaps arrogant and self-serving players should solo if they don't want to play as a team when in a team. -
Ok small rant. My latest pet peeve on teams has been the "one man armies", people who seem to have such an elevated self-worth they seem to ignore the fact they are on a team or even worse act as if the team is only holding them back.
They rush ahead on their own and start soloing, even when most of the team hasn't even arrived. This is only fine if you are in a horribly slow team with a few airhead members. Otherwise its just plain rude I think.
Sure its *great* for them, but then the team isn't working as a single coherent unit.
Also they tend to seperate from the team, and at the same time lead a few poor individuals away who no doubt can't survive on their own like they can. Then the rest of the team has to mop up the mess as they push on.
Its really annoying, I like my teams to work as a team, not as a bunch of over-enhanced over-ego'd group of individuals because that only leads to deaths and sours the mood.
/Shield scrappers are the worst at this with their insta-nuke power, or Illusion/ Controllers who run to the end of the mission and start trying to solo.
Anyway I will end my rant here before I go on too much.
I don't mind people who are IO'd out, I have a few myself. But when you enter a team, play as a team. It doesn't matter how good you think you are, if you are trying to run off and solo then you are making it harder for the rest of us. -
Well I think we could use the Defender guides sticky updated, as with all AT's really. Can't answer the question about slots sorry
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The Vahzilok ones made me lol :-)
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I think its amusing how people can see how robots could be programmed to do good things, but can't see how zombies or demons could be summoned to do good things.
Stereotypes *rolls eyes* - however its exactly the kind of thing GR is trying to challenge ;-) -
Thanks for the thoughts guys, I'm going to try Ignite first and give it a whirl, I can see some creative use for it which I love Plus I have 3 veteren respecs available so this is really just a first draft to get a feel for how things work.
P.S I just love global recharge, can't get enough of it. Who can't love Full Auto with a 20s cooldown?? ;-) As for vengeance, its a bit of an experiment so far. I've taken it low enough because honestly people don't die much after 40, plus it fits Nina's theme of keeping faith. Even when things are looking so bad that someone has died, vengeance is ready to defy the odds.