Snow Globe

Have a happy holiday of your choice everyone! Thanks for your continued readership!

-Snow_Globe

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PS - Anyone upset about flight/teleport not enabling pursuit of the badge really needs to stop and recognize the massive advantage those powers give in hunting Christmas presents

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I agree with flight, but disagree with teleport being better suited to present hunting.

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This year I spent 14 hours being frustrated trying to get a badge because the requirements were set so high, and the bounding boxes of the gates are mis-aligned (the top of some of the bounding boxes is about 1/2 the height of the gate, some of the gates the bounding box is a bit wider than the gate, sometimes it is smaller than the width of the gate).


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How many characters was that Snow ?

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Four with gold. Of those only one with superjump, two of my Triumph villains had to buy the zero-g pack from Siren's, and my main badge hunter heroside had to call in a favor to get a KR Safeguard for the zero-g pack. I have a couple more characters with silver, or silver and bronze, but don't have the desire to go to the rest.

I found this one far more tedious to do than the Baby New Year Missions. This coming from someone that did the Baby New Year Mission over 120 times last year.

I spent 14 hours "learning the course". Most of my characters are not jumpers.

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Having put down the first few days as a 'learning experience' and getting to know the course I cycled through 2-3 badges on 24 characters in a couple of hours.

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At this point I don't think I will do this with any other character. I also had to stay up late to have less lag (11pm-4am Pacific Time). Given the amount of prep work I would need to do for most of my characters, I would just rather play the game.

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The Zero-G pack was the key point for many of the non-SJ'ers.

The suggestion for next year is to add a jingle jump pack to the jingle jet as a craftable item with Candy Canes

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And I suggested this in my first post in this thread.

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They have that already: Enhancement Diversification. This alone cut all heals across the board in half. It doubled the anticipated timeframe to get all healing badges and the damage taken badges as well.

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Theoretically, you could argue that ED radically increased the amount of damage people take, reducing the time it takes to get Empath by conventional means from centuries to only decades.

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No, you can't. While people can and do take more damage, it is just more likely to be fatal. The only way you would get an increase is if the recharge times of the healing powers were less than they were before ED. Recharge times didn't get changed with ED.

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Overall the ski run mini game still needs work. Please fix for next year.

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It may well be something that not everyone is going to get by just going there and doing it. Gold is designed to be a challenge. If you aren't interested in working at it, then you won't get it. Not all badges are for everyone, sorry.

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Please take it as "not every badge is going to be available or obtainable by everyone." There are some good suggestions by other players in this thread. Hopefully those will be helpful for you.

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Lighthouse, as much as I respect you, you have missed the point. Collecting badges is supposed to be fun. Not easy, but fun. The numbers could have been 35, 45, 55-60, and people would still race down the hill to be on the top of the leaderboard (if they choose to).

Last year I spent hours running the slope, with no reward except for the joy of swooshing downhill.

This year I spent 14 hours being frustrated trying to get a badge because the requirements were set so high, and the bounding boxes of the gates are mis-aligned (the top of some of the bounding boxes is about 1/2 the height of the gate, some of the gates the bounding box is a bit wider than the gate, sometimes it is smaller than the width of the gate).

I've managed to get gold on 4 characters.

Without either buying a temp power in Siren's Call (and I have a few suggestions about the merchants there, namely if there is no one is fighting there for a hour both merchants should sell the temp powers), or Super Jump or the Zero-G Pack from the Safeguard/Mayhem Missions, people are "out of luck" no matter how hard they work at getting the badge.

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Now if a dev comes out and says, look we're sorry we messed this one up and changes it I'll try real hard to not throw myself off a cliff.

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Lets face facts here. Unlike zookeeper, which is part of an accolade, Empath is not needed for anything else.

So your choices are: (A) Try get the requirements changed, or (B) Do meta-gaming to "have them all".

You chose option (B). That this took nine months of your gaming time is no one else's fault.

I guess that is the price for having the badge sooner than the rest of the population.

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My guess is a lowering of the empath requirement will have to have some kind of dev face saving game change to make it "make sense".

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They have that already: Enhancement Diversification. This alone cut all heals across the board in half. It doubled the anticipated timeframe to get all healing badges and the damage taken badges as well.

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To be clear I want one of three things:

1) Remove them outright; grandfathering in those who already have them.

This will give people a good lesson about badges. Trying to get every single badge is folly. And, in my opinion, it trivializes the badges. Badges both in game and RL are supposed to represent achievement, not doing repetitive boring things. The analogy Arcana made to loot is shown to be even more specious. I don't deny people do boring things for loot, but they do them because they want their character to be stronger. That's not what badges are supposed to represent.

OR 2) Do nothing.

If the badge is supposed to be an "epic" achievement, leave it so. Those who cheat by using Arena bugs fulfill nothing but their obsessive tendencies. Basically if in 3-4 years an Empath who really loves their character and played it hard earned Empath as intended, then cool. They will have earned it and that one badge will be worth more in my estimation that the hundreds of badges the badge hounds have earned.

OR 3) Nerf the badge into meaningless.

Here we lower the badge requirements down to one point of healing (for Empath of course) above the next badge. We do just like the costume piece loot, make them trivial. If people want their little graphic so bad, then fine, give it to them, but let's drop the pretense that it's anything more than making a number bigger.

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You consistantly ignore option #4:
Change the badges to something meaningful, but possible to achieve.
An across the board healing badge cut to 1/10th their present values, and then change empath to 25 million points healed. This would cause empaths to take about a year to get the badge and those with aid other to get it in less than a decade. Actually if they could heal 20,000 hitpoints/day, that would be around 4 years.

If there is a downside, it means that "healers" can get the badge under a year. So what? It still takes a lot of effort to get the badges. On the other hand, people can get the badges through play. It will still be an achievement to get the badges.

Same could be done with the Damage and Inf badges (minus the correction for the empath).

Well, it doesn't help that the hit boxes for the gates are not uniformly high. There are several that are, I assume, partially embedded in the ground. This is easy to tell: fly at the same height above all the gates (about half again or a tiny bit higher above the top of the poles), and you will miss some. This is especially true of the hairpin gate after the cliff where a small jump will bypass the waypoint.

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I'm so frustrated right now, I'm seriously getting to the point where I'll cancel my account. I HATE games that frustrate me and present an impossible goal! I usually end up putting those games down and never playing them again.

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It sounds like it's making you very unhappy. So why are you still trying to do it? This is a game; it's supposed to be fun. Go do the fun parts.

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Maybe the poster wanted to express their dissatisfaction about the event?

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Can someone confirm that we are able to purchase the fur lined hat from the candy keeper?

It shows on the wiki that it is available for 10 candy canes... but the option wastn't there for me last night.

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If the option is not there, you already have it. Should be under the "Hats" option at the tailors as "Stocking Cap."

The option in the Candy Keeper's menu is "Fur Lined Hat" while the Tailor menu is "Stocking Cap". It has also been refered to as the "Santa Cap".

This is very much a poor choice of wording on the Developers part.

*Notes:
<ul type="square">[*]CoV-Only means while CoH might have another way of getting the badge, CoV doesn't.[*]CoH-Only that means while CoV might have another way of getting the badge, CoH doesn't.[*]Shared means both sides can only get the badge in the PVP zones.[*]The CoV accolades in this list all require at least one PVP zone badge[/list]Explore:
15 badges shared. (Lobbyist / Crooked Politician, Hungry / All Consuming, Imploding, Ghoulish, Globetrotter, Raganarok, Temporal Fighter / Dark Victory, Last Stand, Hangman or Hangwoman, Politician, Broad Shoulders, Piratical, Weapon Inspector / Weapon of Mass Destruction, Tunnel Rat, Triumphant)

History:
2 badges CoV-Only. (Swashbuckler, Arachnos Rising)

Accomplishments:
3 pillbox badges. (Time Machinist, Somewhere in Time, Back From the Future)
3 heavies badges. (Temporal Agent, Temporal Spy, Temporal Soldier)
7 badges for Signature Heroes CoV-Only. (Oppressor, Destroyer, Dead-eye, Interrogator, Breakneck, Uppercut, Blackguard)
6 badges for Signature Villains CoH-Only. (Arachnophobic, Wrangler, Poltergeist, Sandblasted, Shark Hunter, Justiciar)

Achievement:
12 badges shared. (Reinforcement, Agent Provocateur, Irradiated, Gunner, Disruptor, Forward Observer, Risk Taker / Most Wanted, Time Traveller, Rocketman, Siren's Song / Raider, Vigilante / Wanted, Web Master)

Gladiators:
3 badges shared. (Longbow Warden 2, Longbow Warden 1, Shivan Destroyer)

Accolades:
4 badges CoV-Only. (Marshal, Headline Stealer, Born in Battle, Megalomaniac)

Totals:
49 For CoV that are exclusive to PVP zones.
42 For CoH that are exclusive to PVP zones.

If you stretch the definition of a PVP zone to include the arena and base raids, you add at most 6 badges for both sides.

Explore: Cage fighter
Achievements: Lanista, Grand Lanista, Liberator / Master Thief
Gladiators: Longbow Nullifier, and Hercules Titan.

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Also, thanks for a constructive idea Snow!

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I do have them from time to time I didn't want to come to this thread just to complain.

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As it stands for some of the epic badges, the people that want them for the sake of achievement won't get them (unless they farm for them, doing something they probably wouldn't be proud of)

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I place myself in this group.

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I'd just like to know what the naughty/nice ratio is, my lvl 10 brute was present hunting in PO, and 10 out of 10 presents were naughty, between fighting off those spawns and the mobs in the area ( which varied from blue to red ) it got old fast.

All I want is my hat for my rerolled character...

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It is a flat random chance determined each and every time you open a present.

Think of it as rolling a dice every time you open a present.

Example (made up numbers):
10 sided dice
On a 1-5 you get a naughty present.
On a 6 you get an inspiration drop
On a 7-8 you get an temp power drop *1*
On a 9-10 you get an mystery gift drop *2*

*1* When the temp power drops another dice (random calculation) is rolled to see if you got a snow beast or snowball.
*2* When the mystery gift is opened another dice (random calculation) is rolled to see what you got from it.

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* Understand not everyone has a top of the line computer.
* Provide a purchasable superjump temp power.
And/Or:
* Make alternate speed runs for different powers. This way no one would have to choose to respec their character to get the badges.

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Actually I have one further suggestion.

* Next year make 3 more ski run badges for the Bunny Slope, with less stringent times.

Had these "beginner" slope badges been in place this year, I would think that there would be far less frustration, as people would have at least something for their efforts.

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Further, I don't heal on some ATs so I can never get the heal badge, does that mean I should be given a heal temp power so I can get those badges?

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Point of clarity: ATs that can't heal in their primary/secondary/APP/Patron pools can take the medicine pool. No temp power needed. ((edit: yes, people can respec into the leaping pool. It is just that those wanting the heal badges tend to not respec twice in one day just to get 1-3 badges.))

Second, the event is [u]supposed[u] to be [u]fun[u]. Well, from reading these forums, it seems like the developers have missed the mark when it comes to the ski badges.

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Lighthouse, please pass this along to all the Developers and QA staff:

If the mini game's time requires a special power to achieve success, then that power should have been introduced as a power you can purchase. They introduced the Candy Keeper, and a temp jump power could have been made available. Unfortunately thanks to lag, the amount of people in the zone, and people's computer limitations, at this point the ski run seems to need some sort of jump ability to get the gold. Thanks to the speed cap Flight, even with level 50 IOs and the empowerment buffs, the fastest time down the slopes is 32-33 seconds.

If the goal of the developers was something everyone could do, then I would humbly suggest that the developers simulate their test bed at around 10 FPS, using only unslotted sprint and change the times accordingly. As it is lag and a few other issues are causing far more frustration than is needed.

As it is, the people with Jump powers have a distinct advantage, followed by the Super Speedsters, while those with Flight are limited to silver, and the people with Teleport or no travel powers need not apply.

Perhaps in the future, there would be alternate speed "runs" like a Floating obstacle course that needed flight, a different course for Teleporters, and a ground course for people with super speed. Have the same medals for all "events" and that way people would have a choice as to what course they would like without stress. Isn't it the point of playing the game to relieve stress? Especially at this time of year?

While the staff probably has spent weeks "practicing" going down the slopes, most people will probably get under 24 hours of playtime throughout the event.

Overall the ski run mini game still needs work. Please fix for next year.

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It may well be something that not everyone is going to get by just going there and doing it. Gold is designed to be a challenge. If you aren't interested in working at it, then you won't get it. Not all badges are for everyone, sorry.

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While I feel the frustration, I still have managed to get the gold on one character. I have gotten the bronze and silver on a few others. I still have two characters I want the badges on, and will continue to attempt to get them. However, I will resent the badges if I have to respec my character to succeed in the gold.

The main point was to provide some constructive criticism, and some suggestions to improve the event game(s) for next year.

Bullet points of the above quoted post:
* Understand not everyone has a top of the line computer.
* Provide a purchasable superjump temp power.
And/Or:
* Make alternate speed runs for different powers. This way no one would have to choose to respec their character to get the badges.

Finally, in setting challenges, learn from other games mistakes and make sure that debugging doesn't set the challenge level beyond what is intended.

Lighthouse, please pass this along to all the Developers and QA staff:

If the mini game's time requires a special power to achieve success, then that power should have been introduced as a power you can purchase. They introduced the Candy Keeper, and a temp jump power could have been made available. Unfortunately thanks to lag, the amount of people in the zone, and people's computer limitations, at this point the ski run seems to need some sort of jump ability to get the gold. Thanks to the speed cap Flight, even with level 50 IOs and the empowerment buffs, the fastest time down the slopes is 32-33 seconds.

If the goal of the developers was something everyone could do, then I would humbly suggest that the developers simulate their test bed at around 10 FPS, using only unslotted sprint and change the times accordingly. As it is lag and a few other issues are causing far more frustration than is needed.

As it is, the people with Jump powers have a distinct advantage, followed by the Super Speedsters, while those with Flight are limited to silver, and the people with Teleport or no travel powers need not apply.

Perhaps in the future, there would be alternate speed "runs" like a Floating obstacle course that needed flight, a different course for Teleporters, and a ground course for people with super speed. Have the same medals for all "events" and that way people would have a choice as to what course they would like without stress. Isn't it the point of playing the game to relieve stress? Especially at this time of year?

While the staff probably has spent weeks "practicing" going down the slopes, most people will probably get under 24 hours of playtime throughout the event.

Overall the ski run mini game still needs work. Please fix for next year.

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To be honest, reading this forum makes me believe the people who talk about video game addiction. Badges are just a graphic, a title and making a number counter go up by one. We need to get you folks focused on something else.

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Some people enjoy getting badges. Why would you want to take that away from people?

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Actually changing badge requirements has been validated by the devs, see : Reformed, Zoo Keeper.

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See also: Illusionist, Isolator, several explore badge markers, Slayer, Silver Bullet, the Fusion Generator group badge, Disruptor, Reinforcement, Pirate, Forward Observer, Toothbreaker, Cap Buster.

There are probably others I've missed, but I assume the point is made. Not all of these were made easier, some requirements were increased.

I think I said that very recently.

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I assume (not knowing the argument used for the numbers, but just guessing) that the 2-5 years at 4 hours a day is if the healing is FARMED for four hours a day. Which is to say, set up so each heal gives as much credit as it possibly can, hits a large number of targets, and hit often.

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Those were the exact conditions of the numbers chosen. Same with Aid Other for the 27 years. I would guess that the true numbers are five times the amount, if not 6-7.

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THESE are the most important questions, IMO.

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Are the badges fun?
No. I don't think anyone considers them fun, well except some to make fun of other people.

Are the badges worth the effort?
No. I think this is near universal.

Would changing the badges make more people happy than it makes unhappy?
Yes, from all the forum posts and flamewars, more people would be happy than the unhappy ones.

Would changing the badges make the badges themselves better?
From a personal standpoint, yes. A lot of people share this opinion, but some do not.

The problem is that level of heals are next to impossible to achieve even in a 4 hour day. Those numbers would require you to heal 550,000 hitpoints a day each day for 5 years. The numbers used in the calculations were extremely ideal.

This is extremely unlikely. I will love the city vault showing up so people can find out how much the average healer heals for. On my best day I think my level 50 empath healed for about 90,000 hitpoints. At that rate I will have to wait at least 25 years, if not longer.

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Its just a matter of perspective and, in THIS situation, at least the side I agree with is being supported and validated by the Devs

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Don't take silence as support or validation. That is as much as an assumption as you think about the "other side".

As to your earlier call for quotes to back up some statements with developer quotes: One of the interviews that CIT did with Positron and CuppaJo around the beginning of Issue 5 had Positron saying that he expected Empath only to be earned after 5 years (which after some math, and Enhancement Diversification fails to be possible). Sadly, I can't link to it as it is either gone from CIT's website, or extremely buried.

He also pointed out that the reason that healing badges would only count hit points healed (and that is indeed broken in the arena farms) was that the developers wanted to make sure that people could not auto the badge by sitting in Atlas Park spamming heals.

So instead of spamming heals in Atlas Park, people are sitting afk letting gladiator pets spam heals in the arena. Add to that the broken state that those heals are counting for targets at full health.

The reason for the continued developer silence could be a couple of things:
<ul type="square">[*] They don't want to bring attention to what they consider a bug/exploit until after it is fixed.[*] They can't get around to fixing it yet (very low priority).[*] They are still discussing it among themselves.[/list]

There is a difference between Epic and broken.

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No epic badge is unattainable.

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All Epic Heal and Bamage badges are unattainable through play or intended (by the developers) methods. Every single one of them. They are currently only attainable through metagaming and using broken game mechanics.

*edit:
Actually I've heard of a few healers that did hamidon raids daily for several months before Issue 9 get the Medicine Man badge. Given the lack of huge amounts of characters to heal and rez that came with those raids, and the fact that they don't happen very often anymore, I doubt that would be possible post Issue 9. Even so, that is months of post 50 play just to earn 50 million heals. Now multiply that by 200. That is broken.

I've heard of a couple of tanks at those same raids earn the 1st epic damage badge, and that is 1/10th the amount needed for immortal.