Security level and relative power
By
DoctorParadox,
Posted on: 2010-02-20 18:16 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Technically, Combat Level is the true power threshold measurement, it's just that CL is so closely tied to Security Level that they're essentially the same thing.
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I would, indeed, like to see security level and power level separated. perhaps as a way to determine it, it could find your average difficulty adjustment for missions that are completed wITHOUT auto complete.
also, it would be cool if the kind of mission you described cropped up more, perhaps as a police scanner mission. (on an unrelated note, I would love to see police scanner missions occaisionally turn into multi-part epics. CoT is stealing an artifact, which is already gone when you get there, but one of the mages tells you where it is, turns out it was used to summon an army of demons, you defend the city from a first wave, then go against head honcho and stop the ritual before it releases the rest of the demons. Skulls have broken into lab, stole powerful nerve gas to use in war against hellions, hero intervenes to recover nerve gas, Hellions attack during that time and get nerve gas first, hero has to stop both sides from killing each other in a Perez park gang war.)
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This is very true, and thanks for the correction. I keep forgetting about combat level because largely the two stay in sync for most of my characters. If I level up in a mission, I'll usually go train right afterwards. There are a few times where combat level and security level are out of sync by more than 1 level (fast moving teams, TFs), but I find those occasions rare. In PL situations, this is, of course, more common.
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Originally Posted by IanTheM1
Technically, Combat Level is the true power threshold measurement, it's just that CL is so closely tied to Security Level that they're essentially the same thing.
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Having read the replies, and understanding the difference between combat level and security level, I still have to say I fully agree with the OP about the lost story-telling opportunities.
I think it would be nice if there were junior superhero organizations in the COX universe (Teen Titans, anyone?) that were sometimes in over their heads, and needed big-league help from time to time. And they didn't always need saving, per se, but assistance cracking a tough case that turned out to be much larger than the evidence originally indicated. Because we are supposed to be big guns with the appropriate security clearance, we get called in to provide that assistance (or the occasional save).
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You mean you want more Fusionettes?
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Originally Posted by TyrantMikey
Having read the replies, and understanding the difference between combat level and security level, I still have to say I fully agree with the OP about the lost story-telling opportunities.
I think it would be nice if there were junior superhero organizations in the COX universe (Teen Titans, anyone?) that were sometimes in over their heads, and needed big-league help from time to time. And they didn't always need saving, per se, but assistance cracking a tough case that turned out to be much larger than the evidence originally indicated. Because we are supposed to be big guns with the appropriate security clearance, we get called in to provide that assistance (or the occasional save). |
Supposedly, there are DOZENS.
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CRINGE! CRINGE, I SAY!
| Fusionette is one of the Nuclear 90; 90 children from around the world all born in one year with an unusual mutation that gives them natural magnetic nuclear fusion reactors for hearts, and the ability to channel energy from their internal reactor for a variety of super powers. |
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Originally Posted by Ironblade
Supposedly, there are DOZENS.
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| Fusionette is one of the Nuclear 90; 90 children from around the world all born in one year with an unusual mutation that gives them natural magnetic nuclear fusion reactors for hearts and dryer lint for brains |
I've always wondered why the developers didn't expand on the use of security level a lot more. As currently implemented, security level (SL) is an absolute measurement of your character's power. As you level up, you get new powers, enhancement slots and more inspiration slots. A level 50 is much more powerful than a level 5, even if the level 50 exempts down.
However, I've always thought that this absolute definition squandered a good number of RP-ish story opportunities. Comics and similar are rife with stories of heroes who attempt missions which are over their heads, and of related stories of powerful heroes dispatched to rescue weaker ones when the threats they encountered exceeded the power they had. Further, in comics, absolute power levels doesn't always correlate with the experience they have in dealing with threats. Superman is way more powerful than Batman, but would anyone argue that sometimes Batman is a better choice at handling certain threats rather than Supes? Both would be level 50 in this game, but their actual power levels is way different.
I remember reading one of the very early CoH comics and seeing a hero flying into a hazard zone and watching another hero and his sidekick limp towards the gate (obviously after being defeated). I was expecting that kind of mission when I first started this game, and was somewhat disappointed when I found out they didn't exist. I expected missions to be more like this:
Meanwhile, your actual power level would go up independently of security level. When your character would find missions too difficult to complete, you would take on missions at your native power level (or even lower) and bring up your actual power. In such a system, security level and power level would be independent and self balancing. Your security level may even get downgraded if you failed a string of missions in a row.
I realize that in the actual game, this doesn't work that way. Instead difficulty is set by level and adjusted by difficulty options. Further, the purple patch limits the range of possible missions by almost making it impossible to take on foes 6 or more levels ahead. Yeah, I know I'm 6 years too late on this subject. I'm just rueing the fact that there was a lost opportunity and that Security Levels in how they work could've been implemented a lot more elegantly, perhaps making things like difficult options less important.