Granted, Cryptic and PWE are very good about updating us with upcoming changes and content, but Im just curious, when will we see level cap increase? Even a rough estimate would be great.
Granted, Cryptic and PWE are very good about updating us with upcoming changes and content, but Im just curious, when will we see level cap increase? Even a rough estimate would be great.
Are you sure you're in a right forum? Seems this on belongs to STO one.
Rough estimate would be 'Maybe in next year'.
...
CHAMPIONS ONLINE:Join Date: Apr 2008
And playing by myself since Aug 2009 Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
I don't see the point of raising the level cap. There is no content for it. There isn't much to do now at level cap, there isn't going to magically be something new if they raise it to 45 or 50.
I hope they'll announce they have decided to work on putting in top level content instead of a level cap raise.
Raising the level cap is always a band-aid fix for inflating stats. If they could actually make enjoyable content at the level cap there really shouldn't be a need for continued vertical progression.
Find a way to make fun horizontal progression instead of simply adding higher numbers.
I don't see the point of raising the level cap. There is no content for it. There isn't much to do now at level cap, there isn't going to magically be something new if they raise it to 45 or 50.
I always assumed that they would need a new zone if they were to raise the level cap. Just seems to make sense.
I don't see the point of raising the level cap. There is no content for it. There isn't much to do now at level cap, there isn't going to magically be something new if they raise it to 45 or 50.
I hope they'll announce they have decided to work on putting in top level content instead of a level cap raise.
Pretty much this^
Plus Cryptic hasn't been able to add any significant new content the past few years for the lv range that we have now. What makes anyone think adding a level cap is going to change that, or not make matters in that area even worse?
Also, characters are already powerful and trivialize the existing content enough by lv 40 as it is. There is no need to add more levels. What we need is something to actually do at lv cap plus more alternate ways/paths to get there.
Plus Cryptic hasn't been able to add any significant new content the past few years for the lv range that we have now
They made the pre-crisis Vibora Bay, which is a fun series of nicely done missions
...and which are horrible for level-up since it's a chain instead of most zones where you can stay outdoors doing multiple missions at once, so you end up doing them once and never again
BUT still, it's enjoyable content so I can't complain here
But yeah, level cap increase is really unnecessary at best...
But .. but .. we get even more awsome Alerts, and everyone is exited about that, and there
we could level to 50 while beeing 30 all the time, and we all are excited to see how we do
with 50 then damage of a level 10 character .. yay .. so much exitement :biggrin:
I get the impression most of this "raise the level cap" foolishness is akin to Spinal Tap's amplifiers - you know, the ones that go all the way to 11.
"Why not just make the 10 setting even louder, and just use regular knobs?"
"...But these go to 11, you see..."
"Science teaches us to expect -- demand -- more than just eerie mysteries. What use is a puzzle that can't be solved? Patience is fine, but I'm not going to stop asking the universe to make sense!"
I'm giving Cryptic to the end of the year to make some kind of alternate leveling path, meaning making some missions to whole level range of 6-40, giving a new zone with more than 5 levels of content or i'll be contacting shev, who will uninstall CO from my pc, i'll bag my tights and go hang around Atlas Park. Yeah, "City of Cooldowns" which has content so much i can't finish it until i turn to 60, years not a level.
-Finn-
..sorry, -finn-
CHAMPIONS ONLINE:Join Date: Apr 2008
And playing by myself since Aug 2009 Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
Raising the level cap is always a band-aid fix for inflating stats. If they could actually make enjoyable content at the level cap there really shouldn't be a need for continued vertical progression.
Find a way to make fun horizontal progression instead of simply adding higher numbers.
Uh, not really. A lot of people find gaining experience, leveling up, and gaining new skills/powers to be by far the most enjoyable aspect of MMOs. I for example have zero interest in horizontal "end-game" progression, I don't care about making my existing powers slightly stronger, I want new stuff. For people like me a level cap increase is the best kind of content release ever and I have been waiting impatiently since this game came out to see one. It's not a "band-aid fix," it's the holy grail of updates. Until then I will just continue to roll new alt after new alt.
Anyway I really thought within the last few months I read something from the devs about a level cap increase coming, but I can't find it.
It's not like they don't have unexplored content for going past level 40: Mechanon. He's gets mentioned all over the place in the game, so I've always had the theory that once they expand the level cap, it will be to go after Mechanon.
"The man I was is the crucible which has forged the man I have become."
_____________
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
The one who can't shut up formerly known as 4rksakes
About the @handle - it's a long story.
Profound quote.. "I'm not a complete idiot - several parts are missing."
Instead of Level Up we got a Level down on 30 with alerts .. don't you feel so "excited"
about that like all at Crytic do ? :eek:
So, in a way, since in Gravitar you actually get to be lvl 40, it's like a 10 level level cap raise! :biggrin: The level cap raise has allready occurred! *steals ur glitter and throws it*
Champions Online: Be the hero you wish you could be in a better game.
To answer the OPs question, the level cap raise was already stated that it wouldn't happen till, at the earliest, late this year, around the fall or winter.
There will likely be no level cap increase, no new zones, no foundry, no revamp of the nemesis system, no graphic upgrades that may or may not be needed, no addressing of too many to count bugs, etc...
What you see is what you get, pretty much from here on out. Grab the low hanging fruit, pump out "Alert" level content and keep this puppy running on life support.
If you want any chance at meaningful improvements, look to STO or NW.
To be able to lower my level to find and solo missions i missed without them being a cake-walk even more than the first two things.
* I want:
An even more immersive superhero role gaming experience the most. Optional secret identities, player made npc's (reckless sidekicks, plucky reporters, femme-fatale socialites, handsome dashing billionaires etc) to regularly rescue, More with and from our Nemesis including more layers of details such as custom catchphrases and type-specific missions, more cutscenes involving the players hero in them.
___________________________________
While she has been rescued
what diabolical mastermind
was behind the devious brain-napping of
the Volterrific Dr Cerebellum?
Uh, not really. A lot of people find gaining experience, leveling up, and gaining new skills/powers to be by far the most enjoyable aspect of MMOs. I for example have zero interest in horizontal "end-game" progression, I don't care about making my existing powers slightly stronger, I want new stuff. For people like me a level cap increase is the best kind of content release ever and I have been waiting impatiently since this game came out to see one. It's not a "band-aid fix," it's the holy grail of updates. Until then I will just continue to roll new alt after new alt.
Anyway I really thought within the last few months I read something from the devs about a level cap increase coming, but I can't find it.
That's probably because no MMO has actually created a meaningful endgame to counter that experience that didn't revolve around PvP.
You say you don't want it, but you've probably never seen it.
That's probably because no MMO has actually created a meaningful endgame to counter that experience that didn't revolve around PvP.
You say you don't want it, but you've probably never seen it.
Nobody has ever seen it because it's a fantasy. You can't have a "meaningful endgame" because endgame happens at the end of a game, after all meaningful content has been exhausted. Endgame is the repetitive slop shoveled to players while the devs work on new meaningful content, which almost always involves a level cap increase. It's not supposed to be the highlight of a game, it's supposed to be a passably decent timesink, only because it's a necessary evil and people spend so much time on it (creating new content with the empty shell of a dev team takes a long time). Some games have forgotten that recently, and some players have found they really love tediously grinding on a treadmill for +1 DPS, but I guess that's how gaming evolves.
Granted, Cryptic and PWE are very good about updating us with upcoming changes and content, but Im just curious, when will we see level cap increase? Even a rough estimate would be great.
This has been the least professional experience I've ever gotten from an MMO.
"Good about updating on upcoming changes".....
Have you never played another Mmo.... if you think this is good, you will be amazed by others.
- Don't expect one any time soon. They have a hard enough time adding level 35-40 content. What's the point of adding more levels when the end-game is already practically non-existant
This has been the least professional experience I've ever gotten from an MMO.
"Good about updating on upcoming changes".....
Have you never played another Mmo.... if you think this is good, you will be amazed by others.
- Don't expect one any time soon. They have a hard enough time adding level 35-40 content. What's the point of adding more levels when the end-game is already practically non-existant
I've played quite a few. It always amazes me when you go and look at the other pasture that people proclaim is greener, it's always more of the same rhetoric, "The devs don't talk, there is no communication, nothing is being done."
I've yet to really enter a single gaming community, post beta, where people weren't complaining about a lack of dev communication. So really, trying to trumpet that grass is always greener statement is kind of bunk.
The truth of the matter is people aren't happy the devs don't dance to their personal tune. And, as I've said before, considering the bile and vitriol this community has to any dev post, especially if it can't have the exact answer someone is looking for, rivals that of the hatred and bile that players spew at the devs over at Blizzard if not more so.
Nobody has ever seen it because it's a fantasy. You can't have a "meaningful endgame" because endgame happens at the end of a game, after all meaningful content has been exhausted. Endgame is the repetitive slop shoveled to players while the devs work on new meaningful content, which almost always involves a level cap increase. It's not supposed to be the highlight of a game, it's supposed to be a passably decent timesink, only because it's a necessary evil and people spend so much time on it (creating new content with the empty shell of a dev team takes a long time). Some games have forgotten that recently, and some players have found they really love tediously grinding on a treadmill for +1 DPS, but I guess that's how gaming evolves.
And endlessly adding numbers to our lv cap, hit points, damage, etc. as well as create ever increasingly powerful (by adding numbers to their lv cap, hit points, damage, etc.) in order to create the illusion of progression is meaningful?
I've yet to really enter a single gaming community, post beta, where people weren't complaining about a lack of dev communication. So really, trying to trumpet that grass is always greener statement is kind of bunk.
Check out the TSW forums sometime. The devs there can't seem to shut up, and almost half the time is the top guy (Producer/Director Ragnar) himself doing the talking :biggrin:
Check out the TSW forums sometime. The devs there can't seem to shut up, and almost half the time is the top guy (Producer/Director Ragnar) himself doing the talking :biggrin:
Been there done that, get back to me in a few months when the game isn't freshly launched. Same thing went on over at TOR to.
And endlessly adding numbers to our lv cap, hit points, damage, etc. as well as create ever increasingly powerful (by adding numbers to their lv cap, hit points, damage, etc.) in order to create the illusion of progression is meaningful?
And adding items that inflate stats or do nothing but provide vanity for a few people is progression as well?
And adding items that inflate stats or do nothing but provide vanity for a few people is progression as well?
In this game? Yes, costume pieces are in fact progression in this game. Otherwise people wouldn't be farming Gravitar even after the questionite reward is fully diminished.
Champions Online: Be the hero you wish you could be in a better game.
In this game? Yes, costume pieces are in fact progression in this game. Otherwise people wouldn't be farming Gravitar even after the questionite reward is fully diminished.
And leveling isn't? It's funny how one style is considered progression, but another on the same vein isn't.
Uh, not really. A lot of people find gaining experience, leveling up, and gaining new skills/powers to be by far the most enjoyable aspect of MMOs. I for example have zero interest in horizontal "end-game" progression, I don't care about making my existing powers slightly stronger, I want new stuff. For people like me a level cap increase is the best kind of content release ever and I have been waiting impatiently since this game came out to see one. It's not a "band-aid fix," it's the holy grail of updates. Until then I will just continue to roll new alt after new alt.
Anyway I really thought within the last few months I read something from the devs about a level cap increase coming, but I can't find it.
It doesn't seem to be a logical decision to me to add in more levels, and it's a whole can of worms in ways some of which none of us can predict for certain.
I'm talking about exploitable glitches and game mechanics that can be exploited beyond their intent. A good example would be Unleashed Rage bug that came initially with the April mega-patch, exceeding 400000 damage on a blast. This was patched, in part due to ample publicity about it.
Additionally consider other mechanics that don't work as intended like the recently patched bug that allowed you to smoke grenade Gravitar to avoid getting hit by her.
These kinds of issues are compounded when you increase the upper bound. Stats increase changing the values of the varibles in most powers. A few additional power points or advantage points can round out the weakness-strength trade-off in many builds so they no longer have an Achillie's heel. And how this stuff would all interact at a new level cap is anyone's guess, but it WILL have re-balancing issues.
That's a whole lot of work, for something that's not as needed as other kinds of content.
Specifically exploration content.
Places to go & things to do there.
A new zone has been begged for since Vibora Bay came out & people have asked many times for more campaigns
And by campaigns I mean an adventure you or your team can go on. Called initially adventure packs, and then later Comic Series. I clearly remember how thrilled people were when Aftershock and Whiteout were being released, and the Mega-D part of Resistance is still the highlight of many players (especially all these new player's I'm starting to see around).
In short, it's more of a matter of where, giving the environmental artists some employment. And we've actually had some great environmental artists (Lemuria seems to be the only Zone some people actually dislike)
But yeah, level cap increase, just a mess and after such a massive overhaul recently, it would be unwise.
The better idea is to keep rolling out costume content, make some affordable & decent Acclaim gear, start working on special events, and:
New places to go!
Moon Zone, oceanside town, spacestation, deep underground mines & dungeons with lava, Tokyo or Hong Kong style metropolis, Las Vegas or Dubai, I don't really care!
It's been a long enough wait and I hoped that was what they were planning, instead we got the patch we go back in April with all the stats & powers changed and specializations & mods added (while crafting with blueprints was removed).
For the better? I think so, the game feels a bit more balanced and the bugs are slowly being worked on, but it's been looooong enough.
I want a ticket to go traveling with my characters
Destination: Anywhere new
And endlessly adding numbers to our lv cap, hit points, damage, etc. as well as create ever increasingly powerful (by adding numbers to their lv cap, hit points, damage, etc.) in order to create the illusion of progression is meaningful?
How is expanding the normal RPG progression in a natural way an illusion? RPGs are all about leveling up, that's what defines the genre by today's standards, if you take that away it's called an adventure game. This is not a MMOAAG (action adventure game), and I'm really hoping one of these days a game takes that step and calls itself that so some people will realize they are playing the wrong genre.
Anyone who calls themselves a RPG fan should hold the level cap increase in the highest regard.
I'm talking about exploitable glitches and game mechanics that can be exploited beyond their intent. ... These kinds of issues are compounded when you increase the upper bound.
All of the scaling problems you mention have to do specifically with horizontal progression, it's supposed to require more stats at higher levels to achieve results, but when the level cap is static and people keep getting more and more stats then that is when skills start to break. If anything your point here proves a level cap increase is needed quickly to "reset" the current stat of extreme stats and stop so many skills from getting to such a point.
A few additional power points or advantage points can round out the weakness-strength trade-off in many builds so they no longer have an Achillie's heel.
I see this argument a lot in many games, I don't understand why. Don't forget that if they increase the level cap they are going to add more powers, so ya you could be boring and balance out your current build, but then you will be missing out on the shiny new toys which will probably be better. Pick an old power that covers your weakness, or a new power that boosts your strengths. Balance is maintained.
And adding items that inflate stats or do nothing but provide vanity for a few people is progression as well?
I did not say anything to support that anywhere in my post. I merely implied that perpetual level gain is not meaningful progression. There is nothing in that statement to suggest anything you said.
Though, I would say that vanity items can be meaningful rewards (not "progression") for some. Items that inflate stats? I would throw those in the same pile as infinite levels...
How is expanding the normal RPG progression in a natural way an illusion? RPGs are all about leveling up, that's what defines the genre by today's standards, if you take that away it's called an adventure game. This is not a MMOAAG (action adventure game), and I'm really hoping one of these days a game takes that step and calls itself that so some people will realize they are playing the wrong genre.
Anyone who calls themselves a RPG fan should hold the level cap increase in the highest regard.
Its funny you should mention that, because as someone that actually played pen-and-paper (PnP, aka, "tabletop", etc.)* RPGs as a teen I know from personal experience that the majority of pre-electronic age RPGs did NOT in fact use level based progression. D&D (the most well known of them) as well as a few others did, but most PnP RPG systems that I know of were actually skill based rather than level based.
I could go include a long list of non-level based PnP RPGs, but that would take too long, and given the context of this discussion--thanks to this game's chosen IP--I only need one... CHAMPIONS. And for an example of an actual modern MMO RPG with no level-based progression, they just released this one last week--TSW
And none of the games that used level-based progression actually used infinite level progression. They've actually tried to add "epic" levels to D&D for years, but they were always a mess and a source of controversy and disputes in many campaigns** precisely for the same reason they don't work in electronic RPGs either. Because ever expanding level progression ALWAYS ends up bloating the system and inflating the stats to unmanageable levels to the point where it becomes ridiculous, the characters become stronger than anything that exists in the campaign, powerful enough to wipe out entire kingdoms entirely by themselves*** and everything in the game starts breaking apart because internal consistency is lost in the name perpetual progression.
As an RPG fan, I have despised level-based progression for years (and consider skill-based progression to be preferable in every way and more complementary to the genre), and only put up with them because I don't play PnP anymore and because of the unfortunate fact that the majority of electronic RPGs have chosen to adopt what I personally consider to be the worse type of character progression in RPGs. So I can either take what I'm given, or not play at all. But that doesn't mean I have to hold level-based progression in any regard.
*you know, the ones where electronic RPGs came from--the grand daddies of the entire genre
**PnP RPG playgroups, as well as the continuing storyline and any house rules, shared game world etc. that surrounds those playgroups. Campaigns (RPG) from wiki...
***unless you throw equally ridiculously overpowered foes in a desperate attempt to justify the need for perpetual progression
Its funny you should mention that, because as someone that actually played pen-and-paper (PnP, aka, "tabletop", etc.)* RPGs as a teen I know from personal experience that the majority of pre-electronic age RPGs did NOT in fact use level based progression. D&D (the most well known of them) as well as a few others did, but most PnP RPG systems that I know of were actually skill based rather than level based.
I could go include a long list of non-level based PnP RPGs, but that would take too long, and given the context of this discussion--thanks to this game's chosen IP--I only need one... CHAMPIONS. And for an example of an actual modern MMO RPG with no level-based progression, they just released this one last week--TSW
Swapping character levels for skill levels isn't much of a difference, they are both level based you just get to focus more on what you want in a "skill based" RPG than a character level based RPG which gives you less freedom usually. I agree I like "skill-based" RPGs more, but you are still killing things and gaining exp to gain skill levels to fight enemies with stronger skill levels. So I'm not really sure why you brought that up.
And none of the games that used level-based progression actually used infinite level progression.
Such is the draw of the MMORPG, with promised regular updates and continual expansions, with enough players to provide a social gaming experience no matter how much time one dedicates to a character. Having a huge level cap in a tabletop game really doesn't make any sense, what do you do if your friend decides he wants to reroll but you want to stick with your level 200 character you've invested 3 years into creating? You can't have that kind of extreme level range and power scale in a game designed to be played on weekends always with the same three friends.
How is expanding the normal RPG progression in a natural way an illusion? RPGs are all about leveling up, that's what defines the genre by today's standards, if you take that away it's called an adventure game. This is not a MMOAAG (action adventure game), and I'm really hoping one of these days a game takes that step and calls itself that so some people will realize they are playing the wrong genre.
Anyone who calls themselves a RPG fan should hold the level cap increase in the highest regard.
A big problem here is, that CO has grown to such an Alt heavy game like no other MMO.
No remember what a level cap would mean here for somebody like me who actually has
28 lvl 40 chars. I have to do the new zone now with 28 chars and then gear them all up.
After 10-12 times i'm maybe already sick of the new zone.
So i simply would rather see more alternate level paths for new characters instead.
Also like already meantioned, a level cap always brings new balance problems, and mostly
a lot needs to be nerfed first to don't break things in the end. I've seen that so often in
Everquest 2 on each level cap. And i always hated it when i was suddenly weaker when
a new expansion came out, than i was before.
I've played quite a few. It always amazes me when you go and look at the other pasture that people proclaim is greener, it's always more of the same rhetoric, "The devs don't talk, there is no communication, nothing is being done."
I've yet to really enter a single gaming community, post beta, where people weren't complaining about a lack of dev communication. So really, trying to trumpet that grass is always greener statement is kind of bunk.
The truth of the matter is people aren't happy the devs don't dance to their personal tune. And, as I've said before, considering the bile and vitriol this community has to any dev post, especially if it can't have the exact answer someone is looking for, rivals that of the hatred and bile that players spew at the devs over at Blizzard if not more so.
SWG, CoH, and WoW didn't have nearly as many bugs. The fact that there are things still bugged that have been bugged since I started in October.....
Whenever I contacted support in any of those games, if a gm responded I was generally assisted. Here, a gm will generally respond to tell you you're sol or there hands are tied and to submit a bug report.
There's enmity towards the devs here for quite a few reasons. It's not just "lack of communication". When you have to be a subscribing member to access the PTS, effectively be unpaid QA and still have your feedback ignored before launch... that's just kinda sad.
SWG, CoH, and WoW didn't have nearly as many bugs.
Correction, CoH, WoW and SWG didn't have as many obvious bugs.
Ask any programmer and they'll tell you that anything the size of an MMO is a buggy mess of code due to the amount of people rushing to get work done.
And WoW was the worst of them all, they removed a bug making a launch end game dungeon uncompletable since they launched the game. in Cataclysm by removing the dungeon completely.
How is expanding the normal RPG progression in a natural way an illusion? RPGs are all about leveling up, that's what defines the genre by today's standards, if you take that away it's called an adventure game.
In some RPG's perhaps.
RPG means Role Playing Game, not 'Leveling Game' for a reason.
In this game? Yes, costume pieces are in fact progression in this game. Otherwise people wouldn't be farming Gravitar even after the questionite reward is fully diminished.
Not really sure where you saw me type that leveling isn't progression. I think you're catching that Forumitis that's going around that makes you see things in posts that aren't there.
And leveling isn't? It's funny how one style is considered progression, but another on the same vein isn't.
Leveling is only considered progression if you are progressing towards something that makes being a higher level meaningful.
Let's say they did add 10 more levels, and since this is CO we're going to be realistic and assume that they do not add a new zone and instead simply expect you to level the next 10 levels through alerts and adventure packs ( this is also fair for this thread, because the OP is asking about a level cap increase, not new content ).
What is it that you are progressing towards then? Once you hit level 50, you will still have access to all the same lairs, alerts, zones, and adventure packs. Furthermore, you will still have access to all the same powers that you had access to at lvl 40. Even with 2 or 3 more powers in your build, it doesn't actually increase the "maximum power level" of your character, because at the moment you can already create builds that trivialize nearly all content in the game; once trivialized, that's it... there's really nowhere to go from there.
So, I'm not sure what exactly your idea of progression is, but to me it's more about content and less about having a few extra buttons to push on my powers bar.
Champions Online: Be the hero you wish you could be in a better game.
Correction, CoH, WoW and SWG didn't have as many obvious bugs.
Ask any programmer and they'll tell you that anything the size of an MMO is a buggy mess of code due to the amount of people rushing to get work done.
And WoW was the worst of them all, they removed a bug making a launch end game dungeon uncompletable since they launched the game. in Cataclysm by removing the dungeon completely.
I didn't say they were bug free, I said they had fewer bugs - that holds true. There weren't bugs staring me in the face since launch that failed to get fixed.
When I started Reign of Frogs and Dr D's Factory were nearly impossible to complete as they would bug out.
Several months later, Dr. D's factory can be completed rather reliably for the time being, albeit the foxbat stuff is wonky. Reign of frogs has the same problem since I started.
That's barely scratching the surface of what's been bugged. Dig into something important like the powersets.... yeah..... no bueno.
A level cap increase and new mission content that comes with it will be added simply to motivate players into PWE's "buy it or grind it or fail" model.
I don't see any moral problems with this since you're not being promised something you're not getting, but if it's a game style dislike you won't be happy about a level cap increase in CO.
A level cap increase and new mission content that comes with it will be added simply to motivate players into PWE's "buy it or grind it or fail" model.
I don't see any moral problems with this since you're not being promised something you're not getting, but if it's a game style dislike you won't be happy about a level cap increase in CO.
To sum up: No news may be good news.
Citation needed for source. Really, proclaiming doom without information sort of doesn't jive, especially since to date nothing still has been put in the store that is absolutely required.
Leveling is only considered progression if you are progressing towards something that makes being a higher level meaningful.
Let's say they did add 10 more levels, and since this is CO we're going to be realistic and assume that they do not add a new zone and instead simply expect you to level the next 10 levels through alerts and adventure packs ( this is also fair for this thread, because the OP is asking about a level cap increase, not new content ).
What is it that you are progressing towards then? Once you hit level 50, you will still have access to all the same lairs, alerts, zones, and adventure packs. Furthermore, you will still have access to all the same powers that you had access to at lvl 40. Even with 2 or 3 more powers in your build, it doesn't actually increase the "maximum power level" of your character, because at the moment you can already create builds that trivialize nearly all content in the game; once trivialized, that's it... there's really nowhere to go from there.
Well, smoosan, one would assume that gaining higher levels means increasing the number of powers, or maybe being able to finally rank up all your powers, or something of that sort. That alone would be something to progress toward. Otherwise, your earlier costume analogy is a moot point. What's the point in gaining costume parts you probably won't use? Isn't that even more pointless of a progression than gaining more power?
Citation needed for source. Really, proclaiming doom without information sort of doesn't jive, especially since to date nothing still has been put in the store that is absolutely required.
I guess you haven't seen how PWE runs its other games. (And if the Season 7 content in STO doesn't force you to get either the fleet(grind) or z-store(buy) ships I'll eat my hat.)
Like I said, no news is currently good news. And maybe they'll put in the time and resources for another ten levels worth of game and do nothing but continue rely on subscriptions and impulse buys to cover the costs.
I would still advise against holding your breath for any level cap increase that doesn't come with Asian MMO style changes.
Well, smoosan, one would assume that gaining higher levels means increasing the number of powers, or maybe being able to finally rank up all your powers, or something of that sort. That alone would be something to progress toward. Otherwise, your earlier costume analogy is a moot point. What's the point in gaining costume parts you probably won't use? Isn't that even more pointless of a progression than gaining more power?
One of the main draws of this game, a thing that if it were removed today would absoloutely kill the game's popularity... is quite simply, the costume editor. For myself and just about everyone I know in the game, the costume editor was the first thing that really drew us in when we first started playing, and has continued to keep our interest.
Why do I grind questionite? Costume sets. Everytime I buy a new costume set, I feel like I have progressed in one of the parts of the game that I truly enjoy. Costume sets bring me more joy than any increase in stats ever will.
There are people who grind Gravitar just to get her costume drops. There are people who grind Therakial's Temple for his sword. There were people who would grind Takofanes for Dark Aura.
This is how you can tell that in this game, costume pieces are most certainly progression.
Grinding out an extra 10 levels.... sure, you can add a few powers to your build... sure you can put a few more advantage points into powers... then what? Oh, now you can finally beat that encounter you weren't able to beat before... what was that encounter called again?
If you're the world's greatest boxer, and you can beat any opponent without even trying... then becoming a better boxer is meaningless until you get an opponent that actually challenges you. Training to fight that boxer that can challenge you, that's progression. Training to beat every boxer in the world 1 second sooner... is meaningless.
Champions Online: Be the hero you wish you could be in a better game.
Grinding out an extra 10 levels.... sure, you can add a few powers to your build... sure you can put a few more advantage points into powers... then what? Oh, now you can finally beat that encounter you weren't able to beat before... what was that encounter called again?
Grinding out an extra 10 costume pieces.... sure, you can make your character look spiffier... sure you can put a few extra shinies on your character... then what? Oh, now you can look cooler while you still get your butt kicked in that encounter you still can't beat... why did you get those costume pieces again?
Look, smoosan, all I'm saying is that leveling is advancement too. To some people, leveling is more important than looking cool. I just see you here, dismissing leveling and implying that that costume pieces are more important for advancement.
I agree with you that with new levels, there's a need for new zones and new content. But that doesn't mean that we can completely dismiss new levels entirely out of hand and offer up costume pieces to everyone as a viable alternative. Not everybody cares about costumes. Not everybody likes costume pieces. You do, and I do, but not everybody is as vain as the two of us.
Was it way back In jan they mentioned a level new cap in an UNTIL or SOTG , with recent pictures of a Chinese type area and the Kraken it might be sooner than we think.
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about that like all at Crytic do ? :eek:
Are you sure you're in a right forum? Seems this on belongs to STO one.
Rough estimate would be 'Maybe in next year'.
...
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I love losing 50% of my damage going from 40 down to 30. I can't imagine how much more damage we'd lose going from say, 50 down to 30.
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I hope they'll announce they have decided to work on putting in top level content instead of a level cap raise.
Find a way to make fun horizontal progression instead of simply adding higher numbers.
I always assumed that they would need a new zone if they were to raise the level cap. Just seems to make sense.
Makes sense in some realities. Doesn't always apply here. Welcome to Wonderland.
Player and forumite formerly known as FEELTHETHUNDER
Expatriot Might Characters in EXILE
Pretty much this^
Plus Cryptic hasn't been able to add any significant new content the past few years for the lv range that we have now. What makes anyone think adding a level cap is going to change that, or not make matters in that area even worse?
Also, characters are already powerful and trivialize the existing content enough by lv 40 as it is. There is no need to add more levels. What we need is something to actually do at lv cap plus more alternate ways/paths to get there.
They made the pre-crisis Vibora Bay, which is a fun series of nicely done missions
...and which are horrible for level-up since it's a chain instead of most zones where you can stay outdoors doing multiple missions at once, so you end up doing them once and never again
BUT still, it's enjoyable content so I can't complain here
But yeah, level cap increase is really unnecessary at best...
Big guide of power DPS
we could level to 50 while beeing 30 all the time, and we all are excited to see how we do
with 50 then damage of a level 10 character .. yay .. so much exitement :biggrin:
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"...But these go to 11, you see..."
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-Finn-
..sorry, -finn-
And playing by myself since Aug 2009
Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
Uh, not really. A lot of people find gaining experience, leveling up, and gaining new skills/powers to be by far the most enjoyable aspect of MMOs. I for example have zero interest in horizontal "end-game" progression, I don't care about making my existing powers slightly stronger, I want new stuff. For people like me a level cap increase is the best kind of content release ever and I have been waiting impatiently since this game came out to see one. It's not a "band-aid fix," it's the holy grail of updates. Until then I will just continue to roll new alt after new alt.
Anyway I really thought within the last few months I read something from the devs about a level cap increase coming, but I can't find it.
"The man I was is the crucible which has forged the man I have become."
Level Cap is fine at 40.. perfect amount of powers (hell maybe 1 or 2 too many).
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The one who can't shut up formerly known as 4rksakes
About the @handle - it's a long story.
Profound quote.. "I'm not a complete idiot - several parts are missing."
So, in a way, since in Gravitar you actually get to be lvl 40, it's like a 10 level level cap raise! :biggrin: The level cap raise has allready occurred! *steals ur glitter and throws it*
Champions Online: Be the hero you wish you could be in a better game.
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What you see is what you get, pretty much from here on out. Grab the low hanging fruit, pump out "Alert" level content and keep this puppy running on life support.
If you want any chance at meaningful improvements, look to STO or NW.
Welcome to CO's New (im)perfect World Order.
/rant off
More levels as i like levelling.
* I want:
More content even more than i want more levels.
* I want:
To be able to lower my level to find and solo missions i missed without them being a cake-walk even more than the first two things.
* I want:
An even more immersive superhero role gaming experience the most. Optional secret identities, player made npc's (reckless sidekicks, plucky reporters, femme-fatale socialites, handsome dashing billionaires etc) to regularly rescue, More with and from our Nemesis including more layers of details such as custom catchphrases and type-specific missions, more cutscenes involving the players hero in them.
While she has been rescued
what diabolical mastermind
was behind the devious brain-napping of
the Volterrific Dr Cerebellum?
That's probably because no MMO has actually created a meaningful endgame to counter that experience that didn't revolve around PvP.
You say you don't want it, but you've probably never seen it.
Nobody has ever seen it because it's a fantasy. You can't have a "meaningful endgame" because endgame happens at the end of a game, after all meaningful content has been exhausted. Endgame is the repetitive slop shoveled to players while the devs work on new meaningful content, which almost always involves a level cap increase. It's not supposed to be the highlight of a game, it's supposed to be a passably decent timesink, only because it's a necessary evil and people spend so much time on it (creating new content with the empty shell of a dev team takes a long time). Some games have forgotten that recently, and some players have found they really love tediously grinding on a treadmill for +1 DPS, but I guess that's how gaming evolves.
This has been the least professional experience I've ever gotten from an MMO.
"Good about updating on upcoming changes".....
Have you never played another Mmo.... if you think this is good, you will be amazed by others.
- Don't expect one any time soon. They have a hard enough time adding level 35-40 content. What's the point of adding more levels when the end-game is already practically non-existant
I've played quite a few. It always amazes me when you go and look at the other pasture that people proclaim is greener, it's always more of the same rhetoric, "The devs don't talk, there is no communication, nothing is being done."
I've yet to really enter a single gaming community, post beta, where people weren't complaining about a lack of dev communication. So really, trying to trumpet that grass is always greener statement is kind of bunk.
The truth of the matter is people aren't happy the devs don't dance to their personal tune. And, as I've said before, considering the bile and vitriol this community has to any dev post, especially if it can't have the exact answer someone is looking for, rivals that of the hatred and bile that players spew at the devs over at Blizzard if not more so.
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And endlessly adding numbers to our lv cap, hit points, damage, etc. as well as create ever increasingly powerful (by adding numbers to their lv cap, hit points, damage, etc.) in order to create the illusion of progression is meaningful?
Check out the TSW forums sometime. The devs there can't seem to shut up, and almost half the time is the top guy (Producer/Director Ragnar) himself doing the talking :biggrin:
Been there done that, get back to me in a few months when the game isn't freshly launched. Same thing went on over at TOR to.
And adding items that inflate stats or do nothing but provide vanity for a few people is progression as well?
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In this game? Yes, costume pieces are in fact progression in this game. Otherwise people wouldn't be farming Gravitar even after the questionite reward is fully diminished.
Champions Online: Be the hero you wish you could be in a better game.
And leveling isn't? It's funny how one style is considered progression, but another on the same vein isn't.
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It doesn't seem to be a logical decision to me to add in more levels, and it's a whole can of worms in ways some of which none of us can predict for certain.
I'm talking about exploitable glitches and game mechanics that can be exploited beyond their intent. A good example would be Unleashed Rage bug that came initially with the April mega-patch, exceeding 400000 damage on a blast. This was patched, in part due to ample publicity about it.
Additionally consider other mechanics that don't work as intended like the recently patched bug that allowed you to smoke grenade Gravitar to avoid getting hit by her.
These kinds of issues are compounded when you increase the upper bound. Stats increase changing the values of the varibles in most powers. A few additional power points or advantage points can round out the weakness-strength trade-off in many builds so they no longer have an Achillie's heel. And how this stuff would all interact at a new level cap is anyone's guess, but it WILL have re-balancing issues.
That's a whole lot of work, for something that's not as needed as other kinds of content.
Specifically exploration content.
Places to go & things to do there.
A new zone has been begged for since Vibora Bay came out & people have asked many times for more campaigns
Consolidate the currencies! (Please!)
Does your Champion have a theme song? (share it!)
Got a funny in-game screenshot? (share it!)
Please fix the Overdrive energy unlock! (Should help promote thematic build diversity!)
In short, it's more of a matter of where, giving the environmental artists some employment. And we've actually had some great environmental artists (Lemuria seems to be the only Zone some people actually dislike)
But yeah, level cap increase, just a mess and after such a massive overhaul recently, it would be unwise.
The better idea is to keep rolling out costume content, make some affordable & decent Acclaim gear, start working on special events, and:
New places to go!
Moon Zone, oceanside town, spacestation, deep underground mines & dungeons with lava, Tokyo or Hong Kong style metropolis, Las Vegas or Dubai, I don't really care!
It's been a long enough wait and I hoped that was what they were planning, instead we got the patch we go back in April with all the stats & powers changed and specializations & mods added (while crafting with blueprints was removed).
For the better? I think so, the game feels a bit more balanced and the bugs are slowly being worked on, but it's been looooong enough.
I want a ticket to go traveling with my characters
Destination: Anywhere new
Consolidate the currencies! (Please!)
Does your Champion have a theme song? (share it!)
Got a funny in-game screenshot? (share it!)
Please fix the Overdrive energy unlock! (Should help promote thematic build diversity!)
How is expanding the normal RPG progression in a natural way an illusion? RPGs are all about leveling up, that's what defines the genre by today's standards, if you take that away it's called an adventure game. This is not a MMOAAG (action adventure game), and I'm really hoping one of these days a game takes that step and calls itself that so some people will realize they are playing the wrong genre.
Anyone who calls themselves a RPG fan should hold the level cap increase in the highest regard.
All of the scaling problems you mention have to do specifically with horizontal progression, it's supposed to require more stats at higher levels to achieve results, but when the level cap is static and people keep getting more and more stats then that is when skills start to break. If anything your point here proves a level cap increase is needed quickly to "reset" the current stat of extreme stats and stop so many skills from getting to such a point.
I see this argument a lot in many games, I don't understand why. Don't forget that if they increase the level cap they are going to add more powers, so ya you could be boring and balance out your current build, but then you will be missing out on the shiny new toys which will probably be better. Pick an old power that covers your weakness, or a new power that boosts your strengths. Balance is maintained.
lol, I have to give you points for that one. You bring a valid point, devs probably won't be as active a couple of months from now.
I did not say anything to support that anywhere in my post. I merely implied that perpetual level gain is not meaningful progression. There is nothing in that statement to suggest anything you said.
Though, I would say that vanity items can be meaningful rewards (not "progression") for some. Items that inflate stats? I would throw those in the same pile as infinite levels...
Its funny you should mention that, because as someone that actually played pen-and-paper (PnP, aka, "tabletop", etc.)* RPGs as a teen I know from personal experience that the majority of pre-electronic age RPGs did NOT in fact use level based progression. D&D (the most well known of them) as well as a few others did, but most PnP RPG systems that I know of were actually skill based rather than level based.
I could go include a long list of non-level based PnP RPGs, but that would take too long, and given the context of this discussion--thanks to this game's chosen IP--I only need one... CHAMPIONS. And for an example of an actual modern MMO RPG with no level-based progression, they just released this one last week--TSW
And none of the games that used level-based progression actually used infinite level progression. They've actually tried to add "epic" levels to D&D for years, but they were always a mess and a source of controversy and disputes in many campaigns** precisely for the same reason they don't work in electronic RPGs either. Because ever expanding level progression ALWAYS ends up bloating the system and inflating the stats to unmanageable levels to the point where it becomes ridiculous, the characters become stronger than anything that exists in the campaign, powerful enough to wipe out entire kingdoms entirely by themselves*** and everything in the game starts breaking apart because internal consistency is lost in the name perpetual progression.
As an RPG fan, I have despised level-based progression for years (and consider skill-based progression to be preferable in every way and more complementary to the genre), and only put up with them because I don't play PnP anymore and because of the unfortunate fact that the majority of electronic RPGs have chosen to adopt what I personally consider to be the worse type of character progression in RPGs. So I can either take what I'm given, or not play at all. But that doesn't mean I have to hold level-based progression in any regard.
*you know, the ones where electronic RPGs came from--the grand daddies of the entire genre
**PnP RPG playgroups, as well as the continuing storyline and any house rules, shared game world etc. that surrounds those playgroups. Campaigns (RPG) from wiki...
***unless you throw equally ridiculously overpowered foes in a desperate attempt to justify the need for perpetual progression
Swapping character levels for skill levels isn't much of a difference, they are both level based you just get to focus more on what you want in a "skill based" RPG than a character level based RPG which gives you less freedom usually. I agree I like "skill-based" RPGs more, but you are still killing things and gaining exp to gain skill levels to fight enemies with stronger skill levels. So I'm not really sure why you brought that up.
Such is the draw of the MMORPG, with promised regular updates and continual expansions, with enough players to provide a social gaming experience no matter how much time one dedicates to a character. Having a huge level cap in a tabletop game really doesn't make any sense, what do you do if your friend decides he wants to reroll but you want to stick with your level 200 character you've invested 3 years into creating? You can't have that kind of extreme level range and power scale in a game designed to be played on weekends always with the same three friends.
A big problem here is, that CO has grown to such an Alt heavy game like no other MMO.
No remember what a level cap would mean here for somebody like me who actually has
28 lvl 40 chars. I have to do the new zone now with 28 chars and then gear them all up.
After 10-12 times i'm maybe already sick of the new zone.
So i simply would rather see more alternate level paths for new characters instead.
Also like already meantioned, a level cap always brings new balance problems, and mostly
a lot needs to be nerfed first to don't break things in the end. I've seen that so often in
Everquest 2 on each level cap. And i always hated it when i was suddenly weaker when
a new expansion came out, than i was before.
SWG, CoH, and WoW didn't have nearly as many bugs. The fact that there are things still bugged that have been bugged since I started in October.....
Whenever I contacted support in any of those games, if a gm responded I was generally assisted. Here, a gm will generally respond to tell you you're sol or there hands are tied and to submit a bug report.
There's enmity towards the devs here for quite a few reasons. It's not just "lack of communication". When you have to be a subscribing member to access the PTS, effectively be unpaid QA and still have your feedback ignored before launch... that's just kinda sad.
Correction, CoH, WoW and SWG didn't have as many obvious bugs.
Ask any programmer and they'll tell you that anything the size of an MMO is a buggy mess of code due to the amount of people rushing to get work done.
And WoW was the worst of them all, they removed a bug making a launch end game dungeon uncompletable since they launched the game. in Cataclysm by removing the dungeon completely.
In some RPG's perhaps.
RPG means Role Playing Game, not 'Leveling Game' for a reason.
Not necessarily, and definitely not in Champions. Perhaps that sort of design is included in some skill based RPG's, but it is not a universal design.
'Caine, miss you bud. Fly high.
mmmm... first off...
Not really sure where you saw me type that leveling isn't progression. I think you're catching that Forumitis that's going around that makes you see things in posts that aren't there.
Okay back to this...
Leveling is only considered progression if you are progressing towards something that makes being a higher level meaningful.
Let's say they did add 10 more levels, and since this is CO we're going to be realistic and assume that they do not add a new zone and instead simply expect you to level the next 10 levels through alerts and adventure packs ( this is also fair for this thread, because the OP is asking about a level cap increase, not new content ).
What is it that you are progressing towards then? Once you hit level 50, you will still have access to all the same lairs, alerts, zones, and adventure packs. Furthermore, you will still have access to all the same powers that you had access to at lvl 40. Even with 2 or 3 more powers in your build, it doesn't actually increase the "maximum power level" of your character, because at the moment you can already create builds that trivialize nearly all content in the game; once trivialized, that's it... there's really nowhere to go from there.
So, I'm not sure what exactly your idea of progression is, but to me it's more about content and less about having a few extra buttons to push on my powers bar.
Champions Online: Be the hero you wish you could be in a better game.
I didn't say they were bug free, I said they had fewer bugs - that holds true. There weren't bugs staring me in the face since launch that failed to get fixed.
When I started Reign of Frogs and Dr D's Factory were nearly impossible to complete as they would bug out.
Several months later, Dr. D's factory can be completed rather reliably for the time being, albeit the foxbat stuff is wonky. Reign of frogs has the same problem since I started.
That's barely scratching the surface of what's been bugged. Dig into something important like the powersets.... yeah..... no bueno.
I don't see any moral problems with this since you're not being promised something you're not getting, but if it's a game style dislike you won't be happy about a level cap increase in CO.
To sum up: No news may be good news.
Wait? Whaaaa..?
Citation needed for source. Really, proclaiming doom without information sort of doesn't jive, especially since to date nothing still has been put in the store that is absolutely required.
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Well, smoosan, one would assume that gaining higher levels means increasing the number of powers, or maybe being able to finally rank up all your powers, or something of that sort. That alone would be something to progress toward. Otherwise, your earlier costume analogy is a moot point. What's the point in gaining costume parts you probably won't use? Isn't that even more pointless of a progression than gaining more power?
↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → Ⓑ Ⓐ
I guess you haven't seen how PWE runs its other games. (And if the Season 7 content in STO doesn't force you to get either the fleet(grind) or z-store(buy) ships I'll eat my hat.)
Like I said, no news is currently good news. And maybe they'll put in the time and resources for another ten levels worth of game and do nothing but continue rely on subscriptions and impulse buys to cover the costs.
I would still advise against holding your breath for any level cap increase that doesn't come with Asian MMO style changes.
Wait? Whaaaa..?
One of the main draws of this game, a thing that if it were removed today would absoloutely kill the game's popularity... is quite simply, the costume editor. For myself and just about everyone I know in the game, the costume editor was the first thing that really drew us in when we first started playing, and has continued to keep our interest.
Why do I grind questionite? Costume sets. Everytime I buy a new costume set, I feel like I have progressed in one of the parts of the game that I truly enjoy. Costume sets bring me more joy than any increase in stats ever will.
There are people who grind Gravitar just to get her costume drops. There are people who grind Therakial's Temple for his sword. There were people who would grind Takofanes for Dark Aura.
This is how you can tell that in this game, costume pieces are most certainly progression.
Grinding out an extra 10 levels.... sure, you can add a few powers to your build... sure you can put a few more advantage points into powers... then what? Oh, now you can finally beat that encounter you weren't able to beat before... what was that encounter called again?
If you're the world's greatest boxer, and you can beat any opponent without even trying... then becoming a better boxer is meaningless until you get an opponent that actually challenges you. Training to fight that boxer that can challenge you, that's progression. Training to beat every boxer in the world 1 second sooner... is meaningless.
Champions Online: Be the hero you wish you could be in a better game.
Grinding out an extra 10 costume pieces.... sure, you can make your character look spiffier... sure you can put a few extra shinies on your character... then what? Oh, now you can look cooler while you still get your butt kicked in that encounter you still can't beat... why did you get those costume pieces again?
Look, smoosan, all I'm saying is that leveling is advancement too. To some people, leveling is more important than looking cool. I just see you here, dismissing leveling and implying that that costume pieces are more important for advancement.
I agree with you that with new levels, there's a need for new zones and new content. But that doesn't mean that we can completely dismiss new levels entirely out of hand and offer up costume pieces to everyone as a viable alternative. Not everybody cares about costumes. Not everybody likes costume pieces. You do, and I do, but not everybody is as vain as the two of us.
↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → Ⓑ Ⓐ
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
They all thought I was out of the game....But I'm holding all the lockboxes now..
I'll......FOAM FINGER YOUR BACK!