6. I'm not convinced that New Zones, which people are clamoring for, are a panacea. I need to be convinced that the new zone content will occupy players' attention for more than three weeks before they go back to running Alerts. The emptiness of upper level zones convinces me that they'll be a waste of time and resources under the current system.
Thats why i also don't want a new High-Level Zone, but more something like Canada, so a Zone
that has content for every Level. Personally i think Canada is clearly the zone where is spent the most time.
Also .. it should be no Underwater Zone for obvious Reasons
Thats why i also don't want a new High-Level Zone, but more something like Canada, so a Zone
that has content for every Level. Personally i think Canada is clearly the zone where is spent the most time.
Also .. it should be no Underwater Zone for obvious Reasons
A zone that relies entirely on, "Scary Monster," tech, and mission rewards that scale to level, would be interesting.
A zone that relies entirely on, "Scary Monster," tech, and mission rewards that scale to level, would be interesting.
Star Trek Online missions used to be level-specifc. Then a couple seasons ago they made a change so that each mission was now scalable to whatever mission you're on when you take it. I'd love to see Champions do that with all their missions... There are of them from different zones that I've never done because I outleveled them too quickly (especially if you mix in alerts, even only time-to-time).
It would be great if they started that with a new zone (The Moon!) where all the missions used that STO tech, and even the open-worled mobs were all like the Trick or Treat Monsters and other Event Foes (ie level-scalled).
When XP earnings during a Double-XP Weekend still feel like I'm underperforming,
there's something terribly wrong with the reward system...
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Original Join Date: Feb 2010.
-Implement a tram as a means to carry us to other cities at or near MC. Even if there isn't a zone yet, the speculation would put people in a frenzy. NPC gossip at these stations would reinforce the idea that something is out there, and the players are not boxed in a stagnant pen.
A place you could try placing a station is that building that is being rebuilt in Downtown, or that wall of piping on the Westside border.
-Neighboring cities with their own flavor and problems. You can build a nasty, run down area of the city that is so awful you need force fields and security to keep the crime out(or IN). It can be the Westside that you always wanted without thinking about Downtown MC and the resource hogs in it.
You can make a tram station in a town center that empties into long stretches of suburb that look peaceful on the surface, but are a facade to something sinister. (ex: poltergeist, alien infiltration)
TLDR: We need to know this game world is growing. Even if it's bit by bit.
its been three years, when are they going to finish rebuilding the dmaged buildings? sheesh, such lazyness. Maybe the city needs to hire a new construction crew?
its been three years, when are they going to finish rebuilding the dmaged buildings? sheesh, such lazyness. Maybe the city needs to hire a new construction crew?
They keep trying to rebuild. And then we come around smacking down gang members with our superhuman powers, and ignoring collateral damage, and they have to start all over again.
At least they have job security...
"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!"
They keep trying to rebuild. And then we come around smacking down gang members with our superhuman powers, and ignoring collateral damage, and they have to start all over again.
At least they have job security...
Very true, why didnt they use that defense in the incredables?
I'm having a hard time finding anything to disagree with at all in your opening post Thundrax. Very VERY well said. I hope they're reading it (devs I mean).
Second, steps need to be taken ASAP to balance out the options for character advancement in the game. Non-Alert PVE and PVP need incentivization. I really want to see a daily along the lines of "play 5 missions in a zone for 2000Q" or "play Stronghold or Zombie Apocalypse to the end and gain a minimum score" for 2000Q. Oh, and nerf Smash Alert XP a bit (say 25%). It's not wrong for Smash Alerts to be a better source of XP than missions that also gear you, but it is such an obvious win at the moment, and encouraging people to go through alerts undergeared doesn't make PuGs more pleasant either.
HELL YES! *applause*
I can level up a level 40 now in under 24 hours of gameplay, typically about two days. How? Smash Alert farming, makes Shadow Colossi farming look like an old joke, seriously. And while it's nice to help friends level up their character super-fast, it's not good for the game. People don't learn a thing from those, there's no story or lore, they get very very boring (they aren't fun after the first few runs), most of the bosses in them don't even make sense to be there (it cheapens them, ignores their lore), and of course it means we're getting a whole lot of higher levels who don't understand a thing about teamwork and haven't even so much has stepped outside of Millennium City. I can't tell you how many times recently I've seen level 40's who don't even know about the jet to leave the city. That's freaking sad.
How to fix?
I like you said Thundrax. Specifically in my opinion, what needs to happen is to make Zone/open-world and story-line missions (AP's & Comic Series) worth more. 2000 Q isn't enough. Clearly. And the Zone stuff gives you nothing worthwhile (unless you consider the missions you can only complete once that give you a non-upgradeable/non-fusable, but still nice, R5 Avoidance, Severity, or Penetration core). Even missions people would normally do for the rare device are gone, such as the Hacked Pirate Codes in Lemuria, or the Horn of Allegiance on Monster Island.
My recommendation is allow those to give more resources/gold and reduce Smash Alert XP by 20%.
The fact that most missions give you just a few thousand resources and piddly XP compared to the Smash Alerts (i.e.: a few silver) is insulting. I'm talking even major story arcs. You saved the world! Here a few dimes & nickles! Uh what?!
Heck even the skill nodes are kind of pointless now. Ooh a level 1, 2 or 3 mod? Pff! And they use to give you a buff for using them (mysticism gave energy regen, science gave health regen, and arms gave a minor damage buff; although really arms should be giving a defense buff to make it equal with the others)
And don't even get me started on UNTIL recognition. Why you can't up-convert (even if it's 5:1 or 10:1) is beyond me...
And for goodness sake there's no reason a level 6 should be able to join into alerts! Good grief!
Finally, I recommend the links in my signature for ways to fix things around here (both to get money and to make the game more enjoyable for everybody)
It was one of those dog like cats that would fetch, snuggle with you, run up and greet you when you came home, etc.
But as all things do, it grew old, and began to suffer pain and indignity. Sure it probabky could have lingered on for another year, barely eating, having difficulty using the litter box, anx even just basic moving around, but I chose to let it be put to sleep.
Sometimes the greatest act of love is letting something die.
Bugs, and Not the Qulaar Kind
Recent developments, while well-meaning, have been little short of disastrous. The biggest one is the Nighthawk patch, which opened up more bugs than any development since the first Kitchen Sink patch. This was almost crippling to the game, and even worse than the first two KS patches -- at least I understood why those patches caused some foul ups, but the things that broke during the Nighthawk patch speaks to at least one of two disturbing possibilities: that Champions Online's code is so fragile that even minor changes can produce game-breakers, or that the coders are so incompetent that they introduce bugs into the code that have no relation to the events being worked on. Based on my past experience, I suspect the former rather than the latter. Code can be fragile. However for CO to remain competitive over the long term, its maintenance costs will need to be low, and this trend speaks against it.
(...)
Even if I'm no game developper, that's the way I understand it.
It seems that patchs after add-ons, the engine's pushed further and further into its limits and failing to handle correctly too many features.
It seems that patchs after add-ons, the engine's pushed further and further into its limits and failing to handle correctly too many features.
As I understand it they're using the same engine for CO, STO and NWO. That means they can't afford to let it get into disrepair, otherwise it'll jeopardize their profit centers as well as CO.
Is it still true that all three games' engine are still on the same code base, or have they split off?
As I understand it they're using the same engine for CO, STO and NWO. That means they can't afford to let it get into disrepair, otherwise it'll jeopardize their profit centers as well as CO.
Is it still true that all three games' engine are still on the same code base, or have they split off?
From ~\Champions Online\Live\.patch\patch_trivia.txt
I don't have the NWN client nor the STO test client installed on this computer. You'd want to ask someone who has those (if anyone has those and is willing to post the contents of said files) for comparison.
__________
There is no such thing as a free lunch. If you aren't paying for it, you aren't the customer; you are the product being sold.
Dollar, dollar, bill, yo. Cash rules everything around you and me.
Comments
Thank you for this attempt of a neutral analysis that successfully avoids the cliches.
(and bump for this thread, btw)
Now..if only DEVS would read this and tell us what they think
*Looks at Gentleman Crush and friends*
My Characters on PRIMUS
[#]WeNeedHeroicFashion - <Aura Suggestions> - <CO Wiki (WIP)> - <Crowd Control Discussion> - <Telepathy in Champions Online> - How to review The Force Power Set - Join the Champions Online: On Alert Discord!
I am @RavenForce in game
__________________________
Thats why i also don't want a new High-Level Zone, but more something like Canada, so a Zone
that has content for every Level. Personally i think Canada is clearly the zone where is spent the most time.
Also .. it should be no Underwater Zone for obvious Reasons
A zone that relies entirely on, "Scary Monster," tech, and mission rewards that scale to level, would be interesting.
'Caine, miss you bud. Fly high.
It would be great if they started that with a new zone (The Moon!) where all the missions used that STO tech, and even the open-worled mobs were all like the Trick or Treat Monsters and other Event Foes (ie level-scalled).
When XP earnings during a Double-XP Weekend still feel like I'm underperforming,
there's something terribly wrong with the reward system...
You can find/contact me in game as @PatricianVetinari. Original Join Date: Feb 2010.
-Implement a tram as a means to carry us to other cities at or near MC. Even if there isn't a zone yet, the speculation would put people in a frenzy. NPC gossip at these stations would reinforce the idea that something is out there, and the players are not boxed in a stagnant pen.
A place you could try placing a station is that building that is being rebuilt in Downtown, or that wall of piping on the Westside border.
-Neighboring cities with their own flavor and problems. You can build a nasty, run down area of the city that is so awful you need force fields and security to keep the crime out(or IN). It can be the Westside that you always wanted without thinking about Downtown MC and the resource hogs in it.
You can make a tram station in a town center that empties into long stretches of suburb that look peaceful on the surface, but are a facade to something sinister. (ex: poltergeist, alien infiltration)
TLDR: We need to know this game world is growing. Even if it's bit by bit.
How do you know they didn't?
Again, time to pull the heads out of the rear ends. This is getting silly.
Because the same building has had a crane in it for three years.
At least they have job security...
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
Very true, why didnt they use that defense in the incredables?
heros to both the city and unions!
HELL YES! *applause*
I can level up a level 40 now in under 24 hours of gameplay, typically about two days. How? Smash Alert farming, makes Shadow Colossi farming look like an old joke, seriously. And while it's nice to help friends level up their character super-fast, it's not good for the game. People don't learn a thing from those, there's no story or lore, they get very very boring (they aren't fun after the first few runs), most of the bosses in them don't even make sense to be there (it cheapens them, ignores their lore), and of course it means we're getting a whole lot of higher levels who don't understand a thing about teamwork and haven't even so much has stepped outside of Millennium City. I can't tell you how many times recently I've seen level 40's who don't even know about the jet to leave the city. That's freaking sad.
How to fix?
I like you said Thundrax. Specifically in my opinion, what needs to happen is to make Zone/open-world and story-line missions (AP's & Comic Series) worth more. 2000 Q isn't enough. Clearly. And the Zone stuff gives you nothing worthwhile (unless you consider the missions you can only complete once that give you a non-upgradeable/non-fusable, but still nice, R5 Avoidance, Severity, or Penetration core). Even missions people would normally do for the rare device are gone, such as the Hacked Pirate Codes in Lemuria, or the Horn of Allegiance on Monster Island.
My recommendation is allow those to give more resources/gold and reduce Smash Alert XP by 20%.
The fact that most missions give you just a few thousand resources and piddly XP compared to the Smash Alerts (i.e.: a few silver) is insulting. I'm talking even major story arcs. You saved the world! Here a few dimes & nickles! Uh what?!
Heck even the skill nodes are kind of pointless now. Ooh a level 1, 2 or 3 mod? Pff! And they use to give you a buff for using them (mysticism gave energy regen, science gave health regen, and arms gave a minor damage buff; although really arms should be giving a defense buff to make it equal with the others)
And don't even get me started on UNTIL recognition. Why you can't up-convert (even if it's 5:1 or 10:1) is beyond me...
And for goodness sake there's no reason a level 6 should be able to join into alerts! Good grief!
Finally, I recommend the links in my signature for ways to fix things around here (both to get money and to make the game more enjoyable for everybody)
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!)
It was one of those dog like cats that would fetch, snuggle with you, run up and greet you when you came home, etc.
But as all things do, it grew old, and began to suffer pain and indignity. Sure it probabky could have lingered on for another year, barely eating, having difficulty using the litter box, anx even just basic moving around, but I chose to let it be put to sleep.
Sometimes the greatest act of love is letting something die.
Thought I would share that.
Even if I'm no game developper, that's the way I understand it.
It seems that patchs after add-ons, the engine's pushed further and further into its limits and failing to handle correctly too many features.
Here here, Canadascott! I also agree with everything you just said and I think you'll be a fine programmer someday.
|Champions Online Stuff ->| Roster | Copycat Heroes | Moments ||
As I understand it they're using the same engine for CO, STO and NWO. That means they can't afford to let it get into disrepair, otherwise it'll jeopardize their profit centers as well as CO.
Is it still true that all three games' engine are still on the same code base, or have they split off?
From ~\Champions Online\Live\.patch\patch_trivia.txt
From ~\Champions Online\Playtest\.patch\patch_trivia.txt
From ~\Star Trek Online\Live\.patch\patch_trivia.txt
I don't have the NWN client nor the STO test client installed on this computer. You'd want to ask someone who has those (if anyone has those and is willing to post the contents of said files) for comparison.
There is no such thing as a free lunch. If you aren't paying for it, you aren't the customer; you are the product being sold.
Dollar, dollar, bill, yo. Cash rules everything around you and me.