Folks.. the powers in a lockbox thing is a done deal. Something similar was already implemented on STO. You can pretty much count that you complaints about this don't matter. It's happening. They announced it and posted it as a Dev Blog.
It's happening.
You can voice your opinion of course. But at this stage of the game you can expect to see this power in the lockbox almost as soon as it can be managed. It's an experiment Cryptic is very eager to try.. and I realize some of us don't like it.. but nothing you do is going to stop it.
If you want a record of your complaints about this.. it's probably wise to start a thread about it that's not on PTS.. but even then. Cryptic is not hearing you on this.
Folks.. the powers in a lockbox thing is a done deal. Something similar was already implemented on STO. You can pretty much count that you complaints about this don't matter. It's happening. They announced it and posted it as a Dev Blog.
It's happening.
You can voice your opinion of course. But at this stage of the game you can expect to see this power in the lockbox almost as soon as it can be managed. It's an experiment Cryptic is very eager to try.. and I realize some of us don't like it.. but nothing you do is going to stop it.
If you want a record of your complaints about this.. it's probably wise to start a thread about it that's not on PTS.. but even then. Cryptic is not hearing you on this.
I figured that if the stun did work it just wasn't applying hold resistance. Or maybe the description means interrupt like how it should say that it knocks down.
What IS going to be the Lockbock bonus card reward? I hope the power in a lockbox isn't a Shenmue III situation, where Cryptic is "trying out" something new, by gauging the response of its customers and just release it as the bonus reward after all. I'm HOPING this is just a typo and miscommunication!
Is this whole update just bad typos through and through?
Folks.. the powers in a lockbox thing is a done deal. Something similar was already implemented on STO. You can pretty much count that you complaints about this don't matter. It's happening. They announced it and posted it as a Dev Blog.
It's happening.
You can voice your opinion of course. But at this stage of the game you can expect to see this power in the lockbox almost as soon as it can be managed. It's an experiment Cryptic is very eager to try.. and I realize some of us don't like it.. but nothing you do is going to stop it.
If you want a record of your complaints about this.. it's probably wise to start a thread about it that's not on PTS.. but even then. Cryptic is not hearing you on this.
The biggest difference between powers in STO and powers in CO is that STO powers are mods for equiped items, while powers in CO are not. But I get your point overall.
Placing that power in a lockbox is a very slippery slope and in utter violation of your own policies from way back. This isn't the same thing as tossing a starship in a box.. powers are core concepts for a character. Characters will be designed around that power just because of its name.
Also, first new power in months and we have to gamble for it? Subscribers, the people who pay you to play monthly, have to gamble for a new power? Seriously?
Please take a moment to process how that will feel to your player base.
I'm having alot of an fun time reading all the rage comments.
But on an real note: I wonder how far this will keep up, if people will keep crying over this, I wonder if Lady will replie to us and see his share of thoughts, cuz this is just way over the top for how far people will go. I guess this pretty much sums up the internet.
Woohoo! New shiny things! Finally a lockbox to care about.
I don't mind the power being in a lockbox as long as it drops as often of those 2nd tier costume pieces. You can eventually pick those up on AH for 10g after a while. And of course, we don't want all new items being lockboxed.
Some content needs to be kept away from all and sundry, no? How else are the rest of us supposed to feel special?
The car looks awesome in the pics. It would be great if we could select the colours, or hovering over the box would let us know which colour sits in that box. I wouldn't want the pink one.
*runs off to PTS.... shiny new things!*
(and why was I taken all the way back to ARC games homepage when I logged in to post? Hm.)
=================
So after a quick visit to check out the in game look of the shiny new car, I'm slightly disappointed with the in game version.
The car looks more like a drill machine than an actual car in flight:
Or am I flying it wrong or something? It feels as if you're pushing a big old truck in the air- this could be because of my low grade PC though.
And it turns out the new power is freeform targeted. Too bad for the Silvers, but I get the idea. Business 101: Get more money from those who already spent/are spending while baiting the ones who play for free.
Not sure if this strategy pays off in the online gaming world of microtransactions, but maybe Cryptic is following the back to basic craze of the corporate world.
Post edited by bazodee on
I don't like Sigs, but I'll leave this here anyway. At least I'm not to trying to hypnotise you with moving things!
Bug? Might just be a typo or miscommunication, but the Cherrybomb is showing in it's description that it has the 10% bonus to stats previously limited to lockbox and drifter vehicles, but according to the blog it is the zen store version (which have previously not had the 10% bonus.)
Bug: New Hovercars break the image bounding box on the Item Modification Window
Bug: Also in the Item Modification Window - Supercharger Module is using Holographic Field Icon (see above image)
Suggestion: Supercharger module needs a timer to indicate how long till explosion - it has a recharge timer, but not time till 'burnout' indicator. I know there is the sparking/flashing coming fromt he rear of the car but in the midst of battle that would be hard to see. And that could be a problem which would limit its use. Also how difficult would it be to extend the overload damage to hit any mobs within say 10 feet of you. that would perhaps make it situationally useful if you had sufficient health to survive the overload.
Also I have mentioned before the inconsistency of the slots showing on the vehicle inventory icon, in this case the slot configuration is 5 Weapon / 3 Stat however the graphic would indicate 4/4 configuration. Perhaps using the simple slot graphic for vehicles isn't as intuitive now that you have reached 8 slots on vehicles. Perhaps changing it to physically show 3 different colored slots (1 for weapon, 1 for support / 1 for defence) each with a number to indicate how many of each are available would be a way to go forward.
I'm having alot of an fun time reading all the rage comments.
But on an real note: I wonder how far this will keep up, if people will keep crying over this, I wonder if Lady will replie to us and see his share of thoughts, cuz this is just way over the top for how far people will go. I guess this pretty much sums up the internet.
People who are levying a legitimate complaint and criticism against a product are not 'crying'. People pay money for this product, and just because your standards are low and you've deluded yourself into thinking the Devs are your pals doesn't mean the rest of us shouldn't have a voice in the matter.
Just because they do something in their other game doesn't mean it's the best thing to do. Especially a game with a popular IP where people will throw money at it just because it's Star Trek. This may make Cryptic some extra money now, but down the line when new people come into the game and they see all of this exclusive stuff they don't think they can get, it's going to be a turn-off. I think even current players are going to get tired of seeing powers that aren't poo in lock boxes while powers that are icky are left to stay icky.
Gravity Driver in a lockbox, huh? NOT a good idea. No chance that power will drop at a fair rate, either. So, Cryptic is following other MMO's that are doing the same thing. What's next, offering Rank 2 and 3 of powers in the Z-store? Will new content end up in a lockbox as well, or will we have to pay extra for that, too? This will make the chat channels worse with overpriced key sales. The tutorial will have gold AND key spammers clogging the entrance. If the devs want to put new items in the lockboxes, it should be player created items. Although the Gravity Driver power is cool, it is not special enough to be in a lockbox. ONLY cosmic powers that the master villians possess should be considered for lockboxes. Please do not make the mistake of putting that power in a lockbox.
Also, I noticed that the entire new lockbox is not available on the PTS. Will the devs make it available at some point before going live with it?
Man, it seems so many of the posts here violate the forum rules (i.e. personal attacks) I'm truly surprised it hasn't been shut down yet.
For me, this game as a form of entertainment is dirt cheap. If the power is cool looking and useful I may well go for it since I have a number of characters who could use it.
Btw, with enough negative feedback, ladygadfly gotta have something else in mind, why not even just massage him about it, if your that annoyed with it.
No. An OVERWHELMING amount of negative feedback is required for something like this. Cryptic is not your homies and your friends. The video game does not have feelings or rights or protection from criticism. This is a BAD idea. Next we'll be able to buy XP and top-tier gear.
Powers in a lockbox means that someone will have to gamble for it. What's the drop rate? What's the price on the AH going to be? Hey, I paid money for FREEFORM. Which meant I was supposed to have full access to all the powers in this game. But hey, what can I expect?
Seriously, Cryptic. It's like you're trying to outright torpedo this game intentionally. If this is your strategy for 2015 and beyond, let's go ahead and start a pool on the shut-down date.
While boosters might not count we already do that. Now. And as far as buying top level gear, sadly that is already for sale to, in both the store and through lock boxes. I guess it was inevitable, but it is a real crummy move, especially when there has not been any new content in almost a year now, and what we got last year barely even falls in that category. This one power every now and then is just bad. I bet a lot of people would have been happy to buy a power set from the store for this game, but instead, they put it in a gambling box.
But hell, who are we kidding, they won't even do a power set anymore, even though there are dozens if not hundreds of ideas in the Champions powers book alone, for brand new power sets.
But hell, who are we kidding, they won't even do a power set anymore, even though there are dozens if not hundreds of ideas in the Champions powers book alone, for brand new power sets.
I'll be 100% fair- if they created a new AT with at least 5 new powers it unlocked, or at least some re-animations of other powers? I'd pay for that. But I'm not going to gamble on a nuke-power that's apparently quite OP.
Then again, I suppose it doesn't matter. What would I do with new powers? Oh, right, the same crap I did plenty of times already because we're playing a game where 'content' means 'five minutes of gameplay'.
We don't get content because CO doesn't make money. CO doesn't make money because people are making stupid decisions. Those people continue to make stupid decisions because feedback is ignored.
Btw, with enough negative feedback, ladygadfly gotta have something else in mind, why not even just massage him about it, if your that annoyed with it.
-snip-
I think we already have enough "overwhelming rage" don't you think?,
Those defending the power in a lockbox, there's a couple of things I should clarify:
As people like sterga have said, the fact that it's in a lockbox automatically means the supply of the power is limited. Ok yes, it might be commonplace enough while the lockbox is in rotation and we're all avid players here, but after that, the only way you'll be able to get it after that lockbox goes out of season is when the next timewarp box is released, or by buying it on the AH for an exuberant amount of money, since now it's rare.
Rarity and time constraints aside, part of it isn't even about the supply of the power or how easy it'll be for people like us to get it; it's the principle of the whole action, which is where the (over?)reactions of some players here is coming from. This is something that an MMO site or whatever things that keep tabs on this game for the rest of the public to look at will jump on at a moment's notice, for either quick website hits or whatever, at pretty much this game's expense. Heck, there's past precedence for this: The Freeform Slot isn't exactly a bad deal within the context of how Gold works in this game, but it's still something valid that an outside player can gripe about. Fifty Dollars for a freeform character slot sounds just as bad, if not moreso, than 1 dollar keys needed to gamble for a power choice.
It should also be added, this is something that even smaller F2P/whatever games didn't try doing. All gameplay-affecting items in games like TF2, Loadout, Minimum, and Robocraft? Those all can be earned through work via gameplay and building up hours/experience, and the only things that really cost cash there are silly little cosmetic differences like hats, clothing, decals, or alternate weapon skins. That's part of the reason I suggest putting this thing in the QStore, since that's an option that can enable players to obtain it through either gameplay time or just buying it quickly, and it won't go away after a period of time.
Alright this is an very valid and good point and I have to agree with you on this. However that does not excuse the amount of crying/rage in here, I made an point that was somewhat near enough to yours, If you want to spend your time and money (or earned money in-game, yes its possible) then that is YOUR choice, however crashing down like angry CoD players, is not the way to go or act.
While I have to admit it is disappointing to see something like this in an lock-box, but what do you expect really?, its an F2P/MMO game, and to be honest who really cares about an single tiny power?,
I loved the Project Mechanon Lockbox, it had everything I wanted in it, an Good looking Jet, and an fine costume set, Even the Kings lockbox was great, not meny of my toons will be here, if it was't not for them other lockboxs.
So really, whats the big fuss about this -one- lockbox huh?, Oh it has an power or not any good stuff, inside?, Well boohoo, WE don't have to buy keys to get any of the content if we don't want to.
Like always there will be people who will get it, regardless of how much you cry here and want to put an stop to this like its some law-breaking rule, in the end its just going to shrug off as an "Meh".
Also, so what if it goes after an while, that's the price you need to pay, that's like in Warframe, you want the Excal Dark Sector skin?, Yes? Buy it, No? Don't, Oh im sorry, do you want it now?, but its already gone?, Well Im sorry, but YOUR LOSS.
If Lady, replies and shares his own thoughts, then fine, but all this just raging and screaming is just making people laugh at you.
P.S Also why is H.E.L.L flagged/Considered as swearing?
Cryneting: Wow, your levels of trivialization and condescension are approaching epic levels. If I were to take a page from your book....I would almost have to call that rage. See what I did there? Now I know it's likely not true...but that's kind of the point.
And to remain kinda on topic. It's the weekend and that likely means this will be Gad's Monday Reading with a nice coffee and, hopefully, some Aspirin. I do not know if Arkayne, Gadfly, and/or Trailturtle can do anything about this or not...or if any attempt will be made to explain it really. That's my biggest problem in 2015...the not knowing. I still feel, however, that negative feedback is fine so long as it remains civil and tactful. It is entirely possible that they don't have any control over this. It's possible they do. So who exactly knows for certain? Betting we'll be certain of the 1st stage of the outcome of this by Thursday.
With the Gravity Driver and Ravenswood Lockbox announcements now on the launcher, I've seen several confused players asking in Zone chat why they can't find those items on Live.
Perhaps there's a clearer way to publish the announcement banners when the news items are still being tested?
With the Gravity Driver and Ravenswood Lockbox announcements now on the launcher, I've seen several confused players asking in Zone chat why they can't find those items on Live.
Perhaps there's a clearer way to publish the announcement banners when the news items are still being tested?
Like something in like, the News section?
CHAMPIONS ONLINE:Join Date: Apr 2008
And playing by myself since Aug 2009 Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
The News section does have clearer banner announcements, indicating that the Ravenswood Lockbox is still just a preview. But the banners on the launcher simply say "Ravenswood Lockbox!" and "Gravity Driver Power!", and are mixed with three other announcements which (as best as I can remember) were ready to go Live when they were added to the launcher announcements.
I suspect that's the cause of the confusion I've seen.
Cryneting: Wow, your levels of trivialization and condescension are approaching epic levels. If I were to take a page from your book....I would almost have to call that rage. See what I did there? Now I know it's likely not true...but that's kind of the point.
And to remain kinda on topic. It's the weekend and that likely means this will be Gad's Monday Reading with a nice coffee and, hopefully, some Aspirin. I do not know if Arkayne, Gadfly, and/or Trailturtle can do anything about this or not...or if any attempt will be made to explain it really. That's my biggest problem in 2015...the not knowing. I still feel, however, that negative feedback is fine so long as it remains civil and tactful. It is entirely possible that they don't have any control over this. It's possible they do. So who exactly knows for certain? Betting we'll be certain of the 1st stage of the outcome of this by Thursday.
Your comment made my day XD, tho Im confused, what does Aspirin gotta do with anything? but that I do wonder about, if they do have control by this at all, so you might have a good point there. But guess we'll find out then?
It needs to be nerfed a bit. It can destroy people in pvp
Please don't make the lockbox the only way to get it. At least make it a lockbox card reward, drifter store item, Q store, or unlocked from a Reawakened AT. ANYTHING but lockbox gated.
This power looks so pretty. Oh, I said that already?
Powers in a lock box is a terrible idea, especially when we're not getting power sets regularly. What's more, is why would you do this while people are still paying subscription fees? Wasn't the point of going gold, to get more out of the game, including powers (which we rarely ever get)? Why not just drop the subscription fees for mandatory lock boxes now?
Powers should be free to gold or card rewards. Just because STO is doing something, doesn't mean it will work in champions, especially when Champions isn't even getting the development efforts that STO does. Maybe this game would be doing better if you put the appeal behind the subscriptions and developments, rather than just trying to crap out a new lock box every month. The only way this would be even remotely acceptable (from my point of view at least) is if we were getting at least two full powersets a year (free to gold). At the very least.
No powers in lockboxes if we're not getting new powers regularly, that's low, even by Cryptic's standards.
That all sounds harsh, and I really don't mean for it to, but lets face it. This game is in a bad way, and I'm honestly surprised that it hasn't just been shut down. It's obvious Cryptic doesn't give two hoots (minus the loyal few, who mostly do it for the fans and players), nor are they really going to do much with it. For being one of only two superhero MMO's on the market (of this style, for those who play marvel heroes), this game should be doing a lot better. The Fans and players deserve a lot better than what they're getting here.
I like that we're getting A power, but this is entirely the wrong way to go about doing them.
Can we have new zones to play in lockboxes instead of a power?
I'll open lockboxes to get a new zone. Or a lair revamp. Or the foundry.
Put the foundry in lockboxes.
Please not powers. Costumes were a bad enough addition. I already bought those immediately every time they came out on the store in the past. I'd buy powers from the store too.
The idea that you can purchase the token from the AH is laughable. Given how absurd the prices on the AH can be, I'm guessing this will fall someplace between 1000 and 2000g.
The idea that you can purchase the token from the AH is laughable. Given how absurd the prices on the AH can be, I'm guessing this will fall someplace between 1000 and 2000g.
Well, as EVERYTHING that comes from a lockbox or is considered rare...it will be in the AH for exorbitant amounts of G and yes. There will be people who buy it.
And as with most things, as time goes on and more and more tokens show up (due to it being mid rarity apparently) the prices will go down.
Who knows you might even encounter people giving away tokens. You never really know.
Mid-rare according to Cryptic is legion boxes and auras. How many Invisible auras do you see sell in the AH? Will there be enough tokens in this lockbox's life span to last the rest of the game's life cycle so that every player can have the power unlocked?
Put it in the questionite store. Make it a Drifter Salvage unlock. Let players buy it directly at any time.
Going to recap the problems with Gravity Driver, please address these before going live:
1) Rank 2 and 3 -res is bugged and is way too high. The -res should cap around 20%, as that's still incredibly potent for a massive aoe power.
2) The stun is not applying hold resistance.
3) The Knockdown is not applying knock resistance.
4) The stun should be reduced. The maximum stun available in game is 1.4 seconds, where Gravity Driver offers 6 seconds. This power already applies knock and -res, it doesn't need to do everything. Tone it down.
5) The -res is applying before the damage takes place, not sure how intended this is.
The idea that you can purchase the token from the AH is laughable. Given how absurd the prices on the AH can be, I'm guessing this will fall someplace between 1000 and 2000g.
Well, as EVERYTHING that comes from a lockbox or is considered rare...it will be in the AH for exorbitant amounts of G and yes. There will be people who buy it.
And as with most things, as time goes on and more and more tokens show up (due to it being mid rarity apparently) the prices will go down.
Who knows you might even encounter people giving away tokens. You never really know.
Just because there are more tokens in the AH doesn't mean the prices will get better. Look at the legion gear I have yet to see it below 700g. 700 g is just as absurd as any other price.
There are only a few players in game who would ever consider giving away something that is worth so much.
Of course people will pay for it, it's the only way to get the power. That doesn't make this any less of a terrible idea.
Just because there are more tokens in the AH doesn't mean the prices will get better. Look at the legion gear I have yet to see it below 700g. 700 g is just as absurd as any other price.
There are only a few players in game who would ever consider giving away something that is worth so much.
Of course people will pay for it, it's the only way to get the power. That doesn't make this any less of a terrible idea.
Two main differences with Legion gear, though:
1) The same player can use multiple copies. I have over 100 characters, so I could use at least 300 pieces of the right Legion gear, and probably would just save anything I got that was in excess of that for later toons.
2) Notice above, the 'right' Legion gear. I don't even bother selling some of the gear I've received from lockboxes, because it is virtually worthless on AH (it gets listed but never sells). The +max energy, +CC resistance, and +CC strength gear is more or less crap. Fortunately, this is 90% of the gear I've personally received from Legion boxes.
So Legion gear isn't being sold on the AH nearly as often as a token for a new power would be.
Going to recap the problems with Gravity Driver, please address these before going live:
1) Rank 2 and 3 -res is bugged and is way too high. The -res should cap around 20%, as that's still incredibly potent for a massive aoe power.
2) The stun is not applying hold resistance.
3) The Knockdown is not applying knock resistance.
4) The stun should be reduced. The maximum stun available in game is 1.4 seconds, where Gravity Driver offers 6 seconds. This power already applies knock and -res, it doesn't need to do everything. Tone it down.
5) The -res is applying before the damage takes place, not sure how intended this is.
Point 1 - This definitely needs to be addressed, agreed.
Point 2 - In addition to this: The stun is non existent on Rank 2 & 3. It needs to actually apply to targets post damage AND have an icon to represent this AND apply hold resistance.
Point 3 - Agreed.
Point 4 - As an ultimate ability the six second stun is nothing special compared to what can be achieved in game. So personally I am fine with the stun (which doesn't work on targets that matter anyway)
Point 5 - Yup, curious to know if this is intended
It works against players, and while I know pvp isn't exactly in a healthy state it doesn't need a high damage attack that applies lengthy cc to make it worse. It has knockdown, that should honestly be enough.
We intentionally made the Gravity Driver power a mid-rarity item that is both tradeable and an account-wide unlock because we knew doing so would give players who purchase lock boxes for vehicles & costumes plenty of extras to give away, trade and sell to other players. I do not expect that this item will be cheap, but I would be surprised if it was as expensive as previous lock box items on the exchange.
- Lady Gadfly, she who is surprised to see people attribute male pronouns to her in spite of her name.
I feel one of the bigger concerns is this item is targeted at players who have already invested in the game - either through subscription, LTS or buying a freeform slot - as archetypes cannot do anything with the power. It comes off as odd to introduce a item that doesn't target silver players, who I assume make up the vast majority of this game.
Edit: I don't think this can be tested on pts seeing as you need a sub to get on, but what does the item do if a non-freeform tries to consume it? I think the description could also be clearer about needing a freeform for it to be usable.
I feel one of the bigger concerns is this item is targeted at players who have already invested in the game - either through subscription, LTS or buying a freeform slot - as archetypes cannot do anything with the power. It comes off as odd to introduce a item that doesn't target silver players, who I assume make up the vast majority of this game.
This is a good point. Is it intended to lure Silvers into subscribing? Is it a big enough reward for that?
I feel one of the bigger concerns is this item is targeted at players who have already invested in the game - either through subscription, LTS or buying a freeform slot - as archetypes cannot do anything with the power. It comes off as odd to introduce a item that doesn't target silver players, who I assume make up the vast majority of this game.
This is a good point. Is it intended to lure Silvers into subscribing? Is it a big enough reward for that?
I suspect the desired behavior is that Silver's will sell the tokens for Gravity Driver, since they can't use it. Hence, the hope the power will be both accessible and affordable for Gold's on the AH.
It works against players, and while I know pvp isn't exactly in a healthy state it doesn't need a high damage attack that applies lengthy cc to make it worse. It has knockdown, that should honestly be enough.
Whilst that may be the case...it is not as if players cannot combat crowd control. Stuns may be the toughest class within the set but it is still subject to:
- Time
- Breakfree Damage via Z mashing
- Active Offensive Breakfree damage
- (Provided it works with regular hold resistance) Previous hold resist stacks.
That is plenty to combat a six second stun. Even then the ability isn't a click ability, it is three second charge in which the caster can be:
- Knocked
- Killed (from one singular source or multiple sources)
- Held
Just for fun me and 4 other players tried stacking GD on Kiga, in that 12 seconds we actually managed to kill him.
And could someone explain the stun?
When I try it, it seems to be stunning only rarely. Also the stun duration does seem to scale with manipulator, but that does not show in the description.
I'm not going to get into the fine details of CC in PvP as that's a topic for another thread, I just don't think it needs another power like that to further deteriorate PvP's current state.
Also, I can only assume future Ultimates are going to be on par with Unleashed Rage.
Unleashed Rage does: 15ft sphere pbaoe, high damage that is contingent on how many stacks of rage you have, otherwise does low damage, applies fear for 12 seconds and applies knockdown. 1 second activation time, 1 minute recharge, 100 energy cost.
Gravity Drive Does: 80ft range 40ft sphere, within 20ft it does mid-high damage, applies knockdown and applies stun (6 seconds) to enemies. Beyond 20ft it does mid damage. All hits apply -20% res for 12 seconds. .5 second activation time, 3 second charge time minimum, 1 minute 30 seconds recharge, 100 energy cost.
It doesn't need the bloated stun to be appealing, and having it on there is just setting a new precedent that will lead to worse things down the line.
Aiqa - I'd wait until the stun and kb are fixed to properly apply resistance stacks, I have a feeling that's causing some problems with it. Also high ranking mobs have higher mez resistance. While I could get the stun to apply against mobs most of the time, against players it would only periodically apply.
Oh, it's not just going to piss off people. Sure, lots of folks will be upset, probably even more than are upset now, but some folks are already okay with it, and some just don't care.
I think it's a dumb idea to stick a power in a lockbox simply because it's going to annoy Silvers who think they've just won something special only to find out they can't use it. Sure, they can put it in the AH, but if I try for the car and get one of these tokens, I'll be putting it up for like five Locals, so...
"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!"
We intentionally made the Gravity Driver power a mid-rarity item that is both tradeable and an account-wide unlock because we knew doing so would give players who purchase lock boxes for vehicles & costumes plenty of extras to give away, trade and sell to other players. I do not expect that this item will be cheap, but I would be surprised if it was as expensive as previous lock box items on the exchange.
- Lady Gadfly, she who is surprised to see people attribute male pronouns to her in spite of her name.
Sooo, that means that your going to leave it like this?, have you not seen the type of storm this has caused?, quite frankly I don't care its not MY game, its the game I play and I'll love it regardless (Unless they don't give me hideout rooms )
While I don't really enjoy the fact, its in an lockbox, but its one tiny little power, so really, whats all the fuss, tho I can't help but laugh that people are "concerning" about how its aimed at Gold players, that's not true, in any way what so ever and if that's the case then well, what can you do about it?
If you want to give players who open lock boxes extras to give away, trade or sell, then put in more cosmetics. If you want to give players more powers, make them automatically available since people are paying for them already every month.
Your lock boxes will sell as long as there is a costume set, an aura, an extra weapon unlock, and the two usual vehicles in each.
I'm thinking that the stun component of the power needs to be a special kind of stun. I've just tested Rank 1 of Gravity Driver with Manipulator and as aiqa said...it does work with Manipulator, which is obviously not intended.
I've made my piece with the "power in the lockbox" thing. Because it's the only way we're ever getting new powers. It won't be the last and my guess is the key sales they get from this will be an incentive to do it again. Kind of like when vehicles first came out.
The power itself is way too powerful. Almost all aspects of it need to be dialed down a tad or two. Does the debuff relaly need to stack? And the damage is really insane especially when used with damage boosting passives.
I'm hoping player feedback is listened to now - rather than releasing this GD in an overpowered state only to nerf it later. That's happened in the past and it only served to anger the player base.
I can't wait to see the other items like the weapon unlock and the costume unlock. The vehicles in this pack are actually very well done! I'm assuming they will be popular as well.
We intentionally made the Gravity Driver power a mid-rarity item that is both tradeable and an account-wide unlock because we knew doing so would give players who purchase lock boxes for vehicles & costumes plenty of extras to give away, trade and sell to other players. I do not expect that this item will be cheap, but I would be surprised if it was as expensive as previous lock box items on the exchange.
- Lady Gadfly, she who is surprised to see people attribute male pronouns to her in spite of her name.
That doesn't change how terrible of an idea this is. I think you underestimate how player based economies work.
Comments
Folks.. the powers in a lockbox thing is a done deal. Something similar was already implemented on STO. You can pretty much count that you complaints about this don't matter. It's happening. They announced it and posted it as a Dev Blog.
It's happening.
You can voice your opinion of course. But at this stage of the game you can expect to see this power in the lockbox almost as soon as it can be managed. It's an experiment Cryptic is very eager to try.. and I realize some of us don't like it.. but nothing you do is going to stop it.
If you want a record of your complaints about this.. it's probably wise to start a thread about it that's not on PTS.. but even then. Cryptic is not hearing you on this.
He'th speakth the'th truth'th.
What IS going to be the Lockbock bonus card reward? I hope the power in a lockbox isn't a Shenmue III situation, where Cryptic is "trying out" something new, by gauging the response of its customers and just release it as the bonus reward after all. I'm HOPING this is just a typo and miscommunication!
Is this whole update just bad typos through and through?
The biggest difference between powers in STO and powers in CO is that STO powers are mods for equiped items, while powers in CO are not. But I get your point overall.
Also, first new power in months and we have to gamble for it? Subscribers, the people who pay you to play monthly, have to gamble for a new power? Seriously?
Please take a moment to process how that will feel to your player base.
Launcher problems? Try these from Cryptic's site:
http://files.champions-online.com/launcher/Champions%20Online.exe | http://files.startrekonline.com/launcher/Star%20Trek%20Online.exe
But on an real note: I wonder how far this will keep up, if people will keep crying over this, I wonder if Lady will replie to us and see his share of thoughts, cuz this is just way over the top for how far people will go. I guess this pretty much sums up the internet.
Part of me really wants this to be true, to really show how people overreact about things, I mean, I overreact sometimes, but this?, lol
I don't mind the power being in a lockbox as long as it drops as often of those 2nd tier costume pieces. You can eventually pick those up on AH for 10g after a while. And of course, we don't want all new items being lockboxed.
Some content needs to be kept away from all and sundry, no? How else are the rest of us supposed to feel special?
The car looks awesome in the pics. It would be great if we could select the colours, or hovering over the box would let us know which colour sits in that box. I wouldn't want the pink one.
*runs off to PTS.... shiny new things!*
(and why was I taken all the way back to ARC games homepage when I logged in to post? Hm.)
=================
So after a quick visit to check out the in game look of the shiny new car, I'm slightly disappointed with the in game version.
The car looks more like a drill machine than an actual car in flight:
Or am I flying it wrong or something? It feels as if you're pushing a big old truck in the air- this could be because of my low grade PC though.
And it turns out the new power is freeform targeted. Too bad for the Silvers, but I get the idea. Business 101: Get more money from those who already spent/are spending while baiting the ones who play for free.
Not sure if this strategy pays off in the online gaming world of microtransactions, but maybe Cryptic is following the back to basic craze of the corporate world.
Bug: New Hovercars break the image bounding box on the Item Modification Window
Bug: Also in the Item Modification Window - Supercharger Module is using Holographic Field Icon (see above image)
Suggestion: Supercharger module needs a timer to indicate how long till explosion - it has a recharge timer, but not time till 'burnout' indicator. I know there is the sparking/flashing coming fromt he rear of the car but in the midst of battle that would be hard to see. And that could be a problem which would limit its use. Also how difficult would it be to extend the overload damage to hit any mobs within say 10 feet of you. that would perhaps make it situationally useful if you had sufficient health to survive the overload.
Also I have mentioned before the inconsistency of the slots showing on the vehicle inventory icon, in this case the slot configuration is 5 Weapon / 3 Stat however the graphic would indicate 4/4 configuration. Perhaps using the simple slot graphic for vehicles isn't as intuitive now that you have reached 8 slots on vehicles. Perhaps changing it to physically show 3 different colored slots (1 for weapon, 1 for support / 1 for defence) each with a number to indicate how many of each are available would be a way to go forward.
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People who are levying a legitimate complaint and criticism against a product are not 'crying'. People pay money for this product, and just because your standards are low and you've deluded yourself into thinking the Devs are your pals doesn't mean the rest of us shouldn't have a voice in the matter.
[at]riviania Member since Aug 2009
Also, I noticed that the entire new lockbox is not available on the PTS. Will the devs make it available at some point before going live with it?
For me, this game as a form of entertainment is dirt cheap. If the power is cool looking and useful I may well go for it since I have a number of characters who could use it.
While boosters might not count we already do that. Now. And as far as buying top level gear, sadly that is already for sale to, in both the store and through lock boxes. I guess it was inevitable, but it is a real crummy move, especially when there has not been any new content in almost a year now, and what we got last year barely even falls in that category. This one power every now and then is just bad. I bet a lot of people would have been happy to buy a power set from the store for this game, but instead, they put it in a gambling box.
But hell, who are we kidding, they won't even do a power set anymore, even though there are dozens if not hundreds of ideas in the Champions powers book alone, for brand new power sets.
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I'll be 100% fair- if they created a new AT with at least 5 new powers it unlocked, or at least some re-animations of other powers? I'd pay for that. But I'm not going to gamble on a nuke-power that's apparently quite OP.
Then again, I suppose it doesn't matter. What would I do with new powers? Oh, right, the same crap I did plenty of times already because we're playing a game where 'content' means 'five minutes of gameplay'.
We don't get content because CO doesn't make money. CO doesn't make money because people are making stupid decisions. Those people continue to make stupid decisions because feedback is ignored.
So, what game are we going to next?
I think we already have enough "overwhelming rage" don't you think?,
Still no reply from Lady tho
Alright this is an very valid and good point and I have to agree with you on this. However that does not excuse the amount of crying/rage in here, I made an point that was somewhat near enough to yours, If you want to spend your time and money (or earned money in-game, yes its possible) then that is YOUR choice, however crashing down like angry CoD players, is not the way to go or act.
While I have to admit it is disappointing to see something like this in an lock-box, but what do you expect really?, its an F2P/MMO game, and to be honest who really cares about an single tiny power?,
I loved the Project Mechanon Lockbox, it had everything I wanted in it, an Good looking Jet, and an fine costume set, Even the Kings lockbox was great, not meny of my toons will be here, if it was't not for them other lockboxs.
So really, whats the big fuss about this -one- lockbox huh?, Oh it has an power or not any good stuff, inside?, Well boohoo, WE don't have to buy keys to get any of the content if we don't want to.
Like always there will be people who will get it, regardless of how much you cry here and want to put an stop to this like its some law-breaking rule, in the end its just going to shrug off as an "Meh".
Also, so what if it goes after an while, that's the price you need to pay, that's like in Warframe, you want the Excal Dark Sector skin?, Yes? Buy it, No? Don't, Oh im sorry, do you want it now?, but its already gone?, Well Im sorry, but YOUR LOSS.
If Lady, replies and shares his own thoughts, then fine, but all this just raging and screaming is just making people laugh at you.
P.S Also why is H.E.L.L flagged/Considered as swearing?
Cryneting: Wow, your levels of trivialization and condescension are approaching epic levels. If I were to take a page from your book....I would almost have to call that rage. See what I did there? Now I know it's likely not true...but that's kind of the point.
And to remain kinda on topic. It's the weekend and that likely means this will be Gad's Monday Reading with a nice coffee and, hopefully, some Aspirin. I do not know if Arkayne, Gadfly, and/or Trailturtle can do anything about this or not...or if any attempt will be made to explain it really. That's my biggest problem in 2015...the not knowing. I still feel, however, that negative feedback is fine so long as it remains civil and tactful. It is entirely possible that they don't have any control over this. It's possible they do. So who exactly knows for certain? Betting we'll be certain of the 1st stage of the outcome of this by Thursday.
Join Date: Aug 2009 | Title: Devslayer
Perhaps there's a clearer way to publish the announcement banners when the news items are still being tested?
Like something in like, the News section?
And playing by myself since Aug 2009
Godtier: Lifetime Subscriber
I should probably clarify:
The News section does have clearer banner announcements, indicating that the Ravenswood Lockbox is still just a preview. But the banners on the launcher simply say "Ravenswood Lockbox!" and "Gravity Driver Power!", and are mixed with three other announcements which (as best as I can remember) were ready to go Live when they were added to the launcher announcements.
I suspect that's the cause of the confusion I've seen.
Your comment made my day XD, tho Im confused, what does Aspirin gotta do with anything? but that I do wonder about, if they do have control by this at all, so you might have a good point there. But guess we'll find out then?
"Coming on the [#] day of [THIS MONTH]! The Ravenwood lockbox..."
News articles need to post when the stuff is actually in, like they do on STO and NWO.
Powers should be free to gold or card rewards. Just because STO is doing something, doesn't mean it will work in champions, especially when Champions isn't even getting the development efforts that STO does. Maybe this game would be doing better if you put the appeal behind the subscriptions and developments, rather than just trying to crap out a new lock box every month. The only way this would be even remotely acceptable (from my point of view at least) is if we were getting at least two full powersets a year (free to gold). At the very least.
No powers in lockboxes if we're not getting new powers regularly, that's low, even by Cryptic's standards.
That all sounds harsh, and I really don't mean for it to, but lets face it. This game is in a bad way, and I'm honestly surprised that it hasn't just been shut down. It's obvious Cryptic doesn't give two hoots (minus the loyal few, who mostly do it for the fans and players), nor are they really going to do much with it. For being one of only two superhero MMO's on the market (of this style, for those who play marvel heroes), this game should be doing a lot better. The Fans and players deserve a lot better than what they're getting here.
I like that we're getting A power, but this is entirely the wrong way to go about doing them.
I'll open lockboxes to get a new zone. Or a lair revamp. Or the foundry.
Put the foundry in lockboxes.
Please not powers. Costumes were a bad enough addition. I already bought those immediately every time they came out on the store in the past. I'd buy powers from the store too.
Snark never dies.
The idea that you can purchase the token from the AH is laughable. Given how absurd the prices on the AH can be, I'm guessing this will fall someplace between 1000 and 2000g.
Well, as EVERYTHING that comes from a lockbox or is considered rare...it will be in the AH for exorbitant amounts of G and yes. There will be people who buy it.
And as with most things, as time goes on and more and more tokens show up (due to it being mid rarity apparently) the prices will go down.
Who knows you might even encounter people giving away tokens. You never really know.
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Put it in the questionite store. Make it a Drifter Salvage unlock. Let players buy it directly at any time.
1) Rank 2 and 3 -res is bugged and is way too high. The -res should cap around 20%, as that's still incredibly potent for a massive aoe power.
2) The stun is not applying hold resistance.
3) The Knockdown is not applying knock resistance.
4) The stun should be reduced. The maximum stun available in game is 1.4 seconds, where Gravity Driver offers 6 seconds. This power already applies knock and -res, it doesn't need to do everything. Tone it down.
5) The -res is applying before the damage takes place, not sure how intended this is.
Just because there are more tokens in the AH doesn't mean the prices will get better. Look at the legion gear I have yet to see it below 700g. 700 g is just as absurd as any other price.
There are only a few players in game who would ever consider giving away something that is worth so much.
Of course people will pay for it, it's the only way to get the power. That doesn't make this any less of a terrible idea.
Two main differences with Legion gear, though:
1) The same player can use multiple copies. I have over 100 characters, so I could use at least 300 pieces of the right Legion gear, and probably would just save anything I got that was in excess of that for later toons.
2) Notice above, the 'right' Legion gear. I don't even bother selling some of the gear I've received from lockboxes, because it is virtually worthless on AH (it gets listed but never sells). The +max energy, +CC resistance, and +CC strength gear is more or less crap. Fortunately, this is 90% of the gear I've personally received from Legion boxes.
So Legion gear isn't being sold on the AH nearly as often as a token for a new power would be.
Point 1 - This definitely needs to be addressed, agreed.
Point 2 - In addition to this: The stun is non existent on Rank 2 & 3. It needs to actually apply to targets post damage AND have an icon to represent this AND apply hold resistance.
Point 3 - Agreed.
Point 4 - As an ultimate ability the six second stun is nothing special compared to what can be achieved in game. So personally I am fine with the stun (which doesn't work on targets that matter anyway)
Point 5 - Yup, curious to know if this is intended
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We intentionally made the Gravity Driver power a mid-rarity item that is both tradeable and an account-wide unlock because we knew doing so would give players who purchase lock boxes for vehicles & costumes plenty of extras to give away, trade and sell to other players. I do not expect that this item will be cheap, but I would be surprised if it was as expensive as previous lock box items on the exchange.
- Lady Gadfly, she who is surprised to see people attribute male pronouns to her in spite of her name.
Ha! I was going to point that out, myself.
Whoever you are, be that person one hundred percent. Don't compromise on your identity.
Edit: I don't think this can be tested on pts seeing as you need a sub to get on, but what does the item do if a non-freeform tries to consume it? I think the description could also be clearer about needing a freeform for it to be usable.
This is a good point. Is it intended to lure Silvers into subscribing? Is it a big enough reward for that?
I suspect the desired behavior is that Silver's will sell the tokens for Gravity Driver, since they can't use it. Hence, the hope the power will be both accessible and affordable for Gold's on the AH.
Whilst that may be the case...it is not as if players cannot combat crowd control. Stuns may be the toughest class within the set but it is still subject to:
- Time
- Breakfree Damage via Z mashing
- Active Offensive Breakfree damage
- (Provided it works with regular hold resistance) Previous hold resist stacks.
That is plenty to combat a six second stun. Even then the ability isn't a click ability, it is three second charge in which the caster can be:
- Knocked
- Killed (from one singular source or multiple sources)
- Held
All which will cancel the charge.
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And could someone explain the stun?
When I try it, it seems to be stunning only rarely. Also the stun duration does seem to scale with manipulator, but that does not show in the description.
Also, I can only assume future Ultimates are going to be on par with Unleashed Rage.
Unleashed Rage does: 15ft sphere pbaoe, high damage that is contingent on how many stacks of rage you have, otherwise does low damage, applies fear for 12 seconds and applies knockdown. 1 second activation time, 1 minute recharge, 100 energy cost.
Gravity Drive Does: 80ft range 40ft sphere, within 20ft it does mid-high damage, applies knockdown and applies stun (6 seconds) to enemies. Beyond 20ft it does mid damage. All hits apply -20% res for 12 seconds. .5 second activation time, 3 second charge time minimum, 1 minute 30 seconds recharge, 100 energy cost.
It doesn't need the bloated stun to be appealing, and having it on there is just setting a new precedent that will lead to worse things down the line.
Aiqa - I'd wait until the stun and kb are fixed to properly apply resistance stacks, I have a feeling that's causing some problems with it. Also high ranking mobs have higher mez resistance. While I could get the stun to apply against mobs most of the time, against players it would only periodically apply.
I think it's a dumb idea to stick a power in a lockbox simply because it's going to annoy Silvers who think they've just won something special only to find out they can't use it. Sure, they can put it in the AH, but if I try for the car and get one of these tokens, I'll be putting it up for like five Locals, so...
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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Sooo, that means that your going to leave it like this?, have you not seen the type of storm this has caused?, quite frankly I don't care its not MY game, its the game I play and I'll love it regardless (Unless they don't give me hideout rooms
While I don't really enjoy the fact, its in an lockbox, but its one tiny little power, so really, whats all the fuss, tho I can't help but laugh that people are "concerning" about how its aimed at Gold players, that's not true, in any way what so ever and if that's the case then well, what can you do about it?
Your lock boxes will sell as long as there is a costume set, an aura, an extra weapon unlock, and the two usual vehicles in each.
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The power itself is way too powerful. Almost all aspects of it need to be dialed down a tad or two. Does the debuff relaly need to stack? And the damage is really insane especially when used with damage boosting passives.
I'm hoping player feedback is listened to now - rather than releasing this GD in an overpowered state only to nerf it later. That's happened in the past and it only served to anger the player base.
I can't wait to see the other items like the weapon unlock and the costume unlock. The vehicles in this pack are actually very well done! I'm assuming they will be popular as well.
That doesn't change how terrible of an idea this is. I think you underestimate how player based economies work.