no,you don't pay to tell the company what they should put in. Shareholders do that.
you pay to get extra character slots, free retcon tokens, free costumes, free hideout, emanation points, power coloring.
the same as the person on STO who claimed that since he had paid $5000 on the game, he should be asked what he wants in the game.
You paid for a service, you got it. IF you didn't, then put in a complaint to customer service.
cursed and mountain were about 2011 and 2012, so you go back through dev blogs from there.
Me, I have no problem with it. Same as everything else, if I get it, I get it. If I don't, I don't.
now for some of the obvious(and avoided ) questions;
Yes, some people think it's a bad idea, how many of those people want it?
How many of the people who don't want it are complaining?
How many of people don't even know about?
How many other games also have limited time/availability items and are still going?
well, we are back at Cryptic HQ and back on the trainees, so there's a limited amount we can get.
going on the recycled emote for the July reward, they don't have anymore costume allowance for now. Or maybe it was the mass complaint about the stuffed up costume set.
Most of the ingame costumes have already been recycled into sets, anyway.
well that was completely tactless, time to go get something to eat.
I don't want the power. It doesn't fit any of my characters.
I also don't want powers in lockboxes. However, I'm 51 years old. I only have so much energy to throw into being morally outraged by something, and this month it was entirely used up by people defending the flying of the Confederate battle flag over United States government offices (particularly since at one location the US flag was at half-staff - and by local law, the Confederate flag can't be lowered, meaning it was being flown higher, in defiance of US Flag Code). I just can't get really heavily worked up over this lockbox mess.
"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!"
Wow.. so a power locked in a lockbox, i thought i'd never see this.
And its a token too which means if you wanted to have that power on another toon you'd have to open another set of boxes just to get it. At least thats what i think would happen since its you know..a token.
If anything this is a whole new low for Cryptic.. meanwhile im still waiting on news on my costume set.. Not entirely looking forward to it.
That's honestly more fuss than this entire thing is worth.
This move isn't any programme, so don't buy into any of ther weaksauce buzzwords like "adding value to subscription" (read - stuffing basic recycled emotes as a subscriber reward) or "adding value to lockboxes" (read - stuffing old power someone else made before them into lockboxes).
But then, they can't admit it, so weak PR lines is all they can do.
This is simply what CO is from now on and get used to it because it won't change. Never and ever. They no longer are afforded resources to produce costumes, so no new costumes for subscribers or lockboxes. That's why they can't produce a costume set or fix anything with costumes in a reasonable timeframe. Worse, by their own fault the last costue set sold very poorly, so even numbers will show that making new costumes is not profitable.
They don't have 3d even for building a campus, besides Cryptic had openings as enviro artists, so... It all clicks together.
This power is in lockbox because everything what CO is now under Los Gatos is a few people who can only scavenge through trash bin looking for what was left - old costumes, old powers. Or can only recycle resources.
Of course they have some new vehicles, because vehices are the most primitive models to put in this game, so... That's what they can do.
They were told - "release a lockbox", or "release a subscriber reward" - but they have nothing to produce so they have to recycle old junk. Simple.
But writing was on the wall as soon as CO was announced ging back into the same old clutches that gave it vehicles and crafting overhaul, so I don't know why anyone's surprised with this new direction.
Don't expect too many new powers in lockboxes, unless CO Trainee Team can scavenge something more from old files. Otherwise, carry on and chill out.
I don't want the power. It doesn't fit any of my characters.
I also don't want powers in lockboxes. However, I'm 51 years old. I only have so much energy to throw into being morally outraged by something, and this month it was entirely used up by people defending the flying of the Confederate battle flag over United States government offices (particularly since at one location the US flag was at half-staff - and by local law, the Confederate flag can't be lowered, meaning it was being flown higher, in defiance of US Flag Code). I just can't get really heavily worked up over this lockbox mess.
I can get with that, Jon. However, complaining or getting "worked up" (as you call it) over this lockbox mess on the forum of the MMO where the lockbox mess is happening is relevant. Believe me, there is no other part of my life where I even mention the word lockbox.
Selling power through lockboxes isn't exactly a new trend in CO. Vehicles questionably outperform players in many aspects and are a lockbox sell, prior to Justice gear the best primary gear available was Legion...
And I didn't care for any of it. Vehicles trivialized a bunch of content and created stark differences between the haves and have-nots ("Running Lemurian Invasion, have Plasma Beam or gtfo"). Their lack of customization went against the core theme of CO's create whatever you want style and large player encounters simply became a cluster of similar models all firing off the same power. Thankfully a bunch of that has been toned down.
Selling gear is a poor idea in general as it removes incentive to play the game for it, see the Diablo 3 auction house.
Now we're moving onto player powers. I'm not against the selling of powers, I'm against the selling of power. Gravity Driver is teetering on that line (assuming its eye-widening bugs are hammered out before it hits live).
However, I am wondering how well this will do as it doesn't apply to non-freeforms. A selling powers model seems questionable when the majority of your playerbase can't do much with it. It also seems questionable to make players who are currently paying into the game, either that $50 freeform or that monthly sub, to pay for new powers.
This move would make more sense if archetypes didn't exist and the game instead sold frameworks/individual powers for silvers to collect.
no,you don't pay to tell the company what they should put in. Shareholders do that.
you pay to get extra character slots, free retcon tokens, free costumes, free hideout, emanation points, power coloring.
the same as the person on STO who claimed that since he had paid $5000 on the game, he should be asked what he wants in the game.
You paid for a service, you got it. IF you didn't, then put in a complaint to customer service.
You're right, I don't pay to tell the company what they should put in. Considering the way feedback works, I'm pretty sure even if I fed Cryptic $100 bills through a firehose, they'd reply with 'we have no plans to change it' or 'working as intended'.
You know what I DO have the capacity to do? Keep my money. Not spend it. If Cryptic continues to put the 357 to their foot and squeeze the trigger and cycle through every chamber until they're left with a stump below the ankle... then I'm quite certain others will be keeping their money. Let's see how the shareholders feel as their holdings become more and more worthless on this sinking ship and overall circus of bad ideas.
So, you're right. I have no right to demand the company do anything. And they've no reason to listen to paying customers, if unemployment and failure is the desired end state. This is how business works- you listen to the people who pay you money, and do your best to generate revenue and NOT run customers off and earn a bad reputation.
If there were a 10-step method down the staircase to failure, it looks like this year Cryptic's planted their butts on the handrail and slid down it with a 'Wooo-hoooo!'
It's perfectly OK that the community is so negative about this subject, Only Fanboys would blindly accept it and Defend the devs.
Remember when when STEAM made paid mods? YEAH the community didn't take it lighty and there was a huge Backlash.
What did Valve do? They responded to the Negative Criticism, removed Paid Mods and
Not that I have hope that the same will apply here, there is no turning back now, the power will stay forever as Lockbox rewards, and monthly sub rewards will just be recycled Emotes
And its a token too which means if you wanted to have that power on another toon you'd have to open another set of boxes just to get it. At least thats what i think would happen since its you know..a token.
I'm pretty sure that once you use the Token the power will be unlocked account wide... right... RIGHT? GUYS?
[Citation Needed]
If they make the power per character unlocked and not account wide then the game future will be going straight to Hellfire! (since hell is a curse word now and Vanilla is a forum for babies)
If anything this is a whole new low for Cryptic.. meanwhile im still waiting on news on my costume set.. Not entirely looking forward to it.
Apparently there will be a weapon skin as well, if you ask me I concered anout the quality of the future costume, judging how low quality the last costume set they created was... but again that was a C-store one, and Defender's set already existed but was simply polished
POWERFRAME REVAMPS, NEW POWERS and BUG FIXES > Recycled Content and Events and even costumes at this point Introvert guy who use CO to make his characters playable and get experimental with Viable FF Theme builds! Running out of Unique FF builds due to the lack of updates and synergies! Playing since 1 February 2011 128 + Characters (21 ATs, 107 FFs) ALTitis for Life!
I find this so ironic. I warned, way back when it was first announced PWE was buying Cryptic, that this is exactly what they do. They buy up studios for game design aspects that they want to incorporate in their games, or for personnel, and then leave whatever games that studio produced to die of neglect, simply milking it for as much cash as possible before they kill it.
Its been happening since PWE took over and now people are seeing it.
Remember when when STEAM made paid mods? YEAH the community didn't take it lighty and there was a huge Backlash.
In fairness, that backlash happened not because there were going to be paid mods - the community seemed to take that aspect of it in stride - but because since the mods were player-made, and since there was no clear copyright situation, it was entirely possible to take the mod someone previously had made for free, put it up in their marketplace, claim you were the author, and rake in the cash.
"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!"
There should be no powers in a lockbox. If someone subs, gets a lifetime or buys a freeform slot all the powers should be made available to them. This is pure cow-dung U_U
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!
As many people have brought up, this is an item that is only useful to people who either have (a) a subscription, or (b) freeform slots. So, for the most part: People who have spent money on the game to get access to freeform powers. These people, who dished out money (in some cases a lot) to get that access, are being told that they have to one again pay to get access.
Oh but wait, those people can get access to it without paying by just purchasing it from someone else who paid to open a lockbox, right? So I can just go ahead and put my time in farming to get the.... wait... farming? Isn't that the thing that free2players were expected to do to get stuff since they didn't pay real money for it? So this still doesn't make it okay, because now people who paid to have access to something are now being given the "either pay for it, or farm for it" line that free2players were being given.
I bought those freeform slots because of the explicit promise that I would have access to the freeform powers system. I paid my money so I wouldn't have to farm to get access to it. Now I'm being told to pay-or-farm again. Sure, maybe the new power is stupid and I won't even care about it... unfortunately, to try it out, I'll have to pay-or-farm. Boo.
There should be no powers in a lockbox. If someone subs, gets a lifetime or buys a freeform slot all the powers should be made available to them. This is pure cow-dung U_U
Let's see how the shareholders feel as their holdings become more and more worthless on this sinking ship and overall circus of bad ideas.
Though I share your sentiments, unfortunately, the shareholders in this case are shareholders of Perfect World (PWRD), not Cryptic Studios or even PWE. Champions Online is such a miniscule portion of what shareholders see in the bottom line that what happens in this game will affect shareholders not one whit.
If they wanted to try something new, they should have made new powers directly purchasable through the store. If you wanted to add powers to lockboxes in some way, you should have made custom visuals for powers that cost drifter salvage to unlock. People will then have to open lockboxes to get the drifter salvage to unlock the unique effects on their account.
Is that incentive enough to fix the power replacers already?
If they wanted to try something new, they should have made new powers directly purchasable through the store.
That would still have the problem of lifers/subs that don't get a power automatically. Granted, they could spend stiped (which they can use for keys, too).
The idea of having drifter salvage or lockbox visualizations for powers would be cool.
Keep in mind that Gold/Lifetimers went into the game knowing stuff would still be sold to them. Doesn't matter that we don't get the power automatically, really.
It wasn't until years after launch (I'm taking other peoples' word for this, I kinda only remember it) that we were told they wouldn't sell powers in the C Store or in Lockboxes or whatever.
Keep in mind that Gold/Lifetimers went into the game knowing stuff would still be sold to them. Doesn't matter that we don't get the power automatically, really.
It wasn't until years after launch (I'm taking other peoples' word for this, I kinda only remember it) that we were told they wouldn't sell powers in the C Store or in Lockboxes or whatever.
I can handle paying for something outright.
I cannot abide gambling for it. Then again, what can one expect? Texas might be big enough to bury the carcasses of Asian MMORPG's with the gamble-2-win model of revenue.
Champions Online: It's like watching a clown that isn't funny die from dysentery.
This item will give additional incentive for Silver players to buy the lock-box as it is something they can sell to Gold players for resources. More reasons to buy the lock-box means more revenue for the company.
A Gold player will have the option to buy the new power for in game earned resources or to spend real money to gamble for it. Based on an assumption that free players outnumber subscribers I would guess that subscribers are not really the target customer for the lock-box. It seems more likely intended to stimulate the flow of resources from Gold players to Silver through sales to Silvers.
I am not particularly fond of the lock-box concept but I understand the need to generate revenue while adhering to a very limited budget.
This turn of events does not make me happy, but neither does it upset me. I will be able to get the new power without spending a dime of real money. Other players will be able to get more in game resources due to this item's existence. Cryptic will (probably) get more revenue. Were the game more robust in its income I might feel differently.
The prices on the ah can be absurd at times, vehicles from the drifter store go for between 700 g to around 2500 g (give or take depending whose on) so I'm guessing the initial postings will be near 3k, though will eventually settle in around 1500 (Again give or take some). No, that is not ok. Putting powers in a lockbox is a terrible idea.
The prices on the ah can be absurd at times, vehicles from the drifter store go for between 700 g to around 2500 g (give or take depending whose on) so I'm guessing the initial postings will be near 3k, though will eventually settle in around 1500 (Again give or take some). No, that is not ok. Putting powers in a lockbox is a terrible idea.
The reason why drifter-unlock vehicles go for those prices at the AH is due to the number of lockboxes plus keys plus drifter salvage are needed to unlock them in the first place. It's a free market where investment and returns are also factors. It's understandable why they're priced that high.
I agree that placing powers in lockboxes is a terrible idea, but ultimately it wouldn't matter. A vocal forum minority is still a minority. I expect that there's going to be enough demand for the power like everything else rare and lockbox-exclusive for this business model to not change anytime soon.
Keep in mind that Gold/Lifetimers went into the game knowing stuff would still be sold to them. Doesn't matter that we don't get the power automatically, really.
It wasn't until years after launch (I'm taking other peoples' word for this, I kinda only remember it) that we were told they wouldn't sell powers in the C Store or in Lockboxes or whatever.
I can handle paying for something outright.
I cannot abide gambling for it. Then again, what can one expect? Texas might be big enough to bury the carcasses of Asian MMORPG's with the gamble-2-win model of revenue.
Champions Online: It's like watching a clown that isn't funny die from dysentery.
What if you don't have to gamble for it? What if you can walk up to the Auction House and get it for 100g? Will you still be all snark and hyperbole just because someone else had to put money in the game for it?
Based on the fact that they said this would be a mid-rarity item, I'm not bothered by it at all. If that happens to change in the future, I'll be very opposed to it. Today, I'm just gonna wait and see.
What if you don't have to gamble for it? What if you can walk up to the Auction House and get it for 100g?
Just wanted to expand on this a little as an open question to anyone who wishes to answer; If you're against the practice of powers being put in lockboxes, would you still be okay with getting one from the AH if you can meet the price in globals?
Keep in mind that if your (100% honest) answer is "yes", you're actually supporting, even if indirectly so, this kind of practice. By no means am I saying that you're being a bad person for wanting to get it from the AH, but just to point out that it's a double standard to say no to one thing but still support it in some way or another.
"Power choice has been a big part of Champions Online powers design from the very beginning. We’ve got a lot of power archetypes to choose from, and subscribers have the option to do Freeform power selection, hand-picking powers from different power sets to make their ultimate hero. For all you fans of Force-based powers, we’re introducing a new Ultimate Power, coming soon to Champions Online.
Ultimate Powers were originally introduced into the powers design system to allow players who dedicated themselves in specific power sets to unlock special abilities. These Ultimate Powers tended to be pretty spectacular and showcased what it means to focus your special abilities. Over time we decided to free up most of the restrictions on Ultimate powers, removing everything except the level restriction and the “1 Ultimate Power” limit. Some Ultimate Powers worked better with certain power sets, but players had the freedom to choose how they wanted to build their Champion."
I just can't stomach this blog post of how proud they are of how freeform gives you total freedom of power selection, where players can choose any power in the game they want. Then immediately announce the power in a lockbox.
Continue to pay money for your subscription and also pay more money to maybe get this new power.
I believe the argument that it's ok that powers are in lockboxes because we can buy those powers on the AH on the backs of those buying keys and opening boxes is disingenuous. If we as players are opposed to buying keys/gambling, then our access to powers shouldn't be dependent on how many tokens are being found and put on the AH at whatever godawful price. If you can benefit from the token, then you either pay a sub, own an LTS, or paid for a freeform slot. There was an understanding with that purchase that you would be allowed unfettered access to the freeform building system, which includes all powersets and powers. This practice of putting powers in lockboxes goes against that understanding.
You're either against a thing or you're not. You can't claim to be strongly against the killing of cows yet still enjoy your burger at lunch. If you do, then you are, in fact, supporting said act 100%.
I believe the argument that it's ok that powers are in lockboxes because we can buy those powers on the AH on the backs of those buying keys and opening boxes is disingenuous. If we as players are opposed to buying keys/gambling, then our access to powers shouldn't be dependent on how many tokens are being found and put on the AH at whatever godawful price. If you can benefit from the token, then you either pay a sub, own an LTS, or paid for a freeform slot. There was an understanding with that purchase that you would be allowed unfettered access to the freeform building system, which includes all powersets and powers. This practice of putting powers in lockboxes goes against that understanding.
You're either against a thing or you're not. You can't claim to be strongly against the killing of cows yet still enjoy your burger at lunch. If you do, then you are, in fact, supporting said act 100%.
That only works if you're also opposed to lockboxes as a whole. I'm not, so in no way does that make my argument disingenuous. You seem to be assuming that "we as players" are all, 100% of us, against lockboxes. That simply isn't true.
If you were only directing this to the portion of the game's population that's against lockboxes completely, then disregard.
What if you don't have to gamble for it? What if you can walk up to the Auction House and get it for 100g? Will you still be all snark and hyperbole just because someone else had to put money in the game for it?
Based on the fact that they said this would be a mid-rarity item, I'm not bothered by it at all. If that happens to change in the future, I'll be very opposed to it. Today, I'm just gonna wait and see.
Yes. I would. I'd buy it from the C-Store, not from some gamble bag. I'm standing more on principle, I don't care if they're 1G each, 100000G each, or players are giving them out for sweaty high-fives.
I can handle gambling for a cosmetic item. It's a shiny little funsie, nothing that effects the gameplay. I don't like the idea of 'superior' vehicles being in lockboxes without an equivalent in the AH. I don't like the idea that Drifter Salvage is only available from the gamble boxes. I'm okay if they 'red bike' is in a gamble box and the 'blue bike' is in the C-Store, and neither have an edge over the other.
I don't think you understand. Is this snark? No, it's vitriol.
PWE is testing us. I've predicted a multitude of highly-probable moves coming from there. No move is a move itself, in situations like this- they are testing us.
We will be gambling for powers again, if this is successful. We will not see power sets, we'll see individual powers thrown into lockboxes... if we're stupid enough to pay for them.
We used to gamble for individual costume pieces, which IMHO was better because if you just wanted the boots or the hat- you could get that. Then they started putting entire costume sets in there and reduced the drop rate... lower and lower over the last few boxes. They only started doing this because it was successful the first time, even though many of us hated the idea.
They raised the prices on ALL costumes, and then doubled the price on them. They are still doing this, because we let them. Why there wasn't more outrage over this is beyond me. But they were testing the waters- to see if we were stupid enough to pay DOUBLE for costumes, and a dollar more for the poor-quality ones.
Stop letting these scumlords take advantage of us. Speak with your wallet.
By the way, if the power is going to be released in its current state on PTS, be absolutely assured that it's going to sell and people are going to want it regardless of having to gamble for it or from the AH.
By the way, if the power is going to be released in its current state on PTS, be absolutely assured that it's going to sell and people are going to want it regardless of having to gamble for it or from the AH.
It is absurdly powerful.
That's another big concern of mine. Remember how a year ago we had a few "Some players have such absurdly high DPS that it ruins alerts for everyone else" complaints? That situation is almost the norm now.
So what happens when they start handing out paid nuclear bombs? It won't be the first time that someone cashed in on power creep.
I honestly cannot think of one good thing about this. Yes yes, okay okay, the "everything is fine" people just started screeching "ITS MAKING THEM MONEY" at me... but should they really engage in every single scheme they could just because it would make them money? If they made all costume sets only last for 2 days before you had to pay to use them again, that would make them more money too... and if you've ever played another MMO where they actually have timed costumes you know that that's not an unrealistic thing.
Yes, if you make a device randomly dispense food when the rat pushes the button, then the rat will push the button a whole lot. I don't know why that scientific experiment gave people the thought "Hey... let's treat people like rats".
Heavens I leave for a year and we have these terrible new forums and powers behind lockboxes.
And pod people. Or people pretending to be. I rather admired Ashen and Biff. If whomever kidnapped them is listening lets talk cash. Calling the impersonations facetious would be kind.
No way for one bloody flipping second do I think you think this is in any way a good idea. No way. I don't know why you 2 are doing this....ah hell with it. K have fun you win bye
What's wrong with it if you don't want to spend a ton of cash and you can get it in-game for a few G? They said it's mid-level rarity. Seems like that's around the level of Clockwork Tights. Those sell for 100g or less a pop. Why is that so devastating?
My only concerns: If they increase the rarity, they completely lose my support. The power disappearing after the lockbox has.
If the power disappears after the lockbox (which seems unlikely with the regular occurrence of the Timewarp Lockbox and all that entails), then what are the players missing out on? This power isn't crucial to "winning the game" or anything close to it.
The real problem with this thing is that it's not going to sell a lot if they keep it a mid-rarity item. They're trying to make more money, but they won't with the sheer amount of people that will be buying it second-hand on the auction. So then the rarity goes down to the level of costumes, then we have a big problem. It becomes exclusive to those who want to throw down fifty bucks or more or have tons of in-game cash to spend on it. Either way, that's a problem with me.
The only thing I'm not doing is throwing a tantrum over it right now. I'm just waiting to see how it plays out. I can sit here and scream "POWERS IN LOCKBOXES IS BAD!!" and insulting the developers at every turn, but that's going to get nobody nowheres. I'm gonna sit back, and watch, and hope it's not a trainwreck. And if it turns out to be a trainwreck, I'm just not gonna buy into it. If you think I'm not proactive enough because I'm not picketing and talking about the end of the world, it's probably because to me, this is just a game. It's my favorite game, sure, but if it becomes completely undesirable, then I'll just take off.
Call me naive but I trust what the developers/people in charge are doing, because I trust that they're doing it for the best interest of the game. I could be wrong, sure, ask everyone who's ever been orange-texted, by me, they'll tell you I'm wrong 100% of the time. We're all used to me being stupid about everything. If that makes me a "pod person" then all I have to say is "Can you hear me? Can you feel me near you?"
If this is the death knell for the game, then so it is. In its current incarnation (that we have yet to see, it should be pointed out) and I was part of it, then my bad. You guys were right! Sorry in advance!
If it's not? Then whatevers, let's just play games.
I wasn't here when King Sekhen and Clockwork lockboxes were live, when I returned Infernal lockbox was out,
Needless to say finding the 2 Costume Sets was a nightmare, nobody had them for sale, ESPECIALLY King Sekhen which is now vanished from AH
By the way, if the power is going to be released in its current state on PTS, be absolutely assured that it's going to sell and people are going to want it regardless of having to gamble for it or from the AH.
It is absurdly powerful.
It can't be, the PTS forum is getting bombarded with BUG reports about the power
We all know that Rank 2 and Rank 3 are not balanced correctly and give -200% and -300% Resistance debuff
NOW If they ignore the Feedbacks and push it live like that... then PTS is confirmed to be useless and justs gives you the illusion that you are helping
They ignore Feedbacks but really now, they CAN'T Ignore THAT! they CAN'T be that Ignorant
It won't be the first time they pushed bugged powers live (New Telepathy) or Powers that are Bugged and can be Exploited (Nighthawk Mini Set)
I noticed a pattern here, New PTS Update a few days before Maintenance/Update, no time for feedbacks and the content is getting shoved live with bugs, I wonder if this will happen this week too
Post edited by avianos on
POWERFRAME REVAMPS, NEW POWERS and BUG FIXES > Recycled Content and Events and even costumes at this point Introvert guy who use CO to make his characters playable and get experimental with Viable FF Theme builds! Running out of Unique FF builds due to the lack of updates and synergies! Playing since 1 February 2011 128 + Characters (21 ATs, 107 FFs) ALTitis for Life!
If it's too overpowered they will just nerf it sometime after it has been released. That's what happened with Plasma Beam on vehicles. Once the nerf happens there will be threads complaining about that and how the devs didn't pay attention to feedback. History repeats itself a lot here. That's too bad, really,
By the way, if the power is going to be released in its current state on PTS, be absolutely assured that it's going to sell and people are going to want it regardless of having to gamble for it or from the AH.
It is absurdly powerful.
It'll be nerfed a few months after the lockbox and powers have stopped selling. To make the next overpowered lockbox power.
By the way, if the power is going to be released in its current state on PTS, be absolutely assured that it's going to sell and people are going to want it regardless of having to gamble for it or from the AH.
It is absurdly powerful.
It'll be nerfed a few months after the lockbox and powers have stopped selling. To make the next overpowered lockbox power.
If it's too overpowered they will just nerf it sometime after it has been released. That's what happened with Plasma Beam on vehicles. Once the nerf happens there will be threads complaining about that and how the devs didn't pay attention to feedback. History repeats itself a lot here. That's too bad, really,
With the difference
They Nerfed/Butched/Sloppy Worked/Not Correctly Balanced/NERF OR NOTHING/Nerf into Uselessness Plasma beam... 2-3 Years Later
and that's because of the Stupid Mechanon HiJack Event
then they ignore feedbacks about how to correctly balance it among the negative feedbacks and uproar they caused
POWERFRAME REVAMPS, NEW POWERS and BUG FIXES > Recycled Content and Events and even costumes at this point Introvert guy who use CO to make his characters playable and get experimental with Viable FF Theme builds! Running out of Unique FF builds due to the lack of updates and synergies! Playing since 1 February 2011 128 + Characters (21 ATs, 107 FFs) ALTitis for Life!
By the way, if the power is going to be released in its current state on PTS, be absolutely assured that it's going to sell and people are going to want it regardless of having to gamble for it or from the AH.
It is absurdly powerful.
It'll be nerfed a few months after the lockbox and powers have stopped selling. To make the next overpowered lockbox power.
You just made me Angry just by Thinking about it!
They can't be that Greedy, can they?
If history is anything to go by. They've nerfed powers in the past only to release new items (mark 3 weapons, justice gear) shortly after.
What's wrong with it if you don't want to spend a ton of cash and you can get it in-game for a few G? They said it's mid-level rarity. Seems like that's around the level of Clockwork Tights. Those sell for 100g or less a pop. Why is that so devastating?
My only concerns: If they increase the rarity, they completely lose my support. The power disappearing after the lockbox has.
Right now, some guy at PWE is wringing his hands and looking forward to the Zen purchases and data from this next lockbox. He's licking his yellow teeth and the corner of his smile- because he did this before. He did this when entire costumes were one item in a lockbox. He did this when the drop rate of said costumes continued to drop.
This one thing? Sure, it's no big deal. But just as I said when they released gender-specific costumes "If enough people throw money at it, they'll see it as a viable strategy for the future"... thank God we dodged that bullet (I think).
A more real-world example? Gyms used to offer monthly, even weekly membership fees. They instead decided to go with yearly fees, because they know most people will give up after a while. First it was tested, and when it was determined to be profitable, it because nearly the national standard for gyms.
Face it: Bad practices like this will continue if you reward it with your money. If you think 'it's just going to be this one time' or 'if the drop rate isn't bad it's no big deal' then you are fooling yourself.
If the power disappears after the lockbox (which seems unlikely with the regular occurrence of the Timewarp Lockbox and all that entails), then what are the players missing out on? This power isn't crucial to "winning the game" or anything close to it.
It's most certainly one of the most powerful abilities I've ever seen in this game. It's not essential to winning, but it clearly gives people who pay cash money a clear advantage over other players.
Essentially, you are paying to win.
And before you say that 'vehicles do the same thing', I'll actually tell you that vehicles are no different than the be-critters in that they do 'okay' for people rolling squishy AT's but don't hold a candle to an actual Freeform Build... and also, they're useless/unusable in the vast majority of the game.
The only thing I'm not doing is throwing a tantrum over it right now.....
If it's not? Then whatevers, let's just play games.
I used to be positive about Champions Online. But they were going to charge us for Vibora Bay. And then they were going to sell lifetime subs and let the game crash and burn within a year under Atari. Then they took away old crafting models. Then we had nearly a full year of nothing but vehicles. Then we had no UNTIL Field reports. Then we had nothing but gamble boxes every 4 months. And then we had about six and a half months of ZERO contact from the new development team at Cryptic North without so much as a greeting. Then every patch broke the game. Then things started getting nerfed because a real solution required actual work. Then we had the prices of costumes DOUBLED at worst and and a dollar more at best (for the worst ones). And now we have them testing to see if we're stupid enough to gamble for powers.
This is not a tantrum. I must completely be fair- I don't play this game. It does not offer me a challenge (and I suck at MMORPG's), and it does not offer anything new after one play-through. I use this game as roleplaying engine, and there's something on the way right now that's going to knock that out of the water (Hope you weren't too attached to the CoX players that came over here just for RP, because 'Soon' is gonna cripple that real quick).
What I am doing is giving you firm warning.
If this turns out to be 'not such a big deal', and it goes through- it will become a common practice. There's about two dozen other powers sitting in the files right now, just waiting to have a drop rate slapped onto them. It should not be a big deal. It should be a disaster. It should be a PR nightmare. It should make Cryptic burn the midnight oil trying to find some way to do damage control.
"Sit back and wait" has given us nothing. But, to be honest? "Giving feedback" hasn't either. Whoever's in charge seems to be content to do whatever the hell they want to make a quick buck and give us all the finger.
This won't kill the game. You know why? Champions Online is dying already. It's not going to make a comeback unless someone else takes control. That's the hard, honest, truth. It will not get any better. We'll get 'content' that is 5 minutes of gameplay and the fanboys will gobble that up like it's lottery gold.
Meanwhile- TSW is cranking out content that offers HOURS of stuff to do and engaging, well-written stories. GW2 is releasing a proper expansion. And there are two (If one wasn't just a scam) Superhero MMORPG's waiting to scoop up the dissatisfied masses. These games are 'newer' than CO, but unlike CO? They have a quality product that delivers without the absurd problems as we've seen here. Sure, you may not 'like' them because they aren't superhero games... but imagine if half the effort of those games went into CO?
I dont like powers locked away in lockboxes but I see no real issue with said power being overpowered. If you pay more you should be able to win more.
There is nothing wrong with pay to win in a FTP game. Whats wrong is the stuff that EA does in TOR things like PAY TO RUN and PAY TO PICK THAT THING UP!
Thats the thing people who pay for freeform are paying to win and should not have to use lockboxes to get all the powers :I
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!
If you were only directing this to the portion of the game's population that's against lockboxes completely, then disregard.
This was directed to those who say they are against powers in lockboxes, but are okay with buying them on the AH after they've been liberated from said boxes by others.
But disregarding anyway due to your apathy. Sure, this isn't world hunger we're discussing; it's a game. But it's a forum dedicated to said game, so don't feign surprised when players voice their concerns about it here. Apathy on your part doesn't invalidate the concerns of others.
So you are going to say, definitely and sincerely, you believe an ultimate power unlock token will have a market standard average AH price of only 100g? With a straight face?
Nobody's saying that it's going to be 100G. That random figure was just used as an example.
I dunno about 100g, but currently I'm considering opening a few of these in hopes of getting that flying '49 Mercury with the flame job (it would be perfect for Gunrunner), and if I get any of these tokens, I'm putting them up for a nominal fee. Might even send a complimentary one to Cyber.
Avianos, if you need any boxes, let me know. I think the only one I don't currently have stockpiled is SOCRATES' Data Cache. I'm not even sure why I'm keeping the silly things any more...
"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!"
If you were only directing this to the portion of the game's population that's against lockboxes completely, then disregard.
This was directed to those who say they are against powers in lockboxes, but are okay with buying them on the AH after they've been liberated from said boxes by others.
But disregarding anyway due to your apathy. Sure, this isn't world hunger we're discussing; it's a game. But it's a forum dedicated to said game, so don't feign surprised when players voice their concerns about it here. Apathy on your part doesn't invalidate the concerns of others.
Okay, so it's apathy on my part just because I don't mind lockboxes in the game? Oh boy, it's "I don't agree with this person so I'm going to make up things to argue with them" time, isn't it?
"Apathy on your part doesn't invalidate the concerns of others." What makes you think I want to invalidate anything? I'm just giving my opinion like everyone else.
And no, I'm not trying to feign surprise here. The only thing I'm surprised at is that there aren't more topics going on about this. We thought the forums were going to be a nightmare for a while.
I get a new power, and I'll only have to spend G's to get it. New powers have been very rare, and this will take much less effort than levelling a character to 40. I don't mind it.
PWE doesn't listen to feedback, and it doesn't even seem like they're that interested in making money. There are an incredible amount of costume pieces, weapon skins, NPC powers, and emotes that are already in game, waiting to be made available. Players have mentioned time and again, for a number of years now, that they would gladly buy these things from the C-store, Q-store, lockboxes, fruit-stand by the side of the road, etc. No sale. This is like a guy offering to buy my fingernail clippings for $10, and I just don't accept the deal. Utterly mind-boggling. C-store items that have probably never sold one unit in their entire existence remain at ludicrously high prices, despite suggestions of price points we'd be willing to pay for them.
Anyway, all of that to say that you guys should've figured out long, long ago that nothing you do or say on here, nothing you do or don't do with lockboxes, nothing you do on the C-store, nothing you helpfully chime in with on PTS, basically nothing you are capable of doing in your life will alter anything that this company decides to do. If they make a hilariously bad costume set and decide to release it with myriad bugs, they're just gonna do that. If they break something, they might just leave it broken. If there's something you and everyone else wants, but PWE doesn't feel like taking the time to do it, you're not getting it. If a comedically OP new power is released, get it. If that power is nerfed into uselessness later on, don't cry about it on here, 'cause Cryptic gonna Cryptic.
Complain about it, boycott it, use a professional series of charts and graphs to show why it's a bad idea, it simply does not matter.
The only thing I'm surprised at is that there aren't more topics going on about this. We thought the forums were going to be a nightmare for a while.
I think the new forums are just such a beating to use that it's curtailing it. I'm still in disbelief at how bad they are, and it's made a noticeable dent in activity on here.
Comments
Am I gonna ragequit over it? Nope. I'll wait for something rage-worthy.
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you pay to get extra character slots, free retcon tokens, free costumes, free hideout, emanation points, power coloring.
the same as the person on STO who claimed that since he had paid $5000 on the game, he should be asked what he wants in the game.
You paid for a service, you got it. IF you didn't, then put in a complaint to customer service.
cursed and mountain were about 2011 and 2012, so you go back through dev blogs from there.
Me, I have no problem with it. Same as everything else, if I get it, I get it. If I don't, I don't.
now for some of the obvious(and avoided ) questions;
Yes, some people think it's a bad idea, how many of those people want it?
How many of the people who don't want it are complaining?
How many of people don't even know about?
How many other games also have limited time/availability items and are still going?
well, we are back at Cryptic HQ and back on the trainees, so there's a limited amount we can get.
going on the recycled emote for the July reward, they don't have anymore costume allowance for now. Or maybe it was the mass complaint about the stuffed up costume set.
Most of the ingame costumes have already been recycled into sets, anyway.
well that was completely tactless, time to go get something to eat.
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I also don't want powers in lockboxes. However, I'm 51 years old. I only have so much energy to throw into being morally outraged by something, and this month it was entirely used up by people defending the flying of the Confederate battle flag over United States government offices (particularly since at one location the US flag was at half-staff - and by local law, the Confederate flag can't be lowered, meaning it was being flown higher, in defiance of US Flag Code). I just can't get really heavily worked up over this lockbox mess.
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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And its a token too which means if you wanted to have that power on another toon you'd have to open another set of boxes just to get it. At least thats what i think would happen since its you know..a token.
If anything this is a whole new low for Cryptic.. meanwhile im still waiting on news on my costume set.. Not entirely looking forward to it.
Handle:@XG3NX
Champions Online.. where we sell lockboxes by the dozen.
That's honestly more fuss than this entire thing is worth.
This move isn't any programme, so don't buy into any of ther weaksauce buzzwords like "adding value to subscription" (read - stuffing basic recycled emotes as a subscriber reward) or "adding value to lockboxes" (read - stuffing old power someone else made before them into lockboxes).
But then, they can't admit it, so weak PR lines is all they can do.
This is simply what CO is from now on and get used to it because it won't change. Never and ever. They no longer are afforded resources to produce costumes, so no new costumes for subscribers or lockboxes. That's why they can't produce a costume set or fix anything with costumes in a reasonable timeframe. Worse, by their own fault the last costue set sold very poorly, so even numbers will show that making new costumes is not profitable.
They don't have 3d even for building a campus, besides Cryptic had openings as enviro artists, so... It all clicks together.
This power is in lockbox because everything what CO is now under Los Gatos is a few people who can only scavenge through trash bin looking for what was left - old costumes, old powers. Or can only recycle resources.
Of course they have some new vehicles, because vehices are the most primitive models to put in this game, so... That's what they can do.
They were told - "release a lockbox", or "release a subscriber reward" - but they have nothing to produce so they have to recycle old junk. Simple.
But writing was on the wall as soon as CO was announced ging back into the same old clutches that gave it vehicles and crafting overhaul, so I don't know why anyone's surprised with this new direction.
Don't expect too many new powers in lockboxes, unless CO Trainee Team can scavenge something more from old files. Otherwise, carry on and chill out.
I can get with that, Jon. However, complaining or getting "worked up" (as you call it) over this lockbox mess on the forum of the MMO where the lockbox mess is happening is relevant. Believe me, there is no other part of my life where I even mention the word lockbox.
Click here to check out my costumes/milleniumguardian (MG) in-game/We need more tights, stances and moods
And I didn't care for any of it. Vehicles trivialized a bunch of content and created stark differences between the haves and have-nots ("Running Lemurian Invasion, have Plasma Beam or gtfo"). Their lack of customization went against the core theme of CO's create whatever you want style and large player encounters simply became a cluster of similar models all firing off the same power. Thankfully a bunch of that has been toned down.
Selling gear is a poor idea in general as it removes incentive to play the game for it, see the Diablo 3 auction house.
Now we're moving onto player powers. I'm not against the selling of powers, I'm against the selling of power. Gravity Driver is teetering on that line (assuming its eye-widening bugs are hammered out before it hits live).
However, I am wondering how well this will do as it doesn't apply to non-freeforms. A selling powers model seems questionable when the majority of your playerbase can't do much with it. It also seems questionable to make players who are currently paying into the game, either that $50 freeform or that monthly sub, to pay for new powers.
This move would make more sense if archetypes didn't exist and the game instead sold frameworks/individual powers for silvers to collect.
Hey, if you're just giving them away, >.>; I'll take one, but I'd actually pay for it.
XS
You're right, I don't pay to tell the company what they should put in. Considering the way feedback works, I'm pretty sure even if I fed Cryptic $100 bills through a firehose, they'd reply with 'we have no plans to change it' or 'working as intended'.
You know what I DO have the capacity to do? Keep my money. Not spend it. If Cryptic continues to put the 357 to their foot and squeeze the trigger and cycle through every chamber until they're left with a stump below the ankle... then I'm quite certain others will be keeping their money. Let's see how the shareholders feel as their holdings become more and more worthless on this sinking ship and overall circus of bad ideas.
So, you're right. I have no right to demand the company do anything. And they've no reason to listen to paying customers, if unemployment and failure is the desired end state. This is how business works- you listen to the people who pay you money, and do your best to generate revenue and NOT run customers off and earn a bad reputation.
If there were a 10-step method down the staircase to failure, it looks like this year Cryptic's planted their butts on the handrail and slid down it with a 'Wooo-hoooo!'
Remember when when STEAM made paid mods? YEAH the community didn't take it lighty and there was a huge Backlash.
What did Valve do? They responded to the Negative Criticism, removed Paid Mods and
Not that I have hope that the same will apply here, there is no turning back now, the power will stay forever as Lockbox rewards, and monthly sub rewards will just be recycled Emotes
They sure "Appreciate" customer loyalty
I'm pretty sure that once you use the Token the power will be unlocked account wide... right... RIGHT? GUYS?
[Citation Needed]
If they make the power per character unlocked and not account wide then the game future will be going straight to Hellfire! (since hell is a curse word now and Vanilla is a forum for babies)
Apparently there will be a weapon skin as well, if you ask me I concered anout the quality of the future costume, judging how low quality the last costume set they created was... but again that was a C-store one, and Defender's set already existed but was simply polished
Its been happening since PWE took over and now people are seeing it.
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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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!
As many people have brought up, this is an item that is only useful to people who either have (a) a subscription, or (b) freeform slots. So, for the most part: People who have spent money on the game to get access to freeform powers. These people, who dished out money (in some cases a lot) to get that access, are being told that they have to one again pay to get access.
Oh but wait, those people can get access to it without paying by just purchasing it from someone else who paid to open a lockbox, right? So I can just go ahead and put my time in farming to get the.... wait... farming? Isn't that the thing that free2players were expected to do to get stuff since they didn't pay real money for it? So this still doesn't make it okay, because now people who paid to have access to something are now being given the "either pay for it, or farm for it" line that free2players were being given.
I bought those freeform slots because of the explicit promise that I would have access to the freeform powers system. I paid my money so I wouldn't have to farm to get access to it. Now I'm being told to pay-or-farm again. Sure, maybe the new power is stupid and I won't even care about it... unfortunately, to try it out, I'll have to pay-or-farm. Boo.
TL;DR-
Though I share your sentiments, unfortunately, the shareholders in this case are shareholders of Perfect World (PWRD), not Cryptic Studios or even PWE. Champions Online is such a miniscule portion of what shareholders see in the bottom line that what happens in this game will affect shareholders not one whit.
Is that incentive enough to fix the power replacers already?
That would still have the problem of lifers/subs that don't get a power automatically. Granted, they could spend stiped (which they can use for keys, too).
The idea of having drifter salvage or lockbox visualizations for powers would be cool.
Whoever you are, be that person one hundred percent. Don't compromise on your identity.
It wasn't until years after launch (I'm taking other peoples' word for this, I kinda only remember it) that we were told they wouldn't sell powers in the C Store or in Lockboxes or whatever.
I can handle paying for something outright.
I cannot abide gambling for it. Then again, what can one expect? Texas might be big enough to bury the carcasses of Asian MMORPG's with the gamble-2-win model of revenue.
Champions Online: It's like watching a clown that isn't funny die from dysentery.
A Gold player will have the option to buy the new power for in game earned resources or to spend real money to gamble for it. Based on an assumption that free players outnumber subscribers I would guess that subscribers are not really the target customer for the lock-box. It seems more likely intended to stimulate the flow of resources from Gold players to Silver through sales to Silvers.
I am not particularly fond of the lock-box concept but I understand the need to generate revenue while adhering to a very limited budget.
This turn of events does not make me happy, but neither does it upset me. I will be able to get the new power without spending a dime of real money. Other players will be able to get more in game resources due to this item's existence. Cryptic will (probably) get more revenue. Were the game more robust in its income I might feel differently.
'Caine, miss you bud. Fly high.
The reason why drifter-unlock vehicles go for those prices at the AH is due to the number of lockboxes plus keys plus drifter salvage are needed to unlock them in the first place. It's a free market where investment and returns are also factors. It's understandable why they're priced that high.
I agree that placing powers in lockboxes is a terrible idea, but ultimately it wouldn't matter. A vocal forum minority is still a minority. I expect that there's going to be enough demand for the power like everything else rare and lockbox-exclusive for this business model to not change anytime soon.
What if you don't have to gamble for it? What if you can walk up to the Auction House and get it for 100g? Will you still be all snark and hyperbole just because someone else had to put money in the game for it?
Based on the fact that they said this would be a mid-rarity item, I'm not bothered by it at all. If that happens to change in the future, I'll be very opposed to it. Today, I'm just gonna wait and see.
Just wanted to expand on this a little as an open question to anyone who wishes to answer; If you're against the practice of powers being put in lockboxes, would you still be okay with getting one from the AH if you can meet the price in globals?
Keep in mind that if your (100% honest) answer is "yes", you're actually supporting, even if indirectly so, this kind of practice. By no means am I saying that you're being a bad person for wanting to get it from the AH, but just to point out that it's a double standard to say no to one thing but still support it in some way or another.
I just can't stomach this blog post of how proud they are of how freeform gives you total freedom of power selection, where players can choose any power in the game they want. Then immediately announce the power in a lockbox.
Continue to pay money for your subscription and also pay more money to maybe get this new power.
You're either against a thing or you're not. You can't claim to be strongly against the killing of cows yet still enjoy your burger at lunch. If you do, then you are, in fact, supporting said act 100%.
That only works if you're also opposed to lockboxes as a whole. I'm not, so in no way does that make my argument disingenuous. You seem to be assuming that "we as players" are all, 100% of us, against lockboxes. That simply isn't true.
If you were only directing this to the portion of the game's population that's against lockboxes completely, then disregard.
Yes. I would. I'd buy it from the C-Store, not from some gamble bag. I'm standing more on principle, I don't care if they're 1G each, 100000G each, or players are giving them out for sweaty high-fives.
I can handle gambling for a cosmetic item. It's a shiny little funsie, nothing that effects the gameplay. I don't like the idea of 'superior' vehicles being in lockboxes without an equivalent in the AH. I don't like the idea that Drifter Salvage is only available from the gamble boxes. I'm okay if they 'red bike' is in a gamble box and the 'blue bike' is in the C-Store, and neither have an edge over the other.
I don't think you understand. Is this snark? No, it's vitriol.
PWE is testing us. I've predicted a multitude of highly-probable moves coming from there. No move is a move itself, in situations like this- they are testing us.
We will be gambling for powers again, if this is successful. We will not see power sets, we'll see individual powers thrown into lockboxes... if we're stupid enough to pay for them.
We used to gamble for individual costume pieces, which IMHO was better because if you just wanted the boots or the hat- you could get that. Then they started putting entire costume sets in there and reduced the drop rate... lower and lower over the last few boxes. They only started doing this because it was successful the first time, even though many of us hated the idea.
They raised the prices on ALL costumes, and then doubled the price on them. They are still doing this, because we let them. Why there wasn't more outrage over this is beyond me. But they were testing the waters- to see if we were stupid enough to pay DOUBLE for costumes, and a dollar more for the poor-quality ones.
Stop letting these scumlords take advantage of us. Speak with your wallet.
It is absurdly powerful.
That's another big concern of mine. Remember how a year ago we had a few "Some players have such absurdly high DPS that it ruins alerts for everyone else" complaints? That situation is almost the norm now.
So what happens when they start handing out paid nuclear bombs? It won't be the first time that someone cashed in on power creep.
I honestly cannot think of one good thing about this. Yes yes, okay okay, the "everything is fine" people just started screeching "ITS MAKING THEM MONEY" at me... but should they really engage in every single scheme they could just because it would make them money? If they made all costume sets only last for 2 days before you had to pay to use them again, that would make them more money too... and if you've ever played another MMO where they actually have timed costumes you know that that's not an unrealistic thing.
Yes, if you make a device randomly dispense food when the rat pushes the button, then the rat will push the button a whole lot. I don't know why that scientific experiment gave people the thought "Hey... let's treat people like rats".
And pod people. Or people pretending to be. I rather admired Ashen and Biff. If whomever kidnapped them is listening lets talk cash. Calling the impersonations facetious would be kind.
No way for one bloody flipping second do I think you think this is in any way a good idea. No way. I don't know why you 2 are doing this....ah hell with it. K have fun you win bye
My only concerns: If they increase the rarity, they completely lose my support. The power disappearing after the lockbox has.
If the power disappears after the lockbox (which seems unlikely with the regular occurrence of the Timewarp Lockbox and all that entails), then what are the players missing out on? This power isn't crucial to "winning the game" or anything close to it.
The real problem with this thing is that it's not going to sell a lot if they keep it a mid-rarity item. They're trying to make more money, but they won't with the sheer amount of people that will be buying it second-hand on the auction. So then the rarity goes down to the level of costumes, then we have a big problem. It becomes exclusive to those who want to throw down fifty bucks or more or have tons of in-game cash to spend on it. Either way, that's a problem with me.
The only thing I'm not doing is throwing a tantrum over it right now. I'm just waiting to see how it plays out. I can sit here and scream "POWERS IN LOCKBOXES IS BAD!!" and insulting the developers at every turn, but that's going to get nobody nowheres. I'm gonna sit back, and watch, and hope it's not a trainwreck. And if it turns out to be a trainwreck, I'm just not gonna buy into it. If you think I'm not proactive enough because I'm not picketing and talking about the end of the world, it's probably because to me, this is just a game. It's my favorite game, sure, but if it becomes completely undesirable, then I'll just take off.
Call me naive but I trust what the developers/people in charge are doing, because I trust that they're doing it for the best interest of the game. I could be wrong, sure, ask everyone who's ever been orange-texted, by me, they'll tell you I'm wrong 100% of the time. We're all used to me being stupid about everything. If that makes me a "pod person" then all I have to say is "Can you hear me? Can you feel me near you?"
If this is the death knell for the game, then so it is. In its current incarnation (that we have yet to see, it should be pointed out) and I was part of it, then my bad. You guys were right! Sorry in advance!
If it's not? Then whatevers, let's just play games.
Needless to say finding the 2 Costume Sets was a nightmare, nobody had them for sale, ESPECIALLY King Sekhen which is now vanished from AH
It can't be, the PTS forum is getting bombarded with BUG reports about the power
We all know that Rank 2 and Rank 3 are not balanced correctly and give -200% and -300% Resistance debuff
NOW If they ignore the Feedbacks and push it live like that... then PTS is confirmed to be useless and justs gives you the illusion that you are helping
They ignore Feedbacks but really now, they CAN'T Ignore THAT! they CAN'T be that Ignorant
It won't be the first time they pushed bugged powers live (New Telepathy) or Powers that are Bugged and can be Exploited (Nighthawk Mini Set)
I noticed a pattern here, New PTS Update a few days before Maintenance/Update, no time for feedbacks and the content is getting shoved live with bugs, I wonder if this will happen this week too
It'll be nerfed a few months after the lockbox and powers have stopped selling. To make the next overpowered lockbox power.
Just how many more powers he has made are left in the Code?
You just made me Angry just by Thinking about it!
They can't be that Greedy, can they?
With the difference
They Nerfed/Butched/Sloppy Worked/Not Correctly Balanced/NERF OR NOTHING/Nerf into Uselessness Plasma beam... 2-3 Years Later
and that's because of the Stupid Mechanon HiJack Event
then they ignore feedbacks about how to correctly balance it among the negative feedbacks and uproar they caused
If history is anything to go by. They've nerfed powers in the past only to release new items (mark 3 weapons, justice gear) shortly after.
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!
Right now, some guy at PWE is wringing his hands and looking forward to the Zen purchases and data from this next lockbox. He's licking his yellow teeth and the corner of his smile- because he did this before. He did this when entire costumes were one item in a lockbox. He did this when the drop rate of said costumes continued to drop.
This one thing? Sure, it's no big deal. But just as I said when they released gender-specific costumes "If enough people throw money at it, they'll see it as a viable strategy for the future"... thank God we dodged that bullet (I think).
A more real-world example? Gyms used to offer monthly, even weekly membership fees. They instead decided to go with yearly fees, because they know most people will give up after a while. First it was tested, and when it was determined to be profitable, it because nearly the national standard for gyms.
Face it: Bad practices like this will continue if you reward it with your money. If you think 'it's just going to be this one time' or 'if the drop rate isn't bad it's no big deal' then you are fooling yourself.
It's most certainly one of the most powerful abilities I've ever seen in this game. It's not essential to winning, but it clearly gives people who pay cash money a clear advantage over other players.
Essentially, you are paying to win.
And before you say that 'vehicles do the same thing', I'll actually tell you that vehicles are no different than the be-critters in that they do 'okay' for people rolling squishy AT's but don't hold a candle to an actual Freeform Build... and also, they're useless/unusable in the vast majority of the game.
I used to be positive about Champions Online. But they were going to charge us for Vibora Bay. And then they were going to sell lifetime subs and let the game crash and burn within a year under Atari. Then they took away old crafting models. Then we had nearly a full year of nothing but vehicles. Then we had no UNTIL Field reports. Then we had nothing but gamble boxes every 4 months. And then we had about six and a half months of ZERO contact from the new development team at Cryptic North without so much as a greeting. Then every patch broke the game. Then things started getting nerfed because a real solution required actual work. Then we had the prices of costumes DOUBLED at worst and and a dollar more at best (for the worst ones). And now we have them testing to see if we're stupid enough to gamble for powers.
This is not a tantrum. I must completely be fair- I don't play this game. It does not offer me a challenge (and I suck at MMORPG's), and it does not offer anything new after one play-through. I use this game as roleplaying engine, and there's something on the way right now that's going to knock that out of the water (Hope you weren't too attached to the CoX players that came over here just for RP, because 'Soon' is gonna cripple that real quick).
What I am doing is giving you firm warning.
If this turns out to be 'not such a big deal', and it goes through- it will become a common practice. There's about two dozen other powers sitting in the files right now, just waiting to have a drop rate slapped onto them. It should not be a big deal. It should be a disaster. It should be a PR nightmare. It should make Cryptic burn the midnight oil trying to find some way to do damage control.
"Sit back and wait" has given us nothing. But, to be honest? "Giving feedback" hasn't either. Whoever's in charge seems to be content to do whatever the hell they want to make a quick buck and give us all the finger.
This won't kill the game. You know why? Champions Online is dying already. It's not going to make a comeback unless someone else takes control. That's the hard, honest, truth. It will not get any better. We'll get 'content' that is 5 minutes of gameplay and the fanboys will gobble that up like it's lottery gold.
Meanwhile- TSW is cranking out content that offers HOURS of stuff to do and engaging, well-written stories. GW2 is releasing a proper expansion. And there are two (If one wasn't just a scam) Superhero MMORPG's waiting to scoop up the dissatisfied masses. These games are 'newer' than CO, but unlike CO? They have a quality product that delivers without the absurd problems as we've seen here. Sure, you may not 'like' them because they aren't superhero games... but imagine if half the effort of those games went into CO?
Sad, isn't it?
There is nothing wrong with pay to win in a FTP game. Whats wrong is the stuff that EA does in TOR things like PAY TO RUN and PAY TO PICK THAT THING UP!
Thats the thing people who pay for freeform are paying to win and should not have to use lockboxes to get all the powers :I
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!
This was directed to those who say they are against powers in lockboxes, but are okay with buying them on the AH after they've been liberated from said boxes by others.
But disregarding anyway due to your apathy. Sure, this isn't world hunger we're discussing; it's a game. But it's a forum dedicated to said game, so don't feign surprised when players voice their concerns about it here. Apathy on your part doesn't invalidate the concerns of others.
http://chatabout.com/topic/world-hunger ---->
Everyone knows that.
Whoever you are, be that person one hundred percent. Don't compromise on your identity.
Nobody's saying that it's going to be 100G. That random figure was just used as an example.
Avianos, if you need any boxes, let me know. I think the only one I don't currently have stockpiled is SOCRATES' Data Cache. I'm not even sure why I'm keeping the silly things any more...
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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Okay, so it's apathy on my part just because I don't mind lockboxes in the game? Oh boy, it's "I don't agree with this person so I'm going to make up things to argue with them" time, isn't it?
"Apathy on your part doesn't invalidate the concerns of others." What makes you think I want to invalidate anything? I'm just giving my opinion like everyone else.
And no, I'm not trying to feign surprise here. The only thing I'm surprised at is that there aren't more topics going on about this. We thought the forums were going to be a nightmare for a while.
PWE doesn't listen to feedback, and it doesn't even seem like they're that interested in making money. There are an incredible amount of costume pieces, weapon skins, NPC powers, and emotes that are already in game, waiting to be made available. Players have mentioned time and again, for a number of years now, that they would gladly buy these things from the C-store, Q-store, lockboxes, fruit-stand by the side of the road, etc. No sale. This is like a guy offering to buy my fingernail clippings for $10, and I just don't accept the deal. Utterly mind-boggling. C-store items that have probably never sold one unit in their entire existence remain at ludicrously high prices, despite suggestions of price points we'd be willing to pay for them.
Anyway, all of that to say that you guys should've figured out long, long ago that nothing you do or say on here, nothing you do or don't do with lockboxes, nothing you do on the C-store, nothing you helpfully chime in with on PTS, basically nothing you are capable of doing in your life will alter anything that this company decides to do. If they make a hilariously bad costume set and decide to release it with myriad bugs, they're just gonna do that. If they break something, they might just leave it broken. If there's something you and everyone else wants, but PWE doesn't feel like taking the time to do it, you're not getting it. If a comedically OP new power is released, get it. If that power is nerfed into uselessness later on, don't cry about it on here, 'cause Cryptic gonna Cryptic.
Complain about it, boycott it, use a professional series of charts and graphs to show why it's a bad idea, it simply does not matter.
I think the new forums are just such a beating to use that it's curtailing it. I'm still in disbelief at how bad they are, and it's made a noticeable dent in activity on here.