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Suggestion AUTO GROUP

Problem:

Chained quests like the COMIC BOOK missions are almost impossible for single players due to the fact that the END BOSSES health resets after you die.

Solution:

Utilize the AUTO GROUP system from the click to fight random boss boxes you see on the game screen (the ones what give you extra, XP,RESOURCES,GEMS ect)

Simple allow the same functionality to the mission sections so that for quests that requires more then one player, people can click to join YOUR Comicbook mission and enter as though they were clicking to enter a random boss battle.

This little fix will greatly appease single players like myself who struggle to find groups when questing.

Comments

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    markhawkmanmarkhawkman Posts: 4,915 Arc User
    You're supposed to beat the boss without getting KOed....
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    soulforgersoulforger Posts: 1,649 Arc User

    You're supposed to beat the boss without getting KOed....

    Not every build can solo those bosses on their own.
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    markhawkmanmarkhawkman Posts: 4,915 Arc User
    edited September 2016
    Yes, well, you can always go and ask around MC zone chat for a teamup. I did it my first run of Whiteout... which I foolishly tried to solo at 12... on a ranged DPS character.
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    theravenforcetheravenforce Posts: 7,065 Arc User
    "LF Healer or Tank @ [Insert Your Level Here] for [Insert Comic Mission Here] PM me pls"

    Type that into Zone and wait for a response. If you are finding some solo missions difficult then there is no harm or shame in teaming up with other people to beat the mission.
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    nimbusdq#2048 nimbusdq Posts: 23 Arc User
    edited September 2016
    I was going to suggest that when soloing the end bosses health doesn't get reset when you die! so you can grind the boss dead.. but it seems CO doesn't seem to like simple fixes.

    No putting "LF Healer or Tank @ [Insert Your Level Here] for [Insert Comic Mission Here] PM me pls" does not work 100% of the time.. normally I waste about 30 mins before someone responds, and then all they do is troll me for having a themed (Elec,Ice etc) build and not a ARCANE TANK MONGREL build to kill the bosses..

    People like Themed Superheroes!

    and your method does not cover all the Zones.. so you end up spamming each zone to get a response.

    It's far better to use an AUTO GROUP system that CO already has to be used on group quests.

    CHAMPIONS ONLINE .. Please make it happen.






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    chuckwolfchuckwolf Posts: 274 Arc User
    Actually I suggested a similar system for the 5 man instances, such as Telios' Tower, Destroyers's factory and Rhinoplasty to name a few... while they can be soloed (I've done with the help of sidekicks devices) It's tough especially for new players, so it should allow you to go to the entrance queue up, do other missions and join the mission when it's full.
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    chuckwolf said:

    Actually I suggested a similar system for the 5 man instances, such as Telios' Tower, Destroyers's factory and Rhinoplasty to name a few... while they can be soloed (I've done with the help of sidekicks devices) It's tough especially for new players, so it should allow you to go to the entrance queue up, do other missions and join the mission when it's full.

    like
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    pantagruel01pantagruel01 Posts: 7,091 Arc User
    The comic book mission bosses have their health scaled to team size anyway; you should be able to solo them, though squishier builds may want to bring along heal packs.
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    It's not about just health scale, it's about making the end bosses winnable for non arcane tank mongrels .. this is A superhero game and comic books are normally about the struggle between one superhero and one supervillain end boss.. no matter how the odds are stacked against the single hero.. the hero has one final Trump card that beats the big boss in the end!

    I was playing that computer glitch comic book with tank type character. And dispite my hardness. I kept getting owned by the spider in the end! And this was on "normal" not hard or anything.

    Comic books have to be winnable!!
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    pantagruel01pantagruel01 Posts: 7,091 Arc User


    I was playing that computer glitch comic book with tank type character. And dispite my hardness. I kept getting owned by the spider in the end! And this was on "normal" not hard or anything.

    What level were you? The level scaling on variable level missions can be somewhat dubious (at level 40, I don't recall the spider even being a meaningful challenge).
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    markhawkmanmarkhawkman Posts: 4,915 Arc User
    The spider is actually a matter of minion control and knowing when to block, but you can't see the tell to block if you're focused on the minions. The spider actually doesn't do much damage, it's the minions. When the spider uses a bam, it's charging that web hold attack. I'm not saying it's easy to solo, I've never done it, but it's not particularly hard to 2-man. Also I'm pretty sure that mission says it's recommended to use 2-5.
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    nimbusdq#2048 nimbusdq Posts: 23 Arc User
    edited September 2016
    That's my original point, I feel we have now gone in circles.

    It's hard for UK players to find groups around 11pm so my original suggestion fix's that.

    You can't just "Zone" tell because you end up waiting ages for trolls and time waster's

    End bosses are unwinnable for solo casual players who don't want to sacrifice themed superheroes for arcane tank mongrels.

    Champion Online either needs to make a "solo" difficulty which stops all end bosses health resets on player death.

    Or the AUTO GROUP suggestion I originally made.
    Post edited by nimbusdq#2048 on
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    markhawkmanmarkhawkman Posts: 4,915 Arc User
    umm... that would be a totally new feature since every enemy in the game does that.
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    pantagruel01pantagruel01 Posts: 7,091 Arc User
    Many bosses will reset to specific bars, so if you do 1/3 or 2/3 damage it will stick. I have no idea if the spider in Fatal Error #1 is one of those.
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    nimbusdq#2048 nimbusdq Posts: 23 Arc User
    edited September 2016

    umm... that would be a totally new feature since every enemy in the game does that.

    That's NOT a new feature.. I've played since beta and there are several bosses that DON'T reset if you die..

    The radiation boss in wasteland.
    MENTON in the Prison.
    The purple gang leader.
    to name a few...

    I'm done with you trolling me! .. I've said my suggestions, they are solid and well founded and the AUTO GROUP system is already in place for instant team fights, so this wouldn't take much to implement. If you can't get your head around a simple suggestion, then you have no business commenting!
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    markhawkmanmarkhawkman Posts: 4,915 Arc User
    Troll? No. This isn't meant to be solo content. It's also not a queue or an open mission, which is where auto grouping comes in. It's actually a story mission, albeit not as easy as most, it even tells you that.

    Also it's not as simple as you seem to think. The devs would have to rebuild the way you pick up the mission, either to add a queue, or create a new feature.
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    spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User
    edited September 2016
    That would be a lot of buttons..

    They cold add them to the que UI tho, that'd be neat. You know that window that pops up when you click the fist icon on your mini-map?

    My suggestion for a fix that might actually happen sometime this decade is find a SG, or get some friends in game and get them to run those with you.

    Of course, if you don't end up finding a fix... feel free to skip the comic series entirely! They're completely optional content.


    PS - we don't all play "arcane tank mongrels". In fact... most of us don't. I've solo'd comic series on squishy Archetypes... and that was back before they made players OP with on alert. With some practice you too might discover the strategies that allow you to solo these things.
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    spinnytop said:

    That would be a lot of buttons..

    They could add them to the quest UI tho, that'd be neat. You know that window that pops up when you click the fist icon on your mini-map?

    Yes.. It's nice and simple.. You accept the mission.. and in your Quest log you add one toggle button AUTO GROUP (On/Off) next to your primary quest. That way everyone with "Looking for group" activated can see your mission in their quest log (as a faded optional at the top of the Quest Log UI) and click JOIN (This brings up the AUTO JOIN window (the same as when you click on the random bosses on your display) and once the boxes are filled up to the quests recommended group amount then your joiners have the option of going straight to the mission and starting it or not. This would countdown for about a minute then disappear and you forfeit your space.

    And the additional joiners are teleported to the Main Character's quest at the start so the mission can begin.

    This concept of AUTO MISSION's is quite common on other MMO's (Rift for example) so why can't it be used here?
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    pantagruel01pantagruel01 Posts: 7,091 Arc User
    Making every mission in the game queueable would be quite a lot of work, and for most of them you'd just discover that no-one was currently running it.
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    spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User

    spinnytop said:

    That would be a lot of buttons..

    They could add them to the quest UI tho, that'd be neat. You know that window that pops up when you click the fist icon on your mini-map?

    Yes.. It's nice and simple.. You accept the mission.. and in your Quest log you add one toggle button AUTO GROUP (On/Off) next to your primary quest. That way everyone with "Looking for group" activated can see your mission in their quest log (as a faded optional at the top of the Quest Log UI) and click JOIN (This brings up the AUTO JOIN window (the same as when you click on the random bosses on your display) and once the boxes are filled up to the quests recommended group amount then your joiners have the option of going straight to the mission and starting it or not. This would countdown for about a minute then disappear and you forfeit your space.

    And the additional joiners are teleported to the Main Character's quest at the start so the mission can begin.

    This concept of AUTO MISSION's is quite common on other MMO's (Rift for example) so why can't it be used here?
    A new interface is unlikely. Auto-grouping also sounds like it would be hit or miss. A que, like the ones we already have, for some of the bigger chunks of content would be fine.
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    nimbusdq#2048 nimbusdq Posts: 23 Arc User
    edited September 2016
    I did abit of research last night.. I spent almost two hours sending Zone tells asking for groups, saying does anybody need a lvl 40 ELEC DPS for Comic Book missions.. can I join any group mission.

    I got no takers. No one wanted help! Or to help me!

    The grouping system DOES NOT WORK!

    I got back "join a supergroup" which I would if there was a UK players supergroup that plays on alternate nights from 11pm

    Or "if you go to the auction house.. you can buy a "steelhead soldier" for 1 or 2 GP

    Again this fails to address the problem.

    You people saying "it's alot of work" are not suggestion filters for game resources, and without just trashing suggestions because you're all elites who have done everything!

    Work towards something better.

    I'm a casual player, who's time is limited, so I don't have hours to grind for the best gear and resources to make up for the lack of a good grouping system.

    This IS an MMO afterall.
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    spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User
    edited September 2016
    Oh okay, I can see your thinking is all screwed up.

    Listen, it's not that I've "done everything", it's that I know what's up with the people working to develop the game. Given the realities of what they have on staff, programming in new UI features is just not going to happen. I'm not shooting your idea down, I'm letting you know that what you're demanding is very unlikely to happen anytime soon. You may think you're making a super good Ace Attorney case, but you're barking up a tree that, quite frankly, doesn't even exist in the current context.


    Just skip that content, level with the stuff you can do solo, or learn to solo that content, or get some friends or a SG with people in it who will do that stuff for you. If you're waiting for new UI stuff to make groups for you, you'll be waiting for a while.


    PS - what you're suggesting has been suggested before, by me.
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    Let's talk motivation...

    Champions Online is "free to play" so bringing in more players means more potential customers for the shop e-commerce.

    It's financially viable to improve the grouping mechanic, and allow more casual players to access and complete content which has already been created.

    More players, more income.

    Stupid things like end bosses health resetting on instanced mission's. This causes frustrated casual players, who end up rage-quitting because of bad programming.

    Less players, less income.

    The AUTO GROUP suggestion, is a good idea that will bring in more players.
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    spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User
    This one time I suggested that auto manufacturers start producing cold fusion engines for cars.

    Why didn't they do it?
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    Probably due to the cons in cold fusion.

    Cons
    Ignition temperature is extremely high.
    Any substance at these high temperature are in the plasma state which is very difficult to contain.
    Large-scale fusion reactions are very expensive.
    May require more energy to create fusion than one can harvest from a reaction.
    Nuclear Fusion was not a controlled reaction until now."
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    hemslordhemslord Posts: 164 Arc User
    edited September 2016
    I like the idea of a "drop in" team-up system for comic books, I frequently solo them but it's just not the same without a group. Also like you I have asked around to see if people will join but it's very rare that you can get a team together, the only content people will be eager to join is if you recruit for Nemcon or TA in which a team is mandatory.

    I think this is a suggestion that could be taken into consideration in the future but at the moment the devs seems to be focusing more on end game content to keep the current player base interested. My guess is that after the devs are satisfied with this they will start focusing more on increasing the player base but this could be anywhere from a month to a couple of years from now.

    Your best chances currently are to just keep asking around, hope you can find someone to team up with and throw them a friend request. With any luck, they might be up for joining you on another adventure pack.

    P.S. I am also a UK player and usually play untill silly o'clock in the morning so feel free to add me. I'm usually up for an adventure pack or any kind of team content. I'm often busy Cosmic hunting but I don't mind dropping out half way through a Cosmic if I feel that the group doesn't need me (looking at you dino >:) ).

    My handle is @cooliocarl
    Post edited by hemslord on
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    Awesome helms I'm Nimbusdq and my main is Nimbus lvl 40 Electric Build.
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    spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User
    Btw keep in mind you don't need to find a full team of 5 people for stuff. Often just having one other person makes a huge difference. A lot of stuff scales to team size anyway, so more people just means more enemies.
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    magpieuk2014magpieuk2014 Posts: 1,268 Arc User
    The Auto Group idea is a good one, and it's not unreasonable to suggest it, given how much auto queing there is in the game. And I don't see that "Suggestions Box" should be limited to things which are possible in the current financial climate. Maybe it has been suggested before. And maybe, sometimes, older players need to keep their ennui to themselves.

    The problem you've got is two fold, really. CO Adventure Packs/Lairs/instanced missions ignore good game design and don't give you a save point before the boss fight, so that if you're getting creamed you can'y leave and go and get some more consumables, help, or whatever, without losing all your progress. They're not going to change that any time soon, so what you need is a deus ex machina - a sidekick, like the Until soldier, or the Harajuku Twins, a Become, which would give you some better attacks or - even better - one of those Backups! which summons a Champion to your aid. They drop in the current event, although I thnk the devs have got them lined up for a nerf, in that "making the game too easy" trip they're currently on.

    Secondly - the important bit - is the people who want to play this stuff. Even if you can get help in Zone, half the time it's some bored speed runner or perk collector who has no interest in your enjoyment, they just want to zap through. The other half is the good part - meeting people with characters at the same level, who are into the game for the same reasons. Auto queue loses that.

    What they could do - and which wouldn't be too difficult to add - is to have a NPC quest giver that sets up mini events; 48 hour missions with bonus rewards for completing a specific adventure pack, Fatal Error, Mechanon, etc. That would concentrate players on the same piece of back catalogue content at the same time and make it more likely that you'd find people who wanted to play it.
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    pantagruel01pantagruel01 Posts: 7,091 Arc User

    What they could do - and which wouldn't be too difficult to add - is to have a NPC quest giver that sets up mini events; 48 hour missions with bonus rewards for completing a specific adventure pack, Fatal Error, Mechanon, etc. That would concentrate players on the same piece of back catalogue content at the same time and make it more likely that you'd find people who wanted to play it.

    I proposed something similar here, though Fatal Error would need tweaks since it doesn't have team size scaling.
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    magpieuk2014magpieuk2014 Posts: 1,268 Arc User
    I'd quite like them to do that for the whole game.... an NPC mentor that suggests missions appropriate for your level. Would be a way of getting people out to play stuff while levelling, rather than losing the quest thread at level 11 and never picking it up again.
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    markhawkmanmarkhawkman Posts: 4,915 Arc User
    I thought that was what the crime computer was for?
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    pantagruel01pantagruel01 Posts: 7,091 Arc User

    I'd quite like them to do that for the whole game.... an NPC mentor that suggests missions appropriate for your level.

    That already exists, though it doesn't work all that well. One problem with the existing mission chains is that they were designed for pre-alert, so if you mix GRAB alerts into them, you have a 20% xp bonus and some extra xp from the alerts and you out-level the chains.
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    magpieuk2014magpieuk2014 Posts: 1,268 Arc User
    edited September 2016
    The Crime Computer is hopeless. It offers all the missions you haven't done, regardless of level, location, or even whether you've unlocked the zone they're in. In no particular order.
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    riveroceanriverocean Posts: 1,690 Arc User


    What they could do - and which wouldn't be too difficult to add - is to have a NPC quest giver that sets up mini events; 48 hour missions with bonus rewards for completing a specific adventure pack, Fatal Error, Mechanon, etc. That would concentrate players on the same piece of back catalogue content at the same time and make it more likely that you'd find people who wanted to play it.

    This is actually a really good idea. *thumbs up*

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    markhawkmanmarkhawkman Posts: 4,915 Arc User

    The Crime Computer is hopeless. It offers all the missions you haven't done, regardless of level, location, or even whether you've unlocked the zone they're in. In no particular order.

    So how would your theoretical NPC do it better?
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    magpieuk2014magpieuk2014 Posts: 1,268 Arc User
    My theoretical NPC would be in one or more of the social points around the game.

    You'd go up to it and it would look at a) your level, b) the missions you'd already done, and then give you a mission to go and start a new quest arc appropriate for your level. You'd get a bonus reward for completing the last mission in the arc, come back to the NPC to claim it, pick up another arc, Rinse and Repeat. If it's a double XP week then go off and play that, you leave as level 20, come back as 30... and it offers you the start of a level 30 mission chain. You're never out of sync.

    The legwork (working out a list of starter missions for each level) could be done by the community, with the people that look after the wiki. Ask people to suggest their favourite mission chains and provide the level and starter mission, and we build a big list of things which are fun to play, but which people miss out on because it's not offered to them at the right time.

    The NPC would also have a calendar of mini-events; missions to complete an adventure pack, stand alone story arcs like Fatal Error or Steel Crusade, the existing Lairs, those final Unity missions (Cazulon,etc), three Open Missions... again, that's just about building a list of content (team/solo) and the level it's appropriate for. That would keep the community busy and focused, especially when they hit level 40.


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    nimbusdq#2048 nimbusdq Posts: 23 Arc User
    edited September 2016
    I like the idea, but we can make it more comic book themed.

    This NPC (let's make him a paper boy offering you the latest news)

    And he tells you about the latest overarching threats befouling the city.

    Each level range can have a main threat that all (most) of the quests are linked around the one big boss (think criminal mastermind that manipulates everything in the city to go wrong)

    Also we need something to give capped players as well.. complete the chains get extra questonite gems.
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    spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User
    So we need some sort of system that funnels players together for certain group content...... *smirk*

    You'd go up to it and it would look at a) your level, b) the missions you'd already done, and then give you a mission to go and start a new quest arc appropriate for your level. You'd get a bonus reward for completing the last mission in the arc, come back to the NPC to claim it, pick up another arc, Rinse and Repeat. If it's a double XP week then go off and play that, you leave as level 20, come back as 30... and it offers you the start of a level 30 mission chain. You're never out of sync.

    Eh... that just seems like a whole lot of extra leg work, walking to the NPC then going off to the mission area. Really highlights one of the reasons a lot of people probably prefer to just do Grabs - all that running around. Make the NPC contact you remotely and it likely works a bit better - there are already missions where an NPC will mail you, so that's how I would do it. The bonus XP for completing an entire arc would improve that part of the experience - it doesn't feel very heroic just dropping out in the middle of a big conspiracy chase.

    The NPC would also have a calendar of mini-events; missions to complete an adventure pack, stand alone story arcs like Fatal Error or Steel Crusade, the existing Lairs, those final Unity missions (Cazulon,etc), three Open Missions... again, that's just about building a list of content (team/solo) and the level it's appropriate for. That would keep the community busy and focused, especially when they hit level 40.

    I think the focus for level 40 is to give us team content balanced for level 40s.

    As for leveling, I think an adventure pack daily is still a great idea ( like it was when I suggested it not too long ago unfortunately ). Some of those other things might be feasible too. Of course, let's not go overboard with it, otherwise you risk having people completely avoid doing anything other than these dailies while leveling up.
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