Archetype rotation program to make a return anytime soon? :-)

agentnx5 · August 2012

It's been a fairly long time since they did this last... I think it would be beneficial to do this again, especially for many of the new players I've seen around.

I feel this would help to do an updated rotation program. (not that it'd help me at all, being a lifetime member it doesn't matter to me personally, but I know it's great for others)

I feel it helps new players get to experience the game in a new way (finding what they like most), helps Cryptic by promoting their products (premium archetypes, more revenue), and helps the community by encouraging diversity and longevity.

So... Any chance this could make a return? Would anybody have friends they know that would like this? Aye?/Nay?

ashensnow · August 2012

I'll /sign this.

secksegai · August 2012

I don't know why they never made it a regular thing - most people don't like investing in something they may end up disliking completely, and rotation allowed people to try things they'd consider purchasing.

klitty · August 2012

I would love this and another free slot!!

/signed

ofarmer · August 2012

This has no effect on me whatsoever, but I still love the archetype rotation program. Absolutely /signed.

astazia · August 2012

secksegai wrote: »

I don't know why they never made it a regular thing - most people don't like investing in something they may end up disliking completely, and rotation allowed people to try things they'd consider purchasing.

On the other hand, if you know exactly what you want you are probably not going to buy any others. I'm sure they'd rather try and get people to buy all of them and figure it out the expensive way, or at least drop $15 for a month sub and test them that way.

I think they said it would never return anyway.

Not that I care either way, I'd never play this game as silver.

agentnx5 · August 2012

Hmm, looks fairly popular so far... ^_^ More than I thought it would actually.

astazia wrote: »

I think they said it would never return anyway.

You should provided a direct quote with a statement like that, please.

And even then, there's been other cases of "never" that then became "well... maybe" (i.e.: the most recent Blood Moon eh?)

I understand why, if you were Cryptic, you wouldn't necessarily run this promotion non-stop, for the same reason you wouldn't want the PTS running non-stop as a permanent thing (reason: people stop logging into the official area and only play in the testing server, causing a hemoraging of revenue if it stays up indefinitely)

But once or twice a year would be wise, and win-win, especially when you consider the turnover rate as of recent months... Giving people, especially people who are reluctant to buy stuff, a chance to try something new out for free, it does increase sales a bit.

astazia · August 2012

I did say "I think." But never mind, I went back and looked and my memory was wrong, I was thinking about when they said it wouldn't continue and thought they had said something about it being a unique one time thing, but I was wrong.

Here you go anyway:

Q: Can the AT rotation program be a permanent thing?

A: The AT rotation promotion may come back from time to time but ther are currently no plans to have the system as a permanent feature.

http://co.perfectworld.com/news/?p=579791

Of course they've changed their stance on a ton of things since then so who knows.

lo1processor · August 2012

The rotation program is what made me go Gold. I'm all for it, but they need to do one of each role for each of the 5 days. Hopefully they will make a some new archetypes, or revamp some, like the Grimoire, but otherwise, I say they should do . . .

Day 1) The Tempest (This is a great one, and electrical powers do great damage.)

Day 2) The Invincible (There are countless toons out there usuing power armor powers, and a ton of the new users I see in the Ren Cen eat that stuff up.)

Day 3) The Disciple (I hear this one is good.)

Day 4) The Specialist or The Night Avenger (I don't really like any of the Hybrid Archetypes, but these two can hook in those looking for a dark assassin toon, which a lot of peeps do these days.)

Day 5) The Flora (This one really uses the plant powerset's skills well. Wait, WE DON'T HAVE THAT YET . . .)

We need a plant powerset . . .

/signed

agentnx5 · August 2012

astazia wrote: »

I did say "I think." But never mind, I went back and looked and my memory was wrong, I was thinking about when they said it wouldn't continue and thought they had said something about it being a unique one time thing, but I was wrong.

[...]
http://co.perfectworld.com/news/?p=579791

Of course they've changed their stance on a ton of things since then so who knows.

Thank you for the quote! :-) And you've just earned major kudos with me, admitting errors or misjudgements is rare but always respectable, so thanks for that as well

And yes I agree with you there's no guarantee either way, I'm not sure really what the heck the dev team is doing anymore... They seem to be changing leadership a lot, moving developers between games a lot, and ignoring community concerns. Very inconsistent it seems...

lo1processor wrote: »

The rotation program is what made me go Gold

Case in point for what I'm talking about, ty for sharing that!

lo1processor wrote: »

We need a plant powerset . . .

/signed

lol! That's a whole other topic entirely! (plant powers) And yes, I have a druid character that'd perfect for.

Back on topic though, my own little list (each one lasted a week last time, right?):

Devastator (a big success last time)
Savage (a chance to showoff that improved regen!)
Inventor (a big success last time, support drones and orbital canons everywhere)
Void (show off the best block in the game, a decent tank-ish build too, suprisingly)
Disciple (not many new players even know about it)
Unleashed (a strong PvP archetype)
Tempest (*zap* I lightning!)

Any other rotation suggestions?

jonsills · August 2012

agentnx5 wrote: »

Back on topic though, my own little list (each one lasted a week last time, right?):
Devastator (a big success last time)

Savage (a chance to showoff that improved regen!)

Inventor (a big success last time, support drones everywhere)

Void (show off the best block in the game, decent tank-ish build too in fact)

Disciple (not many new players even know about it)

Unleashed (a strong PvP archetype)

Any other rotation suggestions?

Unleashed wouldn't really make sense, because that's a free AT. You want to rotate the premium ATs.

So:

Devastator
Savage
Void
Inventor
Disciple
Night Avenger (assuming this is a premium AT)
Tempest
Others I've forgotten.

neuraldamage · August 2012

astazia wrote: »

I did say "I think." But never mind, I went back and looked and my memory was wrong, I was thinking about when they said it wouldn't continue and thought they had said something about it being a unique one time thing, but I was wrong.

Here you go anyway:

http://co.perfectworld.com/news/?p=579791

Of course they've changed their stance on a ton of things since then so who knows.

Must be busy working on those "moar emotes"*. :rolleyes:

*Question #7

The Devastator is still available through the Alienware promotion so it probably doesn't need to be included.

ariesmajor · August 2012

I ended up buying and keeping my inventor because of the free champion rotation, I approve.

agentnx5 · August 2012

jonsills wrote: »

Unleashed wouldn't really make sense, because that's a free AT. You want to rotate the premium ATs.

So:
Devastator

Savage

Void

Inventor

Disciple

Night Avenger (assuming this is a premium AT)

Tempest

Others I've forgotten.

Whoops! My mistake. :shy: For some reason I had it in memory Unleashed was premium... guess not.

ariesmajor wrote: »

I ended up buying and keeping my inventor because of the free champion rotation, I approve.

+1 :-) Yay!

Hmm, would somebody mind sharing this thread/topic with your friends or linking it on Zone once or twice at varied hours? I'm not sure if Silver players can post on the forums, but it'd be wonderful get more feedback from those it affects the most (and especially to where Cryptic can see it also benefits their sales).

lotar295 · August 2012

agentnx5 wrote: »

Hmm, would somebody mind sharing this thread/topic with your friends or linking it on Zone once or twice at varied hours? I'm not sure if Silver players can post on the forums, but it'd be wonderful get more feedback from those it affects the most (and especially to where Cryptic can see it also benefits their sales).

I'd also like for the AT rotation to come around,it'd help me see which AT I want to buy by giving each AT a bit of a "test run",especially the new bat-er..I mean Nighthawk AT,I kinda wish we had the rotation a bit earlier, probably would have bought something other than specialist if I had saw it.

Oh and about the silver forum thing you stated.....Testing...testing..123,yep,we can post here,and in every other part of this forum from the PTS to this

holloweaver · August 2012

The AT rotation program is a good promoting feature, I hope they'll bring it back soon.

/sign.

agentnx5 · August 2012

lotar295 wrote: »

I'd also like for the AT rotation to come around,it'd help me see which AT I want to buy by giving each AT a bit of a "test run",especially the new bat-er..I mean Nighthawk AT,I kinda wish we had the rotation a bit earlier, probably would have bought something other than specialist if I had saw it.

Oh and about the silver forum thing you stated.....Testing...testing..123,yep,we can post here,and in every other part of this forum from the PTS to this

Ah good... At one point you had to have had an existing Atari account (obviously outdated now lol), Gold or Lifetime membership, or bought a certain amount of C-Store points. I guess now it isn't restricted, which is excellent.

However there's going to have to be a lot more open support for this to come back. Cryptic seems a bit hard of hearing as of late, evidenced clearly by the most recent Ask Cryptic.

lotar295 · August 2012

agentnx5 wrote: »

Ah good... At one point you had to have had an existing Atari account (obviously outdated now lol), Gold or Lifetime membership, or bought a certain amount of C-Store points. I guess now it isn't restricted, which is excellent.

However there's going to have to be a lot more open support for this to come back. Cryptic seems a bit hard of hearing as of late, evidenced clearly by the most recent Ask Cryptic.

well if I read the restriction thing about the forums,I think us silvers can post if we've bought stuff from the C store or have a balance in it,which previously I have made several purchases from it,so It may or may not be restricted,forgot to mention that the first time though.

agentnx5 · August 2012

It's odd this hasn't gotten more traffic... I guess that's just a sign these forums are pretty much a ghost town.

ktm1 · August 2012

i have been a lifetimer for many moons, so it doesnt affect me very much, however the last rotation program brought quite a bit of life into the game, silver players logged in more frequently, and there was a proliferation of character types. it was good. besides i am all for enhancing the silver player experience, anything to increase thier interest, which in turn increases their spending

, which in turn increases the cryptic budget.

besides many silvers who experienced the last rotation bought gold subs

jonsills · August 2012

Well, the last AT Rotation did inspire me to buy the Tempest and Inventor; tempted by Savage, but when I most recently had the cash to pick up an AT, the Master fit an idea I had better.

I'd like to see another Rotation sometime after the Night Avenger comes out, so I can give it a try before buying.

chalupaoffury · August 2012

Hell yeah. Actually promote it a bit, too. Mention it on steam, drop a message to some game sites, it might actually pull in people again.

My suggestions for the rotation?

1: the invincible. Because that AT feels almost freeform.
2: the new at. Because it shows that fresh powers are being pumped out, and that thing's a beast.
3: The master. Because, again, almost feels freeform.
4: the void. Because it's the best AT in the game, imo.
5: the lightning at. Because I wanna hear the nerd rage about all of these new ats coming in and doing 30k gigabolts before slowly collapsing under the weight of their own lack of hit points.

Also, and this is neither here nor there, but I feel like at the end of this would be a great time to introduce a 2 pistol dps archetype. Possibly rocking quarry. Maybe even free, with an anime feel.

agentnx5 · August 2012

chalupaoffury wrote: »

Hell yeah. Actually promote it a bit, too. Mention it on steam, drop a message to some game sites, it might actually pull in people again.

Might? Oh no it definitely will! The question is just how many.

Promote it in more places to get more people checking it out. Steam is a good idea, definitely.

I will would like MORE input from Silver players on this, particularly from people who don't use the forums often.

chalupaoffury wrote: »

My suggestions for the rotation?

1: the invincible. Because that AT feels almost freeform.
2: the new at. Because it shows that fresh powers are being pumped out, and that thing's a beast.
3: The master. Because, again, almost feels freeform.
4: the void. Because it's the best AT in the game, imo.
5: the Tempest. Because I wanna hear the nerd rage about all of these new ats coming in and doing 30k gigabolts before slowly collapsing under the weight of their own lack of hit points.

Fixed.

And I'm glad to see you tried to provide some reasoning with each (even if it was "meh" kind of briefly generic), thanks!

chalupaoffury wrote: »

Also, and this is neither here nor there, but I feel like at the end of this would be a great time to introduce a 2 pistol dps archetype. Possibly rocking quarry. Maybe even free, with an anime feel.

This is probably asking for too much.

agentnx5 · September 2012

With the influx of CoH refugees, it would be a really smart idea to do this now. Agreed?

jonsills · September 2012

agentnx5 wrote: »

With the influx of CoH refugees, it would be a really smart idea to do this now. Agreed?

Agreed. Remember, the last AT Rotation was what sold a lot of us who were still Silver on purchasing certain premium ATs...

dagrekk · September 2012

Thought I'd throw in my 2 pennies and say I support this idea.

Thanks to the rotation, I purchased the Master shortly after it ended; I'd love to see this return with some of the newer Archetypes. (Which reminds me. Cryptic, release a Claws AT when you review it pleases? :biggrin:)

/signed! :cool:

chalupaoffury · September 2012

This becomes way more relevant now that coh is going under. it *needs* to happen.

agentnx5 · September 2012

chalupaoffury wrote: »

This becomes way more relevant now that CoH is going under. it *needs* to happen.

My thoughts exactly.

stellarjoe · September 2012

As a COX refugee, if I may ask, what is the Archetype rotation program?

jonsills · September 2012

There was a program (last year, I think?) during which everyone was given free access to each of several Archetypes for a week, with a free Retrain each time it changed. I got Mutandis up to about lvl 31 or so before it ended. He started as a Savage for a week, then he was a Void, then a Tempest, then an Inventor - you get the picture.

lotar295 · September 2012

stellarjoe wrote: »

As a COX refugee, if I may ask, what is the Archetype rotation program?

it was a program they did last year,it gave players a chance to "tech run" various archetypes and basically try before you buy,it gave everybody a week or so with it,then switched to the next AT in line for the showcase,then the next,until it ended,it would be pretty good considering the new ATs since then,they could give a trial of them and the older ones.

stupendousmanx · September 2012

Why not bring it back every time a new AT is released like how it happened the first time?

agentnx5 · September 2012

stellarjoe wrote: »

As a COX refugee, if I may ask, what is the Archetype rotation program?

Something you refugees DEFINITELY want to have come back, trust me. It'd give you a chance to experience premium archetype stuff before you buy it, realize what you're missing out on.

And I know for a fact it would boost sales (because the devs said it did last time). In short, winner-winner-chicken-dinner.

Jonsills explained it fairly well I think:

jonsills wrote: »

There was a program (last year, I think?) during which everyone was given free access to each of several Archetypes for a week, with a free Retrain each time it changed. I got Mutandis up to about lvl 31 or so before it ended. He started as a Savage for a week, then he was a Void, then a Tempest, then an Inventor - you get the picture.

:cool:

stupendousmanx wrote: »

Why not bring it back every time a new AT is released like how it happened the first time?

Because that's unwise from a business standpoint.

You want to make it a special thing, not a regular occurence or you'll end up with a population that just plays for the rotation but never has the incentive to buy. That said, I feel at least two to four times per year would be wise.

More specifically since they said they're ending making new archetypes (power reviews are stopping) and since we have all these new CoH refugees, this would be a really SMART business decision to do this right now!

Make sense?

bluedarky · September 2012

agentnx5 wrote: »

More specifically since they said they're ending making new archetypes (power reviews are stopping) and since we have all these new CoH refugees, this would be a really SMART business decision to do this right now!

Out of the bolded part of this statement only the underlined part is true.

At no point has any dev said that there will be no more new ATs, in fact there's just been a bunch of new telepathy powers put on the test server that will more than likely find their way into a new AT.

All's that they've said is that instead of focusing on on powerset for a while then moving onto another Gentleman Crush is going to be working on sets that are lacking where he can.

EDIT - Also if Powerset reviews were the only reason we got new ATs then we wouldn't have the Unleashed or the Night Avenger.

agentnx5 · September 2012

Good point bluedarky. I wasn't clear enough, my mistake. Yes, what you said is more precise & correct.

agentnx5 · October 2012

Still waiting to hear any word on this... Yes I sent an email to Cryptic about this awhile ago.

twg042370 · October 2012

I got the Savage because of the AT rotation program. And since I had some points left over, I bought the Tempest as well.

Anecdotal, I know, but count me as a success story for the AT rotation program.

keshmarch · October 2012

Sooo... wouldn't a rotation mean that current archetypes become premium, thus locking existing silver characters with those archetypes till they're purchased?

Yeah, I don't want my characters locked.

chaoswolf820 · October 2012

keshmarch wrote: »

Sooo... wouldn't a rotation mean that current archetypes become premium, thus locking existing silver characters with those archetypes till they're purchased?

Yeah, I don't want my characters locked.

If you bought it, you keep it.

jonsills · October 2012

Kesh, the way it worked last time was that for a week at a time, the premium ATs were unlocked, one at a time; at the end of the week, you were given a free Retrain you could use to either convert the character to the next one in the rotation, or to an AT you already owned. I found the limits to the bios while trying to write a story in there to explain each of Mutandis' transformations during the rotation program. (He started as a Savage, then became a Void, then a Tempest, then I think an Inventor, and so forth.)

errandrunner · October 2012

Though I am already a premium, I think they should rotate Impulse (I think that's the name) as one of the ATs. I'm sure I'm not the only one that enjoys causing massive knockback

. Am I?

agentnx5 · November 2012

Sooo... Christmas holiday season... Is this coming back in time for that? Or am I just being overly hopeful?

holloweaver · November 2012

The AT rotation was a great idea.

/sign.

beerstickman · December 2012

As a former COH player, coming to CO i would love this! This would allow the new people such as myself to get the powerset we really like to play. That would be great PR on behalf of pwe and cryptic to the new players coming in.

/sign

zamuelpwe · January 2013

I think it would be a good idea for it to return. I wonderi f it should be adjusted slightly though. Instead of one per week, make it two. In doing so, it should add variety to teams and allow some such as tanks and support to play off of each other.

agentnx5 · January 2013

At this point I'd just be happy to see this return at all. I mean they already had some YouTube advertisement videos done and everything.

Archetype rotation program to make a return anytime soon? :-)

Comments