Ships had 8 passives. Now they'll have 4 passives. I'm not sure what else you'd call that. You may like the new setup, but that doesn't change that it is a nerf.
If you had 8 nickels before, and now you have 4 dimes, is that a nerf because you have half as many coins?
Jeff "Adjudicator Hawk" Hamilton
Systems Designer - Cryptic Studios
Twitter: @JeffAHamilton
Just so I'm clear here...we bust our butts grinding out the reputation system abilities because we're told "hey, you'll get this great gear and awesome abilities!" only then a year later you come back and say "too much awesome-sauce, we're taking it back!"
I'm sorry, but a lack of planning on your part should not constitute a huge nerf for the player base. It should have been clear from the very beginning that additional reputation systems would introduce this problem and it should have been planned out accordingly. Instead we get the usual knee-jerk reaction of nerfing anything worth having into oblivion. Having all the benefits of the reputation system should be a badge of bragging/honor/too much time for those who actually take the time, effort, & resources to rep up all the tiers. Instead our ultimate reward for that effort is a slap in the face and a revocation of what we've achieved in the game.
Well technically it is a nerf, we currently have 4 reps at 4 passives each thats 16 passives. After this we get 8 passives, so its a 50 percent nerf. as of now any way.
Cool news thanks Hawk!
You did see what the powers are? Take Deadly Aim for example. At the moment, it gives a tactical player 10% Critical Hit Chance. Come season 9, it'll be 20% Critical Hit chance. Is that a "nerf"? The other stuff are getting increases as well.
The one change that I think may not be as popular is the Omega Graviton Pulse Module, since it replaces the Rotating Weapons Frequency power.
All in all, the abilities themselves aren't getting a "nerf" at all.
Kind of, kind of not. We're improving almost every single Rep power across the board from a PvE standpoint, bringing them up to the new standard of "How strong should a Reputation Trait power be?" You will have fewer powers now, but each of them will be more impactful than individual powers were before.
In my experience, 5% CritH > 10% additional shields on ground combat. By a LONG shot. Seriously, 15-20% AT LEAST to compensate.
It's just not infinitely scalable. As I pointed out in the blog, if we had 100 reps in the current live setup, the difference in performance between a fresh 50 and a "complete" 50 would be so immense they wouldn't fit in the same proverbial room.
So why not just cap it at the numbers people already have, the rest of it seems pointless fiddling that could have been spent on other things.
I guess this is a good and bad thing. Sucks we grinded all that TRIBBLE just to have a huge limit on its use. But the good thing is since most rep gear sucks and new powers will be subpar no reason to grind the rep if it isnt up to snuff.
Anyone trying to defend this by saying it's not a nerf is an idiot.
I grind for months to unlock these powers, spending millions in resources and now I'm gonna be limited in my use of them, best bring down the cost of leveling up.
Also, instead of forced to choose between 2 I get the whole list and choose from that what I want.
Until these 2 items are added, this change is a slap in the face to those of us who have put the time in.
[SIGPIC]InGame - @Darth_Tauri[/SIGPIC]
Joined - 9/2011
"You Best Make Peace With Your Dear & Fluffy Lord" - Malcolm Reynolds
One little thing.
The "Placate" effect of the Romulan Tier 4 Space ability has been replaced with "Weapons Offline" Base duration of this effect has been increased from 2sec to 4sec
This debuff is now cleansed by Engineering Team instead of Science Team
If the rest of the ability is left as-is (20% chance to weapons offline) and with the extra crit chance you've added on top of the one already available (specially for Romulans), someone could just sit there and crit at you and the target's weapons would just the offline all the time.
Questions: Are the tier 5 abilities the Active powers mentioned? Is there any change to those?
Are reputation specs saved with our ship load ours going forwards?
There are four slots for active powers. When Season 9 goes live, the maximum number of active players that a player will have earned before the launch is 4, so nobody will see a decrease in number of powers with regards to actives off the bat. As we make more reputations in the future, if there are other active powers you'd rather have for a given build, you'll want to earn those to slot them in.
Jeff "Adjudicator Hawk" Hamilton
Systems Designer - Cryptic Studios
Twitter: @JeffAHamilton
You did see what the powers are? Take Deadly Aim for example. At the moment, it gives a tactical player 10% Critical Hit Chance. Come season 9, it'll be 20% Critical Hit chance. Is that a "nerf"? The other stuff are getting increases as well.
The one change that I think may not be as popular is the Omega Graviton Pulse Module, since it replaces the Rotating Weapons Frequency power.
All in all, the abilities themselves aren't getting a "nerf" at all.
No, they get improved you just get to take only half, so in the ends, whats the point ?
I do like the idea of leveling the power field a bit, and this certainly does sound like it lets you customize your abilities more- which is nice. This is about giving players more flexibility and choice, which I think is always better than raw power since you can re-focus your power based on your role. If you wanna fly a different kind of ship, you might want different kinds of bonuses, like changing from DPS to more tank.
+1 Cryptic, though maybe you should work and shoring up your existing content rather than implementing new stuff.
But if thats means that we continue with the vertical progression the reputation is INSTEAD of the nightmare of a horizontal progression which a raised level cap would be I can live with that...
Why? You got 4 Active Powers right now. After Season 9, you can still slot 4 Active Powers. What it comes down to, is if you want the 4 powers you have now, or replace one of them, with the new "Undine Rep" Active Power.
Also, instead of forced to choose between 2 I get the whole list and choose from that what I want.
This is how it works. Sorry if that wasn't clear in the blog. If you've unlocked all rep tiers in New Romulus, Nukara, Omega, and Dyson reputations, you'll be able to choose any of the powers in those reps to slot into your power slots.
Jeff "Adjudicator Hawk" Hamilton
Systems Designer - Cryptic Studios
Twitter: @JeffAHamilton
If you had 8 nickels before, and now you have 4 dimes, is that a nerf because you have half as many coins?
That isn't even close to the point.
We had eight individual abilities, each that did their own unique thing, we now have four. The value of the abilities themselves have changed making them unequal to their previous counterparts. Try another analogy because that one falls flat on its face.
Only thing I don't like is changing the Tier 3 Task Force Omega power "Rotating Weapon Frequency" to "Omega Graviton Pulse Module". I liked the Rotating Weapon Frequency, it allowed me to go without getting a single piece of Task Force Omega ground gear.
It's just not infinitely scalable. As I pointed out in the blog, if we had 100 reps in the current live setup, the difference in performance between a fresh 50 and a "complete" 50 would be so immense they wouldn't fit in the same proverbial room.
Then, as has been previously stated, simply stop making new Reputation trees.
I prefer the system as-is. There was no need to change this, the change indicates that you will be moving in a direction that I do not like, and the change will make my grinding for Nukara rep even more pointless.
If you really must do more reps, skip the rep powers and just use the rep tiers to gate the special gear. Sure, the PVP crowd will be upset because no new passives to hyperbuff with, but nobody else will care.
If you had left it as 8 ground, 8 space passives and 4 actives, and had skipped the individual power buff, then I would've been fine. As-is, I'm upset.
I prefer a wide array of small passives to a smaller array of large passives. The former forces and encourages me to play smart; the second encourages min-maxed builds over smart playing.
No, they get improved you just get to take only half, so in the ends, whats the point ?
You did see this part of the blog post, I hope (emphasized part):
To that end, were changing how powers are selected you can now change your selection of passive Reputation Traits for free, any time youre out of combat
That's the point right there. you can still choose the powers you want, even choose a different power if you feel you want something diffierent... That's a good thing.
Comments
If you had 8 nickels before, and now you have 4 dimes, is that a nerf because you have half as many coins?
Systems Designer - Cryptic Studios
Twitter: @JeffAHamilton
I'm sorry, but a lack of planning on your part should not constitute a huge nerf for the player base. It should have been clear from the very beginning that additional reputation systems would introduce this problem and it should have been planned out accordingly. Instead we get the usual knee-jerk reaction of nerfing anything worth having into oblivion. Having all the benefits of the reputation system should be a badge of bragging/honor/too much time for those who actually take the time, effort, & resources to rep up all the tiers. Instead our ultimate reward for that effort is a slap in the face and a revocation of what we've achieved in the game.
Thanks for nothing. Again.
The one change that I think may not be as popular is the Omega Graviton Pulse Module, since it replaces the Rotating Weapons Frequency power.
All in all, the abilities themselves aren't getting a "nerf" at all.
In my experience, 5% CritH > 10% additional shields on ground combat. By a LONG shot. Seriously, 15-20% AT LEAST to compensate.
So why not just cap it at the numbers people already have, the rest of it seems pointless fiddling that could have been spent on other things.
I grind for months to unlock these powers, spending millions in resources and now I'm gonna be limited in my use of them, best bring down the cost of leveling up.
Also, instead of forced to choose between 2 I get the whole list and choose from that what I want.
Until these 2 items are added, this change is a slap in the face to those of us who have put the time in.
Joined - 9/2011
"You Best Make Peace With Your Dear & Fluffy Lord" - Malcolm Reynolds
The "Placate" effect of the Romulan Tier 4 Space ability has been replaced with "Weapons Offline"
Base duration of this effect has been increased from 2sec to 4sec
This debuff is now cleansed by Engineering Team instead of Science Team
If the rest of the ability is left as-is (20% chance to weapons offline) and with the extra crit chance you've added on top of the one already available (specially for Romulans), someone could just sit there and crit at you and the target's weapons would just the offline all the time.
There are four slots for active powers. When Season 9 goes live, the maximum number of active players that a player will have earned before the launch is 4, so nobody will see a decrease in number of powers with regards to actives off the bat. As we make more reputations in the future, if there are other active powers you'd rather have for a given build, you'll want to earn those to slot them in.
Systems Designer - Cryptic Studios
Twitter: @JeffAHamilton
No, they get improved you just get to take only half, so in the ends, whats the point ?
+1 Cryptic, though maybe you should work and shoring up your existing content rather than implementing new stuff.
great response
thank you for bring some balance
But if thats means that we continue with the vertical progression the reputation is INSTEAD of the nightmare of a horizontal progression which a raised level cap would be I can live with that...
Why? You got 4 Active Powers right now. After Season 9, you can still slot 4 Active Powers. What it comes down to, is if you want the 4 powers you have now, or replace one of them, with the new "Undine Rep" Active Power.
No you wont
Aweswome :P
This is how it works. Sorry if that wasn't clear in the blog. If you've unlocked all rep tiers in New Romulus, Nukara, Omega, and Dyson reputations, you'll be able to choose any of the powers in those reps to slot into your power slots.
Systems Designer - Cryptic Studios
Twitter: @JeffAHamilton
That isn't even close to the point.
We had eight individual abilities, each that did their own unique thing, we now have four. The value of the abilities themselves have changed making them unequal to their previous counterparts. Try another analogy because that one falls flat on its face.
If that was all it is, then perhaps not.
But we are limited to the amount of coins, then yes!
They stay as whatever you've selected until you want to select something else, which you can do any time you're not in combat.
Systems Designer - Cryptic Studios
Twitter: @JeffAHamilton
Then, as has been previously stated, simply stop making new Reputation trees.
I prefer the system as-is. There was no need to change this, the change indicates that you will be moving in a direction that I do not like, and the change will make my grinding for Nukara rep even more pointless.
If you really must do more reps, skip the rep powers and just use the rep tiers to gate the special gear. Sure, the PVP crowd will be upset because no new passives to hyperbuff with, but nobody else will care.
If you had left it as 8 ground, 8 space passives and 4 actives, and had skipped the individual power buff, then I would've been fine. As-is, I'm upset.
I prefer a wide array of small passives to a smaller array of large passives. The former forces and encourages me to play smart; the second encourages min-maxed builds over smart playing.
Just my 2 slips of latinum.
I think you missed that by three pages.
/qft
This. So very much this.