Features I'd Love To See

[BlueBard]

Okay, how about some low-hanging fruit... Features that might actually stand a chance of being implemented by the devs.

We've already discussed extending existing power sets as one option.  I won't go any further on that topic.

Being able to migrate characters between servers is something they've said -might- be possible down the road, but that they never have time to get to it.  I don't know why not.  They have a basic mechanism set up for migrating characters to Test... all they need to do is extend it.  It would be of huge benefit to the entire player base for a lot of reasons, but most importantly:

1. I can move my favorite characters to the servers my friends play on most.
2. I can shift my less-used characters to a different server.

Now that could easily be abused in a lot of ways, so I would agree there needs to be a limiting factor.  An extra fee, perhaps, or maybe something along the lines of a veteran reward so you can only move any given character so often.  That last idea has a lot of potential and it's low-hanging fruit because the vet rewards system is already in place as is a basic mechanism for porting characters.

Something else I'd like to see is a Fast-Start system modeled after the respec system.  The idea would be that a player with a certain amount of time playing the game (a la veteran rewards again) would have the ability to 'jump-start' a character to level 14, bypassing all of the bottom-level content he's seen over and over again.  Using something like the respec UI, the player could build his character from the ground up and enter a zone (say Steel Canyon) with a few level and origin appropriate contacts and hit the streets right away.  Whether it's a good idea or not is debatable, but all the basic functions needed to pull it off are already in the game or modeled in the game.

[captainspud]

Skipping lowbie content is something that is brought up a lot, but it'll never, ever happen.

1) The annoying lowbie levels are where you learn the ins and outs of your character. If people are allowed to skip to 20, you'll have Talos swarming with the kind of retards who populate most Hollows missions-- no idea how to use their character, resulting in team wipes.

2) From a more practical point of view, if you jump to 20, that's, let's say, 20 hours of gameplay you've skipped. A MMO developer's #1 priority is to keep people playing as long as possible-- if the devs had their way, XP would be cut to 1/10th of its current level. It's not greed, it's just business. They make money when you play longer, so it's in their interest to prevent fast play wherever they can.

[Midnight]

I'd like to see a character migration system too, but I believe it hasn't been implemented because of the way the character databases are currently set up. :S

Me? I want what Guilld Wars has; one time fee for more character slots. :P $5-10 a pop or something.

[MJB]

I'm a noob. There that is out of the way before I put in my 2 cents.

I agree with Spud. Character "jump starting" will not happen solely because of money. BUT what should happen is some new low level missions and contacts added to spice up the content. I haven't been bored with the missions so far but I have only been playing for a month and a half. People who have hung around for going on 3 years are probably sick to death of these missions. Add another zone, some new contacts maybe even some new baddies. That would go a long way in helping the boredom you old hats feel pre level 20.

Character migration should happen but like others have said it must be regulated. Maybe they can limit you to one move per character per every 15 days or so. The other solution is charging a fee per move.

Personally I would like to see more costume options. Yes CoH has a great creation tool but it seems that simple costume pieces or designs that I need to make some of my characters just aren't there. I've read through some of the costume thread on the official boards and most of what I need has been suggested multiple times. More pieces, more helmets, sheilds and stuff like that would make me even happier than I was before.

-MJB

[BlueBard]

Skipping lowbie content is something that is brought up a lot, but it'll never, ever happen.

1) The annoying lowbie levels are where you learn the ins and outs of your character. If people are allowed to skip to 20, you'll have Talos swarming with the kind of retards who populate most Hollows missions-- no idea how to use their character, resulting in team wipes.

2) From a more practical point of view, if you jump to 20, that's, let's say, 20 hours of gameplay you've skipped. A MMO developer's #1 priority is to keep people playing as long as possible-- if the devs had their way, XP would be cut to 1/10th of its current level. It's not greed, it's just business. They make money when you play longer, so it's in their interest to prevent fast play wherever they can.

Like I said, whether it's a good idea or not is debatable.

In response to #1, I would argue that limiting leveling to 14th level for someone who's been playing the game for a year or more won't result in increasing the sense-challenged player population much more than it already is.  The benefit of starting at 14 is immediate access to travel powers.  You still haven't outlevelled all of the low-end content, so there's still time to learn the character before getting into the higher content.   An experienced player will have already learned much of what he needs to know to manage the character, so forcing that player to start over at square one is tedious beyond belief.  Besides which, a Fast-Start character would start out with NO influence and NO enhancements... those would still have to be earned the old-fashioned way.  So levelling past 14 given that challenge would be a case of diminishing returns anyway.

In response to #2, I would argue that Fast-Start would result in MORE gameplay, not less.  The person most likely to quit, aside from those who just don't have the money to keep playing, is the person who's gotten tired of the grind and wants to move on to a newer game.  In my case, I don't have enough time in to qualify for Fast-Start as I am proposing it.  But if I did, starting a fresh character with the goal of reaching level 50 would get a lot more attractive.  It would also encourage the alt-itis types (like me) to play around with different characters.  I would more readily junk the characters I wasn't satisfied with and start over.  For example, It's taken me this long to realize that Astragirl should have been a Grav/FF Controller instead of a Grav/Kin Controller, but I have no appetite for starting her over from scratch to do it.

If the devs cut XP to 1/10th of its' current level, as you suggest they'd like to do, more players would get discouraged and the attrition rate would get higher than it is now.  I certainly wouldn't play it... my advancement is slow enough as it is given that I don't get a chance to team up much and good pickup teams are getting harder and harder to find.  I'm never going to get any of my toons to 50 anyhow, but the slow pace of picking up powers is frustrating enough now.

Fast-Start would also make Veteran Rewards much, much stronger in terms of PR and Retention.  Take Wings for an example... I probably would have deactivated my account again by now, but the promise of getting Wings as an option keeps me shelling out the bucks.  If Fast-Start was a Veteran Reward, it would give me that much more incentive to keep grinding away and shelling out the cash.  It would be a heck of a lot more useful and appealing than most of the Vet Rewards.

[BlueBard]

BUT what should happen is some new low level missions and contacts added to spice up the content. I haven't been bored with the missions so far but I have only been playing for a month and a half. People who have hung around for going on 3 years are probably sick to death of these missions. Add another zone, some new contacts maybe even some new baddies. That would go a long way in helping the boredom you old hats feel pre level 20.

I agree they need more low-level content, but unless the devs start thinking outside the box in terms of mission types it won't help boredom all that much.  You can put a pretty facade on 'go kill all the monsters in the dungeon' all you want but you can't make me enjoy 'the dungeon'.  Even the Radio missions are nothing more than that, though they at least let you pretend that they're different.  The fire-fighting was novel for awhile, but who wants to fight fires anymore?  I lost my appetite for it the first time I got caught in an explosion and racked up way more debt than I should have.  They have introduced some nice mission twists since I've been playing, and I hope they'll continue to innovate there, but there is absolutely nothing to like about playing pre-6th level over and over and over.  I'm so sick of Outbreak I could scream.

[captainspud]

I'm so sick of Outbreak I could scream.

So... skip it? I haven't done the tutorial in over a year.

[Alaric]

They have introduced some nice mission twists since I've been playing, and I hope they'll continue to innovate there, but there is absolutely nothing to like about playing pre-6th level over and over and over. 

I've got to dissagree. I always enjoy the lower levels.

[BlueBard]

They have introduced some nice mission twists since I've been playing, and I hope they'll continue to innovate there, but there is absolutely nothing to like about playing pre-6th level over and over and over. 

I've got to dissagree. I always enjoy the lower levels.

Clearly, Psychiatric intervention is necessary.  ;)

[Funeral-Pyre]

They have introduced some nice mission twists since I've been playing, and I hope they'll continue to innovate there, but there is absolutely nothing to like about playing pre-6th level over and over and over. 

I've got to dissagree. I always enjoy the lower levels.

Clearly, Psychiatric intervention is necessary.  ;)

Al's not crazy!  The voices in his head are.  There is a difference!

[Dweomer Knight]

After so many toons, I admit that by 10th level I'm pretty impatient for my travel power but other than that, I have no problem with the low levels.  Well, there is one thing I don't like.  Unless I crank up the difficulty right off the bat, I find that I've run all the beginning missions without hitting level 5.  This means tedious hunting for half a level just so I can go to the Hollows or KR.  Even as a casual player lvls 1 through 5 are over in a blink.  I think part of the problem is that the missions from around level 8 until 14 aren't that exciting.

DK

[Tortuga]

Skipping the first (however many) levels would not help CoH/V whatsoever.  It's an MMO - part of the appeal of an MMO is the fact that there are lots of other people around, and in Co* even moreso, because of all the cool costumes you see.

Let's estimate that 50% of the population would be able to skip lvls 1-15.  That means when newbs log into Atlas Park or Galaxy City it would be 50% less "massively multiplayer".  Said newb gets the feeling that the game is dead, said newb cancels his/her account.

[Dweomer Knight]

Skipping the first (however many) levels would not help CoH/V whatsoever.  It's an MMO - part of the appeal of an MMO is the fact that there are lots of other people around, and in Co* even moreso, because of all the cool costumes you see.

Let's estimate that 50% of the population would be able to skip lvls 1-15.  That means when newbs log into Atlas Park or Galaxy City it would be 50% less "massively multiplayer".  Said newb gets the feeling that the game is dead, said newb cancels his/her account.

That's an excellent point.  However, if it weren't for sewer runs I doubt you'd see much multiplayer at low levels at all.  Plus, if you're a newb logging in for the first time and just happen to pick, say Infinity and Galaxy City, you're practically seeing a ghost town anyway.

DK

[Alaric]

After so many toons, I admit that by 10th level I'm pretty impatient for my travel power but other than that, I have no problem with the low levels.  Well, there is one thing I don't like.  Unless I crank up the difficulty right off the bat, I find that I've run all the beginning missions without hitting level 5.  This means tedious hunting for half a level just so I can go to the Hollows or KR.  Even as a casual player lvls 1 through 5 are over in a blink.  I think part of the problem is that the missions from around level 8 until 14 aren't that exciting.

DK

Try fighting all the enemies you encounter on the way to and from the missions. I find that helps a lot. Sometimes, even on Heroic, I hit 6th level on my first contact...

And don't be afraid to fight higher-level foes. At the very low levels, your hero is actually more powerful relative to his opponents than he'll be for a long time afterwards. A 2nd level hero has little trouble against a group of oranges, and can beat a group of reds or a single (low-level) purple (if using inspirations, at least).

[BlueBard]

Skipping the first (however many) levels would not help CoH/V whatsoever.  It's an MMO - part of the appeal of an MMO is the fact that there are lots of other people around, and in Co* even moreso, because of all the cool costumes you see.

Let's estimate that 50% of the population would be able to skip lvls 1-15.  That means when newbs log into Atlas Park or Galaxy City it would be 50% less "massively multiplayer".  Said newb gets the feeling that the game is dead, said newb cancels his/her account.

That's an excellent point.  However, if it weren't for sewer runs I doubt you'd see much multiplayer at low levels at all.  Plus, if you're a newb logging in for the first time and just happen to pick, say Infinity and Galaxy City, you're practically seeing a ghost town anyway.

DK

True dat.  But then again if they're logging in at peak time they are -going- to see that Freedom and Virtue are at Medium Load.  And unless they are total MMO newbs, they should realize that's where most of the people are.

On the other hand, my PC starts to lag badly in a zone full of everybody else on a Medium Load server.  Traipsing past the statue of Atlas at peak time is an exercise in either A) Patience or B) Colorful Language.

Antisocial motherless cur that I am, all I care about is that there are a few players on to team with.  And forcing players to run the gauntlet does insure that there are lowbies around to team with.  Point taken.

[BlueBard]

After so many toons, I admit that by 10th level I'm pretty impatient for my travel power but other than that, I have no problem with the low levels.  Well, there is one thing I don't like.  Unless I crank up the difficulty right off the bat, I find that I've run all the beginning missions without hitting level 5.  This means tedious hunting for half a level just so I can go to the Hollows or KR.  Even as a casual player lvls 1 through 5 are over in a blink.  I think part of the problem is that the missions from around level 8 until 14 aren't that exciting.

DK

Try fighting all the enemies you encounter on the way to and from the missions. I find that helps a lot. Sometimes, even on Heroic, I hit 6th level on my first contact...

And don't be afraid to fight higher-level foes. At the very low levels, your hero is actually more powerful relative to his opponents than he'll be for a long time afterwards. A 2nd level hero has little trouble against a group of oranges, and can beat a group of reds or a single (low-level) purple (if using inspirations, at least).

Don't try that with a squishy Controller.  A group of Oranges is going to flatline the average low-level Controller.  Scrappers, yes; Tankers, probably; Blasters, remotely possible but unlikely; Defenders and Controllers?  Not likely.

On the other hand, there's no debt at that level.  So as long as you don't mind trips to the hospital, you could rack up an Orange or Red here and there.

[GhostMachine]

I'd like to see:

The toxic damage some Vahzilok do and the fact that Mortificators and Reapers can rez other Vahz makes the Vahzilok too powerful for a lot of heroes to solo. They need to either be reworked or moved to other zones and turned into villains who don't show up in missions until around lvl 15-20.

Shoulder pets\stuffed animals for male characters; we don't need the cat and panda, but we seriously need a parrot for pirate themed characters, and I'd like to see some sort of shoulder angel and devil.

And I've actually brought this up at the CoH board:

Wouldn't it make more sense for Scrappers, who actually fight up close and thus are supposed to be taking damage, to have the Defiance ability instead of Blasters?

[Ephemeris]

After so many toons, I admit that by 10th level I'm pretty impatient for my travel power but other than that, I have no problem with the low levels.  Well, there is one thing I don't like.  Unless I crank up the difficulty right off the bat, I find that I've run all the beginning missions without hitting level 5.  This means tedious hunting for half a level just so I can go to the Hollows or KR.  Even as a casual player lvls 1 through 5 are over in a blink.  I think part of the problem is that the missions from around level 8 until 14 aren't that exciting.

DK

Try fighting all the enemies you encounter on the way to and from the missions. I find that helps a lot. Sometimes, even on Heroic, I hit 6th level on my first contact...

And don't be afraid to fight higher-level foes. At the very low levels, your hero is actually more powerful relative to his opponents than he'll be for a long time afterwards. A 2nd level hero has little trouble against a group of oranges, and can beat a group of reds or a single (low-level) purple (if using inspirations, at least).

Don't try that with a squishy Controller.  A group of Oranges is going to flatline the average low-level Controller.  Scrappers, yes; Tankers, probably; Blasters, remotely possible but unlikely; Defenders and Controllers?  Not likely.

On the other hand, there's no debt at that level.  So as long as you don't mind trips to the hospital, you could rack up an Orange or Red here and there.

At the extreme low levels, all the AT's do about the same damage.  It's not until about level 6 or 7 that the AT's damage start diverging noticibly.  Controllers may actually have the easiest time at the extreme low levels becuase a hold negates all incoming damage.

I'd like to see:

And I've actually brought this up at the CoH board:

Wouldn't it make more sense for Scrappers, who actually fight up close and thus are supposed to be taking damage, to have the Defiance ability instead of Blasters?

I disagree with you completely.  There is only one, stress ONE, blaster secondary set not designed for melee.  Defiance is as class defining as containment and gauntlet.  Defiance Stats posted on CoH forums.  Why would any blaster want to trade that in?

[Alaric]

Don't try that with a squishy Controller.  A group of Oranges is going to flatline the average low-level Controller.  Scrappers, yes; Tankers, probably; Blasters, remotely possible but unlikely; Defenders and Controllers?  Not likely.

At very low levels, no ATs are squishy. In fact, at very low levels, Controllers and Defenders probably solo BETTER than other ATs.

[Flying_Infant]

I still want to be able to make a fat baby hero. With a diaper.




And possibly a poo-flinging powerset. Which of course I bet we'd see a Simian Justice re-roll then too. :P

[captainspud]

I want to see new inspirations: one for Recharge (small increments, something like 10-15-20) and one that replicates the effect of Power Boost (in 50%-100%-150% increments)

Edit: Fixed. Thanks turtle. :)

[Tortuga]

I want to see new enhancements: one for Recharge (small increments, something like 10-15-20) and one that replicates the effect of Power Boost (in 50%-100%-150% increments)

Do you mean inspirations?

[Ephemeris]

I'd like to see a 40-50 co-operative zone with complete story arcs versus a common threat.  Utilize the little used Rikti Crash Site and create an epic co-op TF/SF to raid the downed Rikti ship and possibly a mothership.

I'd also like IO's disappear, and I haven't even seen them yet....  I'm OK with inventions for temporary powers.  Hate the idea of enhancement set bonuses and inventing costume pieces.

[Tortuga]

Besides sharing power sets, here are four things that I think would improve the gameplay:

1. I think an easy way to improve combat would be to introduce more Interuptable powers.  This would improve combat so much more, as you'd feel lucky/skilled to have timed that big punch in between the enemy's attacks.  Likewise, you'd also have a greater sense of interacting with the enemy in combat, as a quick punch, blast or hold could prevent their big attack.  Endurance cost could be changed so that some end is taken off when you activate the power, and the rest is taken if you manage to execute it.

2. Attacks are already categorized by magnitude: Minor, Moderate, High, Superior, Extreme... I'd like to see those become Ranges of damage, as opposed to a set number that is multiplied by enhancements.  It could work like this:
Minor attack - No Enhancements - Damage ranges from 15-20
Minor attack - 1 dmg enhancement - Damage ranges from 20-30
Minor attack - 2 dmg enhancements - Damage ranges from 25-40
Minor attack - 3 dmg enhancements - Damage ranges from 35-50

The math and numbers aren't bang on, but that's the idea.  I find it silly that I *know* that Attack A will do 138.2 dmg everytime.  I'd like a little variety, plus just like in my first idea, when you'd randomly hit that top number there would be much rejoicing.

3. This stems from an idea FN had a while back about tankers/scrappers and defense/dmg resistance.  I think melee ATs ought to have inherent resistance to their own power sets (primary for tanks, secondaries for scrappers/brutes).  It bugs me to no end that a fire/fire brute takes as much dmg from a fire attack as an energy brute.  I'm on fire! for Pete's sake.  It doesn't have to be much resistence (maybe 10-20%), and it would be unenhanceable.  If it's not inherent then at least the fire brute's Fire Resist power should at least have more fire resistence than another brute's fire resist.

4. Power choices within the sets.  When Rick O'Shea got the M30 Grenade power I was really hoping he would toss a grenade.  Unfortunately, it comes out of his Super Soaker instead.  Let's say that each power set has at least 2 or 3 points at which you choose one of two powers.  Once you've chosen one, you cannot choose the other at a later level up.  So, at the level where an AR blaster can choose M30 Grenade, have the option to choose Toss Grenade instead.  Same power, same animation as Smoke Grenade, same activation - but creates uniqueness between AR blasters.

Another example would be SS's Foot Stomp - you could choose between Foot Stomp and a Cone power with slightly more dmg, knockback in which the tanker swipes his arm out in front of him...kind of a clearing the pathway attack.  These are 'new' powers, but would just require some new text, a little balancing and finding the right existing animation.  It certainly would lead to a lot more variety, more personalization and less cookie-cutter characters.

Them's my thoughts!

[Midnight]

4. Power choices within the sets.  When Rick O'Shea got the M30 Grenade power I was really hoping he would toss a grenade.  Unfortunately, it comes out of his Super Soaker instead.  Let's say that each power set has at least 2 or 3 points at which you choose one of two powers.  Once you've chosen one, you cannot choose the other at a later level up.  So, at the level where an AR blaster can choose M30 Grenade, have the option to choose Toss Grenade instead.  Same power, same animation as Smoke Grenade, same activation - but creates uniqueness between AR blasters.

Ditto. I hate hate hate hate HATE Acoustica pulling out a supersoaker to shoot a freeze ray or... an LRM. I want the Crey Freeze Rifle and the Council Rocket Launcher dammit! :P

[GhostMachine]

4. Power choices within the sets.  When Rick O'Shea got the M30 Grenade power I was really hoping he would toss a grenade.  Unfortunately, it comes out of his Super Soaker instead.  Let's say that each power set has at least 2 or 3 points at which you choose one of two powers.  Once you've chosen one, you cannot choose the other at a later level up.  So, at the level where an AR blaster can choose M30 Grenade, have the option to choose Toss Grenade instead.  Same power, same animation as Smoke Grenade, same activation - but creates uniqueness between AR blasters.

Ditto. I hate hate hate hate HATE Acoustica pulling out a supersoaker to shoot a freeze ray or... an LRM. I want the Crey Freeze Rifle and the Council Rocket Launcher dammit! :P

Amen. I love Munitions Mastery, but with GhostMachine being Electric\Devices, I hate him whipping out the supersoaker when using the CFR or LRM.

Why do Mercs (and their henchmen) and Bots MMs get awesome looking guns, yet AR Blasters still have the oversize, ugly as sin watergun? I really wish they'd change that weapon's design. (I have an AR\Energy Blaster alt)

[Uncle Yuan]

I'd love to be able to selectively turn off or modify visual and auditory effects of the game - make the pink pom-poms lavender, or turn Green Streak's lightening effects actually green.  And please God let me turn off the sound effect for Unyielding - it's like fingernails on the blackboard to me!

[Alaric]

I'd like it if, after choosing your AT, you could choose which of your two initial power sets was your primary and which was your secondary. For example, if you wanted, you could play a Defense/Melee Scrapper, or a Suport/Ranged Blaster. The "reversed" version of each AT would have a modified version of its usual special ability that made more sense which its new priamry- reversed Scrappers would have a chance of ignoring damage from each given attack, reversed Defenders would recover end faster when nearby enemies had more health, reversed Corruptors' buff/debuff powers would be more effective when used on individuals with lower health, etc. (I've thought of ideas for each AT, actually.) This would be a relatively easy way for the devs to effectively double the number of ATs.

I'd also like to see some way to easily change which costume is in which slot. Moving a costume to your first slot would not only allow you to see a different costume in the character selection window, it could make making new costumes easier- suppose the costume you want to make is very different from the one in your current number one slot, but similar to the costume in your number three slot, say.

I'd like to see an alternate respec process, for people who don't want to completely recreate their charcaters but just want to move a couple of slots around, or replace a single power. The reason why I've stopped using respecs is entirely because I hate feeling like I'm destroying my character and creating a new one every time I respec.

I'd like to see them add Hero-type epic power pools to the villain side, as an additional choice for players who don't want to use the patron pools. They could also simultaneously throw in heroic patron pools, as well.

The single change I'd most like to see, however, is that they'd get rid of those annoying visual effects from the temporary auto powers you get from mayhem missions/safeguard missions. Even though it's putrely visual and doesn't affect gameplay, that's the single thing that currently comes closest to ruining the game for me. It's annoying to spend time at the tailor coming up with exactly the right costume- including the right aura- and then have to see it constantly overwhelmed by a green glow, or to team with a bunch of similarly-leveled villains and have them all have the exact same special effects... At the very least, they should give us the option of turning off those pwoers when we want to or something...

[BlueBard]

I'd love to be able to selectively turn off or modify visual and auditory effects of the game - make the pink pom-poms lavender, or turn Green Streak's lightening effects actually green.  And please God let me turn off the sound effect for Unyielding - it's like fingernails on the blackboard to me!

The Devs sound pretty firm on the 'no re-coloring' thing.

I like the reversed AT idea.  Won't happen, but I like it.  One place that paradigm would seem to break down is the Controller.  It doesn't seem to make much sense for a Controller to have a primary support set over a secondary control set.  I'm open to be convinced, though.

I also like the idea of being able to re-arrange costume slots easily.  C'mon, how hard would it be to implement a drag n' drop?

[Camma]

They already reversed the ATs, its called CoV! :lol: