More I9 Stuff...

[Alaric]

An I9 preview movie has been released. I haven't actually looked at it myself, but for a link, clink here.

For a GameSpot report with additional info, mostly along the lines of minor clarifications, click here.

And, finally, on the topic of server-to-server influence transfers, click here.

[Ephemeris]

The more I read about issue 9, the less I like....

The only thing I currently looking forward to is the Statesman TF.

[Lord Elcorion]

hammy-o's are coming to cov? isn't that a good thing?

[Midnight]

hammy-o's are coming to cov? isn't that a good thing?

Ephy has never been in favor of Hami-Os. :P Can't say I blame him; it's just phat lewt.

[Ephemeris]

hammy-o's are coming to cov? isn't that a good thing?

Synthetic Hami-O's are already in CoV, you just have to earn them from the LRSF (although some teams are farming the SF).  We have yet to organize a successful LRSF run (2 failed attempts, several unsuccessful tries to put together a third run)...

The Hamidon encounter has just become a loot farm.  I wish it was removed from the heroes and never established for the villains.  HO's should be hard to get.

Inventions are what scare me most.  What type of time/effort is required for a costume piece?  What effects will set bonuses have on an already unbalanced pvp?  Even worse, how will this effect pve?  SO's usually make most characters uber enough, do we really need additional bonuses or temp powers?  How badly will this effect the economy of CoX?

I dislike the fact that costume pieces, with no bearing on actual game play, have to be crafted if you want that specific item.  I don't mind costume pieces as a bonus for completing something, but crafting or veteran reward.....can we say timesink?

And Middy, Hami-O's are OK.  It's just the method of getting them that's screwed up.  You can hit hamidon with a single brawl, wait the 1 hr and get your Hami-O with little to no risk.  Defeats the risk vs reward basis the devs repeatedly say they strive for.  Plus the encounter is as dull as watching grass grow.

[BlueBard]

I suspect Inventions are going to be a bigger part of the game than the devs are willing to admit to themselves.

Enhancements that never expire, some of which combine the effects of several enhancements into one AND possibly confer other effects?  It's going to change the way everybody slots enhancements... especially if they're into PvP.

Temporary powers?  Hey, I'm a Tank with no first-strike capability.  But let me build a grenade or something that will let me grab aggro at a distance.  Or a Scapper with a pistol for pulling in enemies at range.  Or personal body armor for a Blaster, etc.  Granted, we don't know what powers will be available, but I'm sure there will be 'gotta-haves' that will fill in some of the weak areas built into each AT.

The impact in PvE?  Probably not so significant that casual players will be screwed if they don't use Inventions.  The biggest impact there might be teammates complaining that the Invention-less toon isn't as effective as the maxxed toons, assuming that Inventions provide a bigger advantage than the devs say they will.

The impact in PvP I bet will be felt far more acutely.  I don't see how Inventions as advertised won't have a marked impact there, though I'm sure some of the effects and temp powers will be turned off or nerfed for PvP play in arenas and PvP zones.  But I don't generally play PvP in CoX, so it's no skin off my nose either way.

All in all, I'm interested in tinkering with it.  Though I'm disappointed in some ways, I'm willing to check it out and see if it lives up to its' promise.

[Midnight]

And Middy, Hami-O's are OK.  It's just the method of getting them that's screwed up.  You can hit hamidon with a single brawl, wait the 1 hr and get your Hami-O with little to no risk.

You mean like I did yesterday?  <_<

In general... I just want the damn bony wings. Gimme. *mugs the devs*

[Alaric]

I guess the main thing I'm worried about is whether it will be possible to use the invention system casually, to play around with it without ahving it completely take over the game. I think that's the key to whether it will work or not. Face it, the majority of players aren't going to want to focus primarily on inventions, but aren't going to want to ignore them, either. If it turns out that it isn't possible to use the invention system to any real extent without having it completely take over your gaming experience, then there's a good chance it will ruin the game.

I'm kind of worried that the I9 testing currently going on won't really address this issue. after all, players are going to be primarily specifically trying out the invention system, which means it will, in any case, be what it all revolves around. They need to have testers who are trying to just paly the game, with the invention system as a casual addition, to really see how well this is going to work.

[B A D]

Exactly. If I run across it in the course of my travels , fine. If Ive an extra 5 bucks and want to hit wentworths, fine. But I don't want to HAVE to do it.

[BlueBard]

I guess the main thing I'm worried about is whether it will be possible to use the invention system casually, to play around with it without ahving it completely take over the game. I think that's the key to whether it will work or not. Face it, the majority of players aren't going to want to focus primarily on inventions, but aren't going to want to ignore them, either. If it turns out that it isn't possible to use the invention system to any real extent without having it completely take over your gaming experience, then there's a good chance it will ruin the game.

I'm kind of worried that the I9 testing currently going on won't really address this issue. after all, players are going to be primarily specifically trying out the invention system, which means it will, in any case, be what it all revolves around. They need to have testers who are trying to just paly the game, with the invention system as a casual addition, to really see how well this is going to work.

Well, that's the thing, isn't it?

The key to whether or not Inventions is going to work lies in the Salvage drops, since Inventions are largely dependent upon Salvage.

I'm not a veteran of other MMORPG's where crafting is in place, so I can't speak with any experience.  But it does seem that there is at least the potential for imbalance.

To build a certain invention, you will need to have specific pieces of Salvage to do it.  Now, if you know that you need an IC Chip and that it's a Clockwork drop, you will have to go out and farm Clockwork to get it.  But because drops are mainly random, it might take you a few tries to get that particular piece of Salvage.  Maybe that means you're concentrating on Clockwork-based missions, which might not be a bad thing.  More likely, it means you're street-hunting somewhere.

To keep Inventions open to the casual player, they will probably need to increase the frequency of Salvage drops.  But then the whole CoX economy could be swimming in excess Salvage.

I just got an idea that could keep things reasonable.

Suppose you need that IC Chip.  What if you could get a "Farming" mission from the University contact that, if completed successfully, would give you the Salvage you wanted?  Or to pick from a selection of items?  Then it would be a little more likely that you can find the Salvage you want without having to barter for it or spend all of your time street-hunting trying to get it.

The people who weren't really interested in Inventions could simply pass on those types of missions and rely on the usual random drops.  The people who want to tinker around with Inventions wouldn't have to spend all of their time farming.

I guess we'll see.  When it goes open Beta, it might induce me to hop on the Test server for the first time ever.

[Verfall]

I want new power-sets.

I want Incarnates.

I want new Epic ATs.

I want more mission content.

I want more sets looked at, ala the healing flames fix.

I want the 5th Column back.

I want all this stuff they basically said everything but "I promise" too.

I do not want bloody crafting, or loot, or all that other crap that was left out to make this game unique playstyle-wise. Besides the Statesman TF, which lord knows they'll probably bungle like they did the Recluse one, the rest of I9 looks to me like issue 4 all over again. They just started getting things going with issue 7 and 8 being relative success', only to seem to be on the path to "Arena Version 2".

Noone who matters wants crafting. Anyone who does should go back to rot in WOW or some other MMOG.

[BlueBard]

I suppose if you look at it from a certain point of view, no self-respecting villain doesn't care about 'loot'.

And that part of me that loves to tinker with stuff likes the basic idea of Inventions.

But yeah, I agree, Ver.  I'd rather have new powersets and AT's to play with and more innovative missions.