Letter from Positron 09/27/06

[Nevermore]

Letter from Positron (Matt Miller)
Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Hey everyone!

I’m coming up for air to let you know about some of the impending stuff happening in the City of Heroes and City of Villains games. It’s been pretty crazy around here getting Issue 8 ready to hit Training Room, and we hope we can bring you all some exciting news about that in the very near future.

By now you may have read about Cryptic Studios and Microsoft’s upcoming new venture and we at Cryptic want to assure our loyal players that we and the good folks at our publisher, NCsoft, are fully committed to City of Heroes and City of Villains. We have a full team of programmers, artists, designers, and producers devoted to creating and maintaining the best experience in the “City of” world of games. This team is, and will remain completely separate from other teams working on other games at Cryptic. Like fantasy, sci-fi, and simulation, comic book heroes is its own genre, capable of supporting multiple titles. City of Heroes was created with a single purpose: bring the world of comic book heroes alive. With that in mind, Cryptic is investing resources into our “City of” team to fully realize its own unique vision.

I’d like to start out by mentioning Issue 8: To Protect and Serve. This is a hero-centric Issue that finally levels the playing field between Heroes and Villains. We have a ton of stuff being added with this issue that will please a variety of players. It begins the multi-year storyline that continues next year with Issue 9 (title to be announced). I9 brings with it a huge new gameplay system: Inventions. Players will be able to craft Enhancements and Costume pieces for their characters using recipes, and salvage that they find while adventuring.

Issue 9 will also have Statesman’s Task Force, the Hero equivalent to the Recluse Strike Force. Both of these mission chains are designed for eight max-level characters and have some of the best rewards in the game.

Issue 10 is a ways out, but it will bring us an update to an old familiar villain group. This group will have their power center altered and bring about massive changes to the game as a whole. Heroes and Villains will find themselves banding together against a common threat.

We will begin to reveal our plans for Issues 11 and beyond over the next year or so. We feel confident that you will be as excited about our plans as we are!

So as you can see, we at Cryptic and NCsoft have great plans for the future and want to keep making the “City of” games exciting and fresh. Our motto going forward is “Listen to the players and give them what they want (within reason, of course)”. Expect a lot of oft-requested features and ideas to be implemented in the upcoming issues!

Sincerely,

Matt Miller (Positron)

So there's the crafting we figured was coming.

[shiznitz]

And loot. Wankers.

[geldonyetich]

I, for one, am looking forward to the hero-side Mayhem missions (called Safeguard missions).  This is because they give a much needed infusion of power diversity without the need to grind forever to get it.

I'm also looking forward to one day owning a computer that can run City of Heroes/Villains, in its current engine "enhanced" form, at faster than 15 FPS during a pitched battle.

In other news, you can finally have a trenchcoat... if you play for 3 months.  I'll soon see if they're going with the SOE approach of overall months suscribed or if they require an actual 3 months of subscription without a cancelation.

Also, I'm pretty sure those 'common enemies' in Issue 10 are going to be the Rikti.  The thought occured to me recently that City of Heroes/Villains would be interesting if there was a common enemy and you could team up with the other side to take them out.  Contimplating that a new foe might be introduced, the Rikti jumped out as a more likely choice.

[Llava]

In other news, you can finally have a trenchcoat... if you play for 3 months.  I'll soon see if they're going with the SOE approach of overall months suscribed or if they require an actual 3 months of subscription without a cancelation.

Total time subscribed.  So if you subscribed for a month at release, cancelled for six, resubbed another month, cancelled until just recently, and started playing for one more month, you'd get the trenchcoats.  This also includes the free month you get for buying the box, and any free trial time you may or may not have used.  So the trenchcoat, I'd say, is pretty easy to get.

Also, I'm pretty sure those 'common enemies' in Issue 10 are going to be the Rikti.  The thought occured to me recently that City of Heroes/Villains would be interesting if there was a common enemy and you could team up with the other side to take them out.  Contimplating that a new foe might be introduced, the Rikti jumped out as a more likely choice.

Nope.  It'll be the 5th Column.  They've talked a lot about how they're coming back in a future Issue, with the Reichsman at the head.  It's supposed to be a far more evil and brutal version of the Column as well.  I'm looking forward to it.

And loot. Wankers.

Didn't see anything in that implying that there will be any more loot than currently exists.  The only difference seems to be that you can craft enhancements instead of just buying them or hoping for them to drop.  Salvage exists already and is used to craft temporary powers or base items.  Good for heroes getting a Statesman TF, I'd MUCH rather do that than go to Hamidon raids.

[Typhon]

seems like a great deal of effort to just allow you to create enhancements that you can already buy (llava, I'm not saying that you said that, I'm just thinking off the top of my head) - which makes me speculate that you'll be able to create enhancements that you can't buy.

If there are enhancements that add odd effects (in addition to stuff like combined enhs - dam + acc, for instance), that could be fun.

[Llava]

While creating dam+acc combined enhancements might be a bit overpowered (only special encounters generally give those- hamidon, the recluse SF, eden trial, or the hydra), they could balance it by cutting down the bonus of the enhances.  So you could 6 slot dam+acc enhances but it would be roughly equal to using 3 damage and 3 accuracy.  The difference would be the flexibility, not having to give up a whole slot to just one thing you only want to enhance a little.  Knockback for instance.

But you are right, other than giving lower level players a break on influence/infamy costs, there isn't a hell of a lot to gain by being able to craft enhancements that you can already buy.

[Nevermore]

Unless the Enhancements you craft can get a 40% or even 50% bonus to a single attribute.  With ED, you'd just cap out at two 50% enhancements per attribute instead of three at 33%.  Way back when ED was implemented, Statesman said something about wanting to put new types of enhancements but they couldn't until there was some kind of enhancement cap, iirc.

[Lantyssa]

With that I could two slot all my primaries and start dumping slots into sprint.  Awesome!

Allowing unusual combinations to be made would be nice, but they need to expand some of the powersets options to really benefit most of them.  Adding secondary effects not normally a part of the power, as Typhon suggests, would be rather interesting and add a new dimension to picking enhancements.  Essentially it would be socketing powers instead of items ala Diablo.

[Der Helm]

Essentially it would be socketing powers instead of items ala Diablo.

I'd love that, adding knockback to the first fire-aoe would be a lot of fun. Or endurance drain, or ...

[schild]

Crafting and 5th Column?

What?

OK. I think it's time to get City of Villains. Maybe. I gotta grapple with the idea of a little green sectioned bar (which I'm sure is red in CoV). Yes, that's right, I just complained about the grind again. Goddamnit. You know what. I've reached the breaking point. How fucking hard is it to fucking drop exp requirements 30-40% (not kidding). There's enough content, classes, and variety in this game that it wouldn't result in a "SEE ALL THE CONTENT IN 3 WEEKS" problem. Hell, 40% drop and it'd still be slower to max than WoW. Bleh.

Fuck.

[geldonyetich]

I've resubscribed.  I suspect if I heavily sedate myself with meditation and techno music I can probably make it to at least level 30.

[Llava]

Crafting and 5th Column?

Keep in mind, he's talking about Issue 9 for that stuff.  Issue 8 isn't on test yet.  So this'll be like... February or March at the earliest.

[Glazius]

Crafting and 5th Column?

What?

OK. I think it's time to get City of Villains. Maybe. I gotta grapple with the idea of a little green sectioned bar (which I'm sure is red in CoV). Yes, that's right, I just complained about the grind again. Goddamnit. You know what. I've reached the breaking point. How fucking hard is it to fucking drop exp requirements 30-40% (not kidding). There's enough content, classes, and variety in this game that it wouldn't result in a "SEE ALL THE CONTENT IN 3 WEEKS" problem. Hell, 40% drop and it'd still be slower to max than WoW. Bleh.

Fuck.

How long has it been since you played last?

They already dropped XP requirements 30% (well, increased XP gain 30%, which is... a 25% drop relative to base? Maybe? I was never good with percentages) as part of the legendary "YOU CAN'T HAVE FUN ANYMORE" package of Issue 5.

At least, I think that was when it happened. It definitely happened.

But we still haven't hit Issue 8: "Revenge of Veteran Rewards feat. Victory Goggles" Issue 9 may not be coming out until next year.

--GF

Also: health bar green, endurance bar blue, XP bar purple with 10 purple light-up sections around a little radiator that lights up if you're in supergroup mode or on a task force.

[Glazius]

I've resubscribed.  I suspect if I heavily sedate myself with meditation and techno music I can probably make it to at least level 30.

I'd offer to get you into a supergroup of mine but I've basically only got two - one "arranged group" I only run with on Wednesdays, and one that's rather RP heavy. We're the evil clowns from the mirror universe, which makes us the good clowns.

The base for the clowns is pretty kick-awesome, even though we've expanded it lately and I have decorator's block on some of the bigger rooms.

--GF

[Typhon]

I still play rarely (was going to say occasionally, but I realize it's worse than that), and I'd have to say that the grind is still an abomination.  I have a level 43 fire tank (fire/energy), and I just can't bring myself to struggle through the last 7.

[Llava]

It's amazing, really.  I think the grind on heroes and villains is different.  It sounds  ridiculous, but I have no other conclusion to reach.

I can play my 43 Mastermind and make some damn good progress in just a little bit.  Every 5 minutes there is a noticable gain.

But I've been playing my 37 Warshade in an effort to finally get him up to 38, and it's been soooooooo slow.  Same goes for my 44 Scrapper and my 40 Controller.

On villains, it really barely feels like there's a grind.  On heroes.. ouch.  I think it has something to do with travel time between missions, but that can't be all of it.

[Stormwaltz]

It's amazing, really.  I think the grind on heroes and villains is different.  It sounds  ridiculous, but I have no other conclusion to reach.

I can play my 43 Mastermind and make some damn good progress in just a little bit.  Every 5 minutes there is a noticable gain.

I concur, at least as far as Masterminds are concerned. I've played an MM to 41 and rarely felt like I was grinding. My main heroes, meanwhile (a Scrapper and a Defender), have been abandoned since CoV was released, both in the low 30s. Getting anywhere with them still feels like pulling teeth.

[Llava]

Even my Stalker, who is 33, seems to gain much faster than any of my heroes.

[Rodent]

I've been playing pretty much exclusivly villains since I came back to the game. Might check out heroside again come Issue 8, but no doubt the old contacts will still be as stupid as ever. "Go to Galaxy Park bitch, ololol Hollows 4 U, Oh hey... Welcome back. To Perez with you!".

The first mission I ever drop will probably be Go see Lt. Wincott.

[Llava]

Yeah, getting sent from zone to zone is a real bitch.

We'll see what happens with issue 8.

[geldonyetich]

I've resubscribed.  I suspect if I heavily sedate myself with meditation and techno music I can probably make it to at least level 30.

I'd offer to get you into a supergroup of mine[...]

As I've pulled out much hair trying to decide on a Controller i'm going to stick with, I'm currently land-locked on the Virtue server without the impetuis to start over again.  So, if I were to take you up on the offer, it'd have to be that server for me.  (Last I heard, most of F13 was hanging out on Victory.)  I appreciate the invitation, at least.

Yeah, getting sent from zone to zone is a real bitch.

Everybody loves it when they're sent from zone to zone in WoW.  Something about keeping the players of appropriate levels directed to the proper zones.  Of course, there's a lot more backtracking in CoH than in WoW.  I guess that's why a travel power (super speed, flight, super jump, or teleport) is a popular pick at 14.  Of the four major travel powers, my recommendation is on Super Jump.  However, I'm going Super Speed and engaging in a strange form of RMT to get my vertical mobility handled.

[Glazius]

I've been playing pretty much exclusivly villains since I came back to the game. Might check out heroside again come Issue 8, but no doubt the old contacts will still be as stupid as ever. "Go to Galaxy Park bitch, ololol Hollows 4 U, Oh hey... Welcome back. To Perez with you!".

The first mission I ever drop will probably be Go see Lt. Wincott.

You can duck into the Hollows yourself at level 5, click on him, and the mission will never trigger.

If you're planning to drop that Security Chief zone hunt they foist on you, make sure to drop it _after_ you talk to the security chief. Otherwise all you drop is the little bit where you run and talk to him, and the "next leg", the hunt, proceeds as planned.

--GF

[Llava]

Yeah, getting sent from zone to zone is a real bitch.

Everybody loves it when they're sent from zone to zone in WoW.  Something about keeping the players of appropriate levels directed to the proper zones.  Of course, there's a lot more backtracking in CoH than in WoW.  I guess that's why a travel power (super speed, flight, super jump, or teleport) is a popular pick at 14.  Of the four major travel powers, my recommendation is on Super Jump.  However, I'm going Super Speed and engaging in a strange form of RMT to get my vertical mobility handled.

Well there's a difference between "You're level 10 now, so you should go to Steel Canyon and check it out." and "So listen, I know you're in Peregrine Island right now, but I really need you to head over to Faultline, even though you're about 30 levels higher than anything there.  So go back to Talos Island, head to Skyway from there, and go down into Faultline.  Then, once you're done there, go to Crey's Folly- probably best to head back through Skyway, into Talos, take the Green Line over to Brickstown, and head in from there.  Then come back to me here in Peregrine Island so I can give you the next mission in Kings Row."

People would get pretty goddamn sick of it in WoW if they sent you to the Barrens, then to the Night Elf island, then to Stormwind, then back to the Barrens for each individual quest.

CoV works much more like WoW, where you move up zones as you level, but once you're in a zone you can expect to hang out there for a while and get a lot done.

[geldonyetich]

People would get pretty goddamn sick of it in WoW if they sent you to the Barrens, then to the Night Elf island, then to Stormwind, then back to the Barrens for each individual quest.

In the grand scheme of things, I could see it balancing out. 

WoW quests backtrack a lot less than CoH.  Granted, not all CoH missions/task forces send you to outside zones - Croatia and Stirga Isle are some good examples.  In WoW, you will backtrack a lot to access auctions or other main-city only functions.  (I haven't played WoW in awhile, did they ever get around to moving those out to more than just three locations in the entire game world?)

So far as travel time is concerned, I can see a balance there as well.   WoW is pretty seamless - I think most of the travel time is spent zoning in City of Heroes.  But then, superpowered travel speeds are way faster than any WoW mount.  Supergroup bases further facilitate travel, providing portal beacons to skip across several zones at once. 

What's the alternative to all that backtracking in CoH?  Everything taking place in a single level-appropriate zone.  Seems like that might be even more boring. 

[Llava]

It isn't.  Striga and Croatoa are popular for a reason.  (It's Croatoa by the way. Croatia is a nation.)

[Hutch]

Striga and Croatoa didn't ship at retail, either. They're add-on zones for CoH. I'm guessing, by the time they developed those two zones, they'd figured out that players didn't like getting sent hither-and-yon by their contacts. So the contacts in those zones send you to missions in those zones. Much like in CoV.

Striga and Croatoa are still somewhat punitive, though, in that Striga doesn't have stores (or it didn't the last time I looked), and Croatoa's stores are a rip-off compared to the stores back in IP and Talos.

The Cryptic devs didn't give up on that little piece of time-sinking until they developed Grandville, where there is a single blessed vendor for all of your enhancement selling and buying needs. I'd like them to retrofit this idea to the rest of the game, but there are other things that need to get done first.

[Llava]

I wish they'd include an option to only view enhancements that you can use in stores.  Just the option, though, in case I'm buying for someone else.

[caladein]

I wish they'd include an option to only view enhancements that you can use in stores.  Just the option, though, in case I'm buying for someone else.

Every vendor, in every single game needs that. Please! CoH/V does have it worse then others though. At the same time, being able to set a "My Level + X" filter would also be appreciated so if I can use an Enhancement when I level in a misison, I wouldn't have to wade through the entire, confusing, catalog.

[Glazius]

The Cryptic devs didn't give up on that little piece of time-sinking until they developed Grandville, where there is a single blessed vendor for all of your enhancement selling and buying needs. I'd like them to retrofit this idea to the rest of the game, but there are other things that need to get done first.

The single vendor's sellback prices suck though, right? 25% of market value as opposed to 40% for a "proper origin"?

This holds for "single vendors" Ghost Falcon and General Hammond in CoH as well.

--GF

[Hutch]

The Cryptic devs didn't give up on that little piece of time-sinking until they developed Grandville, where there is a single blessed vendor for all of your enhancement selling and buying needs. I'd like them to retrofit this idea to the rest of the game, but there are other things that need to get done first.

The single vendor's sellback prices suck though, right? 25% of market value as opposed to 40% for a "proper origin"?

This holds for "single vendors" Ghost Falcon and General Hammond in CoH as well.

--GF

Ah, you may be right. If so, then yeah, that falls into the time-vs-money punitive realm. On the other hand, by the time I was running around in Grandville, I'd accumulated enough inf not to care.