Statesman blabs about CoV

[Signe]

Found on the Board That Must Not Be Named:

some pieces from computer gaming world this issue about COV from statesman on aim chat.

Statesman_jack: After issue 4 our big focus is on City Of Villains. Macro design is done as well as a couple of zones. But now we need to focus on details. For instance, how many missions are there from levels 15 to 20...that sort of stuff.

Statesman_jack: Cov has 4 completely new Archetypes. The stalker, Mastermind, Brute, and enforcer(though im not sure i like the enforcer name)

Statesman_jack: Hero to villain, and vice versa will probably be and update after release....

Statesman_jack: At this point all the villain archetypes are reversed versions of hero archetypes. The villain archetypes are gonna play alot differently then hero archetypes...You ll need to be a "bad boy" in order to find out how different the villain archetypes truly are.

Statesman_jack: We are working on chars jumping servers right now. Would like to get it into issue 4 or 5.

[schmoo]

Sounds intriguing, doesn't it?  CoV should be interesting.

Now if they could just get that pesky arena to work right, and make solo PvP sort of balanced...

[raydeen]

I watched a buddy of mine try out the PvP today on the test server. Think the original Unreal Tournament + Z axis. It looked great. I wanted to log in and try it out but some of us had work to do. He was having a blast. His team won, but it looked pretty shaky for a while as one controller on the other team pwned them. Didn't last long enough, but that controller was pretty pesky. Enough to give them pause. This is what I love about CoH. Just when you get bored, they come out with something so seriously fun, you itch and twitch every moment you're away from your 'puter. Cryptic truely is setting the bar. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they pretty much keep you interested and paying. And how much have I paid for CoH expansions....?

[eldaec]

Reversed versions of hero archetypes, so scrapper and tanker are as per CoH.

I would assume that means the other two are...

Primary Ranged damage
Secondary Buff/Debuff

Primary Buff/Debuff
Secondary Control

I assume the one they'd skip would be the reverse of blaster, which would have been....

Primary P.O.S.
Secondary Ranged Damage

I can imagine blasters raising merry hell if one of the villian archetypes has a blast primary equal to their own, with a buff/debuff secondary.

[schmoo]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that in CoV you will have minions, and as you level you get more minions and/or they get more powerful.  And something about secret lairs.

"Solo PvP" is what my elec blaster does in Battle Royales - stealth, ss, run around in large circles waiting for someone's toggles to drop and then blasting away, while hoping that no one notices.  Otherwise he dies, quick.

[Sobelius]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that in CoV you will have minions, and as you level you get more minions and/or they get more powerful.  And something about secret lairs.

Hmmm. Kind of reminds me of Harmony in season 6 of Buffy. "Harmony has minions?"

[CmdrSlack]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that in CoV you will have minions, and as you level you get more minions and/or they get more powerful.  And something about secret lairs.

For some reason, I seem to remember that the lairs thing were the CoV "supergroup" version of SG HQs.  I could have sworn they said they were considering adding SG and Villain Group HQs in CoV.

[Glazius]

Sounds intriguing, doesn't it?  CoV should be interesting.

Now if they could just get that pesky arena to work right, and make solo PvP sort of balanced...

You mean 1v1 PVP? Positron has said they're not balancing on that level - 1v1 PVP is basically rock-paper-scissors. What they're worried about is whether rock+paper always pwns paper+scissors.

--GF

[HaemishM]

I have played the PVP, and it is good.  :-D

It's still buggy, mind you. This thing definitely needs some more cooking, and balancing. Tankers pwn me; I just can't hurt them enough 1v1 to make a dent beyond about 3/4ths of their health. Then I either start missing, or start getting asspounded. Brawl is the shiznit, and I need to respec to add more damage and accuracy to it. Knocking down a tanker's toggles is key.

The unfortunate part is that they DON'T automatically sidekick/exemplar to even out the level ranges. I think this is a mistake. However, you can choose matches based on levels, and restrict matches you make based on levels. You can also schedule matches, instead of just trying to put one together on a the fly. Also, super-speed is a pain in the ass if you don't have it, especially if your opponent has stealth as well. I have yet to fight someone with flight.

In short, it's well on its way to being some serious goddamn fun.

[Big Gulp]

I have played the PVP, and it is good.  :-D

I've got to disagree, man.  I just don't feel the love for the PvP, because I frequently just found it too chaotic and annoying.  I've been extremely disappointed by the combat, and that being the main thing keeping me around, I'm now thinking about just dropping my account.  I mean, at the core there's just nothing for me to do anymore.  I've got a main up to 50, a Kheldian up to 40, and several alts, and really I think I've just about played out the game.

I'll probably just wind up giving the game a break for a few months.

[Signe]

Haemish made me happy and then Big Gulp made me cry.  I'm an emotional mess, now. 

[eldaec]

I was surprised by the decision not to automatically set equal combat levels. Even more surprised that it's not there as a ground rules option.

Pleased though, that you can turn off travel powers.

I'm fractionally more impressed with it than I expected to be, but I still think everyone will get bored of areanas aprox 32.4 seconds after it goes live. Ultimately they aren't very different to EQ arenas. Who ever used them?

It does bode well for CoV though, and hopefully the devs will learn from arenas and improve future pvp, just as the standard of pve zones has steadily risen in each release since launch.

Defenders still pwn all in group pvp btw.

And if there is a villian archetype that is the reverse of a defender. Phew. Going to be interesting balancing *that* one.

[eldaec]

In other CoV related news...

Killer mimes.

Cool.

[eldaec]

Also, this explains why there is no auto-combat-level adjustments...

When fighting in the Arena, there are no level-based accuracy/damage handicaps or bonuses applied.

To be explicit: Level doesn't affect damage or accuracy bonuses/handicaps in the arena.

Level may affect damage. A higher level player may intrinisically do more damage than a lower level one. Plus they have more powers, better enhancements, more enhancement slots, etc.

However, that doesn't mean you don't still have issues with HP and absolute damage.

Interesting compromise choice.

Still not sure why they didn't at least have the option to set combat levels. I guess it could simply be that they want to avoid equalising combat levels 'in the wild' when CoV arrives.

[Glazius]

Also, this explains why there is no auto-combat-level adjustments...

When fighting in the Arena, there are no level-based accuracy/damage handicaps or bonuses applied.

To be explicit: Level doesn't affect damage or accuracy bonuses/handicaps in the arena.

Level may affect damage. A higher level player may intrinisically do more damage than a lower level one. Plus they have more powers, better enhancements, more enhancement slots, etc.

However, that doesn't mean you don't still have issues with HP and absolute damage.

Interesting compromise choice.

Still not sure why they didn't at least have the option to set combat levels. I guess it could simply be that they want to avoid equalising combat levels 'in the wild' when CoV arrives.

Huh. I thought that when you fought under your weight class you got exemplared to the highest level of whatever weight class you were fighting against.

--GF

[eldaec]

Weight classes are 10 levels though - which is a huge range.

[MaceVanHoffen]

I just don't feel the love for the PvP, because I frequently just found it too chaotic and annoying.

I liked the PvP as well, enough that I'll be doing it occasionally.  Though the reports of /regen scrappers being uber are greatly exaggerated by the playerbase.  But hey, society needs urban legends ...

My thing is that I'm just not into PvP really in these games.  UT2k4, et al just do it so much better.  I bought CoH with it being a PvE-only game, and would have been happy if it had remained that.  PvP for me will never be anything more than just something I do at 50 to goof around.

[kaid]

Actually from what I have seen the COH arenas are way more advanced than anything eq offered. There are actual match types with specific goals and many different options to choose from. If people enjoy pvp at all it should make things pretty fresh for them. Things like super speed and flight making things chaotic are reasons why there is an option to toggle them off for that fight. With super movments on while fun your fights are going to be pretty damn chaotic.

For big gulp sounds like you have probably hit the wall. I would suggest taking a break giving it a couple months then poke your head back in when cov comes out it would probably do you a world of good. MMRPG burn out hits us all and it is far better to take a break and try other stuff for a few months than just keep playing it while burned out and have TEH HATE build up.


kaid

[Llava]

Yup, I hit the wall a while ago.  Got WoW, played a Rogue to 41 and a Druid to 33... just started playing CoH again with the Arena on test.  I'm having an absolute blast.  Oh, sure some of the fights are just landslides and not all that impressive.  Some, though, are real struggles.  I find that when I go up against another scrapper and a defender/controller with a defender or controller on my side as well, some really challenging fights happen.

Dark Armor is now, in my opinion, the best scrapper secondary.  Not for PvE, but for PvP.  Regen is still good, but I can take them out with a little luck and some smart planning.

[Sky]

Yipes, I'd be so much less effective without travel powers, I guess I'll be avoiding those, even though I can imagine SS folks are annoying. But I'd guess I'd be pretty annoying to non-flyers (as a stealthed flyer/hoverer).

[MaceVanHoffen]

But I'd guess I'd be pretty annoying to non-flyers (as a stealthed flyer/hoverer).

Not really.  Superjumping around plus queued attacks (esp. Air Superiority and disorient attacks) equal an airborne hero flat on his back with his toggles dropped.  It's one of the tactics us scrappers have from PvE that carries over quite nicely to PvP ;)

I preferred the travel power matches, actually.  It made the group combat feel very much like the comic books.  One-on-one it would suck, I admit.  But in groups .... oh man was that fun.

[Big Gulp]

But I'd guess I'd be pretty annoying to non-flyers (as a stealthed flyer/hoverer).

Not really.  Superjumping around plus queued attacks (esp. Air Superiority and disorient attacks) equal an airborne hero flat on his back with his toggles dropped.  It's one of the tactics us scrappers have from PvE that carries over quite nicely to PvP ;)

Ain't that the truth.  Flyers at this point in PvP tend to have a false sense of security, because for the most part ingame they are secure.  My method for dealing with 'em is knockout blow.  It's that punch us super strengthers have that looks like Sugar Ray Leonard's old bolo punch.  It's has the added benefit of knocking people up, stunning them, and sending them sailing down to earth to land with a thud.  Easy as pie, and they never see it coming until I've already jumped up to their asses.

[Llava]

I love flyers.  There's nothing more satisfying than jumping a hundred feet in the air and bringing down a two-fisted crushing blow on the back of some blaster or controller that sends him hurling towards the unforgiving earth below.  Except maybe pummeling said blaster or controller to death after they land.

[Sky]

Wow. good points. I'll be playing bf1942.

[Mesozoic]

Wow. good points. I'll be playing bf1942.

Translation?

Are you saying that you won't play CoH arena because of the ability to hit flyers?  I'm confused.

[Llava]

Or maybe he was saying that the game will be bf1942-like because of the air combat possibilities.

[Sky]

Nah, I forgot how many powers players have to set me back on the ground. I hate fighting on the ground. Doesn't sound like much fun, though I should check it out before I form that opinion.

I was just saying for pvp I like bf1942 best, because it has the least amount of negative bullshit because it's not a PvE game (nor treadmill, etc).

[Mesozoic]

Nah, I forgot how many powers players have to set me back on the ground. I hate fighting on the ground. Doesn't sound like much fun, though I should check it out before I form that opinion.

The alternative is to make flight pretty much mandatory for scrappers and tankers.  Or to set an artifically low flight ceiling.

[Sky]

I don't think it's a bad thing, just not sure it's for me is all.

[CmdrSlack]

I don't think it's a bad thing, just not sure it's for me is all.

You could always try out something other than a blaster if flight doesn't float your boat for PvP.  Heh, or get the Superspeed temp powers before you go in.

[Llava]

I don't think it's a bad thing, just not sure it's for me is all.

You could always try out something other than a blaster if flight doesn't float your boat for PvP.  Heh, or get the Superspeed temp powers before you go in.

He was saying he'd rather fight in the air, and doesn't like that there are so many ways for other players to stop him from doing so.