Originally posted by Verkain

Originally posted by kcypher2000

Great so they are going to just play catch up to Champions now by adding features that should have been in the game a looooonnngg time ago.  Glad i quit this game back when i realized they had no clue how to add end game content.

 I wouldn't say they are playing catch up to CO.  Power customization has been asked for since before CO was even announced and back in the day it was brushed off as nearly impossible due to the coding issues.  Although, I don't think it was a coincidence that issue 16 happened around CO's launch.

The conspiracy theorists would say NCSoft been planning this since CO was announced (or maybe before) and were just keeping the card up their sleeve. ***shifty eyes***

Doesn't "tank-targeting" help with all that?

Originally posted by Mentat

Originally posted by hehenep

Originally posted by Mentat

Well at least they are working on it - but, still at this point with every current player having slots filled with 50's... I don't think I will be returning to this one.

They need to take a hint from WoW - when it releases new content your old gear although powerful, becomes obsolete... Hense new players are able to be competitive.

 WoW also moves the bar further back, so new players have a larger gap between them and the old players keeping them from being as competitive.

Also, I'm not really sold on 'every current player having slots filled with 50s', mostly since it's pretty untrue.  I'm not really sure what people having 50s has to do with anything, especially because of the ease of teaming across levels in the game.

 Well sold or not it is/was happening like that - 50's in all slots. I was doing it too - but, that got boring pretty quick.. hense I don't subscribe anymore. Maybe the AE just showed how shallow the game is - the end game content is pretty darn weak in comparison to WoW.

WoW doesn't push the bar back either - not like CoV - WoW makes it so the newbs can get the same items or comparable pretty quickly. They give more experience now to lower levels to help them catch  up - they release new content all the time that has updated gear, making the old gear outdated pretty quick. WoW is more friendly to newbs that most games ... hense the 50 gazillion subscribers (of which I am NOT one of currently - games that make it too easy on newbs turn me off even when I'm the newb..)

CoX does this too, sorta. It's been around since launch, but there's that whole no debt to level 10 thing. And they added that "patrol experience" to help minimize debt while increasing XP accumulation. And wasn't the XP required to level from something like 1-20 reduced?
 

Originally posted by Dubhlaith

I don't know much about this game. Calling it Rohan has me wary, but the screenshots and game info that the game itself shows me mean nothing to me.

Can any of you tell me a few things about it so I can judge if it is worth trying?

How is the combat better than other games with the skill bar slots?
How is the control customisation? Invert Mouse is a big deal to me.
What is the world/community/questing like?

Thanks!

Why does it make you wary?

Nice work, Cecil. Good overview for someone unfamiliar with the game or with Blasters. I share your "overall concept" philosophy and have taken a similar approach to my thermal/thermal corruptor.

However, I do have one question.

8. Burn. A situational power that does moderate DOT damage and frees you from being immobilized.

What is a "situational power"?

Originally posted by williwaw87

I am worried about the Kudo's system. Maplestory did the same with the [f]ame system, but it only became a commodity where you could pay people to fame you. It also leads to scams where people get fame and run or people pay for fame and get nothing. Watch out Alganon.

I'm not that familiar with Maplestory, but how did the fame system impact the game? Was there any sort of reward based on your fame?

From the brief description that Dana provides, it looks the impact of Kudos will be minimal. Seems like it'll only be useful for PUG-ing. If (when) players start exploiting it, won't people just start ignoring it?

I'm intrigued enough to try a demo.

I'm not a WoW hater, but I am a casual player and the sheer size of WoW is daunting. I would rather start playing a game just as it launches - see the community grow and have a role in helping it take shape.

Originally posted by Rabenwolf

Originally posted by Remii718

Originally posted by Rabenwolf

If any of Alganon's devs end up reading this, which no doubt they will. Do not expect much interest or positive reactions. If innovation, major innovation, isnt there and as part of the selling point, then you have no chance at success....unless you consider a maximum of 50k subs (if you are lucky) a success. I would suggest re-examining that business model as well.

As a small dev team I'm sure those guys would be happy with 25-50k subs.

Not every game needs 300k+ subs to be a success. As long as the game is fun people will play it, it doesn't need a load of innovative features.

That can be true if you do not include the investors as part of the equation. The money invested in the project doesnt come from no where, investors get on board. All investors want the best return possible with their investments. A development company equally will be limited by the success of a game. Take WoW for example. Prior to WoW Blizzard had a much smaller number of staff, a smaller building...ect With WoW's huge success, the greater numbers and profit, allowed for Blizzard to beef up their staff significantly, hire the best of the best, and actually have their own building built, which is now Blizzard HQ. All this requires millions of dollars, none of it would have been possible if their product was just scraping by.

Furthermore, no doubt the goal of this games developers as well as investors, is to reap as much rewards as possible, which in turn go into building upon the title as well as the company and even worth of the developers themselves.

But different investors have different definitions of "best." Some go for highest return, others go for secured return. Each has benefits and drawbacks. To get a high return, you usually have to face a high risk of loss. If you're going for a more guaranteed return, it likely won't be as high as something that involved more risk.

Pick a service or consumer-goods industry and you'll see a variety of business sizes and models. For all the Starbucks and Krispy Kremes out there, there's also a bunch of smaller independent coffee shops and donut shops that are doing just fine by their owners' standards. Or clothing - how about you try being innovative with a shirt. There's something to be said for doing one thing and doing it well. Just a few examples.

It may not be your ideal business model, but that doesn't make it any less valid.

Just have to say, excellent post, Amarsir!

x101, to expand just a little bit:

If the tutorial teaches you how to use the controls and interface, Atlas Park and Galaxy City teach you how to play. Those zones are where you first encounter large quantities of other players and all hte social stuff that accompanies them - costume contests, broadcast tells, zone events like zombie attacks, blind invites. You'll still have "defeat ___ baddies" missions as you level up, but you'll be fighting different groups that all pose unique challenges. And they frequently lead to multi-part missions.

Plus, the geography of other zones will add additional challenge/frustration. Independence Port is over 2 miles long and less than a quarter of a mile wide. Brickstown has many mission doors that are below street-level. Faultline is a somewhat vertical zone. Perez Park has trees that "grow" so tight that you can't jump through the leaves.

havok - are you asking about CoV specifically or CoX in general?

Originally posted by Leilao

Those epic archetypes need a level 50 for a side to unlock.  Villains get those Bane Spider thingies and Widow people.  Theyre more team based types but I never got mine past level 10 >.< I didnt like them much.  Theyre not overly strong BTW! Theyre just like other classes so no superpowered Epic Archetypes~

 

Leilao - I've heard they get better once you get your first respec and go into a specialty. I don't have a level 50 villain yet, so no first-hand knowledge here.

Originally posted by Yellowman26

have it all one server, like eve, but! a place is chosen at random. (I know this will P off some people who like to play with friends) all the major cities in the world, and people scattered around them. Now for the first month or so of the MMO, zombies will be easy. this will give a people to start building some skills and stuff. but then the attacks start gettting bigger.

  Now as you rebuild, you get access to technology like plane or helicopter and can keep them running so you can visit othe cities. now as population get redistributed in these towns, some of these towns will get run over as people leave til there only say one safe area. this is where a helicopter land, and you get given two choices. either try to make more safe spots or visit if any, or raids.

Now the safe spots that are built by players are ruled by players. better not ninja loot people or something cos in a big zombie overrun session, the nearest safe house, the only one you can get to, is player owned. and you ninja looted him last week. so your dead. perma dead.

But hey, you left behind a son or daughter! they have acess to all your own stuff that you may have stored, bad news is, they may only have little skills, or (taking a leaf from eve) if you chose play/train with son/daughter then that person has some skills. that way, if you dont like your char, start training up your next one, and then when it ready, go on a rampage against zombies with the old one.

Be warned though, wouldnt go on a rampage against other people when trying to die, cos last name is always kept that would be the name that gets blocked. so that rampage could cost your son hefty fines or equipment confisicated with safehouses blocked against him, the only area you can go is the helicopter compound, and well, those are crap. but well it law of the jungle out there.

For the playing with friends problem - Maybe there'd be some way to tag an invite with a location. If a friend uses your invite link to sub to the game, they spawn somewhere relative to your base. Maybe not the most realistic convention, but something player-friendly that makes the game a bit more welcoming to new players.

I really like the idea of a family of characters with skills and gear to be passed on to your next character. With perma-death, it would help keep the game from being repetitive.

But how would you build your family? Would they just follow you around unseen? Would you rescue an NPC and have that person become your spouse/child? Maybe there's not biological relation, just clan membership - you join a clan, then when you die, your next character gets an automatic membership in that clan and access to your stuff? With the option to strike out on your own at any time, but you lose any clan-related benefits such as loot storage? 

You'd almost have to have perma-death in a game like this. In other genres, wounds usually are usually easily healed and don't get infected. But in zombie-land, usually if you get bit, you're a goner.

Would a medic/doctor player role even be needed? Maybe as a secondary skill set. I suppose players could be injured by other players or get non-bite wounds that would need treatment and not turn you into a zombie.

Something that might be interesting an twist would be if there was some sort of vaccine or post-bite treatment. If it was a vaccine, make it so that it loses its effectiveness after a period of time so need boosters. Or for post-bite, if you could get treated within a certain time frame, you could stave off the effects, but then you'd need to continually be getting a booster. There could be a few "secure" medical facilities where the stuff is produced that you'd have to travel to get it. Not to raid the facility (because they'd stop making it), but you'd have to fight your way there, help defend, and then fight your way home.

Maybe having a medic in your group would increase the amount of the vaccine you receive or increase its effectiveness (due to better administration & care).

The world could even have different resources depending on region. Money would be fairly useless, so bartering would be necessary. Maybe a more urban town would have access to vehicles, a rural area would have more food, a military base would have weapons and ammunition, and so on. People could trade for stuff they needed.

There's already a thread over in the Champions Online forum, but I thought I'd start one here. Mainly because I have little to no interest in Champions.

I got this email last night:

Limited Champions Subscription Deals!
August 5, 2009

We at Cryptic Studios and Atari are excited to announce our Champions Online six-month and lifetime subscription plans. Players who sign up for our long-term subscriptions will receive special perks, including eight additional character slots, special costume sets and guaranteed access to the Star Trek Online closed beta!

"Beyond the deep discount on the subscription rates, we wanted to come up with added incentives and exclusives that, as gamers, we could get excited about," said Jack Emmert, Cryptic Studios' Chief Operating Officer. "With an early commitment to Champions Online, granting guaranteed early access to our next big game, Star Trek Online, seemed like a great way to engage Cryptic’s biggest fans in other projects at the studio.”

Here are the great features our loyal customers will receive.

Discounted Lifetime Subscription

* Guaranteed Star Trek Online Closed Beta Access
* Eight Additional Character Slots
* Foxbat Vanity Pet
* Art Deco Costume Set
* Retro Future Costume Set
* STO Mirror Universe Costume Set

Discounted Six-month Subscription

* Guaranteed Star Trek Online closed beta access
* Retro Future Costume Set

Don’t miss out on these great deals! You can purchase your subscriptions now!

Discounted Lifetime Subscription
$199.99 USD $219.99 CAN £119.99 GBP €147.99 EUR

Discounted Six-month Subscription
$59.99 USD $65.99 CAN £35.99 GBP €44.99 EUR

Now I have to decide if closed beta access and a Mirror Universe costume are worth $200 since I won't actually be playing Champions...

...that major characters will have real people playing them. Like people who've been around since the first beta tests.

Has anyone else heard anything about this?

Originally posted by Ozmodan

Mosf of these posters don't seem to get it, once someone solves something the solution will be on the net within hours.  So that precludes using solving mysteries as a way to advance your character, those that look things up will always be miles ahead of you.  Even introducing randomness won't help much, just more solutions posted.

While single player mysteries work well as you are playing against the computer, they just collapse when it comes to a MMO setting.

I have not read one suggestion in this thread that works for a game like this in a MMO setting. 

Something that no one has pointed out about Clue is that you play as one of the suspects, but even you don't know if you did it until the end of the game. While you know it's going to be one of these 6 people with one of these 6 weapons done in one of these 9 rooms, you don't know which particular combination it is for that instance.

But I don't think a Clue-style game would make a good MMO.  It would rapidly get repetitive and tedious as you figure out which of the 324 instances you're in. Could definitely be done as an online game, but just in an online gaming parlor.

I do like the idea of a mystery MMORPG. I'd play it, for sure.

I could see it being a skill-based system with a few affiliations instead of classes. Maybe cop, private eye, and reporter. Each affiliation would be part of your character's back story and give you access to different resources. Maybe as a cop you'd have access to a crime lab and as a PI you'd have better connections to the underworld. As you solve cases, you get skill points to go towards diplomacy or intimdation or "eyesight." And maybe you start getting bigger cases, promotions, stories, pay offs...

For team situations, you could get points based on your contributions to solving the case. Everybody gets something once the case is solved, but you get a bonus for finding evidence or scaring off an intruder before he commits another theft/murder.

The big hurdle would be creating new content and foiling spoilers as much as possible.

The fastest way to level is to get sidekicked into a 46+ level team of 5-8 players, but that can be difficult  to PUG. Your best success with that will come through a Supergroup where your fellow group members don't mind having you tag along because they'll be expecting you to reciprocate in the future.

Generally, getting into a team that's a couple levels above you, set on Invincible, and has 5-8 members will level you fairly quickly yeah, you can farm some regular missions or AE missions, but that can get tedious. A large team with a high difficulty will level pretty quickly no matter what they're doing. Well, as long as they're not spending all their time kissing dirt.

Another little trick is to piggyback (leech) on a duplicate mission. I do this the most in the Hollows and Faultline, but it can happen anywhere. And it doesn't happen that often, but when it does, it's great!. Let's say you get the Frostfire mission. You don't have time for it and you log out. When you lgo back in, you see someone else trying to put together a Frostfire team. You join up and y'all complete the mission - the other guy's mission. You then get a box saying that you've completed a mission with similar objectives to one of yours - do you want to complete your mission as well? If you click Yes, then you get the XP and any drops specific to that mission. So if you can hook up with a group doing the same story arc that you're on, you can avoid some mission repetition.

Originally posted by Dana

The disconnect from the keyboard to the screen is enough of a barrier that as neat as these games have become, they remain games. When someone plays Fallout, it creates a world that has more in common with reading a book than being in a play. When someone logs into World of Warcraft, they don’t even have the fiction to sink into. It’s about playing the game, and socializing, but few actually feel like they “become” their character.

Thank you, Dana!

Immersion talk always annoys me. I can suspend disbelief as well as the next guy, but unless I'm on stage or doing something with friends IRL (including tabletop), the keyboard and monitor keep me separated from my characters and their worlds.

Perhaps there shouldbe an article on types of powers: melee, range, PBAoE, TAoE, SelfAoE, etc. That might eliminate some of the confusion about the blaster's AoE focus.

One subscription fee will allow you to play both games. I'm not completely positive, but you should also be able to download CoV for free as well.

Originally posted by Zerocyde

I'm really excited to hear this, but I'm kind of worried at how he compares bridge officers to freaking epic gear. I think he even said "phat lootz" like a idiot also. Wouldn't it be kind of stupid for like, everyone to be trying to get the SAME person on their ship? All crew members and bridge officers should be uniquely named.

My understanding is that it's not like everyone is going to get "Spock"--you complete a mission/arc/whatever and get a science officer with high level computing skills. Then you complete another arc and get an engineer who is really good at repair. Then you have your science officer cross-train your engineer and your engineer is able to acheive a more efficient dilithium mix.

So instead of getting specific named people, you get people with specific skills. Eventually, you can have one of your science officers cross-trained by all your other science officeres and wind up with an uber-science officer.

Originally posted by Nebless

Originally posted by SwampRob

They could've gone the 'start as a cadet and work your way up route', but honestly, think about how many lowly, boring jobs a cadet or low-ranking officer would have to do to get to a "fun" position.

I think most people would be happier being a captain from day one, and gradually getting bigger and better ships.

I don't know about starting as a cadet, but wasn't there a ST:TNG episode where Picard sends out a group of Ensigns on a mission  (Almost had the feel of a series spin off episode) ?  That would be one way to start low with just a shuttle and slowly work your way up in rank and ship command.  The other of course would be the standard 'ship battle / damage / emergency, you're the most senior still alive - take command!' situation and you work up from there.

Be interesting to see the back story on how you came to command a small destroyer / science vessel at the start 10 to 12 years into your career.

"Captain" is both rank and honor. I've been going through the ST:DS9 dvds lately, and this is shown quite frequently. Technically, Sisco is the only captain by rank, but whenever he turns over the Defiant to Worf or Dax or Kira and leaves the ship, the officer left in command is called "captain."