Wanted to comment more fully on the new CoX I17 stuff coming out Real Soon Now (based on the overview page).
Features
Ultra Mode
Ultra Mode includes a superior graphics rendering process for players who have higher-end graphic cards. Each feature can be enabled or disabled in the graphics menu options and will be scalable. Ultra Mode works on both Macs and PCs. In specific, it offers dynamic shadows, screen-space ambient occlusion, and dynamic environment reflections (including planar reflections and environment mapping of reflective surfaces).
I’ll be very curious to see how much of this will run on my and Margie’s newer machines.
Epic Archetypes Unlocked at Level 20
Previously, you had to have at least one character at level 50 to make an epic archetype character. No more! Now you can create an epic archetype character as long as you have any one character at level 20 or higher.
A sign of the aging game, perhaps, but also worthwhile. I guess now I can make a VEAT (since I already had access to Kheldians).
Animated Tails
No more tails lying about like dead weight! You will now be able to select tail body parts that will react to your movement and have a swaying or swishing idle animation mode. You will need to go to a tailor to upgrade to the animated version.
Yes! Excellent! (And will they be free upgrades? No matter — I’m swimming in Tailor Tokens.)
Content
New Story Arcs: Issue 17: Dark Mirror features two new Hero and two new Villain story arcs for levels 20-30. Each of these story arcs has four missions, and the story arcs highlight the Dark Mirror’s sinister new enemy. Acquire the first Hero story arc in Talos Island, and the first Villain arc in Sharkhead Isle.
A good “sweet spot” area for some new content.
Silver Mantis Strike Force Update: The Silver Mantis Strike Force will now be available to all Villains, not just supergroups. You now can access the Silver Mantis Strike Force via Silver Mantis, located in Sharkhead Isle. You can also run this Task Force from your supergroup computer.
Interesting. And, it makes me think, a sign of the slow social decay of CoX. How many people are active in SGs any more?
Positron Task Force Update: This Task Force has been split into two halves and dramatically upgraded and updated to ramp up the fun. The final battle of the Task Force takes place in the Faultline Dam and incorporates the new Dark Mirror enemy.
Positron TF? Wow, that brings back some memories. Sounds like it’s bringing the TF back to what was originally intended, plot and division-wise. Nice.
New Badges: Along with adding badges for 500 Badges Earned, 750 Badges Earned, and 1,000 Badges Earned, we are adding new exploration badges to city zones, almost doubling the number of exploration badges. You can learn new Accolades for finding all of the exploration badges in each city zone.
Um … okay. Those who like those sorts of things will find them the sorts of things they like.
New Player Emotes: We’ll let you know more about the new emotes soon.
Ditto.
Quality of Life Improvements
Craftable Temporary Powers: You will now have a much cleaner and more consistent way of finding and crafting temporary powers.
Never found much use for craftable temp powers.
Increased Mission Count: You can now have seven active missions (previously three).
Now that’s pretty interesting. Honestly, I’ve never felt much need for more than three, especially these days, and even with 3 it’s easy to end up with stale mishes. Expanding to seven feels more like a copy-cat move than something all that worthwhile.
Show Last Objective: This UI improvement lets you find your last objective on a mission map, making it easier to find something you’ve missed.
THANK YOU, LORD! Best QoL Improvement EVAH.
Auction House: The UI gives you new options for sorting search results, your Auction House inventory is now separated by clearly marked tabs based on the item’s status, the Auction House text entry box now autocompletes, and a single click on a recipe displays all salvage needed for that recipe.
I’ll have to play with it, but any improvement to the auction system is a good idea.
In-Game E-mail: You can now use in-game e-mails to send Influence/Infamy to your own characters or to other players’ characters via in-game e-mails. (You still cannot send Influence, Infamy, or items from a Hero to a Villain or vice versa.)
About time.
Mission Architect Improvements
Experience: You can now handpick the powers for custom enemies and still receive experience for them (within game balance limits).
New Maps: We have added approximately 20 new unique maps.
Giant Monsters: You can now add giant monsters to some outdoor maps.
Exit Mission on Complete: You can now specify that players have to leave the mission manually on completion.
Escort Missions: “Lead to place” technology allows you more control over escort objectives.
All sound useful for those who do MA content. Though the idea of adding Giant Monsters … (Can we create the Good Old Days at Portal Corp …?)
Overall, sounds like quite a nice issue, especially with the Going Rogue around the corner.