Faultline news

Bits and pieces from an interview with War Witch, who oversaw the design of the “upgraded” Faultline zone.

The new Faultline was War Witch’s baby (yay! go WW!)

The dam area has been opened up. No surprises there…

The dam’s been built up and made into a kind of a hazard area. The rest of the zone is city sized spawns. A bunch of new villain groups have been added into it – the Circle of Thorns have said ‘bye bye!’ and moved on! Vazhilok are still there. Level range is bumped up to 15.

It’s been levelled a bit for the superspeeders’ sake.

Storyline: seismic anomalies on the moon are causing problems with the tides, and Faultline ends up flooding! The water level of Faultline has been raised. Construction crews have come in and started shoring it up – there are construction elevators all over the place, so you can get from the lower areas to the higher. Catwalks too.

The zone now has missions, a hospital, a trainer and stores, and even a (‘unique’!) entrance to Pocket D. There are more plaques and badges – and a special badge that War Witch snuck in, and good luck to you if you try to find it!

Arachnos has been sifting through the old Supergroup bases, looking for technology. They’ve been there for a while (nobody knew they were down there) and have made themselves quite comfortable.

The PPD are in Faultline, complete with DOUGHNUT SHOP and GIGANTIC DOUGHNUT. And there are some new animations (can’t have doughnuts without a doughnut eating animation).

Hints dropped that something is going on with villain players in Pocket D, but nothing specific!

Interesting. And interesting about Pocket D, which makes having to have a base portal to Faultline less urgent.

Another person’s parallel summary (this was all from an audio interview):

It’s now a City Zone instead of Hazard Zone (entered via and underpass instead of Secure Gate)

Added new villain groups. CoT are gone, Vahz are still there. Smaller villain spawns, higher levels ~lvl 15.

The Dam area has been opened, and will be a bit harder than the rest of the zone (presumably the red part of the map) a “hazard kind of area” per War Witch.

Tried to make things more level by raising the water level (due to seismic activity) with catwalks and construction, making foot-travel easier. Cut a section of the zone out to make things fit together. (?)

There will be contacts and missions, stores, “unique” entrance to Pocket D. New plaques and badges.

Arachnos is there now, tunnelling for old deserted SG bases (apparently have been there for a while). PPD is there (and a donut shop with a giant donut on top)

Actually … played!

Got on again two or three times over the weekend for some quick Torchy/Hildy action. Managed, last evening, to die three times. Rrg.

Part of that’s rustiness, but part of it is simply the T/H dynamic. Psi-clone and Amorpha were an awesome team, but part of their strength in their Controller/Scrapper dynamic, was their flexibility. Both could solo. Both could duke it out with the bad guys — A. definitely better, but PC, too, for a while, especially with a bit of prep and with the pets out.

Torchy/Hildy, not so much. A lot of what we do depends on Hildy maintaining control over the mobs, so that Torchy can blast ’em but good. If Hildy’s bite me aura drops, or she drops altogether (even with her Phoenix rez), Torchy is very, very, very squishy. She has a few mitigations there, and the Epic Powers will help, too, but at the moment, she is not a melee type of girl.

So we’re at 40, and what sorts of folks are we running across but Knives of Artemis (meaning Torchy is as likely to be spotted and targeted as Hildy, and Hildy’s mobility to run up and grab aggro is compromised) and Malta (meaning Sappers can take down Hildy’s bite-me, or very bad people with very big guns can decide to shoot Torchy, or those damned web grenades can ground her).

Hence, three deaths in two hours.

Some revised tactics are in order.

Title Case

Woot! As of I8, Titles on characters (“The Valiant Victorious Torchielle”) will be much more malleable.

You can change your title at any of the following levels:

15, 25, 35, and 45

At 50 you can change your title at any time.

You need to visit a trainer still to change your title and they “don’t stack” (in other words, if you don’t use your level 35 change, you don’t have two changes when you hit level 45).

There is no Influence or Infamy cost associated with this.

Joined with the previously mentioned expanded title list, this is fine news, and makes great sense (though I would have accepted a bit of Influence/Infamy as a reasonable cost for this, if you think about it).

Now … when will they let heroes/villains start to self-service change their names?

More veteran rewards

Next levels announced:

15 Months: Zealous: Angelic and demonic wings. Woot! Plus a costume token for each character. The angel wings look great — the demon ones, kinda dorky. Still, nice.

18 Months: Unwavering: Samurai armor! Coolness! Various pieces. Spiffy! And a costume token for each character.

21 Months: Steadfast: Shoulder cape! Costume token! Respec!

24 Months: Devoted: Emergency base teleporter (long recharge time, interruptible) — head back to base any time you want. Plus CoH comic book covers available as posters in your base. And … more titles available (for the Level 15 characters).

Nice stuff.

The Flying Thang

Though there are new flight post/animation with I8. they’re randomized each time you take off. Well, actually each time you start moving (if you stop in mid-air and start again, it randomizes). Not ideal, but it makes it doable
in I8 (vs. I9).

Speaking of I9, quoth Posi:

Hey guys, a quick clarification:

The Invention System and the “Legends” System are “one in the same”…

Basically the Legends system, as it was designed, was not implemented, but out of it grew what will be known as the Invention System. The Invention System does what we wanted the Legends System to do, and a whole lot more, and lays the ground work for limitless expandability that the Legend System just didn’t have.

Sounds … interesting.

Astonishing news!

I actually played CoH tonight!

No, really, it’s amazing to me that it’s amazing to me that I actually played CoH. Probably the first time in at least a week. Did some fun missions with Hildy and Torchy (about half-way to 41), all that kinda good stuff. But … yeah.

Fun. But I remember when it was noteworthy when I night passed that I didn’t play CoH.

Veterans Daze

So the first year’s worth of Veteran Rewards are up.

  • 3 Months: Trustworthy – Trenchcoats! (Look okay, but not great. Available in sleeved and sleeveless. The backs flare out like capes, so no real “closed” trenchcoats. Still, better than nothing. Comes with one costume token for each character.)
  • 6 Months: Faithful – Greeks! (I.e., Greek letters become available for costumes. Hmmm … Psi-clone could use that … Comes with one costume token for each character.)
  • 9 Months: Dependable – Kilts! (Male and Huge get kilts. Females get belly shirts — big whoop, as a lot of female characters have already bare midriffs, yes? Comes with one costume token for each character and … a Respec!)
  • 12 Months: Loyal – Weapons! Sprints! (Choice between permanent Undead “Slayer” Axe or Sands of Mu. Cool. Plus Base equipment to show off various “captured” villain weapons. Finally, the old “pre-purchase” Rush, Dash, Quick, Surge sprint powers become available.)

Each of these also come with badges (named as shown).

Overall, pretty cool. Not huge — nobody’s going to be at a real disadvantage by not having these things (well, having Sands of Mu or, resumably, the Axe, is an advantage — Lynn enjoyed the semi-permanent SoM when temp items were broken), but they add a bit of fun-ness.

More stuff to be announced anon — including, presumably, the wings …

Five years ago in Paragon City …

Today (26 September) is the fifth anniversary of the initial announcement and press info on City of Heroes being under development.

Warcry has coverage of those Good Old Days — plus the 2002 E3 presentation that gave a first look at what the game would be like (and is noteworthy for what was different as much as for what is the same).

You’ll notice lots of little differences in the video to how CoH eventually turned out. The icons on the top right of the screen were for targeting individual body locations, the attack system required Dakan to use the mouse to target enemies via the cursor, there’s no contact system – missions were given out at computers, there are actually screens that allow you to tweak your hero’s stats and powers, and a whole host besides. However, for 2002 things do look pretty good and the bones of what the game became
are definitely there.

Cool.

“I got a rock”

They’re running a Halloween Event on Test (presumably to go Live in a month). Click on a door — any door — and fight mobs and get a “treat” (an inspiration — or maybe a fifth costume slot), or a “rock” (or maybe
the “rock” is the fight). Very similar to the Christmas event last December.

At last — a reason for 80% of the doors out there, otherwise unused, to exist.

Veteran Rewards and … WINGS!!!!

Okay, after the ennui post, the Veteran Rewards thing is kinda ironic, but … officiall announcement here.

Specifically, for each increment of three months with an active account*, players will unlock valuable in-game “items” which will come in the form of costumes, powers, badges, and more! The program is retroactive by player account and rewards will be applicable to all characters within each respective account.

Rewards have been determined for the first three years of play and will continue to expand indefinitely. Stay tuned for updates as we reveal the full list of rewards!

And one of them is … wings. Very cool. Both demonic (batty) and angelic (feathered). Wings video available, too, though it’s … kinda short. And … the feathers shed? Cool … (Almost as cool as another flying animation — arms forward, “Superman Style.”)

Notification

I’m pretty darned certain that the Notification checkboxes and e-mail-address form boxes at the bottom of each post are finally working. So if you want to subscribe to a post and get an e-mail every time a new comment comes up, you can. Huzzah.

Ennui Go

Interesting article over here on what the author calls “WoW-nnui,” a sort of, “Huh, kinda getting tired of this” feeling that more World of Warcraft folks (in his circle) are feeling these days.

Last night I logged in to WoW for the first time in a long time. I visited my characters one by one, but didn’t stick around to play very long despite finally having an evening free to play. I felt a distinct detachment from my characters and soon recognized my old friend, game ennui.

Now I don’t mean to sound like I’m spelling doom for WoW (or MMOs in general!). Far from it. I don’t know WoW’s sales numbers, but as far as I know their box sales remain at or near the top of the charts. And of course there’s a much-anticipated expansion pack coming up that will give them a welcome, if perhaps temporary, bump in their usage numbers.

But in my case, not only could I really not gather any excitement about playing these characters, knowing as I do that I just don’t have multiple hours per week (much less per day!) to play them, but the more advanced the character the more difficult it was to get back into. I could sorta drive my 22lvl hunter; my 37 warlock was almost incomprehensible — and for many more expert players such levels are “lowbies.” Remembering all those spells, weapons, abilities, talents, etc., just seemed like way too much trouble.
And all the quests that were driving these characters’ progress were entirely meaningless now (this is the danger of external motivation—it’s just too easy to lose all sense of why I should care about an entirely artificial set of quests).

I’m involved, loosely speaking (given my lack of attendance), in several different guilds on PvE, RP, and PvP servers. In each, multiple people I know — both those with multiple level 60 characters and those who have never come close to that — have sort of run aground on the over-and-over again gameplay, whether that’s yet-another-kill-X-creatures quest or yet-another-raid for yet-another-piece-of-armor. No one I’ve talked to dislikes the game; there’s no sense of having been spurned
or that the experience has curdled. But in even the best parties there seems to sometimes come a moment when, amidst the music and noise you and your friends silently agree “great party; we’re outta here.” For some people that moment has come with WoW. And I’m guessing that trend is only going to accelerate.

File off some serial numbers, and swap some nameplates, and this could be CoH/CoV. I continue to be interested in news about the game, I’m curious about stuff coming out in I8, even having some character plans around it, and I have a Level 40 that’s been forging along — save for my only playing a couple of times in the last week-plus, due to other commitments — plus a stable of other characters who deserve more time in the sun.

But, honestly, the burn just isn’t there for me, these days. When I have a few free minutes — or even a free evening — I’m not instantly diving into CoX. I’m not regularly staying up to Midnight, to get in one last missoin. Part of it is a “been there, done that,” part of it is being distracted by other interests (good and bad), and part of it is the latest round of dramatic brouhaha that’s not only messed up the community but soured me on the whole associated environment.

I dunno. Not quitting any time soon, as far I as know, and I expect I’ll be playing more in the coming weeks than I have been. But, honestly speaking again, I know exactly the feeling the author of this essay is talking about, and I can imagine a time (in a way I couldn’t a year or so ago) when I won’t be playing CoX.

Patch notes for today

Guess this is live as of … today! Main thing is the Mission Drop feature, but there are a few other details, too.

Mission Dropping Feature

  • You will now be able to drop missions that you receive from Contacts. Dropping a mission will carry with it everything that completing the mission successfully does. It will advance story arcs, improve Contact XP, grant special powers, give Mission Complete XP, etc. You will not be able to “replay” the mission you dropped. This is done this way so that you are not stuck on a Story Arc, or are missing a vital Temp Power needed later on in the mission chain, etc.
  • In order to drop a mission, you must be the mission owner, and you can talk to the Contact that gave you the mission. If the mission is droppable, an option to drop it will appear.

There are a few caveats to the Mission Dropping Feature:

  • You can only drop one mission every 7 days with this feature. If you need to clear a mission, but have already used this feature in the past 7 days, you will need to contact Customer Support as normal.

    *You can not drop timed missions.

    *You can not drop missions that are part of a Task or Strike Force.

    *You can not drop missions that give badges as Mission Completion rewards.

    *Some other missions are marked as “undroppable”. These are missions that have rewards that are well above average.

  • You will not be given the choice at all to drop missions that are undroppable. You will need to contact Customer Support in order to clear these missions.
  • If you are on a team with someone who drops a mission, you will receive no rewards for the mission.
  • Missions that are dropped are logged so we can more easily debug bugged missions.

Powers

  • Fixed an issue with Moment of Glory which caused the Icon to blink after the power’s Buff period had ended.
  • The Gladiator version of the Malta Hercules Titan will no longer combine into a Zeus Titan if two are present.
  • Ring of Fire and Fire Cages both have had a -Fly component added.
  • The Teleport reticle now displays properly on Teleport powers with range enhancements.
  • Pets made up entirely of f/x (like Tornado or Voltaic Sentinel) now display properly.

Tasks

  • Lieutenants will now appear in missions for solo players.
  • Fixed a bug that allowed some destructible objects in missions to get into a state where they could not be targeted.

City Zones

  • Recluse’s Victory: Attempting to dismiss a Turret no longer causes it to become inactive.

Game

  • Fixed a bug that can make enemies and/or other players invisible to you.
  • XP debt in PvP has been adjusted: If a player is defeated by another player, no debt is given. If a player is damaged by another player and then defeated by NPCs, debt is given proportional to the amount of damage inflicted by NPCs.

Bases

  • Moving stacks of stored items by double clicking no longer causes items to be dropped from stacks and lost.

CITY OF HEROES

Powers

  • Kheldian Energy Flight’s Endurance cost reduced to match the changes to the Flight power.
  • The Tranquilizer Darts temporary power no longer slows the user when activated and properly slows the Devouring Earth.

CITY OF VILLAINS

Powers

  • Back Alley Brawler should no longer give debt when defeating players in Recluse’s Victory.
  • Freedom Corps Nullifiers Sonic Grenades will now properly display a debuff icon when you are affected by them.
  • Lowered the sound volume of the Elder Cobra’s Poison Beam attack.

Tasks

  • Future of Freedom Strike Force: Freedom Phalanx members on Lord Recluse strike force will once again drop Enhancements, Inspirations, and Salvage.
  • Future of Freedom Strike Force: At completion of the Strike Force, you are now given a choice table to pick your reward. You can pick a random Synthetic Hamidon Enhancement or a specific Single Origin Enhancement.

Mission Dropping

Positron speaks on the new Mission Dropping feature, upcoming:

There’s probably nothing more frustrating to have just about cleared out an entire map, only to realize that there’s a mob somewhere about still. You scour each room, but still nothing. Turns out the mob is spawned outside the map. You petition and…wait.
That’s one of the first things we wanted to solve with this feature.
In this scenario, we’d of course want to give the person their reward…after all, they’d done just about all the work!
Naturally, mission dropping is also useful for those missions that are either too easy or too hard…in those cases, it’s not necessarily good to give players the reward. And yet the way we have tech set up right now, a player NEEDS the reward. Case in point: the Vahzilok Wasting Disease. If a player dropped that mission, but didn’t get the reward, they’d have the Disease forever.
It’s extremely difficult to determine programmatically whether a mission is being dropped for fun factor or bugs. It’s better to err on the side of “bugs” so we decided to keep the reward. But in order to prevent people from gobbling missions like candy and getting free XP, Enhancements, etc., we placed a limit on how often.
I freely admit that it’s not a perfect system; I know Posi and I are reading the boards to find ways to improve the mission dropping…so post away!

I think this makes tremendous sense. Though, honestly speaking, I think only once have I ever been in a mish where the “last missing mob” was actually unfindable or some sort of bug. Usually, with diligence (and/or help from one’s friends), it can be found lurking behind a crate or up in the ceiling or something.
I think if the frequency on this got increased to every couple of days, it would not hurt the “experience” (nobody’s going to farm by skipping missions every couple of days) while being quite useful.

Jump!

The “Good vs. Evil” edition is announced — but if you want, you can actually buy all the “goody” premiums:
* Jump Jet Prestige Power
* “Pocket D” VIP Card Teleport Power
* Exclusive Hero and Villain Costumes
No prices listed as yet. Not seeing anything here that I’m just obsessed about getting, unless the price is very low.

Potpourri for 600 Prestige, Alex …

Bits and pieces from the Dev list:

  1. A new patch was briefly up on Test today, before being backed off. Among the features was, evidently, the ability once a week, to drop a mission. It’s primarily intended as a way to finish missions that are buggy and can’t be completed, but you could use it just to avoid something Really Irritating. Once a week, anyway.
  2. “Monsters, John! Monsters from the Id NCSoft!”
  3. Will there be a freespec with I8? Possibly. Though by no means certainly (nor even probably).

Zoning …

Due to a variety of personal commitments/activities and being off on business travel, haven’t signed onto CoX since, oh, Friday, so nothing new to report there. And the Devs have bee pretty quiet, trying to get I8 ready for test. So … expect news when you see it. Harrumph.