City Of Heroes Tues/Thur Group

[gi]

Figured we needed a new thread since the original is over 17 pages.

I will be on with pretty boy Aucoin today. Half way to 26 now.

[JeeberD]

I miss playing with you guys. Just no time for it anymore...

[Thomkal]

Don't know if I will be on or not tonight with Cometflash due to the Olympics. And we miss you too Jeeber

[hoopsguy]

I'll try to help GI's new thread become as trendy as the old one ...

Sorry about the drops at end of last night. Haven't had that happen for awhile. Seemed like we had a nice group going last night, as well as some interesting discussion on the general flow of the game. Brickstown will probably be a pretty scary to respawn solo at these levels.

[Raiders Army]

Nice night tonight. Found out what "candy" is.

Again, a timed mission with a needle in the haystack hunt. Brickstown will be pretty good. Before most of you came on tonight PV and I were rocking through it. I'd say within half an hour I accumulated over 20,000 xp.

[Bad-example]

I logged in as Charbroiler to show my nephew what the game looks like. I haven't been playing at all but am still enjoying reading about your adventures.

[FloridaFringe]

Bonegavel,

The "difficulty" thread on the CoH boards was deleted before I could respond. It's sad that a simply conversation can get so ugly so quickly from only a few idiots. O'well, here is what I was going to post:

Sorry I missed that bit of info in your post, it’s late and I’ve been working way too long today.

Well hopefully they will increase the hit points significantly so that tanks and such can become more useful (or even useful at all) in larger groups. I would also like to see an increase in mob numbers for higher-level zones such as the difference that Perez Park initially makes to level 8-14 characters. Having to fight 6 or so mobs in Kings Row and then having to fight 12-15 mobs in PP really made a nice difference. If the same were true for such places as Boomtown and Faultline then it could really go a long way towards helping the situation for the better. Imagine having to fight 40 or 50 mobs with a 6-8 man group without having to herd them together. Sounds great to me.

I completely understand where you are coming from though but it doesn't really effect me all that much since my groups are usually only 3-4 players at a time. It would be nice to have the initial feeling of your heart dropping in your chest just by the mere sight of certain groups of mobs. To invoke a feeling of challenge before your team even engages the enemy is something that they should be looking into. Chances are that they understand this issue better than we could even imagine so my bet is that they are already working on it.

It should be noted that I haven't left the 20s yet so I cannot comment on the end game but rather only the mid game so far. I can tell you without hesitation that I am still enjoying the game for what it's currently worth but I can also tell you that the more difficult battles are without a doubt more enjoyable in the end.

[Raiders Army]

It was also nice that we had almost everyone there last night:

Project Virus
Aucoin
Albino Claw
Gail-Force
Cometflash
Don the Baptist
Silver Streak

Great job by everyone last night. I wasn't even hitting the 35s most of the time during that one fight, and I pretty much had to use aim and buildup to hurt them. As a side note, did anyone else notice that the defenders/controllers could hold them, but we couldn't hit them as well?

[Bonegavel]

Originally Posted by FloridaFringe

Bonegavel,

The "difficulty" thread on the CoH boards was deleted before I could respond. It's sad that a simply conversation can get so ugly so quickly from only a few idiots. O'well, here is what I was going to post:

Sorry I missed that bit of info in your post, it’s late and I’ve been working way too long today.

Totally understand and those morons hijacked that thread into the recycle bin.

What is interesting to me is that large groups are challenging at one point in the game - Late teens to lower 20s. After that, groups larger than 3 or 4 roll over everything. Up to level 14, the game is almost unplayable IMHO especially after logging hundreds of hours above that. Not having a speedy travel power until 14 is almost torture.

Soloing in the mid to late 20s is very viable and is just about the only challenge left. 2 to 3 is still fun, but there is usually more than 2 SG members on at a time and you can't deny them a spot on the team. That's what the SG is for and I wouldn't have it any other way. To tell an SG member "no, you can't join cause its no fun" isn't the game I want to play.

What they should do is really make the zones (red/yellow) mean something. When you go into the red zone, you better have your game-face on. While they are at it, why not add more zone colors and ratchet up the difficulty even more. That would add selection.

And the missions (which used to be a challenge with larger groups) are now a joke. Last night, our group was taking on 33/34 mobs in Bricks and when we get to the mission, they are a bunch of 30s. It was a cakewalk. Statesman did say that he was going to add some sort of difficulty setting on the missions which would be a godsend. Not sure why it wasn't built in to start as it seems easy enough to present the team leader with a box and letting them choose from Cakewalk to Impossible.

I guess it is good that I care so damn much about it, because normally this level of frustration would just cause me to lose interest. But, I was fortunate enough to have moments in the game where it was awe inspiring and I just want them to get each part of the game to be like that.

I will say that if this next Issue is just new tilesets and mob skins, I will put the game down for a while to recharge the batteries. I will give this game some time to mature as I think it has that much potential.

[C.J.]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

As a side note, did anyone else notice that the defenders/controllers could hold them, but we couldn't hit them as well?

I was missing a fair amount of the time too on those 35's, but all of my hold powers are 6-slotted with accuracy enhancements, mostly DO's. I have multiple holds too, so even the one's that miss, should get hit the 2nd or 3rd one I throw.

[C.J.]

I posted a few screenshots on my blog this morning...unfortunately I didn't get any of us in battle. Hmm...maybe I was too busy battling. Enjoy:

CoH Blog

[hoopsguy]

CoH crowd has been quiet here the last few days, although still showing up in the game with strong numbers. Saw AoQ, Bonegavel, Raiders, GI, and CJ over last two days and now have Don right smack in the middle of Level 27. Thanks to everyone for the help bumping up the levels ... being out for awhile set the Baptist back a little bit.

Had kind of an interesting end of the evening as there were a crew of eight or so 5th Column sitting outside the Mutation store in IP. Level 36 5th column, which is a load for the regular heros in that town. I recruited our sometimes-comrade Merciless Ming to help me out with them, but he was "only" 29, so we were basically useless against the one that I managed to pull. Even with Invincibility I'm not hitting guys that are nine levels higher. And obviously not damaging them as a tanker. Eventually someone blasted through all of them with the quickness ... happened so fast I wasn't able to see what level the guy was.

Also, I've got a few new contacts that are looking for timed missions for the initial draw. I would love to have some help with the timed ones ... us tankers are kinda slow in working through the crowds going solo.

[gi]

I should be on tonight. Pretty Boy needs 27.

[gi]

The Man...the Myth...the third eye?

THE DON

[Raiders Army]

I'll be on tonight, but I probably won't be on beginning Sunday the 5th through Thursday the 9th. I am going to go with my dad to Pittsburgh for a stress test.

[C.J.]

Saw this in an interview today....(although you all probably knew this already.)

GameSpy: Can you say anything about Issue #3?
Sullivan: We're introducing something top secret, but I can say that it adds a new dimension of gameplay that we haven't seen in this game yet. It's non-combat leveling.

Just when I thought I couldn't wait for Issue#2, they drop info about #3.
Nice for us controllers and defenders that don't get XP first hand.

[Raiders Army]

Quick update on the CD key dispute. NCSoft received my receipt, cds, and cd sleeve. They verified that I am the rightful owner of the game, and are sending them back to me. (BTW, they sent me a FEDEX express package to send them the above stuff, so I didn't have to pay postage). For my inconvenience, I am getting a free month of CoH. Pretty cool.

[ageofquarrel]

Going to miss out on tonight. Have a class. Did they ever say why that other guy had the same key or whatever as you?

[Raiders Army]

Never said why. The response was:

Thank you for sending your CD sleeve and receipt. The items you provided us verified ownership of the serial code and as such your account is no longer in dispute. We will inform you when we have shipped your items back to the mailing address you provided.

We understand that this process was an inconvenience, because of this we will be adding 30 days of game time to your City of Heroes game account to show our appreciation of your cooperation. Since these compensation requests are sent to another department to have completed, it may take some time for the actual change to take affect. However once we receive confirmation of the adjustment to your subscription time, we will contact you by email immediately.

Should you have any further questions regarding this issue, please respond to this email. Again, we greatly appreciate your patience and cooperation.

[gi]

Here a link to gamespot for info on update 2 and 3.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/08...s_6106190.html

[Thomkal]

Have to say I was real bored by the end of the night with Cometflash. Hitting for one or two points of damage on purple to me mobs all night long wasn't my idea of fun. That is when I hit at all. And most of the time my one debuff wasn't hitting either, making my character particularly useless. It most cases I stayed back and watched everyone else fight while I was never in much danger unless I got up close with whirlwind.

Part of the problem I think is that we (we means me too) violated our own rule about just playing these chars on Tues/Thurs, letting some of us get ahead a few levels. Other problem is that even our group shouldn't have been able to take on mobs that are 5-10 (or more in some cases with me) levels higher than us with as much ease as we did.

I find the indoor missions more fun than hunting right now (though hunting sure gives you quick xp). The indoor missions are more cramped making it tougher to get away from the mobs, and have a storyline involved, even if the mission isn't one of mine.

[gi]

I agree...more missions, less hunting. Xp treadmill is not the reason I bought this game nor pay the monthly fee. I want fun first. Exp will come.

[C.J.]

Cometflash sounds like he's having similar issues that I had with Translectron. Couldn't hit much even being sidekicked. And no travel power...ugh (except for siphon speed...which has to hit to be effective). Gail's having better luck hitting, but that's because of all the acc enhancements. But I can only hold purples for 3-5 seconds at most and then they break free. If it wasn't for Aucoin's candy and Hasten 3-slotted with recharge, I wouldn't be able to fire off holds every 5 seconds.

Dunno....I want XP as much as the next guy. I don't want to be stuck at lvl 22 for the next 2 months even if the story is fantastic. I'm itching to get to lvl 32 for pets. And I always hate being behind the pack, but I do like change of pace/scenery too. I'm fine with hunting, as long as that's not all we ever do. I'm really finding some of these new mission maps that I've never seen before interesting (like the temple one with the portals).

I did notice though, that after most everyone logged for the night, Albino and I went back to Independance Port for a little more hunting (just 2 of us). We were taking on lower lvl mobs, maybe 28's and 29's....and the XP was the same or greater than when I was fighting 33-35's with 8 teammates. Almost seems like the law of diminishing returns is causing larger teams that attack higher mobs to get less on their return than one would expect.

As far as the character thing on T/Th...prolly right. I play Gail ALL the time, simply because I'm trying to catch up to the rest of the group at high 20's. But, I do have other characters that I'd like to mess around with.

[Raiders Army]

I unwittingly violated the Tues/Thurs rule I guess. I did not know that we were only supposed to play our chars on those days....as such, I guess I'm a big violator Then again, I came on CoH later than most of you, so I didn't bother to read the whole thread. Also, because most of you were 5-7 levels higher than me I began to play the game more and more. I still have the addiction to the game like I bought it yesterday.

Personally, I have no problem sking someone and the times I've been sked I didn't have problems hitting (but then again, I'm a blaster). I agree that with too many people, the risk/reward gets to be not worth playing other than seeing everyone. I think the best group that we could have is 3 people taking higher level mobs. Once the group gets to about five to six people, the xp becomes very small. Couple into that equation debt, and it almost seems as if you're not doing anything other than getting to play with your buds (which can be rewarding, but if you aren't progressing at the same rate, then it becomes frustrating).

[C.J.]

Purple Patch is going to make it a waste to go after mobs more than +5 above your current level (I was SKed to lvl 28 fighting lvl 34-35's). They've adjusted the difficulty curve and capped the XP...you beat on mobs for a LONG time, and get marginal XP from it. Problem is too that if we fight mobs 0 to +3, with a group of 8 that is quite diverse with lots of buffs, holds, attacks, heals......they're too easy to take down then. We don't take much damage, and don't go through much END (unless Aucoin's dog has more of the Hershey squirts.)

Hmm...dunno...anyone got some ideas on stuff we could try? Taking into consideration the variance now in everyone's levels and the difference between hunting and missions...along with size of the teams and level of the mob.

Couple interesting threads:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showf...Number=1187794
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showf...Number=1092321

[Bonegavel]

I think that we should never group larger than 4 . If 5 login, split 3 and 2 and fill up the teams accordingly as more log in. This sucks, though, as I like our team time. The large teams are snooze-fests.

The solo/duo aspect of the game is awesome. You can stretch yourself and fight larger mobs and never really feel the purple patch. Add a 3rd and things go faster or things get safer. Add a 4th and you start tickling the purple patch.

At 5+ it is a joke. Add to it the fact that we have great variation of characters: Tank, Scrappers, Blasters, Controllers, emp/debuff defenders. We are a diverse group and it makes the game way too easy. Statesman has mentioned as much on their forums.

I entered a discussion with somebody on the CoH forums and I was trying to explain that our SG, when all assembled, is unstoppable. We can take on anything that stretches up to the +5 cutoff for hitting. We saw what happened when we reached the +5 limit: nobody was hitting and it took 5 minutes to get only a few xp. But, thanks to Aucoin we were never in danger of dying. Just out of endurance (and not even that when sampling his candy).

But comet is right, since the purple patch we need to be VERY close in level for it to be fun for all. I'm not going to ask anyone not to play a character because of this and this is maybe where we split the groups up on tues/thurs. Try and keep everyone on a team within 2 levels of each other.

[C.J.]

WOW....I'm playing Issue #2 now (damn...only 30 minutes to mess with it too) on the Test Server.....Capes look cool. I'm seeing all kinds of heroes with capes around here. There's changes to the interface window too...chat is streamlined and more configurable.

I'll play with it a little more if possible and give some more updates when I can.

[Raiders Army]

How'd you get to do that, C.J.?

[C.J.]

Ancient chinese secret!

Naw, the instructions for how to do it is on the official COH website....go to the forums area and look for the "Test Server" forum.

I downloaded the 180 meg patch in preparation for playing it on the test server earlier this week. I knew it was going live soon, just didn't know when. Looks like they possibly dropped it today. Dunno, I'd have to read the forum more.

Well, didn't get to play it much yet, but it looks like to get your cape you have to visit a series of contacts (about 3 or 4) all in different zones to read part of the story about Hero 1. Explains about why no heroes had capes at first. EXCELLENT story even though it was fabricated to cover up the technical limitations on capes. After you visit contacts, I think you have to do a mission in Talos Island...I stopped there cause I had to eat dinner (and I'm a controller who can't fight well anyway.)

Just to tease you guys...I got a few screen shots before I left.....you can see Gail in them.

Capes Screenshot 1
Capes Screenshot 2
Capes Screenshot 3
Capes Screenshot 4

SCREENSHOTS: Screenshots are now saved as JPG's instead of TGA's. Yippee...no more file conversions.

CHAT: Looks like the chat window has "tabs" now...you can fully configure the tabs to have whatever types of messages you want on them. You can still stack top and bottom like before, but you can now eliminate the top and just go to a tabbed system. You can also minimize the chat window so it just has the prompt part (prolly good for soloing if you still need to issue bind commands but don't want the chat window up).

DANCE CLUB: HA....I know this is pretty useless, but serves as a way to get noobs and other socializers (sometimes I like to stand around too) away from the trainers. I found the dance club in Talos Island. I think it links to Steel Canyon because I found a door leading to SC. 9:19pm Update...the club appears to connect to IP and SC....they look like back door entrances to the club. Might be another way to go from zone to zone.
Dance Club Interior 1
Dance Club Interior 2
Dance Club Interior 3

CONTACTS: 9:25pm Contacts look like they got a cosmetic update in the drop down window....more color and depth.

FIND LIST: 9:30pm Last update for the night (I can't give EVERYTHING away).......Holy shit you should see how nice the "Find Heroes" screen is. MAJOR improvement.

[C.J.]

[gi]

Things look great. Update 3 should really improve things, and then City of Villians. Looks like they have a pretty good game here if they fix the high level end.

[C.J.]

Gail's sporting the small cape there.....seems like not many people go for the small one (hmm...ego issues?) Not sure if a cape is right for Gail, never really planned for her to have one, but I figured I'd try it and see what it looks like.

Update is very cool...they have a list now of all the changes they made and it's huge.

I chatted with a few people on the Test Server, and it appears that the Purple Patch is still in effect....most likely here to stay.

[Bonegavel]

can you toggle the cape? Meaning, if you don't want it on you can "take it off."

I too have been messing with the test server and the new section "The hollows" is a huge disappointment. It is like a mini-faultline.

The improvements to the interface are welcomed and the capes do look really nice.

[C.J.]

Originally Posted by Bonegavel

can you toggle the cape? Meaning, if you don't want it on you can "take it off."

Nope...I don't see a way to do it. It appears that it becomes part of your costume. Same with aura's. If you want to change any of them, you'll need to make a trip to Icon and spend some more $$$ to get things changed.

[Laddin]

How is City of Heroes Going??? I played from release date up until The end of June (Ended with a level 29 tanker and several other mid teen characters) quit to start playing Star Wars Galaxies.

Sounds like some of the same issues I was having when I quit. The mobs at your level are too easy, and the purple mobs just aren't worth the time and effort for the xp you get (I also remember lots of bugged storylines that I was never able to finish). But I didn't want to take your posts as meaning the game hasn't improved as it seems like you're still having a lot of fun playing it.

Oh and if you see Enigma Fist (virtue server I think), tell him Force of Nature says hi

[C.J.]

CoH has it's quirky annoyances, but for the most part I'm still completely addicted to it...especially when they release new content.

What's really going to do me in and ruin my life completely is when The Matrix MMORPG comes out.

[Bonegavel]

The game is still young (wonder how long i'm going to keep saying that) and so I'm giving them a break. Every MMO i've tried before bored me to tears in a week. This one has held my attention since it's release. That's something of a record for me.

They are working on the balance things and I may give them a monthly check until CoV comes out and then if there are still issues and CoV isn't fun, I'm done.

[Bonegavel]

So, what characters are we brining to the table tonight?

[Raiders Army]

I've got either Silver Streak on for high level, or White Napalm for low.

[gi]

Should be able to have your choice. We should have two groups tonight

[hoopsguy]

Can go either way. I'm coming on early with Don to get the last few XP for level 28, but will be happy to play one of my 13-14 guys after that.

[gi]

Weird night. I ended up playing Inverness (15 Blaster) with Gail last night. I believe everyone else brought on lowbe alts. Fun night for me. How was the lowbe group?

[Bonegavel]

Started a energy/energy blaster and I forgot how fun he was (modeled him exactly off of my very first character that is still active on Virtue). As i mentioned last night, my first char on Virtue has rest slotted a few times and I think sprint. Also, I got him to 20 before I knew you could select more than 1 power pool after 6 so he only has hover/fly in addition to his pri/sec powers. Boy is it going to be different this time around.

If we can, it would be nice to try and even up our mains and let everyone catch up to level 31.

[Qwikshot]

Made it to 22, many many thanks to Silver Streak, Albino Claw, Cometflash, Aucion, and any others that made it possible.

I'm currently cleaving apart Dark Astoria, Single Origins are making me destroy things with reckless abandon.

[Raiders Army]

Fellas, I'll be gone beginning tomorrow (Labor Day) and won't be back until Thursday night. I might make it on to play, but if I get home in time, I'll probably be watching football instead.

[C.J.]

May not be on tonight for tues/thurs SG stuff. Gotta go to the parents place for din-din.
Gail-Force is level 23 now...almost halfway into 24. This is my main, so I'll try to get it up to everyone else's main's levels. I'd like to shoot for 32 actually. I get a sweet power at 32.....Singularity.
Hurricane power is becoming more and more useful than I thought it would be. It was a tossup between picking that one and whirlwind. I like hurricane for the -ACC and -Range debuffs and also the protection. Gail's going to get stamina next at 24 from the health pool. Yes, Aucoin gives nice candy out, but this should help for those times when there is no candy available.

[gi]

I have a date tonight and a Tigers baseball game. Doubtful I will be on tonight. NO CANDY FOR YOU!!

[Thomkal]

Cometflash may or may not be on tonight. Have a football draft to attend at 9pm, but it could be short as we are doing a round at a time.

[gi]

How did it go last night for anyone who played? I at least now have a girlfriend.

[Thomkal]

I did end up being able to play last night and with the help of both Albino Claw and Ming, Comet made it to 24th level! Sadly Claw died three times last night, but I did warn him to run the one time and he chose to stay. I get a new power at 24 of course, and Mutation sure would have been helpful last night with those deaths....but I went with Aim instead, knowing I'd be soloing to catch up, and knowing how helpful Aim has been for a couple of my characters.

But Mutation has intrigued me since I first had the chance to pick it, so unless I'm blown away with a new power choice at 26, I suspect I'll pick Mutation at last.

Dan