Due to technical difficulties, My City of Heroes Blog is going on a bit of a hiatus while I square away some computer problems. Most likely, I'll be missing the entire Winter Event.
I'll try to get back as soon as possible, but until then I thank you for your readership, and I thank the devs for the great game of City of Heroes.
Kick some bad-guy butt for me. I shall return.
Daemodand
Monday, December 15, 2008
Happy Winter Event!
The Winter Event is scheduled to start today, Monday, December 15. Time to start hunting for those Slow Resist IOs. ;)
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Today's PvP Results: 14 Rep, 2 Defeats
As I try to work more PvP time into my schedule as I rebuild my characters for Issue 13, I got my first live PvP in tonight. Playing Daemodand in RV, I got 14 Rep and got defeated 2 times. 7 Rep per defeat. Not bad at all! I Phased to avoid a third defeat, and I felt kinda bad about it, my opponents earned a kill. But I have to use the tools the game gives me, you know? Maybe PS can be either disabled or put on a very, very long timer in PvP zones.
The reports of Energy Melee's death are greatly exaggerated. I was on the recieving end of a lot of it tonight, and it remains highly effective, especially in the hands of a Stalker.
What I like about how Defense is handled in PvP 2.0 is that I don't feel like I have to live in Elude just to survive. I save Elude for emergencies/when I'm outnumbered. I popped it only twice tonight (tried to pop it before my first defeat but as usual was too slow lol; the second defeat came while in Elude...Arachnos Heavy killed me right through it lol).
When I get my builds organized at long last, I'll be PvPing much more often. It was nothing but fun tonight, even when I lost.
Subscription Fees + Microtransactions: A Negative MMO Trend
Sonly Online Entertainment recently introduced microtransactions to the subscription-based EverQuest and EverQuest 2 MMOs. Apparently they dropped it on the playerbase without so much as a warning, and in direct contradiction to prior promises to avoid such a move. The Galaxies NGE vets are not surprised.
This is the kind of thing City of Heroes needs to be very careful about. They've been moving more towards this themselves recently. Purchasing renames, server slots and character moves is one thing, but the Booster Packs have you purchasing costumes as well, and they've even started including powers with the Packs (such as the Self Destruct that came with the Cyborg pack).
MMO publishers need to make a choice. They need to go with subscription fees, ads, or microtransactions, not two or more. Sure there is money to be made, but there is customer wrath to incur as well, as SOE is finding out once again as people rexamine their EQ and EQ2 accounts.
NCNC, don't let this happen to you.
SOE's new cash shop. Note how next to "IT'S TIME TO TAKE YOUR GAMING TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL" is a graphic of a wallet with money coming out. Very poor design choice. I'll bet that gets changed.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Task Force Random Roll
Daemodand got another 20 Merits and I went with the Task Force random roll. This time I got the Entropic Chaos trio, level 35. Crafted, it's worth about 5 million, minus about 500k crafting costs yields 4.5 million "profit". That's 225,000 Influence per Merit. My lowest take yet, but very acceptable.
I have been going on a tear with Daemodand. I've played him for years at this point, and he just keeps getting more fun! What a great guy. And I set him up with some new duds for when he's off-duty:
Daemodand, recently hired as a PPD Detective, consults with his fellow officers.
Winter Event Coming December 15th-January 4th!
I'm so looking forward to getting the Slow Resist IO for Daemodand and Bush Ranger. It'll stack so nicely with Super Reflexes natural Slow Resist.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Task Force Random Roll
Bush Ranger got 20 Merits and I decided to gamble on a Task Force random roll this time. Guess what I got? A level 40 Miracle +Recovery! Crafted, it's worth approximately 75 million on redside. That's about 3 million per Merit. Very, very good return. Boy, did I get lucky!
So that's 1 Trial roll and 1 Task Force roll so far, and they're both winners. I like Trial rolls more because I think there's less junk in 'em (thus the higher price). I was feeling lucky today and it paid off. Big. :)
Dupin' Rares
There's been a big scandal in game. People found out an exploit that allowed them to gather hundreds or even thousands of Merits in a trivial amount of time.
I don't like exploits, but this may have a positive effect for buyers on the market as the super shinies become more common and therefore more affordable. Of course this pretty much invalidates my experiment to see what will happen with market prices on super shinies. Oh, well! At least there's a positive effect for non-exploiters looking to buy.
And the client crashing issue has been fixed. Again. Wow, the launch of Issue 13 may be the roughest launch of any Issue. I've only been around since Issue 6, but I might still be right on that.
Here's hoping the troubles are behind us.
Character Gender Census
Inspired by this forum thread, I got curious and did a census of all my alts. I have no mandate of a certain number of males or females as I go entirely with concept. Turns out I have 12 female and 12 male characters. 50/50 just by chance lol. I find that amusing. Probably a reflection of my view of women and men as equals, so one is just as good to roll up as another.
I thought it'd be interesting to break it down by Archetype, too:
Brute: 2 female; 1 male
Stalker: 2 female; 1 male
MM: 3 female
Corruptor: 2 male
VEAT: 2 male
Dom: 3 female
Scrapper: 3 male
Tanker: 1 female; 2 male
HEAT: 1 female; 1 male
other: not currently rolled
Interesting. Yep, I'm a redsider lol.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
From The "I Didn't See That Coming" File
Atari acquires Cryptic, developer of Champions Online, former developer of City of Heroes.
All I can say is, "Huh?" This can only be good for Cryptic, though. Jack Emmert probably just got a nice payday. He's turned his comic book passion into a more-than-decent living. Good for him.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Market Crashes and Burns
Ebil marketeers killed the market. No, not really. But it is down for the time-being for emergency maintenance.
Merits By Task @ Paragon Wiki
Here's a couple invaluable lists to help you maximize your Merit earnings:
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Trial Random Roll
I got 30 Merits on Daemodand and spent them on a Trial random roll. I got a Luck of the Gambler Def/End/Rech, level 50. Blueside, it's worth about 12 million Influence. That's about 400,000 Influence per Merit. Not bad! This was my first Merit-purchased random roll.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Friday, December 5, 2008
Positron's Address to Returning Players
With Issue 13's free access weekend (on now through midnight Sunday), Positron has released an address to the player base (it popped up in-game, too).
One tidbit that immediately struck me was that they are allowing some of the Issue 13 PvP rules changes to be optional in Arena, and this is hitting the training room "very soon".
On the one hand, I kind of prefer people to be "forced" to use the new I13 rules for a few months to give people a chance to acclimate to it. On the other hand, allowing for optional rules in Arena may make some PvPers happy, and it might bring some people back (there aren't a lot of them, but more people is always better than fewer; the in-game population hasn't changed one iota due to quitting PvPers though).
My PvP bailiwick is zone PvP. And in zone PvP, these Issue 13 changes are absolutely necessary. It was way too easy to avoid combat and turn tail and run under the old system. The new system helps limit that kind of thing, and this is especially important in zones where there is way too much room to maneuver in (on the smaller Areana maps, it's much less of a problem).
Overall I approve, with the caveat that we need to let PvP 2.0 have a chance, rather than strangling it in the cradle.
Market Canary: Level 20 Miracle +Recovery Recipe
68.22 MI on average.
I'm using this one as a "market canary" to see what effects Merits have. My hypothesis: the price will gradually rise. Time will tell if I'm right or wrong.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Reactivation Weekend On Now Until Midnight Sunday
If you let your subscription lapse, now's a good time to check the game out again for free as City of Heroes hosts another reactivation weekend! Inactive accounts in good standing are active from now until Sunday, December 7, 2008 at midnight.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Issue 13: Power and Responsibility Goes Live
Here's my post mortem of the patch notes:
New Midnight Squad and Cimerora Story Arcs
A very welcome addition. Always glad to get some additional story content.
Merit Reward System
Overall it's a great addition. I fear there may be some unforseen problems such as the rarest IOs becoming even more rare, and basing rewards on time (people will always find a way to get the time down, thereby rendering the TFs less rewarding, especially for casual players). My own approach will be to take the random rolls and craft and sell whatever I can't use. My game hasn't changed at all, but it has become more rewarding with those TF rolls that I never would have gotten otherwise. Hold on tight, it's going to be a bumpy market!
Day Jobs
Fun! I wish the rewards lasted more than two hours/20-30 uses, but it's purely extra and the Patrol XP is an altaholic's dream. Reducing the wait time on badges to 21 days from 30 was good (15 days would have been going too far). It's a really good feeling that even while you're not playing, you're still accruing rewards.
Shield Defense
I've not tried them since the buff, but on Tankers it's plenty strong and the customization options are out of this world! BABs and company really outdid themselves with those shields. I'm rolling a Shield/SS/Pyre Tanker. The damage of Super Strength plus the damage boost of Shield Defense should make for a much more soloable experience. We'll see if I get more Shield characters going, but that's the only one I have planned right now.
Pain Domination
This set looks and sounds Villainous! Very nice to see. And it's strong...very strong, especially on a Mastermind. I don't recall them ever nerfing it in closed or open beta, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to see it nerfed after a couple of months live. We'll see. Pain MMs are juggernauts. I'm rolling Thugs/Pain. And I'm taking and slotting the Pistols and no one can stop me. :p
Multiple Builds
This feature is gold, pure gold. You'll have to work extra hard to equip two builds should you choose to use two, but it's worth every Inf because the flexibility it gives you is so very powerful. Love it!
Patron Powers Unlocked
It's a huge relief to finally get some parity between APPs and PPPs. The new PPP powers are unbelievable, and you don't have to lose any power that you like. More options is better than fewer. I get to keep my Spiderlings. Yay!
PvP Revamp
Easily the most controversial change in Issue 13. I really like the changes though. Let's face it: PvP 1.0 was broken. Stupidly broken. In PvP 2.0 you can bring any Archetype, any set and at least stand a chance. Diminishing Returns ensures that people can't just buy victory and allows newbies a fighting chance. Travel suppression enforces engagements and adds risk to buffers and healers. I love the new system and will PvP much, much more often in it.
Toggles
Defenseive toggles don't turn off when you're mezzed, but only suppress for the duration of the mez then come right back on again. Love this change! The game runs so much more smoothly with it, it's unbelievable. Offensive toggles still drop however (as they should).
Costume Save/Load
This ability has been requested for a long time and now it's a reality. Such a great feature! Characters now have unlimited costume options. Don't like the 5 you've got? Get to the Tailor and load in some that you do!
Badge Organization
I'm no badger, but even I'm impressed with how much easier to use badges are now with the new interface. Badgers must be orgasmic over it.
Kheldians Buffed
My jury is still out, but they are better to play now than they were. I'm going to get a Peacebringer and Warshade up to SO levels before making my final decision on whether I like Khelds or not. They remain team oriented, the transformations are still clunky as heck, and if you're a tri-former there's an incredibly unfun slot crunch making one of your forms virtually worthless until the very highest levels. But they do more damage now, and benefit from their Inherent in forms, dual builds allow for human and tri-form builds, the toggles don't drop when mezed and Dwarf acts as a Breakfree. I'm intrigued. We'll see.
Check it all out at the official forums.
Now stop reading and go play. :)
Monday, December 1, 2008
It's Official: Issue 13 Tomorrow, December 2nd!
As predicted by My City of Heroes Blog, Issue 13 will release on December 2nd. Way back on October 28, I made the following prediction in my post "Issue 13 Starts Pre-Downloading!":
Still, Issue 13 is nigh. Pretty exciting! My prediction: it goes to live December 2nd.
No, I'm not psychic. Randi's million is safe. Who's your daddy? ;)
Joystiq: Keeping City of Heroes Relevant
Interesting tidbits:
- The Merit system was put into place to let people work towards a specific goal. [Actually, the market already allows for this. But the market is about as out-of-theme as you can get, and can be a source of real frustration so it's nice to have an alternative. -Ed.]
- Mac beta is coming with Issue 13, and will be included with all future boxes of City of Heroes. [Boxes on retail shelves are quickly becoming a thing of the past in PC software. -Ed.]
- In Mission Architect (released in Issue 14) you'll be able to design your own Contacts as well as your own Bosses. [Hey, that's a nice touch! Now if only they let you get missions by going to Contacts in the actual game world rather than going to an "arcade"... -Ed.]
- More Microtransactions are coming, starting with Booster Pack II: Valkyrie. [It's hard to argue the economics of it, but they are losing some of the good will of some of their customers by doing MTs on top of sub fees and ads. That's hard to put a dollar sign on, but is an invaluable resource that they are, IMHO, squandering by locking up costume options behind $10 payments. -Ed.]
- Issue 15 will concern the 5th anniversary of City of Heroes. [Here's hoping Villains get some content, too. -Ed.]
- Issue 13 will release this week. [As My City of Heroes Blog predicted some time ago. No, I'm not psychic. ;) -Ed.]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)