A few suggestions regarding the new CoH game design

[silvers1]

Over the years I've played a number of online games - noteably Everquest 1,  Dark Age of Camelot (DAOC),  CoH/X,  WoW,  Guild Wars 1 and 2,  and most recently Neverwinter.   Just a few observations about game design that I hope some of which make into the CoH successor.
Note:  These are just my opinions,  and I realize many will disagree on certain points, and I respect that.

1. Gear is bad - Gear Scores are bad:     I never like the whole "you are your gear" mentaility.  Never like that it controlled appearance
and that the green to blue to purple progression drastically impacted how you performed in groups.
I don't want people to have the ability to look at what I'm wearing - or what enhancements I have slotted.  frankly, it's none of their business.
I feel that the CoH devs made a mistake when they started listing what bonuses people had from their IO sets.

2.  Reward Grouping -  pick up groups are virtually non-existant in most recent games I've played for normal content. I've always loved PUGs in that you meet new people and the experience ( good or bad ) is always different vs always playing with a static group of friend from your guild.CoH did an excellent job of this and I hope the successor does the same.

3.  If you're going to have an Architect Entertainment type system, make it do everything that the Devs can do.  The AE system in CoH was very limited and frankly made it frustrating to do a real story.  I'm actually pretty impressed with what story writers have done in Neverwinter.  I would also like the ability to generate my own maps, create my own mobs, and switch contacts on the fly.  Limit the nerfing,  the CoH devs went overboard with it and broke many legitimate arcs.

4 .   NEVER make me compete for resources with other players.   This includes "Kill X" missions, "Collect X" missions,   resource nodes for crafting, chests in dungeons,  etc.

5.   Put nothing  in the game that promotes elitism.   Viewable gear scores,  DPS meters, and the like.  If you give players the ability to discriminate on perceived vs actual "ability", believe me they will.

6.   If you're going to have entrance criteria for a dungeon/TF,   make sure that most PUGs with that minimum criteria can actually complete said dungeon.    A group of reasonably competent players should be able to complete any content.  Not elite "geared" players.   Not well oiled machines with Ventrillo.   Random groups with competent players.    This cannot be said for the higher level dungeons in Neverwinter.

7.   Free to Play vs Pay to Win -  Neverwinter is a full-on pay2win system.   You can buy the best gear, best companions, best whatever for your characters.  Just have to pony up the cash.  I dont mind paying for visual stuff like costume pieces, but when it impacts how well you do performance-wise vs other players, it is unacceptable.   F2P - yes, PAY2WIN - no.

8.  Companion systems - I dont care for them.   If you're going to have specific classes designed to work with companions, that's fine.  ( like the Mastermind )     But please dont make every toon have to have a companion, like they do in Neverwinter, or GW1.   Although I prefer grouping, sometimes I like to solo, and I want my toons to truly be self dependent for most content outside of dungeons.

9.  The Tank/Healer/DPS triumvirate is bad -   I loved how you could throw almost any combination together in CoH and succeed.  You go without a tank or healer in any dungeon in most other games - you will fail.   I love the 8 man group in CoH, vs the 5 man groups you see in every other MMORPG.  Allows for greater flexibility.

10.  Class combinations -  the primary vs secondary system in CoH was great.  I also greatly enjoyed the broad range of archtype selections. In Neverwinter, you can make a tank,  a 2 handed swordsman,  a healer,  a rogue, or a ranged DPSer.  That's about it.  Boring as heck - and every group is the same.

11.  Implement true control classes  - the "Control" wizard in Neverwinter is actually quite pathetic compared to what we had in CoH.
Control was an actual viable strategy in CoH, control in Neverwinter much less so.
 
12.  Make a tank a TANK - a tank is a brick wall.  A tank is not a big bag of hit points that a healer has to keep replenishing.   CoH is the only game I've ever seen that got it right.   The taunt system in CoH is excellent,   keeping aggro in Neverwinter is an excercise in frustration.   I also like how you could buy knock-back resistance enhancements in CoH.  I do not like the fact that you have to constantly stop what you're doing with tanks in Neverwinter to block incoming attacks - it should be inherent.

13.  Keep the CoH Buff/Debuff system -  a group in CoH was greater than the sum of its parts, mostly in part to the buffs and debuffs.   Can't say the same in any other game I've played.

14.  Make an excellent LFG/LFM system -  this is one area where CoH failed miserably and you could look to other games like Neverwinter for ideas on how to make it better.

15.  Targeting - Please, please, please, do not use the FPS style targeting system like they have in Neverwinter.  The mouse is supposed to be used to click buttons and other GUI elements - not used as a clickfest for attacking mobs you have in your reticle.   And it really makes single target healng non-viable.  Clerics are pretty much limited to using area effect heals in Neverwinter due to the targeting problem.   I dont want this designed for console players, I play on a PC.

16.   Travel time -  Loved how you could go from place to place quickly in CoH.  Traveling is an issue in other games.   Typically, you have to fight your way through 100s of mobs just to get where you're going to do your mission.  A royal pain, and a timesink I dont care for.  The only change I would make is to perhaps replace the "train" system with a map waypoint teleport system, like they have in GW1.

17.  Two strikes and you're out -  Seriously, what was Cryptic thinking?   In Neverwinter dungeons,
if you die twice on the final boss fight, you're out - placed in the penatly box and forced to wait either until the rest of the group wins or wipes.  I dont want to see anything like this in our successor.

18. Multiple currency systems -  every new game is guilty of this.  CoH went down this road.  Stop already, and stick with one currency please.

19.  Gold Spammers - not sure how to stop them, but put some kind of level and or play-time requirement before you can use help or zone chat.

20.  Chat system -  CoH had by far the best chat system ever. In any game I've played.   Keep intact as much as possible.

21.  Looting - I liked the loot system in CoH.   I get what I get independently of any other player.  Dont have to pick it up from the floor, it just appears in inventory.  No loot rolling, or fighting over need vs greed.

22. Inventory - eliminate inventory caps or make them very large please.  Make it easier to exchange items between your characters.  (i.e.  a global bank )

23.  Boss Design - please stop making bosses immune to everything.   More resistant, yes.  Totally immune, no.  CoH was somewhat guilty of this, especially in the iTrials.

[silvers1]

One more addition:
24.  Healing causing aggro - I dont think so....  incredibly bad game mechanic.  It should be limited to damage and taunting only.

Oops, I meant for this thread to go in the general discussion section ... if a mod could move it, I'd appreciate it.

[therain93]

Just curious, on #14, what game do you think had/has a better LFG/LFM system?  I actually found CoH's to be fairly good.

[silvers1]

Just curious, on #14, what game do you think had/has a better LFG/LFM system?  I actually found CoH's to be fairly good.

CoH's LFG was decent... but very few people actually used it.  Not sure why.   It seriously needed a queing system for TFs, not just iTrials.
Too much spam on the channels just for groups.

While Neverwinter doesnt have a real LFG system, the dungeon queuing system works fairly well.  ( When playing a non dps toon, try getting a group as a rogue, it isnt happening )   CoH's iTrial queues seemed to take forever.
GW1 had an ok LFM system, but you had to be in the zone where the dungeon was located.


Ideally, I'd like the following:
A popup dialog with:
A dropdown where the user can select what they want to do, whether it be just normal PVE missions, a specific dungeon or trial, or PVP.
A checkbox indicating whether you are LFG or LFM.
A checkbox indicating whether you want to auto-add or be auto-added to a group.  (i.e. queued )
A comment box.
A submit button.
A stop/clear button to clear selections and unqueue.

Below this will show a list of players server-wide who are looking for the same thing.  A link allowing you to contact each player.  Another link allowing you to invite said player.

Beside each player, an indicator showing whether you've sent an invite or whether the player has declined so you dont inadvertantly invite again.

[Thunder Glove]

Not that I'm part of any of them (yet?), but of the three successor projects currently in production (the Phoenix Project, Heroes and Villains, and Valiance Online), two of them are hewing very (maybe too) close to CoH for many of those items already (with the third still using CoH as the baseline and expanding on it), and other aspects are still way too early in development.

So none of them intend to have Gear or Gear scores, they all plan to have a wide variety of character possibilities (TPP more than the other two, at least from early design discussions), they're going to have real Control and Tank classes, pets/companions will not be required (but will be available if you like Mastermind-type classes), the "Holy Trinity" will not be required or enforced, etc.

... I don't know how much "one currency system" can really be followed, at least in the long term.  I can't think of a single long-running game that has only one.  The issue is that people get so much of the main currency that it becomes meaningless, so the devs put in new currencies when they add content that is meant to be special in some way.  This way, long-time players will have to earn the new currency, and not just skip over new content by buying their way through it.  (For example, everyone would have had all the new costume pieces and all their slots at Tier 4 on the first day of the release of the Incarnate system if they'd used Inf rather than Incarnate Shards, Incarnate Threads, or Astral and Empyrean Merits)

Finally, while the various devs still hang around here, most of the in-depth development discussions are on the projects' own respective forums: http://www.cityoftitans.com (The Phoenix Project), http://www.www.heroes-and-villains.com (Heroes and Villains), and http://valiance.shogn.net/ (Valiance Online).  Not saying that this topic won't be helpful, but if you want to address the various dev teams directly, those would probably be the places to go.

[Golden Girl]

Looking at your list, I think the only thing "Heroes and Villains" might do that you mightn't like is the "companion system" - but even then, the way it's currently planned isn't going to lead to "companion spam" - apart from that, everything else you mentioned will be appearing in some form in HaV.

[General Idiot]

CoH's LFG was decent... but very few people actually used it.  Not sure why.   It seriously needed a queing system for TFs, not just iTrials.
Too much spam on the channels just for groups.

Fun fact: CoH actually HAD a queueing system for taskforces. No one used it, because forming your own group from the global LFG channel was easier for most.

Personally, I think LFG systems like that are unnecessary and cut out a large part of what makes MMOs fun. In almost every game I've ever played that has one, you join a queue and it forms the group for you, then you go into the dungeon or whatever and throughout the whole thing no one says a word. You end up not playing with other people, but rather playing by yourself in an environment that just happens to have other people in it. It cuts out the whole social aspect of the game, which for me is where most of the fun comes from in an MMO.

[silvers1]

Fun fact: CoH actually HAD a queueing system for taskforces. No one used it, because forming your own group from the global LFG channel was easier for most.

Personally, I think LFG systems like that are unnecessary and cut out a large part of what makes MMOs fun. In almost every game I've ever played that has one, you join a queue and it forms the group for you, then you go into the dungeon or whatever and throughout the whole thing no one says a word. You end up not playing with other people, but rather playing by yourself in an environment that just happens to have other people in it. It cuts out the whole social aspect of the game, which for me is where most of the fun comes from in an MMO.

I'd have to agree with some groups never speaking a word - but that happened in CoH quite a bit as well, regardless how the group was formed.
I'd like to see an integrated voice chat system implemented, similar to what I've seen in Neverwinter. It allows communication without having to stop to type.  Ventrillo and Teamspeak are options, but you rarely see everyone in a PUG have it available.

I'd also like a map ping/draw option that I saw in GW1, to allow the team leader to point out spots on the map.  Note:  You'd also need a checkbox option to turn it off on your client in case someone abuses it.

[JaguarX]

I'd have to agree with some groups never speaking a word - but that happened in CoH quite a bit as well, regardless how the group was formed.
I'd like to see an integrated voice chat system implemented, similar to what I've seen in Neverwinter. It allows communication without having to stop to type.  Ventrillo and Teamspeak are options, but you rarely see everyone in a PUG have it available.

I'd also like a map ping/draw option that I saw in GW1, to allow the team leader to point out spots on the map.  Note:  You'd also need a checkbox option to turn it off on your client in case someone abuses it.

yeah I teamed wit ha few people that have it. It seems handy but me I would never get it and after about five minutes I was reaching for the mute button.

While I don't mind being social in games, I really don't care much for hearing other people's voices. It's like having a phone conference. Do enough of those at work and me personally rather not do it in a game when I'm trying to relax.

But I still say it should be a feature integrated into a game as it seems enough people like it to make it a useful tool.

[downix]

Just curious, on #14, what game do you think had/has a better LFG/LFM system?  I actually found CoH's to be fairly good.

Of all things, APB has a good one as well.

[PSI-on]

I agreed HUGELY with everything here with some slight exceptions:

#1. Agreed, I'd much rather have what CoH had and buy or invent my own boosts to powers individually.

#8. I love the idea of companions in themselves, especially if we can customize them like our characters and build our own TRUE sidekicks. I never really noticed that NW made you have to have them, just that they never went away. As for GW, they just allowed you to fill in your team with an AI character so you could fill a role you were missing. It was possible to solo stuff without help, but the main issue there wasn't forcing you to have to have companions, but rather a TEAM as all content and area's spawned the same no matter if you were one person or 8. (on a side note, me and my girlfriend thought of some awesome idea for a companion/sidekick system that would make them useful in groups without getting in the way.)

#9 Going to boost the point on team size. It wasn't just the awesomeness of variety you could pull on 8 vs. 5 size, I typically ran into issues where I had more than 8 people who wanted to play with me some days and some people got left out, now in games capped at 5 you can imagine how much more annoying that can be to have to pick and choose. I think 8 was an awesome number, enough for pretty much everyone, even now i typically have 5 people who wanna play with me, counting myself that's one person who has to sit out, who wants to have to make that choice?

#16. As long as I don't have to pay or give something up to use the travel waypoints you have my vote. Loved that about CoH and GW, GW 2 makes you pay to use them to travel AND to rez (if I recall) so I'll pass. Personal peeve, but I'm already paying a lot for convenience and the game, don't make me spend my hard earned currency on trifles. Sometimes realistic stuff can be neat or interesting, but it can also be a major drag and pointless. (like paying Rent or travel fees)

#20. OMG boosting this one too. EVERY CHAT IN OTHER GAMES SUCKS. I don't wanna talk to people in STO when I'm in CO, it gets confusing when looking for help, to help or just swapping tips. Also in CoX you could create many tabs and chose what was in them, was awesome, some games like GW gives you so bare minimum it's insane.

#22. I loved that CoX didn't really have an inventory, It didn't trigger any hoarding or collecting impulses and didn't bog me down like I feel in STO, CO, and NW....GW and GW 2. BUT if you have to do it....be thoughtful like SWTOR and make it not only easier to expand inventory for ALL characters at once and make banks huge, but I think it's essential to have a whole section for quest/mission items. Nothing is more insulting than having a character give you something and have it take up space you needed for loot or other needed items.

And now my own addition:

A. No more grind fests! I don't know about everyone else, but I wanna play a game cause it's fun and I like it, NOT because if I don't log in today I'll miss my daily or I'll lose a day saving up for some gear. Don't get me wrong, I know you have to have stuff to work towards, but CoX never made it feel out of reach when they did have something and never really had any thing til Incarnate, but even THEN it was actually FUN to do that content over and over, they did it right. Meanwhile you've got choirs to do in NW and STO and in GW the best gear *and by that I mean it's LOOK not it's STATS* you have to grind up 60 Platinum (1000 gold a piece) to buy it and that takes time (prices vary on gear and piece bought) AND grind to get salvage needed to craft it, sometimes it's insane (Ecto anyone?). Please do not make me come to your game to grind or farm, a game should be a game, not a job. I've always believed that if you have to pad or sustain your game by forcing players to keep playing not out of content or fun, but by gates, lofty goals, and grinding, forced work then your game was already a failure. I logged into CoX cause it was fun and amazing, well written and well made, everything else I log into so I don't miss some daily thing and I resent it.

Over the years I've played a number of online games - noteably Everquest 1,  Dark Age of Camelot (DAOC),  CoH/X,  WoW,  Guild Wars 1 and 2,  and most recently Neverwinter.   Just a few observations about game design that I hope some of which make into the CoH successor.
Note:  These are just my opinions,  and I realize many will disagree on certain points, and I respect that.

1. Gear is bad - Gear Scores are bad:     I never like the whole "you are your gear" mentaility.  Never like that it controlled appearance
and that the green to blue to purple progression drastically impacted how you performed in groups.
I don't want people to have the ability to look at what I'm wearing - or what enhancements I have slotted.  frankly, it's none of their business.
I feel that the CoH devs made a mistake when they started listing what bonuses people had from their IO sets.

2.  Reward Grouping -  pick up groups are virtually non-existant in most recent games I've played for normal content. I've always loved PUGs in that you meet new people and the experience ( good or bad ) is always different vs always playing with a static group of friend from your guild.CoH did an excellent job of this and I hope the successor does the same.

3.  If you're going to have an Architect Entertainment type system, make it do everything that the Devs can do.  The AE system in CoH was very limited and frankly made it frustrating to do a real story.  I'm actually pretty impressed with what story writers have done in Neverwinter.  I would also like the ability to generate my own maps, create my own mobs, and switch contacts on the fly.  Limit the nerfing,  the CoH devs went overboard with it and broke many legitimate arcs.

4 .   NEVER make me compete for resources with other players.   This includes "Kill X" missions, "Collect X" missions,   resource nodes for crafting, chests in dungeons,  etc.

5.   Put nothing  in the game that promotes elitism.   Viewable gear scores,  DPS meters, and the like.  If you give players the ability to discriminate on perceived vs actual "ability", believe me they will.

6.   If you're going to have entrance criteria for a dungeon/TF,   make sure that most PUGs with that minimum criteria can actually complete said dungeon.    A group of reasonably competent players should be able to complete any content.  Not elite "geared" players.   Not well oiled machines with Ventrillo.   Random groups with competent players.    This cannot be said for the higher level dungeons in Neverwinter.

7.   Free to Play vs Pay to Win -  Neverwinter is a full-on pay2win system.   You can buy the best gear, best companions, best whatever for your characters.  Just have to pony up the cash.  I dont mind paying for visual stuff like costume pieces, but when it impacts how well you do performance-wise vs other players, it is unacceptable.   F2P - yes, PAY2WIN - no.

8.  Companion systems - I dont care for them.   If you're going to have specific classes designed to work with companions, that's fine.  ( like the Mastermind )     But please dont make every toon have to have a companion, like they do in Neverwinter, or GW1.   Although I prefer grouping, sometimes I like to solo, and I want my toons to truly be self dependent for most content outside of dungeons.

9.  The Tank/Healer/DPS triumvirate is bad -   I loved how you could throw almost any combination together in CoH and succeed.  You go without a tank or healer in any dungeon in most other games - you will fail.   I love the 8 man group in CoH, vs the 5 man groups you see in every other MMORPG.  Allows for greater flexibility.

10.  Class combinations -  the primary vs secondary system in CoH was great.  I also greatly enjoyed the broad range of archtype selections. In Neverwinter, you can make a tank,  a 2 handed swordsman,  a healer,  a rogue, or a ranged DPSer.  That's about it.  Boring as heck - and every group is the same.

11.  Implement true control classes  - the "Control" wizard in Neverwinter is actually quite pathetic compared to what we had in CoH.
Control was an actual viable strategy in CoH, control in Neverwinter much less so.
 
12.  Make a tank a TANK - a tank is a brick wall.  A tank is not a big bag of hit points that a healer has to keep replenishing.   CoH is the only game I've ever seen that got it right.   The taunt system in CoH is excellent,   keeping aggro in Neverwinter is an excercise in frustration.   I also like how you could buy knock-back resistance enhancements in CoH.  I do not like the fact that you have to constantly stop what you're doing with tanks in Neverwinter to block incoming attacks - it should be inherent.

13.  Keep the CoH Buff/Debuff system -  a group in CoH was greater than the sum of its parts, mostly in part to the buffs and debuffs.   Can't say the same in any other game I've played.

14.  Make an excellent LFG/LFM system -  this is one area where CoH failed miserably and you could look to other games like Neverwinter for ideas on how to make it better.

15.  Targeting - Please, please, please, do not use the FPS style targeting system like they have in Neverwinter.  The mouse is supposed to be used to click buttons and other GUI elements - not used as a clickfest for attacking mobs you have in your reticle.   And it really makes single target healng non-viable.  Clerics are pretty much limited to using area effect heals in Neverwinter due to the targeting problem.   I dont want this designed for console players, I play on a PC.

16.   Travel time -  Loved how you could go from place to place quickly in CoH.  Traveling is an issue in other games.   Typically, you have to fight your way through 100s of mobs just to get where you're going to do your mission.  A royal pain, and a timesink I dont care for.  The only change I would make is to perhaps replace the "train" system with a map waypoint teleport system, like they have in GW1.

17.  Two strikes and you're out -  Seriously, what was Cryptic thinking?   In Neverwinter dungeons,
if you die twice on the final boss fight, you're out - placed in the penatly box and forced to wait either until the rest of the group wins or wipes.  I dont want to see anything like this in our successor.

18. Multiple currency systems -  every new game is guilty of this.  CoH went down this road.  Stop already, and stick with one currency please.

19.  Gold Spammers - not sure how to stop them, but put some kind of level and or play-time requirement before you can use help or zone chat.

20.  Chat system -  CoH had by far the best chat system ever. In any game I've played.   Keep intact as much as possible.

21.  Looting - I liked the loot system in CoH.   I get what I get independently of any other player.  Dont have to pick it up from the floor, it just appears in inventory.  No loot rolling, or fighting over need vs greed.

22. Inventory - eliminate inventory caps or make them very large please.  Make it easier to exchange items between your characters.  (i.e.  a global bank )

23.  Boss Design - please stop making bosses immune to everything.   More resistant, yes.  Totally immune, no.  CoH was somewhat guilty of this, especially in the iTrials.

[Golden Girl]

I'd have to agree with some groups never speaking a word - but that happened in CoH quite a bit as well, regardless how the group was formed.
I'd like to see an integrated voice chat system implemented, similar to what I've seen in Neverwinter. It allows communication without having to stop to type.  Ventrillo and Teamspeak are options, but you rarely see everyone in a PUG have it available.

We've been looking into voice options, and from what we've seen, it'd take a lot of time and effort to create a voice chat program that could match existing ones like Teamspeak or Ventrillo, which kind of puts this particular area of development in the "reinventing the wheel" category.

[Golden Girl]

I love the idea of companions in themselves, especially if we can customize them like our characters and build our own TRUE sidekicks. I never really noticed that NW made you have to have them, just that they never went away. As for GW, they just allowed you to fill in your team with an AI character so you could fill a role you were missing. It was possible to solo stuff without help, but the main issue there wasn't forcing you to have to have companions, but rather a TEAM as all content and area's spawned the same no matter if you were one person or 8. (on a side note, me and my girlfriend thought of some awesome idea for a companion/sidekick system that would make them useful in groups without getting in the way.)

Right now, customized companions are something that we have planned for the future - at launch, companions will be pre-sets.

No more grind fests! I don't know about everyone else, but I wanna play a game cause it's fun and I like it, NOT because if I don't log in today I'll miss my daily or I'll lose a day saving up for some gear. Don't get me wrong, I know you have to have stuff to work towards, but CoX never made it feel out of reach when they did have something and never really had any thing til Incarnate, but even THEN it was actually FUN to do that content over and over, they did it right. Meanwhile you've got choirs to do in NW and STO and in GW the best gear *and by that I mean it's LOOK not it's STATS* you have to grind up 60 Platinum (1000 gold a piece) to buy it and that takes time (prices vary on gear and piece bought) AND grind to get salvage needed to craft it, sometimes it's insane (Ecto anyone?). Please do not make me come to your game to grind or farm, a game should be a game, not a job. I've always believed that if you have to pad or sustain your game by forcing players to keep playing not out of content or fun, but by gates, lofty goals, and grinding, forced work then your game was already a failure. I logged into CoX cause it was fun and amazing, well written and well made, everything else I log into so I don't miss some daily thing and I resent it.

We're designing HaV to have no enforced griding - but still with an option to repeat tasks if that's the way players like to play.

[JaguarX]

sounds like HaV is shaping up to be a good game.

[PSI-on]

would it be possible to find a way to integrate current ones or skype? In the same way STO and CO let you use winamp or itunes to play your music with it through the game? Creating your own is good, but this might be easier? Also NW has a push to talk function, that could do well in a pinch.

We've been looking into voice options, and from what we've seen, it'd take a lot of time and effort to create a voice chat program that could match existing ones like Teamspeak or Ventrillo, which kind of puts this particular area of development in the "reinventing the wheel" category.

[PSI-on]

As long as one day I can change his name, costume, powers, or equipment (or at least close to Heros on GW) I'll be very happy, even more so if later I can make one from scratch the same way I make characters in game (bio, costume, powers at each lvl up, pre-set personality type for chatter *again see GW*) then it would be amazing.

And to clarify the other point. I don't mind replaying content. Many missions and TF's I did over and over in CoX for badges or reward, but it didn't bog me down cause the rewards didn't seem as important as others (enhancements vs. must have survival armor and gear) or were not so out of reach, but SO much more importantly because it was FUN, it was INTERESTING, the game play was STELLAR, and you people were simply AMAZING to be around 99.8% of the time. (I won't lie I did occasionally trip over the rare jerk once or twice, otherwise I've never been more proud to know people, let alone be a part of them.)

Right now, customized companions are something that we have planned for the future - at launch, companions will be pre-sets.

We're designing HaV to have no enforced griding - but still with an option to repeat tasks if that's the way players like to play.

[Golden Girl]

sounds like HaV is shaping up to be a good game.

Well, that's the reason the project exists

[Golden Girl]

would it be possible to find a way to integrate current ones or skype? In the same way STO and CO let you use winamp or itunes to play your music with it through the game? Creating your own is good, but this might be easier? Also NW has a push to talk function, that could do well in a pinch.

We haven't looked into that yet - but it could be possible.

[Golden Girl]

As long as one day I can change his name, costume, powers, or equipment (or at least close to Heros on GW) I'll be very happy, even more so if later I can make one from scratch the same way I make characters in game (bio, costume, powers at each lvl up, pre-set personality type for chatter *again see GW*) then it would be amazing.

That would be a related but separate system.

And to clarify the other point. I don't mind replaying content. Many missions and TF's I did over and over in CoX for badges or reward, but it didn't bog me down cause the rewards didn't seem as important as others (enhancements vs. must have survival armor and gear) or were not so out of reach, but SO much more importantly because it was FUN, it was INTERESTING, the game play was STELLAR, and you people were simply AMAZING to be around 99.8% of the time. (I won't lie I did occasionally trip over the rare jerk once or twice, otherwise I've never been more proud to know people, let alone be a part of them.)

Well, we're designing the content to be interesting, so hopefully people will feel it fun to play even if they've already gotten the rewards from it

[PSI-on]

Your first reply intrigues me.

And I'm sure you are, no disrespect intended. I'm drawing a comparison from happily hopping into my 97th ITF (CoX) and dragging my ass through just one Infected STF (STO) before I already get tired of the mission and frankly the game at some points.

That would be a related but separate system.

Well, we're designing the content to be interesting, so hopefully people will feel it fun to play even if they've already gotten the rewards from it