New efforts!

[Brigadine]

I think it would cut down the page count if we had a like button...  :-X

[PSI-on]

I would prefer to see him as an NPC...

:D Why not both? Could be like this pic, with his old phone scripts running for anyone how ran by, sort of like those newspaper guys AND a statue somewhere.

[HEATSTROKE]

Hmm, I' guess I'm not so much like you. I didn't like the way they treated their community in the end. If people in charge had cared as much for the players here as they did for their Korean base ........................

Just to clarify I was not referring to the actual closing of the game.. I was referring to the state that the game was in AT the closing..

[HEATSTROKE]

Except that nothing on your list affected me in any way. It made the game significantly easier for you, but everything necessary to make the game easy was already available in game, and how much faster you farmed or leveled is not something that could affect me, or that I'd even notice, unless we were buddies playing together.

In my opinion, what was far more detrimental was in-game, not in the microtransactions. If you weren't using set IOs, the game was significantly harder, and in some level ranges a major slog-fest. To use IOs, however, you had to sacrifice playing a super-hero game, and take on a secret identity as a commodities broker, or you'd never make the Inf to IO out a character. I believe there was far more angst between the haves and have-nots there, given that the have-nots were forced to do something they found unfun and immersion breaking as the only way to be a have, than microtransactions brewed. And just for the record, I'm speaking as one of the haves.

I remember, just for something different to do, deciding to level up a character without IOs, and making it into the 30's on sheer obstinance, not out of having fun with the character, before throwing in the towel. Whereas I never noticed a difference between my characters with ATOs and my far more numerous characters without. Or my characters with enhancement boosters and those without. Sure, the numbers were better, but the gameplay was not noticeably different.

I dont accept this. I played the game for years before IO's were introduced. The game was never MADE harder because of IO's. I had friends who I played with regularly that NEVER used IOs. They didnt like crafting.. so they always used SO's...

Now could the game be easier for people with IO builds.. yes... but the game was not changed to make it harder on those that never used them.

I never farmed maps for influence.. All I did was sell my stuff in the market.. and I didnt stand around all day in the market watching it like a hawk.. just put it ip for a price and go play.. eventually it sold.. It really wasnt difficult to utilize all the different ways made available to build IO'd characters..

And even if you never wanted to do it.. the game wasnt made any harder.. in fact you had the ability to make the game as hard or as easy as you wanted all the time..

[primeknight]

So back when I started playing in I3 I had a scrapper: claws/sr (back before sr was cool, if it ever was :) )
I can in to the game hearing about perma elude and I read about how how beta an SR and an Regen could slug it out in pvp beta indefinitely:  The regen couldn't hit the sr continuously enough to overcome the base regeneration and the sr couldn't output the damage needed to take out the regen.  Now that seems like an awesome super hero fight I'd have loved to see.

Anyway, I leveled my character to 50 in about 9 months going back and forth between him and my other main (mind/kin).  And it was a blast: before ed and the gdn I felt super and the players around me felt supper.  I could wade into a group of reds/purples, and I feared nothing short of an AV.  I ran with this group...this awesome, awesome group that just demolished enemies.  My friend played a tank:  you know, back then the tanks were superman.  The tank jumped from one mob and fought them just long enough to grab agro and a few seconds later, long enough for the rest of the team to get there.  Which was generally all it took to destroy the bad guys.  Before the mob went down the tank was already at the next group. 

The teams generally consisted of at least 2 fire/kin controllers.  And this was back when they could summon up to 15 imps.  I had to really step up my game and my playstyle completely changed in a few team sessions to the point where on any other team, I just dominated. 

Perma-hasten was so wonderful: and I used it to spam shockwave, focus, and energy torrent to the point where everything was either on fire or on it's back and usually both :)  Oh, man that was the best.

I was quite the egotist too:  my scrapper was so fast and stealthy that I ran out in front of the tanks: jumped over the mobs turned around and shockwaved+Energy torrented the whole mob to my team: standard opening tactic.  Yay!

I loved the game so much back then.  ED, and the GDN just changed that for me, and the players so much.  Players just disappeared.  The hollows taxi service went away and teams were harder to come by.  I disappeared too for a  while.  But what brought me back (intermittently) was the RWZ.  That first mothership raid got me hooked all over again.  I could have done those for days on end

[PSI-on]

Absolutely! Everyone who posts here is welcome on Iron Titans!

Frankly, if you just ask I would say welcome! I certainly don't want to waste time vetting people when I could be bopping bad guys in the head!

I'd love an invite too. I used to save and share TF and badge missions with Triumph, myself, I'd love to do that in the revived game.

[HEATSTROKE]

 Here is my timeline

Step 1) Secure game.. All things final and inked.. I's dotted. T's crossed.. lawyers done.. game in new developers hands lock stock and barrel..

Step 2) Inform community and gaming world at large..

Step 3) Inform community as to whether or not old account information is available..

Step 4) Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal like a schoolgirl if old account information is available !!! or plan to use up all vacation days and sick days at work if information is not available..

[Fanta]

Here is my timeline

Step 1) Secure game.. All things final and inked.. I's dotted. T's crossed.. lawyers done.. game in new developers hands lock stock and barrel..

Step 2) Inform community and gaming world at large..

Step 3) Inform community as to whether or not old account information is available..

Step 4) Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal like a schoolgirl if old account information is available !!! or plan to use up all vacation days and sick days at work if information is not available..

Already canceled my vacation plans until further notice.

[Angel Phoenix77]

So back when I started playing in I3 I had a scrapper: claws/sr (back before sr was cool, if it ever was :) )
I can in to the game hearing about perma elude and I read about how how beta an SR and an Regen could slug it out in pvp beta indefinitely:  The regen couldn't hit the sr continuously enough to overcome the base regeneration and the sr couldn't output the damage needed to take out the regen.  Now that seems like an awesome super hero fight I'd have loved to see.

Anyway, I leveled my character to 50 in about 9 months going back and forth between him and my other main (mind/kin).  And it was a blast: before ed and the gdn I felt super and the players around me felt supper.  I could wade into a group of reds/purples, and I feared nothing short of an AV.  I ran with this group...this awesome, awesome group that just demolished enemies.  My friend played a tank:  you know, back then the tanks were superman.  The tank jumped from one mob and fought them just long enough to grab agro and a few seconds later, long enough for the rest of the team to get there.  Which was generally all it took to destroy the bad guys.  Before the mob went down the tank was already at the next group. 

The teams generally consisted of at least 2 fire/kin controllers.  And this was back when they could summon up to 15 imps.  I had to really step up my game and my playstyle completely changed in a few team sessions to the point where on any other team, I just dominated. 

Perma-hasten was so wonderful: and I used it to spam shockwave, focus, and energy torrent to the point where everything was either on fire or on it's back and usually both :)  Oh, man that was the best.

I was quite the egotist too:  my scrapper was so fast and stealthy that I ran out in front of the tanks: jumped over the mobs turned around and shockwaved+Energy torrented the whole mob to my team: standard opening tactic.  Yay!

I loved the game so much back then.  ED, and the GDN just changed that for me, and the players so much.  Players just disappeared.  The hollows taxi service went away and teams were harder to come by.  I disappeared too for a  while.  But what brought me back (intermittently) was the RWZ.  That first mothership raid got me hooked all over again.  I could have done those for days on end

It took me time to level my main as well because I was new to the game and didn't know how to play the at blaster until a friend told to think of it as a sniper like in star wars galaxies. than I started playing scrappers and it was like the awesome switch was turned on, because I loved playing it and I was able to do small herding with it.

[Artillerie]

When I talk about "Pay 2 Win", I'm not talking about free-to-play or IOs or Incarnate powers. I'm talking about things that a paying subscriber could only get by paying more on top of their subscription and would put them at an advantage when compared to someone who didn't.

Off the top of my head:

• Enhancement Boosters. Can only be bought in the store or via super pack. Whoever came up with them is just plain bad at math. They're ridiculously overpowered and using them can completely change a build due to how much more efficiently you can slot it.
  
  
• Team Transporter. Almost completely eliminated travel time, making some taskforces completable in as much as 33% less time (maybe even 50% for something like Dr. Q) than people without them. That translates directly to an increased rate of earning rewards.
  
  
• Buyable travel powers that free up a slot in your build for a combat power. Hope you didn't have a character concept or anything, but feel free to gimp yourself if you do.
  
  
• XP Boosters. Besides the obvious application of leveling faster, also boosted influence gains for farming/TFing at level 50, giving people who had them an advantage at bidding for IOs and other shiny things.
  
  
• Though they weren't very popular outside of super packs due to the price point, team inspirations were really, really brokenly good. Might as well put some I win buttons in the package.
  
  
• ATOs at first, though they eventually relented and made these buyable with Reward Merits. The procs and special ATOs are game changing for some archetypes.
  
  
• In I23, store-bought enhancements often had better proc rates than the crafted versions. Fortunately, this was changing in I24.
  
  
• I'd put some of the vet rewards in this category, since post-freedom you could buy your way into them. Return to Battle is a very big one. There was a second self-rez from the holiday pack that fortunately never made it live, because it would have been just plain ridiculous to have 2.
  
  
• There are indications in the client files that they might have been about to start selling accolade powers (Atlas Medallion, Task Force Commander, Portal Jockey, etc. etc) in the store as well. Can't say for certain if that would have happened, but the pieces were definitely in place for it to.
  
  
• I can't think of a team I was on in the last year of the game where everyone didn't have a mystic fortune buff and many people had secondary mutation.

Some of those could eventually be acquired with the point stipend if you were patient enough, except that you couldn't really because the game closed before there had been enough time to get them all that way. Even then, it's an additional metagame step that you had to do in order to keep up with people who bought the items from the store.

Even things like inventory increases that are arguably strictly a convenience thing make a big difference.

Regardless of what this group does, when there are private servers that unlock all the microtransaction stuff for everybody, hop on one and try it out. The haves were playing a completely different game than the have-nots. I say that as a 'have' who bought almost everything because I wanted to support the studio even if I didn't fully agree with their direction.

Agreed. Also these bonuses/buffs/whatever are an example of the thin end of the wedge (or possibly somewhere in the middle). The marketing people push stuff like this and many people are naturally attracted to it. It makes money for the game but provides fuel for the marketing people's further initiatives.

Slowly and without many realising, the spirit of the game could have been smothered.

[SpectaPhantom]

I never sat well with something's you could buy from the store like the modifiers. It was a money grab. I never bought them outright, I bought packs from time to time though.

Then again, they didn't really effect my love of the game because I never felt they were needed. That goes for IOs for me too. Only two of my toons actually used full builds of IOS.

I just recently found out about this new push to get the game back. No MMOs have captured me like CoH did. I hope one day I can go chill out under atlas again.

Also Triumph rules!

[LaughingAlex]

Here is my timeline

Step 1) Secure game.. All things final and inked.. I's dotted. T's crossed.. lawyers done.. game in new developers hands lock stock and barrel..

Step 2) Inform community and gaming world at large..

Step 3) Inform community as to whether or not old account information is available..

Step 4) Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal like a schoolgirl if old account information is available !!! or plan to use up all vacation days and sick days at work if information is not available..

I cancelled my subscription for champions online myself until further notice :).

[Angel Phoenix77]

I cancelled my subscription for champions online myself until further notice :).

Ive stopped playing champions online myself :)

[CoyoteSeven]

I know they were trying to make it so you could have more slots, but that was stalled because of some severe show-stopping bugs that happened when they tried to increase the number of extra slots. I guess because they're tied closely to your character's true level or something?

But what I wasn't sure of was how they were going to give us those extra slots. Maybe craft them with a recipe and some salvage? Run a special mission or arc? Or maybe even be able to buy individual slots from the store. Maybe all of that! I would not have minded that.

[Codewalker]

The extra slots were going to be awarded at level 25, 27, and 29. Basically you were going to start getting three slots per slot-granting-level instead of 2 starting at level 25 instead of 31.

[HEATSTROKE]

The extra slots were going to be awarded at level 25, 27, and 29. Basically you were going to start getting three slots per slot-granting-level instead of 2 starting at level 25 instead of 31.

More slots would have been awesome !!!!!!!

[LaughingAlex]

More slots would have been awesome !!!!!!!

I remember now, it was due on part of snipe powers and tier 9 nukes becoming viable in the long term again.  The extra slots, the devs wanted to add them particularly because people wouldn't be skipping as many powers in the primary/secondary.

[JKPhage]

More slots would have been awesome !!!!!!!

Agreed. I remember being disappointed that they had to be postponed/cancelled when they told us. I for one would have loved the ability to make my Epic/Patron power picks more effective. My dilemma always boiled down to either leaving primary/secondary powers that could have used one more slot under-slotted, or picking an epic power that would only have four slots and not end up being quite as effective as it should. Those three extra slots would have put all of my epics to 5 slots and made my overall build much more solid.

[HEATSTROKE]

I remember now, it was due on part of snipe powers and tier 9 nukes becoming viable in the long term again.  The extra slots, the devs wanted to add them particularly because people wouldn't be skipping as many powers in the primary/secondary.

My issue with slots was always the Epics.. Sometimes you couldnt slot those powers the way you wanted to..

What I could do with three more slots !!!

RUNS TO MID'S !!!!!

[Tyrannical]

I'm curious, I know the implementation of Issue 24 may not be available from the get go should this whole plan come to fruition, but I have a few queries regarding the state of which the game will be released and the assets that come with it. These things may have been asked before (but 100+ pages is hard to proof-read) so if that's the this'll be a recap, if not, Q&A time I guess.

1. What's the position with Paragon Award and Purchasable items and features? will we have to pay for these again, or are you releasing all old items for free?

2. What can be said about the features not implemented, but in a WIP position? Such as the likes of Issue 24, the new powersets (Radiation Melee/Armor, Savage Melee, Wind Control, New Power Pools, etc)

3. What is planned for issues post-release? will we be seeing new content as the game goes on, or will the game remain as it is from then on out? (kinda hoping the first one).

4. Are there any changes planned for the base game as it is?

5. Perhaps the most important; how feasible is this all looking? my hopes are high, but I'd rather not don the cape prematurely and be left dangling from it again~