Lovely update. Lots of info. Tech team.. you're the ones i'm keeping my eyes on. Rubber meets road.

Art team, let me know when you need the design specs for my armor.. I'm happy to oblige!

KEEP UP your spirits and know that all your hard work is truly appreciated.

This was already an exciting and welcome update, and then you went and said this:

"maybe, maybe, someone who literally grows to conquer the battlefield. (That last one’s very dependent on tech and fun value. Got some ideas there.)"

You HAVE to do everything you can to make this one work! >.< Before Cryptic nerfed the hell out of it, the growth effects (and the stacking thereof) in Champions Online provided one of the most (for some, *the* most) fun aspect of that game. If you can include a capability for growth in City of Titans, you'll see a bunch of expatriate CO players lining up to get fitted for I❤TC t-shirts. Hell, with a name like "Titan City," you've just gotta have the capability for some giant-sized heroes & villains! ; )

--Chris

This update is a prime example of why I'm so excited about this game!

Looks like we might have 2 or 3, edit: or 30 ;) , regions with Water access. :)
SuperSpeed on top of Water? and if you stop.. back to Swimming. :)

And maybe you can swim and Dive into the water to Explore for badges or sunken ships... or to enter a underwater mission entrance?
Maybe it would be easier to bring a Bubbler on team, so you dont have to keep runing all over the place looking for artificial machines for those bubbles... (think Respec trial, rector core... and instead of radiation killing your health, its the lack of air that does it.)

Izzy wrote:

Looks like we might have 2 or 3 regions with Water access. :)

If by "2 or 3" you mean "about thirty-something", then, yeah, that's what it looks like to me. ^_^
The next region I see on that map without waterfront will be the first.
[img]https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/assets/002/103/284/d64910c54f8b6acccd09ca7edeb5d85c_large.jpg?1401934149[/img]

I can't see a single one that DOESN'T have access to the water

LOD?

Also, I'm thinking this city needs bridges to tie the various sides of the bay together. I think I see hints of one in the Liberty Bay close-up...

I have one word to describe my response: Total nerdgasm!

Two! Two words to describe my response!

Maybe have fireworks near the water on 4th of July or the return of Lusca !! I like having cities near water and I'm loving the map maybe I will try to sleep until the game is ready like rip van winkle cause it's going to be a longggg two years

Cinnder wrote:

OK, that's 2 completely outstanding updates in a row. I feel like we're really starting to get concrete stuff now, which makes the dream seem all the more real.
If that map showing streets is indeed an indicator of standard city blocks, this city is gonna be HUGE.

Please do realize that the city has 35 zones, and we have 13 of them slated for when we launch. Gives us plenty of growth. We have out of city zones planned as well, for a total of 40 "mapped out."

Great news in the update. I'm very happy to hear about the level of quality assurance that's going on. Anything worth doing is worth doing well.

I hope you are giving due consideration technically to the play experience at or near capacity. Seriously, it would be great problem to have. From the way things are looking to me so far, you may be dealing with it sooner than you think... and that is a compliment to your efforts so far. Stay on the right track.

Empyrean wrote:

--BUT I WANT THIS GAME NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWW! GIVE IT! GIVE IT!!!

Get a hold of yourself! :{
[img]http://i.imgur.com/Ack5tk2.gif[/img]

It's amazing how much of a boost it is just to see a map. That could have been your entire update and I would have walked away happy.

All that water!
I would like my base to be a ridiculously sexy yacht at anchor, please : )

[img]http://static.tumblr.com/tjv6lw7/ZmFm8uwcb/muppets_-_flailing_kermit.gif[/img]

Wouldn't pool powers be more akin to "non combat" and "travel" powers, which encompases almost all of CoH pools.

I hope they take *ancillaries* a little farther than in CoH, where they always felt very limited.

Forget costume contests I can't wait for pool parties in liberty harbor get your speedos out supers !

If I can get that feeling back from good ol' Mayhem Missions, even in a restricted area, I'll be happy.

Looking good,

Originally CoH did take their ancillaries farther. They scaled them back when the player base used them extensively and in a cookie cutter fashion. They just cooked them a little too long and left em... limp.

Shadow Elusive wrote:

Expanding tertiary pool function was one of the early decisions Desviper. We plan for a tertiary power pool version of EVERY PRIMARY AND SECONDARY POWER SET. Yes, I mean EVERY - from every classification. Every power set will have a corresponding tertiary power pool that contains a selection of its powers - say four, but the number isn't set I think - powered down appropriately (i.e. to whatever playtesting suggests is sufficient balance). Far enough? :D

Wow. I don't envy you guys the balancing act for this.

It does sound awesome though. All those years I spent wishing for some small amount of mez protection for my defenders...

Shadow Elusive wrote:

Expanding tertiary pool function was one of the early decisions Desviper. We plan for a tertiary power pool version of EVERY PRIMARY AND SECONDARY POWER SET. Yes, I mean EVERY - from every classification. Every power set will have a corresponding tertiary power pool that contains a selection of its powers - say four, but the number isn't set I think - powered down appropriately (i.e. to whatever playtesting suggests is sufficient balance). Far enough? :D

YES! :)

Doctor Tyche wrote:

Our tertiary model is based on rounding out. You cannot take multiples of the same kind, so if you are a Defense/Melee, you will not have any Defense or Melee tertiaries available. Then they have reduced effectiveness, a defense tertiary being roughly half as effective as a defense primary. You also will not be able to pick multiple of the same kind of tertiaries to create "uber-soopertank" by buying 4 defense tertiaries.

Half seems somewhat harsh, but I presume this is half before enhancements, which could bring it much closer to a base value of a class/spec version.

So, e.g., as a Partisan (Corr) with Fire/[empathy analog] I couldn't take an Ice Blast attack? Or it would be 1/2-ish effectiveness?

I'd prefer the latter.
E.g., if I wanted a classic four elements character that's say a Partisan with [Assault Rifle]/[Therm], I would also like to have a (weakened) fire blast for RP purposes I guess, rather than settling for a melee or mez alternative.

That feels so fluid. Can we get some expansion soon on how the tertiaries are intended for now? I'm seeing a lot of open-ended and likely blocked options in just imagining the classification table.

Example, I could have a warden (support/melee) that then takes on a bit of a ranged tertiary. Could he also take assault tertiaries? Would he be limited to taking ranged, manipulation, and control tertiaries instead? Could a vindicator (support/assault) take both ranged and melee tertiaries?

I must know moar!!! :D

desviper wrote:

Doctor Tyche wrote:
Our tertiary model is based on rounding out. You cannot take multiples of the same kind, so if you are a Defense/Melee, you will not have any Defense or Melee tertiaries available. Then they have reduced effectiveness, a defense tertiary being roughly half as effective as a defense primary. You also will not be able to pick multiple of the same kind of tertiaries to create "uber-soopertank" by buying 4 defense tertiaries.
Half seems somewhat harsh, but I presume this is half before enhancements, which could bring it much closer to a base value of a class/spec version.
So, e.g., as a Partisan (Corr) with Fire/[empathy analog] I couldn't take an Ice Blast attack? Or it would be 1/2-ish effectiveness?
I'd prefer the latter.
E.g., if I wanted a classic four elements character that's say a Partisan with [Assault Rifle]/[Therm], I would also like to have a (weakened) fire blast for RP purposes I guess, rather than settling for a melee or mez alternative.

You presume here that the sets are hard coded to Fire or Ice.

Properly, Fire and Ice are themes, not powersets.

It'll be hard to explain until we have the system finished, lots of work still going on there. But trust me, the design is such that you do not need tertiaries to need an ice blast for an otherwise burning ranged attacker.

When I was a little kid, I once walked into the kitchen while my mom was making dinner. For her, that experience was a lot "What's that, mom?" and "Where are you going to put that thing?" and "Why do you stir the cookie batter that way?" which very quickly got to the point where she threw me out of the kitchen so she could get some food actually prepared without having to explain to me what kind of plant a potato was. As curious as I am about all things CoT from the update, I'm resisting the urge to try to "help" make the game at this stage by asking all of the questions I have. All I'm going to say is "I love you, mom." and leave it at that.

summer-heat wrote:

... Could a vindicator (support/assault) take both ranged and melee tertiaries? ...

Every time i hear someone mention vindicator, i think back to SPAWN the movie. http://youtu.be/LjxjDDXXqrQ?t=1m52s :P

summer-heat wrote:

That feels so fluid. Can we get some expansion soon on how the tertiaries are intended for now? I'm seeing a lot of open-ended and likely blocked options in just imagining the classification table.
Example, I could have a warden (support/melee) that then takes on a bit of a ranged tertiary. Could he also take assault tertiaries? Would he be limited to taking ranged, manipulation, and control tertiaries instead? Could a vindicator (support/assault) take both ranged and melee tertiaries?
I must know moar!!! :D

The trade-off for the Assault and Manipulation categories is that they severely limit tertiary access. The trade-off necessary for the flexibility inherent in the designs.

Cool - thank you DT!

I'm really glad the kickstarter made it to the character creator app perk... It's gonna be so nice to have as many details already sorted out before launch so I can actually play that first week.

Week? ok month... LOL decisions decisions!

So tertiary powers are at 1/2 effect of the same power as a primary power. Simple extrapolation provides a linear reduction in power effectiveness based on the order in which it is chosen.

Primary powers operate at 100% base effectiveness obviously.
Extrapolated Secondary Baseline for the same power would then be 75% of the effect since, as just stated,
Tertiary Powers are at 1/2 or 50% effectiveness of the same power as a primary power.

So, as an example using a CoH frame of reference, a player could have:
A Stone Armor Tank with Fire Melee and (A limited selection of iconic powers from) Kinetics?

In CoT terms:
A mixed defense/resistance armored defense theme set using 'summoning stone and crystals' for animations and a Burning Melee theme set with 'fire' animations alongside a tertiary involving 'buffs to the team and character that are dependent on attacks hitting and debuffing the enemy' as a theme with a generic 'your energy is mine, both kinetic and potential' animation effect.

Wait...ALL POWERSETS?

PET TERTIARIES! Not at launch, but eventually!

There will be unique sets for each Class. If a Spec uses a secondary type which stems from another Class's primary, they will have access to the same sets barring anything unique. Tertiary sets culled from a primary set are not the entire set; they have less powers. If say an Enforcer class decides take the burning themed control tertiary, the tertiary will have less powers to choose from compared to the actual control themed primary it was made from.

Another thing which may affect what secondary power sets a class can have is if for whatever reason, testing proves the secondary just does not work for the class well. Should that prove to be the case, either that secondary won't be added to the class, or the set would need to be altered sufficiently which would make the set a bit more unique to that class compared to its primary version. Understandably this will hopefully be an exception and not a norm or proliferation will prove long and arduous developmentally.

Further more, classifications will have additional uniqueness based on the Mastery options you choose. These will affect the play style of our class. If you haven't seen the post, Masteries, A Primer was our previous update.

Exactly what I wanted to hear...unique sets for each Class. Thanks for the clarification, Tannim. :)

Tannim222 wrote:

There will be unique sets for each Class. If a Spec uses a secondary type which stems from another Class's primary, they will have access to the same sets barring anything unique. Tertiary sets culled from a primary set are not the entire set; they have less powers. If say an Enforcer class decides take the burning themed control tertiary, the tertiary will have less powers to choose from compared to the actual control themed primary it was made from.
Another thing which may affect what secondary power sets a class can have is if for whatever reason, testing proves the secondary just does not work for the class well. Should that prove to be the case, either that secondary won't be added to the class, or the set would need to be altered sufficiently which would make the set a bit more unique to that class compared to its primary version. Understandably this will hopefully be an exception and not a norm or proliferation will prove long and arduous developmentally.
Further more, classifications will have additional uniqueness based on the Mastery options you choose. These will affect the play style of our class. If you haven't seen the post, Masteries, A Primer was our previous update.

I remember LONG ago, posting my proposal for the Hybrid Archetype for CoH/CoV. I found the archived forum post [url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120906164654/http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=278823]Here[/url]. :D

I know you said that specifications wont work anything like that... but i though it was an interesting way to attempt it, if/when it might come up in discussion. ;)
Anyways, I posted that way back when, and i might not see things Exactly the same now. Just an FYI. ;)

Glad to see a great content update!

So far I have no qualms with any of the ways powers and classes will work. It should be easier to understand when we interact with the game as well.

Keep it going!

Thanks for the update. Differences in the building is great, especially being able to enter. Location of weapon harness, being a choice is great, as well. The addition to the costume customization sounds like it will give characters more personality. Other MMO costumes are too repetitive, too many run around looking alike. No one ever looked like me in COH/COV, with these costume adds it should be even better.
Please give option for elemental limbs, and body parts (shadow, fire, ice, water, plant, energy, toxicity, etc)
Plus travel that looks like one of your elements, you are comprised of.

1/2 for defensive generally will work . But base damage for offensive should be somewhat more.

Mind-Freeze wrote:

I would love to hear more about the healing sets in this game. Saving grace and aftermath sound really interesting and I think I have an idea on how they work but would love to hear about them

We don't have healing sets as much as we have Support Sets. While a Support Set may provide some healing, the majority of our Support Sets are not built around healing. All of our Support Sets provide ways to aid allies, or impair enemies some leaning more towards one of these aspects over the other.

With this basic set up in mind, all of the Guardian Masteries have to be usable with each type of Support Set, but some may be better paired with certain types of sets over others. This is no different for any Classification. With this small bit of info in mind, I'll provide a slight detail of the two Masteries you mentioned. Keep in mind, this is still subject to change.

Saving Grace: The more your allies need your help, the stronger your help becomes.
This Mastery is meant to work well with both buffs and debuffs. Probably best suited for team-oriented play, but may eventually be useful solo at the right tiers.

Aftermath: Your effects can quickly stack and spread.
This Mastery is leans more toward enemy impairment. Even if a chosen primary set leans more toward ally buffs, there will still be some options for impairment in them. Should a player choose not to take them and choose Aftermath, there may be effects from their Secondary that can leverage the effects of Aftermath, though this may be more difficult to do.

Tannim222 wrote:

We don't have healing sets as much as we have Support Sets. While a Support Set may provide some healing, the majority of our Support Sets are not built around healing. All of our Support Sets provide ways to aid allies, or impair enemies some leaning more towards one of these aspects over the other.

I love hearing this. Not having healers [i]per se[/i] was one of the ways that made CoX stand out from the crowd and be more flexible, so I'm glad to see CoT embrace this philosophy as well.