Wayyy too soon? Maybe but...
I want to start a discussion on end game content. Why so soon? I mean the game is still on the drawing board so to speak right? Well, yes. And that is the point. I don’t know if any game has really good end game mechanics / content. I’m thinking part of the issue could be solved in terms of game design. What does your character do when he reaches max level? So now would be a great time to talk about this…
I got my first 50 in COH and brought him out occasionally to farm (a grind). He was my favorite, my first 50, and his powers / costume was just the way I wanted, of course I didn't want to delete him. So mostly he sat on the shelf waiting for more endgame content. It seemed COH was starting to address this towards the end, they made some progress, but there still wasn't enough stuff to do. At least for me. Having your favorite dude just kind of hanging out on your bench isn't fun.
It seems a lot of MMOs when you get to the end of your level cap there are Big Giant Raids, PVP, maybe some farming... But mostly its boring for a player with soloist / small group tendencies.
I don’t like PVP. Big Giant Raids are fun once in a while, but if you *have* to do them that isn't cool either. Beside they usually lag like crazy, at least that was my experience.
I like soloing. Mostly because sometimes you get home from work or school and you just don’t want to deal with people. You just want to relax and play your favorite game. Everybody has days like that, and you character / play experience shouldn't be penalized for it. I like playing with friends or the occasional PUG too.
So I’m thinking end game content should be solo-able and you shouldn't be be punished for wanting to do it that way i.e. you get way more *cookies* in a Big Giant Raid, but by yourself you get one *cookie*.
There should be some straight up re-playable endgame story content with real story arcs that the devs can add to when they have time. That would be good. Someone in another post was talking about procedurally generated maps. Maybe random evil dudes with random minions, random powers. Player generated story arcs might another thing. Maybe having a personal personalize-able Arch Villain might be cool, keep things fresh because he randomly pops his head in once in a while, mixing it up. Some sort of functionality to go back and play / replay story arcs you missed like the Ouroboros.
Another thing to think about is how to make your character feel like he or she is progressing even though they have reached maxed level.
Thoughts? Comments? Hopes? Wishes?
There has been some fairly extensive discussion about grouping versus soloing, including that all content should be created so it can be soloed ([url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/solo-trials-or-tfs]here[/url]) and [url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/minimum-team-size]minimum team size[/url].
However, MWM has stated that the primary end game, especially at first, will be alting.
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The place to start this discussion is, I think, [url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/missingworldsmedia/the-phoenix-project-city-of-titans/posts/630570]about the first five paragraphs of here[/url].
To summarize: There will be a traditional endgame, about which nothing at the time was set in stone (I'm hoping it's at least set into watery mud by now), and there will be Alting.
With regard to your suggestion, a big +1!
Maybe have the missions (or at least a lot of them) scalable to group size, so that if you have a raid group, you can get raid group sized challenges, but if you're soloing, you get challenges suitable for one BAMF. (That's an acronym, not a sound effect. And since we're talking about the end game, and heroes and villains might be just some of the kinds of characters people will have, about the only thing we can be sure about them is that by level cap, each will be a bad ass--- Ahem. ^_^)
Foradain, Mage of Phoenix Rising.
[url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/foradains-character-conclave]Foradain's Character Conclave[/url]
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Don't worry, you're not too early. I recall endgame discussion beginning approximately on day 1 of the effort...might have been afternoon, but several of us were thinking about in the first few minutes. Heh.
I agree, of course, with your desire to see soloing paths in endgame. You'll be glad to hear that UGC (user-generated content like "Foundry" and "AE" but with the increased flexibility allowed by UE4) is a highly-requested feature which MWM is pursuing, and they've stated the intent to provide player creators with a clean version of their internal tools. It's a great way for CoT to provide effectively endless amounts of content for soloing and small teams at every level range.
Nemeses? Nemesises? Nemesi? ...er... were put on the table in the early days, but I don't think we've heard a go/no-go update on that. Same for an Ouro-like replay system. Of course there will be something akin to badges, so if that's your style, that's another endgame option (depending on when you prefer to pursue it).
I suggest "nemesissy". Perhaps nemesissies, if we're feeling fancy.
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Awesome I'm glad to hear there has been talk about this. I did poke about a bit before I posted but I guess I missed those posts. Thanks for the links guys appreciate the update.
LOL... Nice.