This is something that I have been thinking about for some time now and perhaps should have asked directly during the "ask our devs" facebook post but held off for whatever reason. Anyway, as City of Heroes aged, there seemed to be a very strong focus on expanding how powersets were played. When looking at any of the legacy power sets such as energy blast (which I believe was one of the earliest created) compared to the later ones such as water blast there was a clear effort to make each play uniquely. Rather than distinguish one from another just by damage type or focusing on aoe or single target damage, there was an effort to alter how it felt to play each new power set.
So I think that brings me up to my question and discussion point: I am curious to hear about the approach being taken by TPP with regard to distinguishing individual power sets and how each feels to play. While at times it can be gimmicky, I felt that the approach to diversity playstyles within each each new power set brought some extra life to the game and would be interested to hear what others here thought.
Actually - I think someone DID ask something along those lines - if I recall correctly.
I preferred the more simple play of the early sets, precisely because a lot of the new sets felt gimmicky to me, but I acknowledge that adding the set mechanics allowed them to do make sets that would have been bland otherwise (Like Water Blast). The general plan thus far seems to indicate that each set will have something that sets it apart, if not a full-blown side mechanic like some of the CoH sets had.
The world is a mess and I just ... need to rule it.
I was a big fan of the "customization of Power effects" that COH did...and made alot of "Themed" items using the existing powersets as something other than what they were. I understand the coding issues would be immense...but how awesome would it be that you could say...have a half dozen options for the power set....allowing you to say chose area of effect....DoT...increased range...Quicker activation....linked effects (Flash attacks or limited defense barriers as you fire your main blast)...etc. That has always been one of my main reasons for playing Tabletop Champions and Supersystem so much...is that I could tailor my powers.
The-Pendragon
Sword-Wraith, Senior Knight Captain Emeritus of the Paragonian Knights.
Playtester,and Game Designer
All around good guy to most and a loveable lout to the rest. :)
Option, options, OPtions, OPtiONs, OPTIONS!!! I want my characters to be exhausted from dealing with the sheer awesome and staggering diversity available to them. Course, I want it easy to use and only taking 5 min to create ;)
[color=#FF9933]A new beginning, forged from[/color][color=#0000FF][b][i] hope[/color][/b][/i][color=#FF9933] never ending[/color][color=red]!![/color]
[color=red]Beacon of Blazing Faith[/color]--[color=blue]The Titan Legacy[/color]
The goal of highly diverse powersets is a no brainer. The approach is going to be very different though. The TPP team have come up with a new way to put power sets together that is designed to make more control, more diversity, more easily. It's a bottom up approach that makes the diversity we want possible in a practical manner. In fact, it is so awesome they haven't been able to explain it to us very well yet :D. Another post-KS launch thing most likely. But they got some lovely plans. The Boost system will be MUCH more powerful than CoH, effectively giving you guys what you want forever instead of the devs slogging forever to achieve it. They develop one lovely system and we're ready to roll, with every new set spawning a staggering range of new possibilities.
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[center][color=#ff0000]Interior Map Lead and UI Designer[/color][/center]
how about the combination of different power sets? Player 1 has power A, Player 2 has power B, but if they combine their powers then C happens. Most obvious to me would be elemental based characters like earth + water = mud (AOE holding) or fire + earth = volcano (AOE damage with burning and maybe knockback) I know you can probably have one character who is multi-elemental have these powers, I just thought wouldn't it be cool if we as characters could combine our powers? Could have some interesting results especially if its hero vs villain and the combo happens.
[color=#FF9933]A new beginning, forged from[/color][color=#0000FF][b][i] hope[/color][/b][/i][color=#FF9933] never ending[/color][color=red]!![/color]
[color=red]Beacon of Blazing Faith[/color]--[color=blue]The Titan Legacy[/color]
One of the reasons DCUO looked good before launch was that they looked like they did something like this. Apparently the game failed however.
I would LOVE to see the Water Guy throw some sort of Pool down and then the Electric Guy charge it for some low-grade damage. It wouldn't have to be much but letting the players feel good about a new synergy they just figured out would be COOL.
The hardest part about this would be balance. You don't want the 'Combo A+B' being TOO much better than the C+D or everyone will gravitate towards the first one. If you could balance it out then the debates, as well as the tactics, would be AWESOME!
Example: Ok gang, we KNOW Dr Rubber is immune to electricity so we all have other powers right? We also know that that big gun turret in Mission Two is a killer. I say we combine Torch's AoE with Hydro's Rain and the fog should give us cover.
Um...just in case...we also have Gravitar's AoE shield and Shadow's Dark Cloud. Between them they should give us about the same coverage...IF the turret doesn't have the Infra-Red upgrade that is.
GREAT! We'll try it with the fog first and if we get smacked we can try the Grav/Shadow idea.
Two different ways to get the same effect so one might work better this time, the other next time. Remember when EVERYONE kept crying for a Healer or a Rad to do one mission? That stopped because later ATs and Powersets gave us more choices to get the same job done. I think they eclipsed Empathy a bit much but in time I'm sure it would have evened out.
More choices = better as long as balance can be maintained.
I remember when Star Wars was cool...a long, long time ago...
This I like!
Oh, man, you don't want much, do you? :)
That opens up the ability to negate another's powers with your own!
Steve
___
"Listen, and understand. City of Titans is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely [i]will not stop, ever,[/i] until we are live!"
Warcabbit
One of the Devs accused us of thinking too small. Dog's off the lease now!
I remember when Star Wars was cool...a long, long time ago...
Primarily I want to be able to absorb and focus NRG from the environment as well as attacks to be used in defense as well as offense.
From my internal NRG I see mostly defense with some close combat attacks.
When there is alot of time I can see myself gathering NRG from around me and loose it in a single shot attack.
If fed NRG from team mates (or enemy attacks)I envision sustaining the above attack until power has been exhausted as well as bolstering defense, maybe healing those immediately surrounding my character and yes, possibly negating an opposing NRG attack.
I have no idea if such a powerset is possible, but that is my dream..
Kaxiya, the living cosmic battery!
[color=#FF9933]A new beginning, forged from[/color][color=#0000FF][b][i] hope[/color][/b][/i][color=#FF9933] never ending[/color][color=red]!![/color]
[color=red]Beacon of Blazing Faith[/color]--[color=blue]The Titan Legacy[/color]
This has been brought up, it's of great interest, but as yet only tentatively explored. Which means you should go wild on it, btw :D. The devs harvest these creative discussions of ours for the most helpful or inspiring tidbits. Exactly how they would work, where, and so on. Don't even worry about the coding yet. Just roll!
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[center][color=#ff0000]Interior Map Lead and UI Designer[/color][/center]
Keep going!
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[center][color=#ff0000]Interior Map Lead and UI Designer[/color][/center]
The archetype I was suggesting earlier is what I call an amplifier or foci...Basically someone who may or may not have some basic power of their own but are able to take similar powers and increase them or somehow use them in a way not originally designed.
Example 2:
Kaxiya grew up on the planet Lobo where everyone had some form of Psionic/mind talent. He was not particularly gifted in any one area. Oh, he could hear thoughts if directed at him, but could not send unless the person was very close. Moving object heavier than a small bird left him exhausted for days.
One day while on a family outing deep in the mountainous regions, a sudden and violent storm came upon their campsite. Flash floods wiped out the area, injuring and trapping Kaxiya and his family. His parents dead and his siblings nearly so, Kaxiya huddled close to his remaining family and in his despair let out an anguished mental cry for help which was heard from across the planet. Later after help arrived, it was determined that while in contact with his brothers and sisters, Kaxiya was able to augment his weak telepathy, acting in a form of gestalt, thereby saving his remaining family.
Kaxiya, the mental foci!
[color=#FF9933]A new beginning, forged from[/color][color=#0000FF][b][i] hope[/color][/b][/i][color=#FF9933] never ending[/color][color=red]!![/color]
[color=red]Beacon of Blazing Faith[/color]--[color=blue]The Titan Legacy[/color]
I really can't see the team designing a power that depends on having other players nearby....now, if you want to design a character who uses a familiar or some kind of object as a foci, even to the extent that your powers emanate from it instead of you, that is absolutely doable. But what your suggesting, it's not even about whether it can be made. It's about whether its worth the headaches of application. I just can't see anything like that occurring.
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[center][color=#ff0000]Interior Map Lead and UI Designer[/color][/center]
I never actually believe any of my prattle gets taken seriously but I love to brainstorm...
Who knows, it may germ an idea..
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[color=red]Beacon of Blazing Faith[/color]--[color=blue]The Titan Legacy[/color]
Now, having said that;
I present the power of Decay!! Thats right, rot, entropy and any other terms appropriate.
Now this powerset is a touch or close AOE type power that causes damage over time (perhaps only to "living" creatures?) Animation might be vegetation in an are going from healthy looking to withered and dead. maybe a mottled brown/black area around the attack site which grows. Would be cool to see a character start to "look" older, but I can see that being extremely difficult programming wise.
This might also weaken an opponent as they become more feeble due to decay (physically, mentally, powers etc)
I can also see this damaging buildings and other such items if physical objects are damagable
This type of powerset could be explained by someone with a "Time" power also.
[color=#FF9933]A new beginning, forged from[/color][color=#0000FF][b][i] hope[/color][/b][/i][color=#FF9933] never ending[/color][color=red]!![/color]
[color=red]Beacon of Blazing Faith[/color]--[color=blue]The Titan Legacy[/color]
I for one am digging this thread.
I would like to see pet customization ie; designing my bots to look a certain way based on the theme of my toon. Say Dr. Steamgyer has "steam bots", while Prof. Futuro has advanced robots. Same token with other pets undead could be zombies, vampires, etc. BUT, you get to customize them the same way you could customize your toon.
Another thing I didn't like was when my assbot while in ranged attack mode decided he would run into melee (which caused me never ending headaches), how about creating attack chains for our pets? Is that possible or viable? I mean to me it sounds like a programming nitemare, different ranges would have to be figured out, so 3 possible attack modes based on range to an enemy (melee, medium, sniper).
My villain, my hero you mean. I always think of my murderers as my heroes.
Now this I could actually see occurring. Basically a kind of debuff. Might not even be a bad base - say, Debilitation - with decay as one of the animation options. Or perhaps, Debuff is the base, and Debilitation the theme, with animation completing the picture you paint. Not a bad idea one way or the other. I don't think it's even been brought up before.
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[center][color=#ff0000]Interior Map Lead and UI Designer[/color][/center]
There's definitely lots of work going on to improve the Commander pets, both in function and customization. Just keep it coming.
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[center][color=#ff0000]Interior Map Lead and UI Designer[/color][/center]
Is the goal to have Villians and Heroes have access to the same powers or will there be differetn powers on each side of the Blue / Red line.
Powers and archetypes will be the same on both sides.
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[center][color=#ff0000]Interior Map Lead and UI Designer[/color][/center]
I hope the game will allow us to play with the effects of our powers even more than the likes of CO or City of Heroes, like, if I wanted to make a character who simultaneously slows and burns foes with frost flames.
King of the muffin random signature ahoy!
Focusing our Fire and Cold blasts on the villain, we turn him unbelievably...tepid.
Captain of Phoenix Rising
And if you possess an ability like Super Strength, you FEEEL it when you punt an enemy,or smash part of a wall....
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Not sure about the psychic part (robots and all that) but Absorption is always high on the Powerset wish list. I see it this way: T1 Power is some form of Defense like Damage Reduction (the character simply takes less damage if it hits). This would cover Kinetics so getting punched, shot etc (most common damage forms at low levels). At higher levels more Powers would unlock to cover heat, cold, energy etc. If the right Advantages were taken then a small amount of Health would be regenerated with each hit (and maybe End as well).
As designed, the player would have a choice as he leveled up. He could slot for more Defense (takes less damage from each hit) but that means he absorbs less Health/End as well. Or he could slot for mega-absorption (more Health/End per hit) but less Defense meaning he takes more damage from each hit.
Such a toon, playing solo, would have to ration the power he'd absorbed already. If he fought the Boss right away he'd get smeared. However if he fought the minions first to charge up then it works better.
Just thinkin...
I remember when Star Wars was cool...a long, long time ago...
Any mechanic that requires the character to build up power runs into the same problem: where does that leave them if there are no weaker enemies around with which to build up a power/rage/energy buffer? The situation should never be as extreme as illustrated in this example. Needing to go into a fight with some care and skill is a rather different prospect than having Dirty Harry run through one's head and wondering if today is a good day to die.
(Did I really just mash up Dirty Harry and Star Trek? Dang, yo.)
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Support [url=http://cityoftitans.com/comment/52149#comment-52149]trap clowns[/url] for CoT!
I think the AT's...,
- ...handled power diversity fairly well. After all, if you were wanting to play an aggressive ice character that dealt massive damage on a large scale with frigid winds and direct blasts of freezing cold...you would play an Ice Blast/Storm Control Corrupter, not an Ice Armor/Ice Melee Tanker. The AT would generally set the pace for power selection, so radically customizable power sets wouldn't be as essential if the power sets are adequately defined in accordance to how each AT went about using said powers. After all, it's essentially the AT, not the powers themselves that determines how they're used...so it's essentially boils down to what you want to play, the powers themselves would be applicably defined via archetype.
One of the things I liked about the COH powerset selections like for armours for example. You had some sets which had quite a few toggles and the odd click, which allowed you to concentrate on other things and allowed in some ways a bit more slower pace. While others had quite a few clicks with some toggles, which meant you had more to concentrate on and so seemed more frantic and fast paced, even if the end result was more or less the same at the end of it. Just allowing different styles of play without penalizing anyone, and making it able for people with slower reactions or slower movements to still be able to play and enjoy the same experience as everyone else.
One of the things I liked was having a "blapper", almost all my blasters did melee combat (some better than others), but I enjoyed the combination and hope that is an option for CoT also. I like the idea of having a character that utilizes a ranged and a melee weapon for combat (perhaps a gun and a shield - though many other combinations can easily be thought of).
Agreed. All of my Blasters loved having Support people on the team. Either locking down the enemy so I can wail on em safely or buffing me so I wasn't so squishy. I played my Blasters timidly at first (too much soloing early on...) but when the fit hit the shan I wanted to be right there with my NRG/NRG guy, swinging away with then rest.
I remember when Star Wars was cool...a long, long time ago...
Ditto...,
- ...had two 50th En/En Blasters and two Blasters in their 40's (...Son/Ele and Fire/Fire...). Both En/En Blasters had some melee abillity (...and my first 50th En/En Blaster was almost entirely melee...). My Son/El Blaster made use of all the melee El Powers because Son allowed him to set up the opposition easily so that he could melee. Only my Fire/Fire Blaster was still having a tough time, because even with Tertiary powers (...Fire Shield, Bonfire...) - he was still face planting where all my other blasters listed above did not. I guess when your only effect is more damage (...i.e. - DOT's...), you're not going to last long if you don't drop your opponents fast (...which he did, except when it came to Bosses and higher...which always ended up being 'hit and run' affairs...). The lack of any kind of damage mitigation made me lose interest...
- The Assault Power Set looks to focus on this particular aspect of game play, and while not overly generous on AOE potential...Ranged and Melee aspects seem to be present, leaving the player with the ability to choose a second Power Set to help round out their offense...be it through Buff/Debuffing (Vindicator), Controls (Brigadier) to mere raw Defense (Stalwart <- will be looking to play one of those when they come out!). Masters are on hold for the time being, but they will also have access to the Assault Power Sets. To date, there's no Primary Assault Class...though it stands to reason that without focusing on Melee or Ranged, you're not going to be exceptionally good at both.