So...given the [url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/should-you-choose-accept-it-prototype-mission-video]recent update[/url] . I feel like this forum area should be more active! Maybe I'm the only one who loved MA from CoX so much :p
What will the limits of the mission creator be?
The update shows us that dialog and plot will be complex and branched, and that's awesome so far.
What about boss battles?
I talked about this in [url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/complex-bosses]another thred[/url] I just tried to [GS] Necro :p But bosses in CoH were basically big bags of HP with little complexity to them: the most complex boss I could think of was Snaptooth, which spawned as an Lt, respawned as a boss, then EB, which was cool.
But how far could this system go? Giant bosses where multiple parts could be targeted? Shielded bosses who're only vulnerable if certain conditions are met? etc.
And how will henchmen work? CoH had it basically as less limited PCs: no special powers, or the ability to gather from many power sets. No special summons, e.g. minion dies and spawns underlings (would there even be an underling analog?) etc.
I was just hoping CoT could learn from the mistakes of MA.
[hr]
[color=red]PR, Forum Moderator[/color]
[url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/desvipers-creative-impulsivity]My Non-Canon Backstories[/url]
Avatar by MikeNovember
I was never much of a creator in Architect, but I thoroughly enjoyed some of the missions people created. And then there were, alas, some missions which were specifically for farming; which was okay. I suppose if that was your goal then you were able to get what you wanted out of the game.
But I like where you are going with Boss complexity. It would require more playtesting and balancing on behalf of the creator, and it is very possible that it could have conditions that break the bosses making them either impossible or impotent. Basically adding complexity like what you propose would exponentially add emergent interactions that would all need to be tested. But that is one of the benefits of making this user-generated content. Anything broken in the mission is something the user can troubleshoot and repair, not MWM. So I'm all for it.
How would exploits be tracked and fixed so as to avoid players getting experience too easily from user-generated content? That will always be the hard question.
I've always played a game with he philosophy that I will only be lvl 12 once on this character, so I should do content while I am lvl 12 that will be fun only when a lvl 12 character does it. I never was the player who raced through to get to max lvl and then complain about the lack of end-game content; so there is an entire mindset associated with people who take advantage of exploits that I just don't understand. I can't get in their heads because I just don't understand it, so I am the worst person to think about the ramifications of possible exploits created by user-generated content.
[hr]I like to take your ideas and supersize them. This isn't criticism, it is flattery. I come with nothing but good will and a spirit of team-building. If you take what I write any other way, that is probably just because I wasn't very clear.
I'm pro-farming, but yeah, I did play to 50 once, the hard way.
I think the devs have taken a neutral stance on farming: like you said "I suppose if that was your goal then you were able to get what you wanted out of the game".
To me, one could just tag their mission as farming-friendly, or others could, and that'd be that.
[hr]
[color=red]PR, Forum Moderator[/color]
[url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/desvipers-creative-impulsivity]My Non-Canon Backstories[/url]
Avatar by MikeNovember
I never even knew you could make your own missions in CoH. Sadly, I only got to experience it very briefly and I found the UI even harder to deal with than EQ's. I've tried the other Superhero MMOs and they all lacked seriously in different regards, so naturally I'm really looking forward to experiencing the new "gold standard" from the ground up.
One way that you might limit the exploitation of user-made missions is by using a point system. Every mission could have a selection of special rewards to unlock. Each of those rewards would be worth a number of points. There would be a minimum and maximum point value for every reward based on the average character level the mission is meant for. Minor rewards would obviously be closer to the low end of that point range while the very best rewards would be worth the upper limit for the mission. To unlock rewards characters would need to complete objectives. Objectives would have point values exactly like the rewards do, with the same allowable range as determined by mission level. As the characters earned more points they would unlock bigger rewards - in other words, every reward would have to be earned by accumulating its point worth in objectives. The exact manner in which characters received each reward would be up to the mission creator. For example, killing a boss might grant a reward for each PC who contributed in combat. The specific reward a character received could be randomly chosen from a loot table the mission creator set up, but the character would only get a reward that (a) was worth at least the minimal point value of the mission and (b) wasn't worth more than the total number of points the character had earned by completing objectives. Within that loose framework it would be up to the game devs to decide just how many (or how few) rewards could be unlocked per mission, what factors might skew the random results, and so on.
I hope my attempt to describe this idea wasn't too confusing.
What I was talking about regarding exploits is if you know there is a boss with a certain mechanic, you could design your mission around that mechanic to make it impossible for the players or that allows the players to completely circumvent the mechanic. We wouldn't want either.
At least when bosses were just huge bags of HP, it was a straightforward fight to the finish. Sure there were elemental resistances and weaknesses that could have been taken advantage of with the old MA, but those really only made the fight easier or harder, not broken.
[hr]I like to take your ideas and supersize them. This isn't criticism, it is flattery. I come with nothing but good will and a spirit of team-building. If you take what I write any other way, that is probably just because I wasn't very clear.
*sigh* stuck on farming missions again :/
[hr]
[color=red]PR, Forum Moderator[/color]
[url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/desvipers-creative-impulsivity]My Non-Canon Backstories[/url]
Avatar by MikeNovember