Recent posts

#81

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Canary in the mine

Last post by Joshex - Jan 19, 2025, 01:34 PM

and so the devs gave the adminstrators and everyone else, the bird.

#82

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Team Inspirations shouldn'...

Last post by Joshex - Jan 19, 2025, 12:44 PM

I think we need to test the "average-maximum" team distance. it'll mean having the server collect and record /loc data to figure out distances on X,Y,Z, given a range of different map types.

the reason I say that is 20ft in game or even 40ft might be different than you imagine. I assume each player bounds is roughly 2ft to 3ft, we divide that in half for AoE origin so 1 to 1.5ft, this is the bare-bones collision distance. some rays will even fail to detect objects flatly crammed up against this bounds. then you have enemies attempting to arrangethemselves around the target, perhaps 30 of them+some that are just standing there because they cannot be engaged because they are over the agro cap, each one of these adds 3x3, however they wont be arranged in neat square-flush blocks, instead corners of their bounds will meet flats of other's bounds pushing them out ever so slightly. so at "minimum-maximum" the next player Might be 3 or 4 enemy lengths+0.5theplayer width. so like 10.5 to 13.5 if everything is neat and compact. but that player and the enemies will literally have to be pressed together like a full elevator of people.

more often than not this is not the case, people and enemies do not cram in. they reach the maximum range for their attacks to cast and stop. melee range is like 7ft -3ft(1.5 player width and 1.5 enemy width) so they typically stop leaving a gap of 4ft, one or 2 might jump in there because they are cast-blocked by the rest of their horde denying them access to melee range to the target, but such hap-hazard jump-ins are far from neat and usually don't leave much or any space for new squeeze-ins leaving unoccupied melee range space that none can fit in.

but anyways 7ft roughly. 2 of these distances is 14, 3 is 21ft. I'd say that's average between 21 and 28ft of enemies + obstacles, that means at 30ft outside players would have to cram in leaving at most 0.5ft gap between them and the outermost enemy. but they often do not do that. as that would potentially incite far more than they intended to return fire. so they typically give it max melee or low to moderate ranged distance(but in some conditions high ranged distance for sniping and squishies). that's a gap of anywhere between 7ft, 10ft, 40ft or potentially upto 80ft.

That's if it's all neat and tidy where the tanker has full agro and has pinned the horde on a corner somewhere to draw all the ranged enemies into melee range.

More often, I've noticed players don't understand this concept that "it's quicker to dispatch enemies in a pile" and they engage before the tank and the mob spreads out to each player, the average player distance being 10ft to 15ft from each other.

so.. I'll let you investigate further and draw your own conclusions, these are just my observations.



a former thought for team insps is any ally engaged in battle(attacking or being attacked with-in the last X seconds) could recieve the benefit regardless distance or LoS. but yeah that'd take retooling as well.

#83

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Talk: Energy Control

Last post by Joshex - Jan 19, 2025, 12:16 AM

So we all know energy control right?

Wait? you don't?!

oh.. right, it doesn't exist.

They're called PEACEBRINGERS.
If you want the "dark" version, play a (MFing) WARSHADE.



Probably not the response you were expecting, but ...

Peacebringers were the "everything else" that they couldn't fit in an AT and powersets that people requested, but tbh not much control. they are like ranged and melee mix tanks. so if they were shooting for Energy Control... and got essentially a super blaster.. then.. yeah I'm gonna say we still need an actual energy control powerset lol.

we can tone down the damage if that's the issue. but yeah an energy control set really should be done at some point.

Peacebringers are like an energy assault set. no control in it.

#84

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Talk: Energy Control

Last post by Redlynne - Jan 18, 2025, 10:53 PM

So we all know energy control right?

Wait? you don't?!

oh.. right, it doesn't exist.

They're called PEACEBRINGERS.
If you want the "dark" version, play a (MFing) WARSHADE.



Probably not the response you were expecting, but ...

#85

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Team Inspirations shouldn'...

Last post by Redlynne - Jan 18, 2025, 10:48 PM

so I really think a one time per ally Line of sight distance based ray-chain would be better.

In terms of "getting more reach" out of the Team Inspirations ... in theory that could work.
In practice, it's probably more trouble than it's worth, though. It would require a lot of engineering (and testing) to verify it.

Right now, the Team Inspirations are just a 20ft PBAoE.
Be a lot simpler to merely increase the radius ... perhaps to being a 30ft PBAoE ... and broadening the targets affected from being only Teammates to being Allies.

Point being that I would prefer to be a bit conservative, in a way that "twiddles" a couple of database values ... rather than reaching for a completely different "delivery mechanism" behavior, such as a chain.

At most, I wouldn't mind if the PBAoE were converted into something like a 90º 45ft Cone, "pointing" in the direction of the camera view (precedent: Nature Affinity - Regrowth). That way, you have to "aim" the Team Inspiration(s) in the direction of the Allies you want to affect, rather than just being "close" to them somewhere nearby. Makes the Team Inspirations more "Player skill/awareness/control" dependent than an overly simplistic 20ft PBAoE.

#86

General Suggestions and Feedback / Talk: Energy Control

Last post by Joshex - Jan 18, 2025, 07:18 PM

So we all know energy control right?

Wait? you don't?!

oh.. right, it doesn't exist.

this is what went through my mind today when I had the bright Idea of making a new toon. I openned up a planner and chose controller then went looking through the different primaries and couldn't understand it. I thought I was just failing to see it. I thought "Energy 'everything' was one of the earlier sets in CoH, you'd think there'd definitely be an energy control."

turns out, no, there isn't an 'energy control'.


I know I suggest a lot of things. but this one seems like it should have been done on Live in like Issue 8 or so. how could we have not created this upto now?!

I got to thinking about the set, based on the hallmarks of energy, we're talking a situation of a Mez(Disorient) show where "would you like some Knockup and repel with your knockback good sir?" is the basis of the control set.


then I got into "what would an Energy Immobilize or Engergy Hold look like?" Immediately I was brought to the thought of the energy rings around the fists of my energy manipulation blaster.

So I imagined an energy immobilize places an energy ring around the enemy's legs. a hold could be anywhere from multiple rings one around the head, one around each hand and foot, to, energy balls around these, then I thought "well they could still move their arms if you just put energy around their hands" then came up with the mental image of "Energy Shackles" simply put a bar of energy connecting each shackle hand to hand, foot to foot and hands to feet, and an energy ball around their head. then I figured it'd restrict airflow so it'd probably cause choke and -recovery.

but as I thought about that I said to myself "where's the trademark knockback?" and so I paused until I thought, "well if the enemy tried to move and touched the energy ring.... BOOM. they'd go flying, and probably be significantly damaged too, add on a nice disorient for good measure if they trigger that Knock Up by trying to move or trying to attack when held."

then I was like "but there's no Anti Fly..." and then I thought "well, that's moving, even just hovering in place has some motion.. so.. that'd trigger High Energy Damage + Knockup+disorient. Ouch. I'd hate to be hit with that while flying.." cast> target is flying BOOM> 1,2,3,4,> target is still flying/trying to move/trying to attack, and attack duration has not expired = BOOM> repeat.

" '-fly' why would I do that? you can fly all you want! here let me help you fly higher! but that cieling looks like it'll hurt.."

*I now imagine a loop animation where someone is being controlled and smacked repeatedly into a cieling.* and the controller saying "stop smacking yourself into the cieling, stop smacking yourself into the cieling, stop smacking yourself into the cieling".

I mean they are "Trollers" what kind of behaviour did you expect? I'm surprised they aren't inventing magnet powered flight and trying to make schemes to bankrupt organizations they don't like and profit.

jokes asside, Energy sets are typically fairly Single-Target Centric. They typically have limited AoE or Cone in each set, and as a troller really needs to address the crowd, not just single targets, I figure after the first 2 single targets there should be alot of swirling energy fields, auras and bubbles. and tons of enemies getting knocked around and repelled and maybe even pulled back in to go all over again via a single attract, top it off with disorient and I think that's a good basis for an energy control set.

Thinking about a swirling energy aura, it could be fairly defensive +Def (all) +res(energy negative) add in Moderate Damage when enemies touch it, and repel and disorient and I think it's a good L8

but then I ran out of ideas for L12, L18, and L26... at that point I kinda thought it was too heavy in AoE, cone and chain already. and most sets do some variant of an AoE here.

I figured, an "energy controller" probably should be able to controll masses of energy and make them do his bidding, so he should get a pet, or 2. probably an energy golem/servant/spectre at L32 similar to dark servant but with a bright color tintable energy aura body-part-basis rather than dark clouds. it'll probably fizzle out on it's own over time, so a limited time summon perhaps. then I got to thinking about attacks for it and thought, "what happens when all that energy making this energy pet gets dispersed when it dies?" and I went looking through Energy sets and saw [Energy Blasting: Nova PBAoE Extreme Damage Energy/Smash foe: knockback] and was like "yep. that's what happens when energy golem or energy specter dies. it's pretty much a bomb with legs and arms.." and figured it should have 1 ranged and one melee attack probably in high damage due to it's limited summon time, so I added in [Power Burst(High Damage Energy/Smash foe Knockback)] for a ranged single target, and [Staggering Burst(Melee(AoE) Smash/Energy foe disorient)] for kinda an energy dispersal attack from the pet, as it's attacks, also it definitely needs a healthbar, that way if something does kill it BOOM.. either it's timer runs out and Nova, or something kills it and Nova, or the player(with enough haste to perma-summon it) replaces it's summon and: Nova on desummon.

and with that I'm semi-fresh out of compiled ideas for this set.

Maybe a ground-pounder, some field/energy-object that comes down on top of enemies and hits them with Energy smashing and Knockdown every time they stand up as it attempts to bash them into the ground repeatedly like an energy troller made a giant energy mallet and decided to play whack-a-mole.


and maybe a single target mega-hold at some rediculous magnitude.

maybe a Range Wide Cone energy smack, like a mass-target(upto 30) mega KB+disorient

maybe another energy aura with -acc -tohit to go with that disorient

another pet? Idk.

this is what I came up with:

Energy Control:
    L1 Energy Ring: Ranged, Moderate DoT Energy/Smashing (6.12x5), Foe: Immobilize. When foe tries to move/or is flying; Foe:  KnockUp (Mag 4.99), High Damage Energy (50.16)
   
    L1 Energy Shackles: Ranged, Moderate DoT Energy/Smashing (6.73x5) Foe: Hold, Choke, -recovery. When foe tries to move/or is flying or tries to attack; Foe: Knockup (Mag 6) High Damage Energy (50.16). "Energy Shackles Cover the Foe's Head, Hands and Feet rendering them unable to move or attack, the head covering restricts breathing, leading to a lack of ability to recover strength for a short time. If the enemy moves or tries to attack, the shackles tighten and release an energy pulse which will severely damage and send the foe flying up."
   
    L2 Energy Wave: Ranged Cone Chain, Minor DoT Energy(4x2), Foe: -fly, Knockup (Mag 10), Foe: GrantPower: ["Energy Conduit", Ranged Cone to player foex1, Minor DoT Energy, -fly, Knockup (mag 10) if time remaining on player cast: grant power ["EnergyConduit" from each target]] "you release a  fast-vibrating wave of energy that loops from target to target repeatedly for 27.94 seconds, violently knocking them into the air and pulling them back down every time it hits disabling their ability to fly. the energy burns as it runs through their nerves causing minor energy damage over time on each hit. This power can effect upto 7 targets at a time, it then arcs off of them to any other nearby target which has not recently been hit on the previous tick"
   
    L6 Energy Torus: Summon: Wide Field, Foe Attract, When the foe touches the center; Foe: High Damage Energy, Knockback Mag 16, Stun, Disorient. "you create a feild in the shape of a large energy bubble in the sha[e of a donut, the center has a gravity anomaly which pulls enemies in rapidly, when enemies touch this anomaly it violently reacts causing high damage and sending foes flying backwards leaving them stunned and disoriented for a short time."
   
    L8 Energy Cyclone Toggle: +Def(All) +Res (Energy Negative), PBAoE Aura Moderate Damage Energy(30.59), Foe: KnockUP (Mag 4), Repel (Mag 3), Disorient. "you create a whirling cyclone of energy around yourself that redirects attacks around you, any foe that touches it will be moderately damaged, then thrown up and away from you causing disorientation for a short time."

    L12 Energy Flash: TAoE Minor Damage Energy(5), Foe: Stun(160s), Blind(320s), Disorient(160s), -ToHit(20%), -Def(20% all), Knockback(Mag 1)

    L18 Weld: Ranged High DoT Energy(10x5), Foe Hold(Mag 36, 360s), -Def(30%), -fly(Mag 10) Knockdown

    L26

    L32 Summon Energy Specter: High Damage Energy, Attacks: Power Burst(High Damage Energy/Smash foe Knockback), Staggering Burst(Melee(AoE) Smash/Energy foe disorient), On Death: Nova (PBAoE Extreme Damage Energy/Smash foe Knockback).


Edit1/21/25:
thinking about this I've come up with another power:

Energy Flash/Flash: TAoE Minor Damage Energy(5), Foe: Stun, Blind, Disorient, -ToHit, -Def, Knockback
"You launch a very bright exploding ball of energy at your foes kocking them back and blinding them for a long period of time, it waves through them stunnign and disorienting them. because of the light burned into their retinas they are unable to see well causing a -20% decreased in ability to hit targets and defend themselves from being hit."

essentially energy has the ability to bind and knockback sure, but it can also blind, probably some of the strongest longest lasting blinds in game, like laser eye surgery gone wrong.


Weld: Ranged High DoT Energy(10x5), Foe Hold(Mag 30, 360s), -Def(30%), -fly(Mag 10) Knockdown
"You use your energy to literally, not figuratively weld your enemy to the ground. they find it very difficult to move so avoiding attacks becomes almost impossible, the welding process damages them over time for the initial application phase." -single target Super Hold

#87

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Team Inspirations shouldn'...

Last post by Joshex - Jan 18, 2025, 04:49 PM

I agree.

tbh the AoE radius is a little issue too. I tank, and sometimes I get surrounded by mobs and cannot jump away towards teammates, they end up being just out of the AoE radius, I've found that most of the time I have used team insps no one but me has been effected, I think one time I effected 2 teammates.

The thing here is the team is typically spread out over a much greater area than 20ft, it's very rare that the team is not spread out by like 40ft to 60ft, and these are not premptive measures, when people need them applied, they are typically arrayed in-battle and it's impossible to say "gather for team insps" and expect them to be able to comply and move 5 ft closer to get in the 20ft AoE range.

I think it should be Ranged Chain(once) based on LoS(Line of sight). and yes effect league members, and any "Allies" too. we'll let the game figure out if a ray from player 1 can hit any player on the team/league or any friendly target. then we'll let the game figure out if illusivity causes that ray to be too far a distance to work.

these team inspirations could be anything from realizing theres some ingenious use for Regenerating Flesh no one ever thought about "hey, it can probably regenerate my flesh" and then realizing " hey because it regenerates I can break it into peices and throw some to a team mate 'here catch put it on that burn!', or it could be a team peptalk or speech shouted down the hallway that gives team members some beneficial thought or strategy which allows them to be buffed in some way. a rez insp of that nature could be "hey heroes on the floor, the rest of the team is going out for doughnuts after this, but only if you get up right now."

so, rather than AoE, it really could even be conveyed through the team communicator, but then everyone on team would get the buff regardless of being near or in line of sight.

so I really think a one time per ally Line of sight distance based ray-chain would be better.

[2 of them]

#88

General Suggestions and Feedback / Team Inspirations shouldn't be...

Last post by Redlynne - Jan 17, 2025, 01:22 AM

During tonight's Keyes Island iTrial, I was trying to assist with "medical" duties for people who were getting Disintegrated.

Redlynne has her Valiance PBAoE aura (+118.4% Regeneration to Allies), but that is nowhere NEAR enough to help people survive the 40% then 80% Max Health hit at the end of Disintegration.

So I was trying to use Health Imbuement inspirations to help top up people so they could survive.
Imagine my surprise when I burn 2 of them while standing right next to a league mate (not a teammate) who is Disintegrating ... and their Health bar doesn't move ... at all.

The only logical conclusion that I can draw is that -> TEAM <- Inspirations are coded to (only) affect TEAMmates ... while anyone in your league, but NOT on your TEAM, is just ... um ... the game simply doesn't "like them" enough (on your behalf). 

Am I the only one who thinks that this is ... sub-optimal? 



I'm thinking that the simplest solution would be to edit the parameter in the database that defines who who can be affected by Team Inspirations (within the 20ft PBAoE when used).

Instead of only affecting -> TEAM <- ... change it to affect Allies, so the Team Inspirations can affect league members as well as NPCs (who are not civilians, because nothing affects civilians).

[Familiarity Breeds Contempt]

#89

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Idea: Gravity Armor & Grav...

Last post by Joshex - Jan 15, 2025, 09:13 PM

so, If I'm understanding this correctly, you cannot for example use a name of an already existing power but give it different abilities for this specific set?

There's the issue of name confusion, yes ... but I was talking about a different point.

Every Tanker Secondary powerset has a "Taunt" power.
Most of them are even named "Taunt" explicitly, while some use different more flavorful power names.

The "Taunt" power is somewhat AT defining, so the specifics of the power are simply copied over into every Tanker Secondary. The same thing happens with Placate powers for Stalkers.

When you have multiple powersets that have "the same power" in them (such as Taunt or Placate), the details don't really change for the different powersets of that AT.



So far so good?



Now think about the T1 attack power for say ... Defender Secondaries.
Yes, they all have different names ... but are they all copy/paste repeats of the exact same power?
No they're not.
Would it be a good idea to make them all "same-y same-y" as T1 powers in terms of their game mechanics, attributes, details, etc. ... such that if "you've seen one, you've seen them all" ...?

The point that I'm driving at here is the age old maxim of Familiarity Breeds Contempt when you've got powers that are just copy/paste jobs between 2+ powersets, even if the power names change.



One of the things that makes CoH so "flavorful" and meaningful to play is that the various powersets for ATs are NOT copy/paste jobs. It's actually relatively rare to encounter 2 powers in different powersets that "work" exactly the same (game mechanically as well as user facing stuff like animations and FX).

Martial Arts and Kinetic Melee are broadly similar ... yet they're distinctly different from each other.

Broadsword and Katana, as well as Axe and Mace, might have strong similarities in terms of how their powersets are structured and how they "work" ... but they still have important differences that make them PLAY differently, so they aren't just copy/paste reskins of each other.



It's okay to look at other powersets to find something CLOSE to what you want to do, since that gives you the benefit of precedent to work with and baseline against.

What's NOT okay is to look at other powersets, copy/paste and file off the serial numbers and expect people to not recognize what you've done. EXACT duplication of powers creates perception problems, because it means that those (now) "shared" powers become less UNIQUE and SIGNATURE to the powerset(s) they appear in.

Yes, every Controller Primary gets a single target Hold and an AoE Hold ... but are those powers EXACTLY the same for all Controller Primaries?
After the "normalization" of the AoE Holds @ Level 18 done by Cryptic Studios (when the Containment mechanic got introduced) ... the AoE Holds of Controllers became something they all had in common. But the single target Holds have some interesting and unique differences to them across all of the Controller Primaries.

Likewise, most Controller Primaries have an AoE Immobilize ... but some don't (Illusion and Mind Control come to mind).

Both Illusion and Mind Control have a single target Confuse power, but the details of their respective versions are not an exact copy/paste job, so there are differences between them, which then gives each powerset their own uniquely flavorful spin on the way "their" version of Confuse works in actual gameplay.



This is why I say that you shouldn't just be lifting powers (whole cloth, unmodified) and doing a copy/paste ala carte job with them into a proposed new powerset. Any kind of really obvious duplication like that "cheapens" the original power and the copy of it (even if you change the power names).

Ah. Ok, now I might be an idiot for saying this; but I was not aware of myself actively copying exact powers from other sets functionality wise, as far as I am aware I was modifying powers to give them unique attributes. but as an idiot myself I might need someone who can see my glaring mistake to point it out plainly listing the power next to what I'm copying.

if that was not your point, I am at least more aware of your meaning now, and I agree, cheapenning is not a good thing, and I wish to avoid it.

tomorrow I'll look through this ernestly.

[Familiarity Breeds Contempt]

#90

General Suggestions and Feedback / Re: Idea: Gravity Armor & Grav...

Last post by Redlynne - Jan 14, 2025, 11:40 PM

so, If I'm understanding this correctly, you cannot for example use a name of an already existing power but give it different abilities for this specific set?

There's the issue of name confusion, yes ... but I was talking about a different point.

Every Tanker Secondary powerset has a "Taunt" power.
Most of them are even named "Taunt" explicitly, while some use different more flavorful power names.

The "Taunt" power is somewhat AT defining, so the specifics of the power are simply copied over into every Tanker Secondary. The same thing happens with Placate powers for Stalkers.

When you have multiple powersets that have "the same power" in them (such as Taunt or Placate), the details don't really change for the different powersets of that AT.



So far so good?



Now think about the T1 attack power for say ... Defender Secondaries.
Yes, they all have different names ... but are they all copy/paste repeats of the exact same power?
No they're not.
Would it be a good idea to make them all "same-y same-y" as T1 powers in terms of their game mechanics, attributes, details, etc. ... such that if "you've seen one, you've seen them all" ...?

The point that I'm driving at here is the age old maxim of Familiarity Breeds Contempt when you've got powers that are just copy/paste jobs between 2+ powersets, even if the power names change.



One of the things that makes CoH so "flavorful" and meaningful to play is that the various powersets for ATs are NOT copy/paste jobs. It's actually relatively rare to encounter 2 powers in different powersets that "work" exactly the same (game mechanically as well as user facing stuff like animations and FX).

Martial Arts and Kinetic Melee are broadly similar ... yet they're distinctly different from each other.

Broadsword and Katana, as well as Axe and Mace, might have strong similarities in terms of how their powersets are structured and how they "work" ... but they still have important differences that make them PLAY differently, so they aren't just copy/paste reskins of each other.



It's okay to look at other powersets to find something CLOSE to what you want to do, since that gives you the benefit of precedent to work with and baseline against.

What's NOT okay is to look at other powersets, copy/paste and file off the serial numbers and expect people to not recognize what you've done. EXACT duplication of powers creates perception problems, because it means that those (now) "shared" powers become less UNIQUE and SIGNATURE to the powerset(s) they appear in.

Yes, every Controller Primary gets a single target Hold and an AoE Hold ... but are those powers EXACTLY the same for all Controller Primaries?
After the "normalization" of the AoE Holds @ Level 18 done by Cryptic Studios (when the Containment mechanic got introduced) ... the AoE Holds of Controllers became something they all had in common. But the single target Holds have some interesting and unique differences to them across all of the Controller Primaries.

Likewise, most Controller Primaries have an AoE Immobilize ... but some don't (Illusion and Mind Control come to mind).

Both Illusion and Mind Control have a single target Confuse power, but the details of their respective versions are not an exact copy/paste job, so there are differences between them, which then gives each powerset their own uniquely flavorful spin on the way "their" version of Confuse works in actual gameplay.



This is why I say that you shouldn't just be lifting powers (whole cloth, unmodified) and doing a copy/paste ala carte job with them into a proposed new powerset. Any kind of really obvious duplication like that "cheapens" the original power and the copy of it (even if you change the power names).