It's no real secret, but the Surviving Eight of City of Heroes are soon to be the Surviving Seven And There Used To Be One Other Guy. The first installment of the arc is now available for players on the live server, with the arc available in the store for free players coming in after the fact. It's a chance for players to interact in a big way with some of the game's major lore characters and see which of the setting-defining heroes is going to be taking a permanent trip to the land of wind and ghosts.
So what was the process behind the arc? As is often the case these days, Paragon Studios has furnished players with a new installment of the Intrepid Informer with more details on what the arcs entail and the major challenges of design. To the surprise of almost no one, the biggest issue that the designers faced was the simple question of relevance -- making sure that players felt important as they played through an arc focusing on the life and death of several NPCs. How successfully that goal was met remains to be seen, but CoH players can judge the first installment on its own merits right now.
Reader Comments (21)
Posted: Sep 21st 2011 7:24PM syberghost said
It occurs to me that all of those characters were associated with founding members of Cryptic Studios, and one in particular took the company with him when he left. Big white stars make big white targets...
Posted: Sep 21st 2011 9:41PM stealthrider said
Typical City of Heroes Mission:
Statesman does all the work and gets all the credit while the players watch.
No, sorry, don't think anyone will be at all emotionally attached to these characters nor will they feel at all important while playing through the mission.
Statesman does all the work and gets all the credit while the players watch.
No, sorry, don't think anyone will be at all emotionally attached to these characters nor will they feel at all important while playing through the mission.
Posted: Sep 22nd 2011 1:26AM Stormwalker said
@stealthrider You're wrong on that point. The player is central to the story of the sig arc. You are very important to the events.
Reply
Posted: Sep 21st 2011 10:02PM Yellowdancer said
So has F2P started yet or is it still head start?
Posted: Sep 21st 2011 10:59PM The Ogre said
The arc is NOT fun.
The second mission involves a glowie (interactive objects which take a fair amount of time to complete using and which are interruptable) hunt under a time limit while ambushes spawn almost on top of you on a 30 second timer (which means inching along trying to find the glowie which will take at least 4-5 tries to use because the new spawns keep interrupting you).
That combined with losing most of your powers and set bonuses because you're forced down to level 20 for the duration of the task force (which means you not only can't do anything else on that character to take a break if it gets frustrating, but you are unable to level up to make it any easier if it's too difficult for you), it is just not worth the effort - and certainly not worth paying for in the in-game store.
The second mission involves a glowie (interactive objects which take a fair amount of time to complete using and which are interruptable) hunt under a time limit while ambushes spawn almost on top of you on a 30 second timer (which means inching along trying to find the glowie which will take at least 4-5 tries to use because the new spawns keep interrupting you).
That combined with losing most of your powers and set bonuses because you're forced down to level 20 for the duration of the task force (which means you not only can't do anything else on that character to take a break if it gets frustrating, but you are unable to level up to make it any easier if it's too difficult for you), it is just not worth the effort - and certainly not worth paying for in the in-game store.
Posted: Sep 21st 2011 11:27PM CitizenH said
@The Ogre
Get a team. Having a Tanker tank the enemies for the second it takes you to click the objective makes the mission trivial.
Seriously, people are knocking the arc out in 10-12 minutes or less solo. If you can't defeat the enemies fast enough, the solution is to team.
Alternatively, you can get a summon Vanguard HVAS temp power. Or a Shivan summon. Or a Backup Radio. Or buy a Signature Summon from the store. There's a ton of options. Educate yourself about them and be willing to use them and adapt.
Reply
Get a team. Having a Tanker tank the enemies for the second it takes you to click the objective makes the mission trivial.
Seriously, people are knocking the arc out in 10-12 minutes or less solo. If you can't defeat the enemies fast enough, the solution is to team.
Alternatively, you can get a summon Vanguard HVAS temp power. Or a Shivan summon. Or a Backup Radio. Or buy a Signature Summon from the store. There's a ton of options. Educate yourself about them and be willing to use them and adapt.
Posted: Sep 22nd 2011 1:27AM Stormwalker said
@The Ogre Your opinion. I found it to be exciting. Once you know how the missions work, subsequent playthroughs are much easier, too.
Reply
Posted: Sep 22nd 2011 3:06AM Ogged said
@CitizenH
"get a team". Ah, the universal answer to everything .. except to "I want to get to enjoy the STORY".
Must be wonderful on a team when you cannot participate in the story, because - you as a lowly teammember - cannot get information from the mission giver in addition to being rushed through the missions (by design).
And for my opinion on the arc itself - meh, subpar at best. Aside from the issues for some ATs, the "mysterious hidden mastermind" shown in the cinematic at the end was boring. Also, it's low level (therefore painful) content.
Reply
"get a team". Ah, the universal answer to everything .. except to "I want to get to enjoy the STORY".
Must be wonderful on a team when you cannot participate in the story, because - you as a lowly teammember - cannot get information from the mission giver in addition to being rushed through the missions (by design).
And for my opinion on the arc itself - meh, subpar at best. Aside from the issues for some ATs, the "mysterious hidden mastermind" shown in the cinematic at the end was boring. Also, it's low level (therefore painful) content.
Posted: Sep 22nd 2011 9:37AM CitizenH said
@Ogged
Lead said team.
Then you dictate the pace. The story is told via caption boxes, and what isn't, is told via the contact dialogue which you, as team leader, get to read.
And again, there are options in place like temp powers that allow for players with weaker builds complete it solo.
Beyond that, you're just /looking/ for reasons to hate and I've nothing more to say. Ciao
Reply
Lead said team.
Then you dictate the pace. The story is told via caption boxes, and what isn't, is told via the contact dialogue which you, as team leader, get to read.
And again, there are options in place like temp powers that allow for players with weaker builds complete it solo.
Beyond that, you're just /looking/ for reasons to hate and I've nothing more to say. Ciao
Posted: Sep 22nd 2011 9:44AM (Unverified) said
2 things....
1 - How dare you say that the arc "is NOT fun". Just because you are bitter and burnt out, doesnt mean every1 else is. Remember, an mmorpg is 50% game, 50% your imagination - thats why its called an mmoRPG.
remember people, there is no BAD game, or not fun missions or whatever, its ALL OPINION. And a lot of the opinions you read come from players that have played for years and years, have no social life whatsoever and quite frankly, ARE BORING themselves. YOU be the judge and try out EVERYTHING to see what YOU, the gamer, enjoys.
2 - Still head start. Though last head start event in this weekend I believe, so COH f2p could be starting on monday or on the 1st. Def within the next 2-3 weeks at the most.
GL people and remember to TAKE YOUR TIME - these are mmorpgs, not linear xbox games. There are literally THOUSANDS of mmorpgs nowadays of all makes and models, so if you find yourself 'bored' or 'grinding' or whatever, DONT PLAY. Every1 should be playing an mmorpg they absolutely love, Thats what makes the 15/mo so measly, because you get hundreds upon hundreds of hours of AMAZING gameplay per month, which ends up being like 10c an hour for most!
Have a great weekend! Salute!
PS - The new signature story arc IS EXTREMELY EPIC! The maps are ALL orginal, the mobs are some of the rarest in the game as well. Enjoy! (7 part arc, each part has 3-4 missions, each lasting 10-30 mins) Its a giant Taskforce you can do with a group of 4 or 8 or even by urself!
-X
1 - How dare you say that the arc "is NOT fun". Just because you are bitter and burnt out, doesnt mean every1 else is. Remember, an mmorpg is 50% game, 50% your imagination - thats why its called an mmoRPG.
remember people, there is no BAD game, or not fun missions or whatever, its ALL OPINION. And a lot of the opinions you read come from players that have played for years and years, have no social life whatsoever and quite frankly, ARE BORING themselves. YOU be the judge and try out EVERYTHING to see what YOU, the gamer, enjoys.
2 - Still head start. Though last head start event in this weekend I believe, so COH f2p could be starting on monday or on the 1st. Def within the next 2-3 weeks at the most.
GL people and remember to TAKE YOUR TIME - these are mmorpgs, not linear xbox games. There are literally THOUSANDS of mmorpgs nowadays of all makes and models, so if you find yourself 'bored' or 'grinding' or whatever, DONT PLAY. Every1 should be playing an mmorpg they absolutely love, Thats what makes the 15/mo so measly, because you get hundreds upon hundreds of hours of AMAZING gameplay per month, which ends up being like 10c an hour for most!
Have a great weekend! Salute!
PS - The new signature story arc IS EXTREMELY EPIC! The maps are ALL orginal, the mobs are some of the rarest in the game as well. Enjoy! (7 part arc, each part has 3-4 missions, each lasting 10-30 mins) Its a giant Taskforce you can do with a group of 4 or 8 or even by urself!
-X
Posted: Sep 22nd 2011 9:51AM Yellowdancer said
@(Unverified)
If its not fun, its not fun. Doesn't matter what is his state of mind is. Its all subjective. I think COX just needs a gameplay update. Today its really sluggish. Was fun back in the day though.
Reply
If its not fun, its not fun. Doesn't matter what is his state of mind is. Its all subjective. I think COX just needs a gameplay update. Today its really sluggish. Was fun back in the day though.
Posted: Sep 22nd 2011 6:17PM Stormwalker said
@jslim419 The devs say the sig arcs will get longer at higher levels. This one was only lvl 11-20.
Reply
Posted: Sep 22nd 2011 9:55AM (Unverified) said
does this game have a healing class? guess should say for a freebie account hopefully
Posted: Sep 22nd 2011 11:24AM (Unverified) said
@(Unverified)
There are a great number of healing "classes" in CoH.
However, that is typically not their only role.
Buffing (Damage / Accuracy / Health Regen / Endurance Regen / etc)
Debuffing (Lowering Enemy Resistance / Defense / Damage / Accuracy / etc)
Dealing Damage
Controlling Enemies (Holds / Stuns / Slows / Knockdowns)
Reply
There are a great number of healing "classes" in CoH.
However, that is typically not their only role.
Buffing (Damage / Accuracy / Health Regen / Endurance Regen / etc)
Debuffing (Lowering Enemy Resistance / Defense / Damage / Accuracy / etc)
Dealing Damage
Controlling Enemies (Holds / Stuns / Slows / Knockdowns)
Posted: Sep 22nd 2011 3:02PM jslim419 said
@(Unverified)
i think he was looking for names of healing classes :P
Defender, and Controller, Corrupter are good healing archetypes. it depends on what power pools you pick tho.
Mastermind can heal as well as buff/debuff, and has excellent survivability and damage output with their pets. however it may be a bit boring because you are for the most part watching your pets kill stuff while you stand in the back and heal/buff. but if you want to be a healer i guess it wouldn't for you :D
Reply
i think he was looking for names of healing classes :P
Defender, and Controller, Corrupter are good healing archetypes. it depends on what power pools you pick tho.
Mastermind can heal as well as buff/debuff, and has excellent survivability and damage output with their pets. however it may be a bit boring because you are for the most part watching your pets kill stuff while you stand in the back and heal/buff. but if you want to be a healer i guess it wouldn't for you :D
Posted: Sep 22nd 2011 6:26PM Stormwalker said
@(Unverified) The classes in general:
Blaster - Ranged damage with some melee damage and soft control. A glass cannon, really.
Scrapper - Melee damage, excellent soloability. Gets critical hits.
Brute - Melee damage, excellent soloability. Does more dmg the longer the fight continues.
Tanker - Melee aggro control. Toughest class. It's a tank, duh. ;)
Stalker - Melee damage, dishes out a lot when striking from stealth. A ganking class.
Defender - Healer/Buffer/Debuffer, with some ranged damage.
Corruptor - Ranged damage, with some healing/buffing/debuffing.
Controller - Crowd control, with some healing/buffing/debuffing. Has a pet.
Dominator - Crowd control, with a mix of melee and ranged dmg. Has a pet.
Mastermind - Pet class, with healing/buffing/debuffing and a little ranged dmg.
That's all ten basic archetypes. Note that free players will not be able to access Controllers or Masterminds unless you buy them. This is mainly to prevent overloading the servers with pet classes.
There are also four "epic" archetypes, but again, free players won't be able to play them without buying them. They are classes much more ingrained in the game's lore. The two heroic EATs are Peacebringers and Warshades, which are shapeshifting energy-based aliens. Villains have Soldiers of Arachnos and Widows of Arachnos, highly trained warriors and assassins.
Reply
Blaster - Ranged damage with some melee damage and soft control. A glass cannon, really.
Scrapper - Melee damage, excellent soloability. Gets critical hits.
Brute - Melee damage, excellent soloability. Does more dmg the longer the fight continues.
Tanker - Melee aggro control. Toughest class. It's a tank, duh. ;)
Stalker - Melee damage, dishes out a lot when striking from stealth. A ganking class.
Defender - Healer/Buffer/Debuffer, with some ranged damage.
Corruptor - Ranged damage, with some healing/buffing/debuffing.
Controller - Crowd control, with some healing/buffing/debuffing. Has a pet.
Dominator - Crowd control, with a mix of melee and ranged dmg. Has a pet.
Mastermind - Pet class, with healing/buffing/debuffing and a little ranged dmg.
That's all ten basic archetypes. Note that free players will not be able to access Controllers or Masterminds unless you buy them. This is mainly to prevent overloading the servers with pet classes.
There are also four "epic" archetypes, but again, free players won't be able to play them without buying them. They are classes much more ingrained in the game's lore. The two heroic EATs are Peacebringers and Warshades, which are shapeshifting energy-based aliens. Villains have Soldiers of Arachnos and Widows of Arachnos, highly trained warriors and assassins.
Posted: Sep 22nd 2011 3:59PM rochrist said
I can solo the arc in 15 minutes with my DB scrapper. The key to the second mission is just to ignore the ambushes, run ahead and do the glowies. They're very fast, and I've never (having run the arc around 10 times on various char) been interrupted while clicking on one. Then just mosey on to the boss, kill him and you're done.
Its the easiest mission of the three.
Its the easiest mission of the three.
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