Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Warning: Angry Rant (Blaster Epic Changes)
Warning: Angry Rant (Blaster Epic Changes)
#1
Like the warning said.

I hate complaining about game changes. I really do. Change is supposed to be the nature of an MMO. I've been here since Issue 1. I was here for ED.
I've never felt that a change was so great that it'd force me to stop playing or enjoy the game any less. I've never felt the need to cry nerf and
let slip the dogs of doom.

But. The loss of Shocking Bolt might just do it.

If you've not heard yet, they're taking Shocking Bolt out of the Electric Mastery pool for Blasters, and replacing it with Conserve Power. I do not
like this. It might just ruin the game for me.

No, I'm serious. Let me explain. Is that an overreaction? Perhaps. But it was my favourite power on my Blaster, and absolutely critical to my playstyle. I
took great delight in being able to either constantly throw out hold/immob and light control powers, or do pure damage - making my Blaster great to solo, and
great in a team.

Let me make this clear. I have many characters whom I love to Roleplay. That's why I have so many alts.

But the hero I love most to play - as in, to just log in and treat CoH like a game and not just a glorified chatroom... was my 50 Blaster,
Glass Lass.

I say was.

I recognise that Blasters still have holds available in the Flame Mastery and Munitions Mastery lines. Neither of those will work for me. I hate redraw, so
Munitions is out - and either way, most importantly, neither Flame nor Munitions fit my character concept. And like many players, character concept is very
important to me
.

And I think concept is important to many people. I'm sure everyone here will agree, but I think it's also true for the general player population. After
all, a selling point of this game is that ability to realise your creative vision.

I can't accept the argument that Shocking Bolt proved unpopular in datamining. I cannot accept that. The Hold-Blaster playstyle isn't that
uncommon, and most Electric Blasters I've seen liked to stack Tesla Cage and Shocking Bolt for the logical combination. I would imagine it's more that
the developers saw Conserve Power as popular, and wanted to put it in another pool. And they figured, well, Blasters already have a couple of hold
powers in other pools...

If that's their thinking...I can see it. Maybe. But I really, really, don't like it. Replacing an unpopular power with a popular one, sure. Replacing a
power that I'm certain many of us loved...

Well.

I've got a Blaster, here, who's my only hero to be IO'd and Hami'd. I've invested all my resources into Glass Lass. Come I13, if
this change goes live, I'm going to be missing a key power, and that really stings, since this is the ONE character I've bothered to equip like this.
Yes, you've probably heard me talk about IO'ing Syndesis or Space Mage, but that's just talk. Glass Lass is the only character for whom I actually
DID it. And let's be clear, I FINISHED her build. There is a LOT of effort and time here.

So when I13 comes, she's gonna be...a lot less fun. It isn't going to ruin her, not by any means. She's still got acceptable levels of control. But
it'll be less entertaining. Less fun.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do then. I'm not going anywhere for now; my subscription's good up to the end of the year. So I'll give it a
shot. Besides, I love you folks, and I love this community.

But if I can't find a new favourite hero to play, not just for concept and RP, but to play...I really don't know if this will do it
as a game, for me, anymore.

EDIT: Am I overstating my case? Possibly. Might I cool down later? Maybe. Am I pissed now? Yes.
-- Acyl
Reply
 
#2
I don't have much to add, really, except for a couple points.

* I strongly urge you to post this, just about verbatim, to the boards. The devs have a history of listening to the players, but they won't hear it if
it's only on our little corner of the web.

* I suspect that the supposed popularity of Conserve Power is not because it is useful, but because it is the less-useLESS choice out of two you must have
before you get the nice shiny Epic.

* Pulling a power for anything other than game-balance reasons is asinine. Seriously. What the hell are they thinking?

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
Reply
 
#3
As I mentioned in the other thread, and as you might know by now...

They're working on letting us keep the existing Epic/Patron powers, with the new stuff coming in as alternative options. Message from the dev dataminer 'Jonathan', as conveyed by Castle

I did aggro on the official forums, by the way; I have a couple rather less irate versions of this plea floating around in boardland. And I wasn't alone. Thank God, it looks like they had the good sense to listen to their players.

I mean, I've never had any sympathy for the 'ZOMG THIS IS IT I'M QUITTING THE GAME KTHX BYE' threat, but in this case, I actually felt that strongly myself.
-- Acyl
Reply
 
#4
...is it funny that I read this and I'm like "Acyl's pissed? This doesn't have anywhere near the levels of profanity that I'm used to expecting in something labeled "Angry Rant" at all"?

Because that was my reaction. This came across as about as angry as a prosecution attorney's opening statement. :lol
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
Reply
 
#5
Quote: Acyl wrote:

As I mentioned in the other thread, and as you might know by now...




They're working on letting us keep the existing Epic/Patron powers, with the new stuff coming in as alternative options.
Message from the dev dataminer 'Jonathan', as conveyed by Castle




I did aggro on the official forums, by the way; I have a couple rather less irate versions of this plea floating around in boardland. And I
wasn't alone. Thank God, it looks like they had the good sense to listen to their players.




I mean, I've never had any sympathy for the 'ZOMG THIS IS IT I'M QUITTING THE GAME KTHX BYE' threat, but in this case, I actually
felt that strongly myself.
The way I see it you can be aggro and not say anything and quit like a whiner or you can do what you did and tell them "Hey! WTF?!" and
quit after they DON'T fix it. One's honorable the other's chicken shit, go you!
Reply
 
#6
....waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait.....

Shocking Bolt is the "Crossing the Streams" power?

....I might replace Tesla Cage after all, just for that. :lol

Or find some other power to replace for that. I WANT THAT EFFECT. :lol
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."
Reply
 
#7
Quote:Because that was my reaction. This came across as about as angry as a prosecution attorney's opening statement. :lol

Your Honor, the defense is a big fat dummyhead, and has made changes that are asinine, stupid, and full of fail. The prosecution will prove that it haz superior flavur, as well az bukkit.
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies
Reply
 
#8
Yeap, Shocking Bolt is the Ghostbusters Ray.
I think you understand, now, at least one reason I feel so strongly about it. It LOOKS cool. It's my favourite power visual effect, period. =P
But yes, Nene can get it now. If you manage to cram both Tesla Cage and Shocking Bolt in, you'd end up with the ability to lock down bosses - or hard-lock two lieutenants, which, on top of the sapper abilities she already has, should be pretty nasty.
That kind of holding ability is why I like the power on a mechanical level. Glass Lass is an Ice Blaster, and so I have a couple of ranged holds in my primary already. But one of 'em has a long animation, so having the extra APP hold was invaluable. If you haven't seen it, if I ignore blasting entirely...I'm still able to 'tank' for a three-man team by holding 3-4 mobs, dropping ice patch for knockdown, and smacking the whole lot with a cone slow. That's how much I value my utility powers. Add to that the fact I still have three single target ranged blasts, a large cone AoE, and my nuke...yes, I really really like my Blaster as she is, can you tell?
So...well, yeah, that was an angry rant for me. I don't usually descend into frothing mouth levels of profanity. When I get worked up it comes out like that. The argument is probably dubious and highly rhethorical, but hey...
Suffice to say, I was really unhappy in general about powers simply being taken away from us. It's one thing to alter the functionality of a given power, as has happened in the past... Moment of Glory was changed significantly in recent memory, for instance, so was Total Focus, to cite a positive and negative example.
It's quite a different story to completely take that power away, and force you to take something entirely different. That's rarely happened, and when it has, it's only affected a select number of players. This kind of broad and sweeping change would have cut across many people's characters - I mean, from the boards alone, Foxboy and Ankhani too would have characters hit by this.
Of course, they're not being so draconian now. Hopefully this whole 'you can keep your old stuff, we're just adding new options' thing will make it in for the launch of I13. Given they've already committed themselves to it, I trust that they will.
(I now have 'PLACATE' and purple bubbles over my head.)
-- Acyl
Reply
 
#9
Quote:(I now have 'PLACATE' and purple bubbles over my head.)

I lost my coffee laughing at this.
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies
Reply
 
#10
as proof that everyones mileage may vary, I looked in that thread and saw someone bitching about blaster fire epic being broken, because a real player
doesn't need ROTP. *Snickers*
Reply
 
#11
Well they just ASSASSIN BILL'd me for another few months of subscription, and the mez effect and debuff afterwards probably means I'm not going
anywhere.
-- Acyl
Reply
 
#12
Quote: Matrix Dragon wrote:

as proof that everyones mileage may vary, I looked in that thread and saw someone bitching about blaster fire epic being broken, because a real player
doesn't need ROTP. *Snickers*
I saw that and my first thought was "Sweno and Wire? Not real fire blasters? Phbbbt." I've seen both of them use ROTP with the
intent of securing a aggro keeping it away from the rest of the team. Not real fire blasters? yeah... whatever.
Reply
 
#13
*sneak sneak sneak*

No! Not in the WALLET! NOT IN THE WALLET!!

*Placate*

You gotta keep an eye on the date, (or use gamecards) or you'll be AS'd by the automatic billing.
---

The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI
Reply
 
#14
I'm generally pretty good about keeping track of when my billing's due. I just let it auto-me to December, is what I was saying. Mn. Anyway.

There's a certain difference of opinion in the playerbase on the utility of rez powers...and what dying means. There is a fairly large section of players who think that if you die, you must be a n00b. Therefore self-rez powers are useless, and a def/troller/corr/mm shouldn't bother taking an ally rez. You shouldn't die, like, ever.

This has always existed since CoH was launched, it's a train of thought that turns up a lot in old guides on how to build your character and so on. To some degree, I believe this thinking has been renforced by the whole 'Master' TF run thing we now have, where you're expected to complete a hard TF without anyone dying even once.

Contrast this to a couple of ITFs I've run... I'll note these were HIGHLY successful and reasonably quick teams. But the strategies used would probably shock the heck out of our efficiency experts here. Because they were rolling death-fests for a quarter of the team. Two tankless ITFs I've been on, the front line Brutes/Scrappers were getting KO'd every couple minutes. It's just that the rest of the team was very quick on the rez, or they had their own, and so on. But it worked because they were willing to flip out and go crazy like that. Kamikaze tanking. You CAN play like that, and it need not be a disaster.

In fact, it can be pretty hardcore.
-- Acyl
Reply
 
#15
Aside from Regen and Emp Rez's, all the Rez powers are really cool stuff. Soul Transfer, Rise (Power if you're Redside) of the Phoenix, Howling Twilight... They all are pretty, and do some nice effects.

I can kinda agree that the Tank should ever really die, but shit happens. Unless you're on a team with all blasters (With out Phoenix, mind) or somthing, there isn't really much to worry about. Most classes can take a beating, while the Tank Rez's, and usually the powersets that have Ally Rez are good buff/debuff sets anyway, so its not like they're there just to res. Sure, ideally, a perfect team wouldn't ever really need to have faceplants, but as pointed out, Phoenix can be a tactical maneuver, that just happed to require your health be at 0 to use, and not just a 'ohshit' power.
---

The Master said: "It is all in vain! I have never yet seen a man who can perceive his own faults and bring the charge home against himself."

>Analects: Book V, Chaper XXVI
Reply
 
#16
back off, Ankh, that's my schtick.

(and the next post should be a single liner from Sweno, stating 'Ahem' ; )
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies
Reply
 
#17
*ahem*

---------

But to actually contribute some thing to this discussion, I will certainly stand by the use of RotP as a utility power. Heck I've used it myself because
dying + RotP is faster than waiting for my bottomed out endurance to come back (I forget what TF we where on, but there were thorns).

If I'm soloing an EB or AV I'll use it just for the squee inducing stuns it puts out.

The fact that it turns fragile little glass cannons into superballs of death is a happy side effect.

I forget where I read this (probably a the coh boards), and I'm most likely mangling it, but it still applies:

Your a Blaster. When you are around, things die. A lot. This may include yourself. Accept this and move on.
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy
Reply
 
#18
Quote: sweno wrote:

*ahem*




---------


But to actually contribute some thing to this discussion, I will certainly stand by the use of RotP as a utility power. Heck I've used it myself because
dying + RotP is faster than waiting for my bottomed out endurance to come back (I forget what TF we where on, but there were thorns).




If I'm soloing an EB or AV I'll use it just for the squee inducing stuns it puts out.




The fact that it turns fragile little glass cannons into superballs of death is a happy side effect.




I forget where I read this (probably a the coh boards), and I'm most likely mangling it, but it still applies:


Your a Blaster. When you are around, things die. A lot. This may include yourself. Accept this and move on.
I was there for your chanting at one time under the emp... were it not for your "KILL ME SO I CAN HAVE END!" I probably would have
emp-ificly panicked. Like Wire saying "Cubed" when I have Vyper on staff, it's nice to have warning that there's a plan. But with you and
Wire both on your blasters I half expect ya both to know I have range limits and accept your accidental debts for being out of it.
Reply
 
#19
What Vyper said, though I'll add that Wire's "Cubed!" doesn't usually pop until I'm halfway through the heal animation. Le sigh.

Maybe I'm just too quick on the healing trigger finger.

--sofaspud
--"Listening to your kid is the audio equivalent of a Salvador Dali painting, Spud." --OpMegs
Reply
 
#20
Quote: Sofaspud wrote:

What Vyper said, though I'll add that Wire's "Cubed!" doesn't usually pop until I'm halfway through the heal animation. Le sigh.




Maybe I'm just too quick on the healing trigger finger.
There's a learning curve to that power. If there aren't any BP shamans around yet they appear to be held they're fine and will be
much better when they ice breaks. Scared the emp-ific heck outta me the first time I encountered it in game. I watch for it when Mag's around now so he
rarely has to call it anymore.
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)