Damn, all this talk about XP and restoring veteran characters makes me want to go back and play Baldur's Gate II for some strange reason. Maybe find the shirt to go with my golden pantaloons this time around.

The debt cap was cut in half. Debt gained while inside a mission is half of what it normally is. They also increased mission XP around the same time. So street hunting went right out the window, everyone runs missions now to level up.

I still play it daily. It's a good game, but like all good games with any longevity it has a great community. Without the community, no one would play anymore. A lot of players are really looking forward to the veteran rewards, especially the trench coats and wings.

Months? You could make L10 in an evening, L20 in a weekend. Heather and I were L46 (when we quit) in ~5 months, had several L20ish characters, and we weren't even playing "hardcore" (rather hard to do so with a new baby, especially your first).

Well, the higher you go, the longer it takes to level unless you're into groups and possibly Task Forces. As you said, the first 10 is a cakewalk, the next 10 is easy.

In all, around 10-12 of my characters got to the mid 20's, usually after just a couple weeks. Only a few (my main and a my second favorite) got past 30. And I finally gave up before either of them reached 40.

Of course, this was back early on. I think XP Debt was uncapped at that point, but I hear they've change XP debt since I last played.


"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you."
-Fry, Futurmama
This comment was edited on Sep 21, 09:00.

Oh I agree Z I was just making refrence to it, and compairision for those who complain about slow leveling

Been there and done that for all of EQ's Hell Levels even before they were 'smoothed out'.

But with WoW's no XP debt and rested XP Bonus I still think it's quicker to level in WoW, especially scince quest XP doesn't cut into your rested XP gain.

No, the difference is that in EverQuest, I'd be willing to pour all my time into one, or two characters.

Well that's good, since it would take 6 months to make L50 when the game came out (with no twinking). And that was if you were in the leading edge -- if you weren't then everyplace was so badly camped that it would take considerably longer.

So having to play my Blaster exclusively and for months on end just to reach level 30 was just too much.

Months? You could make L10 in an evening, L20 in a weekend. Heather and I were L46 (when we quit) in ~5 months, had several L20ish characters, and we weren't even playing "hardcore" (rather hard to do so with a new baby, especially your first).

And then, there was the awful penalty for death

Oh please. Seriously, go learn about the industry before you spout crap like this. CoH's death penalty was relatively mild (basically a period of 1/2 XP -- no XP or level loss, like EQ had) and there was no corpse recovery at all.

I much prefer the fast levelling rate of a game like World of Warcraft.

WoW's leveling is fast, but it's not nearly as fast as CoH's was. CoH was just silly fast, especially after the mission reward fix.

And Half-Elf -- the "hell levels" of 35-40 in CoH were because enemies became more effective/less simplistic, not because they took longer to complete. And you could still complete them in far less time than it took just to do one hell level in EQ. That was just absurd -- and I was playing EQ hardcore.

Well AnarKane, the game has changed in the last 6 months, but it sounds like you really shoulda played a scrapper

As for rounding up all the characters with a tanker (herding as it's called) is no longer possible in the game to the degree that it use to be.

But I will say with the exception of Stalker Class from COV, they are constantly trying to make the game better and balanced.

The planned expansion that was to come out in early 2007 has been canceled and all the content from it will be released free with the Issue Updates.

Not to mention capes look a hell of alot better in COH then Guild Wars

i would still be playing CoH if the game had more depth.
i went from Earth and Beyond (hated the grinding of the eploration and trade skills.. horribly boring) to Planetside (pure action.. no depth) to CoH.. mostly action..hardly any depth.

i had a blaster..he had a gun, i could not change the type/look of the gun i had.. why not? there was no crafting, no secret weapons or rewards (they added some greater enhancements sometime later).. no world bosses, no huge battles..the same old tired factories over and over.. blah.

if they just added some more depth in that damn game.. sigh.

they had the best travel powers, awesome action, clean graphics, great sound..some neat mobs..cool areas.. but not enough depth to keep me playing.

Half Elf: Depends on how you slot your tanker. Mine out-damages scrappers half the time, often delivering one-shot KOs on anything even up to him (except those resistant to Smash). As it is, I haven't played in over six months, thanks to getting royally stabbed in the back and having my throat cut on my SG board by someone I considered almost a brother to me. And as long as I know he infests the game, I won't be going back.

As for the new "rewards", I'm skeptical of it, mostly because of NCSoft's recent layoffs and cancelations. Sorry, but fluff content can't erase seven issues full of nerfs and power reductions.

"We can do this one of two ways. There's the hard way, which involves hours of discussion, tons of negotiation, half a dozen bribes, and no guarantee of success."

"What's the easy way?"

"Liberally placed high explosives."

I used to play a Kinetics Defender. does CoH still have that little thing about people sending you tells asking you to join their team, but then they find out that you're not a healer and suddenly you're off the team or they're pissed at you

Never played EQ, did you?

No, the difference is that in EverQuest, I'd be willing to pour all my time into one, or two characters.

But with City of Heroes, I just wanted to play lots of different characters. So having to play my Blaster exclusively and for months on end just to reach level 30 was just too much. This relegated my Controller and Tankers to the teen and early 20th levels.

And then, there was the awful penalty for death, so if you were unlucky enough to have to do pickup groups to finish missions, you'd usually find yourself in the hospital multiple times a night.

I much prefer the fast levelling rate of a game like World of Warcraft.

and watch as he went around the indoor levels and accumulated all the bad guys and made them follow him to the beginning. Then I would rain down hell upon their heads.

Not much of a game.

Not much of a game? Hence why you haven't been able to do that for quite a while.

This comment was edited on Sep 20, 17:33.

Jeez, I wonder which Blaster type you were I hope you weren't one of the Fire/Devices blasters that everyone hated... caltrops, Rain of Fire, caltrops, Rain of Fire, repeat.

Nope. I actually beefed up my sniper and ..... I forget which, but it wasn't the "fill the screen with my attack so you can't see and it slows down everyone's game" types of moves.

At the time I left the game, I could kill almost any bad guy up to 3 levels above me with 1 shot. :-)

/edit: Of course, as MrGrosser could attest, my guy was a wimp. I couldn't take many shots from same level or even powerful sublevel guys. heeheheh

**********************************************
Listening to: http://www.xmradio.com/programming/channel_page.jsp?ch=53
FUNGS 53

Squirrel Count: Catch & Release: 11 Shot: 16
This comment was edited on Sep 20, 17:32.

Speaking of which, I just noticed your squirrels KIA has incresed a little bit. I don't have the antipathy you do towards them but I'm curious nonetheless: do they explode?

Nope. But with the heat we had over the past 3 weeks, if I killed them on Thursday or Friday - they would really stink up the alley and near the garage by the following Wed (garbage day).

Thank god it has cooled around here.

**********************************************
Listening to: http://www.xmradio.com/programming/channel_page.jsp?ch=53
FUNGS 53

Squirrel Count: Catch & Release: 11 Shot: 16

Then I would rain down hell upon their heads.

Jeez, I wonder which Blaster type you were I hope you weren't one of the Fire/Devices blasters that everyone hated... caltrops, Rain of Fire, caltrops, Rain of Fire, repeat.




"Space. It seems to go on and on forever. But then you get to the end and a gorilla starts throwing barrels at you."
-Fry, Futurmama

Then I would rain down hell upon their heads.

Speaking of which, I just noticed your squirrels KIA has incresed a little bit. I don't have the antipathy you do towards them but I'm curious nonetheless: do they explode?

Tankers (the warrior/meat shield of COH) gains XP slowly cause they aren't damage dealer, simular to a priest/pally in WoW, or a Cleric in EQ.

As stated before, my roomate and I would play.
He was a tanker - I was a long distance fighter.
He would just use that attraction spell and start pounding.
I would use long range attacks.

We shared XP most of the time, so he leveled as quckly as I did - as long as we were both playing. We would sometimes get a healer or other long range attack person to join us for some fun - but it got old. I would sit back, drink a beer, use 2 fingers to hit the buttons and watch as he went around the indoor levels and accumulated all the bad guys and made them follow him to the beginning. Then I would rain down hell upon their heads.

Not much of a game.

**********************************************
Listening to: http://www.xmradio.com/programming/channel_page.jsp?ch=53
FUNGS 53

Squirrel Count: Catch & Release: 11 Shot: 16

Well COH like EQ suffers from 'Hell Levels' mostly around the 35 to 40 area (currently in that range with my blaster).
COH/COV's level grind is still one of the easiest in the MMO market, but again it also depends on your play style (solo/group) and what class you have taken.

Tankers (the warrior/meat shield of COH) gains XP slowly cause they aren't damage dealer, simular to a priest/pally in WoW, or a Cleric in EQ.

Of all the MMO's I played, I think City of Heroes had one of the steepest grinds ever.

Never played EQ, did you?

CoH was, by far, the easiest leveling I've ever seen in an MMO, especially after they upped the rewards for completing missions. But even before that it was nearly impossible to complete all possible missions in a level range before out-leveling them.

Of all the MMO's I played, I think City of Heroes had one of the steepest grinds ever. They could easily allow people to level 3 to 4 times faster and it would still seem slow. I think with a super hero game where you want to create LOTS of different characters and costumes, having levelling be so slow is a major flaw.

I liked CoH, as with every MMO i've ever played, I got sick of the grind

Same here. CoH was so damn cool when I first tried it. After getting the travel powers, I had fun just by climbing tall buildings and then trying to get back down again. They had a "come back for the weekend!" type of event awhile ago. I went back just so I could climb more buildings.

But in the end, the grinding got to me. Watching the exp bar barely move sucks. And the missions were all very repetative. I haven't tried CoV, but I've been tempted. I may try it out after I burnout on WoW for the 2nd time.