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City of Heroes: XP Curve Gets Smoothed
Szark
News ManagerMember Posts: 4,420
NCsoft has posted a Q&A about the smoothing of the City of Heroes / Villains XP curve, which will even out the amount of time it takes characters to move up betwen various levels.
Q: Please tell us what exactly this XP Curve “Smoothing” means.
A: Well, the leveling speed “curve” looked like a jagged mountain slope more than a smooth line. There were some levels in City of Heroes and City of Villains that just took players longer to get through. This was due to a variety of reasons, mostly in the realm of available mission content. We have tried to add new content in those areas over the past few updates, but a stronger hand was needed in some of the real problem areas. We went in and, through data mining, determined how long characters “lived” (existed) at any given level. This pointed out exactly where our problem areas were and exactly how we could address them. In addition we did a near global increase to the XP earned for defeating enemies. This will have everyone leveling faster than previous issues.
Q: What made you decide to implement this?
A: Our players had legitimate complaints that certain levels acted like brick walls in developing their characters. We wanted to eliminate those walls wherever possible, and in the process speed up leveling for everyone.
;)
Read more here.
Comments
Very nice! I may log on a little more often now. or.. just hit cancel..
"Pleeeeease come back to our game! We know we've made some terrible design decisions lately, but look at all the shiny XP we are handing out! No, we can't go back and fix the things we've ruined, but ... c'mon! XP, you guys!!"
So they fix something and your kinda complaining about them not fixing 'things'.
Most of their design decsions lately have been good and this is just continuing the trend.
I SOOOO hope this comes tomorrow! This and an XP event = NO WOW WEEKEND!
Well... XP event means no WoW weekend anyway... whatever! Good Work NCSoft!
---
Bartle Test Breakdown: Achiever 20.00%, Explorer 86.67%, Killer 26.67%, Socializer 66.67%
i like the game always a fun time, fight in the air with villans or heros, with "more" or "faster" xp that just makes the game even more fun. The higher lvl grind was the thing i hated the most i would lvl to 30 then make a alt, low lvl you get powers fast but they are not what makes your character unique over lvl 30 is when you get to feel like a real hero/villan and if they do anything to help the grind go even faster i say good show i guess ill have to get a month of this game again and see if i dont get bord in a month like i use to in the past
I might have to re-up! I got to one of those levels and pretty much quit in my 20s... I have stacks of gametime cards from the CompUSA liquidation, but didn't have any desire to play...
This game is still pretty fun, but at high levels gets pretty boring. They need to add some special missions at 40 plus. Good move and keep them coming!
Thank god, because I am certain I've hit those walls a couple of dozen times.
I would enjoy COH, if I could get even one toon to 50. I just am not willing to sit there long enough (or sit around yelling for a group forever so that I could get some hell levels cleared to do it).
Stealing away all my XP are you?
Some of my character earn it the old way, this XP should be transferred automatically to other toons at the very least.
These guys are aliens to how an achiever think. If it was only 1 detail in a while, but it is ALWAYS like that. And I am suppose to smile. Go ahead, make this "I WIN" button if you want, but at least, be carefull to not forget the players which already did it the other way, so they are not stolen.
How about, everyday, 1 of you character at random gain 1 level even if you didn't play the game?
Just as when EQ removes the Hell-levels, they should have made something so, if for ANY reason an old player come back, he can transforms his hells-level into real XP. But no...let's just make it easy for the new players and always always screw old players. Well, old players are just that, old players, and they may never come back. In my book, a level 65 in old EQ with all hell-level earn more XP then a level 80...the devs obviously don't think that way, neither does NCsoft. Thiefs.
Not only are they not adding any new levels, they actually remove and steal everyone which already earn. Why not forget completely about this leveling up thing? And don't get me started about the accolades and the level recorded for when you achieve it...
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
I agree to an extent. They shouldn't be punished or anything for trying to make the game better. Very few people have played this game longer than me, and I still think there are several things I would change. For one I'd change all the darn text you have to read in the game. I need pictures, in crayon please!
anyway no game is ever going to give retroactive xp to compensate for changes to the curve, its not gonna happen.. deal with it. These devs do a pretty good job, compared to some of the other games I have played.
you say they dont understand how an achiver thinks, I look at your recent post about COV and think you just want an I win button and want everything delivered to you on a silver platter. They aren't gonna do that either.
Concerning your statement about accolades and thier levels. Issue 11 fixed accolade level restrictions, now accolades will work at any malafactor/exempler level as long as the accolade can be earned at or before said level.
example: if you cant possibly earn the accolade before level 30, and waited until level 50 to earn it , then you wont have it available when mal/exemp to level 29 and below, but you will have it at all levels from 30 to 50. If the accolade can be earned at level 1 and you wait until 50 to get it, it will still be available at any level you mal/exemp to.
hope that makes sense
This might help to cure a lot of alt-itis in the game, but who knows?
While I think this xp thingy is great for prospective new players it means little for us vets.
I have 4 level 50 characters and always saw the rough XP curve as a right of passage. In all honesty once you hit the 40's on a great team the XP just flies by anyways. Truth be told CoX isn't that difficult a game in the first place.
Was there even a outcry for this XP smoothness change?
Dutchess Zarraa Voltayre
Reborn/Zero Sum/Ancient Legacy/Jagged Legion/Feared/Nuke & Pave.
I am wondering if this portends an increase in the level cap. This seems to be the kind of thing you do just before inceasing the max level. On other hand, since they just introduced the purple (very rare) enhancements, I am probably just day-dreaming here.
Or maybe they are finally interested in doing an elder game that Statesman used to talk about.
Always fun to speculate.
~nox
Actually, yeah there was a pretty big outcry for it. Not all of it found a forum post, however. Quite a few of my friends that no longer play did so because they detested the "grind" that certain levels came with. Paper missions get real old real fast....and since I suspect that wasting time on developing TONS of mid level content is less important to making high level stuff (ya know, the thing that keeps capped players playing) making an XP adjustment is the way to go.
I notice they DID add some mid level content to help smooth it over too though. Either way, if you want a healthy player base you MUST have good early and mid levels because those are the levels people decide to stay on. being reduced to a week of paper missions would kill the game for a lot of people.
Good job NC, I've always been a fan of your company. I honestly can't wait to get back into the game when my new card arrives. I had already planned to, but this seals the deal for me. That, and the two new powersets I missed from Issue 11.
Because I stop playing, doesn't mean I stop checking.
I would like unlimited levels, but I know I will not even get a level cap increase.
Well, you really should consider retro-active XP, the player already EARNS that xp. If it is no more on the character, give it back on another character is a minimum. STEALING my xp isn't going to make me friendly toward thiefs. They are THIEFS, they stole my XP! Give it back, on my other toons or new levels or whatever, but I want it back!
Always saying I am this or that. I am an achiever! You made no sense. Attacking peoples doesn't make you right, it prove my point. CoX is extremely thin on achievers-stock, they have very few. And check how the few who are there are rewarded? Kicking me or that, I would pick the kick and be done with it.
I earn my accolade at level 10-30 (except for a few), maybe I should get a little something if you give it for free to everyone else who achieve it at 50? I EARNS it by 30, I deserve something for that! I want to scream right now. It was a LOT harder to get it at low level, and now, again, I am just shafted. That is wrong. Every player which earn accolades at low levels which I talk about this where kinda agreeing with me, maybe they are nicer than me and just smiling impotently, but I scream when someone is hurting me. Their most common answer was: "Don't tell me about it
" Sure, you make the game nicer for casuals, fine, but don't shaft peoples who earn it the hard way without any consideration. 
At the very least, I would deserve to be given that accolade on a lowbie to compensate my lost efforts. But no, let just shaft the hard-working players... I was 1 of the few player who can use Demonic while earning his shivans...now, I lost that edge, gankers expect me to use it, I can't suprised them with that, and I get NOTHING to compensate my lost. Absolutely nothing. Move the shivans out of a PvP zone then, and every other temporary power. )(*?%(
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
Because I stop playing, doesn't mean I stop checking.
I would like unlimited levels, but I know I will not even get a level cap increase.
Well, you really should consider retro-active XP, the player already EARNS that xp. If it is no more on the character, give it back on another character is a minimum. STEALING my xp isn't going to make me friendly toward thiefs. They are THIEFS, they stole my XP! Give it back, on my other toons or new levels or whatever, but I want it back!
Always saying I am this or that. I am an achiever! You made no sense. Attacking peoples doesn't make you right, it prove my point. CoX is extremely thin on achievers-stock, they have very few. And check how the few who are there are rewarded? Kicking me or that, I would pick the kick and be done with it.
I earn my accolade at level 10-30 (except for a few), maybe I should get a little something if you give it for free to everyone else who achieve it at 50? I EARNS it by 30, I deserve something for that! I want to scream right now. It was a LOT harder to get it at low level, and now, again, I am just shafted. That is wrong. Every player which earn accolades at low levels which I talk about this where kinda agreeing with me, maybe they are nicer than me and just smiling impotently, but I scream when someone is hurting me. Their most common answer was: "Don't tell me about it
" Sure, you make the game nicer for casuals, fine, but don't shaft peoples who earn it the hard way without any consideration. 
At the very least, I would deserve to be given that accolade on a lowbie to compensate my lost efforts. But no, let just shaft the hard-working players... I was 1 of the few player who can use Demonic while earning his shivans...now, I lost that edge, gankers expect me to use it, I can't suprised them with that, and I get NOTHING to compensate my lost. Absolutely nothing. Move the shivans out of a PvP zone then, and every other temporary power. )(*?%(
you have got to be the biggest crybabyYou need to take the money you normaly spend on games, and buy a clue.
Of course they stole my XP. If instead of killing 1000 mobs, now a new player has to kill 800, they stole the XP for 200 mobs.
Which should be re-awarded on my other toons at the very least, or they could even create a new toon to receive this XP, a toon I never even create 1 of this AT. (a blaster, a dominator, whatever, such crap, at least they wouldn't steal me of my XP).
I have nothing against the idea to help new players come and settle in. But, never shaft veterans. I EARNS that XP, it is MINE. And now, it is GONE. They already have a huge shortage of achievers. Maybe they want no achiever at all? LOL.
Peoples like you are the problem. I hope the devs have a good time with peoples like you, cause they won't have many peoples who CARE about the game when they do that type of decisions. You insult me, you are dirty talking, and you think I will just accept what is NOT acceptable? If they change the XP progression, they have to give me what I already EARNS. Of course, if you are a PLer, you don't care, since you never earn anything anyway, PLer are leeches, they see no problems with anything like that, they don't earn.
Anyway, this is only 1 tiny point in a very long list of issues with these devs. I am a cry baby? Maybe, but what are you expecting? This is a GAME and a PAST TIME, I have every right to be a cry baby when someone steal me. For a job I would prolly bear such ill treatment, it is a job. For a game? That is not acceptable. IT IS A GAME, I HAVE ALL RIGHTS TO BE A CRY BABY AND EXPECT FAIRNESS!
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
I think this might adress the reason i left CoX so many times. Currently playing Tabula Rasa but i get disconnected so many times...
-Would you like cheddar or swiss cheese?
-Yes.
-...
Of course they stole my XP. If instead of killing 1000 mobs, now a new player has to kill 800, they stole the XP for 200 mobs.
Which should be re-awarded on my other toons at the very least, or they could even create a new toon to receive this XP, a toon I never even create 1 of this AT. (a blaster, a dominator, whatever, such crap, at least they wouldn't steal me of my XP).
I have nothing against the idea to help new players come and settle in. But, never shaft veterans. I EARNS that XP, it is MINE. And now, it is GONE. They already have a huge shortage of achievers. Maybe they want no achiever at all? LOL.
Peoples like you are the problem. I hope the devs have a good time with peoples like you, cause they won't have many peoples who CARE about the game when they do that type of decisions. You insult me, you are dirty talking, and you think I will just accept what is NOT acceptable? If they change the XP progression, they have to give me what I already EARNS. Of course, if you are a PLer, you don't care, since you never earn anything anyway, PLer are leeches, they see no problems with anything like that, they don't earn.
Anyway, this is only 1 tiny point in a very long list of issues with these devs. I am a cry baby? Maybe, but what are you expecting? This is a GAME and a PAST TIME, I have every right to be a cry baby when someone steal me. For a job I would prolly bear such ill treatment, it is a job. For a game? That is not acceptable. IT IS A GAME, I HAVE ALL RIGHTS TO BE A CRY BABY AND EXPECT FAIRNESS!
I am dumbfounded by your responce. It has to be the most idiotic thing I have ever heard.
Even if they were stealing the xp you earned and giving it to new players, which they arent, it would be for the greater good. Lots of ppl quit, including me, because of those walls. Someone said there was one at 20 and i remember when i would have fun leveling alt after alt to 20-24 tops and then start another.
You might feel cheated because you had it hard but new players will actually stick to the game longer that way. More ppl earning more xp.
-Would you like cheddar or swiss cheese?
-Yes.
-...
And again, you insult me.
I am already ANGRY because I am shafted. All you do is to insult me?
Have a nice day, I am just happy to have quit this game.
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
A wrong doesn't make a good.
They could have manage a way to make sure the new players get that new curves, but that the old players who TRUST them are not shafted because of their blind trust.
Gaining new players is something. Keeping old players is also another. As I said, this is only 1 point in a very long list of things they do wrong.
They don't think like achievers, nor understand what an achiever want from a game. They try to put stuff for achievers, but...in the end...they should not even have bothered, because when they change it to make it friendly to non-achievers players, they ruins everything.
I EARN this XP...and now it is GONE!
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
What this achiver bullcrap you speak of?
-Would you like cheddar or swiss cheese?
-Yes.
-...
There are 4 types of peoples playing MMO. Usually you are divided into 1 or more aspect.
Achievers (peoples who care about what they earn, milestones)
Socialisers (most players in CoX)
Explorers
Killers (PvP)
As you prolly notice, CoX is low on both achievers and explorers. Most achievers who stick with the game, they stick not for what is right, but what is not wrong...but each time such a change destroy their achievements, they can cry.
I, as a player, was rated by this test as 100% - 40% - 27% - 33% (max 100%, total is 200%)...meaning I am mostly an achiever.
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren