I am playing TSW, and a such player you aimed the equestion with I can safely say, have no idea maybe someone who are playing Legends (instead of TSW) might be a better candidate for such question.
Jokes aside, Legends doesn't even have Tokyo yet, they are planning to add back 3+ years old content step by step during the year, so it's a safe bet there's no AEGIS at the moment.
I am playing TSW, and a such player you aimed the equestion with I can safely say, have no idea maybe someone who are playing Legends (instead of TSW) might be a better candidate for such question.
Jokes aside, Legends doesn't even have Tokyo yet, they are planning to add back 3+ years old content step by step during the year, so it's a safe bet there's no AEGIS at the moment.
Totally deserved that my question was poorly written. Also appreciate the info!
I am very interested in this question. Absolutely loved TSW, but quit due to the Aegis System mess. I don't want to start Legends if they are going to have it as part of the game, even down the road.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
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Thanks for the info. I would have preferred a no Aegis scenario, but will hope for the best with the revisions.
Sorry but out of curiosity what is the Aegis system, I have heard a bit of people here and on Reddit not a fan of it and I never made it that far in the original TSW i guess to come across it?
AEGIS was (is, till TSW is up) an alternate "advancement" (aka grind) mechanic kicked in when you reached Tokyo. I'm usually on the side that story and lore are way more important than clicky-clicky gameplay (usually to counter the overpopular combat-addict views of the present), but with AEGIS even I say it was a bad mechanic - regardless of lore-wise it was actually nice. And you don't have to take it from me, they (FC) said themselves in the interview with Justin that "AEGIS was a mistake". Yeah, no shit Sherlock
So, what is it, in practice? Invulnerability shields, on every mob in Tokyo, even on the smallest fodder. The shield comes in 3 colours, so upon the first time you enter Tokyo you get 3 controllers, to colour your attacks. Without those, you are useless in Tokyo, no matter you're in just some random blues or geared to the teeth in top purples, both ways you deal exactly 0 damage. Same if you colour your attack, but it doesn't match the shield of the mob => 0 damage.
What's the big deal right? Just match the colour - yeah, and then the whooping amount of 5% of your damage will chip away the mob's shield. Too bad that bosses have 2, or even 3 shields, so you need to swap the colours in combat. Too bad also, that shields have gimmicks, like regen over time, or popping back up in full strength after a while. And after you reached the south side of Tokyo mobs starts to hit like a truck, so you get your own shield to mitigate some of those incoming damage, which means now you have to manage those colours too. On top of the regular moves and mechanics of the mobs and bosses, of course.
There were AEGIS mods/plugins which took over at least the hassle of colour changes from you - thus revealing the true side of the system, a massive grind, just for the sake of grind. You could raise your controllers to increase the % of your damage will be used against the shield, raise your own shield to mitigate more, there was a complete set of AEGIS gear to collect and level up (boosting the shield, gave self-heal or group heal, DoT on the mob's shield, etc.), while each and every fight took longer just beacuse of the shields.
Didn't help that it was also the forerunner of the dumb SK-grinder mechanic you can see in Legends now, you raised your AEGIS gear by "feeding" unwanted pieces into it (and quest rewards gave AEGIS xp too), and after it was full you needed to upgrade it and start over from 0 (just like the green - blue - etc upgrades in Legends). At least it didn't needed real cash to do that...
It tells a lot how much they listen to their existing (TSW) playerbase, all they wanted is to revamp AEGIS and the Scenarios, well Funcom changed everything else, but Scens and AEGIS are still in Legends... and based on the changes they did so far, my bet is that the "reworked" AEGIS will be just the regular system with the AEGIS-swapping mod turned on by default, and keeping the grind part - or making it even larger, since that would fit both the SK-grinder mindset, and the cash shop.
Yeah, if I should pick only one from the two, I too hated Scens much more Lore-wise AEGIS was a much better fit, and in gameplay it was a nice foundation to a couple new ideas in MF, or in the open too (playing tower defence in an MMO... ). And maybe the grind was smaller than with Scens. However, Scen was optional after the new player update, while AEGIS was mandatory if you wanted to play in Tokyo. And the penthouse fight at the end of the storyline... was a real pain in the butt, even with the switching plugin.
Still, if they'd say: we don't fix or improve AEGIS, but no Legends either and we keep the game open, I'd sign it right away
It tells a lot how much they listen to their existing (TSW) playerbase, all they wanted is to revamp AEGIS and the Scenarios, well Funcom changed everything else, but Scens and AEGIS are still in Legends... and based on the changes they did so far, my bet is that the "reworked" AEGIS will be just the regular system with the AEGIS-swapping mod turned on by default, and keeping the grind part - or making it even larger, since that would fit both the SK-grinder mindset, and the cash shop.
That is my fear too. Even though I liked the old game way more, gonna give this legends thing its fair chance. Playing VERY casually, I have now a char at 50, and the 2nd one is 25. Without AEGIS, with the content that the game has, people will get bored FAST. Obviously, AEGIS brings a long grind and the need to subscribe; Tokyo with 68 hours for quest reset is just... lol.
New things that bother me after going through the "new" game: - It's fully pay to win; people with full high level epics are common, leading to elitist grouping and everything associated with it. Hopefully they will leave soon; not enough content to play SW as you play WoW - FUNCOM messed up the story; for example, they inserted issue 6 into the main story line: you first kill Abdel Daoud in the first Egypt area, only to meet him again alive and kicking when you need to kill Akhenaten in the 2nd Egypt area - the "you must do quest X to advance" thing... really REALLY annoying, when you're used to be free to do whatever you want - the change in dungeon loot. I bet FUNCOM people laugh like crazy on this one. I bet they did not expect that players will ask them to practically double the grind. Gear drops were rare so they sold for good money (good for patrons, as they have more dungeon keys) and you had tons of distillates to upgrade fast. Now the normal gear drops are way more common, so the gear became junk, sells for nothing, and you get half the number of distillates. Nice move; yes I know players asked for it (says a lot about the new wave of players brought by the relaunch lol) - having to play real money, as a subscriber, to increase my inventory space. Also, 400 aurum (4 EUR) for 5 inventory slots is extremely greedy (no idea if the price increases after you get your first "paid" 5 slots). Even if it doesnt feel like it now, the game is very greedy on this aspect: multiple sets and weapons and specs and aegis controllers and aegis shields etc.
- FUNCOM messed up the story; for example, they inserted issue 6 into the main story line: you first kill Abdel Daoud in the first Egypt area, only to meet him again alive and kicking when you need to kill Akhenaten in the 2nd Egypt area
Yeah, when I mentioned the same (wrecking the intro video, mixing up Norma's quests, etc.) Gibson said I'm just lying (well, technically said that those aren't facts, but it's practically the same, right? )
I just saw on a stream that they've nailed Escort after Slater in KM, that's a similar fuck-up as well... So at first you find out the base motive (Beaumont, sword, seeking the lock, etc.) and only after THEN you can take the quest to escort Cassie... with a handler report like "that was interesting, let's try to find out more about this mysterious 'B' dude". Errr... mysterious 'B'? 10 minutes ago you just got the full report, handler, are you stupid or what?
I understand, they don't have a lead writer since Josh left last year, but still: if you want to nail story pieces in one pre-defined order, at least give it to an intern or anyone to go through it once, for f's sake... seriously, nobody proof-read their shit anymore? (ok, I don't, but I'm not a writer / designer, and not even english so I'm allowed to write stupid )
With Abdel I just assumed he survived the fall, since he spouts something about being a fool for thinking you could slay the chosen prophet of Aten. And he looks pretty fucked up.
The B thing is more questionable, yeah. I get the logic as to why it's gated after the main encounter though. He just showed her he couldn't care less about her, so she backstabs him first chance she gets... but they should've updated the mission briefing to reflect this.
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He just showed her he couldn't care less about her, so she backstabs him first chance she gets...
Spoiler (or maybe not, who know how will they "edit" the storyline in the future ), but quite the opposite, and that's why it is better if you meet her before. That mission was added with the first Issue, exactly for explaining her role a bit further. She is not a simpleton backstabber, she joined the Morninglight for a reason, and she has long-term goals right from the start.
And the handler texts (from all 3 factions) are perfect, no need to update them - unless they want to fuck it up even more, of course.
Not a coincidence that all along the mission Cassie keeps referring to him as B, and all the handlers mention (besides interesting info tidbits about Cassie) the mysterious B and give the player the task to find out more about him and the Morninglight angle. It is because the pickup happens before you found out his name and his goal. After that point obviously the handlers know those informations too, and the rest of the story goes on around that angle. All the journal entries and mission goals referring to him as Beaumont, not to mention after that cutscene all 3 factions send you an "oh, crap" worthy briefing about how the name Beaumont triggers alarms on multiple levels... going back to the unknown 'B' a mission later is just plain stupid.
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Jokes aside, Legends doesn't even have Tokyo yet, they are planning to add back 3+ years old content step by step during the year, so it's a safe bet there's no AEGIS at the moment.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
And you don't have to take it from me, they (FC) said themselves in the interview with Justin that "AEGIS was a mistake". Yeah, no shit Sherlock
So, what is it, in practice? Invulnerability shields, on every mob in Tokyo, even on the smallest fodder. The shield comes in 3 colours, so upon the first time you enter Tokyo you get 3 controllers, to colour your attacks. Without those, you are useless in Tokyo, no matter you're in just some random blues or geared to the teeth in top purples, both ways you deal exactly 0 damage. Same if you colour your attack, but it doesn't match the shield of the mob => 0 damage.
What's the big deal right? Just match the colour - yeah, and then the whooping amount of 5% of your damage will chip away the mob's shield. Too bad that bosses have 2, or even 3 shields, so you need to swap the colours in combat. Too bad also, that shields have gimmicks, like regen over time, or popping back up in full strength after a while.
And after you reached the south side of Tokyo mobs starts to hit like a truck, so you get your own shield to mitigate some of those incoming damage, which means now you have to manage those colours too. On top of the regular moves and mechanics of the mobs and bosses, of course.
There were AEGIS mods/plugins which took over at least the hassle of colour changes from you - thus revealing the true side of the system, a massive grind, just for the sake of grind. You could raise your controllers to increase the % of your damage will be used against the shield, raise your own shield to mitigate more, there was a complete set of AEGIS gear to collect and level up (boosting the shield, gave self-heal or group heal, DoT on the mob's shield, etc.), while each and every fight took longer just beacuse of the shields.
Didn't help that it was also the forerunner of the dumb SK-grinder mechanic you can see in Legends now, you raised your AEGIS gear by "feeding" unwanted pieces into it (and quest rewards gave AEGIS xp too), and after it was full you needed to upgrade it and start over from 0 (just like the green - blue - etc upgrades in Legends). At least it didn't needed real cash to do that...
It tells a lot how much they listen to their existing (TSW) playerbase, all they wanted is to revamp AEGIS and the Scenarios, well Funcom changed everything else, but Scens and AEGIS are still in Legends... and based on the changes they did so far, my bet is that the "reworked" AEGIS will be just the regular system with the AEGIS-swapping mod turned on by default, and keeping the grind part - or making it even larger, since that would fit both the SK-grinder mindset, and the cash shop.
Lore-wise AEGIS was a much better fit, and in gameplay it was a nice foundation to a couple new ideas in MF, or in the open too (playing tower defence in an MMO... ). And maybe the grind was smaller than with Scens.
However, Scen was optional after the new player update, while AEGIS was mandatory if you wanted to play in Tokyo. And the penthouse fight at the end of the storyline... was a real pain in the butt, even with the switching plugin.
Still, if they'd say: we don't fix or improve AEGIS, but no Legends either and we keep the game open, I'd sign it right away
New things that bother me after going through the "new" game:
- It's fully pay to win; people with full high level epics are common, leading to elitist grouping and everything associated with it. Hopefully they will leave soon; not enough content to play SW as you play WoW
- FUNCOM messed up the story; for example, they inserted issue 6 into the main story line: you first kill Abdel Daoud in the first Egypt area, only to meet him again alive and kicking when you need to kill Akhenaten in the 2nd Egypt area
- the "you must do quest X to advance" thing... really REALLY annoying, when you're used to be free to do whatever you want
- the change in dungeon loot. I bet FUNCOM people laugh like crazy on this one. I bet they did not expect that players will ask them to practically double the grind. Gear drops were rare so they sold for good money (good for patrons, as they have more dungeon keys) and you had tons of distillates to upgrade fast. Now the normal gear drops are way more common, so the gear became junk, sells for nothing, and you get half the number of distillates. Nice move; yes I know players asked for it (says a lot about the new wave of players brought by the relaunch lol)
- having to play real money, as a subscriber, to increase my inventory space. Also, 400 aurum (4 EUR) for 5 inventory slots is extremely greedy (no idea if the price increases after you get your first "paid" 5 slots). Even if it doesnt feel like it now, the game is very greedy on this aspect: multiple sets and weapons and specs and aegis controllers and aegis shields etc.
I just saw on a stream that they've nailed Escort after Slater in KM, that's a similar fuck-up as well... So at first you find out the base motive (Beaumont, sword, seeking the lock, etc.) and only after THEN you can take the quest to escort Cassie... with a handler report like "that was interesting, let's try to find out more about this mysterious 'B' dude".
Errr... mysterious 'B'? 10 minutes ago you just got the full report, handler, are you stupid or what?
I understand, they don't have a lead writer since Josh left last year, but still: if you want to nail story pieces in one pre-defined order, at least give it to an intern or anyone to go through it once, for f's sake... seriously, nobody proof-read their shit anymore?
(ok, I don't, but I'm not a writer / designer, and not even english so I'm allowed to write stupid
The B thing is more questionable, yeah. I get the logic as to why it's gated after the main encounter though. He just showed her he couldn't care less about her, so she backstabs him first chance she gets... but they should've updated the mission briefing to reflect this.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
That mission was added with the first Issue, exactly for explaining her role a bit further. She is not a simpleton backstabber, she joined the Morninglight for a reason, and she has long-term goals right from the start.
And the handler texts (from all 3 factions) are perfect, no need to update them - unless they want to fuck it up even more, of course.
Not a coincidence that all along the mission Cassie keeps referring to him as B, and all the handlers mention (besides interesting info tidbits about Cassie) the mysterious B and give the player the task to find out more about him and the Morninglight angle.
It is because the pickup happens before you found out his name and his goal.
After that point obviously the handlers know those informations too, and the rest of the story goes on around that angle. All the journal entries and mission goals referring to him as Beaumont, not to mention after that cutscene all 3 factions send you an "oh, crap" worthy briefing about how the name Beaumont triggers alarms on multiple levels... going back to the unknown 'B' a mission later is just plain stupid.