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The Ultimate MMO?
DDRmaniac918
Member Posts: 9
Ok guys I played SWG from a couple months after it released and then got addicted for about 10 months. Then SOE made it suck horribly. I've tended to stay away from mmos after that and want something new and unique and also fun and addicting. I tried EVE but it wasnt really my style and my family plays WoW and im not a big fan of that. I'm looking at CoH / CoV and first of all which one should I buy and second of all is it worth your money? Fun? and do you have lots of options? Input would be appreciated thanks.
Comments
If you like the combat aspect of an MMO most, and the rest is just extra, then Coh/CoV will be the perfect game for you. It features (IMHO) a fantastic storyline, awesome trials (like a long set of missions with a purpose), and plenty of interesting classes. Combat is top-notch and requires you to be at the computer...not like some of the older fantasy games where it's put on auto-attack and go get some snacks.
Sadly, the game is lacking in most other things besides fighting. If you don't like how the combat system works then there would be no reason to play the game. I'd recommend if you like more than just combat to get a 2nd game along with it for when you get bored of just fighting.
I would say try CoV first, only because there are many more new people starting out and it would be easier to find a group. You can normally find CoV for 39.99, and I haven't found any cheaper prices. CoH I think runs at 19.99 but I could be wrong.
If you do decide to join the game as a villain, look me up on Virtue as Man of Pain or if you're a hero, look me up on Captain Vicious. I can help you learn the basics of the game and maybe answer any questions you may have.
Have fun!
Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents here and agree. It is not an immersive world that NCsoft has created. It is fast paced and fun. It's extremely easy to pick up and play. There is not really a lot of strategy and character plotting for best build and optimal powers. Don't get me wrong people will tell you there is powers you need to take and are the best, but really you can create a hero and take any powers and level them to the max with grouping and you can get far soloing. And if you really make a mistake you can do missions to start your power selection over.
They make it pretty accessible to have fun and have a lot cool looking characters that can do amazing things. If you get bored with fighting you will get bored with this game because there is not much else to do. But meet some new friends go on some good missions and have a blast.
I think the City of Heroes content is much better - been around longer and the Villain conent is just now starting up. A lot more game option on the Hero side, but maybe more human Villains are on at one time so you need to decide what is more important. You gonna play solo check out the heroes - gonna play on a team anyway and grow with the game check out Cov.
---MMO EXPERIENCE:---
WoW - 06-2006 to current
COV - 40 Corruptor - 10-2005 to 04-2006
COH - 50 Scrapper - 04-2004 to 04-2006
EQ2 - 35 Barb Berserker - 12-2004 to 04-2005
EQ1 - 55 Barb Warrior - 2000, 2001
Tried: DaoC, DDO, Auto Assault, SWG, Lineage II
This may have changed, but the last I knew there was a trial for CoH. You'll want to look into that and give the trial a go.
I found CoH to be a very fun game, initially. It was pretty cool running around as a super hero that I designed, being able to flesh out the back story and the character's appearance almost perfectly to what I had in mind. The combat was fun at first and I hardly ran into folks who weren't helpful.
The problem with the game, in my opinion, is that there were very few "dungeons". A "dungeon" in CoH can be an office building, an evil villian hide out or a network of caves.
Anyway, the areas repeated themselves very often, and progressing into a new area did not seem to produce new dungeon settings. There were a relative few that were recycled and you would find yourself running to the far end of the map only to enter a setting that you completed earlier, but at the entry area of the map.
It became very monotonous.
So all in all, it was a very very fun game for maybe a week. After that point I saw what seemed to be every setting in the game, and I saw them several times. For me, this killed an otherwise enjoyable experience. Even if there were additional settings later in the game it was pretty obvious that they, too, would be heavily rehashed.
The powers (eg; your attacks) became a bit old after awhile, too, but this probably wasn't as big a deal as the repetitive settings. I wouldn't be surprised if others disagreed with my opinion of the powers. They were fun, but for me they were just too few.
CoH could be incredible if they could just put a bit more time into fleshing out the game. It's one of those that I see bursting with potential that's not met due to someone wearing a suit. Aka, a businessman who doesn't understand games and won't give the funding and/or the go-ahead to expand the game.
All my opinions, of course. Check the trial if it's still available.
~Mysk
If you like crafting and using skills, run as far away from this game as you can.
If you are looking for a good community and just want to fght stuff then pick it up.
The game is really casual friendly, but like some people pointed out its repetitive. I have played CoH since beta, and picked up CoV when it was release; hoping that they would add some fun end game content. The game hasn't added any end game content since its release. I ended up cancelling, and moving onto another mmo.
Anyway, being that your new to the game I would say you would find it enjoyable as long as your not into loot and crafting (This game has none). Around the mid lvl 30's you probably have seen 80% of the mission maps.
If you make it to LvL 50/40, what is there to do?
Kill the Hamidon (doesn't happen much anymore) tedios, boring and requires many heros to pay attention. (this is for heroes only, Villians don't have a hami, or a mob that would be classified as a hami)
PvP
The PvP in this game isn't that great. If your expecting large scale battles, that's not happening. I personally don't like how they setup base raids, items of power, and the simple cathedral of pain trial. At the present moment I don't the trial and base raiding is on the live servers.
Besides those two things theres nothing to do as at 50/40, unless you want to run some missions that would not be any different than the mission you did getting to 50/40.
The Hamidon was their worst mistake and the main reason why they miss many months of subscribtions from me, now I give CoV a try, but I will most likely leave soon, I really hate Hamidon + IoP, 2 ways of shafting me.
Best folks deserve to be folks who do the related activity, not an overall lazy best.
No End Game is better than a wrong End Game. Hopefully when they add new levels, the Hamidon will become faded memories and completely useless (level 60 double or triples enhancements should be earned in GROUPS, not in raid...or maybe in SOLO, and then have "Kheldian-like" powers(best toon in groups), now THAT would rock...best soloers would be soloers and best groupers would be groupers...that is my DREAM mmo...and CoH is just a few steps away).
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
Like some other posters have said, its ok for a week or two. If you like doing the same thing over and over again, very little changes. Go into the same tileset over and over, kill stuff, repeat.
If you like crafting, good events, and variety, don't bother with this game.
If you like nerf after nerf after nerf, logging in to find your powers weakened every month or so, choices taken away and absolutely zero end game, try it out.
The forums are filled with hardcore fanboys who will attack anyone who dares have any sort of complaint about the game as well. CoH sucks, imo.
I think the same can be said about most other MMOs.
Personnally as long as they do either grouping or soloing combat PvE & progression FINE all the way to the end of the game, I will be happy. They merely need to add levels (coming soon) and make sure there is no Hamidon this time for the end game enhancements, but group or solo challenges, and that the IoP are null outisde of PvP zones (could be stronger in PvP zones however). Quite simple to make everyone happy, a little of work, but Cryptic can do it if they want.
If you like crafting, events and variety, I don't think any MMO will be fine. You should check Sims online. If you like to abuse other players with unfair bonus earns in crafting, events or variety of others ways (PvP or Raiding), there are plenty of MMOs out there doing those mistakes. Maybe SoR would be a paradise for you, unless you doesn't enjoy abusing in every aspect and just in some, in which case there are many other MMOs. CoH is about giving the bonus to peoples who do the right activity with the exception of the Hamidon and the IoP, thereby why they must correct it.
With the exception of the Accolades (which they refrain from adding any new nasty accolade, Kudos Cryptic!), CoH is very casual friendly...and CoV is completely casual oriented(more than friencly), no nasty accolade at all in CoV so far. Yes getting to the last level is problematic, but you ain't shafted in anyway, this is with SK/EXEMPLAR perfectly nice for casuals, a casual rule the place he is playing just as well as a hardcore. It may give him 2 years of gameplay instead of 1 month, all the better for the casual and I honestly envy them.
IMO to please hardcores and casuals, they should add accolades who are specific to a very few areas called hardcores. The accolades would grant nothing outside of those minority areas (hardcores), but there, they can even triple your stats and be awfully long and hard to earn, they would not shaft the rest of the game! The same can be done about raiding, raiding would grant you bonus that only affect you in raiding zone...but I dunno if there are enough real raiders out there, prolly, they must just be quiet and desesperate with all the false raiders, a little like the decent PvPers are quiet when there are tons of gankers trolling a place.
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
I've played COH for about a year and half and pre-ordered COV.
Everything that has been said in this thread is pretty much on point. Neither title is loot driven at all, which appeals to me. With COV, they added bases and there's some crafting involved with that, but it's the most you'll find in the game at this point.
Both games are very combat driven, which is done very, very well. Problem with that is the missions become repetitive. There are trials called Task Forces (Strike Forces in COV) in which you do a string of missions which end with an encounter with an Archvillain (or Hero in COV). They usually take at least 3-4 hours at least, but are very fun.
I personally don't like the way PvP was implemented. Skill means very little. Most players who actively PvP, choose one of the "uber" builds suited for PvP and run with that. Makes it very difficult for someone running a concept character to do well when they're constantly fighting Ice/Energy Blasters or Energy/Regen Stalkers. Also team PvP is a numbers game - the team with the most people will win 95% of the time, which is why you'll see SGs (Supergroups aka Guilds) recruiting like crazy on the forums.
The endgame is nonexistant at this point. In CoH you get Hamidon. He was exciting at first, but the reward was nerfed and the encounter just isn't fun - figuring out how to beat him however was very rewarding. COV caps at lvl40 right now, but they will be raising the cap to lvl50 in a month or two with a bunch of new content.
Statesman (the lead designer) has mentioned a new endgame system they call the "Legends System". We don't know anything about it at this point. They've also been working on a crafting/loot system called the "Skills System" which they've redesigned internally several times.
The developers aren't all that bad. For the most part they do pretty a good job communicating with the players on the forums and acknowleding feedback. Lately theyve been kinda flaky since they introduced a new addition to the enhancement system (the system which controls how your improve your powers).
The community for the most part is good, but like any game there are fanboys running around.
What I find most people like the best is character creation. You will NEVER, EVER come across someone who looks like you unless they completely copied your costume - that's how good the creation engine is, it's incredible.
To conclude, it's a solid game. A lot of fun if you're into fast-paced, intense battles which require you to think about what you're doing. Combat is at a much higher scale than in games like WoW. From the start, you'll be fighting 3-4 mobs at a time in CoH/V.
If you like crafting and loot, this game is not for you.
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You see, every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with their surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You spread to an area, and you multiply, and you multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet.-Mr.Smith
Great game. A must play in my book. Carebear heaven.
Content completed in 4 weeks.
PLay it for a month or two and then move on fast before they nerf your character and ruin it.
For maximum satisfaction try and get in and out before they do an update.
Do you know anything about base construction? Theres quite a bit of crafting involved, FYI.
Do you know anything about base construction? Theres quite a bit of crafting involved, FYI.
Actually there is....If you are t your one and only SG's architect. No one else gets to do anything at all for the construction. Another poorly thought out and implemented "feature" by this rookie dev team.
The base "crafting" invlves seeing if anything in the list is highlighted, then hitting the create button, very immersive!/sarcasm
Not to mention the downright broken costs of items in prestige, which makes buying/placing items painful.
But thats ok, this game is known for one thing by most who have played it. If you enjoy any aspect of it, the devs will nerf it hard and often. If you find a way to continue your enjoyment in another way...nerf! Don't have fun exactly as the devs think you should..nerf!
Powers fun? Nerf! Find a good enhancement combo? nerf! Nerf Nerf! Nerf!
Shame that they had a really great game till issue 3, then continuously nerfed non-stop over and over mercilessly until it is a clone of any other grin-fest game. Statesman(lead designer) needs to be fired and pissed on for ruing what was once so promising. Then rocks thrown at him in the streets, as he walks to SOE where he will fit right in.
[quote]Actually there is....If you are t your one and only SG's architect. No one else gets to do anything at all for the construction. Another poorly thought out and implemented "feature" by this rookie dev team.
The base "crafting" invlves seeing if anything in the list is highlighted, then hitting the create button, very immersive!/sarcasm
Not to mention the downright broken costs of items in prestige, which makes buying/placing items painful.
But thats ok, this game is known for one thing by most who have played it. If you enjoy any aspect of it, the devs will nerf it hard and often. If you find a way to continue your enjoyment in another way...nerf! Don't have fun exactly as the devs think you should..nerf!
Powers fun? Nerf! Find a good enhancement combo? nerf! Nerf Nerf! Nerf!
Shame that they had a really great game till issue 3, then continuously nerfed non-stop over and over mercilessly until it is a clone of any other grin-fest game. Statesman(lead designer) needs to be fired and pissed on for ruing what was once so promising. Then rocks thrown at him in the streets, as he walks to SOE where he will fit right in.
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I will agree on the constant nerfing - but you're way off on base construction.
They scrapped the idea of an "architect" in beta. The way it is on live servers is that any member in the SG can edit the base if their SG rank allows it. For example, I'm one of the top ranking members in the SG I'm apart of. Having that rank allows me to edit the base whenever I want. I can also give permission for lower ranking members to be able to edit the base.
In my SG, there are 5 people that can edit the base - and we only have about 7-8 members total (but a lot of alts). Of those 5 only three are top ranking members in the SG.
As for prestige prices, they're obviously balanced more towards the large groups. My SG was finally able to get our base functional over the last week. By functional, I mean we have zone teleporters and a mission computer, but not the hospital yet. It'll be a LONG TIME until we can upgrade our plot for more space. We're in the process of bugging the Devs about it.
But thats ok, this game is known for one thing by most who have played it. If you enjoy any aspect of it, the devs will nerf it hard and often. If you find a way to continue your enjoyment in another way...nerf! Don't have fun exactly as the devs think you should..nerf!
Powers fun? Nerf! Find a good enhancement combo? nerf! Nerf Nerf! Nerf!
Shame that they had a really great game till issue 3, then continuously nerfed non-stop over and over mercilessly until it is a clone of any other grin-fest game. [b]Statesman(lead designer) needs to be fired and pissed on for ruing what was once so promising. Then rocks thrown at him in the streets, as he walks to SOE where he will fit right in.
[/b]
That's the second one of your assesments that has had me laughing out loud in my chair.
Spot on the money.
I think it's fair to say that a lot of COH players feel this way about the game. It's in decline. The developers freely admit that they don't care how many players leave.
If I had never gone back and played that extra 2 months, this would still have been my game of the year 2006.