Just posted this over at the CoH forums in the Suggestions topic....

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Just a couple of ideas for zone events that ran through my head earlier today while I was jumping around Paragon City with my tank...

1. Obviously, this one has come up time and time again in the past. Brickstown needs an event and the best possible scenario is that of a jailbreak. I realize that you've got Prisoners running around in orange jump suits but to me, that just doesn't make sense. I would want to change cloths at the first opportunity.

What I would like to see is a HUGE, and I mean HUGE, explosion coming out of the side of the Zig that you'd be able to see from anywhere in the zone. Have the smoke fly for a minute or two to give toons a chance to know that it's happening. Best way to do this is to announce it like a news story over nearly every zones Broadcast channel.

Example: "This is Brett Boomer coming to you live from just outside Paragon City's state-of-the-art prison, the Ziggurat. Apparently, there has been a large explosion. Not a lot more information right now as authorities are scrambling and there is still a lot of smoke in the air."

I would only broadcast this over certain zones and/or limit it to a minimum lvl toon. They would still be able to participate as a sidekick, but it would prevent a lot of LAG from sublevel 30 toons from wandering in without a mentor and, let's face it, the undisciplined nature of new players spamming the Brickstown broadcast channel (no offense intended).

2. RCS needs an event badly. The only time my two lvl 50 toons ever went to RCS is to get the badges and to transit from PI to Crey in a hurry. Perhaps a large Ritki type monster that controlled the ship that crashed finally broke free.

3. Eden needs an event very badly, also. The only thing Eden is good for is badge hunting, the trial, and getting to the Hive. Other than that, not too many people hang out there unless they mistook a bag of Cocaine for that sugary stuff you find in PixelStix and try to shoot for the DE's Eminator badge.

4. Founder's Falls. I got this idea after seeing, from high in the air, three of the same kinds of trucks driving down the road following each other. Since Founder's Falls is considered to be the "upscale, snotty"neighborhood of Paragon City, why not introduce a villain group intent on "invading" the stores of Founder's Falls? They could all be in the back of the trucks, the trucks stop at a line of stores, and you've got to stop the looting as they come out of the trucks. Granted it doesn't have the same effect as standing there when the building blows up on you in Steel, but nonetheless, it's super-hero type stuff.

5. PI needs an event, too, and I was thinking of something along the lines as the ghost ship. Why not ghost pirates? They could sail up in three to five ships, attack one of the islands north of PI, and heroes would have to repel them. As it is, the only heroes north of the Portal Corporation are either monkey hunting, touching the plaque, or (in rare cases) beating up on the DE monsters (which, after the police drones were placed in the courtyard, just aren't as popular as they once were).

6. Boomtown and Faultline. I can't count how many times I've been wandering around the zone, doing a search and getting only one result for the number of heroes in the zone (and that was me). I understand that a dam trial has been in the works for quite some time (but has taken a back burner to the latest rave, PvP) and Boomtown has Babbage, but again, the only real reasons to go into these zones is for badges (or missions that force you to go there).

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To correct a lot of these minor annoyances with the hazard zones, I propose a new accolade that will add to both your hit points and your endurance. This accolade must be worth something getting and the earliest you could get it is lvl 39 (just in time for the AV 40's). The requirements for the accolade must be HUGE, too.

Minimum requirements for the accolade:

1. Complete a trial in every single hazard zone. Currently, these are the Hollows, Perez Park, Boomtown, Faultline, Striga Island, Dark Astoria, Crey's Folly, and the Ritki Crash Site (excluding the Shadow Shard). Have a nifty badge for each zone. If need be, toss in the trial zones of Eden and Terra Volta (the three /respec missions).

2. Obviously, a plaque in each zone and perhaps an exploration badge here and there.

3. Call the accolade something really cool....like "Hero of the City". The description could be something to the effect that you have fought endlessly over the course of your career in returning to Paragon City the zones deemed too dangerous for city use.

4. Have the bonus for the accolade be inherent (not a click or a toggle). The bonus should be something really awesome for having taken the time to actually do up to 12 different trials/task forces. Currently, the Atlas Medallion only gives a 5% increase to your max endurance and the Freedom Phalanx gives a 10% increase to your hit points. I would suggest this new accolade give a 10% increase to both your hit points and your max endurance.

5. Finally, and I'm sure that I'll get some nasty comments on this one, but force the players to take the hazard zones in order. For example, upon the completion of the first trial/task force, have the player awarded a temp power that they must have for the second trial/task force (much like the Ambrosia in the Eden Trial). If they don't have it, they won't be able to complete it. Exemplaring is a must but have the trials/task force follow a story line to something really big and sinister.

To make it even more interesting, how about it also unlocking a special aura and cape design?

This new accolade will be something that will keep a player interested in continued CoH gaming. It should be difficult (but not impossible) and require some real thought to complete (not talking about solving a riddle but more like teamwork).

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Sorry for the jumbled thoughts, but just ideas to improve game play.

Ammon-Ra

Those are some pretty swanky ideas (i like them much better than what i've been seeing from Cryptic). Your ideas actually take some existing zones and improve upon the framework that Cryptic originally created, and they do it in a way that benefits toons in a wide range of levels . I see it as an improvement on existing content, and that's something that CoH is sorely lacking. Without a doubt, the zones that you've mentioned definitely could use some attention, and i think that all of the scenarios that you've mentioned would be both fun and appropriately themed for the zones. Especially the Brickstown event...that would rock (i'm always a sucker for big explosions..er..in videogames, that is). If Cryptic would actually do something along the lines of what you've suggested (i'd honestly like them to do exactly what you suggest), then i'd strongly consider renewing my subscription to the game.

In addition, l really think that in at least one upcoming issue instead of making new zones, the devs should put some focus on creating new content for the existing zones: not only new events (IE: troll rave and fires), but new storyline content. Something to shake-up the, "Clear out this warehouse, clear out this cave, clear out this building, clear out this sewer" repetitive nature of the existing content (or at least do something to increase the variety of mission backdrops). Your ideas with the Zone Events and especially Trial storyline would be a big step in the right direction.

That would be an awesome accolade, Rob. It would definitely introduce an element of continuity throughout level progression and add some element of interconnectedness between the trials that is sorely lacking in other elements of the game (TF for instance). I also like the idea of unlocking special costume features with it's completion. At first i was leery of the idea of forcing the player to do the trials in order, but after some thought on it, i see your point (i really like the idea too ).

My idea for an additional accolade: Introduce one that has the standard ridiculous recharge timer, a 120-180 second duration and allows the possesor to revert back to i3 or i4 power levels. IMO, that would be an cool accolade. :Suave:

Hey Rob, can you link to the post over at the CoH forums? I would like to check on their responses there. =]

HERE is the link.

As you can see, it's had 63 views but no replies. To get any replies on the CoH boards since I5/ED, you have to do one of the following...

1. Talk about "Dooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ". You'll ever get an amen or a go to hell reply.

2. Talk about SWG, or Star Wars Galaxy. Lot of folks made the jump to CoH since SWG did their last patch.

3. Make a "hello" thread, which is what the 5,000 or so SWG people love doing.

4. Post something incredibly stupid...and I mean incredibly stupid, about something like the word, Pie.

5. Talk about CoV.

Most of the people that used to frequent the boards left after ED. There is still a small bunch of "old school" heroes there, but they are involved mostly with posting numbers, which I get too bored reading about.

Other than that, you won't get any replies. I've sent a PM to CuppaJo about it, but I can understand if she doesn't reply.

Rob