Although I liked the possible choices when creating characters, once HL, we quickly realize that the choice ended up being, in a way, an illusion, because a lot of things will eventually dictate to us what to choose to be really effective or advantaged over others... The modes of travel. First of all, the mode of movement, one of the points that amazes me the most in DCUO, indeed, you notice very quickly that super-speed is king in all, even if flight allows a pleasant feeling of freedom, you notice that super-speed becomes a sad fatality of choice almost obligatory. The tank must systematically play this mode of movement to be effective in its role. Just like the DPS can grab DPS compared to players flights, but also to be able to perform actions or activate something that flight will often not even have time to reach depending on where it is on the field. In combat, we suffer a malus that makes us move like a turtle, but honestly only flight is the most impacted by this malus, this malus is barely punitive for super-speed, I can’t speak for acrobatics and skim, if I remember the name for the last, 'Cause I never played with it, this thing should. For the troll, I did not feel too much problem for the choice and as for "healer" I can not express myself, because I never played this role, but I imagine that super-speed will remain advantageous for the reactivity that allow this mode of movement. We could even mention a point on the choice of the role or the augments and especially the artifacts that will have made the choice of your role as "a prison", because it will be difficult to change the role of your character if you have already worked to level your increases and a number of artifacts or artifacts will be here the most dissuasive... League and Solo Play Here also one of the points that I find very annoying in DCUO, just as you start the game, you will already be "punished", so of course at the beginning, you will not feel it, you will not even need it, because you will not have the knowledge yet, but once in league, you notice the stat advantage it gives compared to solo players, after, I guess the concept is probably to want to get out of the idea of 'being stronger together', but isn’t that really a good thing for players who would like to play solo? Shouldn’t it be attributed to the generators of all players to create a form of activated interviews of this advantage? I think that his points evoked deserve to be rethought/ modernized to make the game more welcoming for all and especially not to feel such a strong punishment of our choices.
I know countless players who are in solo leagues for buffs. It’s doable to get the main buffs you need very easily
The word you just described rather indepth is called "Meta" You dont NEED to be superspeed for dps or tank. Does it help? Absolutely, needed? No. Some dps prefer flight if they are full might as they dont require superspeed. Elec, muni, ice etc. If you are full might and dont intend to prec, Flight could be safer depending on the content. I know during one of the atlan raids that people would fly/swim up into the air to avoid some of murks attack back in the day. In the last boss it was better to use Man bat form as the roll was much better than superspeed and it allowed you to get out of the way faster until it was nerfed. Superspeed is easier for those with prec due to clipping faster with the right moves. Tanks use it for supercharge or because its easier to move but could well and truly tank without superspeed. I myself was a flight tank and used to tank end game level content with Rage/Ice interchangeably with flight, its not as needed as you think, you can roll and lunge away.
I think you need to preface this with 'for Elite' (or Elite+). I don't run any SS toons (outside of farmer alts) including on my tanks or run 'Meta' builds, and do just fine...even in Elite content. Will people complain? Maybe. Will I care? No...as long as i'm doing my job correctly. Even in E+ It's probably not 'required' but yeah...NOT following the 'meta' will probably limit your attractiveness to forming groups. The penalty for flight does seem excessive though, with that 'stuck in the mud' combat stance being over the top in impact and duration IMHO. SS would still have some 'advantages' even if the field was even for THAT aspect of movement. As far as Solo/League, again...you are referring to endgame Elite or E+, the worst feats or when it's here...Survival Mode...where these things will really make a difference. Yes, the buffs are nice, but you can maintain several running a solo league if you wanted...but even without them, in normal content it wouldn't make that big a difference. You aren't going from 1st to 5th DPS because you are missing a buff or 4. Is that 'punishment'? Sure...I suppose, but for someone who doesn't want to run the meta or join a league when they want to run solo....doing those things is punishment too. If someone were obsessed with that aspect of the game ('winning' a run...which is what this all boils down to)...likely they will be fine with the meta and league aspect.
I'm not super-speed on either of my toons. Acro on gadgets main, flight on atomic alt. Super-speed's advantage can range anywhere from slight to huge depending on content, what you're trying to do, playstyle, power, etc. Both my toons have speed rings for those times it's VERY advantageous. Otherwise, flight and aero work just fine.
SS on one toon. Movement varies on my other toons, depending on their character arch in my mind. Main is EEG with flight/Gadget/DPS, and I am occasionally on the top of the leaderboard, but then again, I really don't care. I just want our team to win with little to no toxic game play (and maybe some understanding of the mechanics). My loadouts are of my own design, with some recommendations from trusted sources. I have my own league, tried 5 leagues. 1 league was fantastic but disband, the other 4 were toxic. My league always has 7 attributes running all the time, which requires some work (I don't mind it though). 98% of the time I am having fun and achieving my game goals. In the end, we all have to decide what makes each of us happy playing this game. Right now, I am happy, but could I be happier? Heck yeah, some great suggestions for changes are often discussed on here and I hope the Devs will implement some of them one day. Peace and DCUO Forever
I feel that if you're not in a League, the Prestige you earn should still be banked for you, and available to activate Buffs in your Lair. You'd still have to work to keep them up if they were set at well-calculated levels, and they shouldn't be as strong as League Buffs, but they could then overwrite the awkward Base Mods system which is quite frankly outdated (especially the Affinity Mods).
Why the need to create a thesis based on your own limited knowledge? What is it you’re trying to accomplish? It just comes off as flailing in random directions blindfolded. Acrobat has one of the best shields and immunity supercharge in Perfect Poise, and it is/was very beneficial is certain content for a tank. As others have said…you’re just being pulled into the ‘meta’ direction…doesn’t mean it’s required or forced at all for 99% of the game.
I find it quite amazing that you frame everything as being "punished" for not doing something, rather than "rewarded" for doing something. You gain something by joining a League, choosing Meta choices, etc. - but the idea that you're punished for not doing that is... well - an unusual psychological outlook to be sure. You do get buffed or have advantages for doing some things, but you don't get nerfed for not doing something. If you did, that would maybe count as "punishment", but it's not the case.
There will always be a better choice if you have as many options in a game as Dcuo. Movement modes Movement modes should have advantages across the board and while it used to be balanced around gameplay mechanics, the game evolved to be more restrictive while not lifting restrictions from movement modes. What i mean is that Super Speed is always on the ground, so it has to perform mechanics at all times. To compensate we got the enhanced movement speed in combat. Acrobatics could sometimes evade mechanics by sticking to walls or glide for extended periods of time. It got buffed later on by being the only movement mode able to perform the dodge rolls with the feet mod. Flight used to be broken in terms of mechanics since many could be simply ignored while flying up in the air and attacking from there comletely safe with no risk. Superspeeds phase dodge and dash attack were always good but really started to shine once shields became so weak across the board that tanks had to rely on them. Acrobatics Perfect poise SC is equally good compared to dash attack, and zip tie attack is one of the best pure ST damage abilities which finds usage in Meta Nature Dps loadouts. Flight used to have a somewhat useful Aoe Range pull which was needed when Fire had no AoE pull. Besides that it had nothing else because it was so good in content by default. Then the grounded mechanics started to get applied more and more often in boss fights and because you keep getting grounded during the times when being airborne is advantageous, most players simply dont bother trying to get up again once they got grounded because it takes time and serves no purpose. The feet mod was eventually free to use for every powerset and Fire got its AoE range pull by default. All of this lead to Super Speed becoming the best choice by far slowly over time. Whirling dervish, Vortex trap and Tornado pull just add to the problem but even if all three of these abilities would become iconic powers, Super Speed would remain the Meta movement mode even if everyone would get a free Movement mode respec token. Leagues Leagues are extremely important in Dcuo. The buffs are just there to give you an incentive to join one and be social but dont have a very strong impact on us. It may increase our power in various ways by roughly 5% which is barely noticeable. What is very noticeable however, is the reason we keep coming back to the game. Sure, many come back for new content but at some point you've pretty much seen it all and your main reason isnt just the game anymore, but also the people you like to play with/chat with. I would say 50% of the reason im coming back to DC when taking a break is either new content but also just someone I like to play with asking for help in content i also enjoy - even when no new content was released. Without a social network that grants advantages such as leagues a game becomes heavily reliant on good content. A very good example for that is the game Warframe. A free to play action game that also has a clan feature. You get nothing from it once you reach a certain point and because I passed that point a long time ago, I have no incentive to join an active Clan. My only reason to ever log into the game is whenever new content drops. Luckily they rarely drop bad content, so i keep coming back, but projecting this on Dcuo, the game would have an even greater trouble retaining new players if there isnt a seemingly great advantage in joining a league in the first place. For example, I doubt I would've played SoBA if it werent for my League.
I got yelled at (as buff troll) because I couldn't get the 2nd tank pickup quick enough in TSWE (regular elite, not even e+) on the other side of the arena. When I told them I wasn't superspeed, as gadgets, well let's just say I didn't feel good at the reactions afterward.
Lol... What does that even mean? This is a game, if you "choose" to suck at it - you're going to get "punished". The "choices" you make - like flight as movement, or being leagueless - have their own benefits. Flight/skimming is a lot easier to use and master, and is much less frustrating than other movements, which is why - despite its numerous drawbacks - it's still the most popular movement overall - even if not among the E+ meta players. And there are plenty of good players who find ways to play up to a high standard as flyers. You want to be "punished"? Try skipping mobs, or running through some tight spaces at full speed, as a speedster, lol. What? You want to effortlessly glide/hover above enemies, floor hazards and obstacles, without sticking to walls and ceilings - AND you also want to be as fast in combat and have as strong movement abilities as Super Speed? Well, if you're prepared to give up a little of your stats, we do have a selection of movement altering pieces of gear, so you can actually do that. Being in an active league with buffs takes a bit of effort - you need to play and behave well enough to be invited and at least tolerated. You have to put up with league-mates spamming chats with silly "n00b" questions and asking you to do things with them - we could all do without that headache, am I right? If you "choose" to not get along with people and not answer to anyone, but you REALLY want those buffs - you can put in some time and effort to create and run a solo league. There are plenty of players who do this. What you're really saying is that you don't like that others are being rewarded for doing things you "choose" not to do. In games, just like in real life, choices have consequences. But at least in a game, if you're unhappy with consequences of your choices - you can easily make different ones.
