(There is a _faint_ chance that COV might draw me back, but it would have to be a work of total genius to overcome the problems Ive been having (and that I dont think will go away with COV).)
Alas, I was really looking forward to getting to lv50, which at 48.4, was well within range of a week or two of solo play, but all this Issue crazyness has just sapped my will to keep playing.
I know that it may feel 'big and scary' to people who are playing and loving the game, but actually Im pretty much fine with it. Walking away from the game is easy (I have lots more intresting stuff to do and play), walking away from online friends is harder and sadder, but *shrugs* Im hoping to keep in RL contact with most of you anyway (If you'll still talk to me ;).
I made some excellent friends online (non you guys and girls I mean) and cutting contact with them is much harder, but for a number of reasons, COH has just lost its luster for me.
So, after 488 hours (just for pix) and 48.4 levels, I '/e fancybow' for the last time (or for those who played with me enough, I '/e tarzan' for the last time :).
You've all been great fun to play (and flamewar) with and so I just want to say thanks and wish everyone cool COHs'ing.
"teamGetem!! I wanna eat some ($Target) souls... err... sorry..$$emote tarzan"
So how do these new changes effect the character ive spent 488 hours of my life building?
- major pets (major weapon) limited to 1 (down from 2) - all holds duration cut in 1/2 - all holds recharge doubled - number of people I can hold capped out
So, -50% damage, holds reduced 25% and a cap placed on holds.
+ base damage (by pix, not pets) on held enemies increased +100%
Wow! +100% damage! Well pix has 1 attack, pre epic pools and the following numbers show that its not +100%. (On a lv41 minion on test). Spectral wounds on unheld: 238 Spectral wounds on held: 238 + 145 So, I get a +60% increase on my 1 attack! Whoohoo! :)
Now the 50% reduction in pet damage means much slower attacks, fewer area blasts, more death/holds/attacks against me. Ok, so much slower playing.
But the real sting is the 1/2 duration, 1/2 rate (*2 recharge) and cap on the number of held enemies.
So, 1/4 the holds, 1/2 the damage and in return a small bit of damage. Now I know pix was pretty cool and probably was 'better' that some other builds, but.... at this stage I was kind of annoyed.
So, I played around on test a bit and *shrugs* its slower and more 'random' to play (especially with pets being so _STUPID_). But I can still chew through stuff pretty well. And soon Id be at 50 and not care, right?
Nope. Something was still making me frustrated. Is it the fact that Im being 'nerfed' from here to Paragon city? Nope. Its not the killing rate that pix can sustain its the fundamental change to what she is.
Pix is a controller..... of sorts... or will be until I5 hits. She could usually hold a group and debuff it for other team mates (pets or people). Not any more. Pix is suddenly 1/2 a controller (more like 25%, but hey).
Pix was always a heavily debuffing and offensive controller (once she got pets) so now she becomes an even more crappy controller. Where as before fully slotted Im ok, now its just *shrugs*. Its just too much of a change to what she is and what she feels like to me.
That may sound stupid, but its not the changes (because honestly, I dont think that all of these changes are going through), its the fact that they keep happening.
Norse Dead changed.
Mz Red changed.
Now my 480+ hour main character is going to change.
(Lets not even mention the difficulty in finding actual information about any COH character build because of the number of Issues. You cant trust any info thats more than 3-6 months old because 'character defining powers' are changed so radically so often.)
The American SG that I teamed up with pointed out that every time this happens people pull together and adapt. We move on. And frankly, in a group of lv50s pix can hardly even get her debuffs off before stuff dies. All true.
So, why quit?
I dont _want_ to have to relearn how to play my 480hour old character. Really! It just feels totally wrong. It feels like an insult to the character.
Its not just me. Pix _loved_ teaming with (tanker) Uluru because he was such a rock (yeah yeah) who attracted enemies and stuck them like flies to flypaper and pix was an offensive little minx who would hold the odd straggler and send pets into help hack the baddies down, all the while running round trying to avoid being hit and 'stick' attackers back onto Uluru. Fun times! And I love 'em!!!!
Well now Uluru cant 'agro' hold as well because his taunts have been hacked back. Pix's holds has problems outlined above (not that they were great to begin with). So, between us, Uluru and Pix might be able to hold a big group and slowly chip it down.
That _isnt_ the Pix & Ul team that Ive known and loved.
That isnt the rocky, steadfast Uluru I could depend on.
That isnt the fragile, waves of death-pets Pix that I used to be.
It doesnt feel like a super team any more.
:( And that makes me sad.
And its not just the nerfing of abilities, it feels like a nerfing of my memories too. I dont _want_ to play Pix the sort-of-old-pix and Uluru the mildly-annoying-to-half-the-enemies. That feels _wrong_.
And this _change_ is constant and it makes me grumpy every time.
And Im not PAYING to be made grumpy. Im not paying to play a game with no solid rules. I spent 480 hours and _almost_ got to level 50, but suddenly my will to finish that last 1.6 levels just isnt there.
But what about the other stuff that gets added?
Oh, a cool new zone. *shrugs* So, I can go there with my 2nd rate character who I used to love. Pass.
Oh, new arrow ATs! *shrugs* If I started one, how long before they get changed radically? Like regen? Like _all_ controllers? Like tankers. Sod that.
But really, like the arena, who gives a toss if 'fire tanker' rule and power level. I dont play a damn fire tanker. I play a sodding controller. Other people play defenders. Not everyone POWER players so why do we have to be constantly balanced?
Really, Im just over it. I dont want to feel frustrated every Issue. I dont want to live in fear that my beloved characters are going to dissapear and be replaced by cheap copies. I dont want to have to relearn my main character. I dont want to have my old favorite partner characters turn 2nd rate.
Sure, they may say 'Oh, sorry, ok we wont do that'. But *shrugs* I
Frankly I might stay if they made a new server called 'Get drunk and talk about the good old days' :) where people could retire to and stay the same. :)
I can only do one thing to lodge my complaint and thats vote with my dollars. So, sorry to the friends that Ive made, you all totally rock, but this sucks and frankly, Ive got other things that dont make me grumpy.
So, Im going to stop. Im going to say 'I loved those 480 hours' and Im going to say 'I loved the cool people I met' and Im going to retire.
Not reaching 50 was going to be my private protest, but frankly now that Ive decided a layer of 'agro' has been lifted off my shoulders and my interest has just faded away and I really dont care. I had fun. Someone stopped it. Im taking my fun and leaving.
All of the above sounds emotionally invested, but now that Ive decided Im not fussed at all. The love has gone, but so has the agro and Im happy with that.
Im fine with the decision. Id recommend that you just get back to enjoying COH if it works for you.
Its so hard to explain and I hope this makes some sense.
If you're really interested (and I know some of you gaming'ly employed people might want to know how you can keep my dollars :) I can try and explain it better, but Im hoping that this has made it mostly clear.
cheers,
cam
PS: yes I am a pretentious wanker as you can tell from the above. ;)
PS: I was hanging out to see the COV demo, but really, this has conviced me that (1) COV will have the same problems and (2) sapped most of my interest. If the COV beta looks like an _ASSKICKING_ game idea, then I might keep my account alive (Id love to make villian pix in some RPG story with my friends) but I doubt it will change my decision.