GAX POST SAVED
Due to a series of chance events I began playing City Of Heroes 10 days ago. I know, I'm late, its been out four years. I have put together some thoughts on the game that I will now share with you. Please remember I am only level 16 (ish) and by no means speaking as a veteran.
First impressions:I loaded the game for the first time logged in and selected a server. Then I was presented with the most complete character creation tool I had ever seen, granted it never let me fiddle with thousands of options that change the way the game is played but if I wanted to make a pirate character with a distinct love of the 70's the options are all there (I don't really like pirates OR the 70's it was just something random I thought of, sorry if your a pirate or a disco dancer I don't mean to offend)
I know when creating a character in Eve online I get to choose from things that appear to be very relevant and complex (I've not played much of Eve so I don't know how relevant those choices are in the long run) but in the end I get a pretty generic avatar. In this respect CoH (thats what the hip kids are calling it) impressed me, I really got to choose my own style and make something that at the very least 'feels' unique.
Okay, so I had made my super buff character and began the tutorial. I must say although it was fun and appeared to be very imersive from the start, the tutorial did not tutor me well, I ended up reading the help pages a few times before I understood some of the more unique points of the interface. I know I know, your thinking 'dumb ass' but you have to remember I've come in fresh knowing nothing about this game and not being able to see a 'character sheet' page or an inventory threw me more than you may think. Those things ARE there, they are just hidden in a different form.
Within a few hours I was running about saving old lady's from large numbers of muggings. (you would think the crime rate would be low in a city of super powered crime fighters)
About 2 hours into the game I was feeling impressed and was having a great time.
The Hollows:Soon and without warning I had a mission that was sending me to a new area, great I thought, something new.
Well, YES it was new and looked vastly different from 'Atlas park' (love that place) but at a puny level 5 (or there abouts) I was not just under powered in this area, I felt like a level one Mesmer trying to get into the tomb of primeval kings (trust me if you play Guild Wars that makes sense)
Within an hour I was sick of dying and decided to go and play Mario Kart then go to bed.
The next day I was joined by a friend who had started the game at the same time as me, he was playing a character with the handy ability to confuse the enemy (strangely when CoH baddies get confused they start hitting their friends) we managed with minimal struggling to make it through the 'Hollows' main story missions in 2 play sessions and moved on to another area.
I have since found out that 'the hollows' is an area that was added after the game was launched and a lot of people tend to skip it because of the difficulty. In the next patch (issue 12) its getting rebalanced and a hospital (resurrection point) is being added to it. So I feel more like a man now that I have finished it.
I did however find that because of this 'additional zone' I got to the crafting tutorials far later than would have been expected.
Damn I started ranting:After a few days of playing and fiddling with the interface I FINALLY found a way to turn on the bandwidth statistics and frame rate monitor, I know a lot of people don't care about this information but my computer is a little long in the tooth and I find it best to check these things. It seems odd to me that this game does not have this information on screen as standard. The statistics do show up okay once you map the key to the command in options. But they are not windowed in any way and look a little 'raw' on the screen, (not an insult here, just something I noticed.)
The next thing that began to annoy me was the fact that I can't seem to make my character face the camera, making my screen shot slide show a little harder than usual (yes I know its sad but I like to see how my character changes as I level up)
the final thing that bothered me was the chat window, maybe its just me, but I can't get the damn thing to work in a way that I find easy to manage. I know this is a personal preference thing but I like my chat box to be quick to access, so I can be in battle, type a message then get back to the game FAST. I just can't seem to make this chat system work for me in a way that feels fluid and easy to read as well as interact with. I love the Guild Wars chat system (yes fan boy alert, I'm sorry) I think its because the chat box in GW and most other MMO's I have played has a thin or transparent border around it and does not have party info or friends lists 'hanging' off it. The Tabula-Rasa chat system is similar to the CoH one (with the customizable tabs) but worked far better for my style of playing.
Anyway with all the moaning out of the way you may think I have developed a dislike for the game. This is not true at all, I really am having a great time cleaning up those streets.
The Likes, to make up for the ranting:one of the first things that is keeping me playing this game is the leveling system, you level up, then go and get training (a new power or enhancement slot among other things) I find it strange (in a good way) that you receive no instant or noticeable effect from leveling up until you see this trainer. So if you are in an instance and get a level up you are no better off until its over and you have time to see this trainer. I also find it strange that (at least at my point in the game) I do not have to distribute points upon gaining a new level. Its different but it works for the style of game.
The simple fact that I get to be a comic book style super hero is a pleasure and will hold my attention far far longer than you may expect. For instance I got to choose a title as part of one of the level up rewards and my character now has the name prefix 'The legendary' these simple bite sized bits of 'nerd joy' really add the feeling of depth to the game for me.
Interesting zones and powers are also making me stick with the game. As I level up and move through the zones I am seeing more strange and unusual things happening and although the community are not as chatty as I would like (I'm on the defiant server) its still great see the random super hero fall from the sky in front of me or the super criminal get thrown across the street by a big brick looking man.
How long will it hold me?:at the moment I am having a great time with the game but (and please remember this is an uninformed n00b statement) from what I can see there is not a massive amount of content, I am progressing through the zones at a reasonable speed and I think it will probably only hold my interest for a few months, I don't think it will keep me for over a year like Guild Wars has, but saying that maybe theres more love to be found and this could be my next game of choice.
I think I am going to stop typing now:
I know this little rant has not been filled with insight but I just wanted to share my thoughts on the game while I am still fresh to it.
Thanks for reading my ramblings and as its 2AM here and I have stack to do tomorrow I will be posting this without a proof read, so I'll say sorry now for the errors before the comments start rolling in.
Today, I finally got around to watching some Sailor Moon, now, I know it came out in 1995 and I’m pretty far behind the trend here but as most people who read my blogs will know I am a farther of a 4 year old little girl. Being 4 I have been subjected to more Disney princess crap than you could ever imagine.
