As I'm in a particularly giving mood, I thought I'd give some parting thoughts on Champions and what they can do to improve it. For all I know, they're already doing some of this in which case I will claim sole credit for those ideas. You can thank me later.
Fix PvP
IMO, it wouldn't take much to fix, really. I'll outline it in four easy steps:
1) Reduce holds/roots/misc effects (like crippling challenge) on players so you can't get completely locked down by one guy. Add immunity timers if you like.
2) Base credit on a threat-like calculation rather than damage so support actually gets something for their efforts.
3) Fix some of the more obviously broken powers like Teleport (still) and Mindful Reinforcement and, I dunno, take your pick of other crap.
4) Refactor the rewards so that PvPers aren't totally down shit creek for playing and enjoying that aspect of your game exclusively.
Beating this into shape really shouldn't take that long if their system isn't stupidly complex or fragile. Cause not like game systems ever are like that or anything.
Add More Missions
More Nemesis stuff, more UNITY missions (preferrably more than the same dozen or so that keep getting repeated now), and more story arcs would all be well received. If I don't have to do every single quest, it opens up a lot more options for people re-rolling because they can't afford retcons. "I did 1-30 in Canada on this guy, so let me do 1-30 in the Desert on the next guy."
I suspect this will get fixed with time. Bloodmoon is right around the corner which is a step in the right direction, but I suspect it arrives too late for a majority of the folks who have already jumped ship.
Fix Teaming
One of the fallouts at the confluence of badness in CO, is that people aren't sticky. In a game where every character can be a tank-mage-cleric, people almost never group up. Despite the fact that people will bemoan miserably (myself included) "required grouping", it is good for your game in the long run. If people don't build lasting associations between each other, the game easily becomes a single player game with annoying NPCs that can just as easily be put back down. You don't want to let your buddies down. Many people will stick out a bad situation longer if they're in it with their chums.
Fixes:
- Increase exp while teaming (currently it splits which makes it stupidly low)
- Fix threat (already in the works--see, I can take credit for that already!)
- Add More 5-Person Content
Add More 5-Person Content
I maintain that Cryptic knows how to make compelling encounters. They need more of this--a LOT more. And now that they have a pile of data on how people actually play the game, they can do a lot more with increasing difficulties. If it requires a reasonable 5-person team to complete more than a handful of compelling stuff, then there's reason for people to form longer-lasting relationships which, as asserted above, is a win for the game long-term.
I would think that a set of five really challenging new L42 missions (like Mandragalore and Andrith) would be enough. Make them sequentially harder. Make them keyed off one another for all I care, just put them in there so PvE minded folks have something to look forward to until you raise your level cap/add your next big free expansion/whatever. Challenge the people with uber solo builds to change them to be more group friendly. Give people a reason to explore the interaction between different powers amongst your group (auras anyone?) and you will give folks a reason to stick around.
This does require a pretty substantial change, however:
Make End-Game Rewards Worthwhile
No one but the most completionist minded people are going to grind UNITY gear the way it is now. It's 250 points for each of 6 secondary slots and 1000 points for each of 3 primary slots. You can get *maybe* ten UNITY merits a day. That isn't going to cut it. Furthermore, people aren't going to grind the UNITY missions just to get to Mandragalore and Andrith when both are bugged if they also don't have drops/quests/whatevers worth grinding for. There is zero reason to have the three crystal requirement for a one time use key to get into one of these. None. I'll negotiate this point when the stupid bugs get fixed and the loot becomes worthwhile--but not a moment sooner!
Add Decent Crafting
We already get (randomly) a tiny number of super uber awesome things to craft with from our daily UNITY missions but can't do anything with those. We stockpile these in the hopes that they actually do something with them which I have no doubt they will. These have to be worthwhile no matter what happens. If the crafting rewards are worthwhile, people have another reason to grind UNITY missions so long as the mountain isn't too high. That puts it past the tipping point: "oh, I can run and get a handful of UNITY badges which is kind of lame but I really want the Q. Essences so I can craft my Boots of Uber Sexy by the end of the week!" Yes, I think that would be enough.
As the inimitable Kruunch points out, if they don't have a fire lit under them right now, they need one and in a hurry. The longer it goes without being fixed, the more subs they're going to hemorrhage. Even though I'm probably throwing in the towel soon, I hope they get it straightened out.
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