Fixers

[____________Rockpitt]

I think its pretty clear that the one thing all Fixers are unified on is the insane cost of their nano skills. I think this is good because its the only way we'll ever hope to get attention on the issue. But its been an issue almost from the beginning of the game. I think I remember reading in the first month of the game that in Beta, Funcom thought the Fixer was uber enough and had no intention of changing the color of the Fixer nanos. It makes me wonder if anyone at Funcom has ever played a fixer.

The idea of a Fixer is bascially a thief. This says to me we need concealment, B&E, Trap Disarm and the ability to run away. So I think that not only should TS and SI be green but concealment should be green too. But I guess concealment is another issue (agents may think I'm stepping into their territory but I think not). For team a contribution I think PM should be green too, for roots and team gridding. Too many green skills for one class? Make some of those trade skills dark blue to offset it. Why would a thief need trade skills to make things when he could steal it or hack it?

You would think that with all the complaining going on about nano skill cost, Funcom would take notice. Do they even read this forum?

[Thanak]

Well for computer hacker, having a green nano programming skill would fit... from a roleplay perspective. As for game balance i'm too new to this game to know.

[Tricia50]

Originally posted by Rockpitt
I think its pretty clear that the one thing all Fixers are unified on is the insane cost of their nano skills [...]

You would think that with all the complaining going on about nano skill cost, Funcom would take notice. Do they even read this forum?

Bump. Dark blue nanoskills need to be changed--with IPR technology in the game after 14.2, it would easy to give fixers sufficient IPR points to reset them for a more playable, more fun nanoskill difficulty level.

[Neoncoyote]

BUMP!

Originally posted by Luthcian
... by DESIGN, a Fixer's weak spot is Nano skills...
It said so on the main-AO-page back in Beta...

"Strong points: SMG, Breaking and Entering"
"Weak Points: Nano Skills / Heavy Weapons"

now... how 'weak' can you get?

1.: Our Nanos are crap.
°+Damage
°+Run Speed, +Evades, -Damage
°- Run Speed, Slow and Hold
°+Health, HOT
° Summon ...ermm... 'stuff' i guess.
° Grid Access.

Nothing 'unique' there either.

2.: Our Nano Formulae have INSANE requirements. Way out of proportion.

3.: Our Nano Skills are (surprise) Dark Blue.

4.: ...and we use ALL SIX of them.

Show me another Class that is forced to raise SIX DARK BLUE skills to insane levels to cast a sorry excuse for a 'buff', that others can cast sooner and in a more powerful version.

This is not a 'weakness' - its a frikken funeral.

[______________Terile]

Agree that more damage is good for the rest of the team. But we're fixers, we'll never be as good at fighting as the other classes. So what _unique_ abilities will we bring to a team ?

[GoldenEagle]

well my first time in this thread...
heard the gm's at the start saying fixer love...
made me laught like hell!
fixer love?!?!?!
what the hell is fixer love?!?!
i dont see any fixer love i see only hate!
no ga is availale now for most of the fixers...
and they call it ****ing love?!
if thats what love means in ther eye's i realy dont want to be a reletive to the fc team...

[Whiterrabbit]

im sorry i didnt hear you properly FC, what was that? oh, nerf, sorry, i thought you said love.

[______________Terile]

Okay, so we feel that fixers are being hard done by - but can wee keep this constructive ? Nothing will make FC turn their back on us faster than a bunch of annoyed bickering.

soooo....

I don't think increasing the combat potential of the fixer is the solution - fixers are not fighters. What we need is some uniquely fixer abilities that they can contribute to a group.

My suggestion here is to allow the fixer to summon basic consumables such as ammunition, treatment kits and first aid kits. This makes the fixer uniquely desirable to a team, because they no longer need to worry about running out of basic supplies.

This should be available from even low level - the current 100+ levels required to summon a clip of ammo is just ludicrous. lvl10-15 is far more reasonable. This isn't unbalancing - the cost of summoning the equipment is exactly the same as if it was bought in a shop _plus_ the nano cost, so it's not like fixers are going to be making a profit here. The only difference is you save yourself a trek back to the shop.

In summary, the Fixer should be able to provide the team with stuff they need, not just be another (weak) gun to bring on a mission.

[Whiterrabbit]

Originally posted by Terile
My suggestion here is to allow the fixer to summon basic consumables such as ammunition <snip>

im sorry dude, but summon ammo is a joke, how much do you cart round with you? i buy in stacks of 50k.

[_____________Steward]

All I know is that we were promised Fixer Love in the beginning of this thread, and here we are months later. No Fixer love. No Fixer patch. No plans for Fixer improvements. Only Fixer nerfs.

Funcom, 14.2 would be the perfect time to swap some of our dark blue nano skills for something less useful to the fixer profession.

I wouldn't ask to have them all become green, but couldn't we even have a few light blues?

Please please please please please please please please please please please please please take a look at how dificult it is to max 6 dark blue nano skills & still remain viable in other areas.

I cannot do it.

If you think there is a way, please show us the way. I hear statements like "That is your challenge" things saying it is up to us to find a way, what you do not understand is that the math does not allow us to exceed the limits placed on us. After maxing 6 dark blue nano skills I'm not even close to using nanos at my level & I have nothing left for any other improvements.

I don't want to be uber. I don't want to be a nano master. I don't want to be a huge damage dealer. I just want to have average abilities in at least a few areas.

At this point Fixers are WAY below average in almost every area, if not in all areas.

[________AnotherFixer]

Anarchy Online Team:

To date, you have failed all the players who play Fixers miserably. You have succeeding in creating some sort of bastardized class with just about zero worth and in doing so you have ruined the game experience for which we paid you almost to the point of negligence.

I am going to pose certain scenarios to the development team in order to give you a final opportunity to tell the players of Fixers how you are going to repair the situation. Your response, or lack thereof, will be posted on every website I can find with any relation to AO and MMORPGs.

1. At their fundamental level, Fixers were given the highest overall nano skill costs. In conjunction, they were given arguably the least interesting or effective nano programs. This would belay the fact that Fixers were supposed to primarily operate without the benefit of nano programs to assist them. However, you saw fit to give fixers relatively low Hit Point potential as well as one of the lowest damage dealing lines of weapons in the game in Sub-machine guns. As such, Fixers can neither nano their way into combat victory, nor can they go toe to toe in dealing physical damage. WHY?

2. Because of their relative combat ineffectiveness for the reasons listed above, Fixers have a greater degree of difficulty in progressing in levels in a solo nature. They must team up with other players to gain experience and levels in any sort of effective manner. However, given that fixers have no value to teams due to lack of interesting or effective “buffs” for their teammates, nor can they deal damage to the extent that other classes can, they have the greatest difficulty of any class in finding those teams. WHY?

3. Every so-called “fix” implemented for Fixers has either been without value to such a degree as to make it a joke (as in summon armor and ammo nanos), or has come with such a cost as to make that fix either unobtainable or so costly to use that it loses any value it may have had in the first place. Examples:
The aforementioned Summon Armor and Summon Ammo nanos. These have no value at all given their casting requirements relative to our high nano skill costs and the fact that the items summoned are completely random and temporary.

Grid Armor. This would have been considered a class-defining and highly worthwhile addition until you saw fit to make it nearly unobtainable in any single version, let alone multiple versioned needed as a character must upgrade. Add to this the fact that in the upcoming patch, you are again damning Fixers by adding the casting requirements for this item to its wear requirements. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? Personally, I am quitting the game over this, but that is neither here nor there at the moment.

NCU Hacker Interface: This item was supposedly created because you realized how badly implemented the nano skill costs for Fixers were. However, in creating this item you decided to make it equipable in the slot used for Low Light Targeting Scopes. Because of this, we will no longer be able to use an LLTS if we want to use your “fix” for our nano skills while every other class can continue using one.

New Sub-machine guns: The implementation of new SMGs with higher damage output than the Mausser Particle Streamer would have been welcome. However, once again you do this and hurt our class at the same time. The newer SMGs come with some of the highest skill requirements of any weapon in the game (i.e. MCS, RGD) yet they are still pathetically incapable of reaching the damage potential of weapons used by the other classes.

4. Because Fixers are vastly incapable in combat, it would be assumed that their place in the game would be relegated to more interesting, but less physical operations. However, almost every single addition made to the game in that respects that would have fit the fixer has been either given to other professions as well, or has been given to professions excluding the Fixer. For instance, you have given grid transportation and teleportation capabilities to several other classes and in some cases, the other classes versions are far better than those of Fixers are. You have given other classes (agents) access to that wonderful game addition we called the “Fixer Only” shop. You are going to give agents the ability to change faction affiliation, something that would be germane to the Fixer.

These fundamental problems have gone unrepaired for far too long. Any response to our situation or questions has been vague at best. In order to remove any chance of misunderstanding and so as not to provide an opportunity to ignore direct questions by confessing misunderstanding, the following specific questions will need answered if you choose not to respond to the above scenarios.

1. Do you intend to increase the damage capability of fixers? HOW?
2. Do you intend to reduce the penalty of high nano skill costs for fixers? HOW?
3. Do you intend to implement additional nano program lines for Fixers? WHAT ARE THEY?
4. Do you intend to increase the availability and useability (what with the upcoming NERF you’re doing) of Grid Armor?
5. Do you intend to make Fixers more attractive to potential teams? HOW?
6. Do you intend to make Fixers viable in Player vs. Player combat? HOW?
7. Do you intend to provide a niche for Fixers in the world of Rubi-Ka other than casting speed buffs on everyone who bugs them? WHAT WILL IT BE?


It is time for Funcom to step up to the plate and not only repair the issues with the Fixer profession, but to reward the players that have put up with the state of this class to date. Reward us by being responsible to us. PAY ATTENTION to what we say. Respond to our inquiries on the boards with greater frequency than bloody Ice Ages. Fix our class! We are tired of being the redheaded stepchildren of Anarchy Online. We have been ignored, patronized and flat-out lied to.

As previously stated, if and when the Grid Armor nerf occurs in patch 14.2, I am quitting this god-forsaken game like a bad habit. However, it is and will be my mission to make sure the gaming population is made aware of the true issues in this game and your responses to this letter. I will consider it a personal crusade to ensure that should no positive changes be implemented in a reasonably acceptable time-frame, that I dissuade every person I can influence from playing your game and paying for what is in all legitimacy, a product still in Beta testing phase.

Highjack

-Do not pay for second class citizen status-

[________AnotherFixer]

Oh, by the way, I thought I'd throw this in here as well to increase the chances of some Funcom representative reading it. I'm sure they won't do a damn thing once they do, but Hell, I'll try.

The upcoming Grid Armor NERF...

Did you geniuses at FC realize that since they will be nano SKILLS serving as the base requirement to wear the armor, that the major debuffs like ransacks, deprives and frigging nano shutdown will KILL the armor when combined with the new OE rules?

NO OTHER ARMOR IS SUCCEPTIBLE TO DEBUFF DESTRUCTION IN THE SAME FASHION THAT GRID ARMOR WILL BE.

You cannot debuff ABILITIES more than 20 points. Big deal. You can EASILY have your nano skills debuffed by hundreds of points.

Way to go Funcom. Good thinking.

[________BrontoCowboy]

Credit where credit is due:

AoE burst - nice addition.

But the rest? :/ And now we're getting majorly nerfed? I really have to wonder at the logic behind FC's actions here...

[_____________Kasimir]

I have to sadly agree here..some suggestions:

1) More fixer shops!

2) Fixer ONLY fixer shops..agents be burned.

3) We're the B&E masters right? make some traps only we can disable, or give us MUCH better chances at disabling them..ditto for lockpicking.

4) Grid armor...a ql 60ish spell requires me to have skills I won't have until..85 or better? And one well-laid trader casting, and it's a paperweight? argh!

5)DARK BLUE nanos? We're not tanks please..light blue would make things a little easier.

6) I know we're generalists, but a little more direction here? Gear us more towards maybe one or two nano skills? I mean..I ignored MC for the longest, just trying to use a run buff 20 QLs below me..and now I'm trying to psych up for Grid Armor...woot..30 more levels and MAYBE I can wear MkI. If we're summoners..make it a bit easier for us to use MC and MM...if it's run buffs and transpo..SI and TS...if rooter god is my title, PM and MM, or whatever the requirements for each category are.

7)I dunno I do decent damage for a secondary with my SMGs, but maybe rethink the ammo supplies? since when does a machine gun in real life only hold 37 bullets like my Mauser? reloads in a heavy fight slay me.

8) Hacking skills...I like these....maybe make them good for something besides a couple hundred xp and the occasional pill?

In addendum, I would like to thank you for the add of several new SMGs to the market..GE's, Michael Patriots, and MCS, as well as the Summer line, are all very interesting looking toys..can't wait to play around a bite myself...(just as as personaly favor rethink the multi req. on Gamma Ejectors, pleeeeeeeease?) I lso think Grid armor and the items at the fixer shops were VERY nice additions...me I am loving my new Worn ICC InternOps Cloak, and some of the other items looked nice, once I get my comp lit up enough to use them..might rethink the cost of those items.


Please take this to heart guys..I like all my fixer bros love the class, but we're finding it increasingly hard to fit in as either a solo or a team member, when we were meant to suit both well at one point..

[______________Saruzi]

Maybe the fixers could get a cool SMG that when it runs out of ammo it buys you new ammo and grids it directly into the gun. This won't solve anything, of course fixer only. When I first started playing AO, I looked over all the classes and I assured myself I'd never play a certain class. "Fixer" Why? It didn't seem great, there were all these cool names, things I could think of. I thought fixers fixed stuff. I know better now, but they are pretty much hackers as stated.
I agree, a few Fixer nano skills should be light blue, or all of them. Make the nano pool bigger, something to help their nanos, I think fixers are a nano based class.

[mulps1]

sorry but i give up

even if they take out this fixer GA nano change by even suggesting it shows their complete lack of understanding of our class and its problems.

i'm going to wait and see what happens but my heart has gone out of the game now..i was going to hang on and see how it stands up to some of the other new MMORPG's coming out but am not sure i can be bothered to wait anymore

I really liked this game but am only staying for the friends i have made while here, you folks are why i play now not the game but sometimes things go too far to be shrugged off and hey your all a bunch of sad computer geeks so i won't miss you too much will i eh

I hope you get the fixing you deserve and hope i am still around to see it but this is oh so bad ((


on a brighter note the sol smg is nice but only in respect to the other smg's and not a patch on shotguns still and i like the idea of having to hack guns and hope this aspect will be extended but to useful weapons or ones for specific purposes such as certain uniques etc as only a few weapons in this game are viable choices the rest is just padding to give the impression of content

[Lostpacket]

I did a ql 190 team mision with some pals. One of em was a lvl 164 engie. Im a 157 fixer. My engie pal decided to leave the bot behind - he did the whole mission with us with NO BOT.

We had MA, trader, agent, soo we were all buffed to the teeth with crit buffs.

The engie consistantly outdamaged me using a ql 192 snakeman vs my 200 sol chrionis professional. My attack rating of 850 was about 100 pts higher that his.


**** it. Can i trade in my fixer for another profession funcom ?? I not gonna lvl up another char it took too much time. Many high lev players firmly believe fixers should be removed from the game as they have fallen into the "no longer Invisioned" cracks.

If you refuse to finish the fixer profession then do us a favor - remove fixer from AO and FOCUS on ROUNDING out the other professions that also need help.

When i started playing AO back in beta4, fixers and adventurers were one of the most popular professions. Adv had that ranger feel and fixer was supposed to be a totally unique type of char that we have not seen in any previous rpg. I mean really funcom, fixer was your baby - your genius, your own creation that was custom built for RK. If you let fixer fail - you let AO fail. Now a days we are not seen as much - not being played as much, not wanted/needed in a team. Why ?? I think because people get into AO, they realize its not a easy game and they are forced to play a more hearty class. If fixer was supposed to be the "challenging class" to play - well then you did just fine. Just put something in the notes like you had that planned all along.

My suggestions on finishing the fixer. First i will define a fixer as a spacebard/thief hybrid and i will try to develop them from there.

to be added:

Major suppressor +100 smg + 40 burst +3 crit increase( self-only)

all warp and team warps. We are supposed to move fast - get stuff and be able to help peeps get places. ( this in itself would totally give fixers a spot in a team - they use speed to get into a hostile area - say a mission - and warp the team there) Now we would have both of the travel skills while other professions have either/or.

Concealment - rivaling an agents ruse. Now the lite blue conceal skill is justified.

debuffs - keep em coming

And If u made our HOTs a team nano - it would justify the massive nano cost and also let us give something back to the team.
__________________________________________________ __

Option 2

Hehehe ok im gonna throw in a real crazy idea. its a bit off the wall but here goes. Keep in mind if we did option 2 then we get nothing from above list.

The ability to hack/use any nano. ( some restrictions apply)
basically like fp or a hacked symbio-graft - but permanent use of another profs nanos. If it makes us too powerful - just swing that nerf-stick and poof !! we magically will suck again. Maybe you cannot allow every nano line to be hacked but quite a few could be hackable and remember our DARK BLUE nanoskills will keep us from casting a nano of higher ql than out lvl for the most part.


157 lvls and i still use a start-up nano as my primary weapon buff. How many other classes still got a start-up nano on their quik-bar ?? I am scared to know how many times i have cast minor suppressor. Please FC we are ****in begging you.

[Raik]

I for one came up with the following conclusion;

Fixers far and wide claimed that it is VERY straining on our IP and Skill Colors to even _cast_ grid armor. Not to mention its a pure PITA _finding_ it to begin with.

Funcom now changes the rule's to where we will be the only class to equip armor based on THREE DARK BLUE skills(unless your an atrox with a faible for nano armor - and even then it is only TWO dark blue skills), that are EASILY DEBUFFED by at least two classes out there, while it is IMPOSSIBLE to fully implant all three of them...

They are either inept, retarded, ignorant or perverted.

either of those is a reason for me not to put up with it all any longer.

We came up with numerous ways to balance the Fixer class for 6 months now. Most of which were handed out like free candy to other professions, where these 'balance adjustements' were neither needed, intended nor thought out for the respective receivers.

Funcom never listened.
The for whatever reason put yet ANOTHER hardship our way, before balancing our class to a point where we can even find teams.

I will not pay somebody to threaten me and repeatedly f0ck me in the ass.

[_______________Intra]

your really leaving??

[Baxie]

I played a fixer. Old Shadowrunner I was really looking forward to it too. Searched the sites and everything.

The fixers weren't half bad at the start. Burst was very powerful. EVen if it did have a 30 sec recycle time. 12.6 came along and after not being able to solo 25% missions for two months I decided to reroll. AN additional thing that got me to do this was the transport nanos given to 4 other classes.

Shortly thereafter they got the Grid Armor.

I was of course a bit upset by this but I had found a new love in my rerolled trader so no worries. They got new guns in tradeskills.... which all the kits are broken still. and now this.

I am not gloating, I still have a huge fondness for the fixerclass. It was fun to play. It was great to be able to run superfast and grid everywhere, but I am happy that I am not a fixer anymore.

The reroll was prolly the best move I ever made in AO.

Sad isn't it?