_Duuk

One thing the market needs is a better webpage for pre-purchase browsing. I'm majorly impulsive about these points, and having the ability to have all the relevant information at my fingertips would definitely be good.

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<em>"NCsoft is handing over creative control to the player"</em>-<a href="http://pc.ign.com/articles/957/957168p1.html">IGN </a>(Feb. 2009)

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This one doesn't sound like a positive.

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They could fight back before. Nothing stopped them from doing so.

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Ah, do I detect a hint of "l2p"? Thenk you!

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Um. I don't even begin to PvP and I'd say "lern2playnoob".

It's a game based on super-speeded, flying superheroes that shoot laser beams from their hands.

...what the heck else would be smarter than "run in... nuke... flee before the return hit.?

It's 1:30 AM Eastern Time on a Tuesday night/wednesday morning. I know which way I'd wager.

Issue 13: Making you love WoW!

/fail

Announcement: The big part of Issue 13 will now be Issue 14.

Oh, and you can now hire a chinese gold farmer to level you to 50 without you even needing to be online.

Oh, and you can make a 'pvp' and 'pve' version of yourself.

Judging from your questions, I'm wagering you'll be one of the people most let down by the Architect.

My feeling on the mission creator, and why we don't have more information on it, is that the mission creator as it is currently coded probably bears very little to the discussion threads about it. You can read threads all over the forums that are expecting the ability to make things that drip with awesomesauce. If it turns out that the mission creator is released and all you can do is enter:

Enemy Group
Tileset
Boss Says What When Encountered
Enemy Spawns Say What (3 Options):
Ambush Spawns Say What:

Then I think you'll have open revolt on the forums and a serious number of cancellations. In short, I think the hype has far, far surpassed any hope of this feature being accepted on release. There is literally no way that the mission creator could ever meet the expectations of even half the forum.

What should have been a complete win for CoX has become a lose-lose due to poor communication leading to false expectations.

What scares me most about this post is that a special announcement of "We Have No Announcements" is the best that could be offered.

Suppose for a moment that the Mission Architect is the problem. Suppose you're in marketing. What do you do?

I've been in sales my entire adult life, and I know what I'd do: Teaser screenshots of dudes with shields. Teaser screenshots of a shield being thrown at a Vahzilok embalmed cadaver. Teaser screenshot of a villain healing someone.

If reality doesn't work... sell illusion and assumption.

Imagine this thread if Lighthouse posts this instead:


Ok, we know.

We should have had said something more by now, about Issue 13. But… like all great architectural endeavors, Issue 13 is taking on a life of its own and we’re not quite ready to spill forth all the information.

While you wait... please review the following images. But of course, I'm not about to tell you what you're seeing. You'll have to guess! Updates and answers about what these screenshots mean coming Soon[tm]! :evil grin:


Thanks!

Edit: I should be in marketing. The NC marketing team is horrifically bad. Feel free to contact me for a resume.... willing to relocate for appropriate money.

You know, I distinctly remember when the initial announcement of the Best Buy/Target game cards was released... (helpful hint: the thread is STILL IN THE ANNOUNCEMENT DISCUSSION FORUM)... It went something like this:

Forum People: "Hey, those cards are pretty cool if they come with a jetpack for the extra $5. Is there any chance I could just pay the $5 difference and get the jetpack?"

Lighthouse: "You're serious? You'd pay the difference? It never occurred to us that you'd want to pay more for a temp power."

Forum People: "No really, gimme gimme gimme."

Lighthouse: "Ok... no promises, but I'll mention it to marketing."

And now the jetpack has become a reality and people are, in gratitude, offering to crucify Lighthouse and burn his kitten in a microwave. All for doing EXACTLY WHAT WE TOLD HIM TO DO.

People... you're never happy.

I think I've figured out why I'm so underwhelmed by this announcement.

Since the release of i12, all the devs have been letting us know that they're working on UBER L33T STUFF that will be both TOP SECRET and HIGHLY AWESOME.

Only to find out that we're getting:

Shields: Known about this for a good long while. Even the newsies in Paragon know this, and let's just say they're not always ahead of the curve.

Mission Creator: This was announced a long while back, too.

Day Jobs: Happen offline. Minimal rewards. Require paying attention to where you logout. I can tell you right now that the odds of me getting these badges is going to be purely coincidental. *and I consider myself a moderate roleplayer that takes my character themes seriously*

Cimerora: Uhhh, hate to admit this... I haven't been there yet.

Basically, nothing exciting that blew me away, a bunch of old news, and some zone stuff I probably won't use anyway. I wouldn't mind, it seems like a solid issue... but the devs have been telling us for 2 months it's going to be the BEST ISSUE EVER.

I'm more excited about the cyborg thing.

No info about bases.

I'm curiously underwhelmed by this announcement, and I'm not sure why.

My God... isn't it beautiful.

/signed, sealed, and loved.

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Not necessarily unique. If the outfit fits the character well, I don't often change it. My main character changed once, and the other fifteen have remained the same since creation - they get "special event" outfits, but that's about it. The costume is part of the character creation. If they don't look right, I don't like playing them.

I'm the one that has to stare at them, after all.

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Quoted for Freakin' truth.

I usually don't make extra or different costumes.

Exception: I will sometimes make my "alter ego" costume.

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You know, the 'unlockable' thing put a huge stop to my general merriment over I12. I still don't have a full Vanguard set on any character.

I have wanted more Classical costumes since day one. If they must be 'unlocked', let it be like the Holiday options - complete a mission or an arc and get the piece unlocked. Please, do not make me farm badges.

I also think they should be opened up for the entire account.

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Until there are account-unlocks, I won't bother getting the special costume pieces. I get very attached to the looks of my toons, so having to wait 20-30 levels (exception: cape/aura) means I won't be adding a witches' hat, etc.

Things that would make sense [Official Thoughts by Duuk]

1) Snake Tunnels in Mercy (translation: Gimme some villain sewers!) Give them 3-4 starting "holes" scattered around Mercy so we can have that "traveling" concept like we do from AP->KR->Skyway Heroside.

2) Add villain story arcs to the *level 20+ zones* Heroside. Especially in the hazard zones, there is no particular reason not to allow villains. PvP should be flagged or server-level, not mandatory. No villains in AP, but some magic evils killing stuff in DA or Croatoa? Sure.

Personally, I'd like a few extra themes for bases. My SG is themed as a government agency, and I have no "office" theme to build on. I had to make a bastardized cut of dingy factory, sewer brick (colored red) and hi-tech trim.

Being able to use some of the "Generic Office Building" stuff would rock. Nice, painted walls. Cubicles.

I believe WoW has trial accounts set to not be able to send tells to anyone except people that have sent a tell to the toon.

Side note: A "finger"-type command (show user last on data) for name searches wouldn't be terribly hard to add (since we know the functionality exists due to SG-last on display) and might allow a nice way to free up names.

If I finger "Lord Soth" and find out that it hasn't been logged in for 30 months, I can petition to have the name released.

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That's a strawman argument. I don't think anybody here has said that somebody who logged in once and has never returned in four years deserves to keep their names. I'm certainly not going to step up to defend an argument I never made.

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You may not have made it, but many, many people have. "If I left for 18 years and came back and my name was taken... I'd quit playing!" has been a fairly common mantra. Also, from the posters in this thread, I'd assume that every single person that has ever played and left for more than a year comes back. All of them. 100% certainty.

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If a member of my sg suddenly had a toon change to genericxxxx it would show up in my sg window.

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You have members of your SG that haven't logged in for over a year and you haven't kicked them?

That sounds... just flat out stupid.

Side note: How would any of you know if they suddenly started purging names not logged in for over a year?

I'd suggest that likely less than 2% of accounts have taken a break longer than a year and ever returned, and I'm 100% sure that could be datamined easily enough.

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Of course they could tell you to think of your own names and stop trying o pinch someone elses.

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Someone else that hasn't logged in for 3 years and got into the first day of the open game and took the name "Merlin" for a magic blaster isn't all that creative, but is eliminating someone else using it.

Your account is active, no one will steal your names. I promise.

Personally, I think automated emails being sent saying, "Your account has been inactive for 12 months and the names will be released in 30 days if you do not respond." would be fine.

Even servicemembers in Iraq have email access at least once per year, and allowing them to click one link to have their account maintained (possibly with the link asking, "why the absence?" and making it noted in the account) isn't asking too much.

Non-response gets purged.