Ardrea

Yes, I know the hard cap on run speed is 92.5 mph, and it's not hard to get there with Super Speed. I want to know how fast one can possibly run -without- Super Speed. My fast running scrapper can hit the hard can by popping Elude, and thus I don't want to consider click powers such as Elude either, even if some click power recharges so fast it's quasi-perma.

So, no Super Speed. No Elude, either. No other click powers at all for that matter. How fast can you possibly run? Which IO sets to slot, even in non-travel related powers, to get as fast as possible?

I have a question. What's the fastest a character can run using only permanent or toggle powers and without being buffed by someone else or using an actual travel power (i.e., Super Speed).

I have a Super Reflexes scrapper with Quickness, Swift, and Sprint slotted for run speed, and with an IO set or two adding to movement speed, and that character can run at about 49 mph. I was curious how close I'd gotten to the absolute upper limit on run speed without using SS; has anyone played with this and maxed it? If so, what AT/power-sets, which powers, what kind of slotting? Again, I only want to consider actual permanent powers or toggles; not quasi-permament fast-recharging click powers.

My fast-running character also has hurdle and combat jumping, also well-slotted for jumping, and I find the combination of a lot of run and a lot of jumping almost as good as an actual travel power.

Mothership Mondays are still very consistent on Virtue. Monday evenings, US Eastern time, often two or three consecutive raids; generally gathering at Point Du Hoc by 730-8pm.

I'm about as certain as a mere player can get -- i16 is today.

How am I so certain? I ran my updater, and it now says I'm on version 1600.20090902.4T2, which is the last version the i16 forums had patch notes for.

So, is this as "conclusive" as I think it is?

I have three slots in Health and three slots in Stamina. I could respec and move a fourth slot to Stamina, if that'd help; does the Performance Shifter Chance for +Endurance item work continuously if it's slotted in a passive? Would it be worth substituting by itself for a common End Mod IO?

Back to Health for a moment; would the Numina's Heal and +Recover/+Regen go well with a Miracle +Recovery?

I have Health (and Stamina, too) in one of my toons; with three slots. They're currently filled with common Heal IOs. This take me up to the ED cap, but I'm wondering if I could improve on that. Specifically, would slotting a Miracle +Recovery in Health instead of one of the common Heal IOs make sense? I'd be just shy of the ED cap for Health then, I think, but my toon could use more endurance.

Any other general advice on slotting Health up, or Stamina too, would be appreciated.

Please. no flame wars. This is a great thread, keep the insightful stuff coming.

I wonder if these troubles are related to the reports from last night about frequent mapserve disconnects?

That could be; I'm using Verizon from the U.S east coast.

Same problem, on Virtue. I tried with two different characters, one blue-side, one red-side; no difference -- mapserves within minutes of joining.

A beautiful baby! Congratulations to all three of you!

I've never been able to resize the Search window either -- it probably can't be. However, if you hover your mouse c ursor over the comment, a pop-up version will show that you can read in entirety.

Our giant team taking down a ship in Talos:

Drop ship dropping

It was great fun.

Thanks all! I d/l'd the SP2 update for Vista 64, and turned on the compatible cursors, and now it works.

You all have the patience of saints, and your help with these things is greatly appreciated.

Hi there,

I had the black screen on startup problem, but fixed it with reverting my Nvidia drivers to the 185 versions instead of the 186 versions. But now, when the login screen comes up, I have no visible mouse cursor. I can manage to input my password and select a character with a lot of difficulty, and get in-game, but the mouse cursor's missing there too.

Any ideas of what could cause this, and how I can fix it?

************************
---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.1.1.7---

DxDiag gathered at July 16, 2009 21:18 (-04:00)
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.090302-1506)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: BIOS Date: 05/19/09 12:10:39 Ver: 08.00.15
Central Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 975 @ 3.33GHz (8 CPUs), ~3.3GHz
Memory: 12278MB
.Net Memory Report: 10527MB out of 12277MB available
Page File: 22927MB (1552MB currently in use)
C Drive: (WDC WD1500HLFS-01G6U0) 95215MB out of 143086MB (66%) free
D Drive: (OCZ SOLID_SSD) 114385MB out of 122284MB (93%) free
E Drive: (Volume0) 953744MB out of 953863MB (99%) free
F Drive: (HL-DT-ST BDDVDRW GGC-H20L) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\Windows
DirectX: DirectX 10
DirectX Diag version: 6.00.6001.18000 (64-bit version)

Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.

No problems found.

No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.

Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor's Max Resolution: (blank)
Video Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295
Manufacturer / Chip: NVIDIA / GeForce GTX 295
Video Memory: 366 MB
Driver Version: 8.15.0011.8585
Driver Date: 4/30/2009 10:02:00 PM
Driver Language: English

Sound Device Description: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Driver File: RTKVHD64.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5657
Driver Date: 7/3/2008 5:03:48 AM

Sound Device Description: Realtek Digital Output(Optical) (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Driver File: RTKVHD64.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5657
Driver Date: 7/3/2008 5:03:48 AM

Sound Device Description: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Driver File: RTKVHD64.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5657
Driver Date: 7/3/2008 5:03:48 AM


WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: P6T
Motherboard Version: Rev 1.xx
BIOS Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Name: BIOS Date: 05/19/09 12:10:39 Ver: 08.00.15
BIOS Version: 051909 - 20090519
BIOS Release: 20090519000000.000000+000

Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 2560x1600
3D Resolution: 2560x1600 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: Yes
Maximized: No
Screen Position: 0, 0
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: Yes

Physics Quality: Medium
Maximum Particles: 50000
Max Particle Fill? 10.000
Physics Card Enabled: No

Anti-aliasing: 4x
Anisotropic Filtering: 4x
Texture LOD Bias: Smooth
Water Effects: High Quality
Bloom: 1.000 (turned on)
Depth of Field Enabled: Yes
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: Yes
Shader Detail: Unknown (3)

World Texture Level: Very High
Character Texture Level: Very High
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 1.000
Entity Detail Level: 1.000
Shadows Enabled: Yes
Gamma Correction: 1.000
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: Yes
Suppression of Extra Player FX Enabled: No
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: No
Close Suppression Range: 3.000
Show Advertisements: Yes

Audio Mode: Performance
3D Audio: No
FX Sound Volume: 1.000
Music Sound Volume: 0.600

Show Advanced Graphics Options: No
Overall Graphics Quality: 0.600
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: Unknown bytes/second
Current Game Version: 19.20090702.5T2
Installation Directory: D:\CoX\City of Heroes

Mod files in the Data directory
No modifications found

Okay, so I reverted to the 185.85 Nvidia drivers, and I can see the graphics now, but the mouse cursor's invisible. Any ideas there?

I'm having the same problem as the OP.

I've loaded and updated CoX on this new machine of mine, and everything woprks fine until the game starts. I see a large-pixel hour-galss cursor for a few seconds, then the screen goes black. I can hear the music that normally plays with the login screen, but there's nothing to be seen.

I ran HijackThis and the CohHelper, here's the output:

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.2
Scan saved at 8:21:03 PM, on 7/16/2009
Platform: Windows Vista SP1 (WinNT 6.00.1905)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v8.00 (8.00.6001.18702)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Intel Matrix Storage Manager\IAAnotif.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Trend Micro\HijackThis\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page = C:\Windows\SysWOW64\blank.htm
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar,LinksFolderName =
F2 - REG:system.ini: UserInit=userinit.exe
O1 - Hosts: ::1 localhost
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Sidebar] C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe /autoRun
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [WindowsWelcomeCenter] rundll32.exe oobefldr.dll,ShowWelcomeCenter
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ehTray.exe] C:\Windows\ehome\ehTray.exe
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\Run: [Sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /detectMem (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\Run: [WindowsWelcomeCenter] rundll32.exe oobefldr.dll,ShowWelcomeCenter (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\Run: [Sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /detectMem (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')
O4 - Startup: Neverwinter Nights Registration.lnk = D:\Games\ereg\ATR1.EXE
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~1\Office12\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~1\Office12\REFIEBAR.DLL
O13 - Gopher Prefix:
O16 - DPF: {D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000} (Shockwave Flash Object) - http://fpdownload2.macromedia.com/ge...sh/swflash.cab
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\Alg.exe,-112 (ALG) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: ASP.NET State Service (aspnet_state) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\aspn et_state.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @dfsrres.dll,-101 (DFSR) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\DFSR.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Intel(R) Matrix Storage Event Monitor (IAANTMON) - Intel Corporation - C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Intel Matrix Storage Manager\IAANTMon.exe
O23 - Service: @keyiso.dll,-100 (KeyIso) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @comres.dll,-2797 (MSDTC) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\msdtc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\System32\netlogon.dll,-102 (Netlogon) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (nvsvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\nvvsvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: PnkBstrA - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\PnkBstrA.exe
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\psbase.dll,-300 (ProtectedStorage) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\Locator.exe,-2 (RpcLocator) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\locator.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\samsrv.dll,-1 (SamSs) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\SLsvc.exe,-101 (slsvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\SLsvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\snmptrap.exe,-3 (SNMPTRAP) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\snmptrap.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\spoolsv.exe,-1 (Spooler) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Stereoscopic 3D Driver Service (Stereo Service) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\Windows\SysWOW64\nvSCPAPISvr.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\ui0detect.exe,-101 (UI0Detect) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\UI0Detect.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\vds.exe,-100 (vds) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\vds.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\vssvc.exe,-102 (VSS) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\vssvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%Systemroot%\system32\wbem\wmiapsrv.exe,-110 (wmiApSrv) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\wbem\WmiApSrv.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe,-101 (WMPNetworkSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe (file missing)

--
End of file - 5236 bytes


*****************

---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.1.1.7---

DxDiag gathered at July 16, 2009 20:18 (-04:00)
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.090302-1506)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: BIOS Date: 05/19/09 12:10:39 Ver: 08.00.15
Central Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 975 @ 3.33GHz (8 CPUs), ~3.3GHz
Memory: 12278MB
.Net Memory Report: 10580MB out of 12277MB available
Page File: 23046MB (1717MB currently in use)
C Drive: (WDC WD1500HLFS-01G6U0) 96849MB out of 143086MB (67%) free
D Drive: (OCZ SOLID_SSD) 114385MB out of 122284MB (93%) free
E Drive: (Volume0) 953744MB out of 953863MB (99%) free
F Drive: (HL-DT-ST BDDVDRW GGC-H20L) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\Windows
DirectX: DirectX 10
DirectX Diag version: 6.00.6001.18000 (64-bit version)

Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.

No problems found.

No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.

Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor's Max Resolution: (blank)
Video Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295
Manufacturer / Chip: NVIDIA / NVxx
Video Memory: 360 MB
Driver Version: 8.15.0011.8618
Driver Date: 6/10/2009 9:03:00 AM
Driver Language: English

Sound Device Description: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Driver File: RTKVHD64.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5657
Driver Date: 7/3/2008 5:03:48 AM

Sound Device Description: Realtek Digital Output(Optical) (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Driver File: RTKVHD64.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5657
Driver Date: 7/3/2008 5:03:48 AM

Sound Device Description: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Driver File: RTKVHD64.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5657
Driver Date: 7/3/2008 5:03:48 AM


WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: P6T
Motherboard Version: Rev 1.xx
BIOS Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Name: BIOS Date: 05/19/09 12:10:39 Ver: 08.00.15
BIOS Version: 051909 - 20090519
BIOS Release: 20090519000000.000000+000

Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 1024x768
3D Resolution: 1024x768 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: Yes
Maximized: No
Screen Position: 0, 0
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: Yes

Physics Quality: Medium
Maximum Particles: 50000
Max Particle Fill? 10.000
Physics Card Enabled: No

Anti-aliasing: None
Anisotropic Filtering: 4x
Texture LOD Bias: Smooth
Water Effects: High Quality
Bloom: 1.000 (turned on)
Depth of Field Enabled: Yes
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: Yes
Shader Detail: Unknown (3)

World Texture Level: Very High
Character Texture Level: Very High
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 1.000
Entity Detail Level: 1.000
Shadows Enabled: Yes
Gamma Correction: 1.000
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: Yes
Suppression of Extra Player FX Enabled: No
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: No
Close Suppression Range: 3.000
Show Advertisements: Yes

Audio Mode: Performance
3D Audio: No
FX Sound Volume: 1.000
Music Sound Volume: 0.600

Show Advanced Graphics Options: No
Overall Graphics Quality: 0.600
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: Unknown bytes/second
Current Game Version: 19.20090702.5T2
Installation Directory: D:\CoX\City of Heroes

Mod files in the Data directory
No modifications found

I've seen this before; an excellent niche-channel catering to a loyal, but small audience, broadens out to increase viewership. Remember The Learning Channel (TLC) of ten or fifteen years ago? That was wonderful; lots of education shows covering a broad spectrum of material from the practical to the abstract; now it's full of junk, but junk that attracts a lot of viewers. Remember ZDTV? There's probably more than a few others who've let the pursuit of ever higher viewership ruin their original vision. Syfy will do the same; the base of viewers who wanted a channel they could depend of to deliver good science fiction (and closely related genres and materials) will be abandoned, and we'll see ever more out-of-genre material crowding out the programing science fiction fans would rather see.

At least, by changing the name, they're being honest about it.

Personally, I think it would be interesting if Double-XP only applied to non-MA PvE content.

... and now it's happening again.

Apparently; I tried to connect and it says the login server wasn't accessible. Then it said "There was a problem detected in the game database system".

I run at 1920 x 1200 on a Nvidia GeForce Go 7950 gtx, and it works fine.

Hmm.. it -almost- let me on a moment ago; sign-on, server & character selection, then it said I wasn't allowed on while the server was in testing, or such. Soon.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Failing that, change how the rewards work to not penalize normal play. I would consider "normal play" to be at most 9 hours (longest current TF lasts about that long) so people could earn a maximum of 15 hours per day.

[/ QUOTE ]

NCSoft does not get money based on how much you play the game. They get money based on how long you subscribe. They aren't penalizing normal play. They are giving constant rewards to everyone who is subscribing. If you're in the game, you still get far better rewards than when not, but now even those who don't have as much time to play are gaining something during every hour.

If their goal is to reward players for every hour subscribed to the game, then limiting it to a maximum per day penalizes the players who don't have as much time to play. I have a feeling that this new system is called "Day Jobs" partially because it's targeted towards players who have them in real life.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have to agree here.

Something that's been missing from this discussion, or at least, the parts of it I've read, is the recognition that any issue is founded as a business decision foremost. What changes to the game can they make that will preserve the existing subscriber base, -and- attract even more subscribers? With any change such as this, they've put thought and analysis into how many old players might leave on account of it, how many players who might have left (due to not feeling they're getting their subscription's worth) instead decide to stay, and how many new players might be attracted.

My guess is the day jobs feature will keep a lot of casual players from letting their subscriptions drop. Loyal casual players may well be the most profitable ones to have as well -- they pay their subscriptions, but don't tax the servers much for it.

An in-game friend of mine and I were chatting last night; she's definately a casual player, and is fortunate to be able to play for a few hours one night a week. She remarked at one point that she felt like she would never get a character to level 50. Well, with day jobs, she'll be getting a lot more satisfaction for the few hours a week she can play, and has a much better chance at reaching the higher-level content. I think there's probably a lot of players in that situation, and some will likely elect to keep their subscriptions current because they're getting more character satisfaction for the monthly price.