WinterFlare

TRUTH - I recently had a close friend join the game using my free trial account, who then went on to buy it - so new people are still joining.

TRUTH - Within the Outbreak zone, he received at least two blind invites for teaming from other people in that zone - so other people are starting / creating new alts.

TRUTH - Both he and I, that evening, recieved team invites, blind invites, super group invites - the game is still very much active, and has active teaming.

HOWEVER

I do, at times, feel that I should be seeing more people around, in game. Perhaps it is times? Perhaps it is the high number of zones that there now are? Perhaps it's because of the CoH/CoV split?

I come out pretty much on the fence on this one. Apart from seeing more people around Atlas Park, I can't see a server merge changing the game significantly - aside from having to turn down a million more blind invites.

That is also, another key to success!

Strength in numbers. A plan that rarely fails

Yep, that would be me. I did my fair share of healing / clearing as and when I could - but only field level, nothing 'aura' based. Just little top ups between blasting/freezing!

Hope tends to be all we have to go on, these days.

Don't get me wrong - the cyborg pack was a nice touch, and yes, I13 is coming - but there's sometimes more to an MMO than the game itself (and the forum, of course)

I'm just a bit lost as to why people keep comparing CoH to WoW. Different player base:

Sci Fi vs. Fantasy
New Game vs. Game based on established universe
New Publisher vs. Established Publisher

Different graphics
Different gameplay

So - how can you compare them fairly?

Going back to the OP - no, I can't see it being free. I don't see why it needs to be, either. It's not breaking the bank. It's updated at a steady(ish) pace. There are extras to buy. Money being paid in pays for these developments.

I was, originally, going to come out against this. However, thinking it over, since all you have to do is pass it to a friend, and then have them pass it back - yeah, it's stupid. It should be possible to transfer inf, etc.

Good to see that they fixed it in good time Didn't take'em long at all (yes, I'm being serious, not sarcastic).

I wish I could remember the best team combination that I've ever worked with. All I can remember is that we managed to complete the MoSTF in one go, first off! It was a mixture that I didn't think was going to work - yet lo and behold, they all went down, and we didn't!

Just goes to show you, when it really works, you remember the event, not the types! The best teams are the smoothest ones!

"I fully agree. Although you outlevel contacts constantly of course. But these contacts require dedicated work to obtain them. Of course there is Ourobouros but I am not sure they are all in the Ouro list."

If not, surely a request/suggestion will put them on the list of accessible flashbacks? Wasn't part of the point of flashbacks to allow you to play content you may have missed / outlevelled, and to achieve badges that you may not have known were there, or had been released?

"There's also quite a few other, non-i13 things which still haven't materialized, notably the new boards and the other web features whose Option settings have in ingame for over 6 months for no reason now.

Really the web development team needs to get the finger out too."

Here here. Completely agree. Not in an evil 'oh for god's sake' way, but in a 'some kind of revelation would be nice, in regards to non-issue stuff.

I had the same issue when I was visiting the states in 2006, and a friend of mine had a similar problem when he went to Austrailia for a year (I wound up paying for him and he transferred me the money).

I understand that it's some kind of fraud prevention (and yes, Paypal is an option, sometimes) and so we should be glad that they have our best interest at hearts - but it can be horribly annoying, I know. It still doesn't explain the shoddy response that you received.

"Stalkers do it from Behind" - I like this idea! (puns intended :P) My housemate and I were discussing slogans like this earlier this evening - always good

A plushie shivan would be soooooo sweet! I can't believe I'd never thought of it before!

Yep That's how I did it.

That Kheldian image, 'art of war', is fantastic, Mess. Yes, that's the kind of T-Shirt I was thinking of. The kind where someone can like the way it looks, without having to have prior knowledge, but may still enquire as to where it comes from.

Again, I don't think you understand my point, but it's not something that needs refining any further, as it detracts from the topic

Something I always found a shame was the Prima ring-binder guide. Great concept, terrible follow-through. Ah well

Sorry Raven, I think my meaning came out wrong.

I meant that my personal preference was towards more picture-based, character/logo showing T-shirts, over computer/mmo/community jokes. As in - I would rather someone saw the shirt and appreciated the image, rather than needing the joke explained because they're not part of that world Apologies if I was not clear

I just ran around the crater in the hollows and aggro'd the patches of rock-men 'til I found this one. That, or the cavern of transcendance is a good one for this.

That's fair enough, Londoner - each to their own

I've taken a look at the forumite shop for the first time ever - it was quite entertaining, but it's very 'in-crowd', and is obviously more for your own enjoyment, rather than your average 'CoH' branded product.

Where did you get the CoV mousemat from, Cynic?

Perhaps, but I've have to see one before I could make a judgement. The concept is certainly appealing, and I can see why they did it - I'd certainly be tempted if it was available to CoH!

"If there were a T-Shirt or hoodie that was subtly CoH/V"

I agree. I'd quite like a CoH hoodie - perhaps with a logo of something more than / other than the Statesman's star?

"Zeus Titan Figure"

That would be one hell of a figure/statue. I like that!

"signature character busts"

I agree with your comment that they'd have to be *high* quality.

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Some nice ideas / comments! Keep'em coming!

I'm not sure if this is something that gets discussed, but I was curious - what do people think about the current CoH merchandise?

I'll start outside of the NC store. You've got the City Of Heroes novels (two published, the Rikti War story never coming into print), and of course, the City of Heroes comics.

Now - let's move to the NC Store. There's the CoH/CoV blue/red star/arachnos T-shirts, the Lord Recluse statue (of course there used to be a now rare Statesman one), and an A1 poster for the Good vs. Evil pack.

My question is: If there was more, would you buy it, and if so, what would you be looking for? (Note, this is not a ranting post say 'there's not enough stuff'. I'm just curious as to what merchandise people would be interested in).

Guild Wars has posters, hoodies, t-shirts, IPod cases, badges, a mouse, etc.

Lineage has t-shirts, posters, key rings, and in the limited edition game, a statuette (of course, there were heroclix in the CoV boxed set).

I'm sure people want to say "who needs merchandise?" and "I don't want a CoH mouse" - but please, that isn't the topic that am hoping to discuss. I am simply curious - would you like to see other items of merchandise, and if so, what kind of things would you be looking for?

You'll be missed by us all

Works for me.

Any more on this, Z?