Zubenelgenubi

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I appreciate the 2 free slots, thanks for that at least. It does seem a little skimpy though (skimpy as in 1 additional slot per year of paid account time), considering the capacity for 36 slots *per server*.

I'd buy 5 slots per server for 20 bucks, but 5 slots total is crap. Almost as bad a deal as a wedding costume or two for $10. 5 more slots on 11 servers would run me, what, $220?! Please correct my math if it's wrong, but it looks to me like maxing out your 36 slots on all 11 servers will cost you about $1000.

Well at least you don't charge $25 per character transfer, like Blizzard. Although, considering the way things are going, who knows what to expect.

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Excellently dooooom-y post. Nice job simultaneously repeating known facts in quasi-belligerent fashion and speculating ominously about the future based on positive news.

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I used to work at a museum, and had to deal with the public all the time.

I would sometimes say (to co-workers only) that some people could walk in the door and if you handed them a sack of gold and performed fellatio on them, they'd still go away pissed off...

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As I read it, you get anywhere from 2 to 6 free slots when it goes live. It's not 2 per server, it's 2 free (but still 2 more than you had before). So if you get all 6, you can add one slot each to six different servers, or can add three each to two servers, or any combination you want.

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Sorry, but Posi said this:

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Thus, existing players will be eligible for up to 4 additional character slots at the launch of Issue 12.

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I'm seeing a lot of folks assuming that 2 free + 4 vet rewards = 6 slots total. But Posi's statement contradicts this. Can we get a clarification please, Positron?

Wow.

Just... WOW! !!

This is much, much more generous than I'd anticipated! And it's a lot more generous than I think anyone had hoped for in all the speculation about additional slots. I'd not planned on buying more slots, but I know many that were. Talk about customer service!

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For the first, I have to wonder what you’re smoking. Scrappers have, historically, been gods in this game. They had the living hell nerfed out of them, in fact (although they’re still just about the most powerful AT’s in the game). No game nerfs “useless” things.

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You mean that AT that doesn't do half the damage of a Blaster, has heavily resisted damage types, has been nerfed well past the level of usefulness in team situations (Seriously, my Blaster scraps better than my Scrappers and has the best damage mitigation in killing the enemies before they kill me) where everyone will do what you do, except, y'know, better.

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The AT you describe would, indeed, be pretty useless. But I was talking about scrappers.

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During the first month or so after Release, I sent an eMail to Statesman, and outlined everything that I saw as a potential problems with the game. He graciously and politely wrote back to me. He seemed to understand what I was saying and encouraged me to hang in there until they got all the kinks worked out. A lot of the problems I noticed have been addressed: The insane leveling curve, the overly-zealous Debt mechanics, the lack Enhancements that don't decay with levels, the complete uselessness of Scrappers, and so forth. However, there are still big, huge problems that are keeping the average gamer away- the biggest being the entire Bridging/Doorsitting/PLing nonsense. Normal gamers won't play a game with those issues. But instead of fixing it, as it should have been fixed on Day One, the Devs ignore it.

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You made a couple of good points in this post, but I have to take issue with two things in this paragraph, which I’ve outlined above.

For the first, I have to wonder what you’re smoking. Scrappers have, historically, been gods in this game. They had the living hell nerfed out of them, in fact (although they’re still just about the most powerful AT’s in the game). No game nerfs “useless” things.

As for the second, there have been numerous game changes to address PL’ing. Several missions had timers added to prevent farming it over and over and over and over forever. There was the nerf to burn, and the nerf to nova, and the nerf to taunt, and the nerf to herding, and changes to how XP is awarded in teams. This is nothing at all like "ignoring." Also, I’d have to say that PL’ing is very, very typical in MMO’s, and therefore “normal gamers” will indeed play a game with this in it (since typical = normal).

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there subs

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Where subs?

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Yes, the devs have stated before that side-switching is simply not going to happen. So, sorry, you're most likely never going to see that.


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Oh suuuure... MANTICORE gets to do it... AND he grts the hawt red-head... but do the rest of us get all that? Nooooo....

(Actually I have the hawt red-head, but I'm still not allowed to be evil.)

Meh. It's all just a tempest in a teapot anyway.

The Devs have already revealed (MANY times) that all or most of the powersets will get ported between red and blue sides. This first batch is the way it is because the powers selected were the quickest to get ready (mostly for animation reasons) and test for balance.

Hay-Seuss Cripes people. Patience.

Of course, the individuals pissing and moaning the most will still be complaining later on when everything is finished being swapped around. You know... because MM's won't get kinetics or some other insane demand.

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But, then again, that'll flood the boards with things such as "ZOMG fix my ice brute's broken fury bar!" and "ZOMG kin MMs are just SICK in PvP!" ... and let's not forget the "ZOMG Ill/ doms can't build domination on 4 powers alone!"

Sorry, peeps...that was my random rant for being sick and tired

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Or how about ZOMG people are voicing their opinions as is their right thanks to the subscription they pay!!!

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Or how about ZOMG people who disagree with the whiners are also voicing their opinions as is their right thanks to the subscription they pay!!!

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What do you expect in a thread like this 100% "All hail the devs greatness" posts?

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You must be referring to a different thread than this one.

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It's simple majority rules man. Of course you can't please everyone, but you can aim to plz the most players possible. I garantee a simple poll would have clearly shown that Dark/Dark was not what the majority would have chose for tanks....or elec/elec for stalkers and so on.

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You seem to forget that this isn't a democracy (just like any business). The final choice was and is only theirs.

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Exactly.

Can anyone say, "Moon Zone?" I knew you could.

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Regarding Grandville: The lag generated there appears to be machine related, not particularly connection related (within reason). For example, I am on a very slow DSL connection, but experience no lag within the zone. A SG mate with a much faster connection but lower end machine is constantly having problems there. There have been some rather exhaustive discussions by people who have performed some rather in depth graphical analysis in the tech forums, but those may have been cleaned in the last purge.

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Grandville lag has a well-known solution.

More computer memory.

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Find a new game... seriously... leave.
Gift Horse / Mouth anyone?

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Countdown to 2009 has already begun, thanks.


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An old friend of mine used to have one of those goofy "Countdown to the New Millennium" clocks on his wall. (Actually, it was a "Countdown to Y2K Doooooomm clock, as the 3rd Millennium really started a year later.)

Once Y2K came and went and the World was still here, both the clock and its owner looked pretty stupid.

Just sayin'.

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You know, this thread has quickly reminded me why I stopped posting on the boards entirely outside of the Culture section. I used to see this forum as one of the few really fun places to chat about a game. I think it's been about 3 years since it's been nothing more than a few vocal whiners complaining about every single everything in the entire game and frankly, I think I'll be happier to just curl back up in my hole and go back to sleep.

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Kind of Ironic that you are whining about whiners eh?

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Not as ironic as you whining about him whining about whiners.

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I think we have been going about this the wrong way with the devs. We have to quit yelling and complaining and result to good old fashioned villainous bribery.

Im talking donuts, tacos, beer, dancing monkeys.......know what Im saying? I am sending them hand picked turnips tonight!

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I dunno if that'll work... I hear they have $0.25 sodas in the vending machine and a double-dropping snack dispenser.

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I am, what I am!


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So, your Popeye then?

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Her Popeye what?

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someone want to explain the point of telling what issue 12 is about and not releasing it or giving a release date? quick talking about it and get it done! sheesh!

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Several reasons:

(A) - it builds anticipation for the Issue ... a little thing called "hype";

(B) - the Issue is still a "work in progress"; they will only tell us about things that are already working, or otherwise guaranteed to be part of the Issue. This way, if there's stuff they WANT to do, but it proves impossible? We don't end up standing around saying "but you promised _____";

(C) - it's better than hearing NOTHING about it, until it's all ready to go Live.

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<--- Refrained from making another "Oompa Loompa" comment this time...

...and I'm still waiting to hear how the newly hired Devs can be reasonably expected to complete many thousands of programming hours worth of work on bases in time to be included in the upcoming i12 content.


That was what JZ demanded by shouting, "WHAT ABOUT BASES?" in a thread all about upcoming i12 content. And in all the attempts at deflection used, all the tangents and changing of the subject and false accusations of name-calling and running off to find friends for an appeal to the people fallacy, nobody has answered this core issue, which was the whole point of my initial foray into this thread. Until that happens, I’m still gonna say, “Be careful around those squirrels (or golden geese, if you prefer old-school Wonka).”

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No, really you didn't. One should never lightly level an accusation of sock/meat puppetry; it's a pretty serious attack on the targets' character.

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I didn't do it lightly. I gave it careful thought, and only proceeded because it was very blatent. And I was correct, by the meat puppet's own admission, yes? Had I been mistaken, I would have offered an apology for it.

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I maintain that you should be ashamed for your part in this.

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I'm sorry you feel that way. But I really don't think you're going to convince me that I was wrong for calling them out. Do you think we can agree to disagree on this point, Pax?

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Waaaa!! Cry for the Dev's a little more why don't you! Trying to kiss up to them or what?

Sycophant

Look it up.

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Well now. I think that speaks for itself.

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(And I’m still waiting to hear how, exactly, the newly hired developers could be reasonably expected to complete tens of thousands of programming hours of work between December 07 and the announcement of the planned content of i12.)

[/ QUOTE ]Oh, geez... Are you *still* on this???

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Umm… yeah… I’m still on it. It was the entire point I was making. Duh


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THE DEVS ARE NOT ALL NEW!

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Maybe you should read the announcements. It was clearly stated that since new people were being hired, some attention could be paid to reworking bases. The devs who are old hands have other things on their plates. Why is that difficult for you to understand?


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For crying out loud, they have already said that they are fixing one of the oldest base bugs with Issue 12!

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Fixing a bug =/= major overhaul requiring many thousands of programming hours.

I’m still waiting to hear how you expect that to be done in a few short weeks after the new people are hired.

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However, Zub ... the truth is, you were guilty of a faux pas first. I mean, really now ... registration date attacks? You should know better than that!

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It wasn't a registration date attack, actually. What I noticed first was the tiny post counts of several individuals who suddenly appeared out of nowhere to chime in on JZ’s side… Coupled, of course, with JZ jumping in immediately and saying “HA! You see! Other people agree with me! So there!” It didn’t pass the smell test. In fact, this is the very first time I’ve ever questioned the reality of another poster on these forums. I think that in this case I had good reason.

The one person I knew to be real, PlasmaStream, received a thoughtful response.

And as a matter of fact, I’ve not seen any evidence that any of these posters is not an alt account. The one registered two days ago is particularly suspicious. But I’m willing to concede that they are (mostly, anyway) real people, since like you pointed out a meat puppet is not any better than a sock puppet.

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I'm sorry, but I don't have any idea what a "meat puppet" is.

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Precisely what you suggested: when a person in an internet argument, goes and gets friends who were not previously part of the community the argument is taking part in, to join that community and support that person's side of things, making their opinion seem to have broader, more popular support in general.


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Exactly. Thank you, Pax.

They’re not alt accounts? Not even the one that was registered yesterday? Heh. So instead he ran off to another internet community crying for his friends to come save him from the big, bad CoX Forum Bully. Yeah, that’s much better than just whining for his Oompa Loompa. I guess he sure showed me!



(And I’m still waiting to hear how, exactly, the newly hired developers could be reasonably expected to complete tens of thousands of programming hours of work between December 07 and the announcement of the planned content of i12.)

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Bases need work. A lot of it. This isn't a Veruca salt moment unless now in your continuum = 6 issues ago. Anyone who says otherwise isn't a BaseBuilder. We've been asking.

We have gotten some things....but outstanding bugs for issues remain unchecked. Things we believe are simple get no comment to PM or thread.

Rent Reduction - Good
Combo Rooms/Units/Starter Bases - Good
Prestige Grants - Great!

Now, lets see about
Decorative Items that exist within the mapping program.
Fixing RoboSurgery (YAY Pohsyb!), and certain Defensive items for those that do the base raiding (not me, but it is a valid concern for them)

And these are just two relatively simple items from a fairly comprehensive list thats been developed, tweaked and updated.

IOP removal...yeah its a start. Robo Surgery (again yay Pohsyb) is another start...

But many builders are losing faith and hope that we will even be acknowledged at this point. We just had more red name posts in the builders forum in the past week than we have all year, and thats 2 by the way (warning that may be hyperbole I didn't actually count, but its damn close to accurate). So as a community we do want someone to tell marketing to kiss off and just SPEAK TO US. Address our concerns just like any other community in this game. At least give us something to cling to rather than two false starts that may not actually mean anything in the long run.

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This one I will make a real reply to, as I know PlasmaStream is a real person.

Posi promised, when the NCSoft buyout was announced (or very shortly thereafter), that bases would be worked on. This was one of the things that the new staff members would be assigned to. So the promise of major base love dates to that time. And, like I already said in this thread (and which was ignored, of course), tens of thousands of programming hours cannot be accomplished in a few weeks.

Yes, bases have had outstanding problems for a long time. Of course they have. So do many other aspects of this game. But developer resources, in terms of time if nothing else, have been limited. And I should point out that the Devs rarely comment in advance about bug fixes, whether they’re working on them or not. So it’s not as if bases have been singled out for neglect.

Nevertheless, there have been major improvements to bases. Improvements that came directly as a result of customer feedback. Drastically reduced rent. Storage items. The final fix of the infamous Base Kick Bug. Low-cost rooms and items for starter bases. And let us not forget Merry Basemas (in which some SG’s and VG’s actually received 6 MILLION BONUS PRESTIGE. (Yes, you acknowledged all this above of course. And thank you.)

AND far from neglecting bases or base builders… There are highly encouraging signs that the devs are reading the base construction boards and paying close attention to what we discuss over there.

My whole point in posting the Veruka Salt comment was simply to say that we’ve been promised future overhauling of bases, now that the developer staff has increased in size. But this has just happened recently, and it’s ridiculous to have ever expected that i12 would include major base changes.



(…and I did it WITHOUT name-calling, or telling anyone they’re not allowed to post, or any of the other absurd things I’ve been accused of.)

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Please read all the posts after my last post from Deejaye_6, Almighty_HH, Greeneyedlady, and PlasmaStream....


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Oh, I read them. Yup yup yup. Looks like I'm outvoted. Golly gosh-a-rootie!



And now we can play the Sesame Street Game!

"Three of these things belong together...
Three of these things are kinda the same...
But one of these things is not like the others..."

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Well since I believe I read somewhere on here that my $15 give me the right to post whatever I want and that I shouldnt be surprised when I get appropriate responses to unrealistic expectations or whatever, then thats what I believe I will do. Since Mr. Zubenelomgugottabekiddingmegenubi thought it appropriate to sling mud and call names for paying customers.... [snip]

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"This alt account ALSO agrees with me!!! AND since nobody knows who it really is, I can make up lies about what Zube has actually said (because of course nobody can go back and read his posts and see for themselves that he didn't do that)!! It's a foolproof plan!"