Zenyth

Not specifically a PB problem...or a mechanics problem, but just a "What's so bad about kheldians".

We get ignored for little things like power customization. Im not even talking coloring our powers...pretty much everything we have is off someone elses animation table, but we didnt get any of the new alternate animations for anybody...melee, or range...

Not being able to color our effects is pretty bad too, but they cant even bother to give us the alternate animations?

Makes me sad and just drives home the belief that we're an afterthought that will only really get looked at if we've got a game breaking bug.

Just the right mix of awesome and camp...and I like that they acknowledged just how campy it all seems.

This could be a good one...we'll see how it holds up.

dab erew yeht dna sregnagelppod fo tola edam ti dna gniht rorrim siht saw ereht ,nogarap ni ,emit eno siht oS :81 eussI

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I thought the whole point of renaming the studio Paragon Studios instead of NCNC was to emphasize their commitment to City of Heroes? Seems odd to do that and then immediately start developing a new MMO, unless by "new" they mean a sequel or an expansion.

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You do realize that development studios tend to usually have more than one project running at a time right? I mean, look at Blizzard, Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, The WoWbeast's updates, and the "unnamed mmo" they've been working on....

Or how about Cryptic, the former owners of CoH..Star Trek, Champions, that new Neverwinter Nights one from the other day...

Development studios dont put all their eggs in one basket, its just not smart for them to do so...

Besides, the Paragon team has been expanding by leaps and bounds since that name change, and the reinvestment from NCsoft. They're hiring more people so they can manage running multiple projects...doesnt mean they're cutting into CoH, and the fact that they've announced a new boxed expansion just adds to the good outlook.

Dude needs a psycho-crusher analog, just to make the image "complete".

Just a teleport where he "Zooms" across the room trailing lightning in his wake.

But I liked NC Squared...

Ahh well, the new names good as well, and considering what it is. Ive got a feeling this wont be the only news dropping here in the immediate future...Gut feeling...

After all, why rebrand the studio if they dont have something planned?

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Damn Wolverine for interrupting what could have been a shower scene with Spider-Woman and Black Widow! hehe.



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Bub snikkt snikkt bub bub snikkt?!

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I'm curious about this statment here
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Now back to you, the players. You are the lifeblood of our game. In celebration of our new studio and our exciting plans, and in order to thank you for the fantastic community that you have built, we are pleased to announce the following.

Full Access to City of Heroes and City of Villains®
All players with City of Heroes retail* accounts will now have access to City of Villains, and all City of Villains retail* accounts will now have access to City of Heroes. Players that didn't previously have access to "the other side" will find that they do now. Just log in to check it out!

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Um...

What about those of us that paid for both games? Do we get some sort of extra bone here? Some of us bought multiple copies of both games.

Anyway, everything else seems nice. I wait to see what else the new management brings t the table.

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Well...there was mention of "sekrit plans" they had hoped to reveal today but couldnt for one reason or another...So who knows...*ooooweeeeooooo*

Im remaining optimistically pessimistic myself. Im always wary of games I enjoy being acquisitioned by companies other than that made them (Ive lived through one too many SoE acquisitions to say im not jaded and bitter). All that said though, theres nothing they've announced thats made me directly leery of whats happened. Actually, alot of what they've said has lessened my immediate panic at the news.

From the looks of things, and admittedly this is just my opinion. The only thing thats changing is we're losing a name and logo on the website. We're keeping our dev team and red-names, adding more, and its not a two-company joint publication and whatnot anymore.

So I too will "wait and see", but im optimistic that my pessimistic side is wrong about wanting to call DOOOOOOOOOOM on this just yet.

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So does this mean goodbye to Castle?

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Im pretty sure those are all in addition to whose already with us. Meaning the family is growing rather than getting replaced. They said everyone to the man pretty much shifted over after all. So the teams getting bigger, and that'll mean more work gets done faster.

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Exactly. They're so damn righteous and "pure" that, like some people's interpretations of Longbow, they've gone all the way across the line to intolerant jackbooted fascists.

(See also: the Malta Group, making the world safe for Western democracy (hm, no, scratch that) capitalism and non-metas. Of course, to make it truly safe they have to control it...)

Anyway, yeah. Looks like another "heroic" paramilitary group that Knows What's Best For You. And if you disagree, you're obviously a terrorist, er, alien... an alien terrorist! Yeah! Those filthy aliens, coming here to destroy our cities, take our women, steal our jobs, and corrupt our precious bodily fluids...

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Personally, I think its going to come down to what their purpose is. The Vanguard's purpose according to what we've read is to seek out Rikti tech and then keep it out of the hands of individuals who would do bad things with it. That means EVERYBODY trying to get their hands on it..Heroes included.

I see villians doing the most fighting against them, but I also can see heroes coming to odds with them because they're either aliens themselves, non-humans, and/or "We specialize in fighting the Rikti, just stay out of our way rookie". Maybe missions where you run into them raiding a base and you end up having to fight both because their orders are to "Leave no survivors". Yeah, its another "We know best" group, but it doesnt have to take on the constantly sinister and "Wow the heroes are jerks" level that the rest of the game puts off from time to time.

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*replies so that he can add the thread to his favorites*

I love this story!

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Ditto'd...this is the second time ive done this now...hehe

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Me: Gender is overrated.
CTab: Are you sure?
Me: Yeah, of course i'm male, so it could just be that women don't find me very interesting.
Ctab: Anything's legal if you're evil...
Me: Maybe, but i'm not evil. Im a nice guy at heart.
Ctab: Neither am I.
Me: Are you sure? After that last comment id think you've got an evil streak in you.
CTab: Cool!


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Kelp, CTab is trying to corrupt my fragile little mind!

Ive got a feeling that issue 4 isnt going to be the "OMG THE WORLD IS EXPLODING" update we're used to.

At best, I imagine issue 4 will feel like padding for the issue 5 rush. Something to "tide us over" from the long time it took for issue 3.

My guess, in the next 2 to 3 weeks we'll be hearing more info about issue 4, issue 4 will hit test in mid-February, and will hit live in late Feb, early March. 3 to 4 weeks later, we'll start hearing about issue 5, issue 5 will have alot of content in it, and will take about as long to get in as Issue 3 did. Which will sort of set a precedent for the future. Big update, little update, Big update, little update. 3 month cycle, 1 month cycle, 3 month cycle, 1 month cycle.

It wont be all that bad really, as long as we dont go haywire because we arent getting everything right now.

I think the Big update, little update system could turn out really well. We get our big things in big doses with a few little things to keep us occupied while they work on the really big cool new toys and systems for us to use.

Anyways, just my 2 cents.

Ive never really agreed with the 3 minions = 1 hero equation. It just doesnt "feel" heroic to me. I also dont think our relatively small system of ranking for enemies is doing its job. So, in the spirit of discussion, im going to post my opinion on the matter.

Minions - To me a minion is so low on the totem pole that they're barely worth my time. These guys are the small fish, and only worth the time to neutralize because they're in my way. I dont think minions should pose a threat except in large numbers.

Lieutenant - Ive never really looked at Lieuts as the rank they hold. For the longest time the lieutenant role just seems to be "Leader of minions" to me. These guys are only worth the time because they're with the minions that are in my way. A lieutenant should be worth 2 or 3 minions.

Boss - For the most part a boss, to me at least, is just the guy the real villian leaves behind to oversee the operation after its started. Not that far a step above a lieutenant. A boss should be worth 5 or 6 minions.

Elite Boss - Heres where we deviate. This is the rank that I think should be utilized a whole lot more. To me the Elite Boss represents the common "villian". Just strong enough to give problems for heroes, but not powerful enough to require groups to take down. The Mysterio's, Lizardman, and Shocker's of the world. At one time I remember the idea of personal nemesis's being thrown around. This is the rank id see them as being, and its also the rank that would need the most fleshing out AI wise, it couldnt just be the trading of blows like it is now. The Elite boss to me is where the stakes are raised, you arent just dealing with random thugs anymore, you're playing with the big boys. Elite Bosses should be used more often, and should be more than equal to 1 hero whos playing all their cards. A battle between an Elite Boss and a Hero should be that back and forth epic battle that defines most of the comic book genre.

Archvillian - The big fish, the head honcho's, El Capitan. The masterminds behind every scheme, and the most interesting of characters at times. Archvillians are not just powerful but cunning as well. I believe the rank "Archvillian" is overused in CoH. Very few of the enemies ive came against have truly come across as "Archvillianous" to me. Tyrant is an Archvillian, whereas the other Praetorian AV's just dont do it for me. If it was up to me (Thankfully it isnt) all of them would be Elite Bosses. These are the people that have risen above petty crimes and who have stepped back and taken a look at a far grander picture. These are the villians that not only want the world, but have the ability to take it. Tyrant personifies this rank purely because of what he has done. He has subjugated not only his world, but also his competition. All of the Praetorian AV's are under him in some form or another, some are plotting against him, and influencing him; but when all is said and done Tyrant reigns supreme. Thats the sort of character I look for in an Archvillian, the guy that you cant even get to without a rag tag group of heroes bent on saving the world. All he needs is another story arc where hes built a giant laser beam on the moon and he'll have cemented his role perfectly. Most of our current Archvillians just dont feel Archvilliany to me. Their motivations and goals just dont have the kind of scope that "Arch" in front of their rank seems to suggest. Archvillians should be worth a small group of heroes, and should have even more AI options and playthings than Elite Bosses.

Monsters - Godzilla's. Beasts that have only one purpose and thought . "Destroy". Monsters are about right on their prevalence in my opinion, except for the DE monsters. Which are just a dime a donze. Monsters are about right in their power, and there just needs to be more spawned or triggered monsters like the giant octopus in IP. I would love to see some missions that ended with some sort of giant creature attacking Atlas Park. With the new "Giant Monster" code in the game, this could even work out really well for flavor as all the lower level players can help take out the monster while the higher levels enjoy it too.

Anyways, the above is all just my opinion on the matter of the basic building blocks of the Solo VS Team thing. Super Heroes should be facing heroic odds, and 3 minions doesnt feel all that heroic to me. I understand that there would be technical matters to deal with if you start spawning greater numbers of enemies to get the "feel" right, and I understand that not all AT's are built the same. What my scrapper can do, I know a defender might never even think of attempting; but in general I think the balance of the game needs to shift from lessening people and more to strengthening others.

To me, its all a matter of feeling.

"Do I feel heroic?"
"Do I feel like im progressing?"
"Do I feel like im contributing to a team?"
"Do I feel as Epic as my AT would suggest?"

Im not looking for absolutes, im just looking for a nice balance between the numbers, and what makes me feel like im enjoying your game. Which, for the most part, I am...