Arctic_Princess

After reading some of these posts, it appears people have already started to devour each other a la a zombie apocalypse.

I happen to agree with Burnt Toast - just because someone doesn't share your exact level of enthusiasm doesn't mean they don't care. They're just applying different perspectives to the situation.

NCSoft acted in a ****** way and will probably continue to. That's their prerogative. People can feel empowered by choosing not to support any of their products. It might work. Whether it does or not is unimportant because the point of the exercise is to feel like we have the power to do something. What NCSoft has done, however reproachable we feel their actions are, is not illegal. They are not getting away with it because, sadly, there is nothing for them to get away with.

I gave up on City of several months ago, before the announcement, because, well, the game had filled a void in my life for a good 6 years but within that time my life had changed. When Incarnates came I was very excited but when I saw nice people turn into grind-hungry despots in leagues then it took the tarnish off the new shiny for me. I came back after 31 August to say hello/goodbye to online friends. I played the game for a bit. Then I realised that the game no longer had anything for me. A lot of people seemed to have left very quickly after the announcement, at least on Union. And, contrary to what I thought might happen (people reliving the fun of running through the Hollows, doing regular TFs, fighting GMs), there just seemed to be a lot of people continually grinding LAMBDA and the other entry-level Incarnate trial. For me, this was some of the dullest content ever and not what City of was about.

I do hope another game exists out there eventually that rivals and surpasses the fun of City of but, let's face it, the likelihood of that happening is small. I would love to be proved wrong.

EDIT:

Another_Fan. Take your tinfoil hat and bugger off elsewhere. Little vulture.

City of is also a rarity for me - a game I can still play on my crappy laptop but it looks good and is fun to play even with the graphics on low.

I've looked at things like Secret World and it looks shiny and fun but unless I'm willing to invest in a new PC/laptop, it's a no-go.

I will miss City of dearly and I doubt very much that I'll play another MMO (tried FF XI once - man you need a whole other life to get anywhere in that game, and Champions (it's like City of, only crap)).

If City of were a standalone, single-player game I'd buy it and play it. As long as things like the costume creator / power customisation existed. It's half the fun.

Laughing Wolf - have you ever heard of the Unholy Triangle? It's a situation where two people are having an argument and a third person intervenes. They feel they are doing the right thing but in reality they are creating a dangerous relationship where at any given moment they will be either a) the saviour, b) the victim, or c) the aggressor.

Also, you're totally wrong about the little troll, Kitty. He/She/It is a troll, fair and simple. They deserve nothing but contempt because they are one of life's leeches - devoid of their own ideas and personality and existing only in direct opposition to others. That made me feel good too.

My first encounter with the troll was receiving PMs that Wormtongue would have been proud of. Unfortunately for the troll I am a developed, emotionally-secure person who told them, in a nice way, to pee off then promptly ignored them. Said person should be ignored. They serve no other purpose but to absorb much-needed oxygen.

Go Techbot.

My personal opinion is that the very loud, glowing ball of yellow fluffy death and healing is the Clockwork King's doing.

As Penny's biography suggests, no one is entirely sure who trained her in the use of her powers. That kind of writing schtick tends to make my brain assume that it was the Clockwork King who helped train her vast powers.

Now the SSAs themselves.. I did try to respond in another thread when I asked the OP if they thought they could do better but was overcome by that weird forum maintenance/logout bug. After Who Will Die, Part 6, I'm starting to worry that we'll be getting more of the same for SSA2, which is rumoured to feature Pandora's Box. And by more of the same, I mean more shock tactics used to tell a story.

I'm fond of a bit of shock to help move a story along, and I'm also more fond of a less-than-happy ending for all parties concerned (otherwise things tend to become like watching Inspector Gadget, the cartoon series - you know he'll win and in a formulaic way, so why bother watching?), but a bit of balance is required to stop every major NPC from contracting Jean Grey-itis.

I like Penny Yin and I like the notion of moving things on in time. It's something that a portion of the forum-posting players always asked for and moaned about, quite rightly - lack of story progression. Now we're getting it, I hope to see rewrites of the Freedom Phalanx TFs from Synapse to Numina, updating of NPC biogs, their costumes, and an emergence of some new enemies to fight as a result.

And whilst I like Sister Psyche, I think she could do with taking a more 'training' approach to the game, especially in light of her instability. Aurora or Penelope Yin could become the TF contact, for example, whilst Sister P (possibly in a new body) becomes the trainer for Indy Port. Or who knows, perhaps another zone?

I've studied the thread for a bit.

I've come to the conclusion that you cannot please everybody, that at some point or another the same 'everybody' changes its mind, and that there is far too much overanalysis of plot for my liking.

Is there some overarching desire to see change from the analysis of SSA 1? Or will the next one, if it panders to all of the criticisms in this thread, be considered to be 'selling out' and we'll get yet another critique by a different person claiming that X is Y?

I for one enjoy the arcs for what I believe they are - changing the mode of story-telling from 'click 100 glowies and you'll surely Save the World' to 'Think a bit about what my character might do in this situation'.

I'm not sure how much more analysis of the plot will work. Are 'people' asking for the current writers to be sacked? Do they think they could do better?

Flamestorms aside, I could go for the Midnighters being more-sensibly unlocked.


Remember, when the Midnighter Club was first unveiled, the unlock seemed reasonable because it was guarding Cimerora and was new and shiny.

Sure, it explains more about the Lost's relationship with the Rikti, and has some fun arcs (esp. Mercedes Sheldon) but I can agree wholeheartedly with the notion of having to unlock on every single character being dull.

Far from being conducive to immersion-laden RP, it's now a stupid barrier that holds little meaning, seeing as pretty much everyone in-game knows what the Midnight Squad does.

And I feel that now this bit of the forums is open to Free People, I should advertise by way of a teaser to try and make folks part with their cash and become subscribers: The role of the Midnight Squad is expanding in issue 22! Oooh! More shiny! But only if you're Incarnate!

The thing I'm stuck on is how to trivialise the unlock for the future but retain the badges and their associated meaning? Perhaps a mission where you have to protect a member of the Squad whilst they run around a warehouse, curing the Lost? I dunno.

TL;DR - /signed

I was genuinely impressed that Malaise was involved. He looked familiar in the previous cutscenes, but when it clicked it was great.

I'm guessing he's had his powers souped up to take on Psyche - she's the next 'victim' after all. Probably by Wade/Rulaaru.

He'll either drive her mad - cue Heroes fighting her and trying to find a way to restore her sanity. Or he'll attempt to override her and then we've got extremely unstable psychic, possibly capable of mindriding (wonder if mindriding would work on States with his 'mind of a god'?) on our hands.

Villains might have to curb the excesses of Psyche's madness.

This is all supposition, but I'm guessing Malaise wants Psyche to read his mind eventually. And this will be revealed in the next episode.

If I am a winner, I permit NC Interactive, Inc. and NCsoft Europe Limited to use my name, likeness, photograph, hometown, and any comments that I may make about myself or this contest that I provide for advertising and promotional activities. I also certify that I am at least 13 years of age and am eligible to participate in this contest.


"Never let it be said that the Heroes of Paragon City don't have six appeal..."

Babel's Diary

I returned last night after a hiatus of healing myself; spiritually in the main. New faces as always, Liberty Force appears to be waxing in terms of membership.

We met with Pseudonym. I could barely contain myself. He wants to betray his new 'friends' to us, in return for who knows exactly what. He offered to cure me, as long as we allowed him to take a civilian life. Of course we declined.

Then I gave him back a gift he had given me - sadly not the cursed virus he had infected me with - it was, I think, the mortal he had taken over in order to enact his foul deeds. I still heard the poor man's voice as we left Pseudonym. I feel better.

Andrew found a twisted skull. I'm not sure if Pseudonym actually took another life to restore me, but looking at my right hand it seems that my skin colour is returning to normal from its purplish hue.

Everything is very confusing: Did Pseudonym cure me? Did he take another life to do it? And does he really want to help us defeat the villain, Scarlet? What further price will we pay if we do help him?

Andrew took some blood last night, in an attempt to see if the cure has been enacted. Various members of the team are all researching into the factions that present themselves as enemies of Liberty Force.

And I desperately want to see Sol.

Which ATs in particular don't have access?

There was some jigging about to be done because some sets already had Conserve Power and having two of the same power is considered bad form (Tanks were originally intended to have access to MM Patron Pools, until it was pointed out that a Super Strength Tank would gain access to Knockout Blow twice).

So one of the reasons that not every AT with access to Energy and Body Mastery has access to Conserve Power, at the least, is because of duplication.

Another is that APPs tend to follow a set pattern for each AT. So a Defender will get self buff +/or enemy debuff, melee, control, and a shield, Controllers will get blasts, a shield, a melee power, and so on. A passive like Superior Conditioning is not normally included.

But I'm lazy and haven't checked the powers available for each AT. I do know however that the increase to HP and End from Superior Conditioning has more impact on an already-high Melee AT than it does for a low HP 'squishy'.

I rolled a Beam Rifle / Trick Arrow Corruptor the other week.

The funny thing is, redraw is so quick that it doesn't seem to affect anything. I can fire off Flash Arrow and almost immediately one of my attacks can fire if I have clicked it to queue up.

I notice redraw mostly on my Katana/SR Scrapper because when Practised Brawler fires it removes the weapon. However Katana's DPS is still high. I think what I'm saying is that, subjectively, I can't see why redraw is an issue.

I say on possible new Rulu-Shin/Rulaaru-themed costumes: More rotating eyeballs please.

The Rulu-Shin are a nice addition as an enemy group (and I too am hoping that the Shadow Shards will be updated at some point in the future - especially as that Guardian (i.e. Wisp) gives you a pop quiz on certain aspects of Rulaaru lore); Yes their colours clash but they do use the colours of the Natterlings and Overseers (so at least there's a design consistency there).

Players should, imho, have a graphical edge over NPCs (we do already, it's just that coherent enemy groups often look better when their costume is designed to look like something) and rotating eyeballs as a chest piece, a glove piece, a boot piece, and a ragged bird feather wings (with 'peacock'-style rotating eyeballs) piece would look awesome. In the traditional sense of the word.

Rulaaru is creepy and evil and mad. Costumes should reflect that.

I was pondering as to whether anyone had any plans to create any arcs that had an olympiad theme, especially from the UK, to commemorate the London 2012 Olympics?

I cannot really run a contest on it due to time and in-game money restrictions, but just wondered if there was a creative urge to do things like this in the future: pick a theme and run with it, maybe for a month?

I know there are plenty of threads for reviewing, and a few SG request foir arc threads.

Also, previous winners of competitions have included EU residents. Maybe the 'Why can't we participate?' is down to the prize being more awesome?

I'd be behind this.

It would require time and effort for animations and all that jazz, sure, but would make sense as alternate animations for blasts and most of the hand-waving powers.

There is at least one slight problem however - picking which powers would work with a gun/wand skin:

Single Target 'shots' or Wand 'blasts' (please, no laughing at the back...) would work for most ST, ranged powers. Stone Spears from Earth Assault (Domi) springs to mind straight away - why would a gun/wand make the earth spring up and knock someone away/down? Conceptually it seems off.

AoEs - does the 'gun' have a grenade effect? And does that work with something like Mass Hypnosis (I think, for the time being, the control sets should perhaps be excluded from this kind of customisation - although the notion of a gun that shoots Earthquakes makes me shiver in a strange and compelling way, Earthquake is also a relatively quick animation for casting (and needs to be placed before 'casting') so animations for drawing a weapon to fire an Earthquake (the more I say that the more I kinda want it!) would have to compensate.

So, in short, yes to Wands and eventually guns. But a lot of work.

I actually haven't done the sewer trial on Live yet. I find this quite bizarre. I've been having some fun running the legacy content (I know, weird) after a discussion on another thread with Samuel Tow regarding the old mission styles compared to the new.

And I have to say that the legacy content, although clearly dated, seems better now that we have more choice. I've even 'enjoyed' for want of a better word the occasional hunt, although that's in part me knowing to avoid certain mob hunt missions at lower levels after a number of years playing, as opposed to thinking that Hunt Missions as a general concept are a really good idea .

That's not to say that I don't hope to see the very-gradual redesigning of older zones and an injection of new content for them, but I'm happy to have legacy co-exist alongside new shiny.

I was never a big fan of the old 1-5 missions in Atlas and Galaxy though. And I'm glad there's now one starting zone per side.

Praetoria - I haven't touched since i21 went Live. Because now I can roll the ATs I want to for each side and just pick the appropriate action in the tutorial. I enjoy the content there, and will go back to it once in a while, but after doing a couple of 'turn off xp and experience the full content' on two characters, as well as meticulously badge hunting (damn you River Rat and Resistance Plaque History Badge!) with Praetorian toons and a few of my non-Praetorian mains, I can leave it be for a while.

I think there's a slight flavour in the initial intro contact dialogue for First Ward depending on faction, but I may be wrong, and I too think it's a shame that alignment doesn't quite 'add up' when doing First Ward as a non-rift-enclosure'd Praetorian.

But First Ward is so full of win (and there's so much content in there) that I can waive that away for now.

I'm choosing to interpret the OP's post as: A temp power that has fudge-able mechanic explanation whereby you can 'locate' hostages and/or 'objects' required for mission complete.

'Locate last objective' and its buggy nature aside (apart from new maps and content), if coding allowed it then I'd be up for it being a temp power. Normally I'd suggest that it be a crafting recipe but now we're in micro-transaction land and it gives a marginal boost to some players' playstyles (especially soloers), I'd expect to see it as a purchaseable, limited-use temp power (which naturally requires re-purchase when it has run out, if desired).

I say coding because some of the legacy content has hostages that cannot be 'targetted' owing to the fact that they register as the 'Person' type, instead of critter type. I'm not sure how they'd show up if a temp power was used to locate them.

Come to think of it, I'm not even sure if ally/escort/rescues that DO use the critter target window (Such as, say, Fusionette) can be tab-targetted because they are set as allies. So coding is possibly a reason why it wouldn;t work and, unless all NPC 'hostages/allies' are created equal it could be a barrier. I'm sure someone with genuine knowledge on the subject may be able to shed light on this.

Glowies suffer from a similar problem - some of them are dummies (either a trigger for an ambush/event or just placed to make you progress through a map until you hit the right one). And with things like the new 'click-me-to-open-a-dialogue-window glowies', again are they technically glowies?

Fundamentally I think I see where the OP is coming from and would agree with the notion of such a 'power'. But I'm not sure the differing 'systems' of mission design would support it in a consistent way.

Done.

I also counted 'micro-transactions' as previous purchase of Booster Packs, not just the new Paragon Market. I hope that hasn't skewed anything.

I will agree with Sam that a questionnaire like that could do with a bit more 'polish'. It felt like a Facebook quiz, which is okay for Facebook.

Does part of the rating of the thesis require submission of the questionnaire itself for evaluation?