_Kosh

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*I will always listen to the community (that goes for the boards, in game, and thru mining data and statistics).

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It seems like you're hearing but not listening.

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*I will do my best to continue to make this game fun.

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Please advise me what is 'fun' about movement suppression?
Please advise me what is 'fun about capping my Nova's AoE?
Please advise me what is 'fun' about reducing my base resistances?
Please advise me what is 'fun' about reducing my few defenses (Stealth, Hover, Hasten)
Please advise me what is 'fun' about reducing my two Dark Servants to one and reducing their effectiveness?
Please advise me what is 'fun' about reducing the effectiveness of my enhancements for content that doesn't exist yet?

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*I will try my best to give you detailed information.

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What percentage, exactly, was mob's ToHit reduced? What percentage, exactly, was resistances and defenses reduced?

Thank you.

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I have a problem with the "children of Danu" being a villain group. The Fomors I can understand, but I always thought the Tuatha de Dannan were supposed to be "good guys."

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Agreed. The children of the goddess Danu are NOT inherently evil (their high king, The Dagda is known as 'the good god'). Yes, certain aspects of them (previously noted was the Morrigan, who, IIRC was also their goddess of wars and battles) had fearsome qualities, no doubt. Aye, they were mercurial of mood and puissant by their very nature. However, nowhere in any of my studies (admittedly, I'm not a Celtic-mythology major in school, but I have had an interest in Celtic mythos for years) have they ever been depicted as utterly destructive villains.

They were mischevious and dangerous, but not ravenously 'evil'.

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Not particularly; I'd be more interested in you getting current known issues (invisible Mole Point meshes, the frelled-up exemplar system, etc) fixed first.

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Different departments, dude.

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*shrug* He asked, I answered.

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Oh - and whatever comes AFTER City of Villains. Wouldn't you like to know that?

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Not particularly; I'd be more interested in you getting current known issues (invisible Mole Point meshes, the frelled-up exemplar system, etc) fixed first.

As one of the "casual gamers," someone who comes home from 8 hours at work, and has less than an hour to play before another 4.5 hours at night school, I thank you. The ability to hop on and work my way through story-arcs (my absolute favorite parts so far have been the Wheel of Destruction and the Organ Grinders arcs), following the excellent stories in the precious spare time I have, has been a real boon. One that brought me to CoH from SWG and FFXI.

On another subject... any chance of seeing more of the Tuatha de Danann? I'me a major Celtic mythos fan, and would love to see the Sidhe featured at some point (and maybe a kilt costume option for us red-blooded Celts? )

at any rate, thanks for listening and acting on what you were hearing. *thumbs up* Again thanks. Knowing that I'll be able to work my way through the stories again without racking up massive debt is a wonderful thing.

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Since I found Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series to be incredibly boring and repetitious after about book 4 or 5, I've stopped buying those as well.

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<hugs Dasha_Blade>

Thank you! I'm the only one in my group of friends who thinks this way. I'm not crazy!

<runs off cackling wildly>



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<heh>. I thought it was boring and repetitious after the first HALF book.

Now, Martin's "Song of Fire and Ice"...wow! Wish he'd get the 4th book done, though.

And um...sorry for the thread hijack. Just had to respond, because I cannot, for the life of me, understand the appeal of Jordan's books.

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Heh [hijack=ON] ugh. couldn't stand Martin's stuff, either. The beginning of the first book was excellently macabre and made me want to read more. then the rest of the book happened. Bleagh.

I slogged through it, sold it to a used bookstore and haven't looked back. [/hijack]

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The guy who didn't get mission XP petitioned it. He got a response that only the mission holder was supposed to get mission XP (what I got wasn't more than usual for mission XP, BTW) and the rest of us should petition to get the XP taken back.

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LOL! so, they're unwilling to let us petition them about removing debt caused by bugs (Issue 2's Rikti Sword bug comes to mind), but they want us to petition them about removing XP?!

Irony? Oh, they're soaking in it. *thumbs up*

Yup. just killed the last minion in the building. Suddenly mission is completed. So, it wasn't just a rescue mission. It was a defeat all, including a boss that was NEVER mentioned mission.

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but regardless the mission briefing only mentioned one boss.

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My mission briefing just now (I'm still in the mission, as I type this) did not mention any boosses at ALL. After investigating a kidnapping of human doctors by Rikti, I discovered that they were being used to find a cure for Chicken Pox for the Rikti, who had been infected somehow. I'd saved all but two of the hostages.

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Jonathon St. John-Smythe: Chicken pox, eh? That's a pretty nasty one. Alas, there is no cure, strictly speaking. However, we may be able to exchange some anti-viral medicine for the remaining hostages. I'll also throw in some vaccine; it should help the uninfected Rikti remain healthy. I know they're our enemies, but somehow it seems like the right thing to do. Now, go out there and get those doctors back, Celtika. Oh, and tell the Rikti not to scratch!
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That's it. that was the mission briefing from my contact. No boss mentioned, nothing. Just rescue the hostages.

The mission had an orange boss in it, named "Deknar."

A boss, not mentioned in the mission briefing?! what a shock (not).

I was able to beat him (barely) and only by running for my life a few times (I'm an En/En blaster). I've now saved both scientists, defeated the unmentioned boss, and I'm STILL not done with the mission. I still show "Exchange cure for hostages" in my nav-bar. so, now, it looks like this is, in fact, a "Defeat All enemies in building" mission.

*rolls eyes* oi.

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And in making the game harder to try and keep their business, you may be costing CoH the patronage of the people you really WANT to keep: those who enjoy the journey, not the destination.

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Wanted to touch base upon this point.

I'm a 32 y/o casual gamer. I'm single, work full-time, go to school at night, and generally have 45 minutes or one hour to play at a given stretch during the week. I used to come home, make a sandwich, play some CoH to work through some missions, and then go off to class. On weekends, I have longer stretches of time available, usually, and so can afford to do the occasional TF or full storyarc.

I enjoy playing the game 90% of the time solo, because I'm here for the stories and because I don't have time to search for a group, wait for everyone to get ready, start the mission, wait for a player to go AFK, etc. I have a short amount of time and want to get to the storyline right away. I'm here for the sense of depth and interplay of the storyarcs. I loved the "Wheel of Destruction" and "Project: Locke" arcs, and recent favorites have included "The Organ Grinders" among many others. in doing these storyarcs, I've always used my head and tried to make sure I use sound tactics in my engagements. These (and some liberally-applied Inspirations) have usually seen me through, although the hospital staff has seen me around at times, too.

Since Issue 3 went live, I've gotten to be on a first-name basis with the hospital staff, because I'm in there so much. My enjoyment, which was very high during beta and all the way through Issues 1 & 2 (even with massive debt because of the Rikti Sword bug ), has dropped considerably, because I can no longer follow through on storyarcs due to the increased boss levels. Too many times I've taken a mission and what was described as a "rescue the kidnapped victim" turned into a "Rescue Hostage, Defeat All Enemies" when I zoned into the mission itself. And too many times the missions I take have un-announced bosses in them. Bosses that mean either certain debt (usually one- to two-shotted) or three or four runs to the contact for more Inspirations.

My ability to complete the biggest draw the game has for me, the storyarcs themselves, has been "nerfed" (for lack of a better term ).

If I wanted a FPS game, I'd go play UT2004. If I wanted adventure and depth-of-story, I'd go play Uru. I'd like a good mix of both, which is what I was enjoying with CoH until last week. At this point, though, the game has become tedious and, frankly, frustrating because of the changes to the bosses.

I'm all for the difficulty slider. I think it's a fabulous idea to allow folks who want harder missions to be able to get them. I don't agree with the changes to the bosses, and would like to have had the choice to make them more difficult myself, instead of having such a broad-sweeping change implemented that affects me so negatively.

I desperately want to enjoy the journey again. Right now, though, I feel like I've been carjacked into an industrial manufacturing zone, and I can't lock the doors or turn the car around.

OT: is that Menchi in your avatar? looks like him, but can't be certain.

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I am not saying that the current boss changes herald an era of non soloable missions. I am saying that I see a trend of changes that are encouraging teaming at the cost of soloability among the various ATs.

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Just did a fast search for Statesman's posts about "solo" and came up with this little gem:

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originally posted by Statesman:
I've stated before - I don't want FORCED grouping.

All Archetypes CAN solo. Some do it slowly, some do it quickly. Some can solo most missions, some can solo fewer missions. And worse comes to worse - a hero can always hunt the streets and stop some crime there. That was always the intent of city zones.

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I tend to agree, and see the trend towards "encouraging" grouping. I'm a casual player, who gets a few hours a week to play, sometimes as little as 30 minutes between coming home from work, and leaving for night classes at the college. As such, I don't have the time needed to devote to a group. I like to be able to jump into a mission and clear it out, if possible, and fully expect to use more than a few Inspirations along the way.

If this change will be the point where mission bosses are going to be unsoloable by my Blaster, I am disappointed in the Developers as a whole, and Statesman in particular.

By his own words, he doesn't want "forced grouping," but by making the bosses unsoloable, I am forced to get a group together, let the mission languish unfinished in my mission list because I'm forced to street sweep, or go into XP debt trying to defeat the Boss. None of which are optimal, IMO, choices. If I want to finish this particular mission/storyarc, then I'm forced to group. *shrug* which just blew what States said out of the water.

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Obviously, Thursday is The Day.

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Oh, I hope not. I never could get the hang of Thursdays.

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Be gentle. my first attempt at anything resembling fan-fiction.
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The shrill alarm shattered the early morning quiet.

"Mmph," came the sounds from beneath the pile of sheets and blankets as a hand clumsily flailed at the alarm, finally succeeding in mashing the 'off' button to silence the infernal machine. The hand collapsed where it was, as a sigh rose from the person under the bedcovers. After a moment, Trevyn pushed himself upright in bed, and groggily rubbed his face.

"You know, waking up was a lot easier ten years ago," he muttered to himself.

Sighing, and climbing out of bed, Trevyn grabbed the robe from where it hung on the hook on the back of the door. Wrapping it around himself, Trevyn padded down the hallway, and out into the living room. opening the door, and cringing against the creaking it made, he reach down onto the porch and pulled in the morning newspaper. Glancing around the quiet neighborhood, Trevyn could hear the early songbirds making a raucous in the trees a few houses down.

Feeling a small presence near his ankles finally making herself known, Trevyn smiled and scratched Daphne The Wonder Cat. The perfectly normal calico purred as she rubbed against his hand, then she wandered off to curl up in the sunlight streaming through the screen door and pooling on the carpet.

Leaving the main door open, the screen door closed, and a contented kitty lounging in the sunlight, Trevyn tossed the paper onto the couch and headed for the kitchen. Inhaling deeply, the aroma of freshly-brewed coffee caressed his sense of smell. "Ahh," he said to the coffee pot with a self-timer, " you've got to be the best invention in the world, bar none." Smiling, he grabbed a mug out of the cupboard and poured himself some coffee. Trevyn had tried for several years to cut coffee entirely from his regime, but simply couldn't give up the sensuous pleasures of it. He'd finally been able to cut back to just the one cup per day in the morning, and switching to tea, another of his vices, later if he needed something else.

Bringing his mug of blisteringly hot coffee with him down the hall, into the bathroom, and setting it on the counter, Trevyn started the shower, adjusting the water's temperature. Once he got the water to the proper temperature, he shucked the robe and tossed it over the door, and clambered into the shower. Quickly rinsing the sleep from his body, Trevyn grabbed the soap and lathered up, then snagged the shampoo and did his hair. As he backed up under the water to rinse off, Trevyn raised his arms to run his hands through his hair. Pausing to glance at the Celtic knotwork tattoos on his forearms, Trevyn was caught in a momentary time-fugue as he flashed back to the day he'd decided to get the markings inscribed, 6 years ago, after graduation from the Hero Corps training program.

He had been experimenting with the abilities that had slowly started to manifest themselves. At first, he'd used them for teen-age pranks; shocking someone in the hallway, or sucking all the energy out of the batteries in the teacher's cellphone. After graduation, though, Trevyn's abilities seemed to keep growing stronger and become more powerful: a simple shock turned into a heart-stopping slam, a simple pull of energy would sometimes knock him off his feet.

August of 1996 was decision-time for Trevyn. His mutations had finally caught the eye of the Hero Corps, and Trevyn knew he could no longer control the powers reliably without training. So, he volunteered for the Corps, taking on the moniker 'Celtika' in honor of his love of all things Celtic.

Shaking off the memories, Trevyn finished rinsing off, turned off the water and snaked his arm out of the shower to grab a towel from the hook.

"Dammit, it figures. Never one when you need it, just like cops," he smirked when his grasping fingers failed to find a towel. Stepping out of the shower Trevyn grabbed the mug of coffee, which had now cooled to a drinkable temperature, and took a nice long sip. Daphne watched him from the hallway, near the entrance to the kitchen, where she had moved during his shower, in anticipation of breakfast.

Abruptly, Daphne's ears twitched. Turning to watch something in the kitchen out of view from the bathroom, she went into a stalking crouch, much like she did for chasing a piece of string. Silly cat, Trevyn mused, smiling, as he reached for the robe hanging on the bathroom door. He froze, though, as he hear a small sound from the kitchen.

The sound, though faint, was unmistakable. The small clank and grind of gears and metallic joints filtered through the walls.

Summoning energy and preparing to take action, he thought, Great. Just great. Clockwork in the kitchen and I don't even have my pants on...

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So... was I the only one that noticed that "Brigadier General Hammond" is the military liaison to Portal?

It's in the article on the invasion, if you don't believe me!

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I never noticed that. What I have noticed, however, is that CoT portals suspiciously resemble StarGates

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I never noticed the General hammond bit, either, but I'm not high enough to deal with the Portal Corp, yet. i did, however, immediately associate the CoT portals with the SG.

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Hehe, what I thought was most amusing was the writers/producers trying to peddle the Monroe character as a straight man when he was soooooooo gay that he was literally on fire

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Oh, thtop! There'th tho much futh over a few extra eth'th! Jutht beacuth he lithped.

no, wait... he didn't lisp. :erm:

heh. Either way, straight or gay, he was kinda funny. Maybe he was just one of those "sensitive" straight men.

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The Babbage Machine was a totally clockwork computing device. He designed but never built it, if I'm not mistaken. Kind of like Davinci and the helicoptor.

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Correct.
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/on-l...bage/index.asp
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Babbage failed to build a complete machine. The most widely accepted reason for this failure is that Victorian mechanical engineering were not sufficiently developed to produce parts with sufficient precision.



In 1985 the Science Museum launched a project to build a complete Babbage Engine to original designs to explore the practical viability of Babbage’s schemes. The Engine chosen was Babbage’s Difference Engine No. 2 designed between 1847 and 1849. The calculating section of the Engine, which weighs 2.6 tonnes and consists of 4,000 separate parts, was completed and working in November 1991, one month before the 200th anniversary of Babbage's birth.

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Not a badge, but the monster in the clockwork task force is named 'Babbage'. It's a not-so-subtle reference to Charles Babbage, who is accredited (I think) with being the first computer scientist. I guess only the hard-core programmer geeks would figure this one out.

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Not necessarily. I'm nowhere near a programmer (Sys admin, and chef-in-training) and I know who Charles Babbage was. And yeah, you're correct; he designed the "difference engine", which is widely hailed as the precursor to the computer, and contained many of the logical features of the modern general purpose computer, in 1834.

So far, my favorite reference (since I haven't seen any Babylon 5 references) has been "Doctor (or was it professor?) Zhaan". Zhaan was my favorite character from the TV series Farscape.

Speaking of which, If you're a Farscape fan, be sure to check out The Peacekeeper Wars, the miniseries which airs October 17th-18th. It rocks.