AkuTenshiiZero

As I said if you have higher RAM, leave SuperFetch alone. This is more aimed towards folks like me who only have about 1GB or lower.

As far as DWM disabling with a full screen program running, I'm inclined to call BS on that one. That thing was a thorn in my side for a long time, even while running full screen it was still running at full capacity on my process list. Unless of course it reactivated as soon as I tabbed out of CoX. Quite frankly, disabling it has had no ill effects, and therefore I deem it completely unnessecary to have.

These are tips for people running at the bare minimum. I am well aware that higher specs can handle the massive resource drain of Vista and run games with no problems, but not everyone has a machine that can deal with that. Obviously, if you do, then there's no need to be disabling things. If not...Well, this can help.

This was such a miracle, I had to share it.

I run Windows Vista, on a fairly crappy machine. 1GB of RAM. Lag has become such an issue, it makes playing anything nearly unbearable. But a few days ago I decided to do something about it, and found a "Miracle Cure".

One of Vista's many Services is called "SuperFetch". What this does is tracks the programs you use and does some sort of preloading to make frequently used programs run faster. Believe me when I say this is total BS, and a massive hinderance to gaming. My hard drive audibly grinds constantly while I'm trying to run games, and it's absolutely painful to do anything. So after researching this, I decided the sucker had to die.

Since doing this, playing CoX has resulted in minimal lag, and what issues I did experience were the fault of the server, not my computer (IE, mass Mapserv'ing yesterday, due to the 2XP load).

Here's what to do:

Go to Start>Run, and type "services.msc". Give Admin authorization if necessary.

Scroll down the list of Services until you find "SuperFetch".

Set Startup Type to "Manual", click Stop, and then OK.

Done.

This has no adverse effects on you PC. Also note that if you have a huge amount of RAM, disabling this might not do much and the problem may lie elsewhere. But if you, like me, have about 1GB or lower RAM, disabling SuperFetch is much, much better.

Also, while we're in services.msc, you might want to look for "Desktop Window Manager" and disable that as well. DWM is a memory hog that does nothing but make your windows look shiney. I am not joking. Do you care if your windows are shiney? I don't. It's a waste of a lot of resources.

Be warned that not everything in services.msc is safe to disable! Don't go killing stuff if you don't know what you're doing! Search the net and get some information before you disable anything that you don't know about.

Yesh. This would give me another window next to my Hit Rolls to get pissed off at.

"95.1!?!?! BULL****!!"

It's definitely fancier looking than the old forums...But I honestly preferred the old layout for functionality. Having every section presented to you in one big list made things quick and easy.

So thumbs up for looks, thumbs down for functionality. Suppose I'll get used to it, though...

Also, no option for a villain theme yet, or am I not looking hard enough?

Per usual, the 5-Digit Post Count Patrol sweeps in and shoots down an idea without acctually addressing the idea. I'm starting to understand how one achieves such numbers...

In any case, this sounds like an excellent idea. I could definitely see the Recognition part turning into a competition, seeing who can hold the top spot in a neighborhood. It could also help build character storylines.

Things like this, and other concepts (Hometowns comes to mind) would make for some interesting cause-and-effect. It would be very nice to get a feeling of altering the world in some way. And just to point out: If Recluses Victory can have dynamic effects, then there's no technical reason why other zones can't.

Just my 2 Inf...

I am in total agreement for an option to disabl;e buff graphics. Bonus points if you can choose "Display on self" and "Display on others" seperately. Though I'd probably disable both of them 90% of the time.

Why? Because some of us are running on crappy computers, and need all the help we can get. I don't give a rat's rectum what my buffs look like, I can see the icons plain as day and that's enough for me. Less firey/icey/dark/bubbly/whatever stuff means less lag.

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We had HEROES * GASP ! * not vamps and devils and "DETHGAWD" the hero ?!? C'mon.

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Don't forget about the misunderstood villains who really just want a hug. This is why I have alot of difficulty RPing in this game, it's "City of Vigilantes".

I'm proud to say all my Heroes are justice-driven good guys, and all my Villains are self-serving evildoers...With the exception of one "Antihero" Villain who's intentions are good, but who's extremist methods are definitely not.

Looking at the above example, Character Y is an arachnophobic and Character X is playing a prank. Under normal circumstances, the sight of a spider would send Y into a fit of terror, but Y's player should be able to see the situation is comedic in nature. Therefore, Y may still react with fear, but perhaps do so comedically. IE, add in some slapstick with Y flailing madly, inadvertantly hitting X.

Now such a reaction would work in the given example, but I have no idea what acctually happened.

You also have to bear in mind, just because something is listed in someone's profile doesn't mean that other character's are aware of it. For example, one of my characters in an android, and that is clearly stated in his bio. However, other characters still react with surprise when I reveal this IC, even after the player has read it.

I really like this idea. I think it needs to be ironed out a bit, but it most definitely has potential.

The major flaw I'm seeing with this is that things may become too complex. How exactly will "AEXP" work alongside Patrol XP? Which is consumed first? Does AEXP replace PXP as it's earned?

Allowing Dev Choice missions to reward real XP is a good idea as well, and would further promote good arcs.

I'm reminded of a time when somebody I knew wrote a story in their VirtueVerse page involving my character. Saying that I had shown up to save them while they were facing their nemesis. Now, this is basically godmoding...I didn't do anything of the sort, nor did I know he had such a storyline going. But at the same time, it was something that my character would have done, and given the scenario it made sense that it would have been me (Tech-based, involved a bio-tech virus, perfect fit for my bio-tech android).

So it really depends on the situation, I guess. I knew this person, and was flattered to have him write me into his story. I ended up editing my own VV page to include it.

I think that MA has a part to play in this. The Devs are no doubt curious what we'll do with their characters. The simulation aspect keeps the canon intact, while giving us the freedom to do whatever we want with the NPCs.

I am always on board for more "OMGWTF!?!?" Villains to be added. The world is not nearly in enough peril to satisfy me.

Of course, I would absolutley prefer to be the cosmic-powered Big Bad...But that's a whole differant story.

Does Virtue LFG even exist..? I tried both spaced and unspaced, the unspaced version had four people...Not exactly what I was hoping to find. The spaced version I couldn't even get into, it didn't ask me for a password or anything. Just...Nothing happened.

I'm kind of a noob to Global channels. I was hoping to find a solid network to find teams. Broadcast sucks these days...

Think of it this way:

They're making you look awesome!

Hell, I've been at this for about a year, and I look like a grizzled vetran compared to these kids...

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Check these images by srmalloy.

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That is gorgeous...I want I16 NOW! The last, like, 2 or 3 issues have done nothing to excite me...And now this beauty shows up. Must...be...patient...

/e soils self.

THAT! IS! AWESOME!

I never thought I would be this excited over a menu!

The simple solution would be to limit rented NPCs to offense-based only. You could accomplish this with two:

Quasi-Brute - SOme sort of mixture of a scrapper and tank, kinda like a brute. Has moderate tanking ability and melee damage, but is relatively unreliable in holding aggro compared to a real tank.

Blaster - Just a straight-up, pure ranged damage NPC. More HP but lower damage makes it more survivable, but less powerful. Most likely no CC whatsoever.

All these would be is an extra body. Something to add damage, or take damage, nothing more.

Additionally, they should count as a team member, so you can't effectively have a 16 man team. The NPC would take one slot, and each person may have only one. Four players could have four NPCs, making a full team.

Possible addition: Every NPC on the team after the first adds to the mission difficulty. The aforementioned 4:4 team would be like having a 7-man team. One person and one NPC would have standard one player difficulty.

In any case, I'm honestly not for or against this. I've seen it work, but I really don't care. Just offering my input on how it could work.

Did somebody forget to wear their tinfoil hat..?

Just poking fun at ya. I acctually wouldn't be suprised if this is being tracked somehow, but what the Devs do with that information is totally up for grabs. No doubt there are still many more tweaks in the future for AE, the system is still very young and needs to be honed alot. But I doubt the Devs intend to go around nuking players in an AE Holocaust.

This is why you hotkey your Travel and Combat Travel powers for quick, easy switching. I use G (Hover, Combat Jumping) and F (Fly, Super Jump). It's just a simple matter of paying attention, and hitting the button when needed. Soon enough, it'll become instinctive.

The coding, if you don't know:

/bind G "powexecname Hover"
/bind F "powexecname Fly"

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Well, they're smaller than most wings, but they're still pretty big. The Fairy wings, too.

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Last I checked, the Insect wings were bloody humungous. Or they seemed like it at least

But anyways, the larger mini-wings is a moot point. Just wait for the Vet ones, and your wish is granted! However I am 110% on board the idea of cosmetic Jetpacks.

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If you want a quick way to build up debt, go to Monster Island in PI and let one of the DE monsters take you out repeatedly. You earn more debt by dieing outside than in a mission. Also if you do it before you hit 50, patrol xp will wipe out the debt while counting toward the badge.

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There's no more Patrol at 50, then? Hmm...I might try going on periodic suicide runs at 49. Of course, I intend to make the final push to 50 on the upcoming 2XP weekend, so I may just do it the hard way.

In fact, I think I will do it the hard way. It will give me more to do in the endgame.

Well, thanks for clearing that up folks.

Additional problem:

Currently, summoning (for example) Thugs pulls three random Thug models from a preset list. There would need to be a way to specifically link one minion to a costume. Since the game is capable of linking a name to each individual minion, this may not be so hard, but something to take into account.

Other problem:

Bots. They are unique from Player models. The Devs would have to build an entirely new custmization system for them alone. And if you allow full customization for other minions, but only a preset list for Bots, you can bet the forums will be swarmed by angry Bots MMs crying for equallity. In short: You can't please everyone that easily.

Nitpick:

Themes. If you customize a Zombie's appearance, is it still a zombie? Can the powerset still really be called Necromancy if you're summoning catgirls that happen to have zombie powers?

Simple question, just can't find a clear answer anywhere.

I'm an OCD badge hunter, so I want to get the Exalted badge. Do I need to rack up a ton of debt now, or will I be able to gain/pay off debt at level 50?

For the record, I am 44 and got Undying the other day. If I need to do this before 50, now would be the time to do so.