Bright Shadow
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Quote:You need to get your facts straight.Originally Posted by Silver Gale
But to keep things more on topic:
Even though the majority of online game players are men, even though men love to look at big breasts, even though men will always want to roll female characters with enormous breasts...
There has not been a single "the character creator will not let me make my female character's breasts as big as I'd like" complaint in the whole time this game has existed.
This isn't even a "representation of female characters" issue. This is a "level of character customization" issue.
The 2010 Entertainment Software Association Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry
According to those statistics, 60% of video gamers are male, and 40% are female. That's not really that big of a majority. Furthermore, according to the same statistics,
"WOMEN age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33%) than boys age 17 or younger (20%)."
In contrast to what you're describing, I've seen a vast majority of older men (age 17+), both in RL and in various video games that prefer proportional breasts to over-sized breasts.
Also, men don't always want to roll female characters with enormous breasts. If that was the case, we wouldn't see such wide variety of characters in CoH with various genders, body sizes, races, etc.
There has not been -many- complaints that the character creator won't let people make bigger breasts because people like you would get offended and start bashing on them if someone ever does complain about why he can't make bigger breasts. If there is a limitation, there are people who want to go over that limitation. In this case, going over it is considered "perverted" by the norm of society.
I'm not saying that's wrong. It's also fact that there has to be a line to how far the developers want us to go in designing characters.
And it really isn't a "representation of female characters" issue. That's what we've been trying to say. But that contradicts with your earlier posts about a society where women have to constantly fight against being objectified and whatnot. Which to me sounds absolutely like a load of chocolate pudding, because if you're a person living in a developed nation/country, and you're complaining about women being objectified cause men can make characters with big boobs, when there are women being treated as 'toys' and 'property' in real-world situations in developing countries (I lived in one of them for 9 years) then you need to just focus your feminist rage at something that actually matters instead of picking on peoples' fantasies in a video game (again, by 'you', I'm referring to general opposition, not the person I'm replying to). -
Quote:Do you really want to sit down and argue that dominance, power, and alpha-male qualities are not potentially sexually attractive male qualities to the subconscious female mind?Originally Posted by Tramontane
Ugh, people always say this.
Oversized unrealistic aren't solely designed for the viewing pleasure of the demographic. They suggest power. Raunchy huge muscles are actually a /turnoff/ to most people. The point is not sex appeal, but power at the expense of realism.
In a genre about a power fantasy.
...
The way males and females perceive sexualization of things are completely different. It's how we're wired as humans (please, please don't respond with "Well, that's not what -I- find sexually appealing!" because I'm generalizing, and that'd count as anecdotal evidence, and then we'd get into discussions about subconscious mind, and it's just gonna turn into a mess! xD)
What you're misunderstanding, I think, is that you think comic book genres are solely about a power fantasy. That, I believe, is very false.
Sure, power fantasy is part of it, but it's not all of it.
Power, heroism, dominance, etc. are just some of the 'fantasies' that the comic book genre touches on. Fame, wealth, sex, and a whole bunch of other things are also 'fantasies' that the comic book genre brushes against.
If every super hero/villain story was about "Who can punch the hardest!", we would have a pretty boring array of comic stories.
Bottom line is, it's a fantasy. The point of a fantasy is to let us immerse ourselves in an unrealistic world. The point of a fantasy is to escape reality. Why do we have to limit this world to realistic constraints? Why do we have to bring this mentality that "Most women in real life don't have such perfectly shaped breasts that is perfectly proportionate to their body!" into this pretend-world were we can imagine whatever we want?
You might not like big boobs on your pixelated characters. I don't either, to be quite honest. I think proportionality is more important than "how big it is" when it comes to any thing; not just boobs. But why do you have to be annoyed and irked that other people have the option to play out their fantasies however they see fit? Worst of all, why would you (by you, I'm referring to the general opposition, not the person I'm replying to specifically) find the need to antagonize other people for having different tastes in their fantasy?
Get over it! It's a pretend fun-times video game! -
Quote:No, it's actually the top. That shirt, for some reason, makes chests look a lot puffier. And note that I said "puffier", not "bigger".Originally Posted by Anarchist_Kitten
Here is another one of my HUGE characters (again, 50% slider)
<image snipped>
It's the kitten, isn't it? Makes 'em look bigger.
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The shape, sadly, is a limitation on software.
The body models we have today are the body models that came with the first iteration of CoH about 5-6 years ago. Back then, in order to optimize the game performance, they had to use fewer polygons to make models; not just boobs.
Personally the models in this game need a huge upgrade. But they don't seem to be caring much about that.
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I just read Anarchist Kitten's last post, and it's exactly what I meant.
This topic would eventually lead to female sexualization in video games, and it's a huge, huge, obnoxious debate mostly invoked by uptight feminists thinking "media is objectifying their bodies".
If your friend can't get over the artist style in a video game and feels offended, or feels like cartoon artists are men with an obsession for big breasts, then I'd have to say that she's is either probably very insecure about her own body image or she spends way too much time caring about what media portrays as the "perfect female figure".
In both case, chances of her being convinced by any argument is minimal.
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I don't get this fascination that some players have with "realism".
City of Heroes, as a an entertainment media inspired by comic books, borrows a touch of artistic style from that genre.
In the comic book genre, one thing that really seems to be quite bold is gender bias. Main characters are often sexualized using various methods, be it male or female.
Females are usually portrayed using athletic, feminine bodies with exaggerated breasts, narrow waists, and wider hips, along with long legs decorated with very skimpy clothing that seem incredibly impractical.
On the same hand, males are usually portrayed using very built, toned bodies with heavy muscular structure, broad shoulders, heavy chest, and narrow hips, and there is usually a big bulge in their crotch area; especially if they're wearing tights.
It's an artistic choice. What is so incredibly wrong with that? As a female gamer, I have characters with a whole bunch of different breast sizes. I have no issues with small breasts, or big breasts.
It's a style of drawing and representing characters that often goes hand in hand with "female/male sexualization in media" which is a huge topic on its own.
Whether or not male/female sexualization in comic books is a good or bad thing, that's up to extensive debate.
But that's the comic book style of drawing for you. And CoH adapts to it perfectly. And I see nothing wrong with it. -
Quote:Depending on time of day, and the community around you (global channels, VG, etc.) it can be more or less. But I'd say it's about the same. You wouldn't get as many random PuGs in higher levels though, from my experience on Freedom. Some like that, some don't.Originally Posted by Olympus_NA
How frequent are teams on the Virtue sever, are they constant, are there less teams than on freedom or more teams than on Freedom?
For me, the general experience is that on low levels, it's really easy to find random teams, and gets slightly more difficult at higher levels. But a lot of times, depending on time of the day, I see many broadcasts in high level zones for high level teams. There is no 'trend'; just a general idea.Quote:Originally Posted by Olympus_NA
Are there less or more teams at certain level ranges, meaning will I get more teams at level 20 than I would at level 35?
Most players on Virtue are very picky about proper typing. It comes naturally with RP. Usually people don't RP in random PuGs. There -are- players who use AOL speak in general chat, but it's not obnoxious, and it's very very rare to see it when they're RPing.Quote:Originally Posted by Olympus_NA
Do most players roleplay in their speech as well, or is there a fair amount of players who make toon who have great stories, costumes but speak like someone on Freedom?
Same as the first question.Quote:Originally Posted by Olympus_NA
How frequent are TFs on Virtue, again more or less than Freedom?
In the end, Virtue's what you make of it. Join channels, know communities, and you'll barely have any dull time on Virtue! -
Quote:I don't think it's about people getting riled up or flustered. For me, personally, it's more about the distinction between an 'icon' and a 'celebrity'.Originally Posted by Sparrow_Hawk
Goodness, some people really get flustered and riled at the notion of popularity. I say embrace your inner mean girl.
When they say "United States of America", what is the first thing that pops into your mind? Christian Bale, Donald Trump, or the famous red and blue flag? Christian Bale and Donald Trump are people I consider celebrities. But they do not -represent- the United States of America. They are not -icons- of United States of America; the USA flag is.
Mislabeling celebrities as icons is my only issue with this thread. I have nothing against popular people! Two thumbs up to them!
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Quote:But that's not being an 'icon'! That's being a cool person that you wish to see them in game!Originally Posted by Knightslayer
Nope, but I do like seeing someone and going "Hey! I know that name from the forums! Cool to actually see the character in game!"
I'm having a hard time distinguishing 'celebrity' and 'icon' in this particular thread/context. To me, an 'icon' is someone who would represent a particular event/place/action/etc.
If Virtue was to have an icon...it wouldn't be a person. It would be the RP community as a whole. Cause when everyone says 'Virtue' chances are, they probably immediately think of RP. Catgirls and Pocket D could be viable icons too...I'm just sayin'!
But to me, everyone who's been named here is nothing more than simply celebrities. And and trying to pick who is popular and who is not is just a really stupid game, in my opinion.
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Stroke it, guys! STROKE!
Meanwhile, I'll go put some popcorn in the microwave.
Edit: I just read Heroid's "Universally speaking, I'd guess the character that the most players know is the guy puking in the corner in Pocket D. He's hard to forget." comment. Thanks! That made me giggle!
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Huh! I never noticed! That's awesome! xD
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Yes......I think.
Though you can slot these inherent auto powers...if I remember correctly.
So you can enhance your...enhanced...base values... -
Quote:You do realize that would just help the inflation and raise the prices to even higher points gradually by allowing people to hoard more money , yes?Originally Posted by MLEdelen
With everything worth getting in WW is like 20+ million inf....the 2 billion cap is really not that much. We need them to raise it to maybe 5-10 billion.
WHO'S WITH ME!!!!!! -
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CoH has a lot of rendering inefficiency.
I run top-end games on maximum graphics on my PC, and my GPU rarely ever crosses the 65C border for them. With CoH, my GPU can heat up to temperatures as high as 80C.
It's just something that's in CoH that I've had issues with.
Same scenario occurred on my nVidia 9800 GT, that eventually burnt out.
And now I have just slightly lower temperature readings on my nVidia 260 GTX. I don't get nearly as much heat playing other games. -
Quote:It's in Cap Au Diable. Near Mount Diable.Originally Posted by Voehler
...I would imagine that the Villain lounge would be in Mercy, just havent bothered going back to Mercy since I got back.
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Quote:Things already die fast with or without the Dark Armor. I've been playing a Fire/Cold Corruptor for a long while, and she just absolutely slaughters entire spawns of enemies. But she only has two issues:Originally Posted by Gruumch
SM/DA Brute + Fire/Kin Corrupter = perma stunned mob that melts to RoF + Fireball and the brute will have limitless endurance.
Things will die so fast you don't have to worry about aggro.
1. The Alpha strike.
2. The bosses that will escape the Rain of OMG (Rain of Fire + Sleet).
So from personal experience, if I were to choose a Brute that'd help me out here would be a Boss Killer Brute that can act as a meat shield for the initial aggro. -
Quote:If I remember correctly, Fiery Melee is slightly modified for Brutes; it has less average DPS. I could be wrong, though. So if someone could double check this, it'd be appreciated.Originally Posted by ChrisUlrich84
So if fire does the most ST damage and has some solid AoEs... At what point does another primary become more effective?
I don't know what to go by with DPS because it seems the information they give you while making a character is pretty far off.
The thing is, the Fire/Kin would be all the AoE this Brute needs. I think survivability comes first for the Brute, especially if, say, the Corruptor goes down, or the Corruptor is debuffed with -ToHit (hence no heals) or various other special circumstances. -
Quote:You can get Taunt from Dark Melee at level 12.Originally Posted by Candlestick
DM does very, very little to protect an squishy aggro generator like Fire/Kin. The AoE's are on long timers, and /SR doesn't get their taunt aura until lvl 20. ...
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Quote:Controllers don't have any Assault/Blast sets. They have...no attacks. How're they gonna make use of Soul Drain?!Originally Posted by Aura_Familia
What's wrong with Soul Drain?
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Quote:From that, I got the following criteria the OP was looking for:Originally Posted by ChrisUlrich84
Looking for the most powerful setup for a brute! Teaming up with a Fire/Kin Corruptor pretty much every step of the way.
I have a stone/stone so I want to steer clear of that. But if stone/stone is the most powerful, what's next in line?
Looking for taking out single targets as fast as possible. Holding aggro is something i'm not too concerned with right now.
1. Most powerful set up.
2. Protecting a squishy aggro-hog.
3. Not Stone/Stone.
4. High Single Target DPS.
I think DM/SR fits those criteria very well in the later levels... -
Quote:The only AoEs you're gonna get are Shadow Maul, Dark Consumption, and Soul Drain. The latter two really serve different purposes than raw AoE damage...and Shadow Maul would actually be ineffecient for an optimal attack chain. So...if you want AoE, DM isn't the best route.Originally Posted by ChrisUlrich84
I really like the AoEs and the -ToHit. That in itself can help my brother stay alive longer! Squishy Corruptors die way easy. haha
You said in the OP that you want to focus on single-targets, which makes sense cause the Fire/Kin is just gonna obliterate all the tiny minions and whatnot to pieces while you have to hold the ground and fight the bosses. -
Quote:I should go apply for a marketing position!Originally Posted by ChrisUlrich84
I actually like the idea of -ToHit attacks. And I had no idea Dark Melee does so much damage. It also has 2 AoEs. I'm gonna go with DM/SR. I really like the way you're making things sound. haha
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Quote:The single-target damage output of Dark Melee is actually quite intense. I'm not entirely sure, but if I remember correctly, it has the highest damage-per-second attack chain for single-target.Originally Posted by ChrisUlrich84
The damage output of Dark really isn't all that special though, right?
What about Super Strength and Willpower? Or super strength/battle axe/war mace and Super Reflexes?
Super Strength and Willpower are both very solid "Jack of all trades" sets. I personally dislike them cause they're EVERYWHERE. EVERYONE has an SS/WP or SS/Invul Brute or Tanker; that and I dislike the dependency on Rage. But that usually means it's a good combo. -
Quote:Because Dark Melee gives you another heal that you can use on top of Aid Self, or in conjunction with Aid Self.Originally Posted by ChrisUlrich84
Why Dark Melee?
You're making it sound pretty bad while leveling. Is that the case?
And regarding the leveling, here's the thing...
SR, on its own, is rather fiddly...until it's softcapped. The difference in performce of a soft-capped and a non-soft-capped SR character is incredibly vast. So your character can go from "squishy" before level 47, to "invincible" after level 47 and a few hundred millions of inf.
Now...if you pair SR with Dark Melee, however, it should help ease the leveling, because of the -ToHit of Dark Melee (-ToHit is essentially +Def).
So it really depends on your playstyle.
I've seen Dark Melee/SR Brutes solo entire TFs. It's pretty darn badass. But as I said...it takes some patience.