Calibre

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Looks like he and Gil did their research well enough. So well, in fact, they even duped some native North Carolinians. I daresay, they might have went so far as to use Google, or perhaps open some kind of text-book.

Eerie.

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Learn to read.

Either they didn't know or they did know and didn't care.

(translation for the reading impaired)

Either way, it was a bad move and, yes, offensive.

Got it?

Cal2

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Hey guys I just wanted to address a few things about this thread.

First of all although many characters, groups and places in City of Heroes may have a foundation in history, it is very likely they will not match up directly because our game is fictional. Please keep in mind that our intent is not to annoy or offend anyone.

Now let’s talk about Croatoa for a minute.

As several people have pointed out despite the fact that Roanoke Island is in North Carolina now, it wasn’t then. The Roanoke colony was founded the first time in 1585, 22 years before Jamestown. Technically there wasn’t a Virginia *or* a North Carolina when the island was first discovered, but when she was told about the area by Sir Walter Raleigh Queen Elizabeth named the new land Virginia. The Lost Colony itself was established in 1587.

Croatoan were in fact the unexplained letters that were found. We called our zone Croatoa to echo that, but leaving the “n” off was intentional. The fact that the n was left off in the article describing the letters was simply a typo.

I hope this helps clear things up.

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Really, whatever, Manticore.

The Lost Colony is fundamentally North Carolina history and tradition. You DID offend by failing to do your research or by simply displaying an offensive apathy and ignorance.

Please, spare me the revisionism, if you don't mind.

Next time, do your research.

Cal2

Well, you beat me to it.


Yes. Speaking as a North Carolinian, I find it even more intriguing to wake-up today and find, suddenly and arbitrarily, that an entire island of our state and a primary faction of our history has not only been revised out of our territorial waters, but also *oh the shame of it* ceded to, of all places, Virginia.

It's enough to make me pull out the old flintlock and start heading north!

Reality Check: either someone didn't do their research OR something much more bizarre happened last halloween.


Cal2

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Thanks for bringing a note of moderation to what has become, as it always does, and extremely immoderate topic. Your tone gives me hope, but one thing you said made me sad:

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We're getting along much better, but we still tend to feel excluded from activities if none of our own people seem to be part of the action.

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I don't even have the heart to say why. If I put in in print, it would look as hokey as a Cap. America monologue. Or like I was trying to be MLK, Jr. and coming off as a cheap imitator. But it has to do with the phrase "our own people".



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Well, guy, as much as America is a melting pot (and we're really strong because of it) we cannot deny our own ethnicity---we should celebrate our similarities and differences. I, for one, would be extremely sad to have never had Asian cuisine or Southwestern American cuisine. Being different people, recognizing that and liking that is fantastic---we just need to appreciate other folks/cultures, etc. For me, I find different People interesting, not in the least threatening or 'exclusive'.

But hey, that's just me

Cal2

I like issue #2 of this new series much better than I did #1, though overall, I liked the old series over the new.

As for the 'diversity' debate raging here: I can see both points. Scion is correct to an extent, but so is the fella feeling left out because he can't identify with someone in the story. That's how modern society is, atm---at least how I see it in everyday people.

We're getting along much better, but we still tend to feel excluded from activities if none of our own people seem to be part of the action. Perhaps one day, we can look at a movie, a rally, a game or sporting event and see only people, regardless of race or gender, and feel perfect inclusion. We're getting there, despite the efforts of the extremist factions in our society (though I admit they are slowing us down).

Anyway, back to the point: why wasn't the BAB included in this story arc? He is, apparently, part of the team---or am I wrong in this? If he's part of the team, then his omission from the story seems strange and the OP has legitimate cause to wonder er WHY?

So, to sum up: better story, better art--still not as good as the old series. And, er, why isn't BAB in the Story??

Cal2

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Heya Manticore. Welcome back

How was E3?

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Thanks!
It was a wonderful madhouse.
Everyone seemed to really have a blast with the Base Raiding and Base Building.

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So, Manti, you know everyone really wants to know....


Why DID you send poor Synapse on that DOOOMED scouting expedition? hmmm?

Cal2

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Synapse is not dead, he is still in the game and will be around to take a beating in the comic too.

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Tell him to log on to Virtue and I'll help him with the respec---cause he so seriously needs one



Cal2

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References outside of that break a certain implicit contract between players, or between author or actor and audience. There are times where this can be done to excellent effect -- but it should not be done accidentally or out of lack of comprehension, which is what you are implying is the case here.

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I don't get that implication, at all. The author was constrained to convey OOC (out-of-character) information and chose to do so in his routine, newspaper format. So, we see a mix of OOC and IC voices---generally seamless and entertaining. Yeah, sure, the sudden appearance of 'PvP' in the story did jar my brain back into game information nomenclature---but what other term could he have used that would instantly convey the concept? I don't think he has enough space to include his own lexicon with every story, eh?



Cal2

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I went away from the computer to check on some CoV stuff and *wham* I received 5 or so PM's asking "what is the Blaster's role?"

Answer - Ranged damage. Now, the issue is more specifically - what does a Blaster do that a Scrapper can't already do? Or, even worse, is a Scrapper inherently "stronger" than a Blaster. We want each Archetype to have a well defined role, and part of our Scrapper testing is aimed directly at this.

Secondly, I have no intention of removing melee attacks - it's just a "perception" by some Blasters that some of the Secondary Sets aren't as useful as Devices or Energy Manipulation. This is a rather frequent refrain in PM's (and the occasional forum post). This is something that we should also explore...we want all the Secondary sets to be fun.

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Melee attacks violate your declaration of our 'role', though, do they not? Or do you have some way of using melee powers at range that I have not yet seen?

I don't like them because they violate the theme/concept of my hero. They take the place of powers which really should be in a ranged damage dealer's (paraphrase YOUR explanation of our role) arsenal. I've completely and utterly removed/respecced out every meleetype power on my Fire/Fire blaster. Add in more melee powers and watch me ignore them again.

Melee powers for a blaster just plain does not make sense, Statesman. Come on, now. I wasn't 'born yesterday'. These powers are there because you had to fill the slots with something and you guys ran out of ideas and went with what you had ready. Or so I believe. There's nothing wrong with that (if that's what happened)---anything to get the game out the door and successful. Well, you've done that. Now it's time to fix these placeholder powers with some really unique and thematic, sensible ranged powers.

Sure, keep your secondary elemental-melee power pool for defenders or controllers or whatever. But code up a proper secondary pool for us blasters

And, btw, during beta, you once PM'ed me in response to a quesiton of mine: why aren't elemental users proof against their own element? Why do I take fire damage when I'm a fire/fire blaster? Mobs, too, I said, should get this immunity. You said, IIRC, that means a player could unknowingly 'gimp' himself. We'll never code a situation where a hero's powers would turn out to be useless--especially because of choices made without full info on the game.

Enter the Infernal Portal Mission. I discover to my chagrin and outrage (hence my tone in this post) that Infernal is completely immune to all my fire/fire Blaster's powers. Funny that, since you said this would never happen.

>:/

Cal2

OMG

*loses breath*

States, thanks for listening and caring. You folks just keep getting better and better as we go along.

Careful! with attitudes like this, yer gonna have me for a life-long customer---and then where would we be?



You guys ROCK!

Cal2

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I think the genre (and the great game) attracts many of us who want some online gaming experiences, but need it to be flexible enough that we can solo at will (instead of standing around trying to form a team for 10 minutes).


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Eighth - you've hit the nail on the head! Positron and I were just talking about this; part of the beauty of the game is that you don't need to wait in order to get to fun. I don't want to lose that in the rush to encourage grouping. Like I've said, I'm going to review the missions this week and see how many have bosses at the different level ranges.

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States, I don't know what game you happen to be playing, but that certainly doesn't sound like the game I'm playing atm. I am forced to group my 39 fire/fire blaster every single time I log him on---every time. Or farm blues, whites and 'weak' yellows, slowly grinding along into mind-numbing frustration. I don't like having to play this way.

Is THAT what you mean by your statement above? Why do you feel you don't 'need to wait to get to fun' when we're telling you that we're being forced to?

*scratches head*

Cal2

States said:
"...As for why we put Bosses in missions at all – in other words, why isn’t everything solo-able – the answer is simple. We want gameplay that encourages the best part of the game: teaming up. Soloing is fine, but a MMP really shines when you meet other people and play alongside them. I’ve made many good virtual friends through other MMP’s that I simply would not have done if I could solo everything all the time. I admit it: I’m anti-social. It’s hard to get me to group up with strangers. But after I do it, I always wonder “why don’t I do this more often…” I might still be anti-social in “real life”, but in MMP’s I’m a social butterfly (I have no doubt that this will appear in sigs for years to come…) "

All well and good, States, if you happen to work a 'normal' schedule and are consistenly on in prime time. But a great many of us do not. This translates into the following:

Anti-social or social butterfly, you can't group when very few players are on and trying to do their thing with little time. Therefore, you are FORCED to try and do your missions yourself. Add LTs and even a single Boss and for Blasters, you can forget it. It ain't gonna happen----unless you've already outleveled the mission.

So, once again, I ask you: what's up with this? We're outta luck on solo content, then?

Cal2

Well, my search through a latin dictionary reveals that the word:

'colosseum'

Isn't a proper latin word, at all, regardless of spelling. It's a poetic, inflected form of 'colosseus' which simply means: big, large, huge, larger-than-life.

Is States being even more cryptic than usual? Maybe he's trying to tell us the next Issue will be, ahem, pardon me, colossal?

heh

Cal2

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I think that's a typeo.

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Same word, different spelling...

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It is NOT the same word.

THe correct modern spelling is Colosseum, unless States (Who is waaaaay overeducated for his own good) is having fun with words (not beyond the scope of possibility). Since the CoH universe is a parallel Earth, they may have simply chosen to spell it THAT way in that dimension, and OUR way, as we spell it here, may be considered the "wrong" way to spell it.

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Was thinking of that, as well...So it could be 'co leez zium' which would be an entirely different thing than colosseum--colo see um. I'll switch to a latin dictionary and do a search.

bbs

Cal2

Variants:

1. coliseum
2. colosseum
5. coliseums
6. colosseums


(edited out non-related words)

Yes, it was a typo, as the 'i' and 'o' are beside each other on the modern American style keyboard.

colisseums is incorrect. Apparently when spelled with an 'i', the second 's' is dropped. Who knows why? Our English language is really rebellious---breaking it's own rules at a whim.



Cal2

Here's my list, FWIW:

1: more costume options and combos (this would include new logos and that they can be sized and placed where I want on my costume)

2: shape-changing power sets of some kind so I can mimic a werewolf, vampire, shape-shifter, whatevah.

3: The rest of the elemental powers! Light, Dark, Plasma, Chaos...whatevah! And, I'd like some bonus/penalties for opposing elemental attacks.

4: I want to customize my powers as I see fit. This would include a magickal devicer having magickal looking stuff as opposed to science gadgets, etc.

5: Skills the SSOCS, whatever ye call it. Bring it on.

6: New Archtypes of a non-epic nature. This may mean simply adding in more powersets (you know, like archery and such).

7: New Zones: anything from outerspace, underwater regions, other cities on Earth, the open countryside! Anything to get us out of PC for a bit.

8: Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry!

Cal2

A thousand thanks would not suffice to express my gratitude and enthusiasm for this game and Dev Team.

Excellence all round!

Happy New Year, guys and gals at Cryptic and NCsoft.

Cal2

States, please give Martin a raise!


yay!

Cal2

I guess I'm just not seeing the point of this post. I doubt very many players or posters ever really believed the CoH team was a pack of greedy liars. As well, I'm quite certain we're all convinced these guys want the best for everyone: company and customers alike.

I have very few negatives about the game. I've detailed them all in another post on the bboards here, so see no reason to rehash them in this thread. I will note, however, that these negatives are starting to loom larger than the positives, for me.

That's neither here nor there. I realize the game may be changing into one I simply cannot tolerate. I hope not. I hope things will realign the opposite way, soon. In any case, I'm not going to fall for BS character assassination attempts on the Dev Team from anyone---least of all some of the flamers on this bboard.

So, FWIW, I think we already knew these folks were sincere and honestly devoted to making CoH better. And, of course, I know they appreciate my business I'm just not certain I want to continue my patronage, atm.

Cal2

You know, at first, I was really gung-ho on having them completely remove all the new difficulty mods that went live in Issue #2---even the non-bug ones. But now, after having fun with basic missions (failing them every time), I'm wondering:

Can some sort of happy medium be found? I realize the difficulty slider is in the works and may well solve this whole issue, but generally, I think a difficulty point mid-way between what it is now on Live and how it was before I2 is where it needs to default to. Automatic failure=no; automatic win=no, too.

Find that mid-point, that precise point of challenge vs reward, danger vs doom and you'll have it made, States and Co. Of course, go ahead and add in that slider for the people who really want a tough or easy mission sometimes.

thanks
Cal2

edited: typos. sorry, home sick and can't think.

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But what about the people on Virtue!? We want our Virtue badge as well! This is unfair! I want my $45 back!

*casts Phantom Army and watches them annoy Statesman into submission*

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whoa there!

Now that's an idea: why NOT have them be named after the servers? Surely no one could disagree with that? You collect them all by doing more than standing by a flag...I dunno, standing by many different things all over the game world.

hmmm.

But, whatever. I'm excercising MY freedom by ignoring this issue and badge for the forseeables----had enough of it to last me a hero's lifetime, methinks. On with the game!
Cal2

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Gang,

Sorry about the confusion regarding the Patriot badge. Quite simply, I had wanted to shift the badge to something a little more universal – so that everyone, regardless of nationality, could feel like a “Patriot.”

What hasn’t been posted is that we had planned to replace it with the new one – the Freedom badge. No term better fits the ideals of America and all it stands for. In the future, standing proudly beside the American flag grants a hero this badge.

In games, some times some fixes get made quicker than others. In this case, we needed new art for the Freedom badge – and so it takes longer than shifting the current Patriot badge to the statue inside City Hall.

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States, I'm sorry: but apparently you didn't learn the lesson from the now locked thread: this is a bad idea. I realize it's your story and you want it fully realized, actualized in this game; but I think you are making a mistake putting anything in this game that in any way reflects real life politics. It's not your fault, of course, but that doesn't alter the ramifications.

Please reconsider and do not add either badge until you can be assured the majority of players are sufficiently mature enough to realize it's just a game, has no meaning other than entertainment and doesn't question their personal patriotism---i.e, that is, never add them, period.

thanks
Cal2