Captain-Electric

It sounds worse than is intended. Now, if I made a thread entitled, "Wonder what the players regret?", THAT would be completely uncalled for.

I remember my first MMORPG had sleeping bags that you could use the camping skill with to insta-log out in the wilderness. The drawback was that you had to waste a whole skill selection on this one-trick pony.

In City of Heroes, some kind of inherent power that you could activate OUT OF COMBAT would be nice. But if it takes more than a few minutes to code, I think we all know there will never be sufficient demand to justify developer time being spent on a power like that.

Massively underdeveloped PvP and Care Bear-like debt (which is largely your community's fault) aside, it is still a developer's job to foresee and plug those holes.

Which means you're probably not the type who seeks out exploits, so that's good.

Logging out immediately in MMOs is always abused in PvP and could be used to avoid XP debt in PvE. The first time this issue was ever addressed was around 1996 during the Beta (maybe Alpha) for the world's first MMORPG.

I don't PvP (much) in City of Heroes, but I have felt irritation elsewhere caused by a sore loser who instantly logs after starting a fight and then realizing he isn't capable of winning. If I can't escape using normal (or legally creative) methods, I take my defeat like a good sport.

Exaggerating the severity of my position (to take your crude pun even further) doesn't increase the poignancy of your argument, and it doesn't mitigate your error in comparing and contrasting Star Wars: The Old Republic with the winter event in City of Heroes. You shouldn't have done it (and your emotional outburst here makes me think you've realized that), but I never expected you to acquiesce-- it's an Internet forum, after all. I've seen three, maybe four members here openly buckle in the face of reason with any regularity, including myself. Out of 200,000 forum members. So, it's only ordinary, you get a pass.

City of Heroes doesn't need me to defend it against the competition, when critics, reviewers, and awards do a fine job annually. I could compare and contrast features and costume packs from more than one competing game with recent additions to City of Heroes (that are clear reactions to similar features among their competition). If you're not aware of this reality, that's fine, but I'm not going to expound on it here. I'm going to treat my membership on these forums with the respect and responsibility I agreed to when I signed up. It has nothing to do with my ego (or not as much as you think it does, at least).

You can't do what you're doing with your OP and its title, and expect a reasonable discussion based on the merits. This thread won't even survive past Monday. It has no merits. You created this thread in the spirit of cheap shots. The worst thing I've done here is, well, reply at all, now that I'm thinking about it ("Oh, look, an Internet argument. How noble a cause!").

I'm going to go play the game. I declare Judas Ace the winner of this argument. It's not that important to me, suddenly.

I was inferring that you're a square, not a spy. If you were a spy, you'd be getting paid. On the contrary, I'm pretty sure you're advertising for Star Wars: The Old Republic totally for free.

Your thread has nothing to do with constructive criticism. It's a thinly veiled advertisement for Star Wars: The Old Republic. You know this. It's why you posted on the weekend. To dodge the forum moderators. Looks like we both have some growing up to do.

Something new and shiny is out, and you're all atwitter over it. That's great. Good for you. I should probably apologize for putting Star Wars down, it's an entertaining franchise with lots of rabid fans. But it has nothing to do with City of Heroes, and comparing and contrasting the entire Old Republic offering to City of X's winter event is unfair and unsportsmanlike. And this forum is for City of Heroes, City of Villains and Going Rogue game-related discussions ONLY.

I just had a cool thought. What if one day we logged in after a new issue, and "Advanced AI" was added to the Hero Corps Field Analyst options? And what if every enemy group had its own tactical strengths and weaknesses--AND if certain enemy groups, when allied, actually gained tactical bonuses from combining their strengths--AND if you could choose from a list of tactical strengths and weaknesses when creating your own enemy groups in Mission Architect?

Maybe something bad happens not just to Statesman, but to the ship he's standing on and all the stuff around there? I'm only halfheartedly suggesting this (after all, no one knows where or how he'll die in the SSA). But there has to be a reason for this.

Half of City of X is what the players bring to it, whether that means original character concepts or original story arcs (so I've got to make the assumption you're speaking for yourself here). But even if this weren't the case, it's not difficult to outdo George Lucas and Co. for originality, and Marvel and DC (and Top Cow, Image, Dark Horse, Dynamite Entertainment, Vertigo, IDW, Icon, the dev team's own imaginations, and a dozen other small and independent publishers that have inspired the content in City of Heroes) each have more originality in their pinky fingers, too. As for using mechanics 100% derived from fantasy MMOs, City of Heroes arrived on the scene BEFORE any of those fantasy MMOs we now take for granted. Yes, even before that one.

Stop advertising for Electronic Arts/Lucas Arts on the City of Heroes forums, just because you know it's the weekend. Don't be a square. Those companies are both massive marketing behemoths, whose target audience is an average audience, the lowest common denominator, a very broad and unspecialized niche. I can't believe you used the term "generic" while defending them against City of Heroes.

"What kind of food do you want?"

"Some good food! Food that isn't terrible!"

"Okay, but what kind of food? What exactly do you want?"

"I already told you, good food!"

"Sigh. Fine. You're getting mashed potatoes. Hope you like them."



Something to keep in mind, "Better stuff pls" does not help the devs that much. Specific ideas do.

This is probably not the part that is regrettable (if AE is regrettable).

Brain dead locusts might be good for quick infusions of cash (I don't know), but like your description implies (locusts), they are not sustainable, you can't retain them. If given everything they wanted, many of them would have left soon thereafter anyway, quickly becoming bored with it. Those people are a good target audience for the Xbox, not a subscription based game like City of Heroes. Positron never had any inclination to invest in that crowd (using AE). Maybe because they're a horrible investment.

I am pro-Statesman too. This does not mean that I'm blind to his character flaws. But these are flaws which, to me, make him a very convincing Zeus incarnate. The first time I read his origin story in the comic book, it all clicked for me, and much was forgiven. I was impressed to see him played up as the petty Greek god from whom his essence of power was borrowed. And on many occasions, eavesdropping on equally petty banter under Atlas, I have come to see Atlas Square as the top of Primal Earth's modern-day Mount Olympus. Statesman is the icon that Paragon City deserves. Many of our characters are like a new generation of Greek gods, whether by accident or not, and whether we would like to admit it or not. Some of you will know exactly what I mean by this.

Still, from a story perspective, Statesman's death isn't such a bad idea. This is an interactive story, and part of the job of saving the world needs to fall squarely on our backs. But I have a feeling that people who loathe comic book tropes will hate the way this shakes out. Statesman will be back one day when we need him the most.