Castle

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Not going to comment on the controversy surrounding any of this (not my place, at all) other than to say the following:

Twixt was a rank amateur compared to Fansy the bard.

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Dominator's got a pvp only damage buff back in one issue or another. It was definitely over 2 years ago. I looked for the patch notes regarding the difference in damage in pvp vs pve today and the search doesnt go back that far. Before anyone starts crying"bug" please do remeber the extra damge in pvp was added intentionally. That the dev's forgot they implemented that isnt a "bug".It's an understandable oversite and will be corrected.

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Ya it kind of bothered me that Sunstorm called it a bug as well. They sure love to label things as bugs and exploits even though it was WAI just a few days ago.

It's an oversight that they forgot to adjust for during the dom revamp, there is no bugged code or bugged powers everything is working exactly as designed and implemented.

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The "bug" is the bonus not being removed before these changes went live. Those responsible have been beaten about the head and shoulders with a wet noodle, repeatedly. Not that that will prevent the same sort of thing from happening in the future, but hey, it was fun!

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Invincible Reichsman?

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Yep, that's a bug.

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I think the Titans always had those powers, they just didn't work properly before.

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Ding!

The tinkering with AI that we've been doing has caused some powers that previously NEVER got used to start showing up in the attack rotations.

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Actually wouldn't Castle = Fortress?

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Castle is a reference to the chess maneuver of Castling, rather than to the architectural structure called a Castle. Hence my forum Avatar.

I was actually looking for a term synonymous with "Discovered Attack" for the Praetorian name, but settled on "Checkmate" when I couldn't find anything suitable in the 2 minutes I allowed myself to look.

EDIT: To add clarification:
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In chess, a discovered attack is an attack revealed when one piece moves out of the way of another. Discovered attacks can be extremely powerful, as the piece moved can make a threat independently of the piece it reveals. Like many chess tactics, they succeed because the opponent is unable to meet two threats at once. While typically the consequence of a discovered attack is the gain of material, they do not have to do this to be effective; the tactic can be used merely to gain a tempo.

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Taken from Wikipedia

The Praetorian Name thing is interesting. Let's look at some examples:

Statesman == Tyrant
Back Alley Brawler == Marauder
Positron == Anti-Matter
Mynx == Bobcat

So, in general, the Praetorian Name of a character is a reflection of their current name, but with a more...aggressive, sinister twist.

Given that:

Castle == Checkmate

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I dunno Bill, lately a lot of the things that no one thought would come to the game are either here or on the way.

Flashbacks, side switching, body changing and power customization are a few that jump right out at me. Personally, I hope total respecs never see the light of day. But these guys have surprised me latley.

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Bill's copy pasta pretty much covers the reasons not to allow this functionality. As far as I am concerned, we'll never allow this...but, of course, I've been wrong before.

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Was there an undocumented change PVP IO drop rates, or the whole drop system for them entirely changed ?

If so this should have been noted here, even if flagged as an exploit fix internally and wasn't in the test notes.

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Bug. We're working on it.

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The obvious answer is that the devs post when they work, and they don't work on weekends. Fair enough. But why? Is it not possible for them to log into their redname accounts outside of the office or something?

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BABs and I have been known to post on the weekend, at times, as have Ghost Falcon, Dark Watcher and even SexyJay.

It's just relatively uncommon.

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I ♥ this thread.


EDIT: That's supposed to be a heart. Damn alt codes, anyway.

I have played a Catgirl as a lark, but never got past level 5 or so.

I played a character named "Catman" in a champions game about 12 years ago. He was inspired by Vincent from Beauty and the Beast and Sabre from Aaron Allstons "The Blood" group from The Blood and Dr. McQuark

I also played a male Vah'shir Warrior in Everquest (among many, many alts.)

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I think that was with regard to PSW and psy scream only.

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Correct. Those two powers are supposed to be using Melee_Damage instead of Ranged_Damage, but that change did not take place. Fixed today, get tossed into a build Soon(tm) and reaches you guys shortly thereafter.

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...Castle's example was removing the +dmg and +tohit and making build-up build a small "cottage" hence the cottage rule. I do believe it originated during the Blaster defiance change/ AT buff discussions which are LONG gone.

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This is correct. Sadly, I can't even find the original post at this point.

Mac or PC?

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Ok, I have been staring at concrete joist bluelines from 1921 too long today Castle.....

Do they now get the bonuses from the Soulbound set or not?

Just asking cuz I be confused....per normal

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In most cases, they should.

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Yes, it looks like we got this fixed. We're testing it now for inconsistencies. Once we're satisfied with it, we'll remove the text we added.

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I hope the Dom buffs are included.

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They aren't.

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Okay, there you guys go, updated spreadsheet with level range limiters in groups of 10. Should be sufficient enough.

(And also I'm a chick)

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Out of curiosity, how did you handle critters with multiple sources of resistance and/or toggles (Toggles being notorious for only one critter in a spawn being allowed to use a toggle at once, and then, only for 15 seconds at a time...)

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Castle, if this is the case, then the Possessed Scientists are either broken or just not obeying the rules. I fought a group of Earth Melee/FF Possessed Scientists in the Portal Corp parking lot yesterday, and despite having 2 level 30 Acc IOs in my attacks, I ended up with less than 9% chance to-hit, apparently due to their overlapping dispersion bubbles.

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There are LOTS of exceptions. I did not mean to imply that all groups have this issue, or even that it is considered an issue with all the entities that DO have it.

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Okay, there you guys go, updated spreadsheet with level range limiters in groups of 10. Should be sufficient enough.

(And also I'm a chick)

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Out of curiosity, how did you handle critters with multiple sources of resistance and/or toggles (Toggles being notorious for only one critter in a spawn being allowed to use a toggle at once, and then, only for 15 seconds at a time...)

My non-canon, not terribly involved in story aspects of the game, so could be wrong in lots of ways, answers:

Sister Psyche: Blue Oyster Cult "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" -- poor girl is severely damaged and only holds together through her bond with the other Phalanx members and Manticore, specifically.

Lyrics link

Positron is harder. Maybe "Livin' on the Edge" by Aerosmith or "Birdhouse in Your Soul" by They Might Be Giants. Then again, "The Man Who Sold the World" by David Bowie might fit.

EDIT: Someone beat me to the punch with Veteran of the Psychic Wars. I lose...but it's still a good choice.

EDIT 2: Since Samuraiko says hell will freeze over before using that song, maybe "Lithium" from Nivana would work for Sister Psyche.

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I don't qualify for any of these... how can you get into the game industry if they're always looking for game industry experience????

I'd LOVE to be a QA tester for this game.

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The "experience required" flag is put onto job postings to limit the number of applicants who flat out would not qualify. It is not, however, a "hard" requirement -- if someone is sufficiently gifted and does very well on the various tests/interviews they can still be hired. It's happened before, it will happen again....but it is rare.

Work on Mods to popular games in your free time. This isn't "real" game development experience, in that it isn't usually a paid position, but it can teach you a lot about the why's and wherefore's of game development. This is more true if you work as part of a team, rather than solo mods.

Write Pen and Paper game designs. Whether adventures, game systems or settings, designing these can and does help you hone your skills and can be used as a sort of "portfolio" of design work in some cases.

Lastly, and best if you can get it, work as an intern at a game company. There is no better way to get past the "no experience" boundary than this.

Growth Defensive set -- I wanna be 40' tall!
Shrinking Defensive set -- I'm 1/8th of an inch tall!
Mapserver Control
Omnipotence -- Nothing can harm me; one hit defeat for anything!
Wall Crawling
Swing Lines
Super Speed Swimming

EDIT: I should note that at least some of those are available as a Dev, but my live account sure doesn't have 'em!

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Cool, any chance at a quick run down? We would LOVE to speculate...

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I won't go into specifics since, as I stated above, they are in a state of flux based on feedback. I will give you the list of goals we had going into it. It may sound familiar; I think I posted it a couple months back:

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# Eliminate Jeckyll and Hyde feeling.
# Improve "feel" of low level play.
# Have minimal impact on "Perma-dom" players.
# Increase Dominator vs. Controller viability.


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From the EU boards:
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Leese: Dom buffs confirmed for I15 ?
Positron: Yes

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Let the boundless and unfounded speculation begin!

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I'll chime in a bit here.

I've put together a list of potential changes for Dominators and sent the change list to a select few players for their feedback. I've collated that feedback...and that's where it sits. I've not had time to go back and alter the proposed changes based on that information.

What this means is that the Dom changes will probably be post I15 launch.

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Subject: Super Booster II: Magic Details!

[*]Mystic Fortune Power:

Ever wanted to have your fortune read in game? With the Mystic Fortune power players will be able to offer to read each other’s fortunes. Having your fortune read gives a power buff based on the Major Arcana of the Tarot, and can give a positive or negative effect on that character for the next 20 minutes.


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I sure hope the effects of this power are deletable before 20 minutes ... I don't want some terd I don't know, running up to me, using their power, and now i'm debuffed for the next 20 minutes with no way to prevent it/remove it.

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The effect is NOT deletable, however, you are given a confirmation as to whether or not you accept having your fortune told. If you say 'No,' you get no fortune and the person who cast it now has to wait the full recharge time to try again.