Chase_Arcanum

Well, if things are too gray there, you might be able to make a variant mask similar, but varying in pattern. Of course, that turns it into a new costume piece, not necessarily a conversion.

No, it's kinda like going through the progression for the Rikti arcs, now. From the character's perspective, the invasions haven't started yet-- from that perspective, the attacks have JUST started when they get the level range to take the task forces.

Unless, perhaps, the team that was let go had been working on something not DIRECTLY related to CoH... studios often put teams together to investigate other opportunities. If you cancelled those projects abruptly to "focus on the City of Heroes franchise" then you'd have to suddenly find room for these people on the core project-- one thats' already fully staffed. Sometimes you fit them in, sometimes you don't. Heck, sometimes the people don't WANT to go into the positions you DO have available. I can't say with any certainty that any of the above happened here, but BAB did go on forum-silence a while ago, and there had been some cryptic hints dropped in different places about teams within Paragon on different projects. Add to that that BAB himself attributed many of the animations that we saw in GR to the other animators/effects folk, and it does seem a reasonable possibility.

You REALLY have to misread the announcement or imagine all sorts of inflection to turn it into an insult on players or the people let go. I've seen a lot worse-- there's a little marketing-speak... which tries to spin anything negative into a positive for the players, but look at it:

What's not overtly said here is that, for there to NEED a refocus on the CoH franchise, there had to have been work on something outside that franchise, or at least a fringe project. We could speculate all we want, but that gets us nowhere.

You pull the resources from that other work, and (maybe, hopefully) try to find room for them in the CoH franchise, but there's only so much you can do before you're wasting resources. You don't want to specify WHO for privacy purposes and don't want to supply an exact number lest people start a scavenger hunt for the list.

You don't want to say how great these people that are leaving ARE because that feeds the doom-sayers and you couldn't say how terrible they were... because they weren't... but also because that goes against employment privacy law. (A local company's spokesman once gave assurance that a 50-person layoff wouldn't affect profits because they released mostly "dead wood." His statement, however, really DID affect profits after the lawsuit was settled) Heck, just identifying anyone laid off by name would be a violation.

Here we get the "ease the anxiety" speak that just rings too corporate-speak for many, but they are giving assurances that 1) NCSoft is not abandoning the title, 2) they're not shutting down, and 3) they're still focusing on CoH development. Does it seem cold and impersonal? Perhaps, but we don't see if/how the company handled it, what kind of severances were offered... what kind of assistance... how their teammates handled it, etc. That's not something that's visible here and frankly isn't our business.

I think it says a LOT of good things for OCR's and Paragon management that they haven't put a communications blackout on these threads. This is a reactivation weekend and NY ComicCon- that's directing more traffic than normal to these boards to see... layoff news? They have good reason to NOT let us talk about this... but they are.

As I've stated before, there is such a thing as privacy law in the employment sector... and those privacy laws have teeth. Before you blather on about what you think is frivolous or not, and how you think reality should be, why don't you take a moment to find out how the world IS.

Employers CANNOT volunteer information about former employees and their means of departure, except to those people that have a legitimate request. Ever have a prospective employer ASK you if it's OK to contact your current or past employers? That's why--to get the authorization they need to get some disclosure (and that disclosure is STILL going to be very limited in information.)

Employees that get severance packages often sign non-disclosure agreements to keep all terms of the departure private. This again protects all parties, not just the big bad evil corporation. If Joe talks about why he left, and Jill doesn't explain why she left in the same layoff, Joe's disclosure taints Jill's right to privacy. The laws are written to assure that the employee's right to privacy are respected. Period.



The important thing to remember here is that regardless of any anxiety we the community may feel- we aren't the ones wronged here and we aren't the ones that deserve anything. There are 8-9 people that are out of a job in a tough economy and many of them will want to have some control over how that information is shared and with who. It's their life- their dignity- and their future. Putting demands for disclosure to ease our anxiety is rather inconsiderate, in comparison.

I know the feeling.

I was DETERMINED to finally do a comic guide again-- got pretty far along for the Praetorian one, and I figured that many of the sets and in-jokes I'd wanted to do there were generic enough to be re-purposed for I19. Even started planning and layout.

Not only will this issue be coming out rather fast, but many of my reusable jokes centered on a mock-interview with a dev thats no longer there. Eliminate everything related to that, and I'm back to a blank slate...

Well, not 100% blank, I still had this rather weak teaser idea for the next mock dev interview...

Coming Someday(TM):
"Live, From Paragon" Interviews "Sexy" Jay Doherty.
*Shandora, as frustrated as I can make her appear, standing next to "Nice Axe" ...well, likely his chest and beltbuckle, due to the height

S: So... Um... Jay...
J: "Use my character name."
S:Uh.... ok, "Nice Axe..."
J:"Thanks, I work out"
Ssigh) and that's the third time you've used that joke...
J: (laughing)"I know... it never gets old, does it?"

S: Can't I just call you sexy Jay?
J: "Girls call me sexy all the time in real life, but we're supposed to be in character here."

S: Ok, so... nice axe...
J: Thanks, I work out.
(Wimper)
---------------

Gotta agree here. I have one PC that's still using an old AGP cardslot and it runs Praetoria fine without Ultra Mode. Yes, it looks different than other zones- brighter in some places that occasionally look too bright, but it doesn't have any notable performance issue.

Shady Sam, are you sure the performance issues you were seeing weren't just due to high traffic in those zones, rather than the zones themselves? Maybe try them again during off-hours this weekend and see if you see the same issues when running at a level that works the game?

Also, although the Incarnates system might be tied to Going Rogue, they won't necessarily be running the full mission maps of Praetoria- there will be instanced maps just like our current zone maps. They may perform better enough that this content isn't exactly "gating" you away, and give enough value for you to consider this a good purchase.

I don't assume I have a RIGHT to know someone else's private life. A game developer is not like a celebrity or public figure that has given up some of his privacy.

I believe it's the person's RIGHT to decide who and how he will share this information I understand that the laws are written to that extent- so the EMPLOYER can neither volunteer such a disclosure nor do anything that would appear as coercion of the individual to disclose anything himself (for example, make him feel obligated to write a farewell message). Finally, I would never expect the person to make any effort TO make me feel better about his departure by giving me a chance to say goodbye. He's the one going through the tougher time... not me.

Tis true, but the root issue remains the same. Privacy laws are VERY protective about who has the right to say what about someone's term of employment and how they end.

Nah, simple minded folks with poor reasoning skills are more motivated by fear, hysteria, and baseless speculation.

Look, we don't know the circumstances of the layoff, nor the conditions, nor the reasoning behind who was let go and who wasn't. Making ANYONE the bad guy just makes everyone look stupid.

Simple: THE LAW.

BaB wasn't a "public figure or face" for the company (his role on the boards was an informal one, in no official capacity as spokesperson). That means state and federal employment privacy law applies- those SEVERELY curtail what you can say about a person and the circumstances of their departure.

I know California's privacy laws are even tougher than my own states, and here we cannot NAME who was let go in what layoff or for what reason. Heck, even if we're called for an employment referral, we can't really say anything specific.

Things are a little different when you're the head and/or spokesperson. There, your role officially involves the public, or in interfacing with shareholders. This more-visible position sometimes gives a little more latitude to what a company can say about a departure, but even then, you'll rarely find anyone on the record with anything negative to say.

Yeah, the girl all the way to the right was just something I'd already made on that server for a now-in-limbo return to comic guides... one that was gonna have a "mock interview" with some devs. In each, I had an interlude pic that had the interviewer (shandora) dressed in each signature hero's theme, posed next to the interviewee. Babs was the first one I was working on.

Well, from what I can see, he's lurking these forums and playing with us linkedIn watchers.

His profile now reads "Astronaut/Test Pilot/Firefighter, International Spy/Male Model/CEO of Fortune 500 Company (Currently seeking employment)"

Such a modest guy... didn't mention his times as a Nascar driver, High wire and trapeze artist, or bodyguard to the stars. Heck, he didn't even hint to that season he was on Deadliest Catch.

I'll be there, but likely a little late. Still have a few hours' drive ahead of me.

It isn't just PR spin, Marcian. There are privacy act(s) (state and federal) that employers have to adhere to, and being imprecise as to the reasons and the numbers helps with that. Singling out one person that didn't fit into what the acts consider a "public figure" would be a violation that could really affect things. Identifying why the cuts were made similarly affects it. As much as we want to see them speak more directly and respectfully wish their outbound teammates well, praising their accomplishments, this isn't the venue- THAT should be done in person, face to face, among friends that worked in the trenches with them.

Here-- this is a place for the community to wish those leaving well and thank them for whatever role they played in crafting the game we love. This is where we let them know we hope the best for them in what's still a tough economy.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I do salute you all and hope nothing but the best for you.





Finally, it's a place for us to let the remaining Paragon Studios team know our feelings about this. Mine is as follows:

I accept this is a business. I know that you need to remain profitable and must make changes to meet the realities of the business climate and the needs of your customers. I know that will sometimes mean having to let people go. I expect you to do so in a way that preserves the dignity of all those involved, shows due respect for the sacrifices they made while with you, and shows consideration for the hostile economic climate you're sending those former teammates out into. I HOPE you did so in this instance.

You make a superhero MMO-- I know you aren't superheroes yourselves. I don't care. I hold you to a higher standard. I hope you meet it.

Yep.

First ever?

You don't watch C-SPAN much, do you?

I always got the impression that Ouroboros kinda existed outside the outside the multiverse timespace dimensions, and that the "Coming Storm" spanned all aspects of the multiverse. Since Praetoria is just another such alternate dimension, its Ouroboros would be the same as ours.

Agreed. What we saw is likely a "future Ouroboros" where we travel to in some mission or event-- some kind of glimpse of the future... but as in all good storytelling devices, one that can be mistaken and misunderstood many ways-- one that leads to more questions than answers.

Precisely. Quite a few of the pool powers are valuable just at the default. Sure, they're BETTER when slotted, but hardly useless when not.

And pull a slot from elsewhere? There are quite a few places you can pull slots without affecting builds substantially. Many 6-slotted powers will have things so high in ED that you may only be losing 6-8% from that power to gain 35% in another.

Take the powers that many people 3-slot recharge in. At level 50 +42.4% IO's and ED, you get a 99% recharge for 3, Two get you 83%. That means you're investing a full slot for a 16% bonus... or about 10 additional seconds off a 4 minute recharge. Don't get me wrong, that's nice.... but it may be much more optimal to move that slot over to another power... one that can get a full +42.4 improvement on some other stat (or +26% off two... or +21% off 3... assuming all category a stuff). Heck, maybe drop it in a defense set and add a LOTG +7.5% to improve all recharges.

Point is- this simple change challenges the template-builders to think a little about whether their old assumptions still hold true. Some will... some won't. Some will LOVE the challenge of experimenting and finding new things that work better, some will passionately adhere to the old ideas, and some will be increasingly frustrated until someone else comes out with the latest and greatest FOTM guide telling them what to do.

http://help.ncsoft.com/cgi-bin/ncsof...hp?p_faqid=910


Is there a newer one? This one says you can't use "Names referring to another person in-game." but nothing about using your own name.


And positron's example are just LAST NAMES. While we recognize WHO they're referencing by the combination and proximity of them, they're not individually-identifying. There are plenty of others with that last name.

Pattern recognition alone isn't enough to generic something.

Heck, my last name appears as one of the operatives rescued in Kalinda's second story arc. Doesn't mean it was named after me. (Be cool if it was...)


EDIT: Also, Troy Hickman's a bad example. Well... yeah... he is... but also a bad example for your argument. He's got a bunch of Hickman avatar:


from his blog

Ouroboros is a place outside the dimensions... or it's own dimension, depending on how you want to verse it... so no reason why Praetorian Ouroboros couldn't be the Praetorian one as well.

Maybe the screenshot is from one of the task forces- where you battle to save Ouroboros from such an incursion...

I stand by the idea of Emperor Cole as the letter-writer, not the coming storm. The coming storm is something bigger than either he or Mender Silos... and both have ulterior motives for their actions.

no... though the idea of an 11 year old Japanese girl running his show with his lines... THAT has entertainment potential.