ClawsandEffect

Buh-Wha?!

How was Electric Mastery for Blasters not as good?!?

If I recall correctly they were going to remove the (awesome) hold and give us Surge of Power. Probably because their datamining suggested that not many people took the hold.

Why they would remove the hold instead of EMP is beyond me though.

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@Tripp Hazzard, mostly on Champion. Mostly.

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Tripp, it's been bugging me for a while now. Where is that quote from?! I know it, I can hear the female voice saying it, I just can't remember what it's from!!

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Aliens.

The little girl they find
"they mostly come out at night. Mostly"

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AH HA!!!

Thank you, that's been bugging the crap out of me for a long time now, I haven't seen that movie in a long time so all I had was the mental recording of the voice with no reference point.

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@Tripp Hazzard, mostly on Champion. Mostly.

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Tripp, it's been bugging me for a while now. Where is that quote from?! I know it, I can hear the female voice saying it, I just can't remember what it's from!!

My first 50 went from PI to Atlas to train at Ms. Liberty because I felt it was appropriate to train my last level with the same person I trained the first level.

As far as Most/Least popular based on number of people training there:

Due to AE farming in Atlas, Ms. Liberty is most popular by a landslide.

Poor Ravenstorm in probably the least popular. I keep forgetting he even exists, and I'd be willing to bet a lot of other people do to.

I join a CC with whatever character I hapen to be on if one starts up in AP. I have never rushed from PI to AP just to show off my costume.

Sometimes I'll win, but I don't really care if I do. I don't really care too much what other people think about my costume, I obviously like it or I wouldn't be wearing it, that's enough for me.

Sometimes I get bored in the proceedings and wander off. One memorable time I had the person hosting the CC chase me down across the zone because they picked me as the winner, but I left before they announced it.

Every great once in a while I'll host one. There's never any criteria other than how much I like their costume.

They get bonus points for having a backstory that explains where some odd costume piece choices come from. Simple is good, I tend to prefer well laid out costumes with a nice color scheme over elaborate costumes with everything possible slapped onto it. You don't need EVERY location on your body covered with something.

My CC's are about as fair as you can get, as long as you don't have a problem with them being based on my personal taste.

Well, stop and think about it for a second.

When you first started playing, on your first few characters, wasn't the low level game pretty awesome back then?

I bet it was. I mean, if it wasn't, why would you have kept playing to get to this point?

It seems to me that it's just a matter of having done it before. If you think about nothing but how cool the character is going to be at 50, then yeah, leveling is gonna suck. If you think about how cool the character is NOW, it's not so bad.

Me, I'm playing ATs I've never seriously played before and having a blast with them. I have a controller in the 30s and a defender in the 40s. I never stuck with either of those ATs past level 16 or so. My controller just got his Imps and he's rockin' the house now. (He's Fire/TA, I won't roll a Fire/Kin on principle)

My defender is a Rad/Sonic and he just hit 45, so he can start doing some of the high end stuff that a Rad is useful for.

Eh, I guess what I'm saying is fun is what you make it. Players that have been around a while and are used to high level play seem to have forgotten about the parts of the game that were awesome to them when they first started.

I mean, wasn't the first time you saw Paladin stomping past you in Kings Row pretty cool?

Or the first time you accidentally Super Jumped on Lusca's head? (that was pretty funny)

Hell, when I first started playing CoH even dying was fun. All kinds of "HOLY CRAP! WTF JUST HAPPENED?!?" moments in the first 20 levels of my first character.

Then you play for a while and start to get stuck in the "gottalevelgottalevelgottalevel" mentality. Happens to everyone once in a while. I was guilty of the AE farms for a while, just like a lot of people. In my case mostly to get a few seldom played alts past levels I was having difficulty at (Kinda wish I'd gotten my SR scrapper to SOs at least )

Then I stepped back and thought about why I enjoy the game, and realized I enjoy the game because I just like playing it, and that the particular level I'm at just isn't that important. I'll still hop on my main and go killing Hellions in Perez, just for the hell of it, I gain nothing out of it because I already have the badge. But it's FUN

Just my $.02

I got petitioned for dropping an F Bomb in broadcast in a PvP zone.

I won't go into details, as it isn't relevant, but I petitioned someone else for an offense. And I'm guessing they petitioned me back as revenge.

I couldn't really argue about it though because I DID say it.

I got a warning as it was my first offense.

Okay.

That wasn't necessarily what I was getting at. I was just trying to say that it was a little on the rude side to insist that people keep talking about the same subject.

Who knows, in the course of people's random conversation someone might spark an idea that you like better. If you restrict the topic to one narrow field of discussion then nothing new is likely to enter. And since I presume that you started this thread to garner feedback and suggestions on improving your idea restricting the topic would be counterproductive.

I wasn't trying to be a jerk, so hopefully you didn't take it that way.

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I agree to abide by the rules, but I don't remember agreeing to be a policer of homage violations.

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The devs specifically asked the players to help with the finding and reporting of trademark/copyright infringement.

If you choose not to, no one is forcing you to.

Wow, this thread got nasty. It was fun yesterday until it turned into personal attacks.

My stance, repeated:

If I have reason to believe someone with a trademark violation character is unaware of the rules, I will warn them of exactly what the rules are, and why they exist. If they are polite in return I will let it go and give them the chance to make a correction themselves. I see no reason to put someone through the generic/rename process if they really don't know about the rule. Then, if I see them again later at a higher level, I take it as indication that they ignored my warning. Then I petition

If they are a jerk to me in response, I petition immediately. I do not tell them I am petitioning them, because it serves no purpose. Their attitude in response to my polite warning is an indicator that, if left alone they will NOT make a correction of their own volition.

If I have reason to believe that they are aware of the rules (number of vet badges, displaying game knowledge new players wouold not have, etc.) I petition immediately with no exchange of words. If you've been playing that long you should know you're risking genericing.

Now, on to the "Why I do this" part of the post.

Do I really care that someone is unoriginal enough to rip off a character? Not really, I think it's kind of funny actually.

Do I derive pleasure out of getting someone's character genericed? Nope. But I don't feel bad about it either, especially seeing as it wasn't their character in the first place.

I petition people because the developers of the game asked the players (of which I am one, obviously) to assist them with a task they cannot handle by themselves. Namely, the finding and reporting of EULA violations.

I'm operating on a hunch that the policing and enforcing of trademark infringement is a condition of Marvel dropping their lawsuit. NCSoft did not win or lose that lawsuit, it was dropped, probably as part of an agreement between the two companies in the interest of not wasting any more money on a long drawn out series of litigation.

If that is indeed the situation, and the suit was dropped rather than resolved, then it can be reopened at any time

I'd rather not see that happen.

Note the use of the word hunch in the above paragraph. That is indicating that, no, I do not know any of that as fact, it is just the logical conclusion I came to with the information I have available.

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Forbin, I refreshed the post and your "The door man just called and said..." comment is gone! I just wanted to say that I lauged so hard I woke up my dog and peed a little

Well played sir, well played indeed!

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As to the humor aspect I'm glad you got a laugh out of it.

I'm actually glad it was removed. It's a clear indication that the Mods have reviewed this thread and determined that it doesn't violate the rules of the forum.



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That amuses me. I would have been sad to see this thread go. I've been having fun with it today. I enjoy a good debate.

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I always thought that nubs were just n00bs that couldn't even spell n00b, let alone anything coherent.


Edit for another note on newb/n00b difference:

Newbs questions are usually spelled more or less correctly.

N00bs, on the other hand, seem to be stretching to achieve a 1st grade reading level.

i hav a lvel 50, i r uber @ this gaem -and- i r 2 1337 4 u r gud exam....dammit, are good examples of n00bish.

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Wow, I didn't realize you were so fluent in n00bish. You should write a translation guide. Something like "N00bish for Newbs"

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lol, I was thinking about it.

Maybe title it like a college course:

N00bish as a Second Language

I always thought that nubs were just n00bs that couldn't even spell n00b, let alone anything coherent.


Edit for another note on newb/n00b difference:

Newbs questions are usually spelled more or less correctly.

N00bs, on the other hand, seem to be stretching to achieve a 1st grade reading level.

i hav a lvel 50, i r uber @ this gaem -and- i r 2 1337 4 u r gud exam....dammit, are good examples of n00bish.

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one even said that they'll just keep on doing what they're doing, no matter what the Devs or the Mods do to them, and that the Devs and Mods have no right to use the Generic Bat, EVER!

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I suspect that individual eventually got hit with a banstick instead.

Edit: To Laxx: I don't tell them when I petition either. I only warn those who I think may genuinely not know about the EULA.

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^awsome, thanks for the explanation....man i hate being a n0ob...lol

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You are not a n0ob, as you have shown a willingness to listen and learn

Newb maybe, but certainly not a n0ob.

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This.

The spelling difference makes ALL the difference.

A newb is a new player. Being aware that they don't know much about the game a newb will ask questions and listen to the answer.

A n00b, on the other hand, may or may not be a new player. The one thing they all have in common is they are absolutely convinced they know everything about the game and that everyone else is wrong.

Interestingly enough, n00bs are the people most often seen calling people n00bs.

I was just calling you on doing exactly what you were telling people not to do.

In your own words: "If you're going to petition just shut up and do it" Instead, you made a post informing people you were reporting the thread.

Justifying it after the fact does not change the fact.

"Tabbing" is switching targets using your "Tab" key, which is set to that purpose by default.

When you target an enemy, their name and level and how much HP they have will show up in your target window, which is at the top left of your screen. You can press "T" to bring it back up if you accidentally closed it.

Another piece of information that will show up is what enemy group they belong to, under their name, like this:

Scrounger Slammer
[Lost]

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QR

I see ripoffs frequently, and I have yet to petition one of them. I'll petition things offensive (overtly sexual, racial or sexist names/descriptions) and let everybody else petition the clones. They don't really bother me and there are always plenty of people wanting to point out how someone else is breaking the rules so I don't particularly care when they get caught and just assume they will. If I'm feeling really nice I may mention that they should look into changing the desc/costume, though.

But I also see no point whatsoever in starting a thread about it on the forums, either - I find doing so no different than all of the purged posts and threads about the accidental bannings that happened due to the "MA abuse". It's not talking about specific GM interaction but merely speculating it and discussing such - which many of those threads were as well - and as such falls under the same forum rule.

In short, if you're going to petition do so and shut up about it. If you're not going to petition, don't and shut up about it. If you're going to be an attention [censored] saying "lookit me, I can point out a nasty ebil rule breaker" then I hold you as no better of a person than the one you're pointing out.

As such, reporting the thread.

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So...let me see if I got this straight.

You typed all this out to say you're reporting the thread. While saying in the post itself that you look down on people who go out of their way to point out that they're reporting something, considering them no better than the one who broke the rule in the first place.

Yes, pot, the kettle IS black, we noticed. Though I'm surprised you could tell what color it is from WAY up there on your horse.

Umm, they were talking about Stamina the whole time.

I see nothing in the thread off topic enough to get upset about.

Also, according to the TITLE of your thread, it IS solely revolving around Stamina, since it is the only power mentioned in the title.

If you did not want the discussion to include Stamina you should have titled the thread: "Splitting the Fitness pool into 2 pools" or something along that lines.

Since you put the word Stamina in the title, it is a natural progression that people will talk about Stamina, and go on to endurance issues from there. It is simply conversation, subjects tend to differ slightly the longer a conversation takes place.

Reading the title of the thread, it is not illogical to surmise that you are suggesting eliminating the power altogether. Understandably people would have issue with that, even if they are mistaken. And it is quite clear that the thread is about YOUR whim, rather than anyone else's.

And just for the record, I am not behaving abusively OR disrespectfully. It appeared to me as though the person you are implying was being disrespectful was good-naturedly ribbing someone who I will assume is a friend.

And I would consider this to be a constructive post, as it contains a suggestion for you to avoid confusion about the topic of the thread.

Have a nice day

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So shiny and after he/she typed in all that bio information too.

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You seem to have forgotten people can copy/paste now Taking the word "ripoff" to a whole new level. I googled for half the first sentence in quotation and found the entire passage nearly verbatim.

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That's hilarious.

Not only is it copyright/trademark infringement....it's plagiarism too!

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Hi ClawsandEffect.
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During the course of your duties you run across ANOTHER sergeant. In conversation you discover that he joined the Army 2 months ago, but because he committed himself to 4 years they went ahead and made him a sergeant NOW.


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We called them butter bars during my time in the service.....

Damn 2nd lt's getting into trouble all the time.

Also... I think West point cadets are give the same pay as an E-5.... Been awhile since I have heard it talked about though.

And to the OP.... I got no issue with you "buying" into the vet powers.... it is your money.

BC

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What I meant by that, (I thought it was clear, but I guess not) is:


Sergeant #1 signs up at a recruiting office and commits to 4 years in service. At the end of those 4 years he has achieved the rank of Sergeant.

Sergeant #2 signs up at the SAME recruiting office, and makes the SAME commitment to 4 years. Only in his case he becomes a Sergeant immediately after basic training. (Actually, 2 months would be during basic training, but that's not the point)

Sergeant #1 earned his rank over 4 years of service, he has been there the entire time.

Sergeant #2 got his rank because he is GOING to be there for 4 years. He has not yet spent the time in service.

Underlying point: Sergeant #2 was rewarded for something he has not done yet

That's like telling your boss at work: "If you pay me now, I'll come in every day this week."

Now, the situation with reg dates not matching vet rewards, I'll go with the same metaphor of military service.

If you spend your 4 years in the service and are granted an honorable discharge you will remain a sergeant.

Your friend, who decided to re-enlist immedieately, goes and takes officer training courses. He winds up becoming a Major 5 years later.

Now, if you were to re-enlist 5 years later, you would re-enlist as a sergeant. You have no right to expect them to promote you to Major just because time has passed. You were not there in order to receive a promotion, and have not earned it. Your promotion form that point forward would pick up where it left off.

I just look at it as "Violations have the potential of harming the community."

Obviously there are a significant number of people who are blind to that, or just flat-out disagree.

Other people's opinions aren't my problem, I'm only concerned with my own as far as determining my actions is concerned.

1) I suggest searching for the first SG. It's possible your friend just got kicked out of it and assumed it was gone. I don't think there is a message informing you of having been kicked from an SG unless you are actually online at the time.

The only way to truly delete an SG is to kick everyone out and then quit yourself, as soon as an SG has no members it disappears. If that is the case, there is no way to get it back.

2) The only way you can get back in your alt SG is to track down someone who has a character in it to invite you. Obviously someone does, or it wouldn't exist anymore. If you know the globals of the people that were in it when you left, you can try messaging them that you've returned. (Do an offline message, people delete emails without even reading them these days, if you send them one you will likely end up on their global ignore list, even if they didn't mean to)

Other than what I gave you here, there's not a whole lot you can do, GMs generally don't interfere with SGs, so you can't ask them for help.

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I wouldnt petition the person but I would tell them they need to change it before it does get cut by the GMs. That way the person could remake the toon while it's still a lowbie with a new name

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I usually look at other info before I fire off a petition. If they have no vet badges and otherwise appear to be new to the game, I will inform them that they are violating an agreement, and explain why the agreement is there.

Most of the time I get something like:"Really? I didn't know that, thanks for telling me, I'll go change it."

If I see multiple vet badges and get the impression they've been around for a while I say the same thing. Sometimes I get the same answer, other times I get: "Yeah, I know, they can't stop me though, so I'm gonna do whatever I want."

Those people get petitioned right away. I never assume that someone is knowingly breaking a rule, a lot of times they have no idea it's even there. I mean, how many people actually read the EULA? And out of those people, how many understand it? I'm guessing not very many in both cases.

So, I'm not a complete jerk about it.

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Whoever said that Land of the Lost isn't a copyright infringement because its a name or words just shut up. So if i were to start a pizza joint called pizza hut BUT didn't server pan pizza, didn't have a red roof, didn't look like a hut then there is nothing that could be done, PLEASE!!

Even better how about me making a game or something for facebook call it "City of Heroes" but not super heroes but Policemen or Firemen were the stars of the game and they were stopping crime and rescuing the occasional cat in the tree. NCSOFT would send there high priced attorneys after me in a heartbeat.

"Land of the Lost" is a trademark which mean that it cant be used unless permission is granted. Google was recently sued because the OS they use for their mobile phones is called Android which could have lead to confusion with the registered trademark Android Data.

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Okay, I'll give you another example:

Creed and Metallica both have a song titled "One", and they both have a song titled "Unforgiven"
Now, we all know how lawsuit-happy Lars Ulrich is.
If it were even POSSIBLE for him to sue because Creed used the same names for songs that Metallica did, don't you think he'd have done it in a split second?

The reason Metallica can't sue Creed (Both of Metallica's songs came out first, in 1988 and 1991, respectively) is because the songs sound nothing alike and have nothing to do with each other, the subject matter isn't even the same.

Now, if Creed had released a song called "One" that had a similar melody, subject matter, and lyrical content as Metallica's song, then Metallica could have (and WOULD have) sued them, and most likely would have won.

The point I'm making here is, you cannot sue because something uses the same name, they have to be substantially similar in other respects before legal action can be taken.

You are correct in saying that you can't name a pizza joint Pizza Hut, because it would be substantially similar in both name AND the premise of the business. And as it would be obvious that Pizza Hut had the name first, you would be sued, and rightfully so.

You COULD, however, name an electronics store Pizza Hut (I can't imagine why you would want to though), and so long as you did not ever sell pizza within the confines of your store, there's not much they can do about it. The most that would happen in a lawsuit is you would have to call your store Pizza Hut Electronics.

Land of the Lost (the TV series and the movie) is a fictional location that is a desert in an alternate dimension where dinosaurs still exist.

Land of the Lost (the CoH neighborhood) is a fictional location that is a modern slum in a larger area that is populated by a group of characters collectively known as the Lost. The neighborhood is their land, hence: Land of the Lost

Now tell me, where is the similarity aside from the name? There is none. If the creators of Land of the Lost got wind that there is a neighborhood in CoH with the same name, they may try to sue. I would bet that, if they did, the judge would throw it out of court, because there is no basis for trademark infringement, as they are not similar enough.

Being a musician I have researched this quite a bit, as it is relevant to me. I wanted to make sure I couldn't be sued for naming a song the same thing as another song I'd never heard of before.

If you're going to argue about something do your research first.

I did.

Edit: I just searched Android Data. Google was sued because it is a computer program that enables certain things to be done, in other words, an operating system. There is a case of similarity of both name and premise. The name alone was not the basis of the lawsuit, I guarantee it.

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It is pretty ridiculous to make a character that looks exactly like a comic book character, but I still wouldn't petition him. I did not sign up to police other people in-game.

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So, would you be upset if Marvel sued NCSoft again and won, getting the entire game shut down....and then you found out that it was because of a character you could have petitioned, but didn't?

I would.

I don't feel it's my job to "police" people, and I don't go around petitioning every questionable character I see. And with my comic book knowledge I've seen a LOT of them.

But in the case of the toon linked in the OP? Yeah, I would have petitioned that one in a heartbeat.

Any blatant ripoff of a character like that I will petition. Obscure characters, or clever homages I tend to leave alone.

The name, appearance, and backstory are all lifted from Marvel. Being a musician who has been ripped off before, I do what I can to keep it from happening to others.

(The material I had ripped off wasn't anything you ever would have heard. Two members of my former band quit and formed another band, using songs that I had written before they joined mine in the first place. They went nowhere, so it didn't bother me that much. Had they gone on to win a Grammy with one of them, yes I would have sued their pants off, as I have date-marked, recorded proof that the songs existed prior to them being in the band)