Creole Ned

I ask because my account info says I'm due for one today and I am greedy and wants it now (and logged in and did not get it).

It's been awhile since I paid attention to when the vet reward is due and when it actually shows up and I cleared a big SNAFU with support over a previous glitch that mucked up the vet rewards awhile back, so I'm curious as all get-out over what will happen.

Do people find they usually hit the day they are supposed to? Do they show up after server maintenance? If it doesn't show up today, should I panic and start behaving in an irrational and unpredictable manner? Should i wait a few days first?

Excellent work, Zombie Man. I've taken your Hero Skin CSS and tweaked it a little to my own particular preferences.

vBulletin has no native way to discretely allow sig images to be disabled, unfortunately, so we'd be looking at a mod or altering the CSS to make it happen and I suspect the community reps are reluctant to do either.

As Nethergoat (and Lazarus and probably a few others I missed) mentions above, Adblock will allow people to selectively block any image so it works as a decent workaround (I use it myself).

I still think the overall size of images in signatures should be reduced. I've seen several that are fairly svelte and get the point across. I don't block those. The giant ones that dwarf the actual message they're attached to -- I don't really see the point. Less is more, as they say.

My feedback, all categorized-like.

What I like:
- the 100x100 size for avatars. Much cleaner without being obnoxiously big.
- 'Report Post' function allows you to attach an explanation. Nice.
- posting images is a plus, especially for media and tech forums. If people abuse this, smack 'em.
- general speed seems decent so far.

Onward to various suggestions and criticisms!

Navigation:
- the index should be duplicated at the bottom of the forum. vBulletin annoyingly doesn't do this by default but it can be changed.
- the main page should be set to show details of the subforums. I'm not sure why it wasn't set up this way. Bookmarking 'English' is a bit of a kludge but a workaround for now.
- hyperlinks (URLs) should be bolded and/or a different color so they stand out from regular text better. I would also suggest not having them underlined by default.
- there are several sharp-looking spoiler tags available for vBulletin. I'd recommend implementing one.
- if the 'Quick Reply' box is going to be available, I'd suggest turning off the requirement to click a button first to use it.
- the inverted triangle image you click to go to the first new post is a bit too small and plain. Make it more visible.
- the timer that automatically marks messages read is way too short, meaning that a lot of unread messages get marked as read. This feature can be turned off. I'd suggest either doing so or at least extending the timer to a typical browsing session.

Images:
- decent filesize restrictions should be in place for all avatar, linked and sig images. There are some floating around that are nearly a full megabyte in size and that seems unnecessary.
- sig images should be restricted to a smaller display size that currently, IMO. Or implement an option to only disable sig images.
- emoticons should be cleaned up but I understand this is already being looked at.

Aesthetics:
- I'd avoid using gradients as backgrounds for the posts. It's a bit hard on the eyes. Solid colors are best.
- the default font of Arial is not optimized for viewing onscreen (it works better on paper). I'd recommend using Verdana instead.
- 'View Post' in quoted text should probably be an image and not text.

Other stuff:
- reputation is probably a bad idea. I'd axe it.
- having to use the game login for the forum is a security risk. I'd strongly suggest allowing players to use unique logins for the forum.
- the forum is not consistently remembering logins when you click 'Remember me'
- this thread should be stickied!

I admin a vBulletin board and will come back to fix up my post with better terminology for some of the points I've made.

Also, is it possible to get real spaces in names now? I would very much prefer Creole Ned to Creole_Ned. Also, I think I actually prefer most of the old UBB emoticons, odd as that might seem!

Until I can track down the Winter Lord, I now have a cookie-eating bunny as my avatar.

On images in sigs: I'm not necessarily opposed to them but they need to be restricted in size, I think, both in terms of filesize and actual dimensions. If a lot of people use honking big pics in their sigs, I'll just turn off sigs altogether. Too much visual noise for my taste.

Avatars should also be restricted in filesize. There's no need for nearly a full MB avatar. Granted, the CoH forum isn't hosting any of this stuff but it would make for an overall faster and leaner forum.

Took a bit to get the login right. Did my snazzy custom title carry over? Let's see...

EDIT: Alas, no. I am no longer The List Guy. :sadface:

The new version worked perfectly. Nicely done!

[ QUOTE ]
That's really weird, it's the 32-bit version of the library, so it should work fine on 32-bit and 64-bit machines. Are you sure you have the System.Data.SQLite.dll file in the same directory as the PM Capture.exe file? They have to go together. (Or you could put System.Data.SQLite.dll in C:\Windows\system32 or whatever path Vista uses, but it's easier if they're just kept together.)

[/ QUOTE ]
The dll and PM Capture.exe are in the same folder. I also tried copying the dll from the zip file and using it instead. When I checked the properties of the dll (running Vista 64-bit here) it had been "blocked" by the system because it was from an "unknown computer". I used the option to unblock it and ran the capture again but got the same error message.

Since it runs a full scan every time, I'll hold off on using it again unless you have any other suggestions.

Nice videos, Zek. Good work all around.

And happy birthday, old lady!

Got this big ol' error message after running the program from the msi installer:

See the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.BadImageFormatException: Could not load file or assembly 'System.Data.SQLite, Version=1.0.64.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=db937bc2d44ff139' or one of its dependencies. An attempt was made to load a program with an incorrect format.
File name: 'System.Data.SQLite, Version=1.0.64.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=db937bc2d44ff139'
at PM_Capture.IOHelper.SaveMessages(Message[] Messages, String Filename, Boolean Overwrite, SaveProgress Progress)
at PM_Capture.frmMain.mnuFileSaveas_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.RaiseEvent(Obje ct key, EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem.OnClick(Eve ntArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.HandleClick(Eve ntArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.HandleMouseUp(M ouseEventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip.OnMouseUp(MouseEven tArgs mea)
at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripDropDown.OnMouseUp(M ouseEventArgs mea)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message&amp ; m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip.WndProc(Message&amp ; m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripDropDown.WndProc(Mes sage& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.W ndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

WRN: Assembly binding logging is turned OFF.
To enable assembly bind failure logging, set the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog] (DWORD) to 1.
Note: There is some performance penalty associated with assembly bind failure logging.
To turn this feature off, remove the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog].



************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4016 (NetFxQFE.050727-4000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Fra...7/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
PM Capture
Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 1.0.0.0
CodeBase: file:///C:/temp/PM%20Capture.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4016 (NetFxQFE.050727-4000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL...dows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4016 (NetFxQFE.050727-4000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL...089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4016 (NetFxQFE.050727-4000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL...em.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Configuration
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4016 (NetFxQFE.050727-4000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL...figuration.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4016 (NetFxQFE.050727-4000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL...System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Web
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4016 (NetFxQFE.050727-4000)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_64/S...System.Web.dll
----------------------------------------

************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:

<configuration>
<system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

[ QUOTE ]
...this is the same vBulletin Board that's been taking an incredably long time to load on two other forums I go to?

Great.......

[/ QUOTE ]
Those are server issues, not a vBulletin problem.

I visit several vBulletin boards that get far more traffic than the CoH forum and they run just fine.

[ QUOTE ]
I am a bit confused, do I have to do anything if I want to KEEP my name? (Ultimus) -- What if someone on the European board has this name, who keeps it?

[/ QUOTE ]
You will duel to the death for the name.

The work on power customization has easily exceeded what I would have expected. A big thanks to BaB for spearheading this effort and to all other devs at Paragon who are pitching in to help.

[ QUOTE ]
Watch as the July news is, "Remember those pictures? Well we didn't confirm anything! It was just a tease! Now we are here to confirm it is actually power customization! Please wait until Comic-Con as we reveal even more info-bits!"

[/ QUOTE ]
This seems about right.

[ QUOTE ]
I don't like ants. Therefore they cannot be added to this game.

[/ QUOTE ]
Solution: vet reward power Ant-B-Gone. This permanent power gives you an invisible aura that giant ants and especially giant fire ants find yucky. They will avoid you at all costs, never even coming within your sight, making your experience essentially ant-free. All others will be eaten by the very hungry ants.

The key to making this game more challenging is adding giant ants. Giant fire ants, yep.

Here's a question: Do the devs know?

For the devs, revisiting old content to fix it up is not exciting or sexy. I don't blame them for mostly ignoring it because creating new missions, contacts and zones is going to be a lot more satisfying than making sure every heroside contact gives their cell number faster or that mission doors are placed in a logical instead of random manner or that villains will fight something other than snakes, snakes and hey, snakes! when they step into Mercy Island.

But some work *does* need to be done. CoH is not an MMO where people rush to the level cap because there is a ton of unique content and the promise of ever-better gear there. Yeah, we have more to do at the high level than before -- more TFs, a second raid and so on -- but the core of the experience has always been "make another character" because character creation and playing around with new ATs or even just powersets within ATs is a heck of a lot of fun.

I like the idea of shifting the entire 1-5 experience (which even for a new player rarely takes more than a few hours) into a more advanced tutorial. Some excellent ideas have already been brought up on this so I won't go over them again. However, even if this didn't happen, I'd still like to see the low levels refreshed with new missions, better mission door placement and a more varied and streamlined experience overall.

I also support removing the AE buildings from the lowbie zones. I think Zombra makes a good case for why having the AE in Kings Row is not really such a bad thing, so I'd say get rid of the ones in Atlas, Galaxy City and Mercy Island. Players will get enough exposure to the game to make their own decisions on what to do after leaving the starter zones.

(I never liked the way the buildings were stamped all over nearly every zone to begin with. Completely unnecessary and actually rather baffling in terms of the world design.)

Ultimately only the developers can see the ebb and flow of new vs. veteran players and tell if any real harm might be coming to the game (and since NCsoft is pretty much hiding the numbers in their quarterly reports now, it seems it shall remain that way) so we have to trust in them to do what is best for the game. I hope they implement at least some of the suggestions that seem to have a consensus here.

And now it's back to normal.

Or at least what I think is supposed to be normal.

Yeah, what I'm seeing in the updater is the main page for the cityofheroes.com website. Putting that into a non-resizeable window would be flunking Basic Web Design 101, so I suspect it's an error.

I think you are vastly overestimating the number of names that would be freed up by any sort of name purge. There's a reason the devs made the cut-off level 6 on the second go-round and why they haven't done it again since.

Most of the common names are locked up by active players. A purge would make very little difference.

Just think of another name. It's really not that hard.

The obvious solution is to send me money. I will then come up with a solution on how to spend the money.

This may or may not have anything to do with Double XP Weekend.

rian, I really hope you change your name back before the cutoff and switch to vBulletin. You're just not as fancy with this one!