CuppaKenja

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...eloquently showing that an MMORPG can be successful by breaking the norm and thinking outside the box.

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Now how is introducing loot and PvP thinking outside the box again considering WoW and Lineage had it prior?

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WoW came after CoH so at least that was not prior. As a whole, CoH doesn't have the common loot system like WoW, Lineage, FF, etc. At the very least in the approach is different. PvP is inevitable, but how it is introduced, developed, and executed that counts. PvP is a hot topic right now, so I won't expand too much, but playing a few myself, I find a good PvP night in CoX an absolute blast. If you are refering to the introduction of recipes and the like as "loot" then this "loot" will be much more useful than picking up dozens of weapons, jewels, misc things that we could never use and just ditch anyway. We get to build some great things (kudos to Dr. Brainstorm and the inventions dev team)

My post was and is an opinion by a casual player who doesn't get into the microscopic break down of why my power missed a level x baddy y amount of times and only did z amount of whatever when it hit. I play the game and enjoy every pixel I see and every moment with every friend I have made. This is truly an amazing game!

And true I learn things every day...I thought EQ was first. Didn't even think of UO. As for forums and community, I don't spend my time in a variety of MMO's but like to try new things. The CoX commuinty has been by far the best experience I have ever had (hence the title "...and me")

Thanks all for your responses...keep up the positive ones and just so anyone wonders, I wrote this after I regained consiousness from seeing Statesman post in my thread.

As some of you may know, our very own Statesman, Jack Emmert, wrote an article for GameInformer Issue 169 - May 2007. He wrote an Article titled “The Future of MMO’s”. I have tried to find this article online but have been unsuccessful. Therefore in absence of the whole article and short of retyping the whole thing (Mr. Emmert, please feel free to cut and paste your saved article here plz plz plz) I will just post my opinions with relevant snippets from the article…

[Statesman, Insert Article Here]

I get this issue monthly and was glancing through when I saw a picture of a Family consigliore punching a Zeus Titan. After I stopped laughing I started reading. Halfway through I looked up to see who authored this and was shocked to see Jack’s name. I ecstatically kept reading. Ironically it was not City of Heroes the forefront of this article, but “The success of World of Warcraft [that] has forced the video game industry to re-analyze the MMORPG genre” and thus this article.

It began with the first MMO, EQ. It was a daunting task to come anywhere near the accomplishments of this game in the online market. SIMS, although extremely popular, didn’t fare well in the online market. Personally, my first experience with an MMO was Jack’s next mention, Star Wars Galaxies.

SWG, being a big SW fan myself, was a natural choice. But the game was lacking and left me with a bad taste in my mouth. So when this seemingly exciting title “City of Heroes” hit the pre-order block, I was really tempted to get it, if only on the premise to be a hero. But given the bad experience I had with SWG, I was reticent. My friend finally urged enough that I bought it. And OMG from that first moment with the Atlas theme and building my character (a good 2 hours or so, back then) then going through training map, but nothing was so engraving in my memory as my first sight of Atlas Park, Ms. Liberty and all the heroes…some flying, some teleporting, and some dashing away at super speed. I knew then, this was not only a keeper, but a game with boundless potential.

I was right. “In [April] 2004, City of Heroes launched to much acclaim and phenomenal sales…City of Heroes seemed to prove that another MMORPG game could, in fact, succeed.” MMO’s then began to spring up like hotcakes. Even attempts via console games, like XBOX Live, tried to snatch this growing market but it’s initial attempts weren’t too successful. MMO’s were everywhere. I stayed with CoH. Then came the one. The game that would blow the industry out of the water, and no it’s not Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s ok…go ahead…we all know which one I mean…World of Warcraft.

Now this article is not only about the success of MMO’s but what it takes to make them successful. Namely the cost of developing an MMO. It was not just the formula and mechanics, like “(phat lewt, grinding)” that made game like EQ successful and the modernized polished version made WoW a success, it was something “that no other game had [done]. According to [my research] Blizzard spent between $50 and $70 million on development alone.” I was flabbergasted by this. Jack continues to the final points by precisely stating, “Cost is the number one issue of MMORPG development. This is where we are going to see the MMORPG market begin to bifurcate.”

Synopsis of article done, I want to interject my opinions with Jack’s final two points. In short, WoW has become the new standard in which MMORPG will be judged. In every possible aspect, from subscribers, to game mechanics, and to game community, developers want to have the next WoW. I can’t possibly imagine the budget for the next ‘big thing’. Nor do I think there will be another blow out like WoW. I agree with Jack in saying that the MMO hype will eventually die down and stabilize, with “games [that] will either be cancelled or drift along with minimal success.” I personally believe CoX will not be one of those and here is why.

SWG and WoW had 2 major things to make them insanely popular (at least more the latter than the former), a huge fan base and a long history. Warcraft, however, had more game knowledge than and gamer fan base than SWG did. I, like many others, likely got SWG because we though it would be cool to be a Jedi. The game ended up a disappointment. WoW used an existing formula that was integrating and familiar to all the players, so going from commanding an army to being part of them seemed a natural transition. I played Warcraft III, and although it is a fun game, it just didn’t get my adrenaline flowing. It is for these such reasons that I feel CoX is an unparalleled success.

How? City of Heroes was literally the new kid on the block. The name wasn’t very known, the developer was new to the scene (for many), and the only thing the title had going for it was the premise of being a unique hero in a city full of heroes! Every player was a new player. Every experience fresh and unlike anything before. Three years later, the game is still strong, with a nice consistent player base, and a community to set the standard to any industry. I have never before seen such a game or online community that works so integrated. I have seen amazing progress in the game and it is because of this community. Yea there will be those that complain and gripe (remember the explosion when ED was introduced...a necessary evil) but think of this. We have had 8 issues of enhancements, progress, and proof of commitment in these 3 years and about to get the 9th. We have also seen the introduction of the villain side of the coin. WoW in these years has had, count with me, one. (chirp chirp) and you had to pay for it to boot. If some of you may remember, CoH planned an expansion that we had to pay for as well, but nixed the idea and decided to give us those goodies for free in intervals through upcoming issues.

Many developers are looking for the success of WoW because of the revenue they bring in and forget the players. Cryptic and NCSoft has, to this day, always had the players in mind when they develop their games (please all ye naysayers…leave Auto Assault out of this…that is a topic in it of itself ). For those that think ZOMG DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!! At every nip and tuck the developers make, it is for the overall success of the game. Do you think that the game would have gone far if they left Tanks uber duber and left controllers to count the pixels per square inch on the floor? If a game is to succeed through even the roughest waters, it must remain balanced or will capsize. Jack’s article, although briefly mentioned CoH in the article, he did so in the gentlemanly of ways eloquently showing that an MMORPG can be successful by breaking the norm and thinking outside the box. He did not mention the cost of the development of CoX nor did he need to. We may not be one of those huge rivals in the epic size of WoW, but we are strong enough to set the standard of success if a developer looks at the players before their portfolio.

Wonderful article Statesman! We the heroes of Paragon City are behind you! (You are the uber duber tank after all )

[i]Edit: w00t!! 1800 Post!!

"Love Bites"

"We will rock you"

"Rock of Ages"

"Blue Suede Shoes"

"My future is so bright"

"I go to work"

You've all seen it on Whose Line is it Anyway?... now comes to a forum near you.

Rules: You can only repond in song titles (not lyrics) and put the title in quotes. Think of it as having a conversation with the last person to post. And please try to avoid pyramids.

I'll kick it off:


"Hello"

Ok granted I have not read through the hundreds of posts, but I have a severly annoying bug that I can't seem to shake off.

My characters (especially my main) look fine in regular enviroment. However, if I switch to sg colors, my head turns yellow, even though there is no yellow option on my head. If I try to fix a costume part color in the sg window, my character's costume is all wrong and I have to switch the window off and on until I find the correct part I am fixing. I have bugged this before but noone has addressed it yet.

Also, if I go to the tailor, I have charges on costume changes I haven't even done! What is that all about?! It is annoying and I gave up on trying to figure out a permanent fix. The workaround I use is "ignore it" and "don't use this costume in sg mode" which sucks for rp reasons. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

I for one am eager to find Adamanster or whatever his name is. The only time I've seen him was as an AV in a mission and was a pushover. So far nothing, but then again I haven't looked...so hunting season shall shortly begin

heyyo

My questions (asked sporadically throughout the doozens of threads on this subject ) and now with the current knowledge given by Cricket have been answered. Yay for all the goodies for $9.99!!

And no kiddies...it does not appear that the free month is included. However, it will make a great christmas or birthday gift to your fellow hero or villain. Cheers!

Thanks Cricket

Does anyone know what level contact and location is the unlock for:

Infiltrator badge
Family badge

?

edit: Oh and Badge...good to see another fellow Floridian

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The difference being that GMs are supposed to be taken on by several teams

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You just hit the nail on the head! Now can someone explain the GM's in Eden scaled for 48 heroes only being taken on by at most 8?

** Hands Lumi a Respite and Catch Breath **

** Shoots off Clear Mind and Heal Other **

No worries on the trip mines Lumi...I gotya

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Look see...now I can't fathom taking off my avatar * sniff *

I still remember when I found out you were a woman.

The Cuppa Clones will remain...I guarantee. Thank you for the honoring us everyday by being one of us and not have the "mightier than thou" attitude some other admins have (in other communities) To think of all the time I missed between my boards registering and actually becoming part of it.

I say we all hit Atlas and Mercy at a given date and time and all do the Drink emote in honor of Cuppa. I can start on Guardian...just lets get a time agreed on.

We will miss you and love you Cuppa (not to say some of us won't go to TR boards to drop a line now and then )

/quick bump for someone looking for this thread

Awesome Guide Duck...but why did you remove the link from you're sig?

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When trying to set up the sg colors on my various costumes, the design window has a lot of bugs that are different with each costume. Sometimes, the head and its accessories are changed (masks missing, wrong face), other times, it might be the belt missing. The end result is the same though - I have to just select colors and exit out to see what they look like because the pieces aren't visible in the window.

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I agree. I got an image of it and they look something like this:

Something is really out of whack and this mismatch issue happens with all my toons when entering SG mode...both sides of CoX

There is also an issue with the toon builder:

Starts off fine....this is the Male option
This is the Huge option...kinda obvious but not as much as......
the Female option....really off on that one

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POSI!!! Yay A Gemini!!!

I think part of the whole stink is a hero being AS'd while taking out Shivans or whatever (A cheap shot if you ask me) that is when it can truly suck.

Otherwise, you can see, for the most part, an enemy heading your way and can run, prepare, whatever. The NPC damage thing is a bit ludicrous if it "never goes away". If I am in a normal mission and throughtout the whole thing I go into the red and heal, red and heal, and get taken out at the very end...I don't take any uber debt, just the slated "debt % to level while be defeated in a door mission". Why should I get mass debt because in a pvp I fight, get hit, heal, fight, get hit, heal, repeat, repeat, rest, stand at the pier wait for a player enemy, fight maybe get defeated and if I do get debt because the NPC damage didn't reset.

We either need a better explanation on this debt system in PvP (beside the boiler plate "if you get hit by an NPC you get debt" response) or a reconsideration of the engine around it.

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...But you know what they say about assuming.

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It makes an 'a**' out of 'u' and 'ming'?

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LMAO *wipes tear*

Didn't know Flash played...

For the petcom_pow binds you can use thug (Thugs), enf (Enforcers), bru (Bruisers). The shorter names makes it easier to bind and makes shorter strings

If you are making a bind to summon them, you have to use:

powexec_name Call Thug
powexec_name Call Enf
powexec_name Call Bru

If you forget to put in "Call" the power won't work.

As far as I know, you can only use western characters and no fancy things. Although someone mentioned somehwere that it may possible by using the charachter map on windows explorer.

also /bump for not wanting this handy thread to go away

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Must do again, yes it is fixed. Only need to do once.

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Darn it, excellent. Yippie!