Dark_Respite

[ QUOTE ]
After following the link to watch the 15th Anninversary video (which I thought was 'meh' myself - where is that one player who does those things, she rocks) I began reading the comments from that website about COX.

Seemed the majority commented on how the end character was Bison (a toon in Street Fighter) and how the graphics in the game were poor. A few did say they would play the game - if it were free, or that it was an awesome game - around issue 3.

Sometimes, for me at least, I spend too much time reading our boards and hearing what regular players feel about the game, and not hear different perspectives from people outside the game. Again, I just found that to be interesting.

[/ QUOTE ]

"Perspectives" like the ones on the GameTrailers site tend to be prevalent (if you want similar perspectives, read the comments on NCsoftNorCal's YouTube profile, on any video they post there, or on Massively.com after any CoH article they do).

To quote Vaarsuvius from THE ORDER OF THE STICK, I'd swear that most of these people are "horrible, loathesome, supremely selfish creatures who behave contemptibly, laugh at the pain of others, have no manners whatsoever, and whose mental acuity would be compared unfavorably to that of a table."

Ergo, I tend to ignore most of what they say, because even when they have valid points (Reichsman looks like Bison, the graphics are dated, etc), they generally present their opinions in such a grossly stupid way.

Re: the trailer itself, David and the gang appear to be going for a consistent 'look' to the newer trailers for the game (see the Issue 14 trailer, the 5th anniversary 'shout-out' to the players, and the Mission Architect Tutorials), and all in all, it's a good trailer that covers all the bases of the new issue.

As for 'that one player who does those things', I think you're talking about me... to answer your question, I 'retired' from making CoH trailers just before Issue 14.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

FWIW, my husband's 3rd lvl 50 was a grav/en dom BEFORE they were changed. And he loves playing that character.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Hmmmm...

Sister Johanna Sinclair (en/en blaster/time traveller) - TIMELASH
Agent Sorina Tavarisch (grav/kin troller) - SINGULJARNOST' (Singularity - a double pun on her powers and the fact that her last name is almost identical to the Russian word for "comrade")
Agent Andrea Blake (dark/psi defender) - NADIR

Whereas my villainous Soulsteel (bots/dark MM) - IRON SPIRIT

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

[ QUOTE ]
I was hoping this would be about the Romans using the coffee drink emote.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's what I thought it was, too... you open the gates of Cimerora for the final mission, and there's Imperious doing the /coffee emote...

"Hmmmm... have you tried this new Colombian Roast? Montague gave it to me. It's not half-bad. At any rate, I've got enough caffeine in me to counteract a cobra bite for the next five days if I were bitten, so let's get this show on the road."

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

[ QUOTE ]
MMs do ok during the raid.

All you *have* to do is send in your bots one at a time into the goo to keep the blue that is assigned to you distracted while the raid goes in. As the raid progresses (ie. once yellows are down) you can go in if you want and multitask.

This means keeping your bots on your blue and helping the green team. Usually this is holds, if you have one, and rezzing, if you can. And buffing/debuffing as appropriate. Once the greens are down everyone goes in and helps defeat the blues (with ranged attacks) and then you can concentrate on hami.

Rinse and repeat for each round, or flavour as necessary depending on the raid leader's plan.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, I can debuff (Darkest Night, Tar Patch, Twilight Grasp, Fearsome Stare, Howling Twilight), hold (Soul Storm), heal (Twilight Grasp), and rez (Howling Twilight). Plus the Dark Servant throwing his own stuff around. Spiffy. 2pm Sunday I should be able to do, looking forward to it. I've done dozens of Hami raids heroside, just never done one redside.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Screw that [censored]!

HE LEFT ME!

[/ QUOTE ]
*hands Judas Ben and Jerry's*

[/ QUOTE ]

This damned well better be Chunky Monkey, or so help me...

[/ QUOTE ]


... Where did my ice cream go!?!?!?

And Why is the Rum Gone?

[/ QUOTE ]

Talia, you are EVIL. I'd not seen that video before and I now have serious stomach cramps holding in my laughter so I won't wake up John.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Just because I've never done one redside...

How would one effectively bring a Mastermind to a Hami Raid? (My only high level villain... she's a bots/dark MM with Ghost Widow's PPP.)

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

*laughs at pohsyb's post*

Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

And when in doubt, go for the puns.

I have seen some hilarious characters that way... some of my favorites being "The Poohgilist" (Winnie the Pooh as a Tank), "Mah Dam Butterfly" (itty bitty butterfly fairy character who was a dual blades scrapper), and while not a pun, the normal-looking character with wildly clashing clothes named "My Wife Dresses Me".

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

[ QUOTE ]
Where's the trailer for I-15?

You haven't made it yet!

[/ QUOTE ]

And I don't need to, since David and Co. made this. It's nice to see they're going for a consistency now in the style of their trailers (following up on the look of I-14's trailer, the 5th Anniversary Shout-Out to the playerbase, and the new Mission Architect Tutorials).

Though it's too bad they posted it on GameTrailers, a more wretched and seething mass of mindlessly stupid negativity you will never find elsewhere.

Niv? Tell whoever handles Paragon's YouTube channel to post it there!

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Where's the trailer for I-15?

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

a) I'm stuck at job #1 all day today...
b) even when I get home, I'm going to be swamped with job #2...

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Wow!

And happy anniversary! Nice having a spouse who understands the importance of COH, huh?

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Have fun on LotRO - my husband plays there when he needs a break from COH. And hope to see you back soon!

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

*grins*

Just saw the thread and I was going to mention my videos, but Ad_Astra beat me to it! (Thanks, A_A!) They're also on my YouTube channel - I've done teasers and trailers for Issues 10-14, plus a couple other 'commercials' for the game...

Including a 45-second retrospective of Issues 1-12.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Long shot, but it might be a responsibility measure to keep a redname from getting loaded over the weekend, then logging in, seeing that some loudmouth poster is being obnoxious, and posting something horrendously unprofessional.

Otherwise, it just may be that what with dealing with this all week long, the weekends are their times away from all of it. Let's compare - for those of us who do NOT work jobs where we are on-call and expected to keep track of what's going on, how many of us check our work emails from home?

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

[ QUOTE ]
Crap. Anyone managed to copy this interview? Link won't work for me.

[/ QUOTE ]

Here you go!

"City of Heroes Issue 15 interview
The superhero MMO's Senior Lead Designer gives us the insight on Issue 15 and beyond.

The latest expansion for City of Heroes, titled Issue 15 "Anniversary", is about to be released. The expansion will focus on improving the much-heralded Mission Architect that allows players to create their own missions and stories and it introduces a new task force as well as a new strike force. This happens just two months before a rival superhero MMO (Champions Online) hits the market, and on top of that the first paid expansion - Going Rogue - has been announced for City of Heroes.

We've had the chance to ask Senior Lead Designer Matt Miller (AKA Positron) about all this and more. It seems times have never been busier in the super hero business.

Boomtown: Hi, please introduce yourself to our readers.
Matt Miller: Hi, I am Matt Miller, and I’m the Senior Lead Designer on City of Heroes.

Boomtown: Issue 14 was a landmark in City of Heroes history, due to the Mission Architect system. In comparison Issue 15 seems a bit small. Can you explain the background for releasing another – and in comparison – small issue shortly after Issue 14?
Matt Miller: Issue 14 was an extremely large and intense undertaking, which to no one’s surprise took a lot of time and resources. We definitely wanted to release something new as close as possible to our fifth anniversary which explains the timing of Issue 15. In order to make our near-anniversary goal we pushed some features that would have been in Issue 15 out to other issues. That said, there is real value in this Issue as well, so be sure to check it out.

Boomtown: In your own opinion what will be the main feature of Issue 15?
Matt Miller: I think the villain Strike Force which frees Reichsman is the star of the issue.

Boomtown: Where are you trying to steer Mission Architect with the new features?
Matt Miller: We want players to be able to tell the stories they want to tell, and we want players to be able to easily find the stories that they like to play. All the new features in Mission Architect apply to one or both of those tenants. One of the main elements we’re bringing to the table for Architect is the use of key phrases. Players and authors alike will be able to tag stories with key phrases that they feel best define what the story is about. They will then be able to search for arcs that contain these phrases. For example, you can tag and/or search for an arc with the phrases of ”Solo Friendly, Comedy and Canon Related Story.”

Boomtown: Issue 15 comes with two task/strike forces – can you give us some insight to what they contain and what the goal with the two TF/SFs were?
Matt Miller: First off we didn’t want a “Co-op” Task/Strike Force. My goal was to give the villains a Strike Force where they get a pay day, and that the hero version was not simply the same story from the hero side. I think we succeeded, and the Hero Task Force plays as kind of a “sequel” to the Villain one. And the first time you play the Strike Force you do get a large sum of Infamy added to your villain’s bank account!

Boomtown: Looking forward the first paid expansion has been announced – Going Rogue. Please explain to our readers what the new expansion will bring.
Matt Miller: I can’t release much information yet. Hopefully the name alone, Going Rogue, provides a good foreshadowing to what the game will encompass. But among other things there will be new zones, the ability to switch a hero to a villain and vice versa, and difficult tasks for level 50 characters to do that make them more powerful.

Boomtown: Free Issues expanding the game continuously has always been one of City of Heroes trademarks. Why was it decided to release Going Rogue as a paid expansion?
Matt Miller: Scope. Going Rogue is well beyond what we could normally do in the scope of a free update. We will continue to provide our players value in the form of future Issues, but Going Rogue is going to feature a breadth of new game content that warrants expansion pack-style treatment.

Boomtown: How will the going Rogue system work?
Matt Miller: That is something we’ll have to keep in touch about! We’ll release more information on Going Rogue at a later date.

Boomtown: How expansive is the feature – can you take a brute, convert him to hero and then play in the actual hero zones like Atlas Park – including all your enhancements, powers and infamy?
Matt Miller: Again, I don’t want to get too deep into the specifics of Going Rogue just yet, but the short answer is yes, you can be a Heroic Brute. More details forthcoming.

Boomtown: The trailer showed an intriguing costume on Maelstrom with a glowing chest piece. Does this mean that the costume creator will see new features such as glowing/animated pieces?
Matt Miller: We haven’t fully scoped out the player costume pieces available with Going Rogue yet.

Boomtown: Is Praetoria one or several zones?
Matt Miller: Praetoria is several zones. I can expand on that in the future.

Boomtown: In the 5 years City of Heroes has been on the market, we’ve seen many new powersets. However, we haven’t seen a new major travel power. Is that due to an engine limitation or is that a design decision? After all superhero lore is full of various travel styles.
Matt Miller: We’ve designed and back-burnered several new travel powers over the past 5 years. It seems that there has always been something more broad to do with that development time. Someday! We have a lot of other work to do that our players are going to love.

Boomtown: A rival superhero MMO is just around the corner while City of Heroes has been online for five years. How do you view the arrival of competition and how will you respond to a new engine that is obviously going to raise the bar in the genre?
Matt Miller: I think if you are talking about raising the graphics bar in MMOs you should be looking at games like Aion. If you are talking about the comic-book inspired genre, I can tell you that that we are working on something we think will keep City of Heroes on par or better than our competition.
As for content, these new games need to remember that they are not competing against what City of Heroes was at launch, but the five years of content and systems that we have added to the game since. Everything from playable Villains to the Invention System to Badges to Pact Leveling and the innovtive Mission Architect system are examples of features that we’ve added over the past five years that have enhanced and grown an already solid game. Moreover, we’ve got an amazing community that only comes with time and experience which is key to the player experience, especially in a MMO."

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Oh yeah...

Agent Andrea Blake: Homeless Hero, Jumped at the Call, Heroic Spirit, Lady of Adventure

Agent Sorina Tavarisch: Badass Bookworm, Hurting Hero, Hot Scientist, Sensual Slavs

Johanna Sinclair: Church Militant, Naughty Nuns, Cursed with Awesome, Crouching Moron Hidden Badass, Destructive Saviour

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Just a word of advice - when you get to the launcher, verify all your files.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

I've got lvl 50s I run on Difficulty lvl 4 without too much effort.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Yay, thanks Niviene!

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

*grins*

Glad to know folks like my initial suggestions... hoping that the OP posts his/her feedback as well.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

1) Being blind/deaf makes him hypersensitive to the ebb and flow of energy around him. Kinetics may be a related ability to that.

2) Any number of villains might want to 'mold' him into something they could use. The Freakshow because of his sonic talents, Crey on their 'we help you and you help us' concept (ie, "we'll give you replacement eyes, and in return, you... do us a few favors..."), even Arachnos acting through Westin Phipps (he of Haven House - look him up in the Paragonwiki.com site) might be a viable option.

3) As for a 'headpiece' that gives him sight (such as the Techno goggles that some of my tech characters wear), it might be that they register things and translate it into another sense that his brain can utilize (sonar? radar?)... and as for making it tweaked, you could always do a subtle bit of RPing that whichever group you target, you do your best not to attack that group - it might play out as being on a team doing newspaper missions, and someone says, "Hey, let's go fight Freakshow" and your character immediately starts stammering and goes, "L-l-l-let me see if my broker has anything else..."

4) Not that I know of. But it becomes a good writing exercise to try and condense down what you say in your bio.

Good luck!

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

[ QUOTE ]
Plus, von Grun gives out the Best. Temp Power. EVAR! BEES!!

[/ QUOTE ]

Try as I might, EVERY time I even hear about this, my brain IMMEDIATELY goes straight to this.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

*hugs Steelclaw*

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite