Darkbridger

Last placeholder Matinee... I'll be back for next week finally.

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I feel sad that I have missed this entire calamity due to being out of town on vacation.

Ok, maybe not...

I did however read the whole thread, and the only conclusion I can come to is this:

I used to think I was a jaded game developer. MrDead has shown me that I am a lightweight in that regard. <shrug>

I have no opinion on the issue at hand beyond being sad that people are leaving the game... everyone loses in that case.

Another week up for grabs... 1pm eastern start time, 12:45 gathering time, etc, etc. Don't forget to make use of the Justice Sat Mat channel.

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Ok, so I'm not going to Europe, but I AM going on vacation. (yay me!) Sadly, I forgot to pester someone about wrangling the Matinee for a few weeks, so I am putting this post up as an "up for grabs" for anyone that wants to see something run at the usual 1pm eastern time on Saturday. I'll be gone for 3 Matinees, so feel free to trade off if multiple people out there want to try it. If I can get internet/forum access while I'm away, I'll try to put up the next Matinee posts or something. Have fun kids... and no messing up my desk while I'm gone.

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ALT

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Who influenced you the most?

L@@k into my eyes...give me all your moneys!

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*puts a dollar in Kat's garter belt*

sure thing... keep dancing...

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I think there is a player event planned that will theoretically take down some drop ships as they are spawned in talos.

I think its linked in the player events section.

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Wow... way to be cryptic (har, har) then I guess.

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Greetings Starfighter! You have been selected by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Zur and the Ko-Dan Armada.

--NT

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So Hero 1 used Death Blossom... but still failed? I'll defend from behind you.

Also, what exactly is this thread for... I'm confused.

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Darkbridger: Glimmer of information from the Eden boards...

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Nice find, Darkbridger. I'll add it to the thead I've been updating as I see posts on the Eden "Update" thread. Nice of them to put an update someplace other than, you know, the update thread.
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Malohin // Characters

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He added another update yesterday in his update thread...

"NCsoft now owns the CoH/CoV property. Crytpic no longer does. This HAS effected our ability to release the game. Cannot go into details."

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Darkbridger recently reported that he'd found a comment by George Vasilakos of Eden Studios, conveniently located in the "Huh?" thread, and not in the "sticky" "Update" thread:

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"Im still awaiting some information from NCsoft before we move forward on the game."

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Also, note Eden Studio has updated their forum software, or moved it to a new provider, or the provider got bought, or whatever, so the links above point to the "new" URL.
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Malohin // Characters

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Another update....

"NCsoft now owns the CoH/CoV property. Crytpic no longer does. This HAS effected our ability to release the game. Cannot go into details."

Glimmer of information from the Eden boards...

"Im still awaiting some information from NCsoft before we move forward on the game."

I was kind of hoping after a multi-year delay, the contract might be given to someone else. I haven't gotten any response here or via Eden. <shrug>

So... does the sale of CoX to NCSoft pretty much drive the last nail into this coffin? Or does the license agreement carry forward and keep the game tied up indefinitely?

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I haven't bought an RPG game in a while but this is one I definitely will purchase if it ever comes out. It would be worth it just to have the stats of the Freedom Phalanx, Vindicators, Regulators, Arachnos, and other major heroes and villains from the game.

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It's been a couple of years since the RPG was announced. I'd be surprised if groups like Arachnos (which weren't even around back then) are detailed in the game. There's no reason why Eden couldn't release "catch up" products that simulate all the issues that have come out in the intervening time, but given their current financial situation, I'm not sure that's viable... let alone whether potential buyers would be happy buying additional products to become current.

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[...] I was looking forward to a hero system with an interesting levelling. I've never really liked the other systems that are around.

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Have you looked at Mutants and Masterminds ...?

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I've looked at all of them. Pretty much all of them (except the d20 conversion I have hiding around somewhere) was designed with "levelling" as a secondary concern. About 90% of the time I'm a DM. When I'm a player, a level-based system is what I enjoy playing. Even White Wolf games are usually overly slow for me, though I did enjoy Demon for a bit. Most hero games are "build from a point total" systems, including Eden's. In those systems, levelling usually only amounts to buying back drawbacks or penalties you used at creation. That's not much incentive for "levelling"... no new toys and what not. Sure, most systems can be made to work that way, but they don't do it well, because that's not the focus of the system. Eden's levelling system requires less work up front to make it work compared to other systems I've looked over though.

Also, as I'm not the DM in this case, and the guy who is is less experienced, a less complex system is preferred on both sides. Now, MMOs and RPGs are entirely different beasts, but CoH has a very fast and loose, action-y combat system as compared to most MMOs. The RPG does not really replicate that feel as compared to other RPGs I've run and/or played. The GM has to work pretty hard to keep Eden's combat system moving at a reasonable pace. But then, their system isn't helped by the fact that I'm a tactically minded player that likes maps and minis. <shrug> Anything that can be done to bog it down, I've probably done.

Still... it has more promise for me than M&M or Hero or whatever... if it ever comes out.

There's no reason they couldn't follow the same storyline changes with add-on products. Given their non-release history though, that will probably be unlikely. There is only one thing that seems "out of date" in what I saw, and it's related to one of the power sets that was added in a later issue. But, since I've not been running the game, I haven't read the villain and story background sections. <shrug> I've never owned or played an Eden product prior to this, so my experience with their system is limited. It's a shame really, as I was looking forward to a hero system with an interesting levelling. I've never really liked the other systems that are around.

A friend of mine actually got signed up as a Beta tester a while ago. We've tinkered around with the game a bit making some characters and running some combats in the level 1-20 range. We'll move up to Level 33 or so next I think. I'll not comment or give an opinion on the system, as I don't think I'm supposed to do that. I don't think there is much traffic on their testing forum either though as they've been busy with other things.

I've had two payments declined by Wells Fargo. After talking to them, I was told that all foreign transactions are automatically declined by their system. Even after Ok-ing the transaction, it's only valid for 30 days. I was told the same thing by my Chase credit card... auto-declined, and I'd have to call to allow the charge EVERY month. My last credit card, Citibank, said they would be able to allow my recurring transaction. While they readily accepted the first charge this morning, I won't know for 30 days whether their system will indeed handle this. I don't mind having some pretty hefty fraud protection in place, but when I can't authorize a monthly charge originating from overseas in their system with a single phone call, they they've got a crappy system.

It's incredibly annoying.

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<QR>

So does anyone remember Kingdom of Drakkar?

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I do... played it for quite a while... but never got very far.

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Unknown Mod: Whoever added me to Team Awesome and left me there for over a year.

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I added you, ya fool. And you know how TA is. We were all too lazy to go around deleting people who don't show up.

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I was never sure if it was you or Jack. You get a double listing then I guess.

I don't know about influence... but definitely memorable...

Miss Informed: I used to hang out in Galaxy and look for fun, silly names to point out and make fun of with a friend. Miss Informed has the distinction of being one of only three people that defended themselves very well. She's also the only one of the three still playing.

Jack Zodiac: For dragging me along on several things and getting me to team more.

Unknown Mod: Whoever added me to Team Awesome and left me there for over a year. Once I came back for CoV, everyone in that channel makes it infinitely more entertaining to be online.

Sadly, most of the folks I remember from the early days are no longer around.

Please, please, please, please, please make these monsters spawn more frequently. Tracking these things down for Badges is incredibly painful and there will be a LOT of competition for them in the short term. If not increasing the spawn rate, add a contact who hands out level-appropriate Monster-hunting missions (including exemplared people).

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There are still two changes that make things harder at the lower levels. First, the wandering patrols. Great once you've got your powers working and know what you're doing, but deadly in the very low end game (below 10th)

Second, the outcast as a low level group have problems. You've made every minion a blaster, the torches use the power that the hellion bosses use. Being out of melee range isn't safe when dealing with the outcasts. Frankly, the trolls should have been routed from the Hollows within a day of the battle starting, they're wimps compared to the outcast. With this as theoretically a 5-15 level zone, that's problematic.

If the minions only had elemental melee attacks (like the icy hands and earth hands that they do have), that would be keeping within the same danger level while keeping the elemental theme.

I have no doubt you didn't intend to make it harder. But I do think you lost sight of what it's like to be a starting character, particularly a new player who is still learning what all's going on.

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I have to agree with this 100%. I also like the feel of the Hollows as a group-centric zone. However, this zone makes Perez look literally, like a walk in the park. I was part of a group (all good friends) that involved levels 10-11. This zone is nightmarish and the missions within it even worse. My Invulnerability tank felt like a punching bag. This was after the stun fix. Between normal melee stuns and knockdowns, there was very little I was adding to the group. I have unyielding stance... oh yeah... unyielding. So while I handle the 1 or 2 outcasts that are willing to melee, the rest of my group dies to the 8 other mobs using elemental ranged attacks. I don't have Provoke yet, I'm sure that would help... well, it would help me die faster maybe. This is a decent balanced group of Controller, Blaster, Defender, Tanker. We like to think we're fairly competent, but the entire experience was, in total, not fun. The Outcasts are throwing around lots of powers within one single group... Hurricane, Lighting, Fire and Ice, not to mention Shockers healing! This is a big departure from the Game As We Knew It(TM). Not even Boomtown was ever this aggravating, and it has a higher level range I believe. I would LOVE to see this kind of mixed attack group in the higher levels. That kind of varied assault makes grouping far more interesting and gives all archetypes and powersets a chance to shine. But at the levels of the Hollows, it's just overwhelming.