Doctor_Why

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Rikti came up, and they do have a ship capable of space travel it's in the Rikti Crash Site that no one goes to. I'd rather not see Rikti on the moon personally.

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While there IS a huge flying saucer in the Rikti Crash Site, I have yet to see any evidence that it is capable of space flight. It is quite possible that it is just a hovering version of an airplane, and is no more possible of space travel than the latter.

There is no spoon.

There isn't any evidence that the Rikti have extraterrestrial craft, and there is evidence that we found them and not the other way around. So if there's an alien base on the moon, it's probably not a Rikti one.

Besides, who wants to recycle the same enemies over and over?

Expect a bevvy of extra-terrestrial zones in the next paid-for expansion called 'Galaxy of Heroes'.

I'm serious, you know. They've only been talking about it for years.

Not only should we follow the OP's suggestion, but we should also have balls in many other areas.

I want a MM with balls for minions!

I want a glowy floaty ball for a shoulder pet!

Ooo! How about a huge security ball that envelops people who try and escape The Island?!

And I want a huge, glowing ball in the sky the radiates light and heat. But for balance purposes, it should only be present about half the time.

Balls for the win!

Dude! I gotta download this game! It sounds awesome!

We will remember you always for your works, Gilgamesh. You can never truly leave.

I have three rocks.

But I should have many, many more. Rock should be an inherent power! Who can't pick up a rock?

It bears mention that universal changes to the way powers work happen all the time in comics. It's VERY genre. I recall when Mangeto altered the magnetic field of the Earth to inhibit Professor X's psionic abilities. The funny thing is that I don't recall Professor X saying in that issue, "OMG, Magneto nerfed me! I'm outta here!" Instead he dealt with it as well as he could. Heroically, one might say.

Or take for another example the upcoming Top Cow comic. Medical teleporters and high-end powers are all eliminated in the first issue. It is trials and conflict that make a good story, not an endless parade of victories. The Devs want to create a world where the possibility of failure exists, where the fight against crime is an actual struggle and not a cakewalk, and I respect them for that.

If you think about how your character might react to the sudden changes you might have not only a better developed character but a richer playing experience as well. A stone may shrug the water aside at first, but the water eats through the stone over time.
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I'm Doctor Why and I approved this message.

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So when exactly do you get the badge im logged on now and didnt get it.

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You'll have to wait until I-4 goes live. I won't speculate here on exactly when that will be.

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My question is if Fly had so many drawbacks, why did some many people (myself included use it).

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Heh. I took fly because it's fun. And that's the point of the game, isn't it? It also fits in real well with my image of my charcter and the comic book genre. But a lot of the game also involves progressing as a character and fighting villains. I obviously took fly with open eyes and accepted the fact that I would be gimping my effectiveness for a bit of fun.

The part I don't understand is why this must be so.

That is why I try to point out what it going on with that power and compare it to other similar powers. I believe many people really do not understand what is going on and that it is possible to influence them or I wouldn't bother even with that. Obviously the Devs are learning quite a bit about the differences when their PvP work made it so very, very glaringly obvious. After all, fly-jousting was something fly was adjusted to avoid... why WOULDN'T speed and jump also be adjusted to avoid similar jousting behaviour?!

The gap between the travel powers wasn't created by PvP; many of us have pointed it out before, and many will probably still continue to comment on the gap that will still remain. There were a lot of ways to restore the balance. I'm not entirely surprised by this one - there were indications that many Devs intended the travel powers to be non-combative ones. That players found so many combat uses for them only underscores our collective inventiveness. Yay us! Hopefully our inventiveness doesn't end there.

Just don't send any Freaks, Sky Raiders, or Rikti - they've been trying to shut down the power plant for AGES and have yet to succeed!

Sorry, folks, but anyone who thinks the SJ and SS change was only due to PvP has had their head in the sand for the last year. The fliers usually make at least one major thread a month pointing out that currently fly has FIVE major drawbacks to use, while SS and SJ have maybe one each. If only one of those is changed, it's still not quite justice, but it's certainly long, long overdue.

Thank you, Devs. May your creation come alive and outlive you all.

Celebrant WILL BE a veteran badge in a year or two. Just be patient.

Thank you!

Doc may be a nice enough guy. I get that from the article. I wonder where he developed such an appreciation of architecture, though... probably took a lot of 'easy' classes in college while he was on the sports team and, unlike some jocks, actually retained the information. Personally, however, I mistrust anyone who is entirely unilateral on an issue. There was nothing of any kind Doc disliked about the arena. I find it suspect.

Of course, it's possible that Doc is actually a rather simple guy and all his beliefs are one-sided. Maybe his thinks his favourite boxers simply cannot be defeated and that the 'good old days' were without exception better than modern times. But this doesn't simply the total analysis overmuch.

Where is his editor? Why didn't they collect any opposing viewpoints, provide more statistics, or even one hero interview on what they thought about the arena ("Statesman rues arena's construction!" would be a great money-maker headline!). Either Doc is so well-respected that nobody can edit his articles any more (Stephen King has the same problem with his books, sometimes) or the editor himself wants a completely informational, non-controversial article about something that is almost undoubtedly controversial in Paragon City.

Are they being pressured by the city? After all, a lot of money has gone into this project, and a frosting piece might be sought by the mayor, or even the governor of the state, to help mollify the public. It could easily be that the only reason Doc was invited for his preview was because of his tendancy to print pieces of that nature... it's not Doc that was pressured (though they would still have to get to the editor), but it's still motivated by dishonest PR efforts.

All in all, the article leaves me with more questions than it answers. I am not a normal person, though... I overthink everything. The 'cracks' may belie either something that could use a bit of adjustment in writing or sinister occurrences behind the scenes. Or a paranoid-delusional framework on my part.
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I'm Doctor Why and I approved this message.

In my own defense, I'd like to say that I sometimes take several levels to write a background for a hero as I get 'into their head' and fill up spare moments while resting. I don't think I'm the only one - there is a much higher ratio of backgrounds at Peregrine Island than Atlas Park!

Great read, OP! Keep up the good work.

PS: I'm not sure why you'd want a 'sell all' button... enhancements sell for more at their relevant stores. I often make several stops when I'm selling stuff, myself. Of course not everyone is as busy scraping together influence as I am.

Another possible compromise is to have observers able to access a 'viewing room' that is instanced for each battle. The viewing room will not only contain means to generate observer bots, but also several large-screen displays showing set camera angles from indestructible camera points in the arena. Battlers can simply avoid the known camera points to be sneaky... but if the displays showed most of the open areas they would probably still catch many of the major fights.
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I'm Doctor Why and I approved this message.

Edit: Never mind. Just saw Positron say elsewhere that there ain't no TV in Paragon City. Too bad.

If the lack of z-axis mobility is supposed to have any meaning whatsoever, then the Devs need to stop altering geometry to allow people without SS to access things. This has already happened for a number of badges. And what other purpose does the gravity geysers have other than to give people without flight in The Shard access to the same places fliers can go to? Can anyone name the important places a flier can get to that a SSer cannot? I believe the sum total is a badge or two. This is the entirely of the z-axis penalty. This is why SS is superior, and will continue to be - it is unlikely the Devs are going to intentionally shut out a significant portion of the user base despite the added utility this might create for teleport and group fly powers.

(Oops. Double post.)

Kudos for talking civilians. I think it's great that they, like, seem to talk amongst themselves and notice goings on around them without me poking them all the time. Even simplistically.

'We shouldn't have it because we didn't have it sooner' is rather poor reasoning, I think. If (as hopefully all of us want) City of Heroes is around for years and years, any change that's better in the long term should probably be undertaken - each day that passes creates a larger and larger group of people who would suffer when it occurs.

Doing well in the past and not doing well (or having fun) now is probably less important than the answer to the question 'could you have fun if this was how things were on day one?'. Or perhaps even more fun? Not with the same character, but with the character you would have made given the different circumstances. Because some people are starting RIGHT NOW.

I think the changes bring things more into line with how things were 'supposed to be' - scrappers do the best solo, tanks survive but progress slowly, and blasters either use extreme caution or make lots of trips to the hospital. Yes, I have characters who will have a tougher time now, though probably not as tough going as many people who have posted here. If it's any consolation, I deleted two characters in their 30's and started over with them before respec because I had made a poor choice - I felt the same principle applied (And I DID have more fun and was much more confident the second time).

I am sorry that many will see the situation as a loss, but would suggest that if the exchange of your time for some fun in the past was worthwhile, you will not really have lost anything. Your investment paid off! Do it again!

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Pulp?

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The recent movie 'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow' is a fair replica of the pulp genre. So is almost anything with a title involving a character name, a scenario, and an exclamation point at the end:

Doc Savage and the Prehistoric Island!
The Man of Bronze visits the Spook Hole!
...and so on.

Initial pulp novels usually centered around a single, mostly superhuman protagonist, though these were all what City Of Heroes would consider 'natural'. Superhero stories involving other types of heroes also got their start around this time in comics.

It is characterized by a generally rosy outlook sociologically - the hero is pretty much guaranteed to win, science will eventually triumph over all ills, and such. Science often plays a large role in stories but it is often painted with a very broad brush: The 'Power of The Atom' did it!

Incidentally, I've always been amused by the parallels with Doc Savage and Superman. Doc Savage is The Man of Bronze, and occasionally retires to his Fortress of Solitude, whose location nobody else knows, but at which he keeps some of the greatest marvels known to man. Heh.
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I'm Doctor Why and I approved this message.

You folks had me really worried for a while, because I like to solo a lot with a defender myself. I do, admittedly, have what I think to be a pretty hardy and offensive kind of defender, but not min/maxed either by most counts (at least, given the building advice I often see kicking around the defender forums). I can still pretty reliably solo +2 level bosses that are kicking around, even when they are surrounded by a group of lieutenants and minions. The battles do take a LOT longer (I wouldn't look forward to trying the same thing with a blaster without a lot of hit-and-run), and often do involve using inspirations (some more, some less). I don't think I'm well above the average skill level of people playing this game, but maybe I'm underrating myself (or overrating them).

I would absolutely agree, however, that being one-shotted by anything is utterly demoralizing. What possible defense can be employed against something that wipes you out in one stroke? Only total avoidance. This is notfun, unless avoiding the villain is precisely the point (I have seem at most one or two missions where I was instructed to avoid fighting someone). Up hit points and defense. Even accuracy. But nerf one-shotting bad guys! Stop the notfun. Power to the people!