Doughboy

My condolences to his family and friends.

I think it could have a better name than "Going Rogue", but I don't much care about the name. I care more that we're finally getting a boxed expansion. I've been asking for one for years.



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1) When did Issue 16 become "Going Rogue"? We know it's the next paid expansion but when was it announced as Issue 16?


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The "unsubscribe" link from the teaser web page:

http://www.newzyouwant.com/NCsoft/un...1_mailing_list

The "unsubscribe" link:

http://www.newzyouwant.com/NCsoft/un...1_mailing_list

For those who don't know what we're discussing, MUDs, MUSHs and MOOs are the roots of today's MMORPGs.


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Base DIKU code (I've got it on my home machine) has a demi-god/wizard level that's one appointed step above the max numeric level (technically numeric level and "staff level" are different values, so its +1 staff level really) which adds a few staff powers. (most notably the GOTO command, and some of the hiding-from-the-who-list commands).

Base MERC code follows suit, as well as ROM and GW. (all of which are DIKU children architecturally and historically)

LP is a totally different ball game due to its architecture. Most SMAUG code has commands tied into inventory objects and rooms, similar to LP, so a lot of builder commands in the MUSH and MUSE communities were built into things like minature bulldozers and shovels etc which granted things like room editing.

I can remember a handful of them that allowed owned-area editing for clan/guild halls and player housing in the DIKU set, but hardly any had unrestricted access at the non-staff level that I was on personally. The last list of MUDs I had was over 100k long so I doubt anyone has good statistics on which ones did


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Most of my experience was with LP in the early 1990s. I recall there being a few tools to help with coding but, for the most part, we just used raw code to create rooms and mobs.

LP muds used a language very similar to C, so I bought a couple of books on C programming to help me learn.

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Accessing creation tools was generally an end feature of MUSH and MUSEs actually. Most traditional MUD codebase systems just let you have access to low level administrative powers, but only the convenience ones like unrestricted teleportation.



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Actually, many LPs and Dikus let people create areas after they maxed out their levels. It was commonly called "wizard" status. I did that in a couple of different LP MUDs in the early 90s.

Of course, different MUDs had different policies. I'm sure there were quite a few where players were not allowed to create areas after attaining the maximum player level.

That is a really good story.

Nice work!

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everyone should have only one character

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I thought you were suggesting that everyone should literally share one single character. That would actually make more sense. City of Hero would no longer have name collisions, because there would only be one name. City of Hero would no longer have outlier performance, because by definition everyone would have exactly median performance. And powerset balance becomes largely moot. PL would also become a moot point quickly enough.

The level of discourse on the forums would also significantly improve. No more PvP arguments. No more build arguments. No more "role" arguments. No more powerset proliferation demands. No more "devs hate villains" conspiracy theories (they'd be replaced by "devs hate the only character that exists" theories).

It would start to give the game a bit of a LaMOE feel, and I think the day job badges would become largely out of the question, but that's a small price to pay.

Letting everyone have at least one, much less two characters of their own opens the door to a lot of problems. Its really a half-measure at best.

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This is a wonderful idea. How much time with that one character would each player get?

I'm putting in my request now for Thursday mornings eastern time between 8:17 and 8:25. Am I being too greedy?

Dual pistols?

Yes, please.

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Actually, they don't say issue 13 will be the last issue. They just say it'll be the last issue THIS YEAR, which, with only 5 months left in the year, isn't all that unlikely unless things progress really, really smoothly with i13 and i14...

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Indeed. And I'm not sure two issues a year are enough to keep my interest anymore.

Good stuff!



And thanks for getting me in the lineup of the original Midnight Squad.

I finally got a chance to listen to the whole interview. Great job by all involved.

Hero1 seems like a pretty bright guy with a lot of ideas. The interviewers did a nice job too.



Btw, we want Reichsman. There are few things more satisfying that beating up nazis.

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it allows you, the players, to create missions and story arcs for your characters and others to participate in.

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Simply awesome.

Branching dialogue.

Nice.

Nice!

Glad to see the invasions will keep coming, at least every six weeks or so.

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Why do people keep saying this? Rewarding long time customers is a "Common practice?" since when?

Common practice is exactly the opposite. NEW customers get special prices and rewards and long time customers get nothing.

Talk to your phone or cable company about getting that special new subscriber rate for a service you already have and watch them laugh at you. It is much more common to give stuff away to new customers as that is how your business grows.


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If CoH was a monopoly or a near-monopoly, I'd agree with you. But, there are a lot of MMOs out there. A number of them also have veteran rewards. Instead of talking to the phone company or cable company, ask your insurance company about long-term customer discounts, ask your airline about frequent flier miles, ask your credit card issuer about "points" and "cash back" rewards. There is nothing wrong with growing a business, but to succeed a business must also retain its current customers.

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Antagonizing new customers, even some of them, is a bad business decision. I have talked to a number of new players who feel left out by the Vet Rewards system.

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I've only seen that expressed on these forums. Never in-game and never in my SG's forums.

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Personally I'd like to see it ended but not removed. Put a 4 or 5 year cap on the program and move on. Anyone who has been around for 4 years at this point isn't going anywhere, giving them rewards serves no purpose.

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Actually, there's a new game scheduled for release next year. You might have heard of it.

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By leaving the system in place with a cap, it encourages newer players to stick around for a while and gives them the ability to eventually get everything. Currently new players will never get everything.

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Sometimes, you can't have everything. There are lot of things in the world I'd love to have, but I'll never get them for whatever reason. <shrug>

I don't pay my girlfriend a monthly fee.

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dont agree wth that. people should never play for the vets. if wings or samurai armor are all that keeps you playing, you are not having fun.

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I've said basically the same thing earlier in this thread: play because you enjoy the game, not because you want the cheap veteran rewards.

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and the useful rewards still would be timelocked(i do disagree with chase on the power-token, the staves are too overwhelmingly good and everyone would pick them first, and that really would somewhat defeat the purpose). but the cosmetics, i dont think it hurts the system if its a bag of goodies you can pick from. unlike the powers, there is nothing inherently more valuabe in samurai armor or boxing clothes, so it really isnt that you get a better reward for staying on long enough for the boxing vurses anime armor or kilts, just a different one, so i dont think that if there is no qualitative difference that it would devalue the rewards to have them be pickable form a pool of options, it just makes new players who want to make boxers or anime warriors less screwed.

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Letting people select from a master list of rewards defeats the incentive to continue subscribing, even if you remove what some feel are the "best" items from that master list.

No one is "screwed". Everyone will get the rewards in time, if they keep their subscription active.

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Yes, the point ChaseArcanum makes is huge. Being able to choose from a pool like this would be huge relief for me, personally. It would still allow the Veteran Rewards program to exist and grow, keeping an incentive for existing players. And in turn, newer players have options to make the most out of their gaming/character experience, and it makes the current "4-year gap" (which will only continue to grow) far less intimidating.

Would having an option like this be such a bad thing?

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It would not be inherently bad, but it would defeat the purpose of veteran rewards. Veteran rewards are not gifts, they're incentives for people to keep their subscriptions active. If you got the pieces you want, whenever you want, the incentive to not let your subscription lapse would be removed.

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To be fair, HOW you do the vet rewards can have some weight. In SWG, IIRC, you qualified to select from a "pool" of veteran rewards for every X months. That makes the "uber awesome ultra vet reward" feel much less far off.

To put it in context. Imagine if every 3 months, you got a freespec and costume change, every 6 month veteran reward was a "costume token" you could redeem for ANY of the costumes (wings, boxer, chest emblems, etc) in the veteran reward pool. Every 12 month one was a "power token" and you could select from ANY of the powers available in the pool (call pet, blackwand, sands of mu, etc).

When you do this, that ultrauber vet reward doesn't seem so far off. You don't have to wait FOUR YEARS to get it, just one. You just have to be selective in what you take.

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Except, that's not how SWG vet rewards work. A six-month vet cannot pick a reward from the 36 or 48 month pool of rewards. They can only pick from the six-month pool.

Edited for a correction: SWG vets can pick rewards from their current pool or an earlier pool. My original point still stands, that they cannot select rewards from milestones they have not reached.

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I am asking for a compromise


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If you enjoy the game, keep playing. If you don't enjoy the game, quit.

Forget veteran rewards. They didn't even exist for the first two and a half years of the game. You want my boxing outfit? If I could give it away and never have access to it, I would. Want my wings? Take 'em. I don't care. I'm here to play the game.

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i see all this rabble rousing from people on the boards all the time about not being able to get such and such item until 30 whatever months but i just dont see it in game. i think people are trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.



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I agree. I'm in a rather large sg and I never see members complain about vet rewards. They might say something like "can't wait until I get there", but I've never seen them make negative comments about vet rewards.

I'd rather see the vet rewards eliminated than watered down. They're not that great to start with.

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Also, there is a big difference between the top tier subscribers and the newer players as far as these rewards are received, thanks to that anticipation factor. You may not get the 60 month reward for 14 more months, but it doesn't bother you because you don't know what you're missing and no one else has it yet.


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Actually, I might just throw in the towel out of spite before getting the real-life pony reward at 72 months. It's not fair that I have wait so long.

Seriously, get over it. Enjoy the rewards as you get them instead of worrying about what other people are getting. Most of the rewards aren't that good anyway.

As for the other issues, asking other players or teaming with them might have helped your friends enjoy the game a lot more.

Embedded. Cool.

Nice video, Samuraiko!

quick reply:

For me, it was a disappointment. I got home from work, walked my dog, then logged in around 8:00pm eastern. I waited in line for just over an hour and was fourth in the queue when the final running of the event filled up.

I didn't have a villain on test and trying to create one would have cost me my spot in line. I figured it was better to take my chances with the line I was already in.

I appreciate the effort that went into the event, but it's hard for me to enjoy it when my best efforts to take part left me out in the cold.

Hopefully there are lessons learned that will make it easier for more people to be a part of the next one.