DustyFarrell
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Posts
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Joined
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Liked, favorited, sent out on Twitter, Facebook, and my blog.
Funny thing is, just an hour ago in another thread I was bemoaning that nobody had yet made a video like this one! -
Quote:Pumpkin pie...Originally Posted by Evil_Legacy
...
It's fall. I'm in the mood for pumpkin pie and pumpkin spice coffee.
Everything goes better with pie!
(Yeah, I stole that last line, a very long time ago.) -
Quote:I have to agree. This is the only online game I play. I have experimented with dozens, possibly hundreds of other working games (and I lost track of how many betas I've been in years ago!), but the creative potential of CoH kept me coming back to it time and time again.Originally Posted by LadyGrimrose
While the intent is understandable, the reasons people are upset at this particular game going under is not, primarily, because of addiction base.
This game, unlike other MMOs (and in the "other" batch I do include DCU and CO), players were granted a creative outlet, a chance to live out a dream. That dream is not to RP or play a super hero, but creating one.
The creators here start with a blank canvas and then unleash their creativity upon the community. Most draw out praise, some laughs, and some glares, but all are seeking some form of attention for what was once a plain canvas.
When a writer, artist, or musician are told they cannot partake in their craft anymore the symptoms we see on this forum come about. It's a system shock and our creators are trying desperately to figure out just how they will be able to continue on if the game goes offline.
For me, I had to go through all this much sooner than everyone else, I can only respond to posts via mobile devices right now. It hurts that my creativity may never be able to reach the level it did in CoH again. Is this a sign of withdrawl? No. It is merely a loss of a means for me to create and as such, a stage of grief. I have lost something I cannot replace and am gong through the stages as are the entire community.
From character creation to the Mission Architect, for me, this game is all about having a highly visual and easy to use creative outlet. -
Quote:And that's as much as I could manage on single cup of coffee.Originally Posted by Evil_Legacy
This post is not meant to be inflammatory and there is no intent on of provoking readers, ACTUAL READERS into an emotional response not is directed at anyone so dont take it personal. There may be some mistakes with grammar and stuff. Unless you are perfect and never made a mistake, dont bother pointing it out unless you will like it done to you. From what it seems, when I do it' it's viewed in a negative light and viewed it the same way as I viewed, but prior when it was done to me, I was over reacting. Freaking hypocrites. Anyways, onwards.
(No disclaimer here although my gut feeling tells me I might regret it later.)
Like any addiction, if you go out and say, Hey, from the looks of it, Id say you are showing classic symptoms of an addiction. Most of the time, well outside those one or two, they will absolutely deny any addiction and say their behavior is absolutely normal behavior. The more people try to convince an addict that they have a problem, the more they probably will deny it. This usually end the way it began. The addict will still be an addict and the person that pointed it out gets no closer to doing anything useful to get that addict to see the addiction, the unnatural and potentially, in some cases, dangerous behavior.
Video game addiction has not yet been classified as an official DSM-IV diagnosis and the AMA ( the American Medical Association ) has rejected to classify video game addiction as a mental disorder. In a sense, when someone that have a video game addiction says that they dont have an addiction officially they can be considered somewhat right. Although the AMA did not say it was not an addiction anymore than they consider being addicted to ice cream or paper is an addiction. It is not a mental disorder as they believe that video game addiction is more of a symptom of other disorders that are classified as mental disorders.
What are the symptoms when a game is being taken too serious and until the point of addiction? Here a few signs and symptoms:
Feelings of anger and frustration when not allowed access to the video game.
On this forum, there has been classic display of this symptom. Since the game is shutting down, there has been a lot of anger over the upcoming time when they will not be allowed access to this game. Usually this symptom manifests itself when there is not access to this game. From the way some post here are worded and expressed, this symptom already manifested itself in many ways even while there is still access to the game as we speak. One can only wonder how much this symptom will be amplified and if there will be any real danger to the surrounding people that are already showing this symptom when the game lights do go out. I hope I dont hear about someone going out and causing harm to another person over this anger after November 30th and or to themselves. Just breathe, relax, and remember its just a game. There are plenty of games out there and its not the end of the world. Remember to keep things into perspective and focus on things that are really important, like real life friends and family. Just because a game is going the way of the dodo doesnt mean that a person cannot communicate with friends, regardless of the media used to meet them, and family regardless of what media they made the commitment to each other. Gaming is only one media and one activity that a person can socially enjoy friends and family. Unless gaming is the sole interest it should be easy to find other activities where the social life can continue and flourish.
Feeling depressed or anxious when not playing the game.
This is another symptom and kind of ties in with the first one as sometimes a person feels both at the same time. Since the announcement of shutdown, some people posted that they are depressed. Sometimes in this these cases, they may already have been depressed and the game was an escape from the feeling of that depression and triggers that occur in real life. Only way to deal with depression is to deal with it. Be honest, find the true cause of it, and go from there. Sometimes, it is best to visit a psychologist/psychiatrist if help is needed. What first must happen is that the person must realize that they should seek help and that it is ok to seek help. Seeking help doesnt mean that something is wrong with that person or they are crazy or weak. Sometimes it isnt easy to seek help and it is actually a sign of personal strength. So go ahead and seek help. A person do not even have to let anyone know that they are seeking help and anything said is and should be between the patient and the psychologist. Do not let the closing of a game affect the real life or carry over into real life. It is not healthy.
Excessive frustration or anxiety when "the server is down".
The reality of the matter right now and about the only hard facts that is available with this situation is that the servers will go down November 30th 2012. There is a slim chance that they may be up some time in the future, an even slimmer chance that they may not go out at all, but there is a greater chance that it may never return. One way to prevent this feeling to realize that the game, servers, and IP is NCSoft property. With ownership, it comes with the right to whatever they want with said property within legal means. While some players feel they invested time and money into the game and feel basically shafted, ...
I was just wondering...how do you convince the editor to accept so much prose? Any time I write more than about 500 words the editor refuses to post it unless I break it up into smaller chunks.
Your forum-fu exceeds mine greatly. -
I already posted one goodbye thread but I just can't leave it alone I guess. I love this game too much! Even though real life complications and commitments mean I am frequently unable to play. I just came back from a six-month hiatus on the 17th when I learned that the ONLY mmorpg I play is now going the way of Auto Assault. So I made a Beast Mastery/Natural Affinity mastermind and I guess I'll play her until they shut the servers down.
Irony of ironies. On August 28th I stopped my recurring credit card payment because I did not know if I could be back ingame before my 7+ year continuous running VIP subscription ran out in March. Two days later they announced the game was going to sunset. I cannot help but wonder... -
Mission Architect, baby! I was one of the first people to make such a suggestion, refine it, discuss it, and debate the pros and cons. The happiest day of my life was when they announced the release of the MA edition. I pre-ordered it the day it was announced!
Unfortunately, nobody likes my missions, but that's okay! I love making them!
Once upon a time I suggested a wand-based powerset modelled on Harry Potter. Natural Affinity does almost everything I suggested, it just uses a different metaphor to do it. -
"someone else" "someone else" "someone else"
You know, sometimes there is no one else. As I've suggested in another thread, maybe what we need is to find enough people to put up enough real money to buy the IP from NC Soft. In order to succeed, someone at Paragon Studios with genuine clout would have to organize it, but it can be done.
Instead of sitting around waiting for a hero we need to be heroes. All it takes is for someone at Paragon Studios with real clout to set up a private equity fund for the sole purpose of purchasing the entire IP and then inviting everyone with an interest in the game to invest as little or as much as they were willing to risk.
This is America. This is capitalism. This is how things are supposed to be done. This is exactly what separates us from a semi-socialist country like South Korea.
I can certainly risk $1000 to try and save City of Heroes. Some people can risk more, some people can risk less. If enough of us contribute, we can save the game ourselves.
All it will take is real leadership from someone at Paragon Studios. -
Quote:The game has been removed from the public portion of the PlayNC website even though the "News" does not yet contain an official announcement. The "CoH News" does, but the main news feed does not. However, removing the game in favor of "Blade and Soul" indicates to me that NC Soft has already decided that CoH is going away and those resources will be moved to promoting and serving "Blade and Soul".Originally Posted by Cobra_Man
^^^
A touch premature there.
Negotiations are still ongoing.
Superheroes have been supplanted by ninjas, it seems. -
This is going to sound crazy, and I apologize for that in advance, but here we go.
As far as I can tell from the PR material put out by NC Soft Global, there is no sane business reason to shut down CoH. If they need to free up resources for other projects, it would make far more sense to sell it.
So maybe the players and the Paragon Studios staff should pool their resources together and buy it?
A private equity fund could be set up by the legal staff at Paragon Studios. Anyone who wanted to invest could then contribute to the fund. If the sale succeeds, each contributor would be an "owner". A reward/promotional system of some kind could be set up that cost little or nothing and linked directly to the amount invested. For example:
$1-100 Special forum name color
$101-500 Special forum name color + preferential invites to the Beta Server
$501-1000 All above, plus priority access to a special suggestions forum
$1001-5000 Limited (maybe 3 years) VIP status without paying a subscription fee
$5001-10,000 Lifetime VIP status
$10,001-25,000 All of the above plus extra character slots
$25,001-50,000 Preferred stock in the actual corporate body that purchases the IP
$50,001-250,000 Dividend-paying stock in the actual corporate body that purchases the IP
$250,001 and above Voting stock in the actual corporate body that purchases the IP
Or something along those lines.
We have until November 30th, right? Perhaps until the end of the year or a bit beyond. I'm certain the programs, databases, and software (the actual IP) is not going to just disappear, so once the fund was set up a deadline of six or ten months could be established until the idea was considered a failure and remaining funds were returned in proportion to the amount invested. So, yes, there would be a strong risk for anyone who put up their money to save the game, but for the larger investors there would also be potential for great reward.
Just an idea.
Brian K. Miller -
Dear Everyone at Paragon Studios,
I'm not worried about refunds and what not. Even though I have invested a great deal of money in this game over the past eight years, it was well worth every penny. CoH has been an important part of my life for a very long time and it is with great sadness that I see NC Soft has suddenly announced they are shutting everything down.
I must confess, I find this decision quite confusing. According to the quarterly reports, CoH and Paragon Studios are still turning a healthy profit. Arbitrarily ending this enterprise seems on the surface to be a very bad business decision. Unless there is something the quarterlies aren't reporting, that is. Which is always possible.
It's been great fun and I will cherish the memory of this game for many years to come. There really is nothing like it in the market and I'm reasonably certain there never will be again.
Goodbye to everyone at Paragon Studios. You've done a great job and I for one, will always be grateful to have had the chance to experience your vision.
Brian K. Miller
a.k.a., "Dusty Farrell" and so many others. -
Quote:I do????? I had no idea. I assumed the nVidia card handled everything. Hmm...time to go digging through obscure control panels and seeing if there is some way to force it to choose the nVidia card.Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
Troubleshooting this is going to be difficult because you have one of those "hybrid" video solutions that is supposed to run off the Intel chipset until you do any gaming. It then kicks in with the nVidia chipset.
That will be my first mission when I get back to America next week. Trying to download drivers from a regional website I can barely read adds an extra layer of complication to an already stressful process. Updating video drivers always scares me a little bit. I'm just techie enough to understand how horribly wrong it can go. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing" pretty much sums up me and video driver updates!Quote:Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
Unfortunately, CoH Helper can't see all that stuff.
I'd recommend seeing if you can get updated drivers for both your Intel chipset (both board and video) as well as the latest nVidia drivers.
This might help stabilize your performance. -
Last week I bought a new laptop. It includes:
8GB System RAM
GeForce GT 555M with 2GB onboard (driver 269.13)
Intel i7 2760QM at 2.4 GHz
Windows 7
I bought this laptop to both replace my netbook and have a laptop that I could play CoH on. I run in Windowed mode rather than full screen because I like having access to Paragon Wiki for badges and whatnot. When i22 went live I made a Dark/Dark Dominator. Everything went fine until I added Stealth. Almost immediately I began having severe graphics problems. I never have Enabled Advanced Graphics settings, so I lowered the general slider from "Recommended" to "Performance". It did not help at all.
Today I stopped using Stealth and ran with no issues at all, even after raising the slider back to "Recommended". It appears that Stealth is either the source or the main contributor to the problems I was experiencing.
The problems include: ghosting, freezing, black screens, texture maps disappearing, and distorted NPCs.
================================================== ====
---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.2.0.2---
DxDiag gathered at March 12, 2012 12:06 (+09:00)
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.110622-1506)
System Manufacturer: ThirdWave Corporation
System Model: Prime Series
BIOS: E16G5ITW Ver:1.0H 10/18/2011
Central Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2760QM CPU @ 2.40GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 8192MB
.Net Memory Report: 6138MB out of 8099MB available
Page File: 13964MB (2232MB currently in use)
C Drive: (Hitachi HTS547550A9E384) 418020MB out of 476837MB (87%) free
D Drive: (HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GT60N) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\Windows
DirectX: DirectX 11
DirectX Diag version: 6.01.7601.17514 (64-bit version)
Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.
Monitor:
Monitor's Max Resolution: (blank)
Video Device Name: Intel(R) HD Graphics Family
Manufacturer / Chip: Intel Corporation / Intel(R) HD Graphics Family
Video Memory: 1696 MB
Driver Version: 8.15.10.2372
Driver Date: 4/15/2011 12:07:50 PM
Driver Language: English
Sound Device Description: ????? (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Driver File: RTKVHD64.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.6477
Driver Date: 10/11/2011 8:04:38 PM
WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: ThirdWave Corporation
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: Prime Series
Motherboard Version: To be filled by O.E.M.
BIOS Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Name: E16G5ITW Ver:1.0H 10/18/2011
BIOS Version: ALASKA - 1072009
BIOS Release: 20111018000000.000000+000
Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 1552x965
3D Resolution: 1552x965 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: No
Maximized: No
Screen Position: 232, 1
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: Yes
Physics Quality: Medium
Maximum Particles: 50000
Max Particle Fill? 10.000
Physics Card Enabled: No
Anti-aliasing: Off
Anisotropic Filtering: 4x
Texture LOD Bias: Smooth
Water Effects: Medium quality
Bloom: 1.000 (turned on)
Depth of Field Enabled: Yes
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: Yes
Shader Detail: High
World Texture Level: Very High
Character Texture Level: High
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 1.000
Entity Detail Level: 1.000
Shadows Enabled: No
Shadow Mode: Stencil shadows
Shadow Map Shader: Unknown (0)
Environmental Reflections: Disabled
Advanced Occlusion Settings: No
Ambient Occlusion: Off
Occlusion Strength: Off
Blur: Bilateral
Ambient Resolution: Performance
Gamma Correction: 1.000
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: Yes
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: Yes
Close Suppression Range: 3.000
Show Advertisements: Yes
Audio Mode: Performance
3D Audio: No
FX Sound Volume: 0.600
Music Sound Volume: 0.600
Show Advanced Graphics Options: No
Overall Graphics Quality: 0.500
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: Unknown bytes/second
Current Game Version: ?
Installation Directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\NCsoft\City of Heroes
Mod files in the Data directory
No modifications found -
Quote:I guess I misunderstood. My apologies. Too many flame wars in my past has made me very vigilant in public forums. I suppose I sometimes see attacks where there aren't any.Originally Posted by Humility
It wasn't intended to offend, and I'm sorry you took offense. I do however stand by my statement, if defensive/follow is the only command you use when you are playing masterminds, you are indeed underplaying the AT. I'm not saying this to insult you by any means but rather to point out that with fine control of specific pets/tiers of pets following different commands or operating from different placement (with the /goto command) you can do things that you would not otherwise be able to do with the AT. Basically all I said is that finer micromanagement of your resources allows for higher performance, I don't see how any gamer could really disagree with that. Sorry you took it as an attack, it wasn't intended that way. Feel free to report it to the mods for review as I believe my intent was pretty clear and not a personal attack, doubly so with this clarification.
-
Quote:Yes, they do work the way I've described. At least for me they do. When you change "Aggressive" to "Defensive" it completely changes the priorities of the AI. At least in my experience it does and I've been playing masterminds since the day they went live. Granted, I only have one level 50, the basics of pet behavior are the same across the levels. Granted also, each pet group also has somewhat different eccentricities.Originally Posted by Humility
The problem is... pets don't actually work that way. If a pet is chasing a runner and you hit defensive, it often takes them 3-5 seconds to actually turn around and come back to you,...
It never takes more than a few seconds for the Defensive to kick in. With the bots, it's instantaneous. It runs a bit longer on the Thugs and Ninjas. I haven't sat down with a stop watch, but your 3-5 second estimate might be accurate. Even so, it's relatively simple to watch out for where your pets are, anticipate the delay, and give the command earlier.
Demons are almost as fast as the bots in my experience. The Demon Prince hesitates sometimes before turning around and returning, but hitting Defensive Follow always stops him in his tracks. Sometimes I get the feeling he's straining at his bonds to break free and follow his targets. It's a nice touch.
This is an entirely different issue. If you like Sandophins keybinds then by all means use them, but if you are going to use them then accept the fact that they do not represent an ideal solution for everyone. I tried them when he first posted them years ago and could never get the hang of them. They were too detailed for my playstyle. I don't need individual control over each pet. In fact, I find it very counterproductive. I play my pets very aggressively, even Thugs and Ninjas. Resummoning three or four times during an extended battle is not uncommon for me.Quote:Originally Posted by Humility
As for editing commands, that's pretty useless for me since I use Sandolphins keypad binds on all my masterminds since it easily lets me issue specific commands to all pets or specific tiers, it's second nature at this point and I couldn't imagine trying to play without them.
For what it's worth, I normally keep Follow at 5 in the second row and Attack at 6 in the second row. Alt+5 stops their forward move and brings them back. Alt+6 causes them to destroy inanimate objects they would normally ignore.
A very nice collection of masterminds indeed. I see you're fond of FF. Personally, I've never used it and never felt inclined to. I also notice you've gotten a /Time up to 50 and have another on the way there. My congratulations. After much experimentation, I find the set completely useless for my style of play. /Dark, on the other hand, I dearly love. Dark and Pain Manipulation are my two favorite secondaries.Quote:Originally Posted by Humility
I've got:
50 bots/traps
50 Thugs/time
41 Demons/Thermal
39 Necro/time
37 Thugs/FF (abandoned, FF is painfully boring)
32 Mercs/Dark (Abandoned, love dark but hate mercs)
That part is so deeply offensive it's almost worth complaining to management about. Next time leave out the personal attack and both our lives will be a bit more peaceful.Quote:Originally Posted by Humility
If the only command you ever use is follow, you're seriously underplaying your character. -
Baron Malady
Beast Mastery/Pain Manipulation/Leadership/Soul Mastery
Trapped in his hometown when Hamidon overran Praetoria's Earth, he adapted as best he could.
That's my first thought, anyway. Won't really know until I'm sitting in the character creator throwing things together. -
Bots/Traps/Leadership/Soul Mastery
Triage Beacon, Shield Drone, and Acid Mortar
I take down AVs all the time.
Sovereign Right on the Pets
Luck of the Gambler on the Shield Drone and on Maneuvers
Ghost Widow's Embrace on the Hold in Soul Mastery
Hunter's Trap(?) on the Immobilize in Soul Mastery
Acid Mortar has recharge, accuracy, triple -def
It works for me, anyway. Naturally your mileage may vary. -
Leave Attack the way it is.
Right-click and "Edit" Follow: change "Aggressive" to "Defensive"
Ignore Heel completely.
On my bots/traps MM the only command I ever use is defensive "Follow". I park myself just outside aggro range, drop Triage Beacon, Mortar, hit the bad guy with a blast from pulse rifle or Nemesis Staff, sit back and watch the havoc. If the bad guy runs, I hit "Follow" and the bots come right back to my side and wait patiently for the next incoming attack.
Personally, I don't have any trouble controlling my pets. I've used thugs, ninja, bots, and demons with just about every secondary except poison. Rikti monkeys don't last long enough to be a problem and I completely ignore the green gas clouds they leave behind. If a bot gets loose, I just hit defensive Follow and it comes running right back to my side. This also keeps them in a constant Bodyguard state, which keeps me breathing even in AV fights. My level 50 bots/traps mastermind has not faceplanted in so long I don't even remember the last time. My Demons/Pain Manipulation has yet to suffer her first defeat. She's lost her demon pack on countless occasions, but she always has time to break free and run for cover. -
All my masterminds get Soul Mastery...
Just sayin'.
The combination of hold, immobilize, and cone-ranged attack fills the holes in every combination I've tried. And for me, the armor is icing on the cake. -
I hadn't really noticed it before, but I've run the hero side mission to unlock the Midnighter's Club with new heroes half a dozen times over the past month. Today I had a level 22 villain who was gathering badges in Cap and decided as long as I was there, I might as well get the Midnighter's Club unlocked...
Nope. Not a chance. The villain side arc is not even available until level 30!
Huh? I don't recall any canonical reason for doing it this way, so why? Granted the hero side story arc is ludicrous, but is that the only reason for the difference? Give the heroes a time-sink at a low-level and give the villains a faster, more internally coherent story, but do it at level 30 instead?
Can't see the logic in it.
The Club is no longer any kind of genuine "secret" any more, so perhaps a simple, one or two mission story arc similar to a Tip mission would be more appropriate? Maybe at level 10 for both sides? I mean, the villain I was working on today already has the Ouroborous mission done. Stumbled into it entirely by accident. Why the long delay granting access to the Midnighter's Club?
(And yes, I ran a search to see if this question has come up before. Perhaps my search fu is lacking but I found very little about the Midnighter's Club in the archive. Mostly just complaints about how long the "Save the Lost" mission on the heroside takes. And I agree, that whole story arc bears no relation to events in Crimorera, so why not have something both more closely tied into the zone the Club grants access to and less time-consuming for the player?) -
Quote:Um, well...both of those are dead and gone. Something somewhere broke and they were spawning random enemies rather than the custom enemies I orginally made for them. Besides, they were three years old and getting kinda ragged around the edges. So I deleted them and made a brand-new shiny story arc:Originally Posted by DustyFarrell
Both of my arcs are story arcs. One is canon (with a few surprises) and one is non-canon. I favor original enemies, and I fill out every last box in MA (even the ones you'll never see because you can't "fail" missions in my arcs).
The two I have at the moment are:
345127 "All the wrong places"
345128 "A Tale of Four Wizards"
A caveat, I haven't run through either arc in close to a year, so if there have been deep changes in the MA system that introduced errors, please let me know! I tried to keep them free of things that might cause problems later on (dramatic map redesigns, changes in canon enemy groups, etc.). If you find a problem, let me know and I'll get in there and fix it!
Arc Name: Torn Asunder
Arc ID: 536752
Faction: Neutral
Creator Global: @BKM61
Difficulty Level: One Elite Boss and One Arch-Villain. If your character does not like to melee, you might want to bring a friend or lower your difficulty rating.
Estimated Time to Play: It should take about half an hour for most characters to play through all four missions. A bit less if you're an experienced player, a bit more if you're a newer player. Twice that long if you actually take the time to read the story. Defenders and Blasters are probably going to want to bring along a friend.
Synopsis: One day while out for a quiet walk in the woods you discover that an army from an alternate dimension has fled an invasion in their homeworld and landed on Earth. They'd really like to stay, there's only one caveat, their leader wants to be Queen of the Earth and she has a super-powered army to help her achieve it! -
Quote:This sounds intriguing. And it's at a time I'm normally online. I'll try to make it a point to drop by.Originally Posted by ShadowWings
IN-CHARACTER
WHO: Heroes / Vigilantes / Rogues (Like they'll care
)
WHAT: Aid to Dark Astoria!
WHEN: Feburary 4th -- This portion begins at 7PM CST / 8 PM EST
WHERE: Dark Astoria -- Meet right inside
Something stirs within Dark Astoria and its effects have begun to seep through to the world. Dark whispers across Paragon are driving numbers of people into hopelessness and also drawing some to Dark Astoria. Meanwhile, there have been some in the mystical community that have felt a great darkness rising in Astoria, one that could threaten the entire world. One mystic is Dr. Warlocke, current leader of Silver Aegis. Together with the Aegis, he has sent a call out to all those willing to join him in delving into the fog of Astoria to find more information about what slumbers there. -
"Devil of blades" doesn't translate well. Part of the problem is "blades" as a generic term is not really found in Japanese. For the generic term they use either "ken" for swords or "hocho" for knives. For the image you're trying to communicate "ken" would probably be better.
"Oni" are normally pictured with a club or mace while "akuma" are normally pictured with a sword or polearm, which is part of the reason many English translators call "oni" a "Japanese ogre" or "Japanese troll". The Oni is very much a demon, despite having a few trollish characteristics.
In short, a Japanese person would probably not think in terms of "Devil of Blades", at all. The concept is too foreign. They would simply reduce it down to "akuma" and let the listener develop their own mental image.
Myself, if I wanted to transliterate the name anyway, I would probably go with "ken-no-kami", write it out "Kennokami", and then let people puzzle over it. I would use "kami" rather than "oni" or "akuma" because "kami" are nature spirits that range from the divine to the devilish and there is also a direct allusion to something greater or more superior than normal. "Kami" brings with it a whole host of possible meanings, making it far more colorful than either "oni" or "akuma".
"Oni Kouma', as suggested by MishiiLove, is a very good idea, but it is also very precise and refers to a particular character. If you made a dual-sword weilding character with a demonic appearance and named it "Lucifer", for example, that would be rougly analogous to what she's recommending. -
Quote:I'm always looking for someone both willing and able to stay in character. I don't do ERP, vampirism, and other flavors of the month, so if that's the direction you're headed, I can't help much.Originally Posted by Gobbledygook
I've been playing CoX nearly since release. Before I-1, before capes. Yeat I have never RP'ed. Not even in other RPG's. I just did the missions, or quests, or killed the boss at the end of the map.
Well, now I am interested in it. So, what do I do? How do I start? Is there anyone willing to help a new PR'er?
With that caveat, however, here's a few suggestions:
1> Don't try to save and/or destroy the world.
2> Realism counts, especially realism within the context of virtual world of Paragon/Rogue Isles. People are people, even when they're super-powered, so be a person not an archetype or a stereotype.
3> Start with your character's backstory: why are they a hero/villain/whatever? Be realistic. No one just wakes up one day and decides to be a supervillain. Something drives them to it. Whatever that thing is for your character, that's your backstory.
4> Don't tell other RP characters how to feel or respond. Let them be in character in accordance with how they see their character. Let them tell you how their character feels about your character's words, actions, and reactions.
5> Learn the conventions of RP. In CoH, they're really quite simple:
a> ((OOC means, "out of character". Use it sparingly, keep it between double parenthesis.))
b> The game world is the real world and the real world is a psychotic delusion.
c> There are many immature players, let them spout their nonsense and keep looking for someone you are comfortable with.
d> Greet people in the street the same way you would in the real world. Cheesy opening lines are even more cheesy when the person on the receiving end is super-powered. Start with, "Excuse me..." or "Pardon me, but..."
e> Don't explain why your character behaves a certain way. Just do it. Be the character and just go with the flow if you mess it up.
6> Last but not least, please don't ever call your character a "toon".
Relax. Have fun. Everybody stumbles at first. My global is @BKM61. Drop me a /t or an ingame e-mail next time you're online and I'll help you through those first few awkward conversations! -
Where does "challenge" end and "frustration" begin?
Today I published my first AE story arc since 2009. Sadly, I had to delete the 2009 missions because changes in the underlying structure caused the missions to load random enemies rather than the original custom enemies I'd created for them.
Going through the process of putting the story arc together meant testing it with a number of different characters. The weakest character in my stable is a level 7 Storm/Ice Defender. The strongest is a level 50 Robotics/Traps Mastermind. In between are stalkers, corruptors, dominators, brutes, and scrappers. No tanks and no blasters. They're just not my thing.
During the creation process I had to reduce the difficulty of several enemies. I started with some "extreme" Lieutenants, for example, only to discover they were more difficult to take down than a "standard" Boss. Other than one "hard" Elite Boss, everyone is "standard". For some reason the "standard" Elite Boss was a complete pushover and I didn't want to make him into an Arch-Villian, so I bumped him up a notch.
I also originally had every mission set to "Defeat all enemies", but the maps I chose quickly made that untenable for any character without some hyped up travel powers and solid defense to fight off unexpected multiple pulls. Strangely, by deleting the "Defeat all enemies" from each mission the number of enemies on each map dramatically increased. Multiple pulls are now more common, but paradoxically, easier to manage.
The maps are all outdoor maps. I wanted to emphasize as much as possible a naturalistic, almost fairytale ambience and that's kind of hard to do in a sewer or an office building.
The downside, of course, is that many players absolutely hate outdoor maps. Also, the darn spawn engine doesn't seem to consistently follow the "Front", "Back", and "Middle" settings when placing an event on an outdoor map. Every time you run the mission, the key objectives are in different places. For me, that's fine. On an outdoor map finding the objective is half the challenge. The maps I consider frustrating are all indoor maps with multiple layers per floor, winding caverns that look and feel like intestines, or sewers that go on and on forever but never seem to spawn very many enemies so you wind up spending half your time trudging through green water staring at rusty walls.
But that got me to wondering. How exactly do other AE authors and players define "challenging" and "frustrating"? I've read several reviews, but there doesn't seem to be any consistency. What one person finds frustrating, another welcomes as a challenge. I haven't seen it lately, but back when AE first went online a big problem was reviewers blaming the author for spawn placements that they had absolutely no control over. Fortunately I haven't seen much of that lately, but I still worry about it sometimes, both as a player and as an author.
If anyone is interested, here is the story arc I published today:
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Arc Name: Torn Asunder
Arc ID: 536752
Faction: Neutral
Creator Global: @BKM61
Difficulty Level: One Elite Boss and One Arch-Villain. If your character does not like to melee, you might want to bring a friend or lower your difficulty rating.
Estimated Time to Play: It should take about half an hour for most characters to play through all four missions. A bit less if you're an experienced player, a bit more if you're a newer player. Twice that long if you actually take the time to read the story. Defenders and Blasters are probably going to want to bring along a friend.
Synopsis: One day while out for a quiet walk in the woods you discover that an army from an alternate dimension has fled an invasion in their homeworld and landed on Earth. They'd really like to stay, there's only one caveat, their leader wants to be Queen of the Earth and she has a super-powered army to help her achieve it!
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But the important point is the question I opened with:
Where does "challenge" end and "frustration" begin? -
Quote:Thanks! I guess I had the wrong picture in my head for Mother Mayhem.Originally Posted by SwellGuy
