Electric-Knight
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Posts
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Quote:Yep, Smersh, you and I are on the same page about everything (I was going to include exactly what you did in the analogy, but figured I was already rambling on too much)... except the "Oh well" response!Originally Posted by Smersh
I stand by my earlier statement. If you try to buy every single little thing, you will go broke. It's not the way to F2P on a budget.
Anyone who goes on a binge and decides that was a bad idea and leaves the game forever? Meh. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, thank you for your business. You're talking about a vanishingly small percentage of players that fit that profile. And that vanishingly small percentage would churn rapidly, anyway.
And if you're talking about player envy, well... we have that already. My wife gets slightly upset sometimes that I have more veteran's rewards than she does. I've got the CoV special edition and the CoH DVD edition in-game goodies, which are not generally available anymore.
And, of course, if you're worried about the demographic that has more envy/greed/desire to 'keep up' than money, well... frankly, that's not a terribly valuable demographic to Paragon Studios.
Your country club analogy needs a little work. The country club has changed to a semi-open club. Anyone can come and play a round without any green fees, and they have sets of loaner clubs for anyone who's interested. They also have the pro shop where you can get higher-quality drivers. They also have a nice restaurant where people who have chosen to continue paying their membership get their meals on the house, and they also get a discount at the pro shop. Of course the people who are playing for free don't get the super-awesome golf clubs, because they haven't shelled out for them. But they can buy the clubs if they want, and they can eat at the restaurant if they're willing to pay for it. And, yes, the loaner clubs available to those who are paying their membership are nicer than the clubs loaned out to the people who aren't paying anything, but the people who aren't paying memberships can pay a la carte for their golf cart pass, if that's what's most important to them.
The people who feel that they deserve the spicy wings without paying for them, or that drive themselves out of the game because they spend way too much on clubs and spicy wings? Oh, well. Most people will be able to play golf and keep themselves on their entertainment budget, and might skip the spicy wings one day so they can go to the movies.
Rambling analogy is rambling, but I feel it's accurate.
However, I can't dispute (nor do I disagree) with "frankly, that's not a terribly valuable demographic to Paragon Studios".
Absolutely. And that's all I'm saying.
Things are going to change and we're going to lose some people due to this.
Worse than that, possibly, is how things just might get a bit nastier (I'd almost rather people left, hehe).
One more thing, about the player envy/greed...
Obviously we have some of that now, but all I am saying (and that was the only target that I was referring to originally) is that it is going to be much worse than it is now.
The things out of reach are pretty few currently.
That is going to change, because Paragon Studios is kicking out (and planning to do so continuously) new fancier things in great abundance.
I honestly hope that the sum total of getting *everything (and using points from being a VIP) will be equivalent to picking up 3-4 boosters over a year.
However, I'm not sure that is a realistic hope.
* "everything" not including consumables/repeatables and such. -
Awww, Lisa, don't worry. Maybe you can do your prison time in a place that has mmorpg farming as the labor...
Okay, that was a tasteless joke in hopes of making you laugh.
Seriously though, I think the least Paragon Studios could do is to give you all notes to give to your employers, explaining why you need the weekend off!
Okay, seriously, seriously... I'm sorry some people got a bit screwed by this. All in all, it's not that bad (you've still got your... well, whatever you've got). That doesn't mean it doesn't stink and all, but it's just stink... it'll wash off.
Also, Lisa, I'm sure you'll be A-Okay with the jury thing, hehe. They probably never even noticed you didn't reply, haha. Call and it'll be fine.
Also... maybe they'll reschedule your jury duty for a special case during the new double xp weekend...
The good news is... I wasn't going to be around this weekend. So, everyone can just be happy for me, right? All I wanted to do was get some double prestige for my villain base so I could do some more designing!
I will say this... I thought that the initial announcement was a bit too short of notice for a double xp weekend. I mean, I don't really care, as the only thing I ever like about them is double prestige, but that's just me. Others seem to love double xp and I'd think a bit more notice would help them forge more of those doctor notes for excusing them out of work.
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Smersh, it's not that simple.
I get how it works. I really do. That's not the issue.
Everyone who is fine with it is just saying it's all optional.
That's great. For those who are okay with either paying, taking their time or not having.
Should we assume that the majority of a video game's target audience is reasonable and patient?
Of course, you can't base things entirely around the height of insanity... I'm not saying that either.
However, the fact remains that having so many things to buy with costs being a certain amount over what they're willing/capable of... Can very easily turn people away form the game entirely.
The whole waiting and saving up thing may turn out to be nearly impossible, depending on the rate at which new things are added and the amount of new things that are available. Yes, it'll give you a discount, but if only two things chew up several months of points, and weekly items are added and bigger features are added 3-4 times a month... that method won't catch up (of course, I also fully agree that 3-4 boosters' expense could/should be factored in and spent -if wanted).
The big problem is that we don't know how things are going to go. There's no release schedule, so we can't see if the launch is abnormal or if things will consistently be like that. We simply do not know that (right now, I'm starting to think of it like an expansion and that things will normalize afterward, but that may not be the case at all).
One very easy comparison is that CoH is a country club.
People pay their fee and get use of the facilities.
The place adds in a whole load of new swank that have additional fees and people can choose to buy them and use them, wait and accrue membership points to earn them slowly or just stick with the membership plan and be okay with what they've got.
Some people are not going to be okay with hanging around, using their default gear alongside a bunch of other members with their glowing golf clubs and super carts and spicy wings (not on the main menu), etc.
And they're going to leave.
The question becomes... do you want those current members to be a part of the club or are they expendable for what the club will be afterward.
And I am absolutely not saying that any decision is wrong for Paragon Studios to go with. It's their choice!
I'm also not saying that I'm one of the people that will leave.
I have no idea how things are going to go nor how I'll feel about them until they happen.
I am, however, concerned about the effects this have and have not scenario may have on this game and this community.
We are not all equal in financial stations nor in patience! So, increasing the amount of awesome at the rate that some are willing to spend for can very easily push other people away. -
Quote:Oooooooh... I was going to suggest a two-key-press bind (by binding load bind files, etc), but... That is SOOO much better and I might have some uses for this myself. I completely forgot about press/release binds!Originally Posted by Aggelakis
Yes there is, by creating a keypress/key release bind.
Now, you might have to switch the CC and POWEXEC commands around to get them in the proper order. I'm pretty sure this is correct though. Keypress will execute Combustion. Release the key when you want the costume to change.Code:/bind KEYNAME "+$$powexecname Combustion$$cc #"
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Yep, double-post:
Part of me keeps thinking that the conversion of the Paragon Rewards (new vet system) could possibly be tweaked to be a bit more favorable for existing subscribers, so that fewer pools of vets are that far away from Tier 9.
They might not want to do that, but I just figured I'd mention it.
Clearly, the conversion rate is set up so that the longest of vets do not have an over abundance of tokens to spend.
Would making a bit of a sliding scale (to push some of the mid-time vets) towards and/or into Tier 9 be unfair to the longer tenured vets? I'm not sure any of them would really mind.
Just something that keeps coming to my mind. If not a sliding scale... just a straight-up bump to herald in the new age.
It's not anything I'm screaming for... just some thoughts.
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And once again we are seeing some of the results from the haves and have nots scenario that is going to become more and more prevalent within this game and community.
Why more so now? Well, not only due to the store and selling of tons of things left and right (as they have said is their plan), but the end point of the Vet Reward system has a bunch of shiny stuff that far surpasses the shiny stuff that was out of reach before.
The good news about the Vet Rewards is that the end point comes much quicker... and that there is an end point, being Tier 9 in that we all reach that and don't have to climb any more ladders to get the newest and latest shiny.
I'm not ignoring the good...
But the ultimate shiny rewards and the different economic realities of players are going to create quite the have and have not situation around here. And, for that, I am a bit sad.
I know this will get replied to with a bunch of examples of such things already and having always been present, but we'll see if it is really the same. -
Quote:I didn't propose any discussion nor have I continually dissed anyone... However, I understand how my comment could be taken as rather rude, it was rather short and unfriendly and I apologize. It was meant with a bit of lightheartedness.Originally Posted by SlickRiptide
If you're going to continually diss the people you propose to discuss the problem with then it's not going to be much of a discussion.
What I really meant was that the conversation of money becomes extremely relative and often times pointless when the typical internet ambivalence factors in.
And it is also something that the people comfortable with spending more can easily dismiss those who are not.
I don't say this attacking-ly towards people who are willing to spend. It's just the way it is.
I'm entirely capable of dishing out $50 for a meal every night, it's nothing.
Is not a comment many people feel comfortable admitting that they certainly cannot.
Anyway... silly examples and egos aside...
And this is not just about someone who simply cannot afford xx amount of dollars (If they're scraping by, they shouldn't be spending money in ISP nor subscriptions, blah blah blah... but everyone has their Budget LINE somewhere, no matter how far or near it they may currently be)... plenty of people could afford things, but also stick to a budget (maybe they consider xx dollars as their limit, while they have a family and other more important things to use their money for... maybe their spouse won't allow them -hehe-, maybe they are on a tight budget, maybe <fill in the blank>).
What concerns me is the possibility of pricing out current and potential players. That is the only reason I bothered offering my opinion as to whether I thought the current beta prices were right/low/high.
No, no one has to spend a single penny more than they have been. That's good.
However, some of those people are not going to enjoy spending their happy fun pastime where plenty of people are buying and enjoying and using and displaying their new shiny purchased game additions.
Some of those people would rather leave than hang around that.
I'm not calling doom on any of this in a single way.
We're always going to have people leave for this or that reason.
What I am saying is that I constantly see people who are willing and capable to pay whatever state as such and dismiss those who suggest they can't or won't.
The last thing we need are Yeah, well then goodbye.
Some people seem to like the idea of having more to spend for, so if the game can keep matching my ability to spend... THE BETTER.
However, that would come at the cost of turning other players off.
It's just not represented in most of the discussions I see about spending money. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Winterminal
But there have been a number of times where I will have a fantastic name for a character, and I will just get tunnel vision. Because it is such a great name, it is obviously taken. I will pull out a thesaurus, I'll think up similar names, but try as I might, nothing fits. I will have been so fixated on that particular name being associated with that particular costume and/or power set combination, that nothing else will work (in my head) and the character gets demoted down to a saved costume.On that fixated on one name thing...Quote:Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
I know what you mean. Recently, I came up with the name "Stardiver" for a character who had no concept at the time, and the concept wrote itself in my head around that name. It was pretty much what it says on the tin, too. Obviously, no other name would really do (with the possible exception of Star Diver or possibly Star-Diver), but I was lucky enough to snag it on the first try.
I don't know if it's just a case of people not thinking of some fairly obvious, if weird names or a case of everyone thinking these names are OBVIOUSLY taken, but I've snagged some pretty cool word combos in the past.
Yeah, I know that's how I got with one character in particular.
I had the costume and I had the concept and persona...
I struggled a long while over the name... tried a few things that I thought YES! and they were taken...
Somewhere along the way, I decided the Dark Ranger was the right name for him. It sounds awfully simplistic, but it just fit so well (I wanted to make an archery character, but I've never been comfortable with a piercing/slicing method of attack for a hero... but the idea of a Punisher-like vigilante who will kill criminals because they deserve it came to life for me)...
Dark Ranger was taken, but Dark-Ranger and DarkRanger were not.
I have both, Archery/Devices and Double-Blades/Will Power.
Since he's kind of a Batman type... DarkRanger actually felt okay to me. -
Quote:Unfortunately, I don't think there is any delay command or way to automate a delay.Originally Posted by Mauron_NA
For one of my characters, I was going to use Combustion for one of the switches, but there's a slight problem. The costume switches while the fire is only on the characters arms. I want it to happen a little later, when the fire circle is going outwards. Is there by any chance a delay command?
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Yeah, I mean, free points for overpriced things still takes away more free points than otherwise!
Just saying!
Anyway... I've found discussing money with people on forums is not much better than discussing... well, much of anything... -
Okay, forgetting the terror of adding voice acting into the full scope of the game (Adding it to the tutorial could make good sense... Hell, an mmorpg I played years ago had a voice over for the tutorial, even though the rest of the game had none. So, that's nothing to be frightened off... Well... unless things end up the same... but anyway...)...
This subject (and, more-so, the later subject of our dream voice casting for CoH characters...) led me to a grave discovery of what is wrong with City Of Heroes...
There isn't a character well-suited for Alan Rickman.
Unless Nemesis would work...
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I'll just say that, while no one will ever be able to convince anyone of a direct comparison and all of that...
I do think that the current beta price (as we've been told) is too high.
Not "too high" as in people can't afford it or anything... but yeah, I think, if you look at past expenditures, at how much is being put on sale and at the whole picture (from the customer's side), it seems to be a bit too far in the seller's favor.
That's my opinion, so anyone who wants to come in here and spew negativity to the OP or me for that... can have a very nice day
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Quote:Hehe, indeed!Originally Posted by Aggelakis
And here we see how perception is completely biased...
It could be all the extra Endurance Reduction and Recovery I've put in Amazing Ape that makes it as tolerable as it is.
And that's the only character I've ever left it on with. And, even then, it's not like I don't notice it.
So, yeah, hehe. Still... It is possible and it's always worth having two biases for others' consideration, haha.
Also...
Here's a sample bind for you (I think this is right!)...
/bind F12 cc 0$$powexec_name YourPowerHere
Change F12 to whatever key you'd like to use. Also, the 0 after "cc" (which is the short command for costume_change) is for the costume slot.
The first costume slot is 0 and the 5th costume slot is 4.
The power name seems to be the name that we all see as listed for that power. So, just type that in there in place of YourPowerHere.
Hope that helps and works for you!
What power(s) are you thinking of using? -
The rainbowy effects had been used in other boost powers prior to CoV and Dominators... So, that is why it was used.
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I've grabbed some obvious names you'd think could easily been taken, but also had some aw man, somebody else thunk of that too names as well.
You never know!
Certainly... there are a ton of names and words that have yet to have been used. No denying that! -
Quote:Oh and it also conflicts with travel powers and Combat Jumping. So, if you happen to use Combat Jumping for some extra defense, you may be switching back and forth a lot (I do this with my character Amazing Ape).Originally Posted by Aggelakis
3. Beast Run puts your character into an animalistic crouch, and you run on all fours, but it costs a LOT of endurance to run and it cannot be enhanced.
Oh, also... don't know that it costs a lot of endurance. It does cost more than a tiny amount, but in many cases, my SD/SS Tank is okay with it on during combat (if I feel like forgoing the defense from Combat Jump during those battles). -
Quote:Yes, to some extent. So long as it is a power that you can fire off without a target (or, if you only use it when a target is available, but anyway, I doubt that's the kind of power you had in mind!).Originally Posted by Mauron_NA
- Can you "misuse" powers as a costume change emote? Say, trigger an attack power on yourself, then change costume.
Yeah, people have done this for a long time in-game.
I can't remember the commands right now, but I was actually just going to look some up, so I'll edit some stuff in (if no one beats me to it before I come back).
No. Not unless there is a matching emote animation of the power animation already in the game (like Tough and /emote Beatchest).Quote:- Can you trigger a power's animation without activating the power itself?
You can accomplish an animal pose most of the time via the Animal Pack via the Beast Run power. While it makes you run on all fours, it also leaves the idle stance as a deep breathed hunched over posture.Quote:- Finally, does the Animal Pack keep you in a human pose, or can you look more animalistic?
There is also an emote savage that will leave your character in a gorilla/monkey-like pose (severely hunched over, bent knees and hands hanging near the floor). The savage emote makes you leap around and scratch your head like a monkey first though, hehe.
Hope that helps some!
I'm going to look up the commands for executing powers and for changing costumes, as my wife wanted a bind for just that.
Example:
/bind F12 cc 0$$powexec_name YourPowerHere
See more details in my post farther down!
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Quote:Indeed.Originally Posted by Zombie Man
This be the truth. We been told they're working on it. So, really, no one should be surprised when they actually arrive.
I had posted a link to a transcription of a Pax East Q&A in another thread that was later removed.
I'm sure it'd be easy enough to find again, but it was when they told us that Staff Melee was on the whiteboard and would happen eventually.
I've been eagerly anticipating it since (although, I understood it would be a while before it would actually happen... and it may still be!). -
Whatever the reason, that is the way it has been...
However, I share your opinion and I would love to see Power Customization work its way to such things in this game.
Really, that would be fantastic (in my opinion).
It's funny... I love so much of the effects and all... but the amount of times I think about how much I'd love a No-FX/PvP-Only effects option sometimes makes me feel bad for the visual effects team, hehe.
"No, really, I love your work... But can I get you to do a blank option as well?"
Anyway, yeah, sparkling rainbowness can be a bit odd in the League of Sadistic Dominators of Doom. -
You know... there's been some good stuff and all...
But I'm really really disappointed now...
How on earth can someone with such obvious talent and a nose for this stuff, such as Tunnel Rat, NOT HAVE SEEN ALL OF GHOSTBUSTERS?!?!?!?!?!?!
Seriously though, hehe... Tunnel Rat, you have rewarded us all with your work... Now, when you get back home, set aside a couple of hours and reward yourself... watch Ghostbusters.
Even if you don't love it, we'll forgive you.
Zuul demands it!
And thanks again, Von Krieger!!
Also, I can't wait for that revamped PvP Island Zone!!! Awesome!11!
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Quote:Everyone always wins... Therefore, everyone always loses!!Originally Posted by Scythus
...So everyone wins anyway.
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I think I have somewhat of a love/hate relationship with all of my character's names.
I imagine that I must have loved them all as my favorite when I chose them, hehe.
The Electric-Knight (I never considered this a good name... then, much later, came to like it... then have loved and hated it and all the things in-between since... but I never let it bother me one way or the other, haha... it's just his name). This was a character that I created many years ago in a pen and paper Marvel RPG group and he stuck as my favorite. The name actually came from a poem I had written back then that had the words "electric night" and I just grabbed that (as a place holder, I think).
Then his secret identity/real name became Eric Knight... and I loved/hated the ridiculousness of that.
Amazing Ape has been kind of a fun one. Rather simple, but to the point I suppose (his real name is Professor Dembe Silverback, though! Dembe is a Ugandan name that means peace).
The Loyal Guardian just works so well for the character. He's a gentle giant and will do all he can to protect others.
One of my favorites is Zavathanir (Zah VATH ah neer). He was based off of a concept I came up with for a an old, well-traveled wizard for a fantasy setting, but he very easily worked his way into this game and it helped me have a cosmic, wizardly magicky super hero, so that was nice.
Oh... and Malfaz just sounded right to me. He's a psychotic mutant who's powers were vastly intensified by backfired scientific tampering... and his powers are heavily based around suffering from and transferring severe migraines and mental anguish. I have to admit... The name Tralfaz - which is (George Jetson's dog) Astro's real name form his original owner - always stuck in my head, haha.
"Ralfaz... Ruck!!"
I'll spare you all from any more! -
Quote:Quoting Sam just for any odd person who has him on ignore!Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
...Until someone quotes them, which for people deserving of ignore is usually all too common.
Haha, and yes, while I love me some tights and spandex old school super hero/villain comicbook stuff in the game (which we have!), I also love the game's diversity and would never want to see it overrun by any particular direction! -
Continuing with this side tangent...
One tights/spandex comicbook staple area that could really use some love is the masks (both for full masks and masks with hair, really).
Full masks hasn't gotten new stuff since... when?
We could use some mask eye types stuff, instead of having to use goggles and whatever else we can use to fudge it!
Just saying, there definitely are some things that could (should... need??) to be covered still!
Hopefully, now that they're not worried about having to lump everything into a big pack, we might start to see such things trickle into the game.
Oh, and just some tights with different texture (like it is different types of fabric) would still be plenty useful.
And more patterns is always a good thing.
Vines and ulterior may have been a little poorly received, but that was mostly because people were more disappointed in not getting fancy new sets like we'd started getting in boosters.
Those patterns (and the Ulterior textures themselves) do get used though!
More is better! -
I do, however, also want much more tights/spandex options.
Despite the lousy delivery, I cannot deny my agreement with wanting more for spandex type costumes!