Electric-Knight

It is actually an interesting question (Or series of questions) and I understand what you're saying.

If you are talking about already existing characters only, your best bet may be in searching OOC and creating IC reasons for the hook up.

Although, using the forums, SG websites/forums and any out of game element may help (possibly more so) than hunting OOCly in game.
You might be able to talk with people, learn a bit about what they're about, interested in and such... and (Maybe most importantly) be able to devise a plan for instigating an IC meeting/hook-up.

Role-players can definitely be a rather seclusive and divided lot (I say "can" in that not all are and that it doesn't have to be that way). Virtue does seem rather fractured to me (Not saying it's entirely bad nor good).

If you are interested in forming such things for characters you've not yet made...
Making some posts and/or looking around the forums and/or other SG websites and such may lead to collaborating with others to create and start something from scratch that could entail plenty of what you're looking for and allow you to all do it in game and IC from the start (Of the creation of the characters).


So, yeah... I am suggesting all OOC methods, mostly because deep, collaborative endeavors between multiple people can benefit greatly from communication and understanding.
People, as you well know, get invested in their mmorpg characters (And not just RPers). So, some planning, communicating and understanding can lead to trust and that can lead to some terrific partnerships and collaborations between players/writers/creators/ (And most importantly, in this case) role-players.


All that being said...
If it is more important to you to make such journeys entirely in-character... I suggest just doing what you do and stick to it (ICly) all the way.
And do not look for what you want in places that you are highly unlikely to find what you want. It's like someone looking for a meaningful relationship and continuously searching in shallow places. You are more likely to find the person/people you wish to find in doing the things that make you happy. Not in the places you'd rather not be.
That, however, isn't very encouraging, because it can be a long long time before you just happen to encounter what you wish for.

For myself...
I have lucked out in the past by happening upon some great players that I slowly developed a solid trust and friendship with. it started out from posts on the server forum and developed into a nice upstart SG.
Over some time and some casual play and feeling out periods... I managed to have some very fun and compelling interactions in ongoing stories involving several people's characters. From highly personal to widely shared role-playing and ongoing big time fun events and stories.

Also, I have a few real life friends that have joined me in this game and we have shared some of the most fun and interesting role-playing and story progressions I have ever had the pleasure to experience.

I suppose I tend to rely on friendships for these things... and I tend to take some time and use some patience to develop such relationships.

I, too, would enjoy encountering more people interested in greater collaborative role-playing, but so many people have differing styles and interests (As you surely well know), it can be rather difficult to find the right combination of people/players that lead to fun for everyone.

Honestly, I think an RPers Character Classifieds is the way to go.
Posting our playing interests and our characters and what we may or may not be interested in getting up to.

Again, mostly OOC stuff...

One other suggestion may rely a bit on writing skills (Doesn't have to be major writing though... the smaller the better, perhaps)... Some ongoing journals or accounts of your character. These could lead to others seeing and reading them and like-minded players (Or characters) reaching out to you OOCly or ICly with their characters.

I hope maybe something I babbled about in here may help somehow!

Best of luck!

And, perhaps, see you around!

I just want to again thank the Team for being cool enough to have some fun by taking something they deemed worthy of charging money for and handing it out for free to a bunch of contest winners!

For whatever it is worth... I snuck onto Liberty (Because that was the only night I could make it... and I love the Liberty people I've met on the forums) and I was lucky enough to win with this costume, hehe:

I took my Amazing Ape and put him into what I decided could be a winning party outfit...




Thanks again and I hope everyone had fun and congratulations to all the other lucky winners!

The Carnie Master Illusionists have been tearing me up on my Blaster lately...
I think I got used to fighting them on other ATs and forgot that the Electric-Knight purposely avoids soloing them...

Either that or I am forgetting something in my attacks on them...
Oh yeah... bring 27 break frees and 85 greens... got it!!

Hrm, Steampunkette, that last reply to PennyPA seems way out of line to me.

It's certainly not stupidity... and I think it is a fair point.
It happens with costumes all the time (Not saying that in a hurt way, hehe. It's cool. We all inspire each other. Some copy, some take things into their own, etc.).

Anyway, those particular maths are not fact of any kind.

Define the powersets of Dark Lord, Omega Man and/or Super Tom.
(And hey, is Super Dave a restricted name?)

Forget all of that and explain to us how individuals and exceptions defy cold statistics (Not that those particular statistics are accurate, as they are).
If two or more people have the same play times, share the same desire to stick to one character, are both big community members... explain how your statistics truly matter when they both have the same name on the same server.
I suppose statistics will show that their subscription life will only be about 3 months, so no worries.

Lastly... Do you honestly believe that there would be no posts about a Unique Name System if this game had a Non-Unique Name System?
I guess that would prove to you that Non-Unique Name Systems don't work?
Which, would prove what was already said before... There is no right and people aren't likely going to convince each other to change their personal preference to another's.

Steampunkette, the calculations are really not helpful nor accurate.
I probably shouldn't bother chiming in on this, because this discussion has passed the point of interest to me, and I probably won't spend the time needed to express things well enough, but besides the fact that there are so many variables that would move those numbers around in all directions... Statsistics in such a topic as this do nothing.
It's not just randomly bumping into people online. There are friends of friends, Super Groups, coalitions, global channels, forums, communities...
Yes, the Virtue community is quite fractured and I could imagine 100 Batmans could all be on that server and never once know that any other than themselves existed.
I am not so sure all (Or even most) servers are as fractured to that degree. That point is not really to serve either side of this debate, however.

Also, from what I am reading... did you only include one AT of fire primaries? Or all fire primaries of the different ATs? There's more... but, back to my initial points, I don't think it matters one bit.

I will agree that the chances of never running into a same-named character can be pretty damn tremendous.
Of course, if I were the type of player to name my character Dark Lord, I may not be so lucky, but whatever.
More importantly (for me), statistics don't mean **** in a case such as this.

Also, that list of pros and cons has many duplicates within the pros of non-unique names. I suppose I should back that up by pointing them out, one by one. I'll try and make that time, shortly.

I think this might be the last thing I say about the subject of unique names vs non-unique names, and I hope it is not taken as offense to anyone.

I just see it as this:

It makes all the sense in the world to me that once a name is chosen on a server, it is removed from availability.
Has it ever stopped me from getting a name? YEP!
It's just the way it is and should be, in my opinion. There are other servers and other names. The idea that more than one character can share the exact same name makes no sense to me.
No game I have ever played before worked any differently.
Some might claim I am living in the past or clinging to old ways that no longer need to be...
because some other games have managed to pull it off.
I don't see it as needed, I don't see it as an improvement and I don't see it as a good thing.

I'm not terribly against it, so long as it is hidden and all that. Although, I don't know how I send a tell purely from typing the command to one of several Batmans. /tell Batman... I guess I would need their global or whatever else it is tied to. Add that to a Con for non-uniques, if you really want to bother.

As for an email/vote/whatever... Whether or not I'd want to see one or whatever, if they made it a clean check off one of two options - unique names or non-unique names (With much greater descriptions, of course) then that eliminates some of the problems raised about such a thing.

However, any such decision should come from the developers, as far as I am concerned.
They have created a game world where they desired unique names. If they change their tune, they can come out and explain it and we can see what happens.
Of course, I don't think that's happening (Nor do I fear it, even if it were).

All due respect,

Thank you, David. Not just because of your decision and stuff, but everything you've done with Paragon Studios and in posting and talking with us. It's what makes this game even greater

I can't wait to see what you crank out!


Knightfox, a simple majority is not all that someone looks for in such a situation, as has been mentioned by others.
Informal polls aren't just about, "okay, vote away and we'll see the outcome". With products such as this game, you have to take care of different portions of the greatly varied playerbase.

First, Noble Savage... No worries. Even if I disagree with you for whatever reason, I appreciate your genuine nature and have no problem with that. (The simple fact that you ask these questions is fantastic)

As for not wanting to have new players see ugly costume bits or whatever... You also don't want to tick off existing players.
While there may be a majority in this little poll, it's still a large amount of people on the smaller side.

Most importantly... while new players are always important... Any game that aims for new players at the expense of a large portion of existing players is likely shooting themselves in the foot (or much worse).

NOT that I think CoH will do any such thing (They seem to like us, after all!).
Just that some of the things people say in here lean in that direction.

Again, I play this game because I LIKE how this game is right now in its current state. Yep, improvements are GREAT! New things are GREAT. Improving old things that make them better is GREAT.
There are some cases with graphics and characters that make that last one more tricky than just simply, "better is better".
Seems like a case by case scenario is the best way to go, eh?

If you look at every person that voted Option 1 BUT a caveat as to not replace this or that... Maybe they should be put into Option 2.
Everyone can have something that they'd not like to see change too greatly. Voting Option 1 with the exception of [fill in the blank] is sort of a selfish vote for Option 2. How about the things that someone else might find as dear to them as that person holds that particular category dear? Hmmm?

With consideration (And copious talent and dedication), I'm sure good things will come

You call THAT a scar??
*rolls up his sleeve*
Take a gander at THIS...

Hehe, Sam
While I'm not in the same place, I always say, there is always place for the immeasurable value of enjoying a simple clown and his follies or the laughter of children or whatever simple thing you can find yourself enjoying.


Heh, I sort of feel the need to follow that up by the idea that it can go too far if it bleeds into all aspects of life and intellect. You don't want to become a completely culture depraved maroon.
Somehow I doubt that will happen to you.
Eb and flow, Sam.
The tides of man need not follow any schedule.

Or... more to your current state...
Yeah dude! Have fun!! That's really the only thing we can do, hehe!

Commander, your post fails to either speak to my reasons for voting Option 2 nor to influence me.

I and others have laid out specific examples of pieces that can lose adaptability with textural changes. It's not nostalgia.

You said one thing that sort of made me laugh (Not offensively, mind you, zero hard feelings between us at all ). Check out some of my costumes sometime. I use plenty of old and new and I don't believe they are incompatible. Not at all.

Still, this isn't anything that we need debate. Whatever happens, happens.
I do very much believe in never removing and only adding (Don't get me wrong though, some improvements absolutely can replace older items without it meaning anything was "removed"... It depends on how much it changes them).

The game is as old as it is, yes, but I don't believe that is a terrible thing at all. I also (This isn't just towards you) don't really feel this strong need to try and re-work all the graphics and textures in this game.

I love graphics pretty much as much as the next guy, but I also don't look back and see older graphics as completely outdated/bad.
Our sensibilities and vision haven't changed. They designed things to work with what we had and they still do work. I know, my graphics card is capable of more and other games have better graphics, but I definitely do not look at this game and think... yuck.
Just personal taste and opinions, of course. So, what can ya do? Hehe