Fleeting Whisper

E, Q, and O are points; n is a vector. You'll notice in my matrix that I use things such as E.x and n.z; this is how I'm denoting the various components of the structure. O, as the origin, is generally considered {0, 0, 0}, but origin is really arbitrary.

Point B subtracted from point A results in a vector from A to B. I use E - Q, E - O, and Q - O in my matrix. The eqn, en, and qn variables are just in my post to prevent horizontal scrolling in the code box. If O is in fact {0, 0, 0} (in most systems that's a given, but it's not required for the projection math), then E - O is a vector containing the coordinates of E, but vectors and points are not the same thing.

There are three ways to define a plane:
1. Two points in the plane (with the implicit vector between the two points; see #2)
2. A point in the plane and a vector in the plane (giving the location and orientation of the plane)
3. A point in the plane and a vector normal to the plane (again, giving the location and orientation of the plane)

In the perspective calculations, I used the third definition, because I need the dot product of that normal with a few different vectors present in the problem. I could manage with one of the other two representations of the plane, but that would complicate the equations, since I'd then have to calculate the normal.

The matrix I posted is the expanded form of a more common representation, which is displayed as a 2x2 matrix (rather than the 4x4 matrix I posted), where the first element of the first row is a 3x3 matrix, the second element of the first row is a column vector in R3, and the first element of the second row is a row vector in R3.

Looking back at my post, I think I made a couple of mistakes with respect to the origin (for example, I should have used O - E, rather than -E), but since we're not composing a rendering algorithm at the moment, it was mostly for demonstrative purposes.

Wait... what character can get Super Strength and Power Boost?

Not feasible within the current game engine.

Binding an enemy in any fashion (and throwing the enemy even more so) with a ropelike device (rope, chain, whip, etc.) is not feasible within the current game engine. We are getting fire whips with Demon Summoning, but considering it's a Mastermind primary, it will only have 3 whip attacks, and more likely than not they'll be two different simple strikes (single target attack) and a sweep (AoE attack).

The game does not currently support the skeletons you're asking for.

And the issue with Patron Power Pools, which don't really make sense to customize, considering their source.

I'm a Ranger, with the mastery of Multishot. So I'm gonna fire multiple arrows from my bow at once.

However, I also know Dual Wield, so I'm gonna dual wield my bows, firing multiple arrows from each.

And, as a Ranger/Ranger cross-class, I can dual wield my Dual Wield! Prepare for pointy death!

FOV alterations are also frequently used in video games for various effects. For example, a racing game will often increase the FOV as you accelerate, to give an illusion of speed.

And in 3D applications, both skyboxes and skyspheres are used frequently. Both boxes and spheres can produce anomalies at the geometric boundaries if the texture isn't appropriate. For a skybox, the edges and corners of the box need to be continuous in order to avoid discontinuities. For a skysphere, the poles need to be continuous. Of course, the box is also simpler geometry. And many games are constructed such that you would never see the poles of the sphere.

For one thing, true raytracing never happens in a realtime application such as a game, because raytracing is sloooooow.

No. Perspective projection maps points in R3 to points in R2, directly. There's no sphere involved. With the exception of peripheral vision, this is realistic. (Or, rather, produces realistic results)

Given E, a position in R3 for the eye, Q, a position in R3 in the plane of projection, n the normal to the plane of projection, and origin O:
A point P in R3 maps to a point S in R2 (defined by Q and n) as: S := P * Persp(E, Q, n)

Perspective projection in programs utilizes a bounding frustum. Or equivalently, perspective projection is performed with a rectangle, but points in R3 between the eye and some arbitrary "near plane" , or points past the "far plane" are ignored. This, combined with ignoring points behind the eye (since you don't want to display points behind the viewer) leads to what you describe as thrusting your head through a wall.

It depends on the map projection type. A Mercator projection map preserves angles and the shapes of small objects, but introduces distortions in area. Because Mercator is a conformal transformation, it became the standard for naval navigation, but was never meant to be "the" world map. A Hobo-Dyer projection maintains correct relative area, but distorts shape. A Fuller Dymaxion projection maintains size and shape relations, but direction and distance becomes confused.

A while ago, there was no such thing as the Council, and 5th Column spawned where the Council does now. Then the Council appeared and there was the Council-5th Column war in the streets of Paragon, and the Council won. Now the 5th Column is back, and they're back to fighting.

I think you're reading too much into it. The changes in spawn patterns you've noticed are either the effect of a zone revamp that had little to nothing to do with the story (The Hollows), or is the aftereffects of the storyline progressing.

The cape mission used to involve guarding the Omega Team's time capsule. But last November was the 7th anniversary of the Omega Team's sacrifice, when the time capsule was supposed to be opened. It makes no sense to have a mission guarding a time capsule that's already been opened, so they changed the mission.

Additionally, try reading the letter. It's not hints of things to come, it's a recounting of the "present", 7 years ago, for posterity.
The only thing in the Omega Team's time capsule that really contains hints to the future is the letter from Branforth the Seer. His letter contains a set of prophecies, but since they were written "7 years ago", they almost all pertain to events in our past. I believe one of them refers to Going Rogue, which hasn't happened yet, but we already knew about GR before the letters were released.

You don't need to be a programmer to know why this isn't a good idea for a MMO that's nearing its 6 year mark.

Income is worthless if you're letting it sit in a bank account. Do you know why banks give you interest? As incentive to keep lots of money in their bank. Because if the bank (or rather, banks in general) doesn't have a bunch of money stored up in various people's accounts, then they can't function properly. They can't give out big loans to people (or other banks), who then pay the bank back, with interest. That interest - the interest on loans being paid back - is how the banks (as businesses) make money, among other endeavors depending on the bank.

What are you planning to do with this bank account that is building up "subscription fees" in interest? What are you going to pay the programmers, customer service representatives, and support staff with? What's going to back further development of the game?

When an MMO is first released, someone has been spending a lot of money on the game for several years in order to get the game created in the first place. whoever is playing the role of financial backer to the game is in the red when the game is released. A herd of people flocking in purchasing expensive lifetime subscriptions helps put the financial backer back in the black, while subscriptions keep the game afloat.

Expensive lifetime subscriptions make monetary sense when the game is first released. Starting up a lifetime subscription program 5 years later does not. Anyone with the City Traveler badge (60 months = 5 years) has paid somewhere between $660 and $900 in subscription fees alone, depending on what subscription plan they're on. If they had bought a $250 lifetime subscription in 2004, NCSoft would be out over $400, for that one player.

Consider if CoH started a lifetime subscription program tomorrow. People would buy it, and NCSoft would get a spike in revenue. Which would then drop like a stone. If CoH lasts another 5 years (not improbable; Ultima Online is still active), it would be unlikely that NCSoft would be making a profit off the game, with so many people playing for free.

If CoH shuts down on Friday, a lifetime subscription plan starting tomorrow would be a great idea for NCSoft, financially. Hell, it'd still be a good idea if CoH is going to continue for another whole year before shutting down. But since neither of those events seem likely, a lifetime subscription at this late date in the game's lifespan can only hurt.

Then it's absolutely useless as a suggestion. If you said, when the game was released, "I want a shape changing powerset!", and then the devs gave you Peacebringers and Warshades, telling you: "Look! TWO shape changing powersets!", would you be satisfied?

You've got to say what you want.

I don't think there's a specifically Perez map, but Forest 01 and Forest 02 are both pretty close.

I believe this may be a reference to Baphomet

I don't know about who started it, but 'Duke' Mordrogar seems to be the head honcho. Or at least the closest we come to seeing anyone in control of the gang.

Well, they don't get Air Superiority, though they do get melee attacks.

But the Spiderling Scout cookies did well!

This has always been the case. You've always had to do the cape mission before the aura mission.

It's dangerous!

Rule #1 of code optimization: Don't do it. Even if you think something is non-optimal, it is far better to leave it well enough alone than to 'fix' the 'problem', unless you are experiencing a noticable drop in performance.

(Rule #2 is "Profile, don't guess", since what you think is causing a bottleneck in your program is rarely the actual source of the problem)

I believe it's a bug, but if you slot Heal enhancements in the same power as a +Regen unique, the unique grants more than it's stated amount of +regen.

I assume you mean as part of City Vault, but I don't think your build was ever a part of that.

If you want to get technical about it, "same name" is only a rule of thumb, too. Set bonuses are actually individual powers in the game engine. Powers which are granted to you by slotting sets, and which you can have 5 of. The name is just a display name for the (set bonus) power; it's entirely possible for two different powers to have the same display name. For an example, nearly every enemy in the game has a power named "Resistance" which is always on, but the actual power is different. Purple Triangles of Doom which AVs have also comes from a power called "Resistance".

Now... there are no current set bonuses with name collisions like that, but it's a possibility within the system.

Experimentally, based on the display in the Combat Attributes window, the cap is 10,001.010101...%, since the CA window displays a duration of 0.99%. However, 10,000% is more likely than a repeating decimal cap, and 10,000% would produce a minimum duration of 0.9900990099...%, which the CA window cuts off.

At any rate, 2.2% resistance still has little value. In fact, with the resistance cap increased by two orders of magnitude, 2.2% has even less value than when the cap was 100%.

Purples work exactly the same. The problem with purples is that every piece of the purple set is unique, so you can't slot the full set multiple times. However, you could slot 2 pieces of Hectomb each in 3 different melee powers, and get +4% recovery 3 times, without branching into other purple sets.