GadgetDon

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Yes, you could keep re-buying the jet pack every 30 days if you choose to. It's the same if you bought the Game Card that comes with the 30 day temp jetpack.

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Question...if I buy the temp jetpack, and 25 days later buy it again...when does the temp jetpack expire? 35 days from the second purchase (5 days remaining on first purchase + 30 new days), 30 days from the second purchase (the 5 days remaining are wiped out as it resets the timeout to 30 days), or 5 days from the second purchase (it doesn't reset the timeout if you already have it)? Clearly, as players we expect 35 days, but for the game cards, I think someone said we had to let the jetpack expire before we applied the new one.

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Yes, you could keep re-buying the jet pack every 30 days if you choose to. It's the same if you bought the Game Card that comes with the 30 day temp jetpack.

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Question, I buy the jet pack on day 0, and then buy it again on day 25. When does my jetpack run out? Day 60, day 55, or day 30? The impression I'd gotten from the game cards was day 30--that is, you had to wait for the old jet pack to expire before you bought it again.

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I've looked in about 4 different Targets and 3 Best Buys in the Washington DC area and had absolutely no luck finding one of these.

I'll have to check the 'small panel on the back of the aisle furthest from the door'

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Ask for help. I never would have found them without help.

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Um no one is trying to dictate authority over you. Some of us who are going to PAX would just like to enjoy this convention, and find it unfortunate that the thread is full of controversy over in-game exclusives now.

I really think the mods should have made a separate thread, and I did actually PM Ex requesting that. But in the meantime, there is really no need to be hostile here. I'm sorry if folks are bent-out-of-shape over exclusives, but that's no reason to take it out on those of us who just want to enjoy a fun event, regardless of what digital trinket we may or may not get for attending.

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The problem is that the rednames are advertising the digital trinket, and so that's going to result in feedback. I started posting in this thread because I saw a post by ExLibris with a picture of the costume power.

If I could go, the reason I'd go would be the fun and talking to the rednames. Which really makes this even more baffling to me. For those who play the game, no incentive beyond "meet people, have fun, talk to rednames, maybe learn something cool" is necessary. And for those who don't play the game, it's not an incentive.

If, on the other hand (as an example) they were giving out those new gamecards, that gives people a month plus the use of a jetpack for a month, it might be mildly jealousy-causing to see all those new characters with the jetpack, but I'd understand it...aha, what a cool way to get new people to try the game! (And after 30 days, the jetpacks all go away.)

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Yes, I understand it is important for companies to have a strong showing at these types of events - mostly for bragging rights, as these events do not appear to result in a bump in game subscribers - but my point is these events should be handled in such a way that you make net gains with your customer base.

Here I would say things were adding up to a net loss, which is probably not the direction they want to be headed.

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Actually, the main reason for going to these events is to get NEW customers. There are a lot of people at those conventions who match up nicely with the type of people playing the game now, but either may not have heard of CoH or may have heard of it but not heard about the fun stuff going on these days.

Yes, it's also an opportunity to meet with people who do play the games, make them feel good about the game and hopefully talk to others about the game. And special events like the Meet and Great are all about current customers. But usually, the swag given out is designed to help spread the word...T-shirts (walking billboards), Bumper Stickers (driving billboards), Bobble-headed dolls (cubical billboards).

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I have to say that I'm not terribly happy with in-game rewards, even inconsequential ones, being given out at real-life events. I'm not going to rant against it or lose any sleep over it, but the availability of these things is being constrained in an extreme fashion. If the NCNC crew wants to show appreciation for fan turnout at conventions and such, they should hand out T-shirts, bumper stickers or such.

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So, explain this to me then:

Why is okay to hand out things like exclusive bumper stickers, T-Shirts, and other items, but not in-game options like badges, costume options, or non-game affecting temp powers?

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Because it's obvious that they CAN'T provide those to everyone, while they COULD provide the in-game things to people. And while someone in game may say "I got this great T-shirt at PAX", giving me some jealousy, they can't suddenly morph into the appearance of the T-shirt in game.

And frankly...a bumper sticker or a T-shirt or things like that might expose new people to the game, as opposed to just being shown to people already in the game.

BTW, part of it, is that these are permanent. And will continue to be permanent for any characters they create in the future. If these were temp powers...even if these were somewhat better temp powers...it would still be annoying, but at least it would only be for a period, and at some time, things will be back as they were.

And also...I'm just really confused about the WHY of this. Trade shows and conventions are to reassure current customers (and maybe get some more money out of them) and attract new customers. For new customers, this is about useless (other than giving you something you can sell on E-Bay), they don't know who these costumes are about, and it doesn't give a reason to pay $15/month. For existing customers...how does it reassure more than the chance to talk to rednames, see that they are pushing forward for new people, and so forth. Is there ANYONE who was thinking "Well, I was considering cancelling, maybe going to Brand Ecchhhh when they open beta--but now that I can look like a PPC Hardsuit, they've got me for life!"

So not only am I annoyed that they are giving something fun ingame ONLY to those able to go and those who just can't make it a convention (like me) are frozen out...I can't see the benefit they're getting from it.

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In regards of costumes, my policy is GIMMEY MOAR!

I can't attend to any of those conventions (I'm not even in North America) but I'd definitely ::coughs:: pay extra for *that* costume set. So, I'm with the previous posters here, too.

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As other have said, it's not a costume set, it's a costume power, makes you look like that. You can't tweak the colors, you can't mix and max, you can look like that or look normal.

That said, yeah, add me to the people annoyed that they're giving these permanent in-game things to people who make the conventions, that those of us who for one reason or another cannot go can NEVER get (in spite of having given them $15 a month for four years--but that's less important apparently than stopping by a booth at a convention).

There are other things that you can only get at conventions...a chance to talk to people face to face, a chance to walk away with some schwag, a chance to get a sneak peak at whatever they're showing off (like the sneak peak some got for the City Vault). But those are inherent to going to a convention where NCNC has a presence, and I can accept that, as jealous as I can get about it. Things like this, permanent things in-game, that you COULD give to everyone, is just an extra slap at everyone else.

And yes, I said the same for ComicCon, and I'll probably say the same at the announcement of the next con where you're giving one of these away.

I went shopping for one today. I don't know what sort of deal you struck with the companies for this exclusive, but I don't think you're getting your money's worth. Both of these were in West Des Moines, Iowa, which may not be a real urban center, but both stores are fairly representative of other targets and best buys I've seen around the country, so it may apply elsewhere.

First stop, Target, it's a normal Target, not one of their SuperTargets, I may look at one of them next time I hit the theaters (there's one along the way). They've got an area for video games, look through them, no luck. Well, there's an area for specialty gift cards, like iTunes cards. No luck. Console games? No luck. I ask someone, the guy I spoke to doesn't know what an MMO, but looks it up, doesn't find it. He flags someone who works in the computer games area, never heard of the game cards. So either they aren't at that Target, or they're really well hidden.

So, I try Best Buy. Reasonably well-stocked store, been around for a long time. Decent computer games selection, even has a good vs. evil copy of CoH, but no new game card (and no time cards). I check consoles and iTunes gift cards, no luck. Someone asks to help, hasn't heard of it, calls over someone who works in video cards, hasn't heard of it but knows where game cards in. Takes me to this small panel on the back of the aisle furthest from the door, and it's there. So yes, those who know about it and go looking and aren't easily discouraged can find it...but nobody's going to stumble upon it. If you've got any special deal with them...they may not be living up to their end of the bargain. They don't even have it on the impulse hooks near the checkout area (I checked).

But, I did get one, applied it, and a few minutes later, got the jet pack. It's under inherents, not temp powers. Looks cool. Nice and big. If we ever get backpack costume options, this one is a nice one to start with. I did notice that there's nothing in the description of the jet pack that it ever expires, no countdown to "expires in 29 real-time days" or even "will expire after 30 days", so might want to add that to the detailed description.

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Here is the thing, Johnny there calls it "a new time card campaign". It's not, it's a game card. They are not trying to sell vets these cards, but NEW players.

Would there be this much upset if it was a box with the same stuff? I doubt it.

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I just wanted to chime in and reiterate this point. These point of sale cards are intended for new players and to acquire new customers. We understand the interest in the jet pack and/or additional ways to pay for existing customers, but that aside, please keep in mind the intent with these new cards.

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We understand the intent. But as for the mechanism...can we keep applying the game cards (at a $5 premium over regular subscriptions) to have them?

Where did you find the ability to use Paypal to purchase game time? I'm looking, and not finding.

NVM, found it. You have to cancel your subscription (if you have one) to purchase time with Paypal.

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I think when we say 3 issues per year, what we really mean is 12 months/3...as in an issue every 4 months. We're not really paying much attention to where things fall in the calender year, just how much time passes between issues. That's the goal at least.

Are we hitting that goal? At this particular moment, not really. Chalk that up to forming a new company, moving into a new studio, and hiring/training a lot of new people. When you go from being a very tight-knit team of 15 people rapidly churning out issues and snatching up all of the low hanging fruit we can get our hands on to a much larger studio working on very large systems and the type of content that takes the longest to develop...things tend to slow down a bit.

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That's absolutely fair. Having worked on some far, far, far less complex software projects and gone through staffing up, I've always known that some of the presumptions of "you have more people, that means you're immediately more productive" that have been made were likely to be far from the mark. I remain a mostly satisfied player, even if I don't always sound like it, and while I will try out Games Which Must Not Be Named, they'll have to completely blow me out of my socks to get me away from here. Glad you guys are hitting your stride, and I'm looking forward to seeing what's in I13 and beyond. (And a warning...I will be pleading and begging to get into early testing for the PGC--it's what I've wanted from the start of the game, and in some ways been looking for something like this since the 1980s.)

And thanks for correcting some people's "new math"

Thanks, Castle. The communications rule is most problematical to me. Taking the rule by it's word, a post about "I heard from Venture who was at the ComicCon party that..." or even "I got a chance to ask Positron about this at the party...". Indeed, it could even go as far as "Hey, ManOfManyChars just got his latest 50 last night!"

And as good as it is for Castle to say that any PM can be posted...do the moderators know that? If I ask a question, post the answer, do the moderators wait for Castle to complain, or do they take action on their own?

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Uniting the City of Heroes universe enables the development team to focus on other features slated to come in future installments. Improvements to Supergroup Bases and raids, an offline character reward system, and the previously revealed Mission Maker are just some of the systems that will see the benefits of a unified City of Heroes game.

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As i said in the other thread about this, i think the bolded part is new. We were told that I13 would contain improvements for bases and also about the PGC stuff, but I don't think I have heard any mention of an offline reward system.

Could we get some official clarification/hints/haikus, please?

Thanks

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It could just be the City Vault...or there could be other things, we'll have to find out when it's ready.

I don't like "read it on the forums", because that's pretty much the definition of Breaking Immersion. I don't mind the idea of there being a newspaper about supers by supers (I'm sure there would be in a real superhero world), but read it on the forums shatters the fourth wall.

Agreed with all of the above. This is good...and the addition of a 30 or 60 day time card to the purchaseable items would be very nice.

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There *was* additional work done to resolve this issue (in addition to giving players the ability to use the "/sync" command.)

We are monitoring the forums and in-game petitions to see whether the issue has been resolved or improved.

EDIT Addition: If you have experienced the sync issue, I would really appreciate it if you could file a Tech Support ticket to see if your information turns up something.

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That's information that should have been in the patch notes, the only thing in the patch notes is the addition of "/sync". And the GMOTD should include this information, both the new tool, and that people should do a petition as well as using the /sync.

In fact, if possible, using the /sync should create a log. Ideally (granted, this idea would have been more useful before it went live) about where the client thought the character was, where the server, and other useful information.

I'm very glad to see that there's also been work and more work on finding the cause, not just the workaround. And many, many thanks for the workaround, even if the bug is still there, reduces the pain of the sync bug greatly.

Yes. Hero raids Wednesday at 8pm eastern, Saturday at 6pm eastern. Villain raids are once per month, first Sunday at 6pm eastern, though for the past few months we've also done third Sunday (which may be an official timing).

Things are organized in VU2008, just join the channel.

I'm appreciating the guide too. One thing...even though Origins of Power shows up heroside with the story arcs (and it is a story arc, you keep going back to the contact to get new missions and you get a souvenier), it doesn't give the challenge badges. I learned this after spriting across paragon city.

Just for the record (since this thread has risen from the crypt), this is the current schedule. All times are in the Eastern time zone in the U.S.

Heroside, twice weekly.

Saturday, 6pm eastern
Wednesday, 8pm eastern

Redside, once monthly, first Sunday of every month (though in April, we did it the first and third Sundays, and that may continue).

Sunday, 6pm eastern (again, not every Sunday).

Please note that the Hive and Abyss have a limit of 50 people. If you show up at the scheduled time, it's almost guaranteed that the zone will be filled and you won't get it.

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I can’t tell you how excited I am for our game’s future, and although we have some major announcements yet to be made, one of the things I can talk about is a feature that we are planning. Similar in concept to our character creator, it allows you, the players, to create missions and story arcs for your characters and others to participate in. You’ll be able to pick the map, villain group, and objectives, as well as write the dialog and any clues needed for the missions. When you are satisfied with it, you can upload it and have other players across all servers play it and rate it. Fame will come to the players whose stories rate the best overall. It is features like these that we never dreamed of including when we first shipped, but are excited to be able to offer players very soon.

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WOW! Great! I want to dig into this! I haven't pled for beta before, but when this is ready for closed beta.....pppplease!

I can think of two examples, right off the top of my head, that just beg for some sort of branching.

Dark Watcher in the RWZ, first mission, rescue the Nemesis defector. If he dies, you continue on the same path.

Tina McIntyre in Peregrine Island. You have a timed mission with a freaking 10 minute time limit. If you succeed...nothing. "Well, great, you succeeded, but they were also attacking some other facility and they got everything they needed. There should be a reward of some sort for succeeding. "Great work! They'll try again, but we've gotten some time, so here's what we'll do with it."

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Will these server of choice options be a one-shot deal? In other words, if I select Champion x 2 then will I never be able to select other servers with these 2 free slots?

I'm planning on buying at least one 5 for $20, but I'm concerned about that free slot server choice. I really feel that should be free across all servers.

Also, will the purchasable slots be server of choice or across all servers?

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As I read it, you get anywhere from 2 to 6 free slots when it goes live. It's not 2 per server, it's 2 free (but still 2 more than you had before). So if you get all 6, you can add one slot each to six different servers, or can add three each to two servers, or any combination you want.

Excellent, Bravo, Thank you!

With six slots, I won't be buying for a while...but I know that day will come.

We'll probably never know the reason for the cutdown, and on whose side it was.

But remember, NCSoft had two can't miss hits coming up...Auto Assault looked to be a real bit of fresh air, exciting universe, loads of potential. And Tabula Ras was coming from the biggest name in the online world, it would be his masterpiece. So when CoV's numbers proved disappointing (and that's hard to say they didn't), they could have decided to put their funds in these two hot properties and away from CoH/CoV.

Fast forward a few years. Auto Assault crashed and burned, and Tabula Ras both took far longer to develop than expected and yet has been disappointing in both critical acclaim and in the numbers. CoH and CoV meanwhile have been holding onto their userbase remarkably well, the developer team has pulled off miracles on a shoestring budget. And so reinvesting in the game makes a lot of sense. Maybe they wanted control, so decided to buy out Cryptic, or maybe Cryptic having moved on with new projects (including in the superhero range) and wondering if NCSoft will ramp up now but then ramp down again later so instead offers to sell.

And while clearly the devs had to see a future in order to move to NCNC, most of the devs coming would be part of the deal...if the announcement of the sale had said "and let us introduce you to your all-new development team", the NCSoft server would have crashed from the simultaneous attempts to cancel. So as part of the deal, there were sufficient incentives to get the devs to come along. My guess is that the incentives included a period of guaranteed investment in the game. Of course, those will all be under NDA

Now granted, that's one possibility. The other is that Cryptic also just reduced the numbers. Or more likely, somewhat inbetween. But the fact that they're investing in the game now, doesn't negate the possibility that they cut it way back previously.