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Posts
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I admit, I've been tempted to buy a few packs, just on the off chance that a $5 purchase would net me an ATO. If I did, I could turn my $5 investment into Inf$300,000,000 by selling it on the market. I could earn the same money by playing, but this is just a QoL improvement by saving me time.
Also, isn't paying $15/month to get VIP perks paying to win, by some definitions of "win"? It's certainly an "unfair" advantage over free players.
And how close does that tread to RMT, anyway? Buying a Super Pack is buying a chance at trading real money for Influence. Why not cut out the middle step and let me pay directly for Influence? I mean, everyone tells me playing the market is a no-brainer, so why waste my time with it if I'm willing to charge my purples to Visa?
The good news, though, is that this loosening of the definition could lead to players getting something they've asked for for a while: buying their way directly to level 50. Skipping the "boring lower levels" would be a real QoL improvement for some people. What would be a fair price, US$25 per character?
No, I don't think any of these are necessarily good ideas, but logically, they aren't too far away from where we are now. Me, I don't care what people do. It's a freaking game, not rocket surgery. No lives will be lost, either way. -
I haven't yet decided if I will buy any Super Packs or not, but it has made me more aware of my changing expectations about the game
There was a time when I tried to be a completist: get as many badges as possible, buy all the booster packs, and so on. But as time has gone by and more items have been released with limited windows of availability, gated behind onerous grinding, or requiring a combination of cash expenditure and luck, I've accepted that being a completist just isn't feasible any longer.
That wouldn't be a big deal, but it's actually pushing the edge cases to the "no sale" side of things. The Carnival, Roman, and Gunslinger packs were in that middle ground, but knowing it's unlikely I'll ever play enough iTrials to get the Ascension armor made me less interested in buying them. Having a set put out of reach by the random number generator just pushes those sets that much further across the line.
I'm not arrogant enough to say that Paragon's made a mistake here. I may be the only person who is feeling a bit squeezed out by these marketing decisions. Still, I've been a continuous subscriber since the game's release, so I'd feel remiss if I didn't say something. -
These are rules for myself, not rules I impose on others.
- "And it harm no other, do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law."
- Remember that a lot of MMO players ignore the first clause of Rule #1.
- Assume all other players are more hardcore than me, because it's unlikely they can be less hardcore than me.
- Warn leaders about #3 before accepting an invitation to anything taking more than 15 minutes.
- No matter how unpleasant it may turn out to be, always see teams through to the end. Distasteful experiences can be learning experiences.
- Perform unsolicited and random acts of kindness, complimenting bios, costumes, names, play performance, and so on. It makes the game world a better place.
- Try something new each play session.
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Quote:This is my suggestion, as well. I started taking them all just to see where they would lead, after running into some non-hero deliveries which directed me to "Board Transit." It may be too much to ask of the code, but it would be great if there were a way to check the player's alignment, and if the destination were inaccessible, send them to the train for delivery.And now that I've nabbed both badges, I think I can drop a bit of feedback.
I really like the concept of the tips, the valentines are all pretty well done and funny or sweet, etc.
I can certainly sympathize with some of the complaints about having tips that are pretty clearly meant for a single alignment, or the ones that offer a choice of a hero contact or a villain contact. Mostly because a number of times I ran into choices that I just did not know where they were before accepting to take it to them, so it was a bit disheartening to pick a choice and see 'Grandville' for example pop up, so I'd have to dismiss the contact.
I think for the future, anything like this just needs to point out where the contact is located -before- you accept the mission. Just add into the write up for when you pick the choice but haven't confirmed it, like "But it would be fun to misdeliver it to Johnny Sonata in St. Martial" or "You can take it to Positron in Steel Canyon" or "Hopefully you can find transit to track down Lady Jane" etc, to indicate whether they're in a zone or in an instance. It won't really stop the villain tip for a hero and vice versa problem, but it would at least let you do the tips that involve a split faction choice and not end up picking an undeliverable choice.
One other note: I've only done 25 or so of these (just enough to get both badges on my main character, so far), but I was struck by just how many times the same AI valentine has different recipients. Is there some reason I haven't found yet why there's all the duplication there? Four of my seven misdeliveries for Missed Connection had me going to Burkholder. He probably thinks he has a stalker by now. -
Quote:My mistake. I had assumed "You don't have to participate in the opposite alignment mission again, like you did for the badge." meant I didn't have to do the second part. It's been a few years since I bothered going for the badge, as finding a willing villain has become next to impossible, and to be honest, it isn't worth setting up CoH on a second computer just to enable this content.Yes.
To get the Badge, you had to do Ganymede's two-mission arc with a villain helping, then help a Villain with Scratch's arc.
To get attuned, you have to do Ganymede's two-mission arc with a villain helping, then go back to Ganymede for the mission to talk to DJ Zero to become attuned to Valentine Tips. -
Quote:Are you sure about this, ZM? I just tried three different heroes, and after doing Gamymede's first mission he would only offer me the villain-assisted mission. I tried going straight to Zero and he only offered (shudder) Snaptooth.And don't forget when you finish that mission from Scratch or Ganymede:
1. You don't have to participate in the opposite alignment mission again, like you did for the badge.
2. Go back to Scratch or Ganymede and ask for another mission. They'll send to to DJ Zero for attunement to Valentine Tips. -
Thanks for posting the photo albums! This will make it much easier to identify targets. Er, friends.
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Quote:Some suggestions:I completely missed the fact that the Roman pack was another silly limited time deal due to the hysteria over the absent weapons.
- Add a category to the Paragon Market for Limited Time Offers, both sale prices and limited availability.
- Let seasonal items stay in the market all year, but raise their prices out of season.
- If you must time limit items, only do so for seasonally-themed goods.
I understand retail philosophy, but bear in mind that while a window of opportunity may inspire some people to spend more than usual, there are others on a budget who will opt to cut their CoH spending elsewhere, perhaps letting their subscription lapse for a month or two to pay for limited time items. -
Quote:Well, I'll most likely be the oldest. So it goes.But ya just call me self concious. Plus I fear I'll be the youngest there.
Meeting "Internet people" is the same as meeting any other group of people, except that in this case you know you have something in common with them. If you want to, treat it like a blind date: if you don't like the way it's going, or the way it's making you feel, pretend to get an urgent phone call and bail.
At least, I've heard that people do things like that. -
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I'll do you one better. Not only do I not yet know anyone coming to the M&G, I only know about six people in the entire DMV area, none of whom game. Come to the event and we can be awkward outsiders together. :-)
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I would love to meet up with you. I moved to Maryland from Miami last autumn, so I don't know my way around all that well yet, but according to Google Maps I'm only 45 minutes away. I should be able to find my way to a mall big enough to have a D&B. (Of course, I couldn't find my way around Miami after living there for forty years. Yeah, I'm rather navigationally challenged.)
So add me to the list, and barring something odd intervening (like finding work), I'll be there with bells on.*
PS: Thanks for putting your red name in this thread, Zwill, or else I'd not have seen it, since most of my forum time is spent in the test areas.
*Actual bells not guaranteed, and are in fact fairly unlikely. -
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Yeah, the frantic nature of the idling, along with the wild running and jumping, makes me suspect this coyote has been buying his Scooby Snacks from a dude on the corner.
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I haven't yet seen anyone on live with it, but during testing it was the same as Beast/Ninja Run, but also detoggling everything.
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First off, I'm sympathetic to the feelings of the red-side players, so please don't take any of this as an attack. (Particularly you, Lothic, as you've made your points politely, almost heroically, one might say.)
Quote:I think this would be possible, although even conceptually it's hard to figure out how. Heroes (mostly) all want to maintain the status quo, while villains (mostly) want to upend it. It's hard to see how a shared game world could allow both conditions to simultaneously exist. Perhaps it couldn't, and would have to be effectively environmental PVP, where the game world changes for all players based on the actions of each player. That would be one heck of lot of branching code and assets, but I suppose it's possible. Can't say I'd ever play it, though.Perhaps someday the idea of playing a multi-player game like this will not preclude a very obvious realm of activity and I'll no longer have to always "lose" while attempting it.
Quote:I submit that a human player playing a villain ought to be able to "win" at least once in a while, otherwise what's the point?
Also -- and I have to plead ignorance on this -- what degree of villainy is permissible while keeping the current rating? Single player games can let you get away with a lot, because you aren't forcing anyone else to be exposed to your digital depravity; are the guidelines different for MMOs?
When CoV was first announced I was skeptical. If this game was going to be any kind of simulation of superhero comics, the villains would have to fail on every major goal they set. How much satisfaction would you get playing a character who by definition has to fail? Of course, they way they got around it was to drop the idea of the game being a simulation of superhero comic book narratives, and allowing -- sometimes encouraging -- violation of some of the basic tenets of the genre. At the same time, they kept enough of them (possibly to satisfy the rating's needs) to ensure that people who wanted to roleplay evil would be dissatisfied, too.
I don't know how to fix things for you guys. Perhaps it's a good thing it isn't my job. -
Quote:In this Tier 9 VIP's opinion, the exchange rate needs to be about 25 packs to the token, or it's not worth my time. When I can get all of Fire and Ice or Celestial for 3 tokens, that sets my expectation for the number of tokens a costume set is worth. If all I want are the costume bits, the rest of the 'cards' are just chaff.
Tier 9 VIP's can use their Paragon Rewards tokens to get the packs. -
Quote:Someone (although I can't find the source) once said the Silver Age lasted until the first fan of the Batman TV show got a job at a major comic publisher. </derail>The Silver Age is generally agreed to have lasted from then until about 1970, when the general message of selfless heroism and confidence started to be replaced by heroes with problems and self-doubt.
I back most of what Golden Girl and SilverAgeFan have suggested, but to be more specific on the most important items to me:
- Tights that aren't body paint
- White eye masks
- More hat options (with and without hair)
- Stuff with trim (capes, boots, gloves, etc.)
In terms of a general aesthetic, golden age costumes should (in general) look like something someone could have cobbled together in their garage from real world items. This era was an extension of the pulp age, and focused on more on ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
By contrast, silver age costumes should look less home made and more streamlined, perhaps even made from that miraculous new stuff, plastic! What had been just one of many origin types -- Science! -- was now the norm, and in general their composition should reflect the highly polished, jet age style of the future. ("The future of 1963," as seen in McCloud's Zot!.)
The "modern age style," however, is defined by spikes, blades, claws, and pockets with pockets on them. But maybe that's just my age talking... -
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Quote:You are talking about this, aren't you?I don't really see that as necessary. Casino Royale's theme song rocked.
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I walked back through the house after we'd kicked Kane's butt last night, and then spent about half an hour wandering around the grounds admiring the amazing job the visual and sound artists did on this story. I was very impressed, and kind of wish it could be available year-round through Ouroboros or something. Hey, maybe that could be a new VIP perk: access to seasonal mission content out of season!
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Has anyone? I was going to get a group to look for it last night/this morning, but the speed at which you get all the badges seems to have dried up the pool of people interested. Most of the people who want them have already done it.
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I've just accepted that I need to use one of my transfers to move a character to Freedom so that I can reliably have a tool for testing. I love doing testing and QA, and it bums me out that I don't have that option.