Gregory_Black

What a fantastic situation to come back and resubscribe to after being gone for 8 months... where's the "Refund" button? :P

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Ctab: I've never been in the war!

User: It's not pretty.

Ctab: Being alone is sad...

User: Are you alone?

Ctab: Yes! Where is the gatekeeper?

User: Are you the keymaster?

Ctab: I'm learning a lot!

User: Gozer the Gozarian is expecting us.

Ctab: Great!

User: Shall we?

Ctab: I don't make much noise yet.

User: Oh, you will... You will...

Ctab: Really?

User: Yes. You will make a lot of noise.

Ctab: Yeah, it's massive.

User: Yes, it is, isn't it?

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He also apparently has a fetish for lemurs...

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Sounds like a nice feature. Is this the way the system currently is, or is it coming in I7?

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This is for Issue 7.

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Awesome, so now we know what that "small buff" for Masterminds is!

For those with LCTMS (Lost Connection to Map Server) or other pin-related issues:
A great little freeware program to use is PingPlotter. Very easy to use, just type in the server you want to traceroute to (for instance cohupdate.coh.com for the update server) and you can see very easily what your ping is.

Now, of course the network tool provided by the fine folks at Cryptic/NCsoft works well, but the nice thing with this is you can leave it running and it will not only show your current ping, but your average and also the min and max at each point on the traceroute. You can also dump the graph to an image. The ping interval is adjustable to as low as once a second. Anyway, figure I'd offer up this tool as I was troubleshooting my own connectivity issues.

And a hint: if you have any Torrent clients open, I'd kill them before playing the game. I was getting pinged by folks even though I had no torrents hosted on my system. In the matter of a few hours, ZoneAlarm stopped 6500 pings directed at my torrent software

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Why are there so many Canadian Devs? I am Canadian, from Newfoundland, living in Houston Texas, so I am kinda curious. The marine industry brought about 30 of us to Houston but I never knew the gaming industry farmed in Canadians too?

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Why are there so many Canadians in Texas? I'm from up North and now live in Austin. I'm not in the gaming industry but I feel so... farmed.

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I'm from the UP of Michigan (pretty damn near Canada) and I also live in Texas. What the hell is going on here. Texas is filled with Mexicans and Canadians. Haha

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We have a "Canadian Thanksgiving Party" in Houston, just in my immediate group of friends we usually have around 30 Canadians. I know of about 50 in my extended friends network here. Yep, I am pretty lucky, also we all play CoV. Our wifes have formed a CoV support group... the sit around get drunk and make out.

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Dude, I'm going to Houston next November.

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*points* Canadian in Texas!
*points again* Yooper in Texas!
*points again, at self* Transplanted Yooper (now in Texas)!

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As we were fighting the player controlling Manticore in the end of beta event, he started letting loose some smack talk. Pretty funny. Asked who wanted the "enema arrow" and then plugged his Web of Arachnos book.


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Glad you enjoyed it. After all, what is a good super-powered battle without witty banter.
If you think I've got a smart mouth, you should spend some time with Sister Psyche.

~M

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Never saw you, Manticore, but your comments were legendary on Broadcast... I did spend some time chasing Sister Psyche around... she might remember getting nailed in the head by a forklift and an oxygen tank, then suffering the crushing force of Gravity Distortio... yeah, that was me

Second Sighted popped into reality right in front of the woman, alarm crossing his face as he saw the wounded (what he assumed to be) hero laying on the ground bleeding profusely. A quick scan around the area revealed thugs that had been quickly dispatched, but not quite quick enough. He knelt down next to the fallen hero and placed a hand on her temple as he waved the other over the sucking chest wound. Closing his eyes, he mouthed a few words in a language most in Paragon would not have been familiar with. A green light emanated from his hands and illuminated the dark forest, and he opened his eyes in time to watch the wound closing slowly. Muscle and fascia reknitted in front of his eyes, and the layers of skin followed suit. It took little time to mend the fallen one. After checking her pulse and being satisfied, he turned to the woman in red.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" he said, watching her expression as she seemed to already be in shock after the sights she'd just witnessed. She didn't seem to understand, or to even notice. He tried something else.

"Are you okay?" he spoke in poorly accented Russian, hoping she'd respond.

Second Sighted emerged from the convertible parked just down the street from the party, clad in his less-than-magical spandex garb he'd procured when he first started his career. He reached out with his mind as he leaned against the car, searching for any mind that wasn't guarded against his "mental massage". He typically was not as forceful as this but seeing as how a statue had pretty much come to life and darted out into the dark he decided that the time for subtlety was in the past.

His mind danced across the minds of police walking their beat, mothers taking care of their children, the monorail operators, a homeless person or two... and then he caught a hint of her. Malevolent minds had found a woman. Such cretins rarely guarded their thoughts, which were seldom of a pleasant variety. One of them was already mulling what disgusting things he could do, while another simply wondered how much money she carried. With little time to spare, he cast his mind along the path of thought and projected his body in her direction. For brief moments he'd pop back into reality before plunging back into his mind and out of astral space. He hoped he wouldn't be late.

Will was mingling with a few of the folks he'd made acquaintances with previously - President of BioGrade Pharmaceuticals, some of the Board of Directors of L'Aero Design, and a rather well-kept young blonde that he could read was in need of a little attention - and was just about to speak with the diplomat from a country he kept on thinking was named Elbonia when the cold blast struck him. His senses shot up into high gear as he could tell that some form of magic had either been used, or a spell broken. He turned just in time to see a statue he'd admired several times earlier now running away. He blinked several times as he stared at the shattered pieces on the ground that a woman in a red dress looked to be desperately escaping from. The hero known as HEROID was just standing there with a puzzled look on his face, and most guests were at least making a double-take of the woman or their drinks.

He reached out to the running woman with his mind, trying to get a sense of her mental state and stray thoughts. The first glimpses were confusing, like watching a video tape with a damaged beginning. Then, he heard voices speaking Russian. At that point he knew he was probably out of his league, as his foreign language skills were not close to fluent. He tried to keep his mind tangled around her thoughts, even as the thoughts of the guests began to beat into his head like a day on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Even as he did so he was walking calmly to his car and preparing for another night of adventure.

William Hunt eyed the estate with some fascination. Ironically he'd looked in this neighborhood (if you could call sprawling multi-acre estates a neighborhood) only a few months prior, but had decided penthouse life was more his style. Stepping out of his convertible and grabbing his tux jacket from the miniscule back seat, he handed the keys to the valet with a sizable donation to the “Please Don’t Dent My Baby” fund wrapped around them. Taking a brief moment to look over the side entry to the mansion, he followed a couple walking in ahead of him.

The gardens were absolutely breathtaking. He couldn’t even imagine the sheer number of gardeners it must take to keep everything impeccable trimmed and in place. The caterers were also quite busy and it took several passes of trays loaded down with empty glasses before he found a waiter with a full tray of champagne. He winked at her (she was probably all of twenty, but breathtaking even in a tuxedo) and slipped a little something onto the tray for her troubles.

There were few familiar faces present. Most of them he’d seen on the TV, and a few he’d actually stood next to waiting for a tram to come to send him off on his next adventure. He chuckled a bit, fancying himself a jet-setting superhero with a fast car, a secret cave and a bevy of nifty devices. He was so far from that truth it actually pained him to even consider it. Walking through the crowd, he sipped at the champagne and tried to spy any familiar, friendly face. And of course he wasn’t immune to the glances of the randomly scattered guys wearing earpieces. Of course there’d be security here. After all, it was probably the single largest gathering of the influential and powerful he’d seen since he had set foot back in Paragon City.

Will scanned over the little bit of information he'd found on the man that had sent him an invitation. He still wasn't able to connect the dots between Alexandre and what he'd found, except that ne might now be able to place the face with the name. But, as someone with the proclivity to divine information from stray thoughts and situations, this one was nagging him. It wasn't an unpleasant one like past situations he'd been unwittingly thrust into, but nonetheless...

Picking up the phone, he dialed an old friend halfway around the world. He always enjoyed hearing the different dialtones when he called internationally, and this one almost reminded him of a enspionage movie. The receiver on the other end picked up.

"Institute Neftyanaya Moskva, kak mogu ya srazu vash zvonok?"

"Ivan Ilovitch, please."

"One moment," the operator spoke in crisp, slightly-accented English. The phone line clicked several times before a familiar voice picked up. "Ivan Ilovitch. Kak mogu ya pomogeteh vam?"

"Vanya, it's Will."

A slight pause proceeded a hearty laugh. "William Hunt. My God man, it has been ages. How are you? Keeping out of trouble, I hope?" A sly chuckle slightly unsettled Will until he remembered that's how Ivan always greeted him.

"For the most part I'm doing fine Vanya. And yourself?"

"Eh, can't complain. Now, I know this is not just a social call. What deal are you working on now to fatten your American wallet?" Ivan actually had a greater net worth than Will, but he still liked to throw around the playful remarks about the "Yankee" way of life.

Will chuckled lowly and cradled the phone on his shoulder as he grabbed a piece of paper and pen.

"I received an invitation for a birthday party for one Alexandre Ivanovitch, possibly the son of Mikhail Ivanovitch. The name ring a bell?"

The pause on the other end of the phone caught him off guard. Will was about to ask if everything was okay, when Ivan continued.

"Will, let me call you back in a minute. The phone is starting to sound staticy on my end." Will knew the codeword and smiled.

"I'll be waiting for your call, Ivan."

(( Apologies to true Russian speakers, it's been 14 years since I've used the language ))

Will scanned through the mail that Jeannie had already opened for him while he surveyed the Talos skyline. He’d been particularly hard to reach the past few weeks, and had done most of his work from a cellphone between missions. Jeannie suspected that something was up, and she’d even commented on the transformation that his body had undergone as of late. It was becoming increasingly more difficult to keep his two lives separate. But, as near as he could tell, he’d done a good job so far, and no one had suspected his “secret identity”. Today, though, he had vowed to go into the office for some facetime with her and some clients.

One article of mail caught his eye. A crisp cream-colored envelope sat on the top stack, the only writing on the outside a calligraphy proclaiming the recipient to be “Mr. William Hunt”. Slipping a hand in and pulling out the paper inside, he smiled warmly.

“So… I wonder if this is the son of… quite possibly. There aren’t all that many Ivanovich’ with the money to buy in that neighborhood.” He mulled the invitation over and clicked the intercom button on his phone.

“Jeannie, mark my calendar for the September 23rd birthday part at the Ivanovich residence. I’ll need my tux cleaned and pressed, along with my best suit just in case it’s less formal. Uh-huh. Yeah, you read it too. Yes, I’m sure it will be quite fancy, but I won’t be taking the Maybach to this event. Let’s go with the SLK instead. Thanks a bunch.”

Hanging up the phone, he steepled his fingers before pulling up Google to find out more about this “Alexandre Ivanovich”…

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It's the same symbol that Lord Recluse uses, although I'm not certain if it has an official name or not.

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It is definitely not the Arachnos symbol.

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It really does have a chitinous look about it, though. I suppose that could reflect their metallic blades and hardware more than a connection to Arachnos (perhaps the little dots on the circle are rivets).

Still -- CONSPIRACY!

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Remember, in the original CoV video, it was Freakshow supporting Lord Recluse, not that group he has with him now. It's possible it has spider undertones.

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Also remember that the Freakshow will work for anyone who provides sandwiches and a keg.

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I always thought all my friends were 'freaks'...

A better Burn:

1. Give it the ability, when it hits, to Immobilize the target. This will not stop mobs from running away due to fear effect if they are not hit. Also, it will still allow them to attack you. I don't believe Burn is always an auto-hit - it can appear to be with lower-level mobs, but try going up against some +3's and see how many ticks land.
2. Remove the "burn patch". Replace it with individual "patches of fire" around the mobs that are hit.
3. Reduce Damage.
4. Tune the recharge and duration so that a tank with 6-slotted Hasten with +3 SO's can *almost*, but not quite perma it (maybe 10 second downtime?)
5. Increase End slightly to discourage chain use of it - bring end usage inline with the damage of similar powers.

What purpose is Burn supposed to perform?
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You can ignite the ground beneath you, freeing yourself from Immobilization effects. Foes that enter the flames you leave behind will take damage. You must be near the ground to activate this power.

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So, is it an Immobilization breaker that just happens to do damage? Is it an attack that also breaks immobilization? Is it a fun party trick to put on the ground and dance in the middle of? I think a clarification of what this power was intended to do is in order. But, bear in mind most tanks that take it use it to defeat enemies standing around them, not primarly to break immobilization.

As it stands, you've taken the power that many Fire tanks look forward to after dealing with the previous 17 levels of near-death experiences and forced them to rethink their concepts. I don't think the Dev's understand that every person playing the game is a "min/max" player. Some of us actually *do* pick a power for concept reasons. However, those folks are not going to take a power that is completely useless, even if it is in the "concept" of their character. This *almost* makes the useless Temperature Protection power look good - now, if only you'd add the

Burn needs to be tweaked now that all Tanks are effectively getting chopped off at the knees. But, one person's "that's too powerful and needs to be reduced" is another's "that is powerful and we should be as good as that". We all have heard enough that the Dev's want parity amongst the types of Tanks, and then some parity amongst all the AT's. I'm concerned that, after a year of playing this game and enjoying it that I am seeing the fun slipping away as I have to number-crunch more and more just to be able to see if the build I come up with can be viable in a wide range of circumstances. I have to now use respecs to decide if I want to be a solo player, a team player, a hybrid... where before as long as I was in a group that knew their character's limitations, we could have a fighting chance.

If you're trying to make the game feel "fresh" and "fun" after a lot of us have enjoyed it for the past year or more, you are going in the wrong direction. Please don't try to kid us and say that "well, this is really what we wanted when the game was released", because that was well over a year ago. You've had ample time to balance-test Burn since April 2004.

Pro Wrestler. Who wouldn't want to Power-Bomb some heroes off the top rope, er, stair rail?

*giggles madly and passes out on the floor from sheer happiness*

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It was only our third event (if memory serves)...so we're still learning.

Rikti invasion was nice...Halloween worked well...and the Winter Lords had some good stuff.

We noted our errors and will rectify them next time.

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PLEASE oh PLEASE, Statesman, please tell us that giant Bunniculas will roam the zones for Easter!

((I've said it once, I'll say it again: Burnsie rocks. ))

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5. The massive AOE Alpha Strikes will be addressed shortly after Tankers get their due.

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I'd really read through all 20+ pages, but there's a little too much griping on some of them, so I'll just ask my question.

States, to probably repeat other's questions, are we talking strictly Blaster AoE's as being "massive Aplha Strikes"? As an FYI, as a SL 27 fire/fire, if I use Aim+Buildup+Fire Ball+Fire Breath, I usually can take down about 4 to 5 yellow-con minions. However, I end up sacrificing about 30% of endurance and 25% of health, because those minions still hit. So, if that is a "massive Alpha Strike", I'm shocked. If I go against more than 3 orange minions, chances are I miss one and end up in melee with the last one, burning inspirations to stay alive.

Now, I guess with the final Primary power and also adding Hasten to my build, that might change. I'd think that at least could take on 5 even con, 2x -1, and 3x -2 minions with that combo.

It AoE's are going to get looked at, then ALL AoE's need to be given attention, not just one AT's.

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Yep - we've been going back and customizing a bunch of early level stuff. One of the big assets to City of Heroes is that players LOVE to roll up and play tons of characters. As a result, I want to make sure that the old content gets freshened up.

To sum up: on every expansion, we'll be customizing art & software for many pre-existing missions. So sometimes, you'll see something new in something you've done before.

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Another shout out to the devs, you guys rock consistently. Name me another MMORPG that has almost doubled it's content in such a short time? That garage mission was a shock....in a great way!

All I can ask is have more of the missions have that 'lived in' feel. When I enter a 'Freakshow'ed mission, it's great! When thje next warehouse looks plain, it stinks!!!

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Couple things I like:

. The new Freakshow mission tiles - brilliant! All sorts of scavenged goods...
. The Hellions and 5th Column missions for the lower levels - great tilesets, sound and it really feels like a base in a warehouse or burnt-out building. I like the pentagrams and all the other goodies in the Hellions missions...
. On the Bastion taskforce, we went to the same "cave" for 2 missions... it was funny to walk in and get the message "The smell of fresh paint is overpowering." Not sure if that meant how the base was new, or how quickly they cleaned it up for us to come in and wreck it again

- A snapping of the fingers in the air, as if to summon your minion to your side to do your bidding.

- Putting clenched hands together sideways, thumbs touching, and making a "breaking motion" (like a twig, or neck, or...)

- Pointing, and then drawing the hand closer to the body and clenching a fist.

- Pointing at a target, then at the ground... "You're going down!"

- A dismissive gesture with a wave of the back of the hand.

- Maybe a bit graphic, but running the index finger from left to right across the throat.

1. Something akin to a "Foiled!" or "Curses!" emote... that exasperated villain look when the meddling kids stop him/her yet again.

2. A "brooding" stance. Basically kneeling down while on the balls of the feet (a certain Dark Knight comes to mind for this stance.)

3. "Shush"... placing an index finger to the lips as if to quiet a "victim"

4. The arching of an eyebrow sinisterly.

((Oh my, this is excellent. Jimmy Knuckles thanks you, as he's right on track with this guide at SL 6 and loving ever minute of it... except those minutes spent in the Hollows.))

The post-SL 20 game is still a bit tough without grouping... however:

Made a new character last night, an AR/Energy Blaster. I have not had so much fun in such a long time! By Level 4, I was using Burst, Slug, Power Thrust and Build Up. Yellow and Orange cons drain me a bit, but no deaths. It was quite a challenge to take out a +1 orange LT and 3 of his +1 yellow minions. But doable. I suspect even a fire/fire blaster, like my SL 21, would be able to handle a lot of the low-end game.

I still think a difficulty slider or choices, or reverting back to +0 mobs would be good based on either AT or SL, especially for the AT's that are known to have difficulty pulling a group apart at low level. (And I can bide my time until this is done, ,no need for them to rush out a fix that is borked.) I don't want my fun to come at the expense of my friend's, and vice versa.