Grouchybeast

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  1. No, there doesn't seem to be.

    After months of no news, I finally abandoned all hope of a real fix, bit the bullet and opened my arc to try to find the errors. I expected a ton of them because there's a lot of text.

    Turned out that the only reason my arc has been unplayable for months is that I used the word Freakshow in the name of an ambush group. A name that is only visible to me. All the rest of the arc was apparently fine and threw up no errors at all, including where Freakshow appeared in the text the player could read.

    I could've stocked an IHOP franchise with the amount of PANCAKING that resulted.

    (And of course, my arc is now 4-starred because it was broken for months, so even now it's fixed no one will find it anyway.)
  2. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ironblade View Post
    You might want to check out the Union server since their peak times are about 5 hours ahead of ours.
    Or Defiant, which is like Union only much more awesome. :-)
  3. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Zarovich1980 View Post
    How can I tell if I will be blocked as i'm not a premium or VIP?
    Because it's an old paid account, it will automatically become a Premium account. A Premium account is one on which the player has *ever* spent money, whether that's from a pre-Freedom subscription, or by spending Paragon Points post-Freedom.

    So that account will become a Premium account, with access to certain features depending on how long it was previous subscribed -- basically, the more veteran badges that account has, the more access it will have with Freedom. However, as people have said, at the very least you'll have access to at least two character slots, which you'll be able to assign to whatever characters you choose. Your other characters won't be deleted, they'll just become inccessible.
  4. Grouchybeast

    Summer Event?

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AzureSkyCiel View Post
    - NO SNAPTOOTH
    Not even Snaptooth in Speedos?
  5. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Santorican View Post
    I'd like the developers to reconsider allowing players to change their arch type.
    If you do that, the buildings will fall down.
  6. And speaking of places where BABs is apparently included in the Freedom Phalanx in NPC dialogue, Commander Murat in the RV Hero base says:

    "You are not alone in this fight, hero. The Freedom Phalanx and even Statesman himself is here for support when needed. "
  7. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Grae Knight View Post
    I like it. Now I wonder if there will be a story arc or something to give us a reason for the change.
    Perhaps a story involving time travel back to the beginning of the game...


    "Those are Circle of Thorns?"

    "They are Circle of Thorns, and it is a long story."

    "What happened? Some kind genetic engineering? A viral mutation?"

    "We do not discuss it with outsiders."
  8. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Amerikatt View Post
    Since I "obviously" do *not* "understand" why people consider my suggestion to be "game-breaking" and you are deriding me because I am asking for an explanation, perhaps *you* would be kind enough to explain it to me (rather than being dismissive
    First, a question: Would it make the game boring for you if you could walk up to every spawn, click a single button, and have the whole spawn instantly defeated and get all the rewards for it?

    If your answer is no, then you need to accept that there are a lot of people who don't want an 'I Win' button, and for whom being able to defeat enemies without any challenge is boring and unfun. You might not understand their pov, but you need to accept that they exist.

    If your answer is yes, then with an I Win button you're looking at one extreme of the idea of 'game balance'. This exists just as much in PVE as PVP. When the devs create a new type of opponent, they have to balance its attacks and defenses so that it can pose an appropriate threat, and require an appropriate level of power to defeat. What they are balanced against is the combat power available to the players -- currently, a character of the appropriate level, with up to 96 slots and SOs.

    (To see unbalanced mobs, you only have to go to AE. A lot of people load their new mob types with powers, because they sounds like cool abilities, and they end up hugely overpowered and not fun to fight.)

    Now, what's appropriate?

    For everyone out there playing the game, the optimal level of fun lies somewhere on a line between 'Everything I meet in the game can defeat me easily' and 'I can defeat everything I meet in the game easily'. Some people like the game play to be more challenging, some people like it to be less challenging. Some people love to be able to smash through +4x8 mobs, some people are happy to be risking defeat taking on +0x1.

    I don't know if you're a big min-max player, but unlimited slots would very significantly increase the power of PCs. For a lot of people, the change you're proposing would make the game so much easier to play that it would be unfun. For some people, it would also diminish the fun of creating their builds in the first place, because they wouldn't have to try to get the maximum benefit out of the slots they have -- they could just buy more.

    You might argue that it doesn't matter, because no one is being *forced* to buy the extra slots. However, they would be forced to play in an environment where other people could buy them and many probably would. The devs would likely have to increase the difficulty of the whole game, to match the new levels of power that players could reach. The people who aren't willing or able to spend the money would be left behind.

    Does that help you see why balance is important in PVE, and why people think your idea is heavily damaging to game balance?
  9. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ironik View Post
    Any amount of money? I thought there was higher limit than $10.
    According to the info released about the different tiers: New free players can become Premium Players by buying any amount of Paragon Points. I think the minimum PP purchase is supposed to be $5?
  10. Grouchybeast

    NCSoft Store

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by The-Wizard-of-Odd View Post
    I've never understood credit card fraud being a problem with digital purchases though. So what, a bank calls up the NCSoft store and says the card used to purchase X product was stolen. If the product was a physical item then yes, NCSoft would have an issue. However all I'm purchasing is a digital unlock for my account. In the event the bank does say it is a stolen credit card then they just lock the account and NCSoft has lost no money.
    Actually, merchants who end up with too many chargebacks as a result of processing fraudulent transactions can be hit with steep penalties from their banks. It's very much in NCSoft's interests to do everything they can to keep fraud to a minimum.
  11. The first mod edit was just confusing. Now it reminds me of my favourite album review ever: Pancakes! Pancakes!
  12. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Snow Globe View Post
    How? You do not have access to any of the Incarnate System as a premium player, including the Alpha Slot. That means you fail to meet the minimum requirements for both Apex and Tin Mage (Alpha Slot unlocked).
    Although I could also see the devs deciding to give access to the Alpha slot as a taster to encourage people to pony up for a sub.

    In fact, that would actually be a good reason for the shards/threads split between the Alpha and the other incarnate slots.
  13. Quote:
    Originally Posted by je_saist View Post
    Implementing Power set respecs, even as a Purchase option, would immediately, and irrevocably, remove one of the MAJOR INCENTIVES of a subscribers account over a F2P account.
    Ah! So what you're saying is that you'd expect power set respec purchases to be available to VIP accounts only?
  14. Grouchybeast

    Hami

    I would love to join a Hami raid, but my playing time is rather limited and unpredcitable at the moment, and I can't guarantee when I'll be on. If I can, though, I'll be there!
  15. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Postagulous View Post
    Are you sure Purple bonuses work at level 1?
    Purple bonuses work at every level, even if the power they're slotted in is unavailable. They give very useful extra Accuracy and Recharge when exemping (maximum of 75% and 50% respectively), and some nice little boosts from the other bonuses. PVP IOs work the same way.
  16. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Amy_Amp View Post
    You are comparing an apple to a meal. The cost of the sets that we "paid" for is in no way reflect on the sets we are getting now.
    That's my feeling, too. Only I don't think it's an apple to a meal, it's more like a mango to a marsupial.

    The entire system of how CoX will be delivered to players is changing. Trying to pick apart two powersets from the old systems' only ever expansion pack, and then make a meaningful comparison to a purchase of a single powerset under the new system strikes me as utterly uninformative and useless.
  17. Quote:
    Originally Posted by EarthWyrm View Post
    If you want to see the market go terribly, horribly, awfully wrong, then by all means allow people to make unlimited numbers of free accounts and give them full access to it. It would be a griefer's paradise. Sure, it'd cost inf to create artificial shortages, but inf is easy to come by and unlimited market slots are unlimited.
    I don't think I would worry too much about that. Free accounts only get two characters. You'd need to make 96 free accounts in order to equal the number of free character slots that a single subscribing account gets, not counting vet awards etc.

    I think anyone who cares so much about griefing the CoX market that they'd keep track of dozens of different accounts probably cares enough to sub to do it.
  18. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Morgan Reed View Post
    Let me re-word that in case it isn't clear. In what other, everyday consumer transaction, does purchase not imply ownership?
    When I bought my mobile phone, I understood that I did not have the right to use that phone to make free calls forever. I need to pay a monthly fee, or pay for each call I made.

    When I got my router from my ISP, I understood that while I owned the router, in order to get my broadband I would need to pay a fee, and if I stopped paying then the router would be useless to me.

    When I bought my Sky satellite TV box, I understood that I did not have the right to watch Sky TV channels forever, unless I paid them a monthly fee. Also, Sky could remove channels from my basic package at any time and put them into one of their premium packages, which would cost me extra. If I stopped paying, then I would still be able to watch a selection of free channels, but Sky dictated which channels those were.

    Without a continuing payment, my phone and my modem are just pieces of plastic and metal. Without a continuing payment, I get *some* useage from my satellite decoder, but that usage is decided by the satellite provider.

    Purchase item, pay for usage is not that rare a model. That's how I've always seen CoX -- I paid a 'setup fee' when I bought the game, and I pay to be able to keep using the content.
  19. Quote:
    Originally Posted by pearofpance1 View Post
    I'm red side on a server that is kinda.. empty alot of the time... so i'm not certain what exactly is the best path to keep building on my character.
    Redside does give you access to the ITF and LGTF, both of which are excellent for acquiring shards, and will give you one of the components for crafting Alpha enhancements.

    This week, the ITF is also the Weekly Task Force TF, and that will give you a Notice of the Well, which you need for crafting higher level Alpha components.
  20. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bloodwynd View Post
    However, the point that I will contend to is that the Controller and Mastermind were part of boxed sets and part of those boxed sets included features in and of which that were already paid for by purchasing said box sets.
    You know what it says on my box set?

    "NCSoft charges a monthly subscription fee for this product."

    "Game Experience May Change During Online Play."

    Everyone who drops from a subscription to a premium account is going to miss some things more than others. You think it's unfair that people lose access to ATs. People who play mostly to socialise with friends will think it's awfully unfair that they can't use the global chat system. The altoholics will be sad that they lose some characters slots. People who love trading will be torqued that their consignment house access is limited. Min/maxers won't like losing access to some inventions. Forum junkies will complain that forum access is a fundamental part of their game. People who love writing AE arcs don't get to write them? Outrageous! (I mean, they're holding a box that says Architect Edition, so they should get to keep that, right?)

    ATs are not a special case. Losing access to some features is what differentiates premium from sub. If everyone got to keep the one feature they think is the most important part of the game that everyone should have, then premium and sub accounts would be identical, Paragon would go broke, and we'd have no game.
  21. I'm not sure that the Tema-up Teleporter is even working ATM. I've been on leagues where the 5-min open league countdown was running, and people tried to get into the league by joining the LFG queue, but never got in. Along with the random kicks and team resorts, the whole thing seems quite badly borked ATM.
  22. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jagged View Post
    Incidentally I did the Weekly Strike Target Terra Volta Trial yesterday and in between the very slow waves of Rikti a discussion arose as to why people were doing the trial. No one suggested it was "fun". I was there for the badge. What's wrong with this picture?
    The people?
  23. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Grey Pilgrim View Post
    So... the main character in my story arc, Bladed Justice... is somehow profane because of the word "bladed." How is that even a word on a list somewhere?
    My guess would be that it's tripping up over the 'Blade' part of the word. Yes, the filter is that useless.
  24. Grouchybeast

    Shard queries

    Inf costs were reduced in I20.5 -- they're still quite steep in absolute terms, but I think the VR conversion is now 100 million.
  25. I always enjoy playing through the Faultline series of arcs. It has some of my favourite NPCs in the game (yes, including Fusionette), and it's got a great scaling feel to it, from helping Jim Temblor find out about his father up to saving the world from an Evil Doom Machine. Plus, I love meeting up with Faultline and Fusionette again in the RWZ, because it makes me feel like I took part in the events of the world, not just a story set in the world.

    I've been creating more redside ATs recently, and it makes me a little sad that when I can switch sides or my Praetorian characters can get to Primal Earth, they've outlevelled the start of the Faultline arc. Roll on I21!

    I also always have fun with 'To Save a Soul'. The briefing dialogue with Madelaine Casey makes me laugh every time -- "So the Carnival is supping on souls, eh? Sweet, delicious souls." -- and I like sneaking around behind my contact's back, trying to save her. I run this arc on flashback every now and then, and I'd run if more often if someone would cut out the ridiculous street hunts.