JKPhage

Check the test server forum for another, more up to date discussion. Non-testers have been locked out and Castle confirmed this, then went on to say "Let me explain why" and didn't. He did mention that they're also testing a server queue feature for future implementation on heavy server-load times, but also pointed out specifically that if you're not invited to beta, you can't even log in to character creator.

Bad move devs. BAD move.

Well thanks for clarifying Castle, but that didn't "explain" anything. All you said was that you'd be instituting a server queue for when servers are full. That doesn't tell us why you chose to lock us out of character creation if we're not in beta. An actual explanation would be greatly appreciated, as like I said before, anyone at comic-con, COX player or no, could just waltz up to your booth and try it out. Everyone who's been around the forums has seen the videos of the color customization and alternate animations so it's not like you're hiding anything from us and frankly it's unfair. I want to see what a particular power would look like when colored to match my character, and see what sort of options we'll have available, but because I couldn't drop everything and fly out to San Diego for comic-con I'm apparently not special enough?

I'll say again, poor play, and on top of that no explanation.

I'm not sad, I'm pissed off.

Any random schmuck putzing around at Comic-con could waltz up and test out power customization but those of us who were unable to go yet have been loyal players aren't allowed to even check out the character creator? That's just poor play right there.

This is the first time I've been genuinely disappointed in the dev team. What would it hurt to let us just look at the custom colored powers if we don't get into the game? Hell if anything it would probably help speed the process along since the character creator is the big overhaul this time around. More testers would get things found faster, plus only the closed testers would be able to see them in practice and test the in-game performance.

Not cool team, not cool at all.

EDIT - After seeing the other reply and opinions that said tweet could just be a poorly phrased way of saying "People are locked out of character creator and we're tryign to fix it" I'd like to say that if that's the case then I retract my former statement and commend the team for being so VERY giving to us. If not you suck. >:|

Mmm, I read over this a couple nights ago but didn't have a chance to post and now that I've gotten back round to it unfortunately the MM spot is filled. I had an idea of a young mutant (Man or Woman is fine by me, whichever needed a spot filled) who was very snake-like in nature and horribly disfigured (Snake-like face, scales, pales skin) and used their inherant abilities (Poison in this case, plus just a nasty glare to put the fear in people) to gain alot of street cred and build a gang of thugs around themselves, but recently has discovered that they've contracted some strange disease that is preying on the unique mutations of their DNA and is incurable by modern science. Then Mister would pop up offering not only a cure but a possible way to be rid of all mutation entirely. They'd have a good back-story and motivation, plus poison is a really good buff/debuff. If you think you'd be willing to take on another MM then I'd be all over it. Or if you'd prefer less pets then I could go Thugs/Poison with the no-pets route so they'd be a bit of a squishy DP/Poison. Up to ya'll really.

I don't have any specific items in mind, but one can pretty much infer what sort of items would be wanted from my request. I'm not wanting items perse but rather some new themes/templates for the bases. Yeah, the ones we have look super and I still wish that I could find an SG/VG who properly made themselves a sewer base, I think it'd be awesome, but I want something a bit different. I want to be able to make stuff that looks at least vaguely similar to some of the maps we see in game. We're told that one of the maps in Faultline is an abandoned SG base, but I've never seen anything in base builder that would look as epic as that did. Same with Longbow/Arachnos bases (Maybe veteran unlockable themes?), but also down to stuff like the office buildings.

Example: I have an SG right now on one of my toons that is centered around the idea that all the members would be refugees from other worlds/realities/planets that wound up in Paragon through exploration/exile/fleeing desctruction of a homeworld or even simply by accident and ended up making the city their home, and I wanted to make the base something a bit more cozy and kind of a "second home" feel to it so that the members could at least have a friendly place to stay in a strange world. The red/blue carpets from the office theme would be a welcome addition to this (maybe a few more colors too?) as well as the wall type. I don't want my walls to be stupidly detailed. Something simply like the wallpaper/stucco/painted walls from offices would be ideal for this, or even some hardwood flooring and wall panels in a few different shades. Definitely couldn't hurt to give us a bit more "cozy" feeling options as opposed to the mostly metal or stone options we currently have. The asian flavored themes are the closest we have to "homey" at the moment and those only really work if you're going for a dojo or an eastern feel SG.

Just keep us in mind when the new base love comes down the line Sunstorm. We need some awesome big base stuff, but some of us also want the cozy feel of a home.

Yeah, I avoided the i15 clopen beta because I wanted to enjoy the TF when it went live and there wasn't really anything else to test aside from the two costumes. I did make an attempt to help test the Science Pack when I heard it was on test, but by the time I got home and logged in it was gone.

I myself would REALLY love to get in on the beta for i16 though since power customization is one of the few things that I've been wanting for YEARS, along with a TA/Arch corruptor and Rad blaster. I'd have plenty of desire to test those particular builds as well as give an elec armor scrapper a test-drive, and with power customization on two out of three of those combos I'd be sitting pretty.

Not to mention I'm so stoked for this I'd be combing every inch of the game I could get to to dig up bugs and problems so we can get this on live as soon as possible. XD Here's hopin'.

I've had similar issues in the past. Either I had to be out of town, I had company visiting, or I absolutely HAD to work because I was not aware of it early enough to request the time off. This time, as soon as I knew the date, I requested off. This will be my first double xp weekend that I get to participate in and I'm stoked.

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We want ice to look like 'ice' and because of how the FX were created when you apply a very saturated, non-cool hue to them they no longer look like ice and instead look like a cartoonish jewel.

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That's precisely what I was wanting to be honest, and probably the only way I could really bring myself to play an Ice/blaster. I'd love to have a character who has power over minerals like an earth tanker but rather lets it take the form of crystal. Ruby gem shield + Ruby encrusted fists = Good theme. As is... the gem shield is pretty poorly mis-matched with whatever you pair it with. It just doesn't have a good thematic pair.

I for one am simply intrigued that there are going to be Praetorian versions of characters with the same alignment. And you know what the devs are going to do just to make the majority of the player base scream? Praetorian Fusionette is TOTALLY going to be a hero too. THERE WILL BE TWO OF THEM. And I completely love the idea. *One of the only Fusionette fans*

In all seriousness though, I do look forward to finding out who these "inherently good" and "inherently bad" people are. We already know that Chimera is a villain, but is he as close to being as hero as our Manticore is to being a villain? Also, we know that Stefan Richter is supposed to be dead in Praetoria, but Arachnos was around before him, meaning there could very well be a Ghost Widow equivalent, dead or alive, and if she's as fiercly loyal to Arachnos as our version is then that could lead to some interesting developments whichever way it goes.

I'm going to be intrigued to see if we come across a Praetorian version of Malestrom and Desdemona since they both originated on Primal Earth. That could make for a fun story arc with Desdemona as a contact trying to stop her Praetorian version from carrying out some nefarious scheme.

And final note: I'm very excited at the prospect of a praetorian version our ourselves. The letters in Ouroboros arcs and the ITF hint at Praetorian Requiem so I'm sure we'll see something big involving him, as well as mentioning the Praetorian version of yourself, meaning we could possibly have a dynamically generated AV based on the mission holder? For example: I'm holding a mission on my energy/energy blaster to take out an operation headed up by one of Tyrant's enforcers. When my team runs that mission, the AV will be the same powerset (appearance and name I'm not sure how they'd handle) and be portrayed as a Praetorian version of yourself. That would be pretty sweet. Could even set it up as something akin to that nemesis system in that other game that's nowhere near as good. Just a note of interest.

I'm game, though I don't know how helpful I'm gonna be after I missed Sunday again due to stupid work scheduling. @_@ I keep trying, I swear. lol. Lady's nice to have around just for the eyecandy though. *Wink wink*

I'd also like to put in a vote for doing some of the Ouro content at some point. I've never run ANY of the Ouro TF's other than Lazarus with the 5th column stuff. Running Tesseract could be a hoot, especially to see these infamous civilians.

QR

Just seeing everyone pointing out the fact that certain rewards will always be out of reach, a thought occured to me that could benefit all of us game loyalists who couldn't have a five year account.

I for example was but a wee teenager of 17 when the game came out and my mother refused to let me have a job while I was in high school as it would "distract me from my studies" so I had no disposable income of my own to speak of aside from what I horded in left-over lunch money. I scrounged to buy the game after I had bothered my mother enough to allow me to open a bank account to put some left over christmas money into so I'd have a debit card and I subscribed a short couple of months (two I believe) after the game came out, bought the DVD edition and everything. I subscribed for a good 9 months before my funds were depleted and I had no means to replinish them well enough to not overdraft my account, so I was forced to cancel and wasn't able to return until a few months after CoV came out (bought while the special edition was still on shelves). That's a good chunk of time missing there, and I ran into similar problems shortly after and had to cancel again until recently, right around a year and a half ago. As stands I'm 3 years behind on vet rewards but I've been a loyal follower, kept up with game news, and to this day CoX is my MMO of choice, can't even get started in others because I've come to love the feel of it so much nothing else "feels" right. So basically I'm a loyal fan who's been around for 5 years but due to lack of funding I'm missing out on 3 years of vet stuff.

Now schpiel over, here's the meat:

What if there were a system implemented for say... half-years that basically gave you a Reward Pool to choose from. You get your 3 month vet badge, you can now choose from the first 4 vet rewards from the first half of that year. You'd eventually have to take them all, but you could get the one you were most interested in sooner, and it'd keep new players interested in Vet rewards more. Specifically I'd love this as my next coming-up reward is in-game faction emblems. Meh. I'll use them, make no mistake. I've already got an idea for a PPD toon, but it's not high-up on my list. HOWEVER, the boxing set IS. I WANT THOSE BOOTS. I mean, you wouldn't BELIEVE how badly I want those boots. The shorts aren't bad either for swimsuit costumes, but THE BOOTS. Made my point? If I was given a pool of four to choose from I'd gladly snap up the boxing set and leave the emblems for a later date. Done properly this could also help clear up the veteran badge tab as that's a nightmare at the moment to me. I never take the prestige sprints unless I need them for a character concept and accidentally clicking on the redeem button is grounds for re-rolling the new toon right then and there so I don't have four extra powers that I'll never use clogging up my inherent power list (Perhaps an option to only take what you want from the list?). I also have to be careful not to accidentally redeem my respecs before I intend to use them so they aren't wasted. If we had a single button to click on that said "Veteran Rewards Set 1 Redeem" and when clicked on offered you a list of possible rewards to pick, I'd be thrilled.

Anyway, I'm done rambling. Just wanted to put in my two cents worth to possibly open up Vet Rewards a bit more to the less-fortunate players who couldn't afford/weren't able to have a full-time subscription without making it unfair to the players who have.

EDIT - Just read the start of Stever's post about "cherry-picking" powers out of order. That's why I suggested they be available in half-year blocks. You'd be allowed a tiny bit of choice, but you'd still be limited to four reward blocks that you couldn't go past until you'd earned the next block of time. Perhaps the year-mark rewards wouldn't be included in the blocks and would be locked to those specific badges as they're big milestones, but a block of four to pick from, a block of three, your year reward, then another block of four and so forth doesn't sound like an atrocious idea to me. Just gives players a little more incentive knowing that they can get that reward they REALLY want a little sooner and the one they want not so much later on down the line while still keeping it fair to those who have such long-standing accounts.

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It seems to me that Going Rogue would be the perfect chance to introduce a new Epic Archetype. What it will be is anyone's guess, but that neutral mercenary idea sounds pretty good.



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I was actually discussing this with a group I'm running with just last night. I proposed the idea that perhaps if someone got both a HEAT and a VEAT to level 50 (Or something else of equal import/difficulty) they could unlock an Incarnate archetype. I also went so far as to pose that Recluse supposedly kept tainted samples from the Well of the Furies and Incarnates could potentially get their power from these be it granted by Recluse, stolen from him, or somehow replicated from a stolen sample by Paragon's scientists. Either way, the fact that they were tainted would also serve to keep the player version in check and not as ridiculously powerful as States or Recluse, though still giving them access to powers/abilities that were previously outside player access and hopefully at least a wee bit stronger than the average player.

You could even propose potential powersets to choose from based on minor deities (minor again because of the taint and to keep things relatively sane) such as Power of Hermes (i.e. superspeed-ish stuff and travel powers), Power of Demeter (i.e. buffs/heals and possible fire powers), Power of Persephone (i.e. Dark based powers alot of debuff and life/power-drain attacks) and when a primary is chosen it locks the corresponding secondary to keep players from having powers from two gods which would be ridiculous lore-wise as well as gameplay-wise. Sounds like a solid-ish idea in my head and I'd love to see something like it implemented. Am I just crazy here?

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While I won't comment on the mechanics, I assure you that existing characters will be able to "Go Rogue". I fully plan on running opposite faction content on my existing characters.

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Thank you, thank you, thank you, a million times, THANK YOU. Now I will simply be linking to this post and following with "Shut up please." whenever someone starts spouting that nonsense.

Also, dunno if it's just the fact that I'm tired but the phrase "Tatts on her clavicle" just sounded REALLY dirty to me. XD My brain is a scary place to live.

Just going to note here as a "glass half full" guy to try and lift your spirits:

Dear Castle didn't shoot down any ideas, which I've seen him do out and about when things like Ice Brutes come up, meaning all those sets are potentials or even sitting on the table to be trimmed and manicured a bit to fit into the archetypes suggested, meaning poison corrs and kin mms are indeed doable and wanted by the devs, they just didn't quite make this cut, and that's understandable.

Also keep in mind, two sets does not a benchmark make. Yeah there's roughly a year between the first proliferation and this, but that doesn't mean that the next batch is that far out. For all we know i17 could have some proliferation, or even Going Rogue. Just keep your chin up, we got some sweet new power access for every archetype and I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. Just enjoy what we've got for now and by the time you start pining for more I get the feeling it'll be almost ready for release.

I'm just a smidge from 25 so hopefully that hour before the SF starts I can squeeze in the last few bars I need. I don't belive I've missed any mayhem mishes have I?

I've missed two nights so I don't wanna fall behind, but if I get in on the SF tonight then I'll be good to go, that'll take me close to 27-28 if all goes well and since it's capped at 30 then there won't be any outlevelling just yet and I'll be able to catch up easier.

Still need to get Lady on a Silver Mantis SF at some point on one of the off nights or something, so if anyone has alts that they're planning on running it with please let me know what night and when so I can try and join up. Otherwise I think I'm fairly well up to date in terms of staying even with the rest of the team so I'm not a drag.

Dunno if Reg ever got around to rolling his Ice/Dark corr that he was planning on running alongside my Dark/Cold corr as a bit of padding for the group on offnights/when the team needs a bit more damage as I never heard from him after we logged to roll them but I have Winter re-rolled and ready to PWN if he just had someone to roll with.

Irrelevant. There was never an official press release saying "Hey ya'll! We're doing bases!" If they had then they'd have been proper screwed had they not done it.

In this case, Going Rogue was announced with this as the primary feature and entire focus of the expansion. What you're suggesting is simply nonsensical. It doesn't make sense story-wise, it doesn't make sense from a gameplay standpoint, and it doesn't make sense from a marketing standpoint either to advertise a game with faction switching and then only allow it in one zone.

Also, as I said, and as Sadako was so kind to quote and point out, there is a direct statement of fact that you will not be limited to Praetoria. There has never been any doubt that you can switch sides and gain access to Paragon and the Rogue Isles unless you simply lack reading comprehension on a basic level. From the moment we knew about Going Rogue we knew this. I'm just fed up and irritated listening to people whine that they think it's going to be limited to Praetoria because as far as I'm concerned they're just whining to hear themselves whine.

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Not to rain on anyone's parade but if I end up paying $39.99 for two new power sets that I don't find interesting, I will be one angry gamer...those demons better be Completely new and awesome looking....if I get to control Nerva Demons, Behemoths and other in game demons...I'll be angry

--Demon Summoning/Darkness*

What does Darkness mean? Can it mean Dark Pact? Dark Miasma?

--Dual Pistols/Energy*

Is this Energy Melee from the current set?


A giant part of me already speculates that GR's will be power set specific Already existing Players will be able to go only to Praetoria...I feel like Praetoria will be the only mixing zone for existing toons.

Here is my speculation:

If you make a toon from the Going Rogue power sets, you will be allowed to walk between the RI, PC and Praetoria. If you have a pre-Going Rogue hero/villain you will be allowed to switch sides by going to Praetoria and doing opposing faction missions...that is if you are a hero you can go to Praetoria and help Tyrant. and if you are a villain you can go and...do whatever it is that villains do in Praetoria. you will not be allowed into PC tho, I feel that GR will have that limit, you can switch sides in Praetoria and Pretoria only if you made a toon prior to GR.


See there's another hole in GR...What is the faction in Praetoria that fights Tyrant?


I do like the expansion, I just don't see GR coming out this year...I see it as a 2nd quarter release for next year. Is anyone able to remember when CoV was mentioned compared to its launch?

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You. Are. Wrong. So is everyone who think that side-switching only applies while in Praetoria. The FIRST press release we ever recieved on Going Rogue states SPECIFICALLY that villains can go to Paragon City and heroes can go to the Rogue Isles. If they meant only the Praetorian versions of these then they would say so. Can we PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get a dev to clarify this for all the people that just refuse to listen to reason? It's about to drive me mad.

Also, just in case we don't get dev input on this, consider for a moment these points:

Why would one be allowed to work for Tyrant in Praetoria and then return to Primal Earth and resume work as a hero unquestioned? Why would they call you a Fallen Hero or Redeemed Villain if you were merely acting on the same impulses in a different world? Why would they release an entire expansion that is based around faction switching if you can only "change sides" in one area?

Use some common sense people, PLEASE. Sometimes people on this forum act like they don't have the sense god gave a ducks rear end.

I'm just glad that all the naysayers can now shut up about demon summoning and dual pistols not being player sets. It's been obvious since the anniversary interview but people just don't seem to listen to reason anymore. Thanks for that Posi.

Also - Digging the new artwork for Des and Maelstrom, particularly Malestrom. He looks so far beyond awesome it's ridiculous. I just hope we have access to some cool costume options like that. If i16 is the upgraded character creator like I've been theorizing then hopefully we'll be getting some glowy costume pieces/patterns like his chest piece. <3 Love us please?

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i15: You got the touch!

i16: You got the power!

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After all is said and done
You've never walked, you've never run,
You're a winner...

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*Supresses urge to destroy* That song... @_@ *HATRED*

Actually, to be totally fair I did ask this question in the Going Rogue discussion, got a good page or two of discussing if I remember right but for lack of info the topic drifted.

I'm of the mind that it will depend what side you're on when you're coming up to that level. i.e. You're a villain who just dinged 40, ran your patron arc and took your first power. Now you switch sides and you're locked into that patron pool as you've already done what's necessary to unlock that power within yourself, so you can continue picking from that pool. HOWEVER: You decide to respec and when you get to level 40 you no longer have access to it, but rather a correspondant set of epics. This could play story-wise as you digging deep into yourself and distancing yourself from "dark" powers that you came by in a less than noble way. Could work the same way for fallen heroes. You can keep your epics but if you re-invent yourself you can show your devotion to your new cause/patron to earn more power from them.

This could also provide a fun little ditty with dual builds of having one build with a patron pool and one with an epic so you'd have ALOT of variety in your two builds, but that's another story all together.

I for one am hoping that if nothing else, we get a load of new epics. I don't care if they're brand new powers (Though a few wouldn't hurt to give us a bit of variety), I just want to see a corresponding epic for each primary/secondary set in your AT for thematic purposes. I have an energy/energy blaster that I refuse to take an epic on because it just looks stupid to me for him to fire off a slew of energy blasts and then randomly crap out a lightning bolt, or fling a shuriken (He can fire plasma from his fingers, why would he bother?). I want to be able to toggle on an energy aura shield for him, or something else from that set. Same with my Psi blaster. I'd love for her to have something along the lines of mass hypnosis to put a mob to sleep or something else from mind control. Applies to all AT's as well, just give us SOMETHING that can match our main powersets for those of us who have a bit too much logic floating in our heads for our own good. If I get that then I'll deal with however they're doled out in game, just as long as I get them.

Sorry for double posting but I just remembered something.

I probably won't be around tonight due to having a severe case of "I am a Harry Potter fanboy". Symptoms include squeeling at trailers and clawing at the screen screaming "I LOVE YOU BELLATRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIX!!!"

Due to this condition I will be irrevocably indisposed tonight from midnight to 2:30 and plan to arrive two hours early for my treatment session. I may have time to pop in and say hi real quick, maybe run a few missions, but if left untreated I could possibly start foaming at the mouth and go feral, so further interaction cannot be safely guaranteed. Thanks for your understanding.

XD I enjoyed it for what I was around for between all my deaths and having to go AFK for a few, but it was definitely a challenge you don't see often, and I enjoyed it. It was difficult, but not absolutely ridiculous like I've seen. One guy I know made an arc with storm elementals, dark dwarves and flying broadsword/shield tanks at lieutenant levels as the filler enemies of the arc, I never made it past the first mob with a full team, so I DREAD what the bosses would have been like. You managed to build a good arc with a good challenge level without overkilling. I tip my hat to you.

Mmm, sadly our electricity was cut off while I was out getting food, rather tacky of our power company, so I was without any power whatsoever. Meaning I missed out on the SF and whatever else was done. Just got it back on last night so I haven't even had a chance to catch Lady up.

I suppose I could side-kick if you guys got way ahead, just so I can catch up, but if not then that works okay for me. I can always get together a Silver Mantis TF later on sometime, and the badge mishes I might have missed are available in Ouro, so I won't stress over it. Hopefully Sunday should run easier for me.