Kalkin

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Castle's in the Defender forums! *throws a net over him*

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Quick! Shoot Oil Slick Arrows everywhere, that power drives him crazy!

Me too. Lots of people playing Squish The Bot. Still was fun.

I always kind of thought of my tanks as people who give an entire group of mobs wedgies and noogies and then dare the baddies to do something about it. In the meantime the rest of the team takes them out while the mobs are busy trying to get even/fix their pants/rub their noggins.

Of course, if the tank doesn't have any other damage along you *CAN* Atomic Wedgie the poor mobs to death, it just might take a while.

Happy Birthday!

<Shoots Sparkly Exploding Birthday Arrow in the air>

I will have to make a prettier version with graphics or something someday.

The Cube Door

Zoomed In (with a copy of Positron's post underneath so I Don't Have To Explain Over And Over)

Thanks to Positron for the door decor idea and my new Job Title Of The Month Or So.

I will update the job title posted on the door of my cube at work tomorrow to reflect this. "Type R Server Guy" has a nice ring to it...although my wife thinks the "R" should be backwards.

Yes, we have doors on our 7 foot tall cubes. No, I don't know why. They even have locks. <baffled>

That depends on the "correction tool" you are considering.

I know, I know, it doesn't take Damage Resist enhancers since no one has invented them yet. I meant recharge. Really. Sigh.

There, how's that? I blame lack of caffeine.

Mike's got the right idea - go read Lumi's exhaustive guide he linked to above.

My take (based on personal experience where my "main" is a 50 TA/A and my main villain is a 50 Bots/TA MM):

1. Do get attacks up to Blazing/Fistfull and then decide if you really want to stuff Stunning and/or Explosive in the build (I skipped them on ArcherBot but took them on my 38 blaster). But don't skip Rain of Arrows, its too useful/fun.
2. ArcherBot is mostly a debuffer and after that he's a wimpy blaster. I didn't skip any TA powers. After playing my /TA MM I regret the fact that I skipped Entangling Arrow until almost the end on the Defender, its turned out a lot more useful at low levels than I thought the first time through, and its become mondo important/useful on team AV fights now at the high end of things.
3. You *could* skip Flash at the start and take it later. I personally like it even at the low levels, both for the perception buff and for how it ends up becoming a non-verbal "trigger" for teams to attack.
4. Take Acid as soon as you can get it, and stick an accuracy in it too - great power.
5. Disruption is a "nice to have" but its not worth enhancing beyond 2-3 slots worth of Damage Resist in my opinion. My MM skipped it until the late 30's.
6. EMP *is* worth it but keep a blue or two handy for the end burn afterwards.
7. You could skip Stamina, but I have kept it with the shorter animations because I can burn through a blue bar in a medium length fight without it (thats impressions through 3 respecs speaking, I waffled a lot).

Lumi's guide is the best one anywhere, definitely read it and enjoy it.

My TA/A ArcherBot is still my favorite toon after 3 years.....but I play him like a hyperactive cricketbot (have swift, hurdle, and Combat Jump is running all the time and I bounce around all over shooting). That's just how I like to play him.

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Grats on all these "mundane" milestones Rose, I'm getting to understand the term very well. Also, grats on the new house and very cool cape.
Take care,
SS

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SS,

I missed your post in Rose's thread the other day, sorry. I figured I was better off answering here.

You have it exactly right - sometimes the little things can be miracles too. I check in on this thread from time to time, and I am amazed and gratified by how well Anna herself seems to be doing through all the ups and downs.

I know very well what its like to stand by and let the doctors/nurses/surgeons/techs take care of things that are out of your hands...hoping/praying/wishing that its all going to work. Stay strong for Anna, and don't forget to take care of yourself and the rest of the family too. Just being there with her is a great gift.

I'm going to leave you with a quote from a book by an author named Lois McMaster Bujold (from 'Shards of Honor', one of her first books):
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"...tests are a gift. And great tests are a great gift. To fail the test is a misfortune. But to refuse the test is to refuse the gift, and something worse, more irrevocable, than misfortune."

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That quote really took on a lot more meaning to me as Rose's health started the downward spiral over two years that led to her lung transplant, and she just went on as though it was just a minor obstacle to her life (even when it really wasn't minor anymore). Maybe it will speak to you too.

Give Anna a hug from Rose and I. We are praying and thinking of you and your family.

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I can not believe after reading this thread for a while that My Family and I actually ran into you and became part of the story.

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We each have our own story that we are living through, really ... ours happened to cross-over. Thanks for the fun team!

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By standard crossover comic rules, you should have had to fight each other first (usually due to a misunderstanding) BEFORE teaming up.

Thanks for posting a Journal again PW. I get to live vicariously through your adventures when I don't have time/energy to play. Hopefully when we get the Early American Cardboard Box "decorating" under control Rose and I will have time to play again.....(sigh).

Seriously though, thanks for all the War Journal posts, its always good to see what others think of various play/enhancement strategies (plus its always interesting to see what you are going to write when I *am* actually playing).

Mor Wrr Jurnels Plz!!

Iz Missez Dem!

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Great news, Posi!

Now, the inevitable question: given that TransGaming got its start by forking the WINE code base into WineX for games, which later evolved into the Cedega cross-platform gaming tool, how long until we see a native Linux client for CoX?

Kristy

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Day Job buff icons not visible when Hide Autopowers Selected

Feature Name or Description

Server: N/A
Zone: N/A
Character name: N/A
Time: N/A
Location: N/A
Mission: N/A
Mission Contact: N/A
Bug Description: When Hide Autopowers is selected, the Day Job indicators in the Buff "Tray" notification area are not shown. I usually enable Hide Autopowers on all my characters because otherwise I get a giant display of buffs when teaming, and I usually only want to see the buffs and debuffs that have been added by others. But this makes it difficult to determine if you are in a Day Job logout area without switching in and out of Hide Autopowers mode.
Link to Forum Discussions:

<Teleports in from Liberty>

As the recent recipient of our own Miracle (with a capital M...see links below) this last month, my wife and I can tell you that prayers and thoughts and support from others really do help.

We'll be thinking of and praying for you and Anna and the rest of your family.

Now...how do I teleport back to Liberty..........hope this works!
<ZAP!>

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He's totally crazy

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But I like that about Nemu

All us folks with a questionable grasp of reality have to hang together......

<Shoots Nemu with Duct Tape Grenade Arrow on general principles.....>

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The basic tack we took was "if the power is not being taken by the players, replace it with something that is." So, a number of formerly heroside only powers are now available on villainside, and a number of powers have been replaced by something we feel will be more useful in general.


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Wait.

Are you saying powers are being REMOVED from APPs/PPPs? D:

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I wonder if this will be the end of Power Build Up? I believe Castle has mentioned in the past that he didn't like the way that power impacted balancing a lot of others.

<Shoots PBU with a DOOOM Arrow just in case>

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He converts his bodily waste into energy.

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Nuclear Burritos FTW!

You don't want to ever play "pull my finger" with Positron....

Hey, come on, its a thread about kids! They think that stuff is comedy gold.....just watch Nick or Cartoon Network some time....

My children (girl 8 and boy 12) play CoX both with my wife and I and each other from time to time over the last two years (2 year anniversary was yesterday, W00T! for Base Teleporter!).

They love the costume creator and seem to enjoy having inherited my altitis - they have both used up all 12 slots on at least two servers on both my account and my wife's. Looking at their costume designs is always interesting . None of their toons are much past travel power levels.

The kids are not permitted to team or chat with anyone but each other unless my wife or I give them permission (usually meaning they are also playing with Mom/Dad). I have had to warn Global Friends that if they see "me" or "my wife" on Guardian or some other server and whoever it is won't reply to tells, its just the kids following the rules.

For his 12th birthday, my son recently requested a WoW account (and for Dad to use a trial "come back" account to transfer the 250+ gold left on his old druid ). From time to time he still plays CoX though. So he's not totally lost to the dark side yet.

Things they have learned from multiplayer online games:
-Typing skills...and abbreviations ("ty", "grats", etc.)
-The importance of teaming when you can't handle something
-Reading skills
-Mousing skills and Hand-Eye Coordination (somehow the kids have also inherited their mother's ability to play CoX with a laptop touchpad <shudder>....thats just wrong on SO many levels)
-"Ask your Daddy" skills.... ("Daddy when will you get to level 50 so I can make a Peacebringer??")
-Why Daddy bangs the mouse....
-Wings are cool....so is Hover....and Jet packs are the awesomest except for Peacebringers (definite Flying Monkey Children material here)
-Jumping like a maniac while running in circles is socially acceptable in some places....as long as its not in the house
-The importance/annoyance of long passwords (see Typing Skills above).
-Why "I can do whatever I want without adult supervision" won't fly....

All in all I am a little bit in awe of how fast my children have picked up their various computer skills, many times on their own....neither of them have ever known a home without a computer or two and the Internet is just part of the computer as far as they are concerned. My daughter has always had DVR's on at least one TV in the house, I can still remember her getting mad at my Mom while "visiting Grandma" because she couldn't "Watch Dora Again!" while my Mom tried to figure out how to explain there was no rewind on the TV.

To them, all this technological sophistication is not being a "geek"....its just being a kid.

I can live with that.

Besides, along the way my wife became a "Gamer Girl" at least as far as CoX goes She and my daughter are proud to wear their "I Pwn Boys!" T-Shirts....

Back Alley Bunny Leveling Up

Back Alley Bunny with his idol

Not sure if I will keep him yet, but it was a fun attempt in the costume designer

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Castle won't let me have any ZAPPY ARROWs.

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I dropped the Devastation: Chance for Hold IO into Blazing Arrow so I could sometimes get the Zappy Blazing Arrow Of Goodness Isn't That A Tesla Cage!?....I think I will need to get another of those and drop it into Aimed Shot so I can have more Zappy Goodness.

Alas.....no ducks. If we had ducks, I am sure the AR folks would be trying to shoot them for prizes anyway. As it is I spend way too much time trying to kill other people's pets (Dang it! Why can't I click on.....oh....<sigh&gt.

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Neither will BackAlleyBunny.

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Hmmm.........

<Runs off to the costume designer cackling madly-er>

Thank you for the guide. Definitely covers "everything" whew!

I especially liked the TA/A synergy section. I haven't been able to live with a TA/? controller yet, and even though the "redraw myth" has been technically disproved it still bothers me from a play aspect to keep whipping my nice new compound bow out over and over instead of just leaving it in my hand.

I like some of the IO slotting ideas (hadn't really occurred to me to mix up similar IO's from different sets to spread the boost around, I'm usually all focused on the sets themselves)....will have to look at that on EMP and some others. I also will probably take out my 2 End Mods from EMP and switch to boosting the hold....I like the dropped blue bars but it never really drops it all the way so I just don't feel like its a real Sapper Arrow...and I like the idea of a longer hold now that I have had EMP for a while.

Interesting IO Slotting I have done recently was the Call of the Sandman Chance for Self Heal Proc IO in Poison Gas Arrow. As long as you shoot a large group (which you should be doing anyway, no?) I usually pick up 1-5 mini heals on any given group...not a lot but nice. Haven't decided if I want any of the rest of the set yet though.

Still digesting all the info though....my "newbie" TA/A ArcherBot II will definitely be making use of the info. I'm trying the HurdleBot route this time, so we will see how that goes.

Welcome back. The ducks and Lusca missed you.

FYI Positron:

One other "frame rate affecter" power is Oil Slick Arrow (specifically the "post-burned" version left behind after setting the slick on fire). I /bugged it but its still a problem as far as I know.

Reproduce:
1. Shoot Oil Slick Arrow. No problem with framerate.
2. Set Oil Slick on fire. Still no problem.
3. Oil Slick burns out, leaving a "residue patch" that is similar to #1 in effect (knockdown/slow on mobs, etc.). THIS is the one that seemingly has "splat" graphics (I see the lines up the walls) and causes a huge framerate drop for everyone nearby.

From my understanding the Oil Slick is actually 3 or 4 separate "pets" depending on which stage its in. It looks like the "splat" is only on one of these versions.

Thanks,