KnightOwl

My biggest complaint about the CoX channel is that it's cross-game. It's slightly more than mildly annoying to have a question, observation, or shared experience about CO which gets buried underneath 5 minutes of Star Trek Online chat.

The tongue-in-cheek/demeaning references aimed at comic fandom don't really affect me one way or the other. I tend to focus on the content rather than the text that bookends it.

I considerably enjoyed playing through the 'Whiteout' mission, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the fact that it sets a mood that feels incredibly like a certain John Carpenter film from 1981, right down to a few character names and musical elements.

Just relaying my experience - I was never a VIP, and the accounting system does not allow me to upgrade my account to VIP with a code from an older product (which I am assuming is already credited to the account, e.g. CoH DVD edition).

However, if logged into your account on the NCSoft website, the redeem code function will allow you to use an old code to create a "separate account" (using either your NCSoft Master account login, or a new login) to create an account which does have VIP status. Of course, the account won't have any characters, because it is like a new sub-CoH account under the NCSoft master account. I can confirm this because I did it using the account code from a City of Villains box - when I logged in with the client using that name, the account had VIP status.

I assume using an old code it would probably also grant CoH VIP status to a newly-created NCSoft Master account as well.

So be aware if you try upgrading to VIP using the in-game store with a code for an upgrade for which your account already has credit, it will probably respond with : 'the code is valid, but can not be applied to this account', or something similar, which is the response I got when I tried using an older box code through the in-game store.

I really like the idea a lot (in theory).

What about the content, though? Would the content be the same on the community servers as it is on my standalone? Would it be distributed from a centralized content server?

There's already a system in place (for some games) that functions in a similar way. Steam. I've downloaded player-designed and developer-made DLC for Skyrim.

Cheating also has a control mechanism. For Counter-Strike:Source, there's a Valve Anti-Cheat mechanism that can be put into place for any given server that wants to host -- and I'm pretty sure it's optional, so a host can use it or not as they please.

Their model seems to work pretty well from an end-user perspective.

The game: Faux MMO Designer

• The concept: Players brainstorm MMO designs based on books, television shows, or that God-King of entertainment, films.
  
• What we keep: Influence. Lots and lots of influence. Also to include anything that can be bought with Influence. So everything, really.
  
• What we lose: Creative control, when the studio executives get a hold of it in post-production and castrate it of any discernable emotional or intellectual value.
  
• What we add: Casting couches with dubious stains, rage-fueled tirades by actors on set, probably some drugs. Publicity. Jerry Bruckheimer.
  
• Why it would be like City of Heroes: We love to hate adaptions of our favorite things, even more so when they go over budget and past deadlines.
  
• The Downside: If there were any doubt our society was culturally bankrupt, this removes it.
  
• Why I would play this: In no other game are players able to so completely realize their vision, while constantly having to overcome obstacle after obstacle.
  "My MMO isn't about Vietnam... My MMO is Vietnam."
  

I originally latched onto CoH specifically for the superhero genre, having played other MMOs set in other genres before. Champions (PnP) was the second superheroic-themed RPG I played, after having cut my teeth with V&V, and those original characters first knew digital life in CoH.

When CO came out, I got on board early, figuring that my characters would be even more ideally suited to that game than this one, which was pretty much squelched after realizing that the PnP and the video game don't share much in common mechanically, although they do in spirit.

Now I'm in the process of giving CO another look, since I haven't played actively in over two years.

Generally, I don't see CO as better or worse, just different. There are some aspects I like, some I dislike. There have definitely been changes since my last visit, so I'm enjoying looking around and exploring the gameplay.

A contact in Dark Astoria (don't remember the NPCs name - it's a guy wearing flashy armor near the zone-in) tells me to come back when I'm level 50.

I was interacting with the NPC on a level 50 character when I got this response, so I'm assuming he won't speak to me because I'm not a VIP. Is that assumption correct?

I'd been a way for a while, and didn't even know about the news of the shutdown until after I'd started to explore some re-done areas in the game. This was one of the things I noticed.

Thanks in advance.

A game with elements of the character appearance/design creativity of CoH, with the graphical/visual and open world/quest non-linearity sensibilities of Skyrim, a more destructible/interactive/sense of permanence (or at least some consequential effects) environment, and character ability development that focused on player choice and a variety of tenable choices therein would likely be one into which I could sink many hours. So, yes.

I had an Amiga 500 and a 2000. I also had a C64, as well as a T/S 2068 (American version of the British ZX Spectrum [Z80/Zilog chipset]).

Maybe someone can explain to me what the problem is with paying for and enjoying something for some non-infinite stretch of time, because I'm not seeing a problem there.

There seems to be this concept that if you 'buy into' something, like an MMO video game, that it should somehow continue ad perpetuum, and anything less than that represents having the rug pulled out from under you and/or some kind of betrayal by the parent or funding company.

When I was a regular subscriber (for several years - starting with beta), as well as later when I would go month-to-month intermittently, I feel I got what I paid for with CoH, no more and no less.

Several thousand dollars later, I have no major regrets. I enjoyed it (to greater or lesser degree) while I was paying for it, and would do so again, given the same circumstances.

I note with some disappointment that the false dichotomy inherent in the "either with us or against us" mentality is not only alive and well, but apparently thriving, even in the context of what action (if any) should be taken against a company for running their business in their own way. I don't have a problem with people doing whatever reasonable action they feel is appropriate, including, perhaps surprisingly, absolutely nothing.

To say there's only two possible views to hold regarding the issue is something which I would reject out of hand.

I logged back in using a trial key and discovered that my main is no longer leader of my SG, and in fact, he's not even in my SG, one I founded back in open beta.

Is SG access suppressed for trial accounts, to the degree that I don't even see my SG tag below my name?

Or was I booted from my SG by an active player who was auto-promoted to leader by the system after a certain elapsed time?

Thanks

I liked all three of the other costumes, so I shared some of the purse with Counter Clockwise and Super Fantastic Girl. Nikolaus von Barron modestly and politely refused the share offered him.

I believe all entrants had costumes that made some use of metallic or highly reflective pieces. Sexy Jay deserves much credit for creating the really dynamic costume pieces with reflectivity, sheen, etc.

First CC I've ever won -- but the visual elements have certainly come a long way since April 2004, when my helmet was a simple bucket helm with a T-slit and I had no wings to speak of.

It was fun, thanks Titania and Purple!

If Frank Miller was dead, would he be rolling in his grave at this news?

In the course of playing over the last few minutes, the range of my melee attacks seems better than I remember it to be, as in actually pretty decent. Either my impression of it was unduly biased against it, or it was improved behind the scenes.

In either case, it really seems to be okay to me at this point.

I withdraw the suggestion.

As a level 50 Broadsword Scrapper with ToHit bonuses from IO sets, and on top of those, the additional ToHit bonus from Focused Accuracy (when active), the utility of yellow inspirations for me in regular PVE play is currently fairly low, and this might be a useful way to give a bit of extra benefit to a melee character who really doesn't need additional ToHit bonuses in normal day-to-day PVE play. This suggested function would just add a little bit of extra range (+10% max), to melee-based attacks.

I would like it because my primary is broadsword. I fly nearly continuously during play, and I hover in combat. I hover over enemies and strike down on them from above. One nice thing such a feature would add (theoretically) is the slight increase to Z-axis melee range, which personally I think is too limited in the first place. It would theoretically add just a bit of additional range to melee attacks to ease hitting those mobs that are constantly moving around, darting in-and-out of melee range. It would also theoretically reduce the amount of horizontal and vertical movement necessary for the melee character to successfully engage close targets, but not, I don't think, unreasonably so.

Suggestion: Modify the function of Insight (yellow) inspirations such that when used, in addition to their current effects, they also increase melee attack range by +3.3% per use for a small inspiration. Small yellows would add +3.3% additional range per use, medium yellows would add +6.6%, and large yellows would add +9.9%. Stacking would accrue with multiple uses, but be limited to a maximum added range bonus of +9.9999%. So the max bonus would be: Mod_melee_range = melee_range + (melee_range * .09999).

The benefit of the added range would expire at the same time (on the same timer) as the added ToHit bonus, i.e. the time for inspiration's effects to expire would remain unchanged.

Using the inspiration ("popping a yellow") would add range bonuses for all melee-based attacks by any melee character, not just for melee-based attacks used by flying or hovering characters.

If it could be implemented, I believe it would be a useful and fun way to add a bit of additional utility to the least important and often least-useful (to me, anyway) inspiration by adding a bit of range to melee attacks that would have the effect of making the exact positioning of the melee character slightly less important in order to land attacks.

Don't forget to add orc horns and orc fangs, because this isn't just a game about superheroes.

Or so I've been told.

At this point, almost anything to ease the annoyance of the current implementation (especially if it helps facilitate minor build changes) would be better than nothing at all.

I think the annoyance factor of the current respect implementation is inversely proportional to the scale of the desired changes to be made to the character build.

It probably doesn't really bother some people that much, they may be used to doing respecs numerous times on numerous characters. But for me, the sheer tedium of doing it under the current system is really a disincentive to making any changes at all, especially relatively minor changes.

Tweaking a build in Mid's can be fun -- unfortunately, I can't say the same for actually doing it in-game.

I enjoyed reading the series, here's to hoping this adaptation is at least as good.

An overhaul of the respec system to replace or supplement it in order to simplify character tweaking and overhauling would be a great thing.

I have Enhancements that I'd prefer to slot, but the current overly-tedious respec system is too much of a disincentive to do so for the amount of return.

Simplifying the respec mechanic (or adding an Enhancement modification system, perhaps for a fee) in order to tweak character builds would increase my continued interest in playing (and adjusting) said characters.

I'd rather be doing anything else in the game than going through the steps of the current respec process.