Lemur Lad

I think TV would be too expensive. So would broad based comic book advertising. However there's something to be said about some specific targeted efforts.

Maybe you could consider doing something in conjunction with a network like g4tv, apart from just reviews (though those would be good too). If they're handing out GR codes as a contest, or beta slots or something, it could start to generate buzz among people who havent played or stopped playing.

I don't envy your job though. Our game is great and wonderful, but in any group of gamers, old games are a LOT harder to overcome inertia. I know whenever I see a positive review on a site, there will be a handful of bitter ex players more than willing to vent the bad parts of their time here, despite the fact that things may be completely different.

As for ingame advertising? I have it turned off for a reason, even though we haven't run it in a long time. I really have never heard of a story where a game that uses it gets enough money to do more shiny stuff. That's way too simplistic a generalization and I feel people who conclude that don't know a lot about advertising.

For the same reason that putting out ads in other media are very expensive, getting ads placed here would not be. Rates are charged based on the number of eyes seeing it. I don't think we'll ever see a game where advertising is worth the money, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Not really. Part of what's slowing you down is that the same Download servers that update Test for you handle the majorpatch update that goes out to everyone on Live after they log off. Not to mention the simple fact that majorpatch goes out weeks before the patch goes Live to help stagger things so there isn't a huge load on Go Live day.

If I'm wrong and there are separate download servers, then it comes down to the fact that Test servers are specifically designed to not be as big and beefy as Live, so things bog down sooner (but at the same time easier to patch and update fixes.

As for "why are things this way?" First I'll say that once Test is set up on your machine, it's set up and its a simple process to keep things updated. To be blunt though, you picked a bad time to bite the bullet. This is the biggest patch to the game in years.

Apart from that, things are this way so that Test can be disconnected from the login servers and accounting systems on Live, so that they can patch and update fixes and changes to those systems. It lets us have free Slot purchases, renames and even transfers (when there are 2 Test Servers). If things were set up the way you suggest, there's no easy way to divorce them from Live and test those upgrades and changes.

Could it be easier? Probably. Is it any more difficult than most other things on a computer? Not really. Personally I feel that having a few specific steps people need to follow helps guarantee that the majority of people testing will at least be able to follow simple instructions and from there do a better job tracking and reporting bugs.

Start with Avatea or Mod8 they can direct you to the right person.

And so everyone should stop because some are bothered? We're already forced to put up with cutscenes and have no control over them. It's the nature of the beast. I'm not about to force my views on everyone else (or buckle when someone else tries to force their's on me).

You consider it unprofessional to not have patch notes up in the place you look at the time you look for them.

I consider it unprofessional to put up patch notes before every department has cleared them and the engineers say the patch is applied and the servers are running fine.

Last thing I'll mention is, that last I knew, the website admin still happened out of NCAustin, not at Paragon Studios. I could be wrong, but if I'm not, that means another person on a different schedule and their own procedures for adding things to the site.

Not sure if you've ever worked in a big company, but really, this kind of back and forth that leads to a few hours difference in completion times, is not unusual.

It happens when you logout. This is a pre-download and there will be a majorpatch file somewhere in your CoH folder.

Has nothing to do with the graphics, and everything to do with the interdependent nature of the powers of the Cimerorans.

Why? It doesn't apply. The situation we're discussing here is clearly stated as an exception to Brook's Law.

Patch notes don't go up until after the patch is working and not causing major issues on all Live Servers. This is as it has always been. That means there's usually a lag of several hours between when the servers go down, come back up, and the notes are posted.

Not to mention that they don't give notes when the patch consists of exploit fix(es). If that's all thats in today's patch we may not get notes on it at all.

PS- check Announcements. Your patch notes went up while you were posting.

You're conflating PP MoG with PP Unstoppable. MoG doesn't Disorient, Unstoppable does. It's just that Unstop isn't as tough as MoG, and those bosses are usually dead long before it wears off.

You shouldn't have told him that. Read Posi's edited post for Ultra Mode cards here

If the 5770 is doing excellent, and they expect the 5870 to be one of the fastest, then the 5850 is probably going to be more than satisfactory.

Disagree. I've sorted it once and had it stay sorted (and dynamically updating) through the entire play session.

Sometimes it takes a try or to for the sort to stick, but it's never been consistently unsorting itself for me.

I do agree with the people that say it should let you save your prefs. I especially want it to save the fact that I don't want or need to look at the Server friendlist.

Yes. Every issue of the City Scoop had to be cleared before we got put out. Although technically it was all done on their forums and resources, none of us were paid employees.

That movie poster isn't a replacement. It's been part of the rotation since they were put in. Diff theaters have diff posters, and they may randomly cycle, but there haven't been any new additions in years.

*looks at stuff*
*scribbles notes*

You forgot to carry the Fun

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for organizing things and having a plan. But when it comes to a game, things should start with the premise of having fun. This may be fun for you, but if you're regretting your system because it's at the point where you delete everything just to keep up with it, I don't see it.