Memphis_Bill

This isn't hysteria.

If you called your landlord because the window was broken and they said "We'll fix it," but never showed up (legalities and such aside,) you'd be annoyed. If you got the same answer about the leak in the bathroom, and the growing water damage on the ceiling, and the door that never shuts right, would you keep buying the "We'll fix it, we'll get to it" excuse?

Would you say the person complaining about it (and saying "yeah, sure they will" when they talk about the landlord saying they'll add, oh, a new outlet in the kitchen to replace the one that doesn't work) is being "hysterical" or rightly cynical?

(And before you say "I'd tell them to move," every OTHER apartment/landlord is worse.)

Depending on who you ask, neither is the Incarnate system. I've had THAT argument (that "no, this isn't really character progression!") thrown in my face as well.

At what point does this get "revisited?" The exact same promises of "revisiting" have been made for *all those other systems.* Issue 13, the big PVP change (another major system) - when does that get revisited? It WAS supposed to be. Bases - raiding was turned off (as was pathing) because they couldnt' make it work, for starters, but that was supposed to be "revisited." It hasn't been. Bases in general were a major carrot to get people to buy COV (since "just COH" wouldn't get them.) That was issue SIX. We're hitting issue 20. FOURTEEN ISSUES. Most of the game's life. When are they getting "revisited?" When are the devs looking into rating system problems, or restarting marking Dev Choice arcs that Aeon himself doesn't sponsor?

I have *the game's history* for my point. I bring up ALL those systems for a damn good reason, just like I bring up all the various unfinished arcs that never get revisited for a reason. I don't need to wait for *yet another* system to fall victim to this mindset to have that point.

The devs leave things hanging. Not to "revisit later," but because they're no longer the new shiny. They're now "old content" and they want to make "new content."

I used to defend decisions with the same hopefulness and belief you're showing now. You'll note the extreme cynicism and distrust I have now. There's a reason for it - I've had that hopefulness, the belief the devs "will make it right/finish it," broken again and again. That's not a good sign for a developer.

Um... depends on the item. Some things WEREN'T feasable (power customization when they only had 15 people - the response was "sure, we could do it, but you'd get nothing else for that year or so we worked on it.) Some things, situations changed with (market merge - went from a bad result from simulations to being a better solution than three markets with three different sorts of money.) And some things the devs just refuse to do (full-power-respec.)

Reminds me of APB, but their setup was different.

They had a few things going - "Tag" points where you could spraypaint your marker were "first come, first served." Tag it (and only one location) and it stayed that way 'til you logged out for X amount of time.

They also had a central social district where you could:
- Get a statue for some accomplishment - this would change week to week (player with the most kills/arrests/money/etc.)
- Buy a display point for your car/statue? (Don't recall if statues were part of it.)
- First-come-first-serve for seeing how the graphics you were putting on your vehicle actually looked (for instance.)

And it did highlight another issue - some of the names/looks were, frankly, awful.

You really don't get it, do you. That much is becoming painfully obvious.

Yes, historically they don't. Historically - more recently, at least - they've also had this REALLY bad habit of shoehorning things in that don't fit together and having the storylines suffer overall because of it.

Show me where I said "I'm tired of Praetorian content." I can point to myself saying I get them FINALLY dealing with the invasion, as well as complaining about the shoddy way the 40-50 (45-50, really) arc was rewritten and how it turns you into a third-string wannabe who needs help.

Not just storylines. Entire SYSTEMS. PVP isn't "an arc." Ignoring AE (remember "We'll select Dev Choice arcs and those will free up your slots?") isn't "An arc." Ignoring bases isn't "An arc."

Re-read what I just typed until you get it. Now, WHY would I not be jumping up and down about *yet another* new system, AND the way they're cramming everything to do with it into a storyline it doesn't really fit in?

Call Cole an Incarnate - ok, fine, THAT far it fits. Statesman is, Reichsman is, etc. We know they have around the same level of power and that would be an explanation for it. And it's reason to use Incarnate level powers.

HOWEVER, the whole "The well is insane?" Cramming the whole Incarnate system into this one storyline, when we've got a hanging one in Cimerora (exploring the "lost origin" - y'know, incarnate...) that it actually FITS PROPERLY with and could branch off to *other* storylines? THAT I have a problem with. It's Statesman's "Doctor whatsisface power proliferation" cutscene speech at the end of the VEAT arcs all over again. There's no particular reason for the Menders to be involved - they're trying to slop some Incarnate onto the "Whenever it actually gets here sometime maybe Storm" and see if it sticks.

It's a disservice to the system and to the multiple storylines, and given our devs past history with other storylines and systems, it'll be starting to wither on the vine very shortly, Dev promises to "keep expanding it" notwithstanding.

Go re-read the posts. More slowly this time. Key points to watch for:
1. Devs not paying attention to stuff after a short time,
2. Devs leaving things hanging after the new shiny wears off.
3. Poor, cobbled together storylines/"excuses" for mechanics shoehorned into storylines.

Also, Scarlet Shocker and Chyll's posts.

I have NO PROBLEM with them tackling the Praetorian invasion. I even said that it's been overdue.

I DO have problems with them shoehorning in the Well/Incarnate lore, making it "insane," and tying a new game mechanic to it. The Well and Incarnates fit better elsewhere, and could have been handled much better (lore-wise, at the VERY least.)

I ALSO have problems with the devs leaving things hanging and ignoring systems they introduce to make yet another new shiny.

"Finish what you start before starting something new."

Simple enough concept that our devs don't follow. It's like listening to a little kid describing their day. "Well i went and stood and the stop and billy pulled sally's hair and we had macaroni and mrs smith is our math teacher and she don't like but we played kickball at recess...."

What do we have?

"Well you found a skull and the blood of the black stream but the council took over from the column and ooh shiny zone and but we have AE so we can PVP and then the column came back and time travel and rikti invaded so then we have menders and can I have a cookie and emperor cole called the well a meaniehead...."

Yes, there is reason to put it in if they're not planning on actually putting in cross server play. Namely, to stop questions ahead of time about cross server play.

If I say "My sports car can do 180 Mph on the freeway," it doesn't mean that, in the future, it may do so as well on the water or that flight in that car is a possibility being considered.

I used to believe such things... after all, bases were a big selling point, so obviously they'd keep working on them, and they'd be paying attention to and adjusting PVP after the big I13 changes, right? And it's fine to have just 5 (total) AE slots, because they'd keep on selecting Dev Choice arcs to free slots up without making up contests of their own...

Here's a fun experiment for you. Put a dog in a room and then toss in, oh, 10-15 of those "superball" type, really bouncy balls. See how the dog chases one, then spins to chase another, then another, completely forgetting the first one? That's our dev team with new systems and storylines. They'll bite and growl at one for 2-3 whole seconds sometimes, then... "Ooh, ball, chase! theresaball, chase that one ooh ball chase bounce ooh ball!"

Praetoria invading makes sense. It HAS been just hanging there for a while. Praetoria invading after rewriting ending arcs making you a third-string wannabe ("yeah, we needed some REAL hero support, so we sent the Phalanx in, go see if you can get a tip for carrying their golf clubs or something!") and then throwing in this out-of-left-field "The well is insane and loooooves Tyrant!" is disappointing and feels shoehorned in. (Much like the "Dr. whatsisface has jiggled the wibblywot and now we have power proliferation" ridiculous cutscene at the end of the VEAT arcs... which themselves put the yearly production of Hoover to shame.)

Incarnates and the Praetorian invasion should, frankly, have been two separate story 'threads.' We get introduced to the Well via Statesman/Recluse's backstory, and a bit of mention of beings like Stheno. We get introduced to a "lost origin" and Incarnates via Cimerora. Incarnates being introduced as a player system *via* the Midnighters/Cimerora would make sense, and open up multiple ways to build that power - use it against the invasion! Unlock via Midnighter tasks! And who else are the Midnighters responsible for locking away, where Godlike power would be handy? Ruularu! Would it take a bit longer to develop? Of course. But it'd be a better way to handle it than this trainwreck of "Insane Well presents, Emperor Cole and his Dancing Clockwork!"

I think - well, fell - that this is still in some way a holdover from Incarnates initially being mentioned as an Epic AT. Epics do precisely that - you're a specific origin, with a specific storyline given by contacts specific to you. It can be done well (Khelds, going from current status to Kheldian history (Winslowe's Cosmotron) explaining why they're fighting the Nictus, to the Nictus plans for the Earth - and thwarting the same) to ... not so well (the VEAT storyline.)

As an actual EAT, the whole "Well" schtick would be perfect. Learn about it, get empowered by it, battle for or against it, find what's made it 'insane' and cure or stop it.

As a game system... not so much. It feels tacked on, it's running roughshod over our own character concepts, and it feels forced.

1. The devs dropped the EATs down to 20 because 50 was a bad idea.

2. "Epic" is not synonymous with "Unlocks at 50." "Epic" in this game has a specific bit of lore tied to it, as opposed to the regular generic ATs, and follows a storyline of its own. (See "EAT at WW's" in sig.)

Not saying the "elemental" idea couldn't be an EAT, but there are others that have been waited for and asked for progress on that really should be done.

High level, second build, throw something together that will take a bunch of extras, fill it up, do a sloppy respec and slot nothing so that everything gets sold.

>.>

... seriously? I blow through that so fast it's ridiculous.

Though this has been needed for a long time. It's not like it can be abused. No XP for the "cured" lost, doesn't do anything to another mob - drop it to 1 second and let that part get over with.

mmmm.... I'd argue that. It may not have been the suggestions from specifically the PVP community, but if you look at older complaints ("just a bunch of people hopping around" or "Control is useless!" for instance,) you can see some of it "addressed" by some fo the changes. Not necessarily in a *good* way, but addressed.

Neigh.

... I would like to point out, for anyone who's remembering (for whatever reasons) what I've said about my own accounts, that neither of these individuals is my alternate account. (276 characters, 2 accounts, 21 50s....)

More for their own protection, as I don't want them getting blindsided when I start arguing with someone.

(Though, 2 1/2 levels from finally getting that (*#&$(# Ill/Sonic done - then shelved - and 2 for a Nec/Poi...)

Indie game publishers - with games people generally haven't heard of (yes, I have, and know about such things as World of Goo, Braid and the like) are a totally different matter. They're a couple of people sitting around saying "We want to do this on Linux!" which is why you have a few million Solitaire and Othello/Reversi clones. Pointing at those and trying to make them seem like an argument for a *major* developer sinking more money on one title than the indie devs will see in their whole run isn't really rational.

Or are you going to tell me Minecraft is *really* on par, in every respect, with even COH, not to mention the aforementioned bigger games? I've played it. Yes, it's cute. It's also very much "low budget." The goal of the game: "Do stuff." I'm not misdefining it. It's *exactly* that vague.

And arguing about WebOS? Seriously? You're kidding. Tell me you're kidding. WebOS is as much a gaming platform as my house is a skyscraper. It's there to get on and check email, etc. quickly, not to be in 24/7 and actually do work (or "serious" gaming.) Sure, play Farmville on it. But if you're going to tell me Farmville is actually equivalent to a major gaming title - like any of those listed - the discussion's over, as you're in a world of your own.

Having Linux "in my phone and in my car" is also not an argument, unless you're *seriously* going to say that COH, DCUO, Starcraft, etc. need to be playable IN FULL on said devices. In which case, to put it bluntly, you're delusional. Like it or not, yes, they ARE going to have to consider just Desktop Linux - not the linux that lets me change songs in my fancy car stereo, or the by-necessity minimal (and not by necessity non-standard-between-devices) Android interface.

Don't forget, as well, the hardware requirements for the games. You can play World of Goo on an iPad. No 3d acceleration, shading, etc. All 2d. Now, try Arkham Asylum... wait, it's nowhere near capable enough to even show the loading screen, even if it existed on iOS.

I like the little twist on MS history though. That's amusing. Big orange letters, though, don't change the way MS-DOS GOT TO BE THE DOMINANT PLATFORM. Why did people program games for DOS? Because everyone was using it. You may have noticed little titles like Doom, X-Wing, a fair Lucasarts stable in general, Origin, Apogee...

Larger developers HAVE developed for Linux. What happened? They fell flat on their faces. Each platform they develop for needs people who know their way around it, people who can support it and the like. Why incur the cost for something that's going to give them little to no return? (And, frankly, WINE and the like provide even LESS incentive to do so.)

"Those commercial developers and publishers are getting their collective ***** handed to them by independant developers?" Really? What kind of money did they sink (using a cross-platform game here) into World of Goo? How much did they get back? How does that compare to the *launch* of any of the games I mentioned? Unless you have a very *creative* definition of "getting their ***** handed to them," of course.

Edit: Before I forget:
Strangely, for something like that, they have no word about it whatsoever on their website (steampowered.com.) I'd expect there to be loud cheering in the "OSX, but what about Linux?" thread. Instead, silence. Or at least a note on "Steam under Linux" on their own developer wiki. Now, they do have info there on setting up Linux binaries for *servers,* but that's hardly the same as the game itself (and due mostly to people wanting to rent game servers *others* are running... which for various reasons may be running Linux.)
Plus:
"Valve puts an end to Steam on Linux rumors" - answer being "No."
"No steam for Linux" - Linux magazine online.
"Steam not coming to Linux" - slashdot
"No need to get excited about Steam on Linux - again." - Linux Today.

All of these (and more) are from Aug-Sept 2010, and all are there to shoot down the rumors that came up with the Mac release at the time of YOUR article some months before.

Dark Astoria isn't "in ruins and an industrial craptown." It's actually a decent city zone - wish I could find the screenies from when the fog vanished for a short time.

So you're comparing three zones (one of which is shown as being rebuilt, another (Hollows) of which is only "busted up" in one section,) versus *every zone* redside? You have no choice but to slog through "Neo-classic garbage dump" from 1-50 (outside, finally, of the RWZ.) Even the area which, in theory, would be highly maintained for the tourists has giant potholes and broken up roads as well as garbage piled everywhere.

And don't get me started on the randomly-placed and oddly (see nonsensically) shaped "forts" everywhere. Yes, it makes sense to have a military presence near the docks, for instance. It makes far LESS sense to have it in a fort that randomly encloses part of a city. (Or, hey, is built on top of and into centuries-old buildings of dubious structural integrity!)

Redside's whole layout and aesthetic needs to be revamped. Old buildings in not-really-straight layouts? Actually makes sense if it grew from a colony where the "roads" were "well, horses ride through here." Later additions tend to be planned, though, even if the building style is maintained. And do you REALLY think the residence of High Lord Mucky-muck Recluse is going to have crap buiding up in the streets? Yes, the "fort" part is clean - but they're not going to have garbage piling up where he can take three steps and look over the side and see it. If Recluse can't terrorize - not even all the Isles, but just the one he's ON into being spotless, what makes him think he can do anything to the rest of the world?

I read this and... yep... mind went back to Aion, where:
- For any server you start on, you MUST stay on one side (Elyos or Asmodean) and
- yep, you rift in. And the other side is notified the rifts are up. So your level 20 being sent on their first spy mission (which is really quite fun) runs into PVP-built high levels who WILL have found the rift sites and camped them within minutes, and you end up very dead. I still have an Assassin over there with the first Rift mission, if I ever pick up the game again.