Memphis_Bill
-
Posts
10557 -
Joined
-
Interesting thought... And it's something I (and friends) would have used in the past. Someone having a rough RL time, might be dropping out of the game because of money? Well, you can't gift *anything* now (at least easily,) this way you could.
And with the craft cost for the NOTW, I've been thinking RMTers would start aiming at this game more strongly again - this would short circuit that a bit. -
Quote:There's a set that fits in TA with a proc in it - Cloud Senses, chance for NE damage, or the Deflated Ego or Dark Watcher procs, do you have any of those slotted? If they go off, as I recall, they'll aggro.Originally Posted by Scarlet Shocker
It's intermittent on my Fire/TA and Plant/TA trollers -
They need acc everywhere, as I recall.
-
Required a MM? Since when?
PUGGed it (well, half pugged) last night, no mastermind. No issues. What do you think you need a MM for? -
Quote:Though it does give a bonus when paired with AR's snipe, as I recall.Originally Posted by Oliin
They actually did internal testing on this ages and ages back. The change to the power's text even made it over onto test, but for some reason they decided against it.
-
Quote:"Clutter up the server?" Really? Somehow I don't think a new SG is going to be all that much "clutter." Hard drive space is dead cheap, even at enterprise/server levels with higher reliability, data redundancy, error checking and the like entered into the price.Originally Posted by Beef_Cake
This is exactly what I want to avoid. Yeah, let's clutter up the server with more SGs.
Make all the other arguments you want - I'm not against the idea, though they'd have to keep it at 150 *globals* to be sure nobody gets accidentally kicked by a lower limit - but hard drive space is really a non-starter of an argument. -
Quote:If they still aren't attached to a global name, the person hasn't been logged in for a *long, long* time. So I don't think they care.Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
First off if those names aren't attached to a global how do you send them stuff?
You could, conceivably, still email the local name - but not send "stuff" that way.
I'm half curious to see how much in game spam they have - probably none, as their name would never have shown up in a spammer's list.
Also:
Have you forgotten (or just missed) the times the global system has gotten hosed? It's actually been - I'd guess at least two years since the last time, but logging in and suddenly seeing "unknown" globals is irritating - but that's exactly how it happens. First character that logs in from the account becomes the global. Fortunately they've been reset (or rather the global name tokens have been) so people could get their old one back if they wanted.Quote:So then how does it work? The first character they log in on becomes the account global name? -
Quote:And a great many are held by active and semi-active (reactivate for issues/major patches for a bit, then go inactive) accounts, as well. The point being, the purge has been run twice, and they modified the requirements on the second one because of the results of the first, which was set for "below 36."Originally Posted by Ironblade
No, Atomic was not wrong. We can state with absolute certainty that "quite a lot of characters collecting dust and keeping names tied up." Now, we can debate just how many constitutes "quite a lot" but there can be zero doubt that a great many names are held by inactive accounts.
Most of the time when this comes up, it seems some people think it'll be some miracle naming-cure, letting them somehow be whatever name or two they so desperately "need" - only to find it's still not available. (Meanwhile xXt3hSpYdUrxXx or other similar, "who really wants it" names get freed up.)
I ended up calling for it to be run again with the level changed to 14 simply to deal with the (relatively) newly limited trial accounts. If those meet the 90 day criteria, they're probably not getting converted to full accounts and this is apparently the only way to clean that up. -
Quote:Yes, they have. They're just pre... whatever issue globals showed up in. (4?)Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
If the names aren't attached to a global they haven't been used in the game yet.
I have five names on my oldest Blaster that predate globals. The players are 50, but left before globals were implemented. (Try "Sir Whiteknight" on Pinnacle.) -
Quote:If they're 35 and under, they've already been freed, btw.Originally Posted by Lightslinger
I would even support a much more drastic purge, free all names not attached to a global. Anyway to open more names is good.
-
Quote:<-- has them a year and a half apart.Originally Posted by FlashToo
Except that on those second, third, and fourth accounts, you don't have any of your veteran rewards, costume codes, etc. from your first one. Got a character idea that you want to make that uses, for example, the Samurai Armor as a major part of his costume, but you're out of slots on your first account? Have fun waiting a year and a half! How about the Cape of the Four Winds? That'll be another $60 to Amazon, please.
And if you want the COH CE, just watch. I got several of them (for friends, as that's what I started with, as well as my second account) for $5 a piece. -
Quote:Actually, yes I do. It hasn't been run in over 3 years.Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
Furthermore none of you have any evidence that the software that frees up character names isn't being automatically run everytime they do a server maintenance.
Quoting myself from another thread - on the same subject, and today -
However,Quote:The script to free up unused/inactive character names has not been run in years. I can say this with 100% assurance. See, a few years back, NCSoft offered a prestige grant for each character in a SG (I believe it was with the merge of COH and COV "officially" into one game.) I, and many others given in game and forum chatter, snapped up some trial accounts - which weren't restricted at the time - and poured in characters with such fascinating names as SGPG-0001 through -0100 (or however many were made.)
I made a check character at the time on Pinnacle, one or two with "name" names. Name? "That guy with bots," a level 1 mastermind. Temporary account, never activated after the 14 days, shoved into the SG and forgotten.
His "Last logged on" time? As of today, 1170 days. 3.2 years. (Or 3 years, 2 months, 15 days, if you like.) Anyone who'd like can go to Pinnacle and try to make a character with that name to see if the script has been run, by the way - as of today, it has not.
is not quite true. Yes, the *second* time the script was run, it was limited to level 6 and below. The FIRST time, it was level 35 and below.Quote:Originally Posted by Atomic_WomanWhen you consider that any character over level 6 (if memory serves) is exempt from name purges, I suspect there are quite a lot of characters collecting dust and keeping names tied up. -
Just a guess -
Go to the directory, see if you have cohupdater.prv already there. If so, rename or delete.
Make sure you're running as administrator, perhaps? -
Quote:Temporary (or permanent, depending....) workaround:Originally Posted by Mad_Cow_Milk
This might not be the way to do it, but an increase is needed. Me and my 9 friends who play together regularly constantly have problems were new characters can no longer get added to the SG because we don't have any more room.
Make a second SG, coalition it to the first. Either move "retired" or level 50 characters there, or use it for the new blood. Make sure coalitions are set to use the base. -
Quote:Originally Posted by bAss_ackwards
I don't think the people that are wanting more character slots are interested in the extra reoccurring monthly fee(s).
And I did.Quote:I'd pay relatively silly amounts for another 36 slots per server. Others do *currently.* Yes, that means there can be a disparity in vet rewards - mine are a year and a half (roughly) apart - but it can be, and often is, done now.
It also seems the second part of my post was ignored:
"Though I'm close, on some servers, to feeling slot crunch again." And that *IS* with two accounts. So I'm not *against* more slots at all - I'm just pointing out that, if cost isn't an object, you can use a second account. (And yeah, I feel for the EU people - not many servers to branch out ON.) -
Preface:
This is not "I can't get a name." I can't think of the last name I couldn't get. But I tend to like either "real-ish" or somewhat odd names, apparently. This is m more of a surprise that this hasn't been done somewhat to coincide with GR's release and in how long it's been since that script HAS been run.
That said -
The script to free up unused/inactive character names has not been run in years. I can say this with 100% assurance. See, a few years back, NCSoft offered a prestige grant for each character in a SG (I believe it was with the merge of COH and COV "officially" into one game.) I, and many others given in game and forum chatter, snapped up some trial accounts - which weren't restricted at the time - and poured in characters with such fascinating names as SGPG-0001 through -0100 (or however many were made.)
I made a check character at the time on Pinnacle, one or two with "name" names. Name? "That guy with bots," a level 1 mastermind. Temporary account, never activated after the 14 days, shoved into the SG and forgotten.
His "Last logged on" time? As of today, 1170 days. 3.2 years. (Or 3 years, 2 months, 15 days, if you like.) Anyone who'd like can go to Pinnacle and try to make a character with that name to see if the script has been run, by the way - as of today, it has not.
So, just as a general cleanup/maintenance suggestion - how about running it again? It's been a while.
I would, however, suggest a small modification or two to the name script:
- Instead of level 6, up the "this level or lower" limit for inactive names to level 14. This is done specifically to coincide with the upper limit for trials - if someone hasn't converted a trial account in 90 days, they're not likely to, and there's no threat of lost revenue - NC's not making money from them in the first place.
- Purge accounts and characters banned for RMT activity. I'm assuming they'd fall under the first point *anyway* except for some of the oldest characters.
Of course, plenty of warning should be given - 30 day lead in email with a reminder at 15 days for any non-trial account that would be affected by this. -
Quote:More along the lines of:Originally Posted by Diggis
I would say it should be done the same as the forum merge was. Append EU/NA to the end of the globals.
- Send email 30 days ahead of time to inactive accounts with inactivity of greater than six months warning about the merge.
- Run script on globals similar to character name script.
Assuming, of course, that this is possible.
So if we have an EU player and a NA player who both have a global of, say (making one up - NO idea if this is in use) @Farenheit451, but the NA player hasn't played since issue 7, the EU player (the active one) would get it.
If both are active, append the _NA or _EU. (Is there a size limit to globals? DOn't recall.) And reset the global name change - hopefully without resetting EVERYONE (again) - so they can fix/change back/pick something better.
(As an aside, the regular "inactive name" script hasn't been run in years - check name "That guy with bots," Pinnacle - temporary account set up back when they did the SG grant. Inactive, level 1, last on 1170 days ago, name still "in use." I try to make someone with the name from time to time to see if it's been run again.) -
Quote:My reaction would be "Hey, @othersgguyIplayedwith, what happened to the SG while I was gone?" I mean, I'd have to remember SOMEONE who was in the SG.Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
While I would like to be able to change a couple of my SG names I have to ask how you would feel if you couldn't log into the game just long enough to get demoted due to a real life emergency and when you came back you found that you were kicked out of the SG you spent so much time and effort on and you couldn't find it anymore because the name had been changed.
My issue, as always, is with someone changing the SG name without saying anything to the group they lead (since this would end up as a "red star" decision.) I mean, do you check your SG name every time you log in? Plus, I'd *suspect* there'd be some sort of cooldown - 15 to 30 days between renames, for example - so it couldn't be changed back on a whim.
Essentially, leader has an issue, renames the SG to "worthless players" (for something censor friendly,) cleans out the base and leaves (or leaves the lead character in to 'lock' the name.) The rest of the SG gets stuck with that *or* has to start over in the middle of everything *else,* and the CS attitude - the reason they came up with that red star "superleader" bit in the first place - would end up being "They had the star, they had the right."
Now, none of the groups I'm in would have that issue, so this isn't a personal "I wouldn't trust so-and-so in our group not to do that." And I can think of a group I wouldn't mind tweaking the name on. But I could see that being an issue. -
Quote:They call that "A second (or third or fourth) account."Originally Posted by Emberly
I'd pay relatively silly amounts for another 36 slots per server.
Though I'm close, on some servers, to feeling slot crunch again. -
Quote:No, it doesn't.Originally Posted by EvilGeko
Playing the WST ensures you're going to be playing at the same time as powergamers who know every trick for shortening these tasks.
If I don't get off work until 2 AM (which has happened) and I decide, sure, give the WTF a try, where are all these "powergamers who know every trick?" Probably in bed.
Attempting to play the WTF ensures nothing but that you're attempting to play it. You may not even get an available team (because, well, you got in between two rushes and everyone interested at that point either just did it and is ready to take a break, or is already on it.... my case this morning, in fact. No, not the 2 AM time.) -
Quote:Not really. Use the forum, since you're here. Or make your own.Originally Posted by Vanden
Yeah, but finding a good AE mission that isn't a drag to play is hard.
-
Quote:Wait, people still use the market for low level salvage?Originally Posted by Vanden
Have you looked at the market lately? Low-level common salvage is pretty expensive. That and the crafting costs and you don't save much until you factor in the long run.
(OK, more honest answer - SOME low level salvage is insane, I'm not paying 10-100k for it or mid level. The rest, you'll see 800 or more on the market, 0 bids. Me, I'll run a quick AE mission, grab the tickets and random roll. Gets what I need most of the time, and I either dump the rest in base for empowerment buffs/crafting, or dump it for 6 inf on the market.) -
Quote:One shot by a Peacebringer, IIRC.Originally Posted by Starjammer
I've heard that's been done as well, though it was a bug exploit rather than a genuine (i.e., WAI) attempt.
No, not being facetious. -
Quote:Really? So which team do we calculate this reasonable time by? The one that takes 20 minutes to (for example) run an STF, or the one I had last week that took 3 1/2 hours? Or, since few people solo the STF, the team that takes 500 hours to get from 1-50 together, or the ones that steamroll everything and take 50?Originally Posted by Atomic_Woman
If a team of 8 does X in Y amount of time, then it is entirely reasonable to expect an anti-teamer to take roughly 8Y time to achieve X themselves. It's simple math.
"Simple math," indeed. More like a smokescreen. -
Quote:And that has what to do with anything?Originally Posted by Vanden
Don't you have like a billion alts? I'm surprised you even have a 50 to get annoyed at the system as-is.
250-some alts. 21 50s. Several more close.