Memphis_Bill

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I'm on ignore...does that mean I've made it into TFC?

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Team Fortress Classic? <,<

Quick counterpoints.

Voids have been nerfed to near-joke status as it is (losing the damage type that made them a threat to Khelds,) They no longer do Nictus damage, exclusive to Kheldians. Only negative energy.

Incarnates were, at one point, "the next EAT (they) were working on,) though Nictus were the VEAT at that time. This was, as that should indicate, pre-SOA. The problem they had at that time was one of "We don't know how to fit them into the storyline." Doing the Midnighter and Cimerora storylines tend to indicate, with the "lost origin," that they've started working that little snag out. (Edit: EAT status as of 12/08, going over all that had been mentioned.

And anyone who complains about Khelds for Cysts had best never step foot into Cimerora.

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We can rename them too?

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Since the current issue's release, yeah.

Some things to note, though. It goes off the "Current build." The only choice you have is "Rename current build." So it will take you 15 minutes to rename both builds - as once you switch builds to rename the other one, the menu's not available (you get the "You must wait X minutes to switch.")

Inconvenient, but it's there.

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ED was ultimately a good change, most for the reasons TonyV outlined above. I think, far more than what ED actually was, it was the way ED was introduced that really rankled and still incites strong emotions in some people today.


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This needs emphasizing. I'm sure several of the long-time folks here remember the progression:
GDN.
"We're done making massive changes to powers.
ED:
"But we didn't change powers. We changed how they're enhanced."

Technically, he was right. But it felt very... I don't know, bait-and-switch of him, or.. I odn't know, politician-y. And that ticked off a lot of folks and really tarnished his reputation.

Other comments like the infamous gameboy "I kept dying to a boss on a plane, and it was incredible fun!" (paraphrase) didn't help.

Thanks. Just wanted to answer the specific questions... since that's a lot of reading.

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You know what they should do?




They should remove ALL changes to the game that JACK thunk was a gud idear.

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they've done a pretty good job of repudiating the "design vision" from my seat here in the bleachers.

also, he must have had a few ok idears mixed in somewhere.

I don't remember any, but surely they exist?

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Two things, related of course.

One, how much of what he did affects the stuff we do like? (Would Inventions be anywhere near the same - or in game - if not for ED and the limits put on?)

And the other... he was, after all, part of a team. What part of the idea is his? How much of Striga do we get rid of because Jack was in a meeting about it and said "Hey, that sound interesting, what about this?" What if he said, early on, "Y'know, Super Strength is an iconic set, we need to have that." Do all SS Tanks and Brutes then get deleted?

Obviously I have no idea how much of *any* of that he had input into, or what degree... but the "Delete anything jack thought was a good idea" is really rather shortsighted.

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Yeah, but a Rikti with cat ears is just gonna look weird, y'know?

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I've always thought that Rikti: No Sense Of Humor. The Rikti forces are all dressed the same in those nice armored uniforms... then look at how the humans dress. That really has to drive the Rikti military commanders nuts, seeing a bunch of goofballs in tights and cat ears walking all over them.

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Yeah, but they sit back and laugh as we get killed by the Carnies. *shrug*

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If we ever get Rikti costume bits (not just the weapons - I mean like actual customizable Rikti parts... I know, not likely), I'm so doing a Rikti character of my main >.> just because.

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I'd rather have a Rikti Hybrid as the next lvl 50 Archetype reward.

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/threadjack

Don't expect an EAT to be using a 50 unlock. General consensus from out Dev-way was that it was a bad idea, and that VEATs were put at 50 for the sake of parity.

That said... LGTF = REAT (Rikti EAT!)

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it's hilarious that some people give a care what some forum title says.

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It says "City of Heroes official forums."

Do the others matter?

Edit: And thanks, Tony.

Right.

And when working on them... *Always* make backups, don't rely on autosave! (Autosave makes an autosave.storyarc file - but always overwrites it to make the new one.) I'll tend to save on each mission I make in an arc.

This is, I believe, on TonyV's "long list of things" post. But it is a long list.

Many times when this comes up, people want to exit to the character select screen. The devs, as I recall, stated they don't want *that* happening due to security concerns - they want you to log out and back on.

The way you're describing it, though, I certainly wouldn't argue. Going directly to the login screen would be nice. (There would, however, still be a delay - the character still has a 30 second logout, even if you exit now. If you're quick enough, and on the same account, you'll get a popup saying "This account is currently logged on," and have to re-enter the password. It knocks the other character off, but you should be aware that delay *will* still be there. (I hit that when dual boxing - or even restarting the client - rather often.)

Going between accounts, it's not an issue, obviously.

If you make changes ONLY to the published arc, it does not update the local copy.

If you unpublish an arc, and don't have the local copy, your copy is gone (unless you had it autosaving.)

The local copy has no effect on unpublishing an arc.

Basically, before you unpublish, do a quick "Save as" so you DO have a copy, and give it a unique name. Otherwise, it's gone if there's nothing local.

Edit: Examples, just to make sure I'm being clear.

I write a story arc, "The Legend of the Legendary Legend." I test it, decide I like it, and publish it. As I publish, the two copies are exactly the same - the published version and the local, which I'll call legend.storyarc (.storyarc being the file type.)

I then get a tell, "Hey, you misspelled such-and-such, and this dialog was broken." I go to "My published arcs," and hit "Edit." ONLY the published version is edited. The local copy still has the typos and problems.

I decide I need to throw in an EB in a mission. I edit the published copy, adding "Defeat a boss" with my EB. The local copy is not changing in any way, shape or form.

A month later, I'm in a rush. I intend to unpublish "The Story of Frank the Chicken," but accidentally unpublish the "legend" story. Oops! I go to "My local stories," find the Legend file, and re-add it - but it still has the old typos, and doesn't have the EB. I have to re-edit it.

Now, what I *should* do at this time is re-edit the published copy and re-add it. Republish, which pushes your changes to the server. THEN go back in to Edit, pick Save As... and give it a name like Legend-Update.storyarc.

With me so far? When I do that second save, I now have a local file that's the same as the published file, with updates.

Now, another month goes by. I clean out m hard drive, moving files to CD, including the .storyarc files. I clean out the folder. Then I unpublish "Legend." I *cannot* republish it, since the file is no longer on the hard drive. I can copy it back over from the CD, THEN republish it - but if I don't do that, the story arc is gone for good.

Also, unpublishing and republishing resets any and all ratings, so if you had a 500 play, 5 star arc, unpublish and republish... you now have a 0 play, 0 star arc.

That help, or is it now clear as mud?

Not sure they'd go for tentacles for an Assault set (given mentioning Dom, which has, by default, immobs in the primary for most sets.) I'd move the snipe down to 35, similar to the other sets - mind you, I generally like snipes, just not on a dom. Possibly shuffle siphon life around and fit Smite in somewhere.

Still want a Dark Assault, yes. And a Dark control. And Electric control.

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All the buffs are minor.

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Not entirely. KB protection - 10 points, for one hour. That's better than the IOs, better than Acro (unslotted - and it doesn't cost END,) and IIRC better for many levels than some powerset KB protection (though they tend to have resistance as well.)

Grant invisibility - an additional 25'/250' (PVE/PVP) of stealth, with no END cost.

Attack speed increase (IE, recharge reduction) - 20% Maybe not earth shattering, but still useful.

Increase perception - 20% (100 feet) - going to deal with night widows? Bane scouts? Ghosts? Every bit helps.

Slow resist = 20%, same as the Winter's Gift IO. (If I'm remembering it right.)

Increase Recovery - 17%. No, you wont' replace Stamina, but again - early on, why not? It's better (again, if I'm recalling correctly) than either of the two big +Recov IOs (individually... believe one's 15%, one's 10%.)

Resistances tend to be either 5% or 17.5%.

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1. If my person is full of salvage is there anywhere I can store them?

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1. Any "Vault Reserve" will have more personal storage, equal to the (base) salvage storage at your level. (Easiest to find is in pocket D.)

2. If your SG has a vault door - it also links to the vault reserve.

3. SG storage racks can now hold up to 30 pieces of salvage each - but be aware, anyone could take them.

4. The Black Market/Wentworth's. The 60 day limit no longer applies.
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2. Where can I make things and is it possible without any of my own recipes?

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Any crafting table, typically in universities (and abandoned labs, villainside.) Also, your SG may have a crafting table.

You will need recipes for every IO and temp power/costume piece that can be made, HOWEVER, if you continually make common IOs (usually of a pair of levels,) you can memorize the recipe and no longer need it, which will also save money.

ParagonWiki link on memorization, with how many of what to get the recipe memorized.

I'd bookmark the main page of paragonwiki as well. It's a useful reference.

PS - There are three other things you can do without recipes:

1. Brainstorms. Since you're new, this probably won't apply, but until recently there were two classes of salvage - base and invention. Base salvage went away, but it could be converted into "Brainstorms," which could then be converted into invention salvage. Like I said, being new... probably not an issue for you.

2. Empowerment buffs. If you're in a supergruop, they may have an empowerment station. This will use invention salvage to give you some sort of buff if you have the right salvage - say, Lethal damage resistance, invisibility, etc. The effects will last for one hour. There are three tiers of station, each of which has a few more available buff types than the one before.

3. Craft base items. Check with your SG leader before doing so - they show up in personal items, and if deleted, they do not give the salvage back to anyone.

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I am aware that /Fire doesn't mesh well with Mind/.

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No, it doesn't mesh "well." It meshes *superbly.* Mind/Fire is one of the most fun characters I've ever rolled on either side of the game.

We're just going to have to agree to disagree here.

I'd much rather have external buff effects put in the hands of the recipient, not play the "What is this person's version of the power going to do" crapshoot. People who want it will know what they're getting when it's applied, people who don't can tone it down or refuse it.

Just so you know:

Expansions: There's only one, with one more coming.
COV was an "expansion" to COH - and access is now given to both sides with any active account. Just reactivating will let you in.
Going Rogue is the upcoming one.

Now, as far as add ons? We have "editions" and "packs."

Edition: Includes a month of gametime.

-Good vs Evil - The original way to get "both sides in one." Jump jet, Pocket D VIP pass, Pocket D teleporter, two costumes.
-Mac edition - usable with a PC, yes. Valkyrie sets are the big draw here, with the Mission Teleporter.
-COH Collectors Edition - out of print, but if you can find one... adds a month if you don't have one. Prestige Power Slide, Cape of the Four Winds, VIP badge.
-COV Collectors Edition - out of print, as well. Arachnos cape and emblem.
And of course, the "plain old" COH/COV boxes.

"Packs" don't include game time. If there's a choice between a pack and an edition, go with the edition - they're typically a better value ($10 for the pack, $20 for the edition... which gives you a free month, or $15 of play, so you're paying $20 for what would otherwise cost $25.)

Wedding pack - Mostly female costumes, one male tux, a few emotes and... I think I'm forgetting something.
Cyborg pack - Cyborg options, Combat Auras, Self destruct power, robot dance.
GVE pack - Same goodies as Good vs Evil without the month.
I forget what the other's called, might be a mac "pack" - again, Mac edition stuff without the month, usable on a PC.
Magic pack - many costume options, costume change emotes, tarot card power that can buff teammates.

Actually, Forbin, per the wiki:

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Playing in test mode will not award Experience, Influence/Infamy, Salvage, Recipes, or Mission Architect Tickets. However, playing in test mode is the only way to make progress on the following Mission Architect Badges:


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All you get are test mode badges.

Go slow. Don't rush to the bank unless you KNOW the team can handle it and communicate... which, IMHO, tends to mean "established SG/friends team." Wait for ambushes, destroy stuff on the way, take the ambushers out as they come. I've had, since mayhems came out, perhaps two PUGs that rushed and did well. The rest were team wipes and massive ambushes in jail.

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But that's already "out of their hands" so to speak. For example, I can slot Speed Boost with INCREASE run speed, something that might be equally as annoying to someone.

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You missed what I was saying.

First, again, things like KB that only affect you and your enemy - fine, go nuts. However, using the Kinetics example again, and specifically Speed Boost:

I invite a Kin/ to my team. "Cool, speed boost!" I'm expecting, assuming they *use* the power, a level of Recovery, Recharge, and Movement speed buffs. At least a baseline of that. It's what Speed Boost does. I most *certainly* want that movement speed boost if I'm facing, say, Earth Thorn Casters, anything with Caltrops, Glue Arrow, or opposing Kinetics users (like Blue Ink men.) Even if I'm not running a Stone tank or brute.

Going to pause at this point and say, yes, I know not everyone likes the speed boost movement speed increase, and it's possible that having it complained about is the reason for you making this thread. But here's the difference between that reduction on a team buff being in your hands, versus the control of a the recipient -

In your hands:

Now, you decide you don't want it to affect speed, and throw three "slow" enhancements in it, negating the runspeed (and, conincidentally, recharge) - Speed Boost is now just a Recovery boost. We hit anything that does slows (see list above.) Where Speed Boost would let me just ignore that - I'm now slowed badly.

Alternately, I'm running a Fire aura tank. We hit Crey - lots of Cryo tanks and scientists. They debuff both speed and recharge.

Your speed boost is now *worthless* to me. My END isn't the problem, the speed and recharge are - and they're a good part of the reason I went looking for a kin. And I, when going through and looking for a Kin, have to ask "Have you reduced your speed in speed boost at all?" instead of knowing there's a baseline to expect.

In the recipient's hands:

We have players A, B, and C. We invite player D, a Kinetics user, to a team.
Player A likes speed boost, no matter what. Cave map, Shadow shard, open ground, he'll take it and he loves it.
Player B likes it, but not in caves. When going into a cave, he goes into "Options" and reduces his maxrunspeed, or just puts in "Decline" for this mission.
Player C doesn't like it at all, and has it set to not accept speed increases at all.

Player D still gives a baseline of the buff, the expected buff, and each player gets to decide if they accept it or not. That Stone tank isn't going to complain, and always knows that a Kin with SB is going to work well with him. I know that those Cryo tanks and scientsts aren't going to bother my tank at all. Caltrops are now countered... *unless the player chooses not to accept.*

The player's game experience, regarding external buffs, is now in their own hands and better overall for everyone.

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[LIST][*] Have rare recipes only come in increments of five, like normal recipes. Do away with non-multiples of five completely from the auction window.

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Eh. I rather like having the incremental ones. Not least because they're often cheaper than the 5-level ones.
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[*] List primary and secondary powersets in the team search window and supergroup window.


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And they can make room for this by getting rid of origin... Either that or hover over the character and find out.

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[*] Add a "Looking for members" option to the search interface for team leaders.


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Asked for many times, still agree 100%.

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[*] List store value of items in the auction house and let people sell items there for that price.


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Eh... Kind of on the fence on that. Wouldn't mind seeing the store value, though - on the other hand, it might make it harder to get things *cheaply.* (Then again, I'm an "auction dumper" - I don't need it, it's up for 6 inf or so.)
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[*] Add option to set drop thresholds. (E.g. "I only want uncommon recipes and above, I only want level 2 or 3 inspirations.")


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This... I think would backfire, both in market impact and individual player impact. ("Why do I never get X recipe?" "You're set to only Uncommon, it's common.")
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[*] Have the music in Pocket D and within missions adjust to the music volume, not sound effects.


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And have them separated elsewhere as well. There are sound effects that fall under "Music" as well, as I recall.

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[*] Add an npc_stuck command that runs the /stuck code on spawned NPCs in an instanced mission. If you have to, limit its use to every ten minutes. Or hour. I don't care, but we really need it.

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I don't think there'd need to be a limit, honestly. If nothing is stuck, it would have nothing to UNstick. But if I get someone stuck in a wall, and /npcstuck them, I don't want to have to wait half an hour to /unstick his buddy that wandered into a map hole and is now untargetable. (frigging sorc TP'ing into a girder...)

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[*] Allow us to gift items in the PlayNC store to other people. They'd make great prizes for contests and will earn you more money. I've also known people quit the game because of financial difficulties that I'd be more than willing to pay a month or two for, but that I don't particularly want to exchange personal information with.[*] At the very least, give us the option to get a serial code instead of applying to my account.[*] Change "Your supergroup's rent was due on (date)" to "Your base will go dark on (date)"

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Yes, yes, yes.
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[*] Add an option to autopay the base rent instead of having the base go dark. In fact, consider making this the default. No matter how stupid your SG leader is, the only time your supergroup base would go dark is if you literally don't have enough prestige in the bank.

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Yes, but not as a default, please.
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[*] Allow skipping the timer to quit to the login screen.


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Wouldn't argue. I know they don't want you to jump back to the character select screen, but the login screen works for me.
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[*] Reduce the time between costume changes to once every 10, 15, or even 20 seconds.

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15 would be good, especially in the tailor... when you're fixing multiple costumes.

(Generally "yeah" to the rest. )

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There are already slow *resist* IOs out there... Some of these, I *believe* (I'd have to go digging) had already been covered by the devs as "not possible at this time," though.

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While Im not a programmer, since we already know that the coding exists to INCREASE the knockback of a power, I can't imagine any logical reason why you couldn't DECREASE it as well.

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Arcanaville - who, outside of the dev team itself, is probably the most knowledgable about how this game works (and tends to discuss things with them as it is) said something about this - roughly, "If you think you know how the game works, you're wrong. If you're a programmer and have worked on these, bringing your experience on other things to the table, you're really wrong."

(Which is not to put you down, mind - just to point out that things in this game are, apparently, worked out *really* strangely.)

My reply, like I said, was from recollection that there were issues about doing it. *shrug*

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(Like I said, I believe that's the case with things like your knockback reduction. Not 100% on that though.) Others are part of powers or IO set bonuses.

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While there are powers that boost damage, and also IO set bonuses that boost damage, we still have +damage enhancements, so I fail to see why that would matter. Secondly, the entire point is to tailor your OWN powers, not rely on others' powers. Some people have +slow resist, but what does that have to do with my desire to not have my powers slow others down, or speed up, etc. as much as they do.

Enhancements, to me at least, seem like a way to tailor your powers more to your liking and play style by increasing damage, or reducing their end cost, or quickening their recharge time, or boosting their accuracy, or increasing their endurance modification, increasing their taunt effects, or increasing their knockback. Im simply asking for more choices, like reducing some of the above that you can only currently increase, and increasing some of the above that you can, currently, only reduce.

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See, here's another issue, though. I'd much rather have controls like that (that can affect other players, that is) on the recipient's side. You know a baseline of what to expect as, say, a Kinetics defender. SB will do this much, or more. Your Recovery will go up THIS much, or more. If I were a Stone tank and invited a Kin who had SB slotted with -runspeedenh x3, so it's only boosting END mod and barely touching speed... that kin is much less useful to me. (On top of it, that's quite likely also going to affect recharge times - so that kin is, for my characters, much less useful overall.)

Yeah, things like Knockback are a different issue, and one I'd put into personal taste. But when you're affecting a teammate - I'd say leave the choice in their hands.

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There hasn't been an official announcement of one yet - we can speculate, but it's just that - speculation. Smart money says there'll be one sometime in the summer.

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I agree on this, but sure I have seen a list of events for the year and it was stated there, for it to take place! But can't remember where to find the list...

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Sure you're not thinking of the old calendars for *last* year?

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Where would I find my vet reward date?


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Log in to your PlayNC account, and select your COH account.
At the very bottom, you should see vet rewards time. This is how it looks on my other account. (Just the end.)

<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
Reward Level Date Awarded
27 months - Dedicated Apr 16, 2009 Details
30 months - Committed Jul 16, 2009 Details
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So it doesn't get its 30 month until July 16. (And it seems to take it down to the minute.)