Nekomimi_EU

Its always been my understanding that we should avoid actions which directly influence someone elses character. These are often things which would be okay in tabletop play since there are rules to dictate what happens (if you try to hit someone you roll some dice to see if you hit). In MMORPG roleplay we normally leave the result up to the recipient:

For example I might:

/em throws a punch at Dr.Evil Dude

Leaving Dr.Evil Dud's player free to respond with a variety of possibilities, for example:

/em sidsteps the punch and starts laughing, "You're so slow its laughable"
/em reals backwards, blood streaming from his nose.
/em fades out momentarily revealling Dr.Evil Dude to be a hologram
etc.

But kinetic powers cause an inherent problem here. Many kinetic powers, for example Transference, Transfusion, Fulcrum shift, Siphon speed and siphon power have a dual effect both supporting the users, but also acting detrimentally to the target. As a result actions which usually would seem fairly innocuous (such as healing yourself, or using incredible speed to escape a situation) suddenly verge on Godemoding.

I'd be interested to know how people handle these. Obvious possibilities include:

a) leaving the results to the target
/em fires off transfusion at Dr.Evil Dude in an attempt to heal himself."
(but this leaves you very vulnerable to poor roleplayers)

b) Ignore the negative effects
/em fires off transfusion at Dr.Evil Dude healing himself of his mortal wound."

c) Reduce the negative effects into a Desciption with little or no effect
/em fires off transfusion at Dr.Evil Dude, transforming a fraction of his enegry into healing energies."

d) Assume the full negative effect (which whilst minor for Transfusion becomes much more significant for the likes of Siphon Speed)
/em siphons speed from Dr.Evil Dude, slowing the Doc to a crawl whilst allowing him to escape at incredible speed.

My main consideration has always been, would I be upset at someone doing something to my characters. The truth is unless any of these put me in inherrent danger I wouldn't object to any of them, although the last might cause me to raise an eyebrow (in a Spock like way).

I'll second that (for obvious reasons)

Drop by our website (link in my signature or in the previous post) or look one of the officers (Whirlmeister, Big Lunk, Echo Hammer, Screaming Skull, or Dark Impetus) up on line.

By the way, we're the European Villainous Immorality League,not to be confused with E.V.I.L, E.V.I.L., EVIL, or EVIL University. (All of which exist in game - ever wish you'd picked a less common SG name)

Hope to see you in game soon.

[ QUOTE ]
A question I also have is if someone knows of a macro or a bind that makes our character run to a mob when a skill is used.

[/ QUOTE ]

One bind I've always found incredibly useful is:

/bind q target_enemy_near

This allows you to very quickly move from enemy to enemy as a scrapper, targetting the nearest enemy near (with q), hitting the appropriate attack (which I normally keep in the low number slots) and hitting follow (F by default, although mines been moved) which moves you directly into melee range and keeps you there unless you hit a movement key.

With blasters I often use

/bind e target_enemy_far

which can be very useful for targetting cone attacks. (target the far mob and then position yourself to place your end of the cone).

However, I suspect you are taking on more than you can safely handle. Generally at at low level I try to take on groups of 3 or less blue or greens when street sweeping. You can handle these rapidly and effectively. Larger or harder groups can be handled, but the effort just isn't worth the effort..you'll improve mu2ch more quickly with the easier mobs.

As you level up you need to work out what you can handle and increase your gameplay to match. My level 44 scrapper happily takes on large groups of reds or small groups of purples. My level 31 corruptor still worries about groups of three whites whilst soloing (mainly because most of his abilities involve buffing or healing others, or single target debuffs). Interestingly enough the Corruptor is very good at handling one high level mob, and very poor at groups (so he could take on a Purple by debuffing it until its little threat, but a big group of greens is scary).

Things which suggest time to move up a gear include, getting a complete attack sequence with no gaps, becoming energy efficient (getting Stamina), anything which increases your speed (hasten, siphon speed etc.), more powerful attacks, moving from Training enhancements to Dual Origin enchanceents etc.

The optimum group to take on by the way isn't neccessarily the biggest group or toughest group you can handle. There is a fine balance between risk, speed and experience which means its often better to take on less rewarding mobs that you can take out faster (assuming levelling is your objective).

Finally I should add that at 10 you are at one of the "hard" spots in the game - the bit where Kings Row feels too easy, yet steel canyon and skyway city are just that bit too tough. I normally get through this bit by teaming with people in the Hollows, or by doing lots of missions..either works but the later is best if you want to solo.

Finally, be glad its challenging. If it wasn't it would be boring

[ QUOTE ]
So before committing to doing something with a certain group that I may not enjoy I would like to observe and maybe try out a bit of roleplay on Co* would anyone be willing to take me in and look after me?

[/ QUOTE ]

We'd be happy to take you in to E.V.I.L. and if you just want to visit that would be fine too (assuming you are Villainous). Look me up in game as Whirlmeister or Dark Impetus, alternatively look for our other officers: Big Lunk, Echo Hammer or Screamin Skull.

Alternatively you could try Pocket-Ds which over the last week has had a surprisingly large number of Roleplayers in it.

Sounds a really good idea.

The only problem is the 5 channel limit. We use 2 channels in our supergroup (one for OOC, one for the group Radio), I have a Global friends channels, and theres GGOOC, which doesn't leave much.

I wouldn't be surprised if other players had a similar number of channels, but If they are anything like me a good RP looking for group system would be very much appreciated.

My personal answer would be, forget the characters and look at the players.

Your job as the GM is to make the world fun for the players. If you feel you have players who would take well to a challenge give them one. If the players would get more fun overpowering everything easily give them that. If they want puzzles then go that way.

Keep an eye on each player. Figure out what they need from the game and make sure you include an element of that. You cant give them all what they want all the time, but you can give each one of them what they need occasionally.

The same goes for how tactical/story driven your game is (with some players hating rules and others wanting to plan everything out with miniatures), how realistic it is (from very gritty through high spaceopera/hong kong action) and how harsh the penalties for failure (death comes swiftly and easily with no chance of comeback to players only die if they dosomething incredibly stupid, and resuractions are common-place).

Having said this, it important that there is a challenge. Just because you have a game full of munchkins, dont give them free reign. Make them feel their actions have effect on the world - let them kill major NPCs or influence political decisions. The plot can usually survive. Annother NPC can do whatever the plot requires or differnt nations can go to war, but equally well make them feel the world has an effect on them - make sure there are consequences for atleast some of their actions.

I tend to run story driven games. The rules are there as something to assist, not something to control, but having said this every couple of months I surprise my group with a highly tactical combat, or a bit of LARP in a tabletop game, or something equally unusual. That way I keep it fresh.

At Uni I had a very tactical group, and we used miniatures really heavily. It wasn't really my style, but they enjoyed it, and that enthusiasm rubs off, so I flt good about running it.

Every character should have a chance to shine, but more importantly every player should have a chance to shine. Let the thespian stand up to make a speach to the masses, let the tactician calculate how many rounds he has, how many bursts this equates to and the precise placement of his kevlar, and let the munchkin mow down enemy en mass every few sessions, and just occassionally be wicked, enjoy yourself, and feed them something really evil thety aren't expecting - you need to enjoy yourself too.

We had an in-character team meeting last nights, and whilst character views of Pocket-D's were mixed I can tell you the out of character view was that it should be the place to roleplay because for once we can actually meet with Heroes (we're a Villain team by the way).

Most of our roleplaying happens in the base, usually near the TV but the directors office and the conference room are also popular, in St, Martial in the Casino (we have atleast two members with gambling habbits and one heavy drinker) or leaning against a wall somewhere. We tried visiting the Sawbone Club (a.k.a. Monkey Flight Club) but the place feels so deserted it just feels wrong.

There are going to be some issues. For a start its too loud and the music too repetative...if only they had a quiet room. Then there are several pointers to sugget that it is going to be the starting point for joint hero/villain missions or something (check the doors we cant get through jet, the medical reclaimators and the guards comments) so it might end up very much on the beaten track and we might have problems with griefers, and finally I can think of several characters who would have no reason to visit (but the same could be said for standing around under GG).

This is however the first thing that Devs appear to have done with a view to roleplayers. I suggest we use it and use it heavily so they know that roleplayer friendly content is appreciated and work on more

[ QUOTE ]

Also, a question: [ QUOTE ]
We'd all be under one ruleset

[/ QUOTE ]
What does that mean?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well based on the link the OP gave in his original post I think this is what he was refereing to.

Personally I find it pretty scary stuff. Some of it makes sense but things like "Healing in combat is allowed unless otherwise organised or agreed upon", is
a) ambiguous (are we supposed to be agreeing IC or OOC,
b) incredibly restrictive
and
c) Plain silly - who is going to trust a villain to be restricted by any agreement he made? Perhaps this might work with some heroes, but even then I doubt it. Are we supposed to arrange in advance whether we might be double crossed during an exchange, whether an upcoming fight is a trap an he has friend around the corner who might heal him.

There is a lot of common sense on those pages, quite a lot which I agree with in principle, but some things seem a little questionable. How would the CoX communitee take to

[ QUOTE ]
6 ) Joining Multiple Groups/PA's/Jobs And/Or Spying.
if you wish to role play your character in more than one group, for example, your character may be a member of the local police force, but may also wish to be part of a criminal gang... or in a criminal gang but wants a job at the medcentre... You must ask the leaders of the groups you are wanting to be part of for permission to do this.

In cases of spying, most leaders and groups will have a rule that they must be aware of what is going on, a spy can seriously damage a group and guild, icly and oocly due to the effect of what is known or leaked, it is good etiquette and advised that you speak to the leader the group you wish to spy on before starting, they may refuse you entry or wish to lay a condition, such as if you are caught that you will face death.

[/ QUOTE ]

Also, whilst I can see the sense in having a small number of refs have veto on all plots, I'd have to ask how they will be selected, what steps would be taken to ensure they were unbiased, and what they could do if they were ignored by particular players (remembering that they are just normal players and have no powers).

The European Villainous Immorality League (EVIL)

EVIL's contact list needs to be updated. Our current contact list is:<ul type="square">[*]Whirlmeister[*]Echo Hammer[*]Big Lunk[*]Dark Impetus[*]Screaming Skull[/list]
All of course on Union.

Also, as a rolepalying group you may want to add yourselves to the roleplaying groups list here.

Another roleplaying Villain SG? I think that brings us to four, or four active ones at least.

If you are interested, EVIL (European Villains Immorality Laegue) would be interested in forming a Coalition, which would make it easier for you to find other roleplayers.

Contact Whirlmeister, Big Lunk, Echo Hammer or Dark Impetus in game (preferably in character) and explain that Whirlmeister has offered you a tour of the facilities with a view to a possible future alliance.

I think I've found at why. The ability to form Hero/Villain Coalitions was removed in the patch which hit US Servers on 16th Nov 2005 as detailed here: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showf...umber=4136632.

That would make it the patch that hit European Servers on the 17th. It was never mentioned in the Patch notes for the patch but there are several references to the ability vanishing with that patch on the US forums.

From the sounds of it existing coalitions remain untouched, so if you formed your coalition before Mid November, well done - don't break it up since you'll never be able to reform it.

It looks like the only way for a hero to visit a Villain's base (or vice versa) is a raid.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Heroes and villains can form coalitions AND you can enter your coalition members' bases

[/ QUOTE ]

i have accually done this, it works very simaply, might be a bug, but for now there is nothing stopping you.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can I ask how?

/ci &lt;Hero Name&gt;
results in You Cannot form an alliance with an enemy

/ci @&lt;Global Hanlde&gt;
results in You Cannot form an alliance with an enemy

Meeting face-to -face (in a PvP zone), right clicking on them and choosing Coalition results in You Cannot form an alliance with an enemy

What am I missing?

I'm looking for Union Roleplaying Supergroup willing to run a cross-over (Heroes and Villains) plot line.

They'll need to have a Raid Teleporter and between 1 and 4 dimensional anchors since the only ways Heroes and Villains can currently meet are either in the PvP zones or during a base Raid. To avoid griefers ending our meetings prematurely Instant raids have got to be the way to go.

If you are interested please contact me (@Nekomimi) or one of the EVIL Officers (@Big Lunk or @Hammer) in game.

I'll obviously need to meet to discus the plot and work out the details, but I'm hoping for a plot which could involve all members of both groups to some degree. It will probably start with a small group of Villains wanting to meet to bring "vital" information to the hero group - information they say will prove vital to Paragon Cities future.

[ QUOTE ]
Are you sure that the bug will "delete" them? I read that info so that the items in question become destructible like in big IoP raid, while they shouldn't be in case of instant raid?

[/ QUOTE ]

No - its really destroying them. People were loosing Beacons who haven't even been involved in PvP. The only consistent factors are: The have 5 or more anchors and they are in the base editor when the reclaimator or Beacons vanish.

From the US Forums (although I cant remember who said it - I cut and pasted it into a note for my own reference
[ QUOTE ]
To attack a base in an instant raid, all you need is a functional raid tper.

To be attacked in an instant raid, all you need is 1 dimensional anchors.

To pick up the IOP trail and participate in REAL base raids (not instant ones), you need 6 anchors, a vault, and a functional raid tper.

[/ QUOTE ]
However the following bug still exists
[ QUOTE ]
CuppaJoAdministrator
CoH Online Community Rep
Re: Unfortunate response regarding bug [Re: Darrien]
#4500925 - 01/10/06 12:53 PM

Just added to known issues -

Bases with more than four (4) Dimensional anchors may have their reclaimators and teleport beacon items destroyed. We advise Base Architects to not place more than 4 Dimensional anchors in a base at this time. We have a fix for this issue and it will be coming in a patch soon.

(it is fixed on Test)

[/ QUOTE ]

So if you want to get involved in Instant raids get atleast 1 anchor, but less than 5. If you want to get involved in an IoP raid sell your Beacons and Reclimator first (or the bug will delete them for you and you wont get prestige for them) and make sure you are down to 4 anchors before you buy them back. Also at least one person on the US forums has reported that this bug affects IoPs too!

[ QUOTE ]
What is the boost of Assualt from the leadership pool on a Corrupter? is it negligible like a Blaster? or Useful like a Defender?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't believe its ever negligible - since it affects all attacks and those of your teammates however the numbers are:

Defender 18.75%
Controller, Corruptor , Peacebringer, Warshade, 15%
Mastermind 12%
Blaster, Scrapper, Tanker, Brute, Stalker, Dominator 10.5%

as far as I know.

Carnifax,

I'd be interested to know how your Dark/Kin build is going since I'm also playing one - he's now my favourite alt and may end up taking over as my main. I've found Dark Pit to be almost useless, but Tenebrous Tentacles have been an absolute godsend. The combination of immobilisation and accuracy debuff allows you to get a little range and pick away at mobs. Just enough range so they can’t melee hit you but you can still transfusion them is perfect.

Also, with a little care about timing Moonbeam is a viable attack within combat. You just have to remember never use if against anything in melee range, and always use it just after they attack so it doesn’t get interrupted. Against 3 or more opponents though its useless, so you just have to thin the numbers. Tentacles are good for this again. You just immobilise some and back around a corner, effectively reducing numbers.

This character is a very safe although slow soloer. There is no way he'll ever match the speed of my Brute or Mastermind, but he's a lot of fun to play. More important he's a brilliant team character. Speed Boost and heals make him highly desirable. He's also one of the most versatile characters I've ever played with high ranged damage, good heals, immobilisations that feel like holds, buffs and debuffs it sometimes feels like he can do anything.

I am just coming up to the point where I am thinking about respecing and the most likely respec looks like:

---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.5.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: Dark Impetus
Level: 40
Archetype: Corruptor
Primary: Dark Blast
Secondary: Kinetics
---------------------------------------------
01) Gloom -Acc(1), Dmg(11), Dmg(19), Dmg(23), Acc(34)
01) Transfusion -Acc(1), Acc(7), Heal(9), Heal(9), Heal(11), Rechg(13)
02) Moonbeam -Acc(2), Acc(3), Dmg(3), Dmg(5), Dmg(5), IntRdx(7)
04) Siphon Power -Acc(4), Acc(29)
06) Hover -EndRdx(6)
08) Tenebrous Tentacles -Acc(8), Acc(13), Immob(15), Immob(27), TH_DeBuf(27), TH_DeBuf(31)
10) Aid Other -Heal(10), Heal(17), Rechg(21), IntRdx(23)
12) Dark Blast -Acc(12), Dmg(17)
14) Fly -Fly(14), Fly(15), EndRdx(19), Fly(31)
16) Increase Density -DmgRes(16)
18) Aid Self -Heal(18)
20) Speed Boost -EndRdx(20), EndMod(21), EndMod(25), EndMod(40)
22) Resuscitate -Rechg(22), Rechg(25)
24) Recall Friend -EndRdx(24)
26) Life Drain -Acc(29), Heal(37), Heal(40)
28) Inertial Reduction -EndRdx(28)
30) Torrent -Acc(30), Acc(31)
32) Blackstar -Acc(32), Acc(33), Dmg(33), Dmg(33), Dmg(34), TH_DeBuf(34)
35) Transference -Acc(35), Acc(36), Rechg(36), EndMod(36), EndMod(37), Rechg(37)
38) Fulcrum Shift -Acc(38), Acc(39), Rechg(39), Rechg(39), Rechg(40)
---------------------------------------------
01) Sprint -EndRdx(1)
01) Brawl -Acc(1)
01) Scourge -Empty(1)
02) Rest -Rechg(2)
---------------------------------------------

I'd go for the Bonesaw club (a.k.a. the Moneky Fight club) in Sharkshead. Its easier to get to. The place is full of atmosphere, and you are less likely to get lost in it.

If you havent been inside this place go through the door with the painted monkey near the NAtural Store in Sharkshead.

[ QUOTE ]
What about a villain one based on the 7 deadly sins?
Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, Sloth

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sure lots of people want Villains themed on Gluttony and Sloth. I think you may find Lust would be a real pain to team with too, especially for characters of the opposite sex.

I think your real issue is that there are too few Roleplayers and they all have ideas for their characters already.

[ QUOTE ]
see here http://uk.boards.cityofvillains.com/...art=1&amp;vc=1

[/ QUOTE ]

I wish I had a character on Defiant... Oh well, time to start leveling like crazy. 15 here I come.

This has got to be one of the silliest ideas I've ever come up with, since we will never get it to work, but I feel we should try. How would people feel about a general cease-fire in Bloody Bay on Christmas Day. As its the season of good will maybe for once we can get to meet civily, without all the death and destruction. I'd be interested to meet those heroes who always seem to be blasting me from on high, and I'm sure they'd be facinated to meet us too.

We'll all need to turn hero/villain chat on in options so we can hear each other.

I can tell you now, I'd be happy to put down my sword for just one day, and share an eggnog or mince pie, although on Boxing Day (St. Stephen's Day) all bets are off and it will be war again.

Cheers,

Whirlmeister
Director of EVIL

Sure. Happy to...if you can get them in game we'd even be happy to show them a typic day at EVIL, a tour of the Superbase and a chance to meet the team.

[ QUOTE ]
Looking to do today if anyone up for it. Looking for a four man team.

[/ QUOTE ]

What time? 11pm as last time or a different time?
Is this GMT, CET or something else?

I might be interested in doin it with Whirlmeister depending on the time.

[ QUOTE ]
Sounds like a great idea for a badge set- after earning 100K prestige for say 3 SGs, 10 and 50

[/ QUOTE ]

The whole idea of someone whos been in 50 Supergroups is scary. What do we call the badge? How about Easy, Loose, Liberal, Capricious or wanton?