Nomme

So...yeah. Due to our recent move (like, Thanksgiving day recent for the truck unload) - my box of Christmas cards (seriously, a box with like 10 boxes of cards in it)...vanished. I've been looking for em, finally broke down and got another box of cards to send, but as it is the 20th...ours might be a smidge late. Sorry about that.

GA's card, well, I couldn't resist opening it immediately, only a bit of mild discomfort, I think I'm building up a tolerance...

As others have said - I also check "remember me" when I log in EVERY TIME. And every single time I close my browser (even if I reopen it ten seconds later) I'm logged out of the forums again.

It is getting annoying when I check the latest posts on a subscribed thread - if I forget to sign in, no more emails for me until I sign in again so it'll send me updates again. This means on occasion I miss several days worth of posts getting emailed/updated on a thread.

But yes - every time I close Chrome (or IE when I've tried to see if it is browser specific), must log in again on the forums next time. When I leave the browser open, I stay logged in (but not sure how long because I loathe leaving my browser open any longer than necessary)

I also can say that yes, people DO go to cons they wouldn't otherwise go to for these codes. One thing I've been thankful about this last year or so is the Meet n Greet format that doesn't require a con badge but still gives people a chance to get a code - that alone has saved me PAX membership and would have saved me SDCC membership this year if not for opting out of going to San Diego at all due to a sick kitty this year. To clarify that, I would have paid the additional travel costs to go, despite not wishing to even attend the con (I can't handle the crowds as large as the crowds at SDCC, but would have traveled with my husband to San Diego to attend the meet n greet without visiting the con at all). And one year I did actually go to SDCC, and two years for PAX, for no specific reason other than the costume codes. Sure, I browsed the rest of the con and got other goodies while there, but the decision to go at all rested 100% on the CoH costume codes (that I almost never use - but darn it, I have them ALL and I'm going to find a way to keep getting them all because of my OCD completionist or collection-ist nature).

At the last Herocon, prior codes were available for $20 (and even then, not all of the previously released codes) - a friend of ours had just paid over $125 the previous week to buy a code they were missing (and yes, that code was offered for $20 from the Herocon 'store'). So people are willing to pay $6 for these - it's less than 1/3rd of the last known Paragon or NCSoft value given to these (the $20/code asking price at Herocon). I for one was shocked they weren't asking more for these than they are for some of the non-exclusive codes in the store - some of the halloween ones going for 800pts and they haven't ever been deemed "exclusive" just time limited to the Halloween event but free to anyone during that time if you ToT and get it.

Personally - I'm less willing to buy these at all because part of the fun for /me/ is the card they are printed on. I want the cards to go with the codes - so a $6 digital purchase isn't going to work for me. I would buy previous codes at Meet N Greets if reps sold previous codes with the cards for up to ~$10 and possibly as much as $20 but so far I've been lucky and have all the codes and cards thusfar released at con exclusives. I'm still bummed that I don't have a card for the Coralax costume (for example) as it was only available by "snag it first" methods and never at a con that I know of.

But yeah...I have spent the money and braved the crowds of several cons just because of these "carrots". I might have opted to go to the con for other reasons were it not for my issues with most cons due to too many people in too little space. The two Herocons I attended seemed to be just about right for me. But I braved those cons and my crowd anxiety to get those codes (and yes, enjoyed myself somewhat checking everything else out - but wouldn't have made the choice to go based on the 'maybe I'll find something interesting to look at' other than those codes).

I got my tokens yesterday, as did my husband - so 5 accounts all with varied vet amounts and billing dates/old vet dates.

For what it is worth - I used this explanation yesterday to explain what I /think/ is the deal based on all the info I've gotten here and in my tickets with support. It is fairly simplified and doesn't cover all the possibles, but it's a starting point for trying to figure this whole thing out.

Timeline looks like this:
Sept 13th: Old vet system was retired, old badges converted to the new system and tokens granted based on the conversion of 1 token per old vet badge you had already recieved, 1 per full year paid, 1 per account, and one extra if you'd ever applied a retail box code.

Between Sept 13 and 27th (or 28th - this date is a touch unclear to me): No vet time accrued and no tokens granted - since no veteran system was in place.

Sept 27th (or 28th): Freedom officially launched and the new reward system begins counting veteran time as of that day.

Sept 27th (or 28th) through Oct 27th/28th: no one gets a token or badge for vet time due to no one having accrued a full month of paid time that the new system is aware of yet.

Oct 27th or 28th: the system will have been in place and counting time for one month - IF your account didn't lapse at all between Sept 27th and Oct 27th - you should be seen by the system as being at the one month mark and get a token. AKA - everyone without a lapse gets a new veteran reward date of Oct 27th/28th until and unless they lapse, in which case the date gets pushed back by however many days/weeks/months they are lapsed for.
--

So, in a way, we are getting a grant date that is the same for everyone - as long as no one lapses. But it is even more confusing when we keep hearing from support that the vet tokens follow the same schedule as the old veteran system.

Why can't the new vet system understand things the way the old system did when it was implemented? Sure, there were bugs then with people getting all their past paid time converted to vet rewards - but it was proven once that our past paid time would count in a new system after all - CoH didn't launch with veteran rewards, so many of us have been through implementation of a new veteran system and likely assumed this new system would be implemented in such a way as to count all our paid time - not just time since the new system went into place - so why exactly does the new system not take into account all our paid time and instead have its own accounting of vet/paid time starting from the official release of Freedom and not counting the fact that if we were in the headstart WE HAD PAID FOR SUBSCRIPTION TIME that should have counted for vet rewards? Most of us complaining about no token here haven't had a lapse in payment, we paid for that time and now we're not getting vet rewards for that time?

I get that assumptions are bad, but no one ever said to us that we wouldn't get vet time accrued between our last pre-Sept 13th veteran badge and the official launch for Freedom that let free players in. For some people, they were a single day away from getting their next 3 month badge, or their next annual badge on Sept 14th - with the system counting fresh from launch of the new system, does that mean no one gets their next annual badge until Oct 28th, 2012 at the earliest? Since no one will have 1 year of paid time in the new veteran system until then? If that is the case, I know a number of people who will be extremely unhappy. I was two weeks away from my next 3 month vet badge when the headstart began, I will be nearly a month overdue in getting that badge/token by the time Oct 28th rolls around and I'm steamed enough about that - I can't imagine losing out on a yearly token too simply because CoH Freedom launched a few days/weeks earlier than someone would have gotten that accrued in the old system and thus effectively get screwed out of that token for a year as a result.

If support is telling us the right info and the new system counts things entirely based on time since Freedom's official free player launch - then there's a BIG issue here with most of us who had time accrued towards another year, or another three month badge in the old system. We won't even get into the 'paid upfront when we pay for a month' vs 'paid after we've played out the paid month' difference - others have stated what I would on that front already.

I am now livid. I've been getting angrier and angrier, but now I'm beyond that into livid. If I weren't in the middle of a 6 month billing stint I think this would drive me off the game or at least down to a free account - the main reason I stay actively paid has entirely to do with the incarnate system and it is getting to be not enough to be worth this headache.

I just got a reply on my ticket. Let me refresh you a little...

Billing date: 5th of each month (and has been for years)
Veteran date: 1st of each month (and has been for quite some time as well - for two accounts - both in sync for everything except vet reward was exactly one month 'off')

One acct got the 81 month badge under the old system on Sept 1, the other was scheduled for Oct 1. This was a date I tracked carefully because under the old system I wanted that 81 month reward, so I was counting the days until I got it.

at launch I got:
older acct:
81 months (awarded 9/1/2011)
81/12 = 6
81/3 = 27
1 account
1 box edition
35

newer acct:
78 Months (awarded 7/1/2011 - 81 month would have awarded on 10/1/2011)
78/12 = 6
78/3 = 26
1 acct
1 box
34

That was exactly what I expected and was granted on headstart day Sept 13th. CS just told me I won't get another token until Oct 28th now? Unless I impossibly lapsed during the month at all in which case my token would grant approx a month later? A MONTH later than I should with no lapse, two months later if you lapsed? This is ridiculous - how did I suddenly lose a month of vet time?

I agree with the outrage: 1st we were told all multi-month subscriptions would get all tokens given when we paid the bill for those months, then told the tokens would dole out one per month but hopefully a way would be figured out to eventually grant them upfront, now we switch to skipping an entire month of rewards? I'd have just about rather stuck with the old system - at least it was semi-reliable and established.

You know, I've spelled it out a minimum of 4 different ways in my tickets (one for each account - one they keep marking as duplicate despite the notes saying "different account, tracked separately just on the same support account").

I'm also getting fed up with this. The old vet system and the new one should NOT track any differently. Paid time is paid time is paid time. If I was scheduled to get my 81 month badge/reward on Oct 1 for one of my accounts - I should have gotten a token on Oct 1 - regardless of the switch to the new token system. But neither account (one got the 81 month badge Sept 1) has gotten a token since Freedom launched.

If the old system paid the vet badge upfront (when starting a paid month) and the new one pays out the badge and token at the end of a paid month - then we still have an issue because some folks have gotten their tokens at the end of Sept as expected in line with the old veteran reward dates.

I think that is at least part of the outrage here. Support is repeatedly telling us some variant of "working as intended" when CLEARLY it isn't. Either some types of paid time aren't counting but used to count for veteran time - in which case WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT THOSE ARE or they need to be counted again so as to fix this issue. Or there is a bug in the system and we all should have gotten our tokens on the dates we expected them (and for the love of Pete, YES, I get it, that date is NOT my billing date, but I know my veteran date - billing date of the 5th, veteran date of the 1st that's how it has been for me for YEARS). Either way - or even due to something beyond the two suggestions I have for why this isn't working - this is not working- as intended, as explained, or as expected by even long time vets who know the difference between veteran dates and billing dates.

And until some kind of purchase history is in place in the Paragon Market, I'm not willing to buy much of anything there, so I'm not about to buy more points so as to get tokens that way because I'm not spending points in a system that is so impossible to navigate, to tell what we've bought in the past, and expensive. So - that avenue of gaining the last token I need for Celestial Armor isn't open to me. I bought points so I'd be able to get my 3rd token to use on Celestial Armor - figuring it was only a few more days to wait until it was granted by the vet system...WRONG. But at this point, I'm not going to buy points to get something I should be getting as a paid subscriber (vet token)

I get why the transfer tokens, points, and reward tokens don't grant on the same days. Really, I do. But two things - support needs to get a grip on what is going on and accept the fact that there sure does seem to be a bug in the system - and we as players need a way to view what that veteran date is again. If we can't view that date, then Support had better get off this "we can't give that info to you" kick - because that right there is the wrong attitude for support to have when this many people are frustrated after not getting their tokens on expected dates or at all in over a month.

Even if my veteran date had been the 13th - with no lapse in payment (impossible to lapse in the middle of a 6 month billing cycle after all) - I would have expected my next token on the 13th. Freedom hasn't been "active about a month" - it has been over one month with many of us not seeing a token (either on expected dates or at the end of the first 30 days of Freedom) - THIS IS A PROBLEM that canned "wait for it, it should arrive soon" responses aren't fixing.

My last veteran dates where I got what was expected were 6 weeks ago - this is a problem that needs looking into more than billing is apparently willing to.

And count me in as well to those saying - Got points...no token since headstart granted us all our current tokens.

Insult to "injury" - today support marked my ticket 'waiting' and communicated to say that my ticket was resolved. They checked my account today after their resolution was complete yesterday and my points show as being on my account now.

Now, my ticket CLEARLY and repeatedly stated that I understood the Paragon Points stipends would be late and that this was about Paragon TOKENS for the new Veteran system. I wanted it crystal clear that my ticket was not about the points issue. I spelled out my tokens granted at headstart, my NCSoft and game account IDs, the tokens I'd gotten through purchases (all to show that I have 36 tokens on each of two accounts and how I got them all - to show that I wasn't granted any extras at headstart nor have I been granted any since headstart), I spelled out my billing date vs my old Veteran date.

So... not that it has been a month since we were switched to this token system for vet rewards and I haven't gotten a token on either of my two accounts - and it is now 12 days after I should have gotten my tokens. What's the bug there Z? Can you go to bat for us about tokens as well please? Because based on what I'm seeing here - there's still a pretty big issue with tokens.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to have my points stipend, but I really want the token per acct so I can get all three Celestial set packs (I'm waiting for any of them until I have 3 tokens to spend - I've been sitting on two tokens per acct since just after headstart and counting the days until the tokens I should have seen on the 1st.)

I did update my ticket to say "Nope, not fixed, please READ my ticket?" and still more details. I am trying to be nice and not bite when I talk to support, but this is getting annoying. Under the old vet system I'd have gotten my 81 month badge on Oct 1 - since I'd been eagerly counting down to Return to Battle under that system (and yes, I have it already in this system, but my point still remains that I'm owed a token, and I want it) I was watching the account page for when it should grant - I know my veteran date which makes all this doubly annoying.

I still have questions then.

The points thing, fine, I'm good, I get it.

Tokens though... 2 accounts (both with the same billing and veteran dates in the past - they have one month difference of paid time, but it is /exactly/ one month off, so one account always should be one ahead on tokens/vet status based on the old system), both got a server transfer token on October 1st but nothing else (no token, no PPs)

My billing date is the 5th of each month - BUT - I'm on a 6 month plan, paid in July and February. My veteran reward date has been on the 1st of the month for "ages" now - I'd checked before head start and I should have gotten my next vet badge under the old system on Oct 1st according to that system - so I assumed that would be the date I'd get my reward tokens. I saw the grants of the server transfers on both accounts, but no change to vet tokens, and even now, no change in the number despite my billing date being today.

My veteran date should not have changed with the changes the headstart and i21 brought, so I should have gotten my token on the 1st for both accts...neither got a token. The points should have granted today (but as stated, I understand I will not get them until the 11th this month - back to billing date next month?)

When precisely should server transfers be awarded? Billing date, first of each month, or veteran date? That might help clear some things up as well.

Anyway, I have two tickets in (one for each account - though they are both under the same support account, so I'm hoping both accts get checked out and not just one and the other closed as a presumed duplicate) but wanted to mention that I /know/ my veteran date and did not get my tokens as expected on the 1st of October.

What a mess...

Argh! I've been looking forward to the /ah command specifically to check prices of stuff stored in my base so I can figure out what is worthwhile to clear out without having to pull out everything and leave my base a zillion times to check prices. I mean, at least all I have to do is exit my base and check it just outside the base portal, but yeah...that just made the /ah command *far* less useful to me - redside it isn't that far to go from the base portal to the CaD market, blueside it isn't that far between base portal and markets in some zones.

Please rethink this? Is there any way to put the bases on different instance servers than the mission instances to make it less impacting on missions while still allowing access from bases? I can live without it in missions if I have to, but not allowing it from bases just seems to kill one of the most useful areas to use it (in my opinion of course).

Again though - I do understand the performance hit consideration and I appreciate you trying to make missions smoother, I just wish bases weren't caught in the mission/instance sweep.

Here's one I'm trying to track down, but having issues finding if it is known or not (and yes, I'm bugging it ingame too)...

I know there was something about being unable to remove + and ++ enhancements from base storage and I believe they reported it was resolved - however, you can no longer keep the pluses intact and give/trade/sell those to another player. Before, if you traded using /trade or put them on the market, yes, they would lose the + and ++, but would could right-click and gift to selected player - that isn't the case anymore? I get a warning at least saying that the enh will lose the upgrades. This is really rotten given that I have several toons in different SGs and have + and ++ Hami O's in those bases - and I often need to give them from one toon in one base to a toon I have in another SG.

Additionally - when looking in base storage bins - the Christmas event "present" insps are showing up with a fast flashing/changing quantity count (the number on hand seems like it is flashing through different numbers) - I get the same flicker on some + and ++ enhancements as well, but so far haven't noticed this phenomenon elsewhere...yet.


Something else I noticed that I don't recall seeing a patch note for (though it very well might have been there) base enhancement storage bins appear to be alphabetizing things now. I was trying to put my HOs in order like usual and noticed that I was unable to put them in order: Centriole, Synth Centriole, Cytoplasm, Synth Cyto and so on - instead the Synth ones are all grouped in alpha order as are the non-synth ones. I'm generally okay with this, but personally I prefer to keep the synth and non-synth ones together - otherwise alpha-order is far better than "shove new stuff at the end if there isn't a stack already". So - yay and sadface all in one

Ah, I hadn't seen anything posted about it from anyone in dev digest or community digest - I probably just overlooked it. At the very least, they should at least make sure all rednames are properly red now (since I've noticed at least two who aren't...)


Edited to add: derp - found it. I didn't realise there were quite so many community digest posts yesterday...whoops. Now going through the rest of the posts I missed by not noticing that.

Why are the "new forums" showing all our names in orange? Including some previously red names (Noble Savage and Second Measure I believe are two I noticed).

I would really rather not have an "orange name" (unless I were to become employed with PS or NCSoft, in which case I'd be perfectly okay with it ).

Additionally - where would someone put feedback/questions about new features in I21 now that the beta is over and we probably shouldn't post feedback there? The new blinding white login screen and zoning "pre-zone-specific" load screens are causing some serious eyestrain and "seeing spots" and 'migraine with aura' precursors for me - guess I should have tested zoning in beta a lot more than testing market stuff and running through single zones at a time... Any chance of getting some alternate 'uiskin' options again for those of us who need a bit of darker color instead of the blinding white?

Please please please - I desperately need something other than the new login screen - can anyone PM me how to change it and a texture file or tell me how I can make the blinding white go away every time I begin the process of zoning? (The part before the zone's loading screen that is.)

The blinding white obliterates my ability to see and at elast today when trying to play for a few hours has given me "migraine aura" flashes - meaning I likely can no longer play for more than an hour or two unless I don't zone /at all/ without fear of a 'go directly to bed and watch the pretty lights strobe/flash inside my own eyelids/head until the aura fades and I'm left with a head-splitting migraine with nausea...

I thought I'd love the GR login/load screens all pretty and gold, they ended up too bright for me too, but at least that time I was able to remove the uiskin command from my launch path and set it back to CoV or CoH coloring. Now we're left with just this blinding white expanse - and seriously - when I look at a very bright white screen on my computer I'm almost always left seeing "spots" in my vision until my eyes readjust, but this is worse somehow...perhaps because you can't really ever adjust to the white as it generally goes away quickly when zoning?

I pretty much had to read the updated EULA elsewhere, I simply cannot look at the EULA on that white background long enough to read it all. (I'm not sure if it works, but on websites that have a white background, I generally have to select all the text so I can read them, didn't try that on the EULA, but there is too much white surrounding it I think for that trick to have entirely helped).

So please, if there is any way to fix the login and/or loading screen that comes up before the zone specific load screen - for the love of Pete please reply here or PM me and help me restore my sanity and my less-strained eyesight.

Yes. It works just like walk - with a higher-than-fly speed, but since the dealbreaker on ever getting these from Paragon in the past was redoing *all* the animations for emotes, attacks, movement, and all that to account for hovering in mid-air with your feet "glued" to the board (too much time would have to be invested to re-do animations to implement another travel power that would work and look good with every other power/movement/emote in the game as to be too prohibitive...until the idea to "treat it like walk and detoggle everything" so you only have the movement animation and standing/hovering still to account for on each character model). So, as a compromise, they gave us a pseudo travel power - faster than fly, but you can't fight using it, it is a travel-only type.

I'm not fond of the appearance of the rocket board myself, but if they can "re-skin" it with something I'd rather hover along on instead...I'll accept the detoggle limitation for nifty and quick movement (I love fly but it is just too slow to remain "cool" - I wanted *fast* flight darn it)

A purchase history also comes in very handy when you go "I thought I had more points than that...where did they go?" and keeping it within the customer's control and purview to go LOOK at the history to say, "Oh, right, forgot I had to pay for that one...yup, points should be gone" vs "What? I didn't buy that? I bought this other thing for way less points." or even "My points have all vanished - I didn't even log in that week! *contact's support to see if it is a bug or if their account was hacked*"

This is a lot more than that though - if I buy something from an online retailer, I find VERY few cases where I don't have the ability to log back into their site to see my purchase history. Be it for warranty (not needed here, granted), customer satisfaction claims, budgeting, or just wondering when the heck I got that product because I want to know.

In this case in particular though, if I have 1000pts, impulse buys (especially with people who aren't used to budgeting in this fashion with "now-digital-non-tangible-funds") will happen a LOT and it is helpful to be able to tally up that yes, you really did spend that many points all on costumes this month/week when you are just SURE you should have more points left than you really do. To a lot of people, once they spend the "real money" the points they bought with that money may not seem like something you need to budget, but I can tell you for a fact that some of us WILL want to see where the heck all those points went due to impulse buying of lots of little things for a few points here and there.

In my experience, I remember when and where I spent 50 or 100 or more real dollars...but I would be very hard pressed to say how exactly I spent 400 points. Unless you want the customer support queue filled up with "where did my points go" questions blocking out more urgent in-game petitions, really, a purchase history is needed.

I hadn't even dreamed that there wouldn't be one at launch - I'm extremely wary of spending money on points if I can't look at a purchase history/log to see where those points went.