Obsidius

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I am seriously wierded out right now. Catching up on this thread I saw Foo summon Statesman! He summoned him like he was a primordial wizard or something. The powers of The Foo I knew were many, but scorcery and the magical arts? Whooo, those are new to me..


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Yeah I noticed that too. Quite impressive! Foo's fu is VERY strong.

You go, Foo!

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I'm composed of 98% pure awesome. The other 2% is humility.

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It's called disabling the "Mark as Edited" feature

Here comes Foo, weeeeee!

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*Notices a sudden gush of wind whipping the trees about outside her window when she mentions the name, Foo.*

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Must be all the hot air escaping

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In the meantime, we've had massive staff cutbacks. A shame, that coincidence.

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Source?

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here .


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That's NCSoft, they don't make the game. Cryptic makes the game.

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Amazing how after all this time this still isn't clear to people.

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In any case, the updates have slowed dramatically, which was the point actually. Whatever caused the slowdown, we may not know. But it is true that there was a major cutback in NCSoft personel, and the end user never knows all the unsavory things that go on behind closed doors, and the company always spins things positively regardless of the truth.(any company, not just this one) Cuts at NCsoft? No cuts at Cryptic at all? (Where's Geko, for example? I remember this being asked before, I think the answer was he's on another NCSoft game)

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Geko went got a different job somewhere else (not within NCSoft). There's turn over in any company. People come and people go. And just because the new people choose not to be active on the boards does not mean they don't exist.

Also, the reason for the slower updates is apparent when you look at the size of the updates compared to what has been released in the passed. They're bigger because it's more efficient to release bigger updates. Meaning, the 3 updates per year will have more content then if they did it with 3 updates. Also, the content that you get now is "harder" to produce then content before. We're getting more and more features that were not handled by the game engine. Where as before, it was all low hanging fruit.

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Not to make a quote pyramid, but this is QFT. Couldn't have stated it better myself.

Many happy returns Arctic_Sun Happy birthday!

I guess breakage of immersion is dependant upon the player. For me, the biggest thing that breaks my immersion are bad names (fictitious example: Ult1mAteBlastr3) and clone characters (oh look, another Superman clone). Sometimes these are one in the same, depending on the name and avatar.

Seeing BananaMan slide down the street whiping out crime? Eh, I've seen worse, like a mothman who keeps getting mistaken for a rabbit

As far as:

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Heroes are good guys. Having them hang out with demons from Hell is a very powerful strain on my immersion. I can make it fit if I scrunch up my forehead real hard and puzzle it out, but wouldn't it be better if it just fit, right out of the box?

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There are comic references for heroes (or antiheroes) conniving with the underworld (Spawn is the first that comes to mind). Dark melee, dark defenders, heroes that use lethal weapons - are these also concepts that break immersion? Just depends on one's point of view I suppose. OTOH, there are comic book references for such heroes.

But if all else fails, you are correct that the basic "wizardry" explanation _Castle_ delivers is enough for players who may not be as imaginative as others, or who are just bad at making backstories, etc. It's the "easy out", so to speak - it delivers the most basic way to explain why it is what it is, which obviously will work for a lot of players.

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Obsidius wrote:

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Yeah, but you can't really blame Cryptic for a player's lack of creativity.

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The American court system proves otherwise. Many users have sued manufacturers/providers for reasons arguably out of their control. And have won.

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This from the same court system that ruled in favor of that lady for spilling hot McD's coffee on her own lap
(looks around for the rolled-eyes emoticon)

The American court system is the perfect measuring stick for the LCD (Lowest Common Denominator).

But I digress. Pets! More discussion!

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So... you want itty bitty lawyers following you around?

Sounds nuts but hey, whatever floats yer boat.

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LMAO - mini-lawyers, the most vile, evil pet!
5 stars

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Obsidius wrote:

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Yeah, but you can't really blame Cryptic for a player's lack of creativity.

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The American court system proves otherwise. Many users have sued manufacturers/providers for reasons arguably out of their control. And have won.

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This from the same court system that ruled in favor of that lady for spilling hot McD's coffee on her own lap
(looks around for the rolled-eyes emoticon)

The American court system is the perfect measuring stick for the LCD (Lowest Common Denominator).

But I digress. Pets! More discussion!

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Really, to make another generalization, I don't see most people really going the extra mile to make a cool rationalization like any of yours. What we are going to see are hundreds of superheroes running around with demons fluttering along behind them for no reason other than that they look kinda cool. Can we rationalize it if we really apply ourselves? Probably. But the fact is, taken at face value, these pets do not make sense and are immersion breaking.

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Yeah, but you can't really blame Cryptic for a player's lack of creativity. However,

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But right now the pets all look evil. That ain't variety in my book.

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I do agree to an extent. However, heroes like to collect war trophies as well; I think these pets are an extension of that.

I will agree that we need more variety though. Perhaps a small Cataphract robot, miniature police drone, a cherub, mini-catgirl, etc. Enemy pets are nice, but some ally-centic pets would be nice as well.

Perhaps we'll see more pet variety before or after I9, which should be around the time we'll start seeing many long-time vets start having pets (myself included).

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A demon? Are you kidding me? Um, that's about as pure a symbol of evil as you can get. I don't care whether it's unintelligent. You can't "domesticate" demons to be cuddly and nice. They are supernatural manifestations of evil, period.

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I'm going to RP my demon pet as a homunculus. Obsidius is a gargoyle (a construct as far is his story goes), so the homunculus is just a smaller construct that follows him around aimlessly.
Really, one can RP pets any way they want. This is an MMORPG, right? Why not leave the pet's origin to the player's creativity?

Perhaps a psychic hero found a way to mimic the Clockwork King's abilities in a limit capacity, thus animating a cog pet?

Perhaps a tech hero found an abandoned 5th Column robot, which he salvaged to follow him around to take PR shots with a built-in camera?

Perhaps a deranged scientific villain is studying rehabilitation of Red Caps through electroshock therapy?

I honestly don't think you're giving the players enough credit through creative license ICF_Zombra. If one were to keep a polarized view about what kind of pets heroes should and shouldn't have based solely upon secular storyline content, there would be little to no variety in pet options, IMHO.

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I like Flight, simply because it is the lowest Maintenance. Click the toggle, press auto-run and go AFK for a few minutes or chat with my SG.

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I'm sorry, but is this a sick joke? Seriously, are you listing this as a positive? I mean, anyone can slow down if they want to. I could stand around and chat, then sj, tp, or ss to my destination.

That's like saying "I like fire armor because it really let's me appreciate the newer ragdoll effects and I notice all those wonderful psi attacks".

Doesn't this seem off to anyone else?

You want people to like fly? Add in some epic feeling aerial combat. Give hover a resist to -fly. Make having true, unrestricted 3d movement actually mean something.

Other than GV, which used to require me to use my flight temp powers for easy navigation, there's never been a reason or a place where fly would have been more useful than sj or tp. Now w/ the GvE jump pack, I will only ever take fly if I'm tight on powers but want air sup (since it's such a great attack).

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No, it's not a joke. You clearly don't like fly and don't use it. I know myself and a number of my friends who have fliers really appreciate this aspect of it - it's safe and lets us relax between doing our herowork.

Don't blow stuff all out of proportion. Castle is posting here in his capacity as a player, to a fun thread; not as a dev, propagandizing.

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QFT

To Biostem - Lighten up Francis.

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I want to stess this:

We are NOT working on a Greek mythology game. Or an ancient history game. Just want to kill that rumour!

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Poor States. Even after stating previously that there are no Greek mythology MMOs in the works, people still don't believe him

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The non-sequitur and, in fact, the violation of Godwin's Law, is yours. I specifically stated at the start of my post that I refer to Fascism specifically in the context of politcal ideaology. I did not refer to Hitler, Nazis, or the 5th Column for that matter. You, on the other hand, were the first to mention Nazis and/or Hitler simply by linking to the Godwin's law reference.

So there!

Cryosteel

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I don't think your analogy holds water. But I don't feel like typing out a rebuttal, so I'll defer to Clintonian's rebuttal, since he elaborated on a point I was trying to make with one sentence. Clintonian probably says it better than I could anyhow Call me lazy.

Edit: sp

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Let’s look at one last definition:

Fascism - a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts the nation (or the SG) above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation.

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Let's not go non-sequitur by inferring Godwin's Law please.

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It's the cost of the functional aspects of bases people [censored] about.

Few people care about the aesthetics of bases. It's just not obviously an expression of one's self, especially if it's been designed by 20+ people, or by someone else. That's the crucial difference between costumes and bases.

If no one cares about the aesthetics of bases, it all comes down to function ... and there's not a whole lot of function in there.

And, FWIW, I don't see a lot of cloned heroes running around anymore. SGs built on very limited themes, such as everyone wears white and looks sparkly, tend to not last very long.

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I disagree.

As a base architect, function is very important to me, but I cringe every time I have to sacrifice the form for a function.

Bases are fun to build, but often I find myself prohibited by plot size and/ or cost. Sure I can add a decorative room, but in doing so I would need a bigger plot, for example. So, until the SG can garner more Prestige, we make do with what we have until we can afford something flashier.

I think the main reason people complain about cost is because it costs a lot of Prestige to be able to combine form and desired function. For example, In CoH you can have 6 TP pads and not have one to every zone (Not that it's necessary, but I see many SGs load up on TP pads). Since each pad takes up a 1x1 block, having many TP pads takes up a lot of space, not to mention other items like worktables, storage containers, multiple control units, power supplies, and, if you want an IoP, a vault, anchors, etc. Quickly, the space and Prestige you had intended to decorate the base is taken up by items that provide function, sacrificing form for utility.

Base entry permissions aside, base decor is constrained when functional items are needed to add utility to the base. If the cost of rooms and plots wasn't so prohibitive, players could really open up some grand design schemes without being hamstrung by a small budget.

IMHO, besides the rent costs of bases, room and plot costs should also be reviewed. Either lower the costs across the board, or decrease the "bell curve" so people can afford some of the mid-sized rooms and plots earlier in their SG's career. This would really go along way to improve the "non-combat" aspect of bases, so players can make the lush virtual properties they dream about

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Ahem.

Nothing to see here...wiseguys.

Should be fixed now.

JS / Arctic Sun

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Just watching your 6 A_S

Yes, the link is wrong. You should fix this ASAP for security reasons.

Correct link is here

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(Rant truncated) Why can't the P-D VIP teleporter recharge every minute or two like any other teleport travel power? And the Jump Jet should be like any other fly power, constantly on, like the christmas jet pack.

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The Pocekt D VIP badge is not meant be another TP power; if it weren't interuptable, it could be exploited during combat (PvE and PvP).

And unlike the Jingle Jets, not everyone can have access to the Jump Jets, which is why they don't work like other jet packs, which can be earned by anyone else.

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Thanks Cryptic for hyping a very disappointing product.

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IMHO, I got what I paid for, and am very happy.

I run a mission, TP to PD w/ the VIP card, run another mission, and then I can probably use it again.

On my MM, the Jump Pack + Super Jump makes getting around Sharkshead a whole lot easier (and safer )

On my Wyvern toon, I used the new costume pieces to make him look more like a Wyvern agent. The jump pack helps too (until jet packs or inventions are introduced).

In short, the GvE powers are not meant to supplant standard travel powers or earned temp powers. If everyone could buy travel powers for $10, there would be no need for Travel Power pools.

Speaking of a newer Boomtown review, I just found this Oct 4th interview on the General Discussion boards.

From the interview:

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We understand that the invention system has been taken out of Issue 8. Can you give us a) an idea about the current status of the system and b) a couple of examples as to what players can use the system to invent?

Issue 9 is all about inventions, I’ll be explaining it in more detail after Issue 8 goes to the Live servers.

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In all fairness, that Boomtown interview was in May, before even I7 was released. Some things have changed since then, like:

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What will the planned retail expansion next year introduce?
The expansion will let heroes and villains team up against a common foe.
It can be run from any of the games and there will be no extra subscription fee. It’s also build into the system of making better level 50 characters, however there is going to be content for all level ranges. There will also be a new power set for each of the existing archetypes including tanks and scrappers.

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Now there's no retail box; that content will be rolled into other releases.

Schedules and plans can change overnight, regardless of how much breath-holding is done. With everything else comming in I8, like Safeguard missions, Police Band, the revamped Faultline, Vet Rewards, etc., there will be enough to keep me occupied until the I9 Invention System

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Issue 10 is a ways out, but it will bring us an update to an old familiar villain group. This group will have their power center altered

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Right, let's list all the villains that have a power centre.

1) The Council
2) ...
3) Er
4) That's it.

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Eh, sorry if this has already been posted. I didn't feel like reading all of those posts in one sitting..anyways. I am almost POSITIVE that he is talking about the 5th Column, ever since the Council took them down I have been BEGGING for them back - they are much cooler than those pansy Council who believe in civil rights! Bring them back! SCHNELL, SCHNELL!

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Many people on this thread are guessing the same thing.

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Wait...so...there's NO Legends content in Issue 8?
:?

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What? I can't get the pony, and the unicorn, the carrousel, and the BMW, all at the same time?

Limitless expandability? Intriguing... darn you, ya big tease! Now I need to know more

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(...) What will add interest and intrigue to all of this will be what DC will do because they too are abiout to enter into the world of MMOs.
I cannot say that this will be bad or good either but it will be interesting.

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Not to be a downer, but DC has paired up with SOE, maker of such excellent games as EQ and EQ2, as well as fine titles like Star Wars Galaxies and Matrix Online. I'm truly hoping that they'll be able to offer some decent competition to the table, since competition usually spurs improvement in any industry, but I have my reservations.

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Actually, they bought MXO, they didn't make it.

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Ah, you are correct, thanks. They did buy it from WBIE.

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(...) What will add interest and intrigue to all of this will be what DC will do because they too are abiout to enter into the world of MMOs.
I cannot say that this will be bad or good either but it will be interesting.

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Not to be a downer, but DC has paired up with SOE, maker of such excellent games as EQ and EQ2, as well as fine titles like Star Wars Galaxies and Matrix Online. I'm truly hoping that they'll be able to offer some decent competition to the table, since competition usually spurs improvement in any industry, but I have my reservations.

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Positron...can you please undo the nerfs? Take a look at Tankers...they are husks. Please breathe life back into them. I don't want to use the word 'suck', but I cannot apply a more meaningful, less offensive term to their performance.

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IMHO, that's a secular opinion. I also don't think this is the proper forum to talk about specific ATs or "cantankerous malcontention"; there's a whole section of the boards for that purpose.