Obsidius

Think they are the SG logo floor decorations, sans the SG logo.

Definitely sounds like a GPU problem, especially if the splotches aren't on a fixed position on your monitor and move around.

You know, recently a player asked to join my team. Not only was I not the team leader, but the team was full. And we were doing a TF. I suppose I'm a jerk for telling that player I couldn't add him/ her to the team at that moment

Now that is a brilliant way to deter piracy

Hasn't worked for me since I went to Win7 (with the same hardware I was using for WinXP). I'm not sure why. Hold PageUp and rotate with your mouse - it's the best work-around.

And what about the new school semester? Surely that can cut into things as well.

Mostly, but also with the added "Playing Now" feature which lets you know what game your friends are playing at a glance, so you can join them without even having to ask what they're playing. Works on the XBox and Mac too AFAIK, and maybe, one day, the PS3, if Sony ever opens up the PSN to the Internet.

Heck, I compared it to Trillian, but free to use. Wish I had known about Pidgin earlier

<QR>

Raptr is not online an updater to social networks, but it also integrates with every IM program on the net, and because it integrates with MSN, it works on XBL also. It's a cross-platform IM that lets friends easily chat with each other, regardless of the game they're playing at the time, to coordinate play times, groups etc. You also see which game your friend's currently plaing on Raptor's IM status window. You can also view games friends and other people have played, and can go to Amazon (AFAIR) to purchase a game that your friend has.

I know the guys over at W00t Studios have fallen in love with this, and I see its merits and flaws. For instance, the IM ability is great - if you and your friend are on two different MMOs you can still chat. You'll know what game they're playing through Raptr and can perhaps quit your current game and join your friend instead.

OTOH, I find the Twitter and Facebook updates a bit annoying. For example, every time Jester got another level on Champions online, I received another Tweet/ FB update. There are settings that will tell Raptr which updates to post - and you can ignore that feature altogether if you don't want to spam your friends - but it's up to that person to set those settings, which means your Twitter/ FB page could get bombarded with your friend's game status changes.

Another drawback is that the IM portion does not overlay on top of your current game like other programs such as XFire do. Instead, you have to Alt-Tab between your game and Raptr. Raptr's still in beta, so this may be added in the future.

So it has its good and bad points. I wouldn't mind integration, and really the only people it could harm are friends of followers of players who may have Raptr set to use annoying features. Also it would work better than the niche Titan Network - no offense, but only certain CoH members use TN; whereas a lot of people use AOLIM, MSN, or Google Chat. Heck, TN might be able to integrate Raptr into its own site for all I know.

Drawbacks aside, there are benefits to it, even for those who aren't into social networking. It's more of a cross-platform IM with real-time game status and (optional) social networking settings.

(Reference)

Hey, at least this is a good excuse to go PCI-E 2.0, DDR3, Core i7... amirite?

I'd take either option, or both. Recoloring pet powers would be groovy; customizing their avatars would be icing.

Firstly, you probably want to post questions for other players in the Player Question section in the future.

Secondly, I've always found the Paragon Wiki an invaluable source for all things CoX-related.

Hope this helps

Wow, I'm getting dinged for stuff I posted months ago before the new forums and rep system were in place, LOL

Heh, raising my rep is like trying to raise the Titanic

<Pops in>

I'm surprised no one's mentioned this site yet

NP, and a lot easier than to subscribing to every thread in which you post

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GL putting in lifetime access into a game that launched 5 years ago, without severely pissing of the veteran playerbase in the process (who have spent anywhere up to $900 so far in total subscription costs).

MMOs only offer lifetime subs directly before/ during a game launch, and for good reason: not only to make money up front, but also to offer such a thing when the game launches. Putting such a device in long after launch, or making it available indeterminably, not only creates ire in the existing subscriber base, but is also a poor business decision in the long run for any MMO, which requires continual funds to pay for development staff, infrastructure overhead, etc.