Oedipus_Tex

I am not sure if this its true, but I have heard that the word "toon" (in reference to an RPG avatar and its associated stats) originated with a little-remembered game called The Realm, originallyreleased in 1996.

A possible point of confusion is that when graphical MMOs originated, it wasn't always clear whether the word "toon" included only the graphical parts, or both the graphics and the stats (ie the class, build, equipment, etc). Compare the words sprite and model which clearly seperate the animated parts of the character from its--for lack of a better term--"data entity."

[Unnecessary personal/technical sidenote: I am known to confuse the issue further in my own amateur programming. In my naming of classes, the term "Toon" is strictly the "Viewable" entity, composed of any sprites, effects, sounds, etc, and the "Character" or "Creature" is the stats, usually containing reference values for art assets used by the Toon, but not actually responsible for rendering them.]

The word toon itself is listed in the Online Etymology Dictionary as being attested by 1985 or so. The word may indeed have originated with the Roger Rabbit book as stated above.

I would edit Trick Arrow as follows:


Entangling Arrow: Add an unehanceable 0.5 magnitude Hold, 20 second duration, no stacking with self. This small change means that Ice Arrow can hold a boss when combined with it, and allows Entangle Arrow to be used on bosses after EMP arrow as well for similar effect.

Glue Arrow: Should either use standard -Recharge values for powers of this type or have an additional debuff. Standard values are around 50 to 70%.

Poison Gas Arrow: Add -500% Regen.

Flash Arrow: Add -20% To Hit, Resistable, on top of existing Unresistable -ToHit.

I'm undecided. Removing an iPower, particularly Alpha, can wreck a build.

But I don't do Masters Ofs anyways, so it doesnt really affect me either way.

Here's the long version. Feel free to skip if its TMI.

All mezz powers have both a Magnitude and Duration rating. Magnitude controls whether the enemy is mezzed, and duration controls how long.

To successfully mezz an enemy, you have reach a Magnitude that overcomes its Protection. I believe most Minions have 1.0 point of protection, Lts have 2.0, Bosses have 3.0. If you match an enemies protection exactly, but do not exceed it, it is still unaffected. There are a rare few powers out there (like Mesmerize for Mind Controllers) that have Magnitudes like 3.5 that will mezz a boss in one shot. Freeze Ray has a Magnitude 3, so will mezz a Lt or Minion in one shot normally, but not a boss, because it is mag 3.0 and the boss has exactly 3.0 points of protection.

When your mezz power hits the target but fails to mezz it due to its level of protection, it's not totally wasted. It's actually still in effect for the duration and can be stacked with other similar mezzes or even (usually) the power that was originally cast. For example, assume you are stacking Freeze Ray (mag 3 hold) and Freezing Touch (mag 3 hold) together. If you cast the first one with a duration of 15 seconds, and the second one with a duration of 12 seconds, the boss is Held for the 12 seconds that the combined Hold Magnitude is 6, greater than the bosses' protection of 3.0, then breaks free again (unless you or someone else throws another Hold at it).

Note that any team member or pet throwing a mezz of similar type at that enemy stacks. So, if you are on a team, and throw a Freeze Ray at a boss and it instantly freezes, it probably means someone else already had put a Hold power on it, but hadn't hit sufficient Magnitude yet to successfully hold it. Freeze Ray's graphic has very high animation priority compared to other holds, so it can often look like Freeze Ray is the only hold in effect, regardless of whether this is actually true.

Some enemies also have mezz Resistance. This is different from Protection in that it doesnt outright prevent mezzes but shortens their duration. Although sometimes this is the result of a specific power, its most often the working of level differences versus the target. In a nutshell, an enemy who is +4 to you cuts the duration of your mezzes roughly in half. So, a power with a 15 second Hold would be around 7.5 seconds against a +4 enemy.

Elite bosses and archvillains can also be mezzed, but depending on their design its often difficult (esp for a Blaster). A lot of standard AVs have something called "purple triangles," during which they have very high Protection from mezzes. Archvillains that appear in iTrials have very high Protection and Resistance are essentially immune to mezz.

FWIW I find most Dominators go through a phase around levels 10-30 where they die a lot. The controls aren't quite reliable enough yet and the damage isn't there to kill enemies fast enough.

For Ice specifically, my best experiences have come from Ice/Fire Assault. Fire's damage powers through a lot of possibly bad situations, and the PBAoE endurance replinishment in Consume matches Arctic Air's needs very well. Ice/Psi also seems like it would be a nice combo.

Ice though in general is very vulnerable to getting mezzed due to using mostly soft control and a toggle. If you go permadom later the issue mostly resolves itself, otherwise IMO it's a bit of a painful existence.

Call me crazy but I think ITF speed runs are really boring. I'll do them every great once in a while but I would much prefer a sweep through (not necessarily a kill-all) because speed runs feel like mechanical subversion to me, the kind of thing a CPU will let you get away with that a real life GM would shut down pretty quickly. IMO just running past everything for the reward is like skipping the "game" portion of game. It's the fighting with the all the Romans and other enemies that I find enjoyable. The ability to just run past everything is IMO a bit of a weakness on the COH engine's part, and one reason I do think other MMOs are better able to create "dungeons." If only those games had our any-AT, exemplar/sidekick design philosophy, it's a weakness of CoH that would probably get me to leave the game. As always YMMV of course.

Incidentally, I like the element of the UG trial that has you kiting Desdemona around specifically because it makes the fight to the bosses more than just a speed through. If I didn't hate the boss enemies so much I would like this trial a lot (even more so if it were an 8 player TF instead of a trial).

My criticism of TA had always been that for a set that is all debuff, no buff, the debuffs aren't good enough to warrant the limitation.

The -Recharge in Glue Arrow, for example, is way lower than what would be expected from another set. Why?

Why is Time Manipulation, not Trick Arrow, the set with the ability to do a potential Mag 4 hold by combining powers?

Why is TA's -Regen buried in a power with a 5 minute recharge?

Why does it take 4 or 5 arrows, and all that associated cast time, to debuff enemies, and still end up with less overall debuff than sets that are mixed buff/debuff?

TA just needs something more. It's one sort-of advantage is being able to AoE mobs to death with direct damage, but it isn't even particularly good at that.

Just providing a better source of -Regen and fixing the -Recharge in Glue Arrow so that it was standard, even if not outstanding, would be a decent first step.

I've also long wanted the ability for TA to be able to shoot its arrows without drawing aggro if they are shot at enemies who are affected by Flash Arrow. IMO that would help tremendously with TA's animation time problem. Option 2 would be the ability to fire arrows with multiple payloads at once.

I'm not sure whether TA is the worst off of the various buff/debuff sets, having to vy with Force Field, Sonic Resonance, and Poison, but there are some real head scratchers about its values.

I have just never cared for Statesman because he is very generic. When I started playing I actually didn't realize he was a character in the game. I thought he was a default avatar used on the box art to represent an "everyman" hero.

Later on, I started to really dislike the character once it became clear he was sort of the game's Inspector Gadget to the player's Penny, except that the game never really provides that recognition. I might have been okay with him one time through, but three or four copies of him (all of them "the mightiest [insert the blank] the multiverse has ever known") really wears on me. That the character is the personal avatar of a real life developer adds an undercurrent of god moding that, intentional or not, is also difficult to shake.

In short, I couldn't be happier that this character is dead. I only wish he had died in the most undignified, off-screen way possible, and never mentioned again. But I have a feeling that given the character's history, he will be the "most heroic sacrifice the world has ever known."

[One not entirely related thing that IMO the lightsabre game does that City of Heroes could stand to copy is including the PC and his or her team in cut scenes, so it's not all just about the NPCs. The PC does appear at least one time, when leaving Praetoria I think. I wish there were more of that, and less banter from enemy villains about how Statesman/Cole/UniversalMightyMan is going to do such and so.]

Success or failure of Underground depends almost entirely on power gaming your way around a Mag 20 Confusion aura cast by the end boss. I won't call it difficult or challenging, because if you can do that it really isn't. But I won't give it up a thumbs up either, because on some leagues the only way to win is to purposely fall on your sword so you can go to the hospital for more inspirations mid fight. For this reason, for me personally, it's the worst boss encounter I've experienced in a video game in years. Good news (maybe) is the reason for this is mainly the cheezy Confusion, and many leagues build pre-form themselves to get around it (in theory, I've been on several that failed anyway).

MOM and TPN are the kind of thing I played two or three times and don't feel a desire to touch again for a long time. Play them if you want to try them, but I HIGHLY recommend being level 53 first, especially for MOM. I've had runs where I didn't die one time and others with back to back dying. It's the latter that left an impression on me. Try if you want, but play it a few times before forming an opinion. My first few runs of MO in particular were so easy I thought the trial was simple, but the trial opened a can of auto-hit on me and I got to see the miserable side of it too. YMMV.

Hate is a strong word. There are a lot of things I don't like without actually hating. However, sometimes just not liking is enough to keep me away from something. This is the way I feel about the majority of competing MMOs. I don't "hate" them but I also don't have a strong enough desire to actually play them. IMO the problem with the "if you don't like it, don't play it" argument is that people may do exactly that. It's what I did with two other superhero MMOs and a a couple of fantasy ones. It's what I'm doing with UG, TPN, and MOM after a couple of runs. Gaming is an irrational activity anyway, so being upset that someone doesn't like your game is IMO missing the point; what would be unhealthy would be to not like it and keep playing anyway.

There are some things I think the trials do right. I started a thread on that but it disappeared within 24 hours. Rather that post there, people prefer to come to threads like this one and complain about complainers. Meanwhile I quite honestly feel--even if its brash--that its the complainers who saved the Keyes trial from obscurity at the hands of its own cheerleaders.

Anyway, I've already vocalized my concerns on disliked (and liked) features pretty extensively elsewhere. The biggest dislike for me are mechanics tlike the Desi rezz chopping time off the timer, there being no indicator over who is Targetted in the Underground, etc. If the UG, TPN, and MOM are indications of whats to come I have very little desire to continue playing trials more often than once or twice.

Hasten also serves as effective -Recharge resistance.

Yes, you can skip it and be effective.

No, most of the time skipping it wouldn't put you at your most effective. Melees can probably get away with it easiest but even they have powers like Build Up or just plain AoEs. You also can't get +Recharge from an inspiration, but you can get most other buffs.

Anyway last time the Hasten graphic was brought up I believe the statement from a developer was that they didn't want to change the graphic due to PVP reasons. I'm actually not sure whether that was intended to be a joke or not, but it's what I thought was said.

I was under the impression the jump wasn't a real jump, and more like a script thing. I'm pretty sure I've seen him jump off of Ice Slick (-50000% jump height according to City of Data), but I'm not 100% certain.

One of my favorite moments in game was the time a Tanker on the ITF flew up to grab Requiem while hoverboarding.

Well, just making it so that you could use any inspiration while mezzed would do wonders. Melees already get that effectively, because in normal content they are more or less immune. Part of the reason I would go Dominator over Blaster in general is the option to eventually go perma-Dom and avoid the issue.