Pax__

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With that in mind, we want to let you know that it may become necessary for us to lock servers should they reach player counts that result in a degradation in performance.

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Honestly? I hope this happens ... because then, that event can be pointed at the next time someone complains about dead servers, and asks for server mergers. And I say this despite the ract that:

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We want you to be aware of this; especially those who are planning on playing on the Freedom and Virtue servers.

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... Virtue is where the character I most want to play, happens to be: my level 43.7 Mastermind.

Speaking of which - time to go run a couple more Newspaper missions, and dribble some more pre-2XP progress into his pink bar. Stupid lack of 40-45 villain content ... *pout* ...

Bad, BAD Necromancer! Naughty!!

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Blizzard winning is GREAT
:-( sadly it didn't go through as a CLASS ACTION suit... so more lawyers and more lawsuits will need to be persued every couple months as they re-organize under different company headings

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No, they can't re-organise either - the wording was quite clear:

Defendant and all persons acting in concert with it, are hereby permanently enjoined and restrained from knowingly:

That phrase, "and all persons acting in concert with it", goes beyond the simple name of the company. Also:

Defendant, and any persons or entities controlled directly or indirectly by it, are hereby permanently enjoined and restrained from holding anything other than a passive investment or financial interest in any enterprise that it, he or she knows is engaging in any of the activities prohibited by this Consent Order.

The phrase "any persons or entities controlled directly or indirectly by it" would include any reorganised company, regardless of what name it bears.

And, the final nail in the coffin:

The Court shall retain jurisdiction to entertain such further proceedings and to enter such further orders as may be necessary or appropriate to implement and/or enforce the provisions of this Consent Order.

IOW: "The court will be keeping it's eye on you."

Well, as announced in the Comic and Hero/Villain Culture forum, Blizzard won theri lawsuit against Peons-4-Hire, gaining a permanent injunction against the owning company ever being at ALL involved with RMT activities on ANY network Blizzard has an interest in - WoW or otherwise.

The legal precedent this provides is not to be underestimated: it has been accepted by the courts that, yes, RMT damages an MMO.

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This time around, I'll be pushing my MM to 32 to get the Tier 9's for his pets... After that, I don't really know.

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If you're robotics, you'll KEEP playing him, because the sheer glory of a post-32 Robotic Alpha Strike will have you cackling in glee.

Trust me. Been there, done that. STILL get a goofy grin remembering that day ... which was, as chance has it, on the FIRST 2XP weekend.

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8AM Sunday-Wake up for church and play CoH before I'm late. I think God understands.

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I have it on good authority that God has a Stalker She wishes to level up a few times, and 2XP weekend is lookin' AWFULLY nice to Her, as it's been really tough getting that poor stalker past 40.

Hey, some miracles are beyond even HER.

...

...

...

What?

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Since we have the upcoming <a href="/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=10075054" target="_blank">Double XP Weekend</a> starting February 8th - February 10th coming up next week, we wanted to find out how you spend your weekend maximizing your effort?

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Normally I don't; I just play, and giggle happily when my level dings more often than it otherwise would.

...

This time? I will spend it grinding past a SECOND content gap for upper-level Villains. (CoV really DOES need a 30% or so increase in content available, post-35.)

Regardless of aught else, I am and remain both steadfastly and vehemently opposed to any "FLAG" mechanic which would allow people in a putatively PvP zone, to be immune to each other's attacks simply by electing not to be "flagged" for PvP.

The flag exists in a form it should remain in: entering the zone in the first place.

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Fess up; you made an assumption about the post before you even did more than glance at it.

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Nope. I read a well thought-out post, contianing a lot of creative ideas ... one of which is one I think should never, under any circumstances, happen: being PvP-immune in a PvP zone. In response to that - as I do any time the idea is brought up, no matter by who - I popped out that standard response.

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Just because you've been around here long enough to have seen most everything doesn't mean that someone still won't occasionally surprise you.

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... was that ... a post-count or registration-date based attack? O_O For shame!

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I'll break it down for you pax ....

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That's funny., You accuse me of not reading a post ... and then, to defend that accusation, you fail to read a post. You know, the very FIRST sentence after the big, bold, yellow "standard response" title:

"There are many flavors of this sort of suggestion, and I'll try to answer each one in kind."

It's a pre-packaged "one size fits most" response, that covers all four of the most-popular varietyesof PvP-and-PvE-mixed suggestions. Part (3) is the one that (obviously) addresses the bit I was responding to, because that part of hte OPs idea directly suggests a way to opt out of PvP despite being in a PvP zone.

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Lol Pax_ Do you have like a whole folder on your computer filled with Word Files that are "Pre-made" Respones that you only need to Copy - Paste? And If you do are they interchangable? (Like can you combine different ones?)

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Well, they aren't interchangable, they're in Notepad instead of Word, and I only have a few so far, but ... yes, I have a folder to keep them in.

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I don't see how your rebuttal has anything to do with how the OP described Flagging.

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Any ability to be PvP-immune in a PvP zone, I object to. How does my rebuttal not speak to that portion of his idea?

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While automated responses save you time on the standard "we shuld hav flaged PVP" tripe, spending three seconds copy-pasting instead of actually reading the posts is an insult to the OP and the vast effort he has clearly put into this.

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Did you miss that I singled out only the one element I objected to? Did you miss my comment on an "otherwise throughly thought-out" post?

The only thing I disagree with in his post is the ability to be in a PvP zone, and not be PvPable. There's a klaxon, there's a big sign outside, lots of things that tell you "only come in here if you are willing to accept the risk of being attacked by other players".

Hence, that is all I responded to. And in fact, I used my Standard Response even here because to do otherwise would have been hypocrisy. I don't pick and choose when to use that - if it fits at all, I use it. On anyone ... and if Positron had posted the original idea? He'd've gotten the same Standard Response.

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Flagging
[...] Consider if one first had to speak to the zone mission-contact and click "switch to PVP mode" in the menu; only then having the 30 second timer begin. This would have an immediate salutary effect on zone behavior since players can choose not to become a target and if someone wants to play with them they will have to entice them. Potential new players also have freedom to explore the zone, ask questions, and make observations without constantly looking over their shoulder or falling prey to outclassing bullies seeking easy "rep" points.
[...]
In practice: the PVP-mode would remain off when one entered a PVP zone.


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Red flag. Despite the other good points you made in your obviously thoroughly-thought-out post ... Standardised response commencing:

[u]STANDARD "No mixing PvP and PvE" RESPONSE[u]

There are many flavors of this sort of suggestion, and I'll try to answer each one in kind. (By doing it this way, I can save this waste-of-thought to my HD, and not have to put forth the effort to re-write it ad nauseum, which is how frequently these colossally stupid ideas get brought up!)

[u]#1: a seperate PvP/PvE server[u]
The primary reason not to do this is, quite simply: it's just a STUPID idea. (Get used to that, it's a common thread throughout this post.)

The reason that takes a bit longer to explain is: maintaining seperate servers like this, for a game that was not designed from day zero to have different server types? Means that you've essentially split the game into two (or more) versions of itself. Now, there's twice the opportunity for bugs, twice the work needed to develop new content, twice the testing needed for that new content ...

... and overall, the pace of new issues slows to a comparative crawl. NO, THANK YOU.

[u]#2: World PvP (typically with "flags") on all servers[u]
Once again, the biggest reason to say no: it's a cosmically STUPID idea.

The longer reason: this game started out as purely PvE. Thus, a large segment of the playerbase is exclusively, even rabidly, PvE. They do not want PvP activities occurring within their sight - wether they are involved or not.

And really, even those of us who do occasionally PvP, do not want to face repeated smack-talk from the less mature among the PvPers, in a misguided attempt to get us to turn our PvP flag on. Having a "/duel" command spammed at us every few seconds would not only be be not fun ... it would in fact be supremely irritating.

The third drawback here, is that the already-minority PvP population would be spread out very VERY thin. Right now, for any given server, they are all in one of five places: Bloody Bay, Sirens' Call, Warburg, Recluse's Victory, or the Arena. If they could get PvP anywhere ...? Including those same already-PvP locations, there are roughly FOURTY FIVE zones in all of COH and COV. You would spread the SAME small population out over NINE TIMES as much area; frequency of PvP would inevitably decrease, not increase, as a result.

Taken together, these mean that you would increase the irritation of non-PvPers, while simultaneously decreasing the enjoyment of pro-PvPers. That, sir or madame, is a lose-lose proposition, no matter how you look at it!

So I say, a second time: NO, THANK YOU.

[u]#3: PvP-OFF flags for PvP zones[u]
Once again: this is an unbelievably STUPID idea.

But once again, to rebutt at greater length: while I have spent most of this post trying to keep PvP out of my PvE ... I must, in all fairness, point out that the PvPers should not have their little corners of our world watered down in any way. There is absolutely nothing in any PvP zone that you MUST have (inane villain Accolade requirements included, much to my own dismay).

When you enter a PvP zone, you consent to be attacked by other players. The big sign out front, the obnoxiously-loud klaxon sound, the big-red-number countdown ... if these don't manage to clue you in, then to be perfectly honest, and perhaps rudely blunt: IMO you're too stupid to breathe ... so please, stop.

Leave the PvP out of our PvE, indeed - but don't try and take the PvP away from the PvPers, either; fair's fair, after all.

Thus, a third time: NO, THANK YOU.

[u]#4: /DUEL-ing in the streets[u]
Adhering to the pattern of prior points: this is a stupendously STUPID idea.

And per usual, to expand upon that objection, I will ask you to hearken back to days of yore ... all the way back to, um, eleven paragraphs above here, in Point #2, where I said that many PvE players - the oldest, most loyal, longest-term, and possibly most populaous faction of the Co* Playerbase - would absolutely despise even witnessing a PvP encounter?

Furthermore, you just know that some yutzes will make it their mission in life to sit at the Train, SG portal, Market, or at any other high-traffic "choke point" spamming /DUEL commands at everyone in sight. I've seen this happen in other games - chiefly WoW - and not only does it lead to increased lag on everyone walking by, the crowd itself is very inconvenient, when trying to get through and past them to X or Y NPC.

Thus, a fourth and final time: NO, THANK YOU.

Hopefully, it will result in my first 50.

Sadly, it will be a villain.

Hopefully, Villains will have an Epic archetype with which to slake my altoholic thirst for new and amazing character options, before the close of 2008.

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[...] hidden badges [...]

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...

*epiphany*

That's it. That's the answer!!

What have we been told is the biggest stumbling block, in terms of limiting Trial Accounts' access to Email, Tells, and so on? THEY CAN'T BE IDENTIFIED FROM REGULAR ACCOUNTS ... right?

...

So, here's the thing: award a hidden badge, invisible to us players, to each and every character on an account that has applied at leats one full retail code, or which has paid for at least one month of play-time.

POOF, you now have a badge that only NON-TRIAL accounts possess. Which means, those that lack it?

Are Trial Accounts.

And they can be identified as such.

...

EUREKA!!!!

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The article was interesting...I hope the "city of.." stuff never goes on the playstation 3(the xbox 360 is fine though)...the console is too easily hacked and all it would do is cause the game to be swarmed with people who cheat.(check out ps3cheats.com for an example or some ofhte dash hack network sites)

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O_o all I'm seeing there, are standard cheat codes ... stuff put into the games by the people making them ... not "hacks". What's the big deal?

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CoH/CoV on console will make it easier to have a second account... won't have to buy a game compatible computer which would be possibly 3X the cost of a PS3 or a 360. For that reason alone, I'm in.

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You Windows people are quaint. I just run the other copy in another window; Linux is cheaper than buying a PS3 or a 360.

Needing a second computer. Heh.

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... not all of us have rigs that can HANDLE running CoH twice at once, you know.

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... maybe im the only one thinking of this, but everyone is forgetting that the ps3 is bluetooth enabled, hence they make bluetooth keyboards that can connect to the ps3 (i know this cause i sell them all day long) so it doesnt have to be a big jump at all, the entire game can be played rather easily with a bt keyboard. just a thought

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The PS3 and Xbox 360 also each have USB ports, so a standard USB keyboard should (in theory) work just fine, assuming the console's software is setup to recognise those devices.

Given that the 360 updated it's console OS once, so that it could recognise a new, custom controller? I'd expect either manufacturor to have little to no hesitation to do similarly for standard keyboards, should the capability not already be present.

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My girlfriend, for example, recently discovered that she likes peanut butter and jelly ... AND CHEESE, all in one sandwich. The very thought makes me want to empty my stomach ... but she loves it. Go figure, right?

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Something similar occured with my wife... a few months later I was called Daddy.

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... it'd have to be the second coming of Jesus, in our case, given how much birth control we use. Which would be funny as all hell, considering I'm an Agnostic, and she's a neo-Pagan.

Yes, teh ability to team up across servers would be very nice. Even just getting the PvP zones linked for cross-server play would be a big boost - at least, for part of the playerbase.

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CoH/CoV on console will make it easier to have a second account... won't have to buy a game compatible computer which would be possibly 3X the cost of a PS3 or a 360. For that reason alone, I'm in.

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depends how they run it, if it's anything like FF11 on the console, you'll still need an account to login.

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The person to whom you reply specifically mentioned "a second account" (see emphasis). ^_^ They only meant that a PS3 of 360 woudl cost them far less than a second PC.

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If it is going to be something for the consoles, I think it's going to be something new, not just an MMO port. They are talking about the IP, meaning the characters, storyline and setting; it leaves them open to build any type of game, hopefully using that game to bring in more subscribers (as in "if you like this game, imagine creating your OWN character in this world and interacting with many others")

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Free Trial to the MMO, and a $5-off coupon for a GVE code from the online store, packaged in with the console game. ^_^

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Nobody wants to see Heroes get shafted. But a 60/40 balance, or a 75/25 balance, still gives heroes plenty new to do and helps fill the obvious, glaring gaps in CoV.

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I've seen you bring up this point before(and I think I agreed with it too initially, I don't now that I've thought about it). Please explain to me how in the world giving about 1/3 of the game's population more content than the other 2/3? How would that make financial success? It seems to me that splitting the content 50/50(even if you don't like the content or how some of the missions are worded, it counts as content), like the have been doing recently, is the best course of action. Now if they do almost half and half then add a feature or two for villains each issue(Epic ATs, a new TF here or there, etc) that would be good for them as well.

But to even suggest that villains get 3 times the new content heroes do is absurd. Please explain to me how that could possibly be a good idea for NC Soft.

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That's why I think a 55/45 split would be more accepted by the playerbase-at-large; just that WEE bit of a lean towards redside, until the content levels are in better balance between the two.

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The good news: we're not going to be blindsided with this development- ExLibris reported 100% of the current resources are in for the PC Version right now.

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And I am once more compelled to point out the wondrous level of trnsparency this represents; many development houses, or heck, corporations of any sort, would have dodged the question, or outright refused to answer it, on sheer principle. Instead, we got a straight answer, within an hour. How's THAT for having great developers, eh?

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If such developments are to be made, it's being done tomorrow, and maybe released in 1-2 years.

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Another thought occurred to me, after you reminded me of the lead time:

NCSoft is looking at IPs, not actual games, to put on PS3 (and maybe other consoles). So, if City of Heroes is ever translated to PS3 ... it won't be this City of Heroes. It'd either be a PS3-specific version (with it's own servers, and likely it's own forums - to avoid confusion if nothign else) ... or it'd be [u]City of Heroes 2[u], designed as a game that works well on either platform.

Either way, that's good news for us, IMO.