Plug_Nickel
-
Posts
105 -
Joined
-
Quote:Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
Actually, in the old days getting to 50 was more like taking a dump. A lot of effort and eyestrain, and you ended up with something that didn't you didn't have any use for.
Far as I'm concerned, the "sense of accomplishment" in doing hard-slash-tedious tasks in MMOs is something that needs to go the way of the dodo, at least as far as mainstream content is concerned. Leave the major accomplishment badges and TFs and Sets for the hardcore, but make the game easy to play, hard to master. Reaching level 50 shouldn't be some kind of monumental accomplishment. It should be within anyone's grasp multiple times. Knowing that you can get to the "end" of the game multiple times before you die of old age is a great booster in replayability, at least in my eyes.
I don't believe the levelling curve is bad right now. About the only thing that slightly bugs me is that it slows down so harshly at level 25, but that's not that big of a thing. It's just fast enough to where you always feel like you're making progress, yet not fast enough to where you don't get to use your new power before you're picking up two more. Double experience would be a complete mess, on the other hand, and I wouldn't shed a tear if we never got another double experience weekend.
MMO players are a strange bunch, wanting their games to run forever so they can never see the end at all. Me, I'm glad we have a game with faster levelling where all content is within your reach. It's not a question of getting to the end, it's a question of what you do along the way, which is how it should be.
Like a lot of people, I've got a pile of characters. If I get one all the way to 50, it's because I really love playing him. And if I really love playing a character, I'm in no particular hurry to reach the level cap since no matter how much fun he is, I know that once he dings 50, he's "done" and I'll never play him again. I only have one 50 that's into IOs and badges - the rest are collecting dust.
It might take me a week to get from 42 to 43, but as long as I know I'll eventually get there, I'm happy. The levels themselves aren't as important to me as the carrot they represent. I need to know that I'm working towards a level goal. If I'm not terribly jazzed about the character I'm playing, I couldnt care less how fast he levels since I probably won't be taking him the distance anyway. But if he's one of my favorites I always dread 50 because I know the ride's about to end, and the next character I make might not be as cool as the one I just finished.
Not every character has to hit 50. However, for me, the one's that do are special because they were my favorites. Did you ever get a character to 50 that you DIDNT like? If so, why? I just think (and I'm almost surely in the minority here) that if you want to reach maximum level, you should have to work hard for it. There's nothing special about getting there, except that you've got nowhere else to go (Officer and a Gentleman), so what's the rush? That's why power leveling, just for the sake of having another 50, always baffled me.
Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment, but if I manage to get a character to 50, I just like to know I earned it. -
I think levels come too easily since XP smoothing and Patrol XP were introduced. For me, the sense of accomplishment that comes with leveling up has diminished considerably. Getting to 50 in the old days was like giving birth - some agony involved, but when you were done, you had something to be proud of. And if you asked nicely, the waiter would put the placenta in a doggy bag for you to take home.
Sure we can turn off XP, but I need to feel as though I'm progressing (just not so fast as the current curve allows). -
Been reading this thread for a while now and I don't think anyone's mentioned what I believe to be the root of the problem.
Sam, the reason why you're seeing so many bosses these days is due to the economy. That's right. Dig this...
Last year when the economy started to choke, the company that I work for began laying people off. In fact we went through four rounds of lay offs, after which, more than half the employees were gone. I was in the fourth batch to get canned.
Anyway, a few months ago, I got called back and now I'm working for the same company again (doing whatever it is that I do there). But here's the deal, bro - none of the higher management folks got laid off! Of course not! They're the ones handing out all the walking papers. You think they're going to sacrifice themselves for the company by going on unemployment? Hell no.
So that's what you're seeing now, Sammy T. Because the economy is gagging on itself, all those minions who lost their jobs are being replaced with bosses who've had to step out onto the floor and get heir hands dirty. I say wait until the employment situation starts to pick up again and then maybe we'll see a return to the way things are supposed to be. All those bosses will no doubt return to their staff meetings and power point luncheons as minions gradually return to work. We've just got to stay strong and not give up hope. -
I would never support an account-based bank system, although I might look into an account-based credit union if I qualified, and was looking to refinance my SG base mortgage.
I play each of my characters as a separate entity. They all start with jack crap and work their way up on their own merits, which really hasn't been a hassle since Wentworths hung up its shingle. But even back when SO's were the big boys on the block, I never transferred influence between characters. Hell, I've never even taken influence from strangers wanting to "help out a lowbie". Part of the fun, for me anyway, is making the best character I can with the resources I have available.
So an account-based banking system wouldn't really get me all hot and bothered. -
Department of Public Orgasms.
Believe me, you don't want a citation from these guys. Make sure your license is up to date and always carry a tissue. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Harry_Canyon
Let's remember to show em why. We are a great community, not an exclusive club. Now get out there and help out a Newb!
Awesome story! I sometimes wonder how many new folks get turned off to this game because they get treated like illegal immigrants. Anyway, good show!
Also, Heavy Metal was the best! ("And there's BEER... in the fridge - so help yourself OK?") -
While beating up one of those Master Illusionist cookies (or rather the pets she kept summoning), I noticed that her attacks weren't breaking me out of the /e newspaper I was using to amuse myself as I waited for her to call in the next batch of Illusionists. Being attacked while emoting would always break the emote, but apparently that's not the case anymore.
Maybe it was a bug, but if not, then this is huge. Probably even game breaking. If it was indeed an exploit, then I'm boned because I was reading the hell out of that newspaper. If they take away my Illusionist badge though, I'm quitting and heading straight for Super Mario Brothers Online. If they didn't want us reading the damn newspaper, then they shouldn't have given us the emote in the first place. -
[QUOTE=Lightfoot;2162397]/em Gabby Johnson
Rabbin'!
QUOTE]
Not only was that authentic frontier gibberish, but it expressed a courage little seen in this day and age. -
[ QUOTE ]
This is the worst thread I've ever read in all my twenty-three years on these forums!
[/ QUOTE ]
Now THAT was funny!
-
[ QUOTE ]
Mine has pikachus.
It is better.
[/ QUOTE ]
I agree!
We had pikachus when I was a kid, but my dad ended up taking them to the pound becuase they kept tearing up the furniture. -
[ QUOTE ]
Bonus, said forum avatar is squished.
[/ QUOTE ]
Hey, gimme a break - it's my first try! Also, if you squint, it looks more blurry than squished. -
(First off, I would just like to say that it is not my intent to get anyone riled up with this post. I realize that everyone has their own way of looking at things, and thats fine. But although this is a very touchy subject, please try to keep responses in this thread as civil as possible. Also, I apologize if this specific topic has been covered in another dozen threads.)
In the eleven years that Ive been posting in the City of Heroes forums, most of you have probably come to know me as a straight-shooting, lovable, fountain of modesty and charm. Yet even with literally dozens of posts under my belt, Ive never actually started a thread of my very own. Indeed, I never really felt it necessary. Until now.
What Im getting at, of course, is my new forum avatar. Go ahead take a look. Its right there to the left of this post. Never had one before now. For decades, youve all been reading my macho banter with no visual image to titillate your eyeballs with unbridled eyeball titillation.
Titillation. hehe
Anyway, youll notice that my avatar is way better than everyone elses. I didnt mean for this to happen, and I apologize. What I suggest, is that you refrain from looking directly at the image for prolonged periods of time, as this may cause bleeding of the eyes as well cirrhosis of the cerebellum.
OK, I guess thats about it. If anyone has any questions regarding my forum avatar, Im currently working on a guide (which will blow your freakin mind), entitled A Guide to Plug Nickels Forum Avatar. Until its finished though, Ill be happy to answer any questions you might have. -
I don't remember Starcon2 so much, but I used to play the hell out of the original. I actually bought Starcon3 on ebay for like 10 bucks a few years ago. Course it won't play on Vista so I'm screwed there. Definitely one of my all time favorites though.
-
[ QUOTE ]
We could even see if we could get the license to some of the sound effects from Starcontrol 2, and have the door call us names when we open it.
[/ QUOTE ]
Jerk! Idiot! Moron! Loser!
LAUNCH FIGHTERS!
Sorry. -
I noticed that they gave us a character counter for our description in the "ID" screen. Unfortunately, as I edit my bio, a lot of these characters are getting "stuck", even though I've deleted them. Hard to explain.
Anyway, I figured I'd start from scratch, and deleted my whole bio. I noticed that even with nothing in the field, it was still taking up 31 of my 1024 characters! No matter how many times I hit delete or backspace, it still says 31 characters. What's that about? -
Was kinda surprised to get the "Retaliator" (even on Pinnacle). He's not my favorite by a long shot (I play on Virtue these days), but it's definitely the name I feel most lucky about snagging.
Course there's nuthin wrong with ol' Plug Nickel either... -
I can't comment on the current status or availability of teams these days because I always solo. About a year ago I moved out into the country where the only internet connection available is dial up, so teams are lag-flavored death as far as I'm concerned.
However, even though I try to avoid Atlas Park, sometimes a contact will send me there for a mission and, unless it's dark-thirty in the morning, I'll lag out and drop connection shortly after zoning.
Of course I play on Virtue (have for years - can't switch now), so I dunno what it's like on other servers. So even though the team thing might not bother me so much (I'm sure it would if I teamed), I sure wouldn't complain if they moved the AE building out of that zone. Although I suppose that would promote some other zone to the AE hotspot, so I dunno.
I'm not naked right now, and for that I apologize. -
Favorite heroes would have to be ol' Jimmy Temblor and that ding-bat he went to the prom with. They're just kids trying to be super heroes, and they have an innocent quality that I can't help but root for. I also thought it was great the way you meet them again later on in the RWZ. Kinda like their stories are progressing along with yours instead of just being stuck in Faultline.
As far as villains, I'm gonna go ahead and say Vanessa DeVore, because she's a good girl gone bad. Just like the Van Halen song. -
Ha! I KNEW it! There's no WAY it takes six pages to tell someone where Crey's Folly is! I knew if I kept reading, I'd see an explosion or two! This thread's gushing with high speed action thrills and spills! Yee-HAW!!!
-
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
How do you get your arc found in the first place? I mean, it starts automatically with 0 stars anyway, so how do you get it out there in the first place? Just publish it and hope to god that someone finds is among the hundreds of other arcs out there?
[/ QUOTE ]
When I published my second story it was zero stars but still got played and rated 5 stars within 24 hours. I was shocked. People are looking. Once it got onto the front page it started gaining lots of plays and votes.
Other than getting lucky like that, you can run it with your friends or advertise here on the forum to try and get that first vote. If those votes are kind and get you up on the first page then you should get the majority of your plays until it gets voted downward. That inevitability and the emotions that go with publishing arcs are what this thread is all about.
[/ QUOTE ]
Up until a few weeks ago, I'd only search through the "unrated" pile. I figured I'd be doing folks a favor by "discovering" good arcs that might otherwise go unnoticed, and putting them on the map. (Also, I was under the misconception that "unrated" meant more nudity.)
The problem was, I'd spend twenty minutes sifting through pages trying to find an arc description that was well written and sounded interesting. It was too much of a hassle, so I switched to 4-stars and now I get a lot more play time in. -
I know that when they boosted flight speed in i14, I noticed immediately (I don't stay on top of junk like that via announcement propaganda on the forums). I remember thinking, "This is almost TOO fast!", since I was searching for Fake Nemmies at the time and it was easier to spot things before the speed increase. Anyway, the new speed in the old safe-mode travel power makes Fly as good (if not better) than Super Speed or Super Jump. Now if they could just smile on Teleport...
Besides, if you think Fly is sub-par NOW, imagine if it actually drained your endurance while you were air born! Back in the old days (before they reduced it's endurance cost), if you couldn't make it to your destination before your fuel ran out, your [censored] was falling (usually onto a pile of purples in the back Hollows). -
Dude, 5-stars are for suckers.
When I search for arcs to play, I only look at the 4 star ratings. No way am I gonna follow a crowd into a movie theater just to see Titanic. -
It's always rough after playing a high level character for a long time, and then starting over from scratch. Things seem to go a LOT slower that you're used to. However, to the best of my knowledge, the devs haven't made any sweeping increases to the amount of endurance our powers use lately. In fact, endurance costs were cut across the board a few years ago, while cookies & Kool-Aid were passed out to the first 100 players who skipped Stamina. Don't quote me on that though.
Also, they gave us "Beginner's Luck", which makes it much easier to hit stuff at earlier levels. And since we're hitting more often, we don't need to light off as many attacks before arresting a bad guy - which means we're burning less endurance! I don't mean to sound like a suck [censored], but the devs really are a bunch of sweathearts!
The endurance crunch at the earlier levels has always sucked compared to later on. But that just makes those higher levels all the more satisfying to reach! -
I turn it on during double XP weekend. I love leveling my characters, but once I ding 50, they're just high powered dust collectors. I don't want to rush the journey any more than I have to. By turning off XP during double xp weekend, it allows me to keep playing instead of having to go outside, or read a book, or interact with real life people.
Nowadays, I think levels come too easily as it is. They're giving them out as prizes in cereal boxes now. At the end of the journey to 50, the sense of accomplishment has diminished considerably from what it used to be (for me anyway). Most see this as a good thing. I see it as early retirement for some of my favorite characters. -
Hi. You mentioned that you had a hard time hitting any of the turrets, and although it might sound silly, I'm wondering how much accuracy you have in your attacks at level 16. Before SO's, the only enhancements I even bother with are three accuracy IOs (or DOs) in each attack, and that's it. Damage, recharge, end redux - all that junk doesn't mean jack unless you can hit what you're shooting at consistantly. My oppinion anyway.