Rathulfr

Winner!

Thanks, HV, I do appreciate it. As I said, you're more than welcome to use the rezbots yourself, if you like -- I leave them running on a second computer for just that purpose. I'd rather have them rezzing and benefiting some other player than standing around the hospital doing nothing.

AFAIK, the drop rate is completely random: I am unaware of any dependency on zone population or activity. Everyone has exactly the same odds of getting a drop at any time, regardless of who is, or isn't, in the zone. However, I'll admit that I'm not certain about that, so I'd love to see some references that indicate that the PvP drop rate is anything but random.

I'm not whining about being killed: I know that PvP zones aren't safe, so I'm not expecting safety nor immunity. As HV pointed out, I did switch characters and attempt to engage them in legitimate, honorable battle. But they schooled me -- as they should have: I'm no PvPer (I have little experience and no PvP gear of my own). But at least I tried to give them a good fight: I thought that might be enough entertainment for them, so they would move on.

If I was "whining" about anything, it was about HP/HV's team /petitioning a GM, and their waiting there for almost 2 hours for the GM to arrive. While they were waiting, they were the ones whining about how they couldn't get at me, and how I was going to be banned for it, etc. Then when the GM arrived and ported me to the surface, they swarmed all over me like a pack of hyenas.

They could've /petitioned me for exploiting and simply gone about their business to let the GM handle the situation. But they didn't: they sat and waited and gloated like stuck-up brats that report everything to teacher and then smirk with satisfaction at having one-upped the offender. It was all just so juvenile.

I guess I expected more maturity from these veterans with whom I'd previously had no quarrel. Obviously, I misjudged them, and suffered the consequences. I know better now, and will adjust accordingly.

As I've indicated earlier: I accept the risks, and am willing to accept the consequences. Is it too much to ask for or expect a little respect or honor? Perhaps I'm still being a naive...

Yes, I am raging on here for those very reasons. I'm definitely upset by childish and senseless behavior like that. I'm glad that my anger amuses you, but I'm also disappointed by that, because it confirms my assertions.

To be clear, let's start out with what I did wrong. I now know and understand that it was wrong of me to exploit a terrain bug to farm bots without risk. I wasn't previously aware that this was considered an "exploit" until after the GM explained it to me. The PvP zones are supposed to entail risk, to justify the rewards associated with those risks. Hiding my bots underground eliminated that risk, allowing me to earn rewards unethically. I have accepted this; consequently, I won't do it again. My bots will always be left in the open from now on, because that's the way it's supposed to work.

Now that I've acknowledged and made clear how I was wrong, let's consider another perspective regarding your actions, and those of HP and the others.

First and foremost, you guys like to hunt and kill unattended farm bots. Technically, there's nothing wrong with that. However, just because something is legally right doesn't make it ethically right. Just because you can do something, doesn't mean that you should do that thing.

As we've already discussed, farmers have to accept the risk of their bots being killed in the PvP zone. However, because the bots are basically programmed to farm themselves, they pose zero risk to anyone else in the zone. So basically, they offer no risk to you, either. Even though it's legally right to kill farm bots, how is it ethically right to do so, when you know they cannot or will not retaliate?

But that's just the rational bit. Let's get to the irrational bit that really bothers me. I hadn't intended to, but I sat and watched you guys try to get at my bots. You didn't go elsewhere in the zone to attack any other players: you were completely fixated on just my bots under the terrain. And when your efforts to get at them failed, you /petitioned a GM for help, and then waited for the GM to arrive after the better part of 2 hours.

In other words, you tattled like a bunch of children. "Mommy! So-and-so is taking candy without permission! *waah!*"

As I admitted, what I did was wrong, and I was reprimanded by the GM. But did you guys really have nothing better to do than snitch and wait for "justice" by the GM? You were ecstatic when the GM finally showed up and ported my bots to the surface. Then the 4 of you jumped right in and destroyed them -- they offered no resistance. Even when the rez bots came back up, you made sure to kill them again, to make sure they ended up in the hospital. Where was there any skill or honor in that?

Even so, I'm still going to ask you a favor. I have no problem with you guys killing my burn bot if you find him in the zone. I accept that risk, and respect you enough to let you play the game the way you want to play it.

But if you kill the rez bots, please let them rez and stay in place, instead of killing them twice to send them to the hospital. It's really annoying to have to move them from there afterwards.

Heck, if you kill the burn bot and leave the rez bots, you can keep killing them every 5 minutes for the reputation/drops for yourself, if you like. I honestly don't care if you do that, because they were created for that purpose. I'll eventually return to take them back for myself: if so, we can then do battle with honor, if you like. I don't mind losing in a fair fight.

The bottom line here is that you guys may complain about the players on Freedom being irritating, but to me, you guys are just as irritating.

I am not belittling another player because they attacked me in a PvP zone. I was saying that HP might have other reasons/motives for giving up on Freedom. Perhaps he couldn't hack it there, so he's back here with his tail between his legs? I was just speculating on that possibility.

I was also trying to suggest that perhaps Liberty might attract more players, or attract more players to PvP on Liberty, without bad apples that affect our reputation. It takes no skill nor honor to kill unattended bots, or to /petition a GM to get at unattended bots. Those who approve of, or even delight in, such behavior hurt all Liberty players, simply by association. Why even bother with Liberty, or try PvP, if you have to deal with childish crap like that?

I played on Virtue for 7 years, and only recently migrated to Liberty a few months ago. I came to Liberty because of great people like Cinder Frost, Ukase Rex, Project Jade, Mystic Fortune, and many others. I found on Liberty a great little community of players that made CoH fun again.

But players that do the childish, stupid, and down right mean things exemplified by HP, HV, and their pals ruin that community. I don't think there's anything wrong with calling them out for it, if it will help make things better for everyone else on Liberty.

Is it possible that the people on Freedom irritate you because you can't get away with the stuff you pull on Liberty? Maybe you can't hack it there, because Freedom has real PvPers playing on it, not just posers that kill bots (and are actually proud of this)? And I can't imagine any Freedom player wasting 2 hours waiting on a GM to respond to a /petition to tattle on the bots you can't reach.

Perhaps you're not up to the challenge of facing other players or SGs that would crush you easily? I think you like being a big fish in a small pond.

Every post in this thread concedes that Liberty has a small population, and this contributes to its lackluster teaming and events. I wonder if Liberty wouldn't be more appealing to more players if they didn't have to worry HP's shenanigans (and those of his ilk).

It's a good thing that Liberty also has outstanding players like Ukase, who take the time and effort to learn, plan, lead, and complete events and Incarnate trials -- not only for their own benefit, but also for the benefit of others. It's players like these that make Liberty appealing to me and many others.

This, please. Thanks!

Not everyone has, or wants, an SG base with a crafting table and/or zone teleporters. Yes, I hear your gasps of shock and horror, but it's true, for some.

I actually do have a small SG base with a crafting table that I keep for me and my alts. However, because it's a small SG, and I'm the only one in it, I don't have, or want to get, enough Prestige to add a Teleporter room and the Telepads. So using my SG base for crafting is actually a bit less convenient, because I have to zone IN from AP, and then zone OUT to AP again, before I can zone somewhere ELSE to actually cure the Lost. :P

"No valid reason", really? None at all? I already posted at least one valid reason in my OP: it would remove an unnecessary bit of tedium from the Midnighter arc (blue side). Today, a player must:

1. Zone to AP to talk to Argot Burgwot and Azuria.
2. Zone somewhere ELSE (PU, RWZ, or SG base) to craft the Lost cure power.
3. Zone somewhere ELSE to actually cure the Lost.
4. Zone to Steel Canyon to talk to the Latin Student.

If there was a crafting table in Azuria's office (or anywhere else in AP), we save at least one zone map load step. That seems valid enough to me.

I try to avoid zoning as much as possible, mostly because my computer is old and slow, but also because it's just no fun. It's no fun to be forced to zone for a FedEx mission like Craft Lost Cure. Don't we already have to zone enough for regular missions? I can't be the only one who hates zoning, especially for trivial tasks like Craft the Lost Cure.

Ultimately, the valid reason is "convenience". CoH has lots of things that add convenience: Contact cellphones, the PTA, Base/Mission TP, Ouroboros, etc. And recently, the devs made Radio, Tip, and newer TF missions more convenient by keeping them more localized to the current zone, specifically to address the inconvenience of the almost constant zoning associated with the older story arcs (remember the agony of the original Positron?).

If there's "no valid reason" for the convenience of a crafting table in AP, then maybe there's no valid reason for these other conveniences, either?

I'm not asking for an "I Win" button. I'm merely asking for a tiny bit more convenience that can be easily accomplished with existing tech.

Now that you mention it, I think you're right on this. I'm more of a Silver Age kind of guy, rather than Golden. My formative comic-book years were the 70's and 80's, so I'm strongly influenced by Alex Toth, John Romita, Chris Claremont, John Byrne, etc. Their "tights" were simple, seamless, form-fitting tights with few (if any) folds/wrinkles.

The Golden Age costumes were definitely looser, baggier, foldier, etc., like The Shadow or the original Green Lantern. Superman and Batman had costumes that were clearly inspired by circus/carnival strongman costumes, and their success made "tights" the norm for "classic" super-heroes ever since.

One more thing to add on simple/flat Shoulder/Belt improvements: simple geometric patterns that can improve the transition from Chest to Gloves or Chest to Bottoms, perhaps to even fill in the "gaps" created by selecting certain Glove or Bottom options like Small Glove and the various Bikini bottoms. I often use a combination of Stripe #, Pattern #, and Sharp patterns to try to achieve these effects on Chest/Gloves or Chest/Bottoms, but cannot do so with Shoulders or Belt.

I often find myself using the Standard, Metal Band, Peak, Tech Flat, V, and occassionally Enforcer belts because they are the plainest/least-complex options I can use to create or mask transitions between Chest and Bottoms/Pants (especially when the patterns don't match up or the colors don't match due to texture differences).

I'd also love a "Lone Skull" belt that was not a skull. A simple 3D circle, oval, square, diamond, or star (again, similar to Brooches) would be great. And while we're wishing, 3D objects that correspond to the Symbol/Letter options in Chest Detail would be ideal (but I won't hold my breath on those).

Ah, but I do have something in the first place: I have slots on Virtue. I purchased/earned those slots years ago, prior to CoH:F.

Now you're telling me to go buy new slots on Liberty. Sure, I could do that (in fact, I did buy 2 more slots for only 400 pts, because they're having a sale); however, I'd be doing so to gain MORE slots, not to re-purpose the slots I already own on Virtue.

My point was not to gain more slots, but rather to re-use the slots I already own. I simply wanted to avoid paying twice for something that I thought I'd already paid for. But now that I know that I cannot do so (under the current terms of use), that point is moot.

Actually, I don't think I there's any new code involved in this at all. There's already code to unlock slots: you can purchase tokens for that in the Market today. And there's already code to lock slots: that happens automatically when your VIP runs out. So some mechanisms to lock/unlock slots already exists. Would it be that much more difficult for them to apply those existing mechanisms for new purposes?

Here's how I figure today's code for the existing slot unlocks works:

Step 1: Player purchases Character Slot token(s) from the Market.
Step 2: Player selects "Unlockable" slot on Server A.
Step 3: Player is prompted about redeeming slot token, player clicks Yes.
Step 4: System unlocks slot in Server A.

I'm thinking that the only new code that might need to be created is the addition of a new "Move" button to the top menu bar, next to the "Unlock", "Renames", and "Transfers" buttons. Here's how I suggest the code for an empty slot move might work:

Step 1: Player purchase Empty Slot Move token(s) from the Market.
Step 2: Player clicks on "Move" button on Server A where they have empty slots available (this button would be greyed-out/invisible/zeroed on any server where they do not have empty slots, just like it is for Unlocks/Renames/Transfers).
Step 3: Player is prompted about redeeming slot token, and asked to choose a target server (B).
Step 4: System unlocks a slot on Server B.
Step 5: System locks an empty slot Server A.

So it seems to me that most of the code is already there: it simply needs to be re-purposed and made available for QA and player testing.

AFAIK, "slap in the face" is a metaphor in common usage in written and spoken English, and is not novel or restricted to internet usage. I meant it as "rude awakening" or "sudden, painful realization".

It's not "funny" at all: I thought I made it perfectly clear that this became an issue for me precisely because I found new friends to play with on another server, and was considering dropping to Premium. I wasn't masking my motives at all.

I'm not trying to "weasel" my way out of buying new character slots on another server. I was trying to figure out how to use the character slots for which I'd already paid/earned on another server. I paid for/earned those extra character slots on Virtue prior to CoH:F, and I simply wanted to move them to Liberty, now that I prefer to play there, instead. I made no secret of that, nor did I have any malicious intent.

My mistake was believing that owning the slots entitled me to use them on any server I wished, even though NCSoft/Paragon Studios previously made it clear that the slots I was claiming would be restricted to the specific server on which I'd claimed them. I forgot that this was a condition of this perk prior to CoH:F -- I mistakenly believed that this was a new condition implemented with CoH:F.

As I've indicated in a previous post above, I now know and admit that I was wrong, and I apologize for that, and for my disparaging comments about NCSoft/Paragon Studios.