Rathulfr

Thank you, Tenzhi, for pointing out the true flaw in my argument. I had honestly and completely forgotten that, even prior to CoH:F, there was indeed a warning message about new character slots added to specific servers not being transferable to other servers.

So here I must eat crow. I was indeed previously warned about the risks associated with adding slots to Virtue. I was not forced to place them there, nor was I forced to switch, nor am I being forced to cancel my sub. NCSoft/Paragon is not being immoral or unethical in any way, shape, or form: they are being consistent both before and after the implementation of Freedom; therefore, I am wrong to accuse them of such. I apologize for doing so. I am man enough to admit when I am wrong and to face the consequences accordingly.

That said, as you even concurred, it would be a nice QoL improvement for NCSoft/Paragon to offer players the option of moving empty character slots from one server to another, for either no charge, or for a nominal charge that's less than those of purchasing additional character slots (480 pts) or transferring equipped characters (800 pts). Does 100 pts per empty slot transfer sound like a fair price?

I'd like to thank all of you who listened to my concerns and offered constructive criticism. I enjoy a good discussion and a lively debate, even when I don't win the argument (which is usually the case :-P ).

Actually, I disagree with you: there is a point to all of this. The nut of the issue is that they're charging you twice for the same slot, the only difference being the server on which it is located. There's an initial cost/price for creating a character slot on a server in the first place. But then the question is there really any additional cost involved in moving that empty slot to a different server, versus creating an additional empty slot on a different server.

There's no "new service" involved in my request to MOVE one (1) single empty slot from server A to server B. There's no net gain in it for me, and no net loss in it for them. They deduct one empty character slot from server A, and add one empty character slot to server B: that's NOT the same net cost/price as creating a new, second slot on a different server. And that's not the same net cost/price as copying a created/equipped character from one server to another, either (that entails moving a significant quantity of actual data).

As a paying customer for years prior to CoHF, I paid for/earned a total of 17 character slots on Virtue on this particular account. We loyal subscribers were told that we would not lose anything we'd bought or earned when Freedom went live. And officially, technically, we haven't -- NCSoft has been true to the letter of that law.

But here's where that's become less than an ideal bargain, in this particular case. Yes, I still have 17 character slots on Virtue, as a VIP. But 12 of those come with my VIP status -- only 5 of them were bought/earned with veteran rewards or points. So when that account reverts to Premium, only 5 will remain available for me to play, and ONLY ON VIRTUE.

But I don't play on Virtue any more. I've made new friends and joined a new SG on Liberty. So I've got 5 useless slots on Virtue: I bought/earned them long ago, but now they have no value to me. I'm merely trying to salvage some value out of these slots: they do me no good on Virtue, but they'd be well used on Liberty.

Because I had nothing on Liberty prior to CoHF, I had no unlockable slots without VIP status. Consequently, I had to burn both of my 2 Globals and spent my last 400 points on 2 more slots (there's a sale), just to get a total of 16. Subtract 12 when my VIP runs out, and I'll be left with only 4 slots on Liberty. So on this account, I will never be able to play any more than 4 characters there *unless* I either:

(a) spend money to buy more slots on Liberty; or,
(b) spend money to transfer characters from Virtue to Liberty.

Is that technically correct, right, legal? Yes, absolutely, no argument there.
Is that ethically or morally right or acceptable? I don't think so -- that's my argument.

That's what's stuck in my craw about this whole thing. That's what's bothering me. For years I stuck by NCSoft/Cryptic/Paragon Studios. Yes, I've done my share of stone-throwing, but generally, I've been more supportive and positive than negative. I've always appreciated how NCSoft/Paragon seemed more sensitive and responsive to the players, unlike so many other MMO companies that we could all name with loud cursing and gnashing of teeth.

But here is one example of where it seems like NCSoft is acting *precisely* like those other MMO companies we all loathe so intensely, those whose primary concern is for milking as many microtransactions out of their players as possible, with little regard for their feelings or relationships or enjoyment.

Is it really too much to ask that players be allowed to move empty character slots to different servers? I mean, it's tedious enough as it is to have to have strip and delete characters to make alts anyways: isn't that sufficient enough a cost for the privilege of moving the slot to a different server?

I'm sorry, but I can't seem to find any link to a "Suggestions" forum? Because this issue relates to CoH: Freedom, I figured this was the best place to post my concerns. However, if you could redirect me to a better location, I'll be glad to post there, instead. Thanks!

I agree completely. My son's teacher once argued against tattoos with this: "Remember, when you were 5, you thought Barney was awesome."

That's one of many reasons I resisted getting -- or allowing my kids to get -- a tattoo. But my daughter was quite insistent, and she said that she was going to get one when she turned 18 anyway (in just 2 months). I've always told my kids that once they turned 18, they could make their own decisions about things like this. So rather than fighting it any more, I thought, "why not use this as a bonding opportunity?" My little girl is all grown up now. She graduated at the top of her class with a 4.0 GPA, and earned a scholarship to college. She's been a great kid, so why not have one last bit of fun together before she moves on with her life?

I knew I wanted my tattoo to be something I'd still appreciate in 20 years. I know that CoH probably isn't going to last much longer (that it's been 7 years at all amazes me). But I've been playing it since 2004, and it's honestly my only "hobby", so to speak. So I figured why not get a tattoo that represents that hobby, and can also remind me of my family? That's how I decided on Star 6.

There was one other CoH design that I considered: the classic/original City of Heroes/Statesman icon (see below). Like Johnstone, I couldn't decide on any one AT's symbol, because I've enjoyed playing almost all of them. My main is a Blaster, but I also love my Tankers, Scrappers, Masterminds, and EATs. I've had and enjoyed many alts of many builds over the 7 years I've played CoH, so I couldn't pick just one -- and I definitely wasn't going to get 14 tattoos. So I figured the original CoH/Statesman icon would cover them all. But ultimately, I decided that was a little too generic. Star 6 won because it represented CoH, my main CoH character Rathstar, and also my family. And the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that I made the right choice.

Why? Because I think it would be easier/faster for the devs to Origin-lock the animations for the Medicine pool than to create some kind of a whole new mechanism for selecting custom animations for individual powers, beyond what they've already done for the Primary and Secondary power sets.

Not that creating a new mechanism for doing just that is a bad thing: I like the idea, too. However, I see that as something that the devs could write off as "too hard" or "too much effort for too little benefit", and we get nothing, instead.

I'm just trying to head that off at the pass, by offering an "easier" option: assign an animation set according to Origin, under the covers, without a complex user interface.

I can login to Virtue now, and I was last logged on to TR this morning at around midnight. So my account status is good, and my computer configuration hasn't changed since then. I don't see a post here about any down-time today?

That's definitely a myth. The truth is: you're not far from needing an Awaken just after you've combined all of yours to something else. :-D

Gospel! I've gotten into the habit of not using a small yellow unless I have another Insp to use after it, because it seems like I always MISS! right after using it by itself. But it seems like I never miss if I proc another Insp after the yellow. So it's always yellow+red or yellow+purple or yellow+etc. :-P