Rhynalae

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Actually they did remove the glowie sound completely some months back, whether intentionally or not, and some point in the last few months it was put back in, as a different sound though. It was really annoying for the time that it was gone, though now that it's back I don't need it, being level 50 with no missions. But glad it's back.

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Gaaa. I can't imagine NOT having the sound (and it's actually location/direction sensitive) -- otherwise we'd never find the blasted things!

Especially with Dark Armor running. Blech.

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...I never confirmed that it was a she except through my continued conversations with her.

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I always get a kick out of trying to figure this out. I think I have a pretty good handle on it (many men play women in "stereotypical" fashion, whether subtle or not, where women "feel" different when they interact -- it's hard to explain).

Of course it goes the other way too, since some women obviously have male alts.


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The only other main detail I can think of is that her idea of what happened changed over time, from her telling me, "Are you saying I'm a (censored)?" to her actually believing I straight-out called her that instead of hinting at it by calling her popular. After apologizing three or four times she still wouldn't let go...

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This "mental rewriting" is sometimes not even purposeful. There are certain types of personalities that tend to color and/or even revise their memories to fit in accordance with what they are feeling at the moment, and it's difficult for them NOT to do it. (One of my three kids has this problem. Especially if he feels hurt by something, he can revise a circumstance to benefit himself, and actually believe he's telling the truth.)

It's annoying as all-get-out to deal with, though.

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It is worth noting that this is the only problem I have had so far in the entire game like this. Most others have a better sense of humor...

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Same experience. Majority of people are great about not being hyper about social missteps, or else they nip them in the bud early on in a way that doesn't cause more conflict. (Then you get the occassional nut who's smoking up the Broadcast channel with profanity and just gets belligerent when you ask him to shut his yap or take it private.)

Running a girl alt, however, gets interesting when the men start dropping innuendos. Is THAT what it feels like to deal with that sort of thing? Ugh. Usually I roleplay either coy for a moment (because it's amusing) or I simply ignore it and converse normally.

As far as I can tell, all the women players (I THINK they were women) have been great and also have a good sense of real-life priorities versus game priorities (a wisdom that some of the guys, so intent on gaming, don't share).

I know this is an old post, but I'm having a great time going through your journal. You've got a great reflective style and good analysis of the experience(s). Keep going!

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Stop imposing your ideals of what is fun and how the game should be played on your players. There are parallels to this behavior throughout history. One of them was named Hitler....

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Oh no -- not the NAZI card!

(That's always an effective way to win someone over to your POV: Compare them to a megalomaniac manic-depressive psycopath. I'll have to write that one down.)

Don't give them an excuse to scrap all the good things you had to say by throwing barbs like this into the mix.

Are there really 20x the number of fire controllers and psy controllers than grav? Just curious... I've been playing a grav/rad controller (level 11 now) and I swear that out of all the controllers I've been bumping into, literally 1/3 or more have been gravs. Which sort of surprised me... but just thought I' d offer the observation.

The lack of damage is frustrating, as everyone suggests. I don't even need to be a powerhouse. It's just frustrating that the thought of soloing a white mish is an exercise in tedium, if not slow suicide, due to the fact that it literally takes me 45 seconds or so to kill one minion, while I force the others to stand around and wait their turn.

Some AT builds can solo purples; I find that I can't even function UNLESS I'm on a team. I don't ask that they be equal, not in the least; but even 3-4 slotted, my crush and lift powers are peashooters in comparison to other controller builds.

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I don't see the problem with it though. It's a fantasized world obviously different to our own. So demons and undead exist in the fantasized world, along with all other things which can't exist in ours. Just takes a bit of imagination.

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I understand the difficulty she's having. Then again, to be internally consistent, magic should also be considered a problem for most Christian-based faiths and in fact is usually tossed into the mix as a complaint point.

Like you’re saying, they’re actually a different reality despite the name similarities (which is what confuses the issue). AD&D-style magic, for example, is generally not magic defined Biblically (i.e., an “arcane power” derived from some spiritual being opposed to God) but rather a force of nature that is harnessed – basically science (“Follow this list of steps, and you can replicate this effect because that’s how the natural laws in this world work.”) They are in essence two different things.

Nor am I sure why a line is drawn with goblins and dragons and such, since they are generally cast in opposition to “goodness.” If the undead and demons are bad because they oppose good, they’re “spiritually” the same as dragons, goblins, and other lackeys that are also opposed to good. And anything that grants man power that he "shouldn't have" (in lieu of dependence on God) should be something to be abhorred. [Ouch -- that would include all sorts of "fantasy" ...including superheroes.]

I figure it's a game, though. We should enjoy it for what it is, and play it however we feel comfortable playing it. It's supposed to be fun, right?

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A note to all the players asking why about the second change and how it effects me: Most of my main ALTs deaths are the end result of some other player aggroing a mob behind me and then running scared past me, or a Tank dropping mid combat, or some other similar mishap brought about by poor teaming skills.

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Reminds me of the other night, when I got zapped from behind by a level 49 robot in Mishu Bridge at Brcks (supposedly levels 30-32). Special thanks go out to whomever left me THAT little gift…


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Heck, 9 out of 10 of my faceplants have been during missions, so this is a blessing. How many times have you joined a team of 8 only to find out the mission owner outlevels you and has the mission difficulty set on invincible ?

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Yeah, that can be pretty nasty. We had to restart a respec once because when we showed up for the first indoor mission, almost no one could hit anything. Someone was running on Invincible.

Personally, I think the best approach is use the current resources to resolve the issue rather than throwing yet another stipulation or change on the user base. In that particular case, there are already ways to fix the problem, and players already have discovered them.

For example, the entire team can abandon mission and change their difficulty settings in order to make the mission suitable for everyone. (Yeah, it adds a little time to the game, but if you’re going to team with someone, you need to respect where they’re at. Otherwise don’t team with them.)

Barring that, I think you could have been SK’ed up to par, which keeps the higher levs happy.

I feel the same way -- I'm not sure why the additional buffer zone of levels 6-10.

I figured the first five levels were great for newbies to the game, as well as newbies to a particular AT or new power pools. By level 5, a good player will have figured out what the limits of their abilities are, and play can begin in earnest.

Seems to make dying sort of pointless.

Then again, I haven't done any team missions as a con/def/blst, so maybe to those ATs, it's more useful.

Having played both PP and the Hollows, aside from the difficult landscape in Hollows, I'd agree. Once you get a travel power, things get a lot easier.

I remember feeling pretty intimidated starting out in the Hollows due to the large mobs that were higher-level than me, and I spent a lot of time sneaking around, picking my battles, and running like mad when the battles were too rough.

Now that I own the upper areas, those spots are almost like a nuisance on my way to the harder areas.

So there's a wide range of challenge there, which is a good thing. I don't see a problem with it, if you're smart, or go out with teams.

The magmites are wicked.

I had one great solo story, when I was rather naive. Only a level 10 tank, and figured I'd take direct line to my contact on the far side of the Hollows, where I had never been before (the short troll guy on the bridge).

That was probably the dumbest thing I've ever done. I didn't have a travel power, and once I got down into the blasted lands, I couldn't get out. And then I realized I was WAY outclassed by any mobs down there, and they were coming after me.

I had full sprint on, running like heck, triggering reds and purples everywhere I went, magmites coming out of the ground and throwing rocks and shooting lava blasts from seemingly miles away, and being chased by hordes of peeved trolls. Not knowing how to get out of the area (due to all the cliffs) and not knowing where the mobs would be at any moment, I don't even know how I lived through that... I was running most of the time with my bar in the red, popping health inspirations as I went.

Somehow I made it to the bridge... then realized that I could have just sauntered the longer (but safer) way through town.

Arrggg.

Later, I found I couldn't solo the "magmite hunt" mission until I was level 15... and then not with much room to spare, unless I found some blues to fight. I hate those things.