RobertoLyon

Own Horn <<<<*toot* *toot*

Got my first KHELD to 50 last night - THE OLD FASHIONED WAY (only set foot in AE *once*).

Took about 3 months of relatively casual play.

Dread Peacebringer on Freedom, thx very much!

[ QUOTE ]
Disregard what I had here before... I found a clearer version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ-cQvdc1JU (right at the beginning)

"Liberty 285, Code 6, 105 North Avenue 52"

Edit: It mean Liberty Unit 285, on foot*, at 105 North Avenue #52.

*Alternatively, "standing by at"

[/ QUOTE ]

Perfect - thanks much - clearly a "stock" sound clip.

Nice to know what they're actually saying tho.

To be honest I wouldn't mind a bit a variety with this clip, hearing the exact same thing every time you approach a train station, hospital, zone exit, etc, gets old after a few YEARS.

[ QUOTE ]
I believe that the dropships give no reward if defeated. Also, they do not slow down ever it seems, while you as a player will if you attack. Very difficult to defeat with no reward.

[/ QUOTE ]

You can find some sweet vids on YouTube of massive groups of flyers teaming up to take down the drop-ships. Looks like fun but takes a high level of coordination and very precise timing.

Had something new happen last night: Was leading an 8-man mish team, Exited the mish right as a Rikti Invasion was starting.

Rather than head to the central spot we just held our ground at the mish door and took on all comers.

The zoning-in-after-zoning-in-after-zoning-in enemies took on a whole new relevence when every teleport beam posed a serious threat to our survival.

I think just being away from the mob, feeling like our fates were in our own hands - ONLY - (and the fun of seeing it all thru the eyes of one of the team members who had never been in a Rikti Invasion before) made it the most fun I've ever had during Rikti Invasion.

If you're bored with it by now - try getting away from the mob on your own 8-person team and see the whole thing in a brand new light.

Very fun, very rewarding.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
A bunch of heroes/villains standing in a spot, mashing buttons basically? I just don't get it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd like to say "the reward", but neither the XP, Inf, or Vanguard Merits accumulate at a reasonably rewarding rate during the event (much like fighting any given giant monster).

[/ QUOTE ]

Honestly? I'm kinda "over" them myself.

I won't run away from one but won't seek one out, either.

They're kinda exciting the first 4 or 5 times, then - meh.

[ QUOTE ]
I find the actual invasions very laggy on my old machine.

I enjoy playing through them for the shineys, but I find the process not that great.

If I happen to have the desktop in the house and find one going on, then it is much more fun as there is minimal lag.

[/ QUOTE ]

I fight Rikti-lag by standing toward the outer "ring" of the muddle, FACING OUT.

You can still target and attack Rikti, but mostly you're picking them off as they 'port in, or as they are running back toward the muddle after being hit by KB.

Facing out, while standing on the edge of the fight, greatly cuts down on gfx lag, for me.

[ QUOTE ]
is this invasion even going on anymore? i thought it was supposed to be all weekend long....i'm in atlas park right now, asking people about the invasion, and everyone like "i dont know"

[/ QUOTE ]

From the wiki: "Rikti invasions will occur about every 3 hours."

[ QUOTE ]
ok i just signed on for the first time this weekend and i dont get it, where is this ratiki invasion? how do we join in the fight?

[/ QUOTE ]

Wiki info on Rikti Invasion

Basically, zones will (at intervals) be subjected to an "invasion" by Rikti ground troops and heavy assault "suits" or ships.

Heroes will form teams (any level welcome) and gather in a central location, often by the train station or Hero/Trainer.

There's a period before the ground troops arrive when you can run around and try to destroy some big unexploded bombs dropped by assault ships.

Then the ground troops arrive and everyone stands in a big muddle and pounds on 'em until they give up and go away.

Apologies for mis-post - was in the wrong Section, was looking for Comic/Villians culture.

Farewell Walter Cronkite

NEW YORK (AP) -- A CBS executive says retired CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite, "the most trusted man in America," has died at his home in New York. He was 92.
CBS vice president Linda Mason says Cronkite died at 7:42 p.m. after a long illness, with his family by his side.
He was the face of CBS News from 1962 to 1981, when stories ranged from the John F. Kennedy assassination to Watergate and the Iranian hostage crisis.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

I was just watching one of the "Jackass" movies and I swear I heard the CoH police drones "script" being used in the background at one point, after police showed up to put a stop to their shenanigans.

(What I mean is, the movie producers probably added this sound effect in after-the-fact, to highlight the fact that the police had arrived. Is this a standard stock sound effect?)

Does anyone have the precise text of what the drones are "saying" as you approach them?

"Liberty [point] 5, code Six..."??? something like that?

Personally I'm 120% behind the idea of some constructive tweaks to the Create-a-Team process, specifically to the Find window.

I would especially like to be able to refine the by-Level search, as the current 10-level spread seems a bit excessive. Especially if you're say, level 45. Searching 41-50 turns up a gazillion 50s (post-i14, of course) and two level 45s.

Having said that, lemme just say that I put together, and maintain, 8-hero teams running regular mishes practically every night on Freedom.

Yes, it takes a bit of effort, but Leading a team has many advantages, and a few little tricks of the trade can speed and facilitate the process.

Most importantly, 2 Binds:

"t $target, Level $level (AT here) LFT - want to join forces?"
and
"t $target, Level $level-ish team LFM - join us?"

Open the Find window, refine your search for Level, & LF-flag to begin with.

If you need to refine it further, start with Zone (Atlas is a good place to search for every level now, and you'd be surprised at how many are actually grateful to be dragged out of AE into the "real world").

And I've just started toying with refining by AT, as well. You'll rarely find potential members this way, that you wouldn't have found in a broader search, but it's worth a shot if you're short on Healz or Holdz or Meat Shieldz.

Again, the Find window could benefit from some tweaking, but once you get the hang of it, the traditional way is relatively pain-free.

[ QUOTE ]
2) It took about 10 minutes to copy the giant list of FX GEOs from Propel, and then remove the ones that were way too big.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is interesting and makes me curious about something.

When using Propel, every player sees a different random object. I may see a Forklift but my teammate sees a Pool Table while another teammate sees a giant Sculpture.

So with the new e/alakazamreact, does everyone see the same random object, or different?

Bill's outdoing himself today.

He feels all the extra attention focused on him today, due to the confection with candles on it over <<<that way, I think.

Happy B-day Memphis Bill!

I noticed it on July 3rd as well, thought it was a little "feature" they added as a nod to U.S. Independence Day.

Add me to the list of people who regularly impose on strangers to help me transfer inf and have never been burned.

I just camp Atlas and ask lowbie toons - especially those making purchases at the Training Enhancement stores - if they'd like to make a little startup cash.

50k to a lowbie is a really nice sweat-saver, especially when all you have to do is hang around Atlas for 5 mins and go thru the Trade process twice.

I've never been turned down, never been burned, and the lowbies end up thanking me sincerely.

If I'm feeling generous (which I most often am), I'll actually give them 5.5m, and Tell them to give me just 5m back, and keep 500k for themselves.

I do the generous thing primarily with lowbies with No or Very Few Vet badges, mostly they're just bonkers with gratitude.

[ QUOTE ]

- It's a bad place to bring a team.
Soaring through the air and navigating tricky islands is a lot of fun, but it is pure torture when a team is waiting for you. Almost all of my Shard trips have been solo, and I'm glad for that.
Having the time to fool around, enjoy the view, or screw up and fall forever is really necessary to your enjoyment.


[/ QUOTE ]

Well this was my next question so...there ya go.

I explored a bit this morning but didn't have too much time to look around.

But I build teams for mish runs, like 99% of the time, and I got the feeling right away that this wasn't the best place to bring a team that's not familiar with it, and that have all different travel powers.

But it sure is gorgeous and I would love to see it made a tad more gamer-friendly so people could actually, y'know, enjoy it.

This bug is annoying when it happens to me in-game, but my primary concern is that it looks so damn bush-league to people just joining the game.

For something like this to persist for so long, I just can't help imagining new gamers thinking Boy this game is a mess - they can't even fix a little thing like this? Yech, I'll go back to that other MMO.

I want CoX to be successful so it's always around for ME, and I worry that something like this will cut into retention rates for new players.

[ QUOTE ]
Shadow Shard is a beautiful zone. It's what is visible through the walls and floors in Pocket D.

What to do there?

Fall a lot.

Look at the pretty plants, and run away from eyeballs who want to eat you.

[/ QUOTE ]

This all sounds like fun - except maybe the falling part.

*heading to the Wiki to read more about the Shadow Shard*

Thanks for the help!

Not an AE baby, just a casual player (due to RL time constraints)...

But maybe a year and a half ago someone introduced me to, and held my hand as we explored, a beautiful-looking zone with floating islands that you had to launch yourself off of steam vents (?) to reach (if you didn't fly).

Which zone is this please? And are there arcs that take you there for a series of mishes?

Basically I guess I'm asking What is there to Do in that cool zone with the floating islands?

Okay thanks guys, I sent a note to Support.

...and it's my own fault.

But before I go bugging the Support crew I thought I would poll youse guys 'cause you're smart 'n helpful 'n stuff.

I played for, I believe, a full 12-months before moving to a new apartment.

I canceled my subscription before the move, and had to wait a few months before starting it up again.

When I went to start it back up, I couldn't remember my password or server (I'm dain bramaged), and my notes on this had been thrown away/lost during the move.

I contacted Support to help me get going again, and they were VERY helpful and patient with my dain-bramaged-ness.

Now, I don't usually pay any attention to badges, but reading on these forums about nifty Vet Rewards, I decided to check my own Vet badges - and discovered that they were ONLY DATING BACK TO MY RE-ACTIVATION, and not counting the prior 12-month subscription.

Is this something worth bugging the Support team over?

In your opinion (or thru first-hand experience), is this something they can easily "fix"?

I'm reluctant to put more on their plate since I'm not a big Badger, but if the Rewards are worth it, maybe I should?

FYI I just earned my 21-month Vet badge (post-reactivation).

You land a Super Jump and break a hip.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If I end up playing at a resolution *lower* than the native res, what kind of effect will that have on framerates?

[/ QUOTE ]

What you would want to do for CoH is to still set it (and your desktop) at the native resolution of your LCD, but adjust the render scale in CoH down to something less than 100% of that. This will leave the 2D elements such as text and power icons looking sharp, but reduce the amount of 3D work your card needs to do.

[/ QUOTE ]

Great advice, I'll do just that.

Thanks everyone for your help.

One more question, if you don't mind.

If I end up playing at a resolution *lower* than the native res, what kind of effect will that have on framerates?

I went with the 1680x1050, but now I'm a bit worried that my CPU and gfx card won't be up to the task.

Can I step it down if I need to, and take less of a hit on frame-rates?

Fantastic advice and help, thank you so much.

I ended up ordering the Asus 19" widescreen, 5th on houtex's list.

Again, thanks so much for your input, it's much appreciated.