Robin_Everheart
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:It's not such a bad model in other games that have the hybrid service like we had here, but Guild Wars 2 has the distinction of being equally free-to-play for all after you buy it. Printing more copies of the game and hoping for more retail sales won't work if the interest has dropped off, you might be spending more in manufacturing and shipping costs. The worst case scenario I can see for those players is to be passively forced into the micro-transactions by being offered entirely new critical content that way such as whole dungeons, zones, classes, etc because it creates that psychological effect for the dedicated players of "I've got to have it!" Basically taking the whole of what would make up a retail expansion pack and releasing it in chunks digitally for an accumulated sum that comes out to be much higher than if it were just one retail expansion.Originally Posted by End Sinister
I don't like to double post, but if their stock is really on the decline and they continue operating in the red, at least we'll ll have our revenge come a year or two. I agree, Robin, there is no way in hell Guild Wars 2 will survive in its current form on a microtransaction format. What game companies don't seem to understand is that microtransactions may only be a passing fad. I can't see the nickle and diming going on for much longer in the gaming world because people have less and less money to spare. I'm awaiting the collapse of the payment model myself since I think it's a shoddy way to do business.
Granted, we had new power sets offered this way but they weren't necessary to play and we always got our new zones and content as free updates.
I mean I'm just wary for them as players and consumers. In the hypothetical that NCsoft remained in the red by that point, there's that situation again where they start to get pressured by the shareholders (Nexon) so they, in turn, pressure ArenaNet into doing what I described above. Or maybe they have another boneheaded idea like changing Guild Wars 2 into the pay/free hybrid model and give the subscribers exclusive bonuses. That would be sure to cause a rift in the user base and I'd wager a fair bit would split town for a competitor's game. That one could be far-fetched but, hey, I've seen companies do worse. -
Quote:Seriously. It comes off more like an "I have money in excess to waste on something regardless of it's true value" kind of number. No one in their right mind would offer $80 million for CoH. Aging technology, medium-sized player base, modest profit. $8 million would be closer to the ball park if there were any merit to the rumor.Originally Posted by Arcanaville
False. One person mentioned it, one person suggested it was possible, everyone else correctly stated that if nothing else the number was wildly unlikely.
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Quote:Trying to save the game is only a portion of the bigger picture. NCsoft is a horribly mismanaged company with little to no focus that isn't above forging resignations just to close down a game and they even admitted to doing it (see: Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa). The quality or appeal of that game is irrelevant to the point, they were justly sued for their infraction and lost.Originally Posted by N0_REM0RSE
snip
They don't know what they want to offer and they always expect to do the same numbers as World of Warcraft with cookie-cutter Korean clones which is unrealistic and irresponsible. No one else can do those numbers, Blizzard were just at the right place at the right time. A strong possibility that led to the cutting of CoH was Nexon becoming a majority shareholder in NCsoft and pressuring their brass to make some cuts (without stating CoH specifically). Their refocusing back to the East obviously made CoH the perfect choice since Guild Wars 2 was positioned to be a newer, higher profile release here.
They were very much upset that "City of Hero" didn't take off in their homeland and that standard CoH didn't catch on either but that should have been a given because Western comic book superheroes are not part of the norm in their culture. It's easier to single out the game that isn't pulling it's weight in only half of the markets you operate in.
But even with their strong Guild Wars 2 launch, NCsoft stocks continue to fall. That initial $60 retail price for the game will only go so far once the initial wave of interest wanes and they'll be hard-pressed to maintain it solely on micro-transactions. Not saying they can't do it, but the GW2 players should be asking themselves where they'll be when NCsoft's next fiscal year ends if the company is still in the red.
You can even see many negative reviews of the company from the inside from current and former employees over the last several years here:
http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/NCs...-E23242_P3.htm -
Quote:That's fine, no insult perceived. I'm just really fed up with the posts I read here of people basically admitting defeat and accepting that it has to happen exactly as NCsoft wants it to. We're not the first MMO community they've scorned, but we're the loudest and most defiant and that scares them. This announcement is just more proof that we need to keep up the pressure.Originally Posted by Evil_Legacy
Yea I'm doing what I can to help the cause but it wont be under the banner of Titan. While I try to direct my efforts to compliment theirs instead of working against, the overall environment over there dont seem to appreciate anything that is considering if things dont go well unless of course it comes from TonyV or VV. Then it's ok to be real about the situation but never before those two not to mention the plan is still in chaos over there and seem to be waiting on a miracle to happen. Just my take no meaning of harm or insult to anyone. Titan is just not for me.
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AND LET'S NOT FORGET, NCsoft is the company that thought NOTHING of forging a letter of resignation for Richard Garriott over Tabula Rasa. Who seemed to think that forgery was a perfectly reasonable business practice????
http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05...llion-lawsuit/
NCsoft are, pure and simple, a company with NO focus, NO goals, and NO regard for the Western Video Game Market. They are MMO Killers. Even in the wake of Guild Wars 2 having a big launch, their stocks continue to fall and you can be damn sure the flames of an outraged community from their latest MMO homicide are having at least a little bit of a bearing on that! -
Seriously, you should all be members of the CoHTitan forums by now and part of the cause to not only save the game, but apply more pressure on NCsoft. This statement they issued is completely meaningless. It's the PR department's way of trying to mitigate the damage we've done to their reputation so far and we've barely begun.
SERIOUSLY, STOP LISTENING TO NCSOFT. THE REDNAMES ARE BEING FED THIS CRAP FROM THE PR GUYS.
Go. Go be constructive.
http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.php
Just as importantly, READ THIS remark about the statement from Mercedes Lackey (Victoria Victrix) and her husband:
http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index.....html#msg57520
And if you're sitting here on these forums feeling bummed about this and nothing else, you're NOT helping the situation. Defeatist attitudes are complete BS! -
Thank you, Zwill. I am sad to see you go but, fates willing, we will all meet again someday. Go, spend some time with the family, they'll appreciate it very much.
Like so many moments in life, a song comes to mind.
"I'm leaving here
And you'll know why when I'm gone
I'm leaving here
Translate your knowledge to this song
I won't forget
Why our words were meant to mesh
Why I'm glad we shared a glass
I gave something to your soul
And you gave me more than you will ever know!"
--Armored Saint, "Upon My Departure" -
Everyone is coping with this in their own way and, while I so greatly appreciate everything you guys have done, I'm overwhelmed with contempt for NCSoft more so. The suddenness of this and their way of handling it publicly with all the personable traits of a circular saw to the face just has me monumentally furious. My disbelief is in their actions, so much so that I simply can't sit and reminisce as if we all knew this months in advance.
I'm just flat out angry; Angry that they could do this to all of us, gamer and developer alike as if our personal and financial investment in the product and community was ultimately a waste. I never once played for free after Freedom launched. I subscribed for 6+ years and STILL bought things from the Market. I was doing so under the pretense that it's benefiting you guys at the studio and I hope it did... because I'd honestly rather pay you guys directly than to ever give NCSoft another dime.
I would hope there's a vast majority of us in the community that would also consent to never paying for another NCSoft published title again. I know I'm not and I mean it with every fiber of my being. (No offense to the people at ArenaNet who made a nice game in Guild Wars 2, but they signed a deal with the devil.)
It is sad to see you all at Paragon Studios go and I hope you all can transition to equally amazing positions at other development studios. Peace and long life to you, Melissa.
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Even if Pool Power Customization doesn't make it into the schedule any time soon... could we at least get a real unique animation baked into Super Speed? Something with more emphasized strides and not just the normal run animation sped up...
Several existing powers could still use some alternate updated animations. A lot of the vanilla animations that have been there since the game first came out have never been terribly impressive looking.
Super Jump is another one. You just take off and go, there's no "oomph" to it. -
I'd like to see a microphone stand (with mic, of course) as a Staff Fighting weapon model.
I might be somewhat biased seeing as my Staff Fighting toon is supposed to be a Heavy Metal vocalist from the 80s... I only keep it to the shiny metal staves for now but she would be just over-the-top awesome with an actual Microphone Stand for her weapon.
And how about an Electric Guitar (held by the neck upside down) as a War Mace model?
Or big Drumsticks or Timpani mallets as Dual Blades models?
Music-oriented themes have always been somewhat sparse; I'd love to see some old-school rocker clothing and big glam hair to go with these weapons. Maybe as part of a Hard Rock Themed Pack to sell on the Paragon Market. -
Eagerly awaiting Fitness going inherent. What I'm not excited about... having to respec ALL of my characters! T-T
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In the meantime, I'd suggest maybe cutting back on the Raids for a little bit everyone? At least until tomorrow after maintenance is done. I'm sure it'll be addressed then.
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Quote:Meh... I'm too lazy to reassert my RP nature somewhere else. I'm willing to donate towards funding a brand-new server cabinet for Virtue only. The other servers can go blow! XDOriginally Posted by Daylight_Kills
I say we take over another server.
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What am I going to do 'til it comes back up...
*taps fingers on desk* :\
*pauses, slowly turning around to face 8-bit NES* <_<
*looks at gold cart of 'Zelda II: The Adventure of Link'* <_<;
*bottom lip quivers, eventually turning into full on bawling* T-T
"PLEEEEEASE, COME BACK VIRTUE!!" -
Hope we learned a lesson here.
Don't power an MMO Server with a Volkwagen Bus. -
*Walks towards the front door of Virtue*
*Unknowingly grabs the handle, pushes it, and slams face-first into the door*
x_o? -"Ow, my faysh."
*Looks at the server, sees all the lights inside are off*
*Succumbs to paranoia, wildly spins a conspiracy in her mind concerning a former employee of the "Cryptic" variety*
>_>
<_<
>_>; -"...J...Jack?" -
Thank you for considering my Arc for you list.
As listed above, it is...
ID# 2890 - Chronicles of the Old Realm: The Lord of Dread
To add a little more background to it, this is a low-fantasy setting story arc of 3 missions and is based on a portion of a story I've played around with for about 15 years now. It's not a directly represented part of the real story as I had to adapt and compromise to what the Mission Architect will allow.
I made this a long while ago as indicated by the low Arc ID number but I never really advertised it much.
It's largely inspired by Conan the Barbarian and Norse mythology with a tinge of Record of Lodoss War and Heroic Legend Arslan.
I hope those that play it will find it enjoyable and I would appreciate any criticism and the pointing out of typos in the narrative.
I have another arc based on 16-bit "Beat'em Up" sidescroller games from the late-80s/early-90s like Final Fight and Streets of Rage. If you'd like to try it, just search my Global at the AE console...
@Robin Everheart -
Or as realistic as I can try to be...
From time to time, I do try to think of minor improvements or additions that could be added in that are not too overly ambitious for what the game engine is capable of. I'm by no means an expert on it, or a programmer for that matter, but I figured I'd throw these out there regardless.
1. Walking
I know this has been brought up time and time again and that it would most likely require a complete strip down of the engine, but I thought couldn't even a somewhat hodge-podge solution be met with a toggle in the power tray? When an enemy uses a debuff on us that induces a Slow effect, we effectively are at a walking speed. Could not a toggle accomplish this with an appropriate stride in animation? This is probably the smallest of my ideas so don't read too deeply into it just because it was my first of them.
2. Vehicles/Travel overlays of some type
Everyone wants a motorcycle, this is fact. The physics required sound like a hassle to me, not to mention all of the extra animations for EVERY power required to be made for any actions made from atop it. The only other way I could imagine that level of work being avoided is by having them made as their own exclusive Temp Powers that "alter" the avatars' form, thereby limiting their actions to what the vehicle allows (a la Nova and Dwarf form for for Kheldians).
Still, it's the movement physics that leave it in limbo for me as well possibly limiting character power conception for some people... or course that doesn't stop a super heroic Empath Defender from breaking out Sands of Mu or the Blackwand every now and then, who's to say he/she wouldn't mount a sports bike and break out a sub-machine gun too... it takes all kinds.
Graphical overlays for the existing travel powers would seem more feasible however, whether it be elemental effects that trail behind you or strange little devices that appear to attach to the body that can be believed to give the character in question that ability. For example, Super Speed could have an overlay of an energy sphere that rolls along like a hamster ball or the player might even levitate in the center while encased in it as it rolls along at mach 5. The sphere might even be generated by a device of some sort, say two generators on either side similar to the Vanguard Shield costume piece, only they generate the sphere around the player.
3. New Animations
Martial-Arts and Super Strength were a great breath of fresh air for Power Customization, I really was able to breathe new life into some old characters with new attack animations. My hope is that it's not stopping there. However, my concern is with other powers that we cannot customize (just yet, I hope), those being the Pool Powers. The two in question are Super Speed and Super Jump. To me, the animations never really looked appropriate for either, they just don't seem "super" enough.
Shouldn't someone with the ability to leap over buildings actually appear to be making such a movement? There's no spring in the step, no stride through the air, everyone has knee joints that ignore the reaction of impact. And Super Speed is the probably the fasted jog I've ever seen. There's the sensation of fast movement, but your character doesn't seem to think so. Would you not arch yourself forward at such speeds or, if you prefer, take less and longer strides?
There are others that could be singled out but these are the two that seemed most problematic to me. Again, I'm no programmer or an expert on this game engine, and I'm certainly not trying to tell the devs how to do their jobs. Even if these were brought up before (you can tell I don't post much, even for playing the game for 51 months) I just wanted to bring some extra attention to them in as sensible and objective a manner as possible.
Thanks for reading. -
Could we just kill off Statesman instead? ...have Tyrant do him in once and for all? Sorry, I'm just not big on States. Something about those god-like patriotic heroes I could never get into *cough*Superman*cough*.
I'll admit he looks rather dull next to Tyrant, but his costume texture and cape mantle are exclusive to him, not to mention his mask. That's really the identity he needs. Besides, you can't have an appealing protagonist without a more appealing antagonist to keep them down. Part of what makes a real good guy interesting is the struggle. -
Whatever the case may be, I'm looking forward to i16 and Going Rogue for that matter. I have faith in the Devs that they'll do their best work possible and not let us down, it's all really exciting.
Something not so exciting for me right now... is being in the CO Open Beta.
My reaction was generally positive at first, I'm beginning to see it for what it is after 12 levels... just as everyone else describes it: WoW with superheroes.
The questing structure, the basic mechanics and GUI, the lack of encouragement for social teaming... it's everything stripped directly from WoW... and it's what made me stop playing WoW in the long run (back before ANY of the expansions).
About the only nice thing I can say about it is that I really love a lot of the animations for some of the attacks and travel powers. We need some overhauled animations like that for CoX (i.e. someone with superspeed ACTUALLY appearing to be running in the resulting stride style).
Beyond that, it just feels like I'm playing a really ugly early PS2 game ported to PC by an outside company without the slightest clue of how it was supposed to translate to a PC correctly.
Well, I seem to have gotten a tad off-topic. Anywho, just be patient for i16. It'll be here when they feel it's ready for prime time... which might not be too far off at all.
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Seven pages of this thread and I haven't the patience to read pass the first... anywho, I too have been seeing a lot of Defender "Issues" resurface lately.
Let me set this up. I have up to 4 years in Vet. badges (yet only 10 posts on the forums, yeah I don't come here much). My first level 50 was a Storm Summoner/Energy Blast Defender (I'm Luna Eclypse on Virtue ^_^). All those years ago when she was still being leveled, pre-exp arc adjustment I might add, I got non-stop complaints from almost every team I was in. Why? They did not understand my power set. And I would explain it that Storm is most entirely debuffs, the knockback is a side-effect that they just have to live with. No dice.
For a while, I wasn't getting invites because they'd send a /tell beforehand and ask what I was. So entered my "Unorthodox Stormie" build as I called it for a while. O2 Boost six-slotted for 3 Heals/3 Rech and Aid Other (also six-slotted) from the Medicine pool. Add in Resuscitate with some timely recharge time and I became an improvised pocket healer. And for a long, long time I would get invited to teams of 8 and be able to keep them all alive as the sole support-capable AT in the group. Either they tweaked it a bit or I got slower over time, but I can't seem to do that anymore... not as efficiently as I used to anyway.
My Storm powers were at a minimum... Snow Storm, Freezing Rain & Lightning Storm for debuffs, Steamy Mist running on the team, Hurricane only where applicable. I was never one of those Stormies that keeps it indefinitely running. I found that to cause more problems than not. And Tornado as a quasi-getaway power. Only used it for debuffing on AVs since it couldn't throw them around.
Consequently, this is still how Luna is built after all these years. On the occasions where I ever feel like using her, people get a taste of the Unorthodox Stormie... now with knockback-alicious Nova. ^.^ My healing tends to stay to a minimum nowadays though. I try to keep an eye out for whoever is nearby and not getting any love from the other heal-capable Defs/Trollers in the group. I usually stay shoulder to shoulder with the Blasters anymore. Toss out my debuffs and blast'em into next week.
Not sure I had any particular reason behind my rambling, just using myself as an example of how you can show your usefulness regardless of your build.
And, lastly, let's not forget the magical phrase that you should use if you're a Defender/Controller with any healing powers, this is for the unruly noobs that cause you grief. It's never failed for me: "I'm not healing you because you won't learn anything if I do."
