SablePhoenix

The AT Sets are of no concern to me whatsoever; with the current Set IOs being more than adequate to overpower your character, I don't see AT Sets being of any more relevance than the PVP Sets, which is to say, zero.

The costume pieces are another matter entirely.

It's bad enough that every single costume piece since Freedom came out has been released in the Market. Now we're supposed to GAMBLE on even getting them? Pay real money for a CHANCE that we will get something we actually want?

I thought the whole point behind the "Freedom" in the name was that we got to choose how to play and how much we wanted to pay for. The implication being that everything would be available, provided you wanted to meet the requirements to pay for it, should that be necessary. Buy only what you want, not buy the same thing repeatedly for a mere chance to get what you actually want. Of course anyone who knew anything about "free"-to-play systems as they exist elsewhere knew that was a lie when they said it, but the fact still remains that if I'm going to spend actual real hard-earned dollars for things that don't physically exist, I better know EXACTLY what I'm getting.

I had been planning to renew my VIP subscription during December to take advantage of the buy-one-year-get-two-months-free deal, but when I heard about this, that plan is off the table. Unless I hear that the items in these Sucker Packs... er, sorry, Super Packs, are going to be available through other means than gambling, I'm letting the subscription lapse. I might continue to play whatever limited number of characters a Free account allows, but even that's doubtful, given that Guild Wars 2 is coming out next year and allows you to play for free without penalizing you for it (and Guild Wars is still up and running and does the same thing).

Can we please get the Incarnate costume pieces that aren't usable by non-50 characters out of the freaking Inbox? They sit there unclaimable with their little red notification message and, worse, they screw up the auto-claim for all the rest of the account rewards the characters might claim. Having to go through that entire list of stuff manually is a royal pain in the ***.

This is a stupid, stupid, stupid idea and whoever came up with it should be fired.

Harsh? Maybe. But given that probably half the people on my global friends list who are always around when I am have inexplicably vanished since this "improvement", I don't personally think so.

Cutting paying customers off from playing your game is not just bad business, it's insane.

Make the old launcher functional again.

When are we going to get some of this stuff released that's available to everyone for no more than the cost of the subscription fee?

Don't get me wrong, I love every costume piece and bit of customization in this pack. By far it is the most extensive and well-done pack we've seen yet. However, it's filled with things that all the players have been requesting since the game went gold more than seven years ago. Making them pay extra for these things when they've already sunk hundreds and hundreds of dollars into the game just in subscription fees feels like a slap in the face. "Backpacks, you say? Dresses (sort of)? Yeah, we know you wanted these from day one. We know you've been paying us every month since then and have expected us to deliver them eventually. And guess what, now we have! But if you want to use it at all, you gotta pay even more! Ain't life grand?!" That's bad faith, guys. And you even upgrade face textures but don't replace the old ones? You're actually expecting people to pay for higher res maps of existing textures? What the heII is that?!

Microtransactions should be limited to niche stuff that wouldn't exist at all if it weren't for the microtransactions themselves, not the things everyone has always wanted and ought to be scheduled and budgeted for in normal game development.

As a film score fan and a fan of production house/trailer music (Two Steps from Hell, X-Ray Dog, Immediate Music, etc.), I have to say your work is fantastic. I think my favorite is Fliege's theme, but with all of them your skill is obvious.

There's a powerset which I've never, ever played past the first few levels because I just cannot stand the sound effects. Electric Blast. Frankly, all electric powers except perhaps Lightning Rod. I really wish that the hollow, tinny sound effects currently used for electric powers had some crack and rumble to them like actual lightning. The current sound effects are fine for Clockwork, but I think the rest of the enemies who use electricity, and especially the powersets available to the players, should sound like the Mu lightning. When City of Villains was released and I ran across the Mu mystics, the first thing I said was "THAT is how electric powers should sound!" I have been hoping ever since that those sound effects would be adapted to all the rest of the lightning powersets that players can use, but they never have. A shame, since the effects obviously exist already.

Yeah, I know I can turn the graphics way down and get better performance. What gets me is that it was running fine with all those levels at maximum just a few days ago. I've not changed anything of my configuration.

Nothing in this configuration has changed, nothing on the entire system has changed, and it was running CoX fine one day and then the next it dropped to 10 FPS or less, so I don't know what good this will do, but here we go.


---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.2.0.2---

DxDiag gathered at September 5, 2010 14:23 (-07:00)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_gdr.100618-1621)
System Manufacturer: Alienware
System Model: Aurora
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Central Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 930 @ 2.80GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
Memory: 6144MB
.Net Memory Report: 3287MB out of 6134MB available
Page File: 8966MB (3301MB currently in use)
C Drive: (WDC WD1001FAES-75W7A0 ATA Device) 725050MB out of 953866MB (76%) free
D Drive: (ST31000528AS ATA Device) 577700MB out of 953867MB (60%) free
E Drive: (ST3750330AS ATA Device) 279408MB out of 715402MB (39%) free
F Drive: (ST3400633AS ATA Device) 187025MB out of 381551MB (49%) free
G Drive: (PLDS DVD+-RW DH-24AAS ATA Device) zero-size drive
I Drive: (MBEVO YFWDINC9E7KL SCSI CdRom Device) zero-size drive
J Drive: (MBEVO YFWDINC9E7KL SCSI CdRom Device) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\Windows
DirectX: DirectX 11
DirectX Diag version: 6.01.7600.16385 (64-bit version)

Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.

No problems found.

No problems found.

No problems found.

No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.

Monitor:
Monitor's Max Resolution: (blank)
Video Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480
Manufacturer / Chip: NVIDIA / GeForce GTX 480
Video Memory: 4063 MB
Driver Version: 8.17.12.5932
Driver Date: 8/5/2010 4:27:00 AM
Driver Language: English

Sound Device Description: Speakers (Creative SB X-Fi)
Driver File: ctaud2k.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.1323
Driver Date: 7/29/2009 2:18:40 AM

Sound Device Description: SPDIF Out (Creative SB X-Fi)
Driver File: ctaud2k.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.1323
Driver Date: 7/29/2009 2:18:40 AM

Sound Device Description: Digital Audio (HDMI) (2- High Definition Audio Device)
Driver File: HdAudio.sys
Driver Version: 6.01.7600.16385
Driver Date: 7/13/2009 5:07:00 PM

Sound Device Description: Digital Audio (HDMI) (Creative SB X-Fi)
Driver File: ctaud2k.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.1323
Driver Date: 7/29/2009 2:18:40 AM

Sound Device Description: Digital Audio (S/PDIF) (2- High Definition Audio Device)
Driver File: HdAudio.sys
Driver Version: 6.01.7600.16385
Driver Date: 7/13/2009 5:07:00 PM


WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: Alienware
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: 04VWF2
Motherboard Version: A01
BIOS Manufacturer: Alienware
BIOS Name: Default System BIOS
BIOS Version: ALWARE - 20100427
BIOS Release: 20100209000000.000000+000


Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 1920x1148
3D Resolution: 1920x1148 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: No
Maximized: Yes
Screen Position: 0, 0
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: Yes


Physics Quality: Very High
Maximum Particles: 50000
Max Particle Fill? 10.000
Physics Card Enabled: No


Anti-aliasing: 32x
Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
Texture LOD Bias: Smooth
Water Effects: Ultra quality
Bloom: 1.000 (turned on)
Depth of Field Enabled: No
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: No
Shader Detail: High


World Texture Level: Very High
Character Texture Level: Very High
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 2.000
Entity Detail Level: 2.000
Shadows Enabled: No
Shadow Mode: Unknown (5)
Shadow Map Shader: High quality
Environmental Reflections: Ultra quality
Advanced Occlusion Settings: Yes
Ambient Occlusion: Off
Occlusion Strength: Off
Blur: Bilateral
Ambient Resolution: High performance


Gamma Correction: 1.000
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: Yes
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: Yes
Close Suppression Range: 3.000
Show Advertisements: Yes

Audio Mode: Performance
3D Audio: No
FX Sound Volume: 0.151
Music Sound Volume: 0.099

Show Advanced Graphics Options: Yes
Overall Graphics Quality: 0.500
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: 82837 bytes/second
Current Game Version: 1850.201007290124.24T2
Installation Directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\City of Heroes

Mod files in the Data directory
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Enhancements has 38 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Pet_Command has 9 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Powers has 1244 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Powers\ALTERNATE-1 has 26 files
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Powers\ALTERNATE-2 has 10 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\city has 1 file
.\texture_library\MAPS\Midnight_Squad has 1 file
.\texture_library\MAPS\Safeguard has 9 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\sewers has 44 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\static has 32 files
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\Outdoor_Missions has 9 files
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\Static has 16 files



Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.4
Scan saved at 2:25:32 PM, on 9/5/2010
Platform: Windows 7 (WinNT 6.00.3504)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v8.00 (8.00.7600.16385)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\Program Files\Alienware\Command Center\AlienwareAlienFXController.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 9.0\Acrobat\acrotray.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Java\Java Update\jusched.exe
C:\Program Files\Alienware\Command Center\AlienFusionController.exe
C:\Program Files\Alienware\Command Center\AlienFXHook32Mngr.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Trillian\trillian.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\HiJackThis\Trend Micro\HiJackThis\HiJackThis.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page = C:\Windows\SysWOW64\blank.htm
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Int ernet Settings,ProxyOverride = *.local
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar,LinksFolderName =
F2 - REG:system.ini: UserInit=userinit.exe
O2 - BHO: ContributeBHO Class - {074C1DC5-9320-4A9A-947D-C042949C6216} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\/Adobe Contribute CS3/contributeieplugin.dll
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHelperStub - {18DF081C-E8AD-4283-A596-FA578C2EBDC3} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEHelperShim.dll
O2 - BHO: IE to GetRight Helper - {31FF080D-12A3-439A-A2EF-4BA95A3148E8} - C:\Program Files (x86)\GetRight\xx2gr.dll
O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Conversion Toolbar Helper - {AE7CD045-E861-484f-8273-0445EE161910} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O2 - BHO: Java(tm) Plug-In 2 SSV Helper - {DBC80044-A445-435b-BC74-9C25C1C588A9} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\jp2ssv.dll
O2 - BHO: SmartSelect - {F4971EE7-DAA0-4053-9964-665D8EE6A077} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Adobe_ID0EYTHM] C:\PROGRA~2\COMMON~1\Adobe\ADOBEV~1\Server\bin\VER SIO~2.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Adobe Acrobat Speed Launcher] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 9.0\Acrobat\Acrobat_sl.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Acrobat Assistant 8.0] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 9.0\Acrobat\Acrotray.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Adobe ARM] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\ARM\1.0\AdobeARM.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files (x86)\QuickTime\QTTask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Java\Java Update\jusched.exe"
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\Run: [Sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /autoRun (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\RunOnce: [mctadmin] C:\Windows\System32\mctadmin.exe (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\Run: [Sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /autoRun (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\RunOnce: [mctadmin] C:\Windows\System32\mctadmin.exe (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-18\..\Run: [CtxfiReg] CTXFIREG.exe /FAIL1 (User 'SYSTEM')
O4 - HKUS\.DEFAULT\..\Run: [CtxfiReg] CTXFIREG.exe /FAIL1 (User 'Default user')
O4 - Global Startup: Microsoft Office.lnk = C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office\OSA9.EXE
O8 - Extra context menu item: Append Link Target to Existing PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIEAppendSelLinks.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Append to Existing PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIEAppend.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert Link Target to Adobe PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIECaptureSelLinks.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert to Adobe PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIECapture.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Download with GetRight - C:\Program Files (x86)\GetRight\GRdownload.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: Open with GetRight Browser - C:\Program Files (x86)\GetRight\GRbrowse.htm
O16 - DPF: {F6ACF75C-C32C-447B-9BEF-46B766368D29} (Creative Software AutoUpdate Support Package) - http://ccfiles.creative.com/Web/soft...5112/CTPID.cab
O20 - AppInit_DLLs: acaptuser32.dll
O23 - Service: Adobe Version Cue CS3 - Adobe Systems Incorporated - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Adobe Version Cue CS3\Server\bin\VersionCueCS3.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\Alg.exe,-112 (ALG) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Alienware Fusion Service (AlienFusionService) - Alienware - C:\Program Files\Alienware\Command Center\AlienFusionService.exe
O23 - Service: ##Id_String1.6844F930_1628_4223_B5CC_5BB94B879762# # (Bonjour Service) - Apple Computer, Inc. - C:\Program Files (x86)\Bonjour\mDNSResponder.exe
O23 - Service: Creative Audio Engine Licensing Service - Creative Labs - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Creative Labs Shared\Service\CTAELicensing.exe
O23 - Service: Creative Audio Service (CTAudSvcService) - Creative Technology Ltd - C:\Program Files (x86)\Creative\Shared Files\CTAudSvc.exe
O23 - Service: Dragon Age: Origins - Content Updater (DAUpdaterSvc) - BioWare - C:\Program Files (x86)\Dragon Age\bin_ship\DAUpdaterSvc.Service.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\efssvc.dll,-100 (EFS) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: ESET HTTP Server (EhttpSrv) - ESET - C:\Program Files\ESET\ESET NOD32 Antivirus\EHttpSrv.exe
O23 - Service: ESET Service (ekrn) - ESET - C:\Program Files\ESET\ESET NOD32 Antivirus\x86\ekrn.exe
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\fxsresm.dll,-118 (Fax) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\fxssvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: FLEXnet Licensing Service - Macrovision Europe Ltd. - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Macrovision Shared\FLEXnet Publisher\FNPLicensingService.exe
O23 - Service: GoToAssist - Citrix Online, a division of Citrix Systems, Inc. - C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrix\GoToAssist\514\g2aservice.exe
O23 - Service: @keyiso.dll,-100 (KeyIso) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @comres.dll,-2797 (MSDTC) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\msdtc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\System32\netlogon.dll,-102 (Netlogon) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Performance Service (nTuneService) - NVIDIA - C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\nTune\nTuneService.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (nvsvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\nvvsvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\psbase.dll,-300 (ProtectedStorage) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\Locator.exe,-2 (RpcLocator) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\locator.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\samsrv.dll,-1 (SamSs) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: SiI31xx HBA Wakeup Utility (SiHbaWakeupService) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files (x86)\Silicon Image\SiI31xx HBA Wakeup Utility\SiHbaWakeupService.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\snmptrap.exe,-3 (SNMPTRAP) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\snmptrap.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\spoolsv.exe,-1 (Spooler) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\sppsvc.exe,-101 (sppsvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\sppsvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Steam Client Service - Valve Corporation - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Steam\SteamService.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Stereoscopic 3D Driver Service (Stereo Service) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\3D Vision\nvSCPAPISvr.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\ui0detect.exe,-101 (UI0Detect) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\UI0Detect.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Update Center Service (UpdateCenterService) - NVIDIA - C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\System Update\UpdateCenterService.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\vaultsvc.dll,-1003 (VaultSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\vds.exe,-100 (vds) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\vds.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\vssvc.exe,-102 (VSS) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\vssvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\Wat\WatUX.exe,-601 (WatAdminSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\Wat\WatAdminSvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\wbengine.exe,-104 (wbengine) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\wbengine.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%Systemroot%\system32\wbem\wmiapsrv.exe,-110 (wmiApSrv) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\wbem\WmiApSrv.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%PROGRAMFILES%\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe,-101 (WMPNetworkSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe (file missing)

--
End of file - 10017 bytes

Well whatever they broke, they better fix it fast. For some reason CoX now runs at a whopping 7 or 8 frames per second. Age of Conan is butter smooth, but CoX is unplayable. Something's wrong with this picture.

Yeah, I know I had a thread earlier that CoX was not employing the GPU at all. Blame my system monitor, I don't know why it said zero percent. Turns out the problem is that, after the 8/31 update, the program uses everything, 99% (which is as high as it gets) of the processing power of my video card.

The graphics are just not good enough to justify that. Age of Conan with everything maxed only uses 88%-90%

Fix the patch that broke the game, darnit!

As an addendum: This is entirely the fault of the CoX/GR software. Age of Conan, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age, Supreme Commander, Tomb Raider Underworld and Gratuitous Space Battles all run as flawlessly as ever.

I don't know what caused this, but I loaded up CoX tonight and found my framerate inexplicably down to 5 or 6 frames a second. Since I've changed nothing in my settings I didn't see how this was possible, so I opened up the NVidia system monitors. I saw memory usage at 40% to 50%, system processor usage on all four cores fluctuating between 0% and 20%.... and the GPUs being taxed continuously at exactly 0%.

Huh.

The only way to make the game playable now is to turn off anti-aliasing and drop the quality on dynamic shadows and such. Haven't ever had a problem before. NVidia GeForce GTX480 with the latest drivers, Intel i7 quad core, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit, 6 gigs of ram. There is no reason that this game should drag on my system and indeed it never has to any significant extent until tonight... and I'm assuming it's because it somehow lost the graphics card.

Only culprit I can think of is the patch that came out on 8/31. So... help, I guess. I have never heard of such a thing before.

... holy crap.

Okay, I can't stand horror stories. Movies especially, but literature too, usually. The closest thing to horror I can stand is the Supernatural TV series, mostly because it doesn't take itself too seriously and has a healthy dose of comedy mixed in.

But this was outstanding.

I wish I hadn't read it, and yet I'm glad I did. It's an exercise in revulsion and fascination in equal measures.

I just found this story, despite it being up for a couple years. It was horrific, but amazing. Sparse on description and yet able to invoke feelings for the characters. The tie-ins with Lovecraft were fantastic.

One thing niggled at me. The burned skeletons in the cavern; I'm assuming the three in the middle were the sisters, and that their father arranged them with the two eldest with their arms around each other and Hermione reaching up to them from below. The three skeletons were described as being the only three that had not been beheaded, but the King in Yellow distinctly beheaded Hermione along with her stepmother.

Regardless... a shocking and enthralling story. I'm off to read the sequel now.

This is some really good art.

If I might make a suggestion, one thing that could really improve it a lot, would be to vary the line thickness so they look inked. It would make the overall picture more interesting and pleasing to the eye. Other than that, you seem to have a very good grasp of the human form, making them each unique, even if you do use a photo reference to overlay.

They patched the horrible keyboard input lag bug, FINALLY. Made the game almost unplayable, I don't really care what else they did if this is fixed.

Sentry Girl is fantastic!

Okay, how did I miss this for so long?

I had seen the little banners on occasion but I never actually was inspired to find out what they were talking about. I can't say what possessed me to actually start reading it but once I did I was hooked. Hooked I say!

The biggest weakness of the so called "signature" heroes of the City Of universe is that they're flat and lifeless stereotypes. In this story you have actually made the Freedom Phalanx personable and sympathetic, even Statesman (which takes some doing, as he's pretty much come across as a complete d**k in every other place we've seen him). Positron and Synapse are of course the standouts. They are the classic comedic duo, the straight man and the joker, but in your characterizations, they work really well in those roles.

And my favorite scenes are when Posi and Sorina are setting up their kissing experiments. Wonderfully charming.

So yeah. Good stuff. Write more.

That reaper costume of the second one is one of the coolest costumes I've seen. What's amazing is that you can pick out all the relevant CoX costume pieces, but the way it's drawn and put together makes it look like something you'd see in an actual comic book.

If you're really concerned about rendering, the best renderer on the market is in 3D Studio MAX. Ideally, use something to make your scene in, doesn't matter what, and then export it to a format MAX can use and render it there.

Further problems with the Banner event.

The pause between the banners popping up is way too long. Three hours or more, approximately. I work for a living, I don't have the time to sit there and wait for an event to happen.

The damage percentage threshold on the banners is idiotic. They should be like Downed Saucer Rikti... you damage them, you get credit.

The hitpoints for the ending monster are too low, as people have already said.