Samuel_Tow

Hence why I keep saying you "waste time" and "waste buffs" firing snipes. They take FAR too long to animate for the damage they do, and that's not even addressing interruptibility. This is an obvious problem that pretty much predates the entire game, and one which was already partially addressed with Dominators. I firmly believe more should be done about it.

See, that would shut me up in an instant. I would be prepared to bust my whiny *** for as long as it takes to unlock all costume pieces, whether I expressly need them at the moment or not. Once. But right now, I have to unlock them many, many times over, once per character more or less. True, not all of my characters would need all unlockable pieces... But I can't know that until I try them on, can I? And even sticking to just the ones I know would benefit from them, that's still dozens of times unlocking the same thing over and over again.

100 Overseers once is boring but doable. 100 Overseers a dozen times is rage-inducing.

Precisely. Reasons why it's not possible are just as spacious as reasons why it is, because they're all RP reasons. It's all a question the writing allowing for a third choice, and all of Praetoria is intentionally written to never allow a third choice, which strikes me as... Surprising? It's strikes me as surprising that the world which was supposed to offer a third choice between heroes and villains doesn't actually offer you a third choice.

I can think of a variety of explanations for how and why this could work, but I fully understand the futility of expanding on them when it is, in the end, all just RP arguments. Suffice it to say that it can, and indeed could have, been written that way. I'm honestly not sure why it wasn't. It's interesting, because I understood Praetoria to be about the freedom of choice as different from both Paragon City and the Isles, when indeed you actually have LESS choice than either there. Neither City of Heroes nor City of Villains FORCE you to belong to any one faction as completely, even if they may imply you do. Turning that into the actual game is... Disconcering, to say the least.

But again, I can deal with this if it's just the low-level content. I have high hopes that the higher levels will have a storyline that's less railroading once we break away from both the Resistance and the Loyalists at level 20. Then again, we break off from them to join Longbow or Arachnos, so I really don't know...

I will say this right now - Rularuu's Bane is the only truly large sword in the entire game, at least for Male and Huge models. There's nothing to rethink about a concept which requires a large sword when there is only one sword that fits the bill. So I go unlock it. Fair enough. Now suppose I have a character who wouldn't really work without an energy sword. Well I could just unlock it... Except I can't "just" go unlock it. I need to be level 35 first, and then some. What to I use in the meantime? Something that makes the character pointless, no doubt. Catch 22: In order for my character to have the Vanguard sword, he needs to be level 35, but in order for me to be able to stand getting him to level 35, he needs the Vanguard sword. What came first - the chicken or the egg?

Or here's the other side of the equation, something I've been wrestling with recently. I have a charcter who needs to have a large sword and Stone Armour. Being that Rularuu's Bane is the only sword that fits the bill, that's what I want, but I'm willing to compromise and use something else in the meantime. But I still want to see if I even WANT the character to begin with, so I need to see how he looks with Rularuu's Bane. I can't. It's not available at character creation, even as a preview.

"Well, go to the Architect!" people say. Fair enough, I go to the Architect. There among the weapons is Rularuu's Bane and, sure enough, it looks awesome, far better than all other options for this concept. Well, that's a good start. Let's see if I can match Stone Armour to that look and... Wait, I can't. The Architect doesn't support power customization. Confounded! So I spent probably two days logging into the game to check the architect and logging out to check the editor, back and forth and back and forth, in a process which was far, far more aggravating than it had any reason to be. And even then, I'm still not sure I can even find an alternative.

"So just unlock it already!" you say? Sure, I can do that. I can ask a friend of mine or, hell, even a complete stranger, to basically powerlevel me to that weapon at level 1. I've done it before for my vampire dude, and for the same sword no less. If that's your solution, then I agree with it. But do you see what it does to the very concept of unlockable costume pieces? If the solution is to essentially bypass the system and get it pretty much at creation anyway, what point does it serve as being unlockable? The only thing it does it piss me off. If I want it, I have to jump through hoops, and if I don't want it it's no reward at all. I have, for instance, sold an inordinate number of wing recipes, all listed for 1, not because I don't like the wings, but because none of the characters I have at the time need them, either not fitting their concept or already having said wings.

I'm not speaking hypothetically here. All of that happened. Yesterday, for the most part.

*edit*
The astute among you would have noticed I said Sword/Stone, which doesn't exist. Yet. It's not something I must make NOW, but I expect that sooner or later either Stone will be proliferated where Sword is or Sword will be proliferated to Stone. Either way, I can NOT PLAY the character until such an option opens up, but NOT PLAYING the character will not cause costume items to unlock themselves, no matter how long I don't play.

Pretty much this. As I'm sure the scant few people on my friends list who still actually play the game (being a six year vet has filled my list with players years gone) will tell you, I very much do enjoy interacting with people. When I feel like it, if I feel like it, if I enjoy the company of the people I interact with. Just because I enjoy going out with old friends does not mean I enjoy waltzing into a bar by myself and chatting people up. Some enjoy this, but I don't, and I rather like not having to.

This doesn't mean I can't, or indeed won't, take part in TFs or events, it means that doing so is the rare exception to the much more common status quo, and if there are things locked behind them that I need to unlock on multiple characters, then it bugs me. It bugs me even more when these things are rare, to boot. I have never to this day, not a single time, been able to unlock the Rikti Weapons on any character I have ever played, and it's been how long since I10? I don't want anything more of that sort.

Well, by that logic, shouldn't the boss tier henchmen get Triple Blades?

I would very much disagree, yes. I feel Snipes should be vastly stronger than they are now to make up for their gimmicky mechanics. But I also know that that's unlikely to happen.

You know, I actually like your reasoning here. However, if you'll focus on grenades, why use a rifle at all? Now if only there were a weapon which were specifically designed to launch grenades, a "grenade launcher" if you will, that would actually make the set very unique, wouldn't it?

Lame humour aside, why not just use the green grenade launcher that 5th Column and Council Grenade soldiers use and have your set be all grenades in a similar way that Trick Arrow is all arrows? It's just a concept, to be sure, but I've always wanted to use a rotary drum grenade launcher for something, and there's one already in the game.

That's kind of what I do. Trainings at 2 and 7, DOs at 12 and 17, SOs at 22, 27 and 32, then Common Inventions at 37 and again at 47, skipping 42 entirely to cut costs. No Set bonuses ever. They ruin the uniformity of my orderly enhancements inventory.

Look, if I had a choice of new costume items being available for free in character creation, I would so take this option. In a heartbeat. However, people have historically argued that costumes SHOULD be unlockable or they're worthless and the developers have historically agreed with the, sticking such things as generic Roman Armour behind a level 35+ TF. I really don't think that's an option any more. I don't think it ever was.

This is an important point to restate: I know that when I say "big" people immediately think "big SWORDS," because that's kind of a staple suggestion, but I more mean "big everything" to include boots and gloves first and foremost. I have long had a problem with how larger boots and especially gloves are done in this game. Let me explain:

Gloves: The Large and Banded gloves are bigger, but in a "bad" way. They give you a very big forearm, but leave your actual hand size almost the same, and your actual wrist narrow and tiny. To my mind's eye, big gloves should equate big hands... Only it doesn't. What's worse is that even the ludicrous excess that is Large Robotic suffers from the same problem - they have large, bulbous forearms, but they still have the same sized hands.

Now, I know, I know. We need to retain the hand size the same because it has to grasp things, like swords and gins and things. Well you know what? It'd look weird, but I say let it. Because Large Robotic gloves already look weird with normal-sized weapons. Hell, they look weird even with BIG weapons, let alone normal-sized ones. The costume creator does and always will have the capacity to produce some unappealing stuff, but that should hold options back.

Boots: The bigger the boot, the more tumorous it looks. Giant calf muscles, small legs, tiny ankles. Again for the same reason as above, I would think big boots would translate into big feet, but it doesn't. It translates into big calves. We didn't even have a decent option for, what? Four years after Launch? The first big option we got was Enforcer boots, and heavens knows these have a whole host of problems with them. But they have the right shape - big feet, no ankles, chunky look. We now have another option with Going Rogue - PPD boots, and believe me, I appreciate it. But that still leaves my giant robot without options, other than boots which turn his feet into crucifixes. And even then only if I can work in other Enforcer bits, because those boots don't match with anything other than other parts of their own set.

This shouldn't be a problem. Character collision boxes are static and independent of actual model size. That's why my giant robot can pass through office doors when he doesn't look like he could fit sideways. That said, it could obscure vision somewhat, especially in caves, but... You know what? I'm going to go ahead and say something big:

If I'm allowed to be as tall as a Fake Nemesis, then I will fully support any and all people who clamour for removing blue/brown caves from the game. Anyone who's seen me post recently should know that that's saying a lot coming from me.

Honestly, I don't think we need stuff that's actually much bigger than what we have now. That wasn't the point. The point was that we already have big stuff, just so very little of it, and not all of it very good. I'd be happy if we never got gloves bigger than Large Robotic, I'd be happy if we never got a sword longer than Rularuu's Bane. That's just fine. But can we have some more options like those. Even one alternative to the Rularuu weapons would be very welcome, even one alternative to the Large Robotic (that isn't Enforcer) would be very welcome.

And you know what else? Big swords doesn't need to equate with long swords, not necessarily. "Fat" swords of the same total length would be just as welcome. Rularuu's Bane is a good example of a VERY broad sword, but for women it's paper thin. It's literally invisible when you look at its cross-section. I don't want a sword long enough to cut down aircraft from the ground. I want a sword that looks HEAVY, which none of the ones we have really do. Rularuu's Bane kind of does, but it's very thin across (why a two-dimensional blade?) and the Legacy Broadsword for women does, because its blade is so thick, but the others? Nowhere even close.

OK, correction, the Organic Armour blade kind of does look the part. Not so much for women, where everything scales down into nothingness, but for Males and especially Huge, for whom weapons scale UP (?!?) from Legacy.

We already have big stuff in the game. It's just that every time I make a big character, I keep using the same costume items over and over again. In fact, just recently I realised that there is no large glove option that doesn't look tech. Why is that? Where's my Large Medieval glove or Large Organic glove?

*edit*
It occurs to me... They could make this a Booster Pack. Just a whole pack of all-around big stuff. People who don't like big stuff don't buy it, and I get to shell out even more money on trinkets

And here's my question: Why can't I choose get screwed over like that? I realise the game does this to railroad me, but after CoV, I'm sick and tired of the game telling me what I can't do because I "don't want to" or because I'm "afraid to" or because "Hardcase said so." This is all that is - the game forcing my hand.

Tell you what - have them both turn on me and boot me out into Primal Earth at level 6 to "escape their wrath" if you must. Just let me choose defiance at least one ******* time in that entire world's multiple storylines.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but that statement is provably wrong, and I say "provably" because proof to the contrary exists in the form of Dean McArthur's arc and, to a lesser extent, in the form of Leonard's arc. I've been arguing about this for years, because it's just a question of storytelling and writing. It's not a game design philosophy.

You talk about how if everyone's done it then you're no longer special, but I bluntly disagree with that. I don't care what other people have done. I wouldn't know even if I cared, because I don't tend to check their badges. Each character is a ship in an ocean, contained within itself, where only its own actions matter. What other PLAYERS have done is irrelevant, because we all play through the same "campaign" anyway.

I can play through Mass Effect as a man or a woman, as a good guy or a jerk guy, I can save everybody, or I can let everybody die, or I can be anywhere in-between. To me, Commander Shepard will always be a guy, and looking kind of like Wes Studi with a goatee, to boot. Just saying that tends to cause other people to plug their ears and go "La-la-la! I can't hear you! Commander Shepard is a girl!" And that's just fine. Having my Shepard, who played through the exact same adventure, be different from theirs does not impact my enjoyment of him, nor should it impact their enjoyment of her.

The game already has literally several arcs like this, yet people keep claiming that's impossible and it isn't worth it so on and so on. In fact, making my first post, I was going to predict I'd have my intelligence insulted by Venture, just like every other time, but I decided not to lay into the guy. Looks like I was half right.

The only reason that I can't be special is - get ready for this - because of sloppy writing. And I don't say this just to be a dick. I know what good writing is, because it already exists in this game, it's just relegated to fewer missions than a one-armed man can count on his fingers.

I don't know why people keep trying to bring "the harsh reality" into what ought to be escapist entertainment. There is, quite literally, no reason why this cannot be done, why the story can't treat you like you're the start. I know there's no reason, because I've done it. Yes, it has its own host of problems, but it's not like "generic MMO quest #349587" doesn't have just as many.

The resistance very much COULD see the horror in my eyes. That's what those dialogue trees are for. That's what moral choice options are for. Instead of relegating them to once at the end of every arc, why not sprinkle them throughout? I get told to go blow up a hospital, say. I get into the mission, I'm greeted by a Resistance member and he says: "Let's blow this place up good!" I have two choices: "Rock on!" at which point we proceed to go beat up some cops and blow them up, or "You monster." at which point we fight and I go beat up some Resistance to stop the bombing. It doesn't even have to be an actual faction swap morality mission, just CHOICE.

For a land of supposed choices and faction swaps, Praetoria has precious few. I ran the entire Warden arc and I counted all of three. In 20 levels. I ran the entire Responsibility arc, and in addition to the three, I counted two more - one for Montague, one for Vanessa. And the latter two were the most fun. Why can't we have more of those?

I don't know if you realise, but you're inventing apologetic rhetoric for why the game doesn't live up to all it could be. If we allowed the defeatist mantra of "It's an MMO. What do you expect?" hold us back, this game would have sunk like a rock. Many of the reasons it succeeded to begin with are the many ways in which it breaks the MMO mould. This is just one of them.

The problem with that line of reasoning is that you can do the same with your T3 Blast if you have it. Fire/Fire and Energy/Energy, which is what I have experience with, can hit Aim, Build Up and chain up either Blaze or Power Burst from range, close in to 40 feet and have that fire, hit and one-shot a Sapper before it has time to turn around and fire. It's what I typically do. Not to mention that powers like Char, Freeze Ray, Beanbag and even Power Push can achieve much the same benefit.

I don't know about Inventions builds, but I know a non-Build Up Blaster snipe can't one-shot a minion on SOs and Commons. This means that you have to use Build Up at least, possibly also Aim, and those are some of a Blaster's best DEFENSIVE abilities. Yes, seriously. Many Blaster combos have attack chains that can either almost instakill lieutenants, or otherwise minion-wipe entire spawns before suffering much damage. The difference between having the powers active and not having the powers active is the difference between a spawn down to its one token lieutenant now low on health, or a spawn with everyone alive and pissed off.

To waste Build Up on a snipe is one of THE worst things a Blaster can do, unless that Blaster is interested in taking bloody ages to single-snipe entire spawns. The power simply does not hit hard enough to be worth its animation time, much less the risk of being interrupted. Really, unless you're talking a Devices Blaster, snipes have very little practical use that doesn't cause more harm than good. And that's from someone who actually uses his.

Yes, and I apologise for the way I argued. I shouldn't question people's opinions when that's precisely what I asked for. I suppose, in a way, my reasons for questioning are because I just don't "get it." I'm well aware that to some people, some items and costumes are offensive. I'm no different - all-tights costumes make me roll my eyes. Of course, that's just me. I would never make costumes like these (well, let's say almost never), nor would I really be anxious to see more added to the game, but what I don't get is why people feel it would "ruin the game," so to speak.

Again, not saying it's "wrong" to feel that way, I just want to try to understand why some seem bothered by what other people are able to make.

That's kind of a double-edged sword, though. On the one hand, I freely admit that some things are so exaggerated that they're silly. On the flip side, certain things are great exactly BECAUSE they are silly-exaggerated, and yet still played straight. Someone mentioned that Darksiders in general and War in particular are parodies, but if the were, in fact, played like a parody, I'd have liked it a LOT less. But because these parody-level exaggerations are played completely straight, the game ends up feeling a lot more awesome. In a way, I suppose, because these are the sort of things I always liked, but never expected anyone to take seriously, and the suddenly someone did. One man's parody is another man's prose, I suppose.

Where that loops back into City of Heroes is that I think our game is in a very unique position in all of gaming history that I'm aware of. We have a setting that can, potentially, accept ANY concept ever created regardless of its actual origins or inspiration. I don't think any other game that has actually had graphics has ever given us this much creative freedom. Basically, if you can imagine it, you can make it and it will fit right in. Aliens, wizards, pirates, ninja, mobsters, soldiers, robots, plants, mutants, ghosts, monsters, elves... The list of even the most general type of concepts is boundless, which is why I always encourage the expanding the pool of designs the physical character creator supports, even if that's to include concepts I, personally, do not enjoy making. For instance, I'm not a fan of steampunk fiction (like, at all), but I would still argue for the inclusion of more steampunk pieces, because the greater the variety of possible designs is, the more value the game has.

On the flip side, I've heard the "arguments of denial." No anime-inspired costumes! No fantasy costumes! And, of course, the ever-present: No furries! These are the ones that frustrate me because they just serve to bar other people's options just because they consist of pieces some people wouldn't use. I kind of expected I'd get that with the bigness, but I guess I didn't handle it quite as well as I should have. I apologise.

Suffice it to say that I'll stop arguing that particular point. I really do want to hear how well people like "bigness" as a concept and where their personal boundary between cool and silly lies. I would, however, appreciate it if we can refrain from threatening repercussions if fantasy/anime/big stuff is added. I can accept dislike just fine without an ultimatum attached.

Thank you And I agree on the distastefullness of CoV. In Praetoria, much as I may be cold on the concept of factions, at least you're put into a faction from the start, told you belong and given choices. In City of Villains, you're sort of let loose in the Isles with no obligation, yet the game implies you nevertheless WANT to be in Arachnos' service. As bad plots go, this is actually far worse than the one in Praetorian Earth. I may not like having to side with the Resistance or the Loyalists, but at least I know what I'm signinf in for and I can pretend I don't care. City of Villains pretends I don't care in my stead.

To a point, yes, but this is sort of a controversial subject that I've gotten into as far back as CoV. When I expressed dissatisfaction with Daos basically ordering me to foil Ghost Widow, people told me "Well you can't fight Arachnos! They'll just shut down the reclimators!" This is the problem in Praetoria, to a large extent - your limitations are told to you, with the actual game providing ample evidence to the contrary. I've kicked the ***** of the PPD, the Seers, the Clockwork and so on to kingdom come, and yet I can't openly defy them. Ever. Similarly, I tear the Resistance a new one every time we meed WHEN I WORK FOR THEM, and yet I'm supposed to worry about them? The way the game is designed is such that if you don't belong, "rocks fall, everybody dies." To me, that's kind of a bad approach to storytelling.

I hate to keep bringing Darksiders (and making the same argument, to boot), but where that game succeeds is it puts you in a world with very real limitations... And then proceeds to railroad you into breaking them anyway. You can't fight this guy, he's too strong! Well, for now. You can't go there, it's too hard! Well, right now. You're not strong enough to do that! Yet. The Rogue Isles and Praetoria sort of have that unwritten rule that if you openly defy authority, you die, yet that never actually materialises. Yes, I can defy the PPD, but I do so secretly behind closed doors so they still think I'm power division.

Now, unlike CoV, the Praetoria ship has not yet sailed. There are still 30 more levels of content where we could potentially find a third option. I can understand if, say, when I betray the PPD, then Praetor White comes and punches my face in. I don't want that, because I'm level 20 at most, and he's a level 40+ Archvillain. So for the time we spend in Praetoria, this need to "belong" can kind of be explained as us not being powerful enough to do anything about it. But at level 50, I recently proceeded to take out each of the Praetorians, carving a swath through Tyrant's invasion army to do so. My level 50 heroes aren't afraid of them. By level 50, my Praetorians really better be given a choice to not be afraid of them, either.

I don't like the fact that we're not allowed to challenge authority, only serve it or trick it, is what it comes down to.

Kind of what I had in mind, yes. I appreciate and understand the desire to have clear good and clear evil choices and, hell, I even appreciate the grey and gray morality of being given a choice with no "right" outcome. Those can all make for a good story. But none of the above truly represent an actual middle ground, just shades of white or shades of black.

An actual grey morality would be someone like Soul Reaver's Raziel, who is neither good nor evil, because he refuses to take sides and mistrusts everybody. Or, indeed, like Darksiders' War, who will basically fight both heaven and hell in his quest to restore balance between the two. Or how about Alpha Protocol's Jack Thorton, an agent forced to go rogue and stand up against both terrorists and proper intelligence services?

What drives stories like the above is a character who says: "I don't like you, and I don't like you. I don't want anything to do with either of you." And then strikes out on his own. There is no way to do this in Praetoria. If my characters actually had a heart, what they'd do is take the first opportunity to swap sides, disillusioned with one, then take the next opportunity to abandon the other side, too, disillusioned with both, and then fight either for Praetoria or for personal gain on their own.

What bothers me about the way the game has been handled for literal years is that it seems like EVERYTHING has to be institutionalised these days. I can't just pull some schmuck out of a Destroyer brig, have him turn out to work in law enforcement and then have him feed me tips behind his superiors' backs. NO, he has to be part of a much larger organisation that I have to file the proper paperwork for, submit my application, be given a room, a locker and a name tag from and answer to. Why? Why do all of our contacts and all of our missions have to involve large clandestine organisations?

What was wrong with being directed Maxwell Christopher, who turns out to have studied the Nemesis Army for years and acquired quite a bit of information on them? Or being directed to Dr. Steven Sheridan, who has quite a bit of insight on the Rikti. When did Longbow become the cancer of City of Heroes, growing and enveloping every character who gets named after Issue, like, 6? Why does everything always have to involve faction on faction struggle, where I'm either with one faction or the other? What was wrong with just finding informants, or "contacts" if you will, and tapping them for information?

The game stopped being about good and evil when CoV launched, and became Longbow and Arachnos, and it has been growing organisations like plot tumours ever since. Every time there's a conflict between good and evil in City of Heroes, it's Arachnos fighting Longbow. Even in Praetoria, this plot tumour rears its ugly head. And now that we finally get to see Fort Trident where all of the signature heroes hang out? It's a Longbow base. Well, la-di-da.

I wouldn't have a problem with that, actually. Any reward that's not a costume piece, be it unique or otherwise, is fine in my book to be given out in an event. Unique enhancements or recipes, special powers, special titles - you name it. Quite literally anything that's not a costume piece is fine by me as a reward for an event.

But that's largely because of how reward mechanics work with costume design. IF unlocked costumes placed themselves in my editor at creation, I would have no problem with busting my *** to unlock them. Once. But since they have to be unlock on every character every time, and long after creation, to boot, that is not a good way to do things.

Read the thread, see what it has devolved into, check your facts.

You will not "get me off my high horse" because you are obviously and provably wrong. "Most people" don't know exactly what is meant, because few people agree on exactly what constitutes technology, as you would have noticed had you been able to see past your red mist. "Powers for natural characters" is a fallacy on every conceivable level.

Even if we assume that "natural" refers to "natural human," as opposed to what the game actually defines it as, there is still no clear distinction between where Natural ends and Technology begins. As you can plainly see. What is being suggested here is gadgets, and gadgets, especially things like EMP grenades, are products of the very high levels of modern technology, and some even post-modern technology, as is the case of glue grenades, which to the best of my knowledge don't actually exist. This is the sort of stuff my Technology characters use, and you claim that's for "naturals?" Maybe you want to get your own point straight before you start insulting people.

What is Technology and what is Natural is in the eye of the beholder. Where one might view a Dual Pistols/Devices Blaster as being Natural because he's just a tough guy with decent tools, another might view that as being Technology, because no normal man, however well trained, is able to do these things without sophisticated technology to back him up. Hence, the "powers for natural characters" idea is a fallacy, because it suggest an ultimate, statable truth and definition, which does not exist. It's all a question of interpretation, and discussions about it do not benefit from Internet tough guys like you trying to slam your dick on the table and yell about how obviously true your personal interpretation of events is.

What's actually funny to me, however, is that if your ego hadn't gotten in the way of your post, you wouldn't have derailed the thread into a discussion of what is and is not natural. But apparently you really DIDN'T care about the thread if you insisted on derailing it. So what you were hoping to achieve was to insult me at the expense of what was otherwise a pretty decent thread.

Um, congratulations? Because you win, apparently.