Scarlet Shocker

Well very strange. They are now available to me again. Much oddness ensues but I've been having odd lag spikes recently and my ISP has had a couple of glitches so maybe it's related to that.

Thanks for the replies peoples

Tried creating a new toon and I couldn't make one with the shoulder cape today. I have made plenty more and I actually like the cape - it works with a lot of costume outfits but today the only option I got was the Valkyrie cape and not a shoulder version. Much oddness

Assuming this is the correct place to post this:

I've just been exploring the Crucible and I noticed that when talking to Mako, he tells you to visit Baracuda, but you reply "Sure, I'll go see what Mistral is up to"

Just needs a tweak.

Both excellent. Only 2.5 years to go....

Wot is lasrer?

Egads! Marketing got this very right!

Welcome to the EU and back to the game. I hope you have a lot of fun whatever you choose.

I can only speak about Defiant because I really don't play much on Union but there is a strong "community" feel on Defiant, and as has been mentioned Defiant Events is very friendly and useful - but I'm sure Union would say the same.

Try either server and if you'd like to team with me, my global is @Riff so send me a tell if you wish.

I like the idea of focusing on the number Seven - and there's quite a lot you can do with that, not just the deadly sinZ but also Pillars of Wisdom, Magnificent, Wonders of the Whirled, Heaven, Hell, Days of the week, hills of Rome, ages of man, principle Wombles, year itch, of Nine, Brides for Brothers, Samurai, Dwarfs, seas, years in Tibet, little girls sitting in the back seat hugging and akissing with Fred... etc

Fun stuff! Keep up the good work

QR

I'm guessing that it goes something like this: Most "traditional" video games are played offline - and predate the MMO.... and I remember that I and many of my friends would go out and get a game and we'd play it until we beat it, then it'd get put away and gather dust on some shelf and only ever very occasionally get taken out and played in the future, if one was a bit bored and/or felt nostalgic.

An MMO relies on the continuing subscription and although they generally exist in a persistent world most people can play most of the content within a matter of months, especially if they subscribe soon after launch. Then it's only the regular updates and the rewards that give anything to play for.

There's always a goal, even if it's just getting to 50, and whilst on your initial journey there's much exploration to be done, and there are other things but mostly they give rewards too... Badges are a prime example.

I've done almost everything there is to do in the game in the almost-five years I've been playing - but I've been lucky in one sense that I've been able to play a lot, and I REALLY love the game. For me, the fun is being the superhero but the rewards do give you something to aim for.

It's maybe wrong to say it's a reward-driven mentality - it's probably more of a goal-driven mentality. We want to get to 50. We want to IO our toon out properly, the Purple it, then Incarnate is the next stage. Then the goals override the "fun" (I'd actually argue that getting the bits you need to achieve your next goal is a lot of fun) - and there's a lot to do in this game still if you don't mind repeating content.

For me, the FUN is in the goal achievement and moving on to the next thing. There are other little projects that are also goals: Doing a series of specific arcs, Badges, the Trio of Doom thing I've had a lot of fun with and stuff like that.

Without getting too personal, when my breakdown took solid hold and I was close to my wits end and suicidal, I finally picked up City of Heroes with little expectation. For a number of reasons my life was turning to poop in a big way and I felt like I'd totally lost control. I've never experienced such dreadful feelings as I had then but I plugged in this game and suddenly I was in a place where I could escape to the comicbook world I'd fallen in love with as a young boy.

CoH has been with me through the darkest point in my life and given me a safe and friendly retreat, where I can mentally regroup, gather my wits about me and get enough energy together to face whatever Real Life happens to decide to throw at me today.

It's always been there and it's grown and improved immesurably over time. I've played (almost) daily except for two short breaks and I cannot stay away. The server community I play on are excellent, and I've made some great friends on DE and in game.

Sure, I've griped and ******* - and I mostly stand by my words no matter what the black dog said - but it's very rarely about the Devs or the direction they take the game. My rants have been mostly about the way the game is "managed" - the marketing and getting the game out there, because I genuinely believe this game isn't (even after seven years) living up to its potential in terms of market share.

However, I am genuinely very grateful that the the EU community seems to be slowly getting the recognition it deserves and I feel and believe we are no longer the leper relation of the NA community but an appreciated cousin. We've a way to go and there have not been too many words, but the actions seem to be speaking loudly, if not swiftly. (Caveat: I will be vociferous if we've been led down a blind alley and we've had no communication.)

I'm also grateful that Paragon has ownership of this game: There was a dramatic sea-change when they took the IP over. Whilst I don't agree with everything that has come about since, I consider the Cryptic alternative and I genuinely believe that had the culture at Cryptic prevailed I would not be a subscriber. I've tried their other Superhero MMO and it ain't much prettier and the game play blows chunks.

I'm grateful for Going Rogue. It breathed new life into the franchise without rewriting the existing lore and made the game fresh and new for many - with new challenges and a sense of achievement.

Bottom line is I'm genuinely thankful for this game. It kept me alive and now as I get back on track I'm looking forward to the future, my own and that of CoH.

just adding my name to one of the comic lovers in game.

I'd also add (but risk repeating) that there are 3 different starting areas, Heroes, Villains, Praetoria and in Heroes you can start from scratch in Atlas or Galaxy city, so you won't see EVERYONE where you are.

Instances have already been mentioned.

Welcome to the game and I hope your experience improves

Thanks to everyone who turned up and made tonight such an excellent event. Truly Awesome all of you.

I've got to say as the judge it was incredibly tough to choose. Even selecting "Scarlet Shocker's FirsXI" was tough enough but whittling that down to four was really bad and I feel very sorry for those of you who didn't get through to win. For what it's worth, I've often seen cossie comps where you could kind of tell the finalists but this was certainly not one of those.

Big Congrats though, in no particular order to

• Out for a Duck
• Ozzie Pride
• Suprime
• Ginger Snap

who all left with a shiny cossie power code... and the others all had a lovely gold title to remember the occasion

Mrs? spent all the night filming so there's gonna be some cool footage of a great event and also thanks to Torxue who span some cool tunes on http://roguesradio.com/

Many thanks to Avatea who also worked really hard making sure everyone got their title and giving the codes to those in the know. With one thing and another this turned out to be a tough event to make happen but Avatea was there every day to support it and advise, so a big personal thanks from me to her.

Was a very tough decision to make and I am now traumatised by having to raise the finger to those who were LBW, but I hope you all felt it was a fun event

Cheers for taking part

Good interview. Nice positioning but doesn't tell us a huge amount about the future of the game.

I think this is more than vaguely reassuring.

Without going through the entire thread, that interview tells me five very important things:

Issue 20 is going to be very big

Mellisa is very pleased with the state of the game and is expressing that with a quiet confidence rather than an overblown sense of hyperbole.

The Dev team are committed to engaging more with the player base.

The competition will do what it feels it needs to in order to be successful but Paragon Studios are confident in their own offering's longevity.

Going Rogue was a big success and along with the booster packs has provided the game with a new lease of life (and thus revenue stream) that is continuing forward.