Shadowe

So...

When's Issue 16 coming out?


("Meeow!" *thud*)

I remember when global names were implemented. Wow, that was a long time ago. No doubt about it, global communication helps make this game's community what it is - a great place to be.

We have our problems, we have our share of grief and woes, but as long as we can talk to each other, it can all be sorted out in the end!

And now, a silly little ditty that I just made up:

Ode to Global Chat

We really love you, global chat
You really are the best.
You are what makes our favourite game
Stand out from all the rest.

Before you came into our lives
Even chatting could seem tough.
But now that you are here to stay
Then times are not so rough.

A friend of mine can cry for help
Though he be a shard away.
And I can drop the PuG I'm on
And head over to play.

The hunt for badges eased a load
When we found we all could talk.
Now nothing is impossible
No challenge makes us balk.

I don't know what I'd do without
The help you give to me.
So every time that I log on
I check my lists with glee.

Your aid has been there all the time
You help this game go far.
So global chat, I say to you:
You're great! Huzzah! Huzzah!

Thankies, O Ebil one.

I knew it'd be around somewhere - but I tend to post from work, which for some obscure reason has blocked ParagonWiki (but not these forums? Go figure...), so I couldn't check it.

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Love that idea. I know it's been suggested before (I know, because I suggested it ). There are downsides to it, and the invasion spawn-code (being based around the number of heroes within a certain area on the server's heartbeat) would need to be rewritten. But I still love it.

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I thought they were based on something that was around about lvl 30? Hence why its partly easier for high levels and damn hard for lowbies?
I may well be way off the track there

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I was referring to the code that determines how many zombies spawn, which is based upon recent zombie deaths and the number of players in a particular area of the zone.

Love that idea. I know it's been suggested before (I know, because I suggested it ). There are downsides to it, and the invasion spawn-code (being based around the number of heroes within a certain area on the server's heartbeat) would need to be rewritten. But I still love it.

The "instant breaking on inactive account" issue is pure player guesswork. We do not know for sure, and have never had Redname confirmation one way or another. To maximise your chances of not breaking the pact (if it doesn't work that way) - don't log into your CoH account until your fiancee's account is reactivated.

There is an additional spawn condition for triggering a Zombie Invasion, I believe - hand the salvage over during in-game night (or possibly after in-game "midnight" - which is impossible to determine while you're actually in Croatoa - but I think "midnight" occurs on the half hour, every hour, thanks to our lovely predictable day/night cycle).

Also bear in mind that the invasion may trigger Villain-side, so if you're heroside, it might not happen, and unless you have the zone event for the opposing faction in your chat tab, you wouldn't see the invasion.

I have 25 complete sets of halloween salvage on my main (I need a few of them to cossie-slot some of my newer toons), so let me know if you want a set or two to play around with, Mumsie.

To be honest, there are a lot of things I would like to see in the game that focus around invasion-type events or more dynamic activity by spawns. The thing that I really want to see, though, is villains on city zones. I don't mean PvP (that's a whole other argument) - I'd like to see unique/custom villains running/flying through zones every once in a while, on their way to performing some nefarious deed or another. Maybe triggered by completing bank missions or something, but something that isn't the standard mobs appearing every now and then.

To the best of my knowledge we have not been given any indication as to when the next DXP event is actually going to be.

Unless someone can find a Redname post that clearly says otherwise, anyone who has been telling you when one is going to be is fabricating things.

By my reckoning, placing one around the I15 release would be somewhat counterproductive, as the Issue itself should be enough to drag many people back - perhaps a month after it goes live would make sense, as that will snag people into re-subbing. Then there's the fact that GR is due at some point, and that's going to be a big draw on its own. On top of that, we have hints regarding Issue 16, which would suggest that it is getting closer to reality. So many things coming that will traditionally bring back old players, for the moment the game doesn't really need a DXP event. So, if I were the devs/marketing gurus I would offer I15 with a free account weekend, wait a month and then throw in a DXP event, assuming that I16 or GR aren't coming up soon.

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Wooo hooo here NC have cash take it take now

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Having read the details of the Booster Pack... THIS. Heck, I might even reopen my second account and get it in that, just because. Which would mean that I've lasted a week with only one account.

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I personally don't mind it being charged for. I'll buy it, and be happy where the money goes.

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I totally agree with this. If you love the game then there's no harm in pumping a few squid from each of us back into the development of the game.

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True, but I think Avatea (think it was her anyway) said recently that the money from microtransactions and such goes to fund *all* NCSoft games, and not exclusivly to CoH.

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It then got corrected by one of the devs to the effect that other than administrative costs (which, it could be argued, are still part of the game) pretty much all of the money drops back on Paragon Studios, not going back into NCSoft's overall Big Pot o' Cash.

I've been actively avoiding using Architect to run plotlines, because I knew that there would be problems and processes worth putting in place to help smooth the ride, but I couldn't think what they were in advance - having witnessed it firsthand last night, I got to see the potential problems and pitfalls (like in-mission clues not being obvious to all players, for example), and figure out ways to adjust play-style to accommodate them.

I wanted to get my thoughts down as quickly as possible, while it was fresh in my mind. All in all it went very smoothly (the clue problem was identified in the very first mission, after defeating the first spawn of enemies - but I certainly hadn't thought about it before that!), which was a testament to the players involved and the dedication of the plot-master. I'll also admit that 20 years of GMing experience in tabletop games helped me a lot, too, particularly with things like setting up the scene. At times it felt like I was taking a lot of control away from the plot-master, but I found that once everyone was in-mission and playing, everyone just lapsed into character, and things progressed pretty much as they always do with IC mishing.

I think it's safe to say that my first IC plotline story arc will be making its way onto the architect server soon™!

This is something of the nature of a guide to RP plot-masters on how to use the wonderful tools given to us with Mission Architect to play out missions for people IC.

Right, where to start...

What is plot-mastering?
Plot-mastering is a bit like Game Mastering in tabletop RPGs, but with a little less control over the environment, and the plot-master (using as standard the male pronoun for ease) will also take the part of one of the player characters involved in the plot - quite often the central character.

Why be a plot-master?
Being a plot-master lets you create stories around your own character, the events that shape their lives, and allows other people to get involved in shaping those events, ultimately creating that wonderful thing we call Roleplaying. It's possible to RP a character without ever running a plot, but sooner or later you'll probably want other people to get involved in some event or conflict that directly affects your character - if this happens, you're a plot-master. It's a chance for the events you create to take centre stage, and for other people to feel involved in the shared world.

What a plot-master isn't.
The plot-master is not God. The plot master cannot tell other players what to do - that's God-modding, and is the cardinal sin of shared-world RP.

Why use Architect?
The tools given to us with Mission Architect enable us to create an infinite variety of missions, with an infinite variety of enemies, scalable to any level. We can place clues, dialogue, create certain events and generally do almost anything. And fighting mobs PvE beats in-game text-description combat every time in my book.

So, how do I create a plotline using Mission Architect, then?
Sorry, this is not a guide on how to do that - I assume you already have a storyline and a series of missions that make up the plot, with the clues, enemy mobs, custom bad guys and so forth that you want. This is a guide on how to actually run your plot using the tools that exist, and how to make things in-mission as smooth as possible. The last thing a plot-master needs to be doing in the middle of an IC mission is stopping the flow of action. By that stage it should all be about the RP.

So... this is a bit of a pointless guide, then?
No! Until I took part in a plot that used MA, I didn't know what was good and what was bad about doing so. I did my first one last night. Not as a plot master, but as the team leader for a group running the arc. That was a piece of insight I hadn't had before, and it was invaluable. Read on...

Part One: Setting up
The characters will be running between one and five missions together (assuming you run a single arc), IC. They will usually need a reason to get together. The normal game assumes that you get missions from your contacts, but in RP there are effectively an infinite number of reasons to get together. The important thing to note here is that this can and should happen before the arc is even selected from the Architect system. The characters should all be together in one place at the same time, and be ready to do whatever it is that needs doing. The needs of the plotline may change this, but that's the basic rule of thumb - be together and have a reason to be together.

One of the participating characters should act as Team Leader - and it should not be the plot-master. The plot-master has other things to worry about, including acting as any (usually non-combat) NPCs in the plotline, and the team leader has other responsibilities.

So, the team needs to consist of

1) Team Leader
2) Plot-master
3) Everyone else taking part.

The biggest downside to this is that the team is limited to 8 people, and you may find that you have more people interested in doing the plot missions than this. I'm afraid you're stuck, and need to find an alternative method of dealing with it.

Part Two: Mission Introduction
You have a team, you have a mission arc, you're all set to roll... and everyone wants to ask more questions. Oops. The limited size of the text available for the mission contact means that you will never be able to fit everything in that you want. My best suggestion here is that the plot-master take on the role of the contact before everyone enters the mission - and in fact whenever the party is outside the missions, the plot-master must be prepared to switch NPC roles. For this reason, it might not be a bad idea to have a Generic contact with the basic mission details set up, so that the plot-master can handle additional RP as required, and so that the plot-master can fudge not returning to the contact after any particular mission, if it's not necessary - the real game includes follow-on missions, but Architect requires talking to the contact every single time. Plots need that flexibility, so it helps to build it into your planning for the plot.

Part Three: In the missions
You should have put clues, dialogue, appropriate descriptions, and, well, everything into the missions when you made the arc, so the plot-master's job inside the missions is really to be just another character. This is actually where the team leader takes on the most important role. I suggest using Team chat as an OOC channel, with Local for conversations and Broadcast (or SG, or a private chat channel) for Comms chatter. The team leader needs to inform everyone when a clue is found, and signalling it on Team will alert everyone to the need to check the current mission's clues. It's then up to the individual players if they bother to read them or not.

Part Four: Between missions
There should be a chance for IC chatter, bringing characters up to date on what happened, and general social interaction. The plot-master can use this time to act as the Contact again, or to let everyone know what else they discover from the clues they found.

Part Five: The aftermath
Once everything's finished, and everyone's saved the day or whatever the objective was, it's time for a cooldown chat, and everyone can go off to do whatever it is that they do after a successful job. The plot-master's job is done... unless the clues lead to another arc you have prepared, ready to run another time.

Okay, this got SO surreal that I had to check my calendar to ensure it's not Friday.

No problem with the spelling side of things.

Yus, the 5th anniversary was a whole helluvalot of fun, though an insane lag-fest.

I for one would like to see more invasion-type events with player-triggered activation - perhaps the devs could code for an Arachnos invasion on successful completion of a MoSTF run, and a Longbow/Freedom Phalanx/Vindicators invasion of the Isles for completing MoLRSF?

I don't like the idea of a dedicated timescale for these sorts of things, though, because that opens things up for severe lag-fests, whereas setting it with a trigger will tend to spread the events out, making it more dynamic and random.

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How about this, a newspaper stand, spend 10 inf to get the paper (One a week) and you can read about the TFs that were finished. Think along the lines of the City Information Terminals, but for TF's.

*Example*

Task Force Name Saves City from Clockwork King

Directed by Synapse, Leader Name led a team consisting of Other Members and finally defeated the Clockwork King

Just a thought, an advantage of this would be that people who didn't know much about TF's could read a little about it, such as Contact, No. of Missions, enemies groups, nothing about the missions themselves but enough to know roughly what to expect.

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I'd buy that for a dollar. Or 10 inf. What is the exchange rate, anyway?

But this gets /signed.

Still off topic: Well done for trying, squire.

On topic: Avatea, will we be seeing Orange Imps of Telephony, Yellow Imps of Underwater Adventuring, and Red Imps of PMT?

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there is only one flaw in mothers theory about RP, not every RP character is made to group.(which is also the whole reason why this game is not made for solo play, to slow progress.)

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Mumsie wasn't talking about teaming - it was a note that RPers tend to RP in clusters of characters. I have yet to find any RP character who has never had a single IC interaction with another character. In fact, I have no idea how such a character could be considered an RP character at all.

Mumsie has pretty much hit the nail on the head, there.

Now, I'm a roleplayer. Not utterly hardcore, in that I don't play him as his character all the time, but when I knuckle down of an evening and start interacting with other roleplayed characters, I'm not playing the game in character - he has a life of his own, his own emotions, desires, thoughts and relationships, and those are what I'm playing.

Having said that, though, if you say things "in character" while playing the game, then you are roleplaying. Sure, not as seriously as some of us take it, but you are, even if only on a very limited scale. And speaking for myself, that's a good thing. Not every roleplayer is interested in wrapping themselves up in their character 100% - I like to crack the occassional in-character joke when I'm teaming with other roleplayers, but most of the time I'm just playing the game to be playing it. On the other hand, when I'm RPing, I have to insert my character's thought patterns into my head, and that can take a lot of work, sometimes.

Yes, you're roleplaying; no, you're not crazy; no, there's nothing wrong with it; no, roleplayers won't think you're not "hardcore enough"; yes, it's a lot of silly fun, but that's because this is Pretendy Fun Time Games.

The one character I have that just keeps me coming back is Shadowe, my Eng/Eng blaster main on CoH. He was the first character I rolled up, way back in 2005, and he's always the first character I log in with when I load up the game. He's my badgehunter, my main RP toon, my main playing toon, and he's just awesome fun. I've clocked over 3600 hours on him so far (haven't checked for a while), and no other toon I've rolled has come close, though my Rad/Psi defender is very enjoyable, too.

"Another 2 weeks or so..." *cue huge numbers of people who take that as a definitive timescale that is set in stone and are prepared to brand Positron a liar if the "two weeks" part is not met*

Thanks, Avatea. Pretty much what GG said, and matches my expectations, too. That is the first time in a long time that we have been given any sort of indication of when something is intended.

It's a hell of a lot better than "Soon™".

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The badge for Banished Pantheon Masks and Carni Illusionist think in 4 years managed to get the Masks on 1 alt i think and the carni one on none. So if i knew the name it would be wow.

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BP masks is actually quite easy, either in Fog Astoria or the corner of Talos near it - just get on a team of two or three people and find a decent route around - It took me about a week of very casual play to get it, once I decided to.

The Illusionist badge, on the other hand... is a nightmare. Sure, there are missions that can be used to farm for it, but the casual player might not want to bother with that. Again, get on a team to increase the likelihood of boss spawns in-zone and trawl around the middle region of PI. A tank is useful, because they can help herd a group of Master Illusionists together for a team to have a go at. And be patient.

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<QR> Issue 14 was in Beta (Closed and Open) from 13 Feb 2009 to 8 April 2009, which was nearly 8 weeks.

Sure, Issue 15 is smaller and doesn't have such massive game-changing alterations, but it's a little much to expect it to go live after a mere 3 weeks. We can safely expect at least another week or so of Beta testing on the issue before it goes live.

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Well, considering half the bugs from i14 closed beta actually made it to live, I won't be surprised if i15 goes live next week...

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Fair point.

Hell, for all we know, it might go live today!

(I doubt it, though.)

<QR> Issue 14 was in Beta (Closed and Open) from 13 Feb 2009 to 8 April 2009, which was nearly 8 weeks.

Sure, Issue 15 is smaller and doesn't have such massive game-changing alterations, but it's a little much to expect it to go live after a mere 3 weeks. We can safely expect at least another week or so of Beta testing on the issue before it goes live.

Welcome to the game and the forum, Cinaed.

Obviously, I was too slow to answer the question, but as you can see, we have a friendly and lively forum and game community, which is (IMO) the best thing about this game. And we have Avatea, our current weilder of the mod-bat of DOOOM™, and European Community Coordinator extraordinaire.

See you around, and happy heroing or vigourous villaining!