Shadowe

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*ahem* Rockjaw had 'net access because he needed it for making Leipzig updates as part of what he was there for. The rest of us ... let's just say we were far too busy (at least 9 hours per day [2x 11 hour min days] on the show floor, plus meals etc after) to be willing to spend the money for the hotel access. Not to mention that the wireless on my laptop is borked and the room didn't have a wired connection that I could find. In other words: those who absolutely had to have it, got it, but most of us went without as we simply didn't have the time to make it worthwhile.

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Hehehehehehe. I wasn't expecting War and Peace.

(My abilities at teasing are obviously lacking. Must try harder.)

Or maybe I should just stick to innuendo. I know I do that well.

Thank you for the polite and concise ( ) response, GR. To which my only reply, in as non-serious a way as possible is: You should have ganked him and nicked his stoof.

Richard stood, stunned by the influx of clones around him. Too many for him to effectively sort friend from foe, even with the glow coming from the heads of the clones.

"You have bigger fish to try, Huntington. Like that rock."

He watched the other heroes around him, some battling frantically, others darting this way and that, offering aid wherever they could, but only a couple paying close attention to the cooling rock that had started all this.

Inside, he thought. I need to get inside it. Oh, hellfire. This is going to be horrible to see.

He half-closed his eyes and shifted himself out of phase with reality, dropping his awareness into another world. A world of terror and pain and anguish that he thought of his 'Shadow World', when he was feeling nice. The rest of the time he gave it a much simpler name. Hell.

When his eyes opened, he saw the familiar muted colours of the shadow of reality that was his own personal hellscape. Bodies littered the ground, dozens of them, people he knew, people he'd fought beside, some strangers, seen only on news broadcasts, but people he liked to think of as being 'on the team'.

And standing over them, silent, victorious, were hundreds of the clones, ignoring him, simply looking at the dead with no feeling, no passion, no hatred.

His anger boiled within him. The one emotion that truly tied him to being human. Here, he could wreak his revenge. Here he could harm with impunity. Here he was the destroyer, the creator, the seed of life and death, and he was angry.

The blast that erupted from him ripped through the phantom clones, tore the ground, and sent a gout of dust hundreds of feet into the air.

"It's just a shame that nothing I do here will affect the real world." As he stood in the crater he left, his gaze locked on the meteorite. "Right, let's see what's inside you, shall we?"

Out of phase with reality, out of step with time and space, he launched himself into the air, preparing to slip inside the rock and see what he could learn... before he had to return to the 'real world'.

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Or, more accurately, at Leipzig with extremely limited internet access .

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*goes and looks at Rockjaw's blog*

*reads above post*

*checks dates on Rockjaw's blog*

*reads above post again*

Say that again with a straight face, GR.

One day, Plasmarch, Shadowe and Callista went paintballing.

Afterwards, we had a conversation about our playing styles.

Plasmarch noted something interesting about what we said, and decided to sketch THIS.

Says it all, really.

Flying several hundred feet above the devastated area around the meteorite, Richard Huntington studied the sensor reports coming through his helmet's HUD. The results were baffling, but the combat computer was too stupid to lie about something like this. There were copies of the people closest to the fallen 'rock'. Physical data seemed to match up perfectly, but the green particulate was interfering with more detailed analysis.

"Time for the traditional dramatic entrance, Helena. Plot me a safe landing zone." An instant after the words left his mouth, a top-down radar scan of the area warped his field of vision, which he quickly studied before making a choice. "There looks good..."

A tiny fraction of his concentration shifted, and the mass he allowed to interact with the universe ratcheted up to around 450 kilograms. He dropped, quite literally, like a rock, slamming into the ground with tarmac-shattering force.

Slowly standing, head swinging from side to side as if taking in every detail around him - a false impression since the combination of radar pulses, Infra-red scanners and plain old visible light receptors gave him a decent 360-degree panoramic view - and spoke, his voice artifically distorted before being broadcast by his suit's external speakers.

"Morning, Michael," he addressed the nearby Peacebringer. "Looks like it's going to be another busy day."

As he spoke, targetting data began to scroll across in front of his eyes: Angles of attack, probable movement, suggested tactical responses, ranges and a wealth of other information including pulse rates, skin temperature and epidermal refractivity, as Helena desperately tried to find a clean and easy way to differentiate between the copies and the originals.

He increased the volume on his speakers, took a deep breath, and spoke slowly and clearly. "Welcome to Paragon, whomever you are. Please state your intentions and the reasons for the duplication of people from this place. Failure to comply will result in an extreme response."

Or maybe they're waiting to get back from Leipzig? (Admitedly this kinda depends who's there and who's not, but I suspect more are there than are here.)

Okay, so I'm feeling quite snarky today. My apologies.

Some people think that some of the Vet rewards are rubbish? Then the solution is to remove them completely from the game. All of them. Gone will be Vet wings, Sands of Mu/Ghostslaying Axe, Nemesis Staff and Blackwands. That's the fair way to get rid of all the 'rubbish' ones. Get rid of the good ones, too.

Yes, some of the rewards have less utility than others. They're not meant to have much utility. They're meant to be a bonus set of options that you have for having played the game for a long time. If they scrapped all the 'rubbish' Vet rewards, we'd be left with the 'good' ones, and nothing happening in between.

The devs didn't have to add Vet Rewards. They're a bonus. Not a right.

"Master Richard? Master Richard, please wake up."

The voice finally penetrated his consciousness, dragging Richard Huntington awake. He rolled over on his bed, his arm slapping against the emptiness where Cassandra should be, and he grunted as the memory that she was absent - and had been for a few weeks - came flooding back to him.

"Yes, Helena? What is it?" A wide yawn stretched out the first word, and he grimaced with a long stretch of his arms.

"Incoming information: This morning, a meteorite impacted in the King's Row zone of Paragon City. A number of the city's registered heroes are present at the scene. Preliminary scans and analysis are inconclusive, though, speaking speculatively, said object may represent an alien device."

Richard's eyes snapped open. "Alien? Right. It just had to be. I hope it's not Shivans." He bounced from his bed and ran for the shower. "Ready Battlesuit 2, please, Helena, and warm up the King's Row teleport node."

Minutes later, a wet-haired, battlesuited Shadowe was flying across the rooftops of King's Row, heading for the impact site.

I love this suggestion...

In a completely sarcastic way.

Let me think: If we assume that they get all the animations and activation times the way they want them to be, and they perfectly balance all the powersets and ATs and swear never again to nerf or buff any of them...

They will never be able to introduce new Powersets and ATs into the game. Because doing so throws the balance off. (Unless they manage to perform a miracle and perfectly balance a new AT or Powerset against everything else in the game, before it's released.) And if the balance is off, things need to be rebalanced... except they're 'not allowed' to do that any more.

Thanks, but I'd much rather they continued the organic tweaking that's currently going on, because it let's them improve the game in the future.

Oh, and TFI Friday, or I might have taken this even more seriously.

/unsigned

My reasoning is simple: Why do you want to be able to pick the good stuff first? Oh, yes, to get the good stuff. So, by you've got the first 18 months worth, you'll have SoM, Nem staff, Trenchcoats, Vet Wings, Buff pet, Team TP... and what do you have to look forward to?

I like the fact that they've spread the 'good stuff' out, because it gives you something to look forward to.

Remember, Vet rewards are a bonus for having played the game for an extended period of time, and are basically for nothing except bragging rights - being able to pick all the good stuff early actually defeats the purpose for which the rewards were created in the first place.

Yep. PlayNC will be checking against the bank's billing address for the credit card, and comparing that to the IP being used. If he changes his address with the credit card company that should sort it out.

Woohoo! Not long before it's ready to finish the tutorial.

I wonder if it'll go for the Isolator badge.

As has been mentioned a couple of times before, the next event that NC will be officially attending will be Memorabilia in November. I won't be able to go to BICS, but I hope anyone who does go has a great time.

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If a new pool of recipes is made for 'PvP drops'

[/ QUOTE ]No, just no.

I have nothing against PvP giving you already existing recipes, but PvP-only drops should never be implemented in this game.

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Wasn't suggesting 'PvP only' drops, MaX. Just a new pool into which existing recipes can be added that results in drops from causing PvP kills. It could (theoretically) include recipes that are currently in all the other pools (Trial, TF, Mission, etc).

Edit: As CB has said, though, it risks PvP farming. So the question that then springs to mind is this: How do we stop that?

First thought that springs to mind is to only have drops from people who also have a Rep of 200 or more. Or a Rep that's no less than a number of points below your own (I don't know the current Rep system - can someone briefly run through how Rep changes for me? I'm working on the fly here, but I think this idea has merit).

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This is a great suggestion in my opinion but there is a fundamental problem with it cause it has been proposed in past once more.

It goes against the whole MMO gaming experience where as you progress in game you get rewarded

The more experience you got the less powerful you are is kinda weird

However i wouldnt mind seeing how it would work in action first.

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No argument from me that it's counter-intuitive, TG. Just thought of a corrolary to this that would shift the balance in favour of trying to get your Rep high:

Assume the above system is in place. Then, once your Rep is at the 200 mark (or the 'Buff Cap' or whatever we want to call it) PvP kills have a probability of a recipe drop. If a new pool of recipes is made for 'PvP drops', as long as it's built right should give people a reason to maintain a high Rep.

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What will make more casual players buy into and enjoy the PvP aspect of the game has to be the key question.

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I never thought I'd say this... I agree with Lionsbane.

As it stands at this moment in time, PvP is not in any way friendly to anyone who wants to try it casually. Some of this is PvPers. Some of this is the implementation of PvP in the game. But at the end of the day, if you go to a PvP zone with an attitude of "I'll just see what it's like", you are unlikely to choose to do it again.

I'm busy trying to persuade my wife to try PvP. I want to try and persuade some of my RP friends to head to a PvP zone and try our hand, as a team, at it. I think it would be fun. But we're all PvP newbies. I doubt we would expect to survive for long, no matter what toons we take along. The fun of this game for me is surviving against the odds. The odds don't get any more heavily weighted to the opposition anywhere other than hardcore PvPers vs Newbie PvPers. But there's a difference between surviving against the odds and not having any chance of survival at all, and that's how it feels to me.

A suggestion then, to make PvP more accessible: Apply a buff players in PvP zones dependent on their Rep. The lower the Rep, the higher the buff. Now, I don't know a lot about how the Rep system works, but I know the game tracks it. Since there's a badge for 400 Rep, set it so that the buff only applies to those with Rep of 200 or lower, incrementally in ranges of 10 Rep, to provide a +Perc, +Acc, +Dam bonus. Nothing to defence or resistance, because those are Powerset specific - if you're squishy, you stay squishy, but you're still buffed in ways that count. As your Rep increases you are obviously (I assume) becoming more skilled at PvP, so the benefits you gain from being a newbie slowly drop away.

There we go - something that if done right won't overpower newbies, but will make them less easy targets, and if you're not a TARGET, you're more likely to keep trying.

I can make Friday night - and considering the subject, I can bring along a level 40 (41?) Rad/Psi defender who will fit right in.

(As long as there are SK slots, of course - otherwise I'll just have to settle for old Dicky-boy.)

Can't make Saturday, due to horror and thingness involving my mother (moving the last few things of mine out of her house... after all, it's been nearly 9 years since I left home).

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So back in PVE world there is never a cross word spoken. Teams work like clockwork with the maximum in politeness and decorum.

Defender: " After you dear sir!"
Tanker "My pleasure, dear fellow! Here I Go!"
Energy Blaster "What ho this is spiffing fun what?"
Tanker "Sorry old chap, could you be nice enough to lessen the amount of knock back on these blighters?"
Energy Blaster "Oh how awfull of me! Please allow me to apologize!"

Etc..etc......

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I don't believe I ever said life in PvE was perfect. But my mother always says "If one man calls you an a s s, take no notice. If three men call you an a s s, buy a saddle."

If I was asked to do a survey about PvP, then PvPers would be my top reason for not doing it.

Plus, my example was specifically using RPers, which I am aware is another 'marginal' activity within the game.

I've said it before and I'll repeat it - I, personally, don't PvP because of the PvP players I've encountered. If the PvP community want to get me involved (and my wife... and a large swathe of my SG friends... and in fact most people I've ever spoken to about the subject), then some of them need an attitude adjustment to make PvP accessible to the 'casual PvPer'. TG has actually shown me that he - and from this thread he alone - is prepared to say "I'll show you what it's like." Statistically speaking, that's a poor ratio. But even one person saying it surprises me, based on my experiences of PvPers in this game so far.

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Oh, and more people are put off pvp by coming into contact with the pvp community than they are reading a post by a non-pvper.

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Is that right?

And where did you come by that gem of factual information then?

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Heh. This was pages ago, and I can't remember who posted what. Ah, well. I'll happily add my name to the list of people who have been put off PvP because of trying it and getting disheartened by the behaviour of people in the PvP community.

This does not mean that I tar the entire PvP community with the same brush... just every single one of them I've ever met in-game.

I want to try PvP. I also think that I should, as an inexperienced PvPer, stand a chance in a fight. I think I deserve the opportunity to try different tactics and see what works and what doesn't, and I think I deserve the chance to do so with out being told, basically, to come back and play when I know what I'm doing.

Yes, I expect PvP to be a steep learning curve. But there's a difference between being able to learn and dying so damn fast -several times in a row- that you have no idea what options are open to you. And repeatedly being told to go away and come back when you know what you're doing.

Because, no matter how much you dress it up and say that the majority of PvPers are nice people - which I do believe, by the way - unless you're a hardcore PvPer already, there is nothing quite so offputting as being told to give up, go away, you're wasting your time here, go back to PvE where you belong - that's the attitude of a truly welcoming community [/sarcasm]. And no, I've not once seen another PvPer say anything like "Oh, come on, he's obviously new, give him a break, let him learn, for Heavens' sakes."

Yes, PvP needs some form of change to make it more suitable - the best suggestion I've seen so far would be to remove all debt from PvP zones, turning the mobs into a TACTIC rather than a risk - but IMO the behaviour of the majority of PvPers I have encountered, personally is specifically designed to put people off coming into the PvP zones to see what PvP is like.

I may be unique, but given that the majority of 'anti-PvP sentiment' that is coming up here is from people with experiences remarkably similar to my own, I ask the nice PvPers this question: Why should we believe you, when we haven't seen any evidence of it, despite numerous attempts to PvP?

I don't expect kittens and hugs and a pat on the head - I expect to faceplant when I PvP. I expect the chance to have a fight, not be ridiculed and effectively be told to leave: I'm an RPer - if I did similar when a new person tried to RP with me ("Oh, dear, silly you, you have no idea about sentence structure, composition, spelling, grammar, characterisation, behaviour, vocal mannerisms, politeness, or any of the qualities that you need to be a successful RPer, give up now and come back when you've learned a thing or two") I'd expect that person to never try to RP ever again.

So, in summation, this is my message to all PvPers interested in getting more of us non-PvPers interested in what you find fun: Take a leaf out of TG's book. A newbie to PvP is not a TARGET. They are an opportunity to expand your community. Treat them as such and you might make more friends than you've got, and expand the PvP community into something more meaningful than it is today.

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(The following is based on game behaviour a while back and may have changed, but I doubt it.)

More recent experience: I took my DB/WP Scrapper into SC to do a patrol and get a nice +Stealth gadget. And, hey, I like to give the sharks a taste of new flesh once in a while.

Walk in the gate, turn on toggles, including IR Goggles. I see a villain. Then I spent about 5 minutes trying to get out of line of sight at the pace of a stoned slug as I got multiply frozen. To be fair, I did find it hilarious that they hit me with every slowing effect they could manage (there was more than one doing it) and still couldn't manage to kill me after all that time in the open.

Anyway, I defrosted and came out again by which time they had found an easier victim, so I bounced off to run the patrol route. About half way around I got nailed by a Stalker (spines, I think). Never saw him, not before or after the attack. If someone would like to explain how that's 'fun,' or 'a challenge,' or in any way 'a show of skill' then go ahead, I'd like a good laugh.

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No, that behaviour hasn't changed. And no, such experiences are not 'fun', 'a challenge', or 'a show of skill'.

Effectively, to us non-PvPers out there, it is not possible to PvP if there's a Stalker in the zone because you are DEAD. Pure and simple. Now, the PvPers may tell us to not bother coming into the zone if we're not prepared to face Stalkers... and then moan that there aren't enough players who PvP.

Causality. Look it up.

I love the concept of PvP. I truly do, and I would be happy to do it more than I currently do (pretty much never) if it was possible to go to a PvP zone and expect to be able to stand a chance without going for a completely tricked out PvP build.

As far as I'm aware, the root of this problem is to do with the EU client download (either it's borked or there simply isn't one). I installed from disks and have no problems on the rare occassions I have to reinstall.

Yes, it needs to be fixed - this problem frustrates more new players than anything else I've seen, and I think (not an expert, so not sure) it could be fixed by a change to the client download so that it actually downloads an EU client and shortcuts.

I don't have access to the download site from work, so I can't test this out.

It looks good, I have to say, but... 5 at once? A bit much, perhaps?

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This would only stop me traveling to the zone and typing /whoall

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Global hide prevents /whoall anyway - I don't trust it in PvP zones.


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Recall Friend - Cross Zonal please

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HELL NO! It's annoying enough when I've forgotten to switch on Prompt Team Teleport and I get pulled away from the AH if I'm in the right zone, but cross-zone? No thanks.

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Like an Invite to team question popping up would be better... "Team mamber "x" would like to TP you to "map" do you accept?

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As long as there's a prompt for it (that can't be turned off), then actually, yes, I like this idea.

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I'm chuffed you liked everthing else


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You keep coming up with good ideas, and I'll keep agreeing with them.

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Badge List - Shows all the badges grey'd out, and the collected ones in colour.

X,Y,Z Location Finder - /search type box that you enter co-ordinates and they will be display'd like a mission locator does.

Search Screen - Adjust so that the window can be expanded.

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All good stuff.

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Search CoX - Search screen option to search Coh / Cov, so i can see how many vills are in SC not just Heros ;P

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Not for PvP zones, thanks. Let's keep a little mystery. But in co-op zones? Hell yes.

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Uni Workbenches - Workbenches in all zones that have Auction houses please.

Inspiration Vendor - Trainers should also sell Inspirations same as Pocket D Bar staff and Arena Staff.

Sell All Button - Sell all at Store, Sell all salvage / Recipes option when at a vendor.

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I like these ideas.

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Recall Friend - Cross Zonal please

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HELL NO! It's annoying enough when I've forgotten to switch on Prompt Team Teleport and I get pulled away from the AH if I'm in the right zone, but cross-zone? No thanks.

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Replying - Multiple backspaces flicks through recent contacts

Character Transfer - Transfer Characters from 1 account to another.

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Sounds fair, as long as it's the same Master Account.

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Player Notes - Player notes list all toons on same account.

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Umm... they do, as long as you've met that toon already. I see no reason for this to be expanded - some people like a little bit of anonymity.

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B.cast Chat - Broadcast also can be heard when in mission from that zone.

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No, thanks. On the rare occassions I get a mission in Atlas Park I like to not have the inanities scrolling down my screen.

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Team search - Players in teams of 8 or in Task forces show up in /search as red.

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/signed. ANYTHING to stop "can i join ur team" when you're on a TF.

Good question, and not sure. To my mind, Quality of Life is pretty much anything that fits into the classification "Improves the information I have about my characters. Improves my ability to communicate with other players. Improves my ability to play the game the way I want to (finding teams, managing teams, avoiding teams etc. Improves my ability to avoid wasting time and get on with missions)". All else (i.e. anything relating to things that you use in combat) are Gameplay Improvements to one degree or another.

So, asking for a 'Team leader star' on the Team search menu is a QoL issue. Asking for adjustments to the Auction House search system is a QoL issue.