Shadowe

Shadowe lives in a manor house outside the War Walls.
Luminescence lives in a flat in Founder's Falls.
Helena H Mk 1, 2, 2.1 & 4 all live at Shadowe's manor house.
Psychonova is itinerant - stays in hotels, mostly.
Liz Ross has no fixed abode.

You opinion is yours, and no one is going to argue that you are entitled to hold it. I happen to think that you are wrong. That's my opinion, and I'm entitled to hold it.

What I can't comprehend is how on Earth is it negative for someone from the company that released this game to say "Maybe the steps taken to limit trial accounts have been excessive, but we're flexible about it, so please come up with constructive suggestions as to how we can improve the service we offer, while still screwing over the RMT sites." Because that's what GR's post said. That's not negative. That's positive. They listened when we said we were sick of inf sellers, and did something about it. They took things to the extreme. They can now look into dialing back, if they want to, and they're asking for our input as well. You have taken a post by the community lead who agrees with the legitimate complaints about trial account restrictions and said that he's being negative.

And if you think that NC are ever, ever, EVER going to flat out say something to us unless they know it's true and definite, I direct your attention to Statesman's comments about Global Nerfs prior to ED. They're not going to get caught in that trap again. They're going to post responses that show their opinion but not give definitive answers, because if they give definitive answers when things aren't settled for certain, the player base WILL scream about it, for very valid reasons.

And if you think that 'maybe' is not a good answer to a question that has multiple possible answers depending on the circumstances that attain now and in the future, may I suggest that you never work in Customer Services. Because 'maybe' crops up a HELL of a lot, because it's often the BEST AND ONLY answer you can give.

I value GR's honesty far more than a cagey 'no comment'.

And now to something that is of particular interest: How are the trial account restrictions affecting your enjoyment of the game, again? From what I can see you have a full account, and I don't think you've mentioned anyone you know getting a trial account and being restricted by it.

((Eeep! Just got reminded that we have a friend over for dinner tonight so I might not be able to make it. Consider me a reserve, if you would, Z.))

((Count me in, if there's room, Z))

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And if you read my post shadowe you will find that i actually agree with you and that is why neither of us fail to see the problem. the problem is in the second post and the content of the second paragraph which clearly states maybes and probably nots which in my opinion is a negative post and the whole crux of my argument that Ghost was more interested in reprimanding rather than dealing with the issues being talked about, wether or not the reprimanding was right or wrong the whole thing has deflected from the original problem which is all i was trying to say

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Is the current system perfect? Probably not: it's rare that anything is perfect when first implemented. Is it overkill? Maybe. Will changes and adjustments be considered? Certainly, and they're far more likely to be implemented when they're put forward sensibly.

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Here's what you were commenting on. Let's see.

Is the current system perfect? I don't think anyone here will argue that it's not. Why should GR and anyone else at NCSoft feel any differently? But they had to do something. And I'm glad they did. It's easier to relax a harsh policy than it is to slowly crank up one that's too lenient.

Is it overkill? It might be. Or it might actually be the most optimal solution. There is insufficient data right now to say for certain, so the best answer is 'maybe'.

I can't see anything negative in that. What I actually see is our Community Lead being honest with us. Would you prefer that they keep quiet about how NCSoft perceives things? Back to the good old days where everything was hidden from us?

If you can find me ANY company that is happy to hear "I think you're a bunch of idiots" said directly to them, I'll be surprised. GR was merely pointing out that the tone of the post was inappropriate, even if the rest of the content was fine. Yes, it was the view of the company. I fail to see why that's a problem.

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Aren't you? You think we were down to 15 devs because they were doin it right?

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Yes, I do. I think that JE was too busy with his new shiny (MUO) and abandoned the CoH brand, shutting them out. Why do I think this? Because War Witch said so at Omega Sektor.

How about if they lock the account to Friends only, and then release I13 details?

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1. It's the same model it always is. The costume and contact lenses were made especially for her. They won't FIT anyone else (especially the contact lenses!)

2. Very nice of you, to insult her looks that way. I'm sure you're no oil painting either. FYI, the model who plays GW is a really nice lass, and doesn't deserve such mean comments (not that she would even if she was satans sister).

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Got to agree with FFM here - she's actually really nice, and brilliantly able to stay in character (even when you do something crazy, like present her with a signed picture of a friend's character on his behalf...). And if you look past the makeup, you'll actually be aware that she's almost frighteningly pretty.

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I agree with most things you say here Shadowe. I'd be delighted if your theory is correct, it'd be amazing. I'll be the first to be jumping up and down and waving wee flags.

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You wave the flags. I'll just squeal.

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At the same time I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about how long its taking and the lack of any meaningful communication about whats to come over the last month or two. And I'm not sure its fair for anyone who voices such concerns to be labelled a "doom and gloom" merchant any time they post anything critical of the devs.

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Here's my take on it: The devs know that they're going to release I13. They will have begun development on it long before I12 came out. They know it's a biggie. They are also abundantly aware that CO and DCUO are in development and that they have to take control.

In their shoes, I would do two things:

Firstly, I'd make sure that I13 was top-notch. Primo, game-release stuff.

Secondly, I'd put off releasing any details, even at the expense of annoying my own player-base, until the very last minute I can so that the developers for DCUO and CO can't do anything about the funky new stuff I'm including without it becoming clear that they're only copying.

This is what I mean when I say I want the devs to get it right. If you read between the lines of Redname posts, they're laughing in their beers about our speculation, and, from experience, that means that they know they're going to be exceeding our expectations one way or another. I'm willing to put up with a bit of tactical silence from Positron if it means really cool stuff, and that is the only reason I can conceive of for such a silence in the first place.

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I just wants new stoofs. i11 and i12 didn't really interest me much at all (i9 and i10 I thought were great though) so I'm itching for some new content!

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You and me both. I just want it to be the best content it can be.

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I don't know about Lionsbane but I'm getting damned impatient. i12 wasn't that huge and NCNC have been talking about how the team is much bigger now and there's loads to come. And yet a lot of the really cool ideas I've seen seem to still be at the Survey level, not even close to being implemented.

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Here's a question for you: Have NCNC ever done a survey before? No? So how do we know how far into development some or all of these ideas are? They might have just been doing the survey before they decided which ones to actually put into I13, and have them all ready to run at a moment's notice for all we know.

Can everyone please stop assuming that it's business as it usually was with Cryptic? At Omega Sektor War Witch was really excited about the ability to take the game in the directions they wanted to, without the shackles they had previously been bound by.

Perhaps I'm an optimist, but I sincerely think we're in for one hell of a surprise with I13, and I want the devs to get it right.

Here's a non-doom-and-gloom theory to be going with: What if I13 has EVERYTHING in the survey in it, plus shields, plus anything else we know about? Would you be willing to have waited if hindsight shows that we're getting something THAT huge?

The support password is different to any of the others: Regarding that issue, click on the 'I've forgotten my password' button.

Here's what you need to do:

Take a screenprint of your account page that shows how long you've had the account active for (whatever you do, don't post it here). It should clearly show the date your account began as well as the number of months you've paid for and played for, along with the date your vet reward was due.

Then, assuming that the first reward was due at some point in the past, update your support ticket, including a copy of the screenprint for perusal by the GMs. If the first reward date is in the future, ask for a detailed explanation as to WHY it has not yet come around.

(As a corrolary to this, and so that we can help some more: What is the date you registered, as shown on your account page?)

[Edit: If you can provide us with a screenie in-game showing that you haven't been granted the 3 month Vet reward badge, that would be excellent, also. To do this, go into 'Options' and keybind 'Screenshot with UI' to something, open up your badges, select the 'Veteran' tab and take the screenie.)

I'll do the honours and point out that at least as far as Rockjaw is concerned, the next event NC are going to in the UK is Memorabilia. And I think the big guy would know.

Lionsbane, I would just like to point out that you come across as someone who is very impatient, wanting everything now. I for one think that we should at least let NCNC show us what they can do before saying they're not doing anything. You may argue that you're not saying that, but that's how it comes across. If you think they are not doing enough to deal with the competition then i'd like to know what the basis for your feelings are: i13 is the first post-JE issue. Let's see what it is before we decry it. And let's give the devs a chance to do it right.

Excellent! Sounds like you want something a little like my build, then. (Bear in mind that I need a respec to clear out some stuff, because my current build is less than optimal, even considering that it's a concept build, plus I don't have access to all of my build information right this moment).

Primary: Get them all, except Power Push.

Secondary: You've got to have the first one, and I'd strongly suggest keeping Total Focus because it's AWESOME. Otherwise, go for the 'extras'. Build Up, Power Boost, Boost Range. Those are the things that give a ranged Eng the edge: It may take a while to trigger, but Aim+BU+Snipe+Total Focus (Superspeed into melee range) is a fight-winner. The only thing you'll struggle against are bosses, since TF's stun won't get them first time around.

Power Pools: Hasten and Stamina are phenomenal additions to you: Nothing gives you quite the sense of awesome power as Snipe > Total Focus > Power Burst used strictly in rotation against a tanked AV. If you can't use snipe due to taking hits, then Power Bolt and Power Blast fill that gap most of the time.

I won't discuss IO sets, as there are others around who know a lot more than I do about the best options.

Depends what you want out of your Eng/Eng, Spiky. Everyone will tell you different things about Eng/Eng and 'must have' powers.

Here are the questions:

Do you want a 'pure range' build? A blapper?

Do you want to spec for damage? Accuracy? Or (not that you'll need to) Knockback?

What Travel Power do you want? Do you want more than one? (I've found Superspeed and Flight on the same toon to be extremely handy)

Are you looking for advice on which sets to slot? Or are you only interested in seeing a build with SOs?

Speaking for myself, my main is an Eng/Eng, specced with what I like to call an 'RP build', meaning that his pool powers fit his concept more than making him insanely perfect for combat. Which didn't prevent me taking Hasten/Superspeed & Hover/Fly, Swift/Health/Stamina and Stealth/Invisibility as my pools.

General slotting advice: Your ranged attack powers simply DO NOT NEED any KB enhancement. My core build is 3xDamage, 2xAccuracy, 1xRechargeReduction in EVERYTHING, which means that with Hasten I have a pretty phenomenal rate of fire, it's accurate (especially with Aim) and it does a lot of damage (especially with BU). Thanks to Stamina (as well as some IOs improving my recovery), I rarely have too much in the way of Endurance problems, unless the crash happens in the middle of a long fight.

That's all I've got for now. I'm sure others will offer their own perspective, and utterly different advice.

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Oh right so your gonna sit in all 4 zones 24/7 just on the off chance.

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I very often search all maps on the opposite side of PvP Zones with a 2nd account and if someone pops up i'll be there in a shot. ;P

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Good job I hide myself to all searches on the rare occassions I enter a PvP zone, then, isn't it? And you really hang around in PvP zones at 5.45 on a Sunday morning (which is the time I'm most likely to be there)?

If someone decides to take a pop at me while I'm getting shivans, or getting nukes, then that's fine. I will never complain about that. What I will complain about, constantly, is behaviour like I encountered once in Warburg, where my teammate (a scrapper) went completely unmolested simply so that 3 stalkers could 'pwn' my blaster when we linked up. Good tactic, I thought. Now take down the scrapper, and you've done a... oh, no, you're simply going to not let me and the scrapper get anywhere near each other as a team, so every time we get close you're going to all 3 AS me, laugh that you can 'pwn' a blaster, and ignore the scrapper, because, hey, what's the point in PvPing something when you can annoy the blaster and ruin any chance he and the scrapper have of enjoying themselves. If it had been for codes, I'd have been fine with it. But no, it was just to beat a blaster in a way he couldn't stop. Great. I left 5 minutes after my... fourth? Fifth? faceplant.

So, please, don't tell me it's about PvPing, when people who are PvPers will actively AVOID engaging one character simply so that they can take out another one that they know will be coming near sooner or later.

What, like they hate me for having a Gold Badge Title on my main Villain? Or having a rare Forum Title? (Both of which are as a result of going to Memorabilia '07 and poking Aero_ a few times... that sounds so wrong, out of context.)

Nah. Hate's too strong a word. They might be a little jealous, but definitely no hatred involved.

I, for one, am hoping that there's going to be something fun like this for Memorabilia. I don't expect it, but it would be really good if the Boys (and girls) from Brighton did this. Of course, the PPD hardsuit... yeah, hard to compete with that.

Hardrider, are you looking for conventions and meets which NC are going to, or just conventions in general?

If it's ones that NC are going to, then there are usually posts in the Announcements forum quite a long time in advance. Alternatively, check out Rockjaw's blog, which is usually pretty darn up to date on what's coming up.

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On that subject, one thing that can go in there are the changes made to PVE to "balance PVP". Why? It's possible to have a different set of effects of a power when it's against a player or "critter", so why not just change that attribute of it? Don't stuff up PVE just to please the PVP minority tyvm.

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Just a quick and utterly honest question from someone whose search-fu is weak: When was the last time there was a 'nerf' explicitly and officially stated as being for PvP reasons? And, given whatever the answer to that question is, why does everyone think that nerfs are caused by PvP balance issues?

Exception_Access_Violation fault 0xc0000005 is usually either memory or driver related. This is why I figured it was likely to be your video drivers, since you have a laptop (unless you have recently upgraded your RAM, in which case, get out your screwdriver and reseat your RAM again).

Since there seems to be a slight fault with the NVidia drivers either finding your OS or indeed the drivers themselves (which is VERY odd) in the installer. The only thing left for me to suggest is rather than using the specific driverset I pointed you at, use the "Option 2" on this page. It might help.

They fixed it for /tells and Team, but apparently it still affects global channels.

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See Khorak for anger enhancement classes!

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Or a date.

(Still rooting for you, Khorak!)

Should be 'active account' months, whether paid or free as part of the game code. So, to clarify: You've had your account active for 3 solid months (whether consecutive or not), and have not as yet had the 3 month Vet Reward?

If that is the case, I'd get on to support - I started my account on 3 Sept 05 and I'm due my next award on... 3 Sept this year, despite having had 2 free months (1 with the original game code, and 1 with CoV).