Shae_Firewarder

I have always preferred playing defenders or controllers. My controllers actually use their secondaries.

Most of the time I was kinetic, or archery(once it became an option) but, I have played a little of most of the defender sets. I happen to know that archery was nerfed out of beta, but, the data they were using to nerf was from teams of archers and sonic defenders chewing through things the way that full teams do debuffers CAN. Once you hit the regular servers you were lucky to get one sonic or archer let alone two. My archer would join a team and see an orange glow and nearly clap for joy!

I am really going to miss this.

Happy birthday!

I was your role model? Wow.

Heroid, when I wanted to run a story that changed a character of mine, you were always the most respectful of my characters' flaws, limits, and intentions. Passing stories for the forum back and forth with you shaped Shae and Steel butterfly...and certainly Tasenka!

I really appreciated the opportunity to write with you!

I'll give it another try. =)

Shae Firewarder Fire/kinetic controller.

Heya!

I understand about online games helping to keep you sane during hard times.

Back when I played EQ(ages ago. I quit EQ right before CoH first came out), my Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. My friends in EVerQuest helped keep me sane then, when I was home all day taking care of dad. Friends are friends, y'know? Whether you are meeting them locally or online, the support they give is real. I have met some fantastic people online. They are fantastic people, regardless of where I met them!

Heroid, you are definitely one of the fantastic people.

I feel a little gut punched myself. I checked the date, but, it isn't April first.

I met a lot of fantastic people here. I have actually managed to meet a few in person. Some I hope to keep as lifelong friends.

There are others that I still want to meet in person.

I wasn't really ever planning on leaving Paragon. I took breaks when life got busy, or things got rough. I even tried other games, but I always came back.

I really don't know what to say.

Wow, yeah. Ascendant you are right.

I know that I haven't been around much lately, but, back when I was around all the time, Gemini Park was my introduction to Roleplaying. I know that it has been mostly empty for a long time now, but, I remember when it was crowded. I remember Maggie's rock, and I also recall the place just down the creek where Dauntless used to always hang out.

I recall local chat that flowed by at a rate to challenge the speed readers among us....=)

I'll miss it, but, it wasn't being as used as it was, and I want to see what they have done with the new tutorial zone as well.

I have never managed to get a kheldian above level 8.

I thought I had trouble playing tanks, but, I have a dual blade/willpower tank closing in on 30?

That said, my empathy defenders and controllers made it to 30 or near and then ALL got deleted in disgust. Not with the powerset, since I do like the emp powerset. The teams I got picked up for though, were so different than what my trick arrow/archer or my kinetics were ending up on. My emps would end up on teams with three other emps, and no one would be buffing, or, only the tank would ever get any buffs from anyone other than me. I would, on a team with three other emps, be the only one putting fort on the blasters or scrappers, or clear mind on the other emps so that they could continue to...I don't know...spam aura heal and heal the tank of the damage he isn't taking? And, still, people would die. They'd separate, or I'd get mezzed and die first(after using all the breakfrees I had or could make), or something.

*takes a deep breath and attempts to stop ranting*

Soooo, I'd say empathy anything would be something I can't play. I get too annoyed by the players I team with.

My strengths are that I am willing to be a background or support character, and that the backgrounds and personalities that my characters have are detailed.


My weaknesses have to do with my sometimes not being as into it as I could be, and letting the dialog slip back into how *I* would say something rather than how my character would. I can't do accents, and it usually comes across as word choice and sentence structure.

Also, when I am tired it all goes to heck. My characters become more like me and less like them, and if I get tired enough I lose the ability to pose out...to leave the scene in character. I'm stuck. =P

I have always loved that in City of Heroes, you could continue to play with your friends even when they out leveled you. Sidekicking was awesome.

Exemplaring down was also awesome.

When I came back, I discovered that the mission holder sets the level for the whole team now. No more trying to pair up mentors and sidekicks, it just happens, like magic!

They took the thing that I love best about City of Heroes and improved it!

Of course I also like that my ice/power blaster doesn't have to have pink pompoms of doom, but can make the power any color at all. I like the tip missions, and the fact that my villain can be more of the rogue I always felt she would be. I'm enjoying the choices that I am facing in Praetoria, even if my little Praetorian alt had to abandon a story arc because, well, let's just say she wouldn't ever DO something like that.

However, what keeps me coming back is that no matter how altoholic I am, I can still team with friends, and meet their friends, with no limits placed on our teaming by how fast one or several of us level...or don't level.

((Snerk! Here's the other reason I as a player let Shae give you that collar. You come up with trouble on your characters that I would never think of in a million years! I'm still laughing. =) ))

((Actually, Shae was thinking days Paragon time. I think Alias Smith is capable of getting into enough trouble in 7 Paragon days, don't you? ))

((Also, One of Shae's reasons for going along with the request, is that although cats are usually very good at finding trouble, they are also usually capable of getting out of much of it. ))

Depending on the sample I used, I got Anne Rice, Stephen King, James Joyce, or Dan Brown.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and well wishes.

I'm sorry that it took so long for me to show up and reply. I'm slowly going back to all the places that I used to go, but, some places are harder than others because of all the memories. This is one of the hard ones.

My husband and I didn't play the game in the same way, so some of you might have met him, and others not. He tended to immerse himself in the character and not want his ooc identity known. He didn't do OOC comments usually. He also tended to stay invis globally in game, like he did in Yahoo chat. He loved the flexibility in CoH, both in character design and in being able to team with anyone, regardless of level. In any other game we played, it was very hard to stay at the same level to play together. In this game, the only problem we had was when he felt that he wasn't pulling his weight, sked up to some of the teams we played with. He was always excellent; he always cared.

He fought, and he did his best always, right to the end.

Again, thank you so much for remembering us. I'll try to get back in game soon.

Congratulations!

Again. =)

Also, she's every bit as cute in person!(Shows off that she's actually gotten to see the baby herself. *smug*)

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"Nah," Tommy said. "She was gonna walk me back ta my car afterwards an' got confused in the elevator at the parkin' garage. It happens with her every so often. I think she gets spooked by the bell."

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((*snerck* too funny! ))

Victoria Alexandra Elizabeth Loyd, usually called "darling" or "Vae" by her grandmother or friends, entered the restaurant and looked around. It wasn't the usual kind of place her dad would choose, so she wondered at the change.

For one, it wasn't up high. Her father's office and his favorite place to ask her to meet him for dinner were both up very high, actually above the legal flight ceiling for heroes in Steel Canyon. This sunny little cafe was at street level.

Second, it was sunny....and there were sprawling plants everywhere. The planters were terra cotta, as were the floor tiles. The seats were upholstered in bright cotton prints. Her father usually preferred polished metal or wood in straight lines, and understated decor that usually still managed to shout MONEY.

Third, Vae had actually chosen to eat here before. Their food was fresh and tasty, and though it was not cheap, you got your money's worth in flavor. Dad's usual taste in restaurants tended to swing between very old money type steak places for making deals in back rooms, and very trendy places where the point was to be seen eating practically nothing, and paying the earth for the privilege.

Something was definitely up.

-----
When she joined her father and his two companions, she thought she might have an inkling of what was going on. A waiter helped her into her chair, and she smiled at him, but, knew it was a sign of her father throwing his money around already. Waiters here didn't usually do that; although they would pull the chair out for a lady, the usual customer here didn't have the training to know what to do when someone actually slid the chair back in as you were sitting down.

Her father introduced his companions and then they got the previous evening's excitement out of the way.

"I'm so so sorry about canceling last night, but, things came up." Like defeating your minions and cleaning up my apartment afterwards.

"That's perfectly fine. I had a few things to do as well."like bailing out my minions and pumping them for information.

"The crepes are very good here, Victoria." Her father signaled the waiter to come back to take the order, although she had barely had a chance to glance at the menu herself.

"I know." She looked up as her father began to order the crepes for her and spoke over him to the waiter, "I'll have the chicken and broccoli pasta, with the house dressing on the salad, and an iced tea."

Her father frowned at her, "I thought you liked the crepes here."

"I do." Vae agreed, "However, I had them here earlier in the week, and, I'd like the pasta today." She looked at her father steadily as the waiter took the rest of the orders.

Her father sipped his coffee and said, "If you were in Steel Canyon earlier in the week, I could have joined you."

Her dad would have done nothing of the sort if she had stopped by, but, she'd give him an out, "I was with gran and her bridge buddies. I doubt you would have enjoyed it." Though I enjoyed it very much.

She managed to pull the other two gentlemen into conversation with a bit of effort. Her Gran's lessons in charm could only do so much with her father there and being his usual self. Verbal maneuvers with him always made her feel a bit like a bullfighter trying not to be pinned. When the salads were taken away and the main meals arrived, they finally dispensed with the small talk and got to the point.

"Your father has asked us to look into a marketing opportunity," the first man started.

Lord, Dad didn't waste any time. Does he ever sleep? Vea wondered.

The other one leaned in, excited now that the subject was broached," Fortune of War is a very marketable name! A young beautiful rising heroine with style and beautiful hair!

Ah, the hair. Of course. Vae nodded and listened while twirling a bit of her long red hair around a finger. She noticed her father begin to relax slightly; his fingers tapped the edge of his coffee cup as he did when something pleased him. Apparently she was taking this hijacking of her hero identity better than he'd hoped. Time to fix that.

Just as the first man pulled a stack of papers out of his briefcase, Vae said, "I'll have to run any product endorsement deals past my super group leaders, first."

"Super group?" he said, hesitating only momentarily, he set the pile of contracts on the table, and Vae could see the colorful little "Sign here" arrows indicating the signature lines.

"Super group," Vae nodded cheerfully, "I just joined one last night."

Her dad's eyes narrowed; he knew her well also, and the cheerful innocent tone she was using was something he'd heard before.

"I believe it is in the top 80 super groups in Paragon city at the moment, and rising." She could see dollar signs in the marketing man's eyes, now, but, her father was tensing, his fingers encircling his coffee cup firmly.

"Well, I don't think any of the top super groups would object to your visibility. There are cosmetic endorsements, and a personal perfume line. All very top of the line products, and nothing a leader would object to." The marketing man still wasn't worried. At all.

"I still need to run any contract past them, though. I wouldn't want any surprises later." She smiled even more brightly, "Though I am certain a use could be found for the money...for instance the soup kitchens..."

The marketing man was taken off guard by the thought of giving away money, but recovered quickly, and nodded, "Thinking of your image shows good long term planning."

Vae figured she'd drawn this out long enough, "Ah, no, the KGB Special Section 8 has their own soup kitchen in King's Row, and volunteering to work there weekly is part of being in the super group."

"Their own soup kitchen...King's row...KGB?" The marketing man stared at her, hoping for some sign that she was joking. Her dad's grip on the coffee cup would have broken anything less sturdy.

"You can't." her dad said firmly, attempting to stare her into submission.

"I already did." Vae replied. "Besides, it would be a little hard at this point to cover it up." She pulled a copy of the Paragon Times out of her purse, already open to the page she wanted, and pointed to a picture. There was the heroine, Fortune of War, at the KGB Special Section 8's May Day party, standing next to a very large cake in the shape of the Kremlin, and nibbling on a star shaped cookie.

She heard a sound of incoherent dismay from one of the marketing men. Her father took a deep breath and said, "You were very thorough. Did you take that picture to the paper yourself?"

She nodded, "There's no point in going halfway. You spent all night working on cornering me into this. The least I could do is spend equal effort getting myself uncornered."

"Someday you are going to go too far and get yourself in trouble."

"If you would stop trying to run my life for me, I wouldn't have to try to outwit you all the time. The KGB are not affiliated with the current Russian Government. They do charitable works. They have a good reputation in Kings Row, and they have a secure base where I won't need to worry about people in masks going through my stuff."

"Checkmate again, then."

"Checkmate again."

((One of my characters just yanked her story off in a different direction. I wrote this fast...or she wrote it. Apologies for any editing things I may have missed.))

Usually, Fortune of War changed out of the armor before she came home to her cozy little condo in Faultline. Usually, she was on time for things, even the dinners with her dad that she only went to because she had promised her mom years ago that she would. Usually just didn't seem to apply to today.

Today, she was running very late. The Circle of Thorns Mages waiting for her in Founder's Falls had made her miss her tram connection back to Skyway, and now she was sprinting up the stairs to the condo with her armor in stealth mode just praying that she wasn't blowing her secret identity.

She was aware that she took her secret identity more seriously than most of the other heroes she worked with. Heck, there were heroes in her building, living in condos that were just like hers. They landed openly on their balconies like multicolored birds returning to their nests. She was far more secretive. Most of her teammates, even the ones she worked with often, only knew her as Fortune of War, and not her given name.

They didn't have their grandmothers living with them, though, or a father elsewhere in the city who thought that his money and power gave him license to play with her life. Her secret identity was hers and hers alone, and she had to change out of the armor fast to keep her secret and get to that dinner and keep her promise to her mother...

Except that usually there weren't several men dressed all in black with their faces covered turning over her couch and coffee table and taking the pictures off the walls of her condo.

She ducked to the side and dove for cover as the closest man noticed the open door and pulled a weapon. Using the piled furniture in the center of the room as cover, she pulled out an arrow and nocked it, then she shot, and hoped that the explosion would stun at least a couple of the five men that she could see in the room. Five? Who on earth would send five men to turn over the furniture and search her apartment? They weren't Circle, they had the wrong brand equipment to be working for Crey, and they weren't wearing suits like the Family.

The explosion did stun several of the men, but, it also alerted the others to her arrival. Two of them exchanged hand signals, and then pulled objects that looked like tasers from their jacket pockets. Fortune hadn't been just standing around though; she kept moving. She felled one of the stunned men with a kick and an overhead thump, and then tossed a small packet that usually tipped one of her arrows at the two men approaching. One of those two and two of the men just coming around from the explosion started to cough, and then doubled over gasping for air.

She used every nasty trick she had in her quiver and had picked up from several martial arts teachers, but 5 opponents were a bit many. She managed to knock out or disable 4, but, she'd lost track of one somewhere...and then she heard a noise behind her.

Fortune spun hoping to be in time to fend off the blow, only to see her gran standing in the doorway, holding an urn, and the slumping form of the last black clad intruder sliding to the floor.

As the man hit the floor, Fortune of War asked her grandmother, "Ah...are those granddad's ashes...?"

"Yes, darling." Mrs. Penelope Fontaine-Phelps replied calmly as she cradled the stainless steel urn lovingly in her arms. "Dear Ben couldn't be here in person, of course, but, I am sure he would have enjoyed hitting that villain."

Fortune of War laughed, "I'm sure of it." She looked over the men sprawled unconscious around the wrecked rooms, and then knelt beside the one her gran had conked over the head with the urn. "Let's see who you fellows are..."She slid the knitted mask off the man and turned his face up so that both she and gran could see.

Gran frowned, "That, darling, would appear to be your father's butler."

Fortune nodded, "His butler, and apparently his errand boy."She sighed, "Well, I suppose that answers why they were here now since I was supposed to be at dinner with daddy, and you were supposed to be playing bridge. I got delayed by an ambush, and the bridge game?" Fortune started applying teleport tags to the fallen men, as she didn't want them waking up here, so off to the Zig hospital they went.

"Canceled." her gran said,"Gertie said I should go home and watch out for you, darling. Though I didn't know what she meant at the time."

Fortune grimaced, "I'd have been happier with you out of this...as you know and we have already talked out." The last teleport tag placed, Fortune walked over to her gran and smiled at the stubborn expression on her face. Then she hugged her and said, "I hope I'm as tough as you are when I get to 86!"

"I suppose you know what those men signify, darling?" Her gran asked.

"Yes, I expect that I do. Dearest dad has twigged to the superhero bit." Fortune of War sighed, "And he was trying to figure out which one, and how he could use me."

"Of course his men will tell him who showed up."

Fortune nodded, "So, my real reason for my secret ID is shot, and, the question is what to do now..." Suddenly she thought of a poster she had seen earlier, and smiled.

Her gran saw the look on her face and said, "Darling, what have you thought up to annoy your father this time?"

"tactical lederhosen"

~dies laughing~

May I say once more how much I love that the way my characters look is not affected by their enhancements? I know some people want to be able to *see* how someone is equipped, but, that is what clicking on the person and looking at the info is for.

I like that I can design my character from her hair to her boots, and all that work isn't covered up the instant that I find a bit of gear that is better than what she has. Yes, there are other games with pretty graphics...but, when I see someone I know in CoH or CoV I can recognise them in game! Sometimes from a fair distance and from behind, as well.

In other games, all the paladins of a certain level of gear look exactly the same, with a few variations of face and hair. If you like your look, it is pretty much guaranteed that the next upgrade of gear will change it.

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Very nice post, Brad. Thanks a ton!

I've played a ton of MMOs. I've yet to play one I couldn't take some ideas from. I think you short change the concept of street sweeping in other games a bit -- if all you do is instance missions, an MMO can begin to feel awfully empty and lonely! I like seeing other player wander by doing whatever it is they are doing while I'm gathering the whatsits for my collection quest. I even like competing for resource nodes despite the fact that it often makes me want to slap my fellow players. I definitely get where you are coming from; but I do think there is room for this style of play.

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Actually I say too much instancing is City of Heroes/Villains weakness. I completely agree with you Castle. I miss street sweeping and seeing other players. Sometimes it feels like Diablo II where the "world" is just a visual representation of a chat room and then you "login" to the game either by yourself or up to 7 others.

Since I come from old school MMORPGs (Ultima Online, Everquest up until Planes of Power), I always liked competition and the feeling of a shared world. I even dislike having instances in World of Warcraft.

I liked how in Everquest you had dungeons that were camped. It gave them life in my personal opinion. I also like the outdoor world of Everquest/World of Warcraft (See: Non - Instanced) since you can run into other people and interact.

I wouldn't mind if the developers (If it is even possible with this engine) to somehow create a co-op zone where there is no instance missions. All of the content and story arcs take place in the "real" zone. There could be certain spawns and NPCs you might have to hunt. (Destroy the Nemesis Horse Automation) Yes it would be similar to World of Warcraft but there should be a balance.

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I started EQ after Velious came out and before Luclin. I was there when Gates of Discord came out and left before Omens of War. I'll agree that I like having people around, but, I dislike having to compete for the drops from named things...that may or may not drop. Also, there were so many ways for someone who wanted to be annoying to annoy you with no real way of getting away from them, short of giving up on what you wanted to accomplish and finding something else to do.

If you didn't mind the kill stealers and trains, then, I wonder what class you were? Or played the most. Some classes had a bit of an easier time on certain things. For instance, a train doesn't matter quite as much if you can feign death or go invisible, and kill stealers didn't matter if you were sure you could outdamage them.

Also, the worst of the guild blocking that I heard of came in with Planes of Power. There were guilds that were deliberately sabotaging other guilds from getting the keys to zones. If getting the keys had been more instanced perhaps? But, perhaps keeping the content more "exclusive" was what EQ wanted. It fits the design of not enough loot to go around for all the people required to succeed at a raid.=P

I suspect that CoH/CoV could handle a zone without instances fairly well. You will still have a few problems, as some people who have hunted the monsters in the different zones might tell you. In Croatoa, Sally is not instanced, nor is Jack or Eochai. The Paladin in Kings sometimes inspires a zonewide hunt...and then sometimes there are three of him in one spot.
That's actually kind of fun, if you can get a group together for that.
Which is usually where global channels and the global friend list come into play. If one or two of the people who see a monster up call it out in a channel, then you have a hunt. Using broadcast doesn't always produce enough interested folk.

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3) Lack of loot and upgrades tied to character customization. This is related to spawn camping, as without loot, there is no need to camp. The greater insight, however, is that the devs realized that upgrades that effect your characters' appearance LIMITS your creativity. Since everyone has to have the exact same gear to be equally capable, everyone has to look exactly the same. So CoH uncoupled the LOOK of the characters and powers from their ABILITIES and allowed you to upgrade your abilities and your appearance separately.


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Can I emphasise too much the fact that I like the character generator here?

I love that when I make a character MY character doesn't look like anyone else's.

When I was in EQ I quested for weeks and got help getting that ivy etched armor for my ranger....and then I realized that it was actually not all that great now that several expansions had gone by.

But I liked having my ranger all dressed in green!

Then they added dyes and it wasn't quite as bad, but, still, if you changed your gear, it changed your stats, and therefore how good you were, and your appearance changed too.

I like going to Wentworths...or a costume contest! and my costume won't be anything like any one else's! I like looking different. In most of the games out there, all the "uber" gear looks alike...so all the characters end up looking alike.
I tried Tabula Rasa, and was so disapointed when my little tiny bit of character customization vanished the very first time that I equiped a new piece of armor. =P

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You forget one thing with street sweeping (that Stealth sort of touched on.)

No "must get loot from spawns." No spawn camping or spawn competition.

Playing TR in beta, or that WoW trial? "Kill some of these things, and bring back their intestines so I can make soup!"

Yeah, well ten of the other people - who don't, by the way, want to team - in the area are doing the same thing. Then there are people who are just running by killing them for a little more XP, or crafting material or just for the heck of it, and because *they* got the kill, YOU now have to kill 150 of them to get those 10 randomly selected drop items.

Here? "Kill 30 Crey" means "Kill 30 Crey." Not "And collect rare item piece blah blah blah that only drops in one in five, IF you get the kill shot." If you're supposed to get a location, you don't wait for the Scroll of Ancient Dude's Kneecaps to drop. When you kill the 30th one (or whatever,) you get the info.

And, as mentioned - you don't have to street sweep there and back again.

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<shudders>
I played Ever Quest. Camping is something I don't miss at all. REALLY don't miss at all. I don't miss the lines, the waiting, the chance what you want won't drop at all, the ninja looters...NONE of it. Ick. Occasionally in CoH/CoV you hear a little complaining about kill stealing in the newbie zones, but, back in EQ Kill Stealing was bad news, because it happened at all levels and cost you the chance of the loot off the critter or Named...the Named that might only spawn once in a blue moon if the sun rose in the West(Stupid flying horse in South Karana, I am talking about YOU!). Plus, there were at that time no instances at all. If someone was following you to harrass, the only option you really had was to log out.

I'll agree that sidekicking and exemping are marvelous. The chat system here is also wonderful. Having a team seek tool is splendid.

And I may never again be able to play a game that doesn't let me fly.

I adore how flexible the teams are. I very much like that you don't need the standard MMO formula of tanker+healer+DPS but instead can build a realistic team of 8 blasters or whatever and still succeed. I like that you can bend the ATs that we *do* have into things like scrapfenders or blappers or blaptrollers, to name a few of my favorites. I like the flexibility. I like being able to get teams easily.

I love being *able* to solo on any of my characters. Even my most "team support" character can street sweep some while looking for a team. In other games you often end up not being able to do that depending on what character class you choose.

I like being able to log on for a half hour or an hour and being able to get something done. I like not having to do "corpse runs" to get all my stuff back.

I don't miss keys. We actually *have* a mechanism somewhat like keys, in that you have to unlock certain contacts. There are certain zones you can't get to before certain levels. However, there is nothing so far like the zones in EQ that you had to grind and camp and quest for the key to a zone...and certain guilds had requirements that you have the keys already before you even applied to join. Then there were the keys that you had to Raid to get. Certain guilds discovered that they could block other guilds from successfully getting those keys, and did so for months at a time....I don't miss that. At. All. There was an attitude of competition, of trying to stay on top, that I just haven't run into here.

I like CoH so very much more.

((Always be careful what you ask for...Sometimes learning that can be painful.

I have been reading the thread from the beginning, but, I like this very much.))

((That is so perfect. =) ))