Squirrel_Mark1

((Before going further - This is a joke! <,< I intend absolutely no offense to anyone in this; it is merely a lame attempt at humor on my part - if you continue, be brave!))

The purpose of this guide is to educate, and forwarn indivduals tredding the dangerous lands of the Suggestion forum; so they may know what to expect when browsing the dense thickets of insane ideas and repugnant ranting.

First off - What am I talking about? Simple, the icon next to the post title!

Second - "Why?" Because, I feel its a humorous topic and I'm feeling too lazy to do real work atm.

Ok, so... on with the guide!

- I'm about to rant at you. Most of my post will be incoherent and, if you can actually read it; it will add nothing to any of the myriad discussions going on in the forum; but rather simply be a source of venting. Often this will consist of all-caps typing about "DEVS UR RUINN R GAM" etc...

- In my own mind; this idea is the best thing since sliced bread. It doesn't matter how unbalanced it is. It doesn't matter who it screws over. This is THE BEST IDEA EVER. You are a complete fool if you disagree with my brilliant idea.

- This idea involved absolutely no thought whatsoever. No I mean it, I didn't think AT ALL when I typed this out. The words are there, they are whole... but they hold no meaning in their current order.

- My idea is unique and original. You've NEVER seen anything even remotely like this before. EVER. Except that this idea has been suggested by 32 other people in the last month; each of which has used this same icon; and the entire reason to implement the idea is given as "it'd be cool!"

- I don't have an idea. I'm actually ranting, but masquerading it for the first paragraph as a misunderstanding of dev intent. In reality though; I'm - I just don't want to admit.

- The devs don't love me. Every (flavor of the month overpowered) build I pick gets nerfed (slightly); and because of that they become completely unplayable (because I can no longer solo 4 archvillains at the same time - while AFK). Woe is me! The game is dying!

The Lightbulb - This COULD have been a cool idea. It almost was. Very nearly. Unfortunately I wrote half of it in AOL shorthand, and the other half is a solid block of text which is impossible to read due to its lack of paragraphs. If you actually spend enough time to sort through the mess - you may find an idea that would indeed be neat. Though it would take 4 years of dev time to do, all to manufacture something useful only to myself and the small subset of players who enjoy <insert activity>.

The Poll Icon - I'm curious about your input. Unfortuantely my idea is so lame, so awful, so blatantly flamebait that absolutely nothing useful will come from this thread. Also, despite asking for your opinions, once I see that no one likes my idea - I will scream bloody murder and point out that you are all horrible fanboys.

- This idea contributes nothing useful. In fact, I wrote it while browsing porn/sports scores/stock reports/the news/watching TV/failing a respec TF etc; and so precisely what I want done is impossible to decipher. Rest assured - I have a suggestion - unfortunately no one can figure out what it was.

- There is actually no suggestion here. I realized my mistake and am embarassed about it - however, despite the OBVIOUS red glow on my cheeks; I refuse to admit I lacked an idea when I made the post and so unfortunately you now must suffer my tireless defense of a non-idea.

- CoH is DOOMED. You hear me? DOOMED. And I'm laughing. I'm happy its doomed. The game will die - yet despite how awful it apparently is (can't you see it yourself?!) - I will continue to play. I just can't wait for the day the servers come down because CoH is DOOMED.

- My idea, while made with the best of intentions; would inadvertently destroy CoX. In fact, it might even cause the destruction of our entire solarsystem. But damn it would be cool wouldn't it?

The Book Icon - This idea is entirely rational; completely logical, would require a minimal amount of developer time, and maintain game balance all at once. This suggestion is thus doomed to fall to the 666th layer of the suggestion forums - we don't need no stinking logic here!

There you have it! The complete guide to Post Icons in the Suggestion Forum!

I hope I didn't offend anyone >.> Again, this was meant for humor only!

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The Strike Force at least sounds more interesting then fighting Hammi at least. The should have a hero TF similiar like this, with the same awards....I rather not do the laggy kill Hami thing for the reward.

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Agreed 100% >.> Hammi was 'interesting' the one time I've gone to see him... but he's not been something I'm certain I want to do constantly.

Alrighty! >< It's been *far* too long a wait <;.;> I appologize to everyone it's taking so long; the first work should be done tonight! >< I've had some RL trouble lately and so I've spent most of my time just putzing the boards instead of working like I should.

Anyways; you shall start to see results soon! >< My appologies again for taking so long <;.;>m

While I admit the mastermind attacks aren't *great*; and you don't need them - - it should be pointed out that one can have and use them practically; and for me at least its more fun that way. Like I said; it's not *necessary*; but they can be worth having, if only for the fun factor.

There is also, one particularly practical use for them (thanks to bodyguard). If you happen to be a lazymind; leaving your pets on Defensive/Follow (Ie: Bodyguard) you can shoot the next spawn; and it'll attack you (ticking of your pets); meanwhile, you take very little damage from the incomming fire as your pets soak it up (and disperse it).

Just don't do that against AoE heavy bosses - otherwise, it works quite well and its fun to finish enemies yourself.

Anyways; just thought I'd put in a plug as to why you might want to take those powers; even if they aren't great; they're fun, have a couple niche uses ^^m worth taking if you like that style; but as you say, skippable.

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You could listen to the Wasabi Awards on SI Radio - I have a sneaking suspicion that we won something!

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Wheeee! We won Best Community! Way to go guys!

"City of" also won Best Storyline and Best Newb Experience (so far...)

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Knew we would - CoH/V is awesome, community-wise. No death threats to the devs like WoW.

I must admit though, the storyline award sort of shocked me, despite m liking of the story. Though hopefully with the zone updates, there will be a more complete and expanding storyline.

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Yeah, you're so not kidding about the WoW thing >.< I couldn't count how many times people were told they should 'commit suicide because you're useless' for not picking specific builds...

I mean... the worst the CoH community will do is write an angry (but *usually* legible) post about it... >.>;

/groan at WoW

/Cheer at CoH! <^,^>

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But ultimately, stealthing through a glowie-only mission should be considered an alternative, but still valid, method to complete some missions. Why do heroes and villains have to fight their way through everything? Answer: they don't -- and shouldn't. If anything, CoH/V could stand to have more missions that require more creative problem-solving, besides simply "defeat all". But that's a topic for a different thread.

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Quite correct. Some heroes are made to go in a bash baddies (Tankers & Scrappers), Some Control them to get what they need. Why is Stealthing not a respected alternative. Batman didn't always fight the bad guys. Sometimes he just broke in and got what he needed and left and saved bashing them for a more opportune time...after all we don't all come with fabulous defenses. Of course this could take me off on a rant about the AT system and why it prevents you from imitating certian types of comic book icons...but we won't go there.

Carbide Titan (tanker)

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But as said above: Regardless of the validity of stealthing glowies: It has nothing to do with this topic. This topic is about if you do or do not maintain 2.5% defense after attacking. Topic over... _Castle_ has confirmed you do.

This other topic has its own threads.

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Since your stuck with Doodle at lvl one only 3 slot this.

Pick up Drawing ASAP you can get it at lvl 4, 6 slot it.

Since Drawing is end heavy you will need to put at least 2-3 EndRdx; and I recommend 3 ToHit debufs. You will get a lot of agro, but it is well worth it. You will need this when combined with 3D art at lvl 20. 6 slot Photoshop too.

3 slot Talent, nothing you can do since they nerfed it in ED. Oh the days when you could of 6 slot this for damage...

Fitness pool is optional, but I still recommend it.

DO not take Super Speed and HASTEN, you can not rush it. Hard work is what will get you there unless you want to rest a lot...

Anyone will tell you the payoff is all worth it for Studio at lvl38

Note: You will burn a lot of Inspirations more so then any other build.

++++++++++++++++++++

Thanks to all the Artist on the forum. You have inspired me.

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Lol >< Brilliant!

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and some will never draw(/insert artform here) awesomely no matter how hard they practise.


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Totally disagree. This kind of thinking is what cripples a lot of my 3d students. I'm not sure where in society it comes from, but I'd like to start a one-man mission to stamp it out!

You can do ANYTHING you want. All you have to do is practice and be willing to learn.

EVERYONE CAN LEARN TO DRAW!!

I honestly seriously believe that. And I've taught people how to draw before (and model in 3d and paint textures and animate) so I have a real reason to believe it.

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My teacher at Disney Animation told me something I always rememberd and passed along to my students:

"Everyone has 1000 bad drawings in them they have to get out, before they can get that first good drawing."

Practice practice practice. Draw anything and everything. quick sketch people walking by. No need to complete it. draw doorknobs, plants, crumpled trash rolling by. full up a sketch book with anything of any quality, then start a new one...

Draw draw draw. Anyone can do anything. You may not be able to draw like me, but I may never be able to draw like you as well! You can only draw like the better you eventually.

Plug away people!

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OMG! <O.O>;

You know what's shocking about that statement? It applies to writing too.

I'm a writer and an artist (and not very good at either! <,< though I try!) But as I practice my writing; a phrase I've hit upon time and again is "500,000 bad words" <,< I guess its true then hehe <^_^> just gotta keep at it!

Now, back to drawing >_< <hunkers down>

May take me some time <^_^> but I'll try to get to you all in order! One person PMed me immediately after I started the thread <@_@>; so they'll be first; and then I'll just run down the line <^_^>m my *goal* is to have 1 pic a day >.< knowing my drawing speed? Prolly a pic every other day; but I'll do my best to keep it up. Tonight however! I've just been informed <o.o> is gaming night! Tomorrow; hopefully by this time <^_^> I shall have the first pic ready! <^,^>m (wish me luck >< I don't wanna maul any of you guys; you all look so nice!)

Wow <^_^> lotsa good costumes to play with <^,^> this should be fun hehe >< I shall do my best for everyone <^,^> hopefully I won't be too slow >.< (I don't draw as fast or as well as alot of people here; but rest assured, I'll give it everything I got <^_^>m)

Ooo... that's gonna be interesting! <^,^>m thankies! This helps a bunch >_<b

Would anyone be interested in letting me have a crack at drawing their char? >.>;; /emberassed

I'm really not so great; but I'd like to give it a shot >< I can't promise I'll be fast; but I'll do my best!

If interested; just lemee know <^.^>m <-- needs practice!

(For the record <,< - - will need a screenshot; and a few descriptive words about your character; otherwise my posing will likely suck <;.;>b)

Anyways; thanks in advance if anyone is feeling brave enough <'x'>m

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Your pic's done, TA:

Thor's Assassin - "I, for one, welcome our new art overlord!"

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... That's *priceless* >.<;

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Wait, so Statesman has the essence of a god, Recluse of a titan...and yet Recluse doesn't pwn the stew out of states??

I thought the titans were more powerful than the gods.

(unless you happen to have a gorgon head in your pocket, I guess.)

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Totally random but... in the first novel; states *did* get "pwned" by Recluse <o.o> the times they fought States didn't win; he came 'sorta' close... but not really; it was the Phalanx that saved his tail <@.@>

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Nice post. If I were to distill that into a nugget of wisdom to put in a "How do you know you're in a GOOD PUG?" the lesson would be:

Good PUGS practice good communication

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Truer words >.<;

Random things that may have been mentioned (but I don't have time to scan the whole thread! <;.;&gt

- All names have a reasonably logical number of capitals and lower case letters. Ie: names don't conistist of 'darkfiredarkman' 'OMGIPWNU" and "hIgUYz"; but rather "Searing Bolt" "Kokiru" and "Mk12 HunterDrone"

- The invite involved a degree of commincation; ie: it wasn't blind, and it wasn't 'perez' or 'hollows' <x.x> rather it was "Feel like joining a team in Perez?" etc...

- The jerk complaining about everyone's build (despite the overall smoothness of the team's operation no less); is actually kicked off the team and replaced; instead of the leader kicking the player with an unusual build; Team continues smoothly.

- Fun is had by all. = Can't emphasize it enough >.< There's a fine line between an "effective' PUG and a "good" PUG in my experience... effective gets you a boatload of xp... but generally bores you outta your skull; people only talk for organizational purposes, and in the smallest number of words possible. A *good* PUG has a degree of entertainment to it; players feel free to make jokes; talk about character history, maybe RP a lil (depends on server and who's in the group); etc...

That's my list!

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That was pretty much my reaction, too.

All the physics are client side only, and no information about them is passed from client to server -- so, it's strictly a visual on your machine. That means, there is no way for people to play volleyball, or kickball. We could put one in that only you, the player, would see, but I imagine that isn't what everyone would like.

Sorry, folks.

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*eyes well up* <;.;> *wahahaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaa*

Thanks for the info though; RIP BRB <;.;>

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In the making... so while DJ has his awesome Poser explanation... I thought I'd just post one of my commission pieces through its paces.

Hemily's piece is only into the rough pencils but here's the first two bits... final pencils to follow shortly

Hemily Ruff
Hemily Ruff Pencils

Also, unrelated, here's a lil image for Rowr. Usually when I start commissions, I spend some time trying to figure out the character... I have a sketch page of Hemily sketches, I'll try and find it to upload it :3

Rowr

The problem with Rowr and Hemily together as a commission is finding each distinct personality and making sure they were true to themselves. Stiiiill working on Rowr. Fallen Skye and TA are next in the list...

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/em Jawdrop <o-o> I <3 those! <@_@> kitties ftw!

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Eventhough I got PWNED a lot with my Dom, I am having a blast.

One suggestion ...

DO THIS ONE WEEKEND EVERY OTHER MONTH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Here's a better suggestion for you.... play it live on your own server.
Here's another one....ask the devs to set up a PvP only server that you can copy characters to.

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I do PvP on my own server, but I doubt any server puts up the numbers that this event does.

As for a PvP server, the limited time makes this so much more special. Everyone wants to jump in the action. A dedicated PvP server would dwindle down to just the "Hardcore PvP'ers" eventually. This server wipe and limited time allows everyone to have an equal footing.

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If all you want is some lame special event where everyone has "equal footing" then the develpers could easily set up a pvp only server that anyone can copy to and be insta leveled to whatever level x zone is. Unlimited free respecs basically. If it ends up being only hardcore pvp'ers then they have proven the point that it doesn't excite most of the PvE population. They could even wipe that server every other week, not that it would be needed.

There is nothing special about this event. Log in, build crappy/great character get owned/own people, get mapserverd or lagged out due to all the graphics and way too many people on a server not optimized for it. what fun!

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You're obviously not having fun with this... uhm... sorry?

Some of us are having a blast. I sure as heck am. No need to be a jerk about it.

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... you know, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for clarification of what to do if you're running at a larger size or you have to gamma correct in-game.

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No, you're missing my point (or perhaps you never saw the threads for these types of contests before).

*I* totally agree with you. And yes, if I'd thought of it in advance, I probably would have mentioned it.

But if I "change" the rules now, inevitably some of the 50 or so people who have already submitted will go "AHHH! You've changed the rules! My entry sucks! Can I reenter?" which isn't a huge deal, but does mean a lot of unecessary work for me.

It's not that I mind the questions (hey, I like to think I do my best to answer/clear up as much as I can - y'know, like at 11:30 on a Tuesday night) - it's that I both want the best entries AND to make it as fair to people as I can.

And the "not a big prize" option unfortunately doesn't mean anything, because someone always hates me/the contest/the rules/the prize, no matter what I do.

And because of that, I'm allowed to take the very, very occasional cheap shot.

(BTW, this isn't a "woe is me post." I do these because I like to. And I do try to refine them every time. I'm not going to make a decision right now until the morning, and see what other replies people have made to the suggestion.

AND if I "change" the rule to allow gamma, then yes you can resubmit if your picture is 'teh suck.' But don't abuse that, or me. Please.

Fair?

cheers,
Arctic Sun

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<. .> Go to sleep!

(err, what I meant to say is)

<o_O> Honestly, that's more than fair! I really hope I can get some good shots so I can pick one to submit soon >< I'm having bad luck atm <-.->;

Hrmm.. >< darnit; I don't have any people in the right range to bash Tsoo <>.<> gonna have to get cracking I guess <pops knuckles>

Heeeeere little ninjas! Come out and plaaaaaaay <^_^>/)

<jaw drops>

<looks at own powers>

...

Any chance I can be a cop? <@_@>; I promise I won't break the toys-errr....

I mean equipment! <^________^>

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This is so unfair that this mob does what it does. I dread Arachnos mission even more now, its not fair that she can single handedly cripple, and slaughter a whole team and not be an AV? I guess this is what would happen if they gave stalkers smoke grenade. I also believe the tohit debuff is too extreme most likely she is using that original smoke grenade that was pre-nerfed. If she gets Assasin's Strike I will quit the game.

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I'm going to pull an about-face on my usual post style here.

Night Widows are cool. Leave them alone.

What was that? People falling out of their chairs? Did UberGuy just defend a hard boss that gets teams killed?

I did.

Why? Because Nightwidows are one of the very, very few foes in CoH/V that do not turn the tide through massive damage, stupidly high defenses (though, actually, those are kinda stupidly high), or mass/chain mezzing.

They just debuff you in a really effective way. They make you blind (and also reduce your toHit). They are one of the few examples we have of a Defender-style boss/LT that's actually scary.

Solo, they are no problem for me. On teams where anyone has tactics, they are no problem. In fact I've been on teams where we faced as many as six LT versions per spawn (Arbiter Leery's "Tears of the Spirit" Arc). We did fine.

They have a gimmik. It's easy to find the counter to the gimmik, either as a teammate with Tactics or a yellow inspiration.

I would like them left alone and other more "smash you now!" and "mez you now!" bosses made more like them.

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Q-F-T! >_<

Yeah that cover is uhm... ew... But I think I see where they were trying to go with it ><; Not that I think that was a good place to go <,<

But it does have that kind of "really old" (Silver/Golden age) comic book art look... sorta... but yah <x.x> bleh...

I could draw better (though it'd be black and white <,< so I guess they still beat me cause I can't color my work for jack >&lt

Well.. and it'd be manga <,< But c'mon, we all wanna see a big eyed manticore right? <@_@> (><o o)&gt--> <-- mantikirby >.>

As a scrapper ^^ I'll officially say right here that I love a smart stormy. I just wish I could find more stormies in general >< I dunno; is it my bad luck or are non-Emp defenders a seriously dying breed? <x.x>

First off: You come off as rather insulting. That really has no place in a serious debate; nor does your simple dismissing of my arguement with "I'm sorry I made you think about it."

That instantly assumes I *haven't* thought about it. I've played the game for a long time; yes, I have LONG thought of these various issues; the largest of which being for example: A group of Hellions just standing around. I leap over a fence and pummel them.

In reality; that's wrong. I think that's fairly easy to see as well.

However: While more modern comics may have shaken it (I don't know; I don't read western comics; I read manga); Older comic books very much were WISH FULFILMENT.

Look at old Superman, Captain America and the like. Tell me they were anything different than we are?

Also remember, at the very least we know our lead dev Statesman, was a huge fan of these *AND* a huge fan of Pulp (he's said as much).

Knowing these things; do you not think it's possible that CoH was never designed to be a serious literary endevour in the FIRST place?

That's what I'm trying to explain; and I appologize that I'm having trouble saying what I need to say.

CoH was not, nor will it ever, be designed to take the 'grimy' elements of RL into play. Why? First it's hard to program. And again; the devs, States in particular, have repeatedly mentioned they built the game to be about COMBAT. You just don't get nearly as much of that if you have to go get warrants, run investigations, etc... it just does not happen.

That is what I am trying to tell you. You're looking at it through the wrong lens; you're looking at it like a political scientist/novel critic (not a bad perspective for reality mind you), when CoH is frankly much more shallow than that.

You're trying to look through the bottom of the pool here; the game IS simplistic. (When was the last time you were able to hold a conversation with an NPC at all?)

The player cannot be held at all responsible for what is not programmed into the game. You have to take that into account when trying to figure out what COH is; it's a simple game, and thus does not deserve such intense scrutiny. While putting forth the time to think critically on something (I do truely applaud you for that; most people do not bother to use critical thinking skills in this modern world; many are what we can call 'sheeple' if you will); It just simple doesn't apply to CoH.

It's just too simply designed a game.

Also; again, I would enjoy the game even more if I had the options to handle all of those more in depth things real people would need to deal with. However; the tools are not at my disposal, and because of that, I will look at CoH for what it IS not what I want to see in it.

Basically you've attempted New Criticism on CoH now that I think of it. Ew... >.> Don't do that; reading what you want into something is a bad habit. You must look for an author's intent, or you won't be able to see the truth of the item in question; instead all you'll see is your own opinions, but assume them to be fact because there they are, laid out before you.

That's why in the case of serious literature, you do research. (In most cases, you spend alot of time with the Oxford English Dictionary, and looking at other works of the same authorship.

In the case of CoH, you could look up dev posts and see "What do these people intend this game to be."

Anyway, for now I'll leave it at that. Please try to be less insulting however; as other people on these forums are every bit as intelligent as you believe yourself to be.