Stealth_Bomber

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This thread gives me baby fever...




... please don't tell my fiancé.

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Man, me too.

Maybe I'll just borrow my 9-year-old brother for a few weeks this summer

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There is no birth control more effective than an afternoon with a grumpy 2-year-old.

This is great. There should be a "Clickey Clacks" Badge!


(My 8-year old plays as well. His MM hit 20 yesterday and he got a cape. He was very excited.)

Here's a very simple bind I use to get around:

Bind g "++autorun$$ powexec_name Energy Flight"

Press g and you will start flying and moving forward, just as if you activated Energy Flight and pressed r. Use the spacebar to go up to your desired height and x to move down. Steer as normal. Press g again when you get to your destination and you will stop moving forward and turn off EF.

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Speaking of Flight and other travel powers, how many other of the older single-planet-based games allow 100% access to all areas of the board? One thing that annoyed me about Guild Wars and some other MMOs is that you have to stay on invisible paths even though you can see scenery in the distance and no obvious barrier to block your path! Heck, being able to jump an obstacle and keep moving is pretty awesome

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Good point, I never really thought of it like that before.

I guess that's why the single player games I really enjoyed before discovering CoX were the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series. They don't limit you to certain areas, if you can see it you can eventually reach it.

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This is a BIG limitation in Tabula Rasa too. You are only able to walk on certain paths, and they don't show up well or at all on your map. There are a LOT of blind pathways in the mountains, and it is really frustrating to need to be about 10 feet from where you are and not be able to jump over a small rock and get there.

Once you have flown in CoH, it's almost impossible to tolerate the invisible wall limitation of other MMOs.

I would like to add my thanks as well. One aspect you left out, though, is the continuing release of "Issues", all of which are free, since the start of CoH. All of these Issues have advanced the story line of Paragon City for all of us, as well as giving new content. In WoW, for instance, the upgrades they release cost to play.

Another benefit of CoH/CoV is the minimal "Raiding". Yes, there has always been Hamidon, but there has never been a requirement to do it, and those that don't aren't gimped for lack of equipment.

Finally, I'd point out how simple it is to get a group together in CoH. Almost any time of day, at almost any level, you can get some Heroes together and do some radio missions. Yes, we all have PUG horror stories, but those aren't the norm, that's why we tell them. I've played Tabula Rasa. While they have some good tech (like being able to move while shooting), their group-seeking leaves a lot to be desired. In fact, in TR, grouping only really helps you when you are doing an instance that's above your level (and there are only about 3 Instances per level), or if something is in short supply: "Kill a certain Boss that only spawns once every 30 minutes. Oh yeah, everyone else will be trying to kill him too, and you only get credit if you fire the killing blow, unless you are on a team. Good luck, soldier." In CoH, XP seems to just roll in on even half-decent teams, and finding teams is a breeze.

Are there things I'd change? Sure! I think a bunch of Heroes standing around in an Auction House is just dumb; we should be able to access WWs by laptop, just like you do eBay now. They should make a simple way to transfer Influence between characters on the same account. And don't get me started about the lack of jetpacks as a costume option!

But the evolution of CoH really is amazing. You can change servers. You can rename your character. It doesn't take an act of Congress to Respec your powers. Game changes and the reasons for them are explained and usually put on Test for player feedback before they hit the Live servers. There are a bazillion costume choices, so running across someone that looks like you is almost impossible. CoH/CoV is the best MMO out there, period.

* Supergroup Name: Blast Radius

* Recruiting Officer: Space Spectre on Freedom

* Preferred Method of contact: Send me a PM here, an in-game email to Space Spectre on Freedom, or a global tell to @Stealth Bomber

* Guild Description: Based on a thread in the Blaster forum, Blast Radius has been formed as a Blaster-only SG on Freedom.

We are now recruiting. No major requirements, but there are rewards available for taking Medicine, Leadership or Grant Invisibility powers as you level up.

Whether you are an experienced Blaster or a noob, we welcome you. We will team regularly and help you any way we can. Believe it or not, so many Blasters joined in one night night we already have a base started.

The Lichen should be removed from the Eden trial if they are not going to give any XP. I've only done the trial a few times, but it doesn't seem right that something that can kill you, and that you can't avoid, gives no XP.

I understand that there was some farming going on, and if this is how it needs to be fixed to prevent that, so be it. But it penalizes those of us who do the trial "the right way".

I know that the CoT portal spawns in door missions don't give any XP, but in the vast majority of cases you can complete those missions without defeating the portals. You basically can't do the Eden trial without taking out the Lichen before approaching the second Wall.

I have no artistic talent; I do well to draw stick figures. But I thought folks with more artistic abilities would be interested in this.

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Cryptic Studios, Inc., an independent developer of massively multiplayer online games, announced today its proprietary Cryptic Animation Rig (Cryptic AR) is now available free for download under the GNU General Public License.
"Our goal is to foster a community of animators by providing them the power to generate animations without having to worry about supporting a toolset. Since we were already developing the rig for our core technology team, we decided to release it to the public under the GNU GPL," said Shayne Herrera, Art Development Director for Cryptic Studios. "We feel that the development and gaming communities will benefit greatly from a professional tool like the Cryptic AR."
Cryptic AR allows animators of all experience levels to familiarize themselves with the same tools used in a professional development environment. Unlike other free animation rigs, Cryptic AR is not an approximation of production tools, but the very tools currently being used to produce next-gen game visuals at Cryptic Studios.
"We decided to add the ability to switch and create character skins called 'IDs,' or 'identities,'" said Sean Burgoon, animator and creator of the Cryptic AR. "Cryptic AR version 1.0 ships with three IDs and we plan to release more on a regular basis. We are encouraging user-submitted IDs through the animation community we are creating on our web site."
The Cryptic AR web site will also have forums to serve as the community home for aspiring AR animators. The forums will act as a place to inspire continued creativity in users and support animation needs.

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Download here

What a fantastic post. We will all have to remember to break the "3-slots max" habit for powers like Health and Stamina.

Just a minor update: _Castle_ has changed Smoke Grenade to make it autohit in PvE. Also, there are reports that Cloaking Device stealth either does not suppress or suppresses a very short time when you activate SG, making the combination of the two more effective.

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Apparently, I forgot to write up a patch note on this...mea culpa.

The -Perception portion of Smoke Grenade for Devices is now auto-hit in PVE. The To Hit Debuff and PvP segments of the power still require a 'To Hit' check.

EDIT: There was also a slight change to Cloaking Device which should help with the SG breaking Stealth a bit. Experiment with it some and let me know what you think.

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Smoke Grenade thrusts a hand up out of the Terrible Powers graveyard dirt...slowly, ever so slowly it pulls itself out. A shadow of its former self, SG brushes off the nerf dirt looks around for its longtime friend, Cloaking Device. Bidding a farewell to its friends Team Teleport and Group Fly, SG soon discovers that CD has not fared well since they last saw each other. He finds CD in the Home for Barely Usable Powers. Together they look at pictures of when they actually helped Heroes in Paragon.

SG: "CD! I hardly recognize you. How've you been?"
CD: "SG? Is that you? They told me you were dead."
SG: "Pretty near. I'm still not up to Smoke, my twin sister. And my DeBuff doesn't rise above statistical noise. I don't take Range enhancements either. But I got an infusion of PvE perception auto-hit, and I thought I'd look you up."
CD: "You still look like crap."
SG: "So do you. Still hanging out with Super Speed I see. How's that working out in the 40+ game?"
CD: "About as well as you might expect. Bite me."
SG: "Well, want to see how we do against some Green-cons?"
CD: "Sure, why not?"

The two old comrades venture into Paragon again. The testing begins.....

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Numbers for Archery/Dev, 3 slotted targetting drone:
0 Accuracy:
+0 1.118
+1 1.002
+2 0.898
+3 0.806
+4 0.702

1 Accuracy:
+0 1.490
+1 1.336
+2 1.198
+3 1.074
+4 0.936

With Tactics (3 slotted):
0 Accuracy
+0 1.245
+1 1.129
+2 1.025
+3 0.933
+4 0.829

1 Accuracy
+0 1.659
+1 1.505
+2 1.367
+3 1.244
+4 1.105

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Maybe I'm misunderstanding this, but doesn't it makes Tactics look BETTER than TD? Is that correct? I always thought Tactics was less powerful.

Well, if you have SS and are a badge hunter, the Jump Jet is just what you need to get those that only the Fly-boys could get previously.

My TA/Archer just hit level 30 tonight. I frequently duo with a AR/Dev blaster, so that can skew my impressions.

Flash Arrow is useful for the Stealth component only. I can't tell that the ToHit debuff has any measureable effect. This power needs a buff to be closer to Radiation Infection (not the same, since RI costs End to keep running, but closer.) More so since ToHit Debuff enhancements are Schedule B.

PGA - Pretty good. Do the critters that were outside the AoE that then wander into it after it's fired get debuffed too? They certainly don't get Slept.

Acid Arrow - Fine as is. Could benefit from adding a -regen power for AV fights.

Glue Arrow - Good power but causes excessive video lag for players with less than perfect video cards. Actual graphical display of the power needs a fix.

Disruption Arrow - Fine as is.

Ice Arrow - a victim of the Defender Hold nerf of a previous issue. Needs a lot of Hold enhancements to make it worthwhile.

Entangle Arrow - Respec'd out of it. Ice Arrow is significantly better even with its short duration Hold.

Oil Slick Arrow - the obvious gem so far. Hope the "won't light reliably" bug gets fixed ASAP.

Don't have EMP arow yet.

Other Defenders are sometimes more effective at helping a team, especially when there is no Tank to control aggro - but that situation could be changed, IMHO, if Flash Arrow had (A) a better ToHit debuff and (B) there was a -regen power somewhere in the set; Acid Arrow would be the "concept" choice for that power. It bugs me that Fearsome Stare and Tar Patch can be more effective than several of my debuff powers put together.

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Anyhow, have fun doing that, but realize that if you're ever on a team with a Blaster, by buffing him with stuff like Speed Boost, siphon power, and debuffing the resistance of the enemies, you're transferring all those buffs you're enjoying solo to him, and that Blaster has a 500% cap.

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Is that before or after he screams "heal me" as he's running for the nearest elevator with 6 +3 mobs in hot pursuit?

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Ahem.

At our last Blaster/Defender Interface subcommittee meeting, we Blasters were informed that screaming "Heal me!" is no longer appropriate. The proper phrase to scream is, of course:

"Buff my HP! Buff my HP!"

You forgot another important suggestion: timing. The best time to do this mission is usually early on a Sunday morning. There is almost never anyone in BB at that time; you can usually do this mission without any interference at all.

I have to agree. _Castle_ did say he's taking the lists we made and looking at them. It would be nice to get some kind of an update.

I sent him a PM.

I seem to remember that Coyote was added to Outbreak as a result of that player's relationship with the game. Forgive my ignorance, but didn't that player pass away?

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Queen to King's level 1...

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Give that man a Tribble!

* Activates Transporter *

Guess we will be in the first graduating Starfleet Academy class for STOnline together, eh?

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--"Queen to Queen's level three" (exceptionally nerdy ST reference).

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was that a Barkley (SP?) refference?

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Oh, man. If you have to ask, you're not nerdy enough.

(You do realize that when the Star Trek Online MMO comes out, there may be a severe rift in the nerd-space continuum?)

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Thanks, folks!

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Pff! I liked some of those 3-D Castle ones. Those were sweet. This makes you look liek a dork.

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I do math for a living. I think I qualify...

And, yeah, I liked 'em to, but this was closest to what was kicking around in the back of my head...and it's 56k modem friendly.

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Funny random story...

I got into a debate with someone in Mercy Island a couple weeks back; not even sure what it was about exactly (it was a point of minutea (sp?)) but... this third person suddenly says.

"shut up i hate nerds"

<,< You can imagine what that did... My response...

"You're playing a computer game about superheroes, and you're complaining about nerds?" >.>;

>.> In other words! Take pride in your dorkiness, your geekdom, your granted powers of nerd! <o.O>m

(Nice choice <,< thats what I meant to say!)

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HA! Have you seen the replays of Triumph The Insult Dog on G4 recently? His Conan O'Brien "interview" with the Star Wars fans is part of it, and when he talks to the guy dressed like Darth Vader, it's priceless:

"M-m-my n-n-name is T-T-Triumph, oh scary nerd!"

Oh, and nice avatar--"Queen to Queen's level three" (exceptionally nerdy ST reference).

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2. You can't add a villain to your Friends list. So, Batman and Catwoman aren't "friends"? Yes, I know you can add them to Global friends, but come on.

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There are a couple of exploits that would be associated with this if we let it happen.

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3. And the worst of all, if you leave Pocket D just to go train or sell enhancements, you get kicked from your team! So make War Witch a trainer, and let the bartenders buy as well as sell. Or let me stay on the team, it's hard enough to put one together!

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We will probably slip in some NPCs who can buyback Enhancements at somepoint, but the trainer issue is a little more difficult from a technical standpoint.

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OK, if you say there are exploits possible, I believe you (even though I can't imagine what they are). I suspect you guys are experts at exploit-detection by now.

But the training and enhancement issue? Look at it as a challenge! Pocket D is a good thing you have going--in fact it may be unique to the popular MMOs. It just needs a little buffing!

So Pocket D is a lot of fun. But there are a few problems in teaming with villains:

1. You can't give a villain an inspiration. Now, I think I've seen Superman give "inspiration" to just about everyone, even Lex Luthor. I don't see why this isn't possible.

2. You can't add a villain to your Friends list. So, Batman and Catwoman aren't "friends"? Yes, I know you can add them to Global friends, but come on.

3. And the worst of all, if you leave Pocket D just to go train or sell enhancements, you get kicked from your team! So make War Witch a trainer, and let the bartenders buy as well as sell. Or let me stay on the team, it's hard enough to put one together!

This needs a new emote to go with it where the character lies on the floor and shakes his/her arms and legs in the air.

/em gator

I too, have been playing since release. And this advice is just plain nuts. Played on team a couple days ago: 5 Blasters, a Kineticist, and a Bubbler. We ripped through missions. ANY team can handle almost any situation, it's the brains behind the keyboard that makes the difference.

And the Hollows? Getting to missions there is a death trap for the inexperienced player (which is a LOT of folks in there). Much faster to street hunt the packs there--boring but fast. Avoid the boss-containing packs if you are solo.

You want to maximize XP/time? Don't stand around waiting, dancing, or otherwise wasting time. A team that's always waiting for an afk member, one that lacks direction, or a team leader insisting on the "perfect" mix, is getting ZERO XP/hour.