SteelRat

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To your first point, sorry I shouldn't have said "you", perhaps I should have said "one". I realise you've just come back, and I didn't mean you specifically.

Your example of the Nemesis staff is really case in point. It's a veteran reward. You have to have 33 months of consecutive account time before you are entitled to it. I have a couple of characters, and one in particular who's concept would be grately enhanced and "completed" once I have that reward (which is immininent in the next week or two ). To use your logic, I should have had that from day 1.

My argument is, I'll appreciate it a whole lot more having to wait for it and having to earn it.

One other point about it "stifling creativity", is if anything it promotes a different kind of creativity in thinking of a reason why your character has to wait 'til 20 and 30 for capes and auras.

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You see having the cape limit is already directly affecting the game diversely because it is stifling creativity. It's the people who have been through this game many times, who want to enjoy there trips to 50 instead of rushing through them and who play the game to create there concept of character who are being directly affected by it. Having capes a level 1 would make there lives better. Where is the detriment in that when considered against the current system?

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I'm sorry, but if you not being able to have your cape at level 1 is stifling your enjoyment of the game that much, then maybe it's time for a break. Yes a characters look is important. Hell, given that I've usually burned away all my vet reward tailor tokens before I even get to level 20, I know I'm as aware of this as anyone, but we all know that "limitation" (quotes, because I don't think it is one in the strictest sense) already exists, it doesn't take a big leap in imagination to get around it, especialy if the cape is that important or central to the characters concept.

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I would be interested to know (as an aside form this topic of course) why you think that is a bad thing. Why you consider it dumbing down.

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I believe I explained that in the latter half of that sentance; "something else that players no longer have to work towards but are given on a plate". If you cheapen something that previously had to be earned, it's no longer a reward, there's no longer a sense of achievment when you are given it, and ultimately there becomes nothing else that makes you go "YEEESSS" when you get it. THAT is something that is detremental to the game more than anything.

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Personally, I feel that there are too many goals to reach in order to have the character that you want (in terms of look) and that can cause, and has caused, some to rush through the levels much faster than they possibly would have. I can't see that as being a good thing

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See above. You can never have too many goals. The more goals there are, so long as they are reasonably achievable, the more likely people are to come back to that character to achieve them. Badge hunting is a classic example of this.

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See, this is why conceptual arguments never work because, conceptually, there are always counter arguments. And if you counter that argument then you are just proving my point

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Fair point. Conceptual diversity can be explained which ever side of the argument you put yourself, in precisely the same way that you can provide a set of statistics to prove a point you want. In some ways that is part of my point. There's equally no reason why a persons character concept can't be moulded to fit in with the game mechanics either. Far easier to make Mohammed come to the mountain as it were.

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I have still yet to see a proper argument for not doing this. One which would actually effect the game diversely.

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Leaving it as it is won't affect the game diversely either, so not relevant imo.

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Frankly I think we should fit our characters to the game, not the game be changed to fit our characters.

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To counter that; The game needs to constantly evolve in order to stay fresh. This is a simple way that the game can evolve which will benefit every player and harm none.

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Well I suppose that's different horses for different courses. Personally, I don't see this as an evolution, just another dumbing down that this game seems to have applied to it on a regular basis just recently; something else that players no longer have to work towards but are given on a plate.

Personally I think introducing Valkyrie and shoulder capes from level 1 wasn't a terribly good idea; either you have a reason for not introducing them from the outset, or you don't - which ever it is, stick to it. Wings I can understand - you either have them or you don't, although I suppose there is an argument that goes along the lines of you "growing" them later or similar - particularly if you're tech origin.

My point is not really one about lore though, and more about character concept. I think we think of all the popular heroes that we know with capes, Superman, Batman, et al and as far as we're concerned, they've always had them from day one haven't they? The fact is, those heroes didn't start off at level 1 as it were. We see them fighting in comics now at level 50.

Think of Smallville - there Superman is still lvl 10ish. He has some of his powers, is yet to discover others, and doesn't have his super suit or cape yet.

Think of what level 1 actually is, and you'll see where I'm coming from.

As for Space Roaming Sun Beasts who cant have fiery eyes from level 1, surely it shouldn't take too large a leap in imagination to explain why said character doesn't have their full abilities? Maybe cloud cover weakens them, maybe the powers are restricted by planetary atmosphere. Frankly I think we should fit our characters to the game, not the game be changed to fit our characters.

QR

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But what if I am not part of the coh universe? Though luck there. This is a game/environment set in the coh universe, in that case you will have to make up your own reasoning why your character has no cape yet. But the world will not change because you chose not to be a part of it. Sorry if i sound harsh here but this is how i feel about this.

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^^ This.

Capes at level 1? No.

The way I see it is that you're not strong enough to earn the priveledge of wearing a cape 'till level 20, and if you're a villain, you're not strong enough to nick it of a hero of that level either.

I tend to make my characters with fairly rough shod "home made" costumes at level 1. They're new, the experiment has just finished, the training has just completed, they're only starting to discover their mutation, or their gadgets work, but not terribly well yet. It's only at level 20 do I give them a "proper" costume, and therefore a cape if their character requires one, because it's only then do I deem them a "proper" hero.

That aside, I think the game needs milestones for people to aim for to keep them interested. Travel powers at 14. Capes at 20, SOs at 22, auras at 30, big power at 32 etc etc. If you take those away, it tends to make things feel all the more grindy.

Given too that lvl 20 these days can be reached in just a few hours of committed team play, I don't really see it as a big necessity.

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miss the general feeling of camaraderie in-game, and on the forums. I miss watching an idiot make a post (no, not who you think), pointing something out that makes his whole story moot and worthless and getting a forum PM from someone who doesn't even like me, patting me on the back for taking the sucker down a peg or two

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Irony. Gotta love it.



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@SteelRat, please could you use the quote system properly? You make it look like *I* said that paragraph above, and I didn't.

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Point noted. Although if anyone actually *read* the quote rather than the name on the post it refers to, it'd be quite clear you hadn't.

I realise this rarely happens, so I'll take more care in future

It's definitely drivers Nec, like I said CoH will run fine* with Win7s own x1950 driver, just not with the Vista ones. Given also that ATi have issued a version of the Catalyst 8.12 for the 2, 3, and 4000 series of cards, suggests that Win7 and Vista are different enough to warrant it (not like in the old days where if you didn't have a Win XP driver, 9 times out of 10 a Win 2000 one would work)

(*I say fine. The contrast is all out of whack, and none of the advanced video features are available. With the Vista x1950 drivers, it seems to be OK in windowed mode, but running full screen almost looks like it's trying to run in a resolution that the monitor can't support. If it were permissions based I'd have expected the same result irrespective of driver used.)

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miss the general feeling of camaraderie in-game, and on the forums. I miss watching an idiot make a post (no, not who you think), pointing something out that makes his whole story moot and worthless and getting a forum PM from someone who doesn't even like me, patting me on the back for taking the sucker down a peg or two

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Irony. Gotta love it.

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I miss the game that made me want to write again, and sing again.

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You could always try writing and singing The Blues?

For goodness sake people, cheer the hell up will ya? It's a bladdy computer game.

Old MoG = power that shuts off your entire secondary set.

Why would ANYONE want to do that?

Soon!™

Heh.. seriously, the beta runs out on 1st August 2009, and Microsoft are offering free upgrades to Win 7 for anyone that buys a PC with Vista on it after July. From that I reckon we can expect it Sept / Oct time.

And the Dominator version of energy blast is red too (or at least it was the last time I played one)

Tried it on my home machine last night and unfortunately, as I have an ATi X1950 Pro, things didn't go terribly well. ATi have Win 7 drivers for the 2, 3 and 4000 cards, but not for my x1950

The Vista drivers worked.. in a fashion, but CoH was all over the place and the drivers did not want to uninstall cleanly. Oddly the only way I could get CoH to work at all was using Win7's own x1950 driver downloaded from Windows Update; albeit with some really funky contrast settings and no way of enabling any of the Advanced features.

What I saw of Windows 7 I absolutely love. Sure, it's got Vistas gloss, but it's all been tidied up, and all the annoying rubbish has been turned off. Just have a look at the list of services and how many of them are set to "Manual" for a kick off!

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(QR)

Firstly: whilst posting in the forums notifies myself (and therefore the team here) that there is a possible issue, threads in the forums are pretty much useless when it comes to actually tracing the issue, verifying the cause, and then finding a resolution. If you have not yet sent a petition, please do so. Before doing so, you may wish to work through a series of troubleshooting steps available in our Knowledge Base, starting with this article and working through the linked steps. If you are asked to run the Network Information Tool, please do so when you are experiencing the lag to give us the best results.

Secondly, and in direct response to the "they just say it's a problem at our end" allegation: The last time I saw this claimed I reviewed the response that is normally sent back when we are able to verify that the lag is not within our network. The belief that we were blaming a customer's PC or direct internet connection was caused by a poorly structured and long sentence that was only being half read or incorrectly interpreted. The response, when read in full and correct context, stated that the root cause of the problem was outside of our network and therefore outside of our direct control to remedy. In these cases we advise the customer to also contact their ISP (this is where much of the misunderstanding arises), as in some cases this can increase the chances of the issue being resolved. It is worth noting that if an issue resides with an intermediary ISP between our servers and your ISP, that your ISP is in some cases more likely than we are to be able to put pressure to bear for a resolution.

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Couple of points GR..

The KB article that you link to includes this:

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While many people use a home router with their Internet connection, they can occasionally cause problems. As a temporary troubleshooting step, try removing your router and connecting directly to your modem with an Ethernet cable. Verify that you are able to browse to a website and then attempt to play the game. If you cannot browse to a website, please reboot your modem by unplugging the power cable. After that is done, reboot your computer, then try again.

I still have lag when I remove the router.
I do not have lag if I remove the router.

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Many people, myself included do not have a modem that links through a router, but the connection goes straight through the router. The trouble shooting steps might be more helpful if this consideration were included.

Secondly, is it possible to provide a link to a tool that will allow us to test the connection and identify where the possible problem might be when it happens rather than petitioning NC, getting a reply 24 hours after the event and finding all is fine and dandy? Perhaps even an IP address we can point tracert at?

Thirdly, if we report the problem to the ISP I would imagine my experience will be similar to that of most peoples and will go thusly:

Me: "I'm experiencing lag on a computer game I play"
ISP: "Do you have problems browsing web pages?"
Me: "No."
ISP: "Do you have problems or lag playing any other games?"
Me: "No"
ISP: "The problem is with the game provider then, speak to them"

And that's where the frustration lies. You're telling us to speak to our ISP, our ISP will tell us to speak to you, meanwhile the problem doesn't get solved. Don't get me wrong, I fully appreciate the number of routers between the average UK home and the servers in Germany means that there is a greater chance of failure, or weak point along all those hops, but these forums help us to find other people experiencing the same issue and whether or not it's something local or more universal.

QR

Re: Cloak and Dagger, keeping the players informed of what's coming, yada yada yada.

My take on it is this: What's in development and what's coming up is more or less irrelevant. The meat and tatties of the game won't change no matter what you bolt on to it, and frankly, if you're bored of that, whatever shinies come out later aren't really going to change your opinion of it in the long term.

I like and enjoy the game as it is now (though I don't deny there are bits of it that royally get on my pecs), regardless of what the devs have in store for us. Anything they add to it later is just icing on an already fruity and sumptuous cake.

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Can we not just say sad to see you guys go and leave it at that just for once?

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If the post was just "We fancy a break, we're off", then I'm sure that's what the replies would have been.

You reap what you sow, frankly.

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I have also found that my mission instances feature a lot of lag. Usually power activation lag, I don't notice a problem otherwise, it's just that one second pause trying to activate powers.

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Yup this precisely. KoB would charge, I'd click it and nothing happens. My character would even cross his arms in that "idle posing in Atlas" stylee waiting for the thing to fire!

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GG plsease stop trolling

scarlet a lot of ppl have left a lot of my globals have gone IT is harder to find a team everyone has experienced this (most of the prob is 8-24 blue side and 1-45 red side)

the game is dying otherwise we wouldnt have the mass influx of vocal were leaving.

however i love this game and at there is none better for me. im not getting involved in any more jousting of words over this as everyne is entitled to there own biased opinions.

im sad to see more and more left, but i understand and empathise with them.

one thing i cant stand is Golden Girl wrecking 90% of the treads in here ... this will prolly get modded but [censored]... shut the god damn hell up you spamming troll. seriously stop spamming ur stupid witless inane 2 worder responses or emote responses. again im gnna notify moderater if i see u do this again. there is a place for trolls and thats under a bridge that is dark and damp and has murky water

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I'm not in a particularly active SG, and have no problems finding teams.

My global list is busy as it's ever been, and generally it's getting bigger, because I'm adding people that I meet in the teams I play in above.

The "New Player" section of these very boards is just as active as they have been, and given that a relatively small number of the games population post on these boards, we can only assume that there is a much larger influx of players than represented there.

The last paragraph is added to my little list of "Ironic Posts: CoX Forum Stylee"

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nope!

if you asked in december, it's on the list and is coming

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*woot*

Without regurgitating the usual "connection between UK and mainland Europe is naff, has to go through lots of routers between here and there, so more possibility for failure" stuff, which whilst perfectly valid doesn't make things any less frustrating, it did seem tonight that instanced missions were where the problems lay.

Solo combat "outside" - no problem. Team combat on an instanced map - lag city.

Even though conceptually I can't stand the thought of dual pistols in a superhero game (I'm Shooter Man I LAUGH at your puny gu.. oh waitaminute... bugger), I actually like the sound of this.

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This isn't because I'm rude or arrogant (or at least I don't think it is, and it's certainly not the impression I want to give) but because I have a pathological hatred of the "nu txt spk tht dsnt thnk vwls r prt f nglsh." I like a fun, chatty team where I can have a laugh and a joke, chat with people and if we beat up a few bad guys (or good guys, or other bad guys) then so much the better.

For me teaming is a social thing. Sometimes I just want to beat the bejeesus out of something and then I usually solo. If I'm looking for a team then I'm looking for a particular type. Unfortunately CoX doesn't have a setting for "Looking for socially adept, linguistically capable team with a sense of humour" tag.

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^^ All of this. Times 2. Bolded, highlighted, underlined and in case you missed it. This. Prefixed by "Oh so very".

Encouraged by Win7 myself actually. Ran it today at work on a quad core 2GB RAM Vista box running Virtual PC 2007. Set aside 1GB for Win7 and whilst not ideal, it did actually run quite well (especially when you consider that VPC gives you just an 8MB S3 Trio 64 as the virtual graphics card).

Will probably wait for the full version before I run it at home though.

Love the irony of this post. People using the team message to inform potential teams of what they're looking for is considered rude, whereas blindly sending an invite isn't?