Steele_Magnolia

I appreciate the difficulties of a rough launch, but there is one thing that should never have made it live:

You shouldn't be presented with the option to purchase things you already own in the store.

For example, Going Rogue content and costume packs you already bought with real money. This is going to be confusing for many and result in petitions when people click the wrong button and buys the wrong thing.

If this were fixed I'd simply buy up any packs I hadn't (I think two), but since I can't trust the game not to rip me off for things I paid cash for already I won't be buying costume packs.

You can log in.

You can't get past the server select screen.

You cannot select the Exalted server. It's past the bottom on the scroll down bar and any attempt to select it the menu scrolls up and you end up selecting a different server (and being kicked out).

Grrrr. Not being able to get in I understand. The bugged UI that won't allow you to select the new server I do not understand.

Day One of the First Rikti War

Dr. Helen Markov, later to be known as the heroine Steele Magnolia
22 years old
caucasian, auburn hair in a simple ponytail, hazel eyes, glasses
5'8" (however she is wheelchair bound) 130 lbs

Helen was at work with her father, Yevgenij Markov, at the family business Markov Industries (metallurgical applications) in Brickstown. Her mother was PPD Sergeant Debbie Markov in Galaxy City (where the family home is near Gemeni Park).

Her mother was injured during the attack while evacuating civilians to the sewers in Gemini Park. Helen and her father took shelter from the bombardment in the basement of Markov Industries. They were dug out of the partially collapsed building three days later.

The Rikti attack led Helen to focus her metallurgical research from deep sea drilling applications to weaponry that would pierce Rikti armor. Seven years later (with the start of the game) she would don a suit of armor with neurological implants, carry a rifle, and fight the rikti herself as Steele Magnolia.

My list isn't nearly as impressive, but I'm happy with it.

Pinnacle:
Winter Kills 24-25
Suicidal Tendencies 22-25

Liberty:
Dear Ophelia 41-44
This Woman's Work 40-43

Virtue:
Cmdr Prometheus 16-22

Because of the reschedule I was able to get significant playtime for 2xp weekend for the first time in years.

The game is crashing repeatedly on me as soon as I get back in. I'm going to be troubleshooting to find the problem. I'm sorry to let you down.

Oooh this sounds like fun, and I'm glad to hear about the channel too.

I'll try to be there. I've got a noon EST megaraid on LOTRO I've been roped into to help my husband. Hopefully we'll be done by then.

Global Name: Steele Magnolia
Server: Liberty, Virtue, Pinnacle

RP Characters/Liberty-Hero (Main Server):
Sgt Pandora
Cassandra Seer
Simon-Says
Heart of Valor
Cornucopia
American Dreaming
Operation Arc Light
Dear Ophelia
Scent of Jasmine
Jasmine Sparks
2020 Vision
Steele Magnolia
Family Tradition

RP Characters/Liberty-Villain (Main Server):
Shattered Dreaming

RP Characters/Virtue-Hero:
Artemis 2020
Exodus Reborn

RP Characters/Virtue-Villain:
Artemis Anarchy
Widow Artemis

RP Characters/Pinnacle-Hero:
Steele Magnolia
Winter Kills

RP Charaters/Pinnacle-Villain:
Blood Ann Bone

Note: I have lots more RP characters and have only listed the ones I consider most important.

Type of RP: Serious in SG, Casual with others.
Can be contacted: Forum PMs, in game email, tells
Times on: Usually 9-12pm EST.
Timezone: EST

The ability to indulge my creative streak is what drew me to this game. For me it has always been about the alts, the endless combinations and customization. I've got over 50 characters I still play and 11 of them are 50s. All of them have stories, either written here in the forums, in the ID section, or only in my head. I could never focus on just one or two to the detriment of playing the others to really make use of the Incarnate system.

I've wanted endgame and I'm glad that the people who wanted this are getting it. I figure I'll be a dabbler, because I don't want and would not enjoy grinding one character. Even my main doesn't have a single incarnate ability yet. Incarnates have encouraged me to play my lowbies and make more alts. For me it's about the stories and trying new set combinations, not grinding for ult gear.

For me raiding is something to do once in awhile. It's just not my thing, not in any game. In LOTRO I tend to set max-level characters that have played through solo content aside. In Aion I've not got that far yet. In those games a gladiator is a gladiator and a minstrel is a minstrel... there's no point in trying a second one. Here, there is and I love it.

I'd have to go with:

1. Steele Magnolia - My Main on Pinnacle, the character I created with my husband and our friends when we first played the game even though they're all gone now, just in case they ever return.

2. Sgt Pandora - My Main on Liberty, SG coleader, signature character that everyone knows me by.

That said I wouldn't go FTP. I love alting too much. I've got about 50 across 3 servers.

I may take my mother's acct to Premium until she gets her character to 50. For myself, I will stay VIP.

I play LOTRO which has been FTP for about a year now. I posted here
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...=263583&page=7
about that, and am linking so I don't have to repeat myself too much. FTP has been a mixed bag from a player POV. My LOTRO kinship (SG) did not lock down recruiting to exclude FTP, but many did. We found many good FTP players, most of whom went VIP. From a management perspective the FTP is very good money, which can lead to more game development, but the game store model is so profit driven it can be very annoying to have it shoved down your throat and lead to anything good being obtainable only from the store.

I wouldn't go to any pre-20 zone the first week, or pre-30 the next, etc for all the influence in the game. Without pve zone level limits there won't be very many places safe to go, thank goodness for instance missions, tab editing, and getting the hell rid of that "Helper" tag. I'm dropping that from all my characters ASAP.

I also play LOTRO which went FTP awhile back which like DDO is run by Turbine. The limited content, limited slots, big store, and monthly points for VIPs (including the name 'VIP') is a carbon copy of Turbine's model. FTP has its ups and downs in my experience.

Disclaimer: This is 100% my opinion based on my own experience.

The influx of new FTP players will bring their own problems. Newbie zones and later mid level zones are going to become very crowded and inhospitable places to be. Offensive and abusive chat, clueless newbies asking the same question (ex: Where can I get a horse? Is that near Atlas Park?) over and over and over and over, killstealing, trouble getting enough mobs for mission completion, inf begging. If you think this was ever bad before in the last 7 years you have seen nothing yet.

The game store is going to be shoved down your throat. Just accept it. On the forums, on the official website, on the loading screen, on in-game UIs, and I would be very surprised if we didn't see it on in-game billboards. LOTRO just redesigned the entire character UI to get more 'store' buttons into it.

There will be things available only in the store that are not earnable anywhere else. Some of these things will seem like real game changers or gamebreakers depending on your point of view. Extra character slots, incarnates, costume items, and the like are only the beginning. Expect things like nifty new temp powers and temporary bonuses (ex: damage, xp). Maybe we will even see the base upgrades we've been begging for these last many years. It can be fun to shop in the game store and it can be a slap in the face. "We've been asking for this for XX years!" and "Wow, neat!" and "Why can't I earn this in game?"

FTP game store money is good for profit and game development. MMOs seem to forget that VIP money is good for that too. If MMO and paying customer were husband and wife, then the FTPer is the sweet young thing on the side that gets all the attention and presents. An example of this is LOTRO's coming Rise of Isengard expansion, for which the preorder package is almost exclusively designed around enticing the FTPer.

FTP demands more decisive and swifter GM response. The chat abuse alone can kill a game if not dealt with swiftly and decisively.... for whatever that is worth, as a ftp account can be created with a new dummy email in 5 minutes. There really are people that will churn through numerous ftp accounts just to be chat trolls and even brag they know they're going to be banned and will be back, they're losing nothing. However, ignoring the elephant in the room is even worse. LOTRO tried that the first two weeks of FTP as their GM staff was swamped, nice new FTPers thought this was what the community was like and quit, VIP accounts were dropping like flies, and those of us who stayed moved into the 50+ zones and didn't come out for months. Now, in LOTRO an harassment petition will typically be answered in 5 minutes or less. Seriously.

Communities may close ranks against the new FTPers (not the oldtimer FTPers) out of a sense of self preservation. Think back to the heydays of AE PL farming, pre-SSKing, back with Rikti Comm Officers were king. It's going to be like that, only worse, for the first six months. If your SG recruits be sure to do a lengthy provisional no-bin test first. If you already do that, double the time. There will be good FTPers and there will be FTPers who were banned from their playing games and have nowhere else to go.

I hope COH takes the good and learns from the bad in the FTP model. It's been a real adjustment as a LOTRO player and I still wish they'd never done it. The game was dwindling before the influx of ftp money, but it was a friendlier and happier place.

The first thing I'm doing is taking off the "Helper" tag. For those of you on Liberty who know me that may put the magnitude of community change coming in perspective.

Is it too much to ask that textures match within a set? I know there are problems matching textures with pieces from different sets and different artists, but the same set?

Disclaimer: I don't know what the male set looks like, but for the female set:
-The skirt, jacket, belt texture doesn't match the chest detail.
-The skirt, jacket, belt texture doesn't dye well. It's very subdued in hue and is absolutely horrid in pale colors.
-The lace in victorian steampunk 1 jacket doesn't match the belt (bustle) lace

Now I know why all the female pieces in the video were dyed black, because that's the only color that looks decent and it doesn't show detail well.

Birthdays require cake. There must be cake instead of pie.

Count me in!

Thank you NC Soft. I don't have the words to express the wonder and admiration I am feeling. This is what makes NC Soft THE game company to me - its heart. Your donation will help many people.

I know the work of Doctors Without Borders. They were one of the first 'feet on the ground' to help and are there helping now. This is an excellent charity with very low administration costs.
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org...cat=field-news

Another excellent charity working in Japan is World Vision. Also an excellent charity with low administration costs.
http://www.worldvision.org/#/home/ma...e-japan-1-1360

For those new to charitable giving Charity Navigator tracks charities and rates them by effectiveness and details how the money is spent. Here is their page for charities doing relief work in Japan now with suggestions on how to donate without getting swindled:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/inde...view&cpid=1221