Sun_Runner

I hope that the VIP server receives more and better than every non-subscriber-accessible server as a means to encourage play on the Exalted server and as a benefit to the "valued subscriber" to reward (read: encourage) their (continued) subscription.

Free Accounts are objectively inferior to a Premium Account. (Free Accounts are more limited than Premium Accounts.) Premium Accounts are objectively inferior to a VIP Account. (Premium Accounts are more limited than VIP Accounts.) Encouraging Free Accounts to become Premium Accounts and Premium Accounts to become VIP Accounts is something that they should be doing (as a corporation that desires to increase its' profits).

Making this pointedly clear by emphasizing the benefits of being VIP (over the alternatives) is something to be encouraged. Want the new shiny? Subscribe.

This, as well.

In-game? I don't believe so. I'm still chugging down the newest update to the test server. Let me finish running this latest consistency check, and I'll go check.

I've a friend saying that they're running around Talos right now. They may be back up.

It appears that the beta version has been pushed to the test servers. I believe that the pattern is for new issues to be on test for a week, maybe two weeks, then to be pushed to the live servers.

If this proves correct, the headstart may be starting in a couple weeks.

Unplanned downtime affects everyone equally, there is no bias if there is no intent. Planned downtime displays bias against the minority in favor of the majority; complaining about such is like chewing bubble gum to solve algebra problems. You can do it, it simply isn't effective.

Let us try it another way:

I'm assuming you're in Australia, yes?

As such, you should be used to being treated as a second or third class citizen by companies located in the USA. Why would you expect COH to treat you any differently?

Y'all simply don't, as a group, pay enough money into the game to be worth catering to. I base this conclusion on the fact that if you did, you'd have your own servers located in Australia. You don't have that with COH. Thereby ...

I'm not apologizing for anything. I'm saying that it sucks, for you, and that the company is going to do what the company needs to do so as to make as much money as it can; and catering to the Australian playerbase doesn't do that; and so they will not cater to the Australian playerbase.

Want that to be fixed? Have one hundred thousand people from Australia hand over their payment details to COH along with the request to be charged USD 15 monthly as a subscription to COH on the condition that a local server with local support staff and local downtimes is created. Can't do that? See above.

I would note (again barring timezone confusion) that the servers should be up at the moment ... and the login server is still refusing connections (or at least my attempts to connect to the login server keep failing).

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=270988 ... appears to be the most relevant thread in the announcement forum. Or I could easily be confused about the time zones.

If.

Re-read my post, re-parse it, notice the if, then apologize. Thanks.

More seriously: It can go wrong. NCsoft has pulled the plug on other games that weren't sufficiently profitable. If the hybrid model bombs, meaning the profits go down, then I expect them to pull the plug on this game as well. I'm not making predictions as to the success or failure of the new model. I have no clue if it'll do well or if it is going to bomb.

We'll see.

I agree.

It was a "it can always be worse" post.

I can get behind this. *grins* (No, I'm not serious.)

A one-time fee to unlock and enable the IOs currently equipped on a character when, and only when, initially unlocking the character? (... with the default of remaining locked out of the invention system without either the monthly license or the reward unlock)

That'd work too.

...

In all honesty, this is never going to affect me. I don't play games that I'm not subscribed to. In my opinion, this entire thread is sound and fury that'll end when everyone gets bored of it without producing any kind of (useful) result. COH isn't going to change the details of how they handle this. (Well, maybe in six to eight months if the game bombs and they start losing money hand over fist ... of course, at that point, NCsoft is just going to shut the game down, so ...)

I vote (not that anyone asked) that any character with slotted IO enhancements be unable to be unlocked without access to the invention system enabled on that account ... with the ability to unlock said character normally if the player agrees to have any IO enhancements and IO recipes and IO salvage deleted (nonrecoverable) from the character.

There. Issue solved. Next?

Excluded middle much? Do both. What is 'fun' should be rewarding, what is rewarding should be 'fun'.

If something is 'fun', but not rewarding, then those who enjoy rewards won't do it; those who don't care about rewards will do it if they find it 'fun'. If something is rewarding, but not 'fun', then those who enjoy rewards will do it because rewards are 'fun'.

Care to take a guess as to how much of the playerbase enjoys rewards in comparison to those who will do 'fun' things without also earning a reward for doing it?

Hint: What you consider 'fun' isn't necessarily what others consider 'fun'; what others consider 'fun' isn't necessarily what you consider 'fun'. This is as it should be.

“Do or do not ... there is no try.”

They are either unwilling or unable to do so. It is a whiteboard idea. It may get done in a few (or five) (or seven) years, or it may never be done. If paying extra for it to be made a priority is the only way to get it done in the near future ... I'll pay.

At the moment, I'm torn between pancake'ing my character's appearance/concept/theme or pancake'ing my character's effectiveness. I am being forced to take suboptimal (in terms of effectiveness -and- in terms of enjoyment) choices because I'm unwilling to compromise my character's appearance/concept/theme. I'd rather not have to make that choice.

Very well. Please do be placing many complaints on file with the BBB. Please do also be sending written notice to Paragon Studios and NCsoft that you are pursuing legal action.

If you are not doing these things? Tell me why they should care.

Roll an earth controller, get both the -def and containment damage.

Testing this. If I get logged out again, I'll make another post with the results.

And some people use nothing else. You'd be surprised what changes time has wrought.

And this is what you choose to focus on? *sighs*

How about "I bought this powerset. It didn't go through. I bought it again. It didn't go through. Then I got both emails and it went through. But I can't get my points or my money back from buying it the second time." I did this in the beta with the available powersets. I'm going to assume that others will make this mistake as well. On a beta with free points, its' not a problem. On live with paid-for points and no refunds? Problem.

Or when buying the extra storage expansions. You did notice how difficult it was to keep track of which ones you had already bought and which ones you still needed to buy? I know I did. I'm relatively certain I bought a few of them multiple times. Again, beta, free points, no problem. Live, paid-for points, no refunds, problem.

Feel free to continue your ravings about the mac players and my imaginary numbers. It sure does suck to be a minority in the community, this community especially. Reminds me of offline.

Roughly the same chance as my suddenly being free to do the things that my disability stops me from doing. So ... about the same chance as the Sun not coming up next morning.

So tens of thousands of players losing the VIP status they are paying for and being treated as free players isn't a show stopper bug? The ability to lose a hundred dollars or more buying stuff off the store that you had bought before (and can't tell that you've bought before because of the borked cash shop interface) with no ability to get that money back isn't a show stopper bug?

Right. I am very happy that you aren't the one making those decisions.

I prefer games that have utterly no reliance on twitch. COH is a little too fast to be comfortable for me as-is. That Other Super Hero Game is about the limits of my reaction speed. That Other Other Super Here Game looks to be twitchy enough that I'm never going to be able to play it; the downside of it being controller friendly.

I have already quit a SciFi MMO that ramped up its' ground combat speed to be faster than I can handle. I have a lifetime subscription and had spent nearly that much again in buying everything off their cash shop. I can't play it now. It is literally too twitchy for me to keep up. I'm dead before I get to press more than a couple buttons. So I'm out $600 because of a pacing change. (No, there is no way for me to adapt. Being disabled sucks.)

If they are to change the pacing of COH, I'd rather they slow it down than speed it up. If they speed it up too much ... I'm effectively banned from yet another of my favorite games. I'd rather not repeat the experience.

On the condition that nearly every player with a mac instead of a pc is suddenly stripped down to being a free player with no way to fix it and the ability to buy the same costume bit infinite times with NO refunds (NO REFUNDS) ... sure, they can ninja launch it ...

And after the launch bombs, sufficiently illwill is generated among the playerbase and every review site out there crows about how badly they [censored by me] up the game ...

No. No ninja launch. Let us not strangle this infant in the crib.