SuperOz

I think there are many things here that make this a bit of a landmark in terms of costume design and animations for me.

The fullmap faces are just amazing. Going back and forth between the regular faces and the new ones just showed the level of difference and it's a big step forward in that area. I'll take this over animated faces anyday.

Costume wise, the rendering of cloth on the jackets along with the piping, the faint sheen of leather and hints of reflective metal on the boots and gloves along with the weapons (as well as the etching on the handles) is a testament to an art team whose priority is quality, first and foremost. The backpack and wings are also excellently designed.

The auras, especially the Victoriana and Oil Trail are superb. This is something I haven't seen anywhere else in any game and they're intricate, subtle and just gorgeous to look at. I have to give Tunnel Rat big congratulations here, this just amazing work.

I do think this is a turning point where costumes are showing their next-gen potential compared to their last-gen counterparts. More of this, definitely. Bravo.


S.

You've come up with a classic issue here, really....whilst I agree to a point that characters are usually 'as strong as plot', I think sometimes you need to quantify just what the characters in question can do.

My gaming background has a lot of tabletop superhero games in it, and whilst that framework of statistics and benchmarks essentially disallowed 'strength of plot', you also had measurable gradients of ability.

In all honesty, I put the notion of the Phalanx particularly as AV's to one side. The game quantifies their abilities far differently than would make logical sense, as they essentially defy the very setting and rules of the setting in which they live.

I tend to look at the Phalanx as the Justice League from the Justice League and Unlimited animated series, as it's close to those power levels and you can find a number of equivalents.

If you can start with Manticore (who is your Green Arrow/Batman equivalent) and work from there, you'll find you have a lot of benchmarks and gradients to rely upon. Trying to stack them up and account for what are virtually impossible to explain or describe abilities or power levels winds up being self-defeating, because of the 'strength of plot' limitation.

I don't mind referring to the not-quite-adaptation of the game to a roleplaying game (you can still download the Quickstart rules online), as then you're getting a more structured sense of the universe that way.

Of course, this may not be for you, but it's the most immediate suggestion I can throw your way.



S.

Wise move. I only watch the Confidentials until after I've watched the episode, and now they're going a little American (pardon the inference) by having Prologues you can watch online and then the little thirty-second teasers at the end.

Moffat may complain, but BBC are shooting him in the foot a bit.



S.

I'm currently having major issue with 'Statesman' and any variation therein... I have two custom characters (both with Statesman from 1934 and 1941 respectively) and both (along with Enemy Group, Ally Group and even text entries for clues etc) continually register as violating the filter.

Any change to the copyright/profanity filter would be welcome in regard to such obvious wordings, as the power to block or even delete arcs that would blatantly violate copyright is in the hands of the devs here, not ours. The serious writers here wish to respect the canon and work with it or even just use language referencing it. I think it would be extremely reasonable to grant this request.


S.

I agree with the sentiments expressed here; it's bad business sense to make a sequel to a game that's doing well and has only so much playerbase...this isn't a Blizzard product where a seperate game could handle an additional split in their numbers.

If, and only if this is something CoH-related, and none of those job positions even remotely confirm or deny such a thing, I would expect the test bed for that development to occur in this game. We all know Going Rogue was the test bed for Ultra Mode and new ways of making things in the game.

My personal speculation for a while now (and this is supported to a small degree by the story in-game) is that the confrontation with Cole will lead to the confrontation with The Coming Storm....and that is as big and as final as this game gets. Once you confront gods, there's nowhere else to go, really. If there was ever an opportunity to expand the setting to more cities and such, this would be it.

If it's another game, great! Paragon Studios deserves to try something new after seven years of this game and I may well support them in it if so.


S.

For me, it's definitely the customisation that keeps drawing me back. I don't have to conform to a fantasy world concept where I'm just another run of the mill hero, especially in some settings where there's a fixed story and you just feel tacked on...I think the name Tolkien might help you understand where I'm coming from there.

Along with that is the broken mold of cookie-cutter characters. My Claws/Super Reflexes scrapper won't be the same as another's, and I really like that. And you're not penalized for your build at all. I don't need uber-phat lewt gear to hang with my contemporaries and even raiding now that it's here doesn't require me to book out my evening or a weekend.

Above all, concept is king here on a game that defies a lot of the rules. We're offered cosmetic packs that are just that, and why? Because we ask for them, and the devs genuinely listen. And when I say that, I can say that with confidence by comparison to so many other games. The Devs are fans, just like we are. They're the Simon Pegg and Nick Frost of the MMO world, and Paul is their game of in-jokes and embracing warmness.

Keep going strong, sausage.


S.

Hi all,

I'm not given to a lot of postings on things (mainly replies) and it's only when something comes up that piques my interest that I do. So the thing that's done it is the Praetorian Surge.

Don't get me wrong; I'm on Virtue and I had a lot of fun for the most part during the hours it was on and even got to say hi to Beastyle and Zwillinger in the D post-event. The odds that got thrown down in the latter parts of the event were genuinely challenging and had myself and my friends hopping around a bit.

But.

There were a couple of things I thought could've been given a bit of thought. Firstly was the instanced zones. These didn't start occurring until after the first broadcasts started going up and being in a League (as my SG and our Coalitioned friends wanted to be) caused horrendous lag. And I'm talking lag that had powers firing once every ten seconds and zoning taking nearly five minutes at times.

I personally think a little forward planning in establishing two or three instances of a zone before the start of the event would've alleviated a lot of initial unrest with things. People were preparing to dig and 'defend' the bit of turf they'd chosen and being aware of that instead of playing 'chase the mobs' would've helped give some coherency and stability to the event.

And on that, I really appreciate they were opening up zones like Siren's and Warburg, and I don't know how many even went there in the end, but if you don't want the gank, you avoid the PvP zones. And some people would be undoubtedly immature enough to do that.

I'd like to make an appeal to Zwillinger and Beastyle and Freitag and the others who ran this event to consider the tone being set. I'm not saying don't throw down the mobs, don't smack us around a bit, but don't make it RandomMobFest 2011 Part 2, either.

With all the Trials and TF's being so pointed in telling this story, I really felt opportunities were lost on two fronts, those being the story and the second being an immersive factor.

The first I mean by the randomness of the attacks. When the Rikti Raids happen, we know they're retaliatory attacks and they're largely confined to the RWZ. Cole and the Praetors should have goals, like taking out key infrastructure and points. I was a bit confused why Portal Corps wasn't a key target for a bit longer than it was...that's where I'd go if I were Cole. As much as this event is for everyone, you can tell a story at the same time and sneak in some structure to give those of us into the story something to get into.

The immersive factor hurt me from the viewpoint that multiple fights broke out right near some trainers...I know someone said (and I'm okay with being corrected) that Positron said 'they all con grey to me'...but why not jump in on the player side for once? If you can auto-scale enemies, you should be able to auto-scale allies, too. You don't have to be the ultra-powerful NPC's with more powers than allowed and be able to one-shot stuff...you can be the AV version of Positron, Brawler, Statesman even..and have them make a guest appearance. Having a trainer like Ms. Liberty just stand there with her back to the action as City Hall is being attacked is one of those things that practically screams 'missed opportunity' to me. And surely wouldn't it be fun for the Devs to participate on a player level and play with players?

I can totally understand the rationale that it's our day and it's for the players, but the Devs are players too and I for one don't mind a bit if they play the characters that they are named for, especially if they're well-known. To me, it'd be like being told 'well hey, you can play in this event...just not as your character because you're too overpowered.' If the ability exists to adjust that overpowerment and it lets you be able to play and you get to participate in the fun you've helped set up, then WHY NOT?

I really don't want this to be seen as a rant or a criticism of the event, because it was well-handled once it got rolling and the pace got sorted out...but the writer and the filmmaker in me can't help but notice some things (yes, even in a video game where you don't have to follow narrative structure) and I wanted to comment on it. I hope any rednames and players that might read this take it in the spirit that it is intended.


S.

I was thinking 'The Man who knows who the DOCTOR is'....but that's just because he knows Doctor Who.

I was thinking Captain Avoidance, for the way he manages to scoot around the White Board....

...or perhaps The Insighter, because he sees what's going on, but only chooses to watch....


S.

Hi Tunnel Rat!

Welcome to the forums, and expect this thread to get a lot longer.

First of all, I'd have to echo other people's concerns regarding their health and some of the visual effects. If there's absolutely anything that can be done about that (and I think it'd probably fall into some broader category that'd impact the user end being able to suppress power effects), I think that'd be the single biggest thing I'd want to see addressed.

After that, I think the visual effects for travel powers could use a makeover. Something that's bothered me from day one on the game are some of the unnecessary points for effects, like the 'glowing' that comes off a character's hands using Fly. The only time I've seen it visually appropriate is from Iron Man, a Marvel character. Fly doesn't need too much more to it than that, as there's only so many ways you can fly.

I think where VFX would benefit are the other travel powers. Superjump doesn't seem like it could use some, but in conjunction with an animation, perhaps a ripple on the ground before leaping ala the Matrix would be distinctive, plus the classic 'ground smash' (perhaps a steal from Super Strength's Foot Stomp?) landing would add to the power. For Superspeed and Teleportation, anything that would enhance the visuals (perhaps with alternate visuals? I don't imagine Nightcrawler's 'bamfing' could be used, but it'd be spectacular with Smoky effects) would be of great benefit to take into account what can be harnessed now.

I think you'll probably find that the Epic and Power Pool powers are going to come up a lot as people want to have a continuous theme across their powers...my only suggestion along those lines would be to perhaps see what VFX could be updated (if possible) and/or considered an alternate (timing and animations notwithstanding).


Hope this helps!


S.

Alas, I think I made it only through 10 out of the 13.5 hours. It was 8am Australian Eastern Time when I realised I was nodding off at my keyboard.

I'm not sure if I was the only Australian there (holler if there were others!), but with our government doing their Budget report for the financial year, I can understand why many were so bored they were asleep by 10pm at most last night.


S.

One thing I don't want to hear is: 'Welcome back, <insert character name here>. We've missed you.'



S.

Wow, am I glad I don't log into the PSN too often.


S.

Hi folks.

Like many of you, I'm sure the challenge is to find appropriate sounds and textures and musics to suit your purposes. As part of a project I'm working on (which won't be hosted on YouTube more than likely due to my propensity for using licensed music ), I decided I needed sound effects, but wasn't sure how to go about getting them.

Lo and behold, I found a bunch of links relating to a now-defunct MMO property (but still owned by Warner Brothers into perpetuity, I imagine) and found two wonderful bundles of fun there.

They are here: http://www.thematrix101.com/getstuff/downloads.php

If this link is a problem, I'll happily remove it.



S.

There's only one appropriate speech for this, then:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRmmHPE8EvA



S.

This gets buzz and it gets sales. People are on here talking about it, so they've done their job generating the buzz.

As far as Superman renouncing his US citizenship, that doesn't bother me because Clark Kent won't, not if he wants to keep reporting for the Planet at least. I understand that this is a reaction to how the real world might percieve American interventionist policy and politics generally, and Superman is a powerful tool for saying 'no, I'm not representative of any government or individual, I'm a citizen of the world'.

I think the very long post in this thread denegrating DC and the ideal of Superman is ill-informed, because that very sixty odd years of history that have been generated around Superman won't be enough to impact the broader mainstream community that doesn't read comics. He'll remain an American, he'll remain the defender of truth, justice and the American way and he'll remain Superman, essentially.

I think it's an interesting though probably short-lived tactic on DC's part to get their audience thinking a little, and if that's the intent and it's done well, it could be thought-provoking, unlike the corporatisation of Batman recently. On the other hand, it could be just there for the sales spike and it'll be back to the status quo in a years' time.

After all, this is the same Superman who has died, been split in two and even sported a mullet for a while....



S.

I agree with the consensus here, but I find it ties into our current Incarnate storyline. With the Well choosing Cole as its champion against the Coming Storm (or at least that is as I understood the situation to be), then Cole would undoubtedly be trying to soak up all the magic he can manage. And there have been groups that have been affected by that.

Early on in my explorations of Praetoria, one of the most telling was the discovery of Rikti artifacts in the Auction House in Imperial City. It's clear from that there'd been contact with the Rikti, and from that it's not hard to extrapolate there'd been contact with other signature groups, including magical ones. It's also one of the reasons I think that Neuron and Anti-Matter have almost exclusive access to pursue technological means in Praetoria and why they're so physically seperated as well, because the alternative has either been cut off or made exclusive to Cole.

Now the Devs have said the reasons the Praetorian AV's are so powerful is because Cole's imparted some of his power to them, and I can make sense of that. So to me it makes sense that the technological aspect of the invasion has been ramped up to distract the up-and-coming Incarnates and allow Cole to focus his magical power.

I think it makes total sense, combining that with the yet as untold story of the subdual of Praetorian Hamidon (which we've seen in previews hasn't gone as well as hoped) and whatever's coming next....


S.

Fortunately, I set up all my game accounts to not remember my password to avoid this very scenario. That way I can change it on the fly as necessary. Plus, I hate being signed into anything automatically.

S.