T_Immortalus

I always thought it was more that the devs designed under the assumption that Resistance undercover in Loyalist arcs would never want to do the Power arcs, especially Mr. G's given how he is putting a lot of your face in the paper when publicity is not good for espionage.

It's just another instance where the restrictions of video games hamper logic and storytelling.

We won't see the ability to do story arcs the way you obviously want unless the whole game changes to be a lot more realistic, more like Fable or KOTOR with the light/gray/dark meters.

I still haven't figured out how to work undercover for either side because it is such a restrictive system to even allow it.

City of Heroes is just not built for espionage and a dynamic faction system.

LOL
I do love my Razer Lycosa.

I would still love to have a pad devoted to gaming though like the Fang, or, even better, I would love to just use my Logitech dual analog gamepad(essentially a Playstation controller) for every game.

Of course, even those gamepads aren't perfect, but they're getting there, and I have some ideas for an even better controller.



Edit:
By the way, I think the Saitek one is a standard keyboard withe standard tall keys you have to depress a mile to use. You literally have to hunt and PECK to push those keys in enough.

The Razer is a slim keyboard meaning the keys are shorter and have a lot less travel distance you need to press down to activate. They're much more comfortable for typing and gaming and just plain faster.

I won't ever go back to a standard keyboard. It's just too annoying having those tall keys.

I actually ran past him too. "I guess I'm too blind to notice any guy groaning in the middle of the floor asking for help." :P

I got the same multiple green icons on my map, but one of them was him. I think they are possible spawn locations for him.

Anyway, it likely was not bugged.
However, expect a later mission to have a "2 minutes to stop the ambush" mad dash to the destructible object that you will not find in two minutes IF it spawns properly.
I never did find that object even after I cleared the mission.

I always thought they only dropped from minions.





Also, all drop calculations are done on the servers.
That means that you won't see a drop every 3000 kills or whatever, but someone will.

The extremely unlikely odds are so unlikely that they guarantee a LOT of people will never see a purple recipe and a few farmers will get most of them.

The people who kill the most have the best odds and take those chances from other people.



It's like the lottery where the more people that play the worse your chances are of getting any money, especially if somebody else wins and resets the jackpot.



If you really want purple recipes you need to farm a LOT or work on alignment merits. I prefer the latter since I'm entirely sick enough of the RNG grind for 5 lifetimes.

You're wrong Je_Saist.

The ONLY reason tourists can't start the opposite alignments' story content is because the contacts have no reason to talk to them because they're opposite alignment.

In Praetoria, there is no "hero or villain only" content. Resistance and Loyalist are both equally accepting of heroes and villains so long as they help their cause.



Think of the Praetoria factions like the neutral factions in World of Warcraft. You got the Loyalists who could be like the Sha'tar of Shattrath and the Resistance who could be like the Scryers. You can be either one, but not both because they hate each other, but you can still switch if you try.


Praetoria is essentially multiple linked cooperative zones with competing factions that players can choose to support and direct where their alignment goes.




I actually wouldn't be surprised if they completely do away with forced absolute alignments someday and go with a light/gray/dark meter like KOTOR to determine which side you're on in pvp.
That is also the only reason they have to have absolute forced alignments that require 4 days to completely switch, for pvp to have 2 concrete opposing sides.



Praetoria is a giant step towards the experience being controlled by the player rather than the choice they make at the beginning of the game. It's a step towards gameplay like Fable and KOTOR where players start out neutral and choose how they want to play and how people see them.

I noticed Fireflies and Snow but neither is what I like so I didn't experiment to see if we could use them.

I'm not sure if they were supposed to be locked out until later, but I don't see why they would need to be. All the issues are free, and they're just auras, nothing game breaking.

Anyway, bug it if it doesn't stick the next time you try to use it. Maybe you will get an answer telling you they weren't intended to be in game yet.

I still Recommend the Razer Lycosa for a great normal keyboard that works great for gaming. I has the same layout as your Gateway one without the buttons on the left and right.


If you want an actual "gamepad" to use instead of your keyboard, which may be best given how you use a regular keyboard, then I recommend the Ideazon Fang if you can find it anywhere:
http://www.everythingusb.com/ideazon_fang.html

The only place I can pull up where it is for sale rather quickly is Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Ideazon-ZGP-10.../dp/B000FRW8KS


That or the Merc keyboard are made for gaming and made pretty well.



Best Buy still stocks the Ideazon Merc and the Razer Lycosa last time I was there.

It's my understanding that when players are allowed to head into/back to Praetoria they will essentially be in a "cooperative world" where hero or villain won't matter and the only choices will be the Loyalist Resistance sides and their flavors.

The hero or villain choice is really only necessary for determining side in pvp and restricting access to certain areas.


It seems that City of Heroes is trying to shed the "forced faction" idea in favor of an organic "choose who you fight with" plan.

The badge for being a member of the Resistance or Loyalist faction is probably how they will decide pvp alignment in Praetoria. You fight for the side you have been supporting.


Praetoria is just a big step in figuring out if such a design will work in the game.
I think it is working rather well so far.



As for neutrality, we are forced to choose sides everywhere, even Praetoria. It's a story element and still required for pvp and Primal Earth zones.

I don't think there will be any "free for all" or truly "gray" gameplay anytime soon.

I've heard of being able to get rid of the stealth sound and other annoying sounds, but is it possible to replace it with another sound from in the game?

Specifically, I would like to replace the constant hum from stealth powers with the music from Ouroboros. I like that calm fantastical music.


Is it possible and how?


P.S. I have wanted them to stop the constant stealth hum for a long time, but if I can do this then I would want it to stay continuous rather than stopping.

Hmm, would it also be possible to attach one of the music files from elsewhere in game to a click power I periodically turn on, maybe a macro?

I have never had a better keyboard for absolutely any use than the one I have now:

Razer Lycosa

It has slim keys, like a laptop, that don't sit high above the wrist-rest. They require very little effort to push, just enough to not accidentally be pushed.
It's back-lit through the letters with large lettering so it is very easy to see int he dark or low light and even helps during the day.
It also has a USB port for convenience and audio jacks as well.

It is absolutely the best keyboard ever of all that are and have been available on the market.


It would be very hard to improve on the Razer Lycosa.



P.S. It may be wired and not wireless, but that's the only part that may not be that great. It has a long cord so it isn't an issue unless you really want no wires or want to be across the room.




Edit:
By the way, you can set the num-pad, with num-lock on to use the numbers, to activate tray slots. That should make things easier for you than trying to map the letter keys to tray slots for another bar.

Edit 2:
Although after further review, it seems you already use those.
I suggested this in addition to using the default number row on your keyboard and going back to "wasd" for movement. If you use "wasd" the first 5 keys in the number row are very easy to reach along with the function keys, and you can use your right hand, which is on your mouse or arrow keys, to use the num-pad keys for powers there.

Of course, I am speaking from experience with the Razer Lycosa that has the keys in such an easy to use arrangement.


Other than that, I would recommend that Merc keypad if you can get used to such a layout. I'm not sold on it because things are a bit wide apart for me and I'm not used to specialized keypads.
I did attempt to use the Logitech keypad(G13 maybe?), but that definitely was not easy to work with for me. That keypad has a joystick where your left thumb would be for movement, but it's not very intuitive or easy to use with the keypad.






Edit 3:

I also love the Logitech optical trackball mouse. I think it is called the Trackman Wheel maybe. It has a thumb operated marble to control mouse movement while the rest of the mouse is exactly like any other mouse. It's awesome.

If you're averse to using mice because of all the moving your arm and wrist then a trackball/marble mouse is perfect.

Energy Aura is weaker to start, but it seems better than any other secondary I have ever tried(wp, sd, inv) for getting through Praetoria. My kinetic/energy aura brute was the only character that never died, even before the syndicate blade master fix.

It is also very capable since level 24 and I never have issues. My only problem is stupid escorts that make me take off energy clock, even though my survival is still good enough without it.
It's also an endurance hog, but I have neglected filling some slots on attacks.


I think it's rather good, just a late bloomer and not the best either.

I prefer shield defense now.

Super Strength isn't very good with a defense set like shield because the Rage crash will take away almost half your defense if you are soft-capped.

It's not that expensive to make a soft-cap shield build either especially when you buy recipes using alignment merits.

I would recommend anything but super strength with shield. Rage will likely need to be perma which requires either hasten or set bonuses for recharge otherwise you'll suffer that bad crash. Rage is also another power you will have to click regularly when you already will have Active Defense on auto.



I'm actually liking kinetic/shield for a brute, especially since every time I hit an enemy their damage is debuffed by a certain amount for each attack which stacks.
It works very very well with Against All Odds.
It also gives you a ranged power in Focused Burst for those runners/flying enemies.



Check my thread down the list for a couple pretty good soft-capped builds that you can play around with to make perfect for you and give you ideas.

Best Buy has some very good ~$1000 desktops that will run this game just fine.

I would never game on a laptop. I did so for a few years, but it always begins to overheat eventually on everything.

If you want to continue you will do best by turning the graphics options down, especially things like FSAA, water effects, shadows and particle count/physics.


Edit:
Update all your laptop's drivers as well. Make sure everything is up to date and working properly and maybe the problem will be fixed if it seems so out of place.

The first power in your secondary powerset is automatic. Mid's counts that in the total you can pick, but it is actually automatically given to you.