TargetOne

The "5xx" vs. "4xx" in the model numbers just means that the 550 is a newer chip design than the 460. It's the "x50" vs. "x60" part that's more telling of relative performance. (Granted, I may be oversimplifying here.)

I have a GTX 460 (1GB model) myself, and it's more than adequate for CoH. Frankly, my AMD CPU is more of a limiting factor than the video card.

Oh, I just thought of another "won't miss" item:

I always hated the hoops you have to jump through (sometimes almost literally!) just to get your character to SIT DOWN on a chair, bench, or other object. Leap up onto the chair, turn to face the right direction, /em sitchair1. Note that your character is too far forward or too far back, stand, move a bit... lather, rinse, repeat.

And it doesn't help that some seating objects (I'm looking at you, "executive chair") aren't sized proportionally to fit most characters, or that the bounding boxes on some objects (like the booths in Pocket D) make it difficult or impossible to "sit" with the character's posterior actually in contact with the seat.

I really wish, for the umpteenth time, that there was a "sit on this" power that would correctly position the character on the first try (from there, one could choose a different pose if desired).

/endgripe

Clicking on glowies in missions, with no visible interaction, just the timer bar counting down to completion. It would have been nice to see an actual action... typing on a computer keyboard, opening a crate, defusing a bomb, etc.

The pacing of combat is at times just a bit too slow. I wish some of the attacks could have been sped up a bit.

Enemies that get stuck in walls, etc. making them impossible to target or attack, even though they can attack you. (Besides being frustrating, it just looks silly.)

Some of the more extreme ragdoll physics seen as enemies go down... those positions just ain't natural. ("Seriously, dude, that's gotta hurt!")

Serious clipping issues affecting certain combinations of costume parts... not necessarily apparent in the tailor screen, but so very annoying as the character moves around in-game.

Office-building maps that are built more like mazes than practical architecture. Seriously, what were the designers smoking?

Low-detail character model meshes... curves are supposed to be curves, not chunky polygonal messes. And why is everyone wearing mittens?

The way the Paragon Market never told you outright which costume packs/parts or other items you already owned (whether purchased or through VIP) as you were browsing the listings... you only found out when you actually tried to add them to your cart.

When the devs rearranged the menu of costume parts, many of the faces and other pieces got moved around... but any costumes saved prior to the update now generate an error when you try to load them, and the "attempt fix" button only resets the face and hairstyle to the default for the body type. Surely the devs could have programmed it to automatically correct the legacy costumes! After all, THEY KNEW which parts got moved, AND to where! (I have a crapton of costumes on my main which I never use anymore because I'm tired of having to manually fix them.)

The whole "War-Walls" system, segregating the various zones. I think they could have figured out some way to make Paragon City into one seamless metropolis, or at least allow direct travel between zones without a visible transition or loading screen.

Enemy AI that's practically nonexistent, and an aggro system that makes no sense. When an enemy is attacked, and other enemies that are close enough to see the attack (and are even facing that direction) do nothing, it kinda breaks the immersion.

Never got to have player (per-character) housing, separate from SG/VG bases.

These are just a few I can think of off the top of my head... there are other annoyances in the game, to be sure.

*Noooooooooooooooooooooooooes!*

My revenge is simply to not ever again knowingly spend any money on an NCSoft product. And to strongly discourage anyone else from doing so either. (I can't prevent anyone from buying NCSoft products, but I sure can give people a piece of my mind.) From a strictly consumer-oriented standpoint, this is all any of us can do... take our dollars elsewhere.

It doesn't matter how good any of their current or future products might be. Even if GW2 were the Second Coming of the Gaming J.C. (as some had made it out to be), it wouldn't be enough.

NCSoft made their bed, and now they have to lie in it. Let someone else support their product development... me, I'm done with them.

Let's not lose sight of the fact that the game is still up and running. Everyone can still play their characters, at whatever account level (free premium or VIP) they were at before the announcement. And we still have (according to all I've seen) over two months before the shutdown happens.

Yes, a lot of people HAVE left. But a lot are still here! Your SG-mates not logging on? Then play with people outside your SG. Friends list looking a little sparse? Then make some new friends! Can't find a PUG for missions or whatnot? Start your own! Your server practically empty? Try a different one!

Seriously, anyone not able to find SOME way to enjoy the time we have left simply isn't trying.

I have to agree with Father Xmas. You're not going to be happy with anything you can get at a "big box" store. Better to go online to a web store that specializes in gaming PCs, or at least offers them in their product lineup. Companies like CyberPower and iBuyPower can get you much closer to your desired specs, and generally use better components, often giving you a number of different options in each component category.

If you'd rather deal with vendors face-to-face, a small local store can build you a custom PC, and provide localized tech support if you need it. But be sure it's one that has been around awhile (and will hopefully be around in the future), and has some expertise in gaming PCs. You wouldn't want to deal with a store that mainly sells business PCs, for example. And you'd better be prepared to pay more than you would for an equivalent PC from a web store... those mom-and-pop outfits don't have the sales volume to be able to compete on price.

Regardless of where you plan to buy from, be sure to investigate all of their component choices. If they don't state the brands, models, and specifications of every component that matters (e.g. motherboards, power supplies, etc.), you will want to ask. Sometimes these places (web or local) use brands I've never heard of, and wouldn't trust with my hard-earned dollars. Research, research, research...

Also, ask about their warranty coverage, return policies, and post-sales support options.

Hope this helps.

Added self.

I have to say, though, either some people's grasp of geography isn't the greatest, or there's a bug in location lookups. Last I checked, places like Texas and Ohio were NOT in the middle of the Pacific Ocean...

Better to have false hope, than to have no hope at all.

I feel NCSoft ought to become the poster child for how NOT to "sunset" a popular MMO.

Compare it to how Star Wars Galaxies was "sunsetted"... while the fan base there was unable to convince SOE/LucasFilms to keep the game running, at least SOE kept some of the developer crew around AFTER making the "sunset" announcement, and continued to work on and RELEASE game patches and updates. They even came out with a fairly major addition to the game, namely the ability to fly spacecraft over the surface of planets. (Granted, the feature was close to being released anyway, but still...) And SOE managed to have the game go out with a bang by declaring there would be a final victor in the ongoing Empire-vs-Rebellion war, and encouraging all combatants to participate.

Now look at NCSoft: they announce that, bam! City of Heroes is simply going to be shut down, and that the entire dev team will lose their jobs. No more updates, not even minor ones. It's just, "Okay, everyone leave NOW, we'll be turning off the lights and locking the doors in ten minutes."

Sheesh.

I fear for the future of the entire MMO industry if this kind of mentality is the driving force of the bean-counters at a major player like NCSoft....

All I can say is, and this goes for every one of you at Paragon Studios, so pass it along:

A job well done, sir. Well done, indeed. I'd shake your hand if I could.

Whatever the future holds, I wish you all well.

I dunno about changing hairstyles, but I often find the colors resetting to a monochrome scheme when I click the "Reset" button on the "Scales" part of the costume editor. The game should only reset the body-shaping sliders to their previous positions, but much of the time it changes the colors as well.

I use LastPass as my online passwords manager, and it has an option to automatically log you in on selected sites. I use it to auto-login here on the forums.

http://www.lastpass.com

Found out about this today:

http://www.daz3d.com/shop/3d/3d-genesis-supersuit/

It's an add-on for character animation software, allowing the creation of all kinds of superhero/sci-fi/fantasy costumes. Apparently, you have full control of the materials, patterns, and surface textures, not just in terms of broadly-defined body areas (e.g. "top", "bottom", "glove") like in CoH, but in terms of smaller patches of the body (left shoulder, upper arm, elbow, forearm, wrist, hand, fingers, etc.).

If only the costume editor in CoH allowed this kind of flexibility.

You say you've tried uninstalling the USB Host Controllers in Device Manager, and let Windows redetect them? go a step farther and try this:

1) Open a command prompt and type

And now, on the server-select screen, Freedom, Pinnacle, Liberty, and Victory are all grayed out/offline.