TheJazMan

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Just would like to point out that many of the people that don't have a problem with the in-game freebie that NC is giving away to people that attend PAX are also people that are going or think they may go to PAX.

I just wanted to point that out.

Edited to say many instead of most.

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I don't care about this item and I am not attending PAX. Happy?

Maybe the DEVS can make the many unhappy people happy by offering a new costume pack which would include the PPD Hard Armour suit and some Freaks gear. Throw in some new armours and items and you have enough for a new pack. Just make sure these are actual costume sets and not toggle costumes

There. Problem solved. That is all.

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If you don't spend the time, money or effort, why exactly do you deserve something that others DID? They're not FOR everyone, that's why they're "special".

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If COX had a premium monthly subscription service, and those players were receiving additional in-game perks, then your argument would have merit. Those players would be investing more money into COX and receiving more in return.

Instead, I would say the numbers break down like so: assuming COH still enjoys 150k monthly subscribers, they would represent monthly receipts of $2,250,000.

How many of those subscribers will be attending PAX? Would 200 be a fair estimate? Representing $3000 of monthly receipts.

How much revenue will NCsoft be generating from this event? $0?

If you were an investor of NCsoft, would you prefer they focus on the customers representing $3000 of monthly receipts, or the group representing $2,247,000 of monthly receipts?

Yes, I understand it is important for companies to have a strong showing at these types of events - mostly for bragging rights, as these events do not appear to result in a bump in game subscribers - but my point is these events should be handled in such a way that you make net gains with your customer base.

Here I would say things were adding up to a net loss, which is probably not the direction they want to be headed.

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I may have agreed with you if the give away item was of some significance. I don't think it is. It's a nice little giveaway...it's not even a costume set where you can mix and match.

It's a gimmick for these shows. Way too much drama over something so minor. I had to almost gag when I saw the last giveaway item was just sold on ebay for $230. Some people need to get their priorities in order!

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sliding scale [u]inactive account[u] name releases:

<ul type="square">[*]90 days incactive under lvl 12 toons names unlocked (which is current practice I believe)[*]6 months inactive under lvl 24 names unlocked[*]1 year inactive under lvl 36 names unlocked[*]2 years inactive under lvl 46 names unlocked[*]3 years inactive all names unlocked[/list]

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/signed

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Cut the levels in half except for 3 years and I might agree. But it seems a little fast for Military or those where things come up. Times are harder than they were 8 years ago

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I think these standards could work, with the proviso being that IF you are called away for military duty (or other extreme cases), you could contact NCSoft and have your account flagged for non-deletion for a set period of time...?

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I think you should never be able to remove a name from any lvl 50 toon. I don't mind a similar format but I think toons over 30 should be left alone. It's a lot of work to get there (for most of us, I assume). Then if you leave the game you can always come back...there could be a million reasons why a person may take a leave and to have them remove your name is a bit much. Might drive people to go to the competition instead (I am sure I would if I had my names taken).

Military duty for an idiot president is not the only valid excuse. So, maybe release names for toons under lvl 30 in some varying increments depending on which level you are under 30.

I prefer the idea of the vill or hero being able to cross over without restrictions and on a time limited basis. A 'Day Pass' (24 hours real time or something). He/she gets the 'Day Pass' via a mission. On this mission the hero/vill is given 'trust' status and then allowed to cross sides. They should be able to get contacts and do missions etc. Maybe the only exception would be not to use the markets or stores (unless they go to the same type of money).

Lights, do you know if the NCSoft/CoX store is going to sell any other items for us to add to the game? We had the wedding pack (and I guess some updates to the game). I don't want to buy this card and pay $5 just for the temp power but would love to add stuff to further customize my toons.

If it was a regular power add on (like the slide from the special ed. DVD) then I'd go after one of these cards. Since it is not I have no reason to drop an extra $5 for a month's worth temp power. Raptor pack/bank mish would do me just fine.

Yup. I am also thinking its best for all if we get concrete info only. However, what about costume packs?!

Yeah it is a bit tough but they have some unique circumstances this year so I can cut them some slack. I'm sure things will be cool once they, "...hit their stride."

I am sure they'll get 3 issues out per year and then mix in a costume pack etc. That should keep us happy. Unfortunately we've had long periods without new stuff and that makes the 'natives restless' so to speak.

I also think the DEVS take notice of our comments on these boards. It's an excellent tool for them and invaluable, I'm sure. They're not going to get the warm and fuzzy all the time nor should they. That's not being realistic. Anyway, i think it's a decent way to voice our opinions and I guess they use these boards.

BAB never did tell us if they plan to continue the costume packs feature I hope they do.

I can't blame the DEVS about not giving out too much details cuz they seem to really get it if they don't actually produce the product as described. I would just like stuff out a bit more often than this year. That's about it

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If you've really blown through every bit of content this game has to offer, on both sides, in 7 months...I think I can safely say you can forget about us ever being able to keep your appetite for new content sated.

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Also depends on how you define content. I mean, storylines aside, most missions in the game PLAY the same way from level 1 to 50. Granted, later on you have more powers to play with, but the essential formula is the same:

Recycled, unmodified, unpersonalized tileset
Random layout
Clumps of braindead mobs
Glowy to click to baddies to kill
..repeat until all you want to do if farm.

We've seen some customization and enhancements, but not enough and certainly not in the low level game, where it is in dire need. Why not impress all the potential new players?

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Bravo. Well put. I have been stating the same thing before on various boards and glad I am not alone.

The new ITF is fun and it provided some new maps, looks, tile sets etc so good work on that. Like I've said many times I'd rather see new environments, missions maps, one server and/or the ability to cross faction sides than anything else including a create your own mission option.

The game is still fun but as far as I'm concerned I have done most of the content. Different reasons for venturing through the exact same looking mission map, environment is not new content. By no means is this game dull or anything like that but it is losing it's shine...

The costume creator is still decent and I do like trying out various items, combos etc.

Anyway, it sounds like i13 should be big and I'm looking forward to it. Any additional news from the Con?!

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As mentioned above, I'd really like some "Globle" maps. Most of the maps in CoH are pretty similar. Same goes for CoV. Cimeroa is really a good example of a map with an entire different feel to it. You actually feel like you've left Paragon/Rogue Isles. I would love to get some more maps that feel unique and "AWAY" from Paragon.

It might be nice to start a Midnighters stroy that takes you around the world to maps like:

Africa - City would look way different than Paragon, plus villages, jungle, dessert, and besides the usual enemies you could have WIld animals and Bushmen/tribesmen.

London - Totally different look for sure. Rainign all the time, do battle on Big Ben or any other famous landmarks. The police would look different too. NPCs walking around would dress difefrently.

Russia - Snow covered land with Russian arcitecture. Council werewolfs and snow beasts already exists.


Austrailia, Ireland, Iraq, Japan....the possibilies are endless. I think this would be a great direction for the game.

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I'd love to see new maps, environments and mission maps. I'd like to see that before many other items including creating your own mission.

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I'm new to MMOs and games. Do most of them not provide free new content like CoX does with its issues? I note that many DEVS state we're getting FREE new issues etc etc. However, without these free issues I am willing to bet big $ that this game would perish. Also, why is each issue thought of as free? Does our $15/month not help pay for this? It seems CoX has approx 180 000 subscibers and you multiply that by $15...seems like NC Soft is getting a good chunk of change from us and needs to do a bit more than they have this year. Lots of competition on the horizon. I do enjoy this game and will likely stay unless I am overwhelmed with the new games

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One, we don't have 180,000 subscribers. I don't know the exact number right now, but it's not that high.

Two, monthly subscription fees go toward many things. Running the servers. Hardware, IT support, bandwidth, etc. Technical Suport and CSR ( Hopefully you never have to deal with them, but they still account for a portion of the costs associated with running this game). Community support for the forums here. Lighthouse, Ex Libris, moderators, forum software, domain name hosting, more bandwidth for the forums, etc. All these people that don't actually create content for the game have ridiculous demands as well...such as a place to work, electricity, computers, software, insurance, etc. Guvment wants their cut of everything. There are also costs that I can't discuss and costs that I'm sure I'm not aware of right now. Bottom line is, it ain't cheap to make and run an MMO. It ain't cheap to just run one.

As for the actual developer studio side of things, I have no idea what percentage of subscription fees get funneled back into developing the 'free' issues, but I can assure you there aren't any high dollar sports cars sitting in our parking lot. Our new studio is nice, but nothing in it is gold plated. Hower, this is a business, and the point of business is to make a profit. So in all honesty, every penny of your subscription fee isn't actually going directly back into the game. That said, if you think for one second that any MMO with a subscription fee is any different, you are sadly mistaken. Sadly. Here's a sad face for you.

To put this in a a different perspective, we have less subscribers than we did a year ago, and we have a lot more people working on 'free' content for you. I personally think that's a pretty good deal, and it should speak volumes about the commitment to this game and this franchise.

Let's be honest here...when the new games come out, you're gonna check them out. You may in fact, even like them more and stop playing our beloved game to go play that game. Threatening us with something that's most likely inevitable anyway isn't really going to accomplish anything. We're going to continue doing what we think is best for this game, to the best of our abilities, and in whatever time it takes to accomplish all of that.

Would you really want developers who get all panicky and spastic because there's impending competition? Competion is good. We look forward to having other MMOs in the same genre. It'll most likely be good for us and this game in the long run.

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First off, I don't think I threatened to leave or anything of that nature. I believe I stated I would stay with this game unless I am overwhelmed by the new ones...I do believe I also stated I am a fan and enjoy the game. If I didn't I would be long gone. I am not planning on 'accomplishing' anything by making that statement. If I don't enjoy the game then I leave. I've been around long enough to realize the DEVS are doing a good job and our comments aren't going to hurry things up.

As far as subscribers, I go that number (180 000) from an article I read today on either massively.com or ign.com. Now, I am not taking that info as gospel so if you say there are less subscribers then so be it. Not a big deal.

I do realize our subscription fee does not go entirely to new issues. That is obvious and what is understood need not be discussed...it's a given fact. It's a business...it will not function on a charity basis. Am I mad there isn't more content this year than what we have so far? Nope. Just a little disappointed but it's not a big deal. I understand the headaches of change, transition, integrating new staff etc etc so I can empathize with the DEVS et al. This is a game. It's entertainment. If it bores me on a day I can go do other things. I'll live.

It seems my post was taken as far more negative than intended. It wasn't meant to be negative at all. It's me inquiring and learning about MMOs...something completely new to me. It's always nice when most posters comment in a non-inflammatory way. It is appreciated. In my world it is important to provide feedback..DEVS can't read our minds so it is important to voice opinions and preferences on the game's direction.

Finally, I don't know if I will check out the new games. I enjoy this one and I think with regular new content and improvements this one will be pretty solid. I am not into gaming a whole ton and will only go 1 game at a time. Who knows...maybe I will check out the new stuff but for right now I am fine with being here

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Costume packs are not new content. You contradict your own self stated needs.

Granted, I want costume packs. Just going on record there...

Nice replies BAB. Lots of Interpreation can be taken by your choice of Italics. I look forward to the official announcement, until then I won't read the speculation.

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Not that it's a big deal but could you please point out where I do state a costume pack is new content? Could you?

Also, if a pack comes out with new costumes then I consider it new content. End of discussion. You're entitled to your wrong opinion

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Actually, they don't say issue 13 will be the last issue. They just say it'll be the last issue THIS YEAR, which, with only 5 months left in the year, isn't all that unlikely unless things progress really, really smoothly with i13 and i14...

[/ QUOTE ]This is just an announcement to point out that we have made no official statements regarding the timeline or release of our Free Issues. And that the articles have perhaps misinterpreted what was stated.

[/ QUOTE ]Fair enough. Please be aware that many of us have expectations based on previously made actual official statements. Namely that we should expect 3 issues per year. If that is to change we would appreciate an official annoucment of such, and sooner rather than later would be admirable.

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I think when we say 3 issues per year, what we really mean is 12 months/3...as in an issue every 4 months. We're not really paying much attention to where things fall in the calender year, just how much time passes between issues. That's the goal at least.

Are we hitting that goal? At this particular moment, not really. Chalk that up to forming a new company, moving into a new studio, and hiring/training a lot of new people. When you go from being a very tight-knit team of 15 people rapidly churning out issues and snatching up all of the low hanging fruit we can get our hands on to a much larger studio working on very large systems and the type of content that takes the longest to develop...things tend to slow down a bit.

I don't think we're that far behind though. If you look at the amount of things added to the game since the beginning of the year rather than just counting the issue numbers between January 1st and today, there's actually a good chunk of content that you guys have gotten without any additional costs. Probably close to 1 1/2 to 2 issues of content already. There was the mid-issue update for 11 and Issue 12, while not a great deal of new long-term content, was in reality quite a bit of work. We kind of went into I12 thinking it was going to be a smaller issue, but when everything was said and done and we looked back on everything we'd put in there, we realized how much work had really gone into it.

Having more people on the team is kind of a double-edged sword. We've found ourselves setting out to do things that we would have never considered before because we simply didn't have the people to do it. Now that we do, we're really reaching for some pretty high hanging fruit. Player created missions is only one of the things you guys have heard about...but there are some other big things also being worked on as well. Things that haven't been announced yet.

Chew on that for a while. We've announced player created missions. What do you think we might be working on that we didn't feel comfortable announcing yet?



All in all, I feel like we're starting to hit our stride, and we're still looking to expand the team even more to further increase our capacities...bear with us. I assure you, it's just as frustrating for us to have these long spans without new shiny content to keep you guys happily playing the game, but we really are doing the best we can.

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I think most of us realize this will not be the norm and your transitioning (new company, new staff) slowed things down. That's fair enough. However, it doesn't make things much more fun when there is limited new content. I think we players can weather the storm for a bit

I'm new to MMOs and games. Do most of them not provide free new content like CoX does with its issues? I note that many DEVS state we're getting FREE new issues etc etc. However, without these free issues I am willing to bet big $ that this game would perish. Also, why is each issue thought of as free? Does our $15/month not help pay for this? It seems CoX has approx 180 000 subscibers and you multiply that by $15...seems like NC Soft is getting a good chunk of change from us and needs to do a bit more than they have this year. Lots of competition on the horizon. I do enjoy this game and will likely stay unless I am overwhelmed with the new games

Finally, is there any info that can be revealed for the future? Costume packs...are they happening? A pack would tide us over a bit, I'm sure

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Actually, they don't say issue 13 will be the last issue. They just say it'll be the last issue THIS YEAR, which, with only 5 months left in the year, isn't all that unlikely unless things progress really, really smoothly with i13 and i14...

[/ QUOTE ]This is just an announcement to point out that we have made no official statements regarding the timeline or release of our Free Issues. And that the articles have perhaps misinterpreted what was stated.

[/ QUOTE ]Fair enough. Please be aware that many of us have expectations based on previously made actual official statements. Namely that we should expect 3 issues per year. If that is to change we would appreciate an official annoucment of such, and sooner rather than later would be admirable.

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I completely agree. Keeping us in the dark is annoying. I'm also losing interest with the game. I started played in Jan 2008 so learning the game kept my interest for a while and then i12 hit so it was ok. Now that I have a good chunk of the game down I am wanting the next issue

I see the mish creator is a hot topic but I think they should have dealt with other areas first. Going server-less is a big one. Also give each faction the ability to venture to the other side would be more important. As it stands the game divides the players way too much - spread over its numerous servers and then split between heroes or villains. Anyway, I hope this is being looked at

Any more info available for the future of this game in that address??

Wow. So 2 issues this year. That is brutal. I guess i13 is going to be big and I'm sure the wait will be worth it. Since it's such a long wait I am assuming there will be some huge things in i13. Any additional info from our super pals at the Con?!

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I also want to reply here with some additional information to head off some of the inevitable questions that may come up:

First, about the Freakshow Boss special costume codes; we know that not everyone will like that we are doing this. Only 1,000 of these codes will be given out at Comic Con, so as such, not everyone who wants one will be able to get one (not to mention those players who’d love to have one but are not able to attend this year’s Comic Con). However, everyone will have the opportunity to become a Freakshow Boss (and many more costumes) with this year’s coming Halloween Event.

Secondly, about the FREEM! T-shirts. We know that our current PlayNC Online Store is a digital store only. As such, we don’t make physical goods (such as t-shirts) available. We understand that there is a desire for such items and have passed that feedback along.

Lastly, we’re very excited for this year’s Comic Con, as well as our presence at the coming Penny Arcade Expo and the City of Heroes Hero Con. Oh, and on the subject of trade shows, we also have heard your previous feedback about the desire for the City of Heroes team to be more available at a wider array of shows (such as shows on the East Coast). Of course, we can’t accommodate everyone, but we do want to let you know that we’ve heard you and passed that feedback along to our management.

As always, thanks very much for your continued interest, patronage and support!

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What happens at Halloween? I started CoX in Jan 2008 and missed the event. Do we get these costumes? Are they permanent? Do we could new permanent costume pieces?

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Personally, I'm hoping to see a merging of the EU and US servers.

But that's been a pet peeve of mine for years.

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I wouldn't mind seeing this either.

~ Jonathan

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I would really like to see this happen as well.

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Just FYI that this isn't very likely. NCsoft Europe is a separate entity from NCsoft North America and the business dividing lines don't lend themselves to such a merge.

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To merge the player base (English speaking) would strengthen the game. That should very much be in the interest of NC Soft...both sides. They can make it work if they wanted to.

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I have not read the entire thread yet, just the announcement. Has this already happened, or have they announced that they're going to do it?

They already merged accounts once before. So only accounts activated after that date would have had limited access. So that alone isn't a huge step. However, NC Soft's web site is STILL selling the games individually.

Now, what exactly does this announcement mean? Is it JUST another account merging, "if you had only one side, now you have both"? Or are they giving all characters full access to either side of the game?

Either way, this is the death knell for the game I enjoyed. City of Villains, already all but abandoned in the last two years, will now never see exclusive content again. It's time to finally accept the facts, and cancel my account. *MY* game is dead.

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Oh give it a rest, drama queen. I can't wait until we can cross to the other side (vills into hero side and vice versa). Also this should increase the player base for vills and that's great. This game is way better when it's busy out there.

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Personally, I'm hoping to see a merging of the EU and US servers.

But that's been a pet peeve of mine for years.

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I wouldn't mind seeing this either.

~ Jonathan

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I would really like to see this happen as well. If we go to a single mega server then, I assume, the Euro servers will be merged. Until all are one!

I also doubt there would be a new box/expansion out. I think that would directly go against what the DEVS are trying to do when they allowed everyone to have Heroes and Vills. It seems like the new items require all of us on the same page, so to speak. Adding a new expansion would not keep us on the same page because all of us will not buy the new box. I assume the big news will be issues with big things and packs you can buy.

Hopefully they release packs a few times a year so we have something new between issues.

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Doesn't CoH use a different engine than CoV? Could these future plans possibly include updating both CoH/CoV to one new and inproved engine so we can can have things like power customization and a seemless world with no load screens?

[/ QUOTE ]It has the same game engine for both games it is just CoH zones use less polygons than CoV zones. That is why you get less lag in CoH.

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Yeah if you look at the min. comp. requirements for CoH and CoV you'll see CoV requires a bit more.

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So what are the people that paid more for getting both coh/cov going to get for ponying up the extra money.....

Why do I feel im getting slapped in the face again for buying something that becomes free later on......

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SHADDUP! For real! Are we supposed to keep the game seperate because of one whiner. Stop progress for you? If I could only express myself without consequence here, you'd know exactly how I felt about your gripe.

Back to reality. I can only pray that heroes and vills can interact in each other's zones. That is my #1 request. Second is going to one mega-server but that might be a ways off (DEVS did post cautions about this when discussing server transfers).

The mission creator could be good but I don't think it will be as good as we think. The DEVS are letting our imaginations run wild with what they could do on that mish creator and I don't think the current engine has the ability to do half of what we'd like it to do when creating missions.

Oh, and I would love to see better costume additions. I'd also like to see costume packs - I bought the wedding pack so I guess I'll buy anything!

I've only been on CoX and had some of my pieces removed. I deleted a toon to re-work it a while ago and saw that they took away the glowing eyes options with the ability to color the eyes/glow.

That was a little while ago and my main beef...the scars have healed but the pain still lingers...the horror...the horror...

I prefer having them give you the option of which reward to take at each increment

Here's a bit of a different question. I have been on CoX for 6 months now and just bought the special edition DVD for the goodies. When I apply the new code will I still also get a free month play as noted on the box?