The_Centurion

You know....I spend hours a week cleaning crap out of people's computers. Malware, spyware, virii and so forth. I am not pleased that you folks are going to be streaming garbage into my computer.

Yeah, I know...we can "opt out". Show me that you haven't somehow compromised my system with your Adware, after all....you've never screwed up with any of your code so far and there aren't years worth of bugs still hanging around out there in your game.

Are you that desperate for cash that you have to turn a game I already pay for into a billboard?

I've been in this game since 3 months after launch but this is the end for me.

Complete rubbish

No.

I had the same issues in Steel and Atlas. At one point I had to Fly straight up to flight ceiling to get an accurate read on what powers were recharged. It was like bad Hami Raid lag.....only worse.

Actually Bill, an article on "First Impressions" from new players might be interesting. Be it the 'n00b' on Pinnacle or Virtue it could be an interesting feature.

Maybe instead of interviewing based on percieved 'Fame' it would be interesting to select people from Events.....not the organizers or the 'big names' but just a 'random Joe' who shows up for the fun. "So, Scarlet Archer....what do you think of the festivities? How long have you been playing?" And so on...sort of a 'man on the street bit.

I think there are lots of ways to go about it but in the end it's all about improving the Community. Does interviewing <insert name here> do that? If yes, then go for it.... if no then drop it.... if maybe then move on to the next one and come back to that name when you have a yes or no.

You guys and gals have a great opportunity here. I hope you make the most of it.

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You can look at that from the flip side though. By focusing on the "forum celebrities", you give the impression that there's a certain "in" crowd and if you're not in that crowd, nobody cares about you. Thus pushing people away because they don't feel their opinion matters.

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I guess the answer there is that you have to start someplace. How long do we think the Scoop will endure? If it lasts a year then that's 52 interviews if the focus is limited to one per week (which in all fairness to Teldon is a reasonable schedule so that he does actually get to play and enjoy the game). That's 52 people to be interviewed spread over 11 Servers.

When an endeavor like this starts out it's normal for it to go with Name Recognition. The easiest way to obtain that off the bat is looking at people in a Server's forum area that have celebrity. Now, maybe those who have some measure of 'Fame' aren't interested in an interview but they would be a good jumping off point .... to find someone who is. Talk to them and if they won't agree to an interview, see if they know someone who might.

All in all, trying to turn out a quality edition on a weekly basis as a hobby is pretty ambitious. Its a lot of work and Diplomacy is part of it if you want to be well regarded.

The thing is (and someone said this...maybe a couple of someones), when you do something like this for the purpose of building the "Community" and doing so under the Aegis of the Community Team you are going to be held to a high standard. The Community will do it (and rather pointedly I might add) but as a matter of personal pride, I would think you'd do it yourselves. You all have the chance to do something that may well influence the future of this game. A lot of people would kill for that opportunity. I hope you use your powers for Good.

Looking back, I wasn't clear enough about the 'attitude'.

Attitudes in the articles in general seem to be fine. I don't think anyone has an issue with that.

The attitude I was referring to was that in the comments by various Scoop members. Marcian_Tobay has been diplomatic and professional....asking for input and getting it in a respectful manner. Others have been more adversarial in their approach.

'Shove off' is hardly a reply that will endear a poster to anyone. Getting in the reader's face and saying 'if you don't like what I'm doing then do something about it' is very 'play ground' and shouldn't be tied to this endeavor in any capacity. While that isn't exactly what is being said (in some cases) it is the impression I have gotten from some contributors posting here. This print medium doesn't convey tone well so a reader attaches his own. Why not chose the words in such a way as to avoid negative connotations being attached to the post.

Which would encourage you to be more constructive in your reply;

'How can we make this better? / Would you like to contribute?'

or

'If you don't like the way we are doing it, write it yourself' ?

The former is encouraging participation while the latter is confrontational and smacks vaguely of bullying in an effort to get the other party to 'back down'.

Again, this is merely my opinion but matbe it will encourage people to think before they snap off a post and therefore improve the Forum's Community enviornment a little bit. Maybe not.... maybe it will put some backs up and result in some more snapping.

In any event, merely my opinion.

Unless he gets Ganked while fishing

Thing is Bill....if people don't like it and the attitude....they skip the Scoop. Are you doing this for the purpose of building the Community or for yourself?

So far the attitude from several of you has been 'tough cookies'. Not terribly professional or great for building.

Perhaps one subject per week and really explore a bit. I'd rather ready one really good and in depth interview than 4 'stock' interviews. Maybe I'm in the minority.

One person would make it a lot easier on Teldon as well. He wouldn't have to find 4 people each week who are willing to respond and he'd have time to find out more about a potential interviewee.

There are 11 US Servers so each month could feature someone from a different Server with month number 12 being a Dev or Community Rep interview.

There are also a couple of players who are going to be on "Who wants to be a Super Hero?" and I think getting an interview with one of them (or both) would rock. I mean, not only do they play this game but they love the Genre enough to try out for the show.

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An appropriate question would be, "What do the readers think Behind the Mask should be?"

Because right now, it seems as if our purposes and the reader's expectations aren't lining up.

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IMO selecting people who actually contribute to their server Community in a meaningful manner (i.e. being one of the most respected instead of the most hated on their home server) would be more in line with a respectable publication. Choosing those who are known griefers, trolls, flame fest initiators and bottom feeders sets you up to look more like the Enquirer.

There have to be dozens of people on each Server who add to the game in a positive and meaningful way. Those are the kinds of people that deserve notice.

Looks Great!

And now we finally get the covetted Hero-Villain Team-Ups.

Should be a blast.

August you say ? ;p

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Remember the Paragon Times?

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Speak of the devil...

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Yeah......first one in how long? How long til the next one?

And not to slight UnSub in anyway but unless he started getting a paycheck from Cryptic or NCSoft it just another example of something that used to come from them and now comes from us.

Its like going to Starbucks to get a 6$ cup of coffee, finding that the Barista is only there to take your money now and that you have to make your own 6$ cup of coffee with a set of directions scribbled on a napkin. You may get a decent cup of coffee but odds are very good that it doesn't taste 'right' and you still got charged 6$.

Except...its not already split.

I think you misunderstand the relationship between NCSoft and Cryptic. Cryptic is a Vendor....that is, they provide a service to NCSoft for which they are paid, under contract you can be sure, but Cryptic doesn't get to negotiate their budget on a weekly or monthly basis. They signed a development and support contract with NCSoft. They may bill NCSoft monthly or perhaps annually but you can bet that the tighter the margins are the more intense the scrutiny becomes.

In the end, one thing is sure. The game continues only so long as NCSoft is willing to keep spending money to keep it going. That’s only going to happen as long as they are making what they feel to be a reasonable return on their investment. We don't know what the cut off is.

I know that people are expecting thet they'll get little tidbits of info by talking to a Dev or something on Myspace. I'll tell you....I'll be pretty unhappy if the Dev's run over to Myspace and talk about upcoming releases and events when they won't do it on the Official Forums for their game.

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How do you know if you're reaching your target demographic?

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Gee, if there was only a hit TV show about super heroes that they could pretty much be a goldmine as a target audience for. I see your point, but this is one year that this aspect kind of fails. Before this year, it's dead on.

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Or a television channel the focuses on video games. There are lots of places to use targetted ads that would have a positive affect.

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Well......the money that pays them comes from the COX fund so indirectly....Yes. Better to have hired another person to work on the numerous problems that haven't been addressed in years or to use the existing page and advertise on Myspace.

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You, Centurion, are forgetting one huge detail, and a smaller one.

The developers are from Cryptic. The Community Reps (including who did the myspace) are from NC Soft.

The money might all be from the CoX Pie, but effort for the myspace was paid for by the NCSoft slice of pie, not Cryptic's, and it's is Cryptic's slice that pays for developers.

The smaller one - Do you really think the effort (in dollars) put to the myspace would higher a developer even for a week, much less an amount of time that would allow a new hire to learn how to read, use, add to, and finally, Fix the system? Or even the first two/three?

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In the end, its all the same pie. NCSoft pays Cryptic to continue developement so Cryptic's slice (as big or small as it may be) comes from NCSoft's pie. I'd rather see the sliver being used to improve the game and fix long standing issues instead of being used to create another webpage that will not (based on experience with the COX page and the items trimmed from it as 'fat') be maintained properly once it 'gets old'.

Remember the Paragon Times? People loved it, asked why it wasn't kept up, asked when it was going to be updated (in the forums and in PMs) and the 'answer' was to make "The Scoop". In my opinion (and anyone is free to disagree as it is an opinion) that should be on the MySpace page as that page is, in theory, a community driven place and would benefit from having Community creativity highlighted. The Paragon Times was segments of the game World being expanded upon and introduced to us by the Writers of the game so the we knew more about this City of Heroes in which we 'live'. It brought the Mythology of the City to us in an easy and accessible manner. I can write my own fiction and have for years quite successfully but in neglecting the COH page and in trimming so-called 'fat' they've really done nothing but diminish the World.

I remember a time when Wentworths would have rated a full spread in the Paragon Times....when the Green Line going to Founder's Falls would have as well. I remember when repairs to a building in Talos were important enough to rate an issue of 'the Times'. These things make the world feel a little more 'real'...more immersive.

As for the point about being able to hire a competent programmer for the cost of a web page design, I'll grant you that but the time and money spent could have been used to improve our existing page and buying advert space in magazines, web banners and so forth. It seems like they are trying to sell a house when the shutters are loose, the roof leaks, the foundation is cracked and it needs a coat of paint. Can you do it? Well, you might get some lookers but in the end you are going to have to fix the house before you can really sell it.

Again, simply my opinion but its why I spend maybe an hour a week in-game vs the 3 hours a day I used to and even that is coming into question.

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People have been asking you guys to update the CoH/CoV main page to be updated since I first started coming to these forums. Instead of doing that you're going to spend time creating a MySpace page.

I know you guys want advertisement and more players, but does CoH/CoV really need more players of the type that typically haunt MySpace?

"Sorry, don't have time to fix the Cathedral of Pain. Too busy responding to friend's requests for the MySpace page."

RAOFLMAO!

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Cause Web Developers and Game Developers are the same people .....



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Well......the money that pays them comes from the COX fund so indirectly....Yes. Better to have hired another person to work on the numerous problems that haven't been addressed in years or to use the existing page and advertise on Myspace.

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So, "Sexy Jay" of the costume thread was working on the comic?

No?

Matt Miller and the dev team were writing between working on code, planning future issues and such?

Also no?

Wait, that's where Cuppa really went... also a no?

This was taking too much of *WHOSE* time? There's a G-D story bible already with how much material to flesh out for players. The Blue King run played with the game from a "players" perspective - and, yes, was a treat to read and receive. I understand them going to PDF (but not the "Maybe if we don't get the PDF on the site they'll forget it" delay of the last two issues - by the way, when do we see issue 20? May of 2008?)

Let's see...
- Kill off the Paragon Times.
- Don't bother working on the website, instead sending info over to Warcry, MMORPG.com, anywhere BUT CityOfHeroes.com (other than a link.)
- Kill off the novels, even though the third was being looked forward to.
- Kill off the comic completely.

I call shena... no, that's not strong enough. I call [censored].

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Honestly, I have PS on one character and that is soley for RP purposes. Were it not for that I would have none of the Concealment Pool.

If MMs were the issue, why not simply have their Pets "die" if the owner uses Phases Shift. "Hey....the boss just left us high and dry...let get outta here".

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The problem is that this game is too general. You can have a fire/ice blaster - what would their strength/weakness be?

The thing is, someoen like iceman is actually an uce blaster/controller/tanker all rolled into one. Even with the APPs, we can't approach that level of performance (due to lower modifiers, longer recharges, etc).

One the same note, you have characters like Jubilee that have like just the tier 1 energy blast power AND NOTHING ELSE.

A good middle ground would be to give blasters, for instance, some passive resists based upon their primary and/or secondary, and call it a day. You're an ice/fire blaster, here's an 8% resist to ice and a 5% reisst to fire. Not game breaking, but a little touch for thematic reasons. You're an earth/rad controller here's 8% s/l resist and 5% energy resist. A bs/regen scrapper - here's 8% s/l resist & 5% toxic resist.

Just little thematic touches. These reisst would NOT be enhanceable, but would provide just a little something.

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I agree that the game is to basic to tailor a complete set of resist to a given character but using the Primary of a given set should work fine and the buff can be balanced out with a weakness against that sets antithesis....say maybe 10% each way that is unenhancable.

I think it would give more depth and remove some of the cookie cutter build aspect to PvP at least and maybe to the game as a whole.

If you remember the old table top version of Marvel Heroes, the Torch was highly resistant to heat and flame while Iceman was to ice and cold.

I wish that the design here had been done in a "What would (Jack) Kirby do" kinda way instead of being done in the "MMO based on Super Heroes" method.

Imagine PvP if there was no "best" cookie cutter build....where an Ice guy would be very strong against Ice, good against most things and weak against heat and fire. Could you build a Great Ice build that others would emulate? Sure but along comes that fire guy who beats you down because you're all wet.

I really do hope that the MUO is designed from a comic book stand point first and that the mechanics are set to that rather than bending the genre to meet the mechanics.

So.....we have some creative folks here...why not start a thread and have a little contest to design our own Hamidon Raid?

Maybe if we come up with some good ideas the Dev's can make use of them in the next Hami Evolution.

If it works out we can tackle other game issues that people dislike.

Respecs and slotting do not in any way allow us to adapt in a way that completely invalidates a Power or Pool of Powers. Inventions aren't going to let us do that either. Powers aren't built with the idea that an Ice Toller should be fairly safe from Ice and Cold attacks while taking additional damage from Fire / Heat. Respecs don't allow us to alter our Primary or Secondary lists other that to pick a power at a different time or ignore one in favor of another.

In the Comic books all of the Big Bad Guys have a weakness. We've seen where swarms of Heroes have hit them with everything they have only to be left laying scattered across the fields in need of serious medical care. They are beaten because they have a weakness that some lucky and/or smart Hero discovers and figures out a way to exploit.

Wanna make Hami a challenge? Give him a pool of weakness and have him spawn with a random weakness each time that will require the Heroes to find it and exploit it to win. There won't be a "perfect team" because you won't know what you really need to take him down going in. It will still be one hell of a fight but I think it will feel more like a Super Hero / Comic Book battle and less like the Battle of Thermopylea. Players will feel like they've beaten the baddest thing going and it will never be the same twice .

No kidding.

Let me know when someone on the Dev team "adapts" the ability to Phase Shift since you all are living organisms too.

Lazy answer.

There's "Champion RP" for a Role Play channel as well.

1) Character Customization.
This includes the Costume Creator (which I voted for) as well as the ability to slot your powers in the order you like and with enhancements that focus your character's power sets.

2) Storylines.
I've been playing since just before Issue 2 and I am still finding little story gems I've missed here and there. One of my favorites? The Wheel of Destruction storyline.