TonyV

Hey all, someone else may have written this up already, but I haven't seen it, so I figured I'd post it as a helpful tip to everyone.

As I mentioned in a previous thread, NCsoft/Paragon Studios is offering a killer steal of a deal on VIP time for existing subscribers if you're willing to buy your VIP time up front in bulk.

So here's how you do it!

First, you might want to check out the announcement in the newsletter. Specifically, the part that is of interest is at the bottom. If you click the picture below, it will take you to the "Get Bonus Game Time" link:



After navigating to the Get Bonus Game Time link, you will be taken to the NCsoft Account Management page. This is the page you came to to sign up for your account, and where you can do things like update your credit card info and such.



On this page, type in your account name and password. PLEASE NOTE: This is not necessarily the same account name you use to log into the game! It may be, but it is entirely possible for your NCsoft account name and your game account name to be different. To find your NCsoft account name, look through your e-mail for one of two things: 1) Your original sign-up e-mail that starts off, "Thank you for registering with PlayNC! Your PlayNC account name is: MyAccount" (or whatever your account name really is), or 2) If you've ever filed a /petition, /bug, or a trouble ticket, look for a section named "Question Reference." It should list your PlayNC Account name and your Game Account name. You want the PlayNC Account name. Here's an example of what you're looking for:



Okay! So now that you've logged in. You should be at the main NCsoft Account Management Page. There is a menu of navigational links on the main page (NCsoft Store, Use a Serial Code, etc.), but the easiest way to get where you want to go is to click on the account over on the right side that you want to apply the holiday bonus time to. Note that if you have more than one account, you will see a list of all of your accounts here. If you want to apply the holiday bonus time to all of your accounts, you'll need to repeat the following steps for each account.



Alternatively, you can click on "Game Accounts" on the left, and select whichever account you want to apply the Holiday Bonus Time to. AGAIN: If you have multiple accounts, you will need to repeat these steps for every game account you have registered!

Now, you should see the link around the middle of the page to apply the Holiday Bonus Time to your account. It looks like this:



Next, you'll see a prompt for whether you want the 6+1 plan ($11.10 per month) or the 12+2 plan ($10.24 per month--a GREAT deal!). Select whichever one you want, and click Change My Plan. NOTE: If you select the 6+1 plan, you won't be able to get another 6+1 plan until (probably) next holiday season. Just keep that in mind, that this deal only comes once per year. Also note that European players will presumably see prices in Euros, not US Dollars, and that the 12+2 plan is not available. (I don't know why; that's just what they said.)



Once you change your plan, you'll get a message that tells you that you will be charged whenever what time you have already accrued expires.



IMPORTANT NOTES

• If you are already a VIP, you will NOT be billed right now for this time until your current subscription runs out! In the example above, I'm paid up through March 15, 2012. This means that I will be billed the $143.40 on or about March 15, 2012, which will have me paid up through May 15, 2013.
• You can always change your mind before you actually get billed. If in February I just can't handle forking over $143.40, I can cancel that plan and I WON'T be billed.
• If you do change your change your mind after December 31, though, you won't be able to re-change it later and get the Holiday Bonus Time offer. For example, I sign up, then in February, I change my mind and cancel the plan. I can't decide in March that I was wrong and get the same offer; I'd have to pay normal price.
• If I recall correctly, your account will revert to whatever plan it was on before after the Holiday Bonus Time expires. If you were on a month-to-month basis, after being dinged however much the bonus time will cost you, it will add that much time to your account and suspend, not cancel, any further billing under your current plan until the bonus time is used up.

Just so you can have an apples-to-apples comparison of prices, the following is how much a VIP subscription costs, averaged on a monthly basis.

• Month-by-month, it costs $15 per month.
• A 6-month block averages $12.95 per month. You save an average of $24.60 per year.
• A 12-month block averages $11.95 per month. You save an average of $36.60 per year.
• A 6+1 Holiday Bonus block averages $11.10 per month. You save an average of $46.80 per year.
• A 12+2 Holiday Bonus block averages a hair over $10.24 per month. You save an average of almost $57.09 per year.

I've been doing the Holiday Bonus Time deal since they started offering it. In fact, I'm almost already paid up through the holiday next year. If you can afford to take the up-front hit, you do save a bundle over the course of that year. Plus, you have the added advantage of not having to worry about monthly fees for a long time, which is mighty convenient.

Hope this helps!

Hey all, before this sale runs out, I've gotta ask what's probably dumb question.

On the Paragon Market, there is a Precise Dual Inspiration (Large) x5, which is described as: "x5 - Large (+Acc/+Dam) Dual Inspiration.

Then there's also a Precise Imbuement Team Dual Insp (Large) x5, which is described as: "x5 - Large (+Acc/+Dam) Team Dual Inspiration.

My question is, do both of these inspirations convey the same individual bonus? If so, is there any reason to get the single-target inspiration versus the team one? I mean, if they have the same bonuses, the team one would be just as effective as the single-target one, right? Thus making it kind of pointless to get the single-target one, if the team one has the advantage of affecting everyone around you if you happen to be on a team?

Just a quick update to reiterate an answer I posted here to the question, "Where is Faces?"

It's going to be a bit longer to get that site up and running. We're having to do a pretty detailed comb through the code to squash various warnings and database errors. At this point, I'm going to avoid posting a goal date, but it is still being worked on.

I don't want to cross-post, so if you want the nitty gritties, check out the other post.

Okay, so a few weeks ago, I bought one of the Razer Naga Epic gaming mouse, the one with 12 buttons on the side for quick access to common functions within the game. (Early birthday present, woohoo!)

Now that I have it though, I'm running into a bit of a quandary. What should I use those 12 buttons for? By default, they're mapped to the keyboard's 1 - 0 keys, plus - (11) and = (12). So I suppose I could just use them to fire off powers, but honestly, it's not that hard to reach my 1 - 0, -, and = keys on the keyboard. I'd like to program them to do things that are moderately more hard to do on the keyboard.

I've considered doing stuff like mapping them to make screenshots, capture demorecords, adjust the camera distance to close-middle-far, and that sort of thing, but I just thought I'd ask here.

If you have one of these beasts o' buttons, what do you have bound to them to make your City of Heroes life easier?

The sad thing is that I do agree that Paragon Studios/NCsoft needs to get this issue tackled once and for all. Ideally, I'd like a detailed billing view on my account management that shows me:

• Exactly when I've been charged for anything,
• Exactly what it was I was charged for,
• When and what exactly I've purchased with Paragon Points and Reward Tokens,
• When and exactly how many Paragon Points and Reward Tokens have been given to me,
• For bonus points, a parenthetical note of why Paragon Points and Reward Tokens have been given to me.

Here's a concrete example (and I'm totally making up this history) of a detailed information log that would make me positively giddy:

• Oct 18, 2011: +550 Paragon Points VIP + bonus allotment
• Oct 19, 2011: -400 Paragon Points Paragon store purchase(s)
  • 400: 5 x Enhancement Widgets
• Oct 22, 2011: -180 Paragon Points Paragon store purchase(s)
  • 80: 1 x Awesomesauce Inspiration
  • 100: 1 x Über belt costume piece
• Oct 22, 2011: +1 Reward Token VIP allotment
• Oct 23, 2011: +4600 Paragon Points Purchase from NCsoft
• Oct 23, 2011: +3 Reward Tokens Purchase bonus
• Oct 31, 2011: Month End Status
  • 5180 Paragon Points
  • 4 Reward Tokens ($5 remaining until next token)
• Nov 04, 2011: -1 Reward Token Reward claim: Base Teleporter (Tier 5)
• Nov 04, 2011: -1 Reward Token Reward claim: Vanity Pet (Tier 5)
  • Paragon Rewards Tier 5 complete, bonuses awarded.
• Nov 08, 2011: -400 Paragon Points Paragon store purchase(s)
  • 400: 1 x Poetry Powerset
• Nov 12, 2011: -1 Reward Token Reward claim: Attack Power (Tier 6)
• Nov 18, 2011: +550 Paragon Points VIP + bonus allotment
• Nov 21, 2011: Code Applied 2011 Player Summit Rulu-Shin costume items
• Nov 22, 2011: +1 Reward Token VIP allotment
• Nov 30, 2011: Month End Status
  • 5330 Paragon Points
  • 2 Reward Tokens ($5 remaining until next token)
• Status as of 15:24 UTC Dec 02, 2011

Look, one of two things is happening:

1) They have made some mistakes. Big deal, you've made mistakes before, too. In fact, apparently you made one in misunderstanding how the allotment of points worked, but instead of being all "gosh, I'm sorry!" like you expect Paragon Studios to be, you're just digging in deeper.

2) They're deliberately trying to screw you. If you think that's the case, why are you even still here throwing good money after bad? I know that if I ever felt that Paragon Studios were trying to literally steal money from me, I'd be out of here in a heartbeat.

Did you ever stop to consider that they know that there has been problems, that they might even be willing to throw in some goodies to make things right, that you had an opportunity to present yourself in a way that would get the community behind you so that they feel added pressure to get this issue resolved?

To Paragon Studios/NCsoft:

This issue is irritating, but please note that Xanatos does not represent the player base as a whole. Please fix the issue when you can, bump it a notch higher on the priority list if possible since it seems to be pretty widespread. I'm not demanding out of some misguided righteous indignation, I'm asking because I think it would improve the company image, make players happier, and ultimately, improve the bottom line through more spending in the store.

I have to work today. Not complaining, though; I took my holiday weekend last weekend to travel to Mountain View to the Pummit.

Hey community reps, in your Black Friday sale announcement, you forgot to mention one HUGE incentive that was sent in the announcement e-mails that will be of intense interest to most VIPs: the Holiday Bonus Game Time sale. Hopefully it will be officially announced here soon.

For you VIPs out there who may not have gotten or digested the e-mail, here's the important part:

Ooh, I want to add a few cent's worth!

First of all, regarding the hotel, I REALLY liked it. Last time I came out there, I stayed at the Crowne Plaza Cabana across the street. There was nothing particularly wrong with that hotel, but it cost about twice as much and wasn't as nice as this one. In fact, since I doubled up with Ninus on the room, it ended up only costing me a quarter what the Crowne Plaza did. I really liked the ponds they had and the fact that it wasn't just a homogenous hotel like you'd find in any ol' random city.

Second of all, I just have to say this again, which I think I asked about in the keynote. Bring back HeroCon! I know you say that you want a sustainable event, but the thing is, it costs a lot to fly across the country. I managed to trim some costs by leeching rides off of Texas Justice and Ninus (THANKS GUYS!!!) and doubling up on the hotel room, but still, the air fare alone was around $550, ouch! I had a blast, but seriously, it would be much easier to justify the investment in the future if there are either more panels or maybe even repeats of some panels so that I could attend even more. If necessary, I'd be willing to pay more for the ticket to help offset the ding on NCsoft's wallet, because the incremental cost of the ticket and another night's stay is beans compared to the sunk costs of travel. So now that I've had a taste of what HeroCon was like, I really, really, really want to come out there for more.

Third of all, just for the record, Fatare's costume was totally cool. It certainly turned some heads, and you're a lucky guy to have a girl that 1) is as pretty as your fiance, and 2) is talented and willing to be that awesome. I talked to her in a line at some point and she said her sister helped her on it. Please pass along (if she doesn't read it here) my compliments on a job well done.

Fourth of all, a HUGE thanks to all of the people who work at Paragon Studios who made this event happen. I think that it's lost on a lot of folks that these people work hard. REALLY hard. Especially the community management team going into an event like this. As if that weren't enough, a bunch of them spent hours Friday night with a bunch of us from the May focus group, and then they spent literally all day Saturday--over 50 people in all on the Paragon Studios staff--on what most people take for granted as a much-needed day off, to work their butts off and hang out and have fun with a bunch of relative strangers, some of whom might undoubtedly want to yell and scream at you, question your competence at your job, or at the very least, ask awkward questions that you may or may not be able to answer or even comment on. Even after all of that, Zwillinger worked for a long time Sunday fielding yet more questions and comments on the forums. I really think you guys are top-notch, and your dedication to the community and love of the game really is what pushed me over the threshold to spend a crapton of money to go to Palo Alto for a day and hang out with everyone.

I'll post some pictures as soon as I can get them offloaded from my camera. I didn't bring a USB cable with me, so I've got to do it from home.

I have to reiterate again how appreciative I am to Texas Justice and Ninus for schlepping me around, and everyone who hung with the out-of-towner who didn't know anybody.

Oh, and Shen, I'm sorry I didn't get to see you in Denver. My connecting flight left at 7:00pm, our plane landed a little late, someone had put it into my head that getting around in the Denver airport is a nightmare, and I was paranoid that I was going to miss my flight to Atlanta. I did wait around for a few minutes, but I think you were waaaay back in the back, because you were nowhere to be seen before I got really nervous that I wouldn't be able to get to the next gate. For what it's worth, my paranoia wasn't entirely unfounded. I couldn't find the departures board, and I ended up getting to the next gate with only around 10 minutes to spare before they closed the door and we were off.

DJ Angel: I am still SOOOO sorry. She gives me Real World Hero stickers, I give her squished toes. NOT cool.

Awesome time, panels were very cool. I don't know what all has been recorded, but I hope everyone gets to see the panels. The raffle prizes were killer impressive. And the devs are AWESOME.

Just touched down at SJC, waiting to deplane. ("Deplane! Deplane!") I have a couple of pictures on Faces, you can find out what I look like... Oh, wait... Right.

Oh well. I'm the tall kinda big guy with a red Falcons t-shirt and black leather jacket. If you see me, say hi.

About to go to bed WAAAAY too late so that I can get up at 4:00am EST. My plane leaves at 7:10am, and I'm due to arrive at 11:30am.

It just dawned on me that some of you might already be in town or arriving and looking for things to do until registration on Saturday. I went to Mountain View/Palo Alto in May, and here were some of the things that I found really cool:

Computer History Museum: This place was AWESOME. If you're a geek like me, it's like heaven seeing all of these old machines. If you're also getting to be an old fart like me, it's a little unnerving seeing stuff from your childhood and even your adult life in a museum. Still, the tour was fascinating, I learned a lot, and it's well worth the trip. General admission tickets are $15, and you should plan on three hours or so for the tour and self-paced "wandering around" time before or after. It's open 10am - 5pm Wed. through Sun.

NASA Ames Exploration Center: Some people might not care for it because it's not glitzy, but they have some neat exhibits. By far the coolest one was the moon rock. Yes, it's just a rock in a vacuum-sealed container, but for god's sake, it's FROM THE MOON! If you can ingratiate yourself to someone who works there, DO. Although there is no official tour and everything is pretty much "Go look at this stuff yourself," I got to talking to one of the guys who was there, and he ended up walking around with me. It turns out that he was retired from the Ames Research Center. We talked about the history of the space program, the future of manned and unmanned exploration, and he really made the visit worthwhile. Plus, admission is free, which is a price you can't beat. (Though you might want to take a few bucks to buy some cool NASA-logoed souvenirs.)

Apple Company Store: According to their web site, the company store at One Infinite Loop is "the only place in the world that sells Apple logo t-shirts, caps and accessories." If you're an Apple crispie, consider making a pilgrimage to the Mothership. If you know an Apple crispie, this stuff makes awesome Christmas gifts.

Stanford University: Unfortunately, they only offer public tours of the linear accelerator like three times a year and on a weird schedule. Believe it or not, though, Friday the 18th is one of those days! Unfortunately, the tour is already filled up. However, it's still a famous college that you might want to stop by. If you do, make sure you go up in the Hoover Tower for a very scenic view of Silicon Valley and drop by the bookstore for souvenirs.

In addition, there are some places that you might want to ride by. Though they generally don't offer public access, it might be worth a photo op. PLEASE NOTE: These places are on public thoroughfares, so please DO NOT park your car on the shoulder to get pictures! The best way to get to most of these places if you want a photo op is to take a VTA bus to the location (an all-day pass is like $6) so that you're not blocking traffic and generally being a nuisance.

Google corporate headquarters: Unfortunately, they don't offer public tours of their campus. Still, it's a neat place to say, "I've been there." It's right down the street from the Computer History Museum (see above).

Hewlett Packard corporate headquarters: Why? Because it's there. Honestly, if you're into HP, I'd suggest dropping by the HP Garage (below) instead of corporate headquarters, unless you just want a picture of yourself in front of the sign.

Mozilla Corporation: I sure wish they had a store there to buy souvenirs, I'm a HUGE fan of Firefox.

Symantec corporate headquarters: In case you have a virus. No, not THAT kind of virus.

Former Atari Headquarters: Fair warning: This stop will probably be underwhelming, given that the reason to stop here is no longer here. This is where Atari was based back when they made products like the Atari 2600. When I was a kid, I thought the streets of Sunnyvale must be paved in gold for such a cool place. I honestly thought the corporate headquarters looked something like this. If you just want to breathe in the vestiges of what was once a very historic place, here you go. Here's a good read about someone who made the pilgrimage here.

HP Garage: This is where Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard built their first oscilloscopes that they sold to Walt Disney, and is considered by some to be the birthplace of Silicon Valley. PLEASE NOTE: This is a residential neighborhood, and the house and garage are not open to the public. You can take pictures of the garage and/or the historic marker, but please don't be a jerk. Don't park in other people's driveways, don't block traffic, etc.

Paragon Studios: I know you're tempted to just drop by uninvited to the magic factory. PLEASE DON'T. No, I'm not speaking on behalf of the developers, but keep in mind that these people are working, and you'll just mainly be making the poor receptionist miserable. You don't want random people you don't know coming by and bugging you at your job, do you? (If you work at McDonald's, don't answer that.) And while I'm sure they wish they could visit with us one-on-one for hours on end, that's why they have events like Saturday's, so that they can visit with us AND continue publishing a kick-a** game. Still, I know you're dying of curiosity to see the place, so if you want to ride by and wave from the street, I'm sure they wouldn't mind.

San Francisco: There are too many AWESOME cool things here to talk about all of them. It's about a 45 minute trip north of Palo Alto/Mountain View to San Francisco. You may want to seriously consider taking the Caltrain there. Those trains are very nice double-deckers that go really fast (not bullet fast, though), and if you're like me and live in a city with kind of a crappy transit system, it's actually quite enjoyable. Plan on at least a day or two in San Francisco if you want to do anything but barely see anything. Popular touristy stops include places like Pier 39 in Fisherman's Wharf, the Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz, Lombard Street/Coit Tower, and... Well, I said I wasn't going to name them all; google a guide if you can go.

This isn't an exhaustive guide to the area, and people who live closer than 2,500 miles away might know better or more interesting places. Feel free to add your two cents' worth!

Hey all, I'm taking the RedTomax (City of Data) site down for a few minutes to get it under source control. Don't panic, nothing is wrong. I expect to have it back online by 10:00pm Eastern (or as Max Headroom would put it, 20 minutes into the future).

Edit: ...And done!

"Don't worry, they couldn't hit an elephant at that dist—"

:epic eyeroll:

So wait for it to go on sale, for crying out loud. Such is the beauty of Freedom. You get to pick and choose what you think is worth it, what you'll hold off a while on buying until it's cheaper, and what you really don't care about at all.

I think this expectation that everything will be a buck or two was a bit naive. It's the new shiny. If it has abysmal sales, they'll probably lower the price. Eventually, it will undoubtedly go on sale, probably for 200 or 250 points.