Twilights_Herald

I have run into this problem before. It seems a culprit is a Windows hot-fix installed some time on or after June 15th. The only permanent solution I found was to roll back to this date and stop installing automatic updates.

Hokay, after playing around with it, I've discovered the issue.

Surprise! Not even remotely graphics related. The culprit, in fact, was the hotfix published on 7/15. The problem existed on ALL NVidia drivers that even worked that I tested, anf vanished once I rolled back to that point.

So, if you're using Windows 7, RC 1, Build 7100 and still experiencing this issue, I would suggest rolling back nearly a month's worth of patches and hotfixes and turning off automatic updates if you have them on.

All right. I tried uninstalling the update Tease mentioned, and also reverting to the older driver. Neither resolved the issue, and I ultimately switched back because the older driver was causing annoying issues with everything else I'm playing right now. (Also, an ATI user reporting the same issue tells me this isn't graphics related at all.)

Tease, do you know specifically what date the Windows Update you uninstalled to get it working was published on?

As the post title says. We are talking about 25+ minutes into St. Martial (followed by a timeout.)

CoH Helper and HijackThis logs follow.

---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.1.1.7---

DxDiag gathered at July 25, 2009 13:46 (-04:00)
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7100) (7100.winmain_win7rc.090421-1700)
System Manufacturer: alienware
System Model: Aurora R5
BIOS: BIOS Date: 03/24/09 Ver: 08.00.14
Central Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 925 Processor (4 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
Memory: 4096MB
.Net Memory Report: 2894MB out of 4095MB available
Page File: 6643MB (1545MB currently in use)
C Drive: (WDC WD1500HLFS-75G6U0 ATA Device) 59217MB out of 134519MB (44%) free
D Drive: (WDC WD10EACS-00D6B0 ATA Device) 576238MB out of 953866MB (60%) free
K Drive: (WD 2500JB External USB Device) 5803MB out of 238414MB (2%) free
L Drive: (WDC WD50 00AACS-00ZUB0 USB Device) 172830MB out of 476929MB (36%) free
N Drive: (SanDisk U3 Cruzer Micro USB Device) zero-size drive
E Drive: (HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22NP20 ATA Device) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\Windows
DirectX: DirectX 11
DirectX Diag version: 6.01.7100.0000 (64-bit version)

Display Notes: No problems found.

No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.

No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.

Monitor:
Monitor's Max Resolution: (blank)
Video Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295
Manufacturer / Chip: NVIDIA / GeForce GTX 295
Video Memory: 2671 MB
Driver Version: 8.15.11.9038
Driver Date: 7/14/2009 2:54:00 PM
Driver Language: English

Monitor:
Monitor's Max Resolution: (blank)
Video Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295
Manufacturer / Chip: NVIDIA / GeForce GTX 295
Video Memory: 2671 MB
Driver Version: 8.15.11.9038
Driver Date: 7/14/2009 2:54:00 PM
Driver Language: English

Sound Device Description: Speakers (Creative SB X-Fi)
Driver File: ctaud2k.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.1369
Driver Date: 10/7/2008 9:55:34 PM

Sound Device Description: Digital Output Device (SPDIF) (High Definition Audio Device)
Driver File: HdAudio.sys
Driver Version: 6.01.7100.0000
Driver Date: 4/22/2009 12:15:37 AM


WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: M3A32-MVP DELUXE
Motherboard Version: Rev 1.xx
BIOS Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
BIOS Name: BIOS Date: 03/24/09 Ver: 08.00.14
BIOS Version: ALWARE - 20090324
BIOS Release: 20090324000000.000000+000

Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 1024x768
3D Resolution: 1024x768 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: Yes
Maximized: No
Screen Position: 0, 0
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: Yes

Physics Quality: High
Maximum Particles: 50000
Max Particle Fill? 10.000
Physics Card Enabled: No

Anti-aliasing: 4x
Anisotropic Filtering: 4x
Texture LOD Bias: Smooth
Water Effects: High Quality
Bloom: 1.000 (turned off)
Depth of Field Enabled: No
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: Yes
Shader Detail: High

World Texture Level: Very High
Character Texture Level: Very High
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 1.000
Entity Detail Level: 1.000
Shadows Enabled: Yes
Gamma Correction: 1.000
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: Yes
Suppression of Extra Player FX Enabled: No
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: No
Close Suppression Range: 3.000
Show Advertisements: Yes

Audio Mode: Performance
3D Audio: Yes
FX Sound Volume: 0.250
Music Sound Volume: 0.000

Show Advanced Graphics Options: Yes
Overall Graphics Quality: 0.600
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: 51257 bytes/second
Current Game Version: 19.20090702.5T2
Installation Directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\City of Heroes

Mod files in the Data directory
.\texture_library\GUI\Icons\Powers has 120 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\city has 1 file
.\texture_library\MAPS\Safeguard has 9 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\sewers has 44 files
.\texture_library\MAPS\static has 34 files
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\Outdoor_Missions has 9 files
.\texture_library\V_MAPS\Static has 16 files


Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.2
Scan saved at 1:48:11 PM, on 7/25/2009
Platform: Unknown Windows (WinNT 6.01.3004)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v8.00 (8.00.7100.0000)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Curse\CurseClient.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenOffice.org 3\program\soffice.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenOffice.org 3\program\soffice.bin
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Ctxfihlp.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Distillr\acrotray.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\PowerISO\PWRISOVM.EXE
C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\jusched.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashDisp.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\CTXFISPI.EXE
C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Trillian\trillian.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Trend Micro\HijackThis\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page = C:\Windows\SysWOW64\blank.htm
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar,LinksFolderName =
F2 - REG:system.ini: UserInit=userinit.exe
O1 - Hosts: ::1 localhost
O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Reader Link Helper - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Conversion Toolbar Helper - {AE7CD045-E861-484f-8273-0445EE161910} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O2 - BHO: Java(tm) Plug-In 2 SSV Helper - {DBC80044-A445-435b-BC74-9C25C1C588A9} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\jp2ssv.dll
O3 - Toolbar: Adobe PDF - {47833539-D0C5-4125-9FA8-0819E2EAAC93} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CTxfiHlp] CTXFIHLP.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Acrobat Assistant 7.0] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Distillr\Acrotray.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PWRISOVM.EXE] "C:\Program Files (x86)\PowerISO\PWRISOVM.EXE"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files (x86)\QuickTime\QTTask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\jusched.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [avast!] C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\Avast4\ashDisp.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [iTunesHelper] "C:\Program Files (x86)\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe"
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Sidebar] C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe /autoRun
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [CurseClient] C:\Program Files (x86)\Curse\CurseClient.exe -silent
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ehTray.exe] C:\Windows\ehome\ehTray.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Google Update] "C:\Users\Chris\AppData\Local\Google\Update\Google Update.exe" /c
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Steam] "c:\program files (x86)\steam\steam.exe" -silent
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\Run: [Sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /autoRun (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\RunOnce: [mctadmin] C:\Windows\System32\mctadmin.exe (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\Run: [Sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /autoRun (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\RunOnce: [mctadmin] C:\Windows\System32\mctadmin.exe (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')
O4 - Startup: OpenOffice.org 3.1.lnk = C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenOffice.org 3\program\quickstart.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Adobe Acrobat Speed Launcher.lnk = ?
O4 - Global Startup: Citrus Alarm Clock.lnk = C:\Program Files (x86)\Citrus Alarm Clock\Citrus Alarm Clock.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert link target to Adobe PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIECapture.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert link target to existing PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIEAppend.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert selected links to Adobe PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIECaptureSelLinks.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert selected links to existing PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIEAppendSelLinks.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert selection to Adobe PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIECapture.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert selection to existing PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIEAppend.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert to Adobe PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIECapture.html
O8 - Extra context menu item: Convert to existing PDF - res://C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Acrobat\AcroIEFavClient.dll/AcroIEAppend.html
O13 - Gopher Prefix:
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\Alg.exe,-112 (ALG) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Apple Mobile Device - Apple Inc. - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\bin\AppleMobileDeviceService.exe
O23 - Service: avast! iAVS4 Control Service (aswUpdSv) - ALWIL Software - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\aswUpdSv.exe
O23 - Service: avast! Antivirus - ALWIL Software - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashServ.exe
O23 - Service: avast! Mail Scanner - ALWIL Software - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashMaiSv.exe
O23 - Service: avast! Web Scanner - ALWIL Software - C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashWebSv.exe
O23 - Service: Bonjour Service - Apple Inc. - C:\Program Files (x86)\Bonjour\mDNSResponder.exe
O23 - Service: Creative ALchemy AL6 Licensing Service - Creative Labs - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Creative Labs Shared\Service\AL6Licensing.exe
O23 - Service: Creative Audio Engine Licensing Service - Creative Labs - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Creative Labs Shared\Service\CTAELicensing.exe
O23 - Service: Creative Audio Service (CTAudSvcService) - Creative Technology Ltd - C:\Program Files (x86)\Creative\Shared Files\CTAudSvc.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\efssvc.dll,-100 (EFS) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\fxsresm.dll,-118 (Fax) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\fxssvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: iPod Service - Apple Inc. - C:\Program Files (x86)\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
O23 - Service: @keyiso.dll,-100 (KeyIso) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @comres.dll,-2797 (MSDTC) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\msdtc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\System32\netlogon.dll,-102 (Netlogon) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (nvsvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\nvvsvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\psbase.dll,-300 (ProtectedStorage) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\Locator.exe,-2 (RpcLocator) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\locator.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\samsrv.dll,-1 (SamSs) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\snmptrap.exe,-3 (SNMPTRAP) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\snmptrap.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\spoolsv.exe,-1 (Spooler) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\sppsvc.exe,-101 (sppsvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\sppsvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Steam Client Service - Valve Corporation - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Steam\SteamService.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Stereoscopic 3D Driver Service (Stereo Service) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\3D Vision\nvSCPAPISvr.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\ui0detect.exe,-101 (UI0Detect) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\UI0Detect.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\vaultsvc.dll,-1003 (VaultSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\vds.exe,-100 (vds) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\vds.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\vssvc.exe,-102 (VSS) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\vssvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\wbengine.exe,-104 (wbengine) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\wbengine.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%Systemroot%\system32\wbem\wmiapsrv.exe,-110 (wmiApSrv) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\wbem\WmiApSrv.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%PROGRAMFILES%\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe,-101 (WMPNetworkSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe (file missing)

--
End of file - 9664 bytes

(QR) Because I'm feeling masochistic too (or perhaps cocky)

The Tartarus Project
Arc: #1499
Levels: 41-50 (Malta, Knives. Customs only for EBs and AV in final mission and to get specific group mixes.)
Subject: Stopping a minor Malta raid leads to a much larger threat. (Don't want to get too spoilery)
Theme/Feel: Semi-old-school Malta arc that takes advantage of some of the newer innovations in gameplay.
Warning: Author Avatar present in first mission as ally.

Arc Name: The Tartarus Project

Arc ID: 16427

Faction: Mostly Malta, Some Custom Enemies. Mission 5 has multiple EBs and an AV.

Difficulty Level: Moderate.

Synopsis: What, at first, looks like a typical Malta raid turns into a fight to save the world....

Estimated Time to Play: 1.5-2.5 hours

(QR, didn't read the whole thread, your mileage may vary, etc etc.)

While I understand the rationale for not permitting powers to be added to 'critter' body types, will we be permitted to remove some powers? There are a few specific cases where a certain power prevents it from being balanced to have missions with large numbers of them, so we might want to be able to create a version of those critters without that specific power.

[ QUOTE ]
Similarly, I can't say the lack of team-invite privileges makes sense. The only thing that might reduce would be blind-invites, but I don't think those come from exclusively from RMTs or Trial-players. Besides, we already have the "Do not accept invites" option, if you absolutely don't want to be bothered, right?

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, I can see the reason for it. A team invite can perform the same functions as a /tell, if the team is limited to one person. It's an effort to keep RMTers from being able to use trial accounts to 'call out' in any way, shape, or form. By forcing them to use Local, they broadcast their intentions to everybody in the area, meaning it's much easier to report them.

[ QUOTE ]
Your talking about mixing other attacks in that make you redrw your weapons...ahhh I see now. Yes it is true, but untill they fix the fact you have to redraw your weapon after healing or kicking or whatever....I never mix other attacks into a weapon set anyways.

[/ QUOTE ]

"Working as designed" as per BAB and Castle. IE, yeah, it sucks, but it doesn't suck enough for them to sink multiple issues worth of animation time into fixing (No, this is not debatable, to 'fix' this would require no new powersets or even any more PP until around I16)

No, I meant that.

You have to pay attention to what will cause you to re-draw your weapons, hence, it's a factor.

More specifically, let's say on claws you do Follow-up, Slash, Boxing, Swipe. The way things are now, the animations will look like this: Follow-up -> Pause -> Slash -> Pause -> Boxing -> Pause (while redrawing) -> Swipe.

On DB, a similiar combo would look like: BF -> NS -> Boxing -> Redraw -> PS

One particular thing: Dual Blades and War Mace have both had their 'animation pause' eliminated. Dual Blades, in particular, was balanced around that 'pause' not being there.

This means that, for DB and Mace only, redraw IS a factor.

[ QUOTE ]
I say now what I have said for 4 years. All I ever hear is "Yeah we could do it... but it would take too much time and it's not a high priority".

Well guess what BaB. Your players have been asking for this feature for 4 YEARS straight. So obviously it IS something we want and want it rather badly since we WON'T let it go.

[/ QUOTE ]

Get This Through Your Head.

Do you like any of the following?

1) New Powersets (Sonics, Archery, DB, Will)
2) New Missions
3) New Zones
4) PvP
5) Bases
6) Various graphical updates.

Pick one. To have Power Customization by this point, that's all you'd have aside from it. Not to mention bug fixes would have to take a complete back-seat since PC is very likely to break them all anyway as it gets implemented. NCSoft would not permit the game to stagnate like that, or if they had, there would not be a game right now because most people would have left.

[ QUOTE ]
Don't go thinking that your casino rewards card is getting a lot of points playing hours and hours of Pai Gow. PG poker is, I believe, the least effective time/rewards of all casino games because there are so many pushes and the game takes forever to deal a hand.

[/ QUOTE ]

One thing: By American law, there is only one thing that affects your comp rate: The number and amount of bets you make. The casinos are not permitted to take away your comps if you win, lose, or draw on a hand. Nor, in fact, would they really want to. (This said, Harrah's casinos have been engaging in some shady behavior to get around this restriction with particularly 'good winners' lately, but that's another thread)

Now, this doesn't mean that Pai-Gow is any good in terms of table play. Typically, the minimums needed to get comps are higher, and because the number of hands played /is/ the smallest out of any of the carnival games other than Pai-Gow (which is only available in Vegas, typically) you won't be pushing out the number of hands an experienced blackjack player can one-on-one with a dealer. But Pai-Gow is a good game if you want to make your money last and sit at the table a good long time.

I think it's 10 million. I got it at around 28. But then, I was in perma-debt from level 5. Had to smack a few SG mates for saving me from certain death too.

High Pain Threshold requires Technofreak. Just got it.

Uhhh....it's rather late for me, so forgive me if I'm wrong, but are there any regular zones with more than one trainer? What if the devs coded things around the assumption that there'd only be one trainer per zone? That would be an additional problem on top of the trainers just always reacting to the character the same way.

On the other hand, story-wise "Security Level" and "Threat Level" seem to both reference the same thing, in game, from the perspective of the Super Powers Registry (or whatever that's called.) I believe that that organization is actually independent of both Paragon and the Rogue Isles, so someone from there could probably function as a trainer because s/he could update the relevant records.

Any chance that I7 includes Nictus/EvilPBs?

Poz, are you really so blind as to think the recovery chance matters? If there is even the POSSIBILITY of all the prestige needed to put down the stuff needed for a base raid will disappear, many people will choose to go in, destroy the base, and then hope that at least one item won't recover. At 100,000 prestige per raid, the cost is minimal compared to the potential damage inflicted. To really discourage that behavior, you would probably have to charge at least as much as a raid base is actually worth, maybe even up to ten times that, and people would still take advantage just to grief.

It's bound to come up sooner or later, so here are some good rules.

1. It's probably just as scared of you as you are of it. Don't be the one to shoot first. Then again, still be ready to fire back.

2. Just because it comes from a reality beyond our own with no native comprehension of our mortal limitations doesn't make it hostile.

3. Some of these intelligences are able to choose the form they take. If it looks like a little kid and is eating a tire iron, it's probably an Alien Intelligence.

4. Even assuming that the Alien Intelligence you are dealing with is not totally hostile, you must be understanding. Flirting with one, for instance, is a futile task at best.

5. And if you're in doubt. . . just let it be.