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Having betaed GoRo, I also found that I wasn't impressed with what it offered. Although some players like to point that GoRo was an expansion, not a CoV-style release, the issue here is that CoV is the most comparable issue to GoRo in that you have to pay to unlock all of it. As such, looking at GoRo I couldn't see $30 worth of value. The problem is that Paragon Studios aimed too low with GoRo, only releasing new content for lvls 1 - 20 (plus CoP plus tip / morality missions). As such, Praetoria feels like an incomplete world - for both CoH and CoV, the launch was lvls 1 - 40, with Praetoria being half that.

Lvls 1 - 20, of course, are the quickest to get through, so Praetoria feels even smaller. It contains some of the better in-game narratives, certainly, but it will face similar issues to CoV's fixed stories - your character is set on a semi-fixed path (although there is some player freedom to choose the journey) that can see players feel locked-in.

Side switching is nice, but really feels too late (to me). I've got a hero to lvl 50, a villain to lvl 50 and feel I've seen both sides adequately. No, I haven't done every single mission and contact in every area, but I've travelled enough ground to feel that I've seen all I want to see.

Although you might argue (and some have) that my expectations for GoRo should be lower than for CoV because it costs less to buy, it misses the point that Paragon Studios / NCsoft have trumpeted the reinvestment they've made back into CoH/V, that they've got a bigger studio than ever, that things are better than ever, etc. From that perspective, I'd looked to GoRo as a key example of what the future holds for CoH/V. I would have had no problem in paying $50 or more for GoRo if it had offered a fuller Praetorian experience.

I'm also not in the mood to wait for I19, especially since the Incarnate content appears destined to be delivered in parts to the player base so that lvl 50s don't hit that Incarnate 10 point too quickly (which is a wise development strategy, but doesn't thrill me as a paying player). This makes the next question, "when is I19 coming out?" which at this stage of the year will either be November-ish (compete with DCUO, something just before the Xmas event) or next year... and even then what Issue 19 will contain isn't guaranteed. After all, if I have to pay $30 to get access to lvls 1 - 20 within Praetoria, it isn't a long bow to draw that lvls 21 - 40 / 50 are also going to come with a price tag.

Also to add to the OP's points: I've spoken to several long-term CoH/V players and they've all expressed similar opinions about GoRo. Your mileage may vary.

Finally, I've defended Paragon Studio's marketing department in the past but I have to make the comment that the GoRo website was incredibly ordinary. The information is contains (outside of the bios) is very generic and only provides a cursory insight into what the expansion contains.

Take powers: some flavour text and then the names of the powers within the set, but no detail on what those powers do. Two powersets have no videos to show them off. The site itself uses space very badly - huge amounts of space are wasted on the GoRo logo on every page and it is very easy to miss the media sections for powers unless you typically scroll all the way down on a page. The use of videos to promote GoRo was a good step forward, but the actual site itself leaves a lot to be desired.

Comic books as modern cultural drivers is heavily limited to being IP fodder for movies. Disney didn't buy Marvel because they want to keep pumping out "Captain America" to the decreasing number of comic book stores who serve a dwindling audience.

Even the term 'graphic novel' was partly developed to get away from the stigma of being a 'comic'.

Spector's point is that video games need to get away from being power fantasies for boys if that industry wishes to avoid being limited to an increasingly niche audience. Now, he might just be thinking of superhero comics - which have dominated the US market for quite a while now - and not be considering how popular manga and graphic novels have become among younger groups (with the traditional comic industry often denigrating and / or ripping off manga in equal measure) but his point is valid.

Glad they went this path since it is the best new player experience on offer in CoH/V.

Anyone started a trial account to test this out?

Praetoria is (in theory) the best introduction to CoH/V in content terms. If trial players don't get access to it, it seems like a hugely wasted opportunity.

Then, however, to keep those trialists they've got convince them they need to pay more for GoRo than they see CoH/V currently selling for. It's a challenge.

The biggest mistake Blizzard is making here is thinking that Facebook is a good model for their social network, when the reality is that people use Facebook for very different reasons than they'd use Real ID. Facebook is (superficially, at least) about socialisation whereas Blizzard multiplayer titles are about competition. That's a very different mindset when thinking about how people interact.

And of course, Real ID is coming to Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3, plus I won't be surprised when it is rolled out to all Activision online titles. This is Blizzard Activision trying to build their own gaming community hub ala Xbox Live. Unfortunately, they've fallen down at the first hurdle.

However... with Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 on the way, there may be enough inertia to carry it through and at least have it operational.

Good move.

If the markets weren't merged, player behaviour would have merged them as the vast majority started to use WW.

On that article: Dead Space didn't have cut scenes, but it certainly had the locked areas where another character vomited exposition at you.

Highbeam wrote a great guide to Flashback badging that can serve as an info source about what you might encounter. Check the entire thread since some of the original info has changed.

I agree that Ouro missions should warn players about EB / AV involvement.

Don't they usually tell us when the Boosters are coming, so that we can warm up our credit cards?

Even if the Cole-Who-Would-Be-Reichsman was in the US during the rise of the Nazi Party, it should be remembered that there was support in the US for Germany against Britain. Plus being gassed / sick can change a person - once Reichsman was healthy again, his attitude towards those less fortunate may have become a lot more insensitive.

Cole is typically seen as a self-centred adventurer / mercenary type at that stage of his life. The difference between the two versions may simply have been who he decided to fight for - a Germany who was trying to stand on its own two feet again (following the Treaty of Versailles) where things were happening might have been attractive to that version of Cole.

It's a good promo video, aiming to get people who may not have heard about CoH/V for a while (or even at all) to think about the game.

With that in mind, I really hope some of those effects weren't devs adding in cool things players will never be able to do. Because people get annoyed when they see a video showing a whirlwind travel power they can't get in-game. Especially if the selling point is "you can make any kind of character you want!".

Qualitatively, hoarding is a problem in terms of maintaining market supply of a particular item.

We can't tell quantitatively how big a problem it is just based on this thread.