Von Krieger

Huh. Apparently I have a WikiFur page as well. I was not aware.

Sent in my own heartfelt plea.

I don't really know what to say. City of Heroes has been my favorite game since the moment I started playing, somewhere shortly after the release of CoV. The game has always been the thing I go back to for fun and entertain and the fact that it's going away leaves me literally in tears.

This is the only community in which I've participated to the degree that I have in the past decade or so. I'm not the most social person and spent the majority of my time soloing, but checking the CoH forums several times a day has been something I've done just about forever.

CoH was my game and this was my community. Wednesdays and the weekly coffee talk have been the highlights of my week, even when health issues have essentially forbidden me from my weekly rounds as Dev Chat Transcriptionist.

I don't know what I'm going to do from here. Once the game shuts down there is going to be a big, empty hole in my life where this game and this community used to be.

I was looking forward to the future stories, the future powers, the revamped Blaster that actually had me playing an AT that wasn't a Brute. I spent a lovely few hours on Beta with a Water/Fire Blaster (who had neon orange particle effects, who I dubbed Death By Tang) and was looking forward to trying out the new AT on live.

I was looking forward to the forthcoming Bio Armor, and it being possible that a/Bio Brute might be the character that would be the next character I cared about enough to bring to Level 50.

I was looking forward to a little project of mine, creating and playing undead versions of the Freedom Phalanx from another dimension. I was going to actually sit down and write about the characters, about to dip my toe into yet another facet of the City of Heroes community.

And now all of that is gone. As is my silly little dream of one day getting something of mine into the game. A costume, a character, a power. Something I could point to as a pile of pixels on the screen and say "I made that."

I guess with my disabilities that combine to me being pretty much unable to leave the house without assistance and pretty much ruining any chances I'll have of a career, that I kind of looked at City of Heroes and my interaction with the community, helping others via the various forums, writing up the Coffee Talk highlights (which I did because no one else seemed to), as something akin to it.

I don't want this to be gone.

There is nothing I can do about it.

City of Heroes empowered me to be able to overcome some of the obstructions that my life has dealt me.

But now I feel powerless. And it hurts.

-Aaron Kehl
@Von Krieger

I think my dev chat summaries and my coverage of the first Player Summit helped refine the streaming/scheduling format that was used for the second.

Though they might've been due to parallel design and influence, I've found parts of my Hellfire Elementalist EAT design in Bio Armor and what had been released regarding Radiation Armor.

On my Brute it's been quite fun once I got Follow Through and tossing the ATIO set in Titan Sweep, which I open with. The two sweep powers kill all the minions and leave the big guys open for a follow through to the face.

If we made Virtuous Armor than all the other servers would want their own named set.

Defiance Manipulation
Freedom Control (With Tier 9, Iron Fist!)
Union Organization (For Masterminds!)

I went Water/Fire Blaster and colored everything thermonuclear neon orange.

And named her Death By Tang.

Also my brain is trying to come up with something witty involving "We don't need no /Water" and involving invoking the power Burn. It is failing. :P

Hmm, I seem to suddenly have developed an urge to listen to Queen after reading yet another thread on this topic. I wonder why. :P

Though in all seriousness I'm kind of wondering what folks who are dead set against having to pay Paragon Points for powersets in order to fund further powerset development would have in their place.

I'd imagine that the new powersets are the best-selling category of sales on the Paragon Market. So if a magic wand was waved and suddenly all VIP's got all the powersets for free forevers, what would be a worthwhile addition or alteration to the game to take their place?

The other big ticket item, I imagine, would be the costume sets. So if said magic wand was waved and VIP's got to dance around in a land of milk, honey, Excel spreadsheets, and particle effects, where would it end?

After all if you get all the power sets for free as a VIP, then why shouldn't you get all the costume sets for free?

It's kind of an "If you give a mouse a cookie scenario."

I don't really see how Paragon could actually handle a mix of subscription and a la carte systems any better than they already have, with the monthly stipend of Paragon Points to active subscribers.

I buy my game time in 14 month chunks, and can usually get a free month or two from bringing former VIP's back every time an issue rolls around.

So I end up paying less than $3.70 a month for my subscription when you take into account the fact that I get $6.30 worth of power points for free every month. Because I'm tier 9, which I bought myself up to the day the option became available with about $100.

I sure as hell feel like I'm getting my $3.70 a month worth.

And on top of my stipend it seems like at the rate I purchase stuff from the market that I'll be dropping $100 to buy more paragon points every September.

Dividing that by 12 months and adding that to the monthly cost, when you take the 550 points of store credit every month, I end up paying $11 a month over the span of the entire year for City of Heroes.

That's the rate you get if you buy a plain ol year in advance, rather than snag the bonus plan every time it rolls around. Which was exactly what I was paying before Freedom dropped.

So I'm getting more costumes, more powersets, more bug fixes, some of the best story content in the game, regular issues of massive size, addressing of long standing quality of life issues, and in general ending up with a better game the further time goes on.

I don't buy stuff just for my own entertainment. I'm of the mind that I'm going to reward a company that produces a product I like with my patronage.

I like the direction the game has taken under the Paragon Studios banner. I do what I can to help my fellow players and the community. Because this is the only MMO I've tried that's worth paying to play.

With all the negative emotion I see in these threads, I wonder why folks are still hanging around if they feel so slighted about ending up getting more for their money now than at any other point in the history of the game.

Stop paying if the course the game has taken upsets you. Go play something else. If/when CoH piques your interest again you can take things up right where you left off. Heck, you can even stop giving Paragon your monies every month and you can still keep playing the game.

I'm a great big fat guy. I've been told I eat approximately the same portions as your average family of four. If you want to sit in the corner and munch on sour grapes, that's your prerogative. I'll be over here coming back for thirds and fourths at the buffet that keeps getting bigger and better every month. If you want to just order off the menu fine, do that if it makes sense for you.

Just don't get crabby because you decided to pay for the buffet and all you're doing is nibbling on those grapes and appearing generally unpleasant.

With a supergroup you cease having membership the moment you leave the server. You'll have to be reinvited if you transfer out and then transfer back.

I tried out the free version of Fraps, which worked, and then bought the full version of the thing. So problem solved.

FastStone also gives me back a solid black screen.

Yes, you still have to unlock them by running a patron arc. But you are no longer limited to taking the power pool of the patron you run the story arc of.For example, you can run Ghost Widow's arc and get Black Scorpion's pool if you wanted. Or take three different patron pools on three different build slots.

Global Handle: @Von Krieger
Concept: Modernizing


Vindicator: Aurora Borealis





Why: The overarching concept I went with in this set of four was to update and modernize the looks of the four heroines, but also to retain some of the central aspects and themes of their in-game appearances.

Aurora was the first one I did. My initial idea was to go for something in tribute and reference to Sister Psyche, but that's been done several times already in the thread, so I decided to go a different way with the look.

The unique pieces of Aurora's outfit are the rings, belt, and tiara, and while I can't replicate those parts exactly I can utilize similar pieces to get the same effect.

Aurora also has, essentially, a one color outfit, which in my mind looks to simplistic. Her outfit also shows off a lot of skin.

So keeping all those in mind I went with the Imperial Dynasty set as the base for her outfit. The inherent gold edges to the outfit also help to prevent the outfit from being monotone. The ID pieces also show skin, so right away we have the monocolor thing kicked aside and we've matched up the showing off some skin theme Aurora has.

With the baked-in gold being selected for us, using the Retro Sci Fi boots, gloves, and shoulders tinting them a similar shade gives us the look of the rings that Aurora has as her unique pieces.

I also used the Barbarian tiara as a stand-in for Aurora's signature piece. Unfortunately that means I can't keep her hair style, as the ponytail she sports has the bit of hair in the front ending up behind the tiara.

So I kept the gold theme and chose the hairstyle I did in order to compliment the tiara.

Also of note is that white is an absolute pain in the butt to get to show up as make up. :P

Aurora's in-game outfit looked, to me, kind of like the relatively simple attire a novice hero would be able to get. Or in Aurora's case make with a compass and a pair of scissors.

I think the look I gave her appears more professional-seeming and less "I made my own outfit all by myself!"


Vindicator: Mynx




Mynx is another character whose outfit screams that they made it at home in their spare time. Or in Mynx's case that her mother sewed her for Halloween. Trust me, I know from experience wearing a tiger-stripped outfit on Halloween.

I'm not sure what it is with Mynx that sets off my "uncanny valley" sense, but her color palette has just always seemed a bit off to me. She also has the misfortune of being stuck with the CoH Classic tiger pattern, which for some unknown reason looks like it's smeared all over.

So keeping her 'human' coloration or white skin and brilliant red hair, I decided to do something different with the stripy pattern. Since giving her blue skin and white markings made her broadcast "I AM RIPPING OFF MYSTIQUE, GENERICIZE ME!," and my efforts and giving her a better looking bodysuit did not pan out, I instead went for the Bioluminescence pieces for her top and bottom.

Unlike all the heroines in the Vindicators and Freedom Phalanx (Except Valkyrie, but she wears armor) Mynx is actually covered up entirely from the neck down. Reading over her biography she was experimented on by Crey, which got her her powers, and also that her secondary changed from /Regen to /Super Reflexes, representing the regenerative serum wearing off.

A lot of comic book characters with Regen powers heal back to their original state, while with Mynx I was thinking that subjected to testing the limits of the regenerative effect would have a lasting mark on her. Either from scarring from wounds so severe that the regeneration couldn't fully restore them, or from the serum going above and beyond returning injured areas to the point of previous function. Instead adapting them to be more resistant to harmful effects in the future.

I was contemplating throwing out the blue entirely in favor of red for my Mynx revamp. Using the third darkest red for the Bio markings makes for some pretty horrific looking scars. But in the end I decided to stick with blue as I was putting together Mynx's new outfit.

For some reason I see Mynx and my brain goes "Professional lady wrestler!" I think that might be due to my e-mail namesake Hellkat being a striped quasi-cat girl lady wrestler. So I used parts that reminded me of pro wrestling attire. Kind of a mix of Kharma/Awesome Kong, Nattie Neidhart, and Beth Phoenix (which is why Mynx is wearing a tiara.)

I went with the Sport boots and gloves since they had an elbow and knee pad thing, and for some reason I get kind of a Matt/Jeff Hardy-Classic Undertaker kind of vibe from them. I used gold as a secondary color on the outfit once again to keep the outfit from getting too monotonous as well as using the third primary color alongside red and blue.

I kind of picture the reasoning behind the change in attire as Mynx finally coming to terms with her alterations and no longer feeling like she should hide her scars.


Vindicator: Luminary




Poor Luminary. As far as I can see she doesn't have a signature part. Aurora had her rings, Mynx had her M belt, and Ms. Liberty has her swordbelt and shoulder pads. Though since at the moment PC's can't access the old, non-reflecting Metallic options that might count.

The good thing with a robot character is that you don't have to put much thought behind a costume change, or a complete physical overhaul. It can easily be explained as repairs or upgrades.

For my revision of Luminary's looks I went for a sort of Glowy-White Fruit Brand Product look with her. Wherever I could I tried to use pieces that had curves, lacked sharp edges, and had a sort of plastic-composite armor sort of look.

Over all I'm rather pleased with the effect, as most of the pieces I utilized are from completely different sets. Her armor pieces all give her a smooth, sleek, feminine look to her, while the golden material of unknown composition (I am a lazy VK and don't want to research what one would use to insulate a robot superhero who would often get into battles) also matches relatively well. Once again her top, chest, and bottom pieces all come from different sets, but have an incredibly similar look to them.

I used a Carnival of Light mask for Luminary's face for several reasons. It fits the molded plastic aesthetic I was going for as well as having a Light-themed named to go along with it. If I recall correctly there are several Carnies around the Talos TUNNEL portal. So that could easily be tied in to her rebuilding as well.

Though it's next to impossible to see, I left Luminary's head as Metallic with a white Circuitry pattern. I also kept her single non-Metallic set piece, that being her belt. It's just about the only thing that could possibly carry over after an armor upgrade.


Vindicator: Ms. Liberty




Ok, I didn't realize it until I wrote up the last one did I realize that I used gold coloration in each and every costume I've made thus far. I didn't mean to do that, it just happened that way.

Ms. Liberty is another character whose costume looks pretty darn awful. I run around Atlas from level 1 to level 4 just so I only have to see that horrendous looking fade texture thing she's got on. So just about anything would be an improvement.

Of course we have to keep the American theme of the outfit with patriotic colors, and I also preserved her use of gold as an accessory color for her belt and mantle.

So I essentially armored her up to make her look the part of a heroine who has to step into some big red, white, and blue shoes. I'm not 100% happy with the way she turned out, but barring another layer of lower body accessories, there really isn't anything I can do about it.

None of the skirt options went well with the rest of her outfit, and thus allowing me to put some more red on her lower body. I attempted to balance that out with the red of her cape. I really like the way the breastplate and the Witch Leather bottom have their golden segments flowing in to one another.

I think she needs a proper headband, but those wings don't come with one. I debated putting a helmet on her or not, but she really doesn't seem the type to go around wearing a helmet.

Out of the four redesigns I have here, I think Libby here is the most lacking. There's something missing on her, but I can't quite put my finger on what it is, nor can I see a way to fix the faults that I'm seeing with her design.

Nope. PC.

And I'm taking images in the costume creator. I can;t use the in game screen shot command.

For some reason not to long ago all my attempts at getting a screenshot from CoH stopped working and instead would spit out a solid black screen. I've used three different screen cap programs, but they all give me a solid black image as the result.

I don't recall changing any settings on my computer or anything like that. But I may have accidentally tripped something somewhere along the line.

Any ideas of what to do?

There's a bunch of guards near Imperious in Cimiora, I think you can park yourself next to them, put a power on auto, and then head off. I don't recall if healing counts while at full HP, so that might not work.

"Ha ha! The joke is on you Captain Shorts, for my I have swapped out my trademark Groin Shrinking Ray with my newly devised Pattern Baldness Accelerator! Let us see how you get a date NOW my erstewhile nemesis!"