houtex

Unless it's highly important to the story of the character in some way, Mutant is the choice. For only one reason:

It pretty blatantly says what each enhancement is when I'm getting them. I don't have to figure it out by color or right click for description or anything like that. They're the SOs of TOs simplicity.

MAGIC, on the other than... Band of this, Light of that... o.0

I don't make many tech, natural or science characters either. Usually mutant, with a nod to magic.

Howdy. Saw you were redirected here. Thanks for posting here instead, you'll get better results.

First, you might want want to peruse *all* of the stickies in this section. They are all important in some way or another, and you may just stumble across *the* thing that fixes it all.

Secondly, we require way more information. In those stickies you'll see various programs that we'll need you to run, to get information about your computer, your software setup, that sort of thing. And this particular sticky:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=231628
is exactly what you need to do for us to help you better.

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Now, as far as what your describing... Depending on which website/box you're reading the specs for minimum are just... not very good. They're a theoretical 'should work' instead of a real world "oh, yeah, that's very playable." or "no way that'll work, we'll have to bump up the specs."

Also, some of the specs are old. And as such, the game has passed them by in needs. So the graphics card *may not* actually be good enough today, whereas 2-3 years ago, it was just perfect. Pentium 4HT 3.0G chip with 2G of ram and an Nvidia 6800GS comes to mind... really wouldn't wanna play on it NOW, but it used to be my main machine. It can't do what I need it to now.

As far as the weirdness you're seeing, you might want to update your drivers. ATI drivers might require a rev or two back from current to work. You might also want to deinstall the drivers currently installed in Safe Mode, then install the new drivers.

Any further help than this is likely going to require the logs for the City of Heroes Helper and/or the Hijack This to solve it to completion. Post those IN HERE, below, and DO NOT use the [code] or any other formatting... just copy and paste them in here directly from Notepad.

Variables are fine, and sure, it happens... but the HUGENESS of disparity available... it's like bringing a Corolla 4 cylinder manual to an F1 race... it *will* lose. And so will non-portal racers.

IMO, of course. Perhaps I need to look at it further, but I really think I've gotten it figured out on this. We'll see.

And yes, of course I understood it to be there would be no revealing one's amazingness. I look forward to potentially winning, to be honest, at least one race if not outright sweeping the events, but conceed there is likely multiple ways to de-skin a feline animal. Or other animals. Or de-other-parts. But definitely multiples.

I'm *really* looking forward to the thing. Badly, almost obsessively even.

Ok, it's later. And I can say I'm an unqualified MONSTER at this badge run thing. Truly.

I will NOT divulge my times. You can forget that noise... until after that is, as I will be running the badge run events. I hope to find an SG and a VG to run them with so I can use the base portals.


Blueside:
Optimized route without base portals: XX minutes, YY seconds.
Optimized route WITH base portals: Above time -30%

Redside:
Optimized route without base portals: WW minutes, VV seconds.
Optimized route WITH base portals: Above time -25%

You can make your own calcuations with your own minutes/seconds, but this is consistent, each run was done 3 times, as exactly the same as possible.

So indeed, anyone coming without base portals is GOING to lose. Because if only one person has them, that person is likely to plaster the rest. Fact. And I'm going to try to be that very person, although I'm sure there'll be others with portals.

One thing about this little bit of testing... I need to get Co* on an SSD. The load times are *killin* me...

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Now, two more things regarding the badge runs...

1) External interference, in the form of speed buffs. Say, IR is blasted. Not real sure how y'all feel about it. Ambivalence at best here, it will be what it will be. There will be travel powers anyway, so... As stated above, interference in *blocking* your run can be made, and that's just too dang bad... hm. I wonder what can be spammed to slow you down...

2) The Next Big Thing badge is *almost automatic* for anyone who logs in the first time. You even breathe heavy and it will likely be awarded. It's just too close and easy to mistakenly get. I assume this is known, and won't be penalized in any way.

Just making sure on that. I'm sure it was unspoken, but... you know lawyers... and pedants. "Like me!" - The Joker.

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And two final things...

This 'ticking' you speak of, in regards to the judge at each badge... So... how long will that take? What's involved with it? Do I have to wait, interact, do the ;dance6 emote? I'm in a hurry, don't'cha know, I ain't got time for hijinks...

And... it's not in any order, is it? I don't *have* to get them in the order listed, do I? If so... that's important. Very important.

---

Thanks again, I look forward to the clarifications, and to the event itself. Good luck to all!

Howdy folks.

I have to bring up a point about a certain event, namely the first two, the Death Badge Runs.

I have been looking at how you'd do it. And even without running them, it becomes VERY obvious that given certain placements of certain SG portal locations both blue and red side...

Unless you have access to the SG portals, you are going to lose. Badly. It will not even be close, *especially* red side. You can cut the time down by half, easily, as I see things on Vidiotmaps, being a Villain. Be like bringing a Yugo to a Top Fuel drag race if you didn't have the portals, it's that bad/good an advantage.

I therefore request that someone make a base on both sides, with all portals required for all zones needed and that ALL participants are required to become part of that SG for the event. And perhaps we are allowed a couple of minutes to familiarize ourselves with which portal is which in the base.

I know I'm not a rule maker, but really, I feel it's that important, given the huge disparity that will be seen between the haves and the have nots.

Unless I can make a base with portals on a solo level 4, or maybe someone will be kind enough to invite me to a supergroup with sufficient resources to have the portals available... on both sides... which is why I suggest the above. Parity for all, just route running.

I hope there is some discussion about this... even if it's thrown out as a non-problem. Thanks, all, for your time in this matter. I'm highly interested to see what happens on this. Imma give it a go on those races anyway.

Other than that, I wish good luck to ALL participants in ALL events. Should be a fun time all around, and thanks for putting it together!

These forums, anyway. I'll see y'all in game, esp. Pinnacle, but I've had it with this broken forum and it logging me out all the time. Oh, I put up with the 'have to log in every time I want to read/reply" and having to add a 'Coh Daily' favorite because 'new posts' won't work due to the bug, but now I can't even open a message as a tab, because it throws me out?! W. T. H?!?

This is sad. We want to have a world class superhero MMO, but if we can't have decent forum technology...? Then again, AE is still broken for outdoors stuff, so I guess that sorta makes some sense... You listenin', Dr. Aeon?

I hope the Pinnheads will at tell me if they ever fix this stupid logout thing in the chats, but honestly, the mods/devs/PTB should be hanging their heads. And don't give me this "it's vBulletin's fault!" because forums.themustangsource.com, while it has issues, doesn't log me out. Ever. And it's vBullietin. Worse thing is the search (that's universal though) and the daily picture gallery on the front page (doesn't apply here.)

If it gets fixed, I may be back, but nobody's gonna care either way, I'm supposing. I just hadda say, because I hadda say. Grr.

End of rant. Peace, out, see ya in game.

/Edit: Amazingly, it didn't throw me out for this post. Imagine that.

Backstory on the lyrics:

Alexander Courage wrote and had the theme music done. He was therefore entitled to a royalty *each* time that theme was played. Which meant 'awesome' for him if it went syndicated (and it did!)

But Roddenberry, in a complete **** move, knew that if he simply wrote lyrics and attached them to the song, he'd split whatever profits that song would get. And so he wrote the words, attached them, and cut Courage's profits by 50%.

No, really:
http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/trek.asp

Although I like me some Star Trek, and quite a bit of it, Roddenberry was the total jerk, and I hate that he profited in the ways he did for something that was as awesome overall as it was.

/In case that matters to anyone.
//yeah yeah, CSB. Whatevs.

My particular favorite was a freakshow that, once defeated, squirmed about on the ground, his head... oddly missing... then I figured it out.. it had literally gotten smooshed into his butt and was being forced through his abdomen... it emerged, slowly, like a bad version of an Alien lavae being born.

It was *such* a visual.

"How to do" is shown here, in the forums, or in Help channel, or in, I dunno, exploration maybe in how the game works/doesn't?

I'm not tryin' to be smarmy, but I think that's an important key: Discovery.

/If you had all the answers of life, life would really be disappointing.

Naw, man, you want an awesome combo set, gotta go with the Bacon secondary. Everything's better with Bacon.

(Please please PLEASE let this be as epic as the 'Deleted' thread...)

I'm a geek. And geeks can lead, sure, I've done it. And I've had plenty of RL badass moments too. So back off, awright?!

I'm just sayin' he's a geek. A technogeek. Doesn't mean anything, really, but it seems to mean a lot for you... goodness, I'm terribly sorry and all. Honest. I didn't really mean to be disparaging, just... well, he's a geek, man.

/Well, and D_R's story about him and his girlfriend didn't help... but that's not canon.
//Yeah he did reform the Phalanx, but didn't take charge of it. I think that's probably because as the thinker, he knew it should be Statesman, and left it at that.
///I would gather that's changed with the RL stuff as 'rules making' stuff, but really, BAB or perhaps Numina might be a better choice, sure, as a *leader*, which would allow Posi to do the geek thing and go think up cool stuff.
////No way Synapse does it though. Too hyper.

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FourSpeed:

I appreciate your comments about the arcs, and am definitely lookin' forward to the villain side to see the differences! Thanks for not lettin' on about them... just yet.

This is separate for a reason, bear with me... AAHH, THERE'S A BEAR IN MAH HOUSE!!! *flops down and plays dead*

---

*opens a wary eye....*

Is he gone? He looks gone... whew...

---

Ok, enough silly.

I am writing these two entries, the OP and the one above, as I am playing with Homeslicer. Reactions would be the same for Ruby Dawn or Rose Dawn, my heroine 'troller 50s.

However, my purely evil incarnate (or she will be incarnate one day) Cerise Dawn, 50 Dom?

Yeah. I'll have to see what I'd think about that. I don't think she'd survive the arcs very well, to be honest, she's not a solo artist. I may have to team with her.

So... I'll run them with Thing of Bigness, my 50 SS/WP brute on Guardian, and then think about what Cerise would think about it all. Big wouldn't care, he's a lot of "Big SMASH" and is stupid.

But Cerise... yeah... that'll be interesting to see.

I understand they're maybe slightly differently worded, so don't spoil it fer me. I just know that as a Hero, it's a tragic series these last two. I am wondering how they worded it for Villains.

But that'll be later.

K, Peace out.

(Note: Hey... can't we leave the politics of the 'how this got started' behind for a minute? Not really what I'd like to see in here. 'preciate it muchly.)

Just finished SSA: WWD Part 6.

That... sucked. A lot.

I did like the missions, and they were completely way too easy for Homeslicer this time around. 4 and 5 were much harder. This was, literally, a cakewalk.

Well, not completely. Sappers suck. Damn them. But other than that.

And I have to give credit where credit is due, little Penelope Yin can kick major serious buttocks. She was fantastic as a partner in this little adventure. I dunno what those powers all were, but DAAANNNGG....

I proposed to her in Portal Corp's courtyard, she was that awesome, but she was too demure and didn't say anything... And with all what's going on in Paragon, maybe it was a little not right timing. But I'll win her over, I will.



But the end... man. Two in a row, but this one... THIS ONE SUCKED.

I know, the noble having to do what's required, the noble having to sacrifice, the noble having to do the unthinkable, or be a sacrifical lamb, all for the good of the many.

Real Shakespeare/Star Trek II moment, yeah?

Screw the many. Statesman was a lighting rod, you loved him or hated him. Psyche was just loved, right?

Sigh...

Two Phalanx members dead, one who's gonna be real screwed up, the rest looking to the geek for leadership, and the Vindicators lead by a pissed off Ms. Liberty.

And all incomparable to ME. As I'm the one that's gonna take Wade down, because I'm the only one he's really scared about.

(Others say "no, *I* am. Says so right here!" Yeah yeah, I know...)

Yep. Shapin' up to be an interesting year in Paragon.

--

I am really, REALLY looking foward to seeing this get wrapped up, but...

I am NOT a fan of Psyche's death. Nosir. Not at all. Not that I was a fan of Statesman's either, but really... this one was... horrible to watch.

/Placing bets on whether Manticore is going to be dead next.
//Also placing bets on if that happens to pass on whether it'll be Gladiator style "gonna kill you first and watch you die... THEN I'll die, happier and sated."

[Note: I hadda type this up before I went to bed, or I probably wouldn't do it at all, my life bein' what it is sometimes... in case that's important or somethin'.]

[NOTE2: IF YOU DON'T WANNA KNOW ABOUT THE SIGNATURE STORY ARCS: WHO WILL DIE, NOW IS THE TIME TO BAIL. Not my fault if you continue. You've been warned.]

---

So I decided that as I22 is coming out, and maybe, just maybe, SSA:WWD Part 7 might be coming too (although I don't think so, just makin' sure though) that I would go ahead and run through Parts 1 through 6 so I'll be all caught up and such. Even if Part 7 doesn't come out, I'm tired of waiting, and trying to hide from threads that have info about them.

I've not played them yet until today, but I know that as of this writing, before I started, Statesman's dead, and that Darrin Wade is responsible, and that there's something messed up about Manticore and Sister Psyche. But that's it, really, I don't know much else about it, I've managed to stay away that well so far from finding stuff out.

So I'm off to do them. I am doing so on Homeslicer, Champion, my 50 Claws/WP scrapper of Win. He's my go to guy for this kind of stuff. I'm also doing it solo because I like to go at my own pace to figure these new arcs out. Everyone seems to be in such a rush, or played it on Beta, so it's old school, and they're just after a badge or something. Not my style. Off I go.

I play them in order, of course. I am liking these arcs very much. I'm not a fan of punkin' me down to 20, 30 and 40, mind, but hey, that's the deal. The end locales, and some of the middle maps, are really nice. I like the Hollows in Lava, but... when did the Hollows have an overpass?

No matter, I'm kickin' their butts left and right, as that's what Homeslicer typically does. Liked playin' with the Midnighters, they're fun. Darrin's a jerk, but then I already knew he's the bad guy...

I get to 4, and it's gotten much harder. Multiple EBs at a time, and all pissed at me directly, and only me Ow. But yet, thanks to good strategy and regroup, I do not die. Oh, sure, BAB and the Vindicators go Hospital, the wimps, but I get the bad guys down... barely, but they're done.

And the part of Shalice and her mind? Whoa. That whole semi-sidetrack with Malaise is pretty dang good stuff right there, you ask me. Then again, I'm not an art critic, I liked Speed Racer, for example. I liked it though. Interesting nightmares goin' on there.

But then I hit Part 5. I knew this was It(tm), the moment, the thing this was about, Statesman is gonna get killed by Darrin.

And knowing this, I try to get there fast, but I'm takin' out everything on the way to get Insps I know I'll need. As if I can stop the inevitable, right? I knew better, but... still. I didn't know what was going to happen, just the end itself was a fact.

The cutscene happens.

It's... beautiful...
And Horrible...
And Awesome...
And Tragic...
And Poetic...

And at the very end of the scene... you who know what I'm talking about...

Shivers. Honest.

And, I am **PISSED OFF** now. Darrin is going to freakin die, and horribly.

But, no, I can't do that. He won't let me, the bastidge, and he... well, y'all who know, know. That end dude is tough, or was for me.

It took me three deaths, a ton of bought small insps, and figurin' out a strategy to win (yay me for figuring it out!) to get done with that mission... Just so I could finally, FINALLY, kneel beside Statesman.

Then the knife twist: It gave me an option? You heartless writers, how could you!?

I took a set pictures, much like that zoom out of Superman/Lois in California? It was that poignant to me. Homeslicer is kneeling beside Statesman, disbelieving, mourning, wondering what he could have done... In that broken temple, with the rain...

---

I tell ya, that was a powerful set of moments right there. I don't know about any of you people, but... Yeah. It got to me a bit more than I thought it would.

So... um. There ya go.

I still got 6 to go, which I'll probably get done tomorrow? But still, bring on SSA:WWD 7. I'm almost ready for it.

/Good stuff, I think.
//Won't be back in here until after 6 at least is done.

Fantastic work, D_R, as usual!

Tying anything to points can be exploited. If you make an action count towards points, beyond actually whipping out the funds in RL, or just keeping a VIP account on, then someone will farm it.

It almost like a Rule of MMORPGS: If it exists, there will be a farm of it.

Of course, if there is a list of rules, I'm game to hear of them.

You're not wrong, I just don't think tyin' the ads to any in-game gain is a good idea myself.

The cost is in desiring to be the Nth degree of whatever the character is. And for that... Stop. Wallet time.

*dances away sideways in gold parachute pants*

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*reenters thread*

Now, I am going to say that the majority of players put up with cutscenes because of a story. I know I'm annoyed as heck about having to WAIT AND WAIT so I can continue to play, or, as with the WWD arcs, waiting to get out and go on to the next mission. That's REALLY irritating.

Oh, I get it, it's the story, and that's fine, but man... I'm ready to move on, thanks.

Forcing me to watch some ad? You can forget that noise, or there'd better be a 'no cutscene' option available.

/Come to think of it, that should be an option anyway. Perhaps a "press Esc to quit cutscene." In the case of a team, majority rules.

New builds... such as:

I want a millipede-like character.

Or, a Close Encounter/Asgard/ET type alien with way extended/stubby arms and legs or such.

Or, a Zaphod Beeblebrox character with two heads and three arms. And none of that flip-top stuff, really two heads.

Or, a Monsters and Aliens animated Jello type character.

Or, a sentient jet fighter character like in Planes, a Cars spinoff coming soon to a DVD near you.

Or, a cloud of mist or lights a la Star Trek (Obsession, Lights of Zetar) This may mesh with the Monsters and Aliens type thing.

Like that. Any of these would be nifty.