je_saist

I get a gateway timeout on the picture link.

Anyways, RadeonHD and Ambient Occulusion don't play well together, but first, make sure your drivers are up to date.

You said you had a Mobility 2600HD right? If you are running NT6 (Vista/Win7) Go here and get new drivers:
32bit: http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownloa...b_win7-32.aspx
64bit: http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownloa...b_win7-64.aspx

actually some things were changed on the low end.

Some of the old non-standard proprietary code was junked and re-written to, as I understand it, a stricter OpenGL specification adhearence. Theoretically this should have improved and standarized image quality across all OpenGL adhearent API sets (1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2.0, 2.0 ES, and 3.0), but instead wound up appearently caused issues on certain vendors drivers: e.g. Intel, e.g. Fglrx / Catalyst drivers of a certain age, e.g. Nvidia drivers of a certain age.

Hence the number of Intel users suddenly locked out of the game and finding shader quality wasn't an option, and the known issue with Geforce 4 crashes.

***

These are some interesting statements. First of all, Ultra Mode was designed against OpenGL 3.0, and was demonstrated on RadeonHD 4870 graphics cards. A RadeonHD 4850 is capable of driving all Ultra Mode settings on low details with lower-end processors at a resolution of 1920*1200. Ultra Mode can be run with Shadows and Reflections maximized on the RadeonHD 5770 with a resolution of 1920*1200 graphics card, if coupled against a good (enough) CPU.

So, given what we know of the hardware requirements, unless you are willing to provide the exact specifications of your quoted, state of the art, computer, it's probably not state of the art. For what you describe, you aren't not running anything that could be described as State of the Art.

Then there's the issue that yes, the developers did design Ultra Mode for higher end cards. They did so because that's what people will be buying this year, and next year. New gamers who have never played City of Heroes will be buying Going Rogue and expecting graphics that stress their system. They'll be expecting something that has the shadows or resolution details of Champions Online or DC Universe Online, or they'll be wanting something better.

And also, citing an Ageia enhanced effect? You... do... realize that back when the Ageia card was launched, players got the exact same performance benefit as adding an Ageia card as they got from going to a single core processor to a dual core processor? No? You didn't? Well, sorry, you did. Overall, the add-in AGEIA card actually did nothing for long-term performance, and really gave no performance gains at all.

As players moved into Dual-Core and Quad core systems, I imagine quite a few were able to run maximied physics effects. Personally I was able to drive maximum effects on an Athlon64 X2 3000 coupled with a Radeon x1950 AIW.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that anybody running a.. .and we'll use your term... state of the art computer... were hitting 1920*1200 with all features enabled, distance and detail maxed, and wondering what was next.

I couldn't find any earlier reference to it with either the forum search or an external search by Google, so I'll have to take your word that it occured before hand.

***

I didn't phrase that right... at least I don't think I did....

uh. No. Tough was actually buffed for PvP.

In previous issues Tough only granted smash / lethal resistance. Back during Issue 16 the power was expanded to be resistance to all damage in PvP enviroments. The only mention of this on the forums that I'm aware of was in the Issue 16 open Beta. The search result can still be seen on Google, but the actual page itself is disabled: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/forumdisplay.php?f=669

***

Okay, the forum software is doing a cut off on the address. Google links to this address without the spaces: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/forumdisplay.php?s = 1e74407a0cf9c41fc862c7d8b8a41add&f = 669

Fedor got em.

Join the ranks of those who disabled the rep system in protest against the abusers of the system.

My grav, ice, and fire controllers thank you.

Instructions on how to distract Television with a Degaussing Wand and a Dr. Aeon plushie will follow shortly.

Drat. I Forgot about the Large Sums of Annoymous Catnip that were deposited in the Kollective's coffers.

But if you don't take care of the Blue side whose going to stop the Feline Foundation from taking out your satellites!

*ties ribbons to the Fey*

Ai, this was killing some of us in the beta as we kept seeing people logging over on the test saying "Yes! I got the pop-up saying I can run Ultra Mode!" ... and their Running RadeonHD 4600's, Geforce 9500's, and lower cards... and... no. Just no.

Anyways: to the original poster: I did a visual walkthrough of each of the graphics settings: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=219534

From my own testing: A RadeonHD 2600, depending on the processor, should be able to run Performance Ambient Occlusion, Low Reflections, Ultra Quality Water, and Stencil Shadows.

... keep telling yourself that. It makes a nice fairytale.

Here's the thing: Just because a song lacks, or has cuss-words and obscenities, doesn't mean the content, what the song says, is still appropriate. Black Sabbath / Ozzy don't have that many good songs, period. They don't have very many recognizeable tracks that make the average listener sit up and go Hey I know that Song!

AC/DC, for everything else, have the right sort of music, and the right rememberence, to just fill in behind Tony Stark's actions. Tony Stark comes off as the sort of playboy who would think AC/DC makes his anthems.

So, thank you very much, and may you have an excellent day. Please try again.

Manticore is the player persona of NCSoft's Sean Fish. Given that there haven't been any announcements of Mr. Fish leaving NCSoft, there's little doubt he's still enjoying his renunion with the Paragon Studios staff.

My suspicion is that Mr. Fish has simply been too busy to interact with the forum. As one of the... lore consultants... he's probably responsible for helping Dr. Aeon and the writing crew work out how all of the Praetorian critters are related to their Primal critters, and exposing the dual nature of the Praetorian behavior through the story. As a note, we haven't really seen Dr. Aeon mucking it up with Television in the forums for a few weeks now.

... I wonder if Aeon's team needs another writer (I'm available! I'll move!)

Heroside: do the faultline mission arcs. You can have the portal by 21 or 22.

Villainside: ... Honestly, I've always gotten somebody to drop me a portal when I've gotten to 25.

okay, so 4 control types.

The good / bad news is that Castle seems to be aware of the issue and that a rebalance is in the pipeline. However, no mention of when this fix / rebalance would be making its way into the pipeline.

sounds like he really wants you to have a controller AND a dom on the team.

Sarcasm aside, 50 points of Hold is really hard to overcome...

Looking at my grav controller, her Gravity Distortion field holds for 22.35 seconds with a 3mag hold, and a recharge time of 4.92 seconds.

So, I can stack roughly 4 holds (20 seconds / 5 seconds) if I auto the power, which would add up to 4*3 = a 12 mag hold.

If I swapped builds and went for hold duration, I would only be able to hold for around 33.5 seconds with a 3mag hold... which with a rough 5 second recharge time, would give me a 6~7 stacking, or 6*3 / 7*3 :: 18~21 mag constant hold.

Okay, on paper, two control types, should be able to get close to and possibly break the 50 mag hold protection by slotting their primary hold for hold and leveraging their wide-area hold (if they have one). Two doms with domination active may also be able to break the 50 mag protection.

Still. That's a bit much. While I'm fine with a Task Force requiring one archtype or another, and I have no problems with the Lady Grey Hamidon requiring a Controller or a Dominator... I'm not exactly sure requiring two perfectly slotted of either is such a good idea, and requiring 3 if you want to have a fair shot at Hamidon not removing one of your active controllers.

On a purely numbers basis, the hold protection needs to come way down, probably to 8 or 9 mag hold protection.

This is correct. Damage over Time attacks still tick off while you are in Hibernate. As hibernate is a regeneration power and not a heal power, it is very easy for Damage over Times to slaughter you.

If you are looking for a straight damage comparison, Corruptors do less overall damage than Blasters, but can potentially be more damaging in situational fights. The High Damage rating effectively includes Scourge and the ability to use buffs / debuffs: Looking at the level 50 numbers:

Corruptor
Neutrino Bolt does 25 damage, then an additional 25 with scourge: for around 50 damage
Neutron Bomb does 37.54 damage, then an additional 37.54 with scourge: for 75.08
Cosmic Burst does 88.42 damage, then an additional 88.42 with sourge: for 176.84

Blaster:
Neutrino Bolt does 62.56 damage
Neutron Bomb does 56.31
Cosmic Burst does 132.63

Blaster's also get defiance which ups their damage as they are attacking. Depending on how often a blaster is triggering their attacks, they could be running a constant 10% / 15% damage boost. Figuring in 15% Defiance:

Blaster:
Neutrino Bolt does 62.56 damage + 15% = 71.944
Neutron Bomb does 56.31 + 15% = 64.75
Cosmic Burst does 132.63 + 15% = 147.43

A blaster is going to do this level of damage with pretty much every attack, reguardless of the enemies health. A corruptor can still do more damage, providing the enemy is below 50% health. So, in fights against Monsters, Archvillains / Heroes, and Elite Bosses, a Corruptor might be able to land more damage than a blaster.

***

There are also other differences beyond simple damage. Corruptors also get higher debuff values:

Corruptor
Neutrino Bolt debuffs defense by 10%
Neutron Bomb debuffs defense by 20%
Cosmic Burst debuffs defense by 30%

Blaster
Neutrino Bolt debuffs defense by 7%
Neutron Bomb debuffs defense by 14%
Cosmic Burst debuffs defense by 21%

So the attack power's debuff component is stronger on corruptors. Again, this is useful in protracted battles, and helps offset the controller-level buffs / debuffs of the corruptors secondary set.

The best anti-spyware program you can use... is your brain.

Seriously: Most spyware uses social engineering techniques, like audio-pop ups, flashing images, and carefully worded phrases, to trick you into installing the spyware. So if you just don't do stupid things online, like visit Russian or Dutch websites, open attachments you weren't expecting in your email, or download that nifty toolbar from Yahoo!... you'll pretty much avoid most spyware outright.

You can take further steps.

Such as: Don't use Microsoft Products for email: Use Thunderbird, Evolution, Kmail, Opera, or just use Google's Gmail to check your email.

Don't use Microsoft Products to visit webpages: Use Konqueror, FireFox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, or Opera instead.

Don't install Adobe Flash. Okay.. yeah. You might not like the result of some-webpages if Flash is installed... but lets be honest... Flash is buggier and less stable than Windows 95. Yes, there are alternatives, like Gnash, but for the most part Flash is a security nightmare.

Don't use Microsoft Windows: Buy a Mac or Install a Linux. Seriously, if you are worried about malicious software attacking your computer online, when you go online, just don't use an Operating System that is vulnerable.

***

Still, even if you take the greatest care in the world, you still can wind up with a Spyware or Viral infection.

So, let me let you in on two little secrets:

• No Anti-Viral software is 100% perfect.
• No software package can secure your computer.

Case in point for me is something I started doing back when I was working Tech Support for Cox Communications. I'd snatch copies of all of the email transmitted virus's that were floating around, and collect just about any virus I could get my grubby paws on.

Then, I'd load up a computer with an installation of Win2k Pro SP4 (equiv to Xp Sp2, but without the bloody product activation), install an Anti-Virus, and then deliberately infect the machine, and see exactly what each protection package could stop or remove. Over the recent years I've stepped up this test to include a Vista install machine to represent NT6.

I can tell you that the two consistent losers... Were Norton and McAfee. The highest confirmed hit rate and removal for Norton was around 46%. That's 54% of these are malicious software applications as determined by CERT and ICSA, were simply missed or ignored.

Of the other existing anti-virus and malicious software packages that I've tested, ranging across: Avast, Nod32, AVG, Bitdefender, Ewidow (now part of AVG), Spybot Search and Destroy, LavaSoft Ad-Aware, PCTools Anti-Virus and Spyware doctor, and Clam AV... the highest any of them had was a 85% hit rate of malicious programs they were supposed to be able to catch.

Now, I can tell you that right now Clam AV has one of the highest success rates of identifying and removing viral malicious software, and there is now a windows client available.

I can tell you that Spybot Search and Destroy has one of the highest success rates of identifying and removing spyware malicious software, and with it's Tea-Timer setting, one of the best track records for preventing malicious software from mucking about with Windows settings.

If you want the most powerful current combination? ClamAV and Spybot are your best bet.

Now, that could change in 3 months, 6 months, or 12 months, or later. Or, they could still be the best combination to prevent, and clean-up, malicious software attacks.

... yeeeeah. That's pretty accurate.