vulpish_one

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  1. It's my understanding that the account server isn't accepting new transactions. Watching golden names turn white in weeks to come will be depressing.
  2. I wouldn't mind a "fade to white" ending. Rularuu returns, the might of the world is thrown at him...then roll credits. How does it end? We can all decide that for ourselves.
  3. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gilliam_EU View Post
    Just getting this game COH back on line. then maybe a wild west game that works
    Other than CoH2? I'd sacrifice small animals to have a team like Paragon work on a Deadlands MMO. Shane Hensley, the creator of Deadlands, was even a former redname here (Captain Mako), so it's not as crazy as it sounds.

    Now that I think about it, Wiggy the Brit was based on someone in the DL creative team, too.
  4. I'll be writing an epilogue about most of my characters in the weeks to come. If the forums are still here when I'm finished, I'll post it here.
  5. I have a few more AE arcs to write and share with my friends and one epilogue piece to write that should touch on the future of all of my main characters.
  6. It isn't a game mechanic, but I was one of the first people to advance the [redacted] meme back when something that shouldn't have been on Beta--the Sorcery pool, maybe?--wound up there for about half a minute. VoodooGirl and I were about the only people that saw whatever it was before it got covered up, so we hastily [redacted] the heck out of our posts.

    Since I'm not even sure what it was that we uncovered, I apparently [redacted] my own memory, too.
  7. I had a character like that, as well. I won't go into details unless they're solicited, but--to speak in terms of horribly simplified Jungian psychology--the character's arc worked, through the years, from realizing how empty his Persona was to confronting his Shadow to confronting his Anima to realizing himself as an individual. I went through a very similar growth process in the same time period; the overlap was only obvious in hindsight.

    The act of creating speaks as much to the creator as to the observer.
  8. I've been toying with SWTOR for a while now. It's neat, but it probably won't have staying power. After that? TSW, maybe. Or I might upgrade my Gamefly sub. Then again, with classes back on, I'd be better served just folding that time back into studying.
  9. Quote:
    Originally Posted by McCharraigin View Post
    I also went to work with a headache from not sleeping well last night...sigh.
    Ditto. And the first of the month is a horrible time to be running on half a tank in my job. Still, I made it through and hopefully became stronger for it.
  10. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Schismatrix View Post
    Except we were not only the fans, we were also the team. Which makes it even harder.
    True--especially for those of us that indulged in the game's creative tools extensively, like AE or base editing. But I would deliberately leave that point out of my metaphor to avoid sounding pretentious around people that don't play MMOs. I was looking for an explanation they'd understand, not a perfect one.
  11. Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpikyShane View Post
    It'd be far too embarrassing, telling them I'm upset about a game.
    To anyone that notices how I'm going to be feeling over the next few days, I think I've come up with a good metaphor that should get the point across.

    We've all seen news stories about how the people living in Area City become heartbroken, loud, and--rarely--violent when Area City's beloved sports team moves away. It isn't just about the sport, of course; anyone can tell you that being a fan of a sport, and especially a fan of a team, is about being a part of a community. You don't go to a game to sit in the nosebleed seats and try to follow a ball that looks to be half the size of the head of a pin. No, you go because that's where the fans are. That's where your friends are. You identify with that; you're a fan yourself. When someone asks how the game went, you don't say "the team lost by 3." You say "we lost by 3." And you're just as crushed as if you had been on the field yourself. Even to strangers that you otherwise wouldn't associate with, there's an instant bond. That sense of belonging to a greater subsection of society appeals to something very human in most of us.

    Now, imagine how the fans of Area City's beloved sports team would react if the team itself simply ceased to exist. Now, imagine the reaction if the sport in question ceased to be played altogether. Imagine if the only way to relive the feelings you had--watching the games with your friends on the couch--was to go to a local sports bar, change the station to a highlight reel, have a few beers with your fellow eternal fans, and reminisce about the good ol' days.
  12. Quote:
    Originally Posted by dugfromthearth View Post
    I can't tell if mine actually sent.
    I'm seeing this sentiment in a few posts. If you didn't see a confirmation page ("Thank you for your email," or somesuch) it probably didn't actually send. The Captcha-style textbox seemed to cause my browser--and its operator--some confusion.
  13. I added my e-mail. CoH may be a moderately-sized fish in the big MMO pond, but that just makes Paragon Studios--with its focus on community and ideas--an even better fit in what I believe to be the Valve "people over products" business paradigm.
  14. I've used...

    "Full Spectrum" for Astral Prism, a Rad/Rad Corruptor with powers color-coded to every basic shade of the rainbow. (Previously, it was the more punny "Spectral.")

    "Heart of Light" for my Warshade, who survived an attempt by the Council to forcibly imprint a Nictus by being that committed to being a hero.

    "Meticulous," "Qualified," and "Professional" for a former special-ops soldier who worked their way up to leader and coordinator.

    "Rule of Three" for a character who has two heroic siblings.

    "Unsubtle" for an Electric/ Controller who almost constantly wears bright yellow.

    "Words of the Warrior" for a proud warrior-type who apparently has a habit of speaking in oblique metaphors, often about the nature of life and death.

    In short, every character I have for any length of time sponateously grows a backstory. At some point, I always go back to the master list o' badges and see what badges might be especially fitting for any one character.
  15. I'm having the same issue. I only had a few minutes, though, so it's no big deal for me. My sympathies for those of you that made time to play today.
  16. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Energizing_Ion View Post
    I like the idea (as well as the others that have posted here); but maybe instead of green; make it a red color just like the one that War Walkers have right now (obviously a bigger circle for Oblit. Beam but...).
    If I have a crush on the color green here, it's because I want to keep the theme of the "Avoids the Green Stuff" badge intact. I also forgot to mention that I unabashedly ripped both of the ideas I used in my post from other posters upthread.

    Why be original? This is the internet.
  17. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Positron View Post
    All of the "move or die" FX powers should be tagged with a priority on them to make them draw first before any other FX, so those people with lower graphic settings will still see them even if a million other things are going on.
    To my mind, here's the dilemma: at high graphics settings, the relatively subtle "green stuff" can be occluded by Ice Patches, Tar Patches, Static Fields, Burns, and whatever else people are trying to use on Anti-Matter. At low graphics settings, the relatively subtle "green stuff" becomes even more subtle. After a certain point, even if it were the only visual effect going, the patch becomes hard to see. Green-on-pale-gray isn't exactly high contrast.

    And colored pop-up messages? Those are barely one step above ad banners in my mental filter by this point. I see so many of them and they so rarely contain information that I need, I have to force my mind to process the information they're trying to convey. In the Keyes Trial, for instance, I'm pretty sure that I don't need to be notified of entanglement shifts every time they happen. I don't really have time to process what color I am and what color everyone around me is, and ol' Keyes himself has more than enough anti-clumping mechanics to keep me from standing in one spot anyway. In other words, I was already jumping around like a meth-snorting howler monkey on fire. I doubt I'll be standing near any one person for long enough for the debuff to have any meaningful effect.

    But that's a sidebar. The graphics are why I got caught by the patch pretty often early on. Now I know to turn my particle count up for the Keyes. My computer has to suffer through it, but at least I don't get vaporized every 20 seconds in the last fight, and it's rare for me to get caught in the patch.

    A green War Walker targeting reticle on the ground and a cylindrical effect--something that goes all the way up to the flight ceiling--would help.
  18. I have a lowly Defender who switches between Nova and Judgement at will. With my high-recharge build, I can vaporize almost 2 out of 3 spawns when I'm teamed. I once famously hit a full spawn of Romans with a damage-capped Nova right in front of Romulus; the server froze for everyone while it calculated the carnage.

    The secret? Leverage. Defenders and Corruptors don't have Blaster damage. They do have access to other tools, though. For me, it's Fearsome Stare->Tar Patch->Soul Drain->Aim->Nova->Dark Consumption. Fearsome Stare pre-emptively blunts the retribution. Tar Patch debuffs resistance. Soul Drain and Aim amplify damage. Glancing over Cold Domination--which the OP mentioned, if I recall correctly--I see Sleet, Arctic Fog, Heat Loss, and possibly Snow Storm. My planned combo would be Arctic Fog, possibly with a +Stealth IO for full invisibility->Snow Storm->Sleet->Aim->Inferno->Heat Loss. Snow Storm may not be necessary if the enemies don't try to run out of Sleet on their own. You could add Soul Drain and Dark Consumption from the appropriate APP when the time comes.

    How do I nuke, with that particular character, on teams? As often as possible. Solo, I usually don't see groups big enough to merit a full Nova. I have other characters with nukes that don't get nearly as much mileage out of their big blasts, and this character didn't use Nova often until I got the last powers out of my APP to finish the combo. A Fire/Cold Corruptor may have similar prospects. It'd just involve stringing powers along in the right order.
  19. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Stone Daemon View Post
    Anyway, that aside, I look forward to seeing her develop her technique even more. She experiments with each new doll, and she's come so far in only a couple months.
    I know I gave her a pretty tall order with my requests--detachable hood, arcane-trimmed cape--and she came through in a big way. If I can manage to take some decent pictures, I'll post them up somewhere for general perusal.
  20. I have a couple of light-based characters. I'm not sure either is what you're looking for mechanically, but might provide thematic inspiration.

    One is an Illusion Controller. I know you've tried that, though, so I won't belabor the point. I also have a Rad/Rad Corruptor who thematically redirects "ambient electromagnetic energy" (including, but not limited to, light). I think it's worth mentioning because I used power customization to color this character's powers in all the colors of the rainbow, with reds and oranges being used for anchors--functioning as a subconscious "stop" or "use caution" flag--and blues and purples being used for attacks, with bright white reserved for the most potent powers.

    Feel free to play off of that concept if you want.
  21. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Moderator 05 View Post
    That being said, the morality of heroes and villains is always up in the air. Would they be callous or empathic? Would their morality change as they received more power?
    Quite. You see, the ancient Greeks were on to something I think was lost in America during the Golden Age of Comics, when Americans decided that their heroes "should be" morally unflappable. Positive role models, like most Golden Age superheroes, do serve viable social function: they teach us what sort of people our society would like us to be.

    But relentlessly good heroes fall short as a measuring stick in one very critical way. Or I suppose I should say they're too good at what they do to fulfill their societal purpose. Imagine, if you will, growing up in a society with myths not unlike those of the Greeks or Romans. Now imagine that the heroes aren't flawed: Heracles lacks his rage, Odysseus his pride. Now imagine you're told, consciously or unconsciously, that these are people you should try to emulate.

    You'd never really succeed. In fact, it'd be downright frustrating to try. Your heroes wouldn't have any room for your humanity, with its vagaries and imperfections.

    The vices held by Beowulf and Peter Parker alike teach us more about being human than their virtues ever could, because those vices teach us that we, as consumers of media possessing our own flaws, can be heroes as well. That said, a character dominated by vice instead of virtue stops being a hero and becomes a warning instead: a mythic "what not to be," but that's another discussion.
  22. Trade has been conducted with global name @Mintyy. I'm pleased to report that my trading partner acted in good faith throughout the transation. If any of you have the chance to do business with him or her, please take that into consideration.

    Thank you again.
  23. I'm willing to sell a Gladiator's Armor global (+3 %Defense, +Teleportation Resistance), crafted, for 3BInf (or best offer). I'm willing to work through whatever channels the buyer deems appropriate, in-person delivery or gleemail. Delivery to any server, any side is included in the former case. I haven't actually made the IO yet; it can be made at any level, but I see no mechanical reason to prefer any particular level. Send a PM here on the forum or a global tell to @Vulpy to arrange a trade.

    Thank you in advance!
  24. I'm willing to sell a Gladiator's Armor global (+Defense, +Teleportation Resistance), crafted, for 3BInf (or best offer). Delivery to any server, any side is included, naturally. Send a PM here on the forum or a global tell to @Vulpy to arrange a trade.

    Thank you in advance!
  25. My friends, my comrades. Fellow warriors, heroes, Paragons-of-Paragons. These are the sights, the sounds, the sensations that came to me over three nights. There, all-that-was was reversed, a river flowing uphill. I was a warrior there still, a warrior watching over a girl with a gift from the gods themselves, left to visit this world, the world in which we sit, in dreams and visions while I was awake-in-the-here.

    I struggled with this, with the signs and meanings of the signs and the gods that were present and what they represented. I am no priest; discerning the will of the gods is difficult for a simple fighting hero. I was ashamed, at first, of my cowardice: I refused the sacrifice asked of me. A warrior should not fear death. Then, one of you came to me with news, news of your world. News that something had changed, changed for all of us.

    I understand what has happened now: I have been visited by a foreigner in my world. It did not belong, so it came with the hair of Outsiders and eyes of Water. It promised that it would lead me to my destiny, the destiny I have yet to meet, the destiny that will eventually take my life, as destiny claims us all. The Unknown-from-Beyond led me past enemies, enemies long vanquished: the half-hearted masses of youth who wear the Skulls of their enemies. Their misshapen, green-skinned allies—Trolls--their minds, hearts, and souls ruined with tainted water.

    At a river’s crossing, I was confronted by an image of myself—the body I have here, in your world—in blue and yellow, wearing a mask. An abomination, a false life, a body without a spirit. Here, they are created in the name of “science” and called “Protectors.” Then, blocking me from my fate, there was an Emperor in the armor of the Conquerors, colored in gold…a Tyrant.

    Following my path, I had an unseen ally: the heart of the wilds. The greatest predator known to my people, the greatest warrior in our living world. The incarnation of a god, and the being that marks me in this world, gives me its shape and skill. It is the being that will bring me to my true fate, the priests have foreseen.

    Then, came the moment of decision, the moment of sacrifice. I should not have been surprised to see that the heart within me would take my wounded hand and pull me away. I know now what waited for me. Had I fallen into that Well with the girl, I would have become unto a god.

    I would have gained the powers of a god. I would have lost myself, become a tool of this Source-of-Power with its eyes of water. That did not happen. Instead, part of its power, the Water-that-Gave-the-Power-of-the-Gods bled into me, through the wounds I inflicted on myself to be more like the warrior within.

    It seeks who it will find, those that it deems worthy of its power, and it seeks to consume them for its own ends. It may come for you, my powerful friends. It will try to submerge you. It will promise power. It will promise fulfillment. You must be cautious. Do not let it mislead you. You must be brave. Do not be afraid to stand up to it, to tell it that you will not follow it to your ruin. I would not see any of you used so heartlessly as I almost was.


    [Not sure how I feel about this. I've completely rewritten this section twice now... Still not 100% happy with it, for some reason. My first attempt was more narrative, but I kind of like having the character monologue a little, too.]