I'm a little disappointed.

Isn't there a Freakshow AV named Bile? A power named "Bile Spray" just took on a very gross double-meaning.

Bring. Chum Spray. Back.

...that is all!

Just a quick question States...
How much would it take for you to step down and Gecko too?

[ QUOTE ]
And, unfortunately, Chum Spray has been renamed to Bile Spray. Our powers guys’ felt that Chum was just too campy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Too campy? TOO CAMPY?

There's no such THING as too campy! Especially in a game with this many people wearing all those tights.

I'm rather amused that I found the rest of this post so open, so ... reasonable. But I'm having touble with this one little bit.


Too campy? Where are my pearls? I feel a need to clutch them.

[ QUOTE ]

I believe that skills, while a good thing, should be made into a system that is not exclusive. There is no more frustrating thing in a game than being told: "You just cannot do this thing. Period. Go away and never come back." This sucks, quite honestly, and has turned me off on more than one occasion.

IF there is ever a skills system, it needs to be capable of being overriden in some way. Can't unlock the door? Smash it, but raise an alarm. Can't reach that high terrace? Break the pillars and bring it down to you. Can't get past that spinning laser corridor of doom? Find the generator and shoot it until it smokes. Make having the skills make life easier, but not be the only course of action.

[/ QUOTE ]

I couldn't agree more. As a DM in a tabletop game, it's important to keep in mind that the world is a "real" setting. There's no such thing as 'can't be done'. Players tend to be rather creative, and there's nothing more frustrating than just tell them that 'no, you can't get through this door without picking the lock'.

Picking the lock might be the easiest and most obvious way... but there should be realistic alternatives. Digging through hard oak with a dagger might take days. But it's *doable* if you're desperate enough!

This, of course, is and has always been a problem with interactive computer games. There's just no way for the game to take every clever player idea into account. But the closer a given system gets, the better.

More resent CRPGs have introduced puzzles with several different solutions, which I think is a great step in the right direction.

But with that said... it still irks me when a hallway is 'blocked' by a stack of crates. Sorry, end of map, you can't walk down this hallway. Damn superglued crates

[ QUOTE ]
But with that said... it still irks me when a hallway is 'blocked' by a stack of crates. Sorry, end of map, you can't walk down this hallway. Damn superglued crates

[/ QUOTE ]

Or closed door in offices Yeah, apparently we don't have the motor skills required to open a closed door, so the only doors we can get through are those left conveniently wide open. Just hope that the door to the loo is open in case of emergencies.

I have to agree, if a system of puzzles and obstacles is ever introduced, it better well be very elaborate and lax about what cannot be done. For example, you need to get through a locked door. Do you:

A) Pick the lock
B) Smash it
C) Find the key and unlock it
D) Find another rout
E) FInd a character in the building who can open it for you.
F) Other (teleport if you can, phase through if you can, etc.)

That sort of system would reward people with the proper skill with a faster and easier progression, while still allowing unskilled people to get through, if through more effort and more time spent.

Frankly, I just cannot understand why they haven't added the bare essential puzzles - switches that open doors and keys that open doors. Even Doom had that much puzzle in it

But I think we're going a little off-topic here. My real concern was the direction the game was being taken. In a sense, Statesman's post only reaffirmed what I was afraid of - they want the game to be more involved. However, his making a post here tells me that they see this as a valid concern for some people, and that gives me some degree of hope that a compromise might be acheived down the road. You know, when you see discussion after discussion on the same topic and no official response, it meakes me feel like we're children arguing about how "my dad can beat your dad." To a point, having the Statesman personally acknowlege that he recognises this does alleviate some of my concerns.

It's pretty clear that whatever is going into I7 is going in as-is. That was never a point of debate for me. My concern was about what the future held, and what it seemed to hold was just more temathic restriction. Wanting to keep the two games different is a very scary prospect for me (because either game will be missing out on good things), but at least I hope that our time on the boards expressing opinions and debating ideas is not going to waste.

So let's see how it turns out

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

Taking a break from trolling and flaming.

To everyone who's having character issues here, take time to pause. This villain is a sinister, brooding Mastermind; let's call him Baron Faust. With an army of the walking dead, he scoffs at the very idea of lowering himself to work with those pitiful whelps at Arachnos! He's stolen souls, he's defeated iconic heroes, he's...lost his ferry pass! Curses!

You guys either take stuff for granted or work around the constraints of the medium daily.

[ QUOTE ]
To everyone who's having character issues here, take time to pause. This villain is a sinister, brooding Mastermind; let's call him Baron Faust. With an army of the walking dead, he scoffs at the very idea of lowering himself to work with those pitiful whelps at Arachnos! He's stolen souls, he's defeated iconic heroes, he's...lost his ferry pass! Curses!

[/ QUOTE ]

Good thing Baron Faust has a base with Teleporters, and doesn't need the ferry system at all.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You know, for *once* I completely love a piece of design by the devs, and what happens?

Everyone else hates it.

I like the Patron Powers, I like the reddish electricity, it's cool all around, imho. Sadly, hardly anyone seems to agree.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree..

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm actually interested in Patron Powers too, but that's because Ghost Widow's PPs fit in so well with the concept for my Necro/Dark MM (And who would mind being GW's minion? Rawr!)

I was going to start up a Dominator too and his concept doesn't seem to fit in with any PP, so I'm just going to skip them lol.

Afterall, they can't force us to take them and as long as I get to see how they work on one of my alts, I'm happy.

[ QUOTE ]
Your power guys? Your *power guys*? You let power guys take over look and feel of the game? We're shooting spirit sharks at people. *SPIRIT* *SHARKS* at... *PEOPLE*!! And you're worried about camp? Sheesh. Tell the power guys that they're not designing powers for Sir Alistair Cooke and turn it back into Chum Spray.

[/ QUOTE ]
Gotta agree with this point here. Not that I'd ever take the power (unless I made up 'Evil Fishboy' as another alt) but I do think Chum Spray is more fitting with the 'Shark motif' they seem to want.

Also I would not be against allowing Ancillary pools for villains. The more choices the better! Customization is the hallmark of CoX afterall.

BTW - I think it's really, really cool we can pick the same power Ghost Widow used to flatten Positron and Foreshadow in the CoV cinematic

It would be great if on a mayham mission you can get Positron to show up ("Hey Posi, remember THIS??" )

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
To everyone who's having character issues here, take time to pause. This villain is a sinister, brooding Mastermind; let's call him Baron Faust. With an army of the walking dead, he scoffs at the very idea of lowering himself to work with those pitiful whelps at Arachnos! He's stolen souls, he's defeated iconic heroes, he's...lost his ferry pass! Curses!

[/ QUOTE ]

Good thing Baron Faust has a base with Teleporters, and doesn't need the ferry system at all.

[/ QUOTE ]

Baron Faust won't associate with other villains. They're too petty. He needs no Supergroup!

Seriously, though, does anyone actually do this? Is someone out there so committed that they won't use the ferry or helicopter lines? How does one PvP with that extreme devotion?

[ QUOTE ]
You guys either take stuff for granted or work around the constraints of the medium daily.

[/ QUOTE ]
APPs work. From my point of view having APPs and PPPs not available concurrently, is akin but not exactly like (as I mentioned before) having sidekicking only available in CoH and exemplaring only available in CoV. It's very doable, but not as fun.

I think you are taking the constructive criticism too seriously. Most people think PPPs are great in and of themselves. That doesn't change the fact that this game feature doesn't exist all by itself, but as part of jigsaw puzzle of other interlocking features and audience concerns. There's nothing to be done in the short term, but the criticism is out there in order that perhaps the I8 or !9 feature list might address those concerns - because it really takes that long to throw stuff like this in. Ya can't wait until it hits Test and go, "Man, I wish this Issue had such-and-such."

A couple of things bear mentioning.

First, who you swear a permanent allegiance to is a considerably large character
issue than the mechanics of public transportation. Almost everyone here realizes that.

Second, having States stop by and aknowledge that there are a lot of people unhappy with
the current offering is the best result possible at the moment. I hope that in the future, villians
get an APP alternative and CoH some patron style powers. If the patron sets are still a little
better than the APPs, to make us choose, thats fine with me.

Good Hunting All!

[ QUOTE ]
Baron Faust won't associate with other villains. They're too petty. He needs no Supergroup!

[/ QUOTE ]

They're affordable solo. Or maybe he inherited them from Baron Fausto, his father.

[ QUOTE ]
Seriously, though, does anyone actually do this? Is someone out there so committed that they won't use the ferry or helicopter lines? How does one PvP with that extreme devotion?

[/ QUOTE ]

As Clint said, I don't think anyone is seriously saying that PPPs should be taken out, or anything that extreme. Just that maybe we could have some alternatives that aren't so constricting.

[ QUOTE ]
To everyone who's having character issues here, take time to pause. This villain is a sinister, brooding Mastermind; let's call him Baron Faust. With an army of the walking dead, he scoffs at the very idea of lowering himself to work with those pitiful whelps at Arachnos! He's stolen souls, he's defeated iconic heroes, he's...lost his ferry pass! Curses!


[/ QUOTE ]

Baron Faust knew this day would come. Upon losing his ferry pass there was but one choice. Align himself with the Patron of Ferries.

He gloomily approaches her knowing what task awaits him.

“Mistress Ferry.” He snarled, “I must reclaim my ferry pass. I will do your bidding.”

“Very well. Complete the task I set forth and you shall be unbound from your travel worries.” She proclaimed.

Faust sets off on his daunting task. Returning hours later, he approaches once more.

“I have finished the labor set forth. I now wish to claim my reward.”

At this point, the Baron’s eyes glow with rage as he awaits his unwanted “gift”.

The Patron beams as she hands him a small white card. “Here you are, Faust.”

He can hardly believe his eyes. All this time Faust had worried that all the other villains would know his allegiance to the Ferry Patron due to some visible abomination that would somehow emasculate him. This pass could easily be placed within his Flash Gordon coin purse.

“I believe I misjudged you, Mistress.” He said.

“How so, Baron Faust?"

“All this time I was so worried about what the Ferry Pass would look like. I just didn’t want it to clash with the “villainous theme” I’m working on.”

The Mistress smiled as she looked down upon him. “Why? It’s not like I was going to give you a big freakin’ mace with red lightning spraying out of it.”

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
To everyone who's having character issues here, take time to pause. This villain is a sinister, brooding Mastermind; let's call him Baron Faust. With an army of the walking dead, he scoffs at the very idea of lowering himself to work with those pitiful whelps at Arachnos! He's stolen souls, he's defeated iconic heroes, he's...lost his ferry pass! Curses!

[/ QUOTE ]

Good thing Baron Faust has a base with Teleporters, and doesn't need the ferry system at all.

[/ QUOTE ]

Baron Faust won't associate with other villains. They're too petty. He needs no Supergroup!

Seriously, though, does anyone actually do this? Is someone out there so committed that they won't use the ferry or helicopter lines? How does one PvP with that extreme devotion?

[/ QUOTE ]

A better question would be: why would anyone bother with PvP?

[ QUOTE ]
There’s been a ton of discussion regarding Patron Power Pools, so I thought I’d at least give you a perspective from the design end.

[/ QUOTE ]

How about later on creating Independent Power Pools, where unlocking the pool is a trial?

Also, how about a jumping flip animation for my toon when acrobatics is toggled on? That would be nice.

I also want to do barrel rolls and THROTTLE my movement.

Finally, Instead of recoding all the basic archetypes for power customization, code a slottable selectable 9 power primary/9 power secondary definable archetype. Not to mention, a RANDON archetype, that would have unknow powers until they actually unlocked them.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
CoX seems to be opposed to the idea of content that requieres any particular skill set. There are few if any missions where the inabilityt to fly precludes you from completeing or accepting a mission. THere was one mission where I had 5 minutes to disable a computer network upon leaving another mission. Without Super Speed and Stealth, I would have not been able to complete it in time solo. That was only one mission among hundreds and hundreds where I need any particular powers...and I just got lucky with the right tool set. But the problem, imo, is you don't do this enough.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, I'll have to voice a concern against skill prerequisties. There has been nothing more frustrating to me in a D&D game than having a party of 6 and not having a single person who could open that frikkin door to the "phat lewt" treasury, so I had to pass it by. And I had a thief, mind you, just apparently not a good enough one. In Fallout, I'd spend countelss skill points on lockpicking, just because half the game world is hidden behind locked doors to which there are no keys.

I believe that skills, while a good thing, should be made into a system that is not exclusive. There is no more frustrating thing in a game than being told: "You just cannot do this thing. Period. Go away and never come back." This sucks, quite honestly, and has turned me off on more than one occasion.

IF there is ever a skills system, it needs to be capable of being overriden in some way. Can't unlock the door? Smash it, but raise an alarm. Can't reach that high terrace? Break the pillars and bring it down to you. Can't get past that spinning laser corridor of doom? Find the generator and shoot it until it smokes. Make having the skills make life easier, but not be the only course of action.

[/ QUOTE ]I agree with what you're saying. It would be bogus for a DM to foreclose creative solutions that do not solve the problem in exactly the way the DM envisioned it. But at the same time, I think there should be more incentive to take non-combat specific powers.

I also think the world should have more consequences for decisions about how you build your toon. There should be badges and story arcs accessible to only those who have not used a respec (obviously this is less viable since many respecs are triggered by the devs changing powers).

As I said above, I agree with you about DDO's mandate for Rogues. It's bogus we can't bash every door down, or use spells (does 3.5 no longer have the Knock spelll?). The problem is that CoX has virtually none of this while DDO has too much.

Consider this....when CoH gets its "newspaper" equivolent, why not list the expected mob type and information that tells you if any particular powers might be needed. This way you can choose missions that are geared to your powers..or attempt to overcome those that aren't. Obviously, the main story arcs would be generic like they are now, but it would add such a wonderful dimension to be able to complete missions that relied on Super Speed as essential to success. for example:

<You defeat some evil professor super villain at a world renown scientific University college. Upon defeating him/it/her, he says..
"I have sabotaged the nuclear accelerator. You'll never be able to fix it because I've decoupled the the seven magnetic restrictors along the accelorator and it's three miles long. Not even you can replace them in the 2 minutes before it fires. Muahahahahahaha."

The map is one huge circle with a low low ceiling. Unless someone on the team has Super Speed or Speed Boost or max slotted Sprint/Quickness/Swift you won't be able to do it. You could do this for all the travel powers...you could do similar things for other powers.

Here's another idea...

Create a mission where you are teamed with an NPC who has to fight, but everyone is caged with an interrupt inhibitor (no teleporting out..) and can't help him directly (some reverse damage field surround the cage...any thing you shout ends up damaging you instead - AoE's only hurt you). The NPC can't be healed, but it can be buffed and it's opponents can be debuffed.

I realize this is a total thread jack...but it just kills me that devs don't make missions like these. They've got the tool set to do it, I know some of them have certainly thought along these same lines, but it feels like there is some mission scope groupthink going on or someone is snuffing out these ideas.

This game engine is just wonderful...but the CoH content is by and large just so damn repetitive...uncle, Statesman, uncle.

[ QUOTE ]
“I believe I misjudged you, Mistress.” He said.

“How so, Baron Faust?"

“All this time I was so worried about what the Ferry Pass would look like. I just didn’t want it to clash with the “villainous theme” I’m working on.”

The Mistress smiled as she looked down upon him. “Why? It’s not like I was going to give you a big freakin’ mace with red lightning spraying out of it.”

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm definitely losing my edge. I honestly didn't see the punchline march down main street on this one. Nice one. Good times!

[ QUOTE ]
Magic Users then couldn’t use swords. Just couldn’t. They couldn’t really wear armor, either. The major reason for this was balance: a sword wielding, armor wearing mage rendered any regular ole fighter pretty darn useless. There was certainly some grumbling – after all, didn’t Gandalf wield a sword? – but pretty much it’s been accepted. In fantasy games today (online and other), the same limitations continue to apply…

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, in D&D 3.x wizards can wear armor and use swords. Same goes for Lineage 2. They're not as good at it as their fighter counterparts, but they can do it nonetheless.

Nor is the discussion of the need for more freedom in RPGs particularly new. In fact, it's that same discussion that's been going on since D&D came on the scene in the 70s that's led to this point where wizards can use armor and cast spells.

What fascinates me is how you missed the last 30 years or so. Extended Woodstock?

[ QUOTE ]
How does one PvP with that extreme devotion?

[/ QUOTE ]

Like PvP is important or something.

I have been thinking on how I wanted to respond to this. So here it goes:

[ QUOTE ]
We tried to create a vibrant villainous organization that players would want to be part of.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok, this is the first problem, which sticks out like a lighthouse. Its NOT an organization I want to belong to, not because of my character theme, but because the organization sucks. Maybe I would be more friendly to Lord Recluse and the arachos forces if I didnt have to fight them all the damn time. Maybe if they didnt attack me in the streets while I happen to be walking by. They spring you from prison, then they manhunt you at every chance they get. When I started playing COV several months ago, and the early contacts suggested that I could "rise in the ranks of Arachnos", I considered that a definate possibility. But after the 1000th time I had to demonstrate who the chosen one was to a foolish (and now dead) arachnos flunky, I ruled out that career path. I make it no secret, either in game or on these boards, that my characters all strongly dislike the entire arachnos organization. I chose to be a villain, but I am no ones servant.

I dislike lord recluse and his lame organization so much, how about letting me choose a hero for a patron instead?. Thats right, I said it. Let my character choose Statesman as my patron, and fight against Arachnos forces. While many COV players cant wait to serve a patron, I am itching for the chance to kick all their butts. And they all have it coming, especially mako. Someone needs to beat the chum out of him.

[ QUOTE ]
Many have complained that this hinders creativity and roleplaying. After all, not everyone wants to be a villain that works for Arachnos. Certainly, a large strength of the City franchise has always been its customizability. To a degree, the Patron powers somewhat inhibit this by compelling people into “working” for certain Arachnos agents.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok, "working for" is not the operative term here. My character, being female might be somewhat inclined to "ally" herself with the female patron. But this is not the terminology used to describe the whole patron story arc. "Swear loyalty to a patron of lord recluse" is how it is most often described. In my mind, there is a gigantic difference between "allying myself" with a patron, and "swearing loyalty" to a patron for the rest of my characters existance.

[ QUOTE ]
The powers also do not dovetail perfectly into current power sets.

[/ QUOTE ]

What an understatement. I am one of the masterminds who feels that the powers available to me are not even in the ballpark of what would be useful to me. I appreciate this insight into what the designers were thinking, but I am looking for some hint that you are reconsidering some of the patron powers. Not only for masterminds, but for all ATs. Patrons are a big deal, so please make me WANT my patron powers.

[ QUOTE ]
When designing City of Heroes, I remember a lot of people telling me that it was just plain wrong to give people so many costume choices in the beginning. People wanted to earn individuality over time, not receive it. Yet, to this day, I think character creation is the single most praised element of the City.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was not here back then, I do not know anything about that. However, when I bought City of Villains several months ago, one of my first reactions was "where the heck are the capes?" Unlocking more powers over time makes sense. Unlocking clothing does not. For the love of god, what was stopping my character from going to a fabric store and making a cape at the low levels? Lord recluse forbids it until I prove myself? Screw him. What was he going to do, send troops after me? I already kill his men all the freakin time, they wont stop me from wearing a cape at level 1. The game mechanics are what stop me, and thats sad.

[ QUOTE ]
I wonder whether it’s the genre (super heroes), the medium (City of Heroes) or the nature of the internet which has led to a greater demand for individuality.

[/ QUOTE ]

How to put this...

"Individuality" is not really what is on my mind when I create and play characters in COV. I am not trying to be individual, I am just trying to do what I want with my character, reguardless of what others are doing. COV does give me more freedom in this department then any other videogame I can think of. I love the fact that my brute is wearing little more then tights, yet she can do the job "tank" just as well as someone wearing armor. Its not about giving us individuality, its about giving us freedom of appearance, and you are doing good so far. Now if I could just choose the color of my powers, I would be a lot happier.

[ QUOTE ]

If I were to wax philosophical for a moment – I wonder whether it’s the genre (super heroes), the medium (City of Heroes) or the nature of the internet which has led to a greater demand for individuality.


[/ QUOTE ]
states, i think that's a good question. and i also think it's a source of disconnect between a good number of us. sure, mmo's were born from things like p&p rpgs (among other things in my history of the world). but i think this thing called coh that we create and join together in originally had (and still has) more mass appeal than a lot of the things it was born out of. having broader appeal of course attracts more people (and a more diverse group in our case), and i think a large percentage of people value freedom of choice in general. not just in terms of the rules of the game, but also socially.

i don't think this is tied to the genre, the internet, or anything else...i think those are just some of the mechanisms bringing us together, us with our desire for freedom (a trait that i think we've always had in the same proportional amounts). and when you get a lot of different people together, notions like traditional game rules and mechanic are sometimes forced to change...arguably evolve.

a rule of the mass seems to be freedom: in appearance, ability customization (this touches on issues like e.d. btw), toon development, etc. this mass isn't going to be tied to constructs like traditional rpg rule theory. heheh--i think we've seen both great advantages and disadvantages in that observation. and the fact that we face it is a testament to how solid the game is.

on that note, before i get too rambly (my head is filled with topics like convincing ncsoft to invest more development resources in successful endeavors)--thanks y'all (all y'all!) for the great city. i don't say that enough. and to sam--i applaud your ability to be open and honest. some people equate that to violins. others might equate it to...being open and honest. it's a funny thing how that has a way of facilitating dialog.

[ QUOTE ]
I did like chum. Recalled the great 7-Up commercial with a taste test...

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a lot to say about what you just wrote, but I'll take the time to respond to each point as it deserves.

But, I will take this much on myself: since chum spray is gone, I'll remove my avatar. Bile Spray, btw, isn't any better. The power is still ridiculous. The entire spread of Patron Powers, their look, etc, prevents me from seriously considering them as an option.


Sorry I couldn't be more enthusiastic about this, but, afterall, you didn't bother addressing our concerns: we're still forced to play YOUR way, aren't we?

But you'll at least get me to remove the avatar.

Cal2

[ QUOTE ]
Just a quick question States...
How much would it take for you to step down and Gecko too?

[/ QUOTE ]
Wow. You're kind of a dick, huh?

[ QUOTE ]
When we release levels 41-50 in CoH, we quickly realized that these levels didn’t offer any new powers...Instead of making new sets, we choose pre-existing powers and renamed them as Ancillary Power Pools.

[/ QUOTE ]

This was extremely disappointing. However, less=more is a very apt idiom, in this case. By doing this, you allowed Heroes to choose how they would continue their own stories, and yet not completely skew balance. A Happy Accident, despite your inability to create new powers.

[ QUOTE ]
During CoV development, I wanted to make sure that the game offered a different experience than CoH. One case of this was that CoV became far more focused on storyline and background than CoH was. We tried to create a vibrant villainous organization that players would want to be part of. For inspiration, I looked to the world of comic books, which are filled with cool, evil organizations. I also wanted our villain versions of “ancillary power pools” to be unique; with the emphasis on Arachnos, I decided to create the Patron system.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nice try, but you failed. Seriously. I realize what your goal was, but unless you were focusing this storyline on very young adult males, exclusively, then you failed to deliver. That's the Story failing. If you really want my critique on why I believe it failed, I'll be happy to post it. Meanwhile, we're talking Patron Powers here.

Unique? How do you figure that? Every single power set is the same and mimics existing powers, but in such a manner that it violates player choice, origin, powerset and just basic good taste. In addition, each power set contains powers that completely violate every villain Archtype. Pets for Stalkers, etc and so on. You also decided to copy a significant Mastermind power sans control. This is unique, how?

[ QUOTE ]
Many have complained that this hinders creativity and roleplaying. ...The powers also do not dovetail perfectly into current power sets.

[/ QUOTE ]

They don't dovetail at all. They violate, as I note above, origin, archtype, theme, Story AND established power sets. Clearly designed, IMO, to lure in the potential adolescent market (coupled with those ridiculous mayhem missions). Why not admit it? Have you forgotten that you have older gamers playing here? I smell a rat. I can't believe someone as intelligent and dedicated to gaming as you, would seriously consider these Patron Powers as acceptable, unique and 'story oriented' features. You also had to bandaid the entire system with hard, ingame data---a major no-no in game design. Surely this sent up flaming red flags in the conference room????

[ QUOTE ]
What fascinates me is ...

[/ QUOTE ]

Red Herring, Rhetoric and Sophistry. If you really thought this way, then CoH would not be the game it is. CoH is the better game, period. I don't know why; I don't know what happened to change your game design philosophy---but whatever it was, it doesn't bode well.

[ QUOTE ]
Positron and I will certainly keep this in mind for the future…oh, by the way, the reason that Electrical Power is reddish is so that it could mesh well with some Patron Powers. That was the intent, at least. And, unfortunately, Chum Spray has been renamed to Bile Spray. Our powers guys’ felt that Chum was just too campy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sophistry worthy of a politician. You failed to address our concerns. You offered no solution and promised nothing but to 'keep this in mind'. What, exactly? That we didn't react to these powers as you thought we would? That you made a mistake---a big one? That Chum Spray is too campy and Bile Spray is better?

What? Let me guess: legal has come down hard on you for posting 'off the cuff' and making unsubstantiated, public 'promises' because of all the previous 'promises' you eventually discovered you could not keep?

My disappointment hasn't been in any way mitigated by Statesman's commentary. It's evident he is no longer willing or allowed to lay out the status of the game or his vision for it. Evidentally, everything he's said in the past has come back to bite and the legal department has had to put a stop to it. Completely understandable.

Those of you who are satisfied with how things are and look for nothing more---or, at the least, accept what comes forth---are no doubt giddy with glee about this response. But I was assured of much, much more. Apparently I'm not going to get it in this game.

thanks

Calibre2