Discussion: Valentine's Day
By
1_800_Spines,
Posted on: 2008-02-12 15:33 in News, Events and Announcement Discussion
Cambios,
You did make some valid points earlier, but right now you sound like a teenage girl who lost her virginity at prom night and is complaining that it was not as magical as she would have liked.
Do us all a favor and get the sand out.
Shadowy Presence - Absolutely, positively worse than playing a Kheldian... --Myrmydon
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This is what I would like, I want the wedding pack split into a for her, and a for him.. for her 4.99, for him 4.99, or both together for 9.99
I NEVER make boy characters so it would be a total waste of money to buy those, and my hubby never makes girls so it would be a waste of money to get it for him.
However, we like the set.. Could this be possible?
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The problem with that is there's 3 body types, and Huge types can theoretically be male or female. Also the '4 him' pak would contain a lot less than the '4 her' pack since there's less costume pieces for male/huge combined than for females. Honestly I do think the price should be a bit lower than 10$
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Hate to say it, but I'm somewhat unimpressed.
A "special event" in which only 300 out of the 25,000 plus CoH subscribers will be able to participate? Up to this point, CoH's special events have been somewhat egalitarian, with effort made to be as inclusive as possible. For instance, the CuppaJo farewell party, where a dozen different Pocket Ds were instanced and the devs were present in all of them. This kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
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We really wish we could accommodate more. However, please keep in mind that Sean Fish and his wife Jen will actually be at the keyboards running Manticore and Sister Psyche respectively. Matt "Positron" Miller will actually be playing Positron in the event, as will all the rest of the dev team. As much as we'd like to keep them at their keyboards all weekend long - or hire stand ins to play them, we aren't. This is a special event and a testament to the involved members of the Dev. Team, the friendships on the team and love story between two of them.
We have made some special arrangements to have media available so everyone can relive this very special wedding. More details will follow. Thanks in advance for your understanding.
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Lighthouse? Has anyone thought about Demo-Recording this to make a movie? While some of us might get in for this, it should be something that 'everyone' can be at least able to see.
Still here, even after all this time!
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This is exactly why I didn't put a badge in this pack.
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Does this mean you'll be removing the VIP badge from the Hero Pack and giving it to everyone? I mean...since you don't want people to have to pay for badges and all...or has this already been changed and I just didn't notice?
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I think it would have been more interesting as a new mission or something.
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Well, according to the announcement, there is something like that:
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Outside of the Pocket D, and in conjunction with the live Wedding event, players will find new Hero and Villain contacts in Atlas Park and Mercy Island. Sela Vermont, wedding coordinator of Manticore and Sister Psyche, sends Heroes on a special wedding gift reconnaissance mission while Zev Scalamore, under direction of Arachnos, enlists Villains to do his dirty work.
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So it's not just the event on test; there is some other new stuff.
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Yeah, I know. I'm talking about the wedding event. A mission with the wedding would have been better.
I'm sure the devs are all nice folks, but I am one of the few that are not impressed by the fact that they are the devs. Yeah, they made the game. Other people clean teeth for a living. Others dig ditches. It's a job, and nothing more.
Rather than have an event where the devs show up on the test server, I would have preferred a new mission that every single player could have done.
I'm looking forward to whatever the reconnaissance mission is.
"...freedom isn't a commodity to compromise." -- Captain America, New Avengers #21
Guide to Base Teleporters
Not worth the 10 bucks if their isnt a badge. :/
My Lego Models http://www.flickr.com/photos/30369639@N07/ lemur lad: God you can't be that stupid... I'm on at the same time as you for once, and not 20 minutes into it you give me something worth petitioning?Lady-Dee: Hey my fat keeps me warm in the winter and shady in the summer.
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Okay, went through the bulk of posts (skipped a few that seemed like broken record or just personal responses to other posts).
Some points:
1) I have no problem with paying for added content. When GvE came out they eventually offered not only the full version bur a cheaper "In game items" option for thos who wanted the new content but didn't need access to CoH or CoV. This isn't entirely new, this is jus the first ingame content only pack.
2) The pack contains no prestige powers, badges, missions, or zones. It is purely cosmetic and optional content so you're not missing out on anything but a few emotes and costume options by not buying it.
3) For what we get I do feel the 10$ price is a bit high but not too high that I didn't buy it, but then I just had a character idea that I NEEDED the bridal costume pieces for to pull off. (And luckily for me the name was even available, beware Rogue Isles on Virtue, the Runaway Bride is loose and he's coming for you!).
Now for things tied to the costume pieces:
A) The bulk of the costume options are only for females.
B) The dresses weren't made for at least Huge models, and preferably males as well. I've always hated the fact that many of the more interesting but not neccesarily 'butch hetero' costume options are for females only, things that would even be particularly drag in and of themselves. (Hence my new toon with the costumes uses the female model but is in the bio listed as a male).
C) As stated the bridal train (repeatedly called a veil but the veil face detail isn't new and may cause confusion with that wording as the clothing option and piece is a train not a veil) not only is solid (though that version looks good as well as a more lacey one would look) but also if you color the hair with the primary color it makes the outside of the train that color as well, leaving the inside white.
D) The train was hard to find as I figured it would be a detail 1 option, or a hood/hat/helmet/special helmet seperate from the hair and therefore easier to colorize than making it part of a fixed hairstyle.
E) You get no information on WHERE to find the costume parts in the menu nor a list of what the emotes are unless you read this forum post. The pack purchase should include an email sent to the activating account (real or ingame email) that lists the costume options and emotes.
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So for meaningful new content, all we got was IOs. The rest was either recycled or very minor.
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You know, I had three quarters of a snarky, step by step refutation of this post, but I decided better of it. That one statement there is so amazingly out of touch with reality that you're obviously either deliberately attempting to be provocative, or want changes that are so far out of the mainstream as to make them absurd.
The game is not going to fundamentally change at this point in it's lifecycle, and it seems like that is the only thing that will satisfy you. All new content is going to use similar gameplay to what's come before; you've got the same designers using the same engine and tools to create content for (largely) the same group of players. You can't just expect that they're going to give you something that's totally alien to what's come before.
Even the one thing you allow as new, IO's, aren't really. We had rewards for defeating mobs, we had enhancements, we had costume pieces; how do IO's change any of that? It's just a recombination of existing game elements, isn't it?
I'm really curious to hear what, exactly, you would consider "new."
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Um. Nice try, but no.
City of Heroes/Villains is already incredibly LACKING in content variety. It is bad enough you expect us to run Warehouse Mission #876,896,123 ad infinitum on every character, but now you're selling costume options and emotes as an add on?
Sorry, but you have to decide right now if CoX is a subscription based game, or a "pay-for-perks" game. You don't get to do both. Figure out which business model you prefer, and stick with it. Cherry picking from both is repulsive.
$10 for a couple of VERY specialized costume options and 4 emotes is outrageous.
At least your Good vs. Evil package included:
<ul type="square">[*] New costume options.[*] Jump Pack Power.[*] Pocket D teleport power.[*] Pocket D VIP Gold Club Member Badge.[/list]
At least with Good vs. Evil you got 2 pretty handy powers to go along with the two "style" benefits (costume options and badge, comparable to the Valentine's costume options and emotes).
What an absolutely enormous let down. With so little content released so rarely as is, I can't believe you would actually make stuff like this and then try to get EXTRA money on top of the subscription for it.
Other MMOs get entirely new zones, areas, and "raids" on a regular basis that have completely new environments, tilesets, etc. We get recycled power sets, recycled tile sets (RWZ), and then are supposed to pay $10 extra for a few costume slots and emotes????
Outrageous. Whoever's idea this was should be fired or at least reprimanted.
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My feelings exactly. And for the people who feel its raining on their parade for me and others to state their dislike of this. Well go enjoy your costumes and your emotes, no one is forcing you read our posts.
Kind of in the same vein that no one is forcing me to buy this pack...
Funny how that works, huh?
It's not like they're making you pay extra to get access to new powersets or mission content.
I would pay for new content, or new powersets (powersets and ATs are not content -- content is zones, missions, new enemies, etc.) I would happily pay for a new retail box if it delivered new content on the scale of CoV.
I am offended by the idea that I should pay for cosmetic frippery, the very same cosmetic frippery we were getting for free. Offended enough that, as I was already on the fence about keeping it, I cancelled my Dungeon Runners subscription and uninstalled the game.
Current Blog Post: "Why I am an Atheist..."
"And I say now these kittens, they do not get trained/As we did in the days when Victoria reigned!" -- T. S. Eliot, "Gus, the Theatre Cat"
Okay - yes, they are pretty costume pieces - but...
I play another game, called The sims 2, perhaps you've heard of it?
I'm a modder - I make high quality objects, and then make textures for them - I have made new eyes, again, high qaulity - I've made clothing and skins - a pita, but... - I do it for free. I share my work, and I also know exactly how much I can do, by myself, per hour. If they did this stuff with a full team? It can't have taken that much time to be worth even 3$ per person buying it. You have to take into account how much you pull in.
At 10, the profit margin must be obscene - yes, they will put it into make more things, but if people will pay for shinies, then it encourages....more charging for shinies.
Personally, I'd be fine with paying for something major - a new expansion with a bunch of new ATs and powersets for exsiting ATS - that I'd pay for, no sweat.
As for the wings? Unless things have changed, you can not have wings, or a cape with a trenchcoat. You can with a jacket, however.
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I think it would have been more interesting as a new mission or something.
[/ QUOTE ]
Well, according to the announcement, there is something like that:
[ QUOTE ]
Outside of the Pocket D, and in conjunction with the live Wedding event, players will find new Hero and Villain contacts in Atlas Park and Mercy Island. Sela Vermont, wedding coordinator of Manticore and Sister Psyche, sends Heroes on a special wedding gift reconnaissance mission while Zev Scalamore, under direction of Arachnos, enlists Villains to do his dirty work.
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So it's not just the event on test; there is some other new stuff.
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Yeah, I know. I'm talking about the wedding event. A mission with the wedding would have been better.
I'm sure the devs are all nice folks, but I am one of the few that are not impressed by the fact that they are the devs. Yeah, they made the game. Other people clean teeth for a living. Others dig ditches. It's a job, and nothing more.
Rather than have an event where the devs show up on the test server, I would have preferred a new mission that every single player could have done.
I'm looking forward to whatever the reconnaissance mission is.
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I don't think I'm understanding. The way I read the announcement, those missions (or arcs, or whatever) are separate from the wedding, and available to everyone for the two weeks the event is live. (But thematically, linked to the event. So wouldn't that be "a mission with the wedding?")
I'm fairly sure if you skip the part on the test server entirely, you'll still be able to do the related missions on your home server.
Maybe I'm just not getting what you mean...
As soon as I received the email notice of "The Wedding Pack" I went to the NCSoft link and purchased it for both of my accounts.
Why?
Especially after receiving 10 free patches/game updates?
I LIKE this game.
I may never use "The Wedding Pack" features, but I have been in many instances in the last 45 months of celebrations (anyone hitting 50), parties (someone returning to game), and even 2 or 3 weddings (before we had even jackets).
Another reason to buy it? It's another 90 cents (less markup costs) that goes to the actual developers of the game.
I LIKE this game, it is a great stress reliever, very good community, and an interesting way to spend some nights.
Plus....even though I do not have female characters, that wedding dress is just so nice.
Just on the wedding dress itself, Jay or whomever, should be given Kudos and rewards.
Sometimes, I impress my boss. Sometimes, I impress myself. The rest of the time, I scare people. I can live with that.
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I am offended by the idea that I should pay for cosmetic frippery, the very same cosmetic frippery we were getting for free.
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(emphasis mine)
I'm not sure we can take this as a sign that we're never getting any costumes for free again; just that very specialized ones are available for purchase by those that really feel like they're worth it.
After all, we did just get the Jester and Enforcer sets for free; why assume that they're going to start charging for every new piece?
As to being offended, I think that's a bit strong. I find it sad that there are people who are willing to pay for all those bizarre gadgets they advertise in infomercials, but I don't take it personally every time I see one. So some people are willing to pay for, what are to you, pointless baubles? If they've got the money, and NCSoft is willing to make the product available to them, who cares?
My Feedback:
Matt and Brian,
I have two accounts. I pay NCSoft $360 a year. If you raised the monthly subscription to $20 a month, I'd pay the extra $120 without blinking. I bought two GvE packages for $20 because it was worth it.
I am severely disappointed in the Valentine Pack. It is not worth $10. It is barely worth $3. Not because the artwork isn't spectacular, it is. But because I expect that artwork for the $360 a year I already pay you. This pack is nowhere near commensurate with the GvE pack.
Also, I do not want to send the message that I'll buy anything you sell. Make it worth real cash, and I'll buy it.
And now, with a heavy sigh, I must bring up again a recurring complaint of mine when I point out that the choice of costumes exhibits your inherent sexism in approaching the game. Wedding. Great. Good for you, boys! Think that up at the kegger? It's disgraceful. (Note I'm not the first to bring this up.) Please join us in the 21st century.
I would love to spend a big chunk of money to reward all of you for a great game. But you put me in a position of also rewarding a paltry goodie package, and possibly, future paltry goodie bags. Sorry, can't do it.
Hopefully, I've addressed this to the right people. We've been told that NorCal is being given a free hand, so, I assume the responsibility of this lies with you and not with Austin.
Peace. -ZM
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I think it would have been more interesting as a new mission or something.
[/ QUOTE ]
Well, according to the announcement, there is something like that:
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Outside of the Pocket D, and in conjunction with the live Wedding event, players will find new Hero and Villain contacts in Atlas Park and Mercy Island. Sela Vermont, wedding coordinator of Manticore and Sister Psyche, sends Heroes on a special wedding gift reconnaissance mission while Zev Scalamore, under direction of Arachnos, enlists Villains to do his dirty work.
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So it's not just the event on test; there is some other new stuff.
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Yeah, I know. I'm talking about the wedding event. A mission with the wedding would have been better.
I'm sure the devs are all nice folks, but I am one of the few that are not impressed by the fact that they are the devs. Yeah, they made the game. Other people clean teeth for a living. Others dig ditches. It's a job, and nothing more.
Rather than have an event where the devs show up on the test server, I would have preferred a new mission that every single player could have done.
I'm looking forward to whatever the reconnaissance mission is.
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I don't think I'm understanding. The way I read the announcement, those missions (or arcs, or whatever) are separate from the wedding, and available to everyone for the two weeks the event is live. (But thematically, linked to the event. So wouldn't that be "a mission with the wedding?")
I'm fairly sure if you skip the part on the test server entirely, you'll still be able to do the related missions on your home server.
Maybe I'm just not getting what you mean...
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They are having this wedding event on the test server. That is the wedding of two signature characters in the game. Rather than have those characters manned by real people (devs) and having a limited number of players have access to it, I would have made the whole thing a mission or mini-arc that anyone could do.
Yes, the recon mission is "connected" to the wedding, but I doubt it is the wedding. It's probably some sort of salvage mission where you collect presents or something for some in-game badges or other loot. I think a mision where you stopped some villain group from disrupting the wedding, or resucuing Manticore and Sister Psyche from kidnappers, or somesuch would have been more interesting.
That was my point. We'll have to see what it is we get.
"...freedom isn't a commodity to compromise." -- Captain America, New Avengers #21
Guide to Base Teleporters
I suppose if I hadn't been playing other games with minimal paid expansions and many, many free updates [ if its free to pay 15 a month ] I would be more impressed. If I'd just come from the SoE business model and games, yeah, I'd go, well, its just to support the game.
But other MMOS also give many free expansions, with the biggest updates being saved for paid stuff.
I had no problem paying for CoV - I didn't even have a problem paying for the GvE stuff - real powers are useful, and not just for RP.
But this is an mmoRPG and things specifically for RP shouldn't not be charged extra for, not when RP should be encouraged, not something you pay extra for. I could give examples of what another MMO is giving away for free tomorrow.
This is one post I will say /signed to.
Outside of the two quibbles mentioned earlier (thanks LH for the clarify on the veil), I see no down sides to paying $10 for this optional pack. Heck, Like another poster on this thread, I even set it up for my girlfriends account as a V-Day gift. I know full well she'll be able to use the bridal parts for a couple of her concept characters.
And to be quite honest, I've played CoX for over 18 months now. I've bought CoH ($30), CoV Gift set (at a cheap price, something like $10 or $15), GvE upgrade ($10), the Wedding pack ($10), and 5 various transfers/renames ($50). That's what? $110 - $115 dollars not including the monthly fees and/or pre-pay cards I've bought? I'd be spending that much two to three WoW expansions on top of the monthly fees. Why for all that is right in the world is everyone griping?
There's been better support and communication w/the Devs, better backend support, and there's a nice amount of stuff coming we know we won't have to pay extra for. I personally don't have any issues paying for this little extra content.
Is the actual fee for this high? maybe, but it fits in line w/the other services NCSoft is offering in support of CoX. This is some nice optional fun. If you don't care for it, fine. Just look at it for what it is and let go of the hate.
Thank you for the time...
@Travlr (Main) / @Tymers Realm (Test) 
The costume parts are *gorgeous*. They're not just useful for "wedding" (my god, and you're complaining THEY should come into the 21st century?) - they're viable costumery.
Some are now complaining, "too much for the females" ....
How many men really, really want to get dressed up in a tux and have a big, splashy, formal wedding?
How many WOMEN want that?
Of course there's more for the females, traditionally the women go overboard on wedding preparations.
Of course my friend's zoot suit wedding was *awesome* for that, and it was one time the MEN had to pay more for their suits than the women did for our dresses.
If they threw in a zoot suit, would y'all stop complaining? 
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed
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Manticore, Sister Psyche to Wed!
On Thursday, February 14th, 2008 Paragon City will rejoice in a celebration of love and union between two of its luminary Heroes. Manticore and Sister Psyche will celebrate their devotion to each other with a very special live wedding ceremony to be held on the Training Room (test server).
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NO!!!!!! MANTI!!!!!!! *cries*
._. you still wub me right, manti?
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NO!!!!!! MANTI!!!!!!! *cries*
._. you still wub me right, manti?
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TMI man, TMI!
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
Repurposed
Here's my feedback. Price is too high for the content in the pack. That was my first impression twitchy thought, and after looking at the stuff in the pack, still applies.
I'm fine with micropayments. The GvE pack was the greatest purchase ever because I make regular and daily use of the jump pack and pocket D transporter - even with the new free Ouroboros taxi portal service, I still like to go to the little exclusive tiki bar and just have a direct line to Pocket D.
I would love to have bonus costumes. I might even pay for them. But not at a pricing that is equivalent to GvE jump pack, or an LOTRO monthly subcription. That's just not commensurate for me.
See, I have to also factor in currency conversion because I'm not from the US, so a couple bucks difference can be quite significant.
But mostly because the things included in the pack are not worth $9.99 for me. Just a couple costumes and a bunch of emotes, that won't be used often. How many weddings / themed characters can one attend / make anyway? There should at least have been a teleport to a special scenic wedding location, or extra wedding SG base items to make it worth 10 bucks.
I'm in with the "I would buy this at 4.99-5.99" crowd. I would prefer 4.99 for the stuff included, but would probably cave in at 5.99.
$9.99? No way. I can do a server transfer for that price and get a lot more gameplay / return out of it.
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I don't know that any other new for pay packs will be tied to holidays. This one just worked out that way. To be clear, it's likely that we wouldn't have done this extra event and the corresponding Wedding Pack if we didn't charge for the pack.
Unfortunately, I'm not armed with more details on what we will offering in the future other than the fact that we intend to do more. We appreciate your feedback!
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So...how much more is NCSoft intending to do with these microtransactions and will they be about the same price range?
/tinfoil hat on
Cringe-worthy thought just popped up...with the new button at login screen to take us directly to the plaync account page with the store link right there, was part of that design decision because of the new trend for micro-transaction packs?
/tinfoil hat off
Not against the idea of charging for this pack, but none of it fits any theme I would make, so I won't be buying it.
Marriage Proposal Emote = One step closer to WoW.
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