Discussion: Comic Con Articles

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Also, assuming there are 100,000 subscribers at $15 that's a 1.5mil income per month or 18mil income a year...

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Not that it makes a huge dent in your math, but there are a large number of us that pay yearly, and so pay less than $15 per month. It's more like $11.95 if I remember correctly. Still a lot of money per month, but like BaB already said: They have a lot to pay for. Businesses are expensive to run. I know this, I pay the bills for the company I work for.

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I forgot all about that... that means that they are getting between 13.2-18mil with 100,000 subscribers and with the lower end it leaves 1.2-6mil left over for stuff we don't know or just unknown correct figures...

Also while I agree a MMORPG shouldn't focus on "content" in the way that most MMORPGs do I also have to point out that whenever a simple RP only aspect comes up which would add much more life to the community than a few new missions it's always shot down... I dunno I think if you really want content to last the content shouldn't be directing missions and such but more options in customizing our characters... in other words... more base stuff, more enchancements, more accolades, more costume options, more powers, more power customization, more ATs, and most importantly more stuff that allows me to continue to play a character and continuously improve it. I know people don't like that add more 50+ stuff, but the thing is i feel cheated to get to level 50 and then i either help others, farm, do things i could do at lower levels, or create a new character. Why wouldn't I as a supreme lvl 50 be able to get better through different methods or be expected to take on different threats?

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What I am just furious about is the secrecy about the future of the game. WHY does it have to be such a secret. You have all these big plans for the game and are working on them already. So why can't we know what they are? We are paying our monthly fee so that the game can be updated for our enjoyment. I think that we deserve the right to know what the plans for the game are. There is no real reason to keep everything a secret for so long.

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What I am just furious about is the secrecy about the future of the game. WHY does it have to be such a secret. You have all these big plans for the game and are working on them already. So why can't we know what they are?

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Because we're jerks, basically. Look at the past. Sometimes they've had big plans that didn't work out. Without fail, we as players take them to curb over it. The CoP is a prime example of this. It was a big plan they had that didn't work out. And because we got told about it ahead of time, there are a significant number of people complaining about it three years later. They don't want to tell us more until they're sure that what they're planning will work. If they tell us and it doesn't, it's a sure-fire recipe for dissatisfied players who will complain about it for years to come.

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What I am just furious about is the secrecy about the future of the game. WHY does it have to be such a secret. You have all these big plans for the game and are working on them already. So why can't we know what they are?

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So what you're saying is that because a small minority of us are jerks, we shouldn't be told how the development of the game is going? Doesn't sound like a good idea to me. An easy solution would be for them to maybe say, "Hey guys, we have this idea here <insert new idea> and we hope it will make it in game, but no promises. We are currently testing it." It's that simple.

Sure, some people will complain. They always do. But it is better to be honest with us. Trust me, it's only turning out bad for the game in the end. I know people who have left the game because of getting bored, only to come back after the next announcement.

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What I am just furious about is the secrecy about the future of the game. WHY does it have to be such a secret. You have all these big plans for the game and are working on them already. So why can't we know what they are?

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So what you're saying is that because a small minority of us are jerks, we shouldn't be told how the development of the game is going? Doesn't sound like a good idea to me. An easy solution would be for them to maybe say, "Hey guys, we have this idea here <insert new idea> and we hope it will make it in game, but no promises. We are currently testing it." It's that simple.

Sure, some people will complain. They always do. But it is better to be honest with us. Trust me, it's only turning out bad for the game in the end. I know people who have left the game because of getting bored, only to come back after the next announcement.

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It's really not...

No matter what they say, people hold it as gospel. And they loose a lot of points with people over it.

It's not just a small amount either, it's the small amount that say "hey, did you hear? The devs say that <New cool thing> is coming in the next issue!!!!!"

Rumor spreads, and grows out of control. And there's no way they can deliver on it.

They learned this several years ago. If you want a prime example. See Duke Nukem Forever.

There's also the worry of competition, we didn't have any before. Leaking secrets to the enemy and such...

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Doesn't sound like a good idea to me. An easy solution would be for them to maybe say, "Hey guys, we have this idea here <insert new idea> and we hope it will make it in game, but no promises. We are currently testing it." It's that simple.


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They've tried this - it has not worked. At all. See: 3 issues per year. It references Posi saying, roughly, "Our goal is three issues per year". That's it. Nothing set in stone, no 'we will', just a general idea of their target. Now look at the absolute explosion of responses where people have voiced everything from general disappointment to outright threats to leave over a third party giving unofficial rumors that there may only be two issues this year.

They're smart to play it close to the vest. We're kept pretty well informed, compared to most playerbases. But in the past announcing stuff before it was ready has gotten the devs burned over and over. Any amount of bad from them not announcing stuff is nothing compared to the huge flak they catch for announcing something then not delivering on-time.

Edit: Another example - check out what Castle's said in the dominator forum in regards to potential changes to Domination. He's made absolutely clear that it's just an idea for a good distance in the future, and will undergo significant debate and changes before it ever sees the servers. I can guarantee you that in three months, that statement will be getting thrown around as gospel of a change 'any day now'. That's how it always goes.

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BAB never did tell us if they plan to continue the costume packs feature I hope they do.

I can't blame the DEVS about not giving out too much details cuz they seem to really get it if they don't actually produce the product as described. I would just like stuff out a bit more often than this year. That's about it

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You seem to be forgetting that people ALWAYS complain. People are complaining now because of the lack of information being given. And people will complain when the information is released. And people will complain when the next issue is released. There will always be disputes. Here are the options:

Release the information and have people complain about it.


or

Keep it a secret and have people complain about the pace of the issues and lack of new content.

I'd choose the former.

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You seem to be forgetting that people ALWAYS complain. People are complaining now because of the lack of information being given. And people will complain when the information is released. And people will complain when the next issue is released. There will always be disputes. Here are the options:

Keep it a secret and have people complain about the pace of the issues and lack of new content.

or

Release the information and have people complain about it.

I'd choose the former.

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Fomer means the first one, latter means the last one.

Keep in mind. If they just told us everything. Then there would be a blank period for several issues. Until they got those things out and came up with new things.

Rationing these things out keeps people happy, though you can dislike the pacing of course. They feel this is right. In the end... we gotta live with that.

Personally, I would love it if they had a new tidbit for us everyday, every hour. I love digesting these sort of things.

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Yeah it is a bit tough but they have some unique circumstances this year so I can cut them some slack. I'm sure things will be cool once they, "...hit their stride."

I am sure they'll get 3 issues out per year and then mix in a costume pack etc. That should keep us happy. Unfortunately we've had long periods without new stuff and that makes the 'natives restless' so to speak.

I also think the DEVS take notice of our comments on these boards. It's an excellent tool for them and invaluable, I'm sure. They're not going to get the warm and fuzzy all the time nor should they. That's not being realistic. Anyway, i think it's a decent way to voice our opinions and I guess they use these boards.

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What I am just furious about is the secrecy about the future of the game. WHY does it have to be such a secret. You have all these big plans for the game and are working on them already. So why can't we know what they are? We are paying our monthly fee so that the game can be updated for our enjoyment. I think that we deserve the right to know what the plans for the game are. There is no real reason to keep everything a secret for so long.

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Speaking from the point of view of someone who is in software development (but sadly, not gaming), you don't announce future plans to users because if they don't work out (or if something better comes up) the majority of your userbase/customers get very very cranky, and claim that you lied to them. There are fewer people getting upset about what they don't know than there would be if they heard something that never materialized.

At my office, I'm the testing guy, and when something the developer writes doesn't work right or isn't what the architect meant, I'm the one who drops the axe on it and postpones it to a future release, or postpones the release until it can be corrected. This is also why you don't announce firm dates for a release more than 2 weeks in advance... because the release date changes too.

Hope that helps clear it up.

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Lvl 50 fire/rad troller Wantonya - Infinity
Too many other alts and servers to bother counting

It's a rough gig and no mistake, because either:

1) the devs rush stuff to accommodate the players' need for new issues, so bugs abound - players complain.
2) the devs take their time to make sure the issue is as right as it can be before releasing it, which means it takes longer - players complain.
3) the devs tell folks what's going to be coming up in the next issue, and for whatever reason for the hold-up, it doesn't make it into the issue - players complain.
4) the devs don't tell the players what's in the issue until they're reasonably certain it can actually be done and released on time, which takes longer - players complain.
5) the devs make the call on whether to fix older things (the Cathedral of Pain) or give the players the new stuff (customizable power effects), since it's generally one or the other - players complain.

(Note that I just say "players" and not "THE players" - I know not all of us kick and scream because we don't get what we want.)

I ran into similar problems at my previous job - there were times where I felt awful for the development teams there because of how much flak they always got, no matter how many sixteen-hour days they'd work trying to get stuff done right and on time.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

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You seem to be forgetting that people ALWAYS complain. People are complaining now because of the lack of information being given. And people will complain when the information is released. And people will complain when the next issue is released. There will always be disputes. Here are the options:

Release the information and have people complain about it.


or

Keep it a secret and have people complain about the pace of the issues and lack of new content.

I'd choose the former.

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The two choices are release advance information that may be incorrect about things that haven't been finalized yet and have lots of people complain about being given incorrect information, or release information only when its set in stone, and have very few people complain about the lack of continuous and immediate access to information.

I'd choose the latter. So does practically everyone else on Planet Earth that is in a position to make that decision.

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[Guide to Defense] [Scrapper Secondaries Comparison] [Archetype Popularity Analysis]

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You seem to be forgetting that people ALWAYS complain. People are complaining now because of the lack of information being given. And people will complain when the information is released. And people will complain when the next issue is released. There will always be disputes. Here are the options:

Release the information and have people complain about it.


or

Keep it a secret and have people complain about the pace of the issues and lack of new content.

I'd choose the former.

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The two choices are release advance information that may be incorrect about things that haven't been finalized yet and have lots of people complain about being given incorrect information, or release information only when its set in stone, and have very few people complain about the lack of continuous and immediate access to information.

I'd choose the latter. So does practically everyone else on Planet Earth that is in a position to make that decision.

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As the saying goes: "It's better to be quiet and thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it."

The Devs keeping fairly quiet on upcomming changes is a sound decision. There are still people who mention the Skills and Legacy systems that died aeons ago but were mentioned by the devs and never completed. Even the City Vault is a good example, the devs showed it off, it developed major problems and here, months later, people are still asking about it, it may never go live (they want it to, they're working on it, but who knows, it could easily fall through at the last possible moment). Someone has already brought up the CoP, IoPs and base raids. Had none of those ever been mentioned the devs wouldn't hear a peep about them outside of someone suggesting something similar on the suggestion forums.

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We look forward to having other MMOs in the same genre. It'll most likely be good for us and this game in the long run.

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All I'll add is things I've seen from those who used to work on this game remind me of how glad I am that they're gone.

Are there other things on the horizon? Sure. Until then, I'll enjoy my time here. I have a feeling I'll keep coming back.

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What I am just furious about is the secrecy about the future of the game. WHY does it have to be such a secret. You have all these big plans for the game and are working on them already. So why can't we know what they are? We are paying our monthly fee so that the game can be updated for our enjoyment. I think that we deserve the right to know what the plans for the game are. There is no real reason to keep everything a secret for so long.

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"Furious"!? Why must you be "furious" over the future? You "deserve" to play what's available now with your monthly fee.

Stop yourself for a moment and think about what you're saying.

Enjoy it now. Play it now. Do what you can with it now. Let them worry about the future. For you, all that's at stake is a $15 or lower monthly fee. For them, the stakes are MUCH higher.

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What I am just furious about is the secrecy about the future of the game. WHY does it have to be such a secret. You have all these big plans for the game and are working on them already. So why can't we know what they are? We are paying our monthly fee so that the game can be updated for our enjoyment. I think that we deserve the right to know what the plans for the game are. There is no real reason to keep everything a secret for so long.

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If they announced every single little thing they planned, or are working on, people would howl and scream when wanted things don't get added, or don't get added on time. This game is a service they provide, and it's never a good idea to overpromise on a service unless you know for damn sure that it's going to be provided just like you say it is.

You'll get no sympathy from me for being impatient. Especially when you pull that "we pay our 15 a month" entitlement nonsense.

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@sween

Your hero toons need to see this.

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We're going to continue doing what we think is best for this game, to the best of our abilities, and in whatever time it takes to accomplish all of that.


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And you keep doing that, BaB and crew.

Some of us *do* know the difference between "Goal" and "Promise/contractural obligation."

About the only danger of me taking a break is Stargate, depending on how it is.

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Wanted: Origin centric story arcs.
If you've only played an AT once (one set combo) and "hate" it - don't give up. Roll a different combo. It may just be those sets not clicking for you.

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Many have narrowed their reading areas and only follow their server forums, Community Digest, and Dev Digest.

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Then many need to add Anouncements to that - there's pretty important stuff in there. Plus, it's rarely used so it's not like it takes long. The digests are... iffy sometimes.

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If only Announcements didn't suck so badly to read - there's a _ton_ of stickied posts, and posts below the sticked ones are all out of order.

Besides which, anything a dev or community rep posts to Announcements is visible in their respective Digests anyhow.

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http://derekl1963.livejournal.com/

I agree with those who are saying the Devs have to keep their mouths shut about new features. I'd rather they did. They announced The Vault back in January and we still haven't seen it. I want to see this feature. Let me rephrase: I VERY MUCH want to see this feature. I realize they've run into some snags and they're working on it. But it's frustrating having known about it all this time and still not getting my hands on it. I'm still kinda glad I know that this feature is coming eventually, because it's made me relax about keeping my CGT page up to date. I've created my own toon page which will hopefully be replaced by my Vault page later. But still, part of me wishes they hadn't announced it, because I'm just sitting here WANTING it and not GETTING it.

Regarding the features that the devs "could" be working on...

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more options in customizing our characters... in other words... more base stuff, more enchancements, more accolades, more costume options, more powers, more power customization, more ATs, and most importantly more stuff that allows me to continue to play a character and continuously improve it.

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Power Customization: We've been told that they would have to revamp the entire game engine. I know it's been explained but I didn't catch it all. I know a lot of the colors are hard coded, and then it was said that even if they weren't hard coded to the powers, they're still additive. Well, that doesn't bother me much, since ... isn't that how the auras work anyway? We already have to deal with additive colors. Darker colors are very faint and almost don't show up at all, lighter colors can practically blind you. If we had to deal with that for power customization I'm sure we'd all be happy to do it. However, that would take an awful lot of time. Maybe they could come up with some extras-pack and sell it to us for $10 each and hire someone to JUST go through and make all those changes ... but if they're saying it just can't be done, it probably can't.

Re: More customizing - they are constantly adding more costume pieces. And the invention system does exactly what you're asking for - there are more enhancements and more things to work towards with your high level characters. My level 50 badge hunter is still working on her crafting badges. And they just added two more ATs (Villain Epics). And with power proliferation, there are a lot more combinations. And they're working on more powersets, they've added several since the game went live. (Archery, Trick Arrow, Sonic Resonance, Sonic Attack, Mental Manipulation, Willpower, Dual Blades, not to mention everything released with CoV, and anything else I missed..)

And to be honest, I am glad that there's an endgame. I am glad to have my level 50s, and I like playing them when I feel like it. Yes, I've rolled up new characters and I am enjoying other powerset combinations. I would love to reach a day where all of my characters are 50 and I just run around exemping with whomever wants to team. Not to mention that they *have* added new high end content - that's what Cimeroa is. More stuff for higher level characters to do. They don't have to increase the level cap for that.

I don't feel at all "cheated" when I get to 50. It allows me to be more relaxed with the character; I don't have to worry about getting debt anymore, and I can exemp down with my friends without "missing out" on XP. And I don't even start working on my IO sets until very high level, so that gives me an excellent reason to run through the high end content to earn recipes and salvage. So I guess all I can say is that I don't see it at all in the same light that you do, which is probably why I've stuck around for so long.

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You seem to be forgetting that people ALWAYS complain. People are complaining now because of the lack of information being given. And people will complain when the information is released. And people will complain when the next issue is released. There will always be disputes. Here are the options:

Release the information and have people complain about it.


or

Keep it a secret and have people complain about the pace of the issues and lack of new content.

I'd choose the former.

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The two choices are release advance information that may be incorrect about things that haven't been finalized yet and have lots of people complain about being given incorrect information, or release information only when its set in stone, and have very few people complain about the lack of continuous and immediate access to information.

I'd choose the latter. So does practically everyone else on Planet Earth that is in a position to make that decision.

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lol Amen hun. While it is true that the amount of dev communication with the players has severely dropped off over the years. I would rather wait until there was definitive and CONCRETE information about new content before it is released.

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[IMG]http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/2886/coxboardsig.jpg[/IMG][B][SIZE="3"]
The shining world of the seven systems. On the continent of Wild Endeavour. In the mountains of Solace and Solitude there stood the Citadel of the Time Lords. The oldest and most mightiest race in the Universe. Sworn never to interfere. Only watch...[/SIZE][/B]

Yup. I am also thinking its best for all if we get concrete info only. However, what about costume packs?!

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I completely agree. Keeping us in the dark is annoying. I'm also losing interest with the game. I started played in Jan 2008 so learning the game kept my interest for a while and then i12 hit so it was ok. Now that I have a good chunk of the game down I am wanting the next issue

I see the mish creator is a hot topic but I think they should have dealt with other areas first. Going server-less is a big one. Also give each faction the ability to venture to the other side would be more important. As it stands the game divides the players way too much - spread over its numerous servers and then split between heroes or villains. Anyway, I hope this is being looked at

Any more info available for the future of this game in that address??

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If you've really blown through every bit of content this game has to offer, on both sides, in 7 months...I think I can safely say you can forget about us ever being able to keep your appetite for new content sated.

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*Dies*

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That said, if you think for one second that any MMO with a subscription fee is any different, you are sadly mistaken. Sadly. Here's a sad face for you.

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Doggammit I love the cut of your jib BaB!

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High Beam - 50 Blaster Energy/Ice - 1228 Badges
Munitions Mistress - 50 Mercs/Traps
Many Other 50's, Too Many Alts, All On Freedom
Just Because You Can, Doesn't Mean You Should!

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Only other one I can think of is Turbine's Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach, which updates similarly to CoX - large "Modules" every few months of free content upgrades.

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Talk about a huge let down. it might have been the game that pulled me away from CoX as i was a rabid D&D player back in the day and finally there was a true D&D MMO. Then I Beta tested and then it went live and then I came back to a good game.

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High Beam - 50 Blaster Energy/Ice - 1228 Badges
Munitions Mistress - 50 Mercs/Traps
Many Other 50's, Too Many Alts, All On Freedom
Just Because You Can, Doesn't Mean You Should!