Thanks for the update, Posi!
Great to know we can still push through a severe grind if we really want that badge!!!
Edit: FPAARN!! First time!!
Global- @SailorET, Justice Server
Sheryl Fiero, 50 AR/Devices Blaster
Louise Fiero, 50 Merc/Traps MM
Various assorted alts
Proudly serving in our military so you don't have to.
Thank you for the explanation Positron.
Edit : Also, its not too hard to actually get the badge legitimately on a full team set to the second or fourth difficulty if they do the entire arc, the ambushes in the one mission generate alot of longbow.
Thanks for the news, Posi. Good to know that heroes can still get it.
ATs to 50 - TA/A Def, Nrg/Nrg Blaster, EM/EA Brute, WS,ELM/ELA Stalker
"We knew it would someday be possible for a villain to turn into a hero or vice versa"--Okay...now I am getting excited.
Oh, and again, you tell me something I dont know, I tell you something 
The highest per capita Jell-O comsumption in the US is Des Moines.
Bill Cosby does not live in Des Moines, probably due to the fact that he likes Pudding Pops.
Posi,
Thanks. I think that's a really fair approach you took there, and I promise you that I'm not just saying that out of easy magnanimity because I got the outcome I hoped for. I really feel like you looked at the big picture and made the decision I think I would have.
And I say that as someone who doesn't have the badge and wasn't even worried about getting it.
Blue
American Steele: 50 BS/Inv
Nightfall: 50 DDD
Sable Slayer: 50 DM/Rgn
Fortune's Shadow: 50 Dark/Psi
WinterStrike: 47 Ice/Dev
Quantum Well: 43 Inv/EM
Twilit Destiny: 43 MA/DA
Red
Shadowslip: 50 DDC
Final Rest: 50 MA/Rgn
Abyssal Frost: 50 Ice/Dark
Golden Ember: 50 SM/FA
ha ha pwned
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Yes, I had heard the concerns of a few vocal badge aficionados, and I fell on the wrong side of the argument (its amazing, but sometimes being insulted makes you feel MORE right than you probably should).
[/ QUOTE ]
I think there's a lesson in there for us players.
Posi,
Thanks for changing your mind on this one. But even more, thanks for being so open about the process that lead to the decision.
http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes#
[ QUOTE ]
I discussed with Jack and Poz what to do, and we had a plan back then. We knew it
would someday be possible for a villain to turn into a hero or vice versa, so it was decided
that the impossible to get badges should have titles and descriptions entered that reflected
your going rogue status.
[/ QUOTE ]
This begs the obvious question.
Is there *still* a plan on the table to allow factions to switch (Hero <--> Villain)?
Regards,
4
I've been rich, and I've been poor. Rich is definitely better.
Light is faster than sound - that's why some people look smart until they speak.
For every seller who leaves the market dirty stinkin' rich,
there's a buyer who leaves the market dirty stinkin' IOed. - Obitus.
Thank you!
Thanks alot for this explaination. It helps us both understand what happened and know that we can whine and cry and eventually get our way, which is of course best for us. Especially since my hero don't have the badge yet.
Oh wait, (whine and cry coming.) I have to wait for Issue 14!?!?!? awe man, why can't we just get a patch????? =P
Freedom Horde! Join the Ranks!
[ QUOTE ]
I discussed with Jack and Poz what to do, and we had a plan back then. We knew it would someday be possible for a villain to turn into a hero or vice versa
[/ QUOTE ]
So very.. very.. excited. *renews subscription*
wow thanks posi!! it takes quite the fortitude to admit that you made a bad decision. i hadn't heard abuot it but glad to hear that you changed your mind, and came forward to tell us the story about it. again, the devs in this game rock and it's one of the reasons i've been here for 4 years+
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I discussed with Jack and Poz what to do, and we had a plan back then. We knew it would someday be possible for a villain to turn into a hero or vice versa
[/ QUOTE ]
So very.. very.. excited. *renews subscription*
[/ QUOTE ]
Methinks this was either an oopsy or a very sly move to get around marketing... either way, rumors are SO going to run rampant now.
Thanks Posi.
Explanations like this from the DEVs is why I am still in the game from CoH beta.
[ QUOTE ]
Again Phil asked me how to handle this: remove the meter, or let Heroes get the badge. I made the wrong decision (again!), and had Phil simply remove the progress meter. Yes, I had heard the concerns of a few vocal badge aficionados, and I fell on the wrong side of the argument (its amazing, but sometimes being insulted makes you feel MORE right than you probably should).
[/ QUOTE ]
Okay, hang a sec. So, if you're doing something we want you to do... we should insult you to cement your dedication to it?
(scribbles that down) The things you let slip, Posi...
Thank you for taking the time to think this one out, and explain it all in one shot. The hardest part about this discussion before today has been the silence on it, which is now ended. Hooray.
@TURGENEV - Freedom Server / IRON / B.A.N.E / HORDE
Turg Fiction: Ghost in the Machine Acts III & IV coming 2012!
Turg Fiction: IX is now LIVE on Architect Entertainment!
*takes pin out of Positron Voodoo doll*
*eats doll, it was made from radioactive cookie dough*
That blue thing running around saying "Cookies are sometimes food" is Praetorian Cookie Monster!
Shoot on sight, please.
Thanks for reconsidering this, Positron. As someone who already had the badge, I considered two options to be fair: leave it as-is (allowing heroes to get it), or remove it entirely, including from those who already got it. I considered the previous "let people keep it but don't let new people get it" decision to be sub-optimal, as I only had the badge purely by virtue of working on it during a specific date range. Since badge hunting can be a semi-competitive thing where people compare themselves to other people in the game, I'd rather new players could have the opportunity to get all of the badges that old players have been able to get.
I know this may seem irrational to many, but I'd hate to have collector types that are new to the game feel "shut out" of the friendly competition aspect of badge collecting, simply because they joined the game later. I know other badges still contribute to this (Vet badges, anniversary badges), and I wouldn't expect those to change, but the less "exclusive to old timer" badges we have, the better, in my opinion.
Anyway, thanks again.
Please try my custom mission arcs!
Legacy of a Rogue (ID 459586, Entry for Dr. Aeon's Third Challenge)
Death for Dollars! (ID 1050)
Dr. Duplicate's Dastardly Dare (ID 1218)
Win the Past, Own the Future (ID 1429)
This is some media blitz, Posi. My sincerest commendations for breaking the relative pall of silence over the last few weeks.
And damn, I dropped that mission after that patch went through. Have to get it from Ouroboros now 
Thank you.
Thank you for taking the time to explain it to us.
Thank you for having the courage to admit that you've made a wrong decision.
Thank you for being one-half of this week's renewd interest in my Warshade.
Thank you.
What shall claim a Sky Kings' Ransom?
PPD & Resistance Epic Archetypes
[ QUOTE ]
Thank you.
Thank you for taking the time to explain it to us.
Thank you for having the courage to admit that you've made a wrong decision.
Thank you for being one-half of this week's renewd interest in my Warshade.
Thank you.
[/ QUOTE ]
Thank you for dropping the possible end run around marketing hint about the future of hero and villain side switching. 
Blazara Aura LVL 50 Fire/Psi Dom (with 125% recharge)
Flameboxer Aura LVL 50 SS/Fire Brute
Ice 'Em Aura LVL 50 Ice Tank
Darq Widow Fortune LVL 50 Fortunata (200% rech/Night Widow 192.5% rech)--thanks issue 19!
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I discussed with Jack and Poz what to do, and we had a plan back then. We knew it would someday be possible for a villain to turn into a hero or vice versa
[/ QUOTE ]
So very.. very.. excited. *renews subscription*
[/ QUOTE ]
Methinks this was either an oopsy or a very sly move to get around marketing... either way, rumors are SO going to run rampant now.
[/ QUOTE ]
We knew that was always a possibility from the 'nefarious' means that Posi mentioned. That and some of the Devs admitted it's do-able, but not ready... and may never be, but do-able.
Speeding Through New DA Repeatables || Spreadsheet o' Enhancements || Zombie Skins: better skins for these forums || Guide to Guides
I hope and pray they don't allow side flipping. Let hero-side be hero-side and villains be villains. Let's concentrate on adding new SFs to villain side and new content to both sides. Let's fix all the bugs and errors, lets get some new power sets, I want my MM's with beast control!
Of course... I wouldn't be surprised if he's just having fun and counting how many people ask for the side flipping now.
Those sneaky devs and their sneakiness.
You know I appreciate Posi sitting down and talking to us about this. I know we badgers aren't considered really a player base thats worth talking to by some.
It does mean alot. Of course the moment *I* saw the ability to do this in that mission set I called everyone I knew and told them to get it while it lasted, I thought it was an error on thier part, and to get a screenie in case it was becuase surley they'd take it away from us. :P
But, I digress. Thank you again Posi, it's nice to hear from you
-C.A.
Heres some detail into the badge systems that several of you have deduced through reasoning and sometimes nefarious means.
When badges were introduced back in issue 2, we had the ability to give them a Name and a Description, and all the badges got these (of course). When City of Villains was in development, it was determined for those characters to use the same badge system as the original one for clarity sake (no sense in having two datasets floating around). We added a couple more fields to the database: V_Name and V_Description. These are used when your character has the villain bit turned on.
Now back then, I was the one in charge of all the badges, so I went and looked at all of them and wrote villainous names and descriptions for the badges that villains would be able to earn. In the process I had come across several badges that were impossible for the other side to get, Positrons Ally, Villainous, etc.
I discussed with Jack and Poz what to do, and we had a plan back then. We knew it would someday be possible for a villain to turn into a hero or vice versa, so it was decided that the impossible to get badges should have titles and descriptions entered that reflected your going rogue status.
Thus (for example) Positrons Ally has a V_Name of Positrons Betrayer. Villainous is the V_Name, and so the Name (as seen by hero) is Reformed. The descriptions were entered to reflect a character that started on one side and switched to the other. There are literally dozens of badges with this sort of nomenclature in them.
These went through testing and betas and launched with Issue 6: Along Came a Spider. It wasnt until the badge system got the pounding of the entire playerbase that a lot of cracks in the system became exposed. Most of these got shored up between issue 6 and issue 7, a couple persisted through to later issues, and one was thought to be fixed, but wasnt really. That was the infamous Reformed badge. A badge which was able to be earned through a Villain character hitting a Hero character with Confuse while in Sirens Call, enabling the Hero to now attack, and defeat, Longbow, and thus earn credit for the badge.
Fast forward to Issue 10: Invasion. We now introduced a mission that heroes could take that involves them going up against rogue Longbow agents. Suddenly there was a legitimate way to earn the badge. I use quotes around that because earning the badge involves farming the mission over and over to get the requisite 1000 defeats needed for it.
Fast Forward to Issue 13: Power and Responsibility. I am no longer the man when it comes to badges. Phil Synapse Zeleski has the dubious task of managing these and a lot of the other reward systems in CoH/V. I know how much work this is and how hard it is, and when Phil started delving into the datafiles he had a lot of questions. The Reformed badge was one of them, and I (wrongly) told him that it shouldnt be available to Heroes at all. Dutifully Phil then put a requires = villain on the badge, thus killing any chance Heroes had of getting the badge, however the progress bars requirement was left to any, so Heroes would see their progress bar, just not be able to actually achieve the badge.
Again Phil asked me how to handle this: remove the meter, or let Heroes get the badge. I made the wrong decision (again!), and had Phil simply remove the progress meter. Yes, I had heard the concerns of a few vocal badge aficionados, and I fell on the wrong side of the argument (its amazing, but sometimes being insulted makes you feel MORE right than you probably should).
After sitting down with Phil and going over the history of EVERYTHING badge related with this issue, Phil and I decided to go back and reinstate the Reformed badge for Heroes. This will be in Issue 14: Architect, but your credit should still be being counted from now until that releases. Of course, you have no progress bar, and something might have happened elsewhere that I dont know about, so if you really want to make progress towards the badge, I would wait until Issue 14 is released to do it.
Positron
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