Mob-Stealing, or Lending a Helping Hand?
By
Ad Astra,
Posted on: 2009-05-31 06:08 in Player Questions
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It is a Teen game. Personally i think kids should not even touch that game. It is not for them. Simple as that.
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Well it is up to the parent to decide, that is the reason for the rating system. The only thing I really see that could warrant this as 'teen' is the online experience with other players. The gameplay is certainly E10+.
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It says right on the box "Children under the age of 13 are not permitted to play" Guess what, that's not a parents choice. NCSoft will enforce it because the last thing they need is for some parents group to come after them saying that they are exposing children to inappropriate things. In our sue-happy world, companies are forced to take the choice away from parents because a few can't be bothered to read the back of a box and then will freak out when they see what they gave their child.
As for me, when I stop to help someone I am very careful not to steal any XP from the person I'm helping. If I'm on my defender, I will heal the other person, slow the mobs and debuff the highest mob there. If I'm on my scrapper, I have ways I can pull the aggro without doing any damage as well as giving them any inspirations they need to finish off the mobs. I wont just jump in and help someone that looks like they have everyone under control. I will watch and see if they have too little life/end to defeat the mobs around them. If someone says they don't want any help, I will tell them sorry and wish them the best of luck.
�Let there be truth, happiness, and waffles�
-Vagabond, Dark Lord & Avatar of Gnarr
The Justiciars
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because they have someone dressed colorfully doing *stuff.*
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That's my reason for playing. 
total kick to the gut
This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.
If they do it once, I ;wave and move to a new group.
If they follow, and they're within a few levels of me, then I play a new game: Get the kill-stealer killed through over-agro.
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The content is Rated T for Teen. It isn't E10+ by any stretch of the definition.
As soon as you as the first Hellion comes at you with a baseball bat or shoots a gun at you it is no longer E10+.
The content that changes in actual game play actually goes to M or AO in some situations.
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I Haven't seen anything Red Side in 40 levels that isn't inappropriate for anyone over the age of 10. They can rate it teen if they want but the gameplay certainly isn't teen. I would have no problems letting a kid around 10 play the game.
I saw parents with their preteen kids at the premier of 'Watchmen' that is way too adult for any kids to see. The game has no such issues that I've witnessed
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It says right on the box "Children under the age of 13 are not permitted to play" Guess what, that's not a parents choice. NCSoft will enforce it because the last thing they need is for some parents group to come after them saying that they are exposing children to inappropriate things. In our sue-happy world, companies are forced to take the choice away from parents because a few can't be bothered to read the back of a box and then will freak out when they see what they gave their child.
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ESRB and EULA are two diff things. The company can tell people they can't play under a certain age and thats fine, but ESRB rating is not binding to gameplay. They are two different things entirely.
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I almost always see this happen in Atlas Park or Mercy Island. Rarely anywhere else.
[/ QUOTE ]Partially because outside hunt missions, killing enemies on the street becomes uncommon everywhere else.
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Yeah, I saw it a lot pretty much everywhere back when street sweeping was commonplace.
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^^ sup regdate buddy
Yeah I hate killstealers, one attacked the group I was fighting in Atlas Park and I had to walk almost a hundred feet to find another group, it was awful and ruined my entire game day.
Sorry for the sarcasm, but someone jumping in on one group is meaningless and you should just let it slide like water off a duck's back.
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One person doing it is meaningless. When it's commonplace, it stops being meaningless. "Just letting it slide" means that the person's going to be doing it to others. Or possibly again to you at a later date.
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And about the possibility of kids playing and the parents have closed their chat window? Honestly, if they parent thinks they can't handle chat, they shouldn't be letting them play the game in the first place. Sorry, this game is rated T. If your kid can't play without interfering with others playing, don't inflict them on us. Or, at the very least, don't just let them go unmonitored and use the game (and us players) as a babysitter.
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Yeah, I have to agree with this as well. If the kid is too young to handle a T-rated game by themselves then the parent has no one to blame but themselves if junior gets upset or learns new words.
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Have to disagree, simply because I *know* some of those parents. They'll be nearby and watching anyway - but just because the chat window's there doesn't mean their kid has to be exposed to what goes on in it. Sometimes they DO just want to run around playing with or like their mom or dad, because they have someone dressed colorfully doing *stuff.*
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If your kid can't handle it, don't let him play. It's like walking into a bar with a kid and complaining because there are people drinking...
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It is a Teen game. Personally i think kids should not even touch that game. It is not for them. Simple as that.
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Well it is up to the parent to decide, that is the reason for the rating system.
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True, but when that parent's decision is impacting my gameplay, it becomes my business how they "decide to raise their kid". 
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They could have it under control even if you don't think they do, or could even be TRYING to die.
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Yes - an open letter of apology to the lowbie in the Atlas sewers last night (early Sunday morning) on Freedom, whom I came upon after tagging along, buffing and healing a Sewer Team on my 50 Healing Defender.
Was in the process of exiting the sewers, came around a corner, saw him surrounded by a big mob of critters, down to a sliver of health.
Hit Heal Other purely by reflex and a split-second after it went off I realized what he was doing (Express-train back to Hospital).
Sorry, bud - that was pure reflex - if I'd had one second to think about it I would have let you die.
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They call this game City of Heroes. Oh, really? Maybe City of Jerks. I haven't seen a real hero in this game in quite a while.
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I see heroes doing heroic-type activities ALL the time, my friend. Karma is a boomerang, you are what you eat, etc.
Make an effort to act heroically, you'll begin to take notice of all the other heroic acts, and attract heroic-types to add to your Friends list. 
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It is a Teen game. Personally i think kids should not even touch that game. It is not for them. Simple as that.
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Well it is up to the parent to decide, that is the reason for the rating system. The only thing I really see that could warrant this as 'teen' is the online experience with other players. The gameplay is certainly E10+.
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It says right on the box "Children under the age of 13 are not permitted to play"
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No, it doesn't.
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The content is Rated T for Teen. It isn't E10+ by any stretch of the definition.
As soon as you as the first Hellion comes at you with a baseball bat or shoots a gun at you it is no longer E10+.
The content that changes in actual game play actually goes to M or AO in some situations.
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I Haven't seen anything Red Side in 40 levels that isn't inappropriate for anyone over the age of 10. They can rate it teen if they want but the gameplay certainly isn't teen.
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Not by your standards. But, there's plenty that is by the ESRB's standards. Violence tends to get a game a T rating, especially when that violence involves guns and flamethrowers.
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Thanks everyone for the quick replies and the good advice. I think knowing what the community thinks about this will help me in general to be less tense if someone else interrupts one of my fights, since part of my concern won't be whether or not I should be concerned. It's harder to loosen up about what others are doing when you think it's a reflection on something you shouldn't be doing.
It's also good to know I won't be losing all of the rewards for my hard work or that there are ways to deal with it that won't mean overreacting if it gets too crazy. Thanks again. You guys are all great.
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What a polite Reply to all the Replies to the Original Post.
I'll just mention that on my first night in-game (my first night playing ANY MMORPG), I started "helping" a stranger fight mobs in Atlas.
They gently and politely explained the concept of "kill-stealing" without any anger or vitriol. They then offered to team with me and patiently explained some other concepts as we went along. I try to pay that kind of "heroicism" forward every chance I get.
We were all brand-new at some point - those of us with 4 or 5 years under our belts can lose sight of that at times.
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The content is Rated T for Teen. It isn't E10+ by any stretch of the definition.
As soon as you as the first Hellion comes at you with a baseball bat or shoots a gun at you it is no longer E10+.
The content that changes in actual game play actually goes to M or AO in some situations.
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I Haven't seen anything Red Side in 40 levels that isn't inappropriate for anyone over the age of 10. They can rate it teen if they want but the gameplay certainly isn't teen.
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Not by your standards. But, there's plenty that is by the ESRB's standards. Violence tends to get a game a T rating, especially when that violence involves guns and flamethrowers.
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However, that is negated by the fact no one ever dies. They are just defeated. Weren't all the superman movies PG but they involved fighting and guns to some extent in some situations? Yes I know that the Movie Ratings are independent of Game ratings but there is a parallel nonetheless
Doc Mech-Nec (Exalted): 50 Bots/FF MM
Crey Radiation Tank (Exalted): 50 Rad/Rad Corr
Servers: Exalted, Triumph, Champion
Alts: 32
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It is a Teen game. Personally i think kids should not even touch that game. It is not for them. Simple as that.
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Well it is up to the parent to decide, that is the reason for the rating system. The only thing I really see that could warrant this as 'teen' is the online experience with other players. The gameplay is certainly E10+.
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It says right on the box "Children under the age of 13 are not permitted to play" Guess what, that's not a parents choice. NCSoft will enforce it because...
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Uh, no they wont. There's a thread in the general discussion section about a guy who plays with his 6 year old daughter. Even devs have come into that thread before and remarked how cute and sweet it is. They don't enforce anything like that and I doubt they ever will unless someone tries to bring a lawsuit on them for something as trvial as little susie or johnny learning the word damn.
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It is a Teen game. Personally i think kids should not even touch that game. It is not for them. Simple as that.
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Well it is up to the parent to decide, that is the reason for the rating system. The only thing I really see that could warrant this as 'teen' is the online experience with other players. The gameplay is certainly E10+.
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It says right on the box "Children under the age of 13 are not permitted to play"
[/ QUOTE ]No, it doesn't. Try actually looking at something before saying what it says.
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Originally Posted by Back Alley Brawler
Did you just use "casual gamer" and "purpled-out warshade" in the same sentence?
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I confess I've done this to people in Steel Canyon, but I honestly thought the xp system was like a lot of MMOs (first hit gets all xp.)
I thought I was helping out lower level players. Oops.
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It says right on the box "Children under the age of 13 are not permitted to play"
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No, it doesn't. Try actually looking at something before saying what it says.
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It seems to depend which edition you look at. I have the original, and it does indeed have that restriction, verbatim, on the back in the lower right.
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It is a Teen game. Personally i think kids should not even touch that game. It is not for them. Simple as that.
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Well it is up to the parent to decide, that is the reason for the rating system. The only thing I really see that could warrant this as 'teen' is the online experience with other players. The gameplay is certainly E10+.
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It says right on the box "Children under the age of 13 are not permitted to play"
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No, it doesn't.
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Go look at the back of the Architect Edition box. It says it right there in a red box. I have it in my hand right now. And yes, that is something new that I haven't seen on any other version before.
�Let there be truth, happiness, and waffles�
-Vagabond, Dark Lord & Avatar of Gnarr
The Justiciars
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The content is Rated T for Teen. It isn't E10+ by any stretch of the definition.
As soon as you as the first Hellion comes at you with a baseball bat or shoots a gun at you it is no longer E10+.
The content that changes in actual game play actually goes to M or AO in some situations.
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I Haven't seen anything Red Side in 40 levels that isn't inappropriate for anyone over the age of 10. They can rate it teen if they want but the gameplay certainly isn't teen.
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Not by your standards. But, there's plenty that is by the ESRB's standards. Violence tends to get a game a T rating, especially when that violence involves guns and flamethrowers.
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However, that is negated by the fact no one ever dies. They are just defeated.
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Again, not as far as the ESRB is concerned. Violence is violence. I'm not saying they're right, just that it's their standards.
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Weren't all the superman movies PG but they involved fighting and guns to some extent in some situations? Yes I know that the Movie Ratings are independent of Game ratings but there is a parallel nonetheless
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Those Superman movies all came before PG-13 and weren't considered violent enough to be R.
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I confess I've done this to people in Steel Canyon, but I honestly thought the xp system was like a lot of MMOs (first hit gets all xp.)
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Actually, most MMOs that came before CoH's xp system was "whoever did the most damage got *ALL* the xp". Didn't matter who hit first. As a former guide in EQ, that was a -lot- of headaches...
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If they do it once, I ;wave and move to a new group.
If they follow, and they're within a few levels of me, then I play a new game: Get the kill-stealer killed through over-agro.
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And it's such an amusing past time too. Let a lvl 1-2 follow you over to the Argosy area of AP, hit your jump-pack, bunny-hop through the middle of some clockworks, and bound your way out. Then watch from afar as that annoying little gnat gets their reward.
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It says right on the box "Children under the age of 13 are not permitted to play"
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No, it doesn't.
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Yes, it does. It is clearly listed in the big red box between the UPC code and the ESRB rating. Also, my copies of the GvE Edition and Architect Edition both have it.
Not valid for purchase if opened. Not valid for resale by prior owner. Acceptance of certain agreements is required. Players are responsible for all applicable Internet fees. Children under the age of 13 are not permitted to play. A valid credit card or time card is required to activate. NC Interactive charges a monthly subscription fee for this product, separate from your ISP charges.
IMO though, all this statement really does is release NC Interactive from liability if a parent decides to let those under 13 play. They don't have to actively enforce it.
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.Driver Sweeper * CohHelper * HijackThis * TweakCoH * CPU-ID
* Defraggler * Program Security Scan * PC Performance Scan *
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If someone really wants to lend a helping hand then a buff or non-damaging debuff is usually welcome. I was definitely grateful to the passing controller who feared a very purple Paragon Protector who was in the process of shredding my scrapper at the time
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This is the only kind of interference I accept. And the only kind I'll do. I'll throw buffs and heals at a player who looks like they might need them but, otherwise, I'll stay out of it until someone drops.
As for kill stealers, I have a bit more direct way of dealing with them. Recently, for example, I had someone follow me around Mercy and jump into my fights. They were at my level or perhaps one lower I think. After a minute or two I found the biggest baddie I could (red to me), tagged it with a throwing knife, and proceeded to lead it back to the kill-stealer. I spent the rest of that fight running around the stealer putting them between me and the NPC. It wasn't long before I saw the "logging out in..." message over their head.
I take great pleasure in noting that their character "died" before their counter ran out. I then calmly finished off the NPC and went about my way.
I don't mind getting help, but at least be polite enough to ask first. It might be the start of a good team.
Writer of In-Game fiction: Just Completed: My Summer Vacation. My older things are now being archived at Fanfiction.net http://www.fanfiction.net/~jwbullfrog until I come up with a better solution.
Just thought I'd comment here. I never attack somebody else's mobs if it looks like they have it under control.
There are some situations where I'll jump in, though. If I see a hero with a tiny sliver of health left and a strong enemy at full or nearly-full hp attacking them, I'll watch for a moment to see if they can handle it. If they heal themselves or start using inspirations, I'll leave them alone. They'll probably be fine. But if a) it looks like they can't heal or buff themselves and the enemy is not going down, or b) the player is clearly overwhelmed and actively trying to escape, then I go in and drop that enemy so it doesn't chase them down and finish them off.
Afterward I always send a tell to let the player know my intentions. Something along the lines of, "Hi, I didn't mean to interfere, but it looked like you were in trouble." People usually say "Thank you" or toss me a free buff, so I guess they don't have a problem with this approach. And even if they didn't need or want the help, at least they know I wasn't trying to grief them. Do you think that's pretty decent etiquette for the situation?
Also, if I'm playing my Trick Arrow toon, and I see a melee character's mobs starting to scatter and run, I'll shoot off some Entangling Arrows or a Glue Arrow to help them out. It does no damage and takes none of their xp. I just know the aggravation that ensues when you're a melee toon and you have to chase down that last fool who runs halfway across the zone.
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It is a Teen game. Personally i think kids should not even touch that game. It is not for them. Simple as that.
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Well it is up to the parent to decide, that is the reason for the rating system. The only thing I really see that could warrant this as 'teen' is the online experience with other players. The gameplay is certainly E10+.
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The content is Rated T for Teen. It isn't E10+ by any stretch of the definition.
As soon as you as the first Hellion comes at you with a baseball bat or shoots a gun at you it is no longer E10+.
The content that changes in actual game play actually goes to M or AO in some situations.
That's why I'm against children playing this game. It is clearly marked on the box and at log in as "T for Teen". There is a blind-eye turned to this, but I think that the parents are being irresponsible.
The rating systems are there for a reason.
We each have our own stand on this, so there is no need to debate that part of the issue.