New To CoX...checking this server out.

Hey folks.

I just upgraded from a trial account, and have a few characters started on the Freedom server. Just a few questions, in addition to saying hi:

Is Hero or Villain side more populace? Does one side or another suffer from a lower population on this server? What would be a good recommendation for a new player to start out? Or is it just personal preference? All my characters are Praetor so far, so I can go either way.

Are there any good Super Groups out there for the enthusiast player? I am not a hardcore kind of guy, but not totally casual either. I do enjoy mature, team-oriented friends to play with.

And lastly, is it common to receive cold invites? Seem to get them a lot, and in other games this is considered bad manners. I usually prefer to get a tell asking me if I am available or would like to join before I get an invite. But if this is the common practice, I won't take offense. Is it rude of me to just decline?

This game seems pretty awesome ,and I look forward to leveling through the content, and learning the ins-and-outs of character builds. Thanks for any info that can be given.

**Edit** Global handle is @Grimb0t (that's a zero).

First off, Welcome to Freedom!

Now, ill try to answer your questions for you!

Sadly Hero side prolby has more people. However I would send some to both sides you may find you like red side better (and for good reasons).

I can't help you on SG's I don't join them.

Yes its common, yes it still considered rude. I would add "PST" to you team search box. It won't stop them but it may help some what. You can also flag yourself as not looking for a team, I think that this will stop invites sent from the team search box but not slash commands. Speaking of slash commands you can use /hidden I think to avoid ALL team invites and tells.

If you have any other questions don't forget the wiki.

Welcome to Freedom! Have fun, and come to the dark side! We have doughnuts!

Hey! Welcome to the asylum, we're glad to have you.
Most of your questions have already been answered, I'm just here to say hi. Hi!
Feel free to shoot me a tell, a lot of the time I'm looking for something to do anyway I'm @FrosterV.2

Welcome to the game and to Freedom. My global is in my sig, add me as well.

I won't be on as much after the middle of Febuary, because I'm opening my own restaurant, but I'll help you out with anything I can when I'm on.

Thanks for all the replies. Hope to see some of you in-game.

I was on trial account last year. This is what happened to me.
Day 1-3: I liked the gadgeteer from Champions online, so the closest thing in the AT list is a Villain Mastermind. Did the first arc under Kalinda and then joined my first bank run. Farmed the bank until I hit 10.
Day 4-5: I decided to try hero side and made a controller. OMG. I was dying running from mission to mission. The villain missions tend to be closer to where your contact is. The hero missions may force you to run all the way to the other side of the map. I managed to suck it up to lvl 6. While looking for a team in Atlas, I noticed that people tend to make fun of newbie questions. Basically, putting down the one who asked the question. The chat on villain side was more respectful and helpful.
Day 6-8: I set LFT and search comment to: trial accnt, cant use tell. MM/healer. I got invited to many teams, some as high as 50 (for Winter Lord teams). My level capped at 14, but I still liked to play the MM.
Day 9: Played hero until lvl 10. What surprised me most was how easily people quit the team after a team wipe. This happened on several teams I joined. The villain teams were more patient and completed more missions.
Day 10-14: I went back to villain side and found out that I could buy a jetpack at lvl 1 in Grandville. On new toons, I open a few presents to get 1 candy cane and sell it for 50k (that's the inf cap for trial accounts). Then I use the money to buy a jetpack. Woohoo! No more running through town to get to my mission.

Anyway, that's how I ended up on villain side. I usually don't have trouble finding folks to play with. However, I tend to form teams rather than join one. In my experience, people would rather join than lead. Unfortunately, it seems that there are a lot more joiners than leaders. When I want to form a team, I just broadcast: Lv xx team forming, pst for invite. I get about 4-6 replies and suddenly I'm leading a 5 person team.

I joined a bunch of Villain groups during the first month. Here's the ones I stuck with:
- Dark Kingdom: lots of members, helpful and taught me a lot about the game.
- Shadow Souls: smaller group, but really good players. Strikeforce masters.
- Venu sovereignty: Really nice and helpful leader. Leads Raids and COP. In coalition with Shadow Souls.

As for blind invites, it's ok to decline. If you don't like blind invites, you may be able to prevent it by setting your search comment to: No blind invites. Some team leaders have a macro that sends a message or invite using the search list. They could just be spamming the macro hoping for a response.

After 1 yr of playing, I still think the game is pretty awesome.

Hersoside is definitely more active than villainside. I was actually disappointed with redside on this server, since I rarely see any SFs run, very few teams form, and it seems like everyone just stands around at the market never saying a word. Sometimes I suspect they're gold farmers.

Welcome. Most of your questions have been answered quite well, but there was something in your post that caught my eye. In regards to "leveling through the content" my advice is you take your time, and have fun with it. CoX isn't like most MMOs where all the cool stuff is at the end, but instead between level 1 and level 50. In fact, until very recently there wasn't much to do after you hit 50. Now they have this Incarnate thing going on, that is supposed to make your character more powerful without actually going up in level (and of course to provide endgame content to our 50s).

I've been here about 3 1/2 years and I still have yet to reach 50 on any toon (of course if I hadn't have taken so many breaks, I probably would be by now ). Anyway, enjoy your time here. It's a great game, with probably the best community you'll encounter on the internet.

OP: welcome to Freedom, the oldest, IMHO best, most Prime of the servers.

Welcome to CoH and to Freedom! Happy to have a new face! Most of your questions have been answered very well. I will say that hero side is far more populous, but I tend to go to villain side when I want good teams. It is more difficult to find a team on red side, so I think people are a bit more forgiving when it comes to teamwipes, mistakes, etc. As a new player myself, I have never gotten a rude comment from a fellow villain when I did something stupid. Villains are nicer than heroes, go figure.

As far as SGs go, allow me to take a minute to advertise. On Villain side my friend and I started a brand new, and very small SG called The Metanoia Project. We are both new to the game and wanted to learn the SG system a little.We are not powergamers by any means. We just wanted a funcional base and a place to store our alternate characters, of which we have many. We play a few nights a week, and mostly just run missions and put together PuG teams. Right now, we only have three members and about 11 total toons in the group. You are welcome to join us anytime.

Hero side is a different story. I am a member of a large and very active SG, Valhalla's Guard. Currently ranked #11 on the server, we have been around for about 6 months. We are a very friendly and mature SG. Everyone is extremely helpful and generous. Our base is huge and fully functional with TPs to all zones and worktables, storage, etc. Check out www.valhallasguard.com for info.

I know those two options are on extreme ends of the spectrum, but there ya go. Send me a tell @Guardian Irish-Fury, or PM me with any questions. I am always looking for a teammate, so feel free to shoot me an invite anytime.

I got your tell last night, but was logged in to a Praetorian and unable to invite you. I asked an SG mate to send you an invite, but never got confirmation that you got it and joined up. I'll be in game for a bit tonight, feel free to shoot me a tell and I'll show you around the base and such if you wish.