The New Look for Circle of Thorns
By
A Musing Mage,
Posted on: 2011-08-08 10:57 in Developers' Corner
Quote:
One of my key points for why I was disappointed with the lack of revamp for Mercy come I21.|
Originally Posted by TrueGentleman
One measure of the success (or shortcoming) of a redesign is its suitability for the game environment in which it will be encountered. While this second iteration is very much an improvement on the SDCC version, it still looks likely to fall short in this respect.
Consider how the CoT will first be encountered in the game: in the dingy alleys of Kings Row, the shadowy woods of Perez Park and northern Cap au Diable, or the ancient ruins of Oranbega in the early "Rescue a Midnighter" mission. Will this redesign complement those locations with its generic "spiked 'n' stacked pauldron" fantasy feel? Or will it clash because of the gaudy greens, blues, violets, and purples that dominate the color palettes? As Calibre observed, picturing this version of the redesign in their "native habitat" of Oranbegan corridors and tombs is still difficult (the result might be closer to Yogi Bare's comparison with Power Rangers baddies). Unless the CoT's signature maps are going to receive a similar update, the faction risks looking out of place even on their home (under)ground. That said, welcome to the forums El Topo and congratulations on your first post, as well as the latest iteration of the CoT redesign. Too much perfection, as Jodorowsky's hero declared, is a mistake. |
With all of the patch revamping going on here and there; especially with costume pieces, NPC redraws and interior map additions... the lesser textures and coloring will gradually become more and more noticeable. (A Cool World foreground vs. background effect)
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I'd like to add my congratulations on a job very well done. These look fantastic... and thanks for taking player feedback into consideration. Wow!
One man's terrorist is another man's freedom (or freem?) fighter; just as one man's exploit is another man's feature.
I do really appreciate that the devs took our feedback and did make an attempt to bring them back in line with what they were. I can certainly live with this version of CoT without to much pain (at least after I get DOs)... However, I'd also really appreciate if "Classic CoT" were at least left in the Mission Architect for us nostalgic types.
Dear NCsoft, if you go through with this shutdown you've guaranteed you'll not see another dime from me on any project you put out, ever.
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While you've made the Death Mage truly astounding, even the minions are scary looking.
I cannot WAIT to see the behemoths, spectrals, overlords, etc. Please tell me the Envoy of Shadow is unique. And I'd love to see the possessed scientists get something other than green eyes.
No more previews? 
There are no words for what this community, and the friends I have made here mean to me. Please know that I care for all of you, yes, even you. If you Twitter, I'm MrThan. If you're Unleashed, I'm dumps. I'll try and get registered on the Titan Forums as well. Peace, and thanks for the best nine years anyone could ever ask for.
Quote:
There is now pizza and ginger ale all over my monitor and desk, damn it... |
Originally Posted by Angerdog
Also? Some of the screen caps makes it feel like they should be wielding instruments and they've just stepped on stage. Ladies.. and demons... CIRCLE. OF. THORNS!!!!!!! *Guitar blast* OHHHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
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Mainly because your comment immediately brought THIS video to mind with the CoTs instead and I laughed so hard I choked.Quote:
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Originally Posted by Emberly
Significantly improved over the last pics that I saw. Part of me wonders why so much of the new design has to be so... pointy, but then again, they are not the Circle of Rounded, Safe Edges.
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FWIW, tone down the colors a shade or two and you guys are golden.
Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite
Dark_Respite's Farewell Video: "One Last Day"
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THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE CONTINUES!
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Quote:
Good lord, was Baron Zoria ever part of the Aesthete circle of Oscar Wilde and William Morris or the like? Even the Yellow Book was more of a mustard color than stop-light lemon.|
Originally Posted by Zombie Man
WRT pink and purple: As a Victorian, Baron Zoria would heartily approve. They liked loud colors back then.
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The Circle of Thorns would better fit the stories of Arthur ("The White People") Machen or Robert W. ("The King in Yellow") Chambers than anything from Swinburne or Wilde.
Quote:
Great. Hope everyone is satisfied now, this sillyness can end and the art team can start doing other groups. |
Originally Posted by El Topo
Howdee friends,
*stuff* *pic* |
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OK,
We've improved from 'Gawdawful Abomination' to 'Meh'.
These costumes are still pointless ostentation for the sake of ostentation, but they're no longer screamingly abhorrent and do somewhat echo the previous look.
I'd just as soon see the abandonment of the ridiculous amounts of layers, pads and spikiness that every costume option we've seen in the past couple of months has been burdened with, but apparently that's not going to happen.
Welcome to the Circle of Liefeld. It's a fairly deep circle of hell, close by the one set aside for multiple covers, issue Zeroes, and Wizard Magazine.
My only question is this: what are the Carnival of Shadows going to say/do when they discover that the Circle of Thorns, a dark and secretive cult, is now more shiny and colorful than they are?
Statesmonkey Sez: Lighten up! It's a game, for Lincoln's sake!
Also: Six years of casual play begins to look an awful lot like one year of hardcore play.
Well that was nice. I kind of enjoyed being in the majority for a week, it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. Oh well.
These are an improvement but a minor one at best. The minions seem dull compared to their robed predecessors, the thorn motif is waaaaaaay overdone and the Boss classes remind me of Christmas trees. All the Death Mage needs is a gold star on top of his hat.
Still, kudos to the Devs for listening to the complaints, the community mods for collating the feedback and all involved for winning most of the forums back. Well done.
@Dante EU - Union Roleplayer and Altisis Victim
The Militia: Union RP Supergroup - www.themilitia.org.uk
Quote:
Now there's ginger ale in my sinuses. Excuse me while I go put the rest of my lunch away before continuing to read this thread, otherwise I may inadvertently kill myself in the process.|
Originally Posted by Casual_Player
Welcome to the Circle of Liefeld. It's a fairly deep circle of hell, close by the one set aside for multiple covers, issue Zeroes, and Wizard Magazine.
|
Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite
Dark_Respite's Farewell Video: "One Last Day"
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE CONTINUES!
Book I: A Tale of Nerd Flirting! ~*~ Book II: Courtship and Crime Fighting - Chap Nine live!
MA Arcs - 3430: Hell Hath No Fury / 3515: Positron Gets Some / 6600: Dyne of the Times / 351572: For All the Wrong Reasons
378944: Too Clever by Half / 459581: Kill or Cure / 551680: Clerical Errors (NEW!)
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE CONTINUES!
Book I: A Tale of Nerd Flirting! ~*~ Book II: Courtship and Crime Fighting - Chap Nine live!
MA Arcs - 3430: Hell Hath No Fury / 3515: Positron Gets Some / 6600: Dyne of the Times / 351572: For All the Wrong Reasons
378944: Too Clever by Half / 459581: Kill or Cure / 551680: Clerical Errors (NEW!)
Some people are never quite happy. And never will be...
I hope the art team can focus on more cool stuff, the CoT are going to look better than ever, Im so glad they did the change.
Just wondering, the possessed scientist, succubus, hellfrost, behemoth, and daemons will be upgraded too?
Quote:
HAHA! |
Originally Posted by Emberly
Significantly improved over the last pics that I saw. Part of me wonders why so much of the new design has to be so... pointy, but then again, they are not the Circle of Rounded, Safe Edges.
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That made me laugh enough that I figured I should share it!
It also inspires me to make an AE arc about such a CoT counter splinter group faction thing!
@Zethustra
"Now at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew come out
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
Haters gonna hate.
I like the new design a lot more than old CoT. Thumbs up.
<:[ shark goes nom nom nom ]:>
[QUOTE=theOcho;3409811]As to the REAL reason I'll be leaving, I'm afraid it is indeed because Tamaki Revolution dc'd on me during a RSF.[/QUOTE]
@Casual Player ::noddnodd:: For some reason I remember a red-name saying that they dislike how the Carnies look. Wonder if they are next?
***
I so nailed what was going to happen on post #352 in the "Circle of Warcraft" thread.
I LOVE the samurai-robe spiky belts. And the collars. And the Death Mage. He is my favorite :3
...
..
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Oh.. and I love Lamp.
@War-Nugget
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Wavicle
CoH players are stupid and incompetent compared to WoW players.
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I'm afraid I could not resist a quick sojourn into Photoshop.
Live from japan, it's the circle of ROCK!!!!
You can purchase your pope hats at the door.
Quote:
lmao
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Originally Posted by angerdog
i'm afraid i could not resist a quick sojourn into photoshop.
live from japan, it's the circle of rock!!!! You can purchase your pope hats at the door. |
That's really nice. Wonderful it's says COT.
Makes one wonder how many members of the art team are thinking "&#^$ you guys!" right now.
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Angerdog wins the Internet today.
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Quote:
Very much agreed with you there. I still feel these COT are over the top, and a touch Liefeld. But if a redesign can't be avoided, and I must settle for this, then I shall. |
Originally Posted by Olantern
T
My hope is that the devs don't take this positive response as a cue to, say, put the Fifth Column in metallic, purple armor. |
Besides I'm worried they might make it worse with any more tweaking and give them a plethora of pouches.
Plus while I smack on them, all the while screaming for my own pope hat so I can create their arch nemesis, the fighting pontiff.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Serva_Obscura
These aren't cape rigs, they're solid like the warrior belt
All of those pieces have player versions. |
El Topo specifically says that "For those of you that want to try this look on your character, some of these costume pieces will be available in the Paragon Market later this year." Which implies that NOT all of those pieces will have player versions. Which probably means that the really cool pieces will not be made available for players.
Quote:
You should have been here for Issue 3.
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Originally Posted by Olantern
My hope is that the devs don't take this positive response as a cue to, say, put the Fifth Column in metallic, purple armor.
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If all these pieces are for players, too, then can't wait to see the formation of the Supergroup:
The Pope Rangers!
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Quote:
It is sad that we have come to think this way, but I can see why, and actually have the same fear. This game has a bad habit, and history of keeping the best costume options for just the NPCs. |
Originally Posted by Yogurt
Which probably means that the really cool pieces will not be made available for players.
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In this one instance, I really hope we are wrong to feel this way.
Types of Swords
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As I think every other post has said, this looks like the art team has knocked one out of the park. Great, great job re-imagining these models in such a short amount of time. You seem to have hit every facet of our concerns right on. I'm greatly looking forward to seeing these guys in game.