My humble suggestions - Player/NPC animations, server segregation
By
Ad Astra,
Posted on: 2011-08-24 09:11 in Suggestions and Ideas
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You *assume* people "on the more inactive servers" are "Isolated." They are not. Some are there by choice because we don't LIKE the mess that is the Freedom server - and with Galaxy City going away in I21, one of the retorts to dealing with a broadcast full of PL spam ("Start in Galaxy") goes away. Not to mention you'd just give the RMTers - mostly isolated on Freedom - the entire game as their audience again. |
Originally Posted by NerfSliver
Servers: Almost a decade ago when this game was build, virtualization was just a buzzword at best. Today we have servers that are no longer defined as a single discreet device but instead a virtual entity that exists independent of the hardware. While I realize this is probably not news to you in any way, the fact that the game is still segregated into separate individual servers reflects an increasingly antiquated paradigm. This severely hinders people who have characters they want to play that are isolated on the more inactive servers. What I would suggest instead is a single server that all players log into. In the event it becomes overloaded, it would become “full” an new server would become available, much like we do with the individual games zones when they become loaded. I realize there would have a number of challenges to implement this (AE might have to become its own zone for instance), but it would deeply enrich the CoH community as a whole, making us a true City of Heroes as a opposed to a "Multiple Dimensions of Cities of Heroes who can’t play together".
Thoughts welcome of course. |
Ye olde copypasta:
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Why server consolidation is not a good idea. 1. Just because YOU like living in New York City doesn't mean I can't like Kansas. Yay, you love having huge lag spikes as you get near the black market/wentworths and a busy broadcast. Congrats. Enjoy Freedom. Some of us - many of which you will get replies from with this subject - like *low population* servers. If we *wanted* to be on Freedom, we'd *be* on Freedom. I have characters on Freedom. I rarely play them (and actually moved a character OFF of Freedom to finish leveling it to 50) because *I DON'T LIKE FREEDOM.* I dislike the banality of broadcast, the high percentage of *horrid* teams I've come across there, the lag around any gathering point- and I've got a decent connection and system. For much the same reason, I typically startin Galaxy City instead of Atlas Park - I don't *want* to log in to a costume contest with several 50s spamming powers and nonsense arguments in broadcast. Some of us *like* nice, quiet servers. 2, Kansas, part 2. In addition, servers have their own personalities. No, I don't mean that literally, there's no AI to worry about if you start hearing "Daisy, Daisy" over your speakers or headset. Freedom's a crowded mess. Virtue is the RP server. Pinnacle is the "Drunk" server. Others have specific communities, such as those from Australia/NZ, Europe, etc. 3. "I only saw one other person. World of Conancraft has eleventy billion!" So what? We don't run around camping spawn points in this game. People are in missions. People are spread across many zones. Search on a map or do a /whoall and you'll miss those in missions, as well as those who are, for whatever reason, on /hide. Your "search" there didn't give you a full picture, not in the least. I understand the "feel" of things being "not very populated," but take a good look around when you're in game. Typically, you don't really have a lot of visibility. Standing in steel canyon, there could be multiple, full 8 person groups surrounding you, and it's likely you'd never see them. We have buildings, walls, architecture, trees and more limiting our visibility. Yes, it can make you feel more alone... but that's rarely the case. Add to that that the population is spread between many, MANY zones, most quite large, and among two sides... well... 4. "I put up my LFT flag and nothing happened!" Learn to search. Don't just wait. Form a team yourself. 5. "I AM SPARTACUS!" No, not any more. Remember logging in and seeing all those slots? Everyone has those - some buy more than the base 12, you get an extra one each year, you could have a total of 36 on any server. Everyone does. Every one has a character with a unique name. Maybe not a *good* name, but a unique one. Every one has a character with a unique name. Maybe not a *good* name, but a unique one. Now merge servers. Suddenly, CoolBlasterDude from server 1 is getting merged with CoolBlasterDude from Server 2. Who gets to keep their name? Nobody has been able to answer this with any degree of satisfaction. Add a number? But I am NOT CoolBlasterGuy1. And what if the name's too long? Does the older character keep it? What if they're not as active? People are *VERY* attached to their names. They are, quite obviously, part of their character. 6. "This Is SPARTA!" Sorry, Sparta exists already. You are GenericSG 8734 287 9798. What else has a name? Supergroups. And I can *guarandamntee* that the same name is in use on multiple servers. Sometimes it's 'branches' of the same SG, sometimes it's coincidence. But with *everything* involved in an SG - from its identity and reputation on the server, to everything stored in the database about what it owns, what its base is like and such, this would be a disaster in the making. And no, auto merging them when the servers merge, even if they have room to, is not an option. This, of course, assumes that they *CAN* move supergroups as a unit. More than likely, it'd just be a mass character move, with bases, prestige, anything stored in bases and all SG affiliations just gone forever. 7. "I am... where'd Spartacus go?" Remember all those slots? Well, you start with 1/3 of the available ones. You can buy up to 36 total (24 on top of the ones you get initially.) Now, what do you suppose would happen if you merged two servers, and someone has, say, 20 characters on each? Not unusual. In fact, before those extra slots, I had *filled up* several servers. Do those characters just disappear? Do they move? Free move to another server sounds great, right... well, except you now kick them from their supergroup, remove them from their friends lists and more. This makes for angry and unhappy customers. Or rather, ex customers. 8. I will play where I damn well want to. And you can too. And that should be blunt enough. If I want a crowded server, I'll go to Freedom. If I want an RP server, I'll go to Virtue. I do NOT want to be shoved onto another server I *don't* like. If I wanted to go there, *I'd be there.* If the server you're on isn't "busy" enough for you, you have two options that won't bother anyone else. (A) If it's low enough, reroll. You have a ton of character slots for a reason. (B) If you don't want to reroll, server transfers are available, and relatively cheap. They also finish fast - you should be up and running and being spammed to join someone's SG on the new server in a few minutes, in most instances. So YOU can go to the server of YOUR choice without screwing ME over. 9. "It'll free up server hardware for Freedom!" No, no it won't. Freedom, because of the load it tends to have, already has more resources dedicated to it than other servers. And ALL of the servers have been upgraded multiple times. The servers are not allocated exactly the same. The servers that handle less of a load have less dedicated to them. So this argument doesn't fly. 10. DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Last but not least (at least until better points come along to be added,) server consolidation is widely viewed in the industry as an MMO going on life support. No, we don't have WoWs numbers (and you should actually pay attention to when and how they got those.) They're an abberation in the MMO industry. COH has had and does have a very successful, sustainable population even at its lowest points, so there's no economic need to combine anything. The flip side of that, of course, has been suggested above - you crowd people together, break up their SGs and friends lists, cause characters to go missing and poeple definitely *will* quit, both out of annoyance and a sense of "The game is almost dead!" In conclusion.... As stated before, when it comes to server consolidation... HELL NO. |
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Probably doable. Not sure how high it would be on the priority list. If the artist assigned to designing a new purse, and the animator assigned to making sure the animation still fits with the new design would be better used elsewhere, I'd rather they be used elsewhere. It might be a decent first project for new employees, though.|
Originally Posted by NerfSliver
1. The characters playing tug of war in Talos are out of synch. It has been this way for years and it really looks bad. The fact they are fighting over what looks like an impossibly large green jewel seems silly too. Could they perhaps fight over something more conceivable, like a satchel or something? Just a thought. |
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| 2. There are some “idle” animations that seem very overused. While the trumpeting sounds of the Tuatha de Dannan is very well done, seeing them standing around punching one hoof into the other looks very out of place. Perhaps is they were pawing the ground or doing something more moose-like. Many other enemies fall in the same sort of category. |
Same answer as above, probably doable, but if it is a choice between alternate animations for powers, or alternate animations for idle mobs, I'd rather have the powers.
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| 3. Could the vehicles not all look like 70’s boat-cars? Perhaps add current models of vehicles as they come out. This could even become an opportunity for in-game ad revenue (“see the 2013 Prius…only at CoH”). |
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| 1. Could we add customizations to the Veteran powers? |
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| 2. With the advent of “rag-doll” physics in the games some time ago, the Dev team gave the battle experience a continual source of freshness and often times amusement. I wonder if we could not also do this with our powers. By that I mean not only change the colors of a power but the stance and actions of the character as the power is executed, perhaps even making them random each time, along the same lines as the random object thrown in Telekinesis. |
The Devs know we want this, and the Devs want to make it happen. Patience, young Grasshopper.
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| 3. Could the character types that use items such as swords, axes, pistols, rifles, etc. be shown to be carrying these items at all times, much like a costume part? And could the placement of such items be customizable, e.g. on the belt, strapped across the back or front? |
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Servers: Almost a decade ago when this game was build, virtualization was just a buzzword at best. Today we have servers that are no longer defined as a single discreet device but instead a virtual entity that exists independent of the hardware. While I realize this is probably not news to you in any way, the fact that the game is still segregated into separate individual servers reflects an increasingly antiquated paradigm. This severely hinders people who have characters they want to play that are isolated on the more inactive servers. What I would suggest instead is a single server that all players log into. In the event it becomes overloaded, it would become “full” an new server would become available, much like we do with the individual games zones when they become loaded. I realize there would have a number of challenges to implement this (AE might have to become its own zone for instance), but it would deeply enrich the CoH community as a whole, making us a true City of Heroes as a opposed to a "Multiple Dimensions of Cities of Heroes who can’t play together". Thoughts welcome of course. |
If you want to play on Freedom, then play on Freedom. I happen to like Pinnacle and Champion, and a new computer to make Freedom run smoothly is not in the cards for me at the moment.
New story arcs coming soon (ARC IDs will be aded when I finish the arc):
So, you want to join the Hellions? (level 1-14 Villainous arc)
Sparks & Steel (level 5-20 Heroic arc)
and
So you want to join the Skulls? (level 1-14 Villainous arc)
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... actually, I have several where there certainly is damage/destruction. The Need for Speed franchise in particular uses actual manufacturer cars - and as I'm recalling, does have damage toggle-able for the cars. (Or not toggle-able - here's one with just a bit of scraping from the fence for the heck of it.) | There is a reason why there is no destruction physics in racing games that use the actual car models |
Part of the point of it, after all, is showing off cars most of us will never afford (I sure don't have a high end Lambo, Mclaren, etc. in my future.)
Lightfoot,
Thanks for the comments. They were all well thought out and insightful. I will never call them "mooses" again 
Bill,
Your points are certainly salient and not to be ignored, but yes I did assume others would like to team as I do and would want a well-populated server on which to do so. Having a lot of decent toons on Protector and Infinity and having to spent 30 minutes begging to get 4 other people to team gets a little old. Others are indeed not as social and want to only solo (as do I from time to time) and I completely understand. FYI, Freedom is not a mess, its just that the PL for profit crowd is all over AP AE. I can ALWAYS find good players willing to team and/or help when I am on that server. Yes the farming culture does breed a higher noob quotient then on other servers, but in my mind this is just another opportunity for the community to shine through the helping hands of its more experienced players. That said perhaps making AE its own zone is still not a bad idea. Sorry you felt it would take a lengthy (and somewhat indignant) diatribe to get your point across
glad I could be your guest anger-management counselor for the day.
Another suggestion
or perhaps simple point of confusion:
Perhaps a better suggestion for my teaming issues would be an expanding of the LFG function. Right now it is my understanding that this is used solely for incarnate trials. I wonder if it could be expanded to include missions teams, TFs, and that sort of thing. Tell me if I am misunderstanding the feature as it is currently. As stated, scraping up a team anytime besides 2-XP weekends gets hard on some of the more under populated servers. Flame on.
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In addition to all the fine points Bill made, your "fix" would mean that global (and non global) friends get separated and unable to play together if one happens to log in on an earlier instanced server. And logging out to join the friend (assuming you know he is on via a global list) is not a good answer to that problem.|
Originally Posted by NerfSliver
Servers: Almost a decade ago when this game was build, virtualization was just a buzzword at best. Today we have servers that are no longer defined as a single discreet device but instead a virtual entity that exists independent of the hardware. While I realize this is probably not news to you in any way, the fact that the game is still segregated into separate individual servers reflects an increasingly antiquated paradigm. This severely hinders people who have characters they want to play that are isolated on the more inactive servers. What I would suggest instead is a single server that all players log into. In the event it becomes overloaded, it would become full an new server would become available, much like we do with the individual games zones when they become loaded. I realize there would have a number of challenges to implement this (AE might have to become its own zone for instance), but it would deeply enrich the CoH community as a whole, making us a true City of Heroes as a opposed to a "Multiple Dimensions of Cities of Heroes who cant play together".
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And thanks, but I'd rather not have you steal my fellow denizens of Protector away from me and replace them with random people from other servers.
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30 minutes for 4 people?|
Originally Posted by NerfSliver
Having a lot of decent toons on Protector and Infinity and having to spent 30 minutes begging to get 4 other people to team gets a little old.
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I primarily stay on lower pop servers. I have to have woken up at 5-6 AM to run into anything close to that. Lower population does not, as you imply, mean "a bunch of soloists."
Nice to see yet another person seeing disagreement as "anger" though. That is, by the way, a copy-paste reply. I also note that you don't bother responding to the upcoming fact of the new, VIP server.
I play exclusively on Victory. If I wanted a high population server, I'd play on Freedom or Virtue.
I am a "mostly soloist", but that doesn't mean than I refuse to team, or that teams are hard to find when I try to form or get on one. Yes, it can be harder to form a team for less popular content, but oh well - it can still be done.
The last time I logged into Freedom, the popular areas were throngs of bodies that I couldn't have picked out a specific person in the crowd were I inclined to. It was like there was a BAF or two forming at EACH Wentworths rep. On my server, there's few crowds, and a few times a day, someone runs past me who I recognize, usually prompting a quick "Hi" via a tell or global channel. There's less people there, but far more friends, because I can actually get to know people, rather than being inundated by dozens - if not hundreds - of strangers.
I don't have to know everyone on the server s hell, I don't have to know everyone on the team, and 9 times out of 10, I don't. But I enjoy playing with people I know a hell of a lot more than endless strangers because I can never find anyone I know.
tl;dr: You can merge my server when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.
There are solutions though! You can move those characters onto more populated servers. You get one free server transfer every month once Freedom goes live, and if you want you can spend your Point stipend on more if you want to get it done faster.
On top of that, don't forget that they're opening a new VIP server specifically for the people who want to get AWAY from all the free players. That suggests that they're expecting a population spike with Freedom. Maybe you won't NEED to move to find the population you desire.
@Roderick
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I always took it to mean that Paragon City's public transportation system is so advanced and well-implemented that no one has felt the need to buy cars since the 70's. |
Originally Posted by NerfSliver
3. Could the vehicles not all look like 70s boat-cars? Perhaps add current models of vehicles as they come out. This could even become an opportunity for in-game ad revenue (see the 2013 Prius
only at CoH).
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| Servers: Almost a decade ago when this game was build, virtualization was just a buzzword at best. Today we have servers that are no longer defined as a single discreet device but instead a virtual entity that exists independent of the hardware. While I realize this is probably not news to you in any way, the fact that the game is still segregated into separate individual servers reflects an increasingly antiquated paradigm. This severely hinders people who have characters they want to play that are isolated on the more inactive servers. What I would suggest instead is a single server that all players log into. In the event it becomes overloaded, it would become full an new server would become available, much like we do with the individual games zones when they become loaded. I realize there would have a number of challenges to implement this (AE might have to become its own zone for instance), but it would deeply enrich the CoH community as a whole, making us a true City of Heroes as a opposed to a "Multiple Dimensions of Cities of Heroes who cant play together". |
I LIKE my low population server.
In addition to the things mentioned in Bill's Copy/Paste, I like feeling like my hero is important in the city. If there are crowds of hundreds of heroes and villains around at all times, my character feels much less important and much more like just another dork in tights.
There are a significant number of people, like me, who enjoy playing on the lower population servers. This is evidenced by the fact that those servers still have people playing on them. I have no problem finding teams for just about anything I care to do in the game, and when I feel like being left alone, that is an option as well. I don't like hiding from searches because sometimes I will accept an invitation if the person sending it is polite and/or genuinely needs help with something.
On the higher population servers, particularly Freedom, I'm getting inundated with tells and blind invites almost from the second I log in, and that isn't enjoyable for me.
The key point is: What YOU like is almost 100% guaranteed to not be what EVERYONE likes. Cramming a bunch of people together that don't WANT to be crammed together and giving them no choice in the matter would lead to a sizable chunk of the population moving on to another game, because they are no longer permitted to play this one the way they enjoy it. That would be a bad thing.
As it stands now if you enjoy huge throngs of people around you at all times, there are servers you can play on for that experience. If you don't enjoy that, there are servers you can play on for that experience too. If you take the option away from players who don't like large crowds, you're going to have a large number of disgruntled former players.
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
You can take Union away when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
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More to the point: Who exactly are you to declare that everyone should be forced to play the way YOU want to play, whether they like it or not?
I have my preferences about the game, many of which don't match up with the preferences of other players. I have mentioned in the past that I would like to see some of my preferences implemented as an option. I don't recall ever saying that everyone in the game should have to share my preferences.
Now: We have the option to play on a server with as many or as few players as we like.
If your suggestion were implemented: We would ALL be forced to play on one gigantic server. Essentially leaving us with 2 choices, deal with huge crowds or quit the game.
I have a slower computer and literally CANNOT play on busier servers. Too many people around me turns my game into a slideshow. Your suggestion would leave me with 2 choices as well: upgrade my computer so I can deal with huge crowds, or quit the game. Since I don't have the money to upgrade my computer, the choice is made for me.
I would have no choice but to quit playing the game if your suggestion were implemented and there was only one giant server.
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
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United on Union!
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Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
You can take Union away when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
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ok...Ok...OK!
You each love your little shires of solitude...i friggin' get it. Cripes...not wonder it's hard to find descent team players.
I loved, and still love, my first server, Infinity. I have some AWESOME toons that I put a lot of work into. I made several good friends and many great (virtual) memories there. I just despair over the fact it is a shadow of its former self and miss the many opportunities to make new friends that only a well-populated server can bring. Forgive me for trying to think of ways to revitalize it.
So please stop whinging on about the technical challenges or the virtues of you "cold dead fingers". I'll continue to make friends, help noobs, and foster a community...you have fun sitting in the corner.
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Or... maybe we'll continue enjoying our well-populated servers without being overrun by the throngs of madmen that abound on the high-population servers.|
Originally Posted by NerfSliver
ok...Ok...OK!
You each love your little shires of solitude...i friggin' get it. Cripes...not wonder it's hard to find descent team players. I loved, and still love, my first server, Infinity. I have some AWESOME toons that I put a lot of work into. I made several good friends and many great (virtual) memories there. I just despair over the fact it is a shadow of its former self and miss the many opportunities to make new friends that only a well-populated server can bring. Forgive me for trying to think of ways to revitalize it. So please stop whinging on about the technical challenges or the virtues of you "cold dead fingers". I'll continue to make friends, help noobs, and foster a community...you have fun sitting in the corner. |
We're not talking Tokyo vs. Hum. We're talking about the difference between New York and Kelowna.
@Roderick
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Being smaller than, say, Freedom, does NOT mean our servers do not have communities. Communities that you would gleefully destroy in your attempt to "revitalize" your "shadow of it's former self" server. Perhaps you should try to find the global channels for Infinity?|
Originally Posted by NerfSliver
ok...Ok...OK!
You each love your little shires of solitude...i friggin' get it. Cripes...not wonder it's hard to find descent team players. I loved, and still love, my first server, Infinity. I have some AWESOME toons that I put a lot of work into. I made several good friends and many great (virtual) memories there. I just despair over the fact it is a shadow of its former self and miss the many opportunities to make new friends that only a well-populated server can bring. Forgive me for trying to think of ways to revitalize it. So please stop whinging on about the technical challenges or the virtues of you "cold dead fingers". I'll continue to make friends, help noobs, and foster a community...you have fun sitting in the corner. |
But yeah, insults and taking your ball and going home is a great response to the issues (read: flaws) we pointed out in your idea.
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Two As very visible in this post:|
Originally Posted by NerfSliver
ok...Ok...OK!
You each love your little shires of solitude...i friggin' get it. Cripes...not wonder it's hard to find descent team players. I loved, and still love, my first server, Infinity. I have some AWESOME toons that I put a lot of work into. I made several good friends and many great (virtual) memories there. I just despair over the fact it is a shadow of its former self and miss the many opportunities to make new friends that only a well-populated server can bring. Forgive me for trying to think of ways to revitalize it. So please stop whinging on about the technical challenges or the virtues of you "cold dead fingers". I'll continue to make friends, help noobs, and foster a community...you have fun sitting in the corner. |
Attitude - which is not helping you in the least, and
Assumption - partly related to the first one.
Nobody's "Sitting in the corner" just because we're not on Freedumb.
Nobody is lacking in "opportunities to make new friends" - I meet new people on a regular basis as I server hop. Though with the attitude you show here (and your willful disregard of the points *against* your suggestion,) I think you'll have problems with that.
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The irony of this is the complete disconnect it has from your original suggestion. I'm not sure you have thought through how much harder it would be to maintain friends or foster any sense of community when people login and are assigned arbitrarily to whichever shard has the most room.|
Originally Posted by NerfSliver
So please stop whinging on about the technical challenges or the virtues of you "cold dead fingers". I'll continue to make friends, help noobs, and foster a community...you have fun sitting in the corner.
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People aren't being particularly mean to you in their responses, so please stop being generally mean in your responses. Make an effort to have a conversation instead of acting like you're trying to start a shouting match.
"Null is as much an argument "for removing the cottage rule" as the moon being round is for buying tennis shoes." -Memphis Bill
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Sitting in the corner? |
Originally Posted by NerfSliver
So please stop whinging on about the technical challenges or the virtues of you "cold dead fingers". I'll continue to make friends, help noobs, and foster a community...you have fun sitting in the corner.
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I like socializing. I enjoy the company of other people.
But that doesn't mean I have to be at a rock concert to consider it socializing.
Sometimes I'd rather go out to a movie with some friends, or hang out at a neighborhood bar or something.
There don't have to be thousands of other people at the same place as me for me to have a good time.
And you have made a classic S&I mistake. You have come into this thread with the assumption that your way is the only correct way to play the game, and that everyone else is wanting to be drowning in people too.
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
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Originally Posted by Zwillinger
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Originally Posted by Captain_Photon
NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.
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If this is the attitude you have in game then I'm not surprised to hear that you have trouble finding teams. You've probably been 1 starred and /gignored by many people.
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Originally Posted by NerfSliver
ok...Ok...OK!
You each love your little shires of solitude...i friggin' get it. Cripes...not wonder it's hard to find descent team players. ... So please stop whinging on about the technical challenges or the virtues of you "cold dead fingers". I'll continue to make friends, help noobs, and foster a community...you have fun sitting in the corner. |
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... I've got a good picture for this...|
Originally Posted by NerfSliver
ok...Ok...OK!
You each love your little shires of solitude...i friggin' get it. Cripes...not wonder it's hard to find descent team players. I loved, and still love, my first server, Infinity. I have some AWESOME toons that I put a lot of work into. I made several good friends and many great (virtual) memories there. I just despair over the fact it is a shadow of its former self and miss the many opportunities to make new friends that only a well-populated server can bring. Forgive me for trying to think of ways to revitalize it. So please stop whinging on about the technical challenges or the virtues of you "cold dead fingers". I'll continue to make friends, help noobs, and foster a community...you have fun sitting in the corner. |
None of us here are whining. You are.
You want my quick-shot reaction of what you've posted in this thread?
If you really think that I'd want to be in a community with you? You. Are. Wrong.
You have not, under any conditions, shown me that you are capable of fostering a community or helping new players tot he game. I'll stay the hell off of Freedom precisely so I won't have to deal with players like you.
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Speaking of irony, I'm getting the general impression that at least lately, the biggest advocators of the social element in this game tend to act like complete and utter jerks while promoting their position. I get the feeling that they want to force others to interact with them because no one would want to spend time with these people otherwise. This is most readily evident in server consolidation threads, but it also pops up in threads about the new incarnate trials.|
Originally Posted by Lemur Lad
The irony of this is the complete disconnect it has from your original suggestion. I'm not sure you have thought through how much harder it would be to maintain friends or foster any sense of community when people login and are assigned arbitrarily to whichever shard has the most room.
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Really, being social is absolutely -wonderful-, and I'm glad people want to play together. That doesn't mean it should be the -only- way to play. There is nothing wrong with seeking out a smaller sub-community on a less populated server. There's also nothing wrong with wanting to solo. If you think that makes these people antisocial, fine, you're allowed to think that. But if you feel -disdain- for them to the point where you dismiss their opinions and desires as paying customers, ridicule them, and even seek out ways to make their lives difficult...you're even more antisocial than they are.
EDIT: This coming from someone who teams, plays solo, AND does trials.
Feel free to try out my AE mission arc, # 473452: Praetorian Redemption
@Valerika
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Originally Posted by NerfSliver
ok...Ok...OK!
You each love your little shires of solitude...i friggin' get it. Cripes...not wonder it's hard to find descent team players. I loved, and still love, my first server, Infinity. I have some AWESOME toons that I put a lot of work into. I made several good friends and many great (virtual) memories there. I just despair over the fact it is a shadow of its former self and miss the many opportunities to make new friends that only a well-populated server can bring. Forgive me for trying to think of ways to revitalize it. So please stop whinging on about the technical challenges or the virtues of you "cold dead fingers". I'll continue to make friends, help noobs, and foster a community...you have fun sitting in the corner. |
When are you looking for a team on Infinity? Recently, it's been at least somewhat populated in the evenings (for NA time zones), even showing up a "moderate" load. Infinity also has postings down in the server forum for some regularly shceduled events, like TFs on Tuesday evening and Saturday afternoon and "Tanker Tuesdays" and some Hami raids.
OTOH, if you are looking in what would be the middle of the work/school day for NA time zones - sorry, most of us are elsewhere than in PC/RI/Praet.
Have you tried joining some of the global channels for Infinity, like Infinity Hamidon or AE_Anonymous? That's the other place teams form.
But back to your original OP - as more than one person has pointed out, your suggestion of placing people on whatever shard had open spots when they log-on would erase the opportunity to schedule events at all because you would never know if everyone would land on the same shard.
Altoholic - but a Blaster at Heart!
Originally Posted by SpyralPegacyon
"You gave us a world where we could fly. I can't thank you enough for that."
Quote:
Hi, you're a bit rude.|
Originally Posted by NerfSliver
ok...Ok...OK!
You each love your little shires of solitude...i friggin' get it. Cripes...not wonder it's hard to find descent team players. I loved, and still love, my first server, Infinity. I have some AWESOME toons that I put a lot of work into. I made several good friends and many great (virtual) memories there. I just despair over the fact it is a shadow of its former self and miss the many opportunities to make new friends that only a well-populated server can bring. Forgive me for trying to think of ways to revitalize it. So please stop whinging on about the technical challenges or the virtues of you "cold dead fingers". I'll continue to make friends, help noobs, and foster a community...you have fun sitting in the corner. |
I still find it funny when people turn up on the Internet, post something that they believe in their heart of hearts is the best idea ever, but don't know how to deal with any form of rejection, whether it be actual or perceived.
I've read the post several times and have made my own decision about what it is I think you're getting at:
1) High-Population servers are better than Low Population Servers
2) Anyone who doesn't agree with this is a (value judgment: selfish) solo player.
3) I don't want to move to a higher pop server but want everyone to come to me, thereby making the server I play on higher-population.
In response:
Continue with an attitude like that and then wonder why you find it difficult to find a team. Move on buster.
Isn't this game less populated than it was in 2005?
If so, I can understand why some people feel that their servers are not as good as they once were.
I am still spelunking thourgh the HUGE amount of great ideas/suggestions on this forum, so forgive me if I repeat.
First and foremost, thanks to NCSoft for making and continuing to improve on a fantastic MMO. It is in that vein that I, as part of a vibrant online community, want to add some suggestions to make it even better.
NPC animations: The battles large and small waged by the NPCs in RWZ and elsewhere are fantastic to watch. The newer patrolling animations also look much better than the squat walk of times past. They really give depth to the overall experience and show how much the dev team wants to create a unique atmosphere in each of the player zones. There are however a few oddities in other places that could use some polish.
1. The characters playing tug of war in Talos are out of synch. It has been this way for years and it really looks bad. The fact they are fighting over what looks like an impossibly large green jewel seems silly too. Could they perhaps fight over something more conceivable, like a satchel or something? Just a thought.
2. There are some idle animations that seem very overused. While the trumpeting sounds of the Tuatha de Dannan is very well done, seeing them standing around punching one hoof into the other looks very out of place. Perhaps is they were pawing the ground or doing something more moose-like. Many other enemies fall in the same sort of category.
3. Could the vehicles not all look like 70s boat-cars? Perhaps add current models of vehicles as they come out. This could even become an opportunity for in-game ad revenue (see the 2013 Prius only at CoH).
Power and Character animations: The groundbreaking strides CoH has made in the areas of character customization has been recognized across the gaming industry. The influence of that work can be seen as far as Halo Reach and CoD: Black Ops. I have more thoughts on how to build on this.
1. Could we add customizations to the Veteran powers?
2. With the advent of rag-doll physics in the games some time ago, the Dev team gave the battle experience a continual source of freshness and often times amusement. I wonder if we could not also do this with our powers. By that I mean not only change the colors of a power but the stance and actions of the character as the power is executed, perhaps even making them random each time, along the same lines as the random object thrown in Telekinesis.
3. Could the character types that use items such as swords, axes, pistols, rifles, etc. be shown to be carrying these items at all times, much like a costume part? And could the placement of such items be customizable, e.g. on the belt, strapped across the back or front?
Servers: Almost a decade ago when this game was build, virtualization was just a buzzword at best. Today we have servers that are no longer defined as a single discreet device but instead a virtual entity that exists independent of the hardware. While I realize this is probably not news to you in any way, the fact that the game is still segregated into separate individual servers reflects an increasingly antiquated paradigm. This severely hinders people who have characters they want to play that are isolated on the more inactive servers. What I would suggest instead is a single server that all players log into. In the event it becomes overloaded, it would become full an new server would become available, much like we do with the individual games zones when they become loaded. I realize there would have a number of challenges to implement this (AE might have to become its own zone for instance), but it would deeply enrich the CoH community as a whole, making us a true City of Heroes as a opposed to a "Multiple Dimensions of Cities of Heroes who cant play together".
Thoughts welcome of course.