News from PAX
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I asked about rifle models proliferated to all rifle sets. They said some wouldn't make sense, I said flamethrower out of sniper rifle doesn't make sense, Posi then said it's not as easy as just porting them over. |
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ySdetY6cMEo/S-rh6yvXDOI/AAAAAAAAAOg/wshQUHW2ZKY/s1600/FacepalmPrime.png)
Remind me how a sniper rifle/shotgun tommy gun makes sense, again? Or, as said, a flamer sniper? Or a Sniper with that big a clip for full auto? Or any of the six-cylinder pistols being able to do what they do? Or-
'Not as easy' sounds like an excuse for 'We don't want to'. If there IS a genuine technical reason?
Sort it.
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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Seriously, devs... If you guys really want to know what your standard female barbarian look is meant to be like, just google "Red Sonja"...
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You know, the signature story arcs look interesting and all and the Halloween event something something something.
I care about the Barbatian set. Mostly, I care about what women get for it. Why? Because "booster pack" costume sets have a tendency to give men the set theme and women something completely abstract that has only a tangible relation to the plot, usually involving short skirts and thigh-high high-heel boots and lots of cleavage. And not the kind that involves an axe.
This is Brutticus:
Brutticus is 10 a feet tall barbarian with an axe wider at the head than most people are at the shoulders and a shield that weighs as much as a grown man. Brutticus would very much like to have some new threads, possibly some new weapons that don't look tiny in her hands. Maybe some new shoulders and a nice fur top. If she can get this, she would be immensely happy. If she cannot get this, then she's been asking me for that Paragon Studios address that kept showing up in my fake credit card details on Beta. I don't know what she intends to do with it, but knowing her, it's likely to involve physical violence.
Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.
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That kind of disappoints me, the general attitude I mean.
"New shiney, get new shiney, come on new shiney!" "Erm...could you kind of...you know, take a breath, pause and make some of the legacy powersets up to snuff...I mean Forcefield just provides defense and more defense...which at high levels, especially with IOs and Incarnate buff powers, becomes rather useless..." "No, don't care, look at the new shiney!" Tweaking sets like Forcefield to be more relevant is low hanging fruit, not like they're making an entire new powerset. I'm still on the fence about Freedom and this kind of fudges the deal towards not really liking, the attitude of 'new shiney!' has now really become the focus (it has been for quite some time, examples being the AE (developed, pushed and then given up on completely) and Cimerorea (promised more expansion beyond taskforce and the two contacts never showed up)) instead of tweaking, revamping and such alongside perhaps a slower push of everything shiney in peoples faces all the time to make a buck kind of attitude. The Atlas park revamp only happened purely to rope in the Free2Play people, that's it. No other reason beyond that, despite complaints of the Atlas park/Galaxy/Mercy intro sucking for years, the only reason it got fixed was to draw in more punters. From now on that's going to be the ONLY focus, drawing in more punters to pony up for things. It's weird because I've actually begun playing a Free2Play model game most of the time now and...to be fair...I personally feel that they seem to be doing it a bit better than the CoH team will do. However the free2play questing in that game is severly neutered compared to the Subscriber game (the number of quests available triples or even quadruples the moment you subscribe) which compared to CoH where all but the signature story arcs and First Ward will be unavailable is quite the contrast. |
Anyone who knows me at all will now how much I banged on about Revamp>New Shiny, for the simple and irrefutable fact that revamping stuff IS making it a new and shiny for everyone.
Veterans don't have to play the same, tired old crap that was thought to be a good idea back in I0, and new comers never have to see said crap at all, and thus have a smoother, better game experience, rather than going from all the new stuff, to a sudden jarring, grating standstill when they run into the old stuff and missions and go 'Dear god, what the hell is this junk?!'
Now, yes, cynical sarcasm IS my modus operandi, but I surely can't be the only one to think that 'Missions with good story, diverse objectives and new mission/contact tech with branching dialogue and options' kicks 'Defeat All, large outside map, no new mechanics. Do over ten times' so far out of the ball park that it gets its own Team Rocket glint as it exits the atmosphere.
The Devs are proud of the new mission tech. Rightly so! It's bloody awesome! I have loved, without fail, the new missions they've released since D-Mac and crew first sleazed onto the scene. The missions have been fun, the sort of fun that I could play again and again and again and never get bored, the same thing that has actually kept me going Hollows-> Faultline for so many years.
So WHY is it apparently so hard to make that leap for others zones, for other old missions that are godawful in comparison? Why is it indeed acceptable to leave the old I0 stuff in-game? We still have Unai Kemons (or whoever it is) 'Farm 10 identical missions on varying large and frustrating outdoor maps clicking double figure glowies' and junk like that....why, exactly?
Yes, revamping a whole zone a la Atlas I21 is a lot of work. What part of 'JUST FIX THE CONTACTS' does apparently not compute? While a full zone overhaul would indeed be nice, it is not in fact necessary when all it would take to make a vast improvement on the game would be to gut out all the old dross and put in new, interesting contacts with interesting mission arcs and stories. Yes, that too is still a lot of work, but LESS so than an entire zone revamp.
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The same could be said for Powersets, a la Forcefield. Super Reflexes is another one that I would cite as 'under-performing', especially in the end game where defences make as much difference as holding up a paper back to in-coming cheesewire. Stone Armour was cited by Castle as being "31 levels of suck for 18 levels of nigh-unkillable" and yet it's still stuck the way it is a couple of years since that comment.
In all, 'NEW SHINIES!!1' is not, never has and never will be, an answer for making sure the chassis of the game is rock solid and rust-free. You can slap as much paint, as many decals and as big an exhaust on your car as you want; it still won't change the fact that it might be a crummy old hatch-back underneath.
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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I also do love the fact they are designing cool looking bosses like the Abomination. As soon as he goes into the game I will be reporting his name and will enjoy fighting him as Generic 02345765247.
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@Redcap
![](http://i40.tinypic.com/259bvcg.jpg)
ANARCHY = A Society that does not need government
114. Ahrouns do not appreciate my particular brand of humour, so I should stop bleaching bulls-eyes in their fur.
Or costume sets to make less body-conforming suits of powered armor
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![Wink](images/smilies/wink.gif)
A zone filled with trees, bushes and CoT - it'd be pretty good for showing off the new stuff they've been doing recently
![Wink](images/smilies/wink.gif)
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
Paragon Studios, I am disappoint. :|
Also, Minotaur character shown without using the cool minotaur leg option we have? Really? |
Understandable, I guess. How do you make a boot/shoe for a heel that's halfway up your leg? Maybe I don't know how because nobody has ever TRIED it. hehe
What I'd dearly love to see is a Fur option for bottoms that is NOT monstrous.
I'm on Victory server, and have offered to team with you several times - but you keep running away, which isn't going to help you with your shyness problems.
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Oh, nearly forgot.
![Big Grin](images/smilies/biggrin.gif)
![Wink](images/smilies/wink.gif)
![Stick Out Tongue](images/smilies/tongue.gif)
![EEK!](images/smilies/eek.gif)
![Embarrassment](images/smilies/redface.gif)
![Wink](images/smilies/wink.gif)
![Confused](images/smilies/confused.gif)
![Big Grin](images/smilies/biggrin.gif)
![Cool](images/smilies/cool.gif)
Re: costumes.
The Romans considered the Britons barbarians. If the Briton women had been wearing that "barbarian" outfit, the Romans would be too busy laughing or polishing their swords to invade.
Agree 100% to the "Santa's Little Helper" outfit description. It's cute-ish. It's not barbarian, though.
Wanted: Origin centric story arcs.
If you've only played an AT once (one set combo) and "hate" it - don't give up. Roll a different combo. It may just be those sets not clicking for you.
A couple of comments/questions.
![](http://i863.photobucket.com/albums/ab200/Doughboy1917/151c6601.jpg)
I'm going to chime in with the others who've already said so and agree that one Astral every seven days is pathetic.
Beta has provided good feedback Top sellers in the store Enhancement boosters Beam rifle Rocket board Char slot Xp boosters |
![](http://i863.photobucket.com/albums/ab200/Doughboy1917/d090ab4b.jpg)
Could that be a major spoiler?
The story has implied that time is cyclical, with Daedalus, Solaris, Imperious, etc being stand ins for their modern counterparts. If Solaris's temple is smashed in the past, what does that bode for Sister Psyche's future?
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Are you sure that's what they said that was for? I ask because we have Vahzilok mobs called Abominations, and my first impression looking at that pic was that they gave them the CoT costume revamp treatment.
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Plus I don't think we've seen/heard anything on a Vahz revamp. (They really fit their look now as it is.)
Could that be a major spoiler? The story has implied that time is cyclical, with Daedalus, Solaris, Imperious, etc being stand ins for their modern counterparts. If Solaris's temple is smashed in the past, what does that bode for Sister Psyche's future? |
That kind of disappoints me, the general attitude I mean.
"New shiney, get new shiney, come on new shiney!" "Erm...could you kind of...you know, take a breath, pause and make some of the legacy powersets up to snuff...I mean Forcefield just provides defense and more defense...which at high levels, especially with IOs and Incarnate buff powers, becomes rather useless..." "No, don't care, look at the new shiney!" Tweaking sets like Forcefield to be more relevant is low hanging fruit, not like they're making an entire new powerset. I'm still on the fence about Freedom and this kind of fudges the deal towards not really liking, the attitude of 'new shiney!' has now really become the focus (it has been for quite some time, examples being the AE (developed, pushed and then given up on completely) and Cimerorea (promised more expansion beyond taskforce and the two contacts never showed up)) instead of tweaking, revamping and such alongside perhaps a slower push of everything shiney in peoples faces all the time to make a buck kind of attitude. The Atlas park revamp only happened purely to rope in the Free2Play people, that's it. No other reason beyond that, despite complaints of the Atlas park/Galaxy/Mercy intro sucking for years, the only reason it got fixed was to draw in more punters. From now on that's going to be the ONLY focus, drawing in more punters to pony up for things. It's weird because I've actually begun playing a Free2Play model game most of the time now and...to be fair...I personally feel that they seem to be doing it a bit better than the CoH team will do. However the free2play questing in that game is severly neutered compared to the Subscriber game (the number of quests available triples or even quadruples the moment you subscribe) which compared to CoH where all but the signature story arcs and First Ward will be unavailable is quite the contrast. |
AE is meant for player generated content. What do you want the devs to add. And it's not like they haven't added additional maps since it was rolled out.
FF is fine for non-incarnates and players who haven't broken out Mid's to soft cap their defenses on every one of their characters.
Adding IO sets? Aren't a good chunk of them laughed at by the IO set Min/Maxers as worthless? As for players who aren't experts with IO sets, the shear number of them are confusing enough as it is. Plus I imagine trying to balance new sets would be challenging.
I too have been straying and flirting with another F2P MMO (but different genre) who also went from subscription to a hybrid F2P model. Of course they have more content, classes (which if you think about it is more power set and less AT) and QoL features locked up behind their Item Store or VIP program, which they will tell you about every chance they get. But they've been at it longer so it's only natural that they have more stuff gated off.
Actually the more I look at the VIP/F2P details of this other game, the more it looks to be the model used for Freedom.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
That's just it though...tweaking Forcefields isn't a long the same lines as making an entire new powerset...sure it might be about making an entire new power (because screw Detention field...people may love it but 90% of the people you team with will hate you for using it...ever).
When you have a set which does everything that Forcefield can do AND provides utility aka Traps...what's the point in ever taking Forcefield?
Things be said by the devs to be crap and in need of a revamp but left to linger for years to come because they just can't be arsed to do it since 'new shiney' is new and shiney and sparkles like a Twilight vampire doesn't speak well of the dev team. As Memphis Bill mentioned, it shows them to be like a dog in a ball park, chasing one ball only to get bored of it the moment they catch it to go chasing another ball, it shows they have the attention span of a small yorkshire terrier..
You can push the new shiney without cutting off all avenues, just slow down the rate at which you push the new shiney.
Heck they've got Street Justice ready to go but are delaying that so the next powerset is already done and is probably 2 months away, instead of having the team work purely on the powersets they want people to pony up cash for perhaps give them some time to tweak the sets that aren't all that great before moving on to Titan weapons and Staff melee.
Badge Earned: Wing Clipper
![](http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/1129/vbadgewingclipperbadge.png)
A real showstopper!
Crey Threat Assessment: Bayne
Virtueverse: Bayne
The Defenders of Paragon
Random thoughts...
Barbarian female --
1.) Definitely get the "Santa Baby" vibe.
2.) I'm also okay with a quick re-purposing of an existing costume part that is tweaked. This can be done with lots of costume parts and, frankly, should as it can fill the stock of the store quickly in between creating new parts.
3.) I have an ice tanker that will likely get the corset.
4.) Remember, this game is rated T for teen. Iconic barbarian imagery largely originates from Frank Frazetta (based on R.E. Howard's Conan works).....
5.) Loved and bookmarked the link to women in real armors.
Revisiting powersets --
1.) I hope they do come back to check in on old powersets.
2.) In the case of forcefields, I think they should get some love for balancing relevance in light of new content release.
3.) I really, really hope they don't alter knock back/up/down. It's a great and unique dynamic and the whining about it because it ruins someone's aoe-spam shouldn't justify that change....
New Content --
1.) Yay for giving love to old zones -- All of the Hazard Zones need incentives to go to them.
2.) Haunted Mansion sounds fun.
Presentation --
1.) Thankyou doughboy (and others) for reporting in.
2.) I'm happy with the information released -- I didn't expect many new surprises so late. Freedom has also been talked about for some time now and while this may not sound like much for those of use following it very closely, the goal is to market the game to new people too, which means reciting old stuff....
Anyway, looking forward to Freedom and hoping that Going ROgue goes on sale somewhere before go-live so I can upgrade account #2. ( ' :
@Texarkana
@Thexder
If you offered, I'd head for the hills, too. Add to that that she doesn't seem to regard you as much more than a bully, from what I've seen from several interactions, and I'm not surprised at all.
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For the record, I like Golden Girl's posts. They're funny, sometimes a bit irreverent to old-timers, sometimes more than a bit insightful and on the money. I've also played with her in-game, and she's been nothing but nice and very competent and skillful, a pleasure to be around. I suspect that she certainly makes a better teammate than people whiling about smilies, calling people bullies, and posting messages just to say they've ignored someone else.
Agree 100% to the "Santa's Little Helper" outfit description. It's cute-ish. It's not barbarian, though.
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Of course, the game is not realistic, it is based on comic books. For those complaining about the costumes we're getting being skimpy, sexy, or totally impractical, is this really what you'd prefer? I mean, this is your pretty stereotypical comic book female barbarian. Besides, we can already make those kinds of "barbarian" costumes.
We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.
(If you love this game as much as I do, please read that post.)
Eh, that doesn't look very Vahzilok-ish to me. And a bit overdone for aboms (lower case = minion type name) as opposed to an NPC called the Abomination.
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Keep in mind when the FIRST pic of the CoT revamp came out, few would have looked at it and have been able to identify it as such without first being told. They were, and still are are, a considerable step away from the old look.
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Sadly... The CoT didn't look *bad*, just low quality graphics. So that argument wouldn't keep the Vahz safe either.
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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Oh boy.
I hope they aren't actually thinking of using the purchase data on beta as some kind of indicator of what people will spend their money on when it goes live. When I'm using play money I'm not really too concerned with what I'm spending it on. My real-life cash? That's another matter. I doubt I'm alone in that.
"Always remember that you're unique -- just like everybody else."
Female barb outfit = stupid as hell.
I hope to hell that pricing decisions are not being made based on how players spent $125 of imaginary money on a beta that could be wiped at any time.
@FloatingFatMan
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.