Thanks for the info. Spent some time this morn helping a mac friend get CoH beta up and running on his machine. And will use this to make sure CoH is up and running on mine.
Thanks for the instructions. I'm going to have to write a script so I don't have to reset my prefs by hand.
I can't wait to see what the "through official channels" instructions are. Assuming they aren't relying on the forums to spread the word (and they shouldn't, as many people don't read the forums), and the game can't update itself, how are they going to tell people what to do on Sept. 13? Are they going to rely on every non-forum Mac user contacting support? That can't be their plan, can it?
Quote of the moment: This, too, shall pass.
Justice superteamers: We have a website now, in case the forums get closed early. If you've ever run with us, come visit us again before the curtain falls. We're running bucket list characters--anything you've always wanted to play but never got around to.
Good lord, that is ridiculous. I think I might be regretting the fact that I just re-subbed yesterday.
Wow. So it WILL be going live with no fix.
We were lied to.
My guides:Dark Melee/Dark Armor/Soul Mastery, Illusion Control/Kinetics/Primal Forces Mastery, Electric Armor
"Dark Armor is a complete waste as a tanking set."
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Unless Manga has information we don't, there's still the chance they'll have some fix out beforehand for the market and/or the launcher. I don't see what's the hangup with the launcher (other than likely having to get some other division in NCSoft to actually do something), the issue should be relatively easy to fix (the code base should be tiny in comparison to CoH/the Windows Launcher).|
Originally Posted by Nalrok_AthZim
Wow. So it WILL be going live with no fix.
We were lied to. |
The Market is quite likely to be fixable via a tiny bit of tweaking to the page source (we already know some fonts work, so it shouldn't be too obscenely difficult to get the Mac version to just fall back to that known-working font).
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Originally Posted by ShadowNate
;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!
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Very true, but did it really have to come down to the wire like this?
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Originally Posted by Kitsune Knight
Unless Manga has information we don't, there's still the chance they'll have some fix out beforehand for the market and/or the launcher. I don't see what's the hangup with the launcher (other than likely having to get some other division in NCSoft to actually do something), the issue should be relatively easy to fix (the code base should be tiny in comparison to CoH/the Windows Launcher).
The Market is quite likely to be fixable via a tiny bit of tweaking to the page source (we already know some fonts work, so it shouldn't be too obscenely difficult to get the Mac version to just fall back to that known-working font). |
My guides:Dark Melee/Dark Armor/Soul Mastery, Illusion Control/Kinetics/Primal Forces Mastery, Electric Armor
"Dark Armor is a complete waste as a tanking set."
The market may be better behaved on Live date but I would bet only on "readable", not entirely fixed.
I don't have any information directly from Paragon or NCSoft; but I do know with only 3 days to go, code is most definitely frozen to prevent causing additional problems with the release. Anything else to be fixed will have to wait for the weeks following. What we've got now is pretty much what we're going to get on Tuesday.
Manga @ Triumph
"Meanwhile In The Halls Of Titan"...Titan Network Working To Save City Of Heroes
Save Paragon City! Efforts Coordination
Thank you for all the unofficial support, CuppaManga. I keep an alias of my CoH Cider C Drive on my desktop for quick access to such things as costumes and AE scenarios, but I never imagined I'd have to use it to compensate for Paragon's shortcomings.
As for the store, it seems that dual-booting into Windows is the only reliable option that is foreseeable for using it regularly. That would be a tremendous shame and an unfortunate opening move for the transition to CoH Freedom.
(And honestly, why isn't there a web version of the Paragon store?)
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The irony of this question is the fact that the entire store is just a web site.|
Originally Posted by TrueGentleman
And honestly, why isn't there a web version of the Paragon store?
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The real question is why didn't they just let us access it from outside CoH? They could have avoided quite a bit of the issues around the store, and then the launcher crapping its pants would have been pretty much the only issue... and, if they had disabled the internal store for the OSX version, that could have been avoided as well!
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Originally Posted by ShadowNate
;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!
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To say nothing of Zerwillinger's hope that the font bug "may be resolvable through some CSS magic". Because the Paragon Store is actually running off WebKit? Seriously? What kind of poor code monkey has Paragon chained to their desks to work on this?
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Originally Posted by Kitsune Knight
The irony of this question is the fact that the entire store is just a web site.
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The browser in the client is using WebKit- specifically the cross-platform QtWebKit front end (which can be moderately easily be setup to render to an OpenGL surface). Qt also supports using third-party event loops, making it a bit easier to integrate into the CoX codebase.|
Originally Posted by TrueGentleman
To say nothing of Zerwillinger's hope that the font bug "may be resolvable through some CSS magic". Because the Paragon Store is actually running off WebKit? Seriously? What kind of poor code monkey has Paragon chained to their desks to work on this?
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The market itself is being served by webservers (owned by PlaySpan, I believe) over an SSL connection (if they weren't using SSL, they'd be insane). It uses standard HTML/CSS/JavaScript AFAICT.
If you're wanting your store to just be a standard website, WebKit is the only sane option. Mozilla's Gecko is such a nightmare that even Mozilla has abandoned the embedded Gecko project (they don't even pretend to have a stable ABI/API). Embedding IE's engine (like the old updater used to do) would make a native port to OSX all the harder, plus I'm not sure how complicated it'd be to get it to spit out to something that could be embedded in the game.
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Originally Posted by ShadowNate
;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!
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First, thank you Manga for coming up with this fix. I have not had a chance to Beta test, and considering I am still running Leopard, I am interested to see how this will play out.
With that said, I am unhappy to hear that it will be launching with this many bugs, more so considering (as was said) it will most likely take weeks before we see a fix. I hate to be all "our problems are priority 1," but not being able to securely access the Store (essentially, the whole point of Freedom) is most annoying.
@Winter. Because I'm Winter. Period.
I am a blaster first, and an alt-oholic second.
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If you're a VIP, there really isn't that much extra the Store will have to buy from that you couldn't have bought already more cheaply from previous boosters. So, I don't know what you mean by saying the Store is the whole point of Freedom.|
Originally Posted by Winterminal
With that said, I am unhappy to hear that it will be launching with this many bugs, more so considering (as was said) it will most likely take weeks before we see a fix. I hate to be all "our problems are priority 1," but not being able to securely access the Store (essentially, the whole point of Freedom) is most annoying.
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Yes, you might miss out for a while on the 1 new powerset, but perhaps the new powerset proliferations and Time Manipulation would be a small consolation until then.
And all of Issue 21 is available to you. For a VIP, there is no gated new content.
If you're not a VIP, you can't even get on during the VIP Head Start period, making the lack of Store a non-issue.
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There's more to the store than just boosters and a couple power sets. From what I can read and what I know is in the store it's enough for me to want to use the store on day 1. I already have all the boosters and such but we pay for this so we shouldn't be left out.
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Originally Posted by Zombie Man
If you're a VIP, there really isn't that much extra the Store will have to buy from that you couldn't have bought already more cheaply from previous boosters. So, I don't know what you mean by saying the Store is the whole point of Freedom.
Yes, you might miss out for a while on the 1 new powerset, but perhaps the new powerset proliferations and Time Manipulation would be a small consolation until then. And all of Issue 21 is available to you. For a VIP, there is no gated new content. If you're not a VIP, you can't even get on during the VIP Head Start period, making the lack of Store a non-issue. |
Orivon: Lv50+3 PB, Noviro: Lv50+1 WS, and many many more...
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Perhaps the 20-50% discount on select items in the store during the headstart isn't appealing to you, but it should be available to all VIP members, not just those who happen to be using the PC client.
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Originally Posted by Zombie Man
If you're a VIP, there really isn't that much extra the Store will have to buy from that you couldn't have bought already more cheaply from previous boosters. So, I don't know what you mean by saying the Store is the whole point of Freedom.
Yes, you might miss out for a while on the 1 new powerset, but perhaps the new powerset proliferations and Time Manipulation would be a small consolation until then. And all of Issue 21 is available to you. For a VIP, there is no gated new content. If you're not a VIP, you can't even get on during the VIP Head Start period, making the lack of Store a non-issue. |
"There's villainy ... and then there's supervillainy. The difference is performance."
-Doc_Reverend
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True. There are some niceties there and it will be frustrating for Mac users if they have to wait for it.|
Originally Posted by Orivon
There's more to the store than just boosters and a couple power sets. From what I can read and what I know is in the store it's enough for me to want to use the store on day 1. I already have all the boosters and such but we pay for this so we shouldn't be left out.
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However, I was arguing against the proposition that the temporary lack of access to the Store (if it happens) is a vital blow to experiencing FREEDOM (or Issue 21). It would be, at most, IMO, a minor inconvenience. It certainly wouldn't leave Mac users at a significant disadvantage compared to PC users.
If it were me, I'd be mourning the inaccessibility of the Rocket Board for newly created alts. But, it wouldn't be that big of a deal since Jet Packs are still available from Level 1 thanks to a grant from a sugar daddy alt.
Speeding Through New DA Repeatables || Spreadsheet o' Enhancements || Zombie Skins: better skins for these forums || Guide to Guides
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True dat. And knowing our Devs, I'm sure if the Mac users missed out on that through no fault of their own, they'd extend the sale until Mac users could access it.
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Originally Posted by _Toxa_
Perhaps the 20-50% discount on select items in the store during the headstart isn't appealing to you, but it should be available to all VIP members, not just those who happen to be using the PC client.
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This is total crap.
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It's not *that* bad. See my above posts.
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Originally Posted by Xinner
This is total crap.
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He didn't lie- at least not until Tuesday arrives. Don't jump to any conclusions yet, even if it looks likely to be the case.|
Originally Posted by Xinner
This is total crap. Zwill lied to us and the devs dont care about mac users.
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And if the Devs didn't care at all, I doubt they'd take the effort to lie to us.
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Originally Posted by ShadowNate
;_; ?!?! What the heck is wrong with you, my god, I have never been so confused in my life!
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[QUOTE=Kitsune Knight;3867189]He didn't lie- at least not until Tuesday arrives. Don't jump to any conclusions yet, even if it looks likely to be the case.
You are right. I edited my post.
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My post was a bit more... conclusive than I had meant it. I agree that Freedom is bringing a lot more to be enjoyed than just the store, that it isn't exactly the central point of Freedom, etc. I know I will be jumping on a Dark/Darkness blaster as soon as I can, I know I can't wait to take a spin through First Ward, and I will definitely be checking out the Underground Trial.|
Originally Posted by Zombie Man
If you're a VIP, there really isn't that much extra the Store will have to buy from that you couldn't have bought already more cheaply from previous boosters. So, I don't know what you mean by saying the Store is the whole point of Freedom.
Yes, you might miss out for a while on the 1 new powerset, but perhaps the new powerset proliferations and Time Manipulation would be a small consolation until then. And all of Issue 21 is available to you. For a VIP, there is no gated new content. If you're not a VIP, you can't even get on during the VIP Head Start period, making the lack of Store a non-issue. |
To put it plainly, that first post stemmed from the the fact that... I just really want the frickin Rocket Board
@Winter. Because I'm Winter. Period.
I am a blaster first, and an alt-oholic second.
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Gee ... you'd almost think that it would have been "smart" of Paragon Studios to recruit some Mac Community Members who are knowlegeable about these things EARLIER IN THE BETA PROCESS so they could have found out about these problems a lot sooner than they did, so they would have had more time to ... y'know ... fix them before going Live. Do we even *HAVE* anyone in our Mac Users Community who fits that description...?
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Originally Posted by CuppaManga
Even if you are using the correct version of the Mac client, there are a few major issues you should be aware of:
[snippity] I'm hoping this transition to Freedom goes a lot more smoothly than I anticipate, but it always pays to be prepared one way or the other. Always hope for the best, but also be prepared to have problems, and to be on your own to solve them for a long time. This is a very large transition, and every large transition has problems. |
It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for ...
First of thanks for all this info, Cuppa. Sounds like a fun procedure ahead of us on Tuesday.
But you bring up a good point here that I had not considered yet...the potential loss of Paragon Points.
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Do any of you know where I can actually check how many Paragon Points I have? That part is at least for me affected by the missing font issue in the store? Is it available elsewhere? Could it be made available elsewhere in case they don't get this addressed in time. Because that is really vital information.|
Originally Posted by CuppaManga
- Do NOT spend a lot of time in the Paragon Store. Make multiple trips there, close it when you can, and when you wish to make a purchase, do so quickly and then get out of there. There is currently NO guarantee that the Paragon Store crashing will not cause a loss of Paragon Points! You may be able to get them back, but Support will be overwhelmed and it's not something that will happen quickly. Protect yourself first.
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Thanks.
Here are some important things to know about the Issue 21 release on Tuesday, September 13th:
The Mac client version on live (4462) is NOT compatible with Issue 21. If you patch up to the new version, you will not be able to use the Paragon Store without crashing.
If the NCSoft Launcher fails to patch the actual Mac client (Cider itself) you will most likely be instructed by our community support reps to remove your existing Live client and install the new one from scratch. While in its spirit this is correct, it is also WRONG, and will cause you to lose all your character slot settings, saved costumes, architect missions, architect characters, screenshots, and demorecords.
Instead, follow these steps:
1. Right-click your City of Heroes application and select Show Package Contents.
2. Double-click Contents, then Resources, then transgaming, and then c_drive.
3. Hold Option and drag the "coh" folder to the desktop (holding Option makes a copy). This part will take about 10 minutes or so.
4. Rename "City of Heroes" to "City of Heroes Old"*
5. Close all Finder windows to avoid confusion later on.
6. Download the new Mac client from here (note - don't try this until Tuesday, it won't be available until then**):
http://download.cityofheroes.com/cli..._Installer.dmg
7. Double-click the DMG. Verify that this is the correct version of the client by using the Get Info command on the application (it should be 1.0.6909). Then drag "City of Heroes" to the same place as your old client. Eject the disk image after you're done to avoid confusion later on.
8. Right click the new "City of Heroes" and again select Show Package Contents, and then double-click Contents, Resources, Transgaming, c_drive.
9. Drag the "coh" you placed on the desktop into the "c_drive" folder, overwriting the contents that are there now.
10. Run the NCSoft Launcher and patch up to date.
* - Keep the "City of Heroes Old" as long as you can. I tested this procedure already, but accidents do happen. If something goes wrong, you can trash "City of Heroes", rename "City of Heroes Old" to "City of Heroes", and start over.
** - If you're very brave, you can download the Beta Mac client immediately here: http://download.cityofheroes.com/cli....0_Install.dmg and modify the Info.plist so it works for Live. Hint: Change the CiderGameOptions and PrefFolderName.
Also as a separate step, I highly recommend making a backup of your game preferences before launching CoH:
1. Select "Go To Folder..." in the Finder's Go menu.
2. Type "~/Library/Preferences" and click Go.
3. Select the "City of Heroes Preferences" folder and use the Finder's Duplicate command.
After each launch of City of Heroes, repeat Step 1 and 2, and then drag "City of Heroes Preferences" to the trash. Then use the Duplicate command on the "City of Heroes Preferences Copy", and rename it to "City of Heroes Preferences". This effectively resets the preferences after every game session, so any changes you make to display settings etc will not stick.
Even if you are using the correct version of the Mac client, there are a few major issues you should be aware of:
- You may have difficulty patching Live client's Cider after the NCSoft Launcher has just updated. If this happens, quit the NCSoft Launcher and then run it again before patching the Live client. If that doesn't work, check the Properties of the client and make sure it's pointing to the correct location.
- If you are using MacOS X below 10.6, the newly updated NC Launcher will give you great difficulty. Follow my instructions further down the thread and see if it helps.
- The Paragon Store has an issue with incorrect text encodings, and will probably display squares instead of text in some areas. This will eventually be corrected from the server end, most likely.
- The Paragon Store also seems to crash a lot. This is because of very limited testing time for the current (6998) Cider client for Mac. It may be fixed at some point; but due to the wide array of problems the launch date is likely to experience, don't expect one quickly. It may be several months, or even the next issue/half issue release before this is fixed.
- After using the Paragon Store, the NCSoft Launcher will not be able to run CoH on subsequent launch attempts. The temporary solution is above, making a backup of the CoH preferences. Hopefully the NCSoft devs will publish a permanent repair at some point. But as with above, don't expect one quickly - the major changes CoH Freedom brings to the entire system has everyone busy, so it may be several weeks.
- Do NOT spend a lot of time in the Paragon Store. Make multiple trips there, close it when you can, and when you wish to make a purchase, do so quickly and then get out of there. There is currently NO guarantee that the Paragon Store crashing will not cause a loss of Paragon Points! You may be able to get them back, but Support will be overwhelmed and it's not something that will happen quickly. Protect yourself first.
I'm hoping this transition to Freedom goes a lot more smoothly than I anticipate, but it always pays to be prepared one way or the other. Always hope for the best, but also be prepared to have problems, and to be on your own to solve them for a long time. This is a very large transition, and every large transition has problems.
Manga @ Triumph
"Meanwhile In The Halls Of Titan"...Titan Network Working To Save City Of Heroes
Save Paragon City! Efforts Coordination