Some Screens from the 1st Tanker Tuesday
By
Acemace,
Posted on: 2012-11-18 17:31 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
TheRing, thank you so much for this look back at where we've all been.
And I agree. The game itself is great. But the total community (devs and all), even the annoying parts, were what REALLY defined this game.
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
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Well, this end-of-the-game thing has made me nostalgic. I started looking back at all the screenshots I had, and trying to remember all the character names (I'm really really bad at that after 5 years) and I noticed I still had those. I thought it would be killer if someone who still had an active sub could find their hero in one of them, and tell us all a story about their experience in TT. |
Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
TheRing, thank you so much for this look back at where we've all been.
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My story hasn't been relevant in a long time, but the last time I jumped in for a Tanker Tuesday, I noticed it hadn't changed much, which is AWESOME. I guess participation ebbed and flowed throughout the years, but the basic tenants seemed to have stuck around.
Tanker Tuesday was largely the result of 1 character, Fighting Irish. He was a great guy, and an SG mate of mine for some time. He was Inv/SS though in reality he was SS with random Inv powers. He couldn't hold aggro, hadn't taken invincibility well into his 30's, and was basically just a weak scrapper. Teams wiped with him a lot, and not the funny kind of "we are out of our league" wipes, but the frustrating sort of wipes. So I was in high demand in my SG, not because I was great, but because I wasn't as bad as he was in the role. Though we helped him, he what he really needed was an SS scrapper powerset.
The other problem we had in the early days, was rampant overblasting, and aggro-soaking defenderitis. As the game's challenge level increased, letting a blaster wipe himself started getting to be troublesome when DPS was needed. Running without a defender who had debuffed more than he could chew, made everything slower (and progress was slow enough back then). So it became obvious that people needed to know more about the tank on their team, even if they never intended to play one for real.
So I figured the best way to teach folks, would be practical application. To encourage first time rollers, and tanks of all levels, the meeting place was in KR by the IP Gate.
That was why tanker tuesday happened.
Even though it seemed to serve that primary purpose throughout it's run, it became way more than that. It was a celebration of the archetype, and a proving ground for what tanks could do, and how conceptual builds could be effective. Rather than fit all tanks into one methodology, it became a chance to explore the limits of alternate builds (no taunt tanking, provoke vs. taunt, perma-unstoppable, etc). It became a community unto itself where knowledge and skill were revered and disseminated.
Most of all, it was filled with really great players who were also really great people, and it was one of the most difficult only-kinda-virtual things I ever walked away from, and one of the few I comfortably regret.
It was a lot of work at first. And it I was always the last one to leave. As any of the emcee's that followed me can probably attest to, running a TT and participating in a TT are two wildly different experiences. In the early days, not everyone had a 50, so we had everyone hold up cards to indicate their level (<10 = 1, <20 = 2, <30 = 3, <40 = 4, and the final stretch held up a 5). Every team had 3-4 similarly levelled tanks within 4-5 levels of each other and room for sidekicks. It was a nightmare to kick off, and since it got popular quickly, I spent the first hour sending off teams as fast as I could. Some nights, I ended up duoing with a lowbie that showed up at the last minute, or didn't team at all until someone dropped. As more 50s hit the wall, it got easier. Other tanks like Kiloton, Dinah Might, Myrmydon, Pep Rally, AceMace, Key Moonpetal, and Ultraamann (hope I mispelled that right) helped out to get teams rolling faster. But it was real work, done by some amazing tankers, who were willing to volunteer and share experiences with people they never met.
Those were great days. Truly great. I'm really happy that so many people over the years have seen fit to do the work to honor the most heroic of all the archetypes this game offered. I guarantee it was appreciated.
Thanks for sharing the pictures. As mainly a Justice player, I wasn't introduced to Tanker Tuesday until Pep brought up the subject of the Tanker Tuesday tour on the forums. I, of course, voted that it should go on tour as I wanted to "check this out."
I found the idea of TT intriguing, and was excited to jump on board when it came to Justice. After that event, I was hooked. While I didn't participate in all the Euro server TT events because of work schedules etc, I did end up with a Tanker on every server. None of them were the same power set combination as another tank, with the exception of a Stone/Stone tank that I'd forgotten about on Virtue.
It was a great group of folks to play with on a regular basis, and while it may move onto CO, it won't be the same. Lots of fun memories.
Throwing darts at the board to see if something sticks.....
Come show your resolve and fight my brute!
Tanks: Gauntlet, the streak breaker and you!
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Originally Posted by PapaSlade
Rangle's right....this is fun.
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Your girdle was showing|
Originally Posted by TheRing
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I know the character names of everyone there, I was such a nerd.
Good times had been had, if anyone gets nostalgic ><
TT will easily be what I'll miss most about this game.
Champion-
Flaming Intern/Tanker(main)
The Ice Albatross/Blaster
Apollonius/Controller
Valtrix/Defender
All the tank sets in the Intern variety
Burning Intern/Brute(CoV Main)
And the list goes on...
ACEYWACEY!!!! Intern!!!! Man, I miss you guys. It's amazing how many people in our little tanking community, and really the COH game community at large, turned out to be such stellar people. I'm talking real stand-up guys and gals, the kinds of people you'd want to have in your physical neighborhood, rather than just your virtual one. I've not seen that in any of the other MMO's I've played, not to the same extent.
Sure, we had our trolls now and then, but the server forum was filled with supportive people who were really concerned about other making sure everyone was having fun. You two are both excellent examples of that, and I salute you for it.
On the eve of Thanksgiving, know that having spent time with people like you is on my list of things I'm grateful for.
Tank Well!
Seriously, Ring, you need to do TheRingSlide(tm) one last time before the lights go out. One last Tank sans toggles charge of the light brigade.
I'm trying to remember what was my first TT. It was either the 2nd, or 3rd one. The Legendaries had become coalitioned with BOSS I believe, and Myr had been showing me the ropes of Tanking, and told me about TT. 8 years is a long time to remember.
TT will be THE thing I miss most in CoH, and that is saying alot since I had so much fun playing this game it's ridiculous.
Even when I went Freemium, and tried playing other games, I'd still stop in once or twice a month for TT.
I really wish I had taken more screenies over the years, but here is all the ones took:
http://s76.beta.photobucket.com/user...nker%20tuesday
TT is where I learned how to be a tank. I had no previous Tanking experience because I'd never played any other MMO before Oct. 2004, and I was much like Fighting Irish those first couple months of playing. No Taunt(actually Provoke in those days), No Unyielding Stance(what?, I can't move when it's on, and I'm not taking TP, forget mez protection), horrible. Thank Tankness Issue 3 came before I had to go through the heart attack of perma-unstoppable.
GDN, ED, aggro caps, Brutes. Nothing they threw at us would stop us from having a tank(better than a blast), and proving Tanks could do anything they set their minds to. No TF, trial, mission was safe from the Tanker onslaught.
I'll probably park Pep on top of the wall in Kings Row near the IP gate holding up the number 5 when the lights go out because that's where she belongs, waiting to get called for that next all tanker TF.
If you haven't already heard, we're gonna try TT over in champions. First one is Dec 4th. There's a Tank HQ channel you can join, along with the CoX one. We're not sure how it'll go, or what we'll do, or whatever, but it'll at least be an excuse to team up with some of the great folks from TT again, especially since teaming is rather limited in that game.
Hope to see you in CoH before the end, and then over in CO after.
(I'm still in MEGAFORCE channel)
I'm also over in the CoHTitan forums if you go there.
PEP! You are a legend. You were a lot of fun to be around, which is even better than all the ruthless efficiency in the world! But on that count too, you were notorious.
I'll tell you it didn't take long before you were a better tank than I ever was. You had good pedigree though. Myrmy was a fantastic tank, and He learned from a tank named Hard Target who was not the social TT type, but was probably the best melee player in the game. Her Spines/Regen Scrapper was a better tank than 99% of the tanks in Paragon, through no fault of their own.
I'm still in CO from time to time, @Ring. I'll keep an eye out for you. I suspect we will see people come back to that game from time to time, as it is the only real alternative until the marvel game launches.
I'm trying to retcon Devildog, my munitions guy, and I'm not liking anywhere he lands. It's what happens when a career tank tries to pretend he can play other stuff.
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So last night I realized there was a link in that concoction of characters, and it wasn't just you trying to be a cute and emoticon-y.|
Originally Posted by Acemace
Good times had been had, if anyone gets nostalgic ><
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Awesome!
Ace,
I CAN'T QUIT YOUR TT PROMO GRAPHICS! I've loved them since pixel zero.
This one is from the very first Tanker Tuesday, which was a private SG event for the Watchguard on Champion.
http://mfers.net/wp-content/uploads/...5-23-20-58.jpg
The next ones are from what I think was the 1st Public Tanker Tuesday, also on Champion.
Invulns!
http://mfers.net/wp-content/uploads/...6-21-14-45.jpg
FireFire!
http://mfers.net/wp-content/uploads/...6-21-15-31.jpg
Stoners!
http://mfers.net/wp-content/uploads/...6-21-15-03.jpg
Ice... N/A
Thought someone might be interested in those.
In my opinion, the game was good, but made great by the community. I've never experienced anything like it before or since. I have great memories, thanks for that!