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In a market that seems to be dominated by the notion of "What is the optimal distance dangle the carrot in front of our customers to keep them strung along for the max amount of time" |
Originally Posted by Arcanaville
The bane and boon of City of Heroes is that the devs tossed pistols and hand grenades into a room full of chimps and then charged admission. And we loved them for it. And amazingly, against all conventional wisdom, it actually worked. |
I always thought of paragon studios saying "Here take the ******* carrot, do whatever you want with it" And to a lot of peoples surprise after the players were satisfied having said carrot, they didn't simply move on, instead they played and waited for things like the carrot blast set or dual wield carrot melee.
In CoH I could :
Level cap within 3-4 hours.
Gear out with top rank gear in 2 hours buying everything I need on the spot.
Incarnate out within a week.
Enjoy the character for months even years playing largely the same content.
I don't think CoH's true "Niche" market was the comic crowd (though they are certainly a part of it) the appeal was in the summer blockbuster type feel to the game. It was never all that challenging, in fact most of it was down right easy. But it mixed satisfying visuals with that visceral "One man (or woman) against an army" type feel where most other MMO's lean towards "You can take 2 or 3 bad guys or maybe 1 tough one if you team up"
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It wasn't perfect by any means but I've always felt CoH came a lot closer to making truly enjoyable game play than any other MMO I've played. Part of the appeal of MMOs is the carrot of character improvement but most MMOs seem to be designed as if that's the only reason to play. CoH managed to make combat that was enjoyable for itself.|
Originally Posted by MrLiberty
I don't think CoH's true "Niche" market was the comic crowd (though they are certainly a part of it) the appeal was in the summer blockbuster type feel to the game. It was never all that challenging, in fact most of it was down right easy. But it mixed satisfying visuals with that visceral "One man (or woman) against an army" type feel where most other MMO's lean towards "You can take 2 or 3 bad guys or maybe 1 tough one if you team up"
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Most MMOs I view bad guys as an impediment to fun, in CoH the bad guys were like little pockets of fun I could run around collecting. The only other MMO that came even close to matching the enjoyment I gained from just blasting bad guys was Star Trek Online but that saddled it with so much "work" to get to the fun that I got fed up.
Au revoir, Arcana. As I mentioned some years back, your posts were the impetus that drove me to understand numbers and mathematical models at a time when nothing was driving me towards education. That's something a budding engineer will never forget.
Doom.
Yep.
This is really doom.
Arcana, you were the one person on the forum that I would never ask for the time for fear that the response would be how to make a watch... just because you could. That said, your contributions to this game and your fellow players IMHO were greater than anyone without a scarlet moniker. Aloha!
One man's terrorist is another man's freedom (or freem?) fighter; just as one man's exploit is another man's feature.
Thanks for all of your informative posts over the years and hope that your event goes well, it's sounding really interesting and I'll try to take part!
I too have really grown to love the numbers side of the game. I don't have many level 50's, but for those that I have I've had a lot of fun tinkering around to try and get the numbers where I want them in their builds. Even after the game started I decided to finally get around to finishing off the blapper build for my Energy/Energy blaster and I've been having a great deal of fun with her.
As you can all see, this is my very first post ever in the City Of Heroes forum. During my time in the game, I have always been a very active forum lurker, meaning that every day, multiple times a day, I log in to the forums simply to wile away time between staff meetings with my team, executive updates, and other work I SHOULD be doing. I was always content to read the feedback of others regarding the game I have loved so much over the years, because quite frankly, I never thought that I could ever contribute on the level that so many of you do on a daily (and some of you hourly) basis. Although I do not have a posting history, trust me when I tell you that this game has meant more to me than any other game I have ever played. I wont bore you with the details of how I came to enter the COH universe, but I have proudly been here every day since June 15 2005. Just like so many of you, I fell in love with this game, the lore, the community good and bad everything. In looking back over these years, it would be easy in light of the shutdown for me to feel that all that time was wasted, but it wasnt. I dont regret it for a second.
I always knew it would take something special to ever get me to post on the forums because, as I mentioned earlier, I never felt I had anything to contribute. Well, with the shut down imminent, I couldnt think of a better time to say thank you to all of you for making my very first MMO experience something that will remain with me for the rest of my life. But more specifically, thank you Arcanaville. Thank you for your desire to make this game and its community something that is truly unique and irreplaceable. Thank you for your posts and the knowledge you have so openly shared with us all. And thank you for caring enough to do so. The philosophy of my life is that as long as I have been a positive impact in the life of one person, then I can lay down to my final rest proudly. You are a complete stranger to me, but yet you were able to impact my game life, and as such my real life in such a profound way that I can only hope to impact some else in the same manner.
Cheers!
Christopher -
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With Ouro, super sidekicking, and TFs exemping you to the proper level hitting the level cap in CoH meant it wasn't a decision between the two R's, raid or retirement, unlike basically every other MMO with levels.|
Originally Posted by MrLiberty
In CoH I could :
Level cap within 3-4 hours. Gear out with top rank gear in 2 hours buying everything I need on the spot. Incarnate out within a week. Enjoy the character for months even years playing largely the same content. |
As similar as CO is to CoH, it really feels lacking with no Arcanaville to dissect and explain the powers and mechanics.
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Well stated. I have learned much from "gaming" here. Seems to me that this "gaming" thing that everyone refers to is more of a intellectual sparing match - PIMP MY MIND! I am already the better for this experience, but if I can take even a fraction of the analytical techniques I have learned here and apply them to RL, well, *that will be my end-game now.* Although Arcanaville may be the the most published and known on these boards, there are quite a few others (esp on the Scrapper Forums) that I would like to thank for their non-stop analysis and instruction, thereof. If I can refer to myself as your and their "Pupil," that would be synominous with "Hero."
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Originally Posted by Crowne_Of_Thorns
[T]hank you Arcanaville. Thank you for your desire to make this game and its community something that is truly unique and irreplaceable. Thank you for your posts and the knowledge you have so openly shared with us all. And thank you for caring enough to do so. The philosophy of my life is that as long as I have been a positive impact in the life of one person, then I can lay down to my final rest proudly. You are a complete stranger to me, but yet you were able to impact my game life, and as such my real life in such a profound way that I can only hope to impact some else in the same manner.
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Miss Arc #147491: Rise of Bedlam
AKA Iron Smoke @Champion Server
I'll miss you Arcana!
I may head over to the Titan forums after the shutdown, we'll see. I always loved reading your posts and seeing what rationality and analysis you brought to all of your posts. I'd probably enjoy working with you in real life, although I'm not quite the numbers person you are... (SQL, now, that I can do in spades).
Just wanted to say thank you!
You have DEFINITELY helped make this community what it has been for the past X years.
Currently: 50s (5), 40s (3), 30s (5)
Red and blue side, mostly Infinity, Virtue, and Freedom.
Do you have a specific level in mind or are 50s better?
Someone remind me how to copy a character to Beta Server.
The Alt Alphabet ~ OPC: Other People's Characters ~ Terrific Screenshots of Cool ~ Superhero Fiction
City of Heroes Forum > Developement Forum (the one under News, Events, etc) > last linky
Miss Arc #147491: Rise of Bedlam
AKA Iron Smoke @Champion Server
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Well let me put it this way: we're working on a way to make that largely irrelevant. |
Originally Posted by Ironik
Do you have a specific level in mind or are 50s better?
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Quote:
| Someone remind me how to copy a character to Beta Server. |
As Kractis_Sky basically points out, its here: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/charactercopy.php
[Guide to Defense] [Scrapper Secondaries Comparison] [Archetype Popularity Analysis]
In one little corner of the universe, there's nothing more irritating than a misfile...
(Please support the best webcomic about a cosmic universal realignment by impaired angelic interference resulting in identity crisis angst. Or I release the pigmy water thieves.)
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
And I think in the final analysis, we did a pretty good job there.
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| This game did not die: this game was killed. I can't prove it of course, like many things over the years I've asked people to trust me when I've said them. |
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| So start copying characters to beta, and install the beta client if you haven't done so yet. If we pull this off, this can and will only happen on beta. |
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| I wish I could go on forever. |
And Arcana, thank you for trying to make this game just a little bit better.
Quote:
Damn Secondary Mutation!|
Originally Posted by Arcanaville
The bane and boon of City of Heroes is that the devs tossed pistols and hand grenades into a room full of chimps and then charged admission. And we loved them for it..
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/em flingpoop
Thanks for all your hard work Arcana. I probably would have picked up a lot of the game "eventually". But your participation and explanations made the assimilation effortless and nearly instantaneous. As such, I could concentrate on just sitting back and enjoying the game. Which I did. IMMENSELY.
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
ill certainly miss arcanaville, who i am not ashamed to admit is better at analyzing and stuff than me, i always looked to arcanas posts as guidance because they were accurate 99.9% of the time
this game was just like that, it could be as simple or as complex as you wanted it to be, you could spend hours in mids making the perfect built, or slot however you want and still be pretty effective without the min maxing
i never saw this game as having 1 hill/hurdle/obstacle to overcome, but many, however only the first hurdle was really all that was required to know enough about the game to enjoy it
Quote:
Yeah, but they wuz smart chimps, with only a very few Cheetahs. |
Originally Posted by Arcanaville
The bane and boon of City of Heroes is that the devs tossed pistols and hand grenades into a room full of chimps and then charged admission. And we loved them for it.
And amazingly, against all conventional wisdom, it actually worked. |
-- Rich
* Thresholds CoH: What to do When
* My Comics Collection
The Goddess of Numbers will never die, not while we still believe, heh.
Praise be Arcana, and thanks for all the awesome posts and snappy put-downs over the years 
Quote:
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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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Quote:
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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.
 |
I'm one of many who never commented on your threads Arcana because - well - what the heck could I possibly contribute?
I did like your well thought out style. I may not ever have understood all the numbers you used. But you always presented your case in a way that I could understand the overall idea. I'd never be able to ARTICULATE it. But at some level you made me understand.
And many times it helped my understanding of the game and why things were what they were. Or how they could be better.
I add my salute to you, Arcana. I'll see you on the Titan forums I hope. And I hope I'll know it when or if I meet you in some other game. I don't think I ever crossed paths with you in-game here. But all my best wishes to you.
You made a difference. You did good. That's all anyone could ask for.
Quote:
What good is the race of man? Monkeys, he thought, monkeys with a spot of poetry in them, cluttering and wasting a second-string planet near a third-string star. But sometimes they finish in style. |
The bane and boon of City of Heroes is that the devs tossed pistols and hand grenades into a room full of chimps and then charged admission. And we loved them for it. And amazingly, against all conventional wisdom, it actually worked. |
- From The Year of The Jackpot by Robert A. Heinlein
We've never talked, but I've always enjoyed your posts, Arcanaville. Your knowledge of the inner workings of this game was always amazing to me, and your eagerness to help others learn these workings really made you a respectable person in my eyes.
Thank you for being one of the strong pillars that helped balance and hold up this amazing community.
@Ashen Fury
Ashen Fury - KM/EA Scrapper
Erika Tempest - Ice/EM Tanker
Scion of Restoration - Emp/Sonic Defender
Quote:
This sounds far more sappy, and frankly ***-kissy than I really mean it to, but if there is one forum handle that comes to mind when I think of individual forum posters I'll miss discussing this game with, it's Arcanaville.|
Originally Posted by Doctor_Gemini
One of the big things I will miss from this game are your posts on the forum. Hopefully I can manage to be awake when this event is run, I'd love to see what you're going to do.
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And I don't even always agree with her!
I really should admit, though, I used to disagree with her about a number of things I later either figured out I didn't understand, or just hadn't experienced enough to grasp. Case in point, I remember once strenuously debating with her whether someone could detect small percentage changes in performance. I didn't believe one could, but I now thoroughly believe one can, because I have done it myself, several times throught the years. "Hmm, this feels different..." *Gathers data.* "Well crap, it is different!" The I16(?) breakage of the RNG for recipe drops comes to mind.
I have probably learned more about this game from Arcanaville than any other single poster here, past or present. I know (in part because she has said it herself) that what she has passed on is often gained from or at least based on work by other players. But she still posted a lot of it here with lots of exposition and explanation that helped me understand it better.
I rarely posted truly original thoughts or analysis of my own here on these forums. When I posted helpful things, I was almost always posting information gleaned from others, Arcanaville included. But when I did, I looked forward to what Arcanaville though of it, sometimes with trepidation. Before the sunset announcement came out, I was working through an analysis of AoEs and the use of the area factor in game balance, inspired by a thread in this subforum that talked about AoEs and how to quantify their balance.
Arcanaville,
I have to say, it mists me up to see you post things like the OP here. While you have seemed to sometimes have let emotions show in your posts, I mostly think of you as having a dispassionate posting style. To see you openly post about your sadness at losing CoH gets me all sad again myself. :P
On the other hand, it's nice to know you're not a T-800 Terminator.
I lost a bunch of time I meant to spend in CoH working on last goals, and now I am cramming to fit them in this week. I don't know if I'll have time to check out what you have planned, but I would love to if I do.
Blue
American Steele: 50 BS/Inv
Nightfall: 50 DDD
Sable Slayer: 50 DM/Rgn
Fortune's Shadow: 50 Dark/Psi
WinterStrike: 47 Ice/Dev
Quantum Well: 43 Inv/EM
Twilit Destiny: 43 MA/DA
Red
Shadowslip: 50 DDC
Final Rest: 50 MA/Rgn
Abyssal Frost: 50 Ice/Dark
Golden Ember: 50 SM/FA
Arcanaville:
Thanks for all the words and numbers you posted over the years.
I did not always understand them at first. But you made me think and grow in the attempt to understand them.
May your spreadsheets be orderly and error-free.
50s: Inv/SS PB Emp/Dark Grav/FF DM/Regen TA/A Sonic/Elec MA/Regen Fire/Kin Sonic/Rad Ice/Kin Crab Fire/Cold NW Merc/Dark Emp/Sonic Rad/Psy Emp/Ice WP/DB FA/SM
Overlord of Dream Team and Nightmare Squad
Arcana,
I just wanted to thank you for the years of contributing you have done for all of us on the forums.
You are far more than a Jewel to everyone here.
You have been a guiding force in knowledge and wisdom.
Thank you sincerely, for both one last hurrah and making me sad again that we are shutting down!
Thanks always and I hope to see your posts again elsewhere!
Cos
Member of Team Awesome���
Justice Server
Thanks for everything Arcanaville.
Your forum posts were a lot of additional entertainment value added to my CoH experience (often educational too, of course).
I'm gonna have to try to get off work early and try to make the event.
I'm a published amateur comic book author: www.ericjohnsoncomics.com
******MA Arcs****
Arc 5909: "Amazon-Avatars"
Arc 6143: "Escalation" (Nominee: Architect Awards, Nominee: Player Awards, and Dev's Choice!)
Arcanaville,
Thank you so much for . . . well, being you. Your information and insights improved my enjoyment of this game and the Forums. You have generally been the last word in any dispute and the one to provide an authoritative analysis about "how things work." I used your information to make my characters better, and then shared that information with others in my various guides and posts.
This entire community owes you a large debt of gratitude. And I personally thank you.
LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control
Arcanaville, I always knew you loved words as much as you loved numbers - you have written a lot for this game, if not story or lore. Every one of your posts came across as clearly crafted, with each word chosen specifically for the nuance it could convey.
I really like that in a person. Therefore, I really like you (at least the limited "you" I know here in the forum).
Thank you for handling the numbers for us. I wish you could have gotten blasters fixed earlier.
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."