Wanted! City of Heroes Players!

[Der Trihs]

That's what I was afraid of. Other than farming for salvage / recipes, there is really nothing to strive for. I'm as addicted to the little circle lighting up as everyone else, and when the circle doesn't light up, I get bored.

Fortunately, I have 4 characters on Virtue between 32 and 40, plus one at 17, plus a few characters scattered on other servers.I have two 50s; one hero, one villain to unlock Kheldians and Soldiers of Arachnos. But I have lots and lots of alts, which I play far more.

[Dangerosa]

What kind of tank Dangerosa? The secret to most of the sets is pick just a few powers from the primary and emphasize your attacks until in the 20s. Like for Invulnerability, you take Temporary Invulnerability, Unyielding, and Invincibility in your first 20 levels (Dull Pain is not a bad choice also, but not required like the other 3), the rest are attacks, travel (which can be skipped in these days of easy temp travel powers, especially after I16 hits), and Fitness (which can be skipped by some tank primaries, but not Inv.) And you don't put more than 1 or 2 slots in them until then either, slotting up attacks first. (This is for a soloing build, if you are a dedicated team tank, you will need to add some slots to your defenses to try and survive. Which you may not anyway, tanks aren't that much tougher then squishies before SOs.)

Its a very old fire/fire tank - as I said, not optimized. I didn't play her much - she was easy early on when fire/fire was overpowered, then they rebalanced, I didn't respec (I HATE respecing because they change the mechanics of the game - I think that might be upthread here), and so she sits, fairly unplayable until I respec.

(The nice thing is that I've finally come to the realization that I have enough vet rewards that even if I stupidly respec, I shouldn't need to run respec missions if I want to try again. That and a secondary build make the risk of respecing and making it worse - because I don't research and just jump in with "that looks interesting" - I build and play and live with what I get - a tolerable risk).

At some point I'll respec her. She doesn't isn't a good half a duo for anything Brainiac4 has right now, and I have a scrapper and a controller I like to solo (and the controller does rock after 32 - Illusion). We've been playing Villians for a bit

[Lok]

There is another change to blasters. The change to Defiance included a Fury-like damage bonus for a short time after your blasts hit. The amount of the bonus depends on the particular power, but it is very nice when you are on a roll and blasting away the mobs. I have managed to get the bonus high enough that my snipe can 1 shot a minion on a low level blaster. It is even easier on a high level blaster.

As for an end game, like the raids and such that are on WoW and such, there is none. But as Der Trihs mentioned, there are a number of TFs for that level range, plus they have changed the Hami raids, and there are the RWZ Ship Raids, with I personally find to be a real blast. And you can check out the AE buildings and check out some of the arcs that are there. There are a lot of farms, but there are also a lot of good stories. Some by people from here, and others by a lot of other players. But you do need to use the key word search and/or search for global names of particular writers.

[Lok]

Dangerosa, I am not familiar enough with Fire/Fire to have any idea about what to tell you for them. My 2 Fire/Fire tanks are still low level. Personally, I play the same way when I am starting with new powersets, this looks interesting, that doesn't. Which is how my only Stalker ended up at level 16 without Placate. :eek: I found out what it was and burnt a freespec to fix that little mistake. :D

[Captain Carrot]

They don't make these pingy glowy things nearly pingy or glowy enough. I've been running around for twenty minutes trying to find the notebook in the Skull warehouse. (The one at level 4, from Clarence Jackson.) Anybody know where it is?

[Bosstone]

They don't make these pingy glowy things nearly pingy or glowy enough. I've been running around for twenty minutes trying to find the notebook in the Skull warehouse. (The one at level 4, from Clarence Jackson.) Anybody know where it is?Sorry to say, but most missions are randomized in spawn and object placement, even the big scripted story ones. You'll find certain things in the same rough general areas, but their exact locations change. You just need to go slowly, stop in every room listening for the sound, then inspect each room you hear the sound in. It's tedious and pointless and it's possibly one of the worst things about the game.

(Though I am surprised you're having trouble hearing it. The sound glowies make cuts through my head like a knife. I hate having to fight off a boss while there's a glowy in the same room. I know damn well when one's around even if I can't see it easily.)

[Der Trihs]

They don't make these pingy glowy things nearly pingy or glowy enough. I've been running around for twenty minutes trying to find the notebook in the Skull warehouse. (The one at level 4, from Clarence Jackson.) Anybody know where it is?Ah, that one; it gives many new players fits. It's generally in a corner behind a pile of crates as I recall.

And the pingy glowing things are typically called glowies, actually. :)

[Bosstone]

Ah, that one; it gives many new players fits. It's generally in a corner behind a pile of crates as I recall.Yeah, they pick some awful places to hide the stupid things.

[Captain Carrot]

Found it! It didn't make the noise that I'm used to, and it was on top of a shitload of huge crates, so impossible to see from the ground. Grrr.

[Dangerosa]

Yeah, they pick some awful places to hide the stupid things.

Its gotten way better - its been a long time since I've found the glowy in the antechamber down the ramp behind the energy units. I think they got sick of having to have GMs rescue people from "I've been in here half an hour and I can't find the darn thing!"

[Captain Carrot]

Anybody up for a group mission or two tonight?

[Captain Carrot]

Should I try the open beta, or just wait until it's released with the bugs worked out?

[Der Trihs]

Should I try the open beta, or just wait until it's released with the bugs worked out?
Of Issue 16? You might want to go ahead and set up the test client anyway ( instructions on the forum ), for future testing of your characters and future betas. But Issue 16 is probably going live in a week or two, so if you don't want to go to the bother just wait. They are already doing the pre-downloads ( when you exit the updater stays active for a while ).

[Dangerosa]

In five years I've been on the test server once. I'd rather work on the characters that count than goof around in test - I do enough beta at work and dislike it. But some people eat it up, and if you are the type, the test server sees a lot of play.

[Captain Carrot]

Dammit, I have way too much salvage and recipes. What can I do with them apart from deleting the common ones over and over and occasionally making a small fraction of them into enhancements? Selling hasn't worked well for me.

[Der Trihs]

Dammit, I have way too much salvage and recipes. What can I do with them apart from deleting the common ones over and over and occasionally making a small fraction of them into enhancements? Selling hasn't worked well for me.You can sell them at Wentworth's/the black market. If the asking price is too low you can also sell them at a regular store or most contacts.

By the way; enhancements sell for a higher price at a shop that matches the enhancement type. So if a mutation/science Dual Origin drops it's best to sell it at a mutant/science store.

[Maus Magill]

I'll usually hit Wentworth's and set up Common and Uncommon salvage with an asking price of 1.

[Captain Carrot]

I want a costume change, and then a cape, but I have to beat up the damn Tsoo to get it. Is there any place with Tsoo lower than level 22/23?

[Saltire]

The lowest level Tsoo I know of are all within 200 yards of the Steel Canyon Icon. I don't recall what their levels are, but I've always been able to get them at level 20 by playing carefully.

Then again, I've never been too bothered by defeats.

[The Mad Hermit]

Still out here trying to find you guys. What servers are you playing on?

[Der Trihs]

Still out here trying to find you guys. What servers are you playing on?Me? All of them, but I usually solo. Most CECIL people are on Virtue for heroes, Protector for villains. There's smaller groups on heroside Guardian and Justice.

[CandidGamera]

I want a costume change, and then a cape, but I have to beat up the damn Tsoo to get it. Is there any place with Tsoo lower than level 22/23?


NW corner of Steel Canyon has Tsoo levels 15-20.

[Raza]

Still out here trying to find you guys. What servers are you playing on?
My "main" is on Freedom (25 Blaster).

[Lok]

Me? All of them, but I usually solo. Most CECIL people are on Virtue for heroes, Protector for villains. There's smaller groups on heroside Guardian and Justice.
Well, there are CECIL chapters on most of the servers, including Test (It helps keep away SG invites), but the main is on Virtue. And I am also on all of the servers also, with my main on Virtue. But I have been spending most of my time on Test the last couple of weeks.

NW corner of Steel Canyon has Tsoo levels 15-20.

The best place for lower level Tsoo is to the SW, near the hospital. They get lower in level as you head south from Icon.

[Raza]

While I usually inhabit my Ice Blaster, last night I drug out my 20 Defender on Virtue. He's specced primarily for healing (Empathy), with Dark Blast secondary. I created him specifically to heal in teams, and he does fine with that (any failings are my fault, not his).

But when I want to solo a bit with him...dang, his damage-dealing is lethargic. It might take him 1-2 minutes to take down a same-level non-boss foe, using Dark Blast sprinkled with Tentacles and Night Fall. Even though I have Dark Blast slotted with a couple of damage enhancements, it barely seems to dent the mob's health. I (unfairly, admittedly) compare this to my blaster, who typically takes 2-3 shots total (perhaps 10-15 seconds) to take down an even-level mob.

Either I'm doing some wrong, or this is par for the course for Empathy Defenders and I should avoid solo work; or perhaps Dark Blast just sucks as a secondary and I should respec.

Suggestions?

[Lute Skywatcher]

I want a costume change, and then a cape, but I have to beat up the damn Tsoo to get it. Is there any place with Tsoo lower than level 22/23?

The lowest level Tsoo I know of are all within 200 yards of the Steel Canyon Icon. I don't recall what their levels are, but I've always been able to get them at level 20 by playing carefully.They're around the hospital as well. A favorite tactic of mine was to hover over the drop and pick 'em off. They'd jump the fence and fall, taking damage when they hit bottom.

They're also amongst the warehouses that line the western edge of Talos Island.

[Lute Skywatcher]

But when I want to solo a bit with him...dang, his damage-dealing is lethargic. It might take him 1-2 minutes to take down a same-level non-boss foe, using Dark Blast sprinkled with Tentacles and Night Fall. Even though I have Dark Blast slotted with a couple of damage enhancements, it barely seems to dent the mob's health. I (unfairly, admittedly) compare this to my blaster, who typically takes 2-3 shots total (perhaps 10-15 seconds) to take down an even-level mob.Defender secondaries are weaker than Blaster primaries. That said, I also have an Empathy/Dark alt and solo him when waiting for an invite. He's the one that I'd have hover and trick the Tsoo into jumping the fence. Defenders really need to stay out of melee range when soloing and warehouse missions are a big help. Head for the rafters and zap everything that moves!

He has Hover and Air Superiority, the latter in case something does get in melee range. Dark's strongest offense is Moonbeam; this can be interrupted and works best when triggered after being hit. The interrupt usually ends before the mob can fire again.

[Dangerosa]

While I usually inhabit my Ice Blaster, last night I drug out my 20 Defender on Virtue. He's specced primarily for healing (Empathy), with Dark Blast secondary. I created him specifically to heal in teams, and he does fine with that (any failings are my fault, not his).

But when I want to solo a bit with him...dang, his damage-dealing is lethargic. It might take him 1-2 minutes to take down a same-level non-boss foe, using Dark Blast sprinkled with Tentacles and Night Fall. Even though I have Dark Blast slotted with a couple of damage enhancements, it barely seems to dent the mob's health. I (unfairly, admittedly) compare this to my blaster, who typically takes 2-3 shots total (perhaps 10-15 seconds) to take down an even-level mob.

Either I'm doing some wrong, or this is par for the course for Empathy Defenders and I should avoid solo work; or perhaps Dark Blast just sucks as a secondary and I should respec.

Suggestions?

Balanced had the same build. I had Empathy/Energy. I could never solo her other than at glacial speed and given that Empathy doesn't have much in the way of self buffs (aura heal, regen, and endurance) - it wasn't a lot of fun. But she absolutely rocked when coupled with Thermocline - Brainiac4's fire blaster.

I think Balanced had more success with his than I ever did soloing. But its possible he had more patience than I ever did.

[Der Trihs]

Either I'm doing some wrong, or this is par for the course for Empathy Defenders and I should avoid solo work; or perhaps Dark Blast just sucks as a secondary and I should respec.

Suggestions?Roll something other than a Defender ( Corruptors solo better in my experience; I no longer have any Defenders for that reason ), team a lot, or pick a different primary and secondary. Empathy is a team set; which means you need a post-32 Controller to get much use from it solo. Dark Blast is OK, although anemic for damage on defenders like everything else is.

I understand that Rad/Sonic Blast Defenders are good soloers, if you can stand the sound effects.

[Captain Carrot]

If there's a free respec with 16, as rumor is saying, does that mean I can pick all of the powers from my primary and secondary pools again, or would I even have the option of having different specialties?

[Der Trihs]

If there's a free respec with 16, as rumor is saying, does that mean I can pick all of the powers from my primary and secondary pools again, or would I even have the option of having different specialties?
Just primary and secondary. It's normal for free respecs to be handed out with each Issue.

[Dangerosa]

However, if you want different specialties - look into altitis. Altitis is now even more attractive with rested XP because all that really slow leveling you've been doing with one character - you just play a different character while the other one rests. You half how much play time goes into each character to get them leveled - and get to try out different power sets. This gets really nice once you are past level ten or so - when levels start moving sort of slow.

[Lok]

That's good Dangerosa, encourage the new guy to create more alts. That way he will never make it to 50. :D There is a reason I have 68 characters and only 1 level 50. :p

[Dangerosa]

That's good Dangerosa, encourage the new guy to create more alts. That way he will never make it to 50. :D There is a reason I have 68 characters and only 1 level 50. :p

I now have three - after five years. But I'm not sure what the incentive to get to 50 is....in some ways (as you well know) fifteen characters between 10-24 that you've enjoyed playing is way more fun than one character you've gotten to fifty - if the character at fifty has been a grind to get there.

[Dangerosa]

Oh, we just counted, I have 67 characters out there - although the vast majority of them are "I wonder which of the kids created that?"

[Brainiac4]

Okay, inspired by Lok's actually knowing the number of his alts, I finally went out and counted mine. I have:
Virtue: 13 (7 10 or higher, 2 50s)
Protector: 12 (5 10 or higher, 1 50)
Pinnacle: 10 (2 10 or higher)
Guardian: 8
Victory, Justice: 3 each
Freedom, Triumph: 2 each
Liberty, Champion, Infinity: 1 each

Total of 56 alts, 14 characters over level 10, 3 50s. And I've been playing since launch. So yes, altitis is very real. :)

Captain Carrot, I think you may want to look into trying out at least a couple of alts - in particular, the playstyle you seem to be looking for (solo melee) is best as a scrapper or brute. Tankers are, as noted above, intended to shine in group play, where they are taking the brunt of the aggro for a whole team. Their defenses are kind of overkill for solo play, and their offense, at least at the lower levels, is fairly low.

If you're coming to CoX with experience in WoW, don't be misled by the surface similarity between CoH tankers and WoW warriors. Warriors are more like scrappers than they are like tankers, at least in my experience.

Dangerosa and I should be on this weekend - give us a shout and we'll spin up a pair to play with you, and we should level up to 10 or so in a couple of hours.

[Lok]

I cheat. I use HeroStats so I can alt+tab out of COH (ATI cards have real problems with some things in the game :() so having it talk to the City Info Tracker website too is a no brainer. So I have 62 on the live servers (http://cit.cohtitan.com/profile/900), ranging from a level 4 dom to JB at level 50. The next highest level I have is my villainous JB on Protector at 31. Although he is a candidate for side switching in GR. I also have 6 more on Test that are ones I actually play, not just for testing new powers or copies.

Of course, when I16 hits, the number on live will go up, cause I really like the elec/elec scrapper and trap/AR defender sets. Then when GR hits, it will go up again. New sets, new backstory opportunity. I might actually have to increase my slots on a server. :p

[Captain Carrot]

Captain Carrot, I think you may want to look into trying out at least a couple of alts - in particular, the playstyle you seem to be looking for (solo melee) is best as a scrapper or brute. Tankers are, as noted above, intended to shine in group play, where they are taking the brunt of the aggro for a whole team. Their defenses are kind of overkill for solo play, and their offense, at least at the lower levels, is fairly low. I prefer group play, as the dynamic is more interesting and the leveling is faster, but soloing takes less effort to start. I've tried playing a Brute, but I just don't like villains.

If you're coming to CoX with experience in WoW, don't be misled by the surface similarity between CoH tankers and WoW warriors. Warriors are more like scrappers than they are like tankers, at least in my experience. Nah, never played WoW.

Dangerosa and I should be on this weekend - give us a shout and we'll spin up a pair to play with you, and we should level up to 10 or so in a couple of hours.Cool. I do have a level 6 regen/dark melee scrapper, so perhaps this evening?

[Brainiac4]

This evening should be good. We created a new pair to play - Dangerosa has a plant/radiation controller and I created an electric/mental blaster. They're in Atlas at level 2, so it'll take us 30 minutes or so to catch up. We can probably do your missions and get there fast. :)

[Maus Magill]

This evening should be good. We created a new pair to play - Dangerosa has a plant/radiation controller and I created an electric/mental blaster. They're in Atlas at level 2, so it'll take us 30 minutes or so to catch up. We can probably do your missions and get there fast. :)

Electric/Mental is a great combo. There are a lot of great toys in Mental.

Also, it would seem that I16 has launched.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Everyone's getting a tailor token when the servers come back after maintenance.

[Lok]

Actually, it is one tailor token per costume slot. Which will put my main at about 82 tokens. At least now I have something to spend them on. :D

[Brainiac4]

The new animation choices for Super Strength are nice. :)

[Der Trihs]

The new animation choices for Super Strength are nice. :)
Oh, yes. I've wanted the Ground Punch for a long time; classic HULK SMASH! And the other alternates seem more...vicious somehow than the old versions; since all my SS characters are brutes that's appropriate.

I also like having red Imps covered with black fire, zombies covered in green fire, villainside electricity that isn't red, purple crystal golems and so on. All in all the new stuff is great fun.

[Lok]

The new animation choices for Super Strength are nice. :)
The only real hang ups I have for the new SS animations is the timing for KO Blow and Footstomp. KO Blow feels like it hangs back for just a little bit too long, and the ground punch feels too quick for the power it delivers. But there is not really anything they can do about it, since they have to match the animation times for the originals. So all in all, I am very happy with them.

[Brainiac4]

I need to re-roll Scraptacular as an MA/WP scrapper with the new MA animations...

[Lok]

Double XP and Account Reactivation (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?p=2286498#post2286498) weekend, October 8-10. If you are curious about the changes in I16, here is your chance to check them out for free. And level a lot while you do it.

[Maus Magill]

Brainiac4 - sorry about bailing on you last night. I told you babies are a major time sink.

[Captain Carrot]

Double XP and Account Reactivation (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?p=2286498#post2286498) weekend, October 8-10. If you are curious about the changes in I16, here is your chance to check them out for free. And level a lot while you do it.

Ah, damn. I meant to log on and see if my account was still activated, but then I...um...didn't. Next issue, maybe.

[Lok]

You still can actually. They extended the weekend until midnight tonight because of the holiday weekend. (Not that I ever got a day off work for it, but it is a real holiday.)

[Licentious Ectomorph]

This might be a longshot, but is there anybody in Champion who'd like to do the Imperious Task Force tomorrow (Saturday 10/17)? My partner is coveting the Roman armor, but we've had a heck of a time getting a task force together and the few we've been invited to fell apart pretty quickly.

[Brainiac4]

Brainiac4 - sorry about bailing on you last night. I told you babies are a major time sink.

No worries. I did go down under a pile of bad guys, but them's the breaks. :) I took a lot of them out with me. And then I went back and beat the crap out of all of them.

Bwa ha ha.

;)

[Jophiel]

If you haven't seen it yet, here's the Going Rogue preview (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SItM3OLqb5w) they showed at Hero Con. Couple new powersets, some more information on how the system will work and graphics upgrades. I was happy to see (as someone on a low end system) that they won't be raising the minimum specs but rather adding a whole new "Ultra" level of graphics with reflections, dynamic shadows, etc. Yeah, Praetoria without the glitz looked a little sad but, in reality, it shouldn't be any worse than what we currently see in Paragon City. If I can live with Steel Canyon and Founders Falls, there's no reason why low-end Praetoria should be a problem. Even better for people with real computers, all of Paragon city will be getting the new graphics treatment.

This is just a preview of some stuff to get attention; I assume the full expansion will offer more than what the demo showed.

[Captain Carrot]

Man, I totally want to have Mastermind powers as a hero.

[Love Rhombus]

Oy, you folks are making me miss playing. Soon as I get moved into my new place, I'll have to look into getting my account re-activated.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Winter has arrived in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles.

[Raza]

Are the Winter missions/badges/attainable gear worth a renewal for a casual player, IYO?

[Lok]

Only a couple of new badges, one for logging in. (Which I will have to start doing on my alts. :p) The Lord Winter is a pretty fun instance raid type encounter. I really don't know what is new for costume pieces this year, I lose track of those, although you can buy a respec with candy canes during the event.

[Der Trihs]

There's also a snowflakes emote. No new costume pieces. One nice thing; the Lord Winter micro-raid nets you 20 Candy Canes; a lot better and less irritating than getting 5 Canes for doing the Baby New Year mission for the five millionth time.

[Raza]

I'm always late to the party (except in real life, where I'm always the first to arrive); I just played my first Architect missions last night. They were enjoyable and clever, though I wondered why a "feline" character was shooting things at me (this was a 4-star-rated story).

And then...well, I didn't really mean to, but before I knew it I had created my own mission. I had just popped into the story/mission creator just to get a glimpse, and before I knew it I had created a story, three custom enemies, and a mission. Also before I knew it, it was midnight.

Fun stuff. I can't wait to get back in there and tweak the character models a bit.

[Der Trihs]

Issue 17: Dark Mirror and Going Rogue preorder goodies (http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/news_archive/ultra_mode_issue_17_and_going.html) announced. The pre-order gives early access to Dual Pistols & Demon Summoning. Issue 17 will have the Ultra Mode graphics improvement, along with some other stuff.

• New badges, new missions and new player emotes
• Epic Archetypes now available at level 20
• Improvements and additions to Mission Architect
• Enhancements to UI and game systemsThey did say that if they had Ultra Mode ready soon enough that they'd release it before GR along with whatever else they could; looks like they did.

War Witch ( who is now Lead Designer if you didn't hear, Positron is now working on some mysterious End Game Content System ) did feel it necessary to clarify that despite the Issue name, there's no Nemesis system involved in Issue 17.

[Lute Skywatcher]

I17 has hit the Training Room. All players should visit there and play with the sliders to see what works best for their computer.

[Der Trihs]

I should have thought to update this thread; I 17 has been in Open Beta for quite a while. It's due to be released on the 28th. Free respecs will be handed out then; since they don't stack, if you have any you want to use do it soon.

[Quimby]

I was a beta tester for City of Heroes: Going Rogue. The NDA was lifted so I figured I would post some observations here:

I focused my testing on starting new characters in Praetoria (the new zone) so I did not really try the side switching all that much but I am familiar with it.

1. The new zones are beautiful. I recently bought a new PC and was able to upgrade to Ultra Mode and it really shows in Praetroia. There are three main zones, Nova Praetoria, Imperial City and Neutropolis. There are no War walls, you can see each zone from another in the distance and you can fly, walk or swim to them (there is still a lading screen though once you cross a certain point). each zone also has an "Underground Zone" where the Resistance lurks.

2. There are basically 4 story tracks you can take with a Praetorian character. I forget their official names but they boil down to: Heroic Resistance, Chaotic Resistance, Law and Order Loyalist and Selfish Loyalist. The stories are very well written with a lot of twist and turns and at points you can make choices that point you into a Loyalist or Resistance direction. what makes it even more interesting is you can actually have an effect on you environment now. If you kill a certain contact within a mission, that contact disappears from the game world for you. Others can see them but your character won't anymore. Very cool. Also, in a related improvement, you can have missions that have "glowies" out in the open world that only you see/hear.

3. A few QOL improvements: people's team status is now color coded in the team search window. tankers get a new inherent power called bruising which gives enemies a damage resistance debuff as you punch them, effectively upping the tanker's damage. markets are being merged.

4. the new power sets were fun. min/maxers may not like them but I enjoyed playing with Kinetic Melee and electric control.

5. The tutorial for Praetoria has modernized the process. Plus as new things happen you get pop up tips (which you can turn off). I was impressed by the new tutorial.

That's it for now. I am looking forward to it being on live. Plan to spend more time with the side switching.

[Lute Skywatcher]

I was a beta tester for City of Heroes: Going Rogue.Never got my invite. Guess it's because I pre-ordered.

[Quimby]

I was a beta tester for City of Heroes: Going Rogue.Never got my invite. Guess it's because I pre-ordered.

I didn't see my invite until long after my access became active. I learned I was in by noticing I access to the hidden beta forums. I think Prerders are now in anyway (that was why they lifted the NDA) so if you want a week long preview, you should give it a shot.

[Maus Magill]

The important question is where will Pretorian CECIL preside?

[Lute Skywatcher]

Never got my invite. Guess it's because I pre-ordered.

I didn't see my invite until long after my access became active. I learned I was in by noticing I access to the hidden beta forums.:smack: Should have been visiting the forums.

[Quimby]

The important question is where will Pretorian CECIL preside?

Praetorian Cecil is the village idiot who spreads lies and misinformation to the populace.

[E-Sabbath]

So, you're saying, in Praetoria, Glen Beck is the Perfect Master?

[Jophiel]

If you kill a certain contact within a mission, that contact disappears from the game world for you. Others can see them but your character won't anymore.
When I encountered this, I was amazed at how cool it was. I had killed a contact in a mission and fully expected to be able to run back to them after the mission and get some "But I got better!" dialogue. Instead there was empty sidewalk where they once stood. Really made me feel as though I was influencing the world.

I already had these screen shots uploaded for another forum if anyone just wants to see what the expansion looks like. They're more "tourist" shots than action shots or a catalog of new mob factions but they look pretty. Some are shot at a lower graphics setting than others, hence the differences in shadow quality.

The expansion features an alternate Earth known as Praetoria where Marcus Cole (the hero Statesman in "real" Earth) has become Emperor of Earth.
Imperial City (http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/6996/city1.png)
There are those who would threaten Cole's utopia (http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/4402/city2.png)
Night shot of the main plaza (http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/8809/city3.png)
A building in Neutropolis (http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/403/city4.png)
Pronghorn speaks to the newbie trainer (http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/4219/pronghorn.png)
Going Rogue has a few new power sets including "Kinetic Melee" (http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/7329/pronghorn2.png)
Piezobuzz wanted to be friend with the police but they laughed at his size (http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/3803/piezobuzz.png)
Piezobuzz still has his robot friends! (http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/671/piezobuzz2.png)

Beneath the city lies the Underground, home of the Resistance. Those who would call Marcus Cole "Tyrant" and work to topple his reign.
Afrodyte prepares to head down into the tunnels (http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/6276/afrodyte.png)
The tunnels are long and confusing. (http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/7471/tunnel4.png)
I suppose counter-propaganda is still propaganda (http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/1442/tunnel1.png)
This is no place for the police; the Resistance control down here (http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/7537/tunnel3.png)
The Underground really is massive, about the same size as the city above (http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/8302/tunnel2.png)

[Balance]

I really like the new missions. They're much more varied and dynamic than nearly all of the older content, and they actually require you to make some weighty choices in places. Some of them don't have "right" answers. Not long ago, someone complained in a thread here about the lack of substantial moral choices in games, and I had to bite my tongue because of the NDA. I can't find the thread now, though.

The Praetorian factions are distinctive without being black-and-white, at least in the early arcs. I think the Resistance Wardens are about the closest thing to outright "good guys", but they keep some rather nasty company. The other factions variously seem to do the wrong things for the right reasons, the right things for the wrong reasons, and superficially right things that turn out to be less right (or outright horrible) in big picture terms for a mix of reasons.

Something I like that hasn't gotten as much discussion as I expected are the items that will be available via Hero/Villain merits. Purple and PvP IO recipes will be purchasable, making them more accessible to characters that aren't suited to farming massive numbers of enemies and players who loathe PvP. It will also be possible to buy specific rare IO recipes directly. Since most of my characters are poorly suited to farming and I hate PvP, this suits me well. I think it will help rein in some of the insane prices on the market as well, for those who prefer to trade with other players for such items.

The Underground really is massive, about the same size as the city above (http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/8302/tunnel2.png)
I think everyone loves this tunnel scene. Golden Girl has a similar screenshot on the City forums that has stirred up quite a bit of comment.

The important question is where will Pretorian CECIL preside?

Praetorian Cecil is the village idiot who spreads lies and misinformation to the populace.
Slug is a brilliant Resistance propaganda artist, and Cecil is his half-witted sidekick. :)

[Maus Magill]

I created a CECIL global chat group on the Beta server.

[Der Trihs]

They launched it a day early!

Going Rogue, Issue 18: Shades of Gray and Merged Market Through the extended maintenance today (August 16th), access to Issue 18: Shades of Gray and City of Heroes: Going Rogue as well as the Merged Hero and Villain Market have now been enabled on all live servers! This was done to facilitate the official launch of City of Heroes: Going Rogue tomorrow, on Tuesday, August 17 2010, and make sure it is smooth and successful.

[Balance]

Indeed. Virtue is saturated. I'm not going to try to enter Praetoria tonight, I don't think. Tips missions for me.

[Der Trihs]

Indeed. Virtue is saturated. I'm not going to try to enter Praetoria tonight, I don't think. I made a few Praetorians on lower population servers. If you want yours on Virtue later, recall there's free server transfers for a while.

[Brainiac4]

Looking forward to this! My WoW subscription has lapsed. Now I just need my back/shoulder/arm problems to get better so I can play again...

[Lute Skywatcher]

Finally found out what was really going on with my computer. Seems that the exhaust fan in the El Cheapo power supply that came with my latest computer went dead at the same time I started playing again. Fortunately, I had a 600W supply sitting in an unused case.

[Balance]

I hope we can find another SG or two to team up with for the Cathedral of Pain (after Castle tweaks it just a bit more). I was on several attempts at it in Beta, and it's very cool. Unfortunately, right now, it's more or less random chance that a raid even reaches the second phase, and the odds aren't good. It's right on the edge between "you must have excellent coordination and teamwork" and "you should pray that the random number generator is merciful".

[MindWanderer]

I've been playing a Ninja / TA mastermind through the Resistance side of the Praetorian storyline. I've never played a Ninja MM before so that's been new fun too.

Just reached 12 last night, and I plan on going hero-side after 20. I'm curious if the epic mission arc that involves dopplegangers would work right for MMs. Will I be facing myself and my minions in that arc, could be pretty interesting.

The zones are amazing. And the missions are cool, sometimes pretty intense though. I was in one where wave after wave of ghouls was rushing at me. I had my 2 minions in bodyguard mode, I used 2 purples, there were 2 other npcs helping me, and I still went through a couple green insps.

Luckily glue arrow kept the ghouls away from me when it was up, but that was a truly intense fight.

When I logged onto virtue last night to play, there was a queue of about 240. I just went and did something else for a while, and the queue went by pretty fast, I was in about 10 minutes later.

[Maus Magill]

Yeah - It was all yellow and red servers last night. I had not seen that in quite some time.

[Sailboat]

Yeah - It was all yellow and red servers last night. I had not seen that in quite some time.

Along with complaints that there are queues to get onto the more populated servers...to contrast with last week's complaints that the game is dead and the servers are deserted. :)

[MindWanderer]

Yeah - It was all yellow and red servers last night. I had not seen that in quite some time.

Along with complaints that there are queues to get onto the more populated servers...to contrast with last week's complaints that the game is dead and the servers are deserted. :)

Are you Sailboat on City of Heroes forums too? If so, I've ran an Iron Eagles team with you on Justice server. I'm Zhanid over there and playing Zamboni Man on thursdays.

[Sailboat]

Along with complaints that there are queues to get onto the more populated servers...to contrast with last week's complaints that the game is dead and the servers are deserted. :)

Are you Sailboat on City of Heroes forums too? If so, I've ran an Iron Eagles team with you on Justice server. I'm Zhanid over there and playing Zamboni Man on thursdays.

No kiddin'? Yeah, that's me. Zulu Time and the deceased-but-will-be-reborn Djinni in the Iron Eagles, and malking trouble on Guardian most of the rest of the time.

[Lok]

I swear I am going to get to play again. Someday. I took some time off and while I was waiting for GR, I got a job. That was good, it allowed me to pay for my annual subscription. But it is bad because I am on the road constantly. I was in the early beta for Issue 17, 18, and GR and didn't get to play any of them. And can't seem to find the time to play now either. :(

[Jophiel]

For anyone who hasn't been paying attention, yesterday at PAX the CoH panel announced that in I19 the fitness pool will become inherent. So Swift, Hurdle, Health & Stamina will no longer require power picks, thus freeing up 3-4 powers and a pool selection for anyone (which is almost everyone) who took Stamina.

They'll still be slottable like Rest or Brawl is now and we won't get more slots but even three "free" one slotted powers can mean picking things like Combat Jumping, Teleport Friend, Hasten or a Leadership Power that you wouldn't have taken otherwise.

[Balance]

I swear I am going to get to play again. Someday. I took some time off and while I was waiting for GR, I got a job. That was good, it allowed me to pay for my annual subscription. But it is bad because I am on the road constantly. I was in the early beta for Issue 17, 18, and GR and didn't get to play any of them. And can't seem to find the time to play now either. :(
CECIL has been missing you. Even though we seldom team, it was always good to have you in the channel. I hope you get to play again soon. Do you have a laptop? I've managed to play on one while traveling quite a few times, though it's not as nice as my gaming rig at home.

They'll still be slottable like Rest or Brawl is now and we won't get more slots but even three "free" one slotted powers can mean picking things like Combat Jumping, Teleport Friend, Hasten or a Leadership Power that you wouldn't have taken otherwise.
I consider this a wonderful move. No more spending a bunch of your early power choices on boring-but-near-necessary Fitness powers. You can actually take more cool powers as they become available, and, as you point out, it allows more build flexibility later without an overwhelming increase in power. Also, Castle says they'll unlock at level 1 or 2, which will help a lot with downtime in the low levels.

Also, the first Incarnate slot will be available in I19 (as we were told to expect), now with content to go with it. I liked the Alpha slot in beta even without any content, so I'm very much looking forward to this. I do hope they took some of the lore/fluff suggestions to heart, though.

[Bosstone]

I'm meh about it. Stamina is not the necessity everyone thinks it is, and working out how to get by without it is an interesting puzzle.

Not every AT needs boosted recovery rate, and for those that do there's other ways to boost it aside from a power. Set bonuses, slotting intelligently for endurance reduction, focusing on blue inspirations...the idea of choice and sacrifice is what game design is based around.

[Der Trihs]

Personally I'm happy about it. It means I'll be able to fit the travel powers I really wanted in my builds, play sub-20 without wanting to punch the monitor, take an extra power pool in some cases, and as said pick up powers that are actually fun.

[Lok]

I swear I am going to get to play again. Someday. I took some time off and while I was waiting for GR, I got a job. That was good, it allowed me to pay for my annual subscription. But it is bad because I am on the road constantly. I was in the early beta for Issue 17, 18, and GR and didn't get to play any of them. And can't seem to find the time to play now either. :(
CECIL has been missing you. Even though we seldom team, it was always good to have you in the channel. I hope you get to play again soon. Do you have a laptop? I've managed to play on one while traveling quite a few times, though it's not as nice as my gaming rig at home.
I have a laptop, and even increased the RAM so it can handle COH better. But getting wireless is harder. I am spending most of my time in truckstops, and they all charge for access.



Also, the first Incarnate slot will be available in I19 (as we were told to expect), now with content to go with it. I liked the Alpha slot in beta even without any content, so I'm very much looking forward to this. I do hope they took some of the lore/fluff suggestions to heart, though.

The what slot? Are they finally adding in new epic ATs?

[Der Trihs]

Also, the first Incarnate slot will be available in I19 (as we were told to expect), now with content to go with it. I liked the Alpha slot in beta even without any content, so I'm very much looking forward to this. I do hope they took some of the lore/fluff suggestions to heart, though.

The what slot? Are they finally adding in new epic ATs?No (although there's talk from the devs of a Praetorian Epic AT at some point); the Alpha Slot is part of the upcoming Incarnate System for level 50s. Level 50 characters be able to gain Incarnate Levels and slots. Eventually slated to expand to 10 Incarnate levels; sort of leveling sideways since you'll still be 50. There's also supposed to be extra-tough endgame content as well to go with it.

I wasn't in that part of the beta, and it is apparently being changed somewhat anyway, so I can't really give details.

[Balance]

The what slot? Are they finally adding in new epic ATs?
It's not an AT, it's the new system for advancing/improving level 50 characters, along with content designed to challenge Incarnate-boosted characters. All Incarnate powers function only at level 50. If you exemplar, they become inactive.

So far, 10 tiers of Incarnate abilities have been designed. Unlocking a tier gives you a "slot" for a single Incarnate power. The only one we got to play with substantially in the beta is the Alpha slot, which is the first one you unlock. In beta it was unlockable by spending merits (reward, Vanguard, or hero/villain), or by completing one of several high-level task forces or trials. (That may well change for I19, since there's content coming for it.)

The Alpha slot powers functioned like a global enhancement--you could choose to build Cardiac, Nerve, Musculature, or Spirit Boost powers, and they enhanced all of your powers based on the type you chose. The basic Spiritual Boost, for example, enhanced healing and recharge. The Boosts were upgradeable, each with two paths and several tiers of upgrades. The Core upgrades increased the strength of one of the main effects at the cost of variety, and the Radial upgrades left the enhancement strength alone and gave you more different boosts. The top upgrade of the Spiritual path enhanced, as I recall, healing, recharge, stun, speed, and a couple of other things, and it gaves you a level shift (raising your effective combat level by 1). We never actually got to try the level shift mechanic; the upper tiers of the Alpha powers weren't available before they pulled it from the beta.

We've picked up hints about some of the later Incarnate slots, but nothing definite. Some of the more informed speculation about them, based on leaked info, includes:

*The Interface slot will allow you to add a new secondary effect to your attacks.

*The Lore slot will allow you to summon pets. You can choose a combination of offensive and defensive pets.

*The Judgment slot will give you a new extreme-damage attack; they look like crashless nukes. For example, the Ion Core Final Judgement [sic] power is described as " Chain Ranged AoE, Extreme DMG(Energy). Recharge: Very Long. Has a chance to do additional damage to all foes. This ability can hit up to 15 targets.", and the Ion Radial Final Judgement [also sic] as " Chain Ranged AoE, Extreme DMG(Energy). Recharge: Very Long. Drains endurance and debuffs the recovery of affected targets. Has a chance to hold targets in an electrical field. This ability can hit up to 15 targets."

[Lok]

Wow. That sounds like a lot of work and thought. And they have to design content for it, since we already greatly overpower the NPCs at level 50. At least we did when I last played, I doubt it has changed much since.

I will have to start checking the forums and catch up on what is happening, so if I ever get to play I will have some idea what to do. :p At least I can do that now with my phone, even if it won't let me play the game. :D

[Der Trihs]

For anyone who hasn't been paying attention, yesterday at PAX the CoH panel announced that in I19 the fitness pool will become inherent.Also, they mentioned that Issue 20 (not 19) is going into closed beta next week or so, that it has "a lot of new systems" and will involve a signed non disclosure agreement to be in the beta. Issue 19 will go into a "normal beta" after that and is expected to be released in the fall. Sounds like something interesting is brewing for Issue 20.

[Jophiel]

Wow. That sounds like a lot of work and thought. And they have to design content for it, since we already greatly overpower the NPCs at level 50. At least we did when I last played, I doubt it has changed much since.
With the Incarnate system you get a third build and I get the impression that Incarnate powers won't operate outside of the content built for them. So when you go into some new I19 zone or on some Incarnate Task Force, you'll use your Incarnate build. But it won't help you when you decide to solo Lusca or take down Rikti Towers in RWZ.

[Balance]

With the Incarnate system you get a third build and I get the impression that Incarnate powers won't operate outside of the content built for them. So when you go into some new I19 zone or on some Incarnate Task Force, you'll use your Incarnate build. But it won't help you when you decide to solo Lusca or take down Rikti Towers in RWZ.
Incarnate powers work fine in normal use at level 50--my main used the Spiritual Boost powers, and even the first-tier one made a noticeable difference. They don't work when you exemplar, and we're not sure how the level shift mechanic will work, but they're definitely not limited to Incarnate-only content. There wasn't any Incarnate content in the beta; how would we have used them?

The third build is just another perk that comes with unlocking the Alpha slot, probably added so that you could make a specific build tailored to taking the most advantage of Incarnate abilities without interfering with an exemplar build.

[Der Trihs]

For anyone who missed it, details on Issue 19: Alpha Strike (http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/game_updates/issue_19/issue_19_overview.html) are available on the CoX home page. Some cool stuff besides the Alpha Slot and Stamina becoming inherent, like alternate animations for a bunch of powers - no more trying to explain how power armor lets my guy breathe fire!. And some neat (http://www.cityofheroes.com/images/issue_19/screenshots/ouroboros1.jpg) screenshots (http://www.cityofheroes.com/images/issue_19/screenshots/tin_mage_tf2.jpg).

[Balance]

It looks like all the blast sets (and lots of others) are getting the option to customize emanation points. I'm already pondering changes to a bunch of my characters on that basis. Also, I notice that Integration got singled out for some options--I guess the devs noticed that some people consider the Tarzan animation silly.

I'm glad to see Apex showing up in an actual role in the game, but I hope they revert at least part of his costume to look like it did in the comic book; I don't like the armor much. Tin Mage is also cool--I guess he's been duplicated from the data he left in the time capsule.

[Maus Magill]

Regarding Going Rogue:

I am enjoying the story lines, and your ability to "go undercover" with another faction.

[Der Trihs]

The going undercover stuff is cool. Did you also notice they added some Origin-specific dialogue options in GR? Tech/Science characters can get more details about Clockwork speech when talking to the Clockwork in the tutorial, and Magic characters when defusing this one bomb instead of trying to cut the wires can pick "Use a Speak with Lightning Elemental spell".

Also, I notice that Integration got singled out for some options--I guess the devs noticed that some people consider the Tarzan animation silly.Pretty much:

There's a grain of truth to that. The thing with that animation is that it's really quite signature and works better with some Origins than others. Adding a new flavor has been a popular request, and that's why it's in the mix now. Hope you enjoy it. :)I'd take "works better with some Origins than others" as a nice sounding way of saying "only works for characters who are cavemen, monsters or Tarzan ripoffs".

Tin Mage is also cool--I guess he's been duplicated from the data he left in the time capsule. I liked the idea myself, and back when his letter came out I made a homage character named Steel Mage (Grav/Psi Dominator) supposedly created from a stolen copy of the plans in the time capsule. The idea being that villains created him, but Tin Mage foresaw the possibility of his plans being misused and planted a sort of heroic Trojan virus in the programming to subvert any copies towards herodom. So he started out a villain but I'm taking him blueside when I get around to it.

[Quimby]

I went to the CoH Comic Con panel and I wanted to let you know what they talked about. Coming in Issue 19 (some of this is old news):

The Alpha Slot: a special enhancement slot for level 50s that begins you path to being an Incarnate. A new Mender contact is being added to Ouros to lead you on the Journey.

2 new Task Forces designed for Incarnate characters. Apex where you fight off the Praetorian invasion and Tin Mage where you bring the fight back to Praetoria.

The old Calvin Scott TF is being added to Ouros

New arcs for Praetorians that have entered Paragon City or the Rogue Isles.

A new Hero arc regarding the Medi porter and why they aren't used for civilians and a new Villain arc regarding the origin of Leviathan. Both will include moral choices.

A new GM for Praetoria (a huge Warwalker)

New zone events in Praetoria: For Nova a protest, Imperial City and syndicate attack and in Neutropolis a Failed Experiment invasion. For each event you will have a choice on how to deal with it and rewards will be base on how much you participate. That includes healing and buffing/debuffing not just dealing damage.

A new NPC group introduced in GR called the Imperial Defense Force will be getting their finalized look (the current look they have was meant to be temporary) and the costume parts will be available to players.

Ferrys and Trains will take you to any station (the old lines are designated as North and South for zones with two stations) and they will display the level ranges of each zone. Train missions will appear at the top with a star.

Inherent Fitness. Fully slotable just like the current powers but you get them for free. They made it clear to an angry questioner that there would be no extra enhancement slots. That is fine by me but apparently some players are upset over that.

Every Hazard and Trial zone is getting a medical tent like the Hollows has and every hospital is getting an inspiration selling nurse like Praetoria has.

The ability to log back to character selection screen.

Alternate animations for every (?) blast set and the power Integration.

I am sure I am forgetting some stuff.

Some non news info:

In the month after GRs launch, over 750,000 characters logged into the game (IIRC 200,000 of them were Praetorians). The ratio of Resistance to Loyalist was basically even 50.5% to 49.5 percent respectively.

When asked about revamping existing zones, they said no current plans but mentioned they know we want Boomtown revamped (that was the only one mentioned by name--possibly because it was the one the questioner mentioned by name).

They confirmed Praetoria will take part in Halloween events.

They mentioned that the programmers created a tool that lets the developers create zone events (rather than the programmers having to hard code them) which implies we will be getting more of them. It wasn't mentioned on the panel but the other day there was an event where Arachnos invaded Faultline and Longbow invaded Nerva which I believe is a taste of things to come with this new technology.

The handout was a Rikti costume code which is awesome. I had fun hanging out under Atlas announcing "Peace: that which I arrived in." and waving while people milling about fired off powers at me.

[Quimby]

Oh I forgot t add they confirmed that closed beta for I19 starts next week.

[Lok]

That sounds like a lot of stuff coming, most of which is pretty cool. Hope I can actually try it if I make the closed beta this time. :p

Can't play as much as I would like, but I did enjoy starting out a Praetorian JB this weekend. He is of course, extremely loyal to the forces of Law & Order. :D

[Balance]

The trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPNyLDfvx0U&feature=sub) for the new Alpha Strike task force is up on YouTube. Looks very cool--we love (smashing) giant robots!

[Quimby]

Need to post a few corrections:
The new Praetorian arcs and the new hero and villain arc are one and the same. Praetorians will get differing text for these arcs.

The Imperial Defense Force costume parts will eventually be made available to players but not when the issue is released.

[Jophiel]

Inherent Fitness. Fully slotable just like the current powers but you get them for free. They made it clear to an angry questioner that there would be no extra enhancement slots. That is fine by me but apparently some players are upset over that.
I can't imagine what goes through some people's minds. I've seen posts about this and it's just bizarre. At an absolute worst case scenario, you take three additional powers, don't slot them or even use them at all and are right where you were pre-I19 with no harm done to you. More likely, you get four new powers (unless you already took both Swift AND Hurdle) and can either spare them some slots or use them for IO mules or whatever.

Personally, I think it's great. I'll take a few marginal powers I skipped from my primary and grab Stealth just for the utility. Won't bother slotting any of them and I'll be coming out ahead.

[Der Trihs]

I can't imagine what goes through some people's minds. I've seen posts about this and it's just bizarre. If the game spit out dollar bills, some people would complain that they weren't numbered sequentially.

Personally, I think that not making Fitness inherent from the beginning was a design error. It not being inherent makes the pre-20 game a lot less fun which has probably hurt the game significantly over the years.

[Bosstone]

Primarily the complaints are because the few people who don't perceive Stamina as automatically mandatory are unhappy at losing the fight. I was one, although I haven't been active on the forums. But after seeing how it works in practice, I don't really care so much now.

[Quimby]

New Booster coming soon based on Origins. For a Booster (as compared to a Super Booster), it looks pretty good. Details here (http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/news_archive/whats_your_origin.html).

[Maus Magill]

The Halloween event is live.

[Balance]

The new map for the Halloween tip mission is very cool. I love the darkened sections of the tunnels where all you can see (briefly) are eyes and the flames from the demons. The timer mechanism is cool, but the base time is long enough that I mostly ignore it--the elite boss at the end is kind of a pushover.

The reward selection is pretty nifty as well; I'm always up for more badges, of course, but I particularly like the fact that the (villain) option to sell the McGuffin actually gets you an infamy reward. For once, you get money for something you steal. It makes a little less sense with the heroside option; you get the influence bonus for turning it over to MAGI--I suppose they have a bounty on potentially world-ending artifacts.

A more meta aspect of the Halloween tip is that it shows that tips don't have to be linked to the alignment system. That means it's open to far more uses, like getting tips from civilians you rescue or from glowies. I don't know that they're planning to do that, but they appear to have made the system flexible enough for it. That would be really nice.

[Lute Skywatcher]

The Halloween event is live.Guess I'll be splitting my time between the Mojave Wasteland and Paragon City/Rogue Isles/Praetoria this weekend.

[Der Trihs]

I like that they upped the spawn rate for Jack in Irons, finally. Getting the Halloween version has always been so tedious.

The new map for the Halloween tip mission is very cool. I love the darkened sections of the tunnels where all you can see (briefly) are eyes and the flames from the demons. The timer mechanism is cool, but the base time is long enough that I mostly ignore it--the elite boss at the end is kind of a pushover.

The reward selection is pretty nifty as well; I'm always up for more badges, of course, but I particularly like the fact that the (villain) option to sell the McGuffin actually gets you an infamy reward. For once, you get money for something you steal. It makes a little less sense with the heroside option; you get the influence bonus for turning it over to MAGI--I suppose they have a bounty on potentially world-ending artifacts.

A more meta aspect of the Halloween tip is that it shows that tips don't have to be linked to the alignment system. That means it's open to far more uses, like getting tips from civilians you rescue or from glowies. I don't know that they're planning to do that, but they appear to have made the system flexible enough for it. That would be really nice.
I also find the NPC comments in the mission amusing and interesting.

[Jophiel]

Primarily the complaints are because the few people who don't perceive Stamina as automatically mandatory are unhappy at losing the fight. I was one, although I haven't been active on the forums. But after seeing how it works in practice, I don't really care so much now.
It's still a gain for everyone. Even if you didn't take fitness, now you can replace some of your EndRx enhancements with Damage or Range or Accuracy or whatever. No one is actually losing from this but some people are acting as though this is a great burden being imposed upon them.

New Booster coming soon based on Origins. For a Booster (as compared to a Super Booster), it looks pretty good. Details here (http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/news_archive/whats_your_origin.html).
"Super Booster" is a pretty meaningless term since this costs the same amount the previous boosters (excepting the Party & Wedding packs) did. I'm personally not excited by it because I'd rather have "real" costume pieces that I can use in multiple ways but I don't begrudge anyone their excitement at the new capes and auras. The Party Pack broke my habit of buying everything that comes down the pipe so I'm content to sit this one out and wait for the next traditional booster.

[Quimby]

"Super Booster" is a pretty meaningless term since this costs the same amount the previous boosters (excepting the Party & Wedding packs) did. I'm personally not excited by it because I'd rather have "real" costume pieces that I can use in multiple ways but I don't begrudge anyone their excitement at the new capes and auras. The Party Pack broke my habit of buying everything that comes down the pipe so I'm content to sit this one out and wait for the next traditional booster.

Yeah, when I posted that, it was before they announced the price and I had assumed it would be $7.99 or something. I am a bit disappointed it costs as much as the Super Boosters which seem to give you more but I like a lot of the pieces so I will probably be getting it.

[Quimby]

Looks like Issue 19 will be after (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?p=3330405#post3330405) the holiday due to the Kheldian and Dominator bugs.

[Balance]

Looks like Issue 19 will be after (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?p=3330405#post3330405) the holiday due to the Kheldian and Dominator bugs.
It's just as well for me--it gives me more time to respec out the Fitness pool on existing characters, so I can use the Issue freespecs for other things. On the other hand, I'm really looking forward to the Incarnate system going live. I love the Incarnate intro arc and the new task forces.

[Der Trihs]

I've pretty much been off CoH, waiting for I 19. This means another 2 weeks or so of playing something else. Oh well.

[Jophiel]

You've been "missing out" on two or three solid weeks of AE exploit grinding (Rikti monkeys giving boss level xp and tickets) and a bajillion lvl 50's with only a "Thrill Seeker" exploration badge to their name.

Oh, and the market's crazy from all the AE ticket purchases. Much like a year or so ago, recipes are cheap and common salvage is 300,000 inf for an Alchemical silver.

After a couple weeks without a fix, it's extremely tempting to just say the hell with it and stop caring. If NCSoft doesn't give enough of a shit to fix it after three weeks, who am I to care about it in their stead?

[Brainiac4]

The latest patch fixes (or at least claims to fix) the Rikti monkey exploit. Given that they need to code the fix and test it, and that they're trying to get out I19 at the same time, I think 2-3 weeks is understandable, if not commendable.

Architect exploits don't bother me much, since other people's play experience is theirs, not mine. If people choose a play experience that minimizes challenge and maximizes power, that's okay. I find changes like Enhancement Diversification to be more of an imposition of a developer vision of The Right Way To Play My Game than an attempt at play balance.

If players want to grind to 50 in AE missions and miss out on all the content, why should I care? It's not like it affects me.

[Der Trihs]

If players want to grind to 50 in AE missions and miss out on all the content, why should I care? It's not like it affects me.Actually it does. It screws up the game economy, produces a bunch of high level people who have no clue how to play (bad on teams), and drives players away which hurts the game long run.

[Brainiac4]

Actually it does. It screws up the game economy, produces a bunch of high level people who have no clue how to play (bad on teams), and drives players away which hurts the game long run.

Aside from the last one, none of those affect me unless I choose to let them. The economy is something I rarely interact with, and I don't team with people I don't know unless they can convince me via chat that they are capable of communicating like a human being (hint: blind invites are a bad sign).

Even the long-term potential problem of driving players away is debatable - the people who are getting enjoyment from playing in a way you don't (apparently) like are still paying $15 a month for the privilege, which helps pay for the servers. At the end of the day, NCSoft and Paragon are marketing a product, and they need to pay attention to what people want to pay for. How many people are driven away by abuse of AE? Is that number greater than the number of people who sign up in order to enjoy AE by abusing it?

I have to believe that the people whose livelihood is actually dependent on revenue from the game are paying attention, and that they have far more information than we do on which to base their decisions. I suspect they're making the decisions that they feel are best for their game (and their jobs) in the long term.

This isn't to say that we must trust them, they know all - far from it. They're fallible and human, just like we are. But they are in a position to know things that we do not, and it's appropriate to take that into account when trying to evaluate their actions.

[Der Trihs]

Issue 19 is live!

[Lute Skywatcher]

So, when are we getting our 50s together for the first Incarnate slot?

[Balance]

So, when are we getting our 50s together for the first Incarnate slot?
Well, I ran the arc with my main (the emp/dark defender) last night. Ramiel's arc just seems like the sort of thing a character ought to do alone, though I don't mind helping out if someone has trouble with it.

I'm only about halfway to my first common boost, though, so I'll likely be jumping on any TFs and/or Hami raids I can. If enough of us are on together, there's no reason we can't start a TF.

[CandidGamera]

I really need to get back to this game at some point..

[Lute Skywatcher]

Well, I ran the arc with my main (the emp/dark defender) last night. Ramiel's arc just seems like the sort of thing a character ought to do alone, though I don't mind helping out if someone has trouble with it.That's why I brought it up. Tried soloing in Beta and Trapdoor was impossible!

[Balance]

That's why I brought it up. Tried soloing in Beta and Trapdoor was impossible!
What character were you fighting him with? I didn't have much trouble with him on my empath, but I did knock him into the lava to help burn off his health. You know that when he bifurcates, his duplicates buff his regen, right? If you keep them killed off (or pull him out of the room to get him away from them, I think), he's nothing special.

Regardless, if you're online when I get home, I'd be happy to lend a hand.

[Jophiel]

I pulled Trapdoor into the cave room right before his big "lair", around the corner and out of sight of the "lair" and then proceeded to beat the snot out of him as he uselessly made copies back by his spawn point. I think if he's too far from his clones, they don't work for him or something.

[Lute Skywatcher]

What character were you fighting him with? Inv/Axe Tank. Dude kept me so busy hopping all over the place to deal with his biffs that I barely had time to damage him! Didn't think to knock him into the lava or otherwise countering the biffs, though

[Lute Skywatcher]

Okay, I used the luring tactic against Trapdoor. Any suggestions what to do with the Honoree? Already know to pull him so I don't need to deal with all the Conscripts.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Never mind, needed to put Unstoppable up but barely survived even then. Can't imagine soloing him with an Empath.

[E-Sabbath]

I just deal with the Conscripts first. It's simpler.

[Der Trihs]

I did the arc on my illusion/rad controller; she had an easy time of it. Killed the only clone Trapdoor spawned before he fell into the lava (and I wasn't even trying to knock him in there). She first got rid of the portals by confusing them and letting the Conscripts destroy them, them got most of the Conscripts to kill each other. Then lured Honoree away from the Vanguard guy and beat him, then the Vanguard guy and that was it. The Minotaur was easy, went down like wet cardboard. The toughest guy was actually the Vanguard since he tagged her with that Curse of Weariness.

My other 50 is a Bots/Traps mastermind, I expect he'll also have an fairly easy time of it. I think I may just try attacking the Rikti/Honoree/Vanguard group head on to see if it works; he's handled EB pairs in the past.

[Quimby]

Respeced my main character (a lvl 47 Blaster) to take advantage of Inherent Fitness. Took the time to write everything down and be organized. When I was done and putting back powers into the tray I realized I accidentally skipped Combat Jumping. Oops. On the plus side, my blaster now has Tough and Weave. If I like them, I may not even bother getting CJ back when the second respec becomes available..

From what I heard, it looks like the exploit has been fixed also. My conspiracy theory that has no evidence whatsoever is their data mining showed the number of Level 50's was lower than people suspected and to create enough characters to take advantage of the the new system they developed, they allowed this exploit to exist longer than they otherwise would have to let people who do that sort of thing Power Level to 50.

[Jophiel]

Man, I hate respeccing. I wind up writing everything down on a legal pad and am still convinced I've screwed it up by the end.

On the plus side, I played with my Earth/Storm controller's build to where she has 36% Ranged defense. When I keep Hurricane on, I'm actually pretty durable when soloing at x6. I can pop a small purple when I need it and be softcapped for sticky situations.

I've heard that conspiracy theory mentioned with varying levels of seriousness but the AE monkey farms came a week after they fixed a nearly identical exploit involving Arachnos spiderlings. That was part of the annoyance that they only fixed the spiderlings and not the root of the exploit issue. But if they had seriously wanted to covertly promote exploiting to 50, they could have had a couple week head start by leaving spiderlings alone.

[Sailboat]

Don't get me wrong, I love the game and am quite excited about this Issue...but a minor rant follows:

With Inherent Fitness allowing me to pick non-passive powers now added to Day Job Powers, Veteran Powers, Temps, Ancillary/Epic Powers and the original Primary/Secondary powersets, I find that "room on the power trays" is precious space with many competitors, and "room in my head" is all but overwhelmed. My 50 Fire/Fire/Pyre Tanker is my first Issue 19 respec, and she used six power trays to capture the key powers...after deleting at least a dozen from my trays/hotkeys in a deliberate attempt to minimize clutter.

I won't be logically able to use six power trays in combat, but the ones after the "default" three contain what I hope are situational powers. Adding Combat Jumping back into the build forced me to find not only space for the toggle, but logical space for the toggle, among my other toggle defenses and movement powers, where I have a chance to remember and use it, not just stuck somewhere on an unused tray.

Similarly, hard decisions were forced on me in order to simplify a suite of controls and options rapidly approaching that of a hardcore flight simulator. Ninja Run goes off the main trays because it toggles off Combat Jumping and Gog knows I don't want to keep checking that's working. It gets space on a tray I will seldom open, thus it will often go unused. Hasten is out -- I fit some more passive Luck of the Gambler set bonuses in, but I have a hard time finding slots, taskbar space, or mindspace to track Hasten's periodic recharging on this particular character (other characters seem to be better able to slot and use Hasten). I wanted one more power for a LOTG recharge IO, but Hover is out, because it conflicts with Burn, and I want to be able to use both the small defense bonus for running it AND Burn when I'm hard-pressed. Maneuvers is out because it'll just cost too much endurance with only the one slot, and additional slots will kill part of my glorious attack chains or drop a defensive set bonus. It's a tight build. So I settled on Stealth, which although not providing full defense in combat, costs less endurance than Maneuvers and doesn't negate Burn, and has some potential for situational use on its own. I agonized a lot, took up a substantial portion of last two nights of playtime. Third power replacing Fitness pool is Consume...even one-slotted, it's useful. But my God, it's on task Bar 5 now, because it's situational. Hope I remember it and can find it when a crisis looms.

Tough choices like those lie ahead when respeccing, but I am extremely happy about the ability to shift some passives and pre-requisites earlier in every build now that I don't have to dedicate three powers to Stamina through level 20 (assuming I wanted Stamina, I carefully disclaim.)

New Mids build for I-19 claimed to be out today, which will help with the respeccing.

[Bosstone]

I haven't played the game in a while, but six trays? I've never needed more than three for any character: Common attack powers in one that I can trigger with the number keys, toggles in another, and situational and temp powers that I can click on in a third.

Granted, I rarely ever make use of temp powers, and I phase veteran powers out as soon as my attack chain is sufficient with just primary/secondary powers. Sands of Mu is nice, but it starts losing its utility between levels 15-20 depending on the AT.

[CandidGamera]

I use four. Three default trays, and then a vertical tray for travel powers.

[Sailboat]

Sands of Mu is nice, but it starts losing its utility between levels 15-20 depending on the AT.

There are a couple of missions now where you fight your own duplicate...at least one Tip mission and the revamped Positron Task Force. My Fire/Fire/Pyre Tanker is 90% resistant to fire damage and 70% resistant to lethal; the duplicate and I, doing mostly fire and some lethal damage, can hardly scratch each other. But unlike the duplicate, I can pull out Sands of Mu and the Blackwand and dump some big, big hits on the duplicate with negative energy damage.

[Jophiel]

I squeeze what I want into three trays and then Set 9 (not its own tray, just cycle back from 1 in the main tray) has my "Nice to have handy but not all the time" powers such as Pocket D port, WW Port, Mystic Fortune, Assemble the Team and all that.

Besides that, it's also split between main click powers in the main tray, toggles in a 6x2 tray right above it and travel powers/often used situationals in a vertical tray along the screen edge. Most temp powers really just go unused and I have an attic full of temp attacks, summons, event rewards, etc.

I usually phase out of the vet attacks mid-game but they are useful when you're getting resisted a lot. Taking out Council/5thC drones and bots with smashing/lethal at lvl 35 is pretty tedious and Mu/Blackwand helps a lot.

[Balance]

Never mind, needed to put Unstoppable up but barely survived even then. Can't imagine soloing him with an Empath.
It wasn't really all that difficult. Inspirations handled most of it--my normal inspiration load is almost entirely Good Lucks (I have a Kora mission to refill with), with a column of Break Frees for the inevitable mezzes. I kept moving and hitting him with immobilizes to keep him out of melee, and between inspiration-boosted defense and Regen Aura, I never even had to fire Healing Aura. I had to pop one Break Free when he hit me with Mass Hypnosis, I think, and on live I tossed a couple of Envenomed Daggers at him to speed things up (I didn't use any temp powers when I did it on Test).

I won't be logically able to use six power trays in combat, but the ones after the "default" three contain what I hope are situational powers. Adding Combat Jumping back into the build forced me to find not only space for the toggle, but logical space for the toggle, among my other toggle defenses and movement powers, where I have a chance to remember and use it, not just stuck somewhere on an unused tray.
I use six trays on my main, three horizontal and three vertical. The horizontal ones are my "active" powers--the bottom row holds my heals and attacks, second row holds buffs and mezzes, third row holds day job click powers and oddball things like Mystic Fortune and Secondary Mutation that I use regularly. That covers my regular combat use and more.

One vertical tray holds travel options (mostly teleports, but I keep Walk and Ninja Run there as well), one holds accolades and vet powers, and one holds craftable temp powers that I refill often (Plasmatic Taser, Hand Grenades, Stun Grenades, and the like).

Of course, I also have seventy-ish more temp powers that aren't in my trays, because I hoard them and don't use them. Precious, precioussss temp powersss....

[Der Trihs]

I squeeze what I want into three trays and then Set 9 (not its own tray, just cycle back from 1 in the main tray) has my "Nice to have handy but not all the time" powers such as Pocket D port, WW Port, Mystic Fortune, Assemble the Team and all that.
I do much the same; I even have a specific order for most of the powers that I put into Tray 9. Mystic Fortune, untargetable Vet pet, Self Destruct, Ouros, Pocket D, Base Teleport, Mission Teleport.

I do have an extra tray on a few characters, usually Masterminds or Controllers with a tray full of pet summons/buff powers. I put it in the bottom center of the screen. My Kheldians also have a "Form Powers" tray.

[Brainiac4]

I use three trays for most characters, with a 4th vertical tray for things like Assemble the Team that get used less often but are still useful. I've had a 5th tray during Trick or Treat season to handle costumes.

I also tend to bind powers that I use all the time, like Sprint/Super Speed, to a key. I usually have my main travel power and Sprint on an alternating bind on F, and if I have another travel power, like Fly, that goes on G.

I don't miss Follow on F - it pisses me off. :)

[Quimby]

Next two Booster packs have been unofficially announced: an Animal parts pack and a Steampunk pack. No link because it is based on hints the Devs gave during a New Year's Eve event.

There is, however, a screen shot on the official CoH Facebook page showing a hero with an Eagle head and Eagle talons.

[E-Sabbath]

And in the Seven Year announcement, a kitty head. (Look at the Rogue)
http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/news_archive/seven_years_of_super_rewards.html

[Der Trihs]

Next two Booster packs have been unofficially announced: an Animal parts pack and a Steampunk pack. No link because it is based on hints the Devs gave during a New Year's Eve event.Second Measure also strongly implied it (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?p=3420931#post3420931) on the forums.

early this year, we’re going to be giving you a pretty “wild” new look, and later this year we’ll turn up the pressure.

[Bosstone]

Steampunk plus the Baron outfit from the Magic pack.

That's going to look freaking sweet.

[Lok]

I can't get into playing right now. On the road, my data connection is too slow and at home, I can only get into the game in Safe Mode since I19 launched. Which is really irritating because I did a little bit of beta testing it and could get on with no changes in my graphics settings. It went live and now everything looks lousy. :(

[Sailboat]

I can't get into playing right now. On the road, my data connection is too slow and at home, I can only get into the game in Safe Mode since I19 launched. Which is really irritating because I did a little bit of beta testing it and could get on with no changes in my graphics settings. It went live and now everything looks lousy. :(

Have you tried posting in the tech support forums and letting the resident computer wizards eyeball your machine setup?

[Lok]

I have thought about it, but since I am only home about one day a week, it is hard to do any trouble shooting. And really, my desktop is old. I still have an AGP video card. The whole thing needed replaced before I lost my job, and that was 3 1/2 years ago. As soon as I get my credit cards paid down a bit more, I will hit NewEgg or another store and put together an upgrade that will let me play all of the games I want, like CivV and trying out DCUO. Until then, I will suffer from the lousy graphics as much as possible.

[Quimby]

Looks like the Animal Pack is coming soon. The power it comes with is Beast Run. Same stats as Ninja Run (which came with the Martial Arts pack) but the animation is kind of an all fours gallop.

[Superdude]

I tend to play on Guardian, and have a 49 Tech Blaster named Arrow Lord, 16-ish Tech Blaster named Stonethrow, 16-ish Mutant Tanker named Iceraven, and a fairly new Magic Stalker called Kickstarter.

On the CoV side, I have a 48 Mutant Brute named Knightdragon. Others may be coming soon.

[Der Trihs]

Looks like the Animal Pack is coming soon.It's coming out on the 23rd! The official discussion thread is here (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=252201), the YouTube trailer is here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFpofz4RLWo&hd=1) and one of the several press releases here (http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/02/08/city-of-heroes-unleashes-the-animal-pack/). Looks cool.

[Brainiac4]

One of the promo shots is a Three Wolf Moon homage. I love Paragon Studios.

[Quimby]

I was a little disappointed we aren't getting a more realistic Bear head. I really needed that for one of my characters. One of the existing Monstrous heads is kind of like a bear and that's what I am using but I wanted a Bear. Oh well, I can certainly use the other stuff to so I will be getting it anyway :)

[Balance]

One of the promo shots is a Three Wolf Moon homage. I love Paragon Studios.
I love the picture of the tiger guy wearing the Three Wolf(man) Moon t-shirt. I wonder if the t-shirt (or the image as a chest emblem, which would amount to almost the same thing) is an actual costume item in the pack? It would be one of the most detailed costume textures in the game, I think.

[Der Trihs]

I love the picture of the tiger guy wearing the Three Wolf(man) Moon t-shirt. I wonder if the t-shirt (or the image as a chest emblem, which would amount to almost the same thing) is an actual costume item in the pack? It would be one of the most detailed costume textures in the game, I think.Someone on the Cox forums pointed out that if it's something possible in-game and not just something put together for advertising, that means you'll be able to have animal skins with shirts. Which would be nice, not all of my bestial types are nudists.

[Der Trihs]

And interestingly, in a now-deleted comment (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?p=3474778#post3474778) Avatea mentioned that alligator parts were removed from the Animal Booster as possible parts for an upcoming Reptile/Dinosaur Booster.

[Balance]

New information is up about the Incarnate Trials coming in Issue 20: http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/news_archive/february_producers_letter_inca.html

They're adding some new LFG options so that you can sign up for a trial, and automatically enter it whenever enough people are assembled, with no need to form teams beforehand. There will be new League panes that you can use to keep track of others in the trial, even if they're not on your team. Rewards for the trials will be proportional to your participation, so leeching will hopefully be discouraged.

For those that can't join in the trials, or dont' want to, shards will still be a viable (if slow) way to advance in the Incarnate system.

On the whole, it looks pretty promising, though I'm a little dubious about the nature of at least one of the first two trials they're introducing.

[Der Trihs]

The Animal Pack is on Test for those who want to check it out.

[Quimby]

FYI the Devs are giving away Animal Pack codes in game tonight in Pocket D on all servers. I would link to the info on the site but it is hard to do that from my phone.

[Sailboat]

FYI the Devs are giving away Animal Pack codes in game tonight in Pocket D on all servers. I would link to the info on the site but it is hard to do that from my phone.

Easier for me to do it. :)

Animal Pack In-Game Giveaway (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=252562)

I'm moderately excited about this pack.

[Der Trihs]

FYI the Devs are giving away Animal Pack codes in game tonight in Pocket D on all servers. And I got one! I've been running around on my two new characters; a cyborg minotaur called Taurus Malleus (War Mace/Electric Armor), and a griffin-ish Fire/Storm corruptor named Skyfyre. I also gave my Claws/Super Reflexes brute catgirl* Swiftshred a more genuinely catlike costume.


* Well, semi-catgirl, she had horns.

[Quimby]

FYI the Steampunk pack is now out. Not as much mechanical stuff as I was hoping for but looks pretty cool.

[Der Trihs]

FYI the Steampunk pack is now out. Not as much mechanical stuff as I was hoping for but looks pretty cool.Oh, yes. I promptly bought it and made the diabolic Professor (http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/CSStuff/CoX%20General/PInfernal1.png) Infernal (http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/CSStuff/CoX%20General/PInfernal2.png) on Union. Freshly decanted from his Presevator Chamber and deeply offended that no one remembers his exploits. And gave Miss Skinless on Freedom a blood trail with the new aura; it fits with her red colored Dark Melee 'weaponized blood' powers.

[Tabby_Cat]

Man, seeing these new costumes makes me miss COH sooo muuuch.

Ah well.

[Balance]

I think the Steam Shogun is going to come out of retirement and get some upgrades. And Captain Zeppelin is going to get rerolled into a proper sky pirate. Even Earl Cheatham may get some spiffier duds, though his monocle shall remain ever in place. In fact, my whole Mad Science Fair contingent may get played more.

[Der Trihs]

Man, seeing these new costumes makes me miss COH sooo muuuch.Here's (http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/CSStuff/CoX%20General/LadyVenture.png) another example (http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/CSStuff/CoX%20General/Venture2.png), my new Assault Rifle/Storm Corruptor Lady Venture. Frozen for over a century by her archnemesis The Arctic Duke, she has retrieved her personally designed Polyfunction Rifle and Tempest Engine and set forth to find adventure!

Yeah, I like these new parts.

[Quimby]

Here's (http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/CSStuff/CoX%20General/LadyVenture.png) another example (http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/CSStuff/CoX%20General/Venture2.png), my new Assault Rifle/Storm Corruptor Lady Venture. Frozen for over a century by her archnemesis The Arctic Duke, she has retrieved her personally designed Polyfunction Rifle and Tempest Engine and set forth to find adventure!

Yeah, I like these new parts.

Nice work!

[Der Trihs]

Nice work!Thanks! :)

[Brainiac4]

I think the Steam Shogun is going to come out of retirement and get some upgrades. And Captain Zeppelin is going to get rerolled into a proper sky pirate. Even Earl Cheatham may get some spiffier duds, though his monocle shall remain ever in place. In fact, my whole Mad Science Fair contingent may get played more.

Say more of this Mad Science Fair you speak of. I find your ideas interesting, and wish to subscribe to your newsletter. And perhaps join your supergroup, should it exist and welcome new members.

[Quimby]

COH is going Free to play. Info here (http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/freedom/freedom_overview.html).

Not sure how I feel about that. The influx of new blood will do the game good and a lot of the new stuff looks neat. I will feel a whole lot better if I knew what 400 Paragon points actually gets me. If costume pieces are 5 or 10 points apiece it should be okay but if it is like 50 point for a hair style that will piss me off.

[Quimby]

I found the following on the Penny Arcade forum who in turn got it from the Titan Network forums. It may give some insight as to how the F2P will work. Makes me a little more nervous....



Seems over at titan network the guy was right.

quote:

Micro-transactions incoming
« on: May 03, 2011, 03:56:58 pm »

I didn't see it widely discussed, but NCSoft partnered with a company called PlaySpan back in October. They do pre-paid game time services and things like that, but they also do in-game microtransations. City of Heroes is specifically mentioned in the press release, though at the time only in the context of selling CoH boxes and subscriptions through it. Haven't heard anything else on it since then. Until today.

The first inklings of in-game microtransactions appeared this morning, in the bugfix patch that was applied.

Playspan_Random_Dual_Inspiration
Playspan_Revival_Power
Playspan_Mission_Teleporter_Power
Playspan_Experienced_Power
Playspan_Respec
Playspan_Tailor_Token
Playspan_Super_Pack_Basic
Playspan_LT_MeleeWeaponChoice
Playspan_LT_RangedWeaponChoice
Playspan_LT_AttackPowerChoice

Playspan_{Every Single Freaking Pool A-E Recipe}
Playspan_{New recipes sets like Blaster's Wrath and Will of the Controller that don't even exist yet}

Playspan_LT_VanityPetsChoice
Playspan_LT_PreOrderSprints
Playspan_LT_EmergencyBaseTeleporter
Playspan_LT_WallMountainWeaponDisplays
Playspan_LT_Respec{1-6}
Playspan_Random_Team_Inspiration
Playspan_Converter

[Der Trihs]

Say more of this Mad Science Fair you speak of. It's an SG on heroside Victory. Mostly Mad Science themed, obviously.

COH is going Free to play.It looks more like a hybrid system to me. "VIP players" will essentially be the same as subscribers are now.

[Balance]

After spending way too much time today reading the City forums, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about the change. I don't expect it to really change anything about my play, except that I should get new content to play with a bit more often.

Also, I'm quite curious about the promised Time Manipulation set--yay, more Defenders! :D

Say more of this Mad Science Fair you speak of. I find your ideas interesting, and wish to subscribe to your newsletter. And perhaps join your supergroup, should it exist and welcome new members.
Sorry, Brainy--the thread must have dropped off the front page before I got back to it. Der Trihs covered the basics, but it's more steampunk-themed than mad scientist (though we have a couple of those, each guarded by a steam-powered samurai who is supposed to keep him out of trouble). Most of the characters were on Captain Zeppelin's airship when a temporal incident occurred (which may or may not have been caused by an argument between the two sparks, or by the big game hunter using his aetheric rifle on a warshade, or the transdimensional butler...). It ripped them out of space-time and they ended up crashing somewhere in the Shadow Shard and managed to make their way to Firebase Zulu to escape in to modern Paragon City.

It hasn't seen much play in a while, but I believe Un Silencio has been active there, and been modifying the base. You're perfectly welcome to join, if you wish--we're not even strict about the theme; I think JB's Atlantean is a modern representative sent to find out why Redfish and Bluefish reported in over a hundred years late.

[Tabby_Cat]

Do returning oldtimers get their oldbies back is what I want to know.

Might be find to take them out for a spin again someday...

[Brainiac4]

No worries, Balance - I figured it'd come around eventually. Which server is the Mad Science Fair on?

I'm optimistic about COH Freedom; I plan to remain a subscriber (sorry, VIP) because I have plenty of characters I want to play. The promise of new vet reward-like things from the Paragon Market is interesting. The promise that I'll retain everything I have access to now is a good thing (and a minimum expectation for me - if I'm going to subscribe, you damn well better not take anything I have now away from me!), and accelerating the timetable for new stuff is good as well.

There is a comment on the forums from one of the devs in response to a question on vet rewards that hints at a revamp of some of the existing ones - there are a few duds in there (yay, free tailor visit).

And I'm definitely interested in Time Manipulation.

All in all, good news. It doesn't feel like a desperation move, like Champions Online made - it feels more like an attempt to play in a bigger market. In retrospect, the content packs make more sense now.

[Balance]

Do returning oldtimers get their oldbies back is what I want to know.

Might be find to take them out for a spin again someday...
As far as I know, they never delete accounts or characters. At worst, if you had been gone a long time when they did the name purge, you may have lost the names of a few low-level characters. You'll have to pick which ones you really want to play, though--when you sign in, they'll all be locked, and when you click on one, you'll have the option to spend one of your slot tokens to permanently unlock it. You get two slot tokens, plus one for each slot you paid for or earned via vet rewards. (Some of the forumites are arguing that buying CoV or the GvE pack should add four more tokens as well. We'll see if they get that changed.)

No worries, Balance - I figured it'd come around eventually. Which server is the Mad Science Fair on?
Victory, of course. They're Victorian, after all. :)

[Lok]

It hasn't seen much play in a while, but I believe Un Silencio has been active there, and been modifying the base. You're perfectly welcome to join, if you wish--we're not even strict about the theme; I think JB's Atlantean is a modern representative sent to find out why Redfish and Bluefish reported in over a hundred years late.
Yes, they are quite curious about where those 2 were for so long. Although it has been a while since I played him. I may check some of the newer powersets and see if one of them is more suitable for the theme. And I believe I have a Taxibot in that crew. I will need to remake him to fit in better.

Do returning oldtimers get their oldbies back is what I want to know.

Might be find to take them out for a spin again someday...

As Balanced said, you automatically get 2 slot tokens, and can purchase more. But there are a couple of caveats about those tokens. Free players can not play controllers, MM, or any of the EATs. They can purchase the ability to play controllers and/or MMs, but the only way to play EATs is by being a VIP player. And if you are a VIP and stop playing, you lose the ability to play them, again unless you have separately purchased that ability. And you can have the ability to play them opened automatically, for free, at about the 3 year veteran reward level. I am not sure if that unlock requires you to be a VIP at any point, or if it applies to someone that already was a 3 year veteran that is returning to play for free. I have not been keeping up the last couple of days.

One hopeful sign is the purchases all seem to be account wide. The Veteran equivalents definitely, and most of the costume, emote, etc. I have seen discussed. And they have said they studied other games that have made the switch, to see what the players liked and didn't like. I know on LOTRO, the store is very annoying, with buttons all over to go to it. I keep pushing them by accident, which can be deadly. Just avoiding that mistake would be a huge improvement over LOTRO's implementation.

[Balance]

I am not sure if that unlock requires you to be a VIP at any point, or if it applies to someone that already was a 3 year veteran that is returning to play for free. I have not been keeping up the last couple of days.
If I have interpreted things the rednames have posted, you could theoretically get the automatic unlock of the ATs without ever subscribing, but you would have to buy a lot of stuff in the store.

The Veteran Rewards system is getting upgraded, essentially, into the Paragon Rewards system. You get Paragon Reward tokens/markers/whatsits for time spent subscribed, but you also get them as a bonus for buying Paragon Points, which are the store currency.

You can spend the PR tokens on veteran reward perks (including new ones as they come along), so unlike the old system, you get to pick the order in which you get the rewards. If you want to get angel wings before you get trench coats, it should be possible. Additionally, they track the number of tokens you have accumulated, and at certain milestones, you get bonuses without spending any of your tokens on them. One of those bonuses is the AT unlock. (This happens whether you've spent any tokens or not--the total number you've received is what counts.)

[Lok]

Right, but do you get the AT unlock for free if you were a 3 year+ vet who comes back as a F2P?

[Balance]

Right, but do you get the AT unlock for free if you were a 3 year+ vet who comes back as a F2P?
As I understand it, yes. Your account will be a premium account, and you'll have all the perks associated with the vet rewards you earned (including the new perks added to old rewards).

[Lok]

As I understand it, yes. Your account will be a premium account, and you'll have all the perks associated with the vet rewards you earned (including the new perks added to old rewards).
Well, I won't, I am at 7 years and counting, and plan on just purchasing another 14 months when my current subscription runs out. Just glad I have a job and can afford it now.

[Quimby]

FYI The VIP Launch of Freedom is Tuesday September 13th. Details here (http://na.cityofheroes.com/en/news/news_archive/announcing_the_city_of_heroes_vip_head_start.php).

[ArrMatey!]

Tech question on the game.
I've just come back after a few years hiatus, and there's a serious graphics glitch- all the buildings are big pink blocks. Nothing else, just big pink block buildings. I've updated the graphics driver on my computer, and turned the graphics as low as I can in-game, but no help. I saw a post or two about how this has been a problem for other folks in various forums, but I haven't seen any advice or fixes.
Anyone else know how to deal with this? I'd really like to come back to the game.

[Quimby]

I believe it means some of your .pigg files are damaged. when you open the launcher, right click on City of Heroes and select repair. Let that run and open the game. Hopefully that will fix it.

[ArrMatey!]

Tried that just now. I have no idea if anything was actually 'fixed' (is there some way to tell?), but here's a screenshot of lovely salmon-colored Steel Canyon:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b346/CrazyIvan777/screenshot/SteelCanyon.jpg

[Quimby]

I know I have seen this issue before in the CoH forums but can't seem to find it. Log into a character and try this command:
/reloadgfx

I see references to this fixing similar issues.

[Lok]

Tried that just now. I have no idea if anything was actually 'fixed' (is there some way to tell?), but here's a screenshot of lovely salmon-colored Steel Canyon:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b346/CrazyIvan777/screenshot/SteelCanyon.jpg

If that doesn't work, do you have you occlusion turned on? I had the same thing with my very old video card, and when turned off the occlusion it started working right.

[ArrMatey!]

Hrm. Futzed around a bit (and turned my hero pink, briefly. Not sure how, but I fixed it), and I'm figuring out it's just buildings. I went into Boomtown and everything looked just fine. Came back into Steel Canyon, and -one- building looked fine, the rest were still pink. Leads me to believe it's something wrong with a .pigg, but when I try to 'fix' it, nothing changes. Is there a better way to do this than the 'fix' function on the launcher?

[E-Sabbath]

Delete random piggs entirely, redownload 'em!

[Lok]

I think if you delete the checksum files it will do a complete check of everything. That should find any problems.

[ArrMatey!]

Okay, as I'm a bit of a technewb, where / how do I get rid of the checksum for CoX?

[ArrMatey!]

Never mind. Deleted Checksum, re-attempted repair, all is still salmon colored. Next step: Total re-install. If that doesn't work, I give up.

[Lok]

Have you tried asking in the Technical help section of the COH forums? There are a lot of players there that are willing to help out with problems.

[Mister Rik]

I decided to give the game a tryout, since it seems to be the only major MMO other than WoW with a Mac client...

I ended up spending more time playing with the character creation tools than actually playing the game :p Came up with three heroes, all on Justice-NA:

Big Apple (http://www.mister-rik.com/hosted/coh/big_apple.jpg): Technology-Scrapper-Electric Melee/Super Reflexes

This guy is the best approximation I could come up with of the "local, small-town" hero that I created many years ago. My RL hometown's economy is based on the orchard (primarily apple) industry. He was intended to be a humorous/satirical character, and I came up with a cast of supporting characters, other superheroes, and supervillains, all based around the apple industry. Sadly, his original name, "Captain Apple" was already taken on this server :(

Missterra (http://www.mister-rik.com/hosted/coh/missterra.jpg): Mutation-Controller-Earth Control/Kinetics

Gigaforce (http://www.mister-rik.com/hosted/coh/gigaforce.jpg): Science-Blaster-Energy Blast/Fire Manipulation

Question: is there any way in-game to turn my characters around to view them from the front? I was a bit saddened after putting all that time into making them look exactly the way I wanted, only to discover I can apparently only ever see them from behind.

[Bosstone]

Question: is there any way in-game to turn my characters around to view them from the front? I was a bit saddened after putting all that time into making them look exactly the way I wanted, only to discover I can apparently only ever see them from behind.Click-drag the middle mouse button to swing the camera around without moving your character. There's definitely a lot of freedom with the camera, otherwise you couldn't take pictures of yourself looking heroic. :D

Welcome to the game!

[Mister Rik]

Click-drag the middle mouse button to swing the camera around without moving your character. There's definitely a lot of freedom with the camera, otherwise you couldn't take pictures of yourself looking heroic. :D
Thanks! That was bugging me :D

Welcome to the game!
It looks like fun so far. For the time being I'm just planning to fool around with the first free month to see if I like it. I'm not planning on dropping WoW any time soon, and two MMOs just seems like too much (especially considering the number of toons I have in WoW that I'm still "actively" playing).

[Bosstone]

It looks like fun so far. For the time being I'm just planning to fool around with the first free month to see if I like it. I'm not planning on dropping WoW any time soon, and two MMOs just seems like too much (especially considering the number of toons I have in WoW that I'm still "actively" playing).They're switching over to their hybrid model soon, so even if you choose not to subscribe you can still play for free, albeit with limited options.

[Lok]

I ended up spending more time playing with the character creation tools than actually playing the game :p Came up with three heroes, all on Justice-NA:


You are far from the only one. Some people spend hours creating costumes and such for their characters. And a stand alone creator they can use offline has been requested since the game started. Just the regular costume parts have a huge number of combinations that work together. The booster packs are only a small addition to that, but there are some very nice things in them. And now you can preview everything before buying.

[Quimby]

Having fun with the new issue. A new server is also a great opportunity to get some good character names but the game crashing my ATI card is starting to get old. Problem started two drivers ago. Crossing my fingers there will be a fix in the next one.

[CandidGamera]

I think I just need to drop my subscription to this and DC Online. I log on once every month and a half to City of Heroes to de-idle characters, and that's it..

[Jophiel]

I took a couple month break due to playing Steam summer sale games but popped back in for I21. Between the new Time Manipulation and Beam Rifle sets and upcoming Street Justice, Titan Weapons and Staff Fighting sets, I figure there might be enough new and shiny to keep me a round a bit longer.

[Mister Rik]

I take it "Issue" is what this game calls expansions?

[Bosstone]

I take it "Issue" is what this game calls expansions?More or less, although they tend to be more on the order of the subdivisions within a WoW expansion in size, like patch 4.2 rather than Cataclysm as a whole. An issue will typically include a new zone or TF (raid/dungeon), some new system mechanic, new powersets, and some new costumes, plus assorted QoL and bug fixes.

[Quimby]

I take it "Issue" is what this game calls expansions?

Yes, the free updates are Issues (a la Comic Book issues) and there have been two paid expansions: City of Villains (which was actually a stand alone game as well) and Going Rogue (which was not). Right now the game is transitioning to a Free to Play hybrid model but that is not yet available to the public.

[Lok]

More or less, although they tend to be more on the order of the subdivisions within a WoW expansion in size, like patch 4.2 rather than Cataclysm as a whole. An issue will typically include a new zone or TF (raid/dungeon), some new system mechanic, new powersets, and some new costumes, plus assorted QoL and bug fixes.
You forgot the most important word in that description. They are all free. COH has had 2 large expansions that cost money, and around 10 small packs adding costumes, emotes, powers, etc. for $5-$10 each, otherwise all the new material in the game has been added for free. That is changing slightly now with the hybrid model they are going to, but they will continue the free issues as well as adding stuff to the market.

[mlees]

In regards to the upcoming "Freedom" hybrid model, I have a question.

1) I am currently paying my 14? bucks a month. Do I become a VIP player at 14$ a month when "Freedom" releases?

[Bosstone]

In regards to the upcoming "Freedom" hybrid model, I have a question.

1) I am currently paying my 14? bucks a month. Do I become a VIP player at 14$ a month when "Freedom" releases?Yep. In fact, you're a VIP now, with access to the store and a small stash of points to spend. They haven't yet opened the game to free accounts, but subscribers/VIPs have access to everything right now.

[Mister Rik]

A couple questions:

1) When I create a new character, is there a way to simply save the character without moving directly into the game? The dialog at the end of the process asks, "Do you want to save this character and enter the game?" (or words to that effect), which suggests the answer to my question is "no". It's a bit irksome to have to wait however long it takes to load into the game and then immediately wait another 30 seconds to log right back out, when I just want to save the character.

2) Is there a way to dismiss/turn off those "temporary powers" you get when somebody reads your fortune? I've had a couple people offer to read my fortune (some specific character power that does this?), and when I accepted it said I'd gained a "temporary power", but didn't tell me what it was. But it didn't take me long to figure out - my "fortune" was "The Fool", (I found the icon up under my health bar) which gave me a movement speed boost. I was moving so fast that I couldn't control my character — running face-first into walls, overshooting my destination, etc. I finally located the icon for this power, up there among the "Always-on Powers" icons, and in my attempts to dismiss the buff I ended up hiding all those icons and now I can't make them come back.

3) What are these "sewer runs" I keep seeing people LFG-ing for?

[Der Trihs]

A couple questions:

1) When I create a new character, is there a way to simply save the character without moving directly into the game? The dialog at the end of the process asks, "Do you want to save this character and enter the game?" (or words to that effect), which suggests the answer to my question is "no". It's a bit irksome to have to wait however long it takes to load into the game and then immediately wait another 30 seconds to log right back out, when I just want to save the character.Sorry, if you want to save the character you have to log in. Although you can save the costume and custom power colors in the creator - I generally do that while creating in case some bug hits me and i lose all my work.

2) Is there a way to dismiss/turn off those "temporary powers" you get when somebody reads your fortune? I've had a couple people offer to read my fortune (some specific character power that does this?), and when I accepted it said I'd gained a "temporary power", but didn't tell me what it was. But it didn't take me long to figure out - my "fortune" was "The Fool", (I found the icon up under my health bar) which gave me a movement speed boost. I was moving so fast that I couldn't control my character — running face-first into walls, overshooting my destination, etc. I finally located the icon for this power, up there among the "Always-on Powers" icons, and in my attempts to dismiss the buff I ended up hiding all those icons and now I can't make them come back.Unhiding the icons is somewhere in Options, General I believe (lots of customization options in the menu, I recommend you check them out). I understand that now you can cancel the buff by right clicking on the icon. Also, if you don't want to accept that and other buffs for whatever reason (or want to automatically accept them), you can visit Null the Gull in Pocket D. He's a seagull on top of a truck in the villain side of the club. If you don't know where that is, the lowest level access is in King's row, you can find it on the map. It's useful for shortcuts between several zones at the very least, and stuffed full of roleplayers on Virtue. It also lets Rogues & Vigilantes cross sides.

3) What are these "sewer runs" I keep seeing people LFG-ing for?I'm not sure what it is now; it used to be going though the Atlas Park sewers for some low level powerlevelling, but there's new stuff to do there with this Issue that I haven't really looked into yet.

[Mister Rik]

Unhiding the icons is somewhere in Options, General I believe (lots of customization options in the menu, I recommend you check them out).
I found the relevant settings in the Options menu, but they didn't seem to have any effect. I'll see if my icons come back the next time I log the character in.

I understand that now you can cancel the buff by right clicking on the icon.
That was the first thing I tried, since that's how I'm used to doing it in WoW, but I think what actually happened was it brought up a popup menu, and clicking one of the options in that menu is what made all my icons disappear.

[Bosstone]

I'm not sure what it is now; it used to be going though the Atlas Park sewers for some low level powerlevelling, but there's new stuff to do there with this Issue that I haven't really looked into yet.It's now a really awesome short TF. Providing a WoW-analog again for Mister Rik, it's like the Deadmines or Ragefire Chasm except it's for newly-created characters. Creating alts is a bigger deal in City than in WoW, and after a while the low levels get to be a bit of a chore, so it's a fun way to rocket yourself up a few levels.

You can give it a go if you like, as it's a good intro to teaming in City, but as you're still very new you might find it easier to follow story missions at your own pace for now.

[Mister Rik]

Creating alts is a bigger deal in City than in WoW

I have 43 WoW characters.

Crap, I'm doomed. DOOOOOOOMED!

:p

[Mister Rik]

Quote:
I understand that now you can cancel the buff by right clicking on the icon.That was the first thing I tried, since that's how I'm used to doing it in WoW, but I think what actually happened was it brought up a popup menu, and clicking one of the options in that menu is what made all my icons disappear.

Figured it out. Right-click and then select "Cancel" from the popup menu. Sadly, my "always-on powers" icons are still missing on that one character.


Please tell me the game isn't streaming the audio to me? In addition to some connectivity issues last night ("Lost connection to map server") — which I'm only guessing may have been related to it being Friday night and there being heavy server loads — my audio was a steady "whup-whup-whup-whup-whup-whup-whup-whup...". That got so annoying I ended up turning my sound all the way down.

[smiling bandit]

I've gotten curious since the free to play (FTP) coming up.

First, How much freedom do you have in regards to designing the look? How does it compare to, say, Champions Online? In that regard, let's say I took Fire Blast as a Blaster or Corrupter. Can I change how the power looks? Can I add weapons which look as though they're actually firing?

Fortunately, it looks as though these people can do FTP right. Whereas Champions Online was pretty much a giant insult to the very concept of FTP. And I've been looking for a new MMO since I've pretty much lost all my friends in WoW and DDo is nightmarishly grindy.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Can I change how the power looks?You can change most powers' colors. City only allows two colors at a time but makes up for it with many more costume parts to choose from at the start.Can I add weapons which look as though they're actually firing?Only the ones that come with a power (like Assault Rifle or Dual Pistols) but you can change the default weapon to something else.

[Der Trihs]

I've gotten curious since the free to play (FTP) coming up.

First, How much freedom do you have in regards to designing the look? How does it compare to, say, Champions Online? In that regard, let's say I took Fire Blast as a Blaster or Corrupter. Can I change how the power looks? Can I add weapons which look as though they're actually firing?I've never played CO, so this is off secondhand reports. From what I've heard there's a little more customization in CO (such as more asymmetrical costume parts), but the art quality is better in CoX and you have more pieces.

In CoX, you can choose the color of your main powers and max level Incarnate powers (generic pool powers are as yet uncustomizable), often you can choose between two styles (most often 'Light', and a more solid looking 'Dark' palette). Many powers have alternate animations such as Psionic Blast attacks that can either be fired from the head or the hand; or the top level Super Strength attack which is either a Foot Stomp or Hulk-style Ground Punch; or Earth powers which can generally come in Rock, Crystal and Lava variants.

As for weapons, if you want weapons you have to choose a set that already uses weapons; Assault Rifle, Beam Rifle, Broadsword, Katana, Dual Pistols, Archery, etc; you can't just have you Fire Blaster shooting a fire gun (at least not yet). However there's quite a few different custom weapon types (http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Custom_Weapons).

[smiling bandit]

Sounds good. I liked the customization in Champions Online - but it was very, very stylized in a way that didn't suit every character. You couldn't really build "mysterious" or "subtle" in; the nature of the design just didn't support it. You were best off not bothering with anything less than bright and obvious.

The reason I asked was because they didn't have a lot of border between powers. So if I wanted a crazy flame-spewing guy with a science background, it might look wrong. Ah well, have to work with it.

How far can you bend the limits of "human" ? Can you make a character that looks feline or alien? (Why, yes, I have been posessed by the dark power of the African leopard? How did you know?)

BTW, thank you for linking that awesome site. Handy.

[Mister Rik]

How far can you bend the limits of "human" ? Can you make a character that looks feline or alien?
Yes, yes you can.

[Der Trihs]

How far can you bend the limits of "human" ? Can you make a character that looks feline or alien? (Why, yes, I have been posessed by the dark power of the African leopard? How did you know?)Well, many of the newer and therefore better animal costume parts are those you need to buy; they were in the old Animal Pack (http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Animal_Pack) (check the pictures at the bottom) but can now be bought piecemeal. But you can make characters with lion, tiger, wolf, bull, or bird heads; there's also a "Feline" face for something more humans looking. There's insect eyes, several "alien" heads, various wings, various robotic parts. You're still stuck with the basic two-legged humanoid form, although Beast Run from the animal pack lets you run and jump (quickly!) on all fours and you can use digitigrade legs with hooves, claws, bird feet, etc. Oh; and there's some very nice animated tails from the old animal and Mutant costume packs.

BTW, thank you for linking that awesome site. Handy.
You're welcome; Paragonwiki is one of the first things that gets recommended to anyone interested in the game. Very useful.

[smiling bandit]

Sorry - another question? I was kinda thinking Fire/Dark Miasma or Ice/Kinetics Corrupter. What I don't get is the "choosing powers" aspect of things.

So, as you level up you get access to the powers, but you only get so many? Or do you have access to them all but can only use so many? And then you slot items (OK, they're called all kinds of things but it's all just magic RPG items) into them? Do they have just one slot per power? Or how do you slot whole sets of items which have weird tags?

I know, it's probably all explained in the game. Call me a n3wb and slap me silly.

[Jophiel]

As you level up, you can select new powers from your primary/secondary and from "pool" powers which are sets everyone can get access to regardless of their archetype. Things such as flying or stealth or fighting. When you're high level, you can also select a special group of high level abilities that round out your abilities if you desire (such as a crowd control ability to a melee type or ranged attack for a tank).

When certain levels become unlocked (such as when you can select your "tier four" primary, for instance) is staggered and you can see it here (http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Levels) if you're curious. But you'll ultimately get 24 power choices which is enough to select every power in your primary/secondary if you wanted plus six more beyond that. In practice, many people skip a few of their primary/secondary powers either to pick "better" pool powers or because those powers don't fit their play style. For instance, some people dislike snipe powers. You can use every power you have access to. Just set up more power trays and drop them in. See this UI example (http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/3274/layoute.png).

I'll let someone braver than myself tackle explaining enhancements (http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Enhancements).

[Der Trihs]

I thoguht I'd link pictures of some of my more animalistic characters so you'd see what I was talking about above. Feral Blades (http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/CSStuff/CoX%20General/FeralBlades.png), Skyfyre (http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/CSStuff/CoX%20General/Skyfyre2.png), and Taurus Malleus (http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y351/CSStuff/CoX%20General/Capturet2.png).

Sorry - another question? I was kinda thinking Fire/Dark Miasma or Ice/Kinetics Corrupter. Fire/Dark is very powerful. Ice/Kin is also powerful but less well rounded; /Kin doesn't offer as much in terms of survivability. You might also plan on making a scrapper; they are good as first characters; straightforward, good damage and sturdy.

What I don't get is the "choosing powers" aspect of things.

So, as you level up you get access to the powers, but you only get so many? Or do you have access to them all but can only use so many? And then you slot items (OK, they're called all kinds of things but it's all just magic RPG items) into them? Do they have just one slot per power? Or how do you slot whole sets of items which have weird tags?

I know, it's probably all explained in the game. Call me a n3wb and slap me silly.OK. Your character has a limited number of power picks; two at the first level and one every other level until level 32 where it gets a little less regular. You also have several inherent powers, and Incarnate powers at 50 which are a complicated subject . Most powers can be slotted; the levels you don't get powers, you get 2-3 slots you can put in a power. These slots are for placing Enhancements which improve your powers; from basic stuff that adds accuracy or damage to some more fancy stuff from the Invention System - but you can go far just with the basics. Up to six slots per power is possible; but you have limited slots.

You have nine primary and nine secondary powers to choose from that are specific to the powersets you've chosen, as well as "pool powers" that are available to all characters. Each Archetype (the CoX equivalent of a "character class") also has an inherent power which can't be slotted;; scrappers get Critical Hits, Brutes get fury which lets them do more damage as they attack or are attacked, etc.

Also, you get to see the numbers for the powers and enhancements you pick, which makes it easier to tell if you want them or not. And there's a limit (http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Enhancement_Diversification) to how far (normally) you can enhance a single aspect of a power like damage; so six slotting all damage enhancements isn't a good idea.

[smiling bandit]

Wow. Megainfodump.

Trying to sort out which powers I want is a nightmare, and I doubt I'll even finish designing a character before Freedom comes out (I'd considered getting started beforehand, then using the FTP option and buying anything I wanted).

Scrappers are out because, pshgaw, who wants to play a goody-two-shoes hero? Mwahaha! Seriously, though, thanks for all the help. Pretty cool, definitely.

[Mister Rik]

before Freedom comes out

Okay, what am I missing? Isn't Freedom already out? Every time I create a character the first thing I do is choose between "Freedom" and "Going Rogue".

I have a couple new questions myself:

• Speaking of Going Rogue, can somebody tell me where the !@#$% tailor is in Praetoria? For some reason I'm not seeing a lot of signage on non-government buildings. Heck, even the Loyalist Lounge seems to be entered through unmarked doors in an unmarked building.

• Is it possible to enlarge the map? I figured out how to make the window bigger, but the map doesn't grow with it. I'm finding that tiny map all but useless.

[smiling bandit]

The main CoH website says it's not out.

[Jophiel]

Scrappers are out because, pshgaw, who wants to play a goody-two-shoes hero? Mwahaha! Seriously, though, thanks for all the help. Pretty cool, definitely.
Part of the I21 changes are that any archetype can start as a hero or villain right out of the gate. No dorking around in Praetoria and no alignment missions, just make a Scrapper and pick red side (or do the tutorial and pick villain at the appropriate time).

The F2P is supposed to be out in a few weeks. They wanted to release I21 first and let us paying monkeys find all the bugs and flaws so they could have it polished for its public debut.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Isn't Freedom already out?It's only out for those who get VIP status via being already subscribed.Is it possible to enlarge the map?Look for a slider bar next to the map.

[Sailboat]

Sure wish they'd fix the COH forum login permission bug. Can't get on over there, and it's been days and days.

[Jophiel]

Changing my password worked for me. Now it just ignore the "Remember me" box and makes me log in with every visit but at least I can log in at all.

[mlees]

• Speaking of Going Rogue, can somebody tell me where the !@#$% tailor is in Praetoria? For some reason I'm not seeing a lot of signage on non-government buildings. Heck, even the Loyalist Lounge seems to be entered through unmarked doors in an unmarked building.

The tailor is an NPC standing out on the street in the second "zone" (the lv 10-15 zone). I'm sorry I forgot the name. It is the same zone the auction house is located in.

If you come out the tram station run around behind it and look for the bank/vault. Up the street to the left (as you face the bank) is the tailor standing near a street corner.

You can fiddle with the mini map to get it to display vendors. (Dollar sign symbols on the map.) The tailor is marked with one of these.

There is a slider on the right hand border of the minimap, so you can "zoom" in.

[Sailboat]

Changing my password worked for me.

Yeah, I read that yuo can even change your password from the old one to the same old one and it'll work.

But the site won't accept any password without a numeral in it. My existing password for years has no numeral in it; so I can't use the "reset to the same password" trick, and I'd hate to lose a perfectly good password that I've memorized for years just because someone can't make a messageboard behave. So I wait for a real fix instead of a kludge that will (permanently) get rid of my password.

I'm cranky about it though.

[mlees]

I had an interesting bug.

I rolled a Widow epic archetype, female.

At level ten, the Spider quest giver in Port Oakes gives you a quest to disquise yourself as a hero, invade some base, and beat up a Lt. somebody. This unlocks a costume slot for free.

However, for some reason, even though my character was created as female, the second slot was made male. Holy Transgendered Arachoids!

Is this "working as designed"?

How do I "fix" the gender of that second costume slot to female?

[Jophiel]

I think I just need to drop my subscription to this and DC Online.
DCUO is going F2P now as well. (http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/09/19/dc-universe-online-is-going-free-to-play-next-month/)

[Der Trihs]

I had an interesting bug.

I rolled a Widow epic archetype, female.

At level ten, the Spider quest giver in Port Oakes gives you a quest to disquise yourself as a hero, invade some base, and beat up a Lt. somebody. This unlocks a costume slot for free.

However, for some reason, even though my character was created as female, the second slot was made male. Holy Transgendered Arachoids!

Is this "working as designed"?

How do I "fix" the gender of that second costume slot to female?I don't know if there's a fix; but it certainly isn't working as designed, and I've heard other people complain of the same bug.

[mlees]

I don't know if there's a fix; but it certainly isn't working as designed, and I've heard other people complain of the same bug.

Ok, thanks. I tried to search the forums at NCSoft (that's them, right?), but didn't see anything mentioned along the lines of this bug. I only poked around for half an hour, though.

[smiling bandit]

Part of the I21 changes are that any archetype can start as a hero or villain right out of the gate. No dorking around in Praetoria and no alignment missions, just make a Scrapper and pick red side (or do the tutorial and pick villain at the appropriate time).

More detailed note: I don't know if I want to play a Scrapper. Simpler, yes. But I think a Corrupter sounds more fun in play. Granted, with the way things are going groups may prefer to ignore Corrupters in favor of Defenders. But they still soud pretty fun and versatile.

[Der Trihs]

I find Corruptors more fun than scrappers too; but Scrappers are easier for someone new. And this game is very alt friendly, there's no reason not to make both.

Yeah, I read that yuo can even change your password from the old one to the same old one and it'll work.

But the site won't accept any password without a numeral in it. My existing password for years has no numeral in it; so I can't use the "reset to the same password" trick, and I'd hate to lose a perfectly good password that I've memorized for years just because someone can't make a messageboard behave. So I wait for a real fix instead of a kludge that will (permanently) get rid of my password.

I'm cranky about it though.Try again, they claim to have fixed it (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?p=3884316#post3884316).

[ArrMatey!]

Woohoo! My pink building issues are solved!
I ended up having to delete the whole game and re-load the entire thing, but hey, it's fixed!

Now, question... I've been away for a while, and I started building a new character. I remember before that I could edit the colors of my powers. It's looking like I can't do that anymore. There's a power edit screen, but it only seems to allow 'light' and 'dark', no color changes. Am I missing something? I'm hoping that didn't get removed from the game.

Also, I kinda wanted to have a character with something of an energy blade to wield, but it looks like that's not an option, appearance-wise?

[Der Trihs]

Now, question... I've been away for a while, and I started building a new character. I remember before that I could edit the colors of my powers. It's looking like I can't do that anymore. There's a power edit screen, but it only seems to allow 'light' and 'dark', no color changes. Am I missing something? I'm hoping that didn't get removed from the game.Strange; you can certainly edit the colors; Light and Dark are just the different palettes.

Also, I kinda wanted to have a character with something of an energy blade to wield, but it looks like that's not an option, appearance-wise?
It is; Vanguard (http://wiki.cohtitan.com/w/images//5/53/Talsorian_Sword_Final.jpg) Blades (http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/File:Dualvanguardkatana.jpg). But since you were apparently away for a while you missed out on the Loyalty Award program a while back that made them available to all your characters; so you'll need to wait till 35 to unlock them. Or make a Fire Melee character for an approximation I suppose.

[smiling bandit]

*COugh*

If I were to hop in early... what server might be appropriate/Doper friendly?

[Der Trihs]

*COugh*

If I were to hop in early... what server might be appropriate/Doper friendly?Virtue is the main Hero supergroup, Protector the main Villain group. There's also smaller hero groups on Justice and Guardian. And at the moment Exalted the VIP (aka subscriber) server is busiest, but keep in mind that if you were ever to drop to premium you couldn't play those guys unless you moved them off the server. The SDMB global chat channel is CECIL.

[Quimby]

BTW it is really hard to make a gimped character. Really the only Archetypes where it is possible are Controller and maybe Defender and even then you would be fine on teams just struggling solo.

Really the main choice is whether you want to be Shooty or Punchy. Most suggest new players start with Melee like a Scrapper or Brute,. I found that choosing a Blaster first was best for me. Hanging back and aiming ans shooting seems like less pressure when you are still learning the game.

It is a little tougher solo because Blasters have almost no defense but I found it fun and ironically easier when I was new.

[Mister Rik]

Look for a slider bar next to the map.
I'll look for that. It must be tiny for me to have not seen it. Or if I saw it I assumed it was for scrolling.

The tailor is an NPC standing out on the street in the second "zone" (the lv 10-15 zone). I'm sorry I forgot the name. It is the same zone the auction house is located in.

If you come out the tram station run around behind it and look for the bank/vault. Up the street to the left (as you face the bank) is the tailor standing near a street corner.

You can fiddle with the mini map to get it to display vendors. (Dollar sign symbols on the map.) The tailor is marked with one of these.
Thanks! Looks like I won't be able to visit for a few more levels (though I was mainly wanting to log out there for the relevant "day job" credits).


Well, I've already rolled up a crapton of different characters with different archetypes and power sets. I kind of like to do that in these games, and just play each one a bit here and there and see which ones "stick" and which ones don't. So far I'm having the most fun with my "blasters", in particular Green Shriek, my mutation/sonic attack/mental manipulation character, and Chill Kill, my magic/archery/ice manipulation character.

One of the first characters I rolled, Missterra, has perhaps a "less than ideal" power set. She's a controller — earth control/kinetic, without much in the way of offensive capabilities. But it's fun and challenging trying to beat the encounters using the tools she has available to her. Plus I figure that not every mutant is blessed with a perfect combination of powers.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Now, question... I've been away for a while, and I started building a new character. I remember before that I could edit the colors of my powers. It's looking like I can't do that anymore. There's a power edit screen, but it only seems to allow 'light' and 'dark', no color changes. Am I missing something? I'm hoping that didn't get removed from the game.

Also, I kinda wanted to have a character with something of an energy blade to wield, but it looks like that's not an option, appearance-wise?What powers did you choose? Sounds like you have ones that are color-locked.

[ArrMatey!]

Hm. Maybe. Is demon summoning color-locked?

[Lute Skywatcher]

Hm. Maybe. Is demon summoning color-locked?Looks that way. Demon Summoning isn't listed here (http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Bright_Power_Colors) or here (http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Dark_Power_Colors).

[ArrMatey!]

Okay, then no problems. Man, I'm jonesing to play now. Of course, I have option paralysis when it comes to character creation...