Zombie Man

Good catch. The tilt of the axis of the earth in relation to its orbital plane is just opinion and hearsay!

This is a dangerous area for NCSoft since doing the duties of someone who gets paid counts as 'work.' If you do it for free, NCSoft will have to account for that as a gift from you. If they don't pay you, some state laws might look at that as the equivalent of slavery, or at least, a violation of minimum wage law.

If the player-mod themselves did something bad and offensive, NCSoft would be liable for their actions.

If the player-mod at some point in the future throws a fit over some reason ("why are there no Pie Power Sets?!!!!") they can then turn around and sue NCSoft over getting compensation for the work they did for the company (whether such a suit would proceed or be dismissed is irrelevant... it's a source of possible litigation).

NCSoft has considered player-assisted moderation before and has very intentionally said 'no' to it.

Yes, or sooner. The Devs are sometimes at a loss as to what they can give Vets without it being game-breaking, and the one-time exclusive freebies usually fit the bill (and they calm the clamoring of the completionists).


Possible Solution

Since NCSoft can't really offer us these enhancements for a while without breaking the exclusivity deal with GameStop, then the solution is to write to GameStop and ask them to make a deal with NCSoft to sell the promotional bonus as a standalone -- pay $10 for the code and mouse pad. NCSoft sells the goodies from a new edition as standalone Item Packs; so, let them do the same with this through GameStop and it will survive the exclusivity agreement.

Start your letter-writing campaign now.



Mousepad from space.

NCSoft didn't plan on doing pre-order bonuses as very specifically stated in their GR FAQ. However, GameStop approached them for a tie-in along with Razer. So, they put together a GameStop exclusive where if you pre-ORDER from them, you get a Razer hi-tech mousepad and an extra code for the in-game digital bonus.

The extra code is not in the box. It only comes from GameStop, so, there are no real pre-ORDER boxes that NCSoft has made (as been stated for a long time in their FAQ). If you want the extra code, it will only be from GameStop pre-ORDER.

Given the rather hastily thrown-together aspect of this deal (and for marketing timelines, this is hasty), and that no other deals are being announced at the same time, it's pretty safe to say this is the only distributor deal out there -- unless you can picture other outlets knocking down NCSoft's doors demanding their own deals. The fact that this deal is bundled together with Razer pretty much says that this is it.

Although, never say never.

BTW, the in-game bonus is 5 non-tradeable enhancements equipable only on new alts being made. They are 'Dual Aspect DOs', each providing 16.7% Dam / 16.7% Recharge (regardless of level), plus a proc of minor damage or knockdown (from levels 1-20) only. Great for levels 1-20, but by the time you hit level 21, any Dual Aspect IO will be better than these. By the time you hit level 22, two of these new enhancements in a power is equal to exactly two SOs (one damage, one recharge). Keeping these in your character past 35 is just dumb if you're looking for decent slotting.

That may be true at level 21, but totally wrong at level 22 when SOs become available. A single SO is as potent as these doubled DOs because an SO is worth exactly 2 DOs.

If you put 2 of these new enhancements into a power, you get the same benefit from 2 SOs, one Recharge and the other Damage.

Sure, there may be a few edge cases where one of these Dual DOs provides the perfect amount of extra Dam and Rech without hitting the diminishing returns of ED; or that you only have room for just one more slot and you need a little more DAM and Recharge and there are no Dual Aspect IOs that fit the need.... but such cases are going to be very rare, and there will be workarounds. And at level 35 and higher, switching to IOs will satisfy your needs better 99% of the time.

For those Recharge Pets, use common Dam and Rech IOs... they'll always be better than the Dual DOs.

Ah, you're right. The code for the pre-order goodies is a separate code from the one in the box which is for the full game. This means:

1. As you point out, no discount pre-order boxes with pre-purchase codes later on.

2. I'm still left wondering if the box code is stackable with the pre-purchase code for the completionists willing to spend the extra bucks.

3. If I don't pre-order, I'll probably get these double DOs as a Veteran Reward in about 18 months, anyway.

4. The fact that this is a separate code outside the box proves that Marketing wasn't lying in saying that this deal was made with GameStop rather recently and not a secret they were holding back when the pre-purchasing deal was offered.

Edit: Misread the question.

Yes, it would be nice to know if the pre-purchase code and the complete edition code are stackable. If they are, pre-purchasers can have it all by also pre-ordering (or picking up the pre-order boxes six months later when they're discounted).

As has been announced previously, the digital-only GR:Item Pack for $7 will be available from the online NCSoft store the moment GR goes Live.

Yes, it will.

And if you slot them into Brawl, there's no problem at all since Brawl doesn't use any END at all!



Anyone with the first year Vet Reward (Sands of Mu) has a huge advantage over someone new to the game (let alone having all 3 Attack Vet Rewards available at level 1). These enhancements don't even begin to make up for that Vet advantage.

So, it seems to me the problem isn't Vets missing out on an uber power that they need (because it's not and they have other compensation), is that they *think* they *need* the enhancements because of a completionist mentality. The same completionist mentality that drives badgers batty when there's a badge gated by grinding or missed opportunity or even having to participate in a type of game play they don't prefer.

If you're a Vet of a year or more, grousing over this needs some honesty here. You're not missing out on anything special; you just feel the need to have *everything*. Be honest about it.

Indeed, the 12 month Vet reward (Sands of Mu or Ghost Slaying Axe) is much, much more helpful for a lowbie than these enhancements, not to mention if you have all thee Vet attacks.

All 5 in Brawl would bring its Recharge from 2 sec to 1.2 sec and give it a 82% Damage boost plus maybe a 50% of doing some sort of extra damage or a knockdown.

That's what happens when you purchase a code online.

Yes. After level 20, think of them as Dam/Rech level 21 IOs.

Suggestion for high pop servers:

Prepare to run the even in four simultaneous zones:

1. Start in Grandville to draw players who have high level Villains. Once that is underway and continuing...

2. Start the next event in Peregrine to draw players who have high level Heroes. Once that is underway and continuing...

3. Start the next even in Port Oakes, to draw players with low level Villains. And once that is underway and continuing...

4. Start the event in Steel Canyon.

Because, if you start the event in Steel Canyon, well, just about everyone has an eligible toon and will go there and ignore any other event villainside or higher levels. So, by going from zones with lesser eligibility to greater, you're able to separate them more so.

Just for the sake of clarity:

• All 5 Enhancements are each a Doubled DO (DAM & Rech) with a Proc Bonus.
  • The DAM and Rech is 16.7% each for levels 1-50.
  • The Proc Bonus only works levels 1-20 and stops working at level 21.
  • The only differences between the 5 enhancements is the type of Proc Bonus which are:

1. Chance for minor Psionic Damage
2. Chance for minor Energy Damage
3. Chance for minor Lethal Damage
4. Chance for minor Smashing Damage
5. Chance for KnockDOWN

Oh, so that's why they won't accept my rezzes!

This is why you were temporarily the source of TheOcho's quote. I conflated the two quotes.

I just wanted to point out that while yes, it's a mouse pad, it's a mouse pad FROM OUTERRRR SPAAAAAAAACE!

Yes.


It's just different wording for the same thing: Chance for Minor Damage. It doesn't nothing extra than the other ones.



A slap? What kind of slap?