Zombie Man

They upped the base speed of Hover, so, at the low end, it wasn't so slow. Fully slotting it was only a slight buff from previously fully slotting it.

The ewok one worked. The rest... not so much.

And since when is Lobster Dog/Man a superhero?

The Paragon programmers have so extensively patched the original engine that what we have now might as well be called CoH2.

Use the Snippit tool under Accessories in Vista.

http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Screenshots

It's like the stealth change to the Numina TF where Jurassik no longer appears in the layer cake room after going through the trickiest blue cavern trail (which includes the 3D figure eight room with the hard-to-see elevated entranceway), but instead he appears in the nice, wide brown sandy floor cavern with a simple large boss cavern at the end.

As much as it annoys me that such things never get mentioned in the patch notes, at least it's a positive change.

1. The Devs announced that these people will be in some wave of Going Rogue Closed Beta (and they stressed waves, clearly emphasizing that these folks would not be in the Closed Beta from it's first day): HeroCon attendees; Loyalty award recipients; pre-ORDERers.

2. At around the same time (at HeroCon) they said there *might* be an interim issued with Ultra Mode and some other things they have ready. So, even then, they were disconnecting Ultra Mode from being a solely GR feature.

3. Since then, they changed things: They took two things that are definitely linked to GR (without buying GR, you will not have them!) and made them available early to pre-PURCHASErs. They also decided to go ahead with an interim issue, Issue 17 and to definitely make Ultra Mode part of Issue 17.

4. Before I17, they made Dual Pistols ready for pre-PURCHASErs. And so, they had a Closed Beta just for DP. They made a surprise decision: They gave the HeroCon attendees and Loyalty award recipients immediate access to the DP Closed Beta. They didn't have to. The only promised access to the GR CB. But since DP was part of GR and the only thing being tested, they invited them in.

5. Closed Beta for I17 started as soon as DP went Live and available to all the pre-PURCHASErs. Since this was a regular issue, the regular Closed Beta process was applied.

6.There's some question whether Demon Summoning is being tested along with I17. Even if it is, I17 is still a regular issue and the regular CB policies are in effect. One would presume that if Demon Summoning is going to be tested separately from I17, then they would let the Loyalty/HeroCon folk in immediately for that. But if it's combined with I17, then it would be unlikely all the Loyalty/HeroCon folk would be invited, especially not in the first waves. Huge numbers of folks testing a regular issue all at once is a very bad idea. It's been tried and failed. If Demon Summoning is part of I17, then the promise of being in GR Closed Beta doesn't apply simply because one element of GR has been moved into this issue. The promise for GR Closed Beta still stands and will happen.... for the full GR Closed Beta. There were no promises for pre-release Closed Betas.

There's a simple strategy for the cake room:

Go to the lowest level as a group and clear it.

Have someone run the other levels and draw/drag/aggro/push the rest of the spawns to the lowest level, which should now be one giant trap. Just keep feeding the rest of the team at the bottom new chum.

Fun.

I'd also delete ./piggs/soundV1.pigg since it's corrupted. It will be d/l'd again.

BAB was working on it. Had a whole suggestion thread. But it didn't make it out in time for DP's early release (after all, the original timeline was a second quarter release).

So, maybe for I17 or some interim patch before GR is released. Maybe with Demon Summoning.

Correction:

The Dual Pistols Closed Beta did include the Loyalty, HeroCon, and Veteran rewards program. See here.


The Normal Process:

The normal way of going about Closed Beta is to invite players in waves. A too large number of people coming in right away creates problems:

1. The Test Server is not set up to handle the volume of all the other servers combined at once. (Note that the Dual Pistols Closed Beta had long queues to log in.)

2. Test code is often 'non-optimized' code. Meaning that it's rough and shaky and fragile. Too many people can cause lots of server hang ups.

3. Too many people at once all /bugging the same bugs creates wasted effort on the part of the player and with Quality Assurance trying to go through all the bug reports.

4. Getting initial feedback from thousands of players at once is overwhelming to the Devs. They just can't read all that feedback or respond. Thus, a representative sample of the player base starts off. Then every 2-7 days, a new wave gets invited in.


Who Gets In?

1. We generally don't know. The Devs don't tell us. In fact, they've specifically said they *won't* tell us. The reason they gave is that they don't want people 'farming' a specific behavior. E.g., if one of the criteria was "sent in over 50 /bug reports", then, given human nature, some players would send in 50 bogus /bug reports to guarantee themselves a spot in Closed Beta.

2. What do we know about who gets in?

Each time, a random sampling of players get in, including those who've never sent in a bug report, who've never been in Closed Beta before, or even ever been on the Test Server before! The Devs most definitely *do not* want to hear from the same exact group every time. Nor do they want to hear from only 'fanbois.' We've seen some of the most vocal critics of the Devs get into a Closed Beta early with actual forum posts saying, "How did *you* get in?!"

There were a few times when the Devs went on record about specific groups getting in to Closed Beta. In Issue 13 a large number of PvPers were invited into the first wave to test the PvP rebalancing. It was said their participation was... contentious. In Issue 14 a smaller number of PvPers were invited to the first waves for the continuation of PvP rebalancing. Issue 15 had an "Open Closed Beta" where anyone with a valid account could get in (basically, non-players couldn't read the Beta forums). And the Dual Pistols Closed Beta, as mentioned above, included the Loyalty and Veteran reward participants that will also be part of the Going Rogue Closed Beta.

Obviously, Issue 16 Closed Beta has gone back to the practice we've seen for Issues 8 - 14.

The small number that gets in the very first waves are usually those with a track record of producing quality in-game and forum feedback (as well as some random folks). These are people who will do things like run an arc every time it's updated to check that it's working right. These are people who don't say 'you suck!' when somethings not finished, they know that Closed Beta is work and they work. Those who don't, don't get invited back (so said Ghost Falcon).

The Devs have said of a few Closed Betas that 'friends and family' are the first wave. Namely, their particular friends, family, and business associates -- not players. This phase has been known to last almost a week to just half a day before the first wave of players get invited. Since the Devs do not say this about every Closed Beta, it should not be assumed that every Closed Beta begins with just friends and family.

PWNZ will live forever in our hearts like arterial plaque. And heartworms. And unquenchable hate.

http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Missile_Launch_Mission

Tweak CoH.

When you're in a traditional Closed Beta (and not like last issue's CB where the GR Loyalty Program and Vets were all invited in for the first wave), you get an email and access to CB forums. Both the email and forums ask you not to reveal anything you find out in CB. They also ask you not to say you're in CB or talk about who is in CB.

The problem of revealing who is in CB is that it put pressure on them from others asking to reveal things or give hints. It's simply best policy not to discuss it. In the past, newbies to CB who let slip by accident that they're in CB (they posted a question to the Test forum rather than CB forum, e.g.) were not punished.

Those who let loose *information* from CB were kicked out of CB and never allowed back into another.

Having been in past betas, another downside of being in beta is trying to keep track off all the changes and what one did on Test v. what one did on Live.

E.g., I'd find myself answering questions about a mission and find that I was wrong because that mission changed before it went to Live.

Or, volunteering for an Imperious TF and find that I can't get into Cimerora because my character on Test unlocked the Midnight Club, but not my Live version.

Complete Edition: You can pre-ORDER the Complete Edition. Doing so guarantees you a space in Closed Beta. You can't, however, pre-PURCHASE the Complete Edition.

Expansion: This is pre-PURCHASABLE, starting Tuesday, March 2.


COH:GR EXPANSION (GR:X)
Cost: $29.99 (€19.99 / £17.99)
Prepurchase available: March 2
Preorder available: None
Requires: COH/COV
Free Month?: No
Distribution: Digital* only.
Retail/Box Goodies: Not applicable.
GR Item Pack Included?: No. Can be purchased separately in July, see below.
Two New Powerset Head Start?: Yes. (Value: TBD by buyer's opinion)


COH:GR COMPLETE COLLECTION (GR:CE)
Cost: $39.99 (€29.99 / £26.99)
Prepurchase available: None
Preorder available: Thru NCSoft Store or Retailer, sometime before July, date TBD.
Requires: None, includes full game of CoH, CoV, and Preatorian Expansion. This edition may be added to CoH/V.
Free Month?: Included. (Value: $15)
Distribution: Digital*, or Retailer box (which retailers unknown) in July
Retail/Box Goodies: None known, probably not.
GR Item Pack Included?: Yes. (Value: $5-15 guesstimate)
Two New Powerset Head Start?: No.


COH:GR ITEM PACK (GR:PAK)
Cost: No cost announced (guesstimate of $5-15 based on previous packs).
Prepurchase available: None
Preorder available: None
Requires: COH/COV and GR:X (Expansion)
Free Month?: No
Distribution: Digital* only, in July.
Retail/Box Goodies: Not applicable.
GR Item Pack Included?: This is the Item Pack!
Two New Powerset Head Start?: No.

GR:PAK includes:
• Alpha- and Omega-themed auras
• Alpha and Omega themed costumed sets
• Four stance emotes
• The Shadowy Presence invisibility power


*Digital distribution is through NCSoft online store, but could also be through 3rd party vendors such as Steam. We players don't know if that will happen or not at this time.