Captain-Electric
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Posts
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Joined
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I disagree with those who claim this game is nothing but easy. If you want strategy, go with a small to mid-size team. Rarely do full teams challenge my strategic thinking cap. A three or four-man team on the other hand, with powers well-balanced (or not), but up against the odds with the difficulty cranked up a bit-- this is where strategy comes into play. And believe me, it does. Smaller teams also give teammates a chance to get familiar with each others fighting styles. This is rarely, if ever, possible on full teams (excluding static or regular team-ups between the same people). Build up a good friend list and global friend list, and use it to put smaller teams together with people you can grow familiar with over time. (And don't simply rely on your super group to supply you with familiar faces. A good friends list often outlives a super group.) This is the most rewarding way to team.
Excluding a small handful of task forces, trials and Architect Entertainment missions, full teams require little thought. But that doesn't mean they don't appeal to me too. They're great fun and everyone gets a chance to type out saucy one-liners without risking their life or their team's. But people who always insist on a full team are missing out!
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Quote:Calm down, Xzero45.Originally Posted by Xzero45
Epic thread necro maneuver. -
Quote:With that attitude, you've already become a better leader than most. I'm going to play devil's advocate here and guess you're coming from a game(s) where there was a lot less community spirit. If you're ever around Virtue shoot me a tell. (Though I won't be in game much for the next week or so.)Originally Posted by ViKtoricus
Thank you for the feedback.
At least I now have some objective view on the situation at hand. I appreciate it. -
Quote:This thread was worth the read just for that link, Daemodand. Thanks. I run a lot of RP teams on Virtue (no Pocket D involved, we actually play missions and kick a lot of butt). I get lots of repeat "underlings", so I figure I'm doing something right. But there's still a lot of food for thought in that guide that I hadn't considered.Originally Posted by Daemodand
I'm sorry you had a bad experience ViKtoricus. I highly recommend you read this guide on how to lead PuGs effectively. This guide's advice is invaluable.
ViKtoricus, it sounds like you've been reading too many Statesman comics. Trust me, the multiverse has enough Cole-hearted leaders running around. Take Golden Girl's tips to heart, read the guide Daemodand linked, and here's a tip from me: Once you've pulled your team through some real hard situations and kept their spirits up, once you've got some regular friends who trust your judgement and ability to lead, then you can get away with a few commands here and there. I have regular teammates who literally stop at junctures in difficult missions and wait for my orders. Why? Two reasons. First, I didn't earn it overnight, I earned it over several months with some individuals. Secondly, I do the same when they've got the lead. Respect is a two-way street.
Edit: I forgot the most important thing: You cannot be a good leader in this game until you've learned to be a good follower. The most problematic PUGs (pick-up groups) I see are the ones where most members aren't even sure who they're supposed to be following, and these are common. Usually it's the guy or gal with the star by his name, although many leaders like to simply handle overall strategies while designating a Tanker as the one to physically follow. By knowing who your leaders is (and being sure to globally friend good leaders to stay in touch with), you can begin to pick up on #winning strategies. So leadership is about more than command, it's about more than respect, even. It's also about knowing your butt from a snake hole, and there are some big snake holes in this game. There are also some big but-- er, I'll stop there. -
The PPD will get jealous if we say it's ALL because of the heroes. The tax payers will become insecure. IT'S A SLIPPERY SLOPE, I TELL YOU.
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Quote:First of all, sorry, I didn't mean to sound pompous. Upon re-reading my post, I suppose it came out that way. My point was that a good April Fool's joke can usually be stretched out a bit longer than many people suspect, which leads me to my second point.Originally Posted by AlienOne
While I understand where you might be coming from, from the perspective of someone like myself, an attitude like that only shows that either:
1. One assumes that the "general public" is stupid and isn't going to already know it's April Fool's day and will "fall for anything" (it's on the calendar, for goodness' sake)
or
2. Said person is a pompous ***** who is making an attempt in vain to make the original poster look dumb.
Either way, the bottom line is that the purpose of April Fool's day is to have fun with eachother and laugh at the ridiculousness of the joke. It is supposedly to make fun of a dim-witted individual, but in my experience (as in the case of "City of Heroes: Golden Age"), the joke is sometimes so over-the-top that one doesn't laugh at dim-witted individuals... Instead, one laughs with friends at the absurdity of it and the writing excellence.
Happy April Fool's Day to all, and I hope you get your chance at laughing at the dim-wittedness of others.
As for myself, I prefer to revel in the community aspect of discussing past well-done April Fool's jokes in anticipation of the next one to follow.
"Alien"
Second of all, never, EVER, ever-ever-ever-ever, overestimate the general public. But since you're an alien, I'll cut you some slack here. Which leads me to my third point.
Thirdly, ???
Fourthly, PROFIT. -
Quote:Seems to be falling on deaf ears, but I do agree with this, and I've always tried to play along with a good prank as soon as I caught on, rather than ruin the fun in a vain show of my own "cleverness". Funnily, I always looked down my nose at the first person to cry "April Fool's!" For those of us who want to prolong the joke, it has the reverse effect of making that person look like the dimmest one in the room.Originally Posted by Zombie Man
...its impact is ruined by pre-April Fools warning threads like these... and by people who think they're being 'coy' by responding to an April Fools prank with posts like, "Gee... wonder what today's date is?"
What part of 'joke' and/or 'prank' do people not understand?
"And, now, ladies and gentlemen, so that you're not surprised by it, I'm about to deliver the punchline of this joke I'm telling which some of you may understandably have been confused into thinking that I was relating the details of an actual event..."
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Quote:Once upon a time I could tell you (I used to read the guy's blog). I know he's responsible for most, if not all, of the undead varieties you see in the game, such as the Vahzilok, Circle of Thorns and at least the minions of the Banished Pantheon. (I get the feeling you're expecting me to go research the Internet Archive and scroll through years of blog posts in order to argue my point in an Internet argument with a complete stranger.)Originally Posted by Venture
Such as?
Well, you seem to feel very strongly about this! Good points all around, though keep in mind, comic books are full of instances like the one you describe involving War Witch. I can't tell you how many times I've seen Captain America step outside the boundaries of the law, but at the end of the day, he's still the hero. And that's fine. There's a certain level of suspension of disbelief you've got to bring to the table (if you want to remain sane) that differs from that which you'd use to scrutinize an episode of the Battlestar Galactica remake, or a hard science fiction novel by Verner Vinge or Cory Doctorow. I'm a huge hard science fiction nerd, but I put that aside when I read comic books, including those in the CoH universe, which do not stand up to much scrutiny--and weren't designed to!Quote:Originally Posted by Venture
War Witch torches a building through inept use of her powers, getting innocent people killed, and she gets off with "oh, my bad. Let's go punch someone." (Frostfire did the same thing except he only killed one person and they threw the book at him!) The whole "jury duty" storyline Fails Law School Forever. Kheldian lore was abused like a red-headed stepchild. That's just off the top of my head as I'm not motivated enough to subject myself to a re-reading just to complete the indictment.
Also, we're having two different arguments here. I'm nitpicking disagreeable characterizations, whereas your beef seems mostly to concern technical details, which I'm almost always willing to overlook in the comics (or in a game inspired by such). So I'm not going to say "you're wrong", it's just that I don't care if you're right.
(I think we've veered away from the Praetorian storyline, which is the topic of this thread. I'll let you get the last word in, but after that I'm done and we'll have to PM each other to go on.) -
Quote:Originally Posted by GuyPerfect
I even used one of the Praetorian Clockwork pieces.
I'm not going to say "you're wrong," but...
I didn't think it was that bad, has kind of a cool space pirate look to it.Quote:Originally Posted by Golden Girl
There are some things that just Should Not Be
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Quote:Dakan continued to create a huge amount of content for quite a while as a contractor, and many of the game's existing factions were his creations too.Originally Posted by Venture
Yes, and how much of it actually made it into the game? The factions we originally heard about, for instance, are almost entirely unlike the ones we actually got.
You mean the stories were complete garbage to you, in your opinion.Quote:Originally Posted by Venture
That's damning with faint praise, as the Phalanx characters are near-universally reviled. More to the point, the stories were complete garbage.
We may be treading dangerously close to a nerdy argument on the Internet, so yeah let's agree about something, I'm puzzled over the Freedom Phalanx's characterizations. I found most of them likable in their first comic story arc involving Prometheus. Likeable from my comfortable distance as a reader, anyway. Statesman hadn't revealed himself to be so self-absorbed yet, and Manticore only seemed a bit petty about his place in the world.
Then, in the following arc ("Smoke and Mirrors")--with the exceptions of Positron and Citadel--members quickly devolved into self-absorbed, immature, high-school egomaniacs who were so distracted by each others gripes about their poor attitudes, pages flew by where the story didn't progress at all. ("It's SO hard being Sister Psyche" ... "No, Sister Psyche, if you only knew how hard it is being STATESMAN.") Manticore goes from being a grim vigilante, being willing to throw his teammates under the bus for the greater good, to being Dr. Phil, nit-picking Statesman because he's not stopping to give every upstart hero a Captain-America-like pep-talk.
I mean, seriously. We already have the X-Men comics for that.
Edit: It actually occurs to me that the Freedom Phalanx members seem more bitter in that second arc than they did in the first, despite the fact that they had all their powers back and relative peace had been restored to the city (working medi-ports, etc). Compare all this to the team of War Witch, Apex and Horus. That team had a lot more drama to be freaking out about, but they were always good about giving each other a necessary kick in the pants to keep their focus on whatever the task-at-hand was. The story was always moving forward. They just seemed more heroic. -
Quote:Just go into options, key bindings, scroll down to Targeting and reprogram the Tab key to always target the nearest enemy.Originally Posted by Clave_Dark_5
3. Tab key - Pressing the Tab key targets the next furthest opponent. To my frustration, this often results in me targeting an idle mob in a different group on the edge of my screen when what I really want to do is to target the next nearest opponent who is clubbing me in the face. Pressing the Ctrl and Tab keys simultaneously targets the next nearest opponent (if I recall correctly). But, with my right hand controlling the mouse and my left hand on the keyboard controlling movement via Q, W, E and other keys, it's not easy for me to press Ctrl-Tab during combat, not without looking away from the screen to the keyboard. I imagine there is a way I could reprogram the Tab key to target the next nearest target; but, I really don't want to have to do so. I'd much prefer the standard Tab function targets the next nearest opponent.
I do this for all of my characters. But, set this on all your melee characters at least, trust me.
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Quote:Ha ha ha, okay okay, I fixed it.Originally Posted by mousedroid
Quarter-centry-old traditions? That's like... 1986. OMG! Was CoH inspired by Marvel's New Universe???
Good catch.
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I love the camera! The middle mouse button is set (by default I think) to swing the camera all around, and I've reset the "E" key for ease of snapping it back into its default resting place behind characters. I'm constantly moving the camera around my characters while fighting, flying, or just running or walking around. It's one of those small things about City of Heroes that helps give it that epic feel. My characters all star in their own movies!
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Quote:Rick Dakan created City of Heroes. The story, the NPC backgrounds, almost everything story-wise.Originally Posted by Venture
Looking at the Blue King comics, I think it is safe to say that Rick Dakan had nothing to do with any positive aspects of early City.
Edit: Also, I'm going to disagree with you about that run of comics. The adventures of War Witch, Apex and Horus might not have shared the production value of the Freedom Phalanx comics, but those three characters were a heck of a lot more likeable than most of the Freedom Phalanx. War Witch and Horus's deaths were actually kind of a bummer to read.
Agreed, his lore thread was a huge bonus while it was being maintained.Quote:Originally Posted by IanTheM1
Of course, all this talk about lore and story telling just makes me miss Manticore. :/ -
Quote:If you think the CC has too many options, then for your own sanity's sake, I hope you never attempt to learn Photoshop.Originally Posted by BurningChick
I find the number of choices in the CC so bewildering that I just hit random until I find something OK then change the colours to csomething that won't make my eyeballs bleed.
More choices in the CC?
<twitch>
Feh.
I'd rather the devs spend their time elsewhere.
Seriously though, I don't think you'll find much support here, because if you look around the forums, most players definitely AREN'T demanding FEWER costume customizing options.
What you're probably having more of a problem with is the costume editor's user interface design. It's stretching to accommodate everything that's been added to the game--hemorrhaging might actually be the better term. The interface might need to be streamlined to accommodate more, not less, costume options. Also, a random button within each sub-category might be a better option than one all-encompassing random button. If this were implemented, I might actually find the random button helpful (or at least more palatable). As it goes, the random button has never even slightly pointed me in a helpful direction (well okay there was that one time). -
CanaDixieMan, it sounds like you undervalue the concept of origins within the game, and I know you're not the only one.
But plenty of players do use them, especially around the Virtue server's neck of the woods.
Quote:That's fine for you (no sarcasm intended), but be aware that it's not how the comic books work! Agreed, you're SUPPOSED to play the game 'your way', no argument there. BUT there are plenty of players out there who honor the three-quarter-century-old traditions of the comic book universes that inspired City of Heroes to begin with.Originally Posted by Roughtrade
I'm 'naturally' a mutant because I was born this way. I'm naturally a tech because without the power suit im nothing. I'm natually magic because I got these powers from reading a book, or everyone from my dimension has these same powers...
Yes, it's arguable that characters like Wolverine and Batman cherry-pick their abilities and traits from multiple origins, and actually I think City of Heroes pays tribute to those situations through Dual Origin enhancements. But at the end of the day, Wolverine is a mutant, and Batman is a natural origin character (at least the old-school Detective Comics variety of Batman). Why? Ask their writers. While creating my own characters within the game, some of my most difficult origin-related decisions have involved characters who used one or two high-tech gadgets but who were otherwise natural, ordinary people. Not the type to let mere game mechanics sway my conceptual sensibilities too much, I instead tried to imagine how those characters would have seen themselves, if they were real. What parts of their origins have impacted their lives and personalities more than any other? Asking this question often yields a quick, obvious answer. -
Quote:Unrelated, but the new arrival has a real eye mask, an actual object that wasn't just painted onto his face, and you can see sunlight reflecting off its texture. I SO wish we had those in the game.Originally Posted by Golden Girl
And if you want to know who might have taken the name first, check out the chest symbol of the other new hero arrving at the end
Among my few characters who wear eye masks, you can actually see their eyebrows on the mask.
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Quote:Because Rick Dakan hasn't been involved in his other projects.Originally Posted by SpyralPegacyon
The thing is, if what Jack brought to the table storytelling wise really was that great, why haven't we seen the same success out of his other projects?
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I think it's an awesome storyline, and sufficiently epic enough to warrant the "big arc of the year" feel that at least the "big two" comics publishers often do, especially Marvel. So I agree with Golden Girl that a lot of the noise might be coming from a vocal minority; people who are happy with it are likely less motivated to come and post. Such is human nature. A few unsatisfied customers complain on the forums while oodles of satisfied customers are busy playing the game--something the devs are well aware of without someone like me pointing it out.
The only nitpick I have with the Going Rogue storyline is the same ole nitpick I keep hearing from others, that it may represent a divergence from the mega customization that really put City of Heroes on the map seven years ago. If you're an incarnate, the Well of the Furies is your origin of power--and seemingly, gone are the days when your origin of power was up to you. But the story's not over yet, and I half-expect Paragon Studios to prove me wrong.
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Quote:Originally Posted by Melancton
There is a plaque in DA that reads: "When the Freedom Phalanx became an officially recognized Super Group in 1953, the hero Vambrace made a pledge. 'Dark Astoria will be restored to its natural state,' he said. 'The Freedom Phalanx is commited to saving every part of Paragon City, even those that may seem lost. "
Someone has pointed out that in the LGTF, Infernia says, "I'm sure dad kept the family place in Downtown Astoria."
So Astoria is dark and needing restoration in 1953, but Infernia lives there as of the Omega Gambit in 2002, but as of 2004, DA is as we now see it.
My concise take on it:
The Freedom Phalanx succeeded in restoring Astoria in the mid-50s, but when so many superheroes died in the first Rikti Invasion, there was nothing to stop the forces that had plunged it into darkness before from returning (or perhaps a new, worse group) and DA is again in darkness. That would explain why we have the same architecture and Vanguard signs in DA: it went dark again after the 2002 invasion.
One of my own heroes was born and raised in Astoria. He went out of town on business and returned to find Astoria as it is and everyone he cared for gone. He has vowed to again lift the darkness in Astoria.
That is my fast explanation on it.I had no idea there were such stark contradictions in the lore about Dark Astoria, but both of these theories are excellent. I'm torn between which is my favorite.Quote:Originally Posted by Chase_Arcanum
Sometimes I get the feeling that the devs intentionally filled their city with timeline/backstory contradictions, perhaps reflecting the way superhero comics often go through various different origins and retcons and retellings as the decades pass.
Each conflict reflects a "scar" in the city- a remnant from a reality-changing event (like the Faultline story). Just as, from a storytelling point of view, certain characters remember what 'really' happened, some artifacts remain behind as well.
Or...
Given the multidimensional aspect of the game, with alternate realities and portal corporation and time-travel. While these often involve our characters encountering alternate realities, there's no reasons why entire REALITIES themselves couldn't collide, overlap, or absorb one another. Imagine stories similar to DC's "Infinite Earths" or marvel's cross-dimension hopping... or even Alamgam Comics' fusion of the two publishers.
"Earth Prime" is what remains from one or more dimensional "collisions." Each of its "parent universes" has its own history, and while Dark Astoria fell in both of them, it fell at different times. When the dimensions merged, their histories intertwined as the new prime world formed and "rewrote" its history as best it could to accommodate the users from both worlds.
These incidents happened infrequently in the past, and our heroes were likely not participants in these, but as the portals to other dimensions draw them closer to earth prime... and as time travel spawns some timeline branches while pruning others... we may see more such issues coming in the future.... maybe even a storm of them.
That's purely speculation.... and coming from a person that dislikes cross-dimension or time travel plotlines in general... but it would:
a) justify rather substantial zone revamps without having to 'destroy' and 'rebuild' them in-story.
b) allow the broadest range of backstory options to the players. Some can validly write of their childhood in Astoria, some can write that its been that way for a while, and some can write of something wholly original. -
Marvel's official YouTube trailer, with HD options available:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JerVr...el_video_title -
Quote:Most awesome two sentences in the whole thread.Originally Posted by Novapulse
I've been here for six years because more than any other MMO I have played City of allows me to create, as close as possible, the character I have in my imagination, and it allows me to play the way I want to play. No other game has delivered that for me.
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Quote:Either through bios or AE story arcs, almost all of my characters stories are intertwined and connected in some way-- or else there's only a couple degrees of separation. I have characters who can't be completely "known" without also reading other characters bios. Now with 23 characters on my roster so far, this has led to a pretty big story, all my own.Originally Posted by Kyria_Shirako
It's one of my favorite things about the game; some people have invested a lot of thought and effort into their bios and tales. Even just standing around shopping and building things, some damned amusing stories are just a click of "info" away.
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It's where those scaredypants go to hide from the Fifth Column I bet!
Edit: Uh, strike that (see below). :P -
Quote:Virtue strikes the perfect balance of a big crowd during prime time, and decent numbers during the rest of the day or night. In fact, during prime time, our population count OFTEN beats Freedom's these days. My work hours have me up all over the clock at various times, so I'll just say this-- my global friends list is never dark. Never. There are always at least a few names lighting it up.Originally Posted by Neuronia
Pretty much all the activity is "indoors". If you want to "see" people try Freedom or Virtue, but you might get a lot of crowd noise. Try a server forum and join one of their badge channels for more teaming.
Welcome.
Freedom has long been known for being the unofficially official Big Server, while Virtue has long been known for being the unofficially official role-playing server.
There are a LOT of role-players on Virtue. Sometimes it's entertaining just to stand near a big crowd and read all the character biographies around me (I haven't seen as many people using this feature on other servers). In fact, when it's quiet and there are few people around, those times can be a RELIEF for me. It's when I do my enhancement shopping, and maybe a few story arcs that I'd rather explore solo or with just a teammate or two.