Captain-Electric

After playing a dozen other MMORPGs over the years, I actually think it's kind of nice that this is the sort of bug we usually have to complain about. I realize the OP is kind of tongue in cheek. Still, I'm not sure what it would accomplish to "have names" of the person(s) behind this mistake (or bug, or feature, or whatever it is), other than displaying a lack of graciousness and/or gratitude on our (the community's) part. Threads like this make us look a bit petty.

Having said that, I agree with NuclearToast that if it's not in the patch notes, and if it detracts from the game rather than adding to it (which the community seems to agree, it detracts), then it's a bug. A rather small bug.

Log in to the game, click Menu, Support, Bug report. Voila.

My suggestion is to get with seven player characters who have been around since Issue One, and spotlight them from an in-character perspective, highlighting what each has done for Paragon City and beyond. Instead of having to choose between "drama" or "comedy", this would allow you to employ multiple moods throughout the video. Some of the characters could be treated more seriously, while others could provide us with comic relief.

Later expansions would prevent you from using villain or Praetorian characters (since they came after Issue One), BUT you could showcase heroes who have moved to the Isles, or who have gone off to explore the strange new world of Praetoria--to join the war, perhaps, on one side or the other.

Since this suggestion would require working with members of the community, it would indeed be about players coming together!

Whatever you do, I'm looking forward to it. I hope you'll please resist the urge to compare the value of your work with that of the official videos. They are excellent for what they are-- snappy, brief affairs that cover all the points at a minimum. Your videos are often much more subjective, pulling us into another world for a few minutes. Yours get more replays by far.

While some benefits would be obvious (creating young characters inspired by stories from my youth, like "The Dark is Rising" and "Chronicles of Narnia" series of books), there is the danger that a few unscrupulous individuals would portray the characters inappropriately, or interact with other player characters inappropriately. This goes beyond ESRB rating issues. The FBI takes child exploitation seriously, and devotes a sizable chunk of its resources to investigating crime online. Consequently, it would take only a small misunderstanding to give customer support a real headache. They should avoid the can of worms entirely.

As I recall, characters as young children were playable in early beta tests for [CENSORED] (the father of modern MMORPGs). But they were quickly scrapped from the game (even as NPCs) when it became apparent that the game's community, as a whole, could not use the feature responsibly. And it's not just adults-who-know-better that cause problems. If any of you have ever moderated an online game, then you know that some of the worst offenders are--surprise, surprise--young children.

According to the server load indicators, Virtue seems on track to outpace Freedom as the server of choice for many players. What's up with that? Is City Of... just really good at role-player retention, or what? Because, as the unofficial RP server (I think they should just go ahead and make it official already), there are a ton of role-players and role-playing super groups running around-- in my experience, anyway. (You tend to almost magically run into more role-players while in character, I've discovered.)

Environmentally enhanced music is never a bad idea in role-playing games. The right tune at the wrong time can--and often does--break my immersion. Environmentally enhanced music, on the other hand, often achieves the opposite, drawing players into the action, drama, suspense, or whatever.

Until the day when some costumed individual or group appears on the scene to truly impress the world with their heroic abilities or resources, most law enforcement is going to scoff along with most of us. Still, costumed crime-fighters probably aren't the worst thing hitting the streets. Bad guys exist in all kinds of varieties in our all-too real world, so I'm not going to complain much if a bunch of good guys start coming out of the woodwork.

I may not agree with all of their methods, but they may be able to fill a niche that will make it easier in some cases for law enforcement to come in and bag the criminals. This has proven true in some cities where local law enforcement maintains close contacts within groups of costumed "citizen patrollers". Mostly because citizen patrollers need less probable cause to check out a suspicious situation; and some police officers have become more accepting of a handful of costumed patrollers who seem to have picked up some self-defense and first-aid training (and are extremely easy to distinguish from a group of bad guys). This has been going on for years, believe it or not.

That doesn't describe the majority, unfortunately.

And it doesn't begin to describe the problem with costumed vigilantes who have actual urban combat skills and gear, and who might take the law into their own hands. Though thankfully, the world hasn't witnessed that yet. No, Phoenix Jones doesn't qualify for Batman's iconic status--some of the local cops like him too much, for one thing, hee.

But could heroes like Phoenix Jones eventually inspire someone who has the capability to be the world's first Batman? Say, some guy with a fat wallet, questionable mental state and loads of military training? Hmm. Maybe. I think so. Though he might not last as long as the Batman from the comics. That's the problem with real life.

But life imitates art. And personally, I suspect the future will deliver something impressive for the national and world headlines to chomp on, though in what form or moral alignment is anyone's guess. It probably won't happen this decade, maybe in the next twenty-five or thirty years. But as technologies continue to advance, the unfortunate drawback is that we may see it coming, or we will at least be far less surprised (along with the bad guys) than we would be if it happened in 2011.

Wikipedia (and the Paragon Wiki) has some good reading on the subject of parallel universes in fiction. (They are also often referred to as parallel dimensions, or even just parallel Earths.) A nice plot device, but the concept stems partly from the possibility that parallel universes may really exist.

For a good example of what this means for well-established comics, see a list of Marvel's parallel universes with a brief description of each.

But City of Heroes shines in this respect, too. The game encompasses dozens of realities, not just parallel universes but also various planes of existence within each. The physical natures of these planes vary widely, from the Spirit World that Croatoa is partially submerged in, to the physical realm most of our characters call home, to the Pocket D (pocket dimension) created by DJ Zero's extreme reality-shaping powers.

The characteristics of the various universes also vary widely--see that last link for a list of known parallel universes in City of Heroes. I use the term "known" because, presumably, many others are out there, undiscovered. Also, many well-written AE arcs have taken the concept and ran with it.

Yep. If I were in his shoes, I'd be doing what Jeff Vogel (the writer of the blog post) has to do. For sanity, for self-confidence, for productivity and efficiency, for all-around time-management. And I would never blame any member of City-Of's dev team for ignoring the forums to their benefit and ours.

Even as a player, for similar reasons, my suggestions for the game are often sent through channels outside of the forums. I'm definitely a fan, but I'm on a schedule. I've learned to be careful when I log into the forums, or else I'll leave with the feeling that it hasn't been time well-spent.

Edit: I'd like to echo Mr. Grey's sentiments above. I'm familiar with the guy's work. If you like reading good books, and you like interactive stuff, then you might like his games.

Thanks for an awesome expansion, an awesome Issue 18 and 19 and may your new year be filled with lots of electricity to make new issues with!

At first glance I thought they were Paragon Protectors. Sigh.

I have all the Hero Clix figures that came with the City of Villains Collector's Edition. They're standing on my desk, posturing at each other.

I'm passionate about my City-Of hobby (no, not in the Pocket D sense). But I spend very little of my City-Of time on the forums. And some of the heroes and villains I run around with don't come here at all--among my super pals, I'm almost always the one to fill people in on new announcements on the website or the forums (it's a habit of mine to check the website for news before I log in). And these are people who play almost nightly, people who dream up imaginative story lines for their characters, people who are deeply invested in the game.

The point is, you don't have to care about these forums at all. It doesn't necessarily translate into passion for the game, not for everybody. I don't even feel like the forum community is representative of the community I'm a part of in the game (they feel like two different communities). The forums are often burning up in flames over changes, patches, issues, or booster packs that the in-game community at large seems pleased with.

I don't mean to undermine the value of the forums. There's no better way to have our suggestions heard. But I understand completely if some devs feel very passionate about City-Of, much moreso in fact than these forums. Point is, every time I log in, I see what they've done, what they're doing, hints of where they're going. I'm surrounded by it. It's proof of their passion.

I'm on Virtue, a server that never sleeps. Where the super heroes and villains runneth over. It's funny because I've been considering creating a character or two on a low-pop server--so that I CAN experience the feeling you're describing. Would be different. I always get cold feet though, because I'm in the habit of connecting my characters to an overall set of stories. A character on another server would be cut off from friends who run with me and my characters.

Yeah, I know. Sounds like a personal problem, huh?

I never knew you, but I benefit much from your work. I've been able to create characters who are just as memorable to me as those I read about in the comics. I never even vaguely expected that to happen when I downloaded the trial for City of Heroes.

Thank you, and best wishes.

Can't pass up a chance to give to those in need, and to get some autographs from the city's elite. (Captain-Electric isn't famous, but his departed pop left him the family business-- development of micro-wormholes for fast data transmission over extreme distances.)

I'd like to show my support for an extra week. Those skiing medals are no easy feet! I mean feat.

Stumbled onto the gala, or possibly its after party by accident last year and had fun (actually, missed a hairpin turn on the slopes, veered off a cliff and landed in the middle of it). Did it take place at the bar at the bottom of the slopes? On the patio near the natural steam vents? Lots of music, a DJ, dancing. Highly recommend the glowing green Martinis at the bar. Never let anyone tell you empathic Defenders don't contribute enough. They make great bartenders!

Come! Let us do SCIENCE!