Cende

This comes out of a discussion I've had with others, and it's less about earning merits than it is about the system as a whole.

For 4+ years, this game has encouraged alting. Make more alts, see more of the game. One character can't do it all. Experience more of the content with more alts. The game as a whole has been very alt-friendly. Even the other things released with i13 have been alt-friendly. Dual builds encourage the player to make characters that play in multiple ways. New powersets equal new alts. The leveling pact, of course, encourage new alts to play with friends.

The whole merit system, on the other hand, goes entirely contrary to the alt system. It seems to discourage the use of alts - use one character, a merit character, to run the merit content, gather up all the little tokens. That way, you will know how many merits you have available when you want something; the tokens are all available on one person. They're not hard to get, no, but if one alt has six and another alt has 22 and a third alt has 183, and a fourth alt has 59 and the fifth alt has 120 - but you want a Miracle and a LOTG 7.5 for a sixth alt who has all of 12, it's a pain, because you can't combine those dribs and drabs and none of them alone can get anything. Easier by far to only have one with 402 that can look at the price for the two needed, then just run a TF and a short Ouro arc for the last 38 needed for those two recipes.

It doesn't make sense. It's out of place.

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gumble I've gone from ZERO rent to owing 1600 prestige. so <BEEP> it. I'm leaving the game as soon as they turn off the power.

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Yes, because doing a middlin-long Oro arc is so terribly difficult.

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Base Editing Crash

Server: Freedom
Zone: Base, out to Shark.
Character name: Nuclear Tease
Time: 12/8/2008
Location: Any
Mission: Any
Mission Contact: N/A
Bug Description: I had been in base, editing for a number of hours. In and out of the edit window, in and out of the plot upgrade window. Finally I needed to craft a teleporter so I tried to zone to shark (as my cap beacon refused to link! ) I got this error. I suspect you really dont want me to call Cryptic up eh?

"City of Heroes encountered an error. Please report this to Cyrptic Studios on the beta forums. Thank you."

Assertion failed

Program: ...am Files (x86)\City of Heroes\CityOfHeroes.exe
Time: Mon Dec 08 06:51:42 AM
Process ID: 2248
File: c:\src\utilitieslib\utils\superassert.c
Line: 1857
Expression: 0

Error Message: CRT abort() called

ERROR: swDumpStackToBuffer - timeout (258) waiting for dumpHeap is NOT corrupted
Last windows SYSTEM error: Not enough storage is available to process this command.

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Yup. Same thing happened to me.

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Same thing to me, and as near as I can tell, it's happening every 128 minutes after the first time you enter the editor as long as you remain fairly consistently in the editor (popping out to check something and going back in does not reset the timer).

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Is there a link anywhere to changes that have been made to the chat system; more specifically, to the use of <color> attributes? They've either been changed in ways not obvious to me or are broken, and I'd like to find out which is the case before I go changing some 30+ characters' bind files.

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Known bug. None of the colors in chat (ANY chat, including pre-coded, like SK warnings) are currently working properly. It's being worked on.

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Base Salvage Racks labeling incorrectly

Server: Justice
Zone:
Character name: Bo'Tanika
Time: 12/5/08 10:50 pm PST
Location: Mischievous Urchins base
Mission:
Mission Contact:
Bug Description: Base salvage rack was labeled as "Inspiration Collector" to me. SGmate saw it labeled as "Enhancement Table". All salvage racks were affected. Screenie of salvage rack holding IO salvage, but labeled as "Inspiration Collector". Haven't tested for reproducibility, but SGmate says they're still reading as "Enhancement Table" (after exiting base, running a mission and returning to base).

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Near as we can tell, all storage items read as the last item you looked at, possibly placed. We haven't looked into this in depth yet, and had frankly forgotten about it.

Also, the inspiration bin info had said for a while that it could only hold 50 items (it was still holding 100, and the in-bin screen limit was still showing as 100), I don't know if that's been repaired.

I suggest you try anyway. You've got enough skills that they might just let you pick up the package on the job, especially if you're a fast learner.

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What was the rationale for limiting Pacts to characters 5 and under? I've been doing the same thing with a friend, trying to keep our experience as close to equal as possible along the way -- if experience is close to the same, why can't we Pact regardless of our level? I assume there's a way this can be abused, but I just don't see it yet.

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Entirely new system and they're trying to see how it interacts with the game before expanding it.

Possible (and intended, if it works) future expansions include expanding the levels at which you can pact (with, presumably, some restriction on how far apart in levels the characters can be) and number of characters able to join in a pact.

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You only have to enter the base to get the refund, not use the editor.

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It's gone both ways by accounts over the base forum. Some people have said that they only had to enter the base, some people have said they had to actively enter the editor (and possibly do something - that might have been the known prestige lag acting up, however). Some people have had to have red-name intervention.

Given the lead time on the articles, however, and when the patch notes came out (or were being scrubbed), the most definitive word was probably still "enter the base editor," and that's what would have gotten used (offhand, I don't know if that changed from the notes-scrub to the actual patch notes).

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The pieces needed are under the Cabinets section. Stand in between the legs of your first teleporter in the row and look directly at the wall. Place a large cabinet (I used large rustic or large wooden, doesn't matter) at the desired height on the wall, it should be completely obscured by the leg of the teleporter in front of you. Rotate the camera a little and stack 2 more large cabinets directly in front of it.

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You can also use the soji lamps and the large wall sconce, which has an "inside" the shade attachment point. If you do this from a wall facing the teleporter, it's a little easier with the arcane teleporters. Plus, you don't run into the bounding box of the teleporter until the end.

Great, thanks. And thank you for the rewordings.

Good summary as always.

Corrections to bases below. I'm just chopping it up a little, to the specific things that need correction.

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Part of the overhaul of bases is to reduce the cost of base building so that large, decorative bases are more affordable and the rent on them is now non-existent. All bases will receive a Prestige kickback based on the discounted cost of the items and plot size of their base. Someone has to enter the base editor to initiate the kickback.
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Rent is now charged on a few specific base items.

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(I really wish spacing were maintained in quotes)

Well, as you note, rent is not non-existent. I'd suggest changing that to something like "negligible." While there will be a few bases with no rent - I've got a transport hub on Virtue, for example - there won't be a lot of them. Most of the decorative bases will also have storage.

Also, it's been tested: Someone only has to enter the base, not the base editor for the refund. There had been some confusion - Sunstorm indicated one way, the issue notes indicated the editor. this morning's test has demonstrated that it's just the base, and a request to clarify the issue notes has been made.

If you want to note it, rent is on Storage items, tier 2 & 3 workshop tables, Empowerment stations, and Medical Auxes.

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However, the process is not very perdictable, just like Dr. Brainstorm's experiments.

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predictable

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And here's an example of what you can make using Invention Salvage: For the Arcane Telepad you need…<ul type="square">[*]clockwork winder, temporal sands, simple chemical, psionic manifestation; OR,[*]ruby, destiny, silver, Hami goo; OR,[*]another set of four[/list]
The Tech Telepad has 3 sets as well, different than the Arcane Telepads.

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No longer need rares for the telepads, so these recipes have changed, at least by taking ou the psi manifestation and the Hami goo. I cannot, however, have the browser and the game open at the same time, so I won't be able to get you the current recipes yet. When I do, do you want the "another set of four" and/or the tech list?

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the cap to the number of items a rack can hold has been lowered from 999 to 30. The good news is that you can put in many racks into your base,

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Top limit was 2500 (raised some time ago from 999).

You can still only put 18 items of storage in your base, including enhancement trays, inspiration bins, the vault, and the salvage racks, so that "good news" is.. overstating the case. By stating it that way, there is an implication that the number of storage items per base has been raised, and that is not true. I suggest rewording.

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New item: Added Teleporter Beacon for Pocket D. Added SG badge to access Pocket D beacon.

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One of the more FAQs is "What badge do we need to get the PD beacon?" The answer is the Big Time badge, located in PD proper, in the couches above the fight cage. Neither Trucker nor Cage Match are needed for this beacon.

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It's not a change, it's a discrepancy. We're not sure which is correct. The patch notes say "enter the editor" and Sunstorm said "Just enter the base, not the editor".

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I found a base I could verify this with. The prestige refund is done when you enter the base, not the base editor.

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In that case, I've dropped a note into the Scrub thread. I've consolidated other suggestions I've seen in the same thread, as well.

Sunstorm is going to be visiting bases for a while, I see.

From Talek, Kendaer and myself, good luck and God speed.

Empowerment buffs work the same way they used to, except that they now take between 1 and 3 pieces of invention salvage, with each buff having 3 possible "recipes" for tech and a different 3 for arcane. And yes, they're using Luck Charms there, too.

* Any CRAFTED item that HAS NOT changed in placement price (teleporters) that you presently have stockpiled can be held on to for later placement. They will still work.

* Any CRAFTED item that HAS changed in placement price (most energy control second tier or higher items) that are made with BASE salvage will be placed at the OLD price. If they are made with INVENTION salvage, they will be placed at the NEW price. Both version will work.

* Salvage racks are converted AUTOMATICALLY. You don't get to choose to not replace your salvage racks. However, items in the salvage racks are safe. You can take things out, but you cannot put things back in until the number of items in the rack drops back under 30.

* It does not cost influence to convert base salvage to brainstorms, or brainstorms to invention salvage.

* The amount of upkeep each item costs may be found in that item's INFO tab.

Known Items (cost is per EACH):

Workshop:
* the Invention table and the basic work tables: 0 prestige
* All storage items, advanced tables and expert work tables: 100 prestige
* tier 2 empowerments station: 200 prestige
* tier 3 empowerment stations: 300 prestige

- I believe the Vault is included as a storage item for prestige as well as towards your total storage limit.

Medical:
* Basic reclaimator: 0 prestige
* Robo-surgeon / Spirit Signal: 100 prestige

- I *think* the Auto-Doc (and arcane version) costs 100 prestige. Combat Logs (and equiv. arcane) will probably, as well, but I don't have a way of knowing.

Transport:
* No costs for beacons or porters

Energy:

I thought I saw something about cost for auxes, but I don't recall where. Also, batteries?

Control:

Again, possibly auxes, but I haven't had a chance to check.

Talek, the cats and I are all sending our best wishes to your family, your daughter and you.

My father is a leukemia survivor. Cancer can be beaten. Stay strong.

I'll see what I can do for Christmas.

As soon as I figure out how to get pictures of "that cute couple" (@Nomme &amp; @Gorbified) off my phone, I'll post a link.

I'm getting the impression that if they get married up here, we'll need a bigger space than my living room. :P

Early Thanksgiving Note: If you're in the Seattle area, and you are unable to be with your family for Thanksgiving (or have no family to be with), feel free to drop me a PM. I have room for you for dinner.

Thank you for the compliments on the cookies.

Recipes available upon request.

I still have to figure out how to get the pictures off my phone, Nomme.

Edited to add: I still have more dough that's going to be frozen into balls that can be popped into the oven and cooked on demand. If you're in the local area and want some of these, PM me.

I'm sure that the pizza is very good there. But, despite paying the entry fee, we're still probably going to be eating before arriving.

For one thing, it'll make it a whole lot easier to take pictures of people attempting to eat pizza and socialize at the same time.

Edited to add: Is there going to be a problem if I bring cookies? If I start tomorrow, I can have a few dozen (say.. around 56 or so...) by Friday.

Yes, that's 56 dozen cookies. I rarely make less than 24 dozen at a shot.

Talek and I are in. @The_Demon is in. I believe Nomme and @kidengineer are signed up - if not, I'll beat on the kid until he gets them signed up.

I'm pretty sure a few other people I know out here are signed up, too, but they don't read the forums and I don't know their globals (we don't play together, but they do read my LJ, where I posted a notification).

Unfortunately, at this time, I have to disagree about military duty. Normally, I would say that military people get leaves, they can pay for a month and check in on things once a year until they're able to play again. However...

Right now, the chimp in chief is helpfully canceling leaves, disallowing retirements, pulling people out of retirement, pulling people back from civilian life after time served, extending service requirements - doing anything possible to enlarge the armed forces while still claiming he's not instituting a draft., not having people in the armed forces who didn't sign up. If you're not half-dead, you don't get out - and if you can be fixed, not even then. That's not a rant, incidentally, as much as it is a tired observation.

So it's entirely possible that someone in the military right now wouldn't be able to get on inside of two years, and that's NOT their fault. The current leader is.. well, I don't know that he's breaking laws, but I'm pretty sure he's at least breaking custom and tradition. Until things can be put on better footing for the people in the military who aren't getting their breaks, I don't think it's necessarily fair to punish them for their choice of jobs. Some can get spouses or family to pay for them as needed, but not all have that option.

Anyone who's going away on a long-term, top secret science mission to the Amazon or the Antarctic, however, should probably think this through beforehand. They already know beforehand they're going to be out of touch for a couple of years, as opposed to having these changes tossed on them suddenly, and they might want to arrange for their financial manager to pay for them quarterly or yearly.

Cool.

We'll see if I can manage to bake cookies.

I don't believe it got mentioned, specifically, Zloth, but the general expectation is "yes, in the long run".

At the very least, based on the way they're handling new costumes and some of the zone makeovers, plus the new areas themselves (Oro and Cin come to mind), that is the basic direction they are moving in.