Dispari

Latest picture:

Tomatre by Yaoumei -- website: http://www.houlaworks.com/

I have another pic that should be done sometime this week.

I don't RP while leveling/teaming, so I don't have to worry about it. That, or I just disregard certain things. I think it's lame when people say "I'm feeling LUCKY!" before using a purple. And no amount of justification would explain away all the immersion-breaking things in the game, so I just don't worry about it.

I made a minion that's Energy Blast/Elec Blast with just the first two attacks of each. He always just picks one attack and uses it exclusively. Sometimes it's an energy blast, but sometimes it's an elec blast. He will never alternate.

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I've personally experienced strange issues with Earth Armor units. With some combinations, they won't use their toggles at all. But sometimes, inexplicably, at LOWER levels, they will. My arc is full of level 50 enemies who won't run their armor toggles, but sometimes will if I play it below 50.

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I want to add to this and say I have NEVER seen custom critters actually use Granite Armor, despite having it selected. This is for every rank it's available (which is boss+ iirc). I don't know if this is due to critters not knowing how to use the mutually exclusive nature of Granite, but it's definitely borked.

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I'm wondering now if the higher level ones who use no toggles is some sort of AI glitch where they're trying to use Granite, but don't actually turn it on, which would account for no other toggles being running.

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If Samus Aran was a Rikti

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Ha, that's actually uncanny.

So far the best use I've found is that Tuatha are really good when recolored. They'd make good shadow beasts.

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I had a real problem with a cyberstalker in the game who would keep creating throw-away trial accounts just to keep hounding me in-game and avoid my global ignore list.

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I actually had a similar experience in another game so I know exactly where you're coming from. It resulted from a friendship breaking and the person stalked me for a long time to insult and try to belittle me for a few months after, which did result in me quitting the game for a while.

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So you petition a GM, they find the ip address(es) of the offender and prevent them from futher harrassment. They would also most probably issue a new Global for this sort of case.

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Unfortunately, in the game I was playing, GMs didn't care about stuff like that -- or anything, for that matter.

It wasn't in CoH. Was a different MMO.

Costume parts are just that: costume parts. No costume part allows you new abilities like flight.

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#2 is also on the loading screen, with a really good front view. Looks like some sort of "tribal warrior".

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I always thought he looked like a genie.

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Oh yeah, and which server are you on?

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I made a Defender Cold/Ice on Freedom. My name is Zummi!
I'll wait till i15 to make a MM and cross it over to the heroes, besides defenders sound better PvE-wise.

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MM's are the consummate PVE character. Very versatile and easily soloable. With a set IO build i could probably solo max difficulty. With SOs, I have no problems soloing Challenge 3.

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You need IOs?

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Maybe some ppl can, but an AV on Challenge 3 will wipe the floor with me easily, let alone max.

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AVs will only show up on the max difficulty if solo. There will be no AVs on diff 3.

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Also, it's Quaterfield, not Quarterfield

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I've been playing this game for years and never noticed that.

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I thought Numina was Numia for, like, the longest time.

One can never be too prepared.

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a catgirl is the primary tool of the furry used to be terrible

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No, they have worse.

Trust me.

Don't ask.

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Just google Doug winger.

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Or, preferably, don't.

Sorry for missing this week's date. Ended up having some family stuff come up, and I'm out of town this weekend. We'll have to skip this week, but we should be back on next Friday.

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so, I have a question, 3 part, A) vils gonna ever get useful powers from proliferation? B) Vils ever gonna get auto-inherent powers like heroes?

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Heroes and villains have almost all the same sets, except for a couple key ones. Villains have some advantages with Traps, Poison, and the pet sets though. So I'd say it's about even.

For inherent powers... what?! Villain inherent powers are way better than anything heroes have to offer.

Scrappers: +5 ~ 15% damage (at random). Yes, a 5% chance to do +100% damage is only a 5% damage increase over time.

Blasters: Probably the only really great one heroside. Fury-style bonus damage, but relies on you hitting, and sucks with AoEs, and disappears faster.

Tanks: They taunt more. Whoopie.

Controllers: Bonus damage for the one or two attacks they get. Admittedly, pretty decent if you're chaining AoEs.

Defenders: Endurance reduction. *finger twirl*

3/5 heroes have +damage bonuses.

Brute: Fury, PLUS taunting. Yes. Brutes still have a micro version of taunt like Tanks. They get the same inherent as Tanks, toned down, PLUS get to do up to +200% damage. What other AT can get +200% damage with their inherent?

Stalker: +10% ~ 31% damage. On top of the ability to do 100% crits while hidden or placated.

Dominator: 2x magnitude, +50% duration, plus full endurance refill, plus status protection. This is way better than what most other ATs get. They used to get +DMG, but after i15 they won't need it (they'll actually do more damage than they do now WITH it).

Corruptor: +crits below an amount of HP. It starts triggering below 50%, and at a point will be 100% crit rate.

Mastermind: +dmg and +ToHit. Masterminds run around doing bonus damage with bonus accuracy all the time.

4/5 villain inherents give bonus damage. And none of them are dumb and gimmicky. And some of them even have more than one effect.

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Excellent explanation. Now let me throw you two possible curveballs:

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Sure thing.

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1) Villains and infamy. I get that the more feared you are, the more likely it is that people will pay you (e.g. give you free stuff) to get you to leave them alone, but what about the black market? If Doctor Boom invents something really evil and gives it to the Red Cranium for free, wouldn't people be like, "Woah, the Red Cranium is even more powerful, we should be more afraid of him and not worry so much about Doctor Boom who gave away that really powerful device of evil he invented"?

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Infamy is a little more complex. Theoretically it may seem as though it's the opposite of Influence, but I don't think it is. I don't think it's so much people's desire to FEAR you and give you stuff. I think it's exactly the same. The people still want to HELP you. They just want to help you be EVIL. The isles are run by Arachnos and other organizations. If you're a totally badass killer-guy who beat up some local Family punks, the shopkeep who was getting bullied by Family might be keen to give you something.

So, in your scenario, once you become totally rockin' with your new IO, people don't feel like they owe you anything anymore. Similarly, whoever sold it is now pretty cool cause maybe we can help them out so they can build a death ray and zap the moon out of the sky (or whatever convoluted plan villains have these days).

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2) Costume Contests. I guess you don't really need to explain these since they aren't a game mechanic, but rather a player invention, but I still think it would be fun to hear your take on their relation in inf, blueside and red.

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I would imagine it works the same way as Superman vouching for Sidekick Lad, even if his methods for selection are a little strange. There are thousands of heroes in the city, and Superman decides that he's going to "support" or "promote" just a couple of them. How he decides this happens to be a costume contest. He then vouches for the winner and lets people know to support them.

"You have a fine costume, lad! Costumes are important to the name and legacy of any good superhero! Keep up the good fight, son!"

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Good explanation. Doesn't work as well for villains, but well enough I suppose.

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I think it works well enough for villains as long as you consider infamy to be "influencing people by being evil" rather than "making people fear you."

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But why do I get Inf for doing FAKE missions in AE?

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You're training and becoming stronger. Word gets out that you've been training in virtual reality and have grown stronger and have better use of your powers. You can now lift more weight, fly faster, and blow up larger meteors. People respect you more and are willing to help out again.

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Although it does raise the question of who does Bill sell his Nanodisintergrators and Advanced Targetting Eyes and Adrenal Gland Boosters to if not heroes.

"I like to always carry some WetWare Engineering Neuralparalyzer on me... for deer hunting."

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Possibly for civilians. Or military/PPD.

Or maybe we're supposed to imagine that there is money being traded back and forth for these things, by other heroes, but OUR means of getting things is exclusively donations.

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Nobody said it's always easy. It's just having to use a different tactic instead of standing in the back of the pack setting off powers.

If people complain about the KB, try moving your position and/or changing your target to so it directs the KB in a different way. Try knocking the foes together, or toward the team, instead of apart or away from the team.

Otherwise.. there are many people who don't mind KB, and some who even favor it. Try another team..

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I have an Energy/Energy/Force Blaster at 50. I know how to play her, and to take advantage of knockbacks, and how to use them wisely. The problem, though, is that it can still be a hassle for me and my teammates no matter what the situation, which would be prevented if it was just knockDOWN and not knockBACK.

If you hit a group with an AoE, you know that the point is to keep them together, so to prevent scatter and nonsense, you hit them toward a wall. For one, there's not always a wall. There are plenty of outside maps. Two, even if you're only pushing them a short distance or into a better grouping, you may be throwing them outside of are effects like Freezing Rain. It may come to a point where you don't want to use your AoE attack because it would cause problems of that nature.

Even if you hit a whole group with an AoE, the knockback isn't 100%, so some aren't going to get thrown, which immediately causes scatter. Whether you shot them toward a wall or not. Hitting them with a second AoE may or may not throw the rest. I've made a point of quickly chaining Torrent to Explosive so that the second knockback only effects those who are still standing, and therefore throws more enemies in the same direction. But there are still times when the group ends up scattered. And, essentially, I'm intentionally wasting the secondary effect of my second attack.

Nova, however you use it, is going to scatter. Its secondary effect is massive knockback, and it's a PBAoE. It's true that usually you'll kill AT LEAST all the minions, but whatever's left is going to be scattered all over the place. Admittedly this one is the least of Energy's problems and it wouldn't make as much sense for it to be knockdown.

I find that the only time I can really relax and run in a team without worrying about annoying the team or frustrating myself (which will happen occasionally by accident no matter how much you're paying attention) is when I'm with a Controller. As long as enemies are immobilized, they won't get knocked back. Of course, this begs the question: why do I even have knockback at all if the best team-oriented scenario is to seek to eliminate it? Why, then, don't I just use Fire Blast?

Outside of Nova, if the other attacks were simply knockdown instead of knockback, it would be so much less of a hassle to deal with. People could still enhance for knockback if they actually wanted to keep knocking things back. Everybody wins.

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I've also got a foxboy. A pyromaniac foxboy. With a flamethrower.

When the hell are we gonna get fox tails?

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Yeah, really! My Mender needs one.

My only issue is that it costs a million influence to change your scales at level 50. Even if it's a tiny 1% change to just one of the scales.

My friend and I had a long discussion about influence. Here's how I undersand it based on our conversation.

Influence is not money. It's how well known you are and how willing people are to give you things... for free.

Imagine you're actually a superhero and you live in a world where people could help you fight crime by giving you things. You don't walk into a store to BUY gadget DOs. They actually give them to you. For instance, Bill owns the shop and last week you saved his friend from Hellions. He has a business to run and can't give you too much for free. He also has thousands of other heroes coming and going. But you've done him a service, and he's read about you in the newspaper, so you're worth a few free gadgets.

Word of mouth travels fast in CoH, which is why passing NPCs always talk about your exploits. It takes no time at all before people know you got some free stuff. They know you're awesome, but you've already been given things, so you don't need more stuff right now. At least, until you save that shopkeeper's uncle next week. A typical conversation when you're low on influence may sound like "Listen man, I know you're Superman, but I have a family to feed. I gave you all I can spare, but I'm hanging on to some things for Ultradude who destroyed that giant monster yesterday." After you do a big deed, people want to help out.

Why do you get no influence from fighting grays? Because, honestly, the city expects more of you. If you're Superman, they want you to be saving the world from metorites and cosmic death rays, not muggers on the street. There are thousands of heroes in the city who can do that. Get back to work. The exception here is that if you're exemped, you DO get influence. The reasoning here is that you're helping another individual (exemped to a person) or a group of people (task force) using your knowledge and expertise. Superman teaches a new hero how to save the world. There's influence to be had there.

You go to the market. People are still trading things for "free" there. You meet another superhero who invented an awesome invention, and is willing to give it to you. It's SO incredibly awesome and powerful that the city doesn't feel the need to help you out for quite some time, because you're ahead of the game and there are other heroes they need to tend to. As for the inventor who created the awesome gadget, the city says "Wow, that guy totally invented something that helped out SUPERMAN!" and now they're willing to help YOU out.

You find a lowbie friend, and vouch for him. Your influence is now his. Word spreads around town that Superman is supporting and promoting Sidekick Lad. Anyone who wanted to help out Superman should focus their efforts on the new, upcoming hero that Superman is endorsing instead.

I've personally experienced strange issues with Earth Armor units. With some combinations, they won't use their toggles at all. But sometimes, inexplicably, at LOWER levels, they will. My arc is full of level 50 enemies who won't run their armor toggles, but sometimes will if I play it below 50.

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I'm curious on something, kind of in the same thought process as LJ in a sense. What do you do when an artist doesn't have those processes?

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Really, it's not a big deal. As I mentioned, it's for your benefit as well as mine. The point of asking for the different stages is so I can sign off on things like details and colors, so an artist doesn't have to redo things. If, when I say, "I like to see a copy of the sketch, ink, and flats," you say "I don't really have those stages," we could still work something out. Either we can go from sketch to finish, or you can just offer regular updates when you want to make sure things are okay from one point to another. Whatever it is, we can work something out.

Oh, and thanks for the links, Bill!

My procedures aren't totally set in stone, and I'm open to discussion on anything you're concerned about. Let me start by answering your questions though.

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What if you don't like the sketch, does the artist revise until you are satisfied, even before they are paid. Or do you agree on a set amount of free sketches beforehand.

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I've yet to actually deny a sketch from anyone, but I may ask for small changes. I also have artists who voluntarily draw me a handful of sketches and let me pick. Occasionally I do have artists who let me know they'll have to charge extra if they end up having to do more than a couple sketches, which I always agree to. I've yet to be charged extra for asking for additional sketches. As I mentioned, I'm easy to work with.

Mostly this is to make sure we're on the same page. I've worked with more than 30 artists, and some will get details wrong, and I've had people agree to draw something and then deliver a "finished" product without checking in with me at all, at which point it's hard to fix things. Those scenarios can be very disappointing.

I do this for both our benefits. Me, so I can make sure you aren't doing something crazy like forgetting my character is female. You, so you know right up front that there won't be anything that needs to be changed when it's too late or too much of a hassle to do so.

As for paying after a sketch, it's the best way to make sure nobody gets screwed. I've paid up front before and had money stolen, and I'm talking more than $150 here. But I also know artists don't want to do a lot of work before seeing money. So try to see it from my point of view. Would you be willing to give a hundred bucks or more to someone you don't know online without any collateral? I pay in full after a sketch so that even if I get ripped off, I have something to show for it. A sketch is just the first step for an artist, to know that we both know what's going on and the artist is ready to get started.

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Also, checking each stage slows the entire process down, time the artist can spend on other commissions or finishing in general. I understand, you are entitled to get what you pay for, and wouldn't want a mistake to happen.

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It's for one to make sure no mistakes are made. But I don't really slow down the process that much. And it doesn't necessarily slow down other commissions, since you can work on them while waiting to hear from me. Past the sketch stage, my comments are rarely more involved than "That looks good; you can go on to the next stage." I only speak up if there are details like colors being wrong. But again, I do that so I don't have to have you go back and redo something after you've already shaded and flattened it. The only parts I really want to see are sketch, inks (if applicable), and flats, and that's just to make sure everything is okay. Very, very rarely would I hold up the process any longer than to just say "That looks good."

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But if you trust the artist's gallery, and have done the research of looking at their "range", I don't see how seeing those stages helps anyone?

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Another reason I do it is for "proof" and as a prevention for art theft. I've had pictures of my characters stolen and used before. Being able to show that I have early versions of those pictures saved lets them know that I was the one who commissioned it and I know the artist who did the work.

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My apologies for coming off too bold, but I think these "details" are something you should state up front before "asking" for an artist to throw their hat in. Here's an example:

Wanted: Artist for Hire
Fee: $50 or less
Required: 3 examples of past work at various prices.
Neccessary: to see each stage (sketch, inks, flats, final colors) however payement in full after the sketch.

This ad gives no surprises. Regretfully I am offering only my current sale. While I enjoy doing more involved work, I already believe I undercut myself, partially because of the market, and partially to be fair to the community which is not made up of money trees.

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Maybe, but I always discuss things before getting started with an artist. If you have an issue with any of my policies, we can discuss that before any money is exchanged or anything is scribbled. I have made arrangements for artists before, in case they have special requirements of their own.

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You also got my initials wrong. Good luck to you.

LJ

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Typo, since I did this before leaving for work.

So, sorry if I've offended you with any of this, I just wanted to note what my usual procedure is. Since I'm stepping from one community to another, I know that people will run things differently or have different expectations; I was merely stating what I'm used to. But I'm always open to different methods.

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Digital art has it's advantages, but cheaper materials isn't one of them.

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I suppose it depends on who you talk to, since I know people who charge more for traditional things, especially if they're using expensive pens or markers. I also know people who use free art tools like OpenCanvas.

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Doms and their numbers may decrease come I15 I fear.

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I expect the opposite. There may be a handful of high-end permadom farmer builds who will get fed up and quit, but the AT as a whole is being made more accessible to all players at all level ranges. I can only see more people trying out Doms and, given the way they play now, liking it.

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because if you actually want to make an effective character, you only had one option: Psi. Period.

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I would completely disagree with this. I suspect it's because your ideas and my ideas of what "effective" means are different.

Is effective saving your team from an ill-timed ambush with well placed controls? or is the measure of how "effective you are" only in how much damage you pump out. In that case, my Earth/fire and Fire/Electric are laughing at this statement. (Not you, the statement)

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Effective for damage, is what I meant. So I'll clarify there. As far as taking a secondary (which is designed to do damage, especially in AoE), the only real option was to take Psi because it offered more damage, even in AoE, than any other set, with just one power. You could take other sets for theme reasons or other advantages or utility powers, but there was just no way to match the amount of damage Psi was capable of doing, and with only one power.

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It's good to see collectors come forward as you are.

I'm an artist that focuses on higher-end stuff. I can't afford to work in the range you mention, but if you want to check out some of my pieces, I have links in my sigs.

My personal favorite is still POISON IVY .

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Your stuff is pretty cool. I might eventually want to get something from you, but let me quickly explain how I usually go about pictures and business, to give you and the other artists a better idea of what I usually do so you can make a decision about us working together.

I tend to get art from as many different artists as possible. I have some "trusted" friends I go with, but I like to get stuff in various different artstyles. I prefer to get full color images, but will occasionally go for sketches or inks if someone's offering a special. I try to work with as many different artists who use different styles and methods as possible. My process usually involves paying in full after I see a sketch (or equivalent). I prefer to see the picture at each step (sketch, inks, flats, color) so I can sign off on it.

But I'm easy and I give artists a lot of freedom on what to do. My general practice is to give you all the information you need to draw the character accurately, and let you know to do whatever you want. Some people freak out when I tell them they can draw the character wearing anything and doing any pose they want, but most artists appreciate having the freedom rather than being told exactly how to draw the character or having to follow a pose guide. I usually get happier artists and I get pleasant surprises when a picture turns out really unique and interesting because the artist took it and ran with it. But that's also why it's important for me to sign off on each stage, to make sure everything is okay.

For prices, I tend to hover in the below $50 range. I've paid as much as $100 for a picture, but that's very rare. There are a lot of lesser known artists I'd rather give work to than spend giant wads of cash on "famous" artists. Basically, I'd rather support the starving aritsts than the ones who are already successful enough in their own endeavors. I try not to consider it a "quantity vs quality" situation, because there's a lot of talent to be harvested in budding artists who haven't had much exposure yet.

Anything over $40 I consider a "one-time" buy. Anything below $40, if you're good enough, I may sign up for numerous pictures. And if you're affordable and really good, I may work with you for a long time and look to you anytime I need something new to see if you want a job.

That's how it has been, at least, around the circles I usually go in. I know around here there are more "professional" artists who can produce really high-quality stuff, and to ask them to do something for $30 would be almost silly. I wouldn't try to ask for a super-low price for a painting or anything. There are factors like medium, as some people do traditional artwork on paper while others I know do theirs entirely digitial, which reduces the production costs.

So, I'm still primarily looking for something $50 or less, but I'd be open to discussion on other price ranges depending on the offer.

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Hiya,

I have commission options in that price range. Check out the link in my sig, rates are on the front page.

Here is a recent example.

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To segway into this post and show what I mean:

http://battlewraith.deviantart.com/a...race-106192393

That's a fantastic piece, and I'd probably pay more than the $25 you cited on that one for something of that quality. So something like that would probably be the sort of repeat-business pricing/quality ratio I mentioned above. In a week or two once I'm through with my current batch of commissions, I'll give you a holler.

For JL and Foo, you both have nice work. I glanced through your galleries, and might be interested in an exchange. I'd like to see more examples, especially if they're laid out like BattleWraith did, so I can see what to expect of each price range, if that's not too much hassle.

Thanks for the replies so far; I'll keep tabs here and will also be posting finished commissions as they come in.