Iodine

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It's people like you who chased Geko, Mr. Loose Lips on the Numbers, off these boards.

Keep that in mind next time you bemoan the numbers being unpublished.

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No, I am pretty sure he remains in his hole for very specific reasons. That he is unable or unwilling to entertain this forum is probably the least of his concerns.

A spade is a spade, after all.

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2. We'll be putting in a check that prevents "one shotting"; if anything occurs within a fraction of second that brings a player from 100% Hit Points down to 0, we instead give the player 1% Hit Points.


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Isn't this going to have an adverse effect of hamidon raids? I.E. No one dies during the mito phase.

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This wouldn't necessarily be true ... but let's argue that it is. So what?

Answer is to buff Hami & his Mitos after all the song and dance with the HO nerf, I5, and ED? Are you on crack?

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What kind of bizarro world do you live in? Did you read my post? Your own even intimates that you yourself are under the impression that he was aware that it was the wrong move and pushed it through anyway.


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No, it was a move that had to be made for other reasons that unfortunately affected endurance draining heroes and villains.

But, carry on. How would you like Statesman to rectify this situation? What would be better for you than a verbal apologize? 40 lashes?

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He can save his apologies. I reserve judgement until a fix is instituted. IF a fix is instituted. If one is I'll gladly clean and press Jack's cape.

After all he said he'd LOOK into the issue. He may very well say "working as inteded yadda yadda and get on with his life."

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Yup ... as he's already done with Flight and Hover speed issues post ED.

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Let's not forget that it was on test for like, 6 minutes before it was jammed through to live.


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I know being an irrational ranter is your schtick, but the patch that included the changes to endurance for bosses and LTs was on test for over a week, actually longer than most patches have been on test that have included far more than that patch did.

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And for the duration of that week, it was thoroughly documented how it gutted endurance drain strategies unnecessarily, several alternatives were offered -- all within the span of the first 36 hours, I might add -- and yet nothing could be done about it before it went live. You can leave buggy or over-nerfing code on test for a month or a minute, if it goes live in the same state, it's still buggy/over-nerfing and wasn't on test long enough to get it fixed/adjusted to a level that's worth pushing live.

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There is a profound disconnect between testers in the Training Room and this development team. As we learned from the HO nerf, & ED, offering suggestions nicely or through flames had the same effect on the devs - they mostly ignored them. The Training Room is supposed to be used to identify problems with code before it goes live. To this team, the only problems worth adjusting before taking the client live is if you can't log in or you can't stay connected - and that's pretty much been the rule ... not the exception.

Tweaks MIGHT happen later after the update goes live - if they conform to the Vision(tm) and time is available before the next marketing meeting in Austin.

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Don't be cross.

Known issue = Stuff they are actively trying to fix. (On the QA dept's plate.)
Known bug = Stuff that is on the list to fix. (Still in line at the Cafeteria.)

If they listed all the known bugs on the website, people would just get disheartened and scream more. Also: some bugs are more serious than others, and some are complicated than others... It's not like they can run through and fix them in chronological order. So such a list would undoubtedly frustrate people who see an issue they care about sidelined over and over as more important/urgent/easier things are queued up instead.

And that's why they don't list all of them.

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Then don't list any at all. If they're maintaining a list, it should be an accurate and up-to-date list.

If it's too embarassing or disheartening to list them all, then there's a problem here that goes beyond my being "cross".

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Yesterday I was running the missions in Bloody bay and three times I ran into a disturbing problem...

When zoning in from COV I ended up someplace other then the villan base.

One time I ended up in the forest to the east of the base and twice I zoned in directly to the city, once with a hero no more then 20 feet from me!

Luckily I go in with shields up and managed to run, choose a mission and enter the mission door before he could touch me.

Is this a known bug?

/e bow

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This is a known bug. According to QA, it's related to having the shivan shard temp power (there might be other things that cause it, too, but this is what they've been able to reproduce).

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Yet another known issue is not documented at the Known Issues page.

/golfclap

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*ducks*

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No. Pigeons.

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Couple things:
While I do this on my lunch break for the most part, I also do it in between "Get all" and running data generation scripts. It *is* part of my job -- the only difference here is I do part of it while at lunch to keep myself from getting bored, and the fact that I share info with you guys. Plenty of folks here read the boards and deal with issues; they just don't spend much time reporting on it....

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... as noted in the comprehensive Known Issues area and patch notes mechanism in place, right?

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It's a SHAME it took 4 issues to FINALLY deal with that TERRIBLE, risk vs reward exploit in PvE with the Travel Power Suppression compromise.

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Great post, but is this one sarcasm?

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Yes, it was.

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* Bug: When an attack misses its target, aggro is generated when the attack begins. This is problematic when using a power with a long activation time (such as Ice Arrow); aggro is generated and you are subject to "return" fire before the attack is actually launched. The character is rooted in place until the animation finishes. (If the attack actually hits, no aggro is generated until the attack lands; this is when a miss should generate aggro as well). This bug is not limited to the Trick Arrow set, but impacts the set more than others due to its many powers with long animation times. (Concern, Goofy_Parrot)

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This is the way the combat engine works. Fixing this would require rewriting the whole thing. This is not likely to change.

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Successful mechanics repair faulty engines. It's a shame you're unwilling/unable to get your hands dirty.

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* Balance: Single target ressurection powers should not be expended and the associated endurance used unless the target accepts the resurrect. (LadyMage)

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This is an odd one. Endurance is paid as part of the casting of the power, which is calculated before any attributes of that power take effect. So, the power system has to pay for the power to go off then the target gets to choose whether or not to accept the Rez attribute. We can't do this without a lot of changes to the system. Well, technically we could, but then you would not be able to slot for Endurance Reduction.

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Then lower the endurance cost accordingly, remove the ability to slot for endurance reduction, and open the hood on this one too. It's a stupid problem that ignorance isn't going solve.

_Castle_, thank you for taking the time to address these issues, but frankly, there were too many "low priority - not gonna change soon" answers for my taste. I suspect the reason for this is because both geko and statesman have control issues that you can't outrank. A pity. Your post this evening was quite possibly the best dev-to-player communication exhibited on these boards. You'll do very well wherever you go after CoH/CoV.

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As several have noted, I7 features content mostly for City of Villains (levels 41 to 50, in fact). This is exactly what we did for CoH. City of Heroes will receive a cool graphics upgrade, new base items (Empowerment stations!) and access to Recluses’ Victory. It’s true that CoV received more attention, but that’s mainly because we needed to fill out the levels. I had the option of releasing I7 or waiting until we could fill out the City of Heroes content. Obviously, I chose the former. New content should get out there when it’s ready. We'll be focusing equally as much as possible on each product moving into the future...


For those who have speculated that Newspaper missions are coming to City of Heroes, they aren’t…yet. That’s coming a little later in the year. I’d like to add something different to the CoH system…

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And STILL no word on Flight speed / Hover speed buffs and sound loop issues.

Yep ... push that content out, Jack. Keep it up and fewer villains & heroes will even WANT to eat that newer content than you think.

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... I think it's too early to tell whether MMOs will have real long-term endurance in mainstream culture ... or whether they'll be more fad-like ... but then 5.5 million WoW players can't be wrong, can they?

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Yes, because their posted concerns are but an insignificant fraction of the total player base.

Oh wait a minute ... Sorry, I had my games mixed up. That's what they say about THIS player base and forum community. Silly me.

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Goodness people. You do realize this is a game right? I've been claiming for years that flight was too slow, especially when I discovered a buddy of mine with SR and no travel power went faster than I did with 6 SO fly. But cut them some slack please. You have made your points, they are looking into it, and if they feel something needs to be changed, it will be.

This is reminding me of all those anti-ED posts that people made. Goodness...

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ED brought many things. Silence. Placation. Lies. Hypocracy. Now, more Spin. Not Goodness. One of the casualties in the ED experiment was Hover and Statesman all but admitted this 3 months ago when he claimed he was going to discuss the issue with geko.

Just what were the results of his discussion? Could this development team even fathom making Travel Powers exempt from ED? Do they have any idea how much morale would be improved if a 6-slotted Hover could retain I5 utility? Do they even care? Does Castle really think Hover was 6 slotted to be a Travel Power?

No, I don't feel Goodness. I feel SHAME.

It's a SHAME that "combinable HO's" was touted as compensation for ED - when anyone who wasn't asleep remembers HOs should have been made combinable when they were nerfed last summer - or NLT I5.

It's a SHAME how much disinformation is being spread about why this game underwent 3 huge nerfs in a row.

It's a SHAME that it's been about 12 weeks since Statesman said he'd discuss the 6-slot Hover issue with geko and there is STILL no announcement of the result of that discussion, nor a base increase to this power to compensate what ED needlessly did to it.

It's a SHAME there hasn't been ANY adjustment specifically addressing powers that use only one type of enhancement.

It's a SHAME there's still no newspaper missions in CoH, the ability to cancel missions, and few words on what's being planned for I7 or beyond.

It's a SHAME it takes an act of revolt on the boards to get any acknowledgement for major bugs (like the sound looping issue) or reversal of unsound changes in this game. (eg. CoV first Respec SF, stealth nerf to Stealth).

It's a SHAME the war on PLing and herding continues unabated while long overdue features and bugs take a number behind anything sidelining the Vision(tm).

It's a SHAME how this game's KNOWN ISSUE lists and Patch Notes mechanisms are still unexcusably broken.

It's a SHAME it took 4 issues to FINALLY deal with that TERRIBLE, risk vs reward exploit in PvE with the Travel Power Suppression compromise.

It's a SHAME that many powers haven't been readjusted to a non-perma Hasten/Stamina assumption; since ED essentially removed Hasten and Stamina's previous effectiveness to the powers that were adjusted with a 6-slotted assumption.

It's a SHAME that after 2 years, many players have not only hit the wall ... they've been writing on it for months. What did it get them? Nerfed HOs. Nerfed defenses. ED. PvP balance? CityOfHero? Issues and content slowed to 3 times a year?

No ... Goodness wouldn't have been the first word that comes to mind.

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They look like they fled from a Final Fantasy game.

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... And hey, if you're still not sold; Asian chicks, 'nuff said...

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Sure ... if you could tell them apart from the guys. The asian males could pass for modern-day lesbians.

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Can one of you please tell me why we are all over States jock about this?

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Maybe because of how enhanced it apears in all of the marketing videos?

Just a thought.

Sounds nice, geko. Now how about a base Flight and Hover speed buff update post ED?

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Hmm... I wonder if City of Hero is set in South Korea or Rhode Island?

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<shrug> Wherever it is, they don't believe in plurals or spaces, obviously.

CityofHero ... Is that anything like ArmyofOne?

<eyes rolling>

Hopefully the marketing blitz gets higher grades than these bozos' English grades. I mean come on ... if you're gonna butcher your classic title, at least do it in Chinese or Korean - where syntax means nothing and us stupid Americans won't notice.

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Just an idea... maybe create a post that gets updated weekly, and put as a sticky on the Test Server forum, called "Soon..." which lists things like this that are in short or long term development?

It just could get updated once a week or so, or month, just to detail things that are in the pipe. Put a fat disclaimer on the top that they're coming soon. Could be one day, or 365 days, or more... but kind of like an actively in development listing?

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Oh you mean implement and update a new thread that works like their KNOWN ISSUES thread? What a great idea ... in theory....... In practice, I've learned not to set the bar too high for this development team.

It's great they're working on stuff and all ... but there is still way too much that needs to be and should have been done a long time ago. Of all the CoV features introduced, for example, the biggest disappointment for me is the Base. After 60 days, the raids still aren't ready, bases cost too much, require too much of a sacrifice for the SG/VG to be worthwhile ... all for too little incentive. With the honeymoon all but over for CoV and numbers seemingly declining as a result, I can't imagine even a moderately-sized SG ever being really ready to base raid. Smaller groups will have even more trouble even completing the IOP trial; not to mention having trouble with numbers in defending their base weekly after it. So who's left? A few power groups maybe who play on average far more than the rest of the casual player base?

Unchecked, I see the entire base-raid concept encountering more problems as time goes on because of the cost, tedium, and population issues. With content trickling in at a rate of 4 times a year or less with this dev team, I can't see the current model appealing to die hard gamers for very much longer. That's ironic, considering the only folks that the model really serves is the hard core groups. This is just one example ... That's my take anyway.

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... Issue 7 - Tentative plan for releasing the "Feature Update" to the website is mid February - so you might as well settle in for about a month of waiting unless a dev decides to drop some hints.

Of course you already know I7 includes 40-50 content for CoV, and as with every update more art updates, missions, and quality of life features. The other items in I7 will be revealed when we get the Feature Update.

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Oh ... so it's ok for Statesman to respond to all of the ED changes, feedback, and questions by pretending he's chatted it up with geko about increasing base flight speed? Otherwise, are we supposed to be thrilled to receive the results of that discussion at least 15 weeks later? I know you're all hungover from vacations and everything Cuppa, but a little math and look at the calendar says that's how long it will have been if no news is pending til mid February.

I7 must be one hell of a patch if this is all the forum and player base are getting before then.

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... One, everyone needs to calm down and stop the personal attacks. We're all here trying to make this a better game, so resulting to name calling or bullying is actually contrary to our goal...

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I'd like to apologize for my fellow players, Castle. I don't know what's gotten into them.



Oh wait a minute ... now I have to apologize. I think I know ...



Any ETA for the sound loop / crash bug?

kkthx

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Well I open my box and discover - ONLY SIX

I am missing ghost widow!! The box was still sealed and didn't look tampred with... everything else was in the box.

Very disappointed. =( Anyone else have this problem ? any way someone can fix this travashamockery of packaging?

I want mah Ghost Widow!

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I just learned of this recently myself... we'll fix it. Keep an eye out for news on how- we're still trying to figure out what happened.
-Loki

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Any update, Loki?

Great! Now how about a chapter explaining how Statesman looks so young, fresh, and non-wrinkled - seeing how he was superhero-ing back in the 30's?

Was there a time-travel expansion I missed? Has my memory been nerfed too?

What?? No word about when Cryptic plans to cluster or merge servers?

Oh wait a minute ... that's another dying game.

The changes are unacceptable. I see two choices at this point. Change Burn AND the AI back or offer the AT respecs. You've ALREADY de-balled the tanker with the defense, taunt, and AE nerfs. Now you've gone from the jewels to the jugular on your Fire tanks? Did I miss the patch note part where I5 planned to keep the game fun? It won't be if you keep homogenizing your ATs and losing focus on why your game has been successful despite its subscription numbers.

The only reason to nerf Burn is the obsessive Anti-PLing/Herding mentality that has pre-occupied you beyond imagination at this point. Don't think us naive in surmising the nerf to Burn was designed to balance ANYTHING but AT jealousy and your egos. That overpowered Burn sure was turning the tables on opponents in the Arena, wasn't it?

It's all about PLing and Herding. And while many other articulate players have given you similar alternatives to curb this, you STILL have no comment on:

1. Making missions repeatable only so many times.
2. Steadily reducing the experience for mobs in missions being repeated until there can be no more experience gained until mission completion.
3. Making aggro distance changes. Despite taunting powers, no mob will follow a herding hero greater than a set distance from his spawn point.
4. Making villain group buff modifiers . The more villains being herded, the harder they become to defeat. Give them leadership buffs or some random variety of powers they wouldn't normally possess alone.
5. Fixing the stacking code. Not buying your excuses. Only so many Freaks should fit in a dumpster.

I no longer care how flippant or hypocritical you think a sizeable portion of your player base is when they say they've had enough of this BS and are considering leaving. My family and I own 4 accounts that are keenly observing your noose tightening. You aren't doing anything substantive to retain your core players - us. You don't get it, Jack. There are other MMO fish in the sea. What makes yours the better catch? The comic?

Your changes to Burn, AE attacks, taunts, and tanker defenses because of PLing and herding after OVER A YEAR in motion go too far and are still simply unacceptable. Your I5 changes aren't cool, you STILL have no comment on HOs, and the new power sets, Croatoa, and CoV aren't enough to offset what you plan to do to our fun. Our endurance is getting low, sir - and you aren't offering any inspiration.

Defiance is good for solo blasters. This is not good for teamed blasters. They still remain squishy - even after their hitpoint buff. They can still be one or two-shotted.

As an empath, my job is to keep you alive. Now blasters will be crying to let their health stay at dangerously low levels for that extra damage. Fine. Load up on your green inspirations, hero. I'll be healing the tanks and controllers. They need it now - more than you, squishy.