Marcian Tobay
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:Originally Posted by DarkGob
You should have waited to finish the second arc before making this thread.
I hear it involves a bank. No, seriously. That's all I know. No spoilers, please. *runs, hides, and tries to rewrite the "No gaming at work" policy* -
Everyone loves the new villain arcs. Having finished the first and halfway through the second, it's plain to see why: They're fun.
But the first arc isn't really that evil. I mean, yes, your first mission is hunting down a hero before he hunts you down, but it didn't strike me as being as evil as other arcs. On the scale I enclosed below, it's somewhere between a 4 and a 6.
... Yet a lot of people are saying "The Devs got it right. This is how I want to play a villain."
So, on a scale of 1 - 10, at what level of evil do you feel the Devs should average when writing stories?
or 
1 - I'm a misunderstood hero! I save the world and wear mascara! Is that such a crime!?
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5 - Blowing up buildings for the lulz and other destructive selfishness.
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10 - I want to slaughter everyone that doesn't have blonde hair and blue eyes... and then everyone that does.
Just curious. Have fun! -
Mine had Dual Pistols and just sort of stood there changing ammo. I didn't even notice when he died. Since my in-character personality wouldn't have noticed, either, it worked out quite theatrically.
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Quote:Blackpebble Task Force, we have our first mission!Originally Posted by Silver Gale
Yes. But a journalist working for a games magazine has also seen them, and wrote about them in his column. And now someone has posted that column on the official forums, with a title that implies CoH2 is all but confirmed to replace CoH. Tomorrow, someone on Kotaku will write an article about CoH being slated for retirement, using this thread as the source. And so it goes.
They aren't always pretty.
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Thugs/Traps Mastermind here.
Even on five, I was completely immobile while thirty five people unloaded raw, unflavored lethal damage into me.
My coworkers were wondering why I was shouting. -
Quote:Agreed. Thought getting a "recipe" for a Revolver has always been weird, it seems pointless with my dual pistol wielding Thug Mastermind.Originally Posted by Obscure Blade
Not to mention that being more common mean there's more of an incentive to actually use them instead of hanging on to them "just in case".
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Quote:This right here. I genuinely misunderstood your post, Techbot. My apologies. Yesterday was not an "on" day by any standard.Originally Posted by Dr_Darkspeed
I believe Marcian got the wrong end of a stick and took your post as a "DOOOOOOOOM, people think this game sux cos it doz" post, rather than as intended as "Looking at the things people say put them off the game, it seems like a lot of it has to do with the older content. This helps provide evidence for my continued requests for the Devs to spend some time revamping old content rather than just adding the new shineys to the new content", which is how I took your post.
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Quote:You came back during one of my "in love with you" phases, so I'm going to glomp you now.Originally Posted by Golden Girl
For the first time in your life?
>.>
<.<
*GLOMP*
Welcome back! -
Quote:Full disclosure: Kotaku actually contacted me a bit ago and it came up in conversation that it thinks Terror1 is all right, just a bit stand offish. Kotaku's waiting for a chance to talk to T1 again, but doesn't really know how to start it. We should hook those two kids up. I have a feeling we're seeing the start of something classic.Originally Posted by Gulver
That's fine.
Kotaku hate you too.
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Quote:I agree with this.Originally Posted by Impish Kat
What's the problem with posting them in both places?
I almost never go to the official website. -
Quote:I was just thinking this. Tossing around the idea of starting a website/supergroup called "The Blackpebble Task Force" that would take the initiative on a grass roots, volunteer, City of Heroes campaign. I wouldn't have the time to run it, though. Just to help out with planning and occassional execution.Originally Posted by Chase_Arcanum
As a community, we should probably try to organize concentrated efforts like this more often- especially with Going Rogue news. The community has been called one of CoH's best assets time and again, after all.
With something like that, we could do things like:- Answer questions being asked (Did ya notice there were a LOT on that Kotaku section?). Developers and Marketing can't touch those with a ten foot pole.
- Photoshop us some nice promotional images.
- Get great fan videos posted places. Samuraiko, care to come here for a second...?
- Bombard (in a good way) sites that we feel are writing City of Heroes off.
- Form in-game events designed to welcome/re-introduce people. Be tour guides, as it were.
Anyone want to work with me on it?
- Answer questions being asked (Did ya notice there were a LOT on that Kotaku section?). Developers and Marketing can't touch those with a ten foot pole.
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Quote:A lot of the comments are worthy of note, both ways. You deliberately skewed and misrepresented what was on the Kotaku section. All you've convinced me of is that it isn't "100% fresh" over there.Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha
Hmm. Some of the comments are worthy of note;
If you want to nab percentages of positive/negative comments, or weigh the enthusiasm of those that like it versus the pessimism of those that don't... or generally present better... you may have something.
All you've done so far is point out that someone somewhere out there is negative. And that doesn't cause a twitch in me. -
Quote:It reminds me of how people think that a show was "ruined" in its 3rd season of its 9 season run...Originally Posted by Haterade
An MMO doesn't die just because you don't like it... but everyone believes the world revolves around them, etc etc etc
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I resent the implication that being negative is "real talk". I mean, you're entitled to your opinion and back it up and all, but the thread title seems to imply that your negativity gives your post more merit, and that don't sit right with me.
As far as bugs: All expansions will have them. There's no way to test them all. And by no way, I mean almost literally. Ranging from tiny things that the developers would never imagine*, to things they couldn't test**, to things they couldn't fix in a reasonable amount of time***, things have to be let go. It's a matter of business and marketing. They could release one slightly better expansion with three or four more months of testing, or they could release it now and get all the publicity of saying that the game updated on its Sixth Anniversary. And frankly, I don't begrudge their choosing the second option.
Sure, it was imperfect, but there is a judgement call as to how long they can keep players interested. They felt that April 28th was the farthest they could push testing and still keep player interest. If it had gone on longer, there's the possibility people would have complained. They made their choice, and they will clean up the mess in a future patch.
But the mess is more of a slurpee on the floor and less like a nuclear reactor left unchecked. I approve heartily.
~m~
* When I go to Steel Canyon and stand on the lower east side and then scratch my left arm pit with celery, the game lags a lot!
** It's implausible to ask a developer to be familiar with virtually all potential combinations of video cards, computer set ups, operating systems, and personal settings on a computer that would have to fall in place for certain graphical issues.
*** If that costume piece clips horribly, and fixing it would delay the game another week... just ship the costume piece now with a warning, I say. Not enough people will really care. -
Quote:Kurt's fierce and intimidating! Plenty! He'll rip your inferior fashion sense to ribbons and snark on your grave.Originally Posted by sleestack
Your avatar blunts the message a bit. Maybe you should use a cat with laser-beam eyes or something.
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Love the new Issue. Just felt like someone needed to balance at all the praise threads out. So, as you go forward...
... as you make Going Rogue...
... as you send BackAlleyBrawler to animate in balance fixes...
... and as you wander our geeky throngs as rock stars in the world you created...
Just remember:
Always. -
Hey, everyone! Kotaku just posted an article about I17, and it's drawing out a lot of people with questions about the game. If you get the chance, I strongly recommend that you swing by, answer questions, and show them why it's almost unanimous that the best thing about this game is the community.
Cheers! -
Quote:Originally Posted by LiquidX
The hell ARE you anyways? A Cat? A Rabbit? Some kind of Bear thing? SOMEONE HURRY UP AND CLASSIFY YOU, DAMNIT!
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Yeah, baby!
Quote:*Looks at avatar*I like to call it “GleeMail”, not sure if it’ll stick
... pleaseyes.
It terrifies me that you bolded this. I can't help but imagine interns with open chest cavities lining the floors of the Going Rogue QA department.Quote:put their hearts into it
Suck it, Golden_Girl.*Quote:no one is a true villain, or hero, for that matter.
In no particular order:Quote:What is your favourite memory over the last 6 years playing City of Heroes? - The City Scoop
- Upon entering a Hero Con, Castle seeing my name tag and reflexively observing that I haven't been posting as much. It drove home how much you all genuinely care.
- The sub-community in the Comic Culture forum.
- The trailer for I11.
- Going Rogue's site quietly appearing in the middle of the night.
- Westen Phipps
- Villainside, posing as the rescue workers in order to kidnap the construction workers trapped in a dangerous situation. I've never cackled so sincerely as when they thanked me for my help.
- Causing so much destruction in a Mayhem Mission that it filled ten bubbles.
- Finding out that I have true friends on these forums. Not people who are kind of cool in a conversation. True, sincere friends that have changed my life.
- Rule 34 being validated repetitiously. (I'm an awful, terrible person)
- To back up to two bullets ago, and to sum up: The Community. Quality people doing quality things. We run charities, support each other, respect opinions, and strive for betterness. I've gone months without logging into the actual game but would dehydrate if my subscription last, because spending time with the lot of you is that incredible of an experience.
Long live Paragon City, the City of Heroes.
*Not a flame. She and I have an ongoing debate about whether there are moral absolutes. - The City Scoop
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Quote:Hoo-rah!Originally Posted by Garjzla
Long live praetoria!
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Bounty out for kill. The thread so large that the Mods had to lock it to save the rest of the forums. Not only is it great in its "Gone to the Americans" absurdity, the OP swings by once in a blue moon to make posts that imply that he started all of this on purpose.
Definitely epic. There's an entire social group dedicated to keeping that thread alive.
Edit: I'd nominate the first thread I ever made, wherein I requested certain changes to the game. It was both the advent of the greatest thing to happen to any of you... and the origin of the rumor that I'm a lesbian. -
Quote:That's how I roll!Originally Posted by cursedsorcerer
Long-winded, but worth posting, Marcian!
Oh, and while I was away, I realized that Ultra Mode might be a good pill to swallow if "the masses" feel that our graphics are outdated. If that's the case*, I alter my feedback to suggest that it be explained more charmingly than "Cubemaps".
*If being used, because I don't have access to the marketing research and don't want to imply that I do.
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Quote:She can see up your skirt.Originally Posted by Clebstein
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Quote:I agree. I just watched it again with this in mind, and it made things... um... not so great. Let me put this one way, as I suspect the video's creator will read this:Originally Posted by Doc_Scorpion
Sure - but the question is... what audience?
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I found this when I google image searched "marketing".
Dear awesome person who bleeds cool and sweats sexiness,
I want to groom your hair. Keep that sexual awkwardness in mind as I write this, because it's the rations that I recommend you pack for this trip.
This video isn't for anybody. I don't mean that it's not technically good, I mean that no matter whom I consider its target audience to be, I consider it to have missed. For example, a very large emphasis is placed on Ultra Mode. Here, however, are two problems with this:- Ultra Mode doesn't make the graphics better than anything else out there. If graphics were a race, Ultra Mode catches City of Heroes up to a much closer 2nd. Though I can't truly empathize with a non-fan of our beloved Paragon, it seems to me that shouting "Now with relevant graphics" doesn't seem like where we should be throwing our ticker tape externally. Party for you and me, but not newcomers.
- Cubemap Reflections: I defy you to find a way to say that sexily. The second I saw that phrase in the video, I literally assumed that this was meant to pull in tech-geek retired heroes. That phrase doesn't even make sense to people. (To test this theory, I told my coworker that I heard a rumor that her favorite PC Game is getting Cubemap Reflections. Her response? "What the **** is that?")
In short, I don't think Ultra Mode is as big a deal to random passers by (Let's call them citizens) as Marketing thinks it is. I'm not knee deep in focus group, though, so take it for what you will.
Next, the Positron Task Force Update. How is saying "We fixed the issue" a good advertisement to newcomers? I'm being rhetorical, because it isn't. Highlighting this wasn't good for newcomers.
Mission Architect Enhancements. This would have been better if you had focused on how these are instantly cool to new people. Sure, Jack of Irons is in the video, but if you want it to pop, you say something like "Creating your own missions just got bigger. A LOT bigger." Then cut to Jackie boy offing some dudes. It should be immediately clear what's been added. When you say "Enhancements" and then show me three seconds of video, I feel like I'm playing "Spot the differences" between said three second clip and a snap shot I took in my mind long ago.
Um... you're really pretty? That's your next ration. I really hate telling people what they did "wrong", because that's pretty subjective. If we meet at Hero Con, remind me to buy you a drink and tell you how much I respect your hair.
Where were we?
New Story Arcs. Fantastic. I loved this. In my opinion, the entire video should have been focusing on the new arch-enemies being "Evil You". This is the shortest, quickest way to sell people. It's one of the most well known comic book tropes and something that you can explain to people in a second. This is new content, it's dramatic, it's fun, and it demands that players consider the "individuality" concept of City of Heroes in order to fully appreciate a tailor made baddie.
Demon Summoning & Dual Pistols. Yes, Dual Pistols already came out, but your press releases and such are acting like the double guns are fresh with I17... so use it. These are the sexiest things in I17 on a completely aesthetic and shallow level, but that's the level on which trailers should work. I mean, if you were at a gamer bar, and you're trying to pick up on some sexy young thing making eyes, do you want to tell them that you "Updated cubemap reflections" or "Designed the demons and dual pistol powers"?
And that's what a trailer should be: A pick-up line. You gave yourself 2:08 to convince newcomers that they've been missing out on 6 incredible years that are, pardon the cliche, "just getting started". Instead, this video was glorified patch notes. And none of this is mentioning the frame rate drop right around the Positron Task Force section. I'm not sure if that was intended to be slow-motion, but it looked to me like the Marketing department wasn't allowed to Fraps on the good computers. Which is depressing.
Ending on reminding us that this is a build up to Going Rogue was a brilliant touch. I wouldn't have thought of it myself, and it leaves whetted palettes. For that, I offer you a high 5.
^5.
You're cool, Marketing. We love you, and we love the work that you do. I spend my time writing this in the hopes that you consider it going forward. Not to flame, and not to trash. Believe me, I feel bad writing this, but I felt as I should say something.
Thank you for your work. Your trailers and other efforts are consistently appreciated, and I wish you nothing but the 2nd best*.
~Marcian
*1st best reserved for the person who enables female MM Pets. - Ultra Mode doesn't make the graphics better than anything else out there. If graphics were a race, Ultra Mode catches City of Heroes up to a much closer 2nd. Though I can't truly empathize with a non-fan of our beloved Paragon, it seems to me that shouting "Now with relevant graphics" doesn't seem like where we should be throwing our ticker tape externally. Party for you and me, but not newcomers.
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My main issue is the frame rate of some of that in-game footage. Some, but not all, of the shots were actually choppy. Other than that, it works for me.