Next_Player

Its an annoyance to have to do it again. But hey, since you don't mind... why don't you do it for me?

No, it is not quite fun to do it again.


Yeah, I kind of liked it when I did it with a newer character that hadn't earned a cape. Denying me access to auras until I "earn a cape" a second time is rediculous... even if it took only 5 minutes.


But it does take longer and I have absolutely hated the fact that super heroes in Paragon City are required to earn a cape ever since the rediculous concept was first introduced. Its even more annoying for characters that don't even want capes but do want that aura. "Go earn a cape and then we can talk auras." But I don't want a cape. "Too bad."


If this is some weaksauce attempt to get people to try the new thing, I'm curious to know why they didn't try that when they revamped the Positron TF... How come they didn't take back the badge from everyone who had it and make them earn it over again?

So I log into one of my older characters today, a level 36 blaster, and decide I want to update my costume options. I have capes already, did the cape mission awhile ago. So I went to City Hall to start on the Aura mission.

There I stand before the City Representative, wearing my cape. What's the only mission available? Earn a cape. So I send a shout in Broadcast and the reply I get back is, there's a new twist at the end of the story, so I should just go ahead and do it because its cool.

Yeah... I know. I've done the new cape mission on another character that hadn't earned capes yet. I shouldn't have to do it again for a character that has them already. But other players insist that this is now the way of things.


Why? And how can I get my auras without running all over Paragon City again for something I already have?

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Now that the latest Fanzine is out, I can finally show some closeups of the piece. It's all Poser and post-work.

MIDNIGHT HOUR - Poster

MIDNIGHT HOUR - Detail shot (Ghost Widow)

MIDNIGHT HOUR - Detail shot (Back Alley Brawler)

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I like it, but the post is a bit off. BABs should be looking a bit more be to the left, like slightly towards his left shoulder...and maybe a bit upwards.

Then I think it'd be perfect.

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lol pervert

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I cannot think of any definition of the word pervert that would make sense in this context.

Question: if a global name was previously in use but the account it was used on is no longer active, does an active account have priority? Can someone take over an inactive user's global name?

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User Interface:
<ul type="square">[*] Character slots in the character selection screen can now be reorganized by dragging and dropping. The sort order is stored in a file on the client, but only if "Remember Account Name” is checked on the Log-in Screen.[/list]
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This isn't entirely working for me. I can change the order of my characters and it takes... but if I change the order of characters on another server, then the ones I re-ordered on the first server changes.

Any way we can get multi-server support on this?

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Voice chat is quickly becoming a requirement for any MMO. It is just far too convenient to just talk rather than typing everything out. It is just a fact of life we'll have to accept. The days of being able to type out instructions over ooc chat like we did when raiding Fear and Hate in Everquest are long gone. It is just nice to see PlayNC also capitalizing on integrated voice chat for their launcher.

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I swear, I will kick any and every person that still uses stupid abbreviations (LOL, OOC, and anything that remotely sounds like 1337 speak)...

Its bad enough having to read that, but tolerable because I understand some people aren't brilliant with a keyboard and need shortcuts. But I have no patience for people that, given the option to speak, still fall back on inane abbreviations. I will kick people and the only explanation I will give is "blame NCSoft and voice chat." followed by /ignore.

Only through the launcher, opt in, disable it...


Just curious, what is the point of it?
How is it going to work?
Will it be on a friends list or will there be endless chatter from everyone accessing it?
Can we use it to talk to one person at a time, as well as a whole group?
Will voice chat be kept on channels, and if so, can they be marked invite only?
Why through the launcher and not integrated into the game?


Questions about whether or not it can be disabled or opting in or out whatever seem like no-brainers... you don't want to use it, don't turn on your microphone and turn down the volume. Viola: disabled.

Now, let's have some poingant answers on this topic.

The following names have recently been released back into the wild on Infinity:<ul type="square">[*] Groovy Defender[*] Hometown Honey[*] Magical Kitten[*] Major Muscle[*] Blind Visionary[*] Night-Lightning[*] Spectral Rage[/list]

The following names have been released back into the wild on the Champion server:<ul type="square">[*] Magical Kitten[*] Night-Lightning[*] Major Brainfreeze[*] (The) Blue Deathdealer[/list]
Enjoy

I released the following names back into the wild over the past 30 days (or so):<ul type="square">[*] Lil Firestarter[*] Lil Ice Cube[*] Mr. Tough Guy[*] Atomic Cowgirl[*] Meter Maid 3000[*] World Wide Web[*] Just Takin' Up Space[*] Groovy Galactic Hero[/list]
Hope you all find something of interest there.

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Tomorrow... "Tomorrow" isn't a problem, and in fact, is pretty informative all on it's own, compared to the oft-quoted: Soon™...

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And just think, we've got more goodies for you next week too!

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Unless its an announcement of electric/electric added for tankers, I don't think I'll be all that excited. *yawns*

I'm a little disappointed. I thought the idea behind powerset proliferation was not only to expand each AT's powerset selection, but to give access to powersets the other side didn't have.

Blasters are getting a defender blast, but also an entirely new set
Brutes getting two primaries from tankers
Controllers getting a dominator set and a corruptor set
Corruptors getting defender sets
Defenders getting corruptor sets
Dominators getting a controller set and blaster set
Masterminds getting a defender set


But scrappers are getting tanker sets?
Tankers are getting scrapper sets?
Stalkers are getting brute sets?


What the hell?


There is no electric/electric representation on the heroside, so why not port that over to either tankers or scrappers? There's no ice melee and ice armor reprentation villainside, so why not port that over to stalkers?

I mean, if I want a fire/fire melee hero, I could just build a tanker. And if I want an elec/elec melee villain, I could just make a brute.


I'd really love to know what the reasoning behind the choices for these 3 ATs were.

And no, this isn't just whining for the sake of whining. I'm not entirely thrilled with some of the choices they made for the other ATs, but at least with those they're really spreading the love around. Ice controllers get no love while fire controllers do. MMs get only one secondary while brutes get two primaries and a secondary... I get that there are no other pet powerset ATs to share over to MMs, but at least they could have gotten two secondaries to compensate. Still, at least the one set they got they got came from the hero side and wasn't just another villain set.

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When I asked Castle on/ off the record about if there were plans to port more powers to Tanks on 9/4/07:

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For the record:
No comment

Off the Record:
Saying anything about this topic would make me have marketing people standing in my cube for hours glaring at me.

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Guess that marketing team finally gave the OK

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What do marketing people know anyway?


They should just be put on a rocket and launched into the sun.

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NO to above

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Jeez... you are such a killjoy.



Unless you mean no, we don't specifically get access to Statesman's cape and helmet, but we do get stuff in the picture that resembles Statesman's gear.

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So, was I reading it right that each AT will get one primary and secondary power from its corresponding AT? If so that's awesome!

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Every AT gains at least 1 powerset -- Masterminds only get a Secondary, no new Primary. Brutes get 2 new Primaries, and 1 secondary. Everyone else gets 1 Primary and 1 Secondary.

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WHAT?! No illusion masterminds?

I quit.

We should be allowed to name the 48 month vet pet like Masterminds can do with their pets.

Yay! TFs are now only soloable by tankers, the way virtual gods intended it to be.

*grumbles*

...must wait 24 hours before updating second account.


WTF?!

I know you guys try to protect against credit card fraud and all that, but for future packs, could you find a way to to sell us more than one unit in a single purchase? Maybe not a dozen all at once or anything, but at least a number equal to our game accounts on any given PlayNC account?

So if someone has 3 CO* accounts, he can buy 3 upgrades simultaneously.

I'd volunteer to move away from Freedom... unfortunately, my main's character name is taken everywhere else, so you're all stuck with me taking up a little of your precious space... when I'm not playing on Virtue, Liberty, Justice, or Protector.

I see complaints about people being locked of their home server, one person even painting the vivid emotional picture of being locked out of his house. Here's the thing, though... its not your server. Having your 50 or all of your characters exclusively on a server does not give you more right to it than someone who is starting off there with a brand new character... or even a Johnny-come-lately who moved a character there because he wanted to be part of a larger population or whatever other reason. They're paying customers, too, just like you.

You chose a server and, in many people's cases, chose to play exclusively there. End of story. It just happens that the server you chose ends up being the most popular and populated. This is a classic example of the old lesson: don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Already mentioned them (collectively).

Homage characters aren't clones or ripoffs. If a character in question looks like a ripoff, it probably is. Creating a character that is similar to but clearly different from trademarked characters should not be an issue.

Here's some good examples of homages

Manticore (as someone sort of pointed out already), a rich kid who lost his parents grows up to fight crime with gadgets and an animal-theme name &amp; costume. Clearly similar to Bruce Wayne/Batman in many ways, but he's not a clone or a ripoff.

Statesman, a super strong flying nigh invulnerable guy who can toss around some energy to boot (lightning rather than heat vision). Very similar to Superman in what he can do, but rather than making him the sole survivor of an alien world with godlike powers, he was a mere earthman who actually gained the power of a god (Zeus). Additional similarity, Superman has a cousin who later showed up on Earth... Statesman created his own "super girl" --his granddaughter, Ms. Liberty.

Mynx, young girl who volunteered for a Crey research project was given a "dangerous" serum that transformed her into feral cat-girl that Crey considered a failure because they could not control her. Somewhat similar to Tigra, a lab assistant for a scientist developing a process to enable a human to attain his full human potential... she was subjected to the process and later donned a cat costume to avenge the apparent death of her mentor. Later still, she was actually transformed into a cat-woman through magical rites. Close, but yet so very different.

Sister Psyche, a red-haired mutant telepath who... didn't attain the power of the Pheonix force, apparently. But her basic look and powers (as well as their source) are similar to Marvel Girl (Jean Grey, pre-Pheonix).

Luminary an android built by another hero to replace the original who retired. The new Luminary's physical appearance was modelled after the original hero's new bride, and the android has developed a strong personality resembling that bride's. Let's see... Jocasta was build by Hank Pym to be a bride for Ultron, and transferred (while brainwashed) his own wife's essence into Jocasta's form. Even though Wasp was saved, a portion of her essence remained in Jocasta. Its a bit of a stretch, but the two are clearly similar.

Citadel, another android hero who does not understand human ways but is a staunch defender of humanity regardless... even though his powers may differ, his basic concept seems similar to the Vision.

Let's also not forget that most (if not all) of the Detective contacts added for safeguard missions are inspired by and named similarly to various television cop/detective characters. How they failed to include Inspector Sledge Hammer in that illustrious list escapes comprehension.

And, while we're on the subject, a clear and obvious line can be drawn between another in-game/out-of-game pair, a clear homage from the developers toward someone else's intellectual property. The donut shop in Faultline, named Drenched Donuts... spelled out in the colors of that famous donut franchise I love so much: Duncan Donuts! Honestly, I don't know how they get away with this one and still have any shred of dignity when they set policy for genericizing someone's potentially questionable trademark violation character.


...and I'm sure very clear similarities can be drawn between numerous other official COH characters. These could be described, at "worst" as ripoffs rather than homages. Still, they are different enough that they are legally distinct from their alleged counterparts. And if someone makes a character who's appearance and/or backstory makes you think of another company's character... [u]that does not make it a ripoff[u].

The ripoffs are those that are clearly clones of the original... Zubermann in his blue tights with red shorts &amp; red cape and big "Z" on his chest is a ripoff of Superman, not an homage!


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And, to briefly address Marvel's accusation that Statesman was a ripoff of Captain America: all I can say is that they've gotta be completey nuts or high if they were serious about that, otherwise I will just assume that the entirety of Marvel Comics has become a soulless corporate sellout willing to take shots at anyone for a quick buck. Statesman is as much a ripoff of Captain America because of the patriotic colored costume with star on his chest as Lord Recluse is a ripoff of Spider-man's nemesis, Venom, because of the whole spider motiff.


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Now, back on topic... when I started reading this thread, I wasn't thinking of other companies' trademarked characters when I came into this thread. I was thinking heroes that looked like celebrities. Silly me. Here's a few I've seen in the game and took screenies of:

Albert Einstein

Sigmund Freud

Ghandi

the Devil (or South Park's interpretation of him)

and Jesus!!!

Zeus, Father of Olympus

Elvis Presley

Michael Jackson

Kid Rock???

Don Johnson, as appearing on Miami Vice -- this screenie is older than the Safeguard mission detective of similar appearance, but I bet this guy was genericized!



Now I get that the celebrities shown above deserve to be genericized... even Elvis, who is dead, still generates revenue and any image that generates revenue is not something to be trifled with. Also, I'm pretty sure Jesus and the Devil would get genercized (one for being a violation of South Park's image of him, the other for the same reason the word God is in the game's language filter).

However, where does NCSoft stand on historic figures? Is Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud okay, or is there some entity that hold the trademark on their names and likenesses? Would Ghandi be nerfed too, and if so... why?

And finally, that brings us to my favorite part of this topic: Zeus. Zeus is mythology and, as far as I know, fair game for anyone to take advantage of... you can't trademark historical mythology. Marvel Comics uses Zeus because Hercules is one of their second string heroes (#1 in my book, baby!!) and DC Comics also uses Zeus as part of Wonder Woman's whole backstory. NCSoft references the mythological father of the Greek gods, various movies make use of him, other game systems use Zeus... EVERYONE gets a crack at making their own interpretation of Zeus.

So how come Thor is off limits? Marvel does [u]not[u] OWN the mythology of Thor regardless of what they may think. They do own their likeness of him and the full name of the title of his book, "The Mighty THOR," but the name alone (and variants of it) should not be off limits... nor should original interpretations of a viking thunder god using variant names. However, NCSoft is afraid of going to court again, so they're willing to concede Marvel's right to something they don't necessarily have a right to. (Mind you, I am not referring to blatant ripoffs of Marvel's interpretation of Thor and those character violations [u]do[u] need to be addressed.)



Anyhow, I would like a little more clarification in the matter of "celebrities" as heroes... no, not like Mr. T, Chuck Norris, or Britney Spears (she should be a villain, not a hero! ) --but rather the historical/mythical celebrities. Is Ghengis Khan fair game? How about Robin Hood? What about... Cassanova? Just curious.

...optimism rising...


...sig changing...


RRRRRAAAAAWWWWRRRR!!!


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Seriously, though... I like the look of things to come. But I want details; I want to know what these "back on the table" ideas are, what's planned to go into the next couple of updates, and when can we look forward to expanded powerset lists for all ATs?

Come on, I want more weapon selections for brutes and electric stuff for tankers!!

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6) The question is a "when" question. We rarely answer these, because even when we put disclaimers on it, our answer becomes taken as gospel, and if we fail to deliver, we look bad.

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Guess what... not saying anything when there is an outcry for developer response makes you look just as bad to the same people you are trying not to look bad in front of.

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An elegant synopsis. I think I'm going to have to go find this article. However, I doubt Jack will be reading this, which is a shame.

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*ahem* I read the boards every day!

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I doubt it... I'll bet someone lets him know when comments like this come up just so he can slip in, pretend he's following along, and then slip away again to do whatever it is he does when he pretends to be too busy to answer serious questions.