Ravenswing

Getting boring. Actually, got boring about a week ago, but I dare say there are still people desperately hunting badges...

I was given to believe the zombies stopped yesterday sometime, and they seem to be still going.

By now, more or less every non-tree plant in Paragon is dead. The Devouring Earth have probably lost a third of their number.

When's it due to stop?

There'll be back-office handling charges to cover the credit card transaction. Maybe some record keeping (maybe), and I suspect it needs to ensure that the character isn't logged in or anything before doing the change, but yes, you're probably right.

And I have, so it could be 4.
It's at least 3, since Delph is not the one I've seen, and neither is his girlfriend.

Yes, that's probably a myth. They're only EBs, they're tough but you don't need a full team to take them down, so I doubt they only spawn them for full teams.

Sometimes, it just doesn't work.

I remember introducing Operative Seven one night a couple of years ago. People saw a new character, didn't know who it was, and GG was being at its most cliquey back then... I was plain ignored.

Sometimes, you just hit things at the wrong time. Gideon hit that this last week trying to introduce Savage Angel. Introductions kind of got lost when there was major angsty plottage appearing out of the rock (not to mention zombies).

[ QUOTE ]
I know that the "hard-nosed loner who don't need nobody" is a wonderful character concept for a comic-book or novel character. But it doesn't work in RP.

[/ QUOTE ]

When I started LARPing, I was lucky enough (I think) to fall in with the kind of people many players don't get to meet for a long time. Seasoned, experienced players who were good to hang around with and would tell you all the wonderful stories aboutt he past.

One of them made mention of the people who turn up to LARP events, sit in the bar, dressed in black, and hardly talk to a soul (aside from joining the Scouts' Guild). They've come up with a loner persona, and they're playing it. It works, if they can play an entire four day event in their own mind. Otherwise, they decide LRP sucks and never come again. Ya gots ta talk to people.

Hmm, well, let's go look at our handy WoW account. Character name change: £6.

Over on LotRO, character name change: £6.

I think you can see where the price comes from here.

As regards the character transfer thing, AFAIK, if there's a name clash, you get a free rename, if there isn't, why would you want to change it?

If you want an explanation of why it costs £6 to rename a character? I'd imagine that it's the amount the game companies think people will pay for something they won't do very often (that the companies don't want done very often, in fact). Cheap enough to not worry that much over, expensive enough to deter idiots from griefing and then changing identity.

It probably costs more to process the requests than it does to actually schedule the name change through the database batch process. This is one of those cases where the price is set largely by external constraints than by the 'work' required to do it.

[ QUOTE ]
Rewarding SGs for playing together might make random teaming harder, I think.

[/ QUOTE ]

Besides, this is the second recent "reward SG mates for teaming" thread, and the previous one made more sense (after I'd had it pointed out I'd read it wrong ).

I just don't get this one.

(( [ QUOTE ]
I think you'd understand, thankyooverymuch.


[/ QUOTE ]

Not really. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt and the matching boxer shorts (and I hate boxers). Being rude, doesn't help. Just guarantees people won't pay attention.))

(( Ditto. Nothing in that range. Saven would hear it, but Section 19 wouldn't let her do it anyway. Glory would be good, but she's too low. And the rude post doesn't really make you want to go anyway. Hey ho. ))

Why?

[ QUOTE ]
It seems like a relatively small amount of work for a fairly large outcome

[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree, on the second part, but there you go.

[ QUOTE ]
But if we don't suggest ideas because they aren't guaranteed to be instantly doable in the engine, this section of the boards would be a bit dull.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't object to suggestions due to them being hard or undoable. I object to people stating that it would be simple when they don't know. Why bother writing it down?

[ QUOTE ]
No, the work would be getting the existing glow code to play nice with players and their patterns, which I can't comment on, as I have no knowledge on the particulars of their systems.

[/ QUOTE ]

The comment was, purely, that the assumption that something is easy because you can see it being used somewhere makes it easy to implement elsewhere. It doesn't. The only thing I can say for certain is that the existance of glowmaps in the static NPC models doesn't make them instantly employable in the dynamic player models.

It may help that I rarely do TFs. It may also help that most hero teams have someone on them that can teleport their friends...

[ QUOTE ]
The raptor only last for 2 hours blue side.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's two hours of actual usage. My level 44 Scrapper with no travel powers still has 10 minutes on that and 11 on the jump pack.

Now, if you spend your time hovering a lot, or leave the pack turned on when you're not actually moving, sure, 2 hours isn't much, but in practice, if you're a little conservative, it's ages of time.

[ QUOTE ]
Then I became curious if people are not concerned because they either don't see a thing like that happeneing or don't mind paying for things like that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Personally, I don't see it being likely that NCW will add paid for, significant powers to the game. It's fairly close to the Asian model where special items and the like are bought using micro-payments, and it's not a scheme which has curried much favour outside Asia.

[ QUOTE ]
But most people will choose not to do so. They will take their travel power at level 14 and 'waste' their two build slots on something they only use to travel from mission to the shops and trainers and vica versa. I am sure there are enough people willing to pay extra Euros for the privelege of paying for powers to do just that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes... most people take travel powers. Yes, I suspect that a lot of people would like the utility of having a temp power that ported them to mission doors. The two are entirely unrelated.

Really, we don't know much about this 'Teleport to Mission' power, and it's a bit early to judge how 'unbalancing' it is, however it probably has a 30 minute timeout, so we aren't exactly talking game breaking. If you think that's going to replace travel powers in most people's eyes, then I'd suggest reassessing. Aside from anything else, it's only to mission doors, what about all the other places you need to go?

And beyond that, the rest of your post was worst case scenario speculation with the suggestion that it was inevitable. Exactly what we come to expect at the weekend, really.

Forcast for November 2nd, the night of the big party up at Huntington Manor, and for all you lucky souls going, the hut tub is still looking like the best option.

Temperatures today should not climb above freezing, and with that wind chill, it's going to feel more like -3. The clouds continue to stay away, however, so no rain, however, with the eternal night continuing, there's no sun to enjoy.

Temperatures should rise a little tomorrow, but the cloud will thicken. Expect a 20% chance of precipitation.

[ QUOTE ]
You DO know I'm going to want a Dr Cybernoid alt now..

[/ QUOTE ]

Sadly, I don't think the tentacles are doable.

[ QUOTE ]
It would just give a fairly large graphical beef-up to characters and aid customisation, all while using existing code.

[/ QUOTE ]

Aside, of course, from the updates requied to the costume editor and the changes required to put this into effect on character models, which aren't the same as NPC models.

i.e. If it's a change then it isn't 'using existing code,' is it..?

(Note: not saying it's a bad idea, you're just making assumptions that I don't see as backed up by reality.)

Personally I liked:[ QUOTE ]
huge plans, plans that go over the next five to ten years, for the City of Heroes franchise

[/ QUOTE ]

Five to ten years? Please start selling lifetime subscriptions so I can just get it over with.

Good grief, yes. I didn't notice the year on the original post.

[ QUOTE ]
And with the new travel packs you can forget about getting a travel power and concentrate on making a nastier build then ever before. This is what makes me less enthousiastic.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll only comment on this, since the rest is mainly DOOM (tm).

My current main, Nitoichi, has no trval powers aside from Sprint, Hurdle, and Swift (and now CJ, but that has other aspects). I've got her planned to 50, and she's not going to have any. I don't see this as an issue.

At level 5, you can get a flight pack by doing a few missions. It'll last you easily until you get a travel power, or decide you don't need one, especially if you go on to get the Jump pack at level 10. (Ni still has time on both, they are barely ever used.) I did get the GvE pack, but at the price it was at when I bought it, the 30 days of game time pretty much paid for itself, plus goodies.

From scratch, you have Pocket D which shortcuts 4 zones. At level 25, you should be able to access a portal on a 5 minute cooldown which gives you rapid access to multiple zones. At 35, you get access to Vanguard, with a shortcut between three zones and the entrance to a forth (RWZ). And then there's teleports in SG bases.

It's arguable, certainly, but there is limited need for travel powers, and the most useful time to have them (the early levels) is covered by in-game available temp powers.

[ QUOTE ]
Sry this should have been Inuvl(tanker)/energy(blaster priamry), wuld be really good fun, if nothing else, though any of the tanker piramryd with blaster pirmarys would be hardcore.

[/ QUOTE ]

Any Tank Mage build should be suitable. Heavy armour and ranged weapons? Always OP.

The eternal darkness continues in Paragon City. Temperatures are not expected to rise much above freezing today, with light cloud, but no rain.

Overnight the clouds will clear, expect the temperature to drop a degree or so.

The temperature should rise a little tomorrow. Expect light clouds in the evening. The best place to be is obviously the hot tub at Huntington Manor, where temperatures are expected to soar.

(( Please note that this contains slightly adult themes, though nothing you probably won't get in an Image comic, and those have pictures! ))


The Perils of Liberty Girl
By Annette Barrington

Liberty Girl struggled to open her eyes. The Malta hit squad that attacked her in the warehouse in Independence Port had been fast and efficient. Three Sappers had drained her energy while Tactical operatives had hit her with tasers. She had fought, yes, but the odds had been overwhelming. Her last memory before blacking out was a Gunslinger standing over her holding a hypospray.

She was on her back, and when she tried to move, she discovered that her wrists and ankles were shackled down. Managing to focus on her own right wrist, not an easy task, she recognised the familiar sheen of Impervium. What was, perhaps, more worrying, was that her wrists were shackled above her head, while her legs were held wide apart. What heinous villain was responsible for this and what were his plans?

"At last, Liberty Girl, I have you in my power!" She recognised the voice instantly, it was...

No, that was terrible! Annette had never heard a real villain talk like that. "How do people come up with the dialogue?" she mused aloud. However, since she was alone in her room, it was Nitoichi, her alternate personality, who answered. I think they just make it up. Most of the ones we meet do seem to spout that kind of rubbish though, and I thought you were going for a camp forties feel? Which was true. Okay...

...it was Doctor Mechanoid...

You don't think that's a bit close to 'Mechano,' do you? Annette glowered at her monitor and hit the backspace key several times.

...it was Doctor Cybernoid, her arch-nemesis. Lifting her head, she could see him standing a few yards away at the foot end of the metal bench she was chained to.

"Cybernoid," she said, almost spitting the name, "what heinous..."

You can't use 'heinous' there, you just used it in the last paragraph. Oh, damn, yeah.

"Cybernoid," she said, almost spitting the name, "what dastardly plan have you got for me this time."

Cybernoid walked forward, his metal heels clanging on the laboratory floor plates. "Why Liberty Girl, what do I always want with you?" It was true. After foiling his every evil plot for three years, Cybernoid had fallen in love with her. Now he plotted to capture her, first to keep her away from his latest plans, but also to have her in his power.

"You'll never get away with this!" Liberty Girl cried, struggling in vain against her unbreakable chains. The thought of what Cybernoid might have planned for her was made all the more terrifying by the sight of the Doctor himself. His body was humanoid, but almost entirely mechanical. His face was a projected image on a blank, armoured glass faceplate. His normal arms were augmented by the set of ten articulated, metal tentacles which sprouted from his back, each ending in a wicked, metal spike. Four of them snaked out now, their sharpened ends shredding her costume and exposing her body to the cool air of the laboratory.

Woah, Nelly. I thought you were going for PG-13 here? What? Okay, maybe fifteen-rated. Ha! You're worse than me! Even in fiction you can't wait to get her clothes off. She was fully dressed all the way through the fight scene with the Malta. Oh yeah, you mean the fight scene with all the lingering descriptions of her tight bottom, powerful thighs, and heaving breasts? Yes, but... And the passage about how her body seemed the writhe in ecstasy under the tasers? Oh... shut up, Ni.

Four more of the arms lifted, and Liberty Girl gasped at the adaptations Cybernoid had made to them. Two of them, now rapidly moving toward her upper body, where fitted with large, plastic cups. The others had had their razor spikes replaced with rounded shafts which...

Now, just hang on a minute. When did we skip from forties pulp to hentai? Well, um, it's supposed to be perilous. Yeah, I was expecting fiendish death traps, not kinky bondage play. I'm updating the genre, shush. Your funeral...

...rounded shafts which were now moving inexorably toward the space between her spread legs. "Cybernoid, you monster! No!" Liberty Girl shrieked.

"You will be mine, Liberty Girl," Cybernoid laughed. "I will show you ecstasy such as no other man can give and you will realise that you do love me!"

"No! Never!" The blonde heroine struggled to keep her exposed breasts from the transparent cups, but there was little she could do to escape.

There was a sound like cotton being shredding, the tinkling of glass, and a dark shape crashed through the lab window, dropping into a crouch. Nitoichi, Liberty Girl's sidekick...

Hang on, I am not being her sidekick!

...Nitoichi, Liberty Girl's constant companion...

Then why wasn't she there for the Malta?

...Nitoichi, Liberty Girl's companion, scanned the room, her eyes taking in the scene. Liberty Girl's heart swelled at the sight of the lithe brunette, not least because it meant there was a chance for her to escape this gruesome fate.

Nitoichi straightened, lowering her twin energy swords and smiled. "Hey, Libby, like the new look," she quipped. "Little draughty, maybe. How's it going, Doc? Failed to hatch any good plots recently? Oh, yeah, I defused the bio-bomb, by the way."

"Nitoichi! You shall rue the day you stood between me and my prize!" Cybernoid growled, and surged forward, sharpened tentacles whipping toward the lightly clad heroine. Her pale blue, glowing blades rose to meet them, slicing one end cleanly off and deflecting a second. She danced around Cybernoid, lithe body...

That's another 'lithe,' don't you have a thesaurus? Shut up, Ni.

...lithe body twisting and turning as she dodged and deflected the tentacles of death.

Tentacles of death! You have got to be... Really, shut it.

Cybernoid screamed in frustration. Even when he managed to mar Nitoichi's perfect, olive skin, the wound closed quickly and she seemed to ignore the pain. His only consolation was that her blows kept missing. Quite suddenly, the reason for this became clear as Liberty Girl vaulted from the table she had been tethered to, delivering a vicious kick to Cybernoid's head.

Suddenly, he had two heroines of considerable martial skill to deal with. His hardened body was quite resistant to Liberty Girl's blows, but the impacts kept him off balance and left him vulnerable to Nitoichi's swords. Any tentacle he attacked with was swiftly cut off or rendered inoperable. And then a shining blade cut off his right hand. He backed away rapidly, his head swinging from side to side to keep both of his stunning adversaries in sight.

He laughed. A cold laugh that sent a chill through Liberty Girl's very bones. "This is only a momentary set back, my paramour. I will see you again." He vanished in a flare of bright light.

"Next time, I set up a teleport block before rescuing you from deviant slavery," Nitoichi commented.

"Thanks, Nitoichi, you're a star," Liberty Girl replied, punching her friend playfully on the arm.

Nitoichi smiled sadly and wandered back to the window, retrieving a bag from the other side of the broken glass. She pulled a trench coat from it. "Knowing you," she said, "I figured you would have torn your costume." She swallowed audibly as she handed the coat over. "Though that's a bit extreme, even for you."

Liberty Girl grinned as she slipped the coat on and buttoned it up, Nitoichi watching every move. When the coat was done up, the expression on the brunette's face was somehow regretful.

"Well, I'd better get back to base and grab a new costume," Liberty Girl said cheerfully. "Can't have people seeing me half naked."

"Err, no," was all Nitoichi could manage. She watched as the blond beauty slipped out through the shattered window, a look of unendurable longing on her face.

Okay, so what do you think? It's got charm. So you hate it? Annette closed the file and sat there looking at the icon on her desktop. Nah! It's cool. Little melodramatic for my tastes...

Ni's hand swept the mouse pointer up to the icon and then dragged it over to the waste basket. "Who am I kidding?" she said aloud. "No one would want to read it anyway."

---

At around two in the morning, Annette wandered out of the bedroom, leaving Linda asleep in her bed, and turned her computer on. She waited patiently while it came out of stand by and then opened the waste basket.

"Now," Ni said quietly to herself, "where can I stash this where she won't find it..."