Smurch

Legend
  • Posts

    1317
  • Joined

  1. Smurch

    CoH 2

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Vitality View Post
    Wow...negative rep for what I thought was a legitimate question.

    No mercy on these forums haha.
    You can turn the rep system off.
  2. Quote:
    Originally Posted by SwellGuy View Post
    Now would it be more attractive to new players? Perhaps but why aren't they playing on Freedom and Virtue already?
    How did they know to choose Virtue or Freedom?

    When I was a new player, I chose "Protector" because I liked the name. I didn't know anything else about the servers. My first impressions of the game, and my decision to subscribe, were based on my early experiences on that server back in 2006.

    Very very few players ever look at the forums. Many will just log in, see no one around, and assume the game is dead and not subscribe.

    Quote:
    Unless you merge all the servers to one server or just down to those 2 to get populations greater than those two currently have then why aren't those two currently sufficient to attract new players?
    They might be, but there then needs to be some way to communicate that to new players who download the game and log in without coming here to the forums to find out which servers actually have a population. That could be a possible solution, maybe instead of showing server load (which is almost always the same on all servers) give some kind of meaningful approximation of actual population for each server so new users know what they're getting when they pick any particular one.
  3. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tongz View Post
    Once Going Rogue hits, will Scrappers be obsolete? Should I delete my level 24 elec/*? Which ARE cuter, kittens or puppies?!?
    You know, it's funny. Just a week or so ago, someone made a post in the Brute forums asking if Brutes will be obsolete when everyone can roll scrappers.

    The answer to both is, of course, no.
  4. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Shadow Wail View Post
    Thats not cool on the devs part...
    Maybe they should be really cool like the devs from Tabula Rasa. Or Dungeon Runners. Those guys rocked.
  5. Quote:
    Originally Posted by je_saist View Post
    um. Smurch. He called that correctly.
    No, he side-stepped the substance of everything I wrote by making a dismissive statement that attempts to discredit me. That isn't "calling it correctly". It's side-stepping the issue. It's a logical fallacy.

    I never once said if it's good or bad to play on a small server. I am sure some people like it. My point had NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with that. So calling out "oh you don't play on a small server, so thats why you don't see how cool it is" isn't making a valid point when what I wrote had nothing to do with anyone's subjective experiences of being on a smaller server.

    So, yeah, reading comprehension fail. For both of you. Because you MISSED THE POINT.

    AGAIN.

    Geeze, people, I'm trying to help you here. I want to see CoX succeed, and I want to see everyone happy, but I gotta say, the state of the servers today, and the poor reception new players get who ask about it in the forums, concerns me greatly.

    So if you wanna just say "oh you don't know how cool our small server is" (despite the fact I did play on a small server and that's WHY I don't play on one anymore) then fine, but I'd rather we find a way to help the game thrive in a way that's best for everyone. Wouldn't you?
  6. Smurch

    Personal Base

    Isn't this just a more elaborate login screen, ultimately? The only real difference here seems to be that you don't need to enter your password again.
  7. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Radionuclide View Post
    Not everyone who disagrees with merging the servers are blind to shrinking populations. I for one am not yet I am still against it. I am against it because of issues that will arise as pointed out due to character and SG naming.

    I will quit the game when they start merging. I'm not saying this as a threat but, as a fact of what will occur.
    Then help the devs find an alternative you can live with.

    The majority of what I'm seeing in here is sheer denial "oh I can find a team whenever I want and I get blind invites, so nope, the server isn't losing people! It's as good as ever, gosh golly! Yeah the empty streets? Thats just because people are teleporting to missions!"

    Denial ain't just a river in Egypt. The population of the game has shrunk over the past several years and it's not likely to grow significantly beyond what it is now. Sure we may get new players and attract old ones when GR comes out as the New Shiny, but some other game is also going to launch soon after and be someone's New Shiny too. Historically, the best we can hope for is that the shrinkage levels off at some point that's still financially viable for NCSoft. Higher populations have a direct correlation to subscriptions, especially first time subscriptions, so more populated servers are more attractive for the company than lower pop ones.

    Quote:
    What that tells me is that they are entering into a maintenance mode because the subscriptions are below a cost effective point to maintain them. That and if I lose character names (some of which I have had since weeks after launch), I will be quite displeased. I might be alone in that. So, the real question becomes is that a good business decision to lose customers as a result of that decision? I am not about to predict numbers but, if we went down to less then half the servers we current have as suggested up thread, there may be a fairly signifigant number who feel the same way as I do. If that occurs, is the remaining population large enough to be cost effective to pay for those servers?
    Maybe not. But I'd also like to suggest that maybe if it gets to the point where maintaining these servers is costing them new subscriptions as opposed to maintaining an ever shrinking existing base, then it might be a better business decision in the long run even if it alienates some long time players. Or at least might be perceived as one by the NCSoft Bean Counters who aren't the Devs, but who the Devs have to listen to.

    I've seen businesses fail because a struggling business owner refused to change to appeal to new customers, because such change is risky and would maybe alienate the few customers they have left. Nevermind that the few customers they have left aren't capable of supporting the business in the long term.

    It's not good for the business for players to enter into Mercy Island for the first time and never see another soul. Not in an MMO. Look at how many threads we've seen in just this year from new players asking "is this game dead? I don't see anyone in my server" only to be dogpiled by the "small server purists" and told the reason they don't see anyone else is their own fault because they're TOO STUPID to use search tools and global channels a fresh-out-of-the-zig player is unlikely to know anything about. Which is also not a good thing. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and that's two bad impressions in a row: a lack of visible population and a hyper-aggressive player base who resents anyone even suggesting for a second that there might possibly be a population problem on some servers.

    I play on Virtue, so any decision the devs make isn't likely to impact me terribly much (which does kinda blow the "they'll anger existing players who will leave the game in droves!" theory out of the water: if only the lowest pop servers are merged, the casualties should be minimal).

    If I were on a smaller server, however, I'd be concerned about shrinking populations and what this might mean to the bean counters at corporate. I'd be thinking really hard for some way to help the devs satisfy their corporate masters and still preserve the community I belong to.

    I certainly would not just stick my head in the sand, insist things are better than ever when clearly they're not. If you care about your server community, and you're on a smaller server, then you should absolutely be concerned about the future of your server, and it'd behoove you to try to think of solutions than deny there is a problem in the first place. The day may not come tomorrow or next week, or maybe not even next year, but if it keeps up like this it will come.

    Tabula Rasa's servers were busier than some of the lower pop servers here, and we all know what happened there (much to my personal dismay).

    That's all I'm saying.
  8. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Camper View Post
    Funny how all the experts on how terrible it is to be on a low population server never actually play on the low population servers, isn't it.
    Way to completely miss the entire point.
    Reading comprehension fail.
  9. I originally played on Protector. When I came back to the game after a hiatus a year ago January, Protector was dead. All the SGs I knew: gone. Streets: Empty. Pocket D: Vacant 99% of the time.

    I moved to Virtue, and things were much better. Recently, a player we knew from the old days logged back in after a couple years break and said Protector was so dead, so he moved to Virtue too.

    I understand having loyalty to your chosen server to a degree, I do, but honestly, many of the servers are seriously underpopulated these days, especially compared to how they used to be. To pretend the populations haven't been steadily shrinking because you have "no problems" finding a team is sticking your head in the sand.

    Sooner or later, the devs are going to need to cope with the fact that some servers have populations that are drying up. As someone pointed out, it's not good for the game for a new player to log in the first time, select a server at random, and see no one else around. Eventually, something will need to be done: a server merge, a single-server solution, something.

    You can stick your fingers in your ears all you want but there is a reality that while you might enjoy playing on a server where you can usually pretend successfully that it's a single player game, this is not good for a business, and a business decision is likely to be made at some point that is probably going to make you very unhappy.

    It'd be alot more productive to talk about real solutions to dwindling populations on some servers and thus have at least some voice in shaping that eventual solution than to keep asserting that everything is fine and nothing needs to change, ever. Because like it or not, that's probably not true.
  10. Foes of my Axe/WP Brute don't live long enough for -Def to be relevant.
  11. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marcian Tobay View Post
    Sales have dropped significantly over the past year. I don't want to say it's related, because I don't know. Pretending like they didn't, though, is disingenuous.
    To be fair, we are in the middle of a global economic crisis, and that does probably have a tad more to do with sales being down than any changes that may or may not have been made to PVP.

    I think they should enable base raids for those who want them. What's the harm if it's a completely consensual system? It's basically an arena you build and maintain yourself at that point.
  12. My crab is Webmaster Araneus
    My huntsman is Turannos

    I've considered renaming my huntsman to Huntsman Turannos, but I am really on the fence about doing so.
  13. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Motorheart View Post
    Basically, I've been looking around the boards for a while and I keep seeing all these posts saying that they are new to Corruptors, or something, and they give a build that takes them to level 50.
    I just wonder if they plan on following that build solidly and mechanically all the way to level 50, or if they do other stuff along the way and respec in to it. It's just because they say they have just started out and have planned what they are going to do. I mean, I haven't even planned what I'm wearing tomorrow, for <deity>'s sake!

    So, am I the only person who plays the game by ear, or what?
    I do. If I'm torn about a power selection, I'll peek at a guide to get some opinions about how a power works, but I don't do these planned builds at all (not even at 50). I don't even start thinking about IO sets until around 30 at all, and will probably respec a character once or twice during their career as I discover things about them and their power set.
  14. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kitsune Knight View Post
    Tell that to my army of clones. They thought killing me would stop me. They thought killing me a half dozen times would stop me! But oh, WERE THEY WRONG!





    (god damn EIGHT stacked caltrops and constant Smoke Flashes every time I got one low! )
    Try doing eight clones when you're playing a Master Mind
  15. Smurch

    Claws/Stone

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by HiddenJackal View Post
    I'd be perfectly acceptable with having phallic finger claws.
    Well, who wouldn't be?
  16. My policy is simply "Play your best and don't get other people killed". Beyond that, it's up to you how to best play your character. If you consistently do stupid things that gets the rest of the team killed (aggroing multiple spawns, sending pets running all willy-nilly, splitting up the team because people are trying to save your sorry butt), then you'll be booted. Nine times out of ten, that's a problem with player behavior rather than character build.

    If you're able to contribute and not be a detriment whatever your build is, I'm cool with you.
  17. Quote:
    Originally Posted by DrMike2000 View Post
    I agree that its dissappointing when a VEAT rocks up and doesn't have the defense buffs, but I think your standards are a bit high for PUG-ing.
    This is the nice way to say it.
  18. Smurch

    Claws/Stone

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by FireWyvern View Post
    Something about granite and the claws not working together if i recall. There was talk about changing granite, so maybe eventually we'll be able to make one.
    Shhhh!
  19. Smurch

    Claws/Stone

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Shadow Wail View Post
    How come I can't make a Claws/Stone Brute?
    Because the game has assessed your overall playing skill and it has decided that you just aren't ready for the pure awesome of a Claws/Stone Brute. Keep trying, though!
  20. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Muon_Neutrino View Post
    Only problem would be that you'd still be stuck with the arachnos gun.
    You consider that a bug. I consider that a feature!
  21. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Godpants View Post
    Just to point out that huntsmen aren't helpless in melee, my SoA has made good use of Pummel from the get-go. It's not great damage (same as Single Shot), but it carries a 66% chance to lay a mag 3 stun on your victim and is fast to animate and recharge.

    I plan to pick up Bayonet as well, maybe as part of a respec, just to have another single target attack for any fool who dares run up on me
    Pummel + Bayonet is a fun combo.
  22. I'd prefer your point of view over those who feel the need to Speed Boost everyone they run across no matter what the situation.

    Speed Boost in Pocket D! Yay I can now evade attempts at catgirl ERP faster!
    Speed Boost at the Market! Yay! I can shop faster!
    Speed Boost while standing around RP'ing. Yay! I can type faster!

    Quit with the excessive speed boosting!

    That said, if you're on a team, I think you should do what's best for the team. Unless one guy is a total putz who gets everyone else killed. Ignore that guy.
  23. Smurch

    RP spots?

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Agonus View Post
    Call me crazy, but I -like- it when an RPer approaches me in a public location. Multiple times I've dragged VGmates out of the base kicking and screaming to try and get them out in the open to maybe find some other RPers. Some times it works, some times it doesn't. But geeze, maybe it's just my luck but it sure seems that these days, a lot of RPers do NOT want anyone else approaching them, anywhere, ever.
    It seems to me if people RP in /local, they shouldn't have a problem with others joining in. If I want to RP without others joining, I do it in /team or /supergroup or even /coalition.

    I generally only RP with strangers on teams. We've got four years of backstory in our RP now that I just don't really see wanting to bring someone up to speed on any time soon. I'm pretty happy with how that story RP is going, and attempts to include strangers in our little group have never worked out very well.

    So, yeah, I see why some people would want to RP without being disturbed, but I dont see why they'd do that in local chat.
  24. I am very interested if Crossfire Support is coming.
  25. Smurch

    Call it

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Blood Spectre View Post
    In what universe are you "forced" to bid blindly? There is no fee. You can keep bid creeping in 1 inf incriments if you were so inclined, until you found the right price. Lack of bid history just means you may have to bid a few times before you find the seller's asking price.
    Yep, incremental bidding is the cheapskate's best friend to "buying it now".