Tyger

4 weeks today actually.

I don't expect anything at this point. I'll just wait and see.

Gold farmers came to City. Since the details are all server specific it meant SPAM to everyone whose name showed up. Now the mail system is improved it could definitely come back.

And the rest is:




Bit bummed by the loss for now and I only hope the rest can make up for it. Still two new powersets (for me), two extra character slots, Praetorians from 1-20 and alignment shifting. Still worth it.

Well unless they've done some major shifting since i9; I have seen it's possible to have a backpack as a back detail and it must've hooked on to the same point as the cape being that it was mutually exclusive with them, much the same as wings are. And it wasn't a bug in the creator; it was a bug from using the character transfer before they fixed it so we didn't get turned into G-Ms by using it.

Lots of good points, I have started doing the enhancement supply crafting in my personal base for all my alts.


The only thing that would make them better is if we could make them co-op post-GR launch. With the market-merge coming side-specific storage is no longer an issue but with the four alignments coming; co-op teaming is potentially a bigger issue. In hero/villain zones you could have up to 3 at any time with Rogues and Vigilantes walking the line, all four in a co-op zone. Let the players decide who gets invited to groups or simply invite to their bases. Then at least we'd have none of the team-dropping for people who zone to a dead-end and have to use a workaround (people logging out till it's a pureside team) or end up dropped completely from a TF with no way to get back on it.

Well there's the hostage rescue missions and the hostage rescue missions and the hostage rescue missions... >.<

I wish I was joking about that too. I got the same mission three times in a row with only the cave entrance being different. Then there's the hunt missions which shift from point to point but amount to the same thing. Same mission over and over. The saddest part? The shards makes for better villain missions and later in a RWZ arc. And let's not forget Darrin Wade's last words to us...


I can only restate what I said in Nethergoat's 'old content' thread: the old stuff is like a poison, conatminating the otherwise good stuff that has come since. It was argued against me that 'all content is new to a new player' but there was the devquote about how making a new zone entirely only takes a little bit longer than remaking an old one so revamping the shards would be a 'new' zone for new players. So why not fix it?

Well there's been quite a few parts which leaked out, most recent being the Syndicate pattern for pants (now grandfathered on two of my characters). I guess that one just slipped through but there's a few NPC patterns which get withdrawn like the Hero 1 cape which Champions boasts as a feature of their creator.


My own personal one is something I only tried in i9 beta on the US server. Server transfers were being tested at the time and those early birds got a big worm in that their characters got flagged as GMs and got access to several special commands and some NPC parts. We got back details from a few as well as some lovely preset pieces like ghost pirates and PPD hardsuits (Ghost pirate tankman ftw!). What it did show up was a couple of Vanguard pieces that for some reason were cut out of the final available set - the back emblem and a second belt option with thigh guards.

As seen here, thigh guards (vanguard belt 1 iirc):

And here, back detail:



I did try both parts on in the editor and they didn't seem to clip, slip or other. The back detail was also mutually exclusive to capes from what I remember.

Such as the removel of the Syndicate pattern off regular pants *snip*

And this:
Online-only - Now I do acknowledge that City has been on Steam although how successful that was for the Euro version; only Valve and NCSoft know.

To me it was always a mistake to have a download-only version of a US-only boxed edition. It never made sense and still doesn't now. It's digital-only so why does it remain fixed on one issue? Why wasn't it updated to Issue 15, 16 and the latest 17? So 18 and Going Rogue will sort that out but what happens when 19 swoops round? Or 20 and 21? If marketing something is to make me want to buy it then it should show the latest issues. It's a single picture update on the site and a change of the text entry. Not as if there's any special issue 14 only gift that comes with it. It's just the same as the regualr CoH and CoV choices but with a booster code to pick one of the packs as an extra.

As an aside: I just checked the plaync.com website (without logging in) and was directed to the US side of things again with Issue 13!! being the first video on show. Fan-tastic.


The shelf presense - I decided one week to go into my local Game and see which MMOs I could get in there. Surprised only by the lack of Champions discs I saw WoW taking up pride and place on the PC chart, a regular box right next to the expansion. If I was looking-to-buy then I could be sold on it being there.

I can re-iterate that we want a physical presense but I won't waste the time arguing since it's already been decided at this point. But what I will argue is that I've heard of many tales of discs being found or dropped in someone's lap. Hell I even bought the Matrix Online disc because it was there. I'd been turned off it, mainly because of subscription phobia but having the disc on a shelf hooked me into it for a little while. Yes, the Matrix had me

So the main arguement is that it costs to make different versions of the game and distribute them. Well I can understand the distribution aspect but the versions? Well they've been doing it for years; the disc is the same game, wherever you are in Europe so put as little detail as possible on it, English, German and French since those are the only server languages, keep the details short on the outside and there you go; one edition for your three main language bases. Third-party publishers did it for years in the 80s and early 90s during the catridge years.


Which brings me to the last one - Marketing. Here's the sum total of EU marketing over the past 3 or 4 years to my knowledge: a trial cover disc and a one-page advert in a PC magazine. So why have they suddenly changed their tune now?

Story time: for those that don't know Mother's Love, now former player, tried in vain to setup a City merchandise shop over here. Basically it was like one of those cafepress things and it was a fantastic idea. Needless to say this idea hit several roadblocks until finally a legal threat forced the idea out for good. And that was pretty sad given how much work had only been done in getting the looks right. There was also a very uncharacteristic rant at NCSoft in 2007 which centered around Guild Wars having merchandise and City lacking it (and again Guild Wars had shelf presense on its side due to its setup).

Now we're told that there is a campaign in the works but if it's online only then I'll say what I said about Issue 14; that sucks. I hope that's not the only thing though. Marketing has been one of the banes of the European version and needs a good kick-start. But then our marketing department probably consists of room with a picture of a market stall in it.


Now I need to sleep.

There is no Trial. There is only Mairenn MacGregor Task Force

Had to be done.

Yeah, soon™. And don't these guys work together? Pop downstairs or send them an email.

Damn, ninja'd But yes, I can verify that I had a stabler connection in the US when the EU was laggy as hell.

1-50 in seven days. I worked it out

Ty sighed into the phone.

"Alicia's in trouble. I was just talking to her and there was a shriek down the line before it went dead. I don't know what happened"

"She's in hell"

Ty's eyes widened as he heard the voice behind him. It was his but aged and distinctive. He turned and blasted at its source, scarring the wall. The image of his other self, Emperor Gar, looked at the wall. Ty simply looked at the damage past him, the phone still to his ear.

"Nice shot. She's in hell. You're going to tell Pious, who can't hear me by the way, that you need to get a team and find a way to get to her and bring both of them back."

Ty kept his eyes on Gar while he resumed talking to Pi.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Alicia's in hell and we need to get her back. I have a couple of people I can call on and I imagine you do too. .. Huh? Oh I just got a tip... Yeah, I'll be there."

Ty hung up and stared at his counterpart.

"What's your angle? You're telling me exactly where she is and what to do. What are you up to?"

Gar smiled.

"Well aside from someone making it personal; I loved mine as much as you still do her and I don't want to see her end up left there. I know you don't believe my motives but giving you a heads-up doesn't really change much aside from now it's all on you to get her back."

His image faded and Ty was left staring at the charred wall. He started thinking about names and began to dial again.

Tyrone picked up the phone, reading the number and the name...

"Hey Alicia... You should've told me you were going to see Silvia... You're what? Alicia.. Alici-argh!"

He pulled the phone away from his hear as it shrieked at him looking back to it as the connection fell silent. The display read 'Call ended' and he started dialling again. He searched through the shortlist of names until it hit on 'Pious NH' and hit call. He put it to his ear and waited.

You heard it here first: the Cathedral of Pain is returning! :P

Gar turned his head away but carried on talking regardless.

"You would be right too if you'd been inside the mind of Nemesis himself. The real one that is, not all those steamworks he likes to send out. It's not that hard to understand. Cast a wide enough net and eventually you'll catch your prey. Alicia was dying and desperate and the slightest motivation that there was hope for her would be enough to spur her on. It's an old trick but by the time you stop talking on the phone; you'll only hear my last sentence anyway. So who was that on the phone?"

Gar turned his head back, waiting Memphis' response.

Gar's attention was apparently not on the centre of the meeting as he tried to tap a paddle ball, counting up from a hundred and something under his breath.

"Why didn't my friend make it as a Doctor? Because he never had the patients."

He continued his count, smiling as if amused by himself. He hit two hundred and stopped, handing the paddle out where one of his soldiers took it in hand. He turned to Alexander, leaning back in his chair, tipping it.

"You're quick to irritate. I suppose that's the main reason you lost Alicia. You tried to move too fast with a woman who had her own path to follow. They never like that unless you are truly more powerful than they are. Still it is getting a little tiring listening to them bicker."

While Gar was talking to Memphis; he was still sensing the arguement across the table. Some territorial dispute amongst two of the Illuminati about another space-faring race finally stepping out into the stars between their two strongholds of power and neither taking responsibility for them slipping out without proper measures of control.

"What did you have in mind?"