Vengeance_MK2

You are absolutely right PhillyG.

I have been getting the word out, and honestly a 1% recommend ratio is pretty average for many iReports. We are hampered by our relatively isolated population, and the fact that extra steps are needed to do this, opposed to just clicking a 'like' button.

IF (a big if) the community wants to push this iReport as its outreach to the public over the other one (for reasons already mentioned) then I suggest taking it to the servers.

Let people know aobut it, and the importance to recommend it. Get it stickied in your local server channels. TALK about it at events.

Again, nothing against the prior ireport.. it was an awesome start that inspired me to write what I did, but.. its probably not the type of journalism that will make it onto CNN.

No problem.

Just found out Neil Gaiman retweeted about it yesterday. :P

Guess my writing isnt too bad for an engineer, (and lots of edits).

WOW

Pure win!

Thank you for the corrections. Ill fix them now.

1600 views? In less than a day? I post nudie pics that dont get that kind of love!

and I have to say.. that intro.. specifically making it gender neutral so the reader could place themselves as the hero... DAMN that was hard to write!

By no means was this meant to detract from the existing post, but yes, the journalistic feel, I felt, could have been improved upon. I recommended the first one already. But, that said, it does have a tone that you really have to be in game, to really understand.

Heh, your ratio is much better than mine! im at 1100/14!

Maybe I am a bad writer.

I created a iReport on CNN, with the intent to raise awareness to a broad audience. It is not an emotional plea, but intended to a slightly entertaining yet informative read.

Please feel free to view it, fave it, and most of all recommend it.

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-838027

Oh darn, Neo Artemis might have joined you. Ill try and log on around then anyway.

Im reposting this from a blog I just started:

http://paindancer.blogspot.com/2012/...-networks.html

They are just my own thoughts, but I would love to hear people's responses.

---------------

I am a gamer.

It isn’t all that I do. The fact that I am even writing about this at all is a step out of the norm for me.
I cant say I have been a hard core, min/max type, but I have usually had a hand in some long term MMORG or another for the last 15 years. Like many people, I gravitate to the community of it, the long standing network of casual to significant friendships that form from repeat players and interactions. When I sign up, I am probably going to maintain my presence for years.

I have met lovers, been welcomed with open arms by strangers when traveling to new cities, even found work through these interactions. Its not at all hard to say, these were social networks long before Zuckerberg was feeling rejected and typing the first lines of code for Facebook in his dormroom. I think that these characters, almost become ‘pets’, or even sub fragments of our own personalities. We identify with them; we assign them their own traits and want the best for them. But again, the most important aspect for many of these games, is the social network, the internal community.

Recently, NCSoft decided to pull the plug on City of Heroes. Abruptly. Literally, a wake up in the morning to the news, with all the tact of a adolescent PVP griefer:, ‘ All COH staff R fired and COH is DOA in 3 mos. LOLZ!’ Now many long term gamers have gone through a games twilight phase before, but COH wasn’t in it, by any evidence. The populations were relatively stable, new content was being churned out regularly, the game was continuing to improve. In fact, another major expansion and content release was being promoted regularly well into final testing on the beta server. (One has to question the legal position they have put themselves in, soliciting paid subscriptions for VIP content, only to cancel it as they did.. I personally feel like I have been deceived, but that is another matter.)

But I think even more telling, is the shock and outrage across the player community. Tracking the comments show how widespread and deep this community goes. Not just the immediate group of friends, a particular server, or even the greater player base.. sincere sympathy is expressed to the development team who seems just as surprised at this as the player are, the greater gaming community recognizes this is sad turn of events. People who haven’t even played see this as bad. The feeling of betrayal is apparent. NCSoft is not getting a good reception from this.

For good reason. Most games, do something for their loyal players. Everquest still has a server running for Cazic’s sake. One has to wonder, why NCSoft would turn such a callous hand to its staff and a loyal fan base. Rumors abound, from their no longer wanting a US market, to corporate deception on the level of a Tom Clancy conspiracy. Perhaps, it is a issue literally beyond their control, but if not.. it becomes a matter of consumer commoditization. Profit is maximized regardless of the human cost, and the social network effect is neglected.

I don’t know many corporations that do not take the social network effect into consideration. COH has a strong internal social network that expands beyond the confines of the field enforces walls of Paragon City, and I cannot see disregarding that network to be a successful model for any cooperate venture these days. I am not sure what NCSoft is planning to do, to help mitigate the image that they have created: that the social network they created, the playerbase and staff are nothing more than communities to be used and discarded. I cant imagine that being a viable long term strategy for any company that uses an internal social network. As it stands, I will avoid any NCSoft game, simply because of their disregard for the community and staff that support them. I am looking to the news and events that follow in the next few days. There are already in community groups looking to buy the franchise rights as well as other approaches, such as petitions (http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes) and write in campaigns.

One lesson being learned, however, is I don’t think a corporate entity can foster a social network, and then just expect it to go away without repercussions. Perhaps, this is a relatively new factor in corporate strategies that many companies are going to have to address, especially in the MORG realm. Can you imagine the outrage is Facebook suddenly said ‘all done’ or even pictogram? It would be a scandal, and the company wouldn’t survive.

So, said my piece. I’m off to put on my cape and try to save the world form an overwhelming impossible adversary. After all, its what we do on City of Heroes. @Vengeance MK2 on Guardian if you want to say hello, at least, while the world lasts.

Interesting.

Been playing a E3 for a very long time.

I have always felt, E3 is more of a controller heavy blaster type, with a cost to single target. Plenty of single target power choices to take if you want that.

It will be interesting to see what the changes entail, but probably not a real big effect to me.

None of the power effected are on all of my builds.... Zapp is situational, so on a few builds. My nova, same situation.

Thunder Clap?

Bwahwhahah! No one uses thunderclap!

Try BL followed by a port in and SS

Here, all this time, I thought I could only get a single unique IO per toon.

Huh.. back to the drawing board. :P

I will say, why have stealth? Save the power for something else and just slap a Stealth IO on one of your travel powers.

Here is my E^2M build. Very travel oriented, and moved into a more PvP friendly setup. Always tweaking things. Fun dosnt quite describe the build. Port in unseen, and drain. Nuke from afar with LRM and follow it up with a ball lightning, and of course the very very vicious mele.

Might respec aim in somewhere at somepoint, but the build works fine without it.

Bah, Electric guild isnt on Gaudian!! Oh well!

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.153
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/hu/mhd.php

Vengeance MK2: Level 50 Technology Blaster
Primary Power Set: Electrical Blast
Secondary Power Set: Electricity Manipulation
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Teleportation
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Munitions Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Lightning Bolt -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(27), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 1: Electric Fence -- TotHntr-Dam%(A), TotHntr-Acc/Immob(5), TotHntr-EndRdx/Immob(5), TotHntr-Acc/EndRdx(27), HO:Centri(31), HO:Centri(40)
Level 2: Ball Lightning -- HO:Centri(A), HO:Centri(7), Dmg-I(7), Posi-Dmg/Rng(29), Acc(31), EndMod(40)
Level 4: Lightning Field -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(15), EndRdx(15), EndMod(50), EndMod(50), EndMod(50)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(9), RechRdx-I(9)
Level 8: Short Circuit -- HO:Nucle(A), Dmg(11), Dmg(13), EndMod(45), EndMod(46), EndMod(46)
Level 10: Havoc Punch -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(11), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(13), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29), HO:Nucle(43)
Level 12: Swift -- Run(A)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Run(A)
Level 16: Teleport Foe -- Range-I(A), Acc(17), Acc(17)
Level 18: Health -- Heal(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod(A), EndMod(21), EndMod(21)
Level 22: Combat Jumping -- HO:Ribo(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(23), RedFtn-Def(23), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(42), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(43), RedFtn-EndRdx(43)
Level 24: Tesla Cage -- HO:Endo(A), HO:Endo(25), HO:Endo(25)
Level 26: Super Jump -- Jump(A)
Level 28: Acrobatics -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 30: Teleport -- TSM'n-EndRdx(A), TSM'n-Rng(31), TSM'n-Stlth(33), Range-I(33)
Level 32: Thunder Strike -- C'ngBlow-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngBlow-Dmg/EndRdx(33), C'ngBlow-Dmg/Rchg(34), C'ngBlow-Acc/Rchg(34), HO:Nucle(34), RechRdx(46)
Level 35: Power Sink -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(36), RechRdx(36), EndMod(36), EndMod(37), EndMod(37)
Level 38: Shocking Grasp -- HO:Perox(A), HO:Perox(39), Hold-I(39), Dmg(39), Acc(40), RechRdx(48)
Level 41: Body Armor -- ResDam(A), ResDam(42), ResDam(42)
Level 44: Cryo Freeze Ray -- HO:Endo(A), Hold(45), Hold(45)
Level 47: LRM Rocket -- HO:Centri(A), HO:Centri(48), HO:Nucle(48)
Level 49: Build Up -- ToHit-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Defiance
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)


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For what its worth, and this is understandably unconventional logic, I recently took on team teleport, finally respecing in a travel power at 44.

Dear lord, where have you been all my life?

There really isnt anything quite like dropping 10 tons of mechanized armor into the middle of a troupe of badduns, and with stealth (proc?) it puts you in prime position to lay all of your proximity traps.

I will say, I liked the guide, poison trap is nearly essential for a up close, tanking bot/trap. You can take punishment but its best to have the badduns incapacitated.