White Hot Flash

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I understand we can't edit existing villain groups powers. But can we at least alter their appearance, or colors?

IE: I want a black and red PPD Hardsuit. And I'd like a big pink warwolf for my GF.

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Pohsyb answered this back on the first page of this thread.

(And the answer was no.)

[/ QUOTE ]Yeah. The existing NPCs use a completely different character model than the player characters, so our character editor won't work on them. We can, as I recall, give them different powers, but they might not have the appropriate animation for the new power - you'll just have to test to see what looks right on them.

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More likely you'll have to settle for creating as close to the mob you intend to be like as possible with the current character creator, and then give it a custom powerset.


My thought on the rating system: I like setting the bar high for getting the special ratings. If it wasn't high enough, it would cheapen the concept, and you might as well not even bother having it. I imagine there'll be plenty of threads generated in the various server forums, (or maybe even a separate MA content Forum....hint, hint... ) that could point out all the worthy player created arcs that need to be played. Once the word gets around, those arcs that are truly worthy will get their recognition, and it probably won't take long for some of them to hit the 1000 ratings mark.

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There was a global increase because... well... there was a global increase. This doesn't change the overall philosophy of punishing the community if the community gets better at doing certain things.

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Wha?...

They increased merits on way more things than they decreased, but at the same time they're still punishing the community? I'd like to see what kind of dictionary you're using. Your definition of "punishing" seems to be off.

A week is ok for the 8 year old, but not sure about the 4 year old. It would be hard to separate their punishments without the kids whining about why one got more or less than the other, but there's gotta be a compromise there somewhere.

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Just wondering, but did the Devs actually come out and say that the change to the crafting requirements was an exploit fix, or are we just assuming that it was because there was no patch note for it, and everything that doesn't make the patch notes must be an exploit fix?

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False. The devs haven't given any reasons. I myself have asked Castle where exactly they're going with PvP and why these changes and all he's said was


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As for a goal statement. I'm not sure what you are asking.


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Ask your question in a better way, maybe?


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Of course you don't know. You happen to know any players that played on the ladder? Look at the ladder in it's current state.. See it's non-existent state? All those people were happy with I12 PvP. I13 made them leave.


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Yes, I do know some folks that were in the ladder at one time or another, but what does that have to do with anything I said? Do you not remember the huge list of changes/requests the PvP community put together and gave to Ex to pass on to the Devs? Would someone that's happy with the game the way it was do that?

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They prefered to browse the boards and give one lined answered instead of real answers.

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So, because it wasn't long enough, or what you wanted to hear, it's not an answer? Ok.....

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Ironic part is this, these changes were for the arena and not the zones. Yet it's blatantly obvious these changes are for the zones. And lolraiding.

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And they explained why the Arena got tweaked first. It was the only area of PvP that didn't require anything but playing around with the power numbers. The lolraiding part...ok, yeah, it's pretty broken, but that's the reason they're fixing it. I'm looking forward to what they're going to do, because it's really the only thing justifying having a SG base with defenses in it right now. Teleporting and storage are not supposed to be the only functions a base has.

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Kind of like now, it's a bunch of "Wait and see cause it's gonna get better."

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So stop blaming the Devs for the lack of communication. It's clearly marketing and PR that's put the clamps on new information. Castle or BaB have no say in what they're allowed to talk about.

The Devs aren't going to hit a homerun every time with every Issue or major update. It would be nice, but they're human. Can we lower our expectations just a tad, and keep this in mind?

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Yet we did not get either "We can't talk about it yet" or "We'll get back to you on that". Instead, Ex responded "We are aware internally of the badgers concerns over the removal of this badge. However at this time the Developers are choosing to not comment."

Not that they will get back at a later date, just that they don't want to comment at all.

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Your conclusion doesn't fit with what Ex said. "At this time" doesn't imply that they don't want to comment at all. It means exactly what it says. Like I said before, when they've had time to gather themselves and their information, and tear themselves away from the task at hand, they'll comment about it. Ex said exactly what she needed to say. They'll get to it later, because invariably, there'll be a similar issue with another badge or something, and it will have a similar reason behind why a change was made. It's happened before.


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There was nothing preventing direct developer response in closed beta (player concerns fell on deaf ears then). There was a opportunity that they let slip through their fingers when they failed to be up front with the players.


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Personally, I think this issue is more about the players being too stubborn to accept the reasons that were given for those particular changes. I don't think there's very many people that could honestly say they were completely happy with pre-I13 PvP. When the Devs made steps to change it, players suddenly cried foul. They cried knowing that the Devs were only partially done with said changes (still working on Zones and Raiding). When you get yelled at for not doing something, and then yelled at again by the same people when you do do something, isn't that a confusing message the players are sending to the Devs? How exactly are they supposed to respond to that? The only way that makes sense is to stick to their guns about their intentions for the changes, and assure us that when the product is in a more finished and complete form, we'll have a better idea of what they're doing and why.

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The problem isn't that these issues are bugs, it is that they are considered "working as designed" without explanation even though the changes are detrimental in the player's eyes

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I hope you don't mean all players' eyes, because there are plenty of folks that don't care one way or the other about changes to badges, or changes to crafting, or any other little change you can name. As has been said by many, everyone's idea of fun is different. There are few changes that affect everyone.

If you're just talking about the folks that post their complaints, then yeah...the voice has been decidedly negative, but hardly representative of the whole playerbase.

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There should be nothing preventing the community reps from telling the team that players are upset because of X, getting a response, and then relaying a response back to the players.


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There shouldn't, but there is. It's called a PR department. The Devs don't have free reign to respond to every concern, especially when it deals with any future content. It sucks, but that's the way it goes.

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Niviene moved into Ex's old spot.


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Didn't realize this was official. That's good, but they're both still dealing with the aftermath of Lighthouse's departure, and the things he left for others to take over.

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No, the 4 month delay (since the start of Issue 13 Closed Beta) for a believable response as to why base salvage was removed makes the silence from the developers worse than it should have been. The lame duck "party line" reply that Sunstorm made two months ago isn't believable by anyone on these forums except possibly the Red Names.

Making more changes that upset players with no explanation is only fueling the hostility against the developers. Going back on the lead developer's statements without explanation is just the icing on the cake of the whole thing.


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I see by this response you missed the point of my previous post.

We get that you and the like-minded are upset. 100x, we get it. The Devs get it too, as evidenced by recent posts. You keep saying they aren't explaining things, and yet we're told that the Devs have their hands full with new stuff at the moment. We also know that Ex, who is our sole Community Rep after Lighthouse left, has her hands full with two jobs. I'm not sure what you're expecting, as far as what a reasonable response time should be. When they say "We can't talk about it yet" people get upset because they think the Devs are witholding info. When they say "We'll get back to you on that (or something along those lines)" people get upset because they think they're getting blown off. Neither one is true. When they have a better answer, they'll give it, and not before.

Truth is, the community base, especially the long-time vets, have been spoiled by the interaction in the past, and they expect that same level throughout the life of the game. When there's a shift in the flow of info, how is it logical to jump to the conclusion that there's been some sort of policy change, as many have alluded to? Why does it have to be a conscious decision to suddenly be tight-lipped? Those with experience in other MMOs keep telling us that the level of Dev interaction we enjoy is a bonus. Not in the norm at all. I say this not to try to pacify you with "Shut up, you're lucky they say anything at all" but to point out that when you know, from redname posts, that life at NCNC right now is pretty hectic, does it really make any sense to keep asking, and asking, and asking (sometimes in a demanding tone) the same questions? Frankly it smacks of desperation, like when a guy keeps calling and leaving message after message on some woman's voicemail. Give her a chance to call you back. "She's ignoring you and wishes you'd stop calling" is only one of many possible answers to the problem of not hearing back. Not all of them are bad for you, either. Maybe she lost her phone.

Believe me, I want the buggy stuff fixed too, but if we waited for stuff to be fixed before new stuff came, we'd still be in Issue 2 or 3. If stuff is not getting fixed at a pace that everyone wants because they're working on content (on more than one Issue at the moment, by the way), I'll take it. Game-breaking bugs get fixed fast. The rest of it, while annoying, isn't enough to keep the game from being great. People are leaving the game, this is true, but they were doing it anyway. There are also new people playing. I've met many of them recently. Circle of the MMO life, to paraphrase.

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silence on the crafting issue that was offered as a "benefit" of the base salvage debacle and then having said benefit yanked out from under us with not a word or warning plain sucks. And we are Still waiting on a actual answer as to why this change occurred and not the mythical "Some people were too stupid to understand base vs. invention slavage" popup screen thingy issues.


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No...see, "waiting" implies that you cease your actions and allow what you're waiting for to happen (a response). The most vocal players in this thread are not waiting, nor have they been waiting, nor will they wait. They continue to press the issue at every opportunity, thereby making it a one-sided struggle. The avalanche of "why won't they say something?1!!?" or "still no answers even though it's been ten minutes since my last post on the same subject" makes the perceived silence from the Devs worse than it actually is.

What's that saying about a watched pot?

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I have been the biggest "fan boy" of CoH for years. But there is WAY TOO MANY CHANGES going through, onto live, WITH NO NOTICE to the players.

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Just wondering, but would it matter if they gave us notice of changes like this? They're gonna do it anyway, 9 times out of 10.

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Reasons why the Devs have no comment on current gripes:

A) They're too busy to comment. Ex has told us earlier this week that everyone's got their noses to the grindstone. Understandable.

B) They can't tell us because it involves future content, and the marketing folks are putting the brakes on the info. Also understandable. Just gonna have to swallow the bile and be patient for a bit.

C) They're still investigating the issues, and haven't formed a response other than "we're working on it." If the folks are clamoring for info, they won't be satisfied with just "We're aware of it," or "we're working on it...no timetable for a fix," why would the Devs waste time telling us something people don't want to hear anyway. Ex can speak for them, and she has.


There's a big difference between hearing nothing at all, and hearing from the Forum Rep that the Devs are aware of issues. Please don't confuse the two.

Everyone's welcome to gripe (provided it follows the rules), but do we have to have it repeated ad infinitum by the same people in every thread? We know you're frustrated. You just don't have to remind us, and derail threads, by repeating it.

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But we get plenty of respecs, vetspecs, and dual builds. So....there's really no excuse to whine about this one.

I think it's awesome, especially for folks who have characters who would use those travel powers straight away instead of having to go through something they don't want in concept.

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No, you're missing my point. With this change, Veterans will have a definite, build-altering advantage over non-Veterans. Temp powers and vet pets are insignificant and unreliable, but not having to take Recall Friend on your Stone Tank, for instance, frees up a power choice that a non-vet won't have. I think that's a bad idea, and probably harmful to the game.

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Two points:

1) If you don't PvP, this reward will have no downside.

2) If you do PvP, there's alt builds now. Make one build normally, make the other one with the pre-mature travel power. Encourage the people you PvP against to do likewise. No muss, no fuss. You can change the build you're playing with to suit the folks you're fighting.

Harmful to the game is probably a bit on the exaggeration side.

This year, V-Day is a Saturday....you have to work weekends?

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Well I stunned the Floral Shop today.
I reserved my floral arrangement for Valentines Day.
"This is the earliest I ever had someone reserve before."
Simple arrangement, 12 "Blush" roses in a vase with assorted greens as filler. (No Baby's breath, thats cliched).
Anyways, It is only 4 weeks away guys, dont drop the ball and be one of those guys on the 13th grubbing for what ever is left.

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Or even better, don't be the guy that only buys stuff like this one day a year.

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access to the flight and teleport powerpool : the teleport and the flight powerpool aren't available to kheldians. While the access prevention to the teleport pool is understandable for a warshade, it isn't the case for the flight pool. Same for peacebringer prevented to take the teleport pool, while it make sense for the flight pool.



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If Peacebringers want to teleport, they can take Dwarf. If Warshades want to fly, they can take Nova.

We need to get around to the fact that Kheldians are meant to be played different than the standard ATs. It was the original design, and the Devs are not going to back down from that stance, and I don't think they should. And I say this with a PB that I love to play. I like it because it's different.

Some of the areas you need to log out in to earn the badges aren't always in the most intuitive places. For example, the area around the Black Market in Sharkhead. The area that most folks would normally log out in are close to the NPCs or the Truck, but the actual badge area is next to the building. (If this is intended, I suppose I could see why, but it would still make more sense to move it closer to the market itself.) Another is the Talos WW. (could be all the WW, not sure). The only area inside the building you can earn badge credit is on the emblem in the middle of the room, or in the doorways/out front. There's plenty of room along the inside windows, but those areas don't count. If you're not going to count the whole area inside a building, at least make the area larger, or include more of the wall space. I usually park my characters out of the way, but to earn the WW badge now I have to be in the middle of the room.

See if they have rain checks. I know the kids will still rather have it at Christmas, but at least you'll be able to claim one when the store gets more.

Sending some happy thoughts your way, for you and your children.

As long as your kids know their mommy loves them, that should be enough, no matter what you end up getting them. Of course, they may not get it till they're older, but still....

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Personally I hope you have a wonderful life and a great new job. "or have found one already"

I can not say I am sorrry to see you go. I feel that the forums have been handled poorly by you for 2 years now and I look forward to hopfully someone taking control that can turn around all the hogwash you have allowed to go on for far to long. And I am sorry but I feel you leaving will be a step in the right direction to solving a lot of the problems the forums have.

Anyways nothing personal. I wish you all the luck in the world.

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You couldn't have sent this in a PM to Lighthouse? Classy.

Thank you, Lighthouse, for going above and beyond to try to keep us informed, and to be a voice for the player in the NCNC offices.

Success in your next adventure.

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I did not know that shields were going to be usable with a sword....now that has me interested in the power set.

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Broadswords, Axe, and Mace can use them. Lefty or Dual Wield sets can't.

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Something's been bugging me as I've been reading through the last 20 odd pages of replies. I keep seeing "We're getting rewarded for doing nothing." This is wrong. You get rewarded based on where you park your character. You have to actually move your character to the place that will earn you the badge you're trying to earn. It's a minor point, maybe, but I just like it when people get the terminology right. Much like when I keep seeing "This is a slap to the face to (insert group here)."....but that's for a whole nother argument


Put me in the camp of folks that sees this feature as nothing but an extra shiney or two for doing the exact same thing I'd be doing without it, namely playing the game as normal. You want a badge for doing nothing in the game? Just keep paying your sub fee, and eventually you'll get vet badges, or an anniversary badge just for logging in at the right time. The day job badges take way more effort than those.

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What I don't understand is why people think they can't play. If you want to get day jobs done on one alt, play any of your other 30 alts you've made. Just because you're playing one character doesn't mean the other one is not logged out. You can simultaneously earn a day job badge on 100 alts while playing one nonstop if you want.

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Now see, that would be a logical way to go about it, but for some folks that want to get every badge quickly on the same character, this new feature is going to be their nemesis. It's like giving a kid a bag of candy and telling them they can only have one piece per day. It's better for them to eat just one per day, but the kid only sees a bag of candy that needs to be eaten as fast as possible. They'll eat the whole bag and waste it because they'll puke up half of it from the sugar overload.

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No badge for logging/disconnecting while in the arena


cuz I like to Pvp...you know...with gladiators ...and stuff!

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The list they gave us is not the full list. I'm sure the Arenas are part of it.

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Even if you played 12hrs a day on your favorite character, that still leaves 12hrs a day that you're accumulating day job badges. (And I hope there's no one playing that much for more than a weekend or two at a time.....get a life, people! ). These badges will still be earned faster than farming for Epic badges, and they actually give you benefits for having them besides being lost in the list of the other badges you've earned. There's no possible way not to be earning something, unless you choose to stubbornly log out in the same place every time even after you've earned the badge for that location. Don't see the problem. The Devs put in a "Earn badges the easiest way possible" button.

People asked for a change to the way some things are done, the Dev's have given us something different, and now we're complaining that it's not the way things are right now......sigh. Another "Damned if you do, Damned if you don't" moment if there ever was one.


I like that the bonuses we're getting are actually useful, and rechargable. Thank you, Devs.